"How? How do you do that?" Athena's gaze was fixed on her aunt as Mercedes balanced on her all-too-familiar floating log in her father's pond.

"Balance, Ath." Mercedes wore a grin on her face, her eyes sparkling while the breeze blew her hair back and tugged at the white, jean jacket she was wearing. Raising her arms, the yellow shirt she wore lifted just enough from the black, Calvin Klein jeans to reveal the belly button piercing she kept secret from her parents and brother.

"When are you getting your tattoo?"

"I don't know yet," Mercedes dropped her arms, bringing her hands to the hem of her shirt and lifting it just enough to look at the bare skin near her belly button. "You still coming with me?"

"Duh. I designed it. I get to see it happen."

"Did you tell your dad?" Mercedes dropped her shirt and held her hands out toward her niece. Athena hesitated for a moment before edging closer to the log and taking a small, tentative step onto it. She placed her hands in her aunt's - gripping hard.

"No! Dad would freak out if he knew you were getting a tattoo. Just like he'd freak if he knew about all your piercings." Athena smirked, eyes widening.

"You're lucky you're the oldest, you know that?"

"You always tell me that my dad's gonna be protective of me anyway."

"Oh he is, Ath," Mercedes laughed, "But imagine your dad and brother being like that. Lio's younger - he'll have your back but he's not going to be over the top."

"It's not like you're a kid, Mercy."

"Child, child, child," Mercedes shook her head. "Back to that one?"

"It's not my fault I couldn't say Mercedes when I was little."

"No, but I think we can drop Mercy."

"Nah. It fits you." Athena shrugged, squealing when she felt the log shift under her feet. "Okay. I'm getting off this now."

Laughing, Mercedes followed Athena off the log. Turning on the bank, the two stood side-by-side and watched the ripples move along the pond.

"You've never chickened out before."

"If it was warmer I wouldn't have." Athena tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, drawing Mercedes's attention.

"I miss your natural colour."

"You dye yours," Athena pointed out, shrugging.

"Because mine is boring. Yours is like your dad's - golden brown. It's pretty." Mercedes bent, prodding through a pile of rocks by her feet. Finding a smooth, flat rock, she straightened and bent her arm.

"Show off," Athena muttered as Mercedes released the stone from her hand, both watching as it skipped one, two, three times before sinking.

"What would you think about hiking next weekend? We could go up to Eagles Point."

"Hiking?" Athena crossed her arms, raising a brow. "Just us?"

"Or your mom, too." Mercedes tilted her head to the side, glancing at Athena from the corner of her eye.

"Why?" Athena chewed on her bottom lip, dragging the toe of her boot through the soft ground - making long, deep tracks in the mud.

"I thought it would be something fun for us, Ath. A girls' day. Whaddya think?"

"No Seph or mamaw?"

"Do you really want to drag a five year old on a hike?" Mercedes laughed. "We can ask my mom if you want."

"Nah…" Athena sighed, dropping her arms and resting her gaze on the pile of rocks between herself and Mercedes. Twisting, bending at the waist and picking a smooth rock of her own, Athena spoke: "I guess we can give it a shot. A whole day of crazy. Yay."


"Olivia, how are you doing?" Dr. Freeland extended her hand, shaking Olivia's before gesturing for her to have a seat.

"Better. Thanks to you."

"That's good to hear," Dr. Freeland smiled, turning her attention to the man lurking behind Olivia. "It's nice to finally meet in person, Fitzgerald."

"Fitz," he corrected, shaking the doctor's hand and eyeing the empty chair beside Olivia. After a moment's hesitation, he took the seat.

"Have you ever met with a psychiatrist before?" Dr. Freeland's question was directed toward Fitz as she took a seat behind her desk.

"Not in this position," Fitz shook his head, grinning.

"Right. Dr. Grant is your father."

"Did you meet with Jerry?" Olivia interrupted, wrapping her hands around the armrests and leaning forward eagerly.

"I did. I shared all the information you asked for me to share."

"Thank you." Olivia turned toward Fitz, "I signed a release for your dad. He…"

"Understands this better than either of us," Fitz finished for her, keeping his attention on the doctor.

"Before we get started," Dr. Freeland interjected, turning the conversation away from Jerry's involvement with Olivia's treatment, "and this will be redundant for you, Olivia, we need to discuss confidentiality and expectations."

"Of course," Fitz agreed.

"As I have stressed with Olivia, our meetings are confidential. I cannot share what is said in these sessions unless you have signed a release giving me permission to do so and, even then, it is only with the individual for whom you have signed a release. With that said, there are a few exceptions to that rule. I am a mandated reporter. If I witness or suspect child abuse, I am required to report that. Our state also has a duty to protect clause. This means that if I suspect you are a threat to yourself or others, I must take all measures to warn those individuals who would need that information. Any questions?"

Dr. Freeland waited just long enough for both Olivia and Fitz to shake their heads before launching into her next spiel.

"If, at the end of today's session, you decide to stick with family sessions: I will be referring you to Nathan -"

"Why aren't we seeing him today?" Fitz interrupted. "Olivia's already seeing him."

"I wanted to discuss the medical aspect of Olivia's condition prior to a therapy session," Dr. Freeland answered. "Nathan and I both work for the same company. Prior to receiving my medical license, I was an LMFT. I can provide counselling, but that isn't typically what they like to see me do here."

"Understandable. Please, continue." Fitz gestured with an open hand.

"Typically, a period of the session will be the two of you together and then Nathan will speak to each of you individually. At any point, you may terminate therapy sessions."

"I was under the impression this would be a discussion of Olivia's diagnoses." Fitz crossed his arms, his feet spread wide apart - sending a clear message with his all-too-familiar 'power pose'.

"We will," Dr. Freeland promised, "Though Olivia had spoken as though you were also interested in joint therapy sessions."

"You said Sadie was right," Olivia noted as Fitz turned his gaze on her. "We suck at communicating. Don't you think we owe it to the kids to try to fix that?"

"So therapy, Liv?"

"Therapy." Olivia nodded, shrinking in her chair and holding her breath until Fitz sighed.

"What else?" Fitz questioned, turning toward the doctor once more.

"I need you to sign these forms -" Dr. Freeland pushed two identical sheets of paper toward Olivia and Fitz. Reaching for a couple pens, she placed one on each sheet. "Then we can begin."


"Isn't it early for them?" Athena nodded toward the large bird circling a tree in the distance. Both Olivia and Mercedes followed her gaze, shielding their eyes with their hands. It was a bright, clear day.

"No. They stay here year 'round," Olivia answered, watching the eagle settle in the barren tree below.

"It's in the name, Ath." Mercedes edged toward the dropoff near the end of the cliff. Her eyes dropped down, watching the water flow along the river banks at the bottom of the ravine.

"What's so interesting?" Athena ignored her aunt's comment, stomping toward Mercedes's side. Her eyes fell to the ravine, scanning the area. "It's beautiful. Mom, come see."

"I can see from over here." Olivia kept a safe distance from where Athena and Mercedes stood, her back against the tree that stood dead centre atop the cliff.

"Are you afraid of heights?" Athena turned her head toward her mother, a playful smile on her lips.

"I can't believe you're not, you little daredevil." Even at a distance, Olivia's knees were shaking and her eyes were wide - quickly flitting around the ground at her feet.

"It's not even scary," Athena sighed, waiting for Mercedes to turn around before wrapping her arm around Mercedes's waist. They waited for Olivia to dig her phone out of her pocket before plastering large grins on their faces.

"Come on, Liv. I'll take a few of you and Athena," Mercedes offered, as she dropped her hands from over Athena's eyes. They had decided on a couple 'funny' pictures, too.

"I'm good over here."

"Wow," Athena shook her head. Stomping across the small distance to where Olivia stood, she turned beside her mom. Crossing her arms, she called to her aunt: "Come on Sadie! It's getting cold."

"At least act like you like each other." Mercedes unlocked her phone, holding it in front of her. "You look like you just randomly bumped into each other."

"You are so embarrassing." Athena grinned, placing her arm across her mom's shoulders.

"You mean your aunt's more embarrassing than your mom?" Olivia joked, resting her head against Athena's and grinning as Mercedes snapped a photo.

"I don't know...it's a pretty close tie."

"Thanks for letting me join you guys," Olivia said, keeping her arm around Athena a moment longer as they both watched the eagle take flight once more in the distance.


"How? How is that…? Never mind." Sadie shook her head, reaching for her glass and frowning at the bitter taste of the whisky. Placing her glass back on the coffee table, she placed her hands on the couch behind her and shoved off - standing.

"Like you can do it better," Fitz taunted, switching places with his sister. Lowering himself to the floor, he sipped at his scotch.

"Well I wouldn't act out the Titanic like that." Mercedes frowned, reaching for a piece of paper from the baseball cap that sat on the table. Scanning the paper, she balled it up and tossed it onto the table with the rest.

"He never was very good at acting," Olivia giggled, her cheeks red. She had already consumed more than her fair share - going a little overboard on her first alcoholic drinks in months.

"Ouch." Reaching out, Fitz playfully shoved at Olivia's shoulder.

"Children, children," Mercedes chided. "Ready, Liv?"

"Yep. 30 seconds." Olivia hit the start button on the timer she had set up on her phone.

Tilting her head, Mercedes appeared to think for a moment before squatting.

"Frog?" Olivia questioned.

Nodding and pointing at her former sister-in-law, Mercedes then held her hands out like she was holding a dress. At the confused look on Olivia's face, Mercedes placed her hands together in a triangle and held it atop her head.

"The Princess and the Frog?" Olivia asked.

"Correct!" Mercedes clapped, turning toward her brother and hitting his back. "And that's how you play."

"Movie titles was a dumb category," Fitz grumbled, the ice in his drink clinking against the glass.

"You're just saying that because you're losing." Mercedes shrugged, settling back into the floor beside Fitz.

"Am I though?" Fitz smirked, glancing at Olivia from the corner of his eyes.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Mercedes wondered, following Fitz's gaze just as Olivia stood to take her turn.


A/N - Mercedes is a bit of a catalyst for everyone to move forward with their lives - to actually speak with each other. She's unique compared to most other characters in this story as she generally has a decent relationship with all of them.

Olivia and Fitz will soon start their 'family' therapy sessions. Clearly, Dr. Freeland wasn't going to be the one to conduct those sessions. I didn't write it as a scene because I didn't feel the need to reiterate what has already been said, but all she did was explain Olivia's disorder to Fitz.

Until next time,

Gabi