A/N: Hi! So it's been forever since I posted the first part of this one shot (it's chapter 17 if you need a refresher). This chapter picks up a few months after where the first one left off, and there's at least one more part to this storyline before it's complete.

March 1929

I sat on the bed in the bungalow that had been our home for nearly a month, listening to the shower run as Olivia washed off after a dip in the hotel's pool. She had been swimming every day since we got to the roadside motel in Oklahoma, tanning herself golden in the process. Her hair had grown out of its chemical treatment, curling wildly in a mass around her face.

"Livvie, if you don't get out of there, we're not gonna make it anywhere for dinner," I called over the water.

"I'm washing my hair," she replied. "I'm almost done."

I got up and went to the dresser to do something with my own hair. I combed my hair then used Olivia's soft bristled brush to tame the stubble on my chin. Olivia emerged from the bathroom, letting out a cloud of steam, and smiled at me as she towel-dried her hair. "Well you're awfully dressed up. Hot date?"

I looked down at my light blue button down shirt and gray dress pants then back at her with a smile. "Maybe, if only I wasn't saddled with a runaway."

I smirked as she pulled a dark blue blouse with a round collar out of the drawer and put it on then went to the closet and picked out short red overalls, stepping into her white sandals as she snapped the straps. "You should probably put on shoes, Livvie. It's supposed to rain."

She nodded and took off the sandals then put on navy canvas shoes with t-straps that probably wouldn't be much better use against the rain than the sandals. She walked over to the bed where I had resumed my seat and sat next to me, putting her feet in my lap. I took off her shoes. "Maybe you should put on socks too."

She got off the bed and got white socks from the top drawer then put them on before coming back to sit with me. I put her shoes on and fastened the buckles. "You're never gonna grow up, are you?"

She laughed. "I'm already grown up. You're just old. I'll never catch up to you."

She stuck her tongue out at me then hopped off the bed and went to the mirror. I watched with a smirk as she combed her hair back into a ponytail then went into the jewelry box on the dresser for a bow. I shook my head. "No bows tonight, princess."

She looked back at me. "Why?"

I didn't want to tell her that it was because she looked like a child—something she hated hearing more than anything—but she did, and I didn't like the way people looked at us when we went places. We got enough quizzical stares because she was black without the added scrutiny that she might be a child. I had been given the "you're a pervert" look more than once when she kissed me in public. "Just a suggestion. You're always talking about how the clamps kink your hair. And I like your hair loose."

She blushed, smiling softly, and shut the box then picked up the brown leather hand-tooled purse I had bought her from an old Indian man in Georgia. She smiled sweetly as she turned to me. "We should go to the store tomorrow."

"And why should we do that?" I smirked at her.

"I want makeup," she replied, "like the women in the bar wear."

I laughed. The prostitutes that frequented the hotel bar had taken quite a liking to Olivia and would spend their time between clients painting her up and doing her hair. They had taught her how to swing her hips when she walked, outfitting her with red high heeled shoes. And thanks to them, she could swear with the saltiest of sailors. "Those women are prostitutes, sugar."

"Oh. I didn't know that." She shrugged. It hadn't occurred to me that she'd probably never seen a prostitute. "I still want some makeup, at least some lipstick."

"And what else?" I had discovered in our travelling time that I could spend a small fortune just to make her smile. She needed only bat her eyelashes and I'd find myself buying whatever trinket she wanted.

"Sunglasses. The big round tortoiseshell kind like Vivien Leigh has," she answered. "And red lipstick like Greta Garbo."

"Anything else, Your Majesty?"

She laughed. "I like when you call me that, but no, not that I can think of."

I stood and walked to the door, taking my car keys from the small table that sat next to it. "What do you want for dinner?"

"Can we go back to that place with the cake?"

I pinched her butt as we left the bungalow and she jumped, letting out a squeal. "You're gonna eat yourself into adult clothes, Livvie."

"These are adult clothes," she insisted, taking my hand as we walked to the parking lot. "They came from the Miss department."

"They came from the junior miss department, kitten."

"That doesn't make them children's clothes." She got into the car and put on her seatbelt, smirking at me as I got in on the driver's side.

"That doesn't make them adult clothes, either."

"Oh shut up." She smiled, wrinkling her nose as I started the car.

xxxxx

"Guess where we're going on Monday," I said, smiling as Olivia climbed into bed. She had twisted her hair into two French braids on either side of her head.

"Is it somewhere with a beach? We haven't been to the beach in months!"

"Not quite."

She took off my reading glasses and put them on then laughed as she took them off. "You're blind!"

I smiled as I tweaked her nose. "I'm old, remember? Old people wear reading glasses."

She put my glasses back on my face. "Do you know what I want for my birthday?"

"Probably something I can't afford," I replied.

"You can afford it, I guess." She laughed. "I want a real pearl necklace. The ones that come from the ocean, not the manmade ones."

"Is that all or just a start?"

"That's all, unless you want to buy me something else."

I tweaked her nose. "That's all then."

XXXXX

Monday

I smiled at Olivia as she sat on the bank of the small lake we'd happened upon in northern Texas. She held a fishing pole, leaning forward to peer into the clear water at the fish flitting by. "What kind of fish are these?"

I leaned over and looked but couldn't see much as the fish moved quickly. "Probably brim. Not much meat to them. Course they aren't much bigger than your hand."

She nodded as she reeled her line in then recast it out farther in the water. She looked up at the sky then turned to me with a frown. "It's gonna rain."

No sooner than she'd proclaimed it did I feel the rain pelting my shoulders. I looked at her in surprise, wondering how she knew so quickly. But I didn't have time to ask because the drizzle quickly became a downpour. I stood and pulled her along with me, running for an old barn across the field. I pulled open the door and Olivia slipped inside before me. She shivered as she looked around the barn. "Where do you think the house is?"

I blinked at her. "What?"

"Barns belong to houses, but there's no house. What do you think happened?"

I shrugged. "People moved and somebody probably tore it down."

She shrugged too as she looked around again. She went to a shelf beside the door and took two heavy blankets off it. "We can sleep in the loft."

I didn't like the idea of it, but I could hear the thunder booming outside. "Guess we've got no choice."

I took the blankets and watched as she climbed the barn's old ladder to the loft. I followed, the blankets thrown over my shoulder. She was on her knees, making the hay into a palette. When she finished, I took a blanket and covered the hay. I took off my soaked shoes and socks, watching her shiver as she sat beside me. "You can't sleep in those clothes, Livvie. You'll catch a cold."

She took off her little white tennis shoes and socks, and I unbuttoned her green shirtdress. She slipped it off and laid it out flat beside the makeshift bed then turned to me with wide eyes. "I've never slept without my nightgown."

I took off my wet shirt then kicked off my pants. "I'd run to the car and get it but you probably wouldn't be able to wear it by the time I got back."

She nodded, scooting beneath the blanket, and I joined her. She turned over and lay her head on my chest, slipping her leg between mine. I pulled the blanket over her, trying to tuck it around her so she would stop shivering. She sat up, resting her chin on my chest. "Have you had many women?"

I looked at her in surprise. "What?"

"Have you had many women?"

I shrugged. "I'm not sure. How many is many?"

"Well I've never been with anybody."

I smiled. "Now that's not fair."

She shrugged. I answered, "I've been with a few girls."

"Five?"

"More than that."

"Ten?"

"More than that." The corners of her mouth drooped and I frowned, brushing her damp hair back. "Livvie, the number isn't important. Something like that doesn't mean anything if the person you're with doesn't mean anything to you."

"Well why'd you do it?"

I shrugged. "A lot of times, I didn't know it didn't mean anything until I had done it."

"So you didn't love any of them?"

I shrugged again. "A few."

"Do you love me?"

I smiled at her, leaning over to kiss her nose. "Do you have to ask?"

"Well how come you haven't had me? Don't you want me?"

"I just figured you'd want to wait until we were married." I wasn't sure what to make of this revelation. I found her continually surprising but I couldn't have guessed this one in a million years.

She smiled. "I figure we're married enough already."

I sat up, pulling her along with me. "Are you sure? I want you to be sure, Livvie."

She nodded and slipped off her light yellow bra but quickly covered her breasts with her hands. "I've never been naked with a man."

"Do you trust me?" She nodded again and I pulled her hands down from her breasts, replacing them with my own. Her nipples hardened under my touch and her breath caught. I pulled her onto my lap, kissed the hollow of her throat. "All you've gotta do is trust me."

"I do," she murmured, letting me roll her onto her back.

I didn't consider myself very patient but I found myself moving slower than ever, constantly watching her face. There was nothing more transfixing than the light that danced in her eyes as she watched me, or the soft surprised "oh's" that slipped out of her mouth at each new sensation.

Later, sated beneath the covers, she clung to me, her face in my neck. I rubbed her bare back and she breathed softly. "That was nice."

I turned my head to smirk at her. "Just nice?"

I recalled her hurricane of a climax, an explosion so surprising that she shook for what seemed an eternity. She smiled shyly, still my Livvie, and replied, "I've never felt like that before."

I smiled, hugged her closer, and kissed her forehead. "Now do you know I love you?"

She nodded, kissed my chin. "Tell me anyway."

"I love you, little girl." I smiled, pinched her snub nose. "Feel better?"

She nodded, grinned like I'd given her the sun. "I love you too."

XXXXX

Tuesday

Olivia was asleep by the time we reached Arizona. I smiled as I nudged her awake. She yawned, her eyes fluttering open. "Where are we?"

"Look around," I replied.

She leaned forward, squinting at the stretch of road then turned to look out her window. "I don't see anything."

"Keep looking." There wasn't really much to see, only dessert, but I guessed that she had never even seen a dessert, having been around swamps her whole life.

We passed a group of cacti blooming with flowers and she looked at me with wide eyes. "Are we in Mexico?"

I shook my head with a smile. "No. We're close though. We're in Arizona."

"What are we doing here?"

"We're gonna be staying with my brother Jack and his wife Gloria for a bit while they set up their general store." I reached over to pinch her cheek. "Unfortunately, they don't have any kids so you won't have anyone to play with."

She smirked at me. "I hope they don't have any stairs. I'd hate for your old ass to fall and break a hip."

"You know I could kick you out on the side of the road if I wanted to."

She laughed. "Get rid of me? You couldn't if you wanted to."

XXXXX

A few hours later, we pulled into my brother's large front yard. Olivia had fallen back asleep after we stopped for lunch. In the two years we had been travelling, I couldn't think of one road trip during which she'd stayed awake for more than an hour. Something about being on the road just seemed to put her out. I got out of the car and walked around to her side to open the door. She groaned when I nudged her. "Wake up, Livvie. We're here."

"Where?" she yawned, still half-asleep as I pulled her out of the car. She rubbed her eyes and leaned against my chest.

I smiled at the crown of her head. "Come on now, little girl. You've slept enough for one day."

She yawned again as she lifted her head. "Where's your brother?"

"Here I am." We both looked up and found my brother Jack standing before us. He smiled at Olivia, extending his hand as he stepped toward us. "Hi. I'm Jack, Fitz's older brother."

"I'm Olivia. Fitz kidnapped me," she replied as she shook his hand.

I pinched the tip of her nose. "Like I'd risk jail time for you."

"Fitz!" Jack's Colombian wife, Gloria, emerged from the house, waving and making her bright red wooden bracelets clack as she approached. She grinned as she came to a stop next to Jack. "Hola Fitz! Aye you brought a girl! Who is this?"

"I'm Olivia. Pleased to meet you." Olivia smiled as she shook Gloria's hand. I smirked, watching Olivia look over Gloria's bright yellow wrap dress and her substantial cleavage.

"Nice to meet you too! I'm Gloria, Jack's wife!" She took Olivia's face in her hands. "Aye Jay isn't she pretty? She's like a little doll!"

She turned to Jack and began prattling in Spanish that I guessed he understood because he nodded along. She turned back to Olivia. "Olivia come look at the house! We just repainted!"

"Okay." Liv didn't have much of a choice because Gloria had already taken her hand to lead her away.

"We redid the whole place in traditional Colombian colors—that's where I'm from—and got all new furniture…" her loud voice trailed off as the screen door slapped shut behind them.

I turned back to Jack and found him smirking at me. "What?"

"I'm gonna ask you a question that I sincerely hope won't make me an accomplice to a crime. Where did you get that child?"

I laughed, shaking my head. "Liv's not a child."

"She's got a bow in her hair and polka dots on her overalls. She's 14 if she's a day old."

"She's 18. She just looks like that. She always does. I don't know why," I replied.

Jack shook his head. "She's 18? Bullshit, Gerry."

"Well she's not 18 yet. She's got 2 more weeks." I frowned at him. "Don't call me Gerry, Jackass."

Jack laughed, shaking his head again. "We've been on you forever to settle down and damn if you weren't ass backwards about it like you are about everything."

"Like you can judge. Gloria wasn't much older than Liv when you begged her to come back to America with you." Jack had met Gloria in Colombia on some sort of leather importing trip that never panned out.

"Gloria was 20, and actually looked like an adult."

I shrugged as Gloria's voice drifted out the screen door again. "Liv looks her age."

Before Jack could refute my obvious lie, Olivia walked out of the house, a cherry popsicle in her hand. She smiled as she walked over to us. "Want some?"

She held the popsicle to my lips and I bit it, mindful of Jack smirking at us. I wrapped my arm around her. "Liv, tell Jack how old you are. He doesn't believe me."

I immediately regretted my request when mischief flashed in her eyes. She turned to Jack. "Fitz is telling the truth. I really am almost 14. My birthday's in a few weeks."

"She's lying." I swatted her hip. "Tell the truth, silly girl."

She gave a guilty smile. "Okay. I'm not almost 14. I'm almost 13."

Jack shook his head. "You two are crazy sure as there's a nose on my face."

"Lunch is ready!" Gloria called from the screen door.

We all turned to head to the door but Olivia stopped and looked at me. "Will you tie my shoe? The bow won't stay."

I smirked at her, knowing Jack would have a field day with me tying her shoes. But I knelt and tied it for her, balancing her white tennis shoe on my knee. She ran her fingers through my hair. "You know what I want? Boots like Gloria has. They're red, and I don't have any red shoes."

"We'll see about getting you some," I answered as I stood. Jack quirked his eyebrows at me over Olivia's head.

XXXXX

Over the next few weeks the weather warmed up and Olivia seemed to bloom in the Arizona springtime. She and Gloria pored over magazines in the magazines in the mornings then spent the afternoon in the store. Between their bubbly personalities, the store was always bustling with customers.

I smirked as I watched a man lean on the counter while Olivia weighed his bag of grain. "Have you got a husband?"

She turned back to look at him with a smile. "Not just yet."

He grinned, ran his fingers through his blonde beard. "I'd take you home. You've gotta be the prettiest colored gal in the world."

She laughed too. "Can't do that. I've got a jealous boyfriend."

"Want me to shoot him for you?"

"Then who would you buy your feed from?" I asked, making my presence known.

He turned around and gave me a nervous smile. "No disrespect meant. I'm just a man who can't pass up a beautiful woman."

I chuckled. "Well that one's spoken for, I'm afraid."

"Reckon so." He paid for his grain then left.

I smiled at Olivia as I walked around the counter. "So this is what you do all day? Flirt with the cowboys?"

She shrugged. "I'm just being myself. I can't help what happens."

I laughed as I hoisted her on the stool behind the cash machine. "Well it seems like you've been a bad girl while I was gone, especially when I was gone buying you a present."

Her eyes widened with delight. "What is it?"

I didn't answer, instead kneeling to take off her leather sandals, sandals that had definitely belonged to Gloria judging by the jewels on the straps. I set the box on the floor and opened it, pulling out a pair of red boots. I held them up for her. "Now they're not exactly like Gloria's, but the little woman who makes them said girls love them."

She took them from me and smiled at their embroidered roses. "They're so pretty."

I put them on her little feet and she hopped off the stool, grinning as she looked at the boots. I smiled at her happy face. "I take it you're a happy girl."

She nodded, standing on her toes to kiss me. "I made you something too!"

"What is it princess?"

"Wait here." She disappeared into the store's backroom and came back with a pie on a plate. "It's your favorite: cherry."

I smiled at her proud face. "You used a stove? And the place is still standing? Well I'll be damned."

She smiled, wrinkling her nose. "Hush or I won't let you eat it."

I grinned darkly at her, leaning down close to her ear. "Not even if I promise to chew it slow?"

She blushed and turned to go back in the back room, and I swatted her bottom.

XXXXX

July

It wasn't until the morning of the annual fireworks that I noticed the greatest change in Olivia yet. We were taking advantage of the holiday to close up early, and she was sweeping the front porch when she dropped the towel she had been wiping her sweaty face with. She bent to pick it up and I noticed the way her normally loose smock dress tightened around her stomach. I had noticed her recent squeamishness, but hadn't paid it much attention, too busy with the store.

She abruptly stopped sweeping and plopped in a wooden rocking chair sitting beside the checkers table we set up for children. When she leaned back to wipe her face, I could see the round pound blooming under the cotton dress. "I never dreamed anywhere could be hotter than Louisiana in the summer."

"At least it's not muggy," I replied, still studying her. "Want a coke?"

She nodded and set the chair rocking. I went into the store and got her a coke from the ice chest then went back to the porch and squeezed into the chair with her, pulling her onto my lap. She opened the coke with the heel of her boot—a trick she'd picked up from the cowboys—then leaned back against me as she drank it. I kept the chair rocking, cupped the small paunch in my hands. "What do you make of this, little bird?"

She shrugged, reaching up to play with my shoulder-length hair. "I reckon it's Gloria's cooking. And you're always bringing me sweets."

"You think that's all it is?" I asked. I suddenly remembered that she'd grown up motherless, that maybe no one other than other schoolgirls had taught her about the birds and bees, and I wondered how I would explain it.

She looked down at her belly then back at me. "Do you think we're having a baby?"

I continued rubbing her stomach. "I think so, Livvie."

A/N: Don't forget to review! XOXOXO