Secrets

Chapter 25-Doubt

A/N: I finally have time to sit down and write. So here you go guys, another chapter, but first I like to say Thank You all for the many follows, favs and reviews. It feels great to read what others think of my creative writing. I love that so many of you dm'd me to express how you love my writing and your encouragement to never stop. I've even found a commonality in myself and another person. So enough of that, let get to the story.

Happy Reading!

It is the following morning and Liv and Fitz stop at his parent's home to pick up the twins. "Oh, dear why do you have to pick them up so early." Anna questions as she opens the door

The two walk inside already feeling bad because the Grants loved and adored spending time with the twins. After closing the door Fitz speaks up "Well mom, we have to take them in for DNA testing."

She cuts in "DNA testing, lord…why? Why on earth would you need that? Do you not believe they are your children?"

Liv drops her head and divert her eyes to the floor. Anna sees this. "What is it Liv, are these not my son's children?"

Fitz jumps in "Mom, they are my and Olivia's children, it's a court order." He places his hand in the small of Olivia's back leading her to the sofa "I'm sure dad has told you about Cyrus Beene taking on Liv's ex as a client." They take a seat, but Liv remains silent

"Well yes. He told me about that rat bastard." She whispers the last part after looking down at the twins sleeping in their carriers. "But that still doesn't explain this DNA mess."

"He believes he fathered of the twins, mom, so Cyrus got a court order for a DNA test, reason being why we are here early to pick them up."

Anna turns her attention to Liv as Gerry walks into the room. "And what do you think Olivia? Is there a chance this could be true? I mean you can tell they are Fitz's children from looking at them, but that mean nothing when it comes to biological aspects." Anna none the wiser. When she sees her grandchildren, she only sees Liv and Fitz. She has never met Max, but she's seen him on television, but her mind never connected the two nor had the thought ever crossed her mind.

Before Liv could answer, Gerry's thunderous voice takes over the room "That's BS. Cyrus just wants to stir up doubt and is looking for anyway to create havoc in our family. I don't care what those tests say these are our grandbabies and Fitz's children. We don't need any test to prove otherwise. We must not forget Liv was indeed married dear when she and Fitz met, so there is always a chance this possibility could come about. Liv is still our daughter in law, and these are our grandchildren. I don't care what a DNA test says otherwise."

Fitz pride arises "Thanks dad, I feel the same way."

"Liv you haven't spoken a word since your arrival, how do you feel about this?" Anna inquires now noticing Liv's downward placed eyes

"Embarrassed."

"Embarrassed, why?" Anna continues

"The fact that we are here about to take DNA testing because I slept with two men in the same day, no longer certain about who father my children while sitting in front of my in-laws talking about it. It's just embarrassing." She pauses "I get that neither you two nor Fitz cares about the DNA, Fitz makes sure to tell me this all the time now, but if for any reason Max is the father of the twins or one of the twins which I read is a possibility giving the timing I was with both him and Fitz, he will never go away. He and his parents will make themselves a constant in our lives. He will want custody, visitation, and what ever else he can get legally to just be present in my life and my marriage, so not only am I embarrassed I'm worried that this may cause problems for our marriage down the road."

Fitz looks at her and moves back so he can face her clearly "Is this how you been secretly feeling. I mean we've talked about the possible paternity of the twins, but the rest is news to me. Do you remember what we agreed on Liv?" She lifts her eyes to him "Together. Remember. No matter what. Nothing can come between us if we stick together love. If you are fearful, you give him power and that power can and will roll over into our marriage. We have to be on the same page with this Livvie."

Liv now wish she would have just kept her mouth shut due to the way her husband was looking at her. His pleading eyes melted her heart. She takes his hands into hers "Together, no matter what." She answers

Fitz stands after kissing his wife on the forehead "Well mom, dad Cyrus is being handled as we speak. It may not be in enough time to stop this ridiculous DNA test, but Max will never have claims to our children, my children." Fitz declares before lifting his children from the floor in their carriers.

Anna still feeling sad that the twins are leaving jumps from her seat "Can you bring them back after the appointment for one more day son?" Fitz turns to Liv, she smiles and nods "Sure mom, that shouldn't be a problem."

"Anna, Gerry we would never keep the twins from you guys. I been missing my babies but how about later tonight?" Liv states "We did promise you could keep them for the weekend."

"That's perfect Liv. I'm sure Anna and I can handle that. We've waited for this opportunity for so long, any time we get with them is welcome."

Liv and Fitz bid their goodbyes and heads to OPA to meet with the team. Everyone immediately swarmed the twins once they arrived. For Liv it was fine because they were all family, but Fitz really wasn't feeling everyone handling his kids, but he chose his battle for another day. He secretly hated everyone touching and holding his babies. Huck of course just watched but never touched the children even though he would definitely kill to protect them.

Liv finally called the meeting to order placing the twins back in their carriers. She needed everyone undivided attention. "Now I'm sure you all have seen the news and received the alert about Charles Putney, so now I need you all to focus on Cyrus Beene." She states when Fitz takes over

"My team along with Huck here have exposed some evidence on Cyrus's secrets when it comes to his clients. Those secrets and the details were shared with his many high-profile clients."

"What kind of secrets?" Abby questions

"Ones none of his clients would want to come out." Fitz answer with a smirk "Secrets they never knew he had on them and could have only gotten from their nemesis, which leads me to believe our Cyrus problem will take care of itself. Once Cyrus is down Max will have no outlets for his foolishness and Livvie and I will be done with all this drama."

Liv slowly paces before turning her attention back to the team. "I want to share something important with you guys. The reason this is so important is not only because it can ruin Fitz and his law firm, but because I was with both men in a close proximity of time and one or both of the twins may not be Fitz's child."

"Wait what, come again?" Jay expresses

"Liv, they look just like him, well Elijah does but Miya looks like you. That should kill all that noise." Harrison adds not seeing what others saw.

Abby is feeling bad. Did she cast this doubt in Liv's mind? She absents mindedly made a statement without considering what effect it would have on Liv and Fitz marriage or her best friends mental state. She remained silent because she truly had nothing to say except maybe I'm sorry.

Huck remained silent but gave Tom a look that they both understood.

Jay is already over it all "I don't care and you two shouldn't care either these are your babies. Why are we even talking about this, Max will never come ten feet within my niece and nephew, and Cyrus has never really seen what a brick wall looks like, but he will soon find out."

Abby decided to reel everyone back in "Liv, Fitz we got this. I promise you both this will never reach to light of day, but since we are sharing, I just want to share with everyone that I am pregnant…with Stephen's baby." Liv head swivels so fast in Abby's direction but Abby quickly continues "It seems that I'm 3 ½ months along. I was scheduled to abort the baby about a month ago but, my amazing brother here…" Pointing in Jays direction "Found some things out about the doctor who ran the clinic and exposed him the day of my appointment, but I was already under anesthesia and don't remember anything. I just recently found out I'm still pregnant and will be four months tomorrow." She winks at Liv and Liv nods with a smirk

"Wow Abs, does Stephen know?" Harrison caught by surprised of her admission

"Kinda, he knew about the pregnancy, but he thinks I had the abortion. I think the heartbreak caused him to leave. He wanted to raise the baby together."

"That's the exact reason I don't allow interoffice romance. It gets messy and the loss of good team members."

"We didn't get together until after you fired me Liv. Stephen broke no rules and neither did I." Abby comments

"I know this, Abby. I was just making a point." Hissed Olivia with an edge to her voice ending the conversation. Jay and Harrison give each other a quick glance before turning to Huck. He has no expression of concern, but something was definitely in the air. "So where are you all with Cyrus and Max?" Liv pressed with slight anxiety

"Cyrus has visited Max twice this month. Once to take him on as his lawyer and get his side of the story, and the second visit was to sign paperwork to start the DNA petition." Tom shares

"The dark net is talking. Crime leaders are angry. There's a plan to pay Cyrus a visit tonight." Huck delivered in his Huck fashion "Max is scheduled to receive a makeover prison style, like when you drop the soap." Huck continues with a chuckle

Fitz raises a brow seeing Huck actually show emotion and chuckles himself. "Well now that that's taken care of, we have an appointment, be sure to let us know how things turn out with both men." He picks up the twins as he and Liv makes their way to the exit to their DNA appointment.

….

After leaving the testing site Liv anxiety heightens. She tries not to show it but this whole situation is making her crazy inside. The thought of one or both of her children not being Fitz's child brings on fear of one day losing Fitz. She wanted to believe him when he told her he would love both babies and don't care what the tests results are, but a small part of her says otherwise. Max and even his parents will impede on her life if it's just to cause her misery. She looks down when she feels Fitz take her hand bringing it to his lips and planting a soft kiss on it. "What's on your mind beautiful?" He genuinely questions

"Nothing, I'm fine." She softly answers

"That means you're not fine love. Come on Livvie talk to me."

She takes a deep breath "I just love you so much and don't know what I would do without you."

He glances at her before returning his eyes to the road. "Why would you think you would have to do anything without me?"

"I just…it's nothing. I'm fine. I just want this all to be over."

"It will be soon love and I will say this one more time, our babies are our babies. I don't care what the results say. Hear me when I say this for the last time…I-don't-care-what-the-results-say."

That statement alone made Liv believe Fitz also felt that the results may not be in his favor and that's the part that still worried her. "So, you too think there's a possibility?"

"Of course, there's a possibility Liv, you slept with both of us on the same day, hours apart." He countered out of pure frustration "I'm not naive nor am I in denial." He finishes releasing her hand in the process. His frustration obvious by the clenching of his jaw

"I know that Fitz, you came into my yard if I remember correctly, I sure as hell do, but you are upset? Just admit it Fitz. The fact that I put us in this situation upsets you." She pushes when she notices Fitz is not heading in the direction of their home but instead towards his parent's home. "Why are we taking the kids back right now. I wanted to spend some time with them before we drop them off."

Fitz doesn't answer but continues to drive. "Fitz answer me."

"We need time alone." He voiced

She knew he was upset with her and decided to stay quiet. She didn't mean to snap at him, but his statement felt like a low blow. She just responded and now regrets it. She was not used to seeing him upset, leaving her unsure of how to handle the situation. Him ignoring the fact she wanted to spend some time with the twins before dropping them back off to his parent's bothered her as well, but she let that part go for now. "Fitz?" She calls out clearly upset with crossed arms and the tapping of her foot

He pulls into his parent's driveway. "I'm done talking about this right now. We will finish discussing everything when we get home once and for all without any distractions." He parks and exits the car opening the back door to remove the twins. "Stay in the car. I'll be right back." He commands while removing the twins and walking them inside of his parent's home before returning to the car and driving home in total silence.

They arrived home and Liv quickly exits the car slamming the door in the process. Fitz stops and watches her stomp her way inside and shakes his head after taking a deep breath and blowing it out slowly. He makes his way inside. He follows Liv towards the living room when she swivels around "How dare you take my babies knowing I wanted to spend time with them before dropping them off?!"

"Because as I said we need to talk, them being here with us will just delay the inevitable."

"You should have discussed it with me not just take it upon yourself to make the decision without my input or considering how I felt about it."

"Fine. I'm sorry I made the decision without talking to you about it. Now can we move on and talk about what's really bothering you?"

"You not being honest about the twins possibly not being yours is what's bothering me."

"Liv, I have no control over the DNA of our children. I do however have control over how I feel about it, and as I have told you over and over again, I DON'T CARE!" He shouted

"DO NOT YELL AT ME!" She vocalizes using the same tone

His frustration rises and he needed to calm down. He couldn't understand why Liv continued to push this issue. How many times would he have to explain how he felt about the situation. He understood what he got himself into sleeping with a married woman. He understood he slept with her the same day as her ex. This was their situation, he accepted that. His love for Olivia and the twins made his acceptance easy but apparently his wife felt different.

He runs his left hand through his hair before pinching the bridge of his nose, he softens his tone "Look Livvie, I love you. I am in love with you. I love our babies. I understand the possibilities here. If one or both of the twins are not mine, of course it will hurt me, but it won't stop the love I have for either of them. It will not stop my love for you. You and our babies have become my whole world."

"Why would you throw in my face me sleeping with you both on the same day, hours apart? That was low Fitz."

"Look I'm sorry I said that. I was frustrated."

She gives him a look that should have knocked him over "You said that to blame me, and if the test come out that max is the father you will continue to blame me and eventually your feelings will change, just admit it Fitz." She rushes out

Fitz feels like he's about to lose his shit. He hates when others try to tell him what he thinks and feel. Liv is the one who's worried and is projecting her fears onto him and it's starting to really piss him off. He catches himself before he says something else, he can't take back. "You are projecting your fears onto me Olivia. I have told you how I feel, but when it comes to you, you say you're fine. So, who's holding back here…you or me? I can't do this with you right now, so until your ready to be honest about your feelings, I'm done talking about all of it." He turns back the way they both just came

"Where are you going?" She panics watching him walk through the kitchen back to their garage. She takes off after him "Fitz, we're not done here. Where are you going?"

"OUT!" He loudly declared

"What?! After you dropped off my children knowing I wanted to spend time with them?"

He stops "Liv if it bothers you so much, go get them, you're their mother. No one is stopping you."

"Are you coming back?" She croaked but he doesn't hear her because he's already in his car with the door closed backing out.

…

Cyrus feeling good walks into his home. James his husband and Ella, their adopted baby girl of one years was out for the day he remembers as he closes the entryway behind him. He stops dead in his tracks when he notices one of his deadliest clients was sitting in his living room flanked by two other men. "Hello Cyrus."

"Dirty what are you doing here?" Cyrus trembles but tries not to let the fear show

"Some information was sent to me that gave me great concern. Something, only you were privy to. It somehow got into the hands of someone who wants me out of the game but due to our truce he felt like I should know so he gave me this." Dirty tosses a folder and papers fly into the air.

Cyrus attempts to catch the floating papers only successful with gripping one sheet. He pulls it to his face and looks at it. The information shocks Cyrus and he suddenly remembers the warning Fitz left on his desk. He begins to stutter trying to explain the pictures on all the forms and a written transcript of he and Cyrus's many conversations spoken to him in private. "Dirty, let me explain…this is not what it looks like."

"IT'S EXACTLY WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE!" He stands "Now in order to prove to my man that I'm not a fucking snitch, I was sent to take care of the problem and these two are here to make sure it's done."

"Dir…" Is all he was able to get out before a bullet from Dirty's gun met with his forehead. Not once but twice, a double tap to insure immediate death. Tom steps from behind the wall. The two men bump fist "Thanks T-man for the heads up." Tom nods

"Be sure to tear this place apart, his file drawer is upstairs in his safe, I've already cracked it open. Take all the files you need and don't forget these on the floor." Dirty and the men agree and begin tearing Cyrus's home apart as if they were looking for something. Huck had already disabled his security system and Tom cut all the wires, removing all the recordings taking them with him.

…..

It has been over 10 hours sense Fitz walked out. Liv is overly stressed now and feels like she's going crazy. She has called Fitz over 50 times, and he has not answered. She wanted and needed to apologize to him. She wanted to kiss him. She wanted to feel him. She wanted to assure him that she loved him, that she would never doubt his love him ever again. If only he would come home or answer his phone.

Fitz had decided to go to the office even though he originally took the day off. He strategized cases, he calls in favors, made important phone calls, and put in more court filings. He went into beast mode doing what he does best, being a lawyer, doing what lawyers do. This became an all-day event after hours event. His employees kicked into overdrive seeing their boss doing the same. He needed something to take his mind off of his problems at home, and this was the perfect distraction.

It was now about 7 pm and he decided to pour himself a glass of scotch. One glass turned into two, two turned into 4 and before he knew it, he was somewhat inebriated. This state of mind forced him to think of Liv and his twins. He loved her with everything inside of him as well as the twins. He was missing her and his babies. He knew he first needed to make thing right with Liv before bringing the twin's home. He hated that he couldn't convince her that his love went beyond their situation. That when he said he loved her and their babies no matter what he meant that. She broke down crying consumed with fear she had lost the only man she truly loved.

His anger was getting the best of him. He needed to separate himself from the situation before it showed its ugly head. Fitz had a very sharp tongue and when angry he would cut you down and tear you apart. He did not want to do that to his Livvie. She had gotten a taste of it in the car leaving her hurt and he couldn't allow himself to stay on that path. Her constantly doubting him was pushing him to that point. He finally looked down at his phone facedown after collecting his files to put them away. He forgot that he has silence his phone during their clinic visit. He was shocked to see Liv had called him over 50 times.

The feeling of his heart dropping in his stomach and a knot in his throat consumes him. "Fuck." He wanted to call her back right away but was afraid of what he would get from the receiving end. He needed to be in front of her when he explained the unanswered calls along with the many hours his has been missing. He calls for his car knowing he couldn't drive in his state. He needed to get home and apologize to Liv. He could only hope she would not doubt him when he explains the missed calls and his absence.

A/N: I have to stop here. Time to get ready for work. Leave a review. I would love to read your thoughts….Until next time…..Keke