No your eyes are not deceiving you, this is an update! Finally right?! I know, I'm so sorry for taking forever and a day to post this. Last chapter I made an error. Olivia turned 22 years old not 23. She's supposed to be younger than Fitz who is turning 23 soon. Anyway I hope you enjoy!
After they finish bathing, Fitz grabs a towel to wrap around his waist before helping Olivia out of the bathtub. He quickly towel dries her body and helps her put on her robe. Fitz tells Olivia to go ahead to the bedroom, while he drains the tub and collects his clothing from the floor. A few minutes later, he enters their bedroom and stops dead in his tracks at the sight of Olivia, completely nude atop the covers on their bed. His eyes scan over her body in all its glory, feeling a familiar stirring beneath his towel. However, he doesn't move as his eyes appreciate the vulnerable goddess lying before him.
"Are you going to stand there all night or are you going to join me?" Olivia asks, biting her lower lip.
Fitz' gaze moves to her lips and he groans from the aching feeling she's causing in his groin, "Livvie."
"Come here."
Olivia beckons him with her index finger before gliding it across her bottom lip and lightly biting down it. Fitz' eyes never leave her lips as he makes his way over to their bed. Once he's reached his destination, he crawls up to her and settles beside her. He so badly wants to touch her, but is afraid to. He doesn't want this night to be about sex or his desires. He wants to show Olivia that he loves her beyond his physical attraction to her body. Olivia sees his hesitation to touch her, which she can tell he really wants to, so she reassures him that's okay if he does.
"You can touch me Fitz." She says softly, and reaches out to cup the side of his face.
Fitz shakes his head, "No Liv, I don't want tonight to be about sex. I love you beyond it. I just want to be with you while you enjoy the rest of your birthday. We can even get in our pajamas, get some snacks, and snuggle while we watch your favorite movie if you want."
Olivia chuckles, not at him though. She's not making fun of him. She's chuckling because Fitz is so cute right now. He is clearly making an effort to treat her better and she appreciates him for doing so. However, it's her birthday, she's pregnant, and is craving to have birthday sex with her very sexy man that is officially a professional football player.
"Babe, I know what you're trying to do and believe me I appreciate it, I really do."
Olivia scoots over, so their bodies are pressed together with only his towel being a barrier in between them. She leans in, so that her mouth is right next to his ear. He can feel her breath on him and his eyes slip close from the heavenly sensation. Her lips ghost directly over his ear as she whispers seductively in it.
"But ever since I saw you in your tux, all I could think about is you doing very naughty things to me."
She then pulls back and Fitz reopens his eyes.
"I want you to make love to me Fitz. Please."
She doesn't have to ask twice. He leans in like she had done seconds ago, but he is leaning in for a kiss. He gently connects his lips with Olivia's soft ones. He allows her to be in control of it though. Her tongue lunges out and traces his lips, seeking entry into his mouth. Fitz answers her silent plea and allows her tongue to slip in his mouth. Their tongues duel for dominance, but Fitz yields again, allowing Olivia to continue to take over.
Olivia slips her hands inside of Fitz' towel, giving his hardened member a few short pumps. He moans as a result and removes the towel from around his waist, dropping it onto the floor beside their bed to allow Olivia better access. He lies on his back with his hands folded together behind his head, while Olivia jerks him off. What she is doing to him feels so good that it hurts and has him craving more… a lot more. Fitz is just about to roll on top of her and reach the places in her depths that have yet to be discovered when an idea pops into his head. He extracts Olivia's hand from around his manhood and hops out of bed, leaving a confused Olivia in their bed looking at him as if he's lost his mind.
"What are you doing?"
Fitz looks around the room unable to find what he is looking for.
"Where's the laptop?" He asks, now searching for the said object underneath a small pile of clothes.
"It's downstairs on the coffee table." Olivia replies still with a bewildered expression on her face.
"I'll be right back. Don't move." Fitz says as he bolts out of the room only to return less than a minute later.
"That was quick." Olivia states as Fitz rejoins her on their bed.
They are both sitting with their backs against the headboard. Fitz has the laptop placed on top of a pillow over his nether region. Olivia watches him type in a website and to her surprise it turns out to be a porn site. She is baffled and a little disturbed that he knows a porn website off the top of his head and knows how to navigate through it. Fitz looks over to find an inquiringly look occupying her face. He then goes on to explain her unspoken question.
"I needed something to get me through the three months you made me wait before you finally let me make love to you."
"We still did other things before our first time."
"I know but there were times when we weren't hanging out together that I'd been extremely horny. So I jacked off to porn to satisfy me in that moment. Anyway that doesn't matter. What matters is right now. I was thinking that maybe we could watch a few videos together. I read somewhere that watching porn with your companion is a major turn on and spices things up. Do you want to try it?"
Olivia is hesitant yet curious. She nods and shifts, so she is resting comfortably in his side. Fitz drapes his arm over her shoulders and they spend the next fifteen minutes watching various X rated videos. By the time they finish, they are beyond ready to take each other to another level of high. They don't even bother with foreplay. Fitz turns Olivia around, so that she is lying on her side, facing away from him. He lifts her leg and positions it over his hip. Grabbing his painfully erect penis, he aligns himself at her entrance and slides into her wet channel inch by inch.
His thrusts are slow and deep at first, but he quickly picks up the pace. Olivia wraps her arms around the back of his neck, needing to hold onto something. Fitz' hands are gently cupping and fondling each of her sensitive breasts. It's not only until he feels her inner muscles start to clench, that he slides one hand down her body and begins rubbing her clit in deep hasty circles.
Just as Olivia's orgasm nears, Fitz pulls out of her much to her dismay. Fitz lies on his back and helps her climb on top of him. Still facing away from him, she grabs his healthy pink cock and lowers herself onto it, proceeding to ride him reverse cowgirl. A bunch of expletives leave Fitz' mouth from what Olivia is doing to his body. He keeps his eyes on her ass as she grinds on him, but the feeling becomes too much for him. His eyes once again slip close and his head falls back against the pillows when Olivia begins riding him like a stallion. Damn she feels good.
They need more though. They crave more. Fitz instructs Olivia to lean back so that her hands are pressed against the mattress on either side of their upper halves. He bends his legs to spread hers as wide as they can possibly go. He then holds her hips in place as he pounds into her pussy relentlessly. His heels dig into the mattress for extra leverage. This position allows him to hit her G-spot over and over again and it has Olivia speaking gibberish. The only coherent thing she can say…correction scream, is Fitz' name.
"You like that baby?" Fitz pants through his powerful thrusts.
"Yes baby!" Olivia whimpers.
"Yeah? It feels good?"
"Mmmmhmm! Yeah baby… don… don't stop! Please god don't stop! FUCK!"
Fitz slows his movements and Olivia huffs in sexual frustration. She looks over her shoulder and glares at him. Fitz ignores her death glare and tells her to bounce on his dick. She gladly obliges. Although Olivia is putting in all of the work, Fitz is giving a little help by pushing her hips down onto him. She is bouncing on him so hard that the mattress underneath them starts bouncing as well. Neither expects to come in this position, but holding off their orgasms is inevitable. Olivia's legs squeeze together and shake uncontrollably as she comes.
Fitz quickly flips them over and throws Olivia's legs over his shoulders as he sits up straight on his knees. He groans loudly as he shoots his hot load inside of her after only a few thrusts. He flops onto the empty space next to Olivia, while breathing heavily. Both of their bodies glisten with sweat and the only sounds that can be heard are their hard breathing. Once their breathing goes back to normal, they reposition themselves, so that they are lying face to face. They exchange a series of affectionate pecks, while smiling. Olivia drapes her arm over Fitz shoulder and strokes the short hair on the nape of his neck. Fitz kisses the bend of her elbow.
"Thank you babe for such a wonderful evening. I really enjoyed my twenty second birthday, all thanks to you."
"You're welcome and I'm glad I could make your special day even more special." Fitz places a gentle kiss on her nose.
"I love you Fitz." Olivia declares and kisses his left eyebrow.
"I love you more, so much more."
Fitz spends the rest of the night worshipping every inch of Olivia's body and in return she does the same to him. It isn't until the wee hours of the morning that they finally pass out, completely spent from their escapades.
The next morning, Olivia and Fitz are rudely awakened by the insistent knocking on their bedroom door. The sound of their daughter's voice comes from the other side of the door. They both groan in exhaustion before they get up and put on their pajamas. Olivia throws on a pair of pajama bottoms and one of Fitz' discarded shirts. Fitz throws on a pair of shorts and like Olivia, he chooses to go commando underneath them. As soon as Fitz opens the door, a tiny figure bolts passed him.
"Happy birthday mommy!" Arielle yells at the top of her lungs as she catapults herself into her mother's arms.
Olivia makes sure to catch her without her coming in contact with her belly.
"Thank you baby. Did you have a good time with grandma and grandpa?"
"Uh huh. C'mon on mommy, you're presents are downstairs."
Olivia laughs at her eager daughter. "Okay baby but I want a kiss first."
Arielle leans in and pops a kiss on her mother's lips. "Can we go now?"
"Oh what I don't get a kiss?" Fitz asks, walking over to Olivia's side of the bed.
Arielle huffs impatiently and pecks her father's lips.
"Gee thanks." He says sarcastically.
"Can we go downstairs now?" Arielle asks, completely ignoring her daddy.
"Alright, alright. Let's go before you explode." Olivia picks Arielle up and makes her way out of the room.
Fitz stays behind to find a shirt to put on. It doesn't take him long before he is joining his family downstairs. Arielle is the first to give her mother her birthday present, which is a homemade birthday card made out of purple construction paper with "HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMY" written in markers that varied in colors. There is a drawing on it too of a woman that Olivia presumes to be herself. Arielle also gives her mother a personalized throw pillow with a picture of a newborn her being cradled by her mother, while her father and grandparents were on either side of them, smiling at the camera as the nurse took the photograph.
Although, Olivia loved the gifts Fitz had given her the previous night, the gift that means the most to her is the card her daughter made out of construction paper. It is simple and cheap, but it's made from the heart and better than what money can buy. Material things can always be replaced, priceless things are irreplaceable. Olivia pulls Arielle onto her lap, giving her an appreciative hug and kiss.
"Thank you baby, I love my presents. You are the best daughter any mommy could ever hope for."
"You're welcome mommy." Arielle kisses her mother's cheek before looking over at her grandparents. "It's your turn to give mommy her present."
Maya and Eli look from their granddaughter to each other and back. They shake their heads with smiles on their faces, both thinking the same thing. Their granddaughter is something else.
"Okay miss pushy pants." Eli teases and hands Olivia a store bought birthday card being protected by the envelope it's in. "Happy birthday baby girl." He leans down and kisses the top of her head.
"Happy birthday Livia." Maya says as Eli joins her back on the other couch.
Olivia opens the card to find fifty dollars inside of it. She hands Arielle the money as she reads what the actual card itself says and then what her parents wrote to her. Unshed tears filled in her eyes at the loving and sweet words her parents used to express how much of a gift she was to them and how they are forever in debt to her for being such an extraordinary daughter.
Fitz picks Arielle up off of her mother's lap, sensing that Olivia wants to thank her parents properly. Olivia gets up and hugs both of her parents.
"Thank you mommy and daddy. You are the best parents I could ever wish for. I hope Fitz and I can be as great of parents to our children as you are to me. I love you both so very much."
"Awe, we love you too baby girl." Maya and Eli declare in unison.
"I love you too mommy." Arielle says, coming up to them to get in on some of the action.
Olivia laughs and allows her daughter to join in on the group hug. Fitz decides to stand back and let Oliva's parents and Arielle celebrate her birthday since he had her all to himself the day before, on her actual birthday.
"Daddy, it's your turn to give mommy her presents." Arielle informs him after she pulls out of the embraces of her mother and grandparents.
Fitz smiles at her. "I gave mommy her presents last night."
"Oh." Arielle's face slightly falls before she looks at her mother curiously. "Did you like them?"
"Yes I did. Your daddy is a great gift picker outer." She quips, looking at Fitz.
Since it is still morning, Olivia's parents tell their daughter and Fitz to get ready, so they can take her out for a birthday breakfast. Olivia tries to reject their offer, claiming that they've done enough for her birthday, but they are hearing none of it. She is their only child, their baby girl; therefore they have the right to spoil her on her special day. Olivia and Fitz get ready and twenty minutes later, they all head out to a nearby IHop. On the ride there, Olivia responds to all of the birthday wishes, either over the phone or through text messages, she has received from family members and friends. Once there, they all end up ordering the same thing; pancakes, scrambled eggs, and toast.
"If I knew we were all going to get the same thing, I would've just cooked breakfast for everybody at home." Olivia comments, as their waiter walks away.
"Oh hush it's your birthday, which means you will be catered to all day with no complaints." Maya says sternly.
Olivia just sighs, knowing she's not going to win this battle. After all it is her birthday and she doesn't mind being spoiled for a few hours especially after all the stress she's had to deal with lately on top of being pregnant.
"So Fitz any word from the Giants yet?" Eli asks.
Olivia and Fitz exchange glances. The look in his eye is telling her that he isn't quite ready to share the good news with her parents yet. Of course he is going to tell them, but he wants to wait until he can sit the others of their close knit group down too and share the news with everyone at once. He also wants to wait until they are in a more private setting because he is beyond sure that they are going to most likely make a scene congratulating him. Plus it's Olivia's birthday and he wants the spotlight and all of the attention focused solely on her.
So he lies through his teeth, which he's never done to her parents before. "Uh no not yet."
"Do you think you'll get drafted?" Maya asks, joining in on the conversation.
Fitz subtly shifts uncomfortably in his chair, but not so subtle for Olivia to not pick up on. She knows he doesn't like to be dishonest where her parents are concerned. She rests her hand on his thigh and gives it a squeeze, letting him know it's okay.
"I don't know. I like to believe it's going to happen but I have to also prepare for the unfortunate."
"Well I think it's going to happen. Although I know very little about football, I do know you were amazing at tryouts and they would be fools to not sign you." Maya sasses, causing the rest of them to laugh.
Arielle is too deep into her coloring to even pay them any mind. After they finish eating, they head to the mall for no particular reason. They walk around for a bit until Arielle announces she wants to see that new animated movie about the talking pets, as they are passing the mall's movie theater. Since the movie has yet to start and isn't for another thirty minutes, the adults shrug and agree to go watch the movie. They buy a few snacks, drinks, and use the bathroom to kill time. Olivia calls Abby and asks if she, Zack, and Stephen want to join them. She obviously agrees. The previews are playing just as they enter the theater where The Secret Life of Pets is being shown.
Fitz falls asleep during the first ten minutes of the movie, which wouldn't have been a problem if he wasn't snoring. Olivia finds herself actually enjoying the movie, but a certain someone's snoring makes it hard for her to pay attention. She elbows him in his side, which startles him awake, causing the nine year old girl sitting in the seat in front of him to turn around and shush him with an annoyed look on her face. Fitz sticks his tongue out at her, which earns him another elbow him in his side by a laughing Olivia.
"Stop it." Olivia scolds him as she tries to hold back her laughter.
"She started it babe." Fitz whispers back at her, trying to defend himself.
"She's a little kid Fitz."
"I don't give a fu-"
"Don't you dare finish that sentence. There are ton of kids around including our daughter and godson." Olivia cuts him off.
Fitz huffs and folds his arms, sliding down some in his seat. Because he is tall with long legs, his knees accidentally hit the back of the little girl's chair. Again, she turns around. This time she lifts her 3D glasses to glare at him.
"You have one more time before we take this outside."
Fitz can't help but laugh at her. She is crazy if she thinks a grown man would ever fight her, especially one with a little girl of his own. Olivia swats his arm, telling him to shut up.
The little girl turns to her and asks, "Is he your boyfriend?"
"Yeah." Olivia replies to the young girl.
"I'm so sorry. You should break up with him, he acts like a child." She states and turns around to continue watching the movie as if she didn't just offend someone.
Olivia buries her face in her hands to hide the fact that she is laughing so hard. Fitz just sits there, glaring at the back of the little girl's head for a good portion of the movie. Taking it outside doesn't sound like a crazy idea after all. As they are walking out of the theater, once the movie ends, the girl "accidentally" steps on Fitz' foot. Olivia sees this, so she quickly picks up a protesting Arielle and hands her to him because she knows he has had it with that little brat.
Although Fitz doesn't find any of what happened at the movies funny, the others are having a field day teasing him about it when they make it back to the house. He ignores them all and heads upstairs to call his mother, who answers on the third ring.
"Hey mom."
"Hey, how are you?" Susan asks, purposely not saying his name because Jerry is in earshot.
"I'm good, great actually. That's why I'm calling I have some awesome news to share with you." Fitz says unable to hide the excitement in his voice.
"Oh really, what it is?"
"Well I would prefer to tell you in person than over the phone."
The smile on her face quickly turns into a frown as she peeks her head out of the kitchen to see Jerry nodding off in his recliner in the living room.
"I wish I could come bu-"
"It's okay." Fitz quickly assures her, cutting her off. In all honesty, he doesn't want to hear some bullshit excuse as to why she can't come. He's not dumb. He knows the real reason why she can't come. "I get it."
"I'm really sorry if I could come I would."
"Mom I understand, don't apologize. We're celebrating Liv's birthday today which was yesterday so I'm going to wait to tell the others this but I guess I'll tell you now because I don't know when I'll see you face to face again… I signed a 3 year contract with the Giants."
Susan quickly slaps the hand that isn't holding the phone to her ear, over her mouth to refrain from yelling at the top of her lungs. Her eyes water as she starts to cry.
"Oh my gosh. I… I'm so p-proud of you. Congratulations." She chokes through happy tears.
Fitz smiles and sniffs back his own unshed tears. "Thanks mom."
"You finally get to live your dream."
He nods in agreement, "I do."
"Are you going to tell him?" Susan hates that she has to take the conversation there, but it is a valid question.
Fitz sighs and runs a hand through his short curls.
"No. He'll eventually find out but it won't be from me or you. Please don't say anything to him. He doesn't deserve to be in the loop."
"He'll be extremely angry if he finds out that I knew and didn't tell him."
"I don't give a damn how mad he gets, he gave up his right to be a part of my life when he disowned me. I warned him how he treated me would come back to bite him in the ass and it has. I owe him nothing and neither do you."
The line goes silent once he finishes his very brief rant. Fitz instantly feels bad for not only raising his voice at his mother, but also cursing at her. He hates that she always has to be stuck in the middle of he and his father's feud.
"I'm sorry mom, I didn't mean to yell at you like that."
"It's fine." Susan says quickly. "Look I have to get off the phone now so I'll call you later, please tell Liv I said happy birthday and give Ari a kiss for me."
"Yes ma'am… mom I am really sorry for being disrespectful to you just now."
"It's okay Fitz. No matter what I'll always love you."
Fitz smiles softly at that. "I love you too mom."
He waits until the call is disconnected before putting his phone away. It seems that every time he takes a step forward in life, he ends up taking three back. He lingers in his bedroom for a few minutes before he rejoins the others downstairs to finish celebrating his baby's birthday.
The Following Morning...
"Coming!" Olivia calls out to the person who just rang the doorbell to her house. She opens the door to find a tall well-dressed Caucasian man with brunette hair in a suit and a tall well-dressed Caucasian woman with blonde hair in a business suit, standing on the other side of it. "May I help you?"
"Are you Cheyenne?" The man asks her.
"Um no…I think you guys have the wrong house." Olivia says as she goes to the close the door.
The man puts his hands up to stop her from doing so. "Wait, Fitz Grant lives here right?"
Olivia eyes them suspiciously and answers with a slow, "Yes."
"Great! And you're his fiancé Cheyenne that he's told us so much about right?"
"Excuse my name is O-"
They both break out in laughter, effectively stopping her from finishing her sentence.
"Olivia, we know. We were just joking around. My name is Leo Bergen." Leo outstretches his hand and Olivia stares at it before slowly shaking it. Once he finishes introducing himself, he then introduces the woman standing beside him. "And this is my good friend Elizabeth North. " The two women shake hands.
"Nice to meet you."
"You too… uh I don't want to sound rude but who are you both exactly?"
"Fitz hasn't told you about me yet?"
"No your names don't sound familiar at all. In fact Fitz didn't even mention the two of you were coming by."
"That's because he didn't know we were coming. We didn't even know we were coming until like 20 minutes ago. I have to tell Fitz something and I thought I would tell him in person and I wanted to see where he lived." Leo says, looking over her shoulder, trying to get a peek into her house." Can we come in?" He asks, taking a step forward.
"Um… sure."
She takes a step back, allowing them to enter her humble abode.
"Thank you. You have a beautiful home." Leo compliments, while taking a little walk around the lower level of the house. "Is Fitz home?"
"Yeah he's upstairs taking a shower. I'll go tell him you're here."
Olivia leaves them to inform Fitz they have unexpected guests. She walks in just as Fitz is stepping out of the shower with a towel wrapped around his waist.
"Hey baby." Fitz greets her with a kiss.
"Hey there are two people here to see you." Olivia informs him after they pull back from their kiss.
"Who are they?" He asks, walking passed her to go to their bedroom.
"A man and a woman. They said their names were Leo Bergen and Elizabeth North." Olivia responds, following behind.
"Oh Leo! He's my agent. Did he say why he was here?"
"You're agent? Since when did you have an agent? And they only said they had something to tell you."
A now fully dressed Fitz clad in a black long sleeve shirt and gray sweatpants asks, "Who is the lady again?"
Olivia shrugs, "I don't know who she is but back to your agent… since when did you have an agent?"
"Since yesterday. Because of everything that's been going on, I didn't have a chance to tell you about Leo but Jeremiah made all of the arrangements and assured the both of us we are good for each other's careers. So far Leo has proved that he is the real deal and one of the best agents around. Babe, I was blown away yesterday at my meeting by this guy. His negotiations skills are insanely good. Originally the Giants offered me a one day contract but Leo was so persuasive that they eventually gave in and not only signed me to a 3 year contract but gave me a signing bonus which only really happens to those that are in the first round draft pick. Also, he got them to pay me a lot more than a man like me should have been given."
"What do you mean a man like you?" Olivia questions.
"A man that's a risky bet."
"Oh."
Fitz walks up to her and rests his hands on either side of her growing baby bump. "Hey we're in good hands. I promise." He kisses her forehead before turning to go downstairs. Olivia follows right behind him with the intention of getting to know these people that Fitz is trusting with his career and technically their lives too. Leo immediately stands up when Fitz walks into the room.
"Hey there he is! Fitz my man, what's up?"
"Hey Leo, nothing much man. How about you?" Fitz asks him as they shake hands.
"Eh you know as long as I'm making money I can't help but smile. Enough about me though, I have something to tell you but I want you to meet someone first." Leo gestures for Elizabeth to stand up and greet Fitz. "This is Elizabeth North; she's a good friend of mine and going to be your publicist."
"Publicist?" Fitz questions, clearly confused. He has an idea of what a publicist is, but is still a little unsure of what they actually do and why he needs one.
"Yeah, Liz here is going to publicize you which basically means she is going to oversee the public image and manage all media relations of you. She'll also coordinate publicity events you attend and make sure you know where to go and what to do there."
"It's a pleasure to meet you Fitz, Leo has told me a lot about you and I'm looking forward to working for you." Elizabeth says, sticking out her hand for him to shake, which he does.
"Thanks and the pleasure's all mine." He says politely. "So Leo what did you have to tell me?"
"Right so Liz and myself managed to set up a press conference for you next week." Fitz sits down on the couch next to Olivia, while Leo and Elizabeth mirror his actions on the couch across from the one he is sitting on. "You know how a press conference works right?"
"Yeah, a bunch of reporters in a room ask me questions and I answer them."
"Exactly but at this particular press conference you won't just be answering questions, you'll also be receiving a hat and a jersey and posing for a few pictures. You don't have to worry about anything either. We'll prep you, so you'll be ready."
Fitz looks at Olivia for her reaction, who can only look back at him, nodding encouragingly. This is the life he signed up for and she's just going to continue to support him.
"Okay, I'm in." He grabs Olivia's hand and gives it a light squeeze. "We're in."
"Great!" Leo and Elizabeth say simultaneously.
"Now we got that out of the way, let's also talk about you getting a personal assistant." Leo states.
Fitz scrunches his face, "Why do I need a personal assistant exactly?"
"You're a talented athlete bred to dominate at this level which in translation means you're going to be a superstar and I'm not talking about those one minute of fame type players that are used for attention like Tim Tebow or Robert Griffin III. No you're going to be different. I have a feeling you're going to be the Kobe Bryant, hell maybe even the Michael Jordan of football. At the moment you'll be more like the Stephen Curry of football but what I'm trying to get at is you're going to be a legend that will eventually go down in history. You're a legend in the making right now and being a legend in the making is very time consuming. So to answer your question, you need an assistant to basically run errands that you won't be able to do, manage your calendar, booking transportation, liaison to agent and publicity rep…" He motions between him and Elizabeth. "…coordination and management of fan mail, special projects, celebrity endorsements and personal appearances. Oh and to update your social media if you can't. Man that was a mouth full. Phew."
"Uh Leo, I'm not on any kind of social media." Fitz admits. "I used to have a Facebook account but deleted it after I decided not to play football because too many people wouldn't leave me alone."
"And that is understandable. However, now you should make a Twitter and an Instagram account so you can connect with your fans and allow them to connect with you and get a little bit of the Fitzgerald Grant III experience. Show them who you are. It's also a good way for you to gain more publicity a lot quicker. I'll tell you what… how about we create your accounts the day of the press conference. Your very first post on Instagram can be you backstage about to walk out and the caption can read, Ready… Set… Hut… yeah, I like that."
Although Leo's arguments are very convincing, Fitz still wants to make one thing clear. "Okay, I'll do it but I want to make it known right away that my family comes first before anything else. I love football and I love playing it, however, my career will always come second to my family. I will give it all up before I lose my family." He grabs Olivia's hand as he continues. "With that being said, I know that I'm going to be a public figure but I would like as much privacy and normalcy as I can possibly get for my family. The only things I want people to know about me is what I consent if I can help it."
"I absolutely agree with you. We are definitely on the same page." Leo reassures him.
"Good to know."
Fitz used to be a local celebrity, so he knows what it's like to constantly be in the spotlight. Although he loved the attention, it got annoying at times and he still wanted others to respect his privacy.
"Well since we got that settled, I guess we'll be heading out." Leo says as he and Elizabeth stand up.
Fitz and Olivia mimic their actions. They all shake hands before Fitz sees his agent and publicist out.
"I'm proud of the way you handled yourself today." Olivia says to him once he closes the door.
He turns to her and smirks. "Oh yeah? Did it turn you on to see your man handle business?"
Olivia bites her lower lip and shyly admits that she is turned on by the way he did business.
Fitz takes hold of her hand and guides her further into their home. "How about a quickie in the laundry room?"
"As long as you do all the work."
"Oh you already know that won't be a problem." Fitz says arrogantly and shuts the door to the laundry room with a mischievous smirk plastered on his face.
Later that evening...
"We have something important to tell you all." Fitz announces.
He and Olivia invited her parents, Abby and Stephen over for a family a meeting, where they are finally going to tell them the good news. The four of them are sharing the same couch, while the eager couple stands before them. Fitz has his left arm thrown over Olivia's shoulders and Olivia is rubbing a supportive hand up and down his back.
Originally Fitz was going to wait until the day of the draft to reveal to them the good news. Since he signed a contract, he isn't part of the draft, so he won't be mentioned during it. Therefore, he decided to just go ahead and tell them before anyone else finds out.
"You're not dying are you?" Abby asks, clutching her chest with worry.
Fitz frowns and knits his brows, "What? No."
"Oh thank goodness." She sighs relieved. "Wait, you guys didn't find out you're having twins instead, did you?"
"God no." Olivia winces at that thought. Fitz just grins at her reaction.
"You know this can go a lot quicker if you stop playing the guessing game and allow us to share the news…" He looks at Abby as he says, "The good, exciting news," referring back to her first question. He takes a deep breath. "Yesterday I signed a 3 year, 20 million dollar contract with the Giants."
A mixture between "WHAT?! and "OH MY GOSH!" erupt in the room.
Before Fitz can utter another word, they're all jumping up and down, screaming at the tops of their lungs, cheering. Olivia and Fitz stand back, watching them act the fool. They eventually remember why they're causing so much raucous and attack Fitz with hugs and pats on his shoulders, congratulating him. He laughs and thanks all of them, returning their hugs. Arielle and Zach emerge in the room to see why the adults are making so much noise and disrupting them. They look at each other and shrug before running out of the room to continue playing house upstairs.
"Hey Stevie, can I talk to you for a minute in the kitchen?" Fitz asks Stephen once they all calm down.
"Sure."
He follows Fitz out of the room and into the kitchen. Fitz goes into the refrigerator and pulls out two water bottles. He sets one of the bottles on the table in front of Stephen and sits down in the chair across from his, on the other side of the table.
"Thanks." Stephen says as he unscrews the cap and takes a gulp of his water and Fitz does the same.
"Yep."
"So what did you want to talk to me about?" Stephen inquires, setting his bottle back down on the table and again Fitz imitates his actions.
"I had a meeting earlier with my agent and publicist. They had to discuss a few things with me and one of the things that popped up was me getting a personal assistant. The first person that came to mind was you." Before Stephen can say anything, which he opens his mouth to; Fitz puts up a hand to stop him and quickly continues. "Now I know you've always been kind of my sidekick ever since we were little and you might be offended by me asking you to be my assistant but I'm only asking because I trust you. You're my best friend. Unfortunately I don't have any other job to offer you but I can say that being my assistant will be much better than being a cop and way less dangerous especially with everything that's happening nowadays between civilians and cops. The pay is going to obviously be a lot better and you get to hang out with me most of the time. I promise I won't turn into a bossy jerk. What do you say?"
Stephen stays silent for a few minutes as he considers his best friend's offer. Fitz did make strong, valid points, but he still has some reservations about being his assistant. Instead of voicing them though, he decides to take a risk, a huge risk, and that is accepting his friend's job offer to be his personal assistant.
"Okay."
"Okay?"
Fitz is genuinely shocked that Stephen actually agreed. He doesn't know why he finds that shocking. A part of him had his doubts, especially since it took Stephen quite some time to give his response. He's just glad that his friend can help him out and in return he help out his friend. That's what friends are for after all.
"Okay. I'll be your assistant. As long as you promise to continue being the Fitz that's sitting across from me right now."
"You don't have to worry about that. I promise."
The two men shake hands to unofficially seal the deal. Fitz then proceeds to describe Stephen's duties as his personal assistant and fills him in on the rest of what was discussed in his informal meeting earlier.
"So Fitz is now a professional football player. Wow! It feels so surreal. Like I had faith in him but for this to actually be happening… wow!" Maya expresses, clearly still in shock by the bomb Fitz dropped on all of them minutes ago, excluding Olivia.
"Yeah I know exactly how you feel. I felt the same way too when he told me. I'm just happy that we are now able to afford a bigger home by the time the baby arrives." Olivia says with relief.
"Oh speaking of Baby number 2… did you and Fitz tell Baby number 1 about Baby number 2 yet?" Abby questions.
"Abby stop referring to my children as numbers and no we didn't. We want to wait until we know the gender of the baby that way when we do tell Ari, she won't be disappointed that she didn't get a little sister or brother like she had hoped."
"What if she asks about why your stomach is getting bigger?" Eli chimes in with a sensible question that they are all thinking.
"Then Fitz and I will sit down and tell her but if she doesn't ask before we find out what we're having then we'll wait until then to tell her." She explains.
"Okay, so did you and Fitz come up with any names for the baby yet?"
"No not yet. We discussed it once but we didn't come up with anything we both liked."
"If it's a boy you guys should name him Fitzgerald Grant IV." Abby suggests.
"I already suggested we do that but Fitz is not a big fan of his name and definitely doesn't want our possible son to carry it."
"That makes sense." Maya says and the others nod in agreement.
"We'll come up with names eventually." Olivia reassures them.
She has no idea eventually comes a lot quicker than she anticipates.
"So do we agree?" Fitz asks, secretly hoping Olivia says yes because he is exhausted.
For the past hour, they have been going back and forth, throwing out names to name their baby. Fitz was ready to throw in the towel after five minutes, but Olivia was having none of that.
"Yes, finally." Olivia sighs in content. "How come naming Ari wasn't this hard?"
Fitz snorts, "Because we actually waited until we knew what we were having before we picked out a name for her."
"Well I'm glad we finally decided on names for our baby girl or boy." Olivia states, placing the notepad in her hand on the nightstand along with her pen.
Fitz stops massaging her feet and crawls up the bed to lie beside her. "Me too." He lets out a sigh of relief when the back of his body comes in contact with the soft clad blanket and sheets mattress.
"I like what we came up with. Jayla Marie and Trist-"
"Wait…" Fitz suddenly interrupts her as a name pops into his head. "can we change his name?"
"What? Why? No. To What?" Olivia fires out quickly. They came up with the perfect names and she honestly doesn't want to alter them.
"If we are having a baby boy how about we name him after your father? I want our son to carry the same name as an honorable man that is his grandfather. Unfortunately I'm named after my sperm donor but your father has been like a father to me and showed me how to be a father… to be a man. Therefore I think we should name him Elijah." Fitz tells her honestly.
Olivia can hear the sincerity in his voice and see the gratefulness in his eyes, but she still wants to name their son the name they both agreed on. It truly warms her heart how much Fitz loves and admires her parents and vice versa. She loves how thoughtful he is and so, she finds a way to incorporate both of the names.
"How about we use my father's name for his middle name because I really like the name we chose." She compromises.
Fitz takes a moment to think about it, letting the name bounce around in his head. "Tristan Elijah Grant." He tests the name out and likes how it rolls off his tongue. "I like it, love it actually."
"Yay!" Olivia cheers, clapping.
Fitz laughs at how childlike she looks. "Hold on now Liv, we don't know if we're having a Jayla Marie or a Tristan Elijah yet so don't get attached to either of those names."
"I know but when we find out at least we'll have a name to call the baby. Plus if we have another baby in the future we can use the other name we picked out."
"That is very true. I'm just relieved we're done playing the name game. Picking out baby names is tiring."
"Yeah I know right. I worked an appetite from doing that."
Fitz side eyes her, "Livvie, you're pregnant, do you honestly think your insatiable appetite is from picking out names?"
"Shut up and feed us." Olivia demands as she gets up from the bed and heads down to the kitchen.
Fitz groans as he follows her. He's really not in the mood to get up or do anything for that matter.
"Alright what are you in the mood for?" He asks, opening the doors to the cabinet with snacks in it.
"Peanut butter…" Fitz reaches for the peanut butter. "…and pickles."
He freezes just as he pulls the peanut butter out. Slowly, he steps back away from the cabinet, so it's no longer blocking his view of her. His face is expressionless as he eyes her.
"What?" She asks, confused by the way he's staring at her.
"Liv, peanut butter and pickles, really? That's gross." He states.
"No it's not. It's what me and the baby you put inside me are craving." She sasses with her arms crossed.
"Babe ew but whatever my babies wants my babies gets. Plus I prefer your weird ass pregnancy cravings, no matter how disgusting they are, over the morning sickness."
Fitz opens the refrigerator to grab the jar of pickles which he cannot find. He rummages through it with no success. He frowns for two reasons. The first reason is because Olivia is going to be pissed that they don't have any pickles. The second reason is because she's going to make him run to the store to pick some up, which he is definitely too tired to do. Reluctant to do so, he goes against his better judgement and tells her the truth.
"Uh babe, there's no pickles in here."
He braces himself for the backlash he's about to receive, but to his surprise she responds calmly to him.
"Yes there is, I bought some the other day when I went food shopping. They're on the door, second shelf, next to the Ranch dressing."
Fitz looks where she tells him to look and sure enough there is a jar of pickles in that exact same spot. He grabs the jar of pickles to go with the jar of peanut butter in his other hand and places both jars in front of her. Olivia twists both caps off and reaches in the one to pick out a pickle.
"Can you grab me a spoon and a small plate please?" She asks and Fitz complies. "Thanks."
Olivia shovels out a spoonful of peanut butter from the jar and dumps it onto the small plate. Fitz gags as he watches her dip a juicy pickle in the creamy peanut butter and takes a bite out of it. He feels the urge to throw up, so he directs his attention to his phone in hopes of settling his stomach. Olivia notices that Fitz is typing furiously on his phone and wonders what he's doing.
"What're you up to over there?" She asks aloud.
Without looking up from his phone, he replies, "Texting Leo. I'm asking him if he can set up a meeting with a realtor." He sends the message and slips his phone back in his pocket. "We need to start looking into bigger houses maybe some closer to the stadium. I think we should get the ball rolling as soon as possible. It would be nice to get settled in and have a nursey set up by the time the baby arrives."
"I think that would be great if we could move into a bigger home and get everything ready before the baby comes." Olivia agrees as she continues to eat her peanut butter covered pickles. "Are you excited that we're having another baby?"
Fitz is kind of taken aback by her off topic question, but still answers.
"I am. I mean the timing at first wasn't perfect but now it seems like everything is falling perfectly into place."
"It is. I know I was originally against you playing football but I'm glad things turned out the way they did."
"Oh yeah?" Fitz walks over to her with his lips turned upward in a lopsided grin. He wraps his arms around her shoulders from behind and kisses the top of her head. "Thank you for agreeing to all of this. I love you Liv even though what you're eating makes my stomach churn."
Olivia smacks his arms wrapped around her. "Shut up meanie. You're lucky I love you too."
"Mmm." Fitz tilts her head back and crashes his lips onto hers. "I like you." He tells her after they break the kiss.
Olivia smiles up at him, "I like you more."
"Clearly." He puts his hands on her three month pregnant stomach. "You can't get enough of me."
"Um I think it's the other way around. You can't keep your hands off of me, that's why I'm carrying your seed."
"Of course I can't keep my hands off of you, you're so fucking hot babe. As for you carrying my seed… I can't help that I have super sperm."
"It's called wearing a condom." Olivia back talks.
Fitz chuckles, "Never. Plus I like you pregnant. It means daddy put it down in the bedroom."
"Oh my gosh! Fitz, stop it. You sound like a damn pig."
"Well oink oink baby." Olivia can only laugh at his antics with a shake of her head.
"Oh babe before I forget, my dad asked if we wanted to go to Knoebels on Saturday. My family that lives in PA are going and invited us."
"What's Knoebels?" Fitz asks, taking a seat in the chair beside her.
"It's a like a little family amusement park with a swimming area. It's a really fun place and it's not too big." She explains.
"Oh yeah, we can go if you want to. It sounds like a place Ari will enjoy going to."
"I really think she's going to love it there but we need to get her a bathing suit first just in case we decide to go swimming."
"Okay let's go tomorrow. I need a new pair of trunks too."
"And I need a new bikini."
"Which I can't wait to see you in." He flashes her cheeky smile that makes her smile, but shake her head at the same time.
"You need to be focused on meeting my family."
"I already met some of them right, when they came to visit you and you invited me over that day?" Fitz recalls.
"Yeah. You met my dad's two brothers, my uncles Isaac and Isaiah and their wives Kimberly and Margaret. You also met my favorite cousin Sierra, who is older than me by a few months and her little brother, Jonathan. They belong to my dad's older brother Isaac and then I think you also met Tiana, who was either three or four at the time and she belongs to my dad's younger brother Isaiah."
Although Fitz already met them, that was a few years ago and Olivia feels the need to refresh his memory in case he did forget over the years.
"So basically, the only two I haven't met so far from those that live in PA are your dad's parents?"
"I think so that's on my dad's side though. My mom's side of the family is spread out all over the country that's why you haven't really met any of them. That and also because my mom doesn't really get along with them either so she tends to keep her distance."
"Oh." Is all Fitz says, not knowing how to respond to her statement.
"How come I never met any of your extended family members before?" She asks as it suddenly occurs to her that she's only ever met his parents and sister.
"Well my maternal grandparents I never got to see that much growing up but I do remember they were super sweet the few times I did see them and my dad's biological mom died when he was young so he was raised by his father and step-mom."
"What's your dad's dad like?"
Fitz doesn't answer her right away. Olivia watches him trying to find the right words to describe his grandfather.
"I don't really know to be honest with you." He finally responds. "My dad barely talked about him. I met him once when I was a little kid but that was it. I can't really remember what he was like. I don't know much about him either. I don't even know if he's still alive and I don't think I want to know. My dad is a monster and a part of me feels like that's because he was raised by a bigger monster. My dad's family I know very little about. My dad's an only child and we didn't really associate with his extended family when I was growing up. It seemed like the only people that were a part of my family were me, my parents, and Kayla. I often forget that we're not."
They both remain silent after his admission. The air is a little thick with uncomfortableness and awkwardness. Fitz is the first to break the ice.
"Enough about that though… finish telling me about this place Knoebels."
Olivia's glad he changes the subject and goes on to finish telling him about the little amusement resort.
"What about this one?"
Fitz scowls at yet another bathing suit that Olivia holds up. They are currently picking out a bathing suit for Arielle at Target and Fitz has disapproved of every one Olivia has picked out so far. It only took them five minutes max to pick out their swimwear, but shopping for Arielle's is proving to take twice as long. Maybe it would've been easier for her to pick out her own bathing suit, but they didn't bring her because they knew she would want to buy every toy or object she found fascinating in the store.
"Hell no, there's no way in hell my daughter's going to be wearing a two piece bathing suit especially at the age of 3. Try again."
Olivia huffs in frustration, "Fitz, you do it since you don't like the ones I'm picking out."
With a roll of his eyes, Fitz sifts through the bathing suits until he spots one that he approves of and is perfect for his little girl. He pulls it off the rack and holds it up for Olivia to inspect.
"That looks more like a dress than a bathing suit." Olivia states disapprovingly.
"So." Fitz shrugs, not seeing the problem.
"Ari has dresses Fitz. If she is going to end up wearing a dress in the pool then there's no reason for us to be here."
"Fine." He looks through the many colorful bathing suits again until he finds one he deems appropriate for his daughter. "How about this one?" He holds up a Frozen themed princess tankinis fashion one-piece print bathing suit.
Olivia examines that one and gives it her stamp of approval. "I like it; it's cute and doesn't look like a damn dress."
"Yeah whatever. Are we done here or do we need to get anything else?" Fitz asks, which he immediately regrets when Olivia says, "Yeah we should probably get some toys for Ari to play with in the pool." With a sigh, he follows her to the isle where the pool toys are.
On Saturday morning, Eli and Maya arrive at their daughter's house. Eli suggested that they all ride in the same car and agreed to make the two hour drive to the amusement resort. Maya opts to sit in the back with Olivia and Arielle, so Eli and Fitz are in the front. Fitz tells Eli more about his contract and they talk about his upcoming press conference. Olivia and her mother talk about anything other than sports like the men almost always seem to do. Arielle is knocked out with her body slumped over the side of her car seat. Maya tried to correct her posture several times since they've been in the car, but eventually she gives up.
A little over two hours and a gas stop later, they pull up to the park. Eli calls his older brother as they enter the parking area. Isaac informs Eli that the rest of them parked closer to the front and there's an empty parking space beside his car. Eli quickly with caution drives right to the vacant parking spot his brother told him about. His family is in the picnic area, setting up the food they brought. He, Maya, and Olivia immediately get out of the car, as soon as he parks, and go over to greet their family. Fitz stays back to unbuckle Arielle out of her car seat. He then picks her up and closes the car door before walking over to where Olivia is catching up with her family members.
Feeling a bit nervous, he doesn't approach the tables the Popes have clearly claimed. Instead, he and Arielle awkwardly stand back, watching Olivia interact with her family. Arielle squirms out her father's arms. Although she too is nervous to be around several unfamiliar faces, she still wants to receive attention from them. Fitz obliges to her silent request to be put down. Arielle slowly walks over to her mother, who is hugging her cousin Sierra. She hugs her mother's leg and looks up at the two cousins in a loving embrace. When Olivia feels something come in contact with her legs, she pulls back from the hug with her cousin to find her daughter clinging to her legs. Without saying anything, Arielle lifts her arms up, indicating that she wants to be lifted up. Olivia picks her up.
"Ari, this is my cousin Sierra. Can you say hi?"
"Hi." Arielle says shyly, quickly burying her face in the crook of Olivia's neck.
"Aw she's so cute." Sierra says, rubbing the little girl's back soothingly, causing Arielle to peek her head back out. "She's gonna have grandma and grandpa wrapped around her little fingers when they see her."
Olivia rolls her eyes and scoffs, "She doesn't need any more people wrapped around her fingers. She already has my parents and Fitz' mom wrapped around her fingers. Oh and let me not forget to mention how she's the ultimate daddy's girl. Fitz is such a pushover when it comes to his little girl."
Sierra laughs at the innocent grin on Arielle's face and the faux annoyed side eye Olivia is giving her. "I bet. Where is Fitz anyway?"
"My daddy's right there." Arielle speaks up, pointing over to where her father is standing.
Fitz notices his daughter pointing at him and both women looking at him. He walks over to them, figuring he's the topic of conversation.
"Hi Fitz." Sierra smiles as he approaches them and opens her arms.
"Hi Sierra." Fitz returns her smile and steps into her open arms, hugging her.
"How are you? It's been quite some time since I last saw you."
"I've been pretty good." Fitz says honestly.
"Yeah, I noticed you knocked my cousin up again." Sierra states with a smirk.
Olivia's eyes widen. She figured Sierra didn't feel her baby bump when they hugged because she hadn't said anything about it until now.
Fitz chuckles and rubs the back of his neck, "Well… I can't get enough of her."
"I can see that." Sierra states, eyeing her cousin's three month pregnant belly.
"Fitz." The sound of Eli's voice makes all of their heads turn towards him. Eli waves Fitz over to where he, his brothers, and his father are standing.
Fitz gulps and walks over to the group of men.
"Good luck." Sierra calls out to him followed by a snicker. Olivia playfully slaps her arm, but can't help laughing either.
Eli places a hand on Fitz' shoulder when he is in arm's reach. "Ah Fitz, you remember my brothers right, Isaac and Isaiah?"
Fitz nods, "I do. How are you guys?" He shakes both men hands.
"Hey Fitz it's good to see you again." Isaiah says.
"And it's even better to see you taking care of my niece." Isaac adds.
"Thanks." Is really all Fitz can come up with to respond.
"Elijah, aren't you going to introduce me to this young man that fathered my granddaughter's daughter?" Calvin asks his middle son.
His voice is deep and powerful laced with authority. To someone that doesn't know him, that someone being Fitz, his voice can make the devil quiver in fear. He remembers Olivia saying that her grandfather is one of the sweetest people, but the first impression he has of him makes him wonder if she lied to him to keep him from panicking.
"Dad this is Fitz, Fitz this is my father Calvin."
Eli gestures between the two men as he introduces them to each other. Fitz is the first one to make a move, offering his hand for Calvin to shake.
"It's nice to meet you sir, Liv has told me so much about you."
Calvin looks at Fitz' hand suspiciously before taking a hold of it with his slightly larger one. Fitz subtly winces from the tight grip Calvin has on his hand. He hopes the older man didn't see him flinch.
He's relieved when Olivia's grandfather says, "You got a nice firm handshake."
Fitz doesn't know if his comment is intended to be a compliment or an insult, so he goes with his initial instinct. "Thank you sir."
Calvin doesn't respond, but continues to shake Fitz' hand, sizing him up. Fitz tries not to squirm under his intense and intimidating gaze. He sighs with relief when Calvin finally releases his grip on his hand.
"So Fitzgerald what do you do?"
"I use to be a cop for the NYPD but I recently quit…" Fitz is cut off before he can explain why he left the force.
"Why, you couldn't handle that line of work?" Calvin asks with a tad bit of condescending in his tone.
Fitz shakes his head and opens his mouth to respond when Eli's voice interrupts him, "Actually he just signed a 20 million dollar contract with the New York Giants." He says matter-of-factly, placing a proud fatherly hand on Fitz' shoulder.
"Wow! Congrats man!" Isaiah says. "That's awesome."
"Yeah and you're lucky you're family or else I would tell you to beat it." Isaac jokes.
"Ah that's right, you guys are die hard Eagles fans."
"Damn right we are." Isaac says with a nod.
"I must admit you being a pro football player is impressive. However I would like to know when you're going to make an honest woman out of my granddaughter and stop all that shacking up you're doing?"
"Well sir it's up to Olivia when she wants to get married. I already proposed to her because I would very much like to marry her. I love her. I'm in love with her. She already makes me so happy but the day she becomes my wife will be one of the happiest moments of my life, right up there with the birth of my kids of course." Fitz tells him truthfully.
"Well Fitzgerald, you seem like a good guy so I approve of you for my granddaughter but listen to me and listen well when I say this…" He pauses for effect. "If you hurt Olivia in any way I won't hesitate to kill you. Do you understand me?"
Fitz gulps and nods slowly, "Yes sir."
Calvin deep frown turns into a grin and his eyes brighten up from the dark cold threatening gaze that clouded them.
"Good." He says and pats Fitz on the shoulder. "Welcome to the family."
Fitz manages to let out a shaky, "Thanks."
"Now let's go have fun!" He announces to the rest of the family that are standing around in little groups talking, eating, and hydrating themselves.
They all cheer and head into the park for a day of family fun. Because Olivia is pregnant, she can't really get on any of the rides with Arielle and Fitz. She goes on the little train ride a couple of times that takes her and the other passengers around the entire park. She also gets on Black Diamond and goes into the Haunted House, which are both roller coasters, but they're kiddie ones. In the Haunted House, she and Arielle cover their eyes, while holding onto a bored Fitz for dear life. He thought the ride was supposed to be scary, but it has the opposite effect on him.
There are times when Fitz can't get on the rides either with Arielle because he's too big for them. Fortunately, Maya's petite frame allows her to get on some rides with her granddaughter. However, she's a wimp when it comes to heights, fast rides, and rides that spin; so Arielle ends up riding on most of the rides with Tiana, who is a few years older than her.
When it came to the bigger rides, mainly the roller coasters, Isaac and Isaiah ride on them with their wives, Sierra rides with her Uncle Eli, and Fitz and Jonathan ride together. Calvin, his wife Caroline, Maya, and Olivia watch the others ride. It's not safe for Calvin to go on rides because he is still recovering nor is it safe for either Olivia because of her current health condition. Caroline and Maya are just too afraid to go on all, but one of the many contraptions that make up the park.
After about two hours, the group heads back to their setup in the picnic table area to quench their hunger and thirst, and to cool off in the shade. Once they finish eating, they sit around talking while their food digested. An hour later, they agree on going swimming since it's still hotter than satin's breath outside. The males and females briefly split up to go into the locker/changing rooms assigned to their gender. They then all meet up in the pool.
"Daddy look!" Arielle yells excitedly when she and the other females exit out of the locker room. She's pointing at the image of Princesses Elsa and Ana and the snowman Olaf, on her bathing suit that he picked out for her.
"Wow Ari, I love your bathing suit. You look very pretty in it."
He bends down to plant a kiss on her cheek. He then stands back up to his full height and turns his attention to the love of his life.
"You okay?" Fitz asks, noticing how uncomfortable she looks.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Olivia lies.
The truth is she's self-conscious about her baby bump and the few stretch marks etched on her stomach that her hot pink bikini does nothing to hide. She feels like all eyes are on her. She's never felt like this before, not until her relatives mentioned her protruding belly while she was changing into her bathing suit.
Fitz knows she's lying and is well aware of what is bothering her. He uses his index finger and thumb to cup Olivia's chin and gently lifts it up until she is looking into his blue orbs.
"Hey, you are hands down the most beautiful woman here and I am so lucky to call you mine. I'm so lucky to call you the mother of my children and I'm also grateful that you gave me such a beautiful daughter. Thank you Olivia. Thank you for carrying my baby, our baby. We made our little one out of love and that's nothing to be ashamed or embarrassed about. You are beautiful, sexy, hot, gorgeous, breathtaking… I can keep going on but the point I'm trying to get at is don't be afraid to show off your pregnant body." He takes a short step back to give her a once over. "You are stunning Liv and I really mean that. If you want me to I will shout at the top my lungs how proud I am that you are pregnant with our second child. Just give the command and I'll do it."
Olivia giggles and wraps her arms around his waist. "That's okay babe. I feel a lot better though, thank you." She says, rising on her tip toes to place an appreciative kiss on his lips.
"Ew knock it off you two. We all know what kissing leads up to, no wonder you guys are having another baby so soon." Sierra says, effectively breaking up their light make out session.
"Hater." Olivia mumbles underneath her breath, but her cousin still hears.
"I heard that hoe."
"You were supposed to."
"You're lucky you're pregnant or I would've been pushed you in the pool."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Olivia waves her off, while rolling her eyes in the process.
Her attention somehow lands on a small group consisting of three girls, one Puerto Rican, one African American, and one Caucasian that are standing around staring in her direction. They don't seem to notice that she's staring at them because their attention is directed solely on Fitz. They are talking to each other and giggling as they stare at him like he's a piece of meat. Olivia looks over at him to see if he's looking back at them, which he is not. He is in the process of blowing up Arielle's blue Frozen floaties. Once he's done blowing each of them up, he walks over to the shallow end of the pool and dips them into the water. Then he slips them on both of Arielle's arms.
"You ladies ready to get wet?" Fitz asks them.
"Yeah!" Both Arielle and Olivia cheer.
Sierra is the only one to take his question in the wrong way.
"I'm sure Olivia already is after that kiss." She says with a sly smile.
Olivia just looks at her with a blank expression. "You're a pervert, you know that?"
Sierra shrugs, "Eh I've been called worse."
"I better get away from you before you corrupt my child." Olivia grabs Arielle's hand and walks away from her cousin to head over to the kiddie pool.
Fitz laughs and follows after his girls. He and Olivia hangout with Arielle at the kiddie pool for a while. Eventually it gets too hot for them to stay in that little area, so they leave her with Tiana to play with, while Olivia's parents and grandparents keep an eye on them. Olivia starts in the shallow end and makes her way deeper in the water, while Fitz does a backflip off of the highest diving board and straight into the deep end. When he resurfaces, he immediately swims over to Olivia, who's leaning on the side of the pool in 5 feet. He stands in front of her, towering a whole foot above her.
"You're so short." He comments at the huge gap in between their heights.
"No you're just freakishly tall." She fires back.
"Touché."
He squats down in the water and scoops Olivia into his arms.
"Babe, what are you doing?"
"I want to go a little deeper." He says as he treads deeper in the water with her in his arms.
"No Fitz, I don't have the energy to keep myself up." Olivia's protests do not faze Fitz one bit or deter him.
"Livvie, relax I'm going to hold you up." He reassures her.
Keeping his word, he holds her in 6 ½ feet. His body is pressed up against hers on the side of the pool. Fitz is consumed by Olivia, but a part of Olivia's attention is elsewhere. To be more specific, she is slightly distracted by the three girls from earlier, glaring at her. They are in the middle of the pool looking at her with pure jealousy. Fitz senses that she's not really paying him much attention due to the way she is not responding to the feather like kisses he's placing on her neck. He pulls his head away from the crook of her neck and eyes her.
"What's wrong?"
Without breaking the glaring contest she has going on with the trio, she responds to him.
"Don't look but those three girls over there have been staring at you and giving me dirty looks since we walked in here."
"What girls?"
He tries to follow her line of sight, but she prevents him from turning around.
"No, don't look."
"Okay so what do you want me to do Liv? If you want I'll go over there and tell them they need focus their attention somewhere else." Fitz suggests.
"No… just no. Don't go over there. I'll just try to ignore them."
"Liv, if they're making you feel uncomfortable then I'll go say something to them."
Olivia sighs, "Fitz, it's okay really. I didn't mean to make a big deal over it. I'm fine. I promise." She reassures him.
"Okay but if they continue giving you nasty looks, I'm going to go over there and say something." He tells her sternly, leaving no room for her to argue. A devious smirk appears on his face.
"What?"
"You want to have a little fun?" He asks.
Olivia eyes him skeptically, "What do you have in mind?"
"Let's piss those girls off a little more."
"How are w-"
Fitz cuts her off with his lips. He glides his tongue across her lips, encouraging them to part to allow him access. Olivia opens her eyes, looking over Fitz' broad shoulder at the three girls who are watching them with disgusted looks plastered on their faces. She smirks at their reactions and recloses her eyes to enjoy the passionate lip lock she's in with her man. Fitz slipping his hand into her bikini bottoms causes Olivia to grab ahold of his hand and break their kiss.
"Mmm babe stop, we're in public and there are little kids around." Olivia warns him.
"You're right, my bad. I don't know how you managed to do it but I seriously can't get enough of you. I'm addicted to you and I'm pretty sure there's no rehab to treat my addiction." Fitz pants with his forehead pressed against hers.
"And I'm addicted to you. I need at least a dose of Fitzgerald Grant III a day. That's why I let you knock me up again."
"Where do you think Ari was conceived?" He asks out of nowhere.
Olivia raises an amused brow at him, "Where did that come from.
He shrugs, "I don't know it just popped into my head. I'm pretty sure we conceived this baby in our bed but I wonder where we conceived Ari. I think in your bed because I spent a lot more time at your house than you did mine for obvious reasons. Where do you think I got you pregnant, in my room or yours, in the driver's seat and passenger seat of my car, in the backseat of my car, on the hood of my car, on the side of my car… damn we did it a lot in and around my car." Fitz chuckles.
"Shut up." Olivia shoves his chest, laughing along with him.
Fitz innocently holds his hands up, "Hey I'm just saying… now that I think about it, didn't we also have sex underneath the bleachers one time and the bathroom of McDonald's?"
"Yes we did. We were reckless and that's why we became teen parents."
"We dated for 3 years before you became pregnant and were 18 at the time so were we really considered teens?"
Olivia just looks at him for a several seconds, blinking a couple of times in that time span. "You're an idiot." She states.
Fitz laughs. "Bring that ass back here boi!" He calls out to her as he chases after her when she walks away from him in the water.
"No!" Olivia sasses and tries to move faster away from him.
Fitz can't help laughing at her for thinking her three month pregnant self can out run him and looking funny as she attempts to might he add. To be fair, he waits until there is a pretty big distance between them before starting his chase.
"Did you have fun at Knoebels today, Ari? Lift up your arms." Arielle complies as Olivia scrubs the areas underneath her arms with a warm washcloth soaked with soap and water.
"Yep! Can we go to Nobels again?" Arielle asks excitedly, while playing with her bath toys.
"Of course we can. We just have to find another day where everyone is free. Maybe next time we can bring Zachy."
"Yay, Zachy!"
Olivia laughs more at the fact that her daughter has so much energy left after the exciting yet exhausting day they had. She thought Arielle would be drained from all of the day's activities, but the little girl is proving to be just the opposite, which makes Olivia a little worried because she does not want to deal with the fight she is sure her daughter is going to put up when she tries to put her to bed.
"Okay little miss, it's time to get out so I can dry you off and put you to bed." Olivia tells her, holding her Barbie towel up, waiting to wrap her in it.
"But I'm not sleepy mommy." Arielle whines.
Olivia sighs because she knows this is the beginning of a tantrum she's too tired to deal with.
"Arielle, it's already passed your bedtime. You've been up long enough now it's time for bed."
"I don't wanna go to bed!" She whimpers as tears well up in her eyes.
"I don't care. You're going to bed now." Olivia says with finality, leaving no room for argument.
She picks up a towel wrapped Arielle and tries to carry her to her room, but she is making that extremely hard with all of the squirming and protesting she's doing.
"NOOOO! I DON'T WANT TO GO TO SLEEP!" She wails.
"Arielle Jecelyn Grant, knock it off right now!"
Olivia has to tighten her grip on Arielle to prevent her fussy daughter from slipping out of her arms. Her bedroom is literally a few feet away from the bathroom, but getting there is proving to be quite a struggle when her daughter is throwing a fit. The sound of Fitz' powerful voice startles the both of them.
"Enough!" He booms.
Olivia quickly turns with Arielle still in her arms to find Fitz standing in the hallway with his hands on his hips. His lips are tight, set in a thin line and he has a serious face. For the first time in her life, Arielle is scared of her daddy as he looks at her with an unhappy look on his face.
He was out walking Squishy, while Olivia was bathing Arielle. His daughter's loud cries were the first thing he heard when he got back. He was mad at whomever or whatever was the reason why she was crying at first. Then, he heard Olivia telling her it was bedtime and realized what the problem was.
He slowly walks over to them and takes his daughter from Olivia's arms. He only takes her because all of the wriggling she was doing was definitely not good for the baby. For a second Olivia thinks Fitz is upset with her, but he assures her she's done nothing wrong by what he does next. He sets Arielle on her own feet and squats down until he's eye level with her.
"Your mother said it's time for bed and you will do what she says." He says firmly through gritted teeth "You're going to first apologize to your mother for misbehaving and then we are going to go into your room and put your pajamas on. After that you are going to bed, do you understand me?"
Arielle drops her head in embarrassment, but nods. Fitz stands back up and steps aside, so she can do the first thing he told her to.
"I'm sorry mommy." Her voice is low and shaky as tears stream down her face.
"You're sorry for what?" Olivia questions with her arms folded over chest.
"For being bad."
"Good. I accept your apology. Now go with daddy so you can get ready for bed."
Fitz grabs Arielle's hand and escorts her to her room. In there, he finishes drying her off, moisturizes her skin, and helps her put on her pajamas. Still upset that her daddy yelled her, Arielle climbs into her bed and throws the blanket over her head without saying anything to him. He knows she's sad that he raised his voice at her, but he's mad that she acted the way she did which made him react the way he did. Even though she's ignoring him at the moment, he still leans down and kisses what he assumes is her head and whispers "goodnight" to her.
"You okay?" Fitz asks Olivia when he walks into their bedroom.
"Yeah, I'm not really surprised with her outburst. I knew it was coming. She had so much energy left. I knew she wasn't going to let me put her down without a fight. I think I'm more shocked by the way you disciplined her." Olivia admits.
Fitz walks over to their bed where she's sitting with her back against the headboard. He sits down beside her and takes both of her hands in his.
"I meant what I said about us being a team, Liv. You and I are a team and as teammates we need to equally do our fair share which means I need to start doing some of the disciplining instead of letting you do it all. Arielle is my baby girl and I love her but I will not tolerate that kind of behavior. She knows better. Plus you and the baby could've gotten hurt. I don't think it's a good idea for you to carry her anymore especially since she doesn't know about the baby."
"Okay."
Fitz is surprised by how easily she agrees with him. Usually they go back and forth until they finally come to an agreement.
"Okay?"
"Okay. We have a lot going on in our lives right now. The last thing we need is to keep disagreeing on everything so okay."
"I want you to relax and let me do the parenting for once okay. You've already dealt with so much in these last few months. You need a break."
"Awe babe thank you for being so caring but parenting isn't something I can take a break from. Like you said we're a team."
Fitz smiles softly at her, "Why are you always right?" He asks kissing her temple.
"Because I have a vagina." Her response makes Fitz throw his back and let out a hearty laugh.
"You're something else you know that?"
"Oh I'm very aware I am and that's why you love me so much." She says matter-of-factly, leaning in to press a few short kisses to his lips.
"That. Is. Very. True." He says in between each kiss.
Fitz catches Squishy's teetering silhouette in the corner of his eye.
"Babe look." He whispers to Olivia and points to the end of the bed where the pug is sitting on his hind legs, nodding in and out of consciousness.
Olivia grabs her phone and opens her camera, sliding it in video mode. As soon as she hits record, Squishy finally submits to sleep and the weight of his head dropping forward causes him to fall off the edge of the bed and onto the floor with a loud thud. He is immediately startled out of his sleep induced haze. He starts crying and runs over to Olivia's side of the bed for her to pick him up, which she does after putting her phone down.
"Awe you're okay Squish Squish. You just took a little tumble off the bed." She coos gently rubbing his face to soothe him.
"A little tumble? He busted his ass." Fitz manages to say through his laughter.
Olivia punches him in the arm, which only causes him to laugh harder. "Fitz, stop laughing. It wasn't funny." She demands in a firm tone, but even she fails at holding back her own laughter. As hard as she tries, she eventually loses her resolve and joins in with Fitz' laughter at Squishy's expense.
"My stomach hurts from laughing so hard." Fitz says breathlessly, clutching his stomach. "Thanks Squishers for that laugh. God, I love this dog." He scratches the top of Squishy's head.
Olivia tries to set Squishy on the bed, but he clings to her, refusing to leave her embrace.
"We are terrible dog owners." She states.
"No we're not, we've had him for about 6 months and he's still alive and well. I think we're doing okay for never owning a pet before." Olivia looks at him with a sheepish look on her face. "What?"
"My uncle actually bought me two hamsters for my fourteenth birthday. I had them for two weeks but I forgot to feed them and they ended up in the big hamster wheel in the sky." She admits.
"Wow. You are a sucky pet owner." Fitz states, earning him a pillow to his face. "I love you."
Olivia rolls her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, yeah."
Fitz squeezes her cheeks in between his hand and turns her face towards his. "No I'm serious. I love you Livvie."
"I love you too Fitz."
"Mmm I'll never get tired of hearing you say that."
"And I'll never get tired of saying it."