Fitz wanted to make good on his word, so a week before Teddy's return to school, as a second grader, he planned a Grant work day. It would be the first time Teddy would be visiting since the Institute's expansion. When he discovered the trip with Daddy was official, Teddy was elated. He looked at the calendar, counting down the days, sweetly reminding everyone. No one could forget about Friday, August 23rd. It would be a great opportunity to hang out, and also remind Teddy that even though their family was growing, special events would still occur.

When Friday finally arrived, the younger Grant woke up at seven in the morning, brushed his teeth, made his bed, and changed out of his pajamas, all without being asked. That was an accomplishment. The Grants were still working on independent morning routines. After stuffing his backpack with coloring books and pencils, a new chapter book he got at the store, Teddy found a snack and his iPad.

Fitz could hear Teddy moving around. It was only right that he check up on him. By the time he got dressed in his casual Friday look, a gingham shirt and gray slacks, and walked down the hall, Teddy was chilling in the rocking chair, in a green polo and jeans.

"Good morning. Ready for work?"

"Yeah, Daddy! Good morning. Everything is in my backpack. Just like your bag."

Fitz's satchel was always on the island, with all of his folders and paperwork he brought home the night before.

"That's right. We're sorta matching. What did you pack? May I see?"

"Sure!"

The two walked downstairs. Teddy dragged his backpack from the foyer to the kitchen. Fitz thought the action was beyond comical, but since he wasn't scraping the floor, he didn't have a problem with it. He checked inside and was fine with the contents.

"Whoa! You made sure you would stay busy today."

"Mmhmm. I don't want to bother you if you have meetings."

"Aw, buddy boy. You won't be bothering me. I have some fun things planned for us to do."

Teddy jumped up and down, all smiles. "Really? That's awesome, Daddy!"

"Yup yup yup!"

The excitement got Teddy to start eating his breakfast — cereal and fruit — while Fitz cooked two veggie omelettes. Peering over his shoulder, he watched Teddy act like he was finished, when only a few scoops of his meal were eaten.

"You gotta take four more bites."

"Dad...dy…"

Fitz raised his eyebrows, giving a determined look. "Yup yup. You know the drill. At least halfway through. Excitement doesnt fill your belly."

"Yeah...You're right."

Teddy was about to scarf down the rest of his cereal, when Fitz clicked his tongue a few times, which was a warning sign to slow it down. When he finished, he pointed to the bowl.

The two high fived. "Great job, buddy. Okay, let's wait so we can say goodbye to Mommy."

A few minutes later, their beautiful Queen entered the kitchen, in a soft pink blouse, skinny grey ankle pants, and pumps, for another busy day at OPA. She was about to make a smoothie, when she noticed Teddy and Fitz sitting at the island.

"Good morning! Ooh, look at you two, ready to go to work. I thought you already left."

Teddy grinned, "Good morning, Mommy Liv! Yeah! We are going to the Insta… work! I wouldn't let Daddy leave without us saying hi and bye to you."

Olivia winked at him, then pivoted to the refrigerator to get her simple ingredients. "Are you excited?"

"Sooooo excited, I couldn't even eat. But Daddy told me to finish up so I don't have a grumpy stomach way before lunchtime. And so I did that and now we're good!"

Teddy hopped down from his chair to stand next to Olivia. She tucked a few stray hairs behind his ear, then stroked his cheek lovingly. "Excellent, baby. I'm glad you followed his instructions. He's an expert!"

Fitz always found it sexy that she moved with ease in her heels. Now while carrying their child, Olivia displayed an extra level of confidence, when she strutted everywhere. Including the kitchen, before she left for work, or off to a social event. There was no way he could not stay silent. Not that she complained, but Fitz showered compliments whenever he could

Standing behind her, he whispered, "You look amazing and your omelette is on the stove, babe."

She grinned with approval. "Thank you. I should be able to eat it this time."

Lingering morning sickness and particular cravings were making Olivia's meal planning somewhat difficult. But thankfully, once she reached seventeen weeks, she felt as if she had turned the corner, and wouldn't have to rush to a trash bin or the bathroom after taking five bites. Currently at twenty weeks, Olivia felt pretty good about nourishing the baby and herself.

Fitz kissed her on the cheek, while pressing his hand on her belly. "I added extra peppers," he sang.

"Damn, you're the best," she praised, before starting the blender. "You know the way to my stomach and heart."

After Olivia took a sip of her smoothie, she felt a little nip at her feet. Gigi had been following her around, waiting for her round of attention before everyone left for the day. After a year of living with her owners, Miss Josephine Pope Grant knew how to manage by herself.

"Oh my goodness."

It was a miracle her limbs weren't too sore to bend and lift her little fur baby. "You're such a good girl. You're gonna be good today? I hope you do. Gigi girl. I love you."

The kind words prompted Gigi to yap a few times in delight. Fitz walked by, pressing a kiss on her head.

"You taking her today?"

"No," Olivia replied. "My mother is going to stop by after lunch."

"That's cool."

Marie decided to put roots down once she realized she could be more involved in her daughter and family's lives. After a pleasant conversation and a little bit of planning, she would visit the house three times a week to walk with Gigi, and do any extra chores Olivia couldn't do.

"Alright, T, we gotta go."

"What time is it?"

"8:15."

Teddy didn't realize how long he had been awake already. Opening his mouth to release a hearty yawn, he replied, "So early."

"I know," Fitz agreed. "It's because you woke up extra early. You can take a nap in the car if you'd like."

"But I don't wanna miss anything."

Fitz took a damp napkin and wiped Teddy's face. "We will have lots of time to have fun there, so it's going to be okay if you get sleepy and take a nap."

Teddy nodded and kissed Fitz on the cheek. "Thanks, Daddy. Okay! Bye, Gigi. I heard Mamee is coming, so you gotta be good for her. Goodbye, Mommy. Bye, Baby."

He placed his hands on Olivia's growing belly. She knew how fascinated he was by all of it. Her stomach was protruding more these days, and he found that to be amazing. One day, it didn't seem so "big", and other days his Livia would waddle around with the baby poking out. He was noticing a lot and it was fun to learn about his new sibling.

"Can't wait to meet you then we can play in the backyard and in my room."

Olivia kissed his cheeks, then gave him a hug. "Bye, Baby Teddy. Have a great day."

Whenever he heard that term of endearment, he always giggled.

Fitz loved seeing his favorite people bonding; it almost brought tears to his eyes. What a journey from that first night when this beautiful woman extended kindness to his child and gave his goofy self a chance.

"Have a great day at work."

"You too," he replied, then kissed her a few times.

Morning traffic from the neighborhood, down busy Connecticut Avenue towards Downtown Washington was always a hassle, but Fitz had to make his commute fun with a jovial Teddy in the backseat.

"Any requests?"

Immediately, Teddy had a short list. "How about Black Eyes Peas, Doo Leepa, and Beyoncé?"

"Dua Lipa? Sounds great, buddy."

Fitz started their "party" playlist. The heavy bassline filled the car and both Grant heads were bobbing in rhythm, to keep them occupied during the stop and go traffic.

Teddy was singing along, as best as he could, enjoying the smooth ride. "Daddy, remember at the wedding, after you and Mommy Liv cut the cake, and the DJ started playing the music, and you took your jacket?"

'Yeah."

"And you were in the middle of the floor, and we all danced to this song?"

"Absolutely. That was so much fun."

Teddy moved his shoulders, remembering most of the lyrics. "We loooovee to dance! We should watch the video when we get back home."

"I think that would be fun."

"How long have you been married now? Three months?"

"Six months. It kind of seems like three."

Teddy agreed, "Yeah. Spring and summer went by fast. Do you like being married?"

"I do," Fitz replied, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel.

While they waited at a traffic light, he glanced at the rearview mirror. Teddy was smiling right at him.

"Hi, Daddy."

"Hi, T. So… Do you think you're ready to be a big brother?"

"Yeah."

"Really?"

Teddy nodded with confidence and replied, "Yeah. When I go to Auntie Gracie's house, I watch how the older boys treat the younger ones. I took notes in my brain. I'm going to make sure all my toys are not on the floor so the baby doesn't step on them. When you let me, I'll hold him or her, sing the lullabies you used to sing to me before I go to sleep. And my job is to protect the baby. Give him or her lots of kisses and hugs. And I'll make sure Gigi doesn't bark too loud so the baby can sleep."

As he parked in his designated space, he marveled at his son's honest response. "Wow. That sounds amazing, Bear."

Teddy asked, "Do you think I'm ready?"

"I do."

"Thanks, Papa Bear."

Fitz helped Teddy get out of the car. "Got your backpack?"

"Yup! Do you have everything?"

Checking the passenger seat, Fitz gave a thumbs up. "Okay. Let's get on the elevator. It's going to take us right to the suite."

On their short ride, Fitz listened to Teddy talk about starting the second grade. He appeared to be more comfortable with being in a new class. Lots of new things and opportunities would be happening during the school year. Fitz was excited for Teddy, but also still a bit nervous.

"Wow, Daddy."

Everything looked so much different to him. The space was open and brighter, with numerous clear windows and separators.

"Whatcha think?"

Watching the adults move around and walk by and seeing his father's name on the wall, Teddy gasped, "It's cool!" It was a huge difference from the previous darker visual concept with the original law firm.

A woman at the front desk greeted them. "Good morning, Mr. Grant. Hi, Teddy. Welcome to the Institute!"

"Good morning, Regina. Teddy, do you remember Miss Regina?"

"A little bit," Teddy got a little shy. "Hi. Good morning."

"Hi." She had a warm smile and that made him feel more at ease.

"What do you do? Are you a lawyer too?"

"No, I'm the office manager. I help your Dad and the other people schedule meetings and take calls, and help anyone who visits."

Fitz nodded and added in a serious tone — "She's the real boss."

Teddy grinned. "That's so awesome! I bet you're the best boss, Miss Regina."

The Institute had expanded to four suites and three conference rooms. It would give the staff and interns ample space to complete their duties.

"Come on, Mr. Grant."

Teddy playfully side eyed his father, "Haha, that's you!"

"But that's you too. Okay. What should I call you today?"

Scratching the imaginary hairs on his chin, he thought for a moment, then replied, "Mr. Theodore. I wanna be professional too."

"Okay, Mr. Theodore," Fitz extended his hand. "Follow me to my new office."

Teddy loved everything about his father's transformed spot. There was more space to hang out and a sofa to lounge on, preferably a nap. A table where he could color without feeling like he was in anyone's way. He even got to play under the desk while Fitz was on his phone calls.

Two hours later, Fitz stood from his desk to see what Teddy was up to. Several completed papers were spread out on the table with lots of drawings.

"How's it going?"

Teddy paused his coloring. "It's good. Here you go."

It was a drawing of the two of them, sitting in office chairs. Fitz's eyebrows lowered as he observed the details.

"My hair. No more brown?"

Smirking, Teddy replied, "Well...there's a little bit. But you have silver hair sometimes. It's right there, I see it." He reached up to touch particular strands on his father's head. "Right there and there.."

"Ha, you're right!"

"You like my picture? We are holding hands and being happy."

Fitz turned the paper over to read the back. In classic 6-yr-old fashion, there was the squiggly handwriting —

I love you, Daddy. Love, your Teddy Bear.

"This is fantastic. Where should I put it? The wall? My desk?"

"The wall," Teddy recommended. "That way, everyone can see it. I drew one for Mommy and her office."

"That's wonderful, baby."

"Daddy?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you going to stop calling me that when the baby gets here?"

The question made Fitz stop his current train of thought. Slightly embarrassed, he corrected myself, "Oh. Do you want me to stop? I can, if you want."

Teddy shook his head. "No. You don't have to. I like it."

"It's going to be a little different when he or she arrives. But I want you to know that you're still my baby T. But definitely let me know what you would like me to call you."

"Okay! I like your nicknames for me. Guess what?"

Fitz scrunched his nose and asked. "What?"

"I love you, Daddy, and you're my favorite person."

Since it was Friday, the office always ordered out. At 11:30, a couple of the interns visited each suite to pass around lunch menus. Fitz perused the deli menu and took off his glasses. "Theodore, look at this one, and please let Miss Nicki know what you would like to order."

Teddy's mouth opened. "I get to choose?"

"Yeah!"

Feeling super important, he searched for sandwich names he was familiar with, and tallied the ones knew he liked. "Umm... Miss Nicki, I would like a turkey sandwich, with a bag of kettle chips."

"Twins! I was gonna order that!"

Teddy giggled, extremely pleased with his dad's comment. "Cool! Hope we don't get mixed up. Miss Nicki, can you make sure they write my name on the wax paper? Teddy? Or Theodore."

Nicki wrote down the request. "You got it!"

The whole day was a success. As much as he could tell, Fitz thought Teddy was very happy to be at the Institute. His favorite part was sitting in a meeting with the interns, who were "closer to his age", and they laughed at some of Fitz's jokes.

When they got home, Olivia was laying on the couch, still in her outift and heels.

"Hey."

"Hi, Liv."

Teddy skipped into the room, kissed her on the forehead, and left. Fitz asked if she needed anything.

Wincing, Olivia pointed, "My feet hurt."

He rushed to wash his hands in the powder room, then sat down on the ottoman, gently lifting her feet so he could start massaging. Olivia tilted her head back, closing her eyes, immediately grateful for his hands taking care of an action she couldn't perform well anymore. Her growing belly was starting to prevent her from moving as swiftly as she had once being able to.

"How long have you been here?"

"Fifteen minutes," she groaned. "I didn't have the energy to go upstairs."

Fitz poked out his bottom lip. "I'm sorry. That's okay. I'm here now. How was work?"

"Great. Just long."

"These Jimmy Choos...Wearing these sexy heels all day. Way too long. Need to get you some flats."

The thought offended Olivia greatly. "Flats? Are you kidding me, Fitzgerald? When do you ever see me wearing fucking flats to work?"

Fitz pulled away and rolled his eyes, "The sass, Mrs. Grant. As much as I get excited seeing you in pumps and sometimes only in those—"

Olivia scoffed, "Fitz!" The man could find anything to turn the conversation into something dirty and fun. "You need to watch it. Extra ears are around."

"All I'm saying is that you need to take it easy, Mrs. Grant."

"You just don't want to massage my feet."

They laughed, while exchanging adorable glances.

After a while, he quietly said, "I don't remember doing any of this with Mellie."

"Really? No pampering?"

"Yeah," he answered, but only hesitated shortly after. "We..."

He didn't finish his sentence, so Olivia dug her heel into his thigh.

"We what?"

Fitz remained silent as he applied pressure on Olivia's puffy ankle.

"Hey." She sat up, and decided to wait until their eyes met. "You can talk to me, honey, if you want to. What's going on?"

"This is nice," Fitz shrugged and replied in defeat. "We… there wasn't a lot of this when she was pregnant. Not a lot of laughs during the pregnancy. Don't know why. We were always so busy and when we tried, something came up. Sorry. I shouldn't have mentioned that. Weird, right?"

"It's okay," she acknowledged, "I won't break because you mention your ex-wife. You had a life before me."

"It wasn't the best though."

"Fitz…"

"I don't want to miss anything, Livvie. Doctor's appointments, shopping for clothes, cooking omelettes and heavily buttered pork chops, giving you the whole bed, and loving on you at all times."

Olivia pinched the bridge of her nose, feeling the waterworks. Her husband knew how to get her in her feelings. "You know how emotional I get these days. Don't start."

"Kiss me."

"Oh?"

Fitz grinned, leaning forward. "Yeah. I want you to."

It started with a soft brush of their lips. The kiss was tender and lazy, with the potential of building with passion. It still took practice for them to pace themselves, because there was only so much they could do in the family room, without getting interrupted or hearing the cutest "Ewwwww!" But they got their fill, after a couple minutes of deeping their kiss, and mischievous, roaming hands.

Olivia patted his chest, so they could temporarily separate. Fitz sighed, rubbed his nose with hers.

"Thank you."

"For what," she asked, giving him another quick kiss.

"For being you, for being with my wife, and for being the mother of my children, including this cutie. I know he or she will be so blessed."

"Have anything picked out?"

"I don't know," Fitz turned the page of a hefty baby name book, meticulously scanning a top 25 list for girls and boys. "This is your call."

The Grants had no clue what they were going to name their child. Not that they had a deadline, but Olivia reiterated she would feel better to make progress with this important decision. She wrote a few choices on her notepad; some were favorites from her school days in Switzerland and France.

"Hmm, that will not work. Input would be appreciated, father of our nameless baby."

Fitz yawned while continuing to flip through, hoping a name that would pique his interest. But he was getting tired of looking. It didn't help that he was about fifteen minutes from drifting off to sleep. Olivia had a way of asking about important matters right before bedtime.

"How did you guys come up with Theodore Wallace?"

"That was all Mellie. She didn't want popular and trendy, like our friends and relatives were doing.. She most certainly didn't want to continue with Fitzgerald, which I was cool with, but she needed something pretentious and Southern-ish. Almost…presidential. As if! Since she was carrying, I decided to trust her instincts."

Olivia nodded. "I see."

"Any special names in your family?"

"Not really," She replied, resting her hand on her belly. "And if there were, I never knew about them. Don't feel like asking my mom because…"

Fitz smirked, confident in what his wife was implying. "You don't want to give the false pretense that any suggestions she gives will be part of the final process."

"Exactly," she grinned. "How about you?"

"My mom. Her name is—was Katherine Elizabeth Reed Grant." When Fitz's voice softened, Olivia's heart began to break for him. Words couldn't express how much he missed Kate, not being around for any of the adult milestones. It took years for him to not blame the universe and God and himself that he didn't have enough time with his Mom. Cancer was a bitch.

"Maybe there's a way we could honor her."

Fitz took off his glasses, and placed his head on Olivia's shoulder. "That would be nice."

They took a break from deliberations and cuddled. Fitz would make sure Olivia felt comfortable at all times, and loved. And vice versa.

"If it's a boy," she murmured, "maybe we could give him a name that's strong like Teddy's."

"Like Christopher Harrison."

"Harrison? What?" Olivia stared at Fitz, baffled by the suggestion.

He kissed her shoulder. "C'mon. If he wasn't for him, we wouldn't be here, in bed, with the baby. You know he is going to continue to sing about his matchmaking skills and having a child named after him would be icing on the cake."

"Thomas Harrison Grant. Teddy and Tommy. Wouldn't that be cute?"

Fitz hummed in agreement. "That does sound pretty cool."

Olivia started to lazily drag her fingers through his hair. "And if it's a girl, I want to give her something unique, but still extra beautiful. Like Vivienne."

"Vivienne Grant? That's gorgeous. I like that," he said. "But ultimately it's your decision, my sweet."

"Ha, good night, handsome. Love you."

"I love you." He kissed her one more time, then rolled over.

An hour later, Olivia sat up immediately, gasping.

Extremely keen on whenever she moved, Fitz woke up as well, and turned on the light. "Baby, what happened? Are you okay? Do you need anything?"

She took a few deep breaths, then looked at him, with a huge smile on her face. Her eyes were dancing. "A name. I got it. I know what to name the baby."

Yeah, it's short, but hopefully enjoyable.

Another chapter will be posted by the end of the week.

xo