Chapter 21
"First Lady Melody Grant was finally seen today after the search for her husband was called off due to being "under suspicion" by Federal authorities late last night. Where she was headed was undisclosed and has been hidden from public viewing. Details are sketchy but it has been rumored that she is possibly going to identify the body of President Grant. However, this rumor has not been confirmed or denied by Federal authorities and we will continue to update you with any breaking news coverage should detail arise. In other news…" Abby shut the television off in Olivia's office and turned around to Harrison, Quinn and Huck.
"It looks like she's on her way here." Abby said in a sigh.
"Good. I'm ready to put all of this behind us so Olivia can return." Quinn said to no one in particular before she left to get her things ready for the meeting with Mrs. Grant.
"I've got Cyrus Beene's confession queued up and ready for play should we need it. Anything else we need?" Huck asked while waiting for instructions.
Harrison replied, "That's good for now Huck. I don't think we'll need much more than that to get the truth out of her. Do you have a way to contact Olivia to let her know things are over? Whenever they become over, that is."
"Yeah, but I'll need a few days to get the message to her. You know, to find her and then to get her back here."
"So you don't really know where she is but just a general location? If so, could we all go and get her?" Quinn asked with hope.
"No. It's not that simple. It's dangerous and it's not a guarantee that she is still there. So I'd rather you stay here," Huck answered quite firmly.
All nodded their acceptance and left Olivia's office. Abby lingered by the door a little longer, fighting off tears of missing her best friend and more importantly, sister-in-law.
Five years ago, Harrison and Abby married under their favorite elm in Constitution Gardens. As a present for her husband, she located his birth family to invite them to the wedding. When she looked at the information to know who to locate, she saw the name of his mother, Christine Pope (now Urschel, second marriage). At first, she thought nothing of it but as she continued to read about his birth family, she saw a familiar pattern: Father's name: Rowan Pope; Oldest sibling: Carl Edward Pope, brother; next oldest sibling: Olivia Carolyn Pope, sister; next to the last sibling: Marilynn Catherine Pope (now Hurst, marriage) and Harrison Carter Pope (now Wright, adoption). Harrison Carter Pope (now Wright, adoption)! He said he was adopted and didn't know his birth family but for him to be connected to Olivia would blow him out of the water in more ways than one.
That night, as they were on their honeymoon handing each other presents, Harrison brought something to Abby's attention.
"Babe, I thought we were only inviting seventy-five people to the wedding."
Abby answered him while she prepared to give Harrison her last surprise. She hoped her feigned interest would help lend itself to the surprise
"Yeah, hon. Everyone that RSVP'd showed and that was seventy-five people. Is everything ok?"
"Yes. I was just wondering about a couple of people who were there that I had a feeling I knew but wasn't sure."
"Like who? Anyone in particular?" Abby questioned, starting to feel excited.
"I don't know but they looked familiar and even Olivia somewhat felt the same way when I asked her. Oh well. Perhaps they're wedding crashers looking for some great wedding cake. Speaking of which, do you have any more cake around? Ann's Bakery really hooked us up," Harrison began to laugh.
Abby joined him in laughter before reaching around him with the packet containing the information of his birth family in hand to surprise him. Abby, as she fought back tears, simply whispered, "Surprise."
Harrison looked down at the packet. "What's this?" He said as he lifted his eyes to meet hers. He was quite taken aback by the tears in Abby's eyes as he held the packet in his hands.
"Abby? Are you ok? These aren't divorce papers already, is it?" Harrison tried to lighten the mood but still asked the questions with deep concern. Only when she nodded yes did he begin to open the packet.
First thing that reached his eyes was State of Illinois. State of Illinois? I've never been to Illinois. Harrison eyes told the story as they continue to scan the page. "Rowan Pope. Christine Pope (now Urschel, second marriage). Carl Pope, brother. O…Olivia Carolyn Pope, sister…" Harrison's voice trailed off as he read the rest of the list and his eyes widen as he read his name at the last of the list. "I'm the last sibling? Olivia's my…my…my sister? So that's why she saved me! She must have known all along! And those other people must have been my…family. My real family was in attendance at our wedding? My real family was at our wedding! YOU KNEW ALL ALONG!"
Harrison in his happiness rushed over and picked up Abby to twirl her around before kissing her gently on the lips. "Have I told you today how much I love you? If not, I love you, now and always," Harrison said with tears in his eyes. "No one has even tried to do this for me and to know you've done this for me shows me you have truly accepted all of me and love me for whom I am: an adopted, ex-con who works for his sister."
They laughed at the realization of his last statement. "So, are you going to talk to Olivia about this?" Abby asked as they made their way over to the bed to relax.
"I could but I wouldn't know how to approach her with it. Honestly, I don't know if that would change us, for her to know I know about our relationship as brother and sister. It's a little frightening to know how that would change the office too. Would everyone perceive me as someone who has the inside track on everything Olivia does? The more I think about it, the more I think we should keep this to ourselves for now. In the end, it may be better to let things come as they may and not act any differently unless the situation dictate otherwise."
It has been five years and it still seems that no conversation between Harrison and Olivia about their real relationship as brother and sister has occurred. Abby often wondered if they knew that each other had known about it but have just chosen to keep it a secret or if they have had a conversation about it but kept it between them. Either way, Abby knew that Olivia and Harrison's relationship intensified why Harrison felt devoted and loyal to Olivia Pope & Associates and it is why Harrison worked tirelessly to get Olivia back. Abby noticed that every inch and crack that might have information about Olivia's whereabouts was scoured by Harrison to no avail. She even noticed the slight anger and hurt that came across his face when Huck said that it would be safer if no one joined him to bring back Olivia when it was time. Abby wondered who else caught it and if they knew the reason behind it. He wanted to be there for Olivia, not as a colleague as most would think, but as her brother. As her little brother who needs to know his sister is alive and well. He needed to know that for his own sake, for his own well-being.
Olivia sat on the plane as it was waiting to taxi. She prayed for her safe travels and for Fitz like she usually did. However, this prayer contained something extra: prayer for the family she knows – Olivia Pope & Associates, especially her brother Harrison. She chided herself for not telling him the truth about their relationship and vowed that she would meet with him about it when the coast was clear enough for her to return to the United States. She immediately swallowed that lump of fear that formed when she thought about going back home – back to Washington D.C. She wondered if she could do it, knowing that she might have to leave Fitz behind in another country should he not be allowed to return. Could she really give up her life in D.C. to make a new one with Fitz elsewhere? It just seemed too…too…wrong. Perhaps it was her notion of being needed at the office that made her feel that being anywhere else, no matter the person with whom she may be at the time, was wrong. She loved that she was needed and was called upon to fix issues that were as diverse as the clients who needed her. To give that up, especially for love, seemed in one part too farfetched and the other part all too real. She planned on retiring when she passed, like her father told her many years ago. However, she seemed to have to plan on an early retirement. Olivia was thankful she met her financial advisor, Jordan Keltner, while in college and that he agreed to be her business financial advisor. She made it a point to contact him as soon as possible about what he feels would be the best way to go: early retirement after selling it or pass it down to Harrison. She quietly pondered that thought until she fell asleep as she continued her sixteen hours-long flight to her destination.
Harrison has always been considered a strong person. Even from his days growing up in Detroit, he was the strong, fast-talker of the neighborhood. Harrison knew he had to be – not for himself but for the lady he considered his grandma, Hattie Wright. Hattie Louise Wright loved Harrison upon first sight. When he was two years old, Hattie, then a social worker for the Michigan Department of Children's Services was told to pick up four brothers and sisters from the airport. As she was on her way with her partner, James, she reviewed the case out loud.
"Rowan and Christine Pope, thirty-three and twenty-nine respectively, decides to give up their four children, ages ten, seven, four and two, because Mr. Pope, who is in the military by the way, disappears behind enemy lines and Mrs. Pope couldn't handle it, although he returned later that year unharmed. But get this, he came back to get a divorce. Who does that? Back in my day, men in the service came back home to be with their families and many of them got out because of family. This guy gives up every member for the service. Maybe he likes that blood, guts and glory type stuff," Hattie said with a laugh.
James laughed with her as they pulled into a parking space closest to the terminal.
"Maybe he knew he wasn't coming back, Hattie. Some men would rather give up their whole family while they're living so they know the family's in good hands when they die." James suggested.
Hattie shrugged, "Maybe so James. Maybe so; but it still doesn't sit right with me that they have four children just to abandon them altogether. Oh well, let's go get them." Hattie and James left the van, picked up a ticket for parking and walked into the terminal to wait at the designated location.
From the first time she laid eyes on him, Hattie knew he belonged with her. Sure a woman in her fifty's with neither children nor present interest in a man should have any business wanting a knock-kneed, thumb-sucking two-year old, but Hattie couldn't help herself. Although she placed them with a foster mother, she had learned early on that the children would be split up when they are adopted. So as soon as they were officially up for adoption, she put in her request for Harrison Carter Pope. Because she was the lead case worker for the department, she was able to review all applicants in connection with the Pope children. Carl, Olivia and Marilynn eventually went on to be reunited with their mother but Hattie had moved to get Harrison so quick that by the time Christine had put in a petition to regain her children, Harrison had not only became the official child of Hattie Wright but the statute of limitations had elapsed on anyone being able to petition for his return to the birth family. As a matter of fact, Christine Pope had missed it by one day. However, after she spoke with Hattie about having contact with Harrison, Hattie agreed to send her pictures periodically and occasionally take him to places where she could see him and possibly interact with him in a public setting. When he was about sixteen, Hattie asked Christine to write a letter to Harrison explaining why he was given up for adoption. It was one of the hardest letters she had ever written and she prayed that no matter what, he would respect her decision and love her despite it all. Hattie gave Harrison the letter on his eighteenth birthday and it was then that Harrison decided to cut ties with the Pope family. He understood but now that Hattie was older, he did not see a reason to leave her. Instead, he decided to work at a local car lot while he attended the local community college for studies. Unfortunately, three weeks before his graduation, he was arresting with his boss for tax evasion. He had no clue that his boss fixed the books so that much of his money could not be found. All he knew is that he was paid handsomely for his salesmanship and because he was paying off his school, he was thankful for it.
Harrison decided not to call Hattie about this circumstance but rather chose to ask for a public defender. Elliot Panetera was the public defender at the time and as he was getting ready to meet with Harrison, he received a call. As soon as the call was over, Mr. Panetera came into the room to meet with Harrison.
"Mr. Wright, I'm Elliot Panetera, the public defender. I would have been defending you in this case but I just received a phone call to tell me that I am no longer on the case and that you have one of the best attorneys in country to defend you. An Olivia Pope is on her way and when I tell you she's great, I mean whatever I was going to do on the case will be ten times better if she handles it. You are in the best hands possible. However, it has been a pleasure to meet you."
He shook Harrison's hand, walked to the door, knocked twice and the door immediately open. After shaking Mr. Panetera's hand, she entered – Olivia Pope herself. She looked and felt familiar but he could not place her face in his memory. She's probably an old soul. That's probably why I feel like I know her. Harrison felt comfortable with that thought and never thought more about it.
That was the first time Harrison laid his eyes on Olivia Pope and although there has never been a time he felt sexual feelings towards her, he felt that he needed her in his life for the rest of his or her life. Abby's present to him on his wedding night was the missing piece he needed to understand the how and why Olivia was important to him and he was grateful to her for choosing him to be a gladiator. He felt lost without his job and it was also the way he met Abby, the love of his life. So Olivia being absent from the office for so long meant more than just an employer gone; it meant a puzzle piece was missing from his life and he needed to fix it. He needed to find his sister.
Olivia could not help but to think over her past year while she listened to the in-flight movie, United 93, playing in her ears. She has been reunited twice with the love of her life, she has counseled a couple of high profile clients which allowed her to be quite successful financially by tripling the cost of her business and she has a nephew on the way, whether or not Harrison and Abby knew about her being Harrison's sister. A nephew. Abby's having a little boy and most likely Harrison would want to name him after himself. Olivia chuckled at that thought. Suddenly, her chuckles turned to sadness as she thought about never meeting her nephew. Could she stomach not knowing him at all? Her thoughts turned to her other siblings as well. She remembered how she felt seeing her mother, Christine, coo and awe over Carl's firstborn child. Kailee Lei was born in Hawaii as Carl was stationed at Pearl Harbor. She remembered everyone was holding the precious newborn as she lied quietly in their arms while staring into the holder's face while they offered advice on how to raise her. That was ten years and seven nieces and nephews ago. Only if Mom knew Abby was pregnant with her eighth grandchild, she'd flip with happiness! Olivia quickly pulled out her laptop, patiently waited while the desktop loaded, opened up a word document and began to type a letter to Harrison.
Dear Harrison,
I debated myself on writing this letter. Not just this time but many, many times before. I often wondered if you knew and if you did know how you felt about it. Then I thought that you couldn't have known because you would have said something by now. So in lieu of my circumstances, I regretfully must tell you in this manner that we are siblings. You are the youngest of four children and our parents' names are Rowan and Christine. I'm not sure if you remember or not, but the people you did not recognize at your wedding were your family. That's why I was crying. I've known who you were all of your life. I knew about Ms. Hattie raising you as her own. You are the reason I became an attorney. I wanted my little brother back and now that I have you, I'm not…I'm not even sure if you'd be ok with knowing this information.
Truth is, I'm terrified to think that you may not want to be kin to me…to us. That you may harbor ill-will against me or against our parents for allowing us to be broken up; this is something I struggled with until Mom came and got us. But in this letter, I want to tell you our story – the Pope family story. I saw and heard how it all happened and I want to share it with you. I'll make it short and sweet. Not because I don't want to bore you but because it's not much to tell and because it's almost dinnertime.
Here it is: Dad was in the military. He was up for a promotion and also a very top secret mission. He chose the mission over the promotionbecause he thought it would be easier financially for us in the long run. It was a Thursday afternoon. Dad came home unexpectedly and Mom was in the kitchen preparing to make dinner. He had the saddest face as he walked in the door. Because I was in the kitchen doing my homework, Mom told me to get you out of the swing and leave the room while she and dad talked. I did just that but you needed a cup of milk. So as I was going back to the kitchen to get it, I heard Dad ask Mom for a divorce. He said he needed it because he could not go into the program with a family. He was already too far into it to turn around unharmed so the best thing would be to divorce his family and continue on in the program. Mom was crying hysterically and I was too shocked at seeing Mom cry to even move. No one knew I was in the room anyway. I heard Mom ask why he didn't learn more about the program before signing up for it and he said that they chose him instead. That he was up for promotion but then they offered him the top secret mission and with him looking at a career that would skyrocket if he took it, it was the most logical decision to make – even at the cost of losing his family. Dad reached in his pocket and pulled out a bunch of papers that were ready for her signature. Mom's eyes opened wide when she saw he had already signed and dated them. I remember her asking Dad if it was just that easy getting rid of all of us and he said that it was the hardest thing in life he had to do. Dad said that it was for the best and it's the best way of us not hurting so bad about the breakup. He'd rather for us to hate him for divorcing her and leave us than for us to continue to love him although he gave us up for a job. Mom didn't know what to do, so she decided to give us all up until she could get herself together and employed. We were all in the system for about a year before she got us; however, Ms. Hattie got you as soon as our names hit the system for eligibility. We did not know this until Mom told us. She worked tirelessly to give us what we needed but I vowed to her that I would find you. When I did, I learned that you were arrested for conspiracy to tax evasion. That's why I worked to get on your case. I told you it was pro bono but I hid that it was because you are my sibling; however, I couldn't tell you then. I don't know if I ever would have told you to be honest.
Well, it seems this letter is longer than I expected. I welcome any questions you may have as soon as we get everything sorted.
Take care until we meet again.
Your sister,
Olivia
Olivia quickly closed her laptop after saving her letter and wiped the tears from her eyes just in time for the flight attendant to hand her the tray of food she requested earlier. She was not hungry, not even in the slightest. Her stomach was still in knots for having gone rogue from the Witness Protection program. She was now on her own with only all that she had with her. She was thankful Marvin convinced her to go back to the Chambers residence and pack the rest of her things along with some money she had stashed there that was intended for rent. Knowing that Fitz made his flight would be the only way her stomach returned to normal. She prayed another silent prayer that he could make it and that neither the resort nor Billy would keep him from making his flight. As she opened her eyes to look out into the darkness outside, a tear escaped her eyes.
"Geez, it seems that I'm always crying nowadays. Will I ever stop or is this how it's going to be from now on?" Olivia questioned herself out loud but quiet enough that if someone were to sit next to her, they would have a hard time hearing clearly. That's what she loved about first class on International flights. The space between the seats left enough room so that the seats could recline for sleep, so there was no one right next to her in her space, stealing all of her air or coughing, sneezing or spitting on her as she had experienced in coach.
Just then, a couple of flight attendants came through the curtain to check on everyone in first class. Before they began to be of assistance to the passengers, they finished their conversation and Olivia had the privilege of overhearing them.
"If you take off the glasses and change the hair color, he could totally pass for the President of the United States."
"Rebecca, I do not see it. Not even in the least. He doesn't even look like he could manage himself, let alone a country. For goodness sake, we were almost late taking off because of him. Anyway, he could not be the President of the United States. It's finally a woman, thank God!"
"Loren, I'm telling you, I know it's him. He has a certain gleam in his eye, a determined gleam. Like where he's going is where he needs to be. I've seen that look before. I don't remember where but I have and I'm telling you, it's him!"
Olivia couldn't take it anymore and interjected herself into their semi-passionate conversation, "I'm sorry. Did you say someone looked like the President of the United States is on this plane?"
The ladies looked at her incredulously and scrambled to find a way to deter Olivia's question.
"Ma'am, Loren thought she saw someone who looked like him but we are quite sure he is not. With that being said, how was your meal?"
Rebecca tried to shift the conversation back to Olivia as it always should have been according to the company's policy.
Olivia realized this and she decided to make them a deal, "Ladies, I can tell you whether or not he is the President or not. I used to work with his administration and can tell you first hand if he is who you think he may be or not. What do you say? And before you say no, I can tell you that you have violated the company's policy about not revealing who is on the call list for this flight. Just implying that someone with such a high position in the world may be on this flight is cause for suspension as your company takes that violation seriously. So, who would be kind enough to give me a seat number so that I may look at this gentleman and let you know if your findings are accurate?"
The ladies looked at each other and before Rebecca could say another word, Loren said, "Row twenty, seat letter E."
"How close is it to the restrooms? I do have to go and it would be nothing for someone to think that the bathroom up here may be occupied by someone else," Olivia said, preparing to get out of her seat.
"The bathroom is five rows behind that row. It should be clear." Rebecca said with a huff and then quickly added, "Please don't let our company find out that we gave you any information or said anything about a certain passenger. I'm still within my one hundred and eighty day probation period and Loren just got out of it last week. We really like this job and we don't want to lose it. Please don't say anything."
"I assure you that this stays between us three. No one else needs to know."
Olivia straightened her clothes, moved the curtain back and began her walk to the restroom. She glanced around as she was on her way there, attempting to look casual. She saw families sleeping, older men watching a late night movie, older women trying to get comfortable as small children slept on them and younger kids and some teens beginning to fall asleep while playing their electronic devices. Row eighteen…row nineteen…row twenty…seat E. She looked for seat E and was confused as soon as she saw it. She continued on to the restroom in that confusion. When she finished, she headed back to her seat, making sure to look one more time at the seat the supposed President was to be in. She shook her head and walked behind the curtain and into the first class section. The flight attendants came to her as soon as they saw her and asked anxiously, "Well? Is he or isn't he?"
Olivia looked both of them in their eyes, half wondering if she was dreaming; the other half wondering if she had her hopes up too high in her hopes to see Fitz on this plane although she expected him to be on the next flight out. She cleared her throat, smiled a half smile and said, "No one was in the seat. It's empty."