AN: Thank you so much for all the reviews! This chapter was harder for me to write mainly because I wanted it to be exactly what I imagined and include everything I had in mind.
Happy Reading!
XOXO
PS: I OWN NOTHING! ALL RIGHTS TO SR!
TBS
CH 8
Harper lay there as still as a statue. She felt her eyes begin to water and couldn't tell if it were from the tube stuck down her throat or the information she had just heard.
Fitz was her father.
She had a dad.
It wasn't theoretical anymore.
Did she deserve him?
Why was she just now finding this out?
Harper felt so many emotions, she began to choke up, which aggravated her tubing, causing her to begin to choke. Fitz and Olivia both turned towards the teenager at the sound of her gurgling and gagging.
"Fitz! She's awake! Harp, Harp baby relax." Olivia cooed at her daughter. She sat on the edge of the bed, but her attempts to calm her daughter down failed as Harper's usually blue eyes were a dark shade of grey and her eyeballs red from strain.
Fitz ran to the door to snatch the nearest nurse. The sound of the doctor being paged to Harper's room suddenly filled the air. The nurse came in and advised Harper to try to relax as well, wasting as much energy as Olivia did because Harper seemed to be in a sudden panic.
Immediately, Fitz sprang into action.
Replacing Olivia on the bed, Fitz leaned over his daughter. Harper's eyes grew wide as saucers, and for a split second, Fitz wondered if she had heard his revelation only a few minutes ago to her mother.
"Harper, sweet heart listen to me. Calm down. Breathe for me. Breathe through your nose. Focus on my voice." Fitz talked to Harper in an even tone and eventually, she began to calm down. Staring into his eyes seemed to calm her considerably, and her own eye color began to morph back into place.
Fitz ran his fingers through her hair, and Harper wanted so badly to wrap her arms around her father. She wanted nothing more than to be held by him and protected from all the tubes and needles in the hospital. Not only that, but she wanted to feel safe in his arms, secure from all the inhumanities of the world. She was overwhelmed because at 13, Harper hadn't felt anything this quick and intense before.
The doctor entered the room a few moments later, talking Harper through the removal of the tube. Fitz stood by Olivia and witnessed the entire ordeal. Harper barked and coughed, trying to catch her breath. The nurse offered her ice chips, which she accepted, and once she accepted the fact that a needle was actually stationary in her hand providing her H20 and pain meds, she held the cup and began to shakily eat the ice. As the staff filed out of the room, the doctor advised Harper to take it easy for a while, especially since she had just been taken off the tube in her throat and he made her smile by telling her that he needed a few more billboard number 1's before he passed away.
Finally alone in the room, Fitz moved to one side of the bed while Olivia stayed on the other. Harper tried to adjust herself in bed, feeling herself become giddy as a 2 year old when Fitz fluffed her pillow for her. She wanted everything to happen at once. She was excitedly waiting them to share the news she hoped they had just recently learned, unable to comprehend why they would keep this from her for more than a few minutes. As she began to sift through the thoughts going through her head, she began to think bad ones too. She wondered if she hadn't gotten sick, would she have learned this information today. She also wondered how long both her parents knew this info, and how it would affect their lives and the lives of others around them. Her mind wondered to Fitz side of the family and how they would react-if they didn't already know about her. Her mind moved so quickly, she began to feel light headed. Light headedness turned to nausea.
As Fitz assisted her in scooting up in the bed, he and Olivia locked eyes. Olivia nodded her approval, and Fitz nodded right back. When he stood upright, Harper shocked the shit out of both of them by attempting to speak, but instead, smacking her hand to her mouth to keep from vomiting everywhere. Fitz again beat Olivia to the punch and grabbed a barf bag from the nearest table, carefully moving her hair safely away from her face and rubbed circles in her back as she emptied the contents of her pretty empty stomach.
The parents locked eyes again-this time, both shaking their heads "NO" at the same time and signaling that now was NOT the time to spring anything new on her. Neither knew that their secret was exactly what was making her sick.
Olivia convinced Harper to lie back on the bed and relax. Harper closed her eyes and heard a beep, followed by a sting on her hand and a burning sensation that went from her neck to her chest, to her stomach and bottom, to her legs and finally to her feet. Her eyes grew extremely heavy and before she could fix her mouth to get details on the news, she was out like a light.
/
Fitz, of course, wanted to stay by Harper's side. Olivia left to go and tell Abby that she could come visit Harper, and was told by one of the nurses on staff that it was ok momentarily that they all 3 be in the room since Harper and Fitz had such high profile statuses. As they walked back down the hall towards Harper's room, they talked.
"So, how's my girl?" Abby asked. Not much on the planet scared Abby, but thinking something might be wrong with her munchkin absolutely scared the living shit out of her.
Olivia knew this and decided to ease Abby's mind.
"She's fine. I pushed her morphine button before I left to come get you so she's out like a light."
Abby grinned, "I hope she doesn't have your reaction to pain meds. God knows you go a little left field when you get that mess in you."
Olivia stopped, horrified at the thought. "UGH! I forgot! I hope she's not filling Fitz ear with nonsense. Pain medicine doesn't work properly on me. Once my little 5 minute nap is over, I'm up and talking completely out of my mind."
Olivia's fears were fulfilled when she entered the room and Fitz was standing by Harper's bedside with a lopsided grin on his face. Olivia wondered what could have happened until she heard the horror. Harper was singing "Sugar" by Maroon 5 WAY out of key and range. As if she was wanting the entire hospital to hear her.
Abby froze in place, and Olivia did her best to stifle a giggle. Fitz was bent over in silent laughter, and Abby and Fitz exchanged places.
"How long has she been singing?" Olivia whispered to Fitz.
"About 2 minutes after you left, my phone rang. That's my ringtone for my family, and I tried to silence it, but as soon as she heard it, she TRIED to sing along." Fitz semi-whispered back to Olivia. He wanted to so badly to add that he hoped this was only temporary and that she COULD still sing.
Olivia smiled to herself, marveling at how her daughter hadn't changed since being a toddler. Anything with music could still set her off, even involuntarily.
"Enough, you two! My God." Abby scolded the other adults. "Harp, ladybug, can you hear me?"
Harper opened one eye slowly, then another, revealing to Abby the signature Grant eyes. "Auntie-AAAA!" Harper exclaimed proudly.
Abby took a deep breath. "Yeah kiddo, they've got you on the good stuff right now. I'm right here. Relax honey and try to get some sleep." Abby wondered how much like Olivia she really was.
Harper was completely out of it. For some reason, she felt the need to open her heart to her Aunt Abby as if she hadn't before.
"Auntie A, guess what I heard?" Harper was focused solely on her aunt and apparently didn't even remember the other adults in the room.
"What's up, munchkin?" Abby rolled he eyes, knowing Harper couldn't have been more like Olivia under the influence if Olivia had literally spit her out of her mouth.
"SHHHH!" Harper put her finger to her lips, "It's a secret. I don't think I'm sposed to know yet…"
Olivia and Fitz both perked up at hearing this bit of information. Harper continued.
"I have a DAD!" Harper exclaimed proudly.
Abby's face matched her red hair, Fitz bottom jaw hit the floor, and Olivia swore her knees were about to buckle.
"Say what, Harp?" Abby tried to play along, wondering how the hell Harper had found out. She cut her eyes to Olivia, and Olivia shrugged her shoulders and shook her head at the same time.
Abby began to think fast and decided the truth was going to be the light today. She knew if Harper exhibited these same traits as Olivia drugged up, she was probably going to be brutally honest like drugged-Olivia was too. She smirked and played along.
"I do! It's true! Daddy told Mommy that he wasn't gonna let anything else happen to his little girl," Harper's eyes began to gloss over.
Maybe she's not like her mother in this way. There's no way Olivia and Fitz were dumb enough to have this conversation while this girl was still unconscious, Abby thought as she cut her eyes at Olivia for the second time in five minutes.
As if Olivia could read Abby's mind, she nodded her head. Abby tried to mask her shock and patted Harper's hand, signaling her to continue.
Harper began to recite the conversation word for word she heard before she opened her eyes earlier. Abby looked back and forth from child to parents, trying to gauge their reactions to this. Fitz had a serious look on his face, and Olivia looked as if she was praying to the Gods above that Harper wasn't upset.
"Auntie A, DO YOU HEAR ME? I HAVE A DAD! FITZ IS MY DAD!" Harper yelled. She began to cough as if her body was signaling to calm down. Fitz made a move to run to her side, but Olivia grabbed his forearm, silently telling him not to interrupt.
"I hear you. What do you think about that?" Abby asked. She secretly had her fingers crossed, hoping this was a good thing.
"Well, honestly, I have mixed feelings." Harper stated.
Fitz felt like his stomach had hit the floor with his jaw.
"Like?" Abby prodded.
"Well, on the one hand, my mom and Fitz have some serious chemistry. Like MAJOR chemistry. Like I look at them and mom has that same goofy smile on her face that nick had on his when he kissed me. Remember when I asked you about that?" Harper was spilling the beans and Olivia' eyes shot daggers into Abby's red head. Abby ignored Olivia's gaze, praying that Harper would get to the point.
Abby nodded.
Fitz stood by with the same expression on his face.
"I love that my mom is happy. I love how Fitz makes me feel. I just always want him to be, like super proud of me, ya know? I want him to approve of everything. I love his input, and how safe he makes me feel when he's around. Not that the bodyguards don't do that either, but the house isn't just a bunch of nice bricks and stone put together when he's around. It feels like an actual home. I want him to be my dad and I couldn't be happier." Harper was now beginning to tear up.
"But?" Abby asked. She grabbed Harper's hand as she spoke.
"But, what will this do to him? He is like every one of my friend's celebrity crush-which is disgusting now that I think about it- but how will they feel when they know he had a kid? What about other women around the globe who love him? What about the press? When they find this out, he won't have a resting day in sight, Auntie A! Not to mention mom. She's going to be known as the woman that FTG3 screwed and got pregnant out of wedlock and 'oh, hey, by the way, she can SING!?' I know that's not true. Not from the way Fi-I mean my dad looks at her. He loves her. This is gonna bring so much headache to everyone involved and I don't want everyone hurt because of me." Harper's tears began to cascade down her beautiful face and Fitz knew he couldn't hold it in much longer.
Abby winked her eye at both parents and spoke to Harper, "Well, you can always act like you didn't hear it and go on with your life as if you never learned that info."
Harper jerked her head as if Abby had smacked her.
"Are you nuts? He's my dad! I've wanted a dad since….we since I've been here. I don't give a damn WHAT other think. I just need a way to protect them from getting hurt. Do you know how bad it's gonna suck to lose him and I only just got him?" Harper wiped her nose with her IV attached hand.
"Harp, I only recently found out myself about you, ya know? I understand why it was kept from me, and I promise as long as you will have me, that I am NOT going anywhere." Fitz was now crying. Truth be told, there wasn't a dry eye in the room.
Olivia chimed in, "Harp, I didn't tell anyone because I was trying to protect you and Fitz"
Harper was crying harder now, and Abby leaned over and kissed her niece on her forehead before stepping closer to the door.
As if another light bulb went off in her head, Harper's eyes shot over to her parents. Fitz was walking toward his daughter and Olivia eased to the foot of the bed. Fitz knelt down to be beside Harper.
Harper felt like the drugs in her system all of a sudden were dormant and she was now seeing clearly. She was staring into eyes that matched hers and she now understood why. She snuck a glance at her mother and saw tears streaming down her face as well.
Harper knew there was SO MUCH that needed to be talked about, but at that very moment, hearing her FATHER tell her that he had found her and was NOT letting go of her proved to be too much for her to bare and she opened her emotional flood gates, sobbing into her hands. Her cries were of pure happiness and some fear of the future.
Without thinking, Fitz shed his coat and shoes and slid into the bed with his daughter. He wrapped his hand around her back and pulled her slightly into his chest, where she finally nestled in comfortably and began to sob even harder. Fitz rubbed circles into Harper's back, whispering that he was here and it was ok to cry. He told her how much he loved her over and over again, and Harper began to cling to his shirt for dear life as she cried.
Olivia choked on her own tears, finally able to see father and daughter interact as actual father and daughter, and Abby knew she had to get out of this room since this crying seemed to be contagious.
Abby excused herself and Olivia though it was best to leave the father and daughter in some privacy for a moment. She moved to follow Abby, but Fitz cleared his throat, getting her attention. He gave her a knowing look, and she hugged Abby and closed the door behind her. She walked over to the bed, pulling a chair up to the other side of her daughter. Fitz held out the hand that was not holding Harper tightly and Olivia took it. She leaned over onto the bed and rested her head until Harper insisted she join them in bed. Together, Fitz and Olivia consoled their crying daughter, wondering where they went from here. Harper knew the truth. The hardest part was out of the way…..
Right?
AN: Gotta end it here! I love reading all your reviews. I have to give the same rant on this page as I did on my last update of TFTH. Ready? I promise to make it quick:
What I write is what I WRITE. If you don't like it or don't agree with it, please do us both a favor and find yourself another FICTION story to read. I write what I feel and some days are better than others. I can take constructive criticism, but when you messages become more than something I wouldn't say to someone in a public setting (yeah, I can be outspoken), we have a serious problem.
If you don't like my writing or my story, there is a link that will undo the clicks that brought you in here!
With that being said, feel free to review and comment. Your reviews are my fuel to keep going! So, Harper knows! Will she remember everything when the haze clears? She kissed Nick!? SAY WHAAAT? Interesting….and ABBY knew…SMH.
Will things get easier from here on out? I sure hope so….
Will update soon!
XOXO
