AN: still working to get back into this one. This was more of a filler chapter…nothing earth shaking…just trying my hand to see where this story is going.

Enjoy!

Happy Reading!

XOXO

The driveway to Fitz's parent's home was long and beautiful. The woods seemed peaceful and the blanket of pure white snow made it look like something out of a magazine. It reminded Harper of the town her other grandparents were from.

OTHER grandparents….that thought alone was enough to shake her to her core. She was so elated to be meeting Fitz's family, but more than anything, she was nervous. Would they like her? Would they judge her mother or her? Would they be star struck and stare at her the entire trip? All these things swarmed at the forefront of her head and the entire time, the only person she wanted to hear from was suffering from her silent treatment.

Nick.

She couldn't bring herself to talk to him. True, he had revealed his stepmom's plan in an effort to save her, but Harper still got a bad feeling about it all. Why hadn't he told her before? What were they planning to do with her if they caught her? Could she really trust him? After all, he had stood flat foot in front of her parents and declared his love for her. She had to admit to herself that that was a balsy move….Fitz wasn't exactly a bundle of joy when it came to her and her safety.

"Do you think she's ok?" Fitz asked Liv for the tenth time in the last 12 hours.

Liv took a deep breath as she licked her lips and moved her gaze from the wilderness back to Fitz.

"I hope so. She seems like my punkin, but I know she misses him." Liv admitted sadly.

Fitz grabbed her hand, kissing her knuckles and resting it on the center console. Harper kept her gaze out the window, but she heard what they said. She wished she didn't feel as sad as she did, but there was really nothing she could do. She planned to have fun with this new side of her family and try to forget about Nick.

It was nearing the end of March the small family were now on their way to Northern New Hampshire to visit with her new set of Grandparents. Fitz had insisted on driving his own black Suburban, which afforded much room in the back for Harper to stretch out with her headphones in her ears and the many bags the ladies brought along to fit comfortably as well.

Harper sat up as the car eased to a halt. She took in the view from her window in the back and her breath caught in her throat. The home was magnificent. It had an older feel to it; the pillars on the porch gave it a real presidential feel, but the homey design on the outside, including the swing and yard furniture and the chimney puffing smoke out brought the comfy feel to her. She squinted as her eyes rested on the door, where an older couple stood with their hands clasped and smiles on their faces.

"Here we are." Fitz announced. He glanced back at Harper, watching her take in the scene before her. She quickly made eye contact with him and smiled.

"You grew up here? It's really beautiful." Harper admitted.

"I did…and thanks. Let's get you ladies all settled in. Everyone who isn't here already will start to arrive soon." Fitz said as he exited the truck. He walked to greet his parents, who walked out into the yard more and Harper smiled as she witness him spin his mother around and plant a kiss on her cheek and then clasp hands with his dad, hug him, and give him a kiss as well.

"Harper? Did you hear me?" Liv brought Harper out of her thoughts as she spoke and patted her knee.

"Hunh? Sorry, Ma. I didn't…what's up?"

"I said are you ready? Do you need a minute?"

Harper shook her head as Fitz turned back around and looked at her window. Even with the dark tint, she was certain he was looking directly at her and she felt at ease. Harper looked at her mother and smiled.

"No. I'm good. Let's go."

Harper exited the vehicle with her and the two held hands. The air felt great and crisp as she filled her lungs, taking a deep breath to calm her nerves. Harper tightened her grip on Liv's hand as Fitz escorted his mother back to the most important women in his life, his father following closely. Katherine Grant stood at about 5'7 with chocolate brown curls that matched Fitz's hair and porcelain skin. She didn't look a day over 40. Gerry Grant was about 6'3, general muscular build, and had salt and pepper hair, along with a pair of eyes that Harper couldn't help but get lost in.

"Livvie, this is my mom, Katherine and my dad, Gerry. Mom, Dad, this is Olivia." Fitz introduced her first.

Liv dropped Harper's hand and moved to shake the couple's hands. Harper felt her chest tighten when she saw the awful frown on Katherine's face.

"Oh, no, sweetheart, we don't shake hands in this family. We HUG. Now come on over here!" Katherine squealed as she hugged Liv tightly. Gerry then took his turn, hugging Liv and kissing her cheek, welcoming her to their home.

Fitz moved to stand next to Harper and pulled her into him by her shoulders, giving her a gentle squeeze and a kiss on top of her head. He felt her instantly relax a bit.

"And this is…"

"Harper." Katherine breathed barely above a whisper.

Harp plastered a smile on her face. She was inwardly shaking but in true Pope fashion, she hid it well. She removed herself from Fitz's embrace and walked a few steps to stand in front of Katherine. Katherine made a move to touch her cheek, but stopped a few inches short and looked into Harper's eyes for permission. When Harper nodded slightly, Katherine touched her granddaughter's face for the first time and tears began to swell in her eyes. Harper felt a familiar knot in her throat as well as the gravity of the situation started to hit her. Moving swiftly, Harp wrapped her slender arms around Katherine's neck and shed a tear on her shoulder as she inhaled lilacs and her grandmother's unique scent. Katherine wept silently. Gerry stood next to his wife, silently wiping tears as well as he witnessed the entire exchange. Liv and Fitz now stood off to the side holding hands. Harper pulled back and looked at her grandmother.

"Those eyes! My God child, you are DEFINITELY a Grant!" Katherine exclaimed, making everyone laugh.

"Hi, sweetheart." Gerry stated gently to her. He extended his arms to her and engulfed her in a bear hug. Harper took a deep breath, reveling in the smell of peppermint and pipe tobacco and that memory was now etched in her brain.

"It's so good to meet you. I-WE love you so very much." Gerry stated as he and Katherine joined in hugging Harper yet again.

After all the pleasantries were exchanged, Fitz moved to grab the bags from the car. Gerry insisted they come inside and greet everyone first, then worry about the bags.

Everyone walked back toward the house together. Liv stopped short as Harper and her grandparents made their way back up the stairs and through the front door.

"Liv?" Fitz questioned.

"Fitz…I..what if…I mean, this isn't about me….but what if…"

Fitz turned to look her in the eye and instantly knew what was wrong with her. He let his lips touch her forehead, nose, and then her lips gently, which seemed to shut her up quickly as her breath caught. Katherine and Gerry turned around to witness the entire ordeal, and Harper stood between them rolling her eyes in true teenager attitude, but inwardly excited. She had watched her parents tip toe around each other so much lately and she knew it was because of her.

It wasn't lost on either Liv or Fitz how long it had been since their lips had touched.

"They are going to love you…because I love you." Fitz stated simply as if he were telling her it was snow on the ground."

Liv was relaxed in his arms, and took a deep breath.

"Ok."

/

As soon as everyone came inside, they all took off their winter coats. Harper went to walk away, but Fitz caught her by the arm.

"take you shoes off, Harp."

"Hunh?"

"It's a crazy weird mental thing for my mom, but she will eat you alive if you don't." Fitz seemed like he was reliving some crazy childhood memory as he instructed her, and she couldn't help but laugh at him as she obeyed.

Once everyone was comfortable, they made their way through the house, stopping in certain rooms to greet whomever was there, and continued throughout the entire home. The family had decided to meet up to meet and greet Harper, but Fitz knew that this many people in his parent's home wasn't really strange.

After everyone had met most of the adults, Katherine excused herself and grabbed Harper's hand. She led her down a double set of stairs to a wooden sliding door.

"The children are in this room. I don't know how this will go, sweet girl. They might be in here playing grab ass already, but I figure you might have a bit more fun with them. You ready?" Katherine asked.

Harper took a deep breath and nodded.

Katherine slid the door open and all the chatter you could hear from the other side suddenly died down. Most of the kids in the home belonged to different family members as the Grants were a MASSIVE family. Katherine made her way in the room first.

"You guys ok down here?" she asked.

"Yeah, Nana. We are good." Jason spoke up. Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Good. So, Nana's usually pretty good about coming through with her promises on a surprise, hunh?"

"Yes" they all chorused.

"Good. Here's one of them." She stated as she stepped back. The room was so quiet, you could hear lint falling to the carpet. Harper stood beside her grandmother and forced a confident smile on her face.

The ear piercing scream of a pair of 8 year old twins threatened to burst the windows.
"OH MY GOSH, IT'S HARPER POPE!" the girls squealed loudly. All the other children in the room smiled and watched in awe.

Jess and Jazz were Fitz's cousin's kids. They were the second set of twins in the family. Mckinlee and Mckayla were the other, which were also twins. Jason was Jess and Jazz's older brother, and Katherine went around the room stating every kid's name in there. Once she was finally done, she came back to Harper.

"Harper is your cousin."

Most of the children already knew this; information spread on social media like wildfire. A few were still stunned and stared at her like she was a Marvin, the Martian.

Katherine stood still as she watched the miniature Grants finally begin to trickle over one by one to shake her hand, fangirl over her, or just give her a hug and welcome her to the family. Harper was so tied up with meeting everyone that she didn't hear her grandmother exit the room.

AN: OK, so we are stopping here for today. Like I said in the first AN, this is just a filler to get back into this story. I'm sorry that I haven't updated it in a while, but it's the one that has fallen off my brain…

SO, how will this visit go? How long will it last? Who are the other family members we are waiting on? I will answer all these questions in the next installment. I plan on writing them in this family setting for a few more chapters, so get ready to meet all the Grant family has to offer….Crazy, silly, loving people….RIGHT? What do you guys think will happen? I'm open to suggestions…if they are constructive! LOL… We will hear more from Nick too…(yeah, that's not over yet either).

HAHA!

Happy Reading!

XOXO