*** Here's chapter 14. Sorry for the confusion. I had accidently posted the latest chapter for Heartbreakingly Tied to You in this story. Still recovering shall be my excuse. Enjoy the chapter! ***

Olivia admittedly was grateful for the distraction that came with having both Gerry and Karen with her. Even in the months that she and Fitz were somewhat at war she had remained in contact with the Grant children. Though it was a little harder to see them during those months, they were in some form of contact every couple of days. She had missed physically being with them. A feeling that seemed mutual as Karen hadn't released her arm from where she had looped hers through the moment they left the White House. Olivia was more than a little worried that they had just antagonized Mellie and hoped it didn't trigger a reaction that came with greater consequences. As much as Olivia wanted to switch the TV on and scroll and skim through online news she wanted to limit the exposure Karen and Gerry had to it for as long as she could. Instead she settled for the play by play she received from Abby as she filtered through the information that she knew would be important to Olivia. They were all going to take a hit, her most of all and though she had made peace with that her gladiators were bound and determined to ensure that her reputation isn't completely tarnished. They started releasing photos that the private investigator that Mellie hired to follow them in the attempt to maintain their control of the narrative. They released the photos with the children that captured their relationship. They used the photos that encapsulated the purity of her connection with1 Fitz. They were careful enough that the most controversial photo taken of them was of she and Fitz standing in front of each other, his hand cupping her cheek as he looked at her with such intense love that it made one feel as though they were intruding on a private moment.

"What the hell was that? I signed the damn papers."Mellie said seething with anger.

"That was me making sure that you have nothing else to hold over me. More than that, I wanted all my cards on the table. To win this election on my merits of being a good president alone and nothing else. Not by playing the role of a loving husband or hiding a relationship with someone I still care deeply about as though it meant nothing. To not give you an opportunity to paint her as some home wrecking mistress who came after your husband. We both know that was never the case. I meant what I said Mel. I am happy to not air your dirty laundry out to the world, and yes mainly to protect our children, our daughter and I don't care about genetics Mel that beautiful girl is my daughter and no paternity test telling me otherwise will ever make her anything less than that. I just don't trust you to have enough courtesy for me to spare Liv or even Karen."

"How dare you!"

"Don't pretend for one moment that you didn't have that in your back pocket Mel. You forget I know you. You would throw your own child in front of a moving train to get your end game. You were the one willing to conceive a child to ensure I stayed in office."

"And you weren't?" She scoffed in disbelief.

"I'm not proud of being too weak to just walk away then and not allow you and Liv to concoct such a plan but I don't and have never for one second regretted the conception of Teddy. He, Gerry and Karen are the only things that has kept me going this past year and a half. I would have drowned without them and they will always be the most important in my life."

Olivia, Karen and Gerry had a huge box of Pizza between them. Huck was checking the perimeters with Jack. They were in a secure location with no way to trace it back to her. When she had thought of disappearing after Fitz had told her not to wait for him, that she was merely his mistress it was the perfect place to hide out till she could find a more permanent location to be as far away from him as possible.

"Karen, sweetheart your phone is vibrating on the table." Karen jumped to her feet.

"It's probably Dad."

"I'm going to check in with the office while you guys talk to your Dad. I'll be right back okay." Liv said standing up. Both kids nodded understanding, well aware she was trying to limit their media exposure despite how desperately she wanted to know how bad it was.

"Hey Daddy, you okay?"

"Yeah princess I'm okay. How about you and Ger? Liv?"

"We're good. We've just been watching Dvd's and eating pizza."

"Sounds like fun." He said a little envious.

"How's Mom?"

"She's Mom. She left for Santa Barbara about half an hour ago."

Olivia closed the office door behind her and immediately switched the TV on wanting to determine for herself how bad it was while dialing Harrison's number.

"How bad is it at the office?" She asked.

"Still camped out. They don't look like they're moving any time in the near future. Lindsay just got back from the White House. The first lady is en route to Santa Barbara. Divorce paper signed and she left with lots of luggage. The press managed to catch her leaving but no theatrics. It looks like she won't be back."

"And Teddy?"

"She didn't even ask where he was."

"Part of the divorce clause was he got full and sole custody of all three kids." Olivia pointed out wanting to give Mellie the benefit of the doubt but they both knew better.

"I'm going to head back."

"Are you sure?" He asked worriedly.

"Yeah, I just wanted the storm of Mellie to pass before exposing the kids to that but I had no intention of hiding. I did the wrong thing. I've admitted to it already. I take responsibility so yeah, no hiding. I still have a job to do, and an election to win."

"You can wait till the morning."

"No the kids should be with him. They need him and he needs them. Besides, the longer I hide out the longer they'll be camped out outside our office and my apartment building. The sooner they see me go on with my day to day life the sooner we can get back to normal."

Uninamously the three of them hopped back into her SUV and headed back to the White House. Olivia drove while Huck sat at the front with the two kids at the back with Jack. After a quick detour, they were back at the White House gates an hour and a half later. Olivia tried her best to not be daunted by the crowd of reporters all of a sudden taking interest in her as the subject. She smiled politely and did not utter a word as she drove past them. As they pulled up at the side entrance of the house, she got out to say goodbye to the kids. Cyrus had brought Fitz out to meet his kids.

"I didn't expect you guys to be home today." He said surprised hugging his two older kids hello.

"The consensus was you should all be together." Liv said as she went to un buckle Teddy from his car seat. Teddy gurgled happily reaching for her.

"Hi sweetie you're home." She said affectionately lifting him out and planting a kiss on his forehead before handing him to Fitz.

"James said he's recently eaten and we just had pizza so knowing Gerry's stomach he'll need to be re-fed too." Liv teased kissing his cheek.

"Nice Liv," Gerry feigned insult draping an arm over her shoulder.

"You're not staying for at least a bit?" Fitz asked disappointed having not had proper debrief with her yet. Olivia shook her head.

"Too soon, besides you need this time together. We can talk later." Her eyes averted to the countless reporters parked outside the White House with their zoom lenses and he got what she was trying to say.

"Well thanks for looking out for and after them."

"Of course. Bye kiddles. Call if you guys need anything." After hugging them all goodbye she threw the keys to Huck exhaustedly and rode shotgun on the way home. As expected they were camped outside her apartment building too. When they drove into the building's private car park Harrison was already waiting for them.

"Let me guess you're all staying the night?"Harrison grinned refusing to agree or disagree.

"Thank you," she said appreciating their solidarity. Not entirely ready to be alone with her thoughts fo feel the entire gravity of the days events.

They were all gathered in her living room in pajamas as they watched the news. Flicking from channel to channel trying to find the worst attack yet so thay they could prepare a counter attack. Olivia looked up at Lindsay and smiled as she topped up her wine glass. So far there was nothing too vicious but they all knew it was early days yet. She knew that a part of her will always be waiting for the other shoe to drop as she wondered whether Mellie would snap one day and reveal the one secret that would ruin their whole family. Fitz and Karen most of all.

"Liv your phone." Abby said drawing her out of her trance. Olivia looked up sheepishly not realising she had zoned out.

"Thanks," Liv got up from the floor and picked up,

"Hey,"

"Hey Liv,"

"How're the troops holding up?"

"They're a resilient bunch. Mellie hasn't even called to check on them. She didnt even ask about Teddy before she packed her bags and left." He said somewhat bitterly.

"She's probably just hurt. They did jump on board to the support and in defense of the mistress over her who gave birth to them." She reasoned gently.

"You are not my mistress." He said evenly hearing nothing but that word he hated so much.

"Anymore," she replied softly.

"Liv," he knew though the backlash could have been a lot worse, there was no avoiding the labels and that word he loathed had been thrown around enough for her to not just be able to gloss over it.

"I spoke to Cy earlier, your numbers took a dip but they're surprisingly remaining steady." She said diverting the topic from a conversation she didn't necessarily want to have with him again.

"You can still win. Did Gerry and Karen get a chance to talk to you about school?" She asked knowing it was on top of their list to talk to him about.

"Yeah they don't want to go back to boarding school. They want to stay in DC to be here with Teddy and I. It's what I've always wanted but I don't want them to give up their somewhat peaceful existence because they're worried about leaving me alone with

Teddy or they think it'll help with re-election."

"Don't overthink it Fitz. They love you. They just want to be with you. They also want to be a part of Teddy's life outside the sporadic weekend visits. You all need each other. You need the time to just be a family. It's a big change."

"I know. I'd love to have then home permanently."

"Good, they just want to come home. I've got a couple of schools I've had a quick look into. One in particular has a great creative program for Gerry and science curricular that will challenge Karen. Karen has a brochure. She's the one who suggested it if you want to have a look."

"St Michael's, yeah she gave it to me to consider."

"She comes prepared."

"That she does. Everyone at yours?" He guessed hearing them when she first answered the phone.

"Yep, it's all about solidarity here at OPA. They were all here waiting when Huck and I got back. Abby cooked an amazing dinner and dessert for us. We're all currently in our pj's in my living room suffering from a food coma. It's not a pretty sight."

"I bet. Hey Liv,"

"Hmmmm,"

"Thank you for what you said earlier."

"So not necesary but you're welcome. I told you, we're in this together till the end. Till you've been elected."

"And after?" He asked.

"Sure, though I am thinking of retiring to Hawaii after re-election, you can still call me though." She joked. His silence told her he wasn't convinced she qas kidding.

"Relax Fitz. Seriously. Today was a win day. Enjoy it. There'll be new battles tomorrow."

"Why does it feel like you're going to bolt the moment you get me re-elected?"

"Because you're unnecessarily paranoid. Let's get through the next couple of days ok. No need to think so far ahead." She said trying to reassure him.

"I'm sorry Liv," he apologised. They both knew it was a multi faceted apology. For how he treated her after finding out about Defiance. For calling her a mistress. For what happened in the closet. For what they lost. For all of it.

"I know Fitz. I told you, we have a standing blanket moratorium on apologies. The next few weeks are going to be hard I'm not denying that, and I probably will need some down time but that just comes with everything Fitz. It's a day by day thing. You can't constantly worry about me like I'm going to shatter because I got called a mistress. It's not the first and it won't be the last. It is what it is. I'm not unprepared. I mean seriously, Defiance or not this is a price that would have come due. At least this way it's on our terms."

"I feel like I failed you." Fitz said regretfully.

"And I failed you, but I meant what I said earlier Fitz. I have regrets but having loved you isn't one of them. Despite how hard it got, or how hurt I felt, I could never fully conceive the notion of not loving you at all." Fitz leaned back on his chair and sighed deepy.

"So what's the plan tomorrow?" He asked sounding exhausted all of a sudden,

"Back to business as usual." She answered nonchalant.

"We have a couple of cases that are open that I'll let the guys take lead with till we get a better picture of the hit OPA will take. In the meantime I can close up paperwork and work with Cyrus on polling and other strategies over the phone. There's plenty to do."

"Why over the phone? Just come over. It's public knowledge that you're working my campaign for re-election."

"Don't blow a gasket but I was thinking that my being there so early in the game would reflect poorly on you." Olivia counted and on three as predicted,

"Thats ridiculous Olivia. You've been running my campaign the last six months and visibly so I'm not hiding you now because you think it'll damage ny reputation. Having a relationship outside my marriage already did that. You're not some dirty little secret. You never have been. After everything. Liv, I loved you then and I love you now and I presume for the rest of my days. Don't take the fall by making it seem like you are an error of judgement on my part. We're in this together, win or lose." Liv sighed,

"Fitz,"

"No Liv,"

"Okay okay. I'll see what's going on in the office and I'll head on over."

"Promise me Liv,"

"Fitzgerald,"

"Promise me Liv. It's important."

"I promise."

"Good, I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you then. Get some sleep."

"You too Livi."

Olivia let out a frustrated groan throwing her phone on the table while crossing her arms defiantly. Abby entered the kitchen and chuckled,

"Let me guess POTUS didn't quite go for your idea of not being so visible in the White House."

"Not quite no."

"Of course not Liv. That man loves you. No matter what's happened that's made you both question the decision you made to be together despite the potential consequences, what hasn't changed is that you love each other. For the same reason why you are so willing to throw yourself in front of a moving truck to save his presidency is the very same reason why he won't let you. Letting you do that diminishes what you had and you and I both know that you have always been more than an affair to him. You were and I suspect will forever be the love of his life. Anyone who has eyes saw that in the interview today. That's why he isn't getting flogged as anyone under the same circumstance would be without question."

"Really Abby, you're Team POTUS?" Olivia asked dryly with an eyeroll. Abby grinned knowing that her point had successfully been made.

"He's cute. What can I say, he's tall, he's handsome and he has killer eyes."

"Okay this conversation just got weird. Let's quit while we're ahead."

"Done. I'm here for snacks."

"Seriously?" Olivia scoffed in disbelief,

"What we've digested." Olivia laughed and opened her pantry door and started pulling out variety of choices.

"Hello motherload!" Abby said excitedly while Liv shook her head in pure amusement.