Olivia fell asleep, cuddled under Fitz's arm shortly after. It was the first time she'd gotten decent sleep since she found out about Luna's cancer, Fitz on the other hand, couldn't sleep. There was too much to think about but he didn't know what to think. He looked down at Olivia and his daughters, he still couldn't believe she had them. He tried not to think about the cancer, he still didn't know all the details. He remembered how terribly sick his mother got and he dreaded seeing Luna that way. He dreaded seeing her tiny body hooked up to endless tubes and drips and the endless surgeries and procedures she would have to endure. He felt the sting of tears again in his eyes but he pushed them back. He knew the only way he was going to get through this was if he put his emotions on the back burner and focused on his family.

Before he knew it hours had passed. He couldn't sleep, he couldn't move, all he could do was think. Their relationship replayed like a film in his head. He remembered the first time he kissed her and how euphoric it was for him and the first time she flirted with him and ran off after she realized what she had done then he remembered the morning she left him in the oval after she resigned and how hard the months after that had been for him even though he understood why she left. The sun began to peer through the windows and Olivia shuffled a few times before she sat up with Luna still cradled in her arms. Once Olivia sat up Luna's eyes fluttered open and once Luna was up, so was Lana.

"Didi sleep on you all night?" Olivia asked.

Fitz nodded and smiled.

"I'm sorry- I was just so tired I didn't even realize when I fell asleep."

"Olivia, don't apologize," Fitz said. "I'm glad to have my girls with me."

Olivia smiled back at him, "We don't have any appointments today. The doctor said they have everything they need from us so I'll be home with them all day. Do you want to stay with us?"

Fitz turned Lana to face him. "What do you say, do you guys want daddy to stay and play with you today?" He tickled Lana's stomach and she laughed sleepily then he faced Luna who was in Olivia's lap. "What about you Luna? Do you want me to stay?" Luna smiled a lazy smile.

"I think they want me here."

Olivia nodded with a smile of her own. "Okay, I'll call Bonnie and tell her not to come in today."

"Who's Bonnie?"

"My nanny."

Fitz pondered. "Are you telling her not to come in because you want me to have private time with them or are you telling her not to come in because you don't want her to know that I'm their father?"

"Maybe a little of both. I know I'm gonna have to have a conversation with her and I plan to I just don't want to have it today. Are you okay with that?"

Fitz nodded. "Yeah, it's fine."

"Okay, let me call her."

Olivia went for her phone that was in her bedroom. She left Fitz with Lana on the couch and took Luna with her.

"So Lana, what are we going to do today? Your sister doesn't come from school till 5 but when she does we're going to let her come over and meet you guys for the second time and this time, thankfully she'll know you are her sister."

Fitz stood up with Lana in his arms and walked down the hall to Olivia's bedroom. As he walked down the hall, the door to the twins' nursery was open so he went in. Olivia finished speaking with Bonnie and headed back to the living room to Fitz but she stopped when she realized he was in the nursery. He'd slipped his sweater back on after being shirtless all night. She saw him staring at the picture of her with her newly born twins cradled in her arms as she sat on the rocking chair that Abby took during her first week home.

"Fitz are you alright?"

He turned around."I'm gonna steal that picture."

Olivia tried to think of ways to cheer him up so she reached for the picture from the wall. She knew they needed to have a conversation about the details of Lana's cancer soon.

"It's yours!"

"Okay," Olivia said as she laid Luna on her side of the changing table. "I usually start their day by getting them cleaned up, changing their diaper. I also like to brush their hair and oil them up so they're soft and squishy?"

Fitz smiled, "I'm ready."

Fitz followed her lead. She gave him a small tour, showing him where she kept the girls' things, then walked back over to the changing table and began changing them both with Fitz's help. She waited a little while before feeding them because she wanted to keep them directly on schedule. Once she made their milk, she walked back over to the couch with Fitz. She handed him Lana's bottle and Lana spat out her pacifier in anticipation. It made Fitz laugh every time. Luna didn't have an appetite but Olivia tried to give her as much as possible with some resistance from her.

After feeding the twins Olivia made coffee for Fitz and tea for herself. She hadn't had much of an appetite since Luna's hospitalization. He played with them for a few hours, whenever his attention wasn't on them, it was one particular picture. She could see Fitz was still curious about the photo Abby took of her when she was flour on her face. She caught him staring at it more than once. He was so deep in thought as he stared that he didn't feel her beside him.

"Abby took that picture after one of our cooking lessons."

"It's a beautiful picture," he said with a small smile. "You learn how to cook?"

"Yes, I figured once they start eating solid food I need to know how to properly cook for them."

Lana bounced back and forth in his arms, he could hear her coos and giggles through her pacifier.

"Can I have it?" He asked.

"Yes," she said with a smile.

"Thank you- wait- you have videos of the birth, right?"

"Yes…but I'm not gonna show you."

"Why not?"

"Because I was out of my fucking mind the entire time," she said with a chuckle.

"I have to see it," he said.

"Can we put the girls to bed first?"

"Sure."

It took almost half an hour to feed the girls, change them and then put them to bed. They both returned to the living room. Olivia took her iPad from the charger and brought it over to him.

"I haven't actually watched it-"

"That's even better," he said.

She opened her iPad and searched for the series of videos. They watched them one at a time in short clips. Fitz was thrilled as he watched video after video until he reached the video where Olivia received her epidural. "-I didn't plan to do this without him-" she cried in the video.

She paused the video and locked the iPad mid-sentence.

An awkward silence passed.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know that was in the recording."

"Why are you apologizing? I'm the asshole that got you pregnant then ditched you in a year-long temper tantrum."

"I don't want us to dwell on it."

"How do we not?"

"I'm not…"

"You're seriously telling me you forgive me…for everything…"

"Yes. I think the problem is your guilt."

"So you don't harbor any resentment?"

Olivia shrugged, "maybe a little but-"

"Then you don't forgive me," Fitz said.

"Yes, I do. I resent that when whoever told you whatever they did to make you mad, you didn't give me a chance to explain…I felt like I was worth giving a chance to explain myself. That's what I resent. I feel that if we'd been able to talk or even argue about it we wouldn't have gotten to this point. Still, that doesn't mean I don't forgive you-"

"Right so you're not resentful about what I said that night? About you or Karen. Or that I took the ring back?"

Olivia looked away but didn't speak.

"Baby, you haven't forgiven me and that's okay."

Olivia rolled her eyes and laid her head against him. He was right, she was resentful even if she couldn't admit it. Fitz wrapped his arms around her and kissed her head "Why'd you have to be an idiot and ruin everything. We were having mind-blowing sex-"

"Don't remind me," Fitz groaned.

Olivia laughed and shook her head. "We conceived our daughters on like 3 orgasms."

"You swallowed one of mine so I don't think that one counts."

Olivia gasped and turned around and punched him playfully. Fitz leaned back against him and sighed and Fitz caressed her. "I'd never tasted anything so good."

"This is payback, isn't it?"

Olivia nodded and laughed.

They laid in silence for a moment and Olivia's mind wandered back to what she dreaded. After a while, she spoke.

"I'm terrified of this cancer. I just keep thinking about how I wasn't able to catch it sooner-"

"Stop." Fitz said, "you caught it as soon as you could."

Olivia shook her head, "she had her first bruise weeks ago. If I'd taken her then she'd probably be halfway through chemo. Maybe she would have had a better chance."

"Olivia- stop."

She took a breath and nodded.

"We need to come up with a plan," Fitz said. "For when she starts treatment."

"We'll have to be careful if anyone finds out about you and them…I don't think media attention is exactly what we need right now."

"How will I be able to visit her when she starts treatment? I'll want to be there as often as I can, don't you think that will raise some questions? Someone is bound to see me? Someone we can't force to be quiet."

"You have a demanding job, as much as you'd like to, you won't be able to be there every day and also you being there every day would draw too much attention." She paused and tried to read his expression but he couldn't. She sat up so she could clearly see him as they conversed. "Look, Harrison, Huck, and Stephen will be there too and they are friends of mine, we'll even force Cyrus to come so that when you're there people will think you are a friend too."

"And when I'm sitting with Lana or Luna in my arms and they notice the resemblance?"

"They can't prove it…granted, Cyrus took one look at Luna's eyes and knew you were her father. It's unlikely but if it happens it's something we can deal with when we get there."

"So you want me to pretend they aren't my children?"

"If people knew it you-"

"I'm not okay with that. I've been out of their lives long enough, I don't want to pretend I'm not their father for however long we're in the hospital."

"So you think it's better to be dealing with a horde of reporters outside of the hospital every time you try to come here?"

He sighed, annoyed that Olivia was right but he didn't think the solution was to deny his children.

"Tell me about Luna's diagnosis," he said, quickly changing the subject.

Olivia took a deep breath. She could feel the tears waiting to escape.

"Dr. Porpentine; he's the doctor that will be treating her. He said she has acute myeloid leukemia, type m3. He said it used to have a survival rate of 20% but with all the new technology and medicine, it's at 80 to 90-% now." Olivia was blurting out information as it came to her. "Uhm … he said she... she got it from a hereditary gene mutation in the P53 gene."

She paused not knowing whether or not to go on. She knew that he would find out eventually.

"Hereditary?" Fitz questioned.

"Uhm yea, he said the cancer isn't hereditary but the gene that allows cancer to form is hereditary, and because of the fact that they are identical twins Lana cannot be a donor and will likely get cancer too."

"My mother had the same type of cancer. I gave her the gene? I gave her cancer?" he spoke more to himself than to Olivia.

"Fitz don't look at it that way. You just told me to stop feeling guilty about things I can't control. You should too." She pleaded.

"I did, didn't I?"

"Fitz-" Olivia said as the tears cascaded down her cheeks. He stared at nothing in particular.

"Fitz, you didn't do anything."

He stood from the couch and headed to the door."I'll be back to help you put them to bed."

She got up and went after him and managed to grab his arm before he completely went through the door as he slipped his coat and shoes on.

"Olivia, I'm fine, I promise," he said frantically trying to convince her of his lie.

She knew he was lying, that much she could tell but what she didn't know was what he was about to do. She remembered Mellie telling her that Fitz liked to be alone whenever he was struggling with something and she didn't know what else to do so she let him go.

Fitz headed to the elevator and once the doors shut he felt his chest tighten with the tonnage of grief he'd managed to experience in the last 12 hours.

He heaved as he waited for the elevator to open.

"Sir-" Tom said but then the doors opened.

Fitz walked out coolly and headed to the car. He pulled out his phone and called the one person who felt like he could pour his heart out at that moment. The phone rang twice.

"Hello my brother from another mother, I thought you were supposed to be out-of-town. The media is chewing your ass out about this."

"Richard, how soon can you get to D.C?"

"I'll take the helicopter to the airport. Be there in a couple hours. Don't touch any liquor."

Richard hung up and departed his office, Fitz was rarely ever at a loss for words so he knew it was dire whatever it was. When Fitz got back to the white house, he headed to the residence and showered for what seemed like forever. When he got out, he threw on a navy sweater and grey sweatpants and headed to his private den in the residence. He paced back and forth, breathing deeply and suppressing all the irrational thoughts that passed through his head. He was angry, firstly with himself for his absence in the twins' lives and for being the cause of his daughter's illness whether it was on purpose or not. Then Olivia, after everything that happened and everything that will happen, wanted to limit his relationship with them. Their relationship was too fragile for a disagreement let alone an argument. It was part of the reason why he practically dashed out of the room. As much as he loved Olivia, he didn't play when it came to his kids and Luna and Lana were his kids. They had become a part of him, even before he knew they were his.

"Thomas?" Richard called, snapping Fitz out of his thoughts as he stepped into the den.

Fitz embraced Richard, he needed it. "What's going on, you look like you haven't slept in days. Start from the beginning."

Richard said as he sat on the couch.

Fitz exhaled as breath that seemed to have been stuck in his lung for the past 12 hours.

"Olivia was pregnant when I broke things off with her. I found out back in December that she had twins and I knew they were mine but she didn't confirm it until a week ago." Fitz paced back and forth slowly. "That's why she called me all those times, to tell me, and then in the hospital, she called to tell me but I wouldn't talk to her. "

Richard sat stunned.

"A few days ago she called me crying and told me to come home, so I did. We'd already talked and I fucking begged her to take me back and she did."

"Why didn't you tell me any of this before?" Richard choked out with his mouth hanging open.

"A lot is going on and as if I didn't already feel like shit about what I've done, I thought I might be 5 months late but at least I get to have what I always wanted, a family with Olivia."

Fitz chuckled sardonically

"Luna has cancer."

"Oh my god."

"Yeah and apparently she got it from me."

"Wait what?"

"I gave her the gene that made it possible for her to have cancer in the first place so the only thing I've given my kids is cancer." Fitz had now stopped and began staring through the window. "I've never felt like this before. I've never been…this buried under this fucking backbreaking weight of guilt. I almost miss Mellie because I'll take feeling nothing or even hate over feeling like this and you told me this would happen. I mean…Olivia fucking cried for me in the hospital while giving birth to our daughters and I just can't fucking get over that."

Richard walked over to him and rested a hand on his shoulder.

"You didn't give them cancer. You love your kids, you love Olivia, you cherish them, look at what you've been doing with Karen, she's happy, you can do that with these two girls too. Don't beat yourself up over something you can't control, just be there for them that's what you can control. You can be at her bedside, in her hospital room every day, holding her little hand and helping her through this, as you did with your mother. You can get her the best doctor and treatments money can buy and you can hope for the best," Richard said solemnly.

"Olivia doesn't want anyone knowing I'm their father. She's already planned in her head that I won't be there every day so she'll pass me off as one of her friends."

"Why?"

"She's afraid the media will find out and cause a circus while we're in the hospital."

Richard sighed, "ah fuck. She might be right."

Fitz sighed and threw his head back. "Then why am I so angry at even the suggestion. I've spent enough time away from them."

"The last thing you want is the media clocking your every move because they know you're at the hospital with your daughter. You'll have hospital workers trying to sneak into the room to get pictures of them and Olivia. Mellie will find a way to stick her nose in once the media finds out about your daughters and make it worse. You don't want to have to go through that."

"You're right," Fitz relented.

"Right," Richard agreed.

"Thank you for dropping everything and flying out here," Fitz said as he embraced him.

"Hey, what are brothers for? I love you man and whenever you can sneak them away from Olivia make sure you let me see them. I'm not their biological uncle but-"

"You are their uncle, blood doesn't matter to us, never did."

Richard chuckled.

"How are you gonna tell Karen about this?"

"She comes home soon, I just hope she takes it well."

"Karen's a cool kid and you can do no wrong for her so I'm sure she'll be fine."

"She's cool until I tell her no to a sleepover," Fitz said with a chuckle.

An hour and a half later Karen strutted into the den after Renly, her guard told her that Fitz wanted to see her. She was clad in a red Annie wig and frumpy dress and converse hi tops all-stars. She had slight makeup on to match her Annie character.

"Hey Dad," she greeted with a big smile.

"Hey, uncle Richard."

"Hey Kare," they both greeted simultaneously.

She giggled. Fitz smiled at her appearance."I take it you got the part."

"I did," she squealed and ran into his arms.

"I told you, you would get it didn't I?"

"You did daddy," she said as she hugged him tightly.

"Kare, I need to talk to you."

She let go and stepped back.

"Okay daddy, what's up?"

Olivia waited impatiently for Fitz to come back. She had forgotten to get his number so she couldn't call him. It was nearly 7pm when she heard a knock on the door. The girls were on the gym mats rolling around and chewing on their toes. She walked over to the door and checked the peephole and saw Fitz then opened the door.

To her surprise, he was with Richard and Karen. She didn't know what to think. She just robotically stepped to the side and let them in.

"Olivia!" Karen screamed excitedly."Can I see my baby sisters?"

Olivia stooped and hugged her and gave her a peck on the cheek. "Of course," She smiled.

Karen always knew how to break the ice and lighten up a room, it was a gift of hers, and every time Olivia saw Karen she was reminded of what a great father Fitz was. He practically raised Karen on his own. She tried not to remember Fitz's words about Karen to her. They were extremely hurtful but she knew he didn't mean them and tried to put them in the past.

Karen kicked off her shoes and Olivia brought her to wash her hands so she could hold them.

Fitz watched her carefully, trying to detect if she was angry at him for bringing them, if she was, she did a great job of hiding it. After they took off their shoes and coats, he took Richard to the kitchen to wash their hands then they took a seat on the couch.

After Olivia coached Karen on how to play with them she went to join Richard and Fitz.

"Hi Richard," Olivia said. She remembered her icy greeting at the christening and felt slightly embarrassed. She stuck out her hand for Richard to shake but instead, he pulled her in for a hug. "I'm glad this idiot finally got some sense and got you back." He said softly.

Olivia smiled widely.

"You're family now Liv," He said with a laugh.

She laughed and nodded, "urm…thank you.".

"Can we order some food? I'm starving, he doesn't feed me," Richard joked.

Olivia smiled because Richard was exactly how she remembered him.

"How's Thai food?."

"I'll eat anything," Richard said.

Fitz nodded.

She got up and headed to the kitchen to grab a menu and call in the order. She returned to the living room after a few minutes and smiled at the scene in front of her. Fitz was on the floor with Luna, playing and Luna was enjoying his company quite a lot. Richard and Karen were on the carpet with Lana, Karen was trying to get Lana to crawl and Richard was coaching them both. She took a moment to take them in while they were unaware of her presence. She mostly focused on Fitz and Luna, she always wondered what he would be like with them but every time she saw him in action, everything that she had imagined paled in comparison, she loved how he looked at them adoringly, she could see the love he had for them in his eyes and that made her happy. It was times like this that made her feel silly for having doubts about him.

"The food should be here in 45 minutes," Olivia said.

"Thanks," It was the first time Fitz spoke directly to her since he had arrived.

They waited together for the food until Tom knocked on the front door and Olivia went to collect the food he'd somehow managed to get from the delivery person.

After they finished eating, Olivia brought the trash away to the kitchen. On her way back, there was a knock on the door, when she checked it was Abby.

She found it strange that Abby would knock since she had keys but regardless she let her in right away.

"Let me guess, the president is here. His guards wouldn't let me open the door with my key, they said I had to knock," Abby complained.

She kicked off her shoes and took off her coat.

"I'm sorry."

"It's fine." Abby laughed it off.

"Anyways I came here to see my god babies but since their dad is hanging with them I'll just hang with you or do you want to be alone? I can come back tomorrow."

It was a little awkward to hear Abby refer to Fitz as their dad so casually.

"No, it's okay, Karen and Richard are here."

"Who's Richard?"

"Fitz's best friend."

"Oh okay," Abby said nonchalantly.

Abby followed Olivia back to the living room.

"Hi, Mr. President," she greeted, then sat on the couch.

"Abby this is Karen, I'm not sure if you guys met before and this is Richard."

"Hi, guys."

When Richard saw Abby he immediately got up and walked over to shake her hand.

"Hi, Abby, I'm Richard, it's a pleasure to meet you," He gave her hand a kiss and Abby blushed, hard.

Fitz and Olivia glanced at each other quickly, sort of acknowledging what just happened.

They all sat and watched Karen and Fitz play with the twins. Abby mostly watched Richard and Richard watched Abby and Olivia watched them all. After a while, Karen broke the silence.

"Olivia, is Luna gonna be alright? I know daddy said she's sick but she's gonna be alright, right?"

Olivia froze, she didn't know what to say.

"Uhm-"

"Yes sweetie, we're gonna give her the best care we can and she'll be fine," Fitz interjected.

"Okay good because I don't want her to die, my friend's brother had cancer and he died."

It got really quiet, Karen stopped and grunted. "I'm sorry daddy, sometimes I say things without thinking about it."

Fitz cleared his throat."No, it's okay, it's always good to speak your mind," he smiled so Karen wouldn't think he was upset.

Olivia's mind had long drifted into darkness, imagining different scenarios where Luna was no longer with them.

"Liv?" Karen called

She didn't answer.

"Liv, I'm sorry," Karen walked over and touched her arm, and with that Olivia snapped out of her trance.

"Huh."

"I said I'm sorry."

"No Kare, it's okay," she gave her a hug and Karen smiled widely and went back to play with Lana.

"You okay?" Fitz mouthed to her once Karen wasn't looking.

She nodded with a small smile.

It was getting late and Fitz had to take Karen back to the White House.

"Kare, tell everyone bye, you have to get some sleep for school tomorrow, it's already way past your bedtime."

"Daddy 5 more minutes please."

At this point Lana and Luna had long been put to bed, Karen was not enjoying the company of Richard and Abby, laughing and joking about mundane things. They mostly flirted with each other but Karen was oblivious to it.

"Abby, it's getting late, I'd love to walk you home if you'd like."

When Abby mentioned she lived only a few blocks away, Richard made a mental note to use that as an opportunity to get her alone.

"That's very kind, thank you - I think I'll be heading out now."

Richard smiled and got up to go grab his coat, Abby walked behind him and turned around, and gave Olivia a thumbs up. Fitz saw it from the corner of his eye and chuckled. Within a few minutes, Abby and Richard were gone and a few minutes after that, Fitz and Karen were heading out as well.

"Are you gonna be okay here by yourself, I can put Karen to bed and come back."

"It's okay. I'll be fine here."

"Okay, Livie."

With that, he left.

Olivia went over to the twins' little play area by the window and tidied up. She tried to push what Karen said to the back of her mind but she couldn't. As innocent as it was, it really hurt her because she knew there was a very real chance that Luna may not make it, as much as she told herself that wouldn't happen she tried to be realistic. When she finished cleaning up she sat on the couch, consumed by her thoughts, and before she knew it her eyes burned with tears and they fell. She didn't know what time it was when there was a knock on the door, she wasn't sure exactly how long she'd been on the couch crying but she got up and looked through the peephole. She used her sleeve to dry her tears and then opened the door and he stepped in.

It was quiet and they just stared at each other and before she knew it he pulled her into his arms and held her as she sobbed.

"I can't lose her. I can lose my baby Fitz," She sobbed.

"Look at me Livie. You won't okay, you won't. Don't think like that."

He held her so he could look her in the eye as he spoke. He hated it when she cried and all he wanted to do was make her pain go away.

She nodded but the tears still flowed, so much so that seeing her like that made Fitz's eyes well up.

He kissed her forehead and held her tightly until he felt her relax and realized she was asleep.