AN:Reading over reviews I have to apologize for making Keegan's words to Liv so ambiguous. I really didn't mean to but in thinking of the shock that he was in at the moment I could totally see him having verbal diarrhea and not making much sense also. But for sake of clarification, at the beginning of their conversation when he asked 'what she was going to about it' is when he was alluding to whether she was or should be considering abortion.

By the end of their conversation what I wanted, but failed, to get across is that he was informing her that her time was limited. That she had right up until the moment before she had a visible baby bump to decide what she was going to do whether it was abortion, get a ring on her finger, or sever ties with BNN before he made a decision for her. Again I apologize for the confusion, to say that this story is giving me fits lately is not a joke but I'm trying to push through the few remaining chapters for those who are still following.

Sorry if there any typos. Been using on screen keyboard since my b,n, and spacebar decided to stop working but I tried to read through and correct the mistakes.

Chapter 36

Before reaching the bedroom Olivia decided that her entrance would be a quiet one. With the majority of Fitz's time and energy spent on everyone but himself she was keenly aware of just how much he needed the rest. He balanced children and obligations. He was supportive of her and her ever changing moods and needs while somehow managing to avoid falling into the traps set by his ex; and he did it all with minimal complaint.

In her eyes, the depth of his commitment and loyalty was unmatched. It was powerful and humbling and unwavering. And at the very least deserving of an afternoon of peace and quiet, of uninterrupted sleep. Determined to give him that one small thing she tried to exorcise her morning's frustrations and disappointments through a series of breaths and the rolling of her shoulders before her hand even touched the doorknob. With one final huff and the removal of her heels she stepped inside the room where her resolve to leave him alone crumbled the second she laid eyes on him.

Her heart flopped and then melted at his handsome features relaxed and free of stress. And then there was his body; the bedsheet hanging low on his waist exposed his meticulously sculpted chest and she just couldn't help herself.

She couldn't resist getting closer to admire and to touch. She leaned over him, rained gentle kisses on his lips, neck and pecs before standing up straight. After treating herself to another long look she shook her head and accepted her weakness where he was concerned. Running down a list of tasks to be completed that would aid in distracting her and putting distance in between them she turned in the direction of the closet as she felt Fitz's hand on her wrist.

Immediately whipping her head around brown eyes met blue and as their gazes held he loosened the grip he had on her and ran his fingers along the spot, "And just where do you think you're going?"

"Away."

"Why?"

"I'm trying to be good; to leave you alone so that you can catch up on your sleep."

"And what if I told you that I don't want sleep? That I don't need it...especially when you're around."

"Flatterer," she murmured.

Observing her struggle to keep her eyes from wandering to his chest and staying there a smug smile broke out on his face in response to her failed attempts. "Livvie, why don't you just come here?"

Without waiting around for her reply he tugged at her hand. She gave in and fell to the bed with a soft yelp. Once they were lying on their sides face to face, she slowly brushed his cheek and then fused her mouth to his; kissing him sweetly before deepening the contact.

Hands already resting on her backside he pulled her closer, burrowed his face into her neck and groaned once the mating of their mouths came to an end. "Mmm, I'm happy you're home."

"I know," she sighed. "I can feel."

Grinning at the wistful inflection in her tone he ran his fingers through her hair and searched her eyes. "So how did everything end up turning out with-"

"Unh unh," She averted her gaze ad shook her head adamantly against his chest before kissing him there. "Not right now. In this moment, in our bed, in our home the only thing I want to be doing is..."

Deciding it was wiser, better, and surely more rewarding to allow her words to give way to actions she reclaimed his mouth in a searing kiss and sent her hands on a mission. Fitz shivered from the sensation her nails raking his abs produced; of her fingers traveling even lower, ghosting over his skin at a tantalizingly slow pace that bordered on agonizing. While she committed the sounds and faces he made to memory, became intoxicated from them, he slammed his eyes shut and breathed and felt and relished.

But in spite of how far he was drifting, how deeply his desire ran, he wouldn't, couldn't forget about her. "Is this...is this your way of letting me know that you're okay? I mean just this morning you were disgusted by the sight of me."

Although his words were stated factually and without blame she felt bad, felt the need to apologize and explain."You have to know that it wasn't because of you and it wasn't really me. I was sick and grumpy because I was so uncomfortable. And besides, that was a whole whopping twelve hours ago. But now, now I can't seem to keep my hands off you."

"Oh really?" He raised an eye at her."Well, what are you going to do about it?"

She responded to the challenge in his voice by bringing her lips to his again and then whispering. "Help me undress and I'll show you."

He obliged her request with eager hands but once she was stripped bare before him found time to marvel, touch and taste her in what she could only describe as the most exquisite torture she had ever experienced. After he had expertly coaxed her body into what felt like a whole other stratosphere she reclaimed control and climbed on top of him with every intention of satisfying the desperate craving coursing through her. But first she teased. She used her tongue to aid in her seduction of him; to trace, to capture and find. As the words and sounds elicited alerted her to his impending breaking point she smiled and happily repositioned herself over him. But when firm insistent knocks at the door threatened to intrude she leaned forward with a whimper and nipped at his neck before she caught his ear with her lips. "I need you now, Fitz, make them go away."

"Go away!" Fitz yelled, not the least bit concerned with who was at the door or what they needed; his focus only on pleasing and continuing to be pleased by Olivia in every possible way.

She smirked at the force with which he complied, reveled in the power he so shamelessly relinquished to her. "Perfect." She commended with a sigh as she righted herself and began to sink down down down until she was surrounding him and exhaled. "Great, great job."

Unadulterated pleasure mingled with the knowledge of what was to come had him gripping her hip with one hand and clutching her breast with the other. Blissfully content being under her spell he licked his lips and growled as she began a slow but steady and perfected rhythm that was a guaranteed ascent to ecstasy.

A long while later and Fitz was still holding Olivia close and stroking her back as she slept soundly in his arms. The time had almost come for him to wake her and watch her as she prepared for the second half of her workday and he wasn't looking forward to it. Despite her initiating their lovemaking and being as present as ever he could still see beyond the moment. He knew that even though she tried to push it aside, maybe even bury it altogether, she still carried whatever had transpired at work with her and it was weighing on her heavily.

His love for her was a strong motivating factor. It, along with instinct and anger, were urging him to do whatever was required to alleviate her burdens be it make calls, storm offices or persuade her to adopt his opinion of there being much better things in store for her than BNN. Even though he wanted to do all of those things and was convinced that it would be for the best, he knew she wouldn't appreciate his interference in such matters. He wasn't gullible enough to believe that she would allow him to start making such crucial decisions for her any time soon. In all truth he didn't want to, he took pride in the woman she was with or without input from him. He just wanted her healthy and happy above all else and it was abundantly clear that she wasn't her happiest professionally.

Movement at his side plucked him from his thoughts and when he looked down he found Olivia staring at him with eyes narrowed in confusion.

"Alas, my Sleeping Beauty has awakened," he said with a smile.

"How long was I out?"

"Not long enough for me. But seeing as how you have to be back at the studio soon I'd say your internal clock is impeccable. What's wrong?" he wondered as she averted her gaze.

She ignored the question posed and tried to adopt his previously cheery tone."So did you hold me the entire time or did you leave me long enough to find out who was at our door and what they wanted?"

He let her know that he didn't leave her but that he did get the answer to her question when he called downstairs. "It was Ger. He wanted to know if he could spend time with friends this evening but I reminded him we had plans as a family once you finished with work. Liv?"

Although her fingers ran absently along his chest, she continued to stare straight ahead as if she were conversing with the door. "We can have Grammie and Pop Pop's goodbye dinner even earlier than we planned because I'm no longer scheduled to be on air tonight."

The admission stunned him, the quick shift in his posture sent her rolling to the side and him apologizing as he brought her closer again. "All right you have to tell me what happened."

"I think I'll be parting ways with BNN soon or rather they'll be parting them with me."

"The hell, Liv? You really have to start at the beginning and tell me what went on in that office."

Witnessing the extent of his agitation, she sat up, ran her hand through her hair and sighed. Fighting the tears that threatened to spill over she began recounting the less than stellar results of her meeting. She informed him of her demotion from one woman primetime show, explained why she felt she was left with no other recourse but to reveal the news of her pregnancy, told him about the response her ideas had received and tried her best to put Keegan's reaction and advice for her situation into words.

In desperate need of answers he listened patiently so he wouldn't miss a thing but was seeing red by the time she finished."Wait. Wait. Wait. He said what to you? Has he lost his damned mind?"

"He was all over the place, Fitz. He was speaking in riddles and with his hands. But he told me in no uncertain terms that I had to make some decisions, whatever they may be, before the worlds knows. If nothing else, it does give me some time to think though. It means that I don't have to make any decision right this minute."

"But he asked you what you were going to do about your child! Our child! Like like it was...like you were just going to...I hope you told him it was none of his fucking business."

"Fitz," she paused to massage her temples as she thought of how to relay the rest of the conversation and her interpretation of it without inciting anymore of his ire. "As I said, he's already making his changes and my pregnancy threw him for the loop of loops. He admitted that it was the last thing he ever expected he'd hear from me. The man could barely get his words together."

"Did he cry? Tell me that there was at least one tear."

More concerned with her job than the personal friction between the men at the moment, she frowned."I thought we were talking about my career here."

"I know. And you know that it's very important to me, that I'm in your corner no matter what. But a part of me can't help but be happy at the thought of him slinking off to lick his wounds somewhere, the asshole." He paused and tempered the satisfaction he felt when her eyes darkened on him. "Look, Liv, I know that you don't have to decide anything permanent but have you at least given a thought to what you're going to do? What you want to do?"

"No, but I know what I'm not going to do. I'm not terminating this pregnancy for my job. And I will not let anyone pressure me into marriage to appease the sensibilities of others. The only person who has any kind of influence over my marital status would be you, but I know you wouldn't use it. I know you wouldn't want us if you felt like you had to hand out ultimatums."

"You're right, I wouldn't do that. I don't want you that way. As much as I love you and know without a shadow of a doubt how good we will be to and for each other, forcing you wouldn't work. It would just be a disaster for all of us in the long run. So if there's no marriage, where will you and BPG make your new home?"

She shrugged. "Vermont is looking sweeter and sweeter by the second."

"Livvie, I'm serious and I need for you to be serious. Because if Vermont is really an option for us right now we can start packing tonight."

Growing quiet as she weighed scenarios, she took comfort in the fact that she would be okay no matter the outcome. She knew that spending more time focusing on Fitz, their life and expanding family would be anything but a hardship but in her heart of hearts she was still drawn to New York and all it had to offer personally and professionally. "In spite of everything I still love it here. I love the home, the life, that's slowly coming together and as frustrating as it is right now I still love work. I love the chaos that takes place to get everything going everyday and the adrenaline rush that results. I love knowing I'm connecting with the audience at home as well as with the people I meet face to face. I love being able to deliver good news, I like to think I make the bad more palatable and for those reasons and a million more that I could name, I still want to anchor."

Once he was sure that her passion for her career remained unchanged he was determined that she would have it one way or another."Then fuck him. The beauty of being you, Olivia Pope, is that you can do, be and have whatever you want. If you want to be on television, you'll be on television. Whether by way of joining another network if your boss can't get his head out of his ass or even if I have to get enough funds and investors together and make it so myself."

"You'd really do that for me wouldn't you?"

"Put me to the test. I refuse to believe there isn't one place where you wouldn't be welcomed. But if worse comes to worst I'll call in favors. There's a particularly ornery but loaded old goat that goes by the name of Hollis who only exists for things like this and I know many more just like him; CiCi's in-laws for example. They love for their money to make money almost as much as they love being owed a favor, so they wouldn't care if the plan involved doing something with BNN or even if we started from scratch. It goes without saying that the latter would take a lot more work, a lot more time and effort to get off the ground and find its footing. I mean we'd have to scour the country to bring in the most competent executives, you've got marketing and programming to consider and so on and so forth."

Listening to him speak about acquiring or building billion dollar corporations as if he was rattling off a grocery list made her shake her head in disbelief. "Fitz."

"Liv, I'm not saying it's something that would happen overnight or that it would be on the same scale as BNN. A network needs years and years to establish itself but I would use every connection and gather as much capital as I could possibly accumulate to try to bring it to fruition."

Touched, she reverently placed her hand on his cheek and kissed him."As lovely a gesture as it is, it doesn't even compare to knowing that you'd actually do it. And you already give me so much; the way you love me and take care of me and really listen to me. I really don't need anything more than that. And it would be insane of me to ask for something of that magnitude."

"You aren't asking. I'm just throwing out some suggestions for a possible solution. So do I need to enact a plan for Operation Pope Network or no?"

Watching him she saw that he was serious and she was in awe; the racing of her heart and tears of joy swimming in her eyes proof of the fact. Every single time she thought she had him figured out he came up with something in word or deed that managed to up the ante. Overwhelmed by the intensity of his love for her, of his faith in her, she pounced on him.

Caught off guard, he flew backwards and her body toppled his as she pushed her tongue into his mouth. She kissed him with passion that was unrestrained, engulfing the both of them while his hands grasped and traveled the length of her back to cup her behind.

When he heard what he believed to be an anguished gasp against his neck he stilled the ministrations of his fingers against her toned flesh."Livvie. Baby, what's wrong?"

She shook her head."Nothing's wrong, everything is right. It's all so right."

"So I take it you're on board with my idea or...?"

'No."

"No"

"It's a beautiful thought, but no. That's too huge of a gamble and I wouldn't dare dream of risking your money, others money or your friendships and business relationships like that."

"Then what is it? What has you...I'm not quite sure what you are exactly."

"The way you love me. I'm thinking of the way you love me and I can't even find the words to describe how it makes me feel. And you know how serious I am about my words."

"I'm aware."

"I love you. I love you with everything that I am and I promise to never take you and what we have for granted."

"And I promise you the same."

"Good. And now that that's settled...Fitz?"

"Yes, Livvie."

"Kiss me."

"My pleasure."

While Fitz busied himself with the task of confirming dinner reservations, Olivia threw on a robe and slippers and made her way to the kitchen in search of a snack to tide her over until the appointed time. With her mouth practically salivating at the thought of peanut butter, apples and crackers, she made a beeline for the pantry and then the fruit bowl.

"Aren't you supposed to be out of here by now?'

Nearly jumping out of her skin at the sound of her grandmother's voice, she dropped her knife on the countertop and placed one hand over her heart until it slowed. Hurrying into the kitchen, Janice expressed her remorse as she cleaned the spilled milk and refilled Olivia's glass.

"Are you still not feeling well, Livvie?"

"No, I'm better."

"That's good. I was going to say you look much better."

"Yes," Olivia nodded, "I've decided it can only be described as the Grant Effect."

Janice chuckled after finally taking a seat. "You've got yourself a keeper there, honey."

"He's the definition of one."

Unable to contain her own smile while observing Olivia, Janice regarded her granddaughter carefully as she debated just how deeply she should pry. But before she could ease into conversation Olivia began talking, sharing the ups and downs of her day; but highlighting, always highlighting the extent of Fitz's love and the lengths he would go to to prove it.

Taking it all in Janice groaned, swooned and laughed throughout the retelling of Olivia's day but kept her thoughts to herself until things were finished and the silence became deafening.

"Grammie what are you itching to say but holding back?"

Janice held up her hand and grinned. "I'm not saying anything, I've already said enough. I've made no secret of where I stand. Now I'll just observe. I'll support you and the man who would capture the moon for you and bring it back gift wrapped without you even asking."

Smiling because she could see and believe him doing just that, Olivia nodded her head in agreement. "Fitz is definitely one of a kind."

"And you're pretty special yourself, always have been, so it's only fair that you met your match. You're great together and you'll have a great life together however you choose to make it."

"Even if it's not what you and Pop Pop envisioned for me?"

Janice shrugged, covered Olivia's hand with her own and squeezed. "I think it's time I remember that you haven't done so bad for yourself so far and just leave your life in your hands. I was scared for you and the baby and as someone who loves you with her whole heart I always will be I just have to have faith that you will do the absolute best for you and your family whatever that is."

Grateful for the woman's approval and words of encouragement, Olivia kissed her cheek."Thank you, I will. I always will. Just do me a favor?"

"Anything sweetheart."

"Talk to Pop Pop and help him to see it your way."

Upon exiting the bathroom Fitz paused mid-step at the sound of Olivia's chuckles. Clad in nothing but a towel he turned to her just as she finished adding long sapphire drop earrings to her look for the evening. Even though he knew he was running behind he didn't hesitate when it came to making time to admire the sight of her draped in black satin.

Although the length of her skirt ran longer than either of them usually preferred, the fitted bodice and waist of her dress cinched with a thin black belt accentuated her frame and for that he was thankful. The bold black and vivid blue contrasted against her warm caramel skin made her nothing less than a vision to behold and he had no problem telling her so as he stared in appreciation.

"What were you laughing at just now, Livvie?"

"You. You're late. You're never late. I was dressed and ready to go before you left the shower and the only time that usually happens is when I leave for work."

"Well that's because you keep distracting me. You've been doing it since you got home, you're doing it even now and you're fully dressed."

Laughing, Olivia grabbed her purse and wrap in preparation for her exit. "Then my apologies, Mr. President. I'll just be on my way."

Opposed to even the idea of her absence he rushed to her side. "What are you doing? Where are you going?"

"Downstairs with everyone else so we can mock your tardiness," she joked. "But seriously I'm going to find Grammie and Pop Pop. I'm going to try to get them to stay beyond my doctors appointment tomorrow because I like having them here. I'll miss them too much if they go."

"I know. But they promise to visit again and we'll go to them as much as you want; as much as you need. Okay?"

"Okay." She nodded and stepped back when he leaned in to kiss her.

Confused but excited by the prospect of a quick chase around the room before he convinced her to give in, Fitz eyes narrowed and his lips turned up in a smirk, "What's that all about?"

"You're still a little damp which means you'll get me wet."

"But I thought you were only supposed to complain when I don't."

No mistaking the innuendo when she took his expression and deepening timbre into account, Olivia rolled her eyes and groaned. "Goodbye, Sex Fiend Fitz and hurry up! We'll all be waiting on you."

He reached out and grabbed her hand and brought it to his lips. "Not so fast. Not until you..."

The deafening knocks at the door had him closing his eyes shut as he bellowed. "Yes!"

After snickering at the exasperation in Fitz's tone and his declaration to banish Karen and Gerry to their own floor to cut down on interruptions, Olivia gave him a quick kiss meant to soothe. Once he calmed, she volunteered to handle whatever awaited them on the other side of the door while he dressed.

Immediately upon hearing footsteps on the stairs CiCi rose from her seat and stood. Following the sound of shoes against wood she smiled as her gaze connected with Olivia's and the two friends embraced.

"Don't you look spiffy Liv! The kids do too. If I had known you all had plans I wouldn't have come."

"Nonsense, you know you're always welcome. Besides Fitz isn't quite ready so we're all cooling our heels.

"Fitz? Running behind?"

"Yes." Olivia gave no attention to the woman's pointed look, choosing to answer the loaded question succinctly before they fell into small talk.

While waiting for Fitz to appear Olivia treated CiCi to a rundown of her time in front of the camera with him. She freely admitted that she had even surprised herself with how much they had ended up sharing. She spoke of how they had talked candidly about dealing with public attention; be it the intrusiveness, the support, or the hurtful backlash that stemmed from a president divorcing his wife as well as the two of them being a high profile interracial couple. She relayed how they even took time to clarify some of the biggest misconceptions surrounding them; right down to the timing of their meeting, Fitz ending his marriage and the beginning of their relationship.

Voicing her belief and anticipation of the actual broadcast being even better than the summary CiCi suggested they toast. She wanted to celebrate love, the boldness of their transparency and the predictable rage that all of it would trigger in Mellie. Spurred by thoughts of steam shooting from ears and rising from the depths of criminally high hair like a phoenix, CiCi almost resorted to clapping with glee imagining Mellie's reaction. Upon inspection of the bar and finding bottled waters instead of the faithful alcoholic options her joy turned to confusion.

"Um, Liv, hon, what's all this?"

"It's water, CiCi."

"I know that but why? Fitz is a Barrington Grant and us Barringtons we bleed scotch. And you my dear, your love of wine is unparalleled. So why this drastic, disheartening downright blasphemous change?"

Before Olivia could decide how to respond Fitz entered the room, unwittingly bringing the conversation to a halt. The penetrating gaze CiCi had previously fixed on Olivia disappeared as she eyed Fitz warily. After going multiple rounds with him the day before over her penchant for meddling, secret keeping and then bypassing him to involve Olivia she felt a little cautious and a whole lot of guilt as she looked at him.

She had witnessed his temper on many occasions but had never had the misfortune of fully experiencing it firsthand until that moment. She knew she deserved his anger, could even accept it. She just detested the awkwardness that remained in the aftermath and hoped that they could very much repair it in time.

Olivia noticed the change in demeanor, the shift in the atmosphere and determined that she would do whatever was necessary to ease the tension between the two. When Fitz responded to CiCi's jovial greeting with gruff monosyllables and an abrupt tilt of his head she started to believe she had her work cut out for her. She took it upon herself to steer a conversation that dragged despite her best efforts until she reached the point of no return with the both of them and urged them to hug it out.

When CiCi attempted to break the ice with another crack about the absence of alcohol Olivia looked to Fitz and then CiCi. "It's a display of solidarity from Fitz to me. Since I won't be able to have wine for the foreseeable future Fitz decided to get rid of it."

Eyes twinkling with a very probable theory she studied the couple and took note of their radiant glows. "So why won't we be needing our trusted friends to guide us for the time being?"

She watched Olivia's smile intensify until it was near blinding, followed the path of her hand from Fitz's grasp to her flat stomach.

"A baby! You two are having a baby!' She exclaimed in pure delight. Leaping from her seat she fired off a million and one questions as she moved into their space to offer hugs and kisses and well wishes.

As CiCi tripped over her own words providing unsolicited advice and rattling off the names and places in the city that provided the very best as it pertained to both mommy and baby, Olivia wondered how long it would be before their reservation was lost to them altogether. Detecting movement out of the corner of her eye, all of her concentration went in that direction and she saw her grandfather standing watching. Feeling the need to explain the delay, she excused herself from the high pitch chatter and walked to him; each step becoming heavier as she neared him and the close proximity revealed slight panic in his eyes.

Studying him, she tried to ignore the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, even tried to attribute it to hunger when it became more pronounced. But as lovely and blissful as ignorance was it couldn't erase the pained look on his face. "Pop Pop what is it? What's wrong?"

"Uh, I think we should cancel dinner, baby. Grammie isn't feeling so well."

Deciding that it just had to be the excitement of the last few days catching up with her, maybe even the beginning of a cold, she took and released a breath. "Okay. Alright. Not a problem. Is there something else you need; soup, crackers, orange juice?"

"A doctor. We need to get her to a doctor."

Kbrown84-thank you for sharing your thoughts about the story, you make some great points. One of the most challenging, fun and frustrating things for me has been to put aside what I believe or would do if I were in Liv's shoes and write what I believe would be Olivia's honest reactions to her life's situations in this setting. Writing from the perspective of her parents' divorce/abandonment skewering to the point of almost crippling any positive views on romantic relationships I can see her scared, hesitant, stubborn and naive at times in spite of all the love and support she has from Fitz, Abby and her grands.

About Liv's hesitance no longer being believable: although it takes me a while to update and get to the point(sorry this is so long, I ramble a lot all the time lol). There aren't any huge time jumps in this story because I've tried to focus primarily on Olitz and packing as many moments of them together into the chapters as possible while also showing the reactions of the people who would be most affected by their relationship(rightfully so or not).

That combined with me breaking up certain scenes into several chapters due to length or whatever and it may make things drag when storywise not a lot of time has passed. Olivia's only known about her pregnancy for a week or two at this point and to have her change her stance on marriage in a weeks time to me seems unrealistic for her or anyone's character. Not to mention it feels like it would cheapen the bond Liv and Fitz have built so far. To me having her yay marriage immediately would call her motives into question and I don't want anyone who is thirty plus chapters into this feeling like she's getting married(if she ever does) to keep her job or because of BPG.

However I'm not trying saying your opinion is invalid; writing this I don't find myself liking or agreeing with everything the characters say or do, so I don't expect you as a reader to. My hope is that I have entertained you and that you at least understand the reasoning behind the actions that they take or don't take whether agreeing or not.

Socialfly2282-Thank you! I have quite a few other Olitz fics on my computer that I hope to flesh out and post soon but I won't do one this long ever again lol.

ScandalOnica-So glad that you are enjoying this!