I apologize for the longer than normal wait for this chapter. My father in law passed away on Thursday & it's been a lot. I took the day off work yesterday to be with my husband, but he had his nose in his laptop trading stocks, so I grabbed mine & finished this chapter. All of my kids will be here as well as my grandkids so it's going to be a hectic weekend. Thank you for being patient with me. I hope to post at least two more chapters to the holiday one shot before Christmas, but we'll see. Enjoy!

Talk To Me

"I just don't like this house, Fitz. It's not in a great neighborhood, the price is too high, and I don't like the layout." Olivia shrugged as she looked around the empty room of the fourth house that had been shown to them that week.

"Awww come on, Liv. We've looked at nine houses in the past six days. You find something not to like about every single one of them. We've got to find one before the baby gets here or life is going to get crazy as hell trying to move with a newborn! You've got to meet me halfway one some of your demands." Fitz was frustrated and already at his ropes end when it came to house hunting.

"You think I want to be packing boxes in between feeding a baby and chasing around your mini me?" She shot him a look that said otherwise. "I'm sorry but I'm not going to compromise the school my children go to just so we can be in a bigger house faster. And if I don't like the house that we are going to live in, what's the point?"

Fitz sighed and ran a hand through his hair as he held his mini me in his arms. "I understand what you're saying, but it's not like there are an endless number of houses available for sale that are within our price range, near decent schools, and are laid out like a queen's palace." He knew that last one was a dig, but it came out before he could stop it. He knew he was in trouble when he saw her face.

That was below the belt. And judging by the surprised look on his face, Olivia guessed that he knew it too. House hunting had turned them against each other, and Olivia didn't like it. Still, she wasn't backing down. "I don't know what to say to you right now. I'll be in the car, waiting to head back to my other palace." And with that, she walked out of the beautiful empty house.

Fitz looked at Lincoln and said, "Link, be a pal. Please make this terrible day better by just saying 'da da'." He watched his son grin at him, showing off his lone tooth, and reach a slobbery hand up to his father's cheek. "That's what I thought. You're on her side. So much for male bonding, ya traitor."

Lincoln blew a raspberry at his dad in response.

"Let's go get her majesty home. Don't tell her I said that. I'm a little scared of your mother when she's pregnant. Come on, buddy."

The drive home was a silent one and while both Fitz and Olivia hated it, neither was willing to break the ice or apologize. They both felt justified in the way they felt and didn't want to apologize for something they weren't sorry for. Marriage wasn't all fun and games, but they did love each other endlessly and Fitz reached over and held his wife's hand. The gesture was well received.

"Look, we'll start again fresh next week. It's not the end of the world that we didn't find one today. We'll get there sooner or later." He was trying to be upbeat and positive.

"I'm already eight weeks pregnant. I know we are on a time crunch right now, but we aren't going to spend a lot of money just to settle for less than what we want. A house is an investment and we have to plan wisely. I know we're not going to get everything we want in one house, but we should try to get as many as we can. Right? Besides, I think that when we see the house that's meant to be ours, we'll know." She didn't want to argue with him anymore. Him seeing reason would be helpful though.

"I'm in total agreement with the first part of that, but I'm not going to base choosing a house on a feeling. We know what we want. How many rooms, the basic size, and a big backyard. What are you going to do if a house speaks to you like a pair of shoes do, and it doesn't have enough bedrooms? Or is in an unsatisfactory school district? You see how basing a huge decision on feelings instead of a pre-determined checklist doesn't work?" Now houses were going to speak to her? Fitz wondered if he could just add on to the house they already lived in and call this insanity quits?

"Point taken. Here's something to think about though. How many kids do we want to have? We kind of need to know that in order to plan." Olivia was wondering, eagerly anticipating really, what his answer would be. "Is two the limit or are we going to have more than two? I mean, our detailed checklist has three bedrooms on it. What if we decide to have more kids later on? Are we going to buy another house then?"

The thought of looking for another house after finding the perfect one to pacify his wife of high standards and a house whisperer to boot made Fitz physically shiver. There was no way in hell he was going through this more than once with her! He wasn't about to step into the trap she had just set either. The best way to answer a question you don't really want to answer is by asking a question of your own. Besides, he didn't really know the answer to her question. Feeling intelligent for avoiding it, he asked "How many kids do you want to have?"

Olivia shrugged. "I don't know. I've never thought about it. Have you? I mean, I remember you telling me when we were dating that you wanted babies, but we never settled on a number. So, what's your number?"

Fitz chuckled. This was certainly not the topic of conversation he ever thought to have when asked 'what's your number' but it was a whole lot easier to discuss than the alternative. Keeping his eyes on the road, he thought about it for a minute. "I don't really have a specific number in mind. You know I love kids and kids love me. And you and I really do make perfectly beautiful babies. I'm happy with whatever number you have in mind. If you want to stop having babies after this one, I would be fine with that. If you want to have five more..."

"Hell, no!" Olivia interjected with conviction.

Fitz laughed. "Then that would be fine with me too. Do you know how many of each you want? Or have you thought about that?"

Olivia knew what she wanted, even if she didn't have any control over it whatsoever. "As a matter of fact, I have. I love Lincoln with all my heart, and if this baby is another boy I would be overjoyed. Honestly. Little boys are so much fun and they keep life interesting in every way."

"But?"

"But, I want at least one little girl, Fitz. If you get a mini me, I want one too. It's only fair and I don't think it's asking too much."

"Please tell me you aren't crying, babe. I can't just order you up a daughter." Fitz began to feel helpless in what was a no win situation. "Besides, what if we have to have four boys before we get a girl? Are you up for that?"

Olivia cried harder from the passenger seat. "I don't want five kids, Fitz!"

Fitz bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing at her for crying over her own logic. He pulled into a grocery store parking lot, took off his seatbelt, and got out of the car. When he reached the passenger door, he opened it and unbuckled Olivia's seatbelt and took her hand, pulling her from the car and into his arms. "So, we won't have five kids. See, we settled on that. Look at us accomplishing things! Four boys wouldn't be the end of the world though."

That made her cry harder.

She mumbled something against his chest between her tears and Fitz had no idea what it was. So, he asked.

"I said they would all act like you and look like you and I'd be the only girl!"

Fitz grinned over her head at the happy thought of a house full of Grant boys. Right now, though, Olivia needed some support and encouragement and it was his job to provide it. He pulled his head back and put his index finger under her chin, gently drawing her face up to his. He wiped her tears away and kissed her forehead. "Though she be little, she is fierce. A house full of boys would be lucky to have you as their mother."

Olivia sniffed, but listened intently to the words her amazing husband was saying.

He smiled at her. "I don't care if we have a house full of boys or if Lincoln is our only son and we have a whole lot of girls from here on out. We are going to love our kids to the moon and back no matter what we have. And our lives are going to be fuller for having them. If you want to have four kids, then we'll have four. If you want to have less, I'm game for that too. My job in this world is to make you happy." He kissed her tenderly, lingering on her lips until he heard that contented sigh of hers, signaling that she was feeling better. "And I really love my job, babe."

Olivia wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. Only Fitz could calm her irrational fears of things that hadn't even happened yet, and probably never would. The anger and frustration over house hunting that had spilled over into their conversation about babies melted away as they held each other. Why couldn't they just live in this perfect moment? She rubbed the hair on the back of his neck and said, "I love you so much. It's scary how much when I think about it."

"I love you too, Liv. It'll all work out. We'll find our dream palace with plenty of time to spare. We'll end up with at least one daughter, because I think there is some available space in the house somewhere that isn't full of female clothes yet..."

Olivia pinched him for his comments, but giggled.

"And no matter when she shows up, I promise we will have a little girl who will probably be bossy, impatient, loveable, and impeccably dressed just like her mother, who will steal our hearts and wallets. And she will most definitely be beautiful because she is ours, and let's face it, we are friggin gorgeous."

"And humble." Olivia said, rolling her eyes.

"And humble." He repeated with a chuckle. "But we aren't going to worry about any of that right now because it's out of our control. So, we are going to take our genetically gifted son to dinner where we will talk about what we realistically want in a house and where and settle on it. How does that sound?"

"You had me at dinner." Olivia said smiling.

"You're so easy."

"Hey! Take that back, Mister!"

He tilted his head and pursed his lips, looking down at her still flat belly. "I don't think I will. You are knocked up after all, and it really wasn't that difficult to do."

"Fitzgerald Grant!" Olivia exclaimed with wide eyes and not quite able to contain her laughter. "That is no way to speak to me."

"Tell me it's not true and I'll apologize." He grinned.

"I hate you." She said halfheartedly trying to pull away from him.

Fitz kept her close to his chest and replied, "No you don't. You love me. In fact, it's scary when you think about how much."

"I am never talking to you again." She threatened.

"You and I both know that's a lie, Mrs. Grant."

She shook her head defiantly back and forth with a determined look on her face.

Fitz dipped his head to her neck and whispered in her ear. "All I have to do is get you home," He pulled her earlobe into his mouth and sucked on it gently. "Take off your clothes," He ran his tongue along the column of her neck. "And get you..." He placed his lips on the skin behind her ear and heard her breath catch. "Well, anywhere. Up against a wall, in the shower, leaning over the sofa, in our bed. Pretty much anywhere and you will be screaming all kinds of dirty words along with my name."

Olivia was turning into a quivering mess right there in the parking lot where dozens of people most likely had seen their entire display. She could care less at the moment. God, she wanted her husband right now! She wanted him to take her home and make her scream. The thoughts of his magical fingers and truly gifted tongue, along with the rest of his damned near perfect anatomy doing whatever he wanted to her made Olivia's core ache with anticipation. "You win! Now kiss me."

He chuckled at her and looked around. "Liv, we're in a parking lot. Can't you keep it in your pants for ten minutes?"

"You think you're soooo funny." She shrugged. "Okay. Later on, when the thoughts of what you just mentioned are running through your mind and you are desperate for it, I'll look at my watch and say can't you keep it..."

The breath was quickly sucked out of her lungs as Fitz put one hand in the back of her hair and the other on her back and attacked her mouth. This crazy little woman was irresistible to him, and he usually looked forward to their little sarcastic spars, but the thought of Olivia telling him to keep it in his pants later on didn't bode well. He sucked on her bottom lip before he broke the kiss and watched her slowly open her eyes and look up at him like she was drunk. Someone across the parking lot clapped and yelled, "Get it, girl!"

Olivia kept her eyes on her husband and said loud enough for only him to hear, "Oh, I plan to."

"It really doesn't take much for you to get in the mood while you're pregnant does it?" He was grinning at her knowingly and before long, she was grinning back. He leaned down and pecked her lips once more. He helped her into her seat in the car and pulled her seatbelt. He slowly dragged it between her breasts, clicking it at her hip as he watched her face. He pecked her lips and said, "Change of plans. We are going home and Lincoln is going down for a nap. Right, Link?"

Lincoln happily babbled from the backseat.

"That's my boy! And then I'm going to put you into bed." He threatened. Fitz shut her door and strutted across the front of the car and got into his own seat. He looked over at his wife and asked, "Does that plan suit her majesty?"

She threw up her middle finger at him, and Fitz grabbed it, laughing, and kissed it.

They had no sooner pulled out of the parking lot, when Olivia's phone rang. She grabbed it from the cup holder and saw that it was Abby. "I wonder what SuperGirl wants?" Olivia said aloud.

"Put her on speakerphone." Fitz encouraged.

"Hello, Abby."

"Yea, hi. Skip the pleasantries. Look, I need to tell you some..."

"Hey, Abs. How are ya?"

She huffed loudly and exclaimed, "Who cares? I have news for the two of you if you'll stop trying to talk to me!"

"Well, stop bitching, and tell us what it is. You're on speakerphone, by the way."

"Great. I'll only have to explain it once. The people who live across the street from us are moving! Isn't that great?!"

"Yup. Great. Also, who cares?" Olivia said smiling, knowing it would irritate the short tempered red head. Fitz chuckled and reached for her hand.

"They are moving, Liv!"

"I heard you the first time. So what?"

"So, I thought you might want to come take a look at their house before it goes on the market? Don't the two of you want to come live across the street from your kind hearted, very helpful, very thoughtful best friend?"

"Oh, they are selling it? Why didn't you say so in the first place?"

"You make me tired! Look, they are meeting with a realtor next week to put it on the market. I only know about it because I talk to them every afternoon. I watch their place when they go on vacation. AND, Stephen has taking Larry golfing. That's the kind of neighbors we are. But if you don't want anything to do with us, then fine! Good luck searching high and low looking at houses that you hate the moment you see them, because they don't speak to you!"

"You're killing me, Abby! The house talking to her is a real thing? Come onnnnn!" Fitz whined.

"The house you are currently living in spoke to her and she bought it the same day. I don't even think she walked through the whole thing before she decided. That's what you're dealing with. Me? I look at the space and decide if I can wake up there every day and then go for it. Not your wife! So, the two of you can continue on the house hunting search and I'll just..."

"Are they home right now, Abs?" Fitz asked.

"Hang on, let me look out the window."

"That's the kind of neighbor she'll be! Snooping on us all the time!" Olivia said.

"Yea, but she can babysit for us whenever we wanna go out and get our freak on."

"The house is no longer for sale."

"What?" Fitz and Olivia said in unison.

"I'm not living across the street from the two of you and hearing wild animal sex noises on any given Tuesday night. Or accidentally seeing more of you than I ever want to."

"Animal sound night is Monday. And we reserve the right to flash our neighbors any time we want. If you need a reference, I'll give you our neighbor, Charles' number. He has lots of great stories to tell." Olivia giggled. When the line went silent, she politely asked, "Are you still there?"

After a few moments of silence, Abby stubbornly said, "No."

"What do you think, Liv? You want to drive by there and check it out? We could at least see the outside of the house. It might be worth seeing? And if they are home, maybe Abby can introduce us? After we moo at them..."

Olivia burst into wild laughter at his joke.

"...maybe we can arrange a day to walk through the house? Are you up for it?"

Olivia turned around to see the back of Lincoln's car seat. "Lincoln is going to want a bottle any minute now. The fact that he isn't screaming his little head off yet is kinda surprising."

"I have a couple of bottles that the hospital sent home with you. I ended up with one of the four diaper bags they gave you in there." Abby commented.

"Really? But those bottles are like two ounces. He eats way more than that now."

Once again, Abby sighed. "I have four of them. If that isn't enough to fill that small kid up, then you need to start feeding him real food!"

"Fine! We'll be there in about fifteen minutes. Will you heat them up for him, so that when we get there they'll be ready for my tiny angel?"

"Tiny angel? That kid is the spitting image of Fitz. Good luck with that tiny angel crap!"

Fitz laughed from behind the wheel. "Abby, you really are a SuperGirl! Thank you for taking care of all of us. We'll see you shortly. Bye."

"Whatever weirdos."

As if he had understood the word bottle, Lincoln began to whine from his car seat. A minute later, it turned into a full on meltdown. Fitz looked at Olivia and said, "Awww, mini me is starving back there."

"Imagine what life will be like when he's a teenager! We will both have to get part time jobs just to keep him fed." She chuckled. Olivia rubbed her belly and said, "If this one is another boy, we are going to have to get second full time jobs. I've heard horror stories about how much teenage boys eat."

"As a former teenage boy, I can tell you that we are always hungry. Growth spurts are a bitch on the wallet, I'm sure." Fitz remarked.

Fitz honked the horn when they pulled up into the driveway, signaling that the tiny angel was freaking out for food. She must have known what it meant because she met them outside with an itty bitty bottle. When Olivia reached for it as Fitz took Lincoln out of the car, Abby held it behind her back with a daring look on her face. "Give him to me, Liv."

"What? Why?"

"Because you people live with him every single day. I only get to see Lincoln occasionally and I want to feed him so we can visit for a minute. Give him to me. Now!" Abby demanded, with her hand on her hip.

Fitz looked between both women, trying to figure out which one he was most afraid of. Agreeing with Abby's logic, he passed the small screaming head of curls to his aunt and watched her face light up the minute he was in her arms. "Hey there, Munchin. Are they starving my poor sweet boy?"

Lincoln stopped crying and sniffed, and ended up giving her a smile.

"That's better. That handsome face should never be sad. I made you something to eat. Are you ready for it?" She held Lincoln in the crook of her arm and made an airplane noise as she zoomed the bottle towards his mouth. When it made contact, Lincoln held onto it and drank heartily.

Fitz and Olivia watched with fascination at Abby's maternal side they hadn't known existed until now. "You should think about having one of your own" Olivia remarked.

Abby kept her eyes on Lincoln, but quietly said, "Stephen and I might be in the beginning phase of talking about it." Olivia squealed loudly, but stopped when Abby cut her eyes up at her friend. "I said Stephen and I. When we have reached a decision, you'll be the first to know. Until then, we don't talk about it."

She looked back down at Lincoln, who was just about done with this bottle. Abby started walking towards her front door to give him the second tiny bottle that was waiting for him inside. She took the bottle away and he began to cry. "Hey, hey, hey. That's not how we act for aunt Abby. Cool it, short stuff." Lincoln stopped crying and grinned at her.

Olivia and Fitz stared at each other with shocked open mouths. How the hell had she just done that?

She put him on her shoulder and began patting his back, still walking toward the kitchen as his parents followed close behind in stunned silence. As soon as a loud belch ripped from his mouth, Abby put the second bottle in Lincoln's mouth, jerked her chin toward a window, and said, "The house is over there. Go take a look and leave us alone."

The still surprised couple, went to the window the redhead had pointed out to them and pulled the sheer curtain back to see the house in question. It was a Victorian house that looked like it had been remodeled fairly recently. The color of the house was cream with hunter green trim. It wasn't Olivia's favorite color coupling, but that could be changed. Olivia looked over her shoulder and asked, "What does it look like inside?"

"It's gorgeous. The house has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a laundry room, a playroom, and a full basement. It's ridiculous how much space is in there. Jeez, this kid is already looking for the third bottle." Looking down at Lincoln she replied, "We're gonna have to buy you a cow, short stuff. It'd be cheaper."

"Little man Lincoln is here!" Stephen exclaimed, walking into the room and seeing Abby holding him. "Why doesn't anybody tell me anything around here?"

"Because you're as bad as Liv when it comes to him. You're both baby hogs! Right, Munchkin?"

"You can say that again." Fitz echoed from the window.

"What the hell are the two of you looking at over here?" Stephen asked.

"The house across the street." Olivia replied with her eyes glued on it.

"Oh yea, the Mueller place. It would be amazing if the thr...four of you became our neighbors! Do you want to go inside? I can arrange that, you know?"

"I really like the outside. At least what I can see of it. I'd love to walk through it and see what the interior looks like. Maybe you can arrange it for next week?"

"I can arrange it for today. Right now, Liv." Stephen proudly boasted.

"I'm sure they are busy packing everything up. It's last minute too. Next week will be fine."

"Actually, Larry is at home by himself right now. Rebecca and the girls are gone for a few hours to visit her mother. I can call him to ask, but I'm sure he won't mind a bit. He's a very mellow guy. I don't know how, living in a house full of females, but there we are. Hold on." Stephen pulled out his cell phone and made the call.

"And don't worry about Lincoln. He's practically out right now. This last bottle should knock his lights out. If it works out, take your time and look through it. I'll keep Lincoln here with me." Abby offered.

"Baby hog." Fitz muttered.

"It's fine with him." Stephen said excitedly. "Come on, I'll take you over there right now. I really think you'll love it."

The three adults walked outside into the sunshine together and crossed the street. Stephen was telling them what he knew about the house on the walk over. Larry met them at the bottom of the few steps and shook Fitz and Olivia's hands as Stephen introduced them to each other. "Nice to meet ya." Larry said with a kind smile. "I hear you're looking to buy?"

"Yes, Sir. Something a little bigger than what we're in right now." Fitz explained.

"Do you have kids? This house loves kids."

"We do. We have an eight month old son and one on the way, as a matter of fact."

"Congratulations. Nothing in life more important than family." Larry stated with conviction.

"I couldn't agree more." Fitz said putting his arm around his wife. "Can I ask why you and your family are moving?

"Sure, sure. I just got a promotion at work."

"That's great. Congratulations." Fitz shot back.

"The job is in Chicago." Larry informed them.

"Ohhh. That's unfortunate." Olivia said sympathetically. "I hope they offered you a lot more money along with it?"

"They did. And they will pay our moving expenses. The wife's not thrilled about moving, but what can we do about it? Well, you're welcome to come inside and take a look around. Stay as long as you want. I'm no realtor, but feel free to walk anywhere you like. It's not the cleanest at the moment; there are a lot of boxes everywhere. But you should get the basic idea of the house and see if it's something the both of you are interested in. I'll be around, so if you have any questions just come and find me." Larry gave them a smile and headed off to the kitchen to fix himself something to drink and left the three of them to it.

Olivia walked into the spacious living room and looked up at the vaulted ceiling. She squeezed her husband's hand and giddily asked, "Did you hear that?"

Not having any idea what Olivia meant, Fitz turned his gaze from the detailed workmanship that was everywhere in the house to look at her. "Hear what?" He asked.

"This house is really talking to me." She whispered.

"Yea, me too. It's freaking me out in the best way." He admitted and squeezed her hand back as they continued their leisurely walk through of it.