As they sit down to eat, the kids fill her in on the happenings of their week. She listens intently, and neither skip a detail. She finds herself really enjoying them, as they catch her up to speed. Despite them being young, she realizes how articulate and intelligent they are, and it makes her heart smile.

Notably, she's extremely happy to see how well Ella is adjusting to life with them. As she listens to both of them. She feels comfortable and present. Nothing else is on her mind, except the moment at hand.

Knowing she could never tire of chatting with them, but also recognizing time doesn't stand still. She encourages them to eat their breakfast, so they can get going. They all finish eating, and as they wrap up; Ella asks, "Are we still going to Vermont for the weekend?"

Olivia replies, "Yes. We are going after you two get home from school. We may spend the entire spring break there." They both exclaim, "Yay!" Olivia chuckles, embracing their jubilation.

With their breakfast time over, they all get up from the table and head out to start their days'. Olivia hugs both of them, wishing them well. And she waives to them as they leave with their detail.

As their car pulls away, she experiences a feeling she can't put her finger on. Knowing she has to get going, she puts her thoughts aside for a moment, as she grabs her purse and heads to her waiting car.

After she climbs into the car with her detail in tow; she sits in the back in thought, as she heads into the office. She looks at the scenery as the car rolls along, thinking about nothing in particular, just taking in her surroundings.

Then, she feels the car stopping. She then looks at her watch, and then at the traffic surrounding the car and takes a breath as she sends a text message to Quinn. She apologizes for being late, and lets her know she's on the way.

As she processes the moment, she knows she's about an hour later than normal, and yet, she's completely unbothered by her tardiness. Something that in years past that would've completely thrown off her mood, if not her entire day.

It's not that she no longer values punctuality, because she does. But, with her changing living dynamic. She has learned she has to adjust to the moment as it happens.

Seeing that the traffic is unrelenting, she decides to get comfortable, as her driver weaves through traffic. To fill the time she decides to see what's going on in the world around them.

For the first time in weeks she's glad to see that neither Fitz nor the Whitehouse are in the top headlines. She is thankful that Abby has done such an amazing job redirecting the attention of the press from their personal lives.

It was a tough ask, but she and her bestie were able to employ strategies to get the job done, by playing to the sensitivity angle of the situation with the goal of protecting Ella as much as possible.

Whenever the press tried to dig deeper into the findings regarding the investigation surrounding Cyrus and Michael's death's. Abby would advise out of respect for the families of both Michael and Cyrus, the Whitehouse would not release any further comment about the situation.

This approach seemed best, given the circumstances. For some reporters, the response was accepted without push back. But, of course not every news media outlet is created equal. There's always going to be one or two who try a different angle, looking for some salacious material.

It took some time to identify which publication they'd eventually have issues with controlling the narrative with. But soon, one reared it's ugly head as predicted. Olivia recalls the frustration she and Fitz felt as the negative news push unfolded.

The one saving grace they had working for them was she was trained for these instances, it's what she did for a living, spinning a situation like this to a favorable outcome was her specialty.

So, this time shouldn't have been any different. But, she couldn't have been more wrong. This time was completely different because this time, people she loves, and are responsible for are involved.

Failing to take her own advice, of not allowing emotion to rule her behavior. She eventually fell prey to that mistake. She allowed the stress of protecting Ella and being worried about how the fallout from Cyrus' final act would affect Fitz, and the Whitehouse to weigh on her, and force her into a public eruption of emotion.

She thinks back to when it all came to a head. About two weeks ago now, when she was on Capitol Hill meeting with a client. A reporter for a rag magazine in D.C. cornered her, asking more questions about the Whitehouse's refusal to allow anyone to talk to Ella, or comment on her status.

As soon as he began relentlessly badgering her with questions; Olivia remembered the reporter's name, and his last story. He had the audacity to use photos of Ella crying at the funeral, while she sat in Olivia's lap, as a cover for the story; citing the moment as a planned photo opportunity.

As he spoke she found herself getting more and more upset. She never quite got over that comment, and she swore if she ever got the chance she'd rip him a new one. She knew his comment was bogus, and so did everyone else who knows her, but still. It really ate at her to think someone could or would go that far to solicit a response out of her.

By the time he finished his array of questions; her blood was boiling. Nonetheless, her good sense told her she should've known better than to take the bait. And she came close to not doing it. But then, something came over her. Instead of remaining calm, she found herself speaking out of pure emotion, as she loudly cut him off asking, "What exactly do you want to know about Ella Mr. Warren that hasn't been revealed already?"

Seeing he was finally going to get a response from her, he eagerly replied, "It's not so much as me, as it is the people. The people want to know how she's doing Ms. Pope. And they have a right to know. We all do. After all, she is living in the Whitehouse that's paid for by the American People's tax dollars."

In her head, she saw herself slapping him senseless and using a few swear words at him due to his unmitigated gall to spout such nonsense to her. But instead, she controlled herself as best she could in refuting his words by replying, "Mr. Warren, You and I both know where Ella is living is of no consequence. And has nothing to do with the American people and their tax dollars."

He challenges her reply as he responds, "I assure you you're wrong. People do..." She interrupts him as she replies, "Mr. Warren, you don't care about Ella, and neither do the people who read your paper. They only care about seeing her pain. Like you and your publication, who are shamefully profiting off of the pain of a 5 year old little girl; who suddenly and tragically lost both of her parents, in one of the most horrific manners possible! Well, her pain isn't for sale Mr. Warren! So back off, and leave her be! This isn't a fight you want, nor is it a fight you can possibly win. I will see to that personally!"