"Because you cheated!"

Those words hung in the air, charged. Heated. Fitz's eyes shone, his cheeks reddened, and his hands shook. Olivia sat in the corner, her eyes downcast and hands twisting in her lap. They had slowly been building to Fitz's outburst.

"Have the two of you ever discussed what led to Olivia's affair?" Nathan adjusted his tie, raising a brow as he waited for either one to speak.

"We…"

"I found her in bed with the bastard," Fitz spat, interrupting Olivia's attempt at answering the therapist's question. "I left work early to pick up our daughter. Our sick daughter. The school had tried calling Olivia. She didn't answer. So I got Athena."

"I had -"

"She had taken Seph to my mom's. I wasn't the only one who heard them. Athena was there - she heard Olivia yelling his name."

"Mellie told me you were cheating. That's why you were never home. I believed her. I...it was easy to believe her. I told her everything. She was supposed to be my friend. She knew all my fears. She knew what I was thinking and that I didn't trust what I was thinking. Until she convinced me that I should." Tears fell down Olivia's face - streaking hotly down her cheeks. Her eyes burned, vision blurred. Nails dug into the cloth of the chair she sat on.

"Why would you believe Mellie?"

"She was my friend, Fitz! You would believe Eddie if he told you -"

"Eddie isn't a vindictive bitch!" Fitz slammed his palm onto the arm of the chair. Standing, he paced the room, his fingers tugging at the thick curls atop his head.

"Hindsight, Fitz! You were gone all the damn time and I needed a friend. Mellie was that friend. I didn't know her reasoning for being my friend. I just knew that for once, someone listened to me." Olivia's body shook with each breath she took, her breathing coming in short, quick puffs.

"After everything she had done to us and our friends when we were in school, you were willing to listen to her?" He dropped his hands from his hair, stopping in front of her chair.

"Well she was the only one listening to me! You sure weren't." Olivia crossed her arms under her chest, sniffling as her tears finally began to slow.

"And that makes it all better that you fucked Jake?"

"Okay. Okay." Nathan stood from his seat, placing himself between the two feuding exes. Holding his arms out, he glanced from Olivia to Fitz. "Okay?"

Sighing, Fitz walked around the therapist and flopped down into his vacant seat. Placing his elbows on his knees, he leaned forward and held his head in his hands.

"I never said it before, Fitz, but I'm sorry," Olivia whispered, her eyes following Nathan as he angled himself to be in between the two once more. "If I could do it all over again, I would. I should have seen someone when Sadie told me too, but fighting the paranoia...the irrational thoughts...I couldn't do it alone. I fucked up. I know."

"I think that's enough for today," Nathan decided.

"You did," Fitz spoke as Olivia bowed her head, chewing on her lip. "But so did I."


"What do we need next?" Eleanor stopped beside Seph, her gaze travelling to the cookbook on the counter.

"One egg," Seph proudly stated, giving a toothless grin. She had lost her both her top, front teeth that week.

"Hmm," Eleanor hummed, moving around the step stool Seph had dragged to the counter and retrieving an egg from the refrigerator.

"What are we doing in here?" Jerry questioned, entering the kitchen with a basketball under his arm and Lio by his side.

"Seph and I decided to bake cookies," Eleanor smiled, handing the mixing spoon to Seph. "Who won?"

"It was a tie," Lio admitted, "We played pig so many times."

"He won some. I won some." Jerry shrugged, rounding the island to give Eleanor a peck on the cheek. "Where's Athena?"

"She and your daughter had somewhere to go. They wouldn't say where." Eleanor reached for the cookie sheet behind her, placing it near the mixing bowl Seph was working over.

"Well, it is someone's birthday," Jerry winked.

"They better not. I told everyone no gifts." Eleanor frowned, glancing into the mixing bowl. "That's good, Seph."

"You know your children are going to anyway," Jerry grinned, half-heartedly tossing the basketball to Lio.

"They're like their father. They never listen." Eleanor had her hand over Seph's, helping her drop dollops of cookie dough on the baking sheet.

"Strong willed, Ellie. And they got it in spades from both of us."

"Poor kids," Eleanor laughed, taking the spoon from Seph and gesturing toward the sink. Letting the spoon clink inside the bowl, Eleanor grabbed the cookie sheet and turned toward the oven.

"One of the basketball coaches we're training with has the same last name as mom," Lio casually observed, sliding onto one of the barstools and cradling the basketball on his lap.

"Oh?" Eleanor asked, shutting the oven door and turning the timer on.

"Yeah. He's nice. Really good at basketball," Lio continued as Eleanor and Jerry shared a look over their grandson's head.


"That is so freaking cool!" Athena sat in the passenger seat of Mercedes's car, staring at the stormy tattoo she had just uncovered. The swirling, dark clouds resembling a storm brewing graced Mercedes's flat, toned stomach. It was a simple tattoo, but - as the artist whose work was copied for the tattoo, Athena knew it had a deeper meaning. Hurricane was her aunt's anthem. Halsey was their favourite singer - one they had bonded over to the point that Athena had finally felt like she wasn't alone. If no one else understood her, at least her aunt did.

"It's a flawless design, Ath." Mercedes grinned, dropping her shirt back into place and clicking her seatbelt. The seatbelt flew past her ear, clanking against the side of the door. "Let's go find your grandmother a present."

"She's going to kill us," Athena giggled, shutting her door behind her and waiting for the beep as Mercedes hit the lock button on her keys.

"I wouldn't let anyone hurt you," Mercedes cooed, wrapping her arms around Athena and squeezing tightly.

"You would so run from mamaw." Athena laughed, linking her arm around her aunt's waist and matching her strides toward the store.

"Only because she's mean," Mercedes confided, shivering as a blast of cold air blew past them.

"It's because she likes dad more," Athena stated, referencing the many times Mercedes had sworn that her brother was their mother's favourite.

"Your dad is so spoiled."

"What are we getting mamaw?" Athena asked just as they entered the warm store. A few hearts dotted the store here and there in preparation of Valentine's Day. Glancing at her aunt, Athena smirked when Mercedes rolled her eyes. She loathed Valentine's Day - thought it was overrated, 'a greeting card holiday'. There was another, more personal reason, but Athena was pretty sure she was the only one who knew it.

"She wants a mixer."

"A KitchenAid? She wants one of the turquoise ones."

"I know. We'll pick out some things for you, Lio, and Seph to give her, too."


"Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday dear….

...Mom…

...Mamaw…

...Ellie…

Happy birthday to you!"

Voices fought over one another as they sang to Eleanor - her name jumbled with the exclamations of 'mamaw' and 'mom'. Despite her protests, a smile graced her lips as she closed her eyes and blew out the two candles on her cake. The flowery design had been a welcomed surprise. Although they hadn't mentioned it, Olivia and Fitz clearly were not happy with one another. It was the subtle things: the way they would meet each other's gaze and instantly look away or the frown that would cross Olivia's face when Fitz spoke. Subtle things that didn't get past Jerry. He was amazed that they had picked out a cake together.

"Can she open her presents before we have cake?" Lio inquired, eyes sparkling. For Lio, seeing reactions from others as they opened their presents was more fun than having cake. Jerry ruffled the kid's hair as he smiled - he could relate.

"Sure," Mercedes agreed, following Athena to the dining room and returning with Eleanor's presents.

"Here, mom." Mercedes heaved the medium-sized, gold-wrapped box onto the counter before her mother.

"Sadie," Eleanor smiled, tearing the paper from the box. "You didn't have to...This isn't cheap."

"Anything for my momma," Sadie smiled, pecking the older woman on the cheek before clearing the wrapping paper from the counter.

Eleanor made her way through the other presents: accessories for her new mixing bowl from her grandkids, a bracelet from Jerry, and, finally, to a large, silver-wrapped box that was sat before her.

"From Fitz and Livvie," Eleanor read from the card atop the box, smiling at the two before turning a discreet, raised brow toward her husband. Jerry shrugged: they were getting along well enough to purchase presents together. "It's been a while since I've gotten a present from both of you."

"We hope you like it, mom," Fitz spoke.

Eleanor tore at the paper. Biting her lip, she pulled the brass windchimes from the box, holding them aloft for everyone to see - and hear. Handing them to Jerry, she pulled the tall, square glass full of small pebbles, water, and a vibrant, green bamboo plant.

"Guys…" Eleanor's voice shook.

"The bamboo was Olivia's idea," Fitz was quick to add.

"I am so lucky." Eleanor stood from her seat, throwing her arms around Sadie before glancing at the rest of the room's occupants. "Come on. All of you."

XXXXX

"Fitz, can I talk to you?" Jerry asked, glancing out the kitchen window at Olivia, Sadie, and Eleanor attempting to hang the windchimes she had received from the ceiling of the porch.

"Yeah?" Fitz placed the plates he had collected in the sink, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with his father.

"You went to therapy with her today?"

"Yeah," Fitz rubbed at the back of his neck. "We had quite the fight."

"You'll have a few of those if you stick with it. The two of you never hashed anything out. Just bottled it in. Took it out on each other in the most passive-aggressive way possible. You need to yell at each other. Get it out."

"We need to yell?" Fitz raised a brow, shaking his head, and turned the hot water on, rolling up his sleeves.

"You can't move forward if you still hold resentment for each other. You can't move forward if you don't discuss what happened and address that anger both of you still hold. You do want to move forward, don't you?" Jerry glanced at Fitz, shouldering the younger man toward the other side of the double sink and reaching for a washcloth.

"I don't know, dad."

"I think you do," Jerry stated, squeezing some Dawn beneath the steady, warm stream of water before dipping the washcloth into the water. "You wouldn't insist on her staying at your house. You wouldn't be picking out presents together. You wouldn't be going to therapy. Not if you didn't know where this was going. Or at least have an idea of where you want it to go."

"She needs help, dad. After Jake...someone just needed to step up." Fitz insisted, taking a clean plate from his father and swiveling the faucet to his side of the sink.

"You just keep telling yourself that, son." Jerry smirked, his eyes travelling to the three women in front of the mirror - talking to each other.


A/N - One therapy session down and so, so many more to go. A double-blind is a type of experiment where neither the participants nor the experimenter knows who is receiving which treatment. Essentially, it is impossible for either to tell what results will come from the study. It felt fitting.

There is a song thrown in here: Hurricane. I am one-hundred percent a melomaniac. I use music to express myself and my characters and will drop songs/lyrics here and there as a hint to someone's background or what is to come. Hurricane is a hint to Sadie's past.

Guest: Speaking as both a patient and a mental health professional, Olivia can still drink alcohol while on Depakote. The only time a MH patient will be asked not to drink alcohol would be if there are serious side effects with their medication should the two be mixed (there aren't with Depakote) or if there is a hx of substance abuse.

Until next time,

Gabi