Olivia smiled when she saw the face that flashed on her FaceTime.

"Hi Baby, how was school?"

"It was okay," Teddy replied. Since their visit he was another Grant kid that checked in with her. By the time he'd come home from school Bellie would already be asleep. On weekends she let Bellie stay up till she spoke with him, but on week days they made do with iMessage. There was a small window in the afternoons before Teddy went to school and Bellie was just finishing. The window was so small that even if they got to talk it was a hi and bye which for them seemed to be enough.

"Are you excited for your field trip tomorrow?" Teddy nodded enthusiastically his face suddenly beaming. Olivia couldn't help but notice just how much he looked like Fitz with his unruly curly hair and dimples to die for, she couldn't help but love him even more than she already did.

"Daddy's going to come,"

"I know sweetheart, he's very excited to go." Teddy began to tell her about the rest of his day. A few minutes later his nanny came into his room with his snack which he usually took to the oval to have with Fitz if he wasn't in a meeting.

"Go have your snack with Daddy buddy, I'll talk to you tomorrow. Love you little man."

"Love you too." He said waving before he disappeared.

"Kid number four?" Abby asked knowingly as she walked into the kitchen where Olivia was preparing Bellie's lunch for the following day.

"If by number four you mean technically three by birth, yes. And stop that," she said swatting Abby's thieving hands. Abby grinned and grabbed another couple of carrot sticks and stuck her tongue out at Liv.

"Hey, the more you take the less you have in your lunchbox,"

"Awww Mom," she whined making Olivia laugh.

"So how goes the First Family DC branch?"

"Same old same old. Hey did you get a cryptic email from Harrison? He says he's coming but no mention of Lindsay."

"Yes, I've been meaning to call you all day about it but its been crazy at work. I have a theory." Olivia laughed, Abby did have a nose for being a sleuth, and the flair for the dramatics.

"Well share!"

"I think they finally did the nasty,"

"Oh ewww " Huck said walking into the kitchen in that same moment.

"Seriously, you're a grown up." Abby reminded him.

"It's not so much the content but the subjects. Dude they're family."

"Alright corners you two. Lets say that is what that is, why would he be having a meltdown?" Olivia asked confused.

"It's been about ten years pending. Maybe he's just freaked out that it's not as perfect as he imagined it would be."

"It's never perfect, whatever the circumstance. There's no such thing." Liv said knowingly.

"Well you can talk him off his ledge when he arrives tomorrow."

"So he's just left Lindsay there? Uh uh not on. Call her and ask her what she's up to. I don't want her thinking we're picking sides. We're family."

"I'll call her when I get home," Huck promised. He's always had a soft spot for Lindsay.

"And where are you off to?" Abby asked with a grin. Huck merely rolled his eyes without answering and headed out the door waving.

"That wasn't an answer Huckleberry!" Abby called out after him.

"You do remember the he once was a spy right so annoying him probably isn't the smartest thing you can do." Abby shrugged,

"He'd miss me far too much to kill me." Abby answered confidently.

"So tell me what's new in the world of Grant? Any news on what the wife has over him that he hasn't been able to divorce her ass all this time?"

"Honestly, for the most part it's Bellie. He doesn't want to drag her through the scandal. We've gotten this far with sparing her that if all she's asking is till the end of his term then really what's a few more months. She's been squeaky clean Abby and you know that can only mean she's hiding something epic. Until we figure that out we have nothing on her. Which means we play by the rules. At the same time as long as she does right by my kid, I really don't want to know. But if she goes after my kid after everything we've sacrificed I wouldn't hire a hit man, I'd do it myself." Olivia promised.

"There'd be a long line and it would be the best cover up in the history of cover ups." Olivia chuckled but was well aware that Abby wasn't kidding. Bellie had to be the most loved kid by the best group of misfits in the world. What Huck alone would do for Bellie, for her, for any of them was limitless.

"Hey Beautiful,"

"Hey, how was your day?" She asked as she took the extra pillows off her bed to get into bed.

"Busy. You?"

"Same old."

"What's on for the weekend?"

"Harrison's coming for the weekend. Gerry has a deadline so he won't be here this weekend. Karen has an audition on Saturday but she has exams in a couple of weeks so she's coming home mid week next week so she can just study. She's under the impression Bellie is quieter than Gerry." Fitz laughed,

"She is."

"You're in for a shock. You ready for Teddy's excursion tomorrow?"

"Hershey Factory with 7 year olds is going to be a piece of cake in comparison to the G8."

"True. Teddy is really excited that you'll be there with him."

"I know, I got the excited chatter over milk and cookies this afternoon."

"Enjoy it while you can, they grow up so fast." She said wistfully. She loved all four Grant kids, but a part of her wished that she and Fitz actually got to raise one together. That part of her dream for her life with Fitz was fast diminishing if not completely diminished. She wasn't sure she could do the all nighters and running around anymore. Or if even she could still conceive and carry full term. The older she got each passing day made conceiving difficult if not risky. It made her sad that it was something they hadn't shared. They raised their kids separately and sometimes Olivia found herself staring at the families who had a mommy and a daddy who did it together. It made her cherish Bellie even more knowing how lucky she was to have been blessed by her, even if it was unexpected.

"Liv, sweetheart." Fitz repeated realising that she had zoned out.

"Sorry, it's been a long day." She said not wanting him to pry about what she was thinking. Fitz knew where her mind had wandered. He'd always known she wanted a big family. Being an only child she craved the noise of a house full of children, which is why he knew she loved having Gerry and Karen over most weekends. But he he knew it was more than that. She began to grieve the life they never got. The years that they lost. The children they never got to conceive and raise together. The closer to the end his term they got the more questions and doubts arose. He knew she questioned if it was as easy as his term finishing up and his divorce with Mellie being finalized. That she wondered if their love would conquer all or had they merely overestimated it. He knew that her greatest fear was that they had.

"Isn't Bellie's dance this weekend?" He asked changing the subject from the silent conversation they were having,

"Um yeah. Stevie flies in tomorrow morning and he's going to pick her up from school and have one of their infamous dates that usually ends with a sugar induced stomachache. I have a few meetings in the afternoon, so does Abby, and Huck's working so it's good timing." Between Abby, Huck, Stephen, Harrison and Lindsay they were all able to cover all of Bellie's events and commitments from Doctor's appointments, dentists, dance rehearsals, violin lessons, they all worked like a well oiled machine so that her daughter would never want or need for anything.

"The Dance is on Sunday night, with Harrison coming tomorrow and hopefully Lindsay at some point, we can just get some hang time in. Tomorrow is pizza night and Saturday Abby and I will cook up a storm."

Olivia had consciously avoided the topic of the Father and daughter dance as it was a fairly sore point for both Father and Daughter. As happy and grateful as Bellie was to have her Godfather step in, it wasn't quite the same, especially when she knew that her father was going to the Hershey Factory with her brother and his whole class and nobody could even know who her Dad was let along actually participate in her life. Olivia could sense that Fitz was going to struggle with Bellie especially as she was naturally independent. That aside she had also learned not to count on him. As it was their phone conversations were getting shorter and it was hard to be Daddy's Girl when Daddy wasn't around. She didn't doubt he loved her, but she didn't have that blind faith in him that Karen did, or even Gerry and Teddy did. All Isobel Grace Pope knew was that she was her mother's world and she was surrounded by all the love she needed. There was no resentment just acceptance.

"I wish I could go. I wish I could be there." Olivia sighed,

"I know. So does she. Don't worry you guys will get your chance," she was trying to placate him and he knew it. Bellie was at her most impressionable years not to mention fairly logical, the fact that he hasn't been to one birthday, one special event in her life just made her very matter of fact that until she saw him she didn't believe him. It broke Olivia's heart but trust had to be earned and Fitz had his work cut out for him.

"She stopped calling me Daddy Liv," Olivia cringed, she had noticed that too and had hoped he hadn't. Karen at twenty still called him Daddy, but she didn't live her life hidden from the world, nor did she have to contend with broken promises at such an early age.

"She's growing up Fitz. It's a phase."

"You don't believe that as much as you want to."

"Don't do that. Don't speak for me, and don't box your daughter in. She's six and she's becoming her own person. I understand that you're scared that you don't have a place but you're her Dad. You've never been less than that, but you can't expect her to be like Karen, or Gerry, or Teddy. They've had the liberty of growing up with you there. They got to be with 'daddy', to Bellie you're Daddy by association. You're Karen, Gerry and Teddy's daddy, who got to be in every single picture with them at their birthday parties, school plays, baseball and basketball games. You can't grieve to lose a title that she never truly felt the revelation of."

"I'm sorry Liv,"

"I know. It's been a long day and I'm exhausted."

"Get some rest Livi I'll talk to you tomorrow. Love you, night!."

"Night Fitz,"

As badly as she felt for Fitz he had to realise that it wasn't going to be an easy road. There was no question that they loved him but eight years was a long time to be waiting for something that she still wasn't sure was going to eventuate.

Fitz knew that if he and Liv were going to work he had his work cut out for him. There was no questioning her love for him. She had waited, despite his short comings she wanted him. Enough to wait the eight years. Years she could have been perfectly happy elsewhere. Not that she put her life on hold for him, she didn't but she did keep a light on for him.

He also knew that Bellie was slowly slipping from his grasp, despite his best efforts, she barely if ever let her guard down with him. It was one thing to be in the same room with her, but when he was gone, she was completely closed off. Like she didn't trust him. He counted the days till he could just be with them to finally quash the doubts they'd had to deal with for so long.