Olivia sat in her bedroom, smiling, as she waited for Fitz to answer the FaceTime call. It was Thursday night, and one of them usually called the other at some point after dinner. If they couldn't find time to chat any other night during the week, they could always count on Thursday night being the night.
Olivia just didn't know that this call would be much more amusing than normal.
Fitz answered, and immediately, Olivia had some questions.
He was sitting at the dining room table, with very pink blush on his cheeks, some purple eye shadow on his eyelids, and an attempt at eyeliner as well. Though, it appeared only half done.
And the funniest part about it all was that he answered like it was just a typical day for him — as if that was how he normally looked.
"Good evening," he said.
"Baby — what? What in the —" Olivia cracked up.
"This is um…this is my new style. Do you like it?" he asked.
Olivia was still giggling and nodding. "I love it. You look absolutely fantastic, honey."
"Thanks. I thought I looked quite lovely," he agreed.
"Dad! You won't believe this, I can't find my mascara. I think I must have left it at my mom's," Karen said frustratedly, now coming into the frame.
"Oh no. That's…that's terrible. Whatever will we do?" Fitz asked — though Olivia could see he was secretly relieved. And she was still having a hard time keeping it together on her end.
"I know," Karen said sadly. "Oh! It's Liv! Hi Olivia!"
"Hey, sweet girl!" Olivia laughed. "What's going on over there? It sure looks fun!"
"Oh, it's…it's a party," Fitz agreed, nodding seriously at Olivia. Trying to show only her, and not his sweet daughter, that it was probably only fun for one of them.
"I am practicing my makeup on daddy. I watched a new tutorial earlier and it's easier for me to practice on someone else first before I try on myself. See? Doesn't he look so nice?" Karen asked, smiling and gesturing to Fitz.
Fitz gave a big smile to Olivia, modeling his appearance. And again, Olivia could not keep it in.
"He — he looks beautiful, Karen," Olivia laughed.
"I asked if she could wait to practice until you got here tomorrow. She said no. It was…urgent," Fitz said.
"You're such a great dad, honey," Olivia said with a smile.
Karen smiled and nodded, hugging her dad tightly from the side.
Fitz chuckled, accepting Karen's hug.
"Oh, the things we do," he sighed.
"Thank you, daddy, for letting me practice on you," Karen giggled.
"You're welcome, baby."
"I think I got it down, except for the eyeliner. That is just…it's really hard for me, both on myself and on others," Karen admitted. "Maybe I can try again?"
Olivia jumped in to save Fitz so he didn't have to sit through any more makeup practice.
"Well, you know, I could bring all my makeup with me tomorrow and I can give you some tips for eyeliner if you want, K," Olivia smiled. "It always used to be the toughest part of my routine when I first started learning to do makeup too."
"Oh, really? That would be so awesome! Yes, please!" Karen nodded eagerly.
"How nice of Liv. You better make sure you thank her," Fitz nodded importantly.
"Yes, thank you, Liv! I will have all my eyeliners ready this weekend and I am excited to learn all the tips," Karen said, giving her a thumbs up.
"Perfect. You're so welcome!" Olivia said.
"Alright. Why don't you go up and shower and get ready for bed, okay?" Fitz asked Karen.
"Aww, already?" Karen asked sadly. "But Olivia's on!"
Fitz looked at his watch and up at his daughter. "I know Olivia's on, but you'll see her tomorrow when we get home. It's already nine, you know the drill, honey."
Karen nodded in agreement, giving him a big sigh. "Okay. Bye, Olivia. Sorry my dad is making me go to bed. I can't wait for you to come back tomorrow!"
Olivia laughed, giving her a wave. "It's almost my bedtime, too, your dad's just trying to make sure you're not tired tomorrow! I'll see you after school, I love you."
"Love you too," Karen smiled, heading out of the kitchen.
"I'll be up in a little bit, okay?" he asked, watching her leave.
"Okay, daddy."
He watched her until he was sure she was upstairs, and then sighed, looking at the camera. "I let her put makeup on me and she's still upset I'm making her get ready for bed," he chuckled.
"Right — and what I don't understand is why kids hate going to bed so much. Sleeping is glorious," Olivia shrugged.
"I know, I agree," he chuckled. "I suppose — we've all been there at some point. A kid who just…wants to stay up. But for you and I — it was to stay up and read books. For kids these days, it's to watch YouTube and TikTok and…Snapchat, or whatever."
"I know. It's kind of sad," Olivia nodded.
"I know. That's something we're struggling with a little bit, is screen time. We've got to work on bumping that down a bit."
"Yeah, I would agree," Olivia nodded. "I think cutting it out before bed is a good place to start — the blue light makes it harder to fall asleep too."
"Mhm, I was thinking that too. That I may have to say her devices stay downstairs starting at…I don't know. Eight, maybe."
Olivia nodded in agreement — but was finding it hard not to laugh at his appearance. He still had on that makeup.
"Sorry, baby, I'm fully invested in this parenting conversation, and I agree with your proposition. However, I do have to admit that your beautiful makeup is starting to make me laugh again."
"Oh — Christ," he chuckled. "I forgot I had all this shit on. She left the wipes down here, let me find them."
Olivia laughed as he dug through some things on the dining table and pulled out the package of makeup wipes.
"I just…wipe these directly on my face?" he asked, holding them up for Olivia to see.
"Yes, baby. It'll take it all off," she giggled.
He pulled one out and gave it a weird look, before starting to rub it on his face.
"I feel like I'm…using a Clorox wipe on…on my face," he said, giving her a weird look.
"Sort of," she laughed. "A little more skin-friendly than a Clorox wipe."
He removed all the makeup and threw the wipe away — smiling at the camera again.
"There you are," she giggled. "I did appreciate the purple eyeshadow look on you through. Complimented your eyes."
"Thank you, thank you," he nodded.
"So how was your day, honey?"
"It was good. Busy. But good," he nodded. "How about yours?"
"Also busy, but can't complain. I should have a pretty light Friday tomorrow. We had an exam this week so we don't have class tomorrow. I'm just picking up a long tutoring session instead."
"That sounds great. Are you going to head home earlier or meet me at Grand Central?" he asked.
"I think I'll just meet you at Grand Central tomorrow, I'll probably work until three or so."
"Okay, baby," he smiled. "Karen will love it that you're with me to pick her up, anyway."
"Oh, yeah? And how about her daddy?" Olivia asked.
"Well, I do love that you have my spare car key now to drive to and from the station when you head home before me. Because when you come back and pick me up? That's…that's nice. You look…really sexy driving my car," he admitted.
"Why, thank you," Olivia smirked. "Trust me — I love driving your car, so we're in agreement there."
"Yeah. But…I also love riding the train home with you, so," he shrugged. "The more time I get to spend with you…the happier I am."
Olivia looked at him sweetly.
"Me too."
Olivia walked with the crowd of people inside Grand Central — heading toward the spot she and Fitz always met at so they could take the train together.
And there he was.
She gasped quietly to herself, giving him a wave as he spotted her, too.
It had been over a year of knowing this man and he still had her gasping just at the sight of him.
She'd even seen him in person a couple times this week for coffee — once at Starbucks and once at their favorite coffee spot, Birch Coffee. And still, she was overwhelmed with joy at the sight of him. She sped walked over to him, and immediately leaned in for a hug.
"Hi, baby," he smiled, wrapping his arms around her.
"Hi, baby," she said back, leaning her head against his chest.
He hugged her so tightly and she just stood there in his arms, holding her small duffel bag.
They simultaneously pulled away and went in for the kiss. His hands immediately cupped her cheeks, and she stood on her tiptoes to kiss him eagerly in return.
"I missed you. I missed you," she murmured in between kisses.
"I missed you too," he murmured back, pulling her upper lip into his mouth.
"No makeup today huh?" she teased.
He sighed, thinking hard as he studied her smiling face. "You know, I just…I just ran out of time to put it on this morning. I hope you're not too disappointed."
She giggled, running a hand down his chest and looking at his absolutely breath-taking appearance. He was in a gray three-piece suit today. And damn, did she enjoy it.
"No disappointment here. You look…so fine right now, baby," she whispered pulling back to look at him.
"Thank you," he smiled back. "You look pretty…fine, yourself."
She was wearing leggings and a cardigan. Not quite the same level of fine, but she'd take the compliment, nonetheless. She knew he deeply appreciated when she wore leggings.
"Mm, thank you, mister," she said. "Should we stop being that couple in the middle of Grand Central?"
"Yeah. Probably," he nodded.
"Okay," she laughed, taking his hand immediately. She sure wouldn't miss out on that opportunity.
They rode the train back together, as they still tried to do whenever they could. Though, their trips these days weren't spent reading as often as they used to be. If it was their first time seeing each other in a few days, their commute was usually spent catching up, which is how they spent it that particular evening.
And by the time they reached Karen's school in Rye, they were pretty well caught up.
Karen had GT club that Friday afternoon, hence why they were picking her up directly from school. Sometimes, though, if she had no after-school activities, she rode the bus home to her mom's and would later be picked up there. Lots of new routines to adapt to this school year, with fully divorced parents now.
"Liv!" Karen exclaimed, as she got in the back seat.
"Hi, sweet K!" Olivia exclaimed back.
Karen's excitement and near astonishment, even when she knew Olivia would be there, never got old.
"Oh. Sorry — hi to you too, daddy," she added with a smile.
Fitz chuckled, looking back at her. "Hi, sweetheart. It's okay. I often act the same way when I first see Olivia, too."
"It's true," Olivia nodded, smiling back at Karen.
That had Karen in a fit of giggles.
"How was school today, honey?" Olivia asked.
"It was pretty good," Karen shrugged. "And GT club was fun. Tanner and me are partners on our next project. We got…paired up."
Fitz looked over at Olivia, who'd only briefly heard of this boy, Tanner, before. There wasn't much Fitz even knew about him, either, other than the apparent crush between him and Karen.
Olivia smiled, because she could easily see he was trying not to be that dad.
But he was also curious. And probably slightly protective.
"Oh, is that right?" Fitz asked.
"Yeah. So I wondered if maybe…Tanner, and Casey and her partner, Divya, could come over sometime and we could all work on our projects together," Karen said. "I want to show them your house too, dad, since they have already been to mom's."
Olivia smiled to herself, peering over at Fitz.
Fitz nodded at his daughter. "Sure, baby. I think we can arrange that."
Karen did a fist pump in the back.
"Thanks, dad."
"Of course."
"How was work and school for you guys?" Karen asked.
"Work was busy for me, but okay. I'm so glad it's the weekend and I get to be with my girls now. Liv?"
"Yeah. Same here," Olivia nodded, looking back at Karen. "So glad I'm back!"
"Back home," Karen said, giving her a little smile.
"Yeah," Olivia laughed. "Back home."
"Karen, could you go grab me the level from the garage, please? It should be in the top drawer of the red toolbox," Fitz said.
"Sure, dad."
Currently, they were hanging family photos in the hallway upstairs. The hallway Fitz told had Olivia right from the start would be designated for family photos.
However, with the number of photos they were hanging, it truly was a multiple-person operation. Olivia was sketching out the design of how the photos would be hung up. Fitz was making pencil marks on the wall based on Olivia's sketch, and doing all the mental math work that that entailed. And Karen was helping both of them with whatever they needed — a second opinion on design, dusting and making sure the photo frames were free of all fingerprints, and getting any last-minute tools. She was a very versatile helper.
But Fitz's job was by far the most intriguing to Olivia. Mostly just because he made it look sexy.
"You know, before tonight, I never knew someone hanging photos on the wall could be so sexy," Olivia said, eyeing him up and down.
He looked over his shoulder at her as she sat against the wall opposite him, and gave her a smirk.
"I mean, seriously. Who makes something like that look sexy?" she asked. "You. You do."
He chuckled lightly, starting to blush.
"I don't know if that's true."
"Oh, it's true. I'm staring right at you, I know it's true," she nodded.
He was wearing a pair of soft sweat shorts, one of his tight-fitting gym T-shirts that showed off his very fit body, and he had a pencil behind his ear. Periodically, he would take that pencil out from behind his ear and make marks on the wall after he'd done another calculation. Oddly intriguing.
Meanwhile, he did almost all of the math in his head, and bit his lip in an extremely focused matter while doing so.
Oh, the things that man could do to her, without even trying.
He clicked his tongue…tapping on the wall a few times with his pencil as he surveyed the wall and all the frames propped up against it.
She watched in awe as he did more mental math — like a wizard — and made another pencil mark,
"Okay. Almost…done, I think. Let me see your design one more time," he said, stepping back to view her sketch.
He knelt down in front of her, sticking the pencil in between his teeth briefly as he took the sheet in his hands to examine it.
"Your capacity for mental math turns me on," Olivia whispered.
His eyes flickered up to hers and he took the pencil from his mouth, smiling at her.
"Yeah?" he asked quietly.
"Yes. I'm pretty good at math, don't get me wrong, but I don't think I could do all of this in my head. That's…a lot of measuring, and…feet and inches to be working with. How do you do that?"
He shrugged at her.
"I'm a banker," he said. "I'm good with numbers."
"Touché," she said, smirking at him. "A sexy banker."
His eyes locked with hers and he licked his lips, studying her face.
And then he set the sketch down, leaning in to kiss her against the wall.
Their mouths opened instantly, to allow their tongues to meet. And just like that, they'd gone from chatting, to making out quite heavily, in mere moments.
She held his face eagerly, pulling him in closer to her. He chuckled against her lips, bracing the wall behind her for support because she'd truly pulled him off balance.
"Sorry," she whispered against his lips.
"No need to be," he whispered back with a smile.
His eyes studied hers, flickering back and forth and appreciating her pretty, dark brown eyes. And then he touched his lips to hers, keeping eye contact, before they both closed their eyes again and went in for more.
That is, until they heard the sound of Karen's little feet racing up the stairs.
Fitz stretched it out just about as long as he could before pulling away. Olivia quickly rubbed her thumb across his lips — which contained some of her tinted pink lip balm.
"To be continued," she whispered.
"I look forward to it," he whispered back with a wink.
He licked his lips, returning the pencil to his ear as he stood up nonchalantly. And all Olivia could do was watch and admire.
"Here, dad!"
"Thanks, baby."
In no time, with the help of the level Karen had brought, they were actually beginning to hang the frames. Baby and childhood photos of Karen, pictures of Fitz and his mom, his favorite one of his dad, pictures of Karen and Jean. There were also selfies of Olivia and Fitz, or of all three of them, and even one of just Olivia. It was turning out to be quite the magnificent family
photo collage, and Olivia found it so sweet that Fitz had had his heart set on it from the start.
The house was really coming along.
Amidst their photo-hanging, Olivia got a phone call. She knew the instant she felt the vibrations that it was probably her mom, given that it was Friday and they did tend to try and call one another near the end of the week.
Their end-of-week chats these days, whenever they could both make them worth, weren't what they used to be. Mostly because her mom now knew that Olivia spent half her time with her boyfriend and his daughter — a situation she wasn't entirely fond of.
Yet. Olivia knew one day things could be different. That day just…wasn't today.
"I've got to take this, I'll be back, you two!" Olivia said.
They nodded and continued on — Karen providing assistance to her dad who was currently trying to find a stud in the wall.
When Olivia got to their bedroom, she nudged the door almost closed and answered.
"Hello?"
"Hi, Livvie."
"Hey, mom. How are you?" Olivia asked.
"Oh, I'm okay. I'm just taking a break here at the restaurant so I thought I'd give you a call. You not too busy are you?" Marie asked.
"Nope, not at all," Olivia replied.
"Good. How are you doing? How was your week?"
"It was pretty good. Busy, but aren't they all," Olivia laughed.
"Oh, if that ain't the truth, baby," Marie agreed. "You doing okay? Handling it all okay?"
"Yes, of course. I'm still living my dream — and I never forget it," Olivia smiled.
"Mmhm. And I thank God every day for that. That you were able to do exactly what you aimed for. You made it happen. That was all you, and I'm so proud of you for that," Marie said.
"Thanks, mom. I guess…I'm pretty proud too," Olivia admitted.
"You should be, Livvie. You should be."
The activity in the house had probably been slightly audible to Marie so far; Fitz was hammering away hanging up the photos, and he and Karen were chatting. But when Marie and Olivia comfortably paused in silence, it was probably even more audible.
"Well, what are you up to tonight? I feel like I hear some commotion over there!" Marie said humorously.
Olivia laughed. "Uh, yeah. We're working on the upstairs hallway, hanging some family photos!"
She sure as hell wasn't going to lie anymore — she'd done it long enough. But it also made her cringe as she waited for her mom's answer.
"Family photos in the upstairs…hallway?" Marie asked.
"Yeah. At…at Fitz's place," Olivia clarified.
"…Ahh," Marie nodded.
She was wincing.
Meanwhile, Fitz must have done something to make Karen laugh, because just then, there was an outburst of adorable little giggles. It made Olivia laugh quietly, herself.
"Well, it sure…sounds like a party," Marie said.
Olivia cleared her throat. "Yeah. Then I think…we're going to make dinner and head out for a swim. We need to make sure we take advantage of that as much as possible before it really starts to get too cold outside. And that will be…soon, unfortunately."
"Uh-huh. Well that sure sounds like a busy evening."
"Yeah. Busy but nice," Olivia smiled. "Really nice."
"Well, um…good then," Marie nodded. "Good."
Olivia winced, and paused for a bit before responding.
"You…really think that?"
"Well. All I know is…I think it's good that you sound happy. And you do — sound happy. You know my thoughts about it all. I don't know. I'm just…processing. And doing it from afar. Which is…damn hard, by the way."
"Yeah. I get that," Olivia nodded.
Marie sighed. "I guess it's just interesting, hearing about your life over there. Your education. Your job, and all your dreams, and your friends. And…then there's this. And it's just so different from what I envisioned for you."
"Well, you know I'm not disagreeing with you on that. It's not what I envisioned either. But…that doesn't mean it's different in a bad way," Olivia nodded.
"No. No, that's…not necessarily true, you're right," Marie admitted.
"What did you envision for me, mom?"
"I suppose…I knew you'd live out there. I knew you wasn't ever coming back here, I'm not that naive. I suppose…I thought you'd meet a boy there at some point. And…you'd live there in the city, and…have a little family of your own. Someday."
Olivia smiled, nodding at her mother.
"Yeah. And…that's what I did, ma," Olivia said. "The boy's a bit older and it's all a bit sooner than you thought it would be, but…it's not so different, really."
She could hear Marie laughing slightly in the background.
"It's still different, baby, let's not pretend."
"Is it, though? Maybe. Maybe not. But it makes me happy," Olivia said. "I'm just…so happy here, mom."
Marie sighed. "I know you are."
Karen was giggling again. And so was Fitz. It was Olivia's fault — she hadn't shut the door all the way. But she didn't mind it — their laughs were comforting and cute.
"And they…they sound pretty happy, too," Marie added quietly.
Olivia smiled again, looking down at her lap as she swung her leg back and forth.
"Yeah," Olivia nodded.
"Well — you better head on back to them then. I'll let you go so you can enjoy the rest of your evening," Marie said.
"Alright, mom. You have a good rest of your night too, and I'll talk to you soon. Say hi to Frankie for me," Olivia said.
"I will, Livvie. I love you."
"I love you, ma."
"Bye now."
"Bye."
Olivia hung up and headed back to the hallway — where they'd made some progress since she'd left. And the two were still laughing away at each other, which had Olivia smiling harder.
"Daddy, we are bumping elbows!" Karen giggled, as they both wrote on the wall next to each other.
"Alright. I'll switch hands then," Fitz said, putting the pencil in his right hand.
Now Karen was laughing because his handwriting was so bad. It was bad in general, but with his non-dominant hand? Not even legible.
"Oh, dad. That…that is so bad, I'm sorry," Karen giggled, looking at his attempt of his name.
"Yeah, well — this is what you get. I'm not right-handed," he chuckled, clearly struggling.
"What is going on over here, are we decorating the walls with pencil too now?" Olivia laughed.
Fitz turned and saw her, gesturing to the wall. "We're signing our names on the wall under where the pictures are going, so…we'll always remember this night. But now I'm being made fun of for…my handwriting."
Olivia laughed as soon as she saw his name all scribbled.
"Oh, honey, baby. That really is bad," Olivia agreed.
Karen died of laughter all over again.
He looked down at her giggling on the floor and chuckled at her.
"Hey, come on back up here, silly girl, we're almost done."
"Yeah, I have to finish signing my name. And Liv, you have to sign too! Come here. You can write next to me since we won't bump elbows," Karen said.
"Absolutely, you got it, boss," Olivia laughed, taking a pencil and joining them.
They each signed their names, and Karen drew a few tiny pictures underneath some of the framed photos. None of it could be seen unless the framed pictures were taken down, and nobody would ever know. Nobody but the three of them. It was a sweet little secret.
And it was nice to have the job done. Once Fitz had everything marked up on the wall, hanging the photos was a breeze, and the three of them finished it quickly. Which was perfect, as it left them ample time that evening to have dinner and go for a swim.
They wouldn't have too many warm nights left, so they took advantage of it. They grilled outside on the patio and had a little pool party. A pool party of three — but still, it was nice nonetheless.
Karen was showing off for them on the diving board too — with flips and tricks galore. It was nice to watch, and nice to lay together in a beach chair as they did so. Chatting quietly, but cheering Karen on too.
"Wow, K, you've gotten good at your backflips!" Fitz exclaimed, wrapping his arm around Olivia.
Olivia scooted closer to him, resting her head on his chest. They were currently snuggled up on one lounge chair — because why be separated when you didn't have to be? They made it work.
"Thanks, dad," Karen exclaimed, climbing up the pool ladder to go do another one.
She walked very quickly back to the diving board, as kids always seemed to do, despite multiple warnings.
"Karen, slow down, please, you're making me nervous!" Olivia announced.
"Okay, okay, sorry, I'm just so excited to try again," she exclaimed, slowing her pace to a normal walk.
Olivia laughed against Fitz's chest and he rolled his eyes at his daughter.
"Thank you, sweetheart," Olivia smiled.
"You're welcome. Okay, now watch this, Liv. Are you ready?"
"I'm watching, and ready!" Olivia nodded.
Karen did a few light bounces, before springing up high for another magnificent backflip. She'd done it even better than her previous one.
Fitz and Olivia clapped wildly and Fitz put his fingers in his mouth to whistle loudly.
"How was that?" Karen asked, coming up for air.
"Ten out of ten from me!" Olivia exclaimed.
"That was great, Karen. Best one yet," Fitz said.
"Woo!" Karen said. Before swimming to the ladder to do it all over again. She could be entertained for hours.
"So I take it that was your mom earlier tonight?" Fitz asked, turning to look at her.
"Mhm," Olivia nodded.
"And? How'd it go?"
"Oh, it was fine. Same old, mostly. Just some questions, but some realizations too, maybe. I don't know. I think we're getting somewhere," Olivia said.
Fitz sighed, pulling her in closer and resting his head atop hers.
"I'm sorry, Olivia."
"Oh, baby. What for?" Olivia asked.
"You know what for," he replied.
"Fitz, you don't need to be sorry," she said. "We'll get there, you know it and I know it."
"Yeah," he agreed. "I'm still sorry."
She leaned up and pecked his lips. "Do not be."
"I'll try," he said, pecking her lips back.
"Dad! Liv! Watch this one!" Karen exclaimed.
They were forced to pull their mouths away, and turn toward sweet Karen, who did yet another new trick on the diving board.
She, of course, got a huge applause.
"Wow!" Olivia exclaimed.
"Good job, honey," Fitz smiled.
Karen giggled from the pool, thanking them both.
"Why don't you go on out there and dive, and I'll watch you," Fitz whispered to Olivia.
Olivia laughed. "Why don't you?"
He looked surprised, yet intrigued. He shrugged.
"Okay."
"Okay?" she laughed.
"Yep," he nodded, getting up.
"Are you actually going?" she giggled.
"Yes. I'm going to try and impress you."
"Oh, baby, you impress me already," she said, looking over his body. His muscly, perfect body.
He noticed.
"Ohhh, Olivia, don't…don't give me those eyes right now. Not in that swimsuit," he said quietly.
She smirked. "This swimsuit? This is nothing. You should see the one I bought last week. The one only you can see me in."
His eyes grew wide. And now he looked like the last thing he wanted to do was go and jump in the pool. He looked like he'd rather retire to the bedroom.
"Come on baby. Go on. Show me your tricks," she smiled, shooing him away.
His eyes devoured her, and his fingers clenched a few times against his palms, like he really had to try hard to leave.
"You will try that suit on for me later," he whispered, pointing at her.
"Impress me and we'll see," she winked.
He cleared his throat, slowly walking away. Kind of awkwardly and funnily. Like Fitz did. Especially a turned-on Fitz.
But man, he must have wanted to see that suit, because when he got up to the board — Olivia did not expect to see what she saw.
"Go, dad — go, dad!" Karen chanted from the pool's edge.
He took a few bounces and did a front flip and a half, followed by a dive into the pool.
It was flawless.
Karen erupted into applause and Olivia's jaw dropped. After all the time of living with him, even in houses with pools, she'd never seen him do anything of the sort.
She didn't see him come up for air for a while — he swam all the way to the shallow end before coming up by the stairs.
Olivia was sure she was showing the surprise on her face. She put her hand up to her mouth, covering her big smile, as he walked up the stairs sopping wet.
He rubbed his eyes, tamed his soaked hair, and put his arms out wide as if to say "well?"
Karen was still clapping from the side of the pool, which had him chuckling.
"Oh my God," Olivia exclaimed from the lounge chair. "Where did you learn to do that?!"
He shrugged nonchalantly, briefly adjusting his swim trunks.
"Taught myself in middle school."
"Oh yeah? And when was the last time you did that?" Olivia laughed.
"Uh. Middle school," he recounted.
Olivia was laughing harder now as he approached.
"So? What's the verdict?" he whispered as he sat down.
Olivia leaned in and whispered in his ear, "you can see the suit, and you can take it off after."
His eyes got wide again, and he probably would have tried to say something flirty back if his daughter wasn't quickly approaching.
"Sounds…sounds like a plan," he cleared his throat. "Good…plan."
"Uh-huh," Olivia smiled.
"That was so awesome, dad!" Karen exclaimed.
"Thank you, baby," he chuckled. "Not nearly as awesome as your flips."
"Maybe they are tied," Karen shrugged.
"Maybe a tie," he agreed with a smile. "Alright, you. It's getting dark. And cold. A few more tricks, and then time to go in, okay?"
Karen looked disappointed, but she did shiver in the cool night air just at the mention of it. So she hesitantly nodded. "Okay. Five minutes?"
"Five minutes," Fitz nodded.
"Yay!" she exclaimed, immediately starting to speed walk. Again.
"Hey. Remember what Olivia said. Slow down, you," Fitz reminded her.
"Oh! Right. Sorry, sorry. I will," Karen said, turning to look at Olivia.
"Thank you, K," Olivia smiled.
Those five minutes went quick. And by the time they went inside, they were all chilly and ready for a warm shower and bed — particularly Fitz and Karen, who'd been in the water.
And that's exactly what they did. They all showered and got ready for bed, and Fitz and Olivia met Karen back in her room just after she laid down, all snuggled under her comforter.
"Alright. Where's mister sunshine?"
"Right here," Karen said, pulling him out from under her pillow.
"There he is," Fitz chuckled. "Alright. You and mister sunshine sleep well, okay?"
"We will," she assured him.
"Good. I love you," he whispered, leaning down to kiss her cheek.
"I love you," she said, kissing him back after he tapped his cheek, indicating that he wanted one, too.
"Goodnight, sweet K. I love you," Olivia said, leaning down for a hug.
"Love you, Liv," Karen said, hugging her fiercely. It made Fitz smile. "Oh — wait."
"Hm?" Olivia asked, pulling back.
"Will you sing? Will you sing Hallelujah to me?" Karen asked hopefully.
Olivia smiled. "Of course I can. It's been a little while since I sang that one, hasn't it?"
"Yeah. That's why I was thinking I'd like to hear it again," Karen reasoned.
"You got it, honey," Olivia nodded. "Only if your daddy sings with me, though."
Fitz raised his eyebrows in surprise, and his lips slowly formed a smile. And he nodded silently that he would.
And he did. He sang beautifully. To Olivia, anything he ever did was beautiful, but nothing could beat that voice of his.
He felt the same about her. Her voice was angelic. Soft, and soothing. And clearly Karen felt the same, too. Because by the time they'd sang the whole song, she was looking like she could fall asleep any minute, with a permanent smile on her sweet little face.
"Thank you," she murmured quietly.
"You're welcome. We'll see you in the morning," Olivia whispered, kissing her cheek.
Karen nodded silently, squeezing Olivia's hand softly before shutting her eyes completely.
They closed her door — and headed quietly to their own room for the night.
And what a good night it had been. It just wasn't quite over yet.
Fitz was all ready for bed. And he was pretty quick to lay down, hands comfortably behind his head.
Olivia on the other hand, was about to show him the swimsuit she'd told him about; the one he impressed her to earn the right to see. It was all washed and ready to wear, it just…wasn't very family-friendly.
"Alright. You ready?" she asked from behind the closet door.
"Uh-huh," he answered immediately.
She walked out, sporting the lavender bikini. It was skimpy. Not at all her style, really. But it had been really cheap on sale because it was the end of the season. And something about it just caught her eye. Perhaps because she knew she'd only ever wear it for one person. The person who was looking at her now as if she was…well, a Goddess, as Abby would say.
He absolutely loved it.
He gestured for her to come closer, and to spin around.
She did all of the above, coming closer to him as he sat on the edge of the bed now.
"Oh, baby," he said, feeling her up a little bit, appreciating the thin fabric. "Oh my."
"What do you think?" she asked.
He let out a sigh, turning her slowly around to face him again. His hands on her hips.
He admired the front part of the bikini. To put it bluntly — neither the top nor the bottoms covered all that much. It didn't leave much to the imagination, whatsoever.
"So?" she laughed.
"I…love it," he said, turning her again so he could admire the back again. "Yeah. I love it."
She smiled as she turned back around, starting to get in his lap.
"Good. I hoped you would."
He smiled, leaning in to kiss her.
"But…it's only for me, right? 'Cause…I mean. You are…practically naked right now," he chuckled, looking her up and down.
"Yes. Only for you, baby," she assured him, wrapping her arms around his neck. "It's not really my style, anyway, but…something about it just really made me want to buy it so I could wear it for you."
"It should be your style," he said, looking down at her body, licking his lips. "'Cause it's…uh. It's working for you."
"Oh, you think so?" Olivia asked.
"I do think so," he nodded, his hands slowly sliding up to her bikini top.
She'd felt him hard beneath her the second she sat down on his lap. It made her eager to rub against him, so she did. And she felt quite a lot, considering she was only in a swimsuit and he was only in his boxers.
The second she did it, he let out a staggered breath, and immediately flipped her over in his arms in bed. As if he couldn't take it right from the start. His fingers started fidgeting with the swimsuit trying to remove it right away.
And she just laid there, watching. Staying still so he could take it off, as she promised him he could.
But he didn't quite take it off. At least not all the way. He took the top off right away, and then started kissing his way down. That had her smirking, tangling her fingers in his hair.
"You wasted no time taking that off," she whispered.
"Don't worry. I'll take my time with the bottoms," he whispered back.
She licked her lips, smirking at him. This should be fun.
When he reached the bottom, he touched her through the fabric, moving his fingers slowly back and forth and watching her reaction. He continued, and watched until he felt the fabric grow wet from her arousal.
And even then, he didn't take them off. He just pushed them to the side, laid down, and buried his face between her legs. That, she hadn't been expecting.
She immediately sat up to get a better look, watching him finger her and eat her out simultaneously with her swimsuit bottoms yanked to the side.
He licked, and sucked, and curled his fingers inside her at the perfect speed. And he did it all with his eyes locked on hers. Making sure she watched every little thing he did to her. And she kept ultra quiet — which was always difficult.
He was right. He took his time. Because he made her orgasm without even taking them off. He only took them off after she'd come, when her legs were completely trembling.
He slid them slowly down her shaking legs, looking at her with a smile.
"Whew," she moaned quietly, her voice trembling.
He smiled at her as he dropped the wet bikini bottoms and the bikini top off the side of the bed.
"I guess…the swimsuit wasn't my style anymore?" she teased, her voice still shaky.
He stood up slowly and shook his head as he removed his boxers, revealing the raging erection between his legs after all that.
"Oh, baby. Everything is your style. This is just my favorite one," he said, nodding to her body as he climbed in bed with her again.
"Naked?" she asked with a laugh.
"Mhm," he nodded sweetly, rubbing his hand over her stomach as he admired her. "You are beautiful."
She did a little admiring herself.
"It's my favorite style of yours, too," she said, taking note of his dripping wet tip.
He smiled at her. "Yeah?"
"God, yes," she whispered, opening her legs. "Come here. Give it to me."
"You can rest, first, baby. That was a big one," he whispered, cupping her cheek.
"I want to feel you now," she whispered. "I can rest after you come inside me. More than once, I think."
He was taken aback by that statement. In the best possible way.
He bit his lip and nodded. "Yeah. I can do that."
"Yeah?" she asked with a smile.
"Yeah. I can do that all night."
"Well. What are you waiting for?" she asked. "I'm yours."
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