As soon as Fitz walked through the door of the apartment he shared with Mellie, he was greeted by his not so happy fiancé. Mellie was standing in front of him with a deep frown on her face and her arms folded across her nightgown covered chest. Fitz immediately noticed she was in a bad mood and he prayed that he could break her out of it easily because when Mellie was unhappy, so was everybody else especially him. She made it her mission to make his life a living hell when she was upset.
"Hey Mels. Is everything okay?" Fitz asked her as he walked over to her to give her a kiss.
Mellie turned her head away from him, "Where have you been Fitzgerald?" She asked firmly, ignoring his question.
"I was in a meeting." He replied somewhat truthfully. He wasn't exactly lying, but he wasn't really telling the full truth either.
"Really? I'm only asking because I called your office several hours ago to remind you that we had a meeting with our wedding planner and Lauren informed me that you had her reschedule all your meetings while you left work early with a young woman."
Shit. Fitz closed his eyes. He was so caught up with Olivia and Mason that he forgot about the meeting with their wedding planner.
"Mellie I-"
Mellie cut him off and asked again, "Where were you and what were you doing that you failed to answer your phone?"
"My phone?" Fitz patted all of his pockets, feeling for his phone. The only thing that was in his pocket was his wallet. He then checked his briefcase and sure enough his iPhone 6 plus was in there. He checked his phone to see twenty-five missed calls that were just from Mellie, twenty voicemails, and ten unread text messages, again all from Mellie. Fitz checked the volume on his phone, which was all the way down. This just keeps getting better and better, he thought to himself.
Before he continued the conversation, which felt like more of an interrogation, Fitz got settled in. He threw his keys on the table near the door and walked passed Mellie whilst loosening his tie. Mellie was hot on his heels as he walked back to their bedroom, where he threw his suit jacket on the foot of the bed and sat down, removing his shoes.
"I'm going to ask you one more time. Where were you all day and what were you doing?"
Fitz sighed deeply. He wasn't in the mood to be questioned about his whereabouts and what he was doing. He turned to face Mellie who was standing on the side of the bed in the stance she was in when he walked in their apartment. "Just ask me what you really want to ask me." He told her tiredly.
"Okay, the woman you left your office with, did you sleep with her?" She asked right away, squaring her shoulders.
"No." Yes, a year ago though. Fitz, again was telling the partial truth. He didn't sleep with Olivia earlier that day, but he did sleep with her once before or several times in one night, if we're being technical.
"Then what were you doing with her that you didn't answer any of my phone calls or texts?"
"I already told you. I had a meeting with her, that's all." Fitz said exasperatedly.
Mellie ignored his little attitude and continued questioning him. "Why couldn't you have the meeting at your office?"
"Because it was a personal matter, a family affair."
Fitz didn't want to tell Mellie about his son just yet. First, he wanted to wait until he got the results of the paternity test and tell his parents and sister before he told her or else he would have done it by now instead of giving her vague half truthful answers.
He got up from his spot on the end of the bed and walked over to where Mellie was standing. He sat down on her side of the bed and pulled her into his lap, so that she was straddling him. "Mels, I know how this may sound but I promise you nothing happened between me and her today okay? It was just a meeting. That's it."
Mellie didn't answer him. She just stared at his chest, refusing to make eye contact with him. Fitz gently cupped her chin and lifted it, so she would look at him. "Do you trust me?" He asked her seriously. Mellie tried to turn away from him, but Fitz kept her face in place. "Mellie?"
She finally gave in and nodded, "I trust you but that still doesn't change the fact that I'm upset with you for missing our appointment and not answering your phone." She said with a hint of wit in here voice.
Fitz chuckled, "I'm sorry and I promise I won't do it again." He leaned in for a kiss and Mellie pressed her hand to his mouth to block it.
"Uh uh Mr. I forgive you but you have to do a lot more than kissing to make it up to me."
"Oh yeah, what do you have in mind?"
Mellie slipped off his lap and crawled to the center of their bed. She laid on her back and bit her bottom lip seductively, motioning with her finger for Fitz to come hither. Fitz smirked and started to unbutton his shirt as he made his way over to her.
The next morning, Fitz was up bright and early. To say he was excited to see his son again was an understatement. He woke up while it was still dark out and couldn't fall back asleep for the life of him. All he kept thinking about was Mason and Olivia. As soon as the first glint of light streamed through the closed blinds shielding his window, he immediately got up and got ready for the day ahead of him. By 7:30 a.m. Fitz was out the door and on his way to the hotel Olivia was staying in. He arrived at her hotel a half hour later. He would've been there sooner, but he had to stop for gas.
Fitz quickly parked his car. Instead of driving his Audi like he usually did, he chose to drive his Range Rover since he needed a backseat to put Mason in, which his Audi did not have. He also didn't want Mason in that type of car until he was much older and he was sure Olivia agreed with him. Fitz made his way through the lobby and to Olivia's room. He knocked on the door and was a little shocked when Olivia opened it right away. He thought that maybe everyone would still be sleeping or just waking up, but by the looks of it, they were all ready for their day as well.
"Hi Liv." Fitz greeted her quickly as he stormed passed her to get to Mason, who was in his crib playing with one of his toys.
"Hi Fitz. I'm fine, thanks for asking. And you? That's great. Why don't you come in." Olivia offered sarcastically.
"Sorry. How are you?" Fitz asked uninterested. His attention was stuck on his little clone.
"I-"
"That's great. Me too. Thanks." He said quickly, interrupting her as he reached Mason's crib, causing Olivia to playfully roll her eyes and shake her head.
Mason looked up at the sound of a familiar voice and a smile broke out on his face. "Hi buddy!" Fitz bent down and picked his son up out his crib. He immediately started attacking his little pudgy face with kisses. "How's daddy's little boy?"
"Don't let that cute smile on his face fool you. Your son has been a little cranky pants." Olivia informed him, while making a face at Mason, who laughed in return, showing off his incoming tooth.
"My son? Don't you mean our son?"
"Nope. When he's bad he's your son and when he's a sweet little angel he's my son."
"I don't think that's fair." Fitz stated and turned his attention back to Mason. "Do you? Hmm? Do you think it's fair that you're considered only my son when you're a bad boy? Hmm? Me either."
"Stop trying to turn my son against me." Olivia scolds playfully.
"Oh, so now he's your son?" Fitz asked with a smirk and raised brows.
"Yep." Olivia smiled at him and gave Mason a kiss on his chubby cheek.
Fitz noticed the volume in the room was fairly quiet except for their voices and the TV playing softly in the background, which was unusual with Olivia's loud mouth friend being there or not there…
Fitz looked around the room and asked, "Where's Red?"
"Red, has a name you know." Olivia quipped.
"I know. I'm sorry but I kind of forgot it. I'm not really good at remembering names. I know it starts with an A though."
"Her name is Abby but it's okay if you call her Red since she calls you McDaddy and she's in the bathroom." Olivia answered.
"McDaddy huh?" Fitz said with a boyish grin forming on his face.
Olivia playfully rolled her eyes at his already big ego that only seemed to be getting bigger with every compliment thrown his way.
"What do you call me?" He questioned curiously.
Olivia pondered for a second, "Mcbaby-Daddy."
Fitz threw his head back and immediately started laughing at the nickname she gave him, which caused Olivia to start laughing as well. Mason, seeing both of his parents laughing, squealed with laughter joining in with them. Their laughing session was broken up by Abby, who grumpily entered the room.
"Hey, what's with all the laughing? There is no way in hell, you all can be this jolly at 8 o'clock in the morning." She grumbled as she made her way over to her bed, but not before greeting her favorite eye candy. "Hi McDaddy." She smacked his firm jean clad butt as she walked passed him. Fitz slightly jumped from her hand coming in contact with his ass. "That's for your little mini me waking me up early this morning with all his crying."
Fitz looked over at Olivia, who only shrugged.
"Don't worry, I already gave Liv a piece of my mind too. I love my godson but he can be a little devil at times and I bet he gets it from you. Since I can't spank him, it's only right I spank you." She teased with a devilish smirk.
Olivia quickly moved to stand in front of Fitz and Mason. "Abby there will be no spanking Fitz. Now go back to sleep grumpy pants."
Abby reluctantly went back to her bed, but not without having the last word. "Fine but you better watch your back Mr… literally." She winked at him before collapsing face first onto the bed.
"You ready to go?" Fitz asked, hoping she said yes because he was starting to feel a little uncomfortable and quite scared if he was being perfectly honest.
Olivia smirked at him, sensing his uncomfortableness, "Yeah." She said not wanting to torture him anymore, although it was an amusing sight to see a man of his caliber be intimidated by Abby. Fitz released a sigh of relief and Olivia giggled. After grabbing everything they needed, Fitz walked them to his car. He handed Mason to Olivia and took his diaper bag from her to put in the back seat. He then buckled in Mason's car seat and got him situated in it. Once Mason was safely buckled in his car seat, Fitz opened the passenger side door for Olivia, closing it after she got in.
Fitz was taking them to a lab where he and Mason were going to give DNA samples for a paternity test. Afterwards, they were planning on spending the rest of the day together doing whatever. Fitz didn't care what they were doing as long as he got to be with his son and Olivia, if he was being completely true with himself. He couldn't explain why but something about her brought out the easy and somewhat carefree side of him that he hadn't shown since his college days. Maybe it was because of how young she was.
So far, the drive to the lab had been silent except for the noises in the back Mason were making as he watched the world outside of his rolled up window. Olivia and Fitz couldn't help the smiles that occupied their faces from the sound of their little guy. Eventually Mason's happy baby noises turned into loud cries. Fitz immediately started panicking at his son's sudden change in mood and pulled over. Olivia got Fitz to calm down by explaining to him that Mason was in his teething stage and had an incoming tooth, which was also the reason he woke up so early that morning in tears. Olivia put a blue orajel teething ring in Mason's mouth, instantly quieting the baby. Once Fitz was sure his little man was okay, he got back on the road.
"How long has he been teething?" Fitz asked, never taking his eyes off the road as he skillfully maneuvered through the city traffic.
"He actually just started not too long ago." Olivia replied as she admired the way he moved through traffic with ease and experience.
"Okay… so, have you thought about my offer?"
Olivia straightened up in her seat at his question. She shifted some to look at him and cleared her throat, "I did think about your offer."
"And?"
"No." Olivia said simply.
"No?" Fitz questioned with furrowed brows, briefly taking his eyes off the road to look at her.
"No. I can't accept it. I'm thrilled you want to be a part of Mason's life but I can't uproot my life as I know it in California to come here where I know no one other than you. My entire life is on the west coast and I can't just up and move to the other side of the country because you want to see our son every day. Besides I can't afford do that even if I wanted to."
"I told you I would take care of everything financially."
Olivia rolled her eyes, "And I already told you that I don't want your money nor can I accept it. I didn't tell you about Mason so I could get your money. I told you about him so he could grow up with a father. I don't want nor do I need your money Fitz. I've been doing fine without it. All I want and need from you is to be a good father to our son. That's it."
Fitz sighed and ran his free hand that wasn't holding the steering, through his short brown curls. "How can I possibly do that if we live on two different sides of the country?"
"You have money. You can afford to commute back and forth to see him every week or every other week." Olivia answered as if was the simplest thing in the world.
Fitz scoffed with a shake of his head, "It's not that easy. I have a job, a life that's already established. I am already settled in my life here. You are not. It would be easier if you just moved here. You can start a life here especially with Mason being so young. He won't remember ever living in California. It makes more sense for you to move here than me make the trip every week to see him for eighteen years. I would be saving a lot of money. You guys wouldn't be a plane ride away and I wouldn't have to pay for my travels to see him every week. All I would have to pay is for some of the stuff he's going to need or and child support."
"Child support?" Olivia asked confused.
"Yes, child support. You honestly didn't think that I wasn't going to give you money every month for Mason?" He asked rhetorically.
"How many times do I have to tell you, I don't want your money Fitz."
Fitz audibly exhaled deeply. Their conversation was obviously going nowhere, but in circles. He was good at his job convincing clients to settle and compromise; however for some reason he couldn't do the same with the very stubborn mother of his child. He was stubborn too, not doubt about it, but at least he was trying to bargain with her. Olivia was giving him nothing which was frustrating the hell out of him. Fitz figured it was a pride thing since she refused to take anything he offered her. He guessed he would just have to try harder because there was no way he wasn't going to be in Mason's life or spend his money unwisely.
"Okay. I'll tell you what, let's make a deal." Fitz suggested.
Olivia knitted her brows, which Fitz found to be extremely cute, even though she was getting on his every nerve. "A deal? What kind of deal?"
"Are you graduating this year or next?"
Olivia still had an inquiringly look on her face, but answered him, "Next. Why?"
"So you'll be going on summer break by the end of this month right?"
"Yeah, what's your point?" She asked a little impatiently. She just wished he'd skip to the point instead of asking her a billion and one questions.
"Okay so how about you finish the year off at UCLA and then during the summer transfer to NYU." Olivia was about to turn his suggestion down yet again, but he quickly cut off her off before she could say anything. "Livvie before you say no just hear me out please. I know you can't afford nor do you want me to pay for it so instead when I tell my parents about you and Mason, I'll ask my father if he could speak to the dean of admissions since they're pretty close friends. How do you think my sister got in so easily. Most likely they'll accept you especially since you're super smart and brilliant and you're a family friend."
"But I'm not a family friend." Olivia pointed out.
Fitz gave her a look like "really" before focusing his attention on the road again. "You and I are friends."
Olivia laughed softly aware of her now sleeping son in the backseat, "We are definitely not friends."
Fitz smirked, "We're good friends." He jested, but quickly got back to the conflict at hand. "In all seriousness though, you should really consider moving here. It would really be convenient for the both of us. You'll still get an education and I can see my son frequently without having to fly across the country. He'll be a car ride instead of a plane ride away. Mason deserves to have me in his life. I'm his father and I really want the best for him. What do you say? We have a deal?"
Olivia sighed. She too wanted the best for their son, but she had a life too that she had to think about. If she did move to New York, she would be leaving behind her family and friends to live in a foreign place with just her son. Of course there was Fitz and his family, but she didn't know Fitz' family yet, she barely knew Fitz, and didn't know how his family would treat her once they all got acquainted. She would be making a huge sacrifice only so Fitz could see Mason on a regular basis. Olivia wasn't sure if that reason was enough to make her leave her old life behind to build a new one in an unfamiliar city. She tried to voice these concerns to Fitz already, but he completely disregarded them, which kind of annoyed her because he was acting somewhat selfish.
"Fitz, I don't know. I really need time to think about this. This is a lot to decide in one day. I need to talk it over with my parents and friends before I make any decisions."
Fitz was disappointed by her answer, but was definitely not surprised. He understood that he was asking a lot of her. He couldn't help himself though. He immediately fell for his sleeping baby boy, who instantly melted his heart.
"Okay. That's fair." He finally agreed.
The rest of the ride to the lab was quiet. Olivia and Fitz were too deep in their own thoughts to have a conversation with each other and Mason was enjoying the land of sleep. Almost an hour later, Fitz pulled into the parking lot of the lab. The procedure took a bit longer than what was expected. It didn't take long for Fitz, but Mason was a different story. He made it extremely difficult for the doctor to swab his mouth. He was teething and he made it known. Eventually the doctor was able to quickly swab his mouth.
The doctor informed Olivia and Fitz that they should be getting their results back in approximately two weeks. They thanked the doctor and apologized for their little guy giving him a hard time. After leaving the lab, Fitz treated Olivia and Mason out to lunch at family friendly restaurant. Olivia fed Mason two of the few jars of baby food she had packed for him. Fitz offered to take over for her once he saw the proper way to feed him.
Throughout their lunch, Mason seemed to catch not only their waitress's attention, but other employees. Even other customers came up to their table, telling Olivia and Fitz how adorable and cute their baby boy was. Both responded with kind 'thank yous', smiling proudly at the little human being they created as people continued to fawn over him.
Mason was enjoying all of the attention he was getting. He was such a happy baby that, when he wasn't upset for some reason, loved to eat up the spotlight. However, he only allowed the unfamiliar people to look, not touch. Olivia and Fitz could already tell that Mason was going to be a handful when he got older. Not necessarily in a bad way, but he was definitely going to be a ladies man because it was mostly females that came up to their table gushing over their son.
Olivia definitely didn't like the thought of girls giving her baby attention and vice versa. She wished he could stay that age forever. She hated that he would eventually grow up, date, have sex, get married, have kids, and grandkids. She had to take a deep breath to snap back to the present time because she was getting way ahead of herself.
Fitz, on the other hand, had completely different thoughts. He was proud that his boy was already a chick magnet. He could already tell that Mason would be a ladies man. He knew that he was going to have to have the 'talk' with him before he becomes sexually active. The last thing Fitz wanted was for his son to get any girl pregnant especially if she was a one night stand. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Fitz loved Mason, but having a child is a huge responsibly, but having a child with a woman you slept with once, are not in a relationship with, and that lived on the other side of the country made parenting a lot more challenging. Obviously he was relating from his own personal experience.
When they finished their lunch, Fitz paid the bill and they left after Olivia got done changing Mason's diaper in the bathroom. Instead of heading back to the car, they decided to walk to a nearby park. Fitz held Mason as they walked through the small uncrowded park.
"Let's go on the swings." Olivia suggested as they stopped in front of the deserted swings.
"You don't think he's too small to go on them?" Fitz asked, skeptically eyeing the equipment.
"No, look there's a swing specially design for babies his age and size." She pointed to the little swing.
"Okay." Fitz apprehensively agreed.
Olivia took Mason from Fitz and walked over to the swing. She carefully placed him in the swing as Fitz stood on the other side of it keeping it still. Olivia made sure his legs were comfortably dangling out of the two holes strategically place at the bottom of the playground device. Fitz still wasn't too sure about Mason being in the swing.
"Are you sure it's safe for him to be in there?"
"Yes, Mr. Worry pants." Olivia teased. She found Fitz to be super cute when he was in dad mode. Although, he'd only been a father for a day, he was getting a hang of parenthood quite quickly and she liked watching him do it. He was a natural and always eager to learn more, determined to get it right. Her son was so fortunate to have Fitz for a father and she too was fortunate to have him as her baby daddy because he made a good one, even though he annoyed her at times.
"And it's not hurting his… you know?" Fitz asked. Olivia followed his line of vision and noticed the seat of the swing firmly pressed against Mason's lower region in between his legs, causing his pants to bunch up.
"Oh my gosh Fitz. You're such a guy. Of course it's not hurting him." Olivia smacked his shoulder.
"Ow. I was just making sure. The family jewels need to stay protected. I'm speaking from firsthand experiences when I say 'uncomfortableness' down there is one of the worst feelings physically any guy could feel." Fitz spoke honestly.
"Ew, stop. I don't want to hear about that." Olivia turned her attention back to Mason. "Ready buddy?" She bent down and kissed his small nose.
Fitz moved from behind the swing to stand in front of it next to Olivia. He wanted to see his son's reaction. He pulled his cell phone out of his jean pocket and took some pictures of Mason in the swing and even had Olivia get in a few of them. Olivia made him switch to selfie mode and get in a couple of the pictures too. Once they finished their mini unprofessional photoshoot, Olivia slowly pulled the chains of the swing toward her a little and let it go. Mason instantly started cackling loud as he moved gently in a back and forth motion. Fitz got every moment of it on video before joining in on the fun.
He and Olivia took turns kissing Mason's face every time he swung forward. After a while, Mason started to get tired. He informed his parents by letting out a soft yawn. Olivia and Fitz noticed his eyelids getting heavy. Fitz checked the time on his phone and it was almost time for Mason's nap. Olivia took Mason out of the swing and held him as she sat on the seat of a bigger swing. Mason eyes closed as soon as his head laid on his mother's shoulder. Fitz sat on the swing next to Olivia's and reached out to stroke his son's soft brown curls.
It still amazed him how he and Olivia were able to create such a beautiful little human being, but what amazed him even more was how much Mason resembled the both of them. He and Olivia made small talk and even shared a few laughs to pass the time. It was still light outside when they finally left the park, but the air was becoming cooler and the sun was clearly starting to go down. The drive back to Olivia's hotel went faster than Olivia and Fitz would have liked. They were enjoying the light conversation they were having and hated for it to end. Fitz unbuckled Mason's car seat with the sleeping baby in it, while Olivia grabbed his baby bag. Once in her hotel room, Olivia set the bag down on her bed and Fitz placed Mason's car seat beside it.
"Thank you Fitz for everything today. I had a really good time." Olivia said genuinely, looking up at his taller form.
Fitz smiled down at her, "You're welcome. I had a good time too."
Olivia nodded and they stood there in a semi awkward silence. As the seconds passed the air was becoming thick and both of them could feel the change in atmosphere. Olivia decided to distract herself by unpacking Mason's bag to avoid what would surely happen if she didn't do something to keep her busy, which was a mistake. As soon as her back turned to Fitz, he was somehow standing right behind her instead of a few feet away. Fitz didn't have to touch Olivia in order for her to turn around. Her body automatically responded to his close proximity. She looked up at him and immediately recognized the look on his face. It was the same look he had a year ago when they were about to… It was a look of pure want and Olivia could think of something in particular Fitz wanted. She knew what he wanted because she wanted the same thing.
It was unexplainable how their bodies seemed to somehow gravitate towards each other like some magnetic force. Fitz' front was now pressed against Olivia's as he towered over her. Olivia looked at him expectedly with bated breath. Fitz' head lowered, so that his face was only mere inches from her. He slowly inched his face closer to hers, both pair of eyes drifting close. Their lips were just about to connect when the room door opened and in walked Abby along with her loud mouth, snapping Olivia and Fitz out of their desire filled haze
"Hey I'm- Oh my god!" Abby shouted, shocked by the sight in front of her.
Olivia and Fitz quickly took a step back from each other. Their faces burned up as they were too embarrassed to make eye contact with one another or Abby.
"Ooohhh." Abby taunted with crossed arms over her chest and a smirk, only making the scene more awkward. Leave it to her to ruin the mood.
Fitz cleared his throat, "Uh I should be leaving now. I'll be by tomorrow to take you guys to the airport." He said quickly before giving Mason a kiss goodnight. He also bid both women a goodnight before hightailing it out of the room. He didn't know what came over him, but for some reason he had the urge to kiss Olivia. Truth be told, he had the urge to do much more than just kiss her, which was evident from the bulge in his pants. He prayed he would be able to calm down before he made it home. The last thing he needed was Mellie questioning why he had an erection and become suspicious.
Olivia shifted uncomfortably under Abby's heavy gaze. "What?" She finally asked, annoyed by the smirk on Abby's face.
"Oh nothing. I just want to know why you were about to get the McD from McDaddy?"
"First of all stop calling him that, in fact don't ever say that entire line again, it's weird. Secondly, I was no going to sleep with him. I was just giving him a goodnight kiss." Olivia responded unpersuasively.
"Mmhmm." Abby hummed unconvinced, but decided to let it go, which Olivia greatly appreciated.
She waited until Abby went into the bathroom before she let out a deep breath she didn't know she had been holding in. Olivia pushed Mason's baby bag further up on the bed, so she could make more space to sit. She looked down at Mason who was now wide awake, staring back at her with his bright blue eyes and smile. His smile grew wider when he became unrestrained from the straps on his car seat.
"Your daddy is going to be a problem in my life little man." Olivia stated apathetically.
Mason of course had no idea what she was saying, but whatever it was, he found it to be funny. Olivia could only laugh with her happy six month old, who was currently standing on her lap with her help, and pecked his little pouty lips that were identical to her own. When she pulled back, Mason brought his chubby hands to rest on both her cheeks. Olivia instantly knew what he wanted and leaned forward again to kiss his lips. Kissing her baby boy is something she'll never get tired of doing for as long as she lived.
Author's Note: Next chapter we meet Fitz' parents when he goes to tell them about the new additions to the family. We're also going to meet Olivia's parents and unfortunately for Fitz, so will he, a lot sooner than he planned on it. Fitz will also tell Mellie about Mason. How do you think she's going to react? As always I hope you enjoyed!
