Now hearing the bell again, signaling the kids being outside the door. Which they see on the monitor. He finally agrees to let her dismount. As she heads into the bathroom, he grabs her once more and kisses her as he says, "Merry Christmas baby." She kisses him in return as she says, "Merry Christmas to you too my love." They peck once more and after he lets her go, and she walks by him he swats her on the ass and she giggles.
While Olivia uses the facilities; Fitz goes to greet the kids after grabbing some shorts and a shirt before opening the door. When the door opens the excitement on the other side is barely containable. Both Ella and Teddy are gleeful and grinning from ear to ear as they yell, "Merry Christmas!" Fitz smiles as he takes in the joy from the kids, this is what Christmas is all about. The joy of children.
Happily he replies, "Merry Christmas Kiddos, and good morning." They both grin as they say, "Morning." Teddy then asks, "Where's Livy?" Ella follows with "Yeah. Where is she?" Fitz replies, "Hold your horses little folks. She's in the restroom. She'll be joining us in a minute." Suddenly Fitz hears, "Morning munchkins." Both kids push past Fitz and hug Olivia's legs, almost knocking her down. She grins as she hugs them back and manages to catch her balance. Fitz smiles at her as he watches her with them. She's really enjoying them, and they're enjoying her too.
When the hugs break, "Olivia asks, "Are you two the only one's up?" A voice from the hall says, "Nope. They're not. They're just the loudest." Both Olivia and Fitz look over and see Karen standing in the hall. Fitz smiles as he says, "Morning Kare bear." She grins at the name she hasn't heard him use for her since she was probably Teddy's age. She walks over to her father, hugging him as she says, "Morning dad."
He hugs her in return as he kisses the top of her head an says, "Morning sweetheart. Merry Christmas." She responds, "Merry Christmas." Fitz can see his daughter is relaxing little by little, and he's more than confidant that his decision to wait to talk to her about the hotel incident was the right thing to do. Hopefully having a good holiday together will make the conversation easier later.
Snapping out of his thoughts he hears Cyrus call from downstairs, "It looks like there's a ton of presents down here, but nobody to open them!" The kids hear him and quickly rush to the stairs as they yell, "Coming, coming!" Karen, Fitz, and Olivia can't help but laugh at their exuberance. They share smiles and Karen and Olivia hug and greet one another warmly as they head downstairs to watch the unwrapping event.
After settling in on the couch with mugs of coffee and hot chocolate in hand; the event of the morning begins. An hour and a half later there's enough wrapping paper to start a bonfire and keep it raging for at least a day. But in the end the smiles, laughs, and hugs of gratitude and joy fill the room; making great memories for everyone.
In addition to the joys of the children, and their happiness with their gifts. The adults are just as happy to receive their presents. Karen getting the apple watch and new I Pad she wanted. Cyrus getting diamond and ruby monogramed cufflinks from Michael. Michael receiving the gift of an art studio space to work on his painting, from Cyrus made both Olivia and Fitz nod with great approval.
It appeared that despite their rather untraditional pairing, they had managed to carve out a pretty good life for themselves. It's not everyday you meet a life partner at a private sex party, and you end up living happily ever after. But who is she to judge? At the end of the day she loved seeing how happy Ella appeared to be with them together, or even individually. It meant the world to her that Ella was being well cared for, in James' absence. After all, she is her God daughter. So she wants what's best for her. Times like these she thinks of the sweetness that is her friend and mentor, and not his dangerous side. Who would've thought he was capable of being such a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hide of sorts? But that's him, through and through.
Deciding to live in the moment, and not in her head overthinking things. Olivia checks back into the morning festivities. After reveling in the gifts of everyone else, Olivia and Fitz turn to one another grinning. As Karen says, "Okay it's your turns to open gifts." Fitz says, "Okay. You first Liv." She nervously replies, "Okay." He sees her nervousness and replies, "I'm sure I'll love it. Whatever it is." She takes comfort in his response, she knew he'd like it. But she didn't plan on revealing it in front of everyone. She thought they were having a private Christmas. But, it's too late to turn back now.
She falls back into the moment again from her thoughts; as she hands Fitz a beautifully wrapped long, flat, rectangular box. He takes it into his hands, and he is obviously completely baffled at what could be inside.
Like he saw Teddy and Ella both do several times that morning, before opening their gift. He shakes it, and she giggles, as does everyone else. Teddy even says, "Come on dad. Open it." He puts it down on his lap and Olivia waits impatiently, as she's almost about to jump out of her seat with anticipation. He sees the nervousness in her eyes, mixed with excitement. And he can't lie he's intrigued at what could be inside it. As he rips open the paper he looks at Olivia with a cute and quirky expression. She smiles at him as she urges him along saying, "You can do it. Let's go. Let's see what you've got."
The wrapping is now removed and there's a box beneath it. He looks at the box inquisitively, and then opens it. Inside that there's an envelope. Everyone in the room groans as Cyrus says, "If there's another package inside that envelope I'm going to scream." Everyone laughs as Olivia says, "I promise the gift is inside."
Fitz opens the manila envelope and what slides out confuses him at first. There are documents and a photo. The photo is of a cabin, a wood cabin that looks very familiar. Seconds pass and he instantly knows what it is and where it is. A smile spreads across his face, and he looks up at Olivia. She sees his reaction and it warms her heart; he now understands why she was nervous to give it to him in front of everyone.
She touches his hand and they gaze at one another, speaking without words. He quickly says, "Thank you baby. I love it." Everyone around him is still curious about the gift and asks, "What is it?" Without answering them, he pulls her closer to him and he kisses her lips. When the kiss breaks he says, "I can't believe you did this." She sees his appreciation and how much he adores the gift, and she replies, "You're very welcome. I'm sure we'll get plenty of use out of it." Her response makes him grin even wider and she shares his joy in return.
Now more confused than ever, Karen breaks their loving moment as she says, "Uhm, can one of you tell us what's going on here? It's getting a little weird." Michael replies, "Agreed." Both Olivia and Fitz break out of their love stupor as Fitz says, "Sorry, Liv purchased a cabin. One that we can use for vacations or when it's time to teach you to hunt Ted."
Teddy replies, "I don't wanna hunt?" Cyrus asks, "Do you know what hunting is Teddy?" Teddy responds, "No." They all smile as Olivia asks, "Then how do you know you don't want to hunt?" Teddy shrugs his shoulders as he says, "I don't know." Ella responds, "I wanna hunt." Teddy then says, "Okay me too then." Everyone chuckles at his reply, and when it settles Karen asks, "So what's so special about the cabin dad?"
Fitz looks at Olivia and he doesn't know what to say. But he has to admit it's hard to hide the fact that the cabin has a special significance.
Olivia sees him struggling and feels the need to confess, as she says, "It's where I realized, or I think we both realized that we would forever be apart of each other's lives." Her words hang in the air and settles with everyone. Karen smiles as she says, "So it's where you fell in love?" Olivia nods as she says, "It's where we realized how strong our love was." Fitz adds, "Yes. It was the best hunting season ever."
They grin as they both recall the heated argument they had outside the cabin, and how the conversation ended. It was after that epic conversation they both knew it would never be over between them. And the fact Olivia wanted to commemorate that moment, meant the world to Fitz. He didn't see the gift as just a cabin, but a celebration of their love. She was choosing to celebrate them, and not what they were going through at that time. She was finding her way through the murkiness of the situation and focusing in on the love they've always had for one another. This was another indication, that once again she was truly embracing them, and their future confidently.
Despite the joy and love shared in the moment, Olivia is dying to see what her love has for her. And with like minds thinking alike; Michael says, "It sounds like you hit the ball out of the park with your gift Liv. Fitz I hope yours is up to par." Karen adds, "No pressure, but it better be good dad." Fitz smiles as he says, "Thanks guys for your vote of confidence." They all chuckle as even Ella and Teddy are ready to see what Olivia got, as they both say, "It's your turn Livy." Olivia grins as she says, "Yes. it is my turn isn't it? Where's my gift Mr. President?"
He'd love to give an X rated reply, but he decides to keep it clean as he says, "It's right here my dear." Fitz reaches in his pocket and pulls out a box. It's a rather small box; not as small as a ring box. But it's a small, black velvet box all the same. With a bow on it. Olivia's heart stops momentarily, as her eyes refocus on the gift in his hand. Although it's plain to see it's not a ring box; she's still in awe of it and is somewhat nervous about what could be inside.
He sees the look of anxiety building in her eyes, and he says, "Just relax and open it. It's something you've been talking about for the last few months. But couldn't pull the trigger." She looks at him and hears his words, but nothing comes to mind. With everyone being on pins and needles, Cyrus being the habitual pressure says, "For God's sake Live, open the box! You're killing us here." They're all in agreement as the kids sit by her feet looking up at her, and Karen also looks over thoroughly intrigued.