Olivia sat in the rocking chair, her gaze focused on the paint-stained concrete at her feet. The faded pinks and blues were reminiscent of a school project Athena had done.

"She um...she's…" Olivia cleared her throat, shaking her head and tightening her grip on the arms of the rocker.

"At the same hospital as Fitz."

Olivia nodded, teeth worrying at her bottom lip. She frowned at the coppery taste that flowed across her tongue when she bit just a little too hard.

"Not a nursing home?"

"When she called me, she was at Greenwood," Eli answered - giving the name of the nursing home Maya had spent her last year in. "She had a stroke last week."

Olivia sighed, her face remaining stony. Blinking rapidly, she questioned:

"You really didn't know?"

"If I had known, I would have never left."

Eli leaned against the wooden post, his arms crossed over his chest as he watched Olivia. She hadn't said much after he had revealed that he'd seen her mother.

"I don't need someone to play my father."

"I don't want to play at being your father," Eli scoffed. "Your mom -"

"You don't have to say anything about my mom," Olivia spoke, pushing herself out of the chair. "I know firsthand how talented she is at screwing things up."

Turning her back to the man, she stomped across the concrete until she was at the door. Hand on the doorknob, she took a deep breath before entering the home. Some secrets, she was sure, were meant to stay buried.

"Today's the day!" Athena flounced into the kitchen, bouncing from one foot to another with a goofy grin on her face. Twirling around her mother, she reached for an apple from the glass bowl on the counter.

"Remember, your dad isn't going to be up for much when he gets home," Olivia reminded her, sipping at the coffee in her hand.

"Who cares?" Athena shrugged, biting happily into her breakfast. "Dad's going to be home."

"Yes he is." Olivia smiled, her free hand going to her stomach and the unnerving feeling of a whole kaleidoscope of butterflies fluttering about. They were going to have to have a talk as much as she had been trying to avoid it. The "he just woke up from a coma" excuse could only last for so long.

"Dad's coming home?" Lio paused in the doorway, fingers tight around the strap of his bookbag.

"Yes," Olivia answered, placing her blue mug on the counter and maneuvering around Athena to reach into the refrigerator. Pulling the black and white cloth lunchbox out, she held it toward Lio. "He'll be home by the time you get out of school. Don't forget that uncle Tommy is bringing you home. You'll have to ride the bus to the high school."

"Why can't I go with you?" Lio wrapped his hand around the handle of his proffered lunchbox.

"I think it'll be best if your dad settles in before the three of you get home. He's still not one-hundred percent."

"Daddy's coming home today!" Seph came dancing into the kitchen, her singing floating through the air, curls bouncing around her face and eyes sparkling.

"Aren't you all excited?" Olivia chuckled, kneeling in front of Seph and straightening the pink button-down the little girl was wearing.

"It's going to be a great day." Athena grinned, reaching for her bag from the barstool and slinging it over her shoulder. Holding her hand toward her sister, she announced, "Come on slowpokes. The bus'll be here soon."

"I think that's everything," Olivia remarked, setting the last vase of flowers on the kitchen counter.

"It looks like a damn florist shop in here," Fitz chuckled, his eyes travelling across the many, many vases of flowers.

"You're very popular." Olivia slid her hands into her pockets, frowning as her fingers touched the round, plastic in her pocket. Pulling the ring free, she held it toward Fitz. "The nurses gave this to me. They said it was yours, but I -"

"It is," Fitz grinned, holding his hand out and wrapping his fingers around the cheap, neon pink ring once Olivia laid it in his hand. "I haven't gone anywhere without it in years."

"Years? I don't remember ever giving you a pink ring," Olivia joked.

"You didn't." Fitz's eyes sparkled as he twisted the ring around in his hand. "Athena did."

"When was this?" Olivia probed, leaning against the island.

"Oh God," Fitz laughed. "She must have been four? Maybe five. It was when she was going through that phase - convinced we were replacing her with Lio."

"I remember that," Olivia laughed, "she asked if we could give him back."

"Yes she did." Fitz rubbed his jaw with his free hand, smiling. "I took her to the arcade. You thought she needed some one-on-one time."

"Ah yes. If only I'd known she'd turn into such a daddy's girl."

Fitz shook his head, the skin around his eyes crinkling. "She asked why I always wore a ring. I told her that it was mine and your promise to always love each other. So she got that ring with her tickets, gave it to me, and asked if I promised to always love her."

"They're lucky, Fitz. All three of them."

"Is that so?" Fitz tilted his head, tucking the ring into the pocket of his shirt.

"They have a great dad."

"They have a great mom, too."

"I'm not so sure about that."

"Liv," Fitz met her gaze. "What was it you said? Something about us getting our shit together - actually communicating?"

"You remember what I said to you?"

"Bits and pieces. You may not feel it right now, but you are a great mom."

"How are you feeling?"

"Never better," Fitz smirked, "Coughing's a bitch."

"I would say so," Nathan agreed, snorting. "How have the two of you been? It's been a...few months. I spoke, briefly, with Olivia shortly after you were first admitted to the hospital about an incident -"

"About us sleeping together," Fitz stated.

"Well -"

"He knows that I told you," Olivia informed the counsellor. "We agreed that it would be best to discuss it here. In a neutral setting."

"That's...significant progress. Well," Nathan clasped his hands, "Olivia, would you like to start?"

Olivia took a deep breath, twisting on the sofa to look at Fitz.

"I was very conflicted about what happened. I thought it would ruin all the progress we've made these last few months until I talked to your dad. And your sister. They both had valid points - we can move forward. This will only hold us back if we let it. And, like Sadie said, this happened - there has to be some deep, subconcious feelings that we want to deny, but they're there. I mean, obviously we can't go fuck whenever, but don't we owe it to ourselves to find out what it is?"

"Liv," Fitz swallowed, "I'm not ready for that."

Olivia bit her lip, bowing her head.

"I think we need to focus on rebuilding our friendship first. I will be honest and say that I didn't think I could ever forgive you. It was easy to blame you for cheating -"

"What changed?" Nathan interjected.

"Being in a coma. Re-experiencing everything. We both played our parts. It's messy and it doesn't make a lot of sense. Life doesn't make much sense, though. Nothing is ever just black and white. Liv, you have a mental illness that contributed to all of those decisions you made back then and I...I wasn't there. My absence was as much a factor as your mental illness. Does it make what you did right? No. But what I did wasn't right either."

"That's an important realisation," Nathan affirmed. "I believe Olivia had concerns about that night -"

"The things you said and did -"

"Vanilla's not really my thing, Liv. It's something I've accepted since our breakup and I know it can be a little -"

"I want to learn."

Fitz raised a brow, eyes widening as he looked at Olivia.

"You want to learn?" He repeated, slowly.

"It was exciting. Is that...weird?"

"No," Fitz answered.

"You kept calling me your girl."

"I know I did, Livvie. And that was wrong of me."

"What?" Olivia tilted her head, frowning.

"I love you. God help me, I love you. You broke my heart. Cheated on me. And I still fucking love you. I can't escape that. And apparently drunk me wanted you to know that. I wanted you to know that you're mine. Not Jake's. I'm sorry I said that, Liv."

"I'm not."

A/N - It's all uphill from here on out. There's still going to be (some) drama and, of course, plenty of healing, but no major crashes. I feel like for a short chapter, this one is loaded and I'm sorry.

Until next time,

Gabi xxx