AN: Pushing through the writers block one short chapter at a time. Sorry about the cliffhanger / shortness. I'm just trying to plug through so we're going backwards cause once again something that was meant to be brief took on a mind of its own. - M

Then.

Despite the exhaustion that sunk deep into Olivia's bones, she knew she had to keep pushing. It was the morning of opening arguments and for the first time in nearly three years, she was first chair. Of course, it was the perfect time for Tommy to come down with the stomach flu, leaving Olivia to play double duty. Not only was she writing opening statements, but taking temperatures and making soup, too. Thankfully Fitz was on dad duty for the next week. Olivia had to be on her toes. Even if she felt like falling over.

"Tommy's going to be up shortly. Once he's up, he's going to want his Pop-pop," Olivia said as she entered the kitchen. She fixed the bold face watch around her left wrist and held Pop-pop, Tommy's stuffed t-rex, under her arm. The smell of coffee greeted her. Instead of finding Fitz dressed down and ready to take the reins with Tommy, he was in his white coat, a travel mug of coffee in hand.

"Why are you in your coat?" Olivia asked. She walked over to the coffee pot to find a little more than a quarter of the pot left. She'd have to stop or pray Ben grabbed her a cup. "Is this some ploy to get Tommy to take his Tylenol? Pulling the doctor card? We both know it never works."

Fitz cracked a sideways smile and checked his watch. "No, I've been called to scrub in on a double bypass. I'm heading out in ten," Fitz said.

Annoyance mixed with fatigue prompted Olivia to growl in frustration. This was the second time in the last week that something like this had happened. The first time had been at the beginning of the week, before Tommy was sidelined by the flu, and Fitz promised Olivia he'd handle dinner. Her caseload, despite being on the smaller side, still kicked her ass, leaving her exhausted. By the time she'd lifted her head from endless depositions, Tommy was running through the house with a jar full of grape-jelly and a piece of bread demanding pizza when he should've been in the tub.

"What? No! You were supposed to take care of Tommy today. I have to be in court by 8." She set Pop-pop on the counter. "You're staying with him today."

"Shit. I forgot. Look, I've already agreed to scrub in for Phillips. I need to be there," Fitz said. The watch around his wrist beeped. "Fuck, I've gotta get going."

"Fitz, no. I need you to call and cancel," Olivia hissed.

"You said it yourself, you're first chair. That means you have back-up, Liv. I am the backup."

A lump began to form in Olivia's throat. She swallowed around it and felt her jaw tighten. "What does that even mean? You're more important than me?" Fitz sighed, prompting Olivia to roll her eyes. Was he going to actually justify that her job was meaningless in the scheme of things?

"That's not what I'm saying," he tried. "What about your dad? Your step-mom? I'm going to be in a four hour surgery."

"He has the flu, Fitz. I can't pack him up and take him to my dad's with the flu when my dad just got over pneumonia. Tommy's going to want one of us and I've already told him it was going to be you. We talked about this last night."

Again, the watch around Fitz's wrist beeped. He looked at it and then up at Olivia. "I've gotta get going. I'm sorry we got our signals crossed. Your partner, what's his name? Ben? He can handle openers for today, right? It's not a death penalty case. No one's going to die. If I don't get to the hospital though, someone just might. Once I have the Chief position, though, we'll never have to be here again."

He didn't give her a chance to respond. Instead, he kissed her on her forehead and pivoted his way out of the kitchen, leaving behind a gobsmacked Olivia.

"Mommy…" Tommy's voice sounded from the steps. The lump in Olivia's throat grew bigger and she pulled herself away from the kitchen and through the house, to find Tommy clutching his stomach at the top of the stairs. "I don't feel so well…" No sooner did the words leave her son's lips so did the entire contents of his stomach too.

Olivia climbed the stairs in two, a somber smile on her lips as she tip-toe'd around the throw up and tugged Tommy into her arms. She was going to ruin her new Valentino blouse but did it even matter any more? Several tears slipped over her eyelids. She'd call Ben once she got Tommy back down.

"I'm sorry I made a mess, Mommy," Tommy whispered as he dug his chin into the side of Olivia's neck. He was burning up.

"It's okay, bud. You don't have to worry about it."

/

Calling Ben to ask him to step in for her was demoralizing.

Not that she actually wanted to argue breach of contract on behalf of a gentlemen's club for several hours, but this was supposed to be her big "comeback." She'd been riding the bench since Tommy was born and even before then she'd been on and off it routinely thanks to health issues. Now that Tommy was nearly six, she wanted to get back in the game. Ages ago she had high hopes of making partner but that seemed to be a pipe dream now with Fitz's focus setting in on Chief of Staff.

While she was proud of her husband, she wished he'd carve out more space for her career. She'd been up front with him when they first started trying for children that she never wanted to be just a housewife. It wasn't in her blood. Her father had sent her to the best of the best growing up and she wasn't made to sit on the sidelines. Fitz was, without question, an involved father, but that didn't always make him an involved spouse.

Her Georgetown alumni shirt dwarfed her petite frame as she finally finished blotting bits of red popsicle out of her blouse and dipped it under the kitchen faucet. Tommy had gotten her twice. God she needed a nap and a joint. It'd been years since she'd smoked weed but she had half a mind to go hunt down the kid from law school who was always high. She watched the water and soap run down the drive, staring at the intricate pattern the bubbles created.

She was promptly snatched from her trance by the sound of the doorbell ringing. The new blouse lay abandoned on the edge of the farmer's sink as she made her way to the door and to the peephole. To her surprise, she found Ben staring back at her. She checked her watch; it wasn't even lunch yet. Something must've gone wrong with the opening argument she'd laid out for him or worse….

"Let me guess, Jeff fired me finally?" she asked as she opened the door. Suddenly a cup of coffee appeared in front of her.

"Venti, soy, vanilla latte, extra foam and a sprinkle of cinnamon," Ben said as he waited for her to take the cup.

"So then my job really is gone?" Olivia deduced. She sighed as she took the cup.

"Nope. You still have a job. I don't know who you said your Hail Mary's to, but Judge Zhou pushed us this morning. We'll be picking back up on Thursday." He handed over a plastic bag.

Olivia looked inside to find Pedialyte and saltines, prompting her to smile. "Thanks."

"How's he doing?" Ben asked.

Olivia stepped aside, motioning for Ben to step inside. "He's down for the count. Children's Motrin and Benadryl. His temperature is running on the high side still but it went down from 102 to 99. Not out of the danger window, though. This time next week I'll be patient zero."

"Well, don't worry. I'll bring you some soup. Hopefully your husband will be around to take care of you." His gaze met hers and Olivia quickly looked away.

"I'm sure Tommy will want to lend a hand." Olivia teetered on her feet for a moment and took a sip of coffee. "Uhm, do you want … an uncrustable or something?"

Ben smiled. "An uncrustable? And risk getting into fisticuffs with the man upstairs?" he jerked his head in the direction of the steps.

"Fisticuffs?" Olivia raised her brows.

"He's spry, good-looking. I bet he could take me. You go dealing out his favorite foods and next thing I know I have a five-year-old on my back trying to take me down." He gestured to his back.

The image alone caused Olivia to crack a smile, perhaps the first one all morning.

"There's my girl and that smile I like to see," Ben commented. "Are you okay?"

Olivia stopped smiling. A somber grimace crossed her face. "It was a hard morning."

He waved his hands towards the overstuffed sofa and Olivia waved him away, beckoning for him to follow her instead. They made their way into the kitchen and she pulled the pedialyte and saltines out of the bag.

Ben took a seat at the marble island on one of the stools. "Taking care of a sick kid is never easy."

"It's not even that. I'll always take care of my son," she put the pedialyte in the refrigerator, "This was supposed to be Fitz's day today. As much as it hurts me to be away from Tommy when he isn't feeling well. We talked about it last night and then this morning he ran out the door, on me."

"Ran out of the door?" Ben leaned in, listening.

She leaned against the counter. "Yeah, he got called in on a surgery this morning. He was supposed to be off today."

"He couldn't have called in?"

"He was the call-in." She rolled her eyes. "He's in a bid for Chief of Staff. And someone could died." Again, she rolled her eyes. There was that lump, back with avengence. The tears refused to be stopped. She was exhausted and everything built up at once. She ducked her head and left out a sob.

Ben stood. "Hey, hey…" He tugged Olivia into his arms. She was too overwhelmed to protest.

It seemed as if Ben was around whenever she needed him lately.

Now.

Several seconds ticked by before the weight of Fitz's actions sunk in. He separated himself from Kim and put her at arm's length.

The guilt rocketed over him in waves. He lifted his eyes to find a horrified look on Kim's face.

"Oh my god, I'm —" she pulled away from him and took several steps back. "