A/N:

Thanks to all for your fantastic reviews of the last chapter :)

Chapter 25

Flashback. Three years earlier.

Upon their arrival on American soil, Fitz and Olivia hailed a taxi and headed to Fitz' vacation home in Santa Monica which was located about thirty miles from the Los Angeles International airport (LAX). Their plan was to stay in a secluded place for a few days, giving themselves sometime to recover from their ordeal. Incidentally, if their getaway place happened to ward off unwanted attention from the press, that would certainly be an added bonus.

At the time, it had seemed the best solution not just due to its proximity to the airport but also because Fitz' home in Santa Monica was about the same distance from both the cities of San Diego and Santa Barbara.

Olivia found herself falling in love with the place at first sight. Months later, shortly after their wedding, she would convince Fitz to make it their primary residence as opposed to his most ostentatious home in Santa Barbara which had belonged to the Grant family for generations. Needless to say, Jerry Grant had considered Olivia's audacity to go against family tradition as a personal insult.

That first morning Olivia woke to the sound of Fitz taking a shower and for a minute she thought she'd been dreaming. Where was the tent, and the saltiness of the air assaulting her senses first thing in the morning? And the ever present ocean sounds, the constant backdrop to her train of thought?

She gazed at her surroundings, disoriented.

The master bedroom was large and circular like a full moon. She pictured an imaginary line dividing the room exactly in half. The enormous king size bed and large mahogany dresser stood out on one side of the half moon in stark contrast against the plain white walls. The half moon opposite to it was covered with wall to ceiling widows.

Interesting. The sounds of the ocean were still present just like back on the island, except more subdued.

Aaron was already awake making low whimpering noises. He lay wrapped in layers of blankets nestled toward the back of a microfiber-padded swivel arm chair which sat in the middle of the room facing the bed (since he was not yet mobile there was no chance he would roll off). As soon as he saw Olivia approaching, his whimpering intensified as a way of a greeting.

"There you are, sweetheart," she glided over to his side clad in an soft cotton t-shirt that draped just a tad below her hips. She took the baby into her arms and showered little kisses all over his little face. "You were up a lot last night, weren't you?" her voice rose in a sing song. Overall, she had slept well. Fitz had been quite helpful throughout the night by getting up to tend to Aaron's cries and bringing him to bed for nursing. The fact that she had stayed in bed minimized sleep deprivation as she was then able to ease herself back to sleep in no time.

Feeling in high spirits, Olivia drew the curtains of the magnificent ceiling-height windows while holding Aaron in a football hold, and found herself staring at the breathtaking view of the ocean. For a second, she felt like opening the sliding glass door to the left side of the room and stepping into the white sand speckled with hints of gold.

You would think that after having spent weeks in a deserted island, beach scenes would somehow have lost their appeal.

Quite the contrary, Olivia found herself enamored with the place and wished she could wake up every morning to such a stunning view.

Yet, the voice of her subconscious reminded her... these living arrangements are temporary, aren't they?

She needed to get back to her own life in San Diego Sooner rather than later.

What life? She mused. Even before she'd had a chance to speak to her assistant at her law firm she already knew her client base was history...and she would need to start over almost from scratch.

For all effective purposes she-Olivia Pope- had vanished into the vastness of the Pacific Ocean and no one had expected her to come back.

Although she still had her reputation intact.

Yet she was not the same person that had left her friend's wedding in Australia. Her priorities had changed. Her life wasn't anymore about her clients and arriving home every night at 9 Pm only to fall asleep reading her case files after a quick meal and a glass of red wine.

Her life was now more complicated... now she had Aaron and the new baby to think about. And of course there was Fitz too, the love of her life...the man who had taught her what love was all about.

She pondered about all this while nursing Aaron who never failed to promptly fall asleep after each nursing session. With a thoughtful smile, she laid him down in his temporary bed.

All of a sudden, she felt a tad dizzy which had her climbing back into bed in a flash. Come to think of it, she had been extremely lucky thus far to have experienced only occasional dizziness as opposed to full blown morning sickness symptoms.

A few minutes later, Fitz comes out of the bathroom looking absolutely gorgeous, newly shaved and wearing nothing but a white towel around his waist.

"How did you sleep?" he greeted her with one of his signature smiles.

"Like a baby," she quickly answered, giving him a long sexy look.

"You mean like a real baby or the proverbial one?" he smirked momentarily gazing at Aaron.

His smile faded as he studied her carefully, "You look a little pale," he observed with concern.

She shrugged. "I'm just a little dizzy."

Fitz walked out of the room and returned five minutes later with a Nutri-Grain bar and a cup of milk."This will tide you over... I just called the housemaid. She'll be here soon and fix us a proper brunch.

"I'm feeling better already, " she said in between bites. "Thank you."

After she was done eating, Fitz climbed into bed, promptly tossing the towel aside

"Hmm...she sighed at the sight of his naked body, inching closer to him. "C'mere, baby," biting her lower lip into a sexy smile, pulling the covers aside to reveal her naked save for her panties.

His eyes flashed with lust as he slid his fingers into her hair. His large palms grabbed the back of her head in a gentle if unbreakable grip as his head slanted and lowered.

Firm lips parted hers as a little moan left her mouth. His hands cupped her breasts, his fingers found her nipples, tugging them deliciously.

His lips moved to her neck and found that sent little shivers down her spine.

She had missed this so much, had been needing him for so long.

"I need you," she murmured as his palm traveled from her leg to her thigh. The feel of his calloused fingertips still fresh from all the manual labor on the island was a sensual rasp of exquisite pleasure.

"I wanna taste you," his voice was a sharp rasp of hunger fueled by the whimpering little moans leaving her throat, as he began to move lower down her body.

Olivia felt her juices soak through the thin fabric of her panties as Fitz buried his face in the apex between her thighs.

"You smell so good, he murmured with his eyes closed and a look of pure pleasure on his face. In two seconds flat he did away with her panties, tossing the ripped garment to the floor.

The stroke of his tongue, the flex and suction of his mouth over the ultra-sensitive nerve endings of her feminine folds made her hands clench his hair, holding him to her as she arched closer to the flick of his tongue over the heated tip.

Her clit pulsed violently, desperately aching from each lick which felt very much like sharp contractions.

With his eyes still closed, he rubbed his nose against hers, and deliciously entered her.

She relished every singing moment of the full feeling of his possession.

So slow, so sweet, so tender.

His body pressing down on her, yet not crushing her, in a slow erotic dance that was all about touch and sensation.

"Please...Fitz, Faster" she murmured desperately wanting to feel him deeper...NOW

"Oh, no baby, I need this slow..." he kissed her deeply, his elbows and hands on either side of her face, swallowing her soft moans. He wanted it this moment to last forever.

Her body quivered, she was so close know. The sweet seduction of his voice along with the sweetness of his thrusts were sending her over the edge much sooner than she had anticipated.

"C'mon, baby, give it to me now, come for me, baby" he mumbled against her lips, his thrusts becoming more desperate and erratic.

She wrapped her legs around him tighter, her hands buried in his hair, surrendering herself to his rhythm, losing herself in him...losing all sense of time and space.

Her orgasm, like a steady wave of pleasure, went on and on beyond anything she had deemed possible...she'd had no idea that this slow could feel SO good.

"Livvie, Oh, Liv" he breathed as he lets go and finds his release.

Their breathing steadied. He eased out of her and wrapped his arms around her tenderly, his hand resting on her belly. They lie like that for the longest time in the quiet afterglow of their beautifully sweet lovemaking.

Olivia gazed at him in awe. No one had ever made love to her like that before with so much love, tenderness, and passion.

Then, he surprised her by trailing kisses all the way down to her belly, wrapping his arms around her lower body. The sudden attention thrilled her womb. Ever since she had told him about the pregnancy she had craved for this moment.

"Hello, baby," he whispered against her taut belly. A wave of unexpected excitement cursed through his veins. His eyes met hers, the look he gave her was nothing short of adoration, " This is your Daddy speaking," he continued cupping his hands over his mouth as if amplifying his voice through a speaker.

She let out a soft giggle of pure pleasure. Yes! She'd been a little afraid that her pregnancy would put too much pressure on their brand new relationship, but now she had the distinct feeling that everything would be okay.

"First of all...we've got to set some ground rules-" he continued. Right then, they both heard her stomach grumble. "Okay, fine..., he added with a smirk. "We've still got another 9 months to discuss them rules. But for now, we'll just get you something to eat."

She beamed with delight.

"Hmm, I'm no expert, but it seems to me this is one hungry baby." Indeed he'd had little experience with babies. In fact, thus far he'd helped more with Aaron than he had with his daughter when she was an infant. He smiled to himself, thinking how fitting it was that by the time their baby was born, he would have loads of experience under his belt.

xxx

Later that day Fitz and Olivia had a late meal together in the breakfast nook that overlooked the garden towards the front of the house.

Fitz introduced Olivia to Maria, the housemaid, dressed in a blue uniform and white apron very much like Alice the maid from the Brady Bunch.

"I've arranged for her to come in the mornings and fix us breakfast and lunch. If there's anything you need, ask her. If you need to go out, she can watch Aaron too."

Olivia hesitated. She wasn't ready to trust someone she'd just met with her baby...she just couldn't help but think of Aaron as her own child.

"She's wonderful. She's raised eight children and two grandchildren," Fitz was quick to re-assure her. "She's been with my family for at least twenty years."

"I'm happy to watch Aaron," Maria echoed in a thick Hispanic accent while holding Aaron in her arms as to give Olivia a chance to enjoy her meal. "He's cute, blond hair," she added giving Olivia a quizzical look.

Olivia smiled back at the sixty something Latino woman . She knows he's not mine, Olivia thought. Aaron was a bald baby with only a few strands of very fine blond hair mostly imperceptible at first sight. She took a deep breath and turned to Fitz. "I need to go to the store and get some items," she murmured thinking she needed sometime alone to think.

Fitz raised a brow." I'm sure I can have someone deliver whatever you need...or Maria can go get them... " he said matter of factly. Earlier, sometime after their lovemaking and brunch, he'd called Toys R Us and had them deliver a bassinet, clothing, diapers and other necessities.

"I think I'll like to get my own groceries," she cut in, feeling weird about having someone else shop for groceries and personal items.

At this point, Maria excused herself claiming that Aaron needed a diaper change.

"I'll go with you," he offered.

"That's okay. I should be back in 45 minutes or less," she said, enjoying the last few bites of the Mexican style breakfast -rich, spicy, invigorating- that Maria had prepared for them.

Right then the phone rang.

Fitz glanced quickly at the caller ID and made a face. "It's my father. I'm sure he's gonna wanna come down and see us."

"Hello, dad," he answered while motioning for Olivia to stay. "Yeah, yeah. I'm okay. Hmm? Well, yeah. Hold on a sec," he covered the mouthpiece with his hand and said, "he wants to drop by tomorrow afternoon...is that okay? We can put it off for a day or two if you want..."

Olivia thought about it for a moment. "Well...that ought to be interesting. That's when my dad will be flying in from London, " she reminded him. Indeed, her father had told her (when she had talked to him at the airport) that he would be cutting his business trip short in order to welcome home his 'little girl'. "Sure. That would be okay. "

"Hey, dad, can I put you on hold again?" Fitz asked, a smirk playing on his lips. "He hates it when someone has the audacity to put him on hold...it's like he thinks he's the leader of the free world, or something," he winked at her.

Olivia chuckled.

Then, he peered at the caller ID and his playful mood vanished. "It's Oceanic," he said to Olivia. "I bet they're calling about that press conference they told us about."

Olivia bit her lip. The press conference. Yeah. There was no way she could forget that. They wanted to schedule a press conference with the Oceanic survivors as soon as possible.

"We need more time," Olivia sighed. They needed more time in order to fine-tune the details of their plan. Even though she could no longer avoid the unavoidable, she hoped against hope that she wouldn't have to answer any questions about Aaron.

A/N:

I hope you have enjoyed this chapter,

As always, your comments are very much appreciated!