After her birthing class ended, Olivia walked to her sweater by the window and checked her phone in her pocket, she saw the text from her maid Natalia saying she'd gone to lunch with Marita and Margaret, which they did together most days. She took a sip of her water and pulled on her sweater and shoes and then she headed back to her apartment followed by her bodyguard. After a slow walk down the block, she reached her apartment lobby. When her doorman opened the door, he stopped her.
"Did you get a new security guy?" he asked.
"I'm sorry, what?"
"There was a new guy today, with your key?"
Olivia looked to her guard Mike.
"Stay here," Mike said to her as he called for the elevator, it was already on the first floor, the doors opened right away and he stepped in and they closed behind him.
"What did he look like?" she asked quickly, she thought it might be Fitz since he was in town.
"Should I call the police?" the doorman asked.
"What did he look like?" she said again.
"Tall, caucasian, short curly brownish hair."
She walked quickly to the elevator as she tried calling her guard, it had to be Fitz and knowing that she didn't want them to get into a fight.
She pressed the button repeatedly until the elevator came and then she got on.
"Should I call the police," the doorman asked again.
"No, no, no, it's alright," she said quickly as the door closed.
She tried calling her guard again but still there was no answer. When the elevator opened on her floor, she walked as quickly as she could to her apartment, she would have ran if she could manage. The door was opened when got to her apartment, she quickly walked in and called out:"Mike?"
She heard a loud thud coming from upstairs and rushed up the stairs. She saw Mike laid out on the hallway floor, unconscious in front of the nursery room door. She walked up to him and kneeled down and checked for his pulse, he was breathing but there was blood leaking from his nose and his gun was on the floor beside him.
She stood up slowly and walked inside the nursery and saw Fitz standing by the window, just by the way she watched his shoulders rise and fall with every breath, she knew he was angry.
"Who is that?" Fitz asked, without turning around.
"My guard, I didn't know it was you, I wouldn't have sent him, my doorman told me someone was here and I panicked," she said nervously.
"Your guard," he said as he finally turned around, he seemed to calm down, "did someone attack you?"
After not seeing her for 7 months, when he turned around and finally looked at her, her new appearance hit him like a ton of bricks. She looked like a different person, her stomach was large, which he obviously expected and she looked healthy but also very stressed. Her eyes were a little baggy underneath like she wasn't getting enough sleep.
Olivia on the other hand, after not seeing Fitz for 7 months, the first thing that flash through her head was their last encounter; how he held a gun to her head and how absolutely terrified it left her for months after, she didn't know how she felt about seeing him.
"No-I-I just, it's just me so I wanted to be careful," she answered after a silent moment.
"Did someone threaten you? Did one of the deltas threaten you?"
"No-no, they haven't I mean- do they know I'm alive?"
"Yes but they won't touch you."
She didn't know what that meant, did he threaten them, did he make a deal with them, she wasn't sure.
He was silent and so was she, things got more uncomfortable and tense, she could feel his hateful glare on her skin.
After a few more moments passed he broke the silence.
"Is the baby okay, is she healthy," he asked.
"She's okay, she-she's healthy...she moves quite a lot," Olivia said awkwardly, stammering which wasn't usual for her.
Olivia paused, "I'm sorry."
"Olivia stop-" he sighed, "how long has it been, what, 7 months since everything happened and I mean you'd think I'd get over it but it's been the exact opposite, somehow I hate you even more now than I did 7 months ago and I came here today to tell you that but now that I'm here and I see all of this," he motioned to the nursery, "it changes everything, you know, I just wanna be a good dad to her. I don't wanna talk about what happened, I want to move on."
Olivia wrapped her hands around her stomach, she was sad that he didn't want to hear her out, she felt like if she explained to him truly how everything happened, it would help but he just didn't want to hear it.
More moments of silence passed. Fitz was no longer looking at her, he was sifting through the story books on the bookshelf.
She got a little tired of standing and leaned her back against the wall, she slid down to the ground slowly and sat on the carpet. As much as she tried to hold it in, the beads of water rolled down her cheek one after the other. She leaned her head against the wall and closed her eyes, still crying. It had been such a hard year and such an emotional pregnancy, she was exhausted and maybe it was the hormones but now that he was there, she just couldn't hold back.
Fitz heard the soft sobs and sniffles and turned his attention away from the books and watched her intently but he didn't try to comfort her. She had a knack for garnering sympathy and manipulating and he was determined not to fall for it again.
She wiped her eyes, "I know that after everything I've done you can't trust me and you hate me, I get it, but I need just you to understand what happened. How are you going to move on if you don't even know what happened?"
"Even if I sat here and listened to you, I wouldn't believe you, so what does it matter. You lied and faked and manipulated-and my brother ended up dead and you knew-"
"I did not know," she interjected.
"YOU KNEW!" he regretted raising his voice immediately and took a breath to calm down, "don't tell me you didn't know Olivia."
"I didn't."
"Even if you didn't know when he was going to die, you knew your father was going to kill him. If his plan was to kill me and take over, there's no way Scott would've stood by and let your father run that place, so he would have killed him too and you knew that. If you'd told me, I could've saved him but you didn't, you sat back and let my brother die."
There were so many things he planned to talk about, important things about the baby but now that he was there, it was hard to stay focused.
"I didn't ask for this life, I didn't ask to be turned into someone who did the things I've done, I can't take it back but I'm sorry that I caused you pain, I'm sorry about what happened to your brother. I thought I had everything under control but I didn't, you know, I thought my dad would tell me before he made a move and I could stop it but I was wrong and I was blindsided just like you and I know that's not an excuse and I don't deserve your forgiveness but just understand that...in the end, you mattered, it wasn't all fake."
"I-" Fitz paused, unsure of how to respond. He hated that he couldn't believe anything she said but he felt it was her fault that he second guessed everything she said, "I don't believe you."
Olivia sighed in frustration.
"What do you want Olivia? What would you have me do?"
"I just want you to say you understand," she said, still crying.
"Why are you crying?"
She sniffled and wiped her eyes, "because you're not listening..." she said begrudgingly.
Fitz sighed, "Fine. I understand, you win."
"It's not about winning-"
The doorbell rang.
She sighed and leaned forward and tried to help herself up but it wasn't easy getting up from the floor at 8 months pregnant. Fitz realised that and walked over, took her hand and helped her up.
"Thanks," she said as she stood up, surprised he helped her.
She walked out to the hall, pass Mike who was still unconscious, and walked downstairs to the door and wiped her eyes dry before she opened it. Natalia, Marita, Margaret were standing in front of her.
"How was lunch?" Olivia asked.
"Good, are you okay?" Marita asked.
"Yeah-so uhm, you can just take the rest of the day off. I'll finish the dress."
"Really?" Margaret asked.
"Yes."
They looked at her a little dumbfounded but didn't argue. She stepped aside to allow them to grab all their belongings from the closet and showed them out then she walked back up to Fitz. As she approached the nursery, Mike, her bodyguard, shuffled and began to get up. She quickened her pace and stopped in front of him.
"What the hell happened?" he said as he jumped up.
Fitz stepped out of the nursery and looked down at Mike.
Mike jumped up and grabbed his licensed gun from the floor beside him.
"Mike-no- stop- I know him-this was a misunderstanding," Olivia said as she rested her hand on his chest, holding him back.
Mike kept the gun pointed at Fitz.
"What would've happened if it wasn't me, Mike, what would've happened to the pregnant mother of my child, can you answer that while you're holding a gun with no bullets in it you fucking idiot."
Fitz reached into his suit pocket and took out 6 bullets that he'd removed from Mike's gun after he knocked him out.
"I think you'll need these, won't you," Fitz said.
"Mike, you need to go," Olivia said.
He didn't move.
"Mike, go now or I'll fire you," Olivia said.
After a few more moments, he lowered his gun and angrily walked away. He stomped through the house until he reached the front door and slammed it behind him.
"I'm gonna get you better guards," Fitz said as he turned towards her.
She nodded, unsure of where to pick up from their emotionally charged conversation earlier.
"There are a few things we still need to talk about before I leave," Fitz said.
"Can we go downstairs, I haven't had anything to eat in a couple of hours and I'm hungry."
He nodded, Olivia walked to the kitchen, he followed and stood by the kitchen island as Olivia took out some snacks from the fridge and cabinet.
"Can I get you anything?" she asked.
"No."
She could feel him watching her and it made her conscious. There were some things about him that felt familiar but others that felt strange.
After grabbing all her snacks, she walked back to the island and sat on a stool. There was still so much tension between them, it was hard to escape.
"I want you to move to L.A., I want my child to be close to me," he said after a few silent moments passed.
She choked on her coconut water, "What? I'm not moving to L.A," she said coughing.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah," she said, wiping her mouth with a napkin, "I'm fine," she coughed again, "there's no way I'm moving-"
"I'm asking you nicely-"
"I'm not-"
"-wait, let me finish," he said, "I've actually thought about this for a while, I have a contractor and a team of workers who are prepared to pack and ship all your belongings for you, you can fly to L.A. after they have everything prepared for you in the new apartment that's already leased."
"Fitz I'm not moving, I'm not moving from an apartment I own just to live in one that's leased, I just rented a showroom, I have clients and I have employees, I can't just fire them and get up and leave everything behind. I'm not doing that, I live here, I'm not moving."
"I'm asking you nicely."
"You're not asking, you're telling me."
"I could have you arrested, you know, for aiding and abetting terrorists, for accessory to Scott's murder, espionage, money laundering, blackmail, conspiracy against the united states and treason, among other things and you could be forcefully moved to a prison facility where you'd give birth shackled to a bed and then I could take my daughter and bring her back to L.A., that would be the easy way but I'm not doing that, I'm trying to work with you, for the benefit of my child."
"You're going to have me arrested, are you serious? I handed my father to you on a silver platter because I wanted to be free of him, because he thought he could control me, I'm not going to let you take his place."
Fitz chuckled, humorlessly, "there she is, the real Olivia."
"The real Olivia? You don't know me."
"Yeah, I realized that months ago when you ditched me before my brother's body even got cold."
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry for how everything happened."
"That's makes everything okay," he said sarcastically.
"Why are you being so difficult," she said angrily.
"Difficult? Am I supposed to be easy Olivia, am I supposed to be understanding and gentle and kind after everything you've done, everything is just suppose to go your way without a hiccup in your plan."
"No but-"
"But what?"
"But you're not suppose to make it harder, my life is here, I can't just move-"
"-I want her close to me," Fitz said calmly, evenly.
"You told me to have an abortion, you didn't want her and now you want me to move all the way across the country-"
Fitz chuckled, "-I told you to have an abortion before I even knew you were pregnant? I'm just the worst, aren't I?"
"What about after you knew I was pregnant, when you made me watch my father being peeled alive and when you held a gun to my head and made me beg for my life."
"Did I lay a hand on you? Did I physically hurt you in any way?" he said angrily. "This is what I can't fucking stand about you, you're always the victim, even though you've probably ruined more lives than I have, you're always the victim."
Olivia didn't respond.
"So," he said after a while, "what's it going to be?"
"Fitz this is not in the best interest of the baby, I'm going to have to change my doctor three and a half weeks before I'm due, just-" she sighed exasperatedly, "just compromise, I'll give birth here and then I'll move there as soon as I recover, that'll give me some time to figure it out."
"Okay," he said, "when are you due?"
"June 12," she responded, "the doctor said it could be a week before or after."
"Okay," he sighed, "we still have a lot to talk about but I think it's been a long day so I'm going to go and I'll come back tomorrow, what time will you be home, I don't have to break in like I did today."
"I have a doctor's appointment at 10, I should get back by 12, anytime after that will be fine."
"Okay."
He headed towards the door, Olivia followed him.
"Do you want to come with me to the doctor's appointment?"
"No."
"Okay," she said with a shrug, she was used to him being difficult and after 7 months, he seemed to not have changed at all and if such tragedy couldn't change him she didn't know what it would take to change him.
She opened the door and let him out. Fitz walked out without another word and headed straight for the lobby.
Olivia closed the door and walked back to the kitchen and began eating the cracker she'd dropped on the counter during their argument. She was stuck between being completely surprised by the fact that Fitz wanted her to move to L.A. while also not being surprised at all. With Fitz living and working in L.A. and her living and working in New York, she knew there needed to be a compromise, however, she detested the fact that she was the one who had to compromise and she hated even more the fact that he thought he could threaten her to make her do it. He thought he could just order her to up her life and move as if she was his property or his concubine. She'd spent so many years having a abusive, emotionally draining and controlling relationship with her father that she wasn't going to put up with it from Fitz, regardless of his threats but she also couldn't ignore the fact that she'd hurt him and the it was going to take time for him to be able to get past it so that meant that she would have to deal with his resentment and hate until it subsided. She loved him enough to compromise, she thought that if she gave in to him by moving to L.A. then it would go a long way towards building a trusting, healthy relationship with him so she decided to bite the bullet and do it.
After she finished eating, she went back to the living room and went on to add the finishing touches to her dress. The entire time she sat sewing the dress, she couldn't get the conversation she had with Fitz from playing in a loop in her head but it didn't stop her from completing the dress.
She worked on the dress for 6 hours before calling it a night and grabbing a shower before she went to bed. Sleep at 8 months pregnant for her meant twisting and turning until after midnight when she finally fell asleep, only to wake in the early morning because the baby was kicking and fluttering in her stomach.
Though she'd been awake since after 5am, she didn't get out of her bed until a little after 7am to shower and get dressed for her doctor's appointment.
By 8:30, she was fully dressed and went to the kitchen to prepare herself some breakfast and in the midst of pouring milk in her oatmeal, her doorbell chimed.
She stopped pouring the milk and placed it on the table then walked to her door to check the security window before opening it.
"Joyce, you're early," she said as she stepped aside and let her in.
"Yeah, I know-I just, I wanted to talk to you before everyone else came because I'm still a little confused about yesterday-"
"Come, follow me to the kitchen," Olivia said as she walked to the kitchen.
"Sure," Joyce said as she followed Olivia to the kitchen and sat on the stool by the island.
Olivia stood on the other side of the island and finished making her oatmeal and fruit plate.
"So, you know yesterday, after we spoke you got-I don't know if I wanna say weird but- I felt-I don't know, things got really awkward and I- was pretty sure you were gonna call me last night and fire me but you didn't so I'm not sure what's going on but I just want you to know that I really do love working for you because you're really creative and you make gorgeous designs and I like my job so..please don't fire me."
Olivia spent all night trying to decide what to do about Joyce. On one hand, she didn't want to punish Joyce for having sex with Fitz because they weren't together so she couldn't control who he slept with and also, Joyce didn't know; she'd never spoken about Fitz to anyone, on the other hand, all she could think of was him being inside her and kissing her, touching her body. Joye had been very detailed in her description of sex with Fitz and that certainly didn't help the situation. She was just three years younger than Olivia, she was a hard worker and she was kind, Olivia couldn't bring herself to fire her...not yet.
"I'm not going to fire you Joyce."
Joyce chuckled, "good, so we're fine then, I was a little worried."
Olivia ate one of her blueberries and a spoonful of oatmeal but didn't respond because they weren't fine, she just didn't want to explain to her why.
"Have you had breakfast?" Olivia asked, trying to change the subject.
"Yes, I grabbed a coffee and toast on my way here."
"Okay, well-I'm leaving soon, I'm just waiting on Chris, I have a guest that's stopping by at 12 so just make sure your out of here by 11 okay, Simone as well."
"Okay sure, we'll be out of here."
They sat, not engaging in any conversation for just over 10 minutes before the doorbell rang.
"That's probably Simone," Joyce said as she got up and headed to the door, Olivia didn't move from her spot on the stool as she ate her breakfast.
Joyce checked the peephole before opening the door, she was utterly floored by who she saw. She closed the peephole and then ran back to Olivia.
"Oh my god, that guy I slept with the other night, he's here, like he's literally right outside the door, what should I do?" she said frantically.
Olivia dropped her spoon in her plate at the news, she'd really been trying to avoid Joyce seeing Fitz again.
The doorbell rang again.
"How did he find me here, I didn't tell him where I worked, I swear," Joyce said.
"Just wait here," she said as she quickly headed to the door.
"No, you shouldn't go," Joyce followed Olivia, "if he stalked me here then he's definitely a creep."
"Joyce, just go back," Olivia ordered.
"Liv-be careful."
Olivia opened the door, not enough for Joyce to see him and walked into the hallway and then closed the door behind her.
"What's the big secret," Fitz asked.
She pulled him against the wall out of the view of the peephole.
"What are you doing here?"
"I want to accompany you on your doctor appointment. I would have called you but I no longer have your number."
"You want to come to my appointment?" she asked.
"Yes, if that's okay."
She looked him over and wondered why he was wearing a suit for a doctor's appointment.
Fitz noticed, "I was suppose fly back to L.A last night, I only brought two suits with me for one day of business meetings, this one is the back up suit."
"Oh."
They stood quietly for a moment.
"Why are we standing out there?"
She wasn't sure how to answer.
"My assistant is in there."
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"Uhm, I just need to go inside for a moment, can you wait here?"
Fitz shrugged but said nothing.
Olivia went back inside her apartment to Joyce who was waiting right by the door.
"What is going on?" Joyce asked.
Olivia didn't answer the question, she walked to the kitchen to grab her cellphone and then quickly texted her guard Chris to let him know that she wouldn't need him to accompany her to the doctor.
"Olivia what did he say? Why is he here?"
Olivia gathered her purse but she didn't answer.
"Fine, I'll go talk to him."
"Do not go out there," Olivia said.
"Is he still there?"
"Joyce-" Olivia said angrily.
"I'm sorry, it's just-he didn't even ask my name, it's weird that he'd just show up here."
"You're fired Joyce go home- I was trying to not let this get to me but it's too much..you just need to go."
"What?"
"He didn't show up here for you Joyce, he showed up because he's the father of my child."
Joyce stood silent for a moment.
"Oh my god, Oh my god, OH MY GOD, and I came here blathering about sleeping with him, I didn't know, I swear, I would have never even talked to him, I'm really really sorry," she said frantically.
Joyce palmed her face, "now it makes sense."
"What?"
"When we-you know- he said the name 'Olivia'-"
"He said what?"
"Yeah and obviously I didn't make the connection because what are the odds he was talking about you."
Olivia held onto her shoulder and looked her in the eye."What did he say, tell me."
"He-he just called your name while we-you know. I asked him the next morning and he said he didn't know what I was talking about so I thought maybe I misheard but no- he definitely said it."
Olivia grabbed her Hermes bag and headed to the foyer.
"I have to go."
She walked back into the foyer, only to see Fitz standing there.
"What's going on?" he asked, he'd just stepped in seconds earlier.
Joyce heard his voice and stepped into the hallway and saw Fitz and Olivia.
Fitz stood quietly for a few seconds, which was all it took for his to remember Joyce, "anyone gonna explain?"
Olivia turned to Joyce, "just wait right there until I left, was that too much to ask?"
"I-I'm sorry I thought you said something," Joyce answered.
"Olivia- why is she here?" Fitz asked.
"She's my assistant-was my assistant."
"What?" Fitz said.
"Yes."
Olivia turned to Joyce, "I'll send you a severance check in the mail," she said, then walked through the door and down the hall, Fitz followed.
"Olivia what the hell is going on here?" he asked as they neared the elevator.
"She was at the hotel the night you were there, you two slept together and it turns out she's my assistant now she's fired so you too can sleep together all you'd like now, she just won't be employed by me anymore."
The elevator came and they both stepped in.
"How do you know we slept together?"
"She told me."
"The fact that she told you suggests that she knew who I was, did she?"
"She didn't, she told me about you sleeping together because she usually tells me about her love life."
"If she didn't know it was me, how did you know it was me?"
"She told me about your tattoo and she got your last name from the hotel front desk, I figured it out."
"Oh."
The elevator ding when it arrived at the lobby of the building and they both walked out.
"The driver is out front," he said, without looking directly at her.
They walked outside to the car parked in front of the building. Felix, Fitz's driver stood outside and held the door open for them both as they got inside and sat down. He walked around the car and got in the driver's seat.
"Where to, Mr. Grant?"
Fitz looked to Olivia.
"56th and 5th ave please, Dr. Romulin's office."
"Okay ma'am, heading right there."
They rode in complete silence, it was as if they were two strangers in an uber ride, rather than the parents of an unborn child. He was mostly occupied with whether or not Joyce told Olivia he'd called her name during or after sex, which he didn't remember, but regardless he hoped Joyce didn't mention it.
After a 20 minute ride, Felix pulled up in front of the doctor's office and got out of the car to open the door for them both. Fitz stepped out first and then helped Olivia out.
"Thank you Felix."
"Your welcome sir, I'll be right outside when you're ready."
He nodded.
Olivia walked up to the steps of the office, Fitz followed and opened the door, allowing her to enter and then entered as well. She walked up to the receptionist.
"Olivia Pope, I have a 10 o'clock appointment."
"As usual, Ms. Pope, you're early, have a seat, dr. Romulin will be right with you but while you wait can we get you any snacks or tea, water?"
"No thank you, I'm alright," Olivia said with a polite smile.
She went to sit on the couch, Fitz sad beside her and once again, there was radio silence. After waiting for 20 minutes, the nurse came out into the wait room with a clipboard in hand.
"Pope?"
Olivia stood up, "are you coming?"
Fitz nodded and followed her to the examination room.
The nurse did all the usual things, checked her weight and blood pressure and give her a urine test to check for sugar and protein, then left her on the exam table to wait for the doctor.
Just a couple minutes passed before the doctor walked in, a middle aged caucasian woman with brown hair pulled into a tight bun.
"Olivia, hey, how are you?" she said pleasantly.
"I'm well Jenny," Olivia could see she was curious about Fitz, "this is Fitz, my daughter's father."
She stretched her hand to Fitz for a handshake which he reciprocated.
"Hello, it's nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too," Fitz replied.
The doctor slipped on a pair of gloves and Olivia leaned back on the table for her usual exam.
"So, any pain? Discomfort?"
"Yes, my back hurts, my feet hurt and my pelvis hurts. She's also been really active, mostly after my birthing class and in the early morning."
The doctor chuckled, "men will never know, am I right? Don't worry, it's all normal."
"Can you pull up your top."
Olivia was always mindful to dress comfortably for her appointment, she wore leggings and a light sweater for a cool May morning. She pulled her sweater up, revealing her stomach. Fitz watched her intently, it wasn't lost on his that she was almost due to give birth and it was the first time he was actually seeing her stomach.
The doctor pressed against her stomach carefully, feeling for the baby.
"Okay so she's still in the vertex position, which is good."
"What does that mean?" Fitz asked.
"It means she's in a head down position, ready to come out," the doctor said.
The doctor measured her stomach and then jotted it down on her clipboard.
"So, have you seen any changes in your mood?"
"It's been even, I guess."
"Well, I'm taking you off the antidepressants."
"What? No."
"Just until after you give birth, I suspect you'll have postpartum depression but it's treatable just like regular depression."
"Depression?" Fitz thought to himself.
Olivia looked to Fitz, she'd almost forgotten he was there, and then she turned back to her doctor.
"It's been working, it's stabilized my mood and I'm able to function better, you said it was safe, if it's safe then why are you taking me off."
"I always planned on taking you off in the very late stages of your pregnancy, you're due soon so we'll do this just as a precaution."
"Fine, whatever's best for the baby," she said defeatedly.
The nodded and turned on the sonogram machine and squeezed ultrasound gel on her stomach.
"Let's take a look at her, shall we?" the doctor said.
"That gel is so cold," Olivia said absently.
She slide the probe across her stomach and shortly after 4D images of the baby flashed on the screen.
Fitz stepped closer so he could get a better look at the screen. He expected a regular black and white ultrasound image but it was different, more realistic, he could see her face, her little arms. Her cheeks were chubby.
"Do you want to try?" the doctor asked, as she watched Fitz staring into the screen.
"Me?" Fitz asked.
"Yeah, the dad's in my office do it all the time, come take a spin at it."
Fitz hesitantly walked closer.
"Are you okay with this Olivia?" he asked.
She nodded.
Fitz took the ultrasound probe from the doctor and slid it slowly across her stomach as he looked at the screen. He moved the probe down further by the baby's face.
"Wait," Fitz said as he scrunched his face, trying to make out the image, he watched as the corner of the baby's mouth curved into a slight smile and then disappeared quickly, "did she just smile?"
"Yes," the doctor answered.
"Seriously, they can do that in the womb?" he asked.
"Yes," the doctor answered.
Olivia smiled.
"Wow," Fitz said with a smile of his own.
"Babies smile when they poop or fart, a fetus smiling in the womb doesn't necessarily mean it is happy, they are just experiencing different facial expressions-"
"Can you- just let me have this?" Fitz quipped.
"Okay," the doctor said.
Olivia chuckled, she almost forgot how funny he could be.
Fitz handed the ultrasound probe back to the doctor, who placed it on the desk and turned off the machine then she wiped the gel from Olivia's stomach.
"What about discharge, what color has it been and has there been a lot?"
Olivia tried not to look at Fitz as she answered the awkward but completely normal question.
"Clear and odorless and yes, it's actually been a lot but not enough to warrant any concern."
"She's coming," the doctor said.
Olivia sighed and palmed her face.
"Are you okay?" the doctor asked.
"I'm fine, just nervous. I'm terrified of labor pains and you told me my vagina is probably going to tear during labor, that's all I can think about and you took my antidepressants away so I'm on the cusp of an emotional breakdown but I'm fine."
Olivia sat up slowly and pulled down her shirt.
"You'll be fine, 85% of women get vaginal tears, it's not as bad as you think and the labor pain, you'll forget quickly trust me."
"Okay," Olivia said skeptically.
They finished up in the doctor's office and left 20 minutes later. Fitz held the door open for her as they left the office.
"Are you hungry?" Fitz asked.
"Uhm-yes."
When Felix saw them walk out of the building, he got out of the car that had been parked by the parking meter and opened the door for them both, once they got in, he closed the door and walked back to the driver's seat.
"Where to?" Felix asked Fitz.
"Where do you want to go?" Fitz asked Olivia.
"Le pain quotidien," she replied.
"Which one?" Felix asked.
"On 69th street."
"Central park?"
"Yes, we can walk to the restaurant just take us to 69th please."
"Sure," Felix replied.
Once again, they rode in complete silence until they arrived at the entrance of the park and got out of the car.
"Are you sure you can walk?" Fitz asked as they walked to the entrance of the park.
"It's not far."
"Okay," he mumbled under his breath.
They walked through the park, without conversation, until they arrived at the restaurant. They walked to the entrance and were greeted by a server who promptly seated them on the outside deck and proceeded to take their order.
"Welcome to le pain quotidien, my name is Jim, can I take your order?"
"I'll have a cobb salad and acai berry tea please," Olivia replied.
"And for you sir?"
"Just water," Fitz replied.
"Okay, I'll be back shortly with your orders," the waiter said as he stepped away.
She checked her phone as they waited for the food, she wasn't really sure what to say to him so she didn't say anything.
Fitz watched her intently for a couple minutes before he said anything.
"You know, if you upset about the whole assistant thing you need to get over it because we're not together and I didn't know she was your assistant."
"I'm not upset about it, you can do whatever you want."
"Let's talk about custody, I want shared custody, 50/50," he said, trying to shift the conversation.
"50/50?" she asked, skeptically.
"Yeah, what did you think was going to happen?"
"I don't know, but you run a company don't you? I don't see how you're going to have time to take care of a child, she's just going to be with a nanny."
"When I'm unable to take care of her she'll be with a nanny, just like I'm sure you'll also have a nanny when you are unable to take care of her."
She sighed, "can we talk about custody after she gets here, this is really stressful and I don't want to talk about it."
"Olivia, I didn't postpone my flight home because I wanted to take you out to lunch, we have a lot we have to talk about, a lot that we need to be clear on before the baby comes."
"I understand that, I'm just asking that we put custody at the end of the list."
Fitz relented, "alright fine, in regards to child support, I'm thinking $25,000 a month."
"That's fine."
The waiter walked over with Olivia's salad and tea and Fitz's water.
"Thank you," Olivia said as he placed the food on the table.
"You're welcome, enjoy."
The waiter walked off, leaving them alone again.
"When do you think you'll be able to move?"
"I don't know, maybe a month after."
"And what should I do during that month?" Fitz asked.
"I don't know."
"Obviously, I'm not going to miss the first month of her life so I was thinking I could stay at hotel here, work remotely, so I can help out with the baby."
"That would be nice."
Fitz noticed she hadn't touched her food.
"Aren't you going to eat?"
"I'm not really hungry anymore, I'll eat when I get home."
"Okay," Fitz accepted her answer and didn't probe further, "do you want me there when you give birth?"
"If you want to be there."
"How would that work, should I just stay in New York around the time you're due or what?"
"I mean, you could do that, but what if I give birth before I'm due, you have work you can't just stay here indefinitely."
"How long does labor take?"
"Maybe up to 18 hours, that's what the doctor said for a first time mum, it can be much shorter or longer though."
Fitz took a moment to think. "What if I come a week before your due date and I'll stay till maybe a week before you leave for L.A."
She was quiet for a moment, "you know, you don't have to be there if you don't want. I don't mind-"
"What do you mean I don't have to be there?"
"She won't remember if you're at the birth or not."
"She won't remember but I will."
The truth is Olivia hadn't exactly been looking forward to giving birth alone but still, if Fitz was going to be there, she wanted him to be there because he wanted to be there, not because he felt guilty. She felt as if he was just going through the motions of everything because he thought he should be doing it, not because he actually wanted to do it.
"You know Olivia," he said after a while, "I'm not doing this for you, I'm doing it for my daughter so stop making it seem like it's the worst thing in the world-"
"-You're the one making it seem as if your dreading having to be next to me."
"Because I am but guess what, I suck it up."
"Yes, I know because I'm the devil, I'm the worst, I'm the only person in the world who's ever done anything bad, I get it, you don't have to keep reminding me," she said, fresh tears had begun to sting her eyes.
"I'm ready to go."
She stood up and grabbed her purse from her lap and rested it over her shoulder. Fitz stood up as well and pulled cash from his wallet and dropped it on the table for the waiter.
Olivia headed towards the exit without another word, he followed behind her and caught up to her by the time she walked down the steps of the outside deck.
Olivia stopped walking, "all I want for my daughter is a healthy, happy childhood, something that neither of us had, in order to do that, we're going to have to be able to coexist."
"I know, I'm trying, I'm sorry."
She was surprised at the apology, "don't apologize-just...it's fine."
Fitz nodded and they continued walked along the park trail to the car.
Olivia decided to finish their conversation, "um...what about when I get there, to L.A., you said something about an apartment?"
"I had a realtor lease a place for you but I guess that now since you have time, you can maybe shop around for something else if you want."
"Can you have her send me pictures of the apartment, if I like it, I'll keep it and if not I can have her help me find something else."
"Sure."
"I'm going to give you my new mobile number," she said.
Fitz pulled out his cellphone and handed it to Olivia, she entered her number and email (even though she was sure he could get her email) in his contacts and then handed it back to him.
"And by the way, I'm gonna have my lawyer email you some papers, just about our child support agreement, the baby's bank account which is in your name for now, etcetera that you need to sign, we'll figure out custody later."
"Okay," she replied.
The continued walking down the path, Fitz had the urge to ask her about the depression but decided against it.
They walked back to the car and once again rode in silence, only now it was a little less tense, until the driver pulled the car in front of Olivia's building. He opened the door and let her out, Fitz got out as well.
"Are you leaving today"
"Yes."
"Okay," she said with a nod.
"Okay," he replied.
Fitz waited until Olivia walked into her building before he got back in the car and took off.
Olivia slowly made her way back up to her apartment.
A/N- Hey guys, I really hope you enjoyed this chapter. P.S. - I wonder if the baby is the motivation Fitz needs to change, just as it was the motivation for Olivia to change.