The next time that they all came together again in the White House was mid-way through the morning on Thanksgiving Day. It seemed that even the weather seemed to have conspired to work with them; the forecast was for fairly brisk but sunny days for the entire weekend - and Fitz intended to take full advantage of them.

As Fitz looked around the state dining room, he enjoyed the rush of pleasure that surged through him at the sight, all of it the results of a plan coming together perfectly. They'd done it. Working together, they'd dropped Mellie's little power trip deep down into its grave, just where it belonged.

Fitz is pleased at what he sees. Instead of the usual formal setting, a series of long and covered tables hugged the walls, making up a series of hot and cold drink stations, from the smoothest espressos to spiced apple cider and everything in between. And the cooks had already started their grills and smokers and outdoor ovens; he could already smell the food.

At Olivia's suggestion, they'd all agreed to turn everything over to Susan and Harrison. And the two of them, working with Cyrus and Jocelyn - and himself and Olivia, as needed - had worked miracles.

From what Olivia had told him, Harrison had also folded the rest of OPA into their plans - and unexpectedly to Fitz, but no less welcome, had included Jocelyn's daughter and Annarosa Ramos. As Olivia had informed him, her Quinn, Shireen and Annarosa were well on their way to forming an unlikely friendship - and Olivia had approved of it.

Fitz couldn't say that he disagreed with her. True and trustworthy friends were hard enough to find in this world - let alone in DC.

At the moment, it was just he, Olivia, Cyrus and Jocelyn in the room and he was just about to entertain them with the tale of his informing Mellie of the change in plans.

Fitz took a swallow of his spiced hot cider and began.

Mellie, still basking in the illusion of victory had greeted him nicely enough when he'd appeared at Blair House earlier to share breakfast with the kids.

She didn't waste anytime in what Fitz was sure she thought of as twisting the knife - and to add insult to injury, she had waited to start in on him until she'd led him into the kitchen, where Gerry was already seated and Karen - holding Teddy's hand - was entering just as he walked into the room.

"I've been told that my first little surprise wasn't quite the happy news that I thought it would be." She gave a meaningful look at their daughter before turning back to Fitz. "Or maybe certain parties haven't learned yet how to be properly…thankful. Either way I just wanted remind you that at least there should be something for you to be thankful to me for…"

"And just what might that be?" Fitz answered carefully, all too aware of Gerry's attention on them both, as much as he was trying to pretend that his phone was currently holding his interest.

He was just as aware of his daughter as Karen busied herself with settling Teddy at the kitchen table and fixing him a plate from the sideboard - one look left Fitz with no doubts that it had all been catered, cooked and delivered, he thought. Never mind that Mellie should have known that he would have made the kids a special breakfast with his own two hands. Of course she knew - this was just one more way of Mellie showing her heavy-handed control over the day. He hoped she enjoyed it while it lasted.

At least Teddy was in high spirits, his eyes dancing from face to face, obviously happy to have his family all together in the same space - something that didn't happen often enough, in Fitz's opinion - blissfully unaware of the tension lurking at the edges of the room.

As much as he was gratified to see at least one of children happy in the moment, Fitz found himself equally if not more concerned about Karen and Gerry, knowing that they were both listening. No matter how much understanding that Karen claimed to have, Fitz still couldn't shake the feeling of needing to protect his daughter from her mother's plans as best he could. And Gerry was still an unknown quantity in the equation - who knew how he was processing any of this?

None of that seemed to matter to Mellie though. She offered him another of her brittle smiles before she continued. "About Andrew flying in; I'd hoped he would have been here for breakfast this morning, so that the two of you could bond in brotherly love - before we got down to the real work of figuring out the best way of dealing with the Party's concerns…"

For a few moments, Fitz managed to reduce her voice to a meaningless buzz, thinking instead of how he was about to upend her carefully laid plans.

"And yes, you're welcome, by the way." Mellie's voice came back into focus.

"Excuse me?"

"I caught that brief smile, Fitz - and I hope it's because you've finally managed to find some appreciation for all of the hard work that I've done? You never did thank me for arranging Andrew's being here."

Mellie was on a roll to justify herself. "The leadership is not exactly pleased with him - I imagine that one rogue Republican is enough for them to deal with, but I wanted to make sure that you'd have at least one ally in the room."

He could hardly miss the point that Mellie was trying to make - and suddenly, Fitz was done. Whether or not this performance was for him or the kids, he was sure that they - and he - had had enough. Time to drop his own surprise.

"I do want to thank you for making sure that we share the holiday as a family - and I really do mean that." Fitz said. "- but I have a surprise of my own to share."

"What surprise?" Mellie asked, immediately suspicious.

Fitz's smile was genuine. "There's been a change in plans."

"What change in plans?" Mellie demanded - and Fitz was more than happy to fill her in.

As he finished telling the tale of Mellie's reaction, Fitz was happy to see his own satisfaction reflected in everyone's faces.

"Oh, to have been a fly on the wall for that little chat." Cyrus said cheerfully.

"It was everything you could hope for and more." Fitz assured him. In a rare sight, Mellie had been left speechless, mouth opening and closing several times until fury flamed into her eyes. Before she could incinerate him with her tongue, she'd remembered that they had an audience and had retreated into an icy but welcome silence.

Breakfast had gone about as well as Fitz could have expected after that, but Fitz had been grateful for it anyway. No one had stormed from the table - in front of the kids, Mellie hadn't quite dared - and as a result, they'd enjoyed a reasonable meal together.

Now he watched as Cyrus lifted his cup of hot spiced cider in a toast to his victory. He took a deep sip, then closed his eyes in appreciation.

Jocelyn is standing nearby with her own drink in hand and raised it, joining in the toast.

"Not bad." Cyrus pronounced. "But it needs something."

Jocelyn takes her own taste. "Possibly. Cognac, vodka or perhaps a good whiskey?"

The two of them exchanged a grin.

"I'm open to suggestions." Cyrus told her. 'However, should your whiskey prove to be disappointing, I'm sure I can uncover a most excellent Remy before the day is done.

"I'm sure you can - but I'm equally sure that you won't be disappointed." Jocelyn said. They touched glasses in agreement. "Here's to whiskey and warm memories."

It's not the first time that these two have shared a joke between themselves about expensive liquor, Fitz notes. He promises himself that one day he's going to get the whole story.

Adding pleasure to his thoughts, Fitz looks up as the rest of the team entered: Olivia's OPA people along with Susan, Shireen and Annarosa. Fitz smiled again; Susan was his unofficial yet official hostess for the event; a master-stroke that had effectively cut Mellie off from trying to take advantage of the sudden shift. Crossing the boundary set by Susan's Congresswoman's rank was a definitive deterrent to any public actions on Mellie's part, a most satisfying no-no.

In fairness, Fitz had had to warn Susan as best he could as far as what Mellie was capable of up front - he had no intentions of allowing her to be blind-sided. At the same time, Fitz had also given Susan an out - given what Mellie was capable of, it was just as fair after all. He shouldn't have been surprised at Susan turning down the opportunity to bolt - but he had been. Pleasantly so.

"I appreciate the warning, Mr. President." Susan had told him. "And the former First Lady's reputation precedes her - but I'm a team player and you asked me to do this, to be here - because you know that I'm on your team."

She was right and he was grateful. Fitz hoped that he would continue to be worthy of her loyalty.

Since then, Susan had taken on her duties happily, quickly assuming the role of point of contact and liaison between the White House and Olivia's OPA and he'd been amazed at what they'd pulled off.

Harrison had reached out to as many of their Habitat contacts as had been possible - and they in turn had reached out to their contacts. It had taken a lot of fast-talking - which from what he understood from Olivia - had placed Harrison in his element - and what they'd accomplished was nothing short of a series of miracles.

Olivia and Cyrus had done their share, getting the names of Mellie's caterers and expanding on their planned menu with quick maneuvering and promises of future good will, something OPA had built on; the results were from a sit-down dinner, the invitations were amended to offer an all day open house, with indoor and outdoor buffet style offerings.

They'd added to both the menu and the guest list; more turkeys and their traditional sides, but also adding foods that reflected the diversity of the larger team working for them, like jollof rice, kare-kare oxtail stew and other dishes that Fitz had never even heard of, but their savory scents were already filling the air.

Most of the local restaurants had of course been booked up catering-wise, but even so, more than a few of them were happy to jump at the opportunity to add what they could spare of their menus to the buffet. In the end, there was literally something for everyone, from savory to sweet. Fitz literally couldn't wait to try some of the foods that he'd been told about. Even Jocelyn, with her polished and near-professional palette, had admitted to feeling the same.

She and Fitz had reached out to the larger local community centers, coordinating food deliveries - and Fitz had paid for their expenses from his own pocket, to shut his opponents down before they could use their plans to share their bounty with the DC communities against him.

Olivia had also reached out to the media, working her communication prowess to guarantee the event had more than adequate media coverage - and ensuring that the Party would remain on their best behavior despite the last-minute change in plans.

As for the White House itself, the movie theater was open and ready with several selections playing all day, for every age group, as was the bowling alley.

The greatly expanded guest-list purposefully cut across party lines and the same was reflected in the choice of media outlets invited to cover the event, from BET to Bravo and everything in between. When she learned about that little detail, Fitz thought that it was news that would probably leave Mellie both appalled and frustrated, along with several of the Republican old guard - but all of that was the cherry on top.

This, as Olivia had promised him - had promised them all - was going to be great.

Fitz's private cell phone chimed with a text from Karen.

::Operation Get Gerry With The Program - seems to be moving ahead as planned.:: He read.

"Details?" he texted back.

::He's been acting like none of this is a big deal, but when I mentioned the plans for Michael Davis to show up, there was definitely a change of heart. Good work, Dad.::

::Thank you, I try. See you in a bit, kiddo::

She sent back a madly grinning emotive.

Karen's words lighten his heart in ways that he can't quite put into words and the warmth they kindled only grew as Fitz turned his attention back to Olivia as she joined the newcomers, watched with pride as she skillfully, purposefully and figuratively held herself back, allowing Susan to remain the center of the group's attention, directing and keeping the focus on the other woman.

Even so, it's clear that Olivia is in her element and that brightens everything and everyone around her. Whether they were together or separated - and he knew that would change throughout the day, that brightness would linger on her. This was his Olivia, the woman he'd fallen so deeply in love with - happy, fulfilled - being effortlessly brilliant as only she can be - being everything she was meant to be.

As if his thoughts had reached out and touched hers, Olivia looked up from her conversation, her eyes instantly meeting his. She smiles at him and the power beaming out from her dazzles Fitz's senses.

And then she's crossing the room and joining him. "You're looking uncommonly pleased with yourself." She told him.

"I am uncommonly pleased with the company I find myself in." Fitz said. He looked down at her, his gaze warming at the sight of Olivia in all russets and browns that made her skin glow and a soft, deep berry-red lipstick that set off a sudden craving to taste her, but he reined the sudden spike of desire in. "Present company even more so."

"Right back at you, Mr. President." She said, very much aware of - and in tune with - the direction of his thoughts.

It was true, Olivia was feeling very much the same as Fitz and what she saw pleased her very much. Fitz was wearing warm grays, browns and blues - the colors she's always insisted complemented him best -especially any shade of blue. There was something about Fitz in blue that set off the same in his eyes and drew one's attention to them while inviting accessibility.

Now she allowed herself the luxury of enjoying what she was seeing, watching him as Fitz's gaze traveled over the group, lingering for a moment on Cyrus and Jocelyn before turning back to her.

"It seems like those two have bonded over fine liquors." Fitz said.

"Apparently they aren't the only ones." Remembering the conversation she'd had with Harrison put another smile on Olivia's face. "Remind me later to tell you about a recent whisky-tasting."

"I'll be happy to remind you of a lot of things for later." Fitz said.

"I won't need much reminding." Olivia promised him and meant it.

The day was bound to be more than a little chaotic, but thanks to everyone here, Olivia was hopefully sure that it was going to be a mostly good kind of chaos.

She saw the same thoughts reflected in Fitz's eyes and it mawed her like autumn sunshine. Whatever else the day dealt them, in this moment Fitz was everything that he needed to be - everything that she loved.

He was happy - and that meant so was she.

It didn't matter what colors he wore, or what the challenges of the day might bring to either of them - today was going to be a good day - her heart, mind - everything in her - promised her that.

She already knew the answer, but Olivia asked it anyway. "Are you ready, Mr. President?"

"I am beyond ready." Fitz said with a grin. He lifted his cup. "Here's to hoping that the day goes exactly the way we planned it."

Olivia touched her cup to his. "How would it dare to go otherwise?"

They were interrupted by the sound of Jocelyn's phone as it chimed, announcing an incoming text. She took a glance and then announced that she was happy to tell everyone that her husband has arrived and he was heading towards to space that they'd set for his football camp.

Cyrus informed them that on that happy note that he's leaving briefly to pick up James and Ella; he'd promised James that they would make their appearance as a family. "He says that this is very important for Ella's sake."

Though he'd never admit it out loud, Cyrus' expression clearly said that it wasn't just about James' opinion as it was about his own. He might be an indoor person as far as his private life was concerned, but he was clearly proud and in love with his family.

With everyone beginning to trail out of the room, Olivia glanced at her watch; it was just after ten. "Looks like it's time time to get this party started."

Fitz offered her his arm. "Shall we?"

Her answer was another smile that dazzled him all over again.

"Surely." Olivia said.