Fitz POV

She went out the door with Huck and that was that. There was no phone call, no text message, no email, no bat signal, nothing. All I knew was that she was gone. Olivia was gone, and there was no telling when I'd get to see her again. There had to be a reason that Huck rushed over to get her. The fact that he was here almost immediately after those men had left, meant that he was already preparing to come and take her away. I tried to remain positive throughout the rest of the night. I constantly peeked out of the small living room window in case there was some type of hope, but all I saw was the street lights illuminating nothingness. I finally forced myself to go up to bed and called my mom to check on CJ. It wasn't too late and I expected her to be awake, but my mother explained that she was already in bed and snoring away.

I had slept with my phone right next to me the entire night on the loudest setting possible, but it didn't ring. No phone calls or text came through and by the following afternoon, I found myself nursing another one of those gluten free beers she loved so much. I lifted the bottle to my lips and sipped at the semi-sweet drink before I sat it down and moved to clean up a bit. Everything from the night before had been untouched as I expected Olivia to be delivered back to me in no time. But I finally came to terms with her not coming back and I knew that I needed to keep moving. It's not like I was moving on. There was no way in hell that could ever happen, but I had to keep moving until I heard from her or Huck. I cleaned up our mess, and then stepped out to go grocery shopping for the week. Usually I would've picked up things throughout the week since I didn't want to leave Olivia during the weekend, but now I had plenty of time to get things done.

It was on the way to the store, while at the store, and by the time I arrived back home, that I realized someone was following me. It was a blue car. An old one that no one would think twice about being in the neighborhood and that would blend in easily. But I had noticed it. I knew I was being watched. I hadn't noticed if the person had been there beforehand while Olivia and I were in our own world, or if they only just showed up but I knew they were now following me.

I looked up when my phone rang and answered before it could ring again.

"Hey Mom, just pull in next to me."

I hung up the phone and jogged over to the garage door and pressed the large square button on the wall. My mom's car pulled into the garage and I shut it just as quickly. Both her and CJ unbuckled and got out of the car before coming inside.

"Hey Bug." I opened my arms for a hug, but she bypassed me and ran inside.

"Don't worry, you used to do the same thing to me."

"Yea well, she needs to know that's not ok."

"Hurt your feelings, huh? Why'd you want me to come into the garage today, son? And who's this friend my granddaughter is so eager to see?"

"Friend?" I looked up and tried my best to play it cool and keep a straight face. I didn't believe that CJ would mention Olivia to my mom but I wouldn't be surprised if my overexcited daughter had blurted out information about Olivia by mistake.

"I went through nearly thirty-one hours of labor for them to change their mind and cut me open to get you. Fitzgerald Thomas, I know you better than you know yourself. I know when you're keeping something from me and now you've got my grandbaby hiding something from me."

"Mom," I started, wanting to reason with her. " I don't want you to worry...everything is fine, I just.."

"Stop right there. Just tell me that you're thinking with your big head and not.."

"Mom! Really? Please, just don't go there! I can't.."

"Yea, yea don't be a baby. You know I cleaned that little thing plus your behind until you were nearly six years old.

"Mom, can you please stop.. Just.. Don't you wanna go home? You don't want that drive to tire you."

She rolled her eyes and reached up to pat me on the shoulders. Sometimes she was just too much.

"Daddy, where is..."

CJ stopped mid sentence when she rounded the corner and noticed that her grandmother was still there. My mother looked between the two of us before she let out a sigh and moved towards CJ.

"You two and your secrets. Long as it doesn't get my baby hurt, I could care less." She leaned down and kissed both of CJ's cheeks before moving to me and pinching my cheek. "Take care of yourself, my boy. Love you both."

She kissed my cheek and moved into the garage before climbing in her car. I opened the door for her and closed it almost immediately. I spotted the blue car parked a few houses down and in order to not give them a chance to think anything fishy was going on, I convinced CJ to play outside in the front with me.

"But Daddy, where ..."

"Ceej, I have a new rule about our new friend ok? We are not going to talk about her while we are outside okay? Only inside the house, okay?"

"Because people might hear her privacy?"

"That's exactly why. So we can talk about that later but I will tell you our friend isn't here and it might be a few days until we see them."

She was immediately pouting and I hated that to disappoint her. It was clear that she was just as ready to have Olivia back as I was.

We played outside for a little while, drawing with sidewalk chalk on the cold ground and tossing around a small football. Dinner was quiet and uneventful, making me realize that even though we were perfectly fine before Olivia came into our lives, things had only gotten better since she found us. CJ and I may have smiled and laughed at one another, but it was obvious we were missing an important component of our evening. We had fallen for Olivia, and we both were missing the kind, loving woman that made us into a trio. A family.

I tucked CJ into bed after dinner and she didn't fight me on sleeping in her own bed. I expected her to join me in a couple of hours, so enjoyed the quiet time that I had alone in bed. I called the cell phone number I had for her and it went straight to an operator telling me the number was no longer in service. I pulled the phone away from my ear and saw the number thirty-right staring back at me. I figured if I called at least twelve more times, then I would have a reason to give up and just wait for her. Fifty phone calls, fifty attempts had to be worth something.

The following morning went on like it usually did. I woke up with CJ curled in a ball at the bottom of my bed and she fought me the entire morning on getting dressed. In her mind I was once again keeping Olivia away from her and she all but threatened me that if she didn't get to see 'Livia' by tonight, she would not go to school the next day. As much as I wanted to have faith in Olivia, I knew I would be preparing for a battle the next morning and by the time I dropped CJ off at school, I was drained from the thought alone. I drove to my office and just as I suspected, the trusty blue car slowly lagged behind and stayed parked across the street all day. I worked as normally as possible, going over every single detail of Olivia's case with a fine tooth comb. I wanted as many details as possible for when I represented her and today was all about digging into her childhood to prove what type of father she had. Olivia had already told me everything there was to know about her upbringing, but I knew how to persuade a jury with the way that I spoke about certain aspects of her life. The way her father had control over hundreds of men. The way her mother abandoned her out of the blue without leaving a trace of her existence behind. The way Olivia overcame it all and found success the honest way just before being forced into this dark world her father created.

I didn't need to make the jury have sympathy for her, I just needed to deliver a powerful exhibit of facts that would speak for itself. I knew I could do this but not having any clue as to where Olivia even was, kept my mind only ninety percent focused on my work.

When I picked CJ up from school that late afternoon, I knew that I was in trouble right away. I received a look of death from her once she was inside the car and buckled up.

"Bug, I warned you this morning that it might happen, AND I called and spoke with you at lunch to tell you that you would be staying after for sure."

"I'm still upset about it."

I nodded and looked at the dashboard to see what time it was, then glanced at her in the rearview mirror.

"Alright, three minutes, that's it. Complain."

"Ms. Kirnwood was in charge of us and she still smells funny and chews with her mouth wide open."

"Ok."

"And she doesn't let the girls play with the boys in dodgeball. She said she doesn't want to hear girls whining about being hit by a boy. That's not right!"

"You're right Bug, it's not right. I'm sorry she did that."

"I'm not done, Daddy. Then Christopher stayed after and he never stays after school. How come on the one day I have to stay after, he does too?"

"No clue. Two minutes."

"Daddy, I didn't really like what you packed for my lunch today either."

"Okay. Why not?"

"I don't like yogurt raisins anymore. It's for little kids. And so is my milk drink. Its for babies and I don't want you to pack it anymore."

I sighed at that and had to stop her there.

"Not happening Ceej. You're getting them everyday. Both of them."

"But it's a baby drink! Everybody in my class knows I drink it and they ask me questions about it."

"Well ignore them. You're drinking it everyday so you might as well drop the subject."

"If it's in my lunch, I'm gonna throw it away." She mumbled.

I rolled my eyes at her threat and tightened my hands around the steering wheel as I prepared to turn onto our street.

"Guess what though? I'm the dad, not you. I make the decisions and you get to drink baby milk. In fact, you can have one as soon as we get home."

"But that doesn't make you the boss. Why can't I choose what I drink?"

"Cause the parents get to decide what the kid drinks. You're the kid, I'm the parent."

"Well I'll be my parent too."

"Oh really" I asked waiting for the garage to open fully. There was no way in hell I was taking a chance of whoever was in the blue car, seeing my daughter. I knew within seconds it would be pulling down the street behind me.

"Yea I can be the mom parent since I don't have one."

"Ok."

I honestly didn't have a response to that and knew she would realize what she brought up and eventually drop the subject.

"What do Moms do?"

I closed the door and moved to the pantry to grab her a snack.

"Well, moms do what I do."

"Like work?"

"Well yea but moms do everything else I do. I take care of you, don't I?"

"Yes. So a mom is just like a dad?"

"Kinda."

"I wanna know. Tell me."

I turned to CJ and realized this could be one of those moments that her doctor had spoke about. When she's ready to talk about it, she will. Just make sure you're ready to respond.

"Bug, some of the things that I do for you, I would probably still do it, but if we had a mom here with us, she would probably do them."

She played with her hands in her lap and I knew she wanted more answers.

"I think if you had a mom here, she would probably be the one to fix your hair. She might give you more baths and showers than I do."

I tried to think of more things. Things I could see myself not wanting to do with my daughter if I had the help of a female, but kept coming up short. I honestly couldn't think of anything I'd trade in.

"Would you still take me to school and pick me up everyday?"

"I think so. It would depend on or schedules but maybe."

"I like when you do those things."

"I like doing them too, Bug."

"Do you wish I had a mom here so she could do things with me?"

"I do wish that. I know you would love having a mom an any mom would be proud to call you their daughter. Just like I'm proud to call you my daughter, Bug."

"You are?"

I opened my arms to her and she willingly went into them, allowing me to hoist her up onto the counter in front of me. As small framed as she was, it still blew me away to see how much she's grown up since the day I brought her home from the hospital. She was not a baby, but still reminded me of the screaming five-pounder that fought sleep every chance she got.

"The best thing about my life is you. And guess what? It will always be you."

"You're the best part for my life too, Daddy."

I kissed her forehead and hugged her, accepting all the love she would give me at this moment. Her attitude could change in a heartbeat, so I knew I had to act fast.

I left her on the counter and moved to start pulling things out for dinner. CJ stayed in place, swinging her legs back and forth as she watched me. I knew something else was on her mind and I wanted her to keep opening up like she was.

"What's going on in your head, Ceej?"

"Why isn't Livia here today?"

I should've expected that.

"Something came up and she had to go back to her friend's house."

"Will she be there long?"

"I'm not sure, Ceej."

"Will she still come over to see me?"

"I hope so. But I know she wants to be here, she just can't right now."

"Daddy?"

"Yea?"

"How come we can't tell people about Livia?"

I stopped what o was doing and looked up at her wide set, grey/blue eyes. This had been on her mind for some time and I could tell. Once again I stopped what I was doing and went to stand in front of her. I couldn't lie and sugar coat it anymore.

"There are some people looking for Olivia and they want to hurt her. So she ran away to find a safe place and this is the place she found."

"Why do they want to hurt her? What did she do?"

"Bug, I really don't know why they want to hurt her and it doesn't really matter. Olivia didn't do anything wrong and she just needs to have friends that will help her out right now so she can keep herself safe."

"Are we her friends that help keep her safe? Does she have other friends?"

"I really don't think she has other friends, Bug. That's why it's important for us to look our for her and to keep her a secret a little while longer."

"I don't want anyone to hurt Livia."

"Neither do I Bug. I promise I'm gonna do everything I can to make sure she stays safe."

"Can I call her?"

"I don't think that can happen right now. When she can, she'll call us, I'm sure of it. For now, we just need to wait to hear from her and pray that everything will be okay."

"Should we pray to Jesus like grandma does?"

"Yea, Bug. That'd be really great. If you ever need to talk to me or you have questions you can tell me, okay? This is big kid information and I know it might seem a little scary but what is my number two promise?"

"Hmmmm number one is to love me forever and number two is to always keep me safe."

"That's right. I'll always keep you safe, so you never have to be afraid, okay?"

She nodded her head and leaned in to kiss my cheek. It made me smile big time and I moved away from her for only a second when she spoke again.

"Can I write Livia a letter for when she comes back?"

I nodded with an encouraging smile. "I think she'd like that a lot, Bug. In fact, let me go and check the mail really quick okay? Don't move. And if you touch the stove, it will burn you, so that's your warning."

I vaguely watched her roll her eyes before she jumped down and went to her backpack. She grabbed a piece of paper from her notebook and climbed back onto the high stool to begin her letter.

I jogged outside to the mailbox and saw that there were a few random billing statements and the normal weekly ads. I trashed most of the mail once I got inside and went back to working on our dinner. CJ say contently writing her letter, occasionally asking me to spell certain words she was unsure of. She loved reading and spelling, but she would sometimes get confused when it came to blending words.

"Can you read it and check it, Daddy?"

I turned the burner down so the Alfredo sauce was simmering and moved to wash my hands at the sink.

"Yep, let me see it."

I once my hands were dried, I reached for the paper and began reading the wiggly handwriting:

Dear Livea,

I wish I cud see you today at my house. Daddy told me that I have to be pashent and wait for you to come see me. Daddy sed someone mite be trying to hurt you so we have to wait and not tell anyone ware you are. I promis I will help you. I hope I can see you sune and we can play agen. We had fun when it was thanksgiving and playing at the park. I want to do that agen with you. I miss you cuz you play with my hair and I like that. And you are so pretty like a prinsess that has pretty brown skin. I hope you can come bac soon. I luv you cuz you are my frend.

CJ

"I know Olivia will really love this Ceej. This was very kind of you."

"Did I spell the words good?"

"You spelled the words well. Some weren't right but they were close. Do you want me to tell you which ones?"

"No"

"Okay. Do you want me to fix them for you?"

"No, I wanna leave it like that."

"Okay, we will leave it just like this."

"How can I give my letter to Livia?"

"We will make sure she gets it next time we see her."

"But I want her to have it while she's away from me. It's supposed to make her feel better."

"As soon as I can find a way to get it to her, I promise that I will."

She seemed to be satisfied with that answer and a while later, we sat down to eat dinner together. Once dinner was consumed and cleaned up, I took CJ up for her bath and helped her get dressed in her pjs. She still wasn't too excited to wear the fleece material but I insisted that she'd be freezing if she climbed in my bed in the middle of the night with her other pjs on.

"Can we read a story?"

"We can read a short story."

"Why a short one?"

She leaned her head to the side and squeezed at a chunk of her hair. Water dripped onto the floor and I frowned at her, proving that she should have let me dry her hair more while we were still in the bathroom.

"Because someone was sluggish this morning when it was time to get up for school. You need to go to sleep when I tell you CJ, and not read books."

"Don't you want me to be really smart? My teacher said the more I read, the more smarter I'll be."

"That's true and I love that you read once you're tucked in, but you need to go to bed once I tell you to. Do you understand? No matter how much you don't want to.

I gave her a hard stare and she complied before grabbing her book and moving to the bed. When the story reached a breaking point, I stopped reading to her. I folded down the top of the page and sat the book on her nightstand.

"That's all for tonight, Bug."

"Okay Daddy."

She turned onto her side and I could tell she was ready to pass out. I moved from the bed and got down on one knee before fixing the blanket around her and kissing her forehead.

"Night, Bug. I love you."

"Love you too, Daddy."

She leaned up and kissed my cheek before snuggling back into her pillow.

I busied myself by cleaning up the kitchen and stripping my bed. I had cleaned all of the sheets about a week ago, but it was something to keep me busy. I started the load, then ran around grabbing the towels throughout the house and rushed them back into the washing machine. I stood with up and looked around for a second before realizing how much Olivia had changed my life in the short few months she had shown up. Once CJ went to bed each night, I would usually watch tv before crashing myself, but when Olivia dropped into our lives, I was able to look forward to my evenings centering around her in one way or another. I missed her.

I stood there for a second before I noticed my briefcase by the garage door and went to grab it. I took out the large folder and my laptop before I powered it up and logged onto my firm's server. If I couldn't do anything with Olivia, then I would get to work on doing something for her. I spent the next hour drafting my opening statement before I worked on my statement to present to the judge. Everything else was ready to be filed, but I had to convince a judge that it would be safer for Olivia if the trial was held here, rather than in Atlanta. Most judges never agreed to send a case to another state to be presented and tried, let alone a case involving a fugitive. Regardless, I had to try. If it came down to it, the only thing I could think to do was to leave CJ in my mother's care and go to Atlanta to represent Olivia. It things got that far, which I honestly expected them to, there was no telling how long the trial would take, and the jury could honestly find Olivia guilty and she could be sent to jail for only God knows how long. I couldn't let that happen. Olivia being away from me for two days was already hard enough. I couldn't imagine her being locked away in a jail for months or possibly years with no real contact.

I went over my statement multiple times until my eyes were crossing, then I decided to call it a night and shut down the lap top. Shutting down the lap top didn't mean that I couldn't continue to immerse myself in case notes and criminal history for the men that'd made Olivia's life a living hell. They all had multiple hits, and wrap sheets that could fill an encyclopedia. I took my time highlighting everything I knew that would be of the most incriminating, and began to place red marks by people I planned to contact as witnesses to their heinous crimes. When I was done for the night, I packed up all the files I had so that CJ would have no chance of getting her hands on them. I opened the door that led to the garage and put the files in my car before locking up once again. Just as I was about to make my way up the stairs, there was a faint knock on the door. I looked around out of habit, to make sure I wasn't hearing things, before I moved towards the front door. I looked out of the peephole and saw that no one was there. I took a step away from the door and waited a few moments before looking back outside and still saw no one.

"Don't be a pussy, Fitz. It's a damn knock on the door."

I didn't normally speak to myself, but weirder things have happened. I opened the front door and immediately noticed a small box sitting on the doormat. I grabbed it up quickly and closed the door like a little bitch in a horror movie that was afraid of Freddy coming. Once the door was locked up, I sat the box on the kitchen counter and grabbed a pair of scissors and sliced it opened. Inside was a folded piece of paper sitting atop a small cell phone. I could tell it was one of those burner phones . I knew Olivia had one similar, but I was certain that she didn't have the same phone or number that I had been contacting her on. I had tried calling her on it many times, but the phone was no longer in service.

I jogged up the stairs and after glancing in on CJ and closing her door the rest of the way, I slid into bed and powered the phone on. While I waited for the outdated phone to start up, I opened the piece of paper and read the small handwriting.

It's programmed

That was all that I needed to see. I'm not sure how I did it, or what I pressed, but all I knew was that the phone was against my ear and I was being told to hold on.

I could hear her breathing seconds later, and I felt completely at peace from that alone.

"Hi"

She didn't respond right away, but I could hear her breathing and that was enough for me.

"Fitz?"

"It's me. How are you?"

I could hear her sitting up and moving on what I assumed was her bed.

"I'm okay. How are you and CJ?"

"We're good. She's sleeping but I expect her to stumble in here very soon."

"Huck said that as soon as someone's done watching your house, I can see you guys."

"Yea, I noticed a car following me and staying outside. It's blue."

"I didn't mean for this to happen. People watching your house and knowing where you and CJ live. It's not fair for either of you and I'm so sorry."

"Don't do this Livvie. I don't want you worrying about us."

She was quiet for longer than I felt comfortable and I felt goose bumps arise on my arms at the first sound of her hitched breath. She was crying. It was one of the worse sounds in my world now.

"Livvie. Baby I don't want you to cry. We will get pass this, I promise you we will."

"It's all happening so fast. They're so close to finding me, Fitz and when they do,"

"I'm almost done preparing your case for trial. I need a week, maybe less and I'll be ready to present it to our judge and get a request to proceed."

"I'll be sent back to Georgia. I'm so terrified of going back. I know they'll get to me before I see a trial date."

I could hear the fear and tears in her voice and all I wanted to do was hug her. To just have her in my arms would be the only thing I wished for in this moment. I stayed quiet, knowing she needed to take her mind off of everything, but I wasn't sure what to even say to her. All I could think about was how long we would be separated and how this was probably a peek into our future.

"Livvie, do you remember what CJ said she was grateful for at Thanksgiving dinner?"

She went silent and I knew she was thinking back to my clever little girl's wishes that night. I faintly heard her laugh after a few seconds and knew she'd remembered.

"She brought up you giving her a kitten for Christmas."

I laughed loudly, remembering exactly what my sneaky child had said.

"I am thankful for all of my toys in my room and for a kitten that Daddy can get me for Christmas since I was so good this year…."

"She'll be one happy girl on Christmas morning."

"She's not getting a kitten for Christmas."

"Why not? Every girl deserves a pet. She's old enough to take care of a little kitten."

Olivia encouraging me to buy my daughter a cat was not the way I expected this conversation to go, but if it stopped her from crying, then I would indulge her for as long as I needed to.

"I know CJ when it comes to responsibility. Sure she'd play with it and feed it, but I'll be the one cleaning out the litter box, and making sure the thing doesn't piss all over the house. Besides, the thought of its fur being all over the house is enough grounds for a no."

"You're just gonna break her heart come Christmas morning, ya know?"

"Yea, yea, what else is new?"

I stopped speaking for a moment, realizing that we were actually talking about Christmas.

"I can't believe Christmas is only weeks away."

Olivia didn't respond and I wondered if her mind was filled with thoughts on how she would get to spend this Christmas. I couldn't fathom turning those papers in within the next week and having things take off as quickly as I knew they would. The police would be banging down my door within days. That would turn all of our world's up-side down and I honestly wasn't sure if we were ready for that.

"Livvie?"

"Hmm?"

"What do you want for Christmas this year?"

She was quiet for a moment, but I didn't push her. I wish that we had newer phones so we were able to face time or download some app that would allow us to video chat with one another. I could imagine her face at the moment and for the first time tonight, I knew the reason for her silence was not because she was crying.

"Livvie? Tell me. Whatever it is, I'm going to do my best to give it to you."

"But you can't, Fitz. It's not possible."

"Try me." Was my comeback and I heard her take a deep breath before revealing the one thing she wanted for Christmas. "What do you want?"

"My freedom."