Olivia wasn't expecting to be on edge the day she met the kids. She and Fitz made a plan. They talked about it for hours. She knew exactly how it was supposed to go. Earlier that day, he talked to them about having a girlfriend. For them, that was key. They didn't want the kids to feel ambushed. They debated for a while if he should introduce her as his "special friend," or "a special person." Both sounded corny as hell, so they opted for "girlfriend." It was to the point and honest. They decided Olivia would use his car, and he would borrow Will's. They would meet at the Science Center where they'd spend a few hours seeing exhibits and watching a laser show. Then, they would take the kids for pizza and maybe their choice for dessert. Olivia would say goodbye and go back to the Air B&B Fitz rented for her. It was only a few blocks away from his house. He would spend time with the kids to see how they felt about the day. He hired a babysitter for the night so that he could sneak to see Olivia where they would debrief the day's events. Since it was technically still Mellie's week with the kids, he'd take them back to her home the following day.
When they discussed the plan, it seemed easy enough. But now that they were about to execute it, she was having second thoughts. Her stomach was in knots. She knew that if this didn't go well, if the kids had reservations about her or about him dating, he might hesitate to move forward. And Mellie. That was a whole separate topic they hadn't broached. She had no idea how she felt about Fitz dating again and what that meant for her children.
Fitz found her in the suite of her rental pacing hard enough to put a hole in the wood floor.
"Liv," he said, attempting to get her attention. He let himself inside the house, but knocked on the bedroom door so that he wouldn't startle her. She was so distracted by her nerves, she didn't hear him.
"Liv," he called again. This time, he got her attention.
She looked up at him, her hands visibly shaking.
"You good?" He asked.
She took a deep breath and nodded. She knew her demeanor gave the impression that she was less than fine.
He sat on the edge of the bed and watched her pace in circles. He waited for her to say something.
She stopped in her tracks and asked, "Do you think they'll like me?" with her voice trembeling.
"Yes! Of course they will. Jerry loves everyone. And Karen is the nicest girl."
"Okay, but what if they don't?"
"There's no reason for them to not like you."
"There are soooo many reasons for them to hate me. Fitz, I'm not Mellie. They've never met anyone you've dated. Evil stepmom lore is more than lore. It's real!" She realized stepmom implied marriage, which she did not mean to insinuate that. She panicked more.
"Not that we're getting married or-" she tried to clarify. Her face was hot, and she was certain her armpits were sweating.
"Is this kid appropriate? I wasn't sure what to wear, and I-"
He scanned her body up and down, taking in her denim shorts and t-shirt. He grabbed her by her arm and pulled her to him so that she was standing between his legs.
"Hey, everything's going to go great today."
She sighed and rolled her eyes. Why was he so confident? He had no idea how it was going to go. What if they were distraught by the idea of their father dating someone? This was so new to them.
"Trust me," he said, kissing her softly. "They will ask you a bunch of questions because they ask everyone they first meet a bunch of questions. But then Jerry will ignore you for his Nintendo Switch, and Karen will spend most of the day on her phone filming TikTak."
She giggled and corrected him. "TikTok."
"That thing. But it's going to be a good day. I'll meet you there in thirty. The car keys are on the counter."
He kissed her goodbye and departed. She changed her shirt three times, swapping a crop-top for a white button-down back to a basic white t-shirt. This was getting ridiculous. Before she could second guess it, she glanced at her self in the mirror. She looked great, and Fitz felt fine, so she should feel fine. She left before her anxiety could get the best of her.
When she arrived at the Science Center, Fitz, Jerry and Karen were waiting for her at the entrance. Jerry and Karen were the most polished looking children. They could have been little models. Karen's hair was perfectly styled in a top knot. She wondered if Mellie or Fitz was responsible. They were truly adorable.
Fitz greeted her with a hug, which took her by surprise. They hadn't talked about PDA during their plan. She didn't want to make them uncomfortable, so she kept it brief and stepped out of his embrace. Fitz took each child by the hand and gave it squeeze. "Karen, Jerry, this is Olivia."
She wasn't sure if she needed to get down at their level. That felt weird. She kept it cool and stuck her hand out. "It's very nice to meet you both," she said with a smile. She shook both of their small hands and took a step back to face them. They shuffled their feet and averted their eyes. They were nervous, and it was clear they didn't know what to make of this. Olivia looked to Fitz who looked as cool as ever, which gave her more confidence. "I heard they have robots and VR inside," Olivia said, hoping to get them excited.
Jerry cracked a smile. "VR?! Let's go," Jerry said leading the way inside the building.
While Jerry was enamored by almost every exhibit, Karen clung to Fitz. She wasn't having a terrible time, but it was obvious through the way she practically ignored Olivia she hadn't warmed up to having an extra person around. Olivia understood and tried to give her and Fitz space while she and Jerry learned about mummies and played with robots.
Halfway through the day, after viewing skeletons and experiencing an earthquake simulator, Karen seemed more comfortable with Olivia around. She let go of Fitz's hand, and seemed genuinely entertained by the laser show. It wasn't part of their plan and Olivia wasn't certain if this was the right move, but she said to her, "I hear the cafe has cinnamon pretzels. Do you want to grab one?"
She looked to her father who nodded his head to signal his approval. "Umm. Okay," Karen said, meekly.
Olivia wasn't fully expecting her to agree, but she was delighted that she had. She had very little experience with grade school children, and she wasn't sure how exactly you were supposed to talk to them. They were people, right? Just smaller. And people, even little ones, appreciated honesty and sincerity, so she asked, "Are you having a good time?"
"I guess." Karen shrugged and pulled her phone out of her back pocket. It was the first time she used it since they had been there. She couldn't fathom ten year olds with cell phones was the norm these days.
"You guess? What do I have to do to get you to know for sure that you're having a good time?" Her voice was steady, patient. She wanted Karen to feel that she was on her team.
Karen shrugged again and scrolled her phone.
"Okay, well, what if I said, that I'm really excited to meet you. Your dad talks about you all the time."
Karen smiled and put her phone down. "What did he say?" she asked.
"How you're the best at piano and how you kicked ass at soccer." Shit. She'd said a swear word in front of his daughter during their first meeting. She needed to clean this up. "Except he didn't say ass...I mean the a-word….He didn't say that..I don't think."
That made Karen laugh and definitely made her feel at ease. While they waited for their pretzels, Karen talked about piano and the friends she met since being in Nashville. As Karen explained a new concerto she was working on, Olivia texted Fitz immediately.
Please don't be mad at me, but I said ass in front of Karen.
He texted back a laughing emoji. It's fine. She's heard worse.
She was relieved. Fitz wasn't upset, and Karen was coming around. Things were going better than planned.
Fitz's picked what felt like the bougiest place to grab pizza, but the kids were regulars there. In the pizza parlor, to her delighted surprise, Karen sat beside her at the table. Jerry ordered pizza with "fresh parm and mozzarella." She was impressed by their pallets and their table manners, graciously thanking the waitress and always adding please to their requests.
Prior to meeting the kids, Olivia would have never described Fitz as goofy. But when he was with Jerry and Karen, he was the most playful and silly she'd ever seen him.
"What do you think? We can eat more slices than them right, Jerr,?" Fitz said as their large pies arrived at the table.
Olivia and Karen rolled their eyes. Everything was turning into a competition with the boys, but this was one that they would not indulge in.
With his teeth, Fitz pulled strings of cheese until the pizza was nearly a foot away from his face. It was such a small thing, but it made the children giggle. They laughed even harder when Olivia leaned over and took a bite of the cheese, both surprising Fitz and ruining his pull.
Olivia sat back in her seat, grabbing a napkin to clean her face. She wasn't sure if she should have done that. Maybe that was too affectionate, but Fitz gave her a reassuring wink. She took a sip of water, and Jerry asked, "So, do you, like, love Olivia, dad?"
She nearly choked on her water, but tried to play it cool. She barely looked up at Fitz, whose face turned bright red. Her cheeks were hot. Neither was prepared for such a question.
It took him a moment, but he finally spoke. "I do," he answered, sounding way more confident than Olivia expected. Her heart raced. She bit her lip and tried to keep calm. She peeked at him, smiled and glanced back down.
"Ew, girls are gross," Jerry replied, shaking his head in true disdain.
"One day you might like a girl," Fitz said.
"Uh, no girl will ever like him," Karen interjected.
"Hey!" Jerry and Fitz said at the same time.
"He doesn't clean his room!" she explained. "He gets pee all over the toilet. He can't even aim!"
"Ugh. Boys, they're the worst," Olivia teased winking at Jerry and Fitz.
"Tell me about it," Karen said, exhausted. She sounded as if he had decades worth of man troubles. Olivia couldn't help but giggle.
"Karen has a boyfriend," Jerry said in a sing-song voice. He said it as if he was gladly outing a secret.
"That's not true!" Karen declared, her cheeks turning pink.
"She does, and they were kissy-kissy at the park," Jerry said. He pursed his lips and kissed the air.
"That didn't happen, idiot!"
"Karen, don't call your brother names. Jerry, stop teasing your sister," Fitz said. His voice was stern enough to defuse them from escalating.
"I don't have a boyfriend! But mom says I can have one when I turn thirteen," Karen explained.
"Oh, mom says that?" Fitz asked.
"Yes, she said when I'm teenager."
"Okay, we'll have to talk to mom about that."
"Olivia, when was your first boyfriend?" Karen asked.
"Uh-I went on my first date when I was sixteen, but my first real boyfriend wasn't until I was eighteen. I went to an all girls school, so boys were hard to come by."
"Eighteen that's what I'm talking about," Fitz said.
Olivia rolled her eyes. "Do tell. When was your first girlfriend?" she asked him.
Karen looked gleeful as she awaited his response.
"Oh I don't know. I can't remember that far back."
"Oh come on," "Tell us" Olivia and Karen said at the same time.
"Probably twelve or thirteen," he answered. "But it obviously wasn't serious."
Jerry looked utterly bored with the conversation. "Can we talk about something else?" he asked.
Fitz and Olivia smiled and gladly changed the topic. Jerry told her all about his five home runs during his Little League tournament while Karen explained how she made the most goals on her soccer team. They were just as competitive as their father, and he seemed proud of their athletic accomplishments. Olivia was thankful that their conversation steered away from dating because she didn't want to answer any questions about their relationship. Hearing that Fitz loved her was enough to get her mind spinning. Did he really love her? He wouldn't lie, but he was put on the spot, so maybe he loved her in the way you were supposed to love thy neighbor. That was it. He didn't love love her, she figured.
When they finished lunch, Fitz and the kids walked Olivia to her car. She was amazed by how seamless the afternoon went with them. But departing was always awkward. Was she supposed to hug them? Maybe a handshake would suffice. She'd let them make the move.
"It was really nice to meet you guys," she offered.
"Wait, are you leaving? Don't leave," Jerry said.
"Dad, can she come back with us?" Karen asked.
Stunned, neither Fitz nor Olivia knew what to say. They hadn't prepped for this. She was trying to read his face, and he was probably trying to read hers. She didn't want to impose or put him in a tough position. This was his call.
"If Liv wants to, she certainly can," Fitz replied.
Damn. This was supposed to be his decision. She was having a good time with them and didn't want to disappoint. At the same time, they already had such a great day. What if spending more time with them would ruin it?
She went with her gut. "Sure, I can do that."
"Yes!" "Yay!"
"Then it's settled. Liv, will meet us back at our place," Fitz said. He looked excited by the idea.
He settled his kids in his car while she got in hers. He walked over to Olivia's driver side.
"Are you sure?" he whispered. "I can get you out of this if you don't want to come over."
"I'm sure. Are you sure? I don't want to make anything weird for you."
"It won't be. I'm glad you're coming. I'll cancel the sitter." He gave her the most assured smile, which put her at ease. He kissed her forehead and closed her car door.
It was weird seeing Fitz's home with children occupying it, but it also made so much sense. Their book bags and shoes were strewn in the mud room. Their water bottles and tablets were perched on the island. She was officially in daddy zone.
They were upstairs by the time she made it. She greeted him with a kiss, which was meant to be soft and brief, but Fitz wrapped an arm around her and made sure he thoroughly tasted her lips and tongue. If they were alone, she knew he would have lifted her to the kitchen island and chased her tongue for as long as she would allow. Instead, he broke away far sooner than she wanted.
"I don't know if I'll get to do that again today," he said.
As soon as those words left his lips, Karen came barreling down the stairs. They parted before they could get caught.
"Olivia, you're here! Will you make a TikTok with me?" she asked.
Olivia was positive, that was a question she never thought she would hear. She was even more certain she had no clue what it entailed. She took Fitz's smile as permission to proceed.
"Uh-Sh-Sure."
"Dad, you can go play with Jerry. He's on Xbox," Karen said.
"Well, I've been thoroughly dismissed from my own kitchen," he said as he took the stairs, shaking his head.
Karen grabbed Olivia by the hand where she perched her phone on the counter. Karen looked as if she had done this a lot.
"It has the best lighting here. And we need good lighting." she explained. Olivia had to stop herself from laughing at the little filmmaker.
"Okay, so what are we making exactly?" Olivia asked, following Karen's lead. Karen scrolled through TikTok to find the perfect sound.
"We could do this dance," Karen suggested, showing Olivia her screen. She was shocked to see teenage girls in crop tops twerking, popping, and shaking their asses to a rap song she'd never heard of before. She knew there was no way in hell Fitz would approve of any child of his doing that dance on the Internet.
"Oh! Oh boy. That is. Wow. Maybe...let's try a different one. I don't think I can learn that dance," Olivia replied.
Karen looked disappointed but scrolled through until she found another. She gave Olivia her phone for approval.
"We can do that one. That one is fine," Olivia replied. Again, she had never heard the song, but the dance looked easy enough. There were only a few body rolls and seemingly tame hip shakes. Never in her life had she felt so old.
They watched the short clip about two dozen times before they both picked up the choreography. Thirty-minutes later, they were in Fitz's kitchen recording themselves dancing. It reminded her of being Karen's age, making her parents watch her and her friends dance to boy band songs. Music and dancing had surely come a long,very different way. Still, it was fun to dance and forget about everything with Karen.
They were so wrapped up in their TikTok dancing, they didn't hear Jerry and Fitz come down the stairs. It was until they felt blasts of cold water on their bodies did they realize they weren't alone in the kitchen. They turned around to find Fitz and Jerry holding huge water guns in the air.
"Who has bad aim now, Karen!" Jerry yelled, squirting them both with water.
"Fitz!" "Jerry!" The girls shrieked at the same time.
"Fitz, I just straightened my hair today. I swear if you ruin it," Olivia threatened.
The girls weren't going down without a fight. Olivia turned the water on at the sink and grabbed the sprayer while Karen filled glasses of water and tossed it on them. They spent twenty minutes running around the kitchen in an intense water fight.
The boys would not relent, not until Karen grabbed flour from the pantry and threatened to toss it.
"Okay. Okay. You win," Fitz said. He motioned to Jerry to drop their guns. Karen put the flour down. All four of them were drenched. Olivia fared the best with only her shirt soaked with water.
Somehow, Fitz deescalated their water fight enough to convince Jerry and Karen to go upstairs to change, leaving him and Olivia alone to clean up their mess.
"Thanks for being a good sport," he said as they dried the kitchen floor with towels.
She smiled. She was having a great time with his kids. "They're so nice," she replied. "And funny," she added.
"They have big personalities in such small bodies," he said.
He pulled her by the arm to bring her closer to him.
"Sorry for getting you all wet." His voice was husky and his grip around her waist was tight. She pushed a wet lock of hair out of his face.
"I don't think you're sorry at all. I think you liked it."
"I typically do," he responded. She rolled her eyes at his pun but then kissed him.
"Ewwww!" They pulled away, jumping a couple feet apart at the sound of Jerry's voice.
"Can we have a movie night?" he asked, suddenly seeming unfazed by their kiss.
"ROOFTOP MOVIE NIGHT!" Karen yelled from upstairs.
Fitz turned to Olivia as if she was the decision maker, despite the fact that she had no idea what rooftop movie night entailed.
She agreed anyway. "Let's do it".
The truth was she didn't want to leave. She loved everything about seeing him parent. It somehow made him even more attractive. His children were the perfect reflection of him: smart, funny, kind. She couldn't believe how much she was enjoying herself and felt silly for being so nervous to begin with.
After they all changed, Olivia donning one of Fitz's t-shirts that she knotted at the side, they spent the rest of the evening on Fitz's rooftop terrace. It was so well designed and decorated, Olivia could only think of minor things she would have tweaked. The Edison string lights gave it homeiness while the faux turf made it seem like an actual backyard. There were two oversized outdoor bean bag loungers anchored by a fire pit and side tables.
There was also a small outdoor kitchen where Fitz grilled steaks and hamburgers while Olivia helped Karen and Jerry make pasta salad and lemonade. Over dinner, the kids, especially Karen was fascinated to learn that Olivia lived in D.C. Unlike their Uncle Will who only visited, she knew the city well.
"Have you met the president?" Karen asked.
"No, but I've met several senators," Olivia replied.
"We're going to D.C. on my sixth grade trip," Karen bragged.
"Well, you'll have to call me. I'll show you the real D.C."
Karen looked amazed and pleased by the idea of having a true connection to D.C. It felt nice to make Karen beam with such a small offer.
When the sun went down, the kids and Olivia made smores by the fire pit while Fitz set up their movie projector. After a back forth between the kids about what to watch, they settled on a Pixar movie Olivia had never heard of. She didn't realize how far removed she was from kid stuff. It was strange to think that this might be a new part of her life. She never thought she wanted or could truly be family oriented until now. It wasn't as bad or as lame as thought it might be.
Jerry and Karen sat on one chair while Fitz and Olivia snuggled with a blanket on the other. She was finding it hard to concentrate with his hands stroking her thigh or gently rubbing her ass over her shorts.
She wanted to lean up and kiss him. Instead she rested her head on his chest finding patterns in the way he inhaled and exhaled. It would be the perfect time to tell him how she felt. Hadn't he already sort of told her that he loved her? Maybe it wasn't direct, but he said it. She wanted to ask him so many times throughout the day. Did you mean it? Is it true? Because if it were true, it would be so easy to grab his wandering hand and whisper it back to him. It was on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn't bring herself to do it.
Before the movie finished, both Jerry and Karen were fast asleep.
"We must have really worn them out. They normally have at least another hour left in them," Fitz said, picking up Jerry to take him downstairs to his room. He returned a few minutes later, lifting Karen as if she were feather-light to put her to bed. His movements were so deft it was obvious that carrying sleeping children to bed was common.
He returned the second time with two wine glasses and a bottle of Merlot.
Unscrewing the bottle, "We made it," he said. His exhaustion was evident in his voice.
She nodded and smiled as she watched him fill their glasses.
"How do you think it went?" She was nervous, but she needed to know his dishonest assessment.
"Perfect. I couldn't have asked for a better day."
She grinned and scooted closer to him. "I thought so too. Karen is so precocious and so sweet. And Jerry-"
"Is wild," he finished for her.
Laughing, "I was going to say so much like you," she said.
"So we didn't scare you off?"
"Never."
"Good 'cause I don't want you to leave."
She nodded in agreement. He took the wine glass out of her hand and set both his and hers on a side table. He pulled her down so that they were resting on their sides face-to-face. She took it as an opportunity to resume cuddling, throwing her leg around him. He stared at her like he saw something holy in her eyes.
"Can I be honest?" His voice was barely above a whisper.
She nodded, and he continued. "I've been so nervous about you meeting them. And not because I thought you'd be bad with them. And not just because I want to protect them. A part of me thought-" He paused, and it felt like an eternity. She was surprised to learn he felt nervous. All day he was so relaxed, so self-assured. He calmed her so effortlessly. She loved that he was strong for her, but hated that he felt like he could display his true feelings.
"What?"
"It's silly, but I thought you'd change your mind about us. I thought you'd think that I was looking for a stepmom. Or that it would be too much. We're a package deal, you know."
She was silent as she mulled over his words, so he continued. "I don't want you to think that my fear was a reflection of what I think of you so much as what I thought of myself. I just didn't want you to feel like dating me and me having kids was a burden."
"I don't think that. I've never thought that."
"I know. Like, I said, it's dumb."
"It's not dumb. It's real. It's how you feel. I want you to always be able to tell me how you feel because, Fitz, I- I love you."
It was out there. And it was honest. It was one hundred percent how she felt. She teared up, and his thumbs barely touched her face to wipe them away.
"I love you. I'm in love with you," he replied. He lifted her chin and kissed her. She knew she would always remember that kiss, the way his lips crushed hers and their tongues tangled. The way he untied the knot of her t-shirt to touch her stomach and chest. The way he pulled down her bra, barely unhooking it to caress her hardened nipples. And how he pulled her on top of him because they couldn't get close enough. Being loved by this man felt like nothing she had experienced before, and she never felt more grateful.
AN: This was a long chapter, but I wanted to paint a full picture of what it would look like to meet his children. Also, they love each other! And the kids like her...but the next question...How will Mellie feel? We will see next! Thanks for reading!