A/N: So, what ever happened to Gideon Wallace and Billy Chambers? Well, Gideon overstepped his bounds and got fired from his journalism job. He burned too many sources and eventually got axed. And Billy Chambers? Yeah, he eventually got what was coming to him. Huck did an extensive investigation into the White House computer and phone logs and uncovered Billy's treachery and involvement with Farheed Davi and later his anonymous feeding of negative info and photos of Olivia to the media. Billy was tried for treason, found guilty and given a prison life sentence. And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming…
Chapter: 36: Light of Day
7 a.m.
Cinnamon, vanilla and milk. The smell was….different. What is that? Olivia thought, still somewhat asleep. Was she dreaming? She was in bed and rolled over on to her side. A few moments later she felt something soft, moist and spongy press against her cheek. It was cool to the touch but then she felt the friction of something wet, warm and coarse rub against her cheek. It felt like a tongue and it was licking her. Ewwww.
Olivia, who was still under the covers, thrashed and kicked her feet from underneath the sheets and comforter, and then felt something warm and fuzzy tumble off her chest. She woke up with a fright: "EEK!"
She struggled to sit up in the bed. She rubbed the drowsiness out of her eyes. There, sitting on top of the comforter staring at her intently with its head cocked to one side was the cutest puppy Olivia had ever seen.
As soon as Olivia made eye contact, the pup let out two short barks, as way of introduction, and started to fierecly wag its little tail. He waddled forward to get closer to Olivia.
"Oh my! And who are you?" she said, reaching down to grab the chubby pup who was now perched on top of her thighs. "Why aren't you a little cutie! Where'd you come from? What's your name?"
"Bentley," said Fitz, laughing. He was standing in the bedroom doorway looking at Olivia and smiling at the scene playing out in front of him.
"Fitz, you got a dog! Where have you been hiding him?"
"No, WE got a dog," Fitz corrected her, "and I haven't been hiding him. I picked him out of the litter a couple weeks ago, but he's only recently been weaned from his mom. They delivered him to the White House yesterday. He's only 9 weeks old."
"Gosh, Fitz, he's so cute! And he's got that great puppy smell. He smells like a cinnamon bun! I love him!" Olivia squealed, petting Bentley and scratching behind his little ears. "Aren't you just the cutest thing, you little chunky monkey, cinnabon, cinnabon?" Olivia chirped, devolving into baby talk with the beagle puppy. Bentley wiggled his little hind legs as Olivia held him and continued to baby talk to him. Suddenly she stopped and sat there completely frozen as Bentley dangled in mid-air between her uplifted hands.
Fitz noticed that Olivia was frozen. She looked like she had seen a ghost.
"Liv…are you alright?" he asked.
"I….I…." Olivia managed to stammer out. She appeared to be in a state of shock. She put the dog back down on the blanket.
"Olivia, what's wrong? Talk to me!" Fitz said rushing over to the bed.
"That….that...thing!" Olivia exclaimed, her hand visibly shaking as she pointed to Bentley's neck. "That thing around his neck. What is that?! Is that….for real?"
Fitz picked Bentley up and briefly cuddled the pup before handing him back over to Olivia. "I don't know, Liv. Why don't you take a closer look and tell me?" he said with a chuckle.
Olivia just looked at Bentley in awe. Actually, not at Bentley but at the bright, shiny object glittering and dangling from his dog collar. She quickly unbuckled the doggie collar and the most beautiful ring Olivia had ever laid eyes on slid off the collar and fell into the palm of her hand.
She was now fully awake and sat completely upright in bed. "OH. MY. GOD!" was all she was able to say.
Fitz sat down on the edge of the bed. "Here, let me help you with that," he said laughing, taking the 6-carat diamond ring out of her hand. It was a stunning pear-shaped diamond in a platinum setting that Fitz had had custom designed for his Livvie. He gently picked up her left hand and slipped the dazzling symbol of commitment onto her ring finger. It fit perfectly.
"Livvie, I've loved you from the very first moment I laid eyes on you," Fitz said looking deeply into her eyes while caressing her cheek. "With one look, you captured my heart. You make me insanely happy and incredibly grateful to have you in my life, and you would make me the happiest man in the universe if you'd agree to be my wife."
The tears had already begun flowing down Olivia's cheeks. She was stunned speechless. Fitz wiped away the tears and gently kissed her on the lips.
"So, Livvie, what do you say? Will you marry me?"
She nodded her head wildly, still unable to speak. Fitz laughed. "I never thought I'd see the day that I'd actually render you speechless," he said, still lightly stroking her cheek. "Baby, I need to hear you say it, so I'll ask you again – Olivia Victoria Pope, I love you more than words can say. Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife and spending the rest of your life with me?"
"Yes! Yes! A thousand times yes!" Olivia squealed and hugged and kissed Fitz enthusiastically. Their happiness was contagious and Bentley began barking up a storm, his little tail wagging like crazy as he went running around in circles on top of the bed.
12 p.m.
"Cyrus, what is this?"
The White House Chief of Staff dropped a thick folder on top of Olivia's desk.
"Just a little light reading for you, Liv," Cyrus said sarcastically.
"Enlighten me. What is it? This has got to be important for you to have made the trek all the way over here from the White House to my office, so you may as well give me a brief run down on what I'm about to read," Olivia said, mildly annoyed. She hated the way Cyrus treated her as though she still worked for him and that she would just drop whatever it was she was doing just to cater to him.
"This is the latest polling data from the RNC [Republican National Committee] as well as opposition research from the Democrats about the next election," Cyrus said.
"Cyrus….you didn't!" Olivia exclaimed. He now had her complete attention.
"I did," Cyrus said triumphantly. "Let's just say that I know a guy who knows a guy."
"Yeah, OK, don't say another word. I don't want to know. I need plausible denialability in case I ever get subpeonaed."
Olivia sat back down and started leafing through the thick stack of paper. Her face clouded over as she read the documents and her mood grew pensive. If what she was seeing was true, everything she thought she knew about the American electorate was completely wrong.
"Is this data accurate?"
"Completely. Margin of error, plus or minus 3 points."
"Has Fitz seen this?"
"No. I'm showing it to you first.
"Why? Fitz needs to see this. Why would you withhold this information from him?"
"I'm not withholding anything from him. I decided to share it with you first because what happens next is solely dependent on you."
"On me? Cy, you overestimate my influence," Olivia said with a wry laugh.
"Come off it, Liv. Stop with the modesty act. Everyone knows that you are the true power behind the throne. A simple word or gesture from you can tip the scales and get the President of the United States to take action."
"I'm not exactly sure what it is that you want me to do here," Olivia said.
"Liv, you're a political operative. You see what this polling data is saying. The numbers don't lie. You made a sacrifice before. It's time for you to make a sacrifice again for the good of this country."
"Cy, you can't ask me to do this. You know how difficult this has been for Fitz, for me. I let you talk me out of pursuing my happiness once before. I'm not going to let you do that to me again," Olivia said, defiantly. She stood up and began to pace back and forth while Cyrus watched her. She looked down at her hand and nervously touched the glittering ring on her finger. A ring that held the promise of a bright, beautiful but completely uncertain future with the man of her dreams, the man she loved more than life itself.
Cyrus immediately noticed that Olivia was zoning out and looked down at her hand. He shook his head in disbelief.
"What's that?" he asked pointing at her hand. "Holy Mother of God, is that what I think it is?"
Olivia looked up and asked sarcastically, "What does it look like, Cy? It's an engagement ring."
There was a brief moment of awkward silence between them. Olivia braced herself for the torrent of criticism she knew was about to rain down on her from her old law school professor, mentor and harshest critic. But instead a wide grin spread across Cyrus' face.
"Congratulations! This is fantastic! I can't believe it!" Cyrus beamed. He came around the desk where she was standing and gave her a big bear hug. His boisterous, joyous reaction caught Olivia completely off guard and she was in complete shock.
"When did this happen? That sly dog didn't mention a thing to me," Cyrus said, referring to Fitz.
"But he tells you everything," Olivia protested.
"He didn't tell me this," Cyrus said, beaming with joy.
"Well, he just proposed this morning. Caught me by surprise too," Olivia said, allowing herself to laugh. She couldn't believe that Cyrus Beene, of all people, was taking the news of her engagement to Fitz so well.
"Liv, look, I really don't want to rain on your parade, but back to the matter at hand, as you can see from this latest polling research, Fitz has got another very important decision to make, and it's now clear that he's not going to make the right decision unless you're on board."
"The right decision, Cy? And what exactly is the right decision?"
"Olivia, you know what that is. You've known from the very beginning, from that first day you joined the campaign and Fitz fired you and then hired you back. You've always known," Cyrus said.
"I need to think about this. I've been engaged for less six hours, and now you're asking me to give up everything I've worked so hard for and to make a huge sacrifice. Again. It's not fair, Cy. I'm not sure I can do it."
"Olivia, I know that what I'm asking of you is difficult. It's probably the most difficult thing I'll ever ask you to do, but you know that it's the right thing. It's the right thing for Fitz and for this country."
"But what about me, Cy? What's the right thing for me? Isn't it time I put myself first?"
"Just think about it, OK? That's all I ask. Just think about it," Cyrus said, patting her on the shoulder. "I've got a meeting at 4 with Fitz. So, if you could let me know by then."
"Oh, no pressure, right?" Olivia said sarcastically. "You can't just drop all this on me, and on today of all days! I just got engaged, Cy! Can't I have even one day to simply enjoy it without any drama?"
"Liv, you and I both already know what you're going to do, so why delay the inevitable?"
Later the same day, a little after 4 p.m. in Cyrus' office
"So, Mr. President, here is the latest polling data from the RNC," Cyrus said, handing Fitz a folder.
"Polling data? Cy, how many times do I have to tell you, I'm not seeking re-election," Fitz said, slightly exasperated with his Chief of Staff. "I realize you're worried about being unemployed, but soon you'll be free to be president of Harvard or Princeton or maybe even run someone else's presidential campaign."
"Sir, I know you haven't been paying attention, but since Hurricane Cindy, your approval ratings have shot up through the roof. Your job approval rating is now at 78%, which is the highest it has ever been. And now I have precise polling data that shows that those approval ratings are no fluke."
"Cy, I don't have time for this nonsense," Fitz said, standing up.
"Mr. President, please, wait, you haven't even looked at the data yet."
"I don't need to," the POTUS said, turning and walking toward the door.
Cyrus began to loudly recite numbers in staccato like fashion: "70%, 85%, 63%, 79%"
Fitz stopped dead in his tracks. His hand was on the doorknob but he was now, suddenly, very reluctant to leave.
"Cy…."
"Yes, sir," Cyrus cut him off. "These stats are legit."
"Percent of voters who approve of the way you are handling the economy: 70%
Percent who say you will do a better job than the Democrats at handling terrorism: 85%
Percent who approve of the way you handle women's and senior citizen issues: 63%
Percent of voters who say they don't care that you're divorced: 79%"
Fitz slowly turned around and looked at Cy. He was dumbstruck.
"And when asked if the election were held today who would they vote for 68% of registered voters said Fitzgerald Thomas Grant III," Cyrus said triumphantly.
Fitz looked like the wind had been knocked out of him. He sat down in the burgundy leather chair in front of Cy's desk.
"This….this…I never expected this. I never expected the American people to be OK with this version of me," Fitz said, stunned.
"What do you mean "this version" of you? The version of you that is decisive, compassionate, caring yet authoritative and reassuring?" Cyrus asked. "These last few months since you went public with Olivia have probably been the most authentic you've ever been. So if the American people are OK with this version of you, it's the real you. Don't run away from your legacy, sir. The American people are making it clear…they want you to continue as their President."
"Cy, I proposed to Olivia this morning. There's no way in hell that she's going to accept me running for re-election. No way," Fitz said.
"Well, I wouldn't be so sure of that," Olivia said, entering the room without knocking. "Sounds to me like you've got this next election in the bag. In fact, it sounds like it will be Grant in a landslide."
"Liv, you're late. Thought you would never get here," Cyrus said, giving Olivia a sly smile.
"Sorry, Cy, this damn D.C. traffic," Olivia said, unbuckling her coat and taking it off. She walked over to Fitz, who stood up as soon as he saw her. She gave him a light kiss. "So has Cy talked you into running for president again?"
"Liv, what are you doing here?" Fitz said, surprised. "I thought that…"
"Fitz, it's clear to anyone with a pulse that you love being president," she said interrupting him. "You were born to be president and you still have so much good you can do. Why on earth would you want to quit now?"
"But, Liv, I thought you wanted a shot at a normal life…"
"Yes, I know, and there was a time that that was true. But can people like us ever truly be "normal?" Normal is overrated. What's normal when you've got round-the-clock Secret Service protection anyway? What I know, without a shadow of a doubt, is that I can't be happy if you're not happy and being president makes you happy, so that makes me happy," Olivia said. She was rambling. In the background, Cyrus chuckled.
"So, what's it gonna be, sweet cheeks?" she asked Fitz playfully, wrapping her arms around his waist and looking up at him "You in or you out?"
"I'm in," Fitz said with a wide smile.
"And I'm in too!" Cyrus chirped.
"Well then I guess it's decided!" Olivia exclaimed. "Oh my God, does this mean I'm going to be First Lady?"
"Uh-oh, no backing out now! Too late!" Fitz said, lifting her up and squeezing her in a tight embrace as he spun her around. "You're going to make a great First Lady. The Best First Lady. My First Lady," Fitz said kissing her passionately.
Epilogue
A month later at the Republican National Convention
Location: Madison Square Garden, New York City
It's the last night and the time has arrived for Pres. Fitzgerald Thomas Grant III to accept his party's nomination for a second term. A video flashes across the screen showing iconic images from Fitz's entire life and career. As the video reaches its apex with images from Hurricane Cindy showing Fitz in action helping the people, the crowd inside of Madison Square Garden goes wild chanting "FOUR MORE YEARS! FOUR MORE YEARS!"
Fitz walks out on stage to thunderous applause. He looks incredibly dapper in a custom tailored navy blue suit with a navy blue and burgundy red tie. It takes several moments before the din of the applause begins to quiet down enough that he can actually begin his speech. He starts by thanking the people and his party for nominating him for president again and speaks of the challenges and successes he has achieved during his first term of office. And then the speech becomes more personal.
"Tonight every one of you knows deep in your heart that we are too divided. It is time to heal America.
And so we must say to every American: Look beyond the stereotypes that blind us. We need each other - all of us - we need each other. We don't have a person to waste, and yet for too long politicians have told the most of us that are doing all right that what's really wrong with America is the rest of us- them.
Them, the minorities. Them, the liberals. Them, the foreigners. Them, the gays.
We've gotten to where we've nearly them'ed ourselves to death. Them, and them, and them.
But this is America. There is no them. There is only us.
One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
That is our Pledge of Allegiance, and if you re-elect me as your president, I'll bring about a New Covenant.
In the end, my fellow Americans, this New Covenant simply asks us all to be Americans again- old-fashioned Americans for a new time. Opportunity, responsibility, community.
If you want to know where I come by this passionate commitment I have to bringing people together, I have to give credit where credit is due - to the one person who has changed my outlook, changed my life, and inspires me every day to be a better man than I was the day before. That person is my best friend, my confidante, my lover, my soul mate, my better half and future wife – Olivia Pope. I've learned so much from her, about how to love, how to fight for what's right, how to never give up and to always persevere. This country will be lucky to have her as its First Lady. I fall for her every time I see her. Olivia, I love you."
Fitz turns and looks directly at Olivia who is standing next to Cyrus off to the side of the stage. The TV cameras pan right and capture Olivia smiling broadly and wiping a tear away from her eye. She mouths back "I love you too."
(APPLAUSE)
Fitz continues:
"When we pull together, America will pull ahead. Throughout the whole history of this country, we have seen, time and time and time again, that when we are united we are unstoppable.
We can seize this moment, make it exciting and energizing and heroic to be American again. We can renew our faith in each other and in ourselves. We can restore our sense of unity and community. We learn from our mistakes, but we keep our eyes fixed on that distant horizon, knowing that Providence is with us, and that we are surely blessed to be citizens of the greatest nation on Earth.
(APPLAUSE)
Thank you, God bless you, and may God bless these United States of America.
THE END
A/N: Gladiators, we've come to the end of the road. It's so sad saying goodbye to these characters that I've grown to fall so madly and deeply in love with. It's been an incredible journey for me. I started this story almost six months ago, back in June, as a complete lark, not really expecting much, and it grew to become a huge part of my life during the summer. I'd rush home from work and write until the wee hours of the morning.
I can't thank you guys enough for all the reviews, support and encouragement you gave me every step along the way. They definitely kept me motivated and made me want to write the best possible story I could write. It's truly been a privilege sharing this story with all of you.
I've got a brand new story idea percolating in my head. Not sure when I will be ready to launch it, so sign up for an author alert so that you'll get an email alert as soon as that new story goes live on this site.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! It's been a blast!
Neo
P.S. And thanks to Bill Clinton and Barack Obama for having such great speechwriters! I used parts of their past speeches for Fitz's nomination speech and adapted it for my own Scandalous purposes!