A/N: I love reading the reviews! This chapter is based off of a review that I got this morning, and there will be at least one more chapter coming today! Remember to review, and let me know what you think, and what you would like to see!
"Are you ready to go to the park, buddy?" Fitz asked his son as he tied the little boy's shoes. Teddy nodded quickly, grinning from ear to ear as he watched his father. He was beyond excited about going to the park with his parents; it had been a long time since he had been to the park, and even then, it had been with Marta or Nanny Jen. He had never been to the park with Mellie and Fitz, and he was really looking forward to showing them everything. He was excited to slide down the slide with Mellie, to let Fitz push him on the swing, and to show them both how fast he could run across the soccer field. As soon as Fitz finished tying his shoes, he jumped off of the couch and ran into the kitchen, tugging at the bottom of Mellie's pants.
"Mama! Let's gooooo!" He yelled, and Mellie just laughed as she leaned down and picked him up. She balanced him on her hip as she finished making ham and cheese subs for the three of them. Fitz helped her put them in Ziploc bags and then put them into the tote bag, along with a few bags of chips, some snacks, and a few bottles of water. After she finished packing their lunch, she made sure that Teddy's diaper bag was packed, and that he had everything that he would need on their family outing. When she had checked everything twice, she told Fitz that she was ready to go, and they headed out.
Since it was a nice day out, they decided to walk to the park. It wasn't as peaceful as it would be without the secret service and the agents following them, but it was still peaceful. By the time that the playground was in sight, Teddy was squirming and trying his hardest to get out of Mellie's arms. She laughed as she set him down, and watched him run at full-speed, looking back every few seconds to make sure that Mellie and Fitz were still behind him. "Hurrys!" He yelled back at them, and Mellie looked at Fitz before looking back at Teddy.
"I'll race ya." She told him, smirking as she prepared to start running.
"You're on." Fitz grinned and glanced at Teddy. "Ready? Set, go!"
The two of them started running, laughing together as they ran to catch up to their son. Teddy giggled as he watched his parents, and Fitz scooped him into his arms, smiling as he turned to see Mellie right next to him. "You were pretty close, but I'm gonna have to say that I won that one." He joked, winking at his wife. Mellie just laughed, leaning down and kissing Teddy's head. "What do you think, buddy?"
Teddy shrugged, giggling as he reached for Mellie. "Me no know."
Mellie took him into her arms, tickling his stomach as they walked the rest of the way to the playground. "What do you want to do, buddy?"
"Slide!" He pointed to the tall slide in front of them, and looked down at his mother. "Yous go?" Teddy asked, putting on his famous pout to make sure that Mellie would agree to go with him. He held onto her as Mellie carried him up the stairs and up to the slide, Fitz staying at the bottom so that he could watch them come down.
"Of course I'll go, sweetheart." She kissed his temple before getting on the slide with him, slowly sliding down as she held him close to her. Teddy giggled the whole way down, and Mellie couldn't help but smile as she heard the laughs escaping her son's mouth. When they reached the bottom, Fitz was waiting there, clapping for them both. Teddy smiled and clapped as well, begging Mellie to go again. She took him back up and the two of them went down again, Teddy's laugh echoing throughout the park.
When they got off the second time, Teddy toddled over to Fitz and pointed at the swings on the other side of the playground. "Swing!" He jumped up and down and ran over to them, hoping that Fitz would follow him. He did, of course, and Teddy tried his hardest to get up in the swing on his own. Fitz watched him struggle for a second, until Teddy looked at him and frowned. He lifted him into it and slowly pushed him, laughing as Teddy begged him to push him higher and higher. Mellie watched from a bench behind them, and Teddy grinned when he saw his mother. "Mama! Look!"
"I see you, baby! You're so high!" Mellie waved at him, smiling and taking a few pictures with her phone. She had Fitz's as well, and when she heard the familiar noise of a ringtone, it took her a second to realize that it wasn't her phone that was ringing, but Fitz's. Olivia Pope's name flashed across the screen, as well as a message. She wanted so badly to look at it. She knew that she shouldn't, but she wanted to. Had Fitz been talking to her? Was she just texting him out of the blue? What was she texting him about? There were so many questions she had that could just be answered by opening the message, but that would be distrusting Fitz. That would go against everything that they were trying to fix. It was wrong of her to open the message, and so she didn't. Of course, she would wonder what it said. She would wonder if Fitz was still talking to her, if he really hadn't changed. But then she realized, if he had something to hide, he wouldn't have given her his phone. "Fitz! You have a text message."
Fitz looked back at her for a second, before going back to pushing their son. "Who's it from?"
Mellie's answer was immediate. "Olivia."
He wasn't sure why Olivia was texting him, but he wanted Mellie to trust him. And he had absolutely nothing to hide from her. "Will you open it and tell me what it says, please?"
A load was lifted off of Mellie's shoulders when he told her to open it. She couldn't possibly explain how happy she was that he had told her to open it for him. In the back of her mind, she wondered if he had still been talking to her, but as she opened the conversation, she realized that there hadn't been a message between them in over a week. Of course, there was always the possibility that he deleted them, but that didn't seem like Fitz. Not anymore. "She asked if you've made a decision..." She looked up at Fitz, and he excused himself from pushing Teddy for a moment.
As he walked toward his wife, Teddy looked back at his parents, curious about what was going on. Fitz took his phone from Mellie, typing a quick message before handing it back to her. Mellie watched him, confused as she took the phone back. She wasn't sure if she should look at the screen or not, so she just continued to look at him. "You can read it, Mels."
"Mellie. I choose Mellie."
The tears welled up in her eyes as she read the text over and over again. It seemed so much more real now that he had told Olivia. She wasn't sure why it seemed that way, but it just did. "Thank you..." She choked out, and it was obvious that Fitz had reassured her that he was serious about trying, that he really wanted her back.
"Don't thank me. It's what I needed to do." He leaned down and kissed the top of her head. "If she texts back, feel free to answer anything she says, however you'd like." He walked back over to Teddy, who was swinging slowly, waiting for his father to come back. Mellie alternated between looking at the phone and at Fitz and Teddy. It was amazing how just one four-letter text message could mean so much to her.
Once Teddy was done swinging and the three of them were getting hungry, they all settled down on the grass to eat their lunch. Teddy was curled up in Mellie's lap, munching messily on his sandwich and shoveling barbecue Lays into his mouth. Mellie and Fitz both laughed as they watched their son eat, and Teddy was absolutely oblivious as to what they were laughing at.
"Did Olivia say anything else?" Fitz asked, and Mellie just handed him his phone.
"Mellie? You choose Mellie? Are you serious?"
"Yes."
"For good? You're not going to get her hopes up and then come running back to me?"
"No."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"Why don't I believe that?"
"I don't know."
"I'll believe it when I see it, Fitz."
"Okay."
"Good luck with her. I hope it works out and I hope you finally find out what you want."
"Thanks."
"I had to reply with short answers to keep from getting rude with her...I was tempted, believe me." Mellie laid her head on Fitz's shoulder as she ate her sandwich, and Fitz read through the text messages.
"You did good. I know that that was probably hard for you..." He frowned and kissed her head as he slipped his phone back into Mellie's hand. "I know you don't need it, but you have full permission to go through my phone at any time. You have full permission to look over my shoulder and to read my texts whenever you want. I want you to trust me. And I don't know if you'll do it or if that will make you feel better, but I just want you to know for sure that I have nothing to hide. I know that it'll take a while for you to be able to fully trust me again, if you ever will, and believe me, I know I don't deserve your trust. But I think that that'll help you believe that you're the only one that matters to me anymore, and that you're my one and only." He took Mellie's hand and gently squeezed it, and Mellie squeezed it back, smiling at him.
"Thank you, honey...You have no idea how much that means to me." She turned and kissed his cheek, looking down at Teddy. "I know you're working on earning my trust back and proving to me that things are going to be different, but I think you should try doing that with Teddy too..."
Fitz nodded, running his hand through Mellie's hair. "I agree. You think he'll let me talk to him alone later?"
"I think he will."
After they finished eating, Mellie told Fitz and Teddy that she wanted to rest for a few, so the two of them decided to go for a walk. Fitz picked up Teddy and carried him, waiting a few minutes before he decided to start talking to him. "Hey, buddy?"
"Huh?" Teddy asked, looking up at his father.
"I know that, uh, things have been pretty different lately. And I know that daddy was mean to mommy a while ago, and that that hurt you pretty bad." He ran his hand through Teddy's hair. "And I've said sorry to mommy, but I haven't said sorry to you. I know that when I hurt mommy, I hurt you too, and I didn't mean to do that, buddy. I didn't mean to hurt either of you. And I'm so sorry for that." Fitz was on the verge of tears. He felt terrible for what him kicking Mellie out of the house did to his son. He had no idea that it would have affected him as bad as it did.
Teddy cuddled in closer to Fitz, wrapping his arms around his neck and laying his head on his shoulder. "It kays, daddy." He whispered, kissing Fitz's cheek. Fitz just smiled, kissing the top of the little boy's head.
"Thanks buddy. I promise I'm gonna be nicer to mommy now, okay?"
"Kays."
Fitz walked around with Teddy some more, until he was falling asleep on his shoulder. When they got back to the playground, Mellie was sitting on the bench, talking on the phone with Elizabeth. When she saw her husband and son, she told Elizabeth that she had to go, and smiled at Fitz. "He sleepin'?" She asked, her southern accent poking through as she spoke. He just nodded, and carefully handed their son to his wife. "Are we ready to go home?"
"Yeah. We should probably get him laid down for his nap. And out of the sun so he doesn't get sunburnt."
Mellie nodded and stood up, walking back with Fitz. When they got back, Mellie took Teddy to his room and put him down for his nap before coming back into the living room, where Fitz was sitting on the couch. "I had a lot of fun today. I'm glad we did that. And I think Teddy really enjoyed it," Mellie told him as she sat down on the couch, resting her head on Fitz's shoulder.
"I did too. And I think he did too. I don't think I've ever heard him laugh so much. It was nice. We're finally becoming the real family that we're supposed to be." He took Mellie's hand, gently rubbing it as he looked at the wall.
Mellie smiled, closing her eyes as Fitz rubbed the top of her hand. "We are."
The two of them stayed silent for a few minutes, until Fitz slowly got up. "I should get back to work. Do you and Teddy want to come up later so that we can all have dinner together?"
When he got up, Mellie sat up as well, slowly opening her eyes. "We would love to."
Fitz turned to leave, but Mellie took his hand and stopped him. She stood up and wrapped her arms around his neck, looking into his eyes for a few seconds before leaning in and pressing her lips against his. They kissed for a few seconds before pulling away and smiling at one another. It was an innocent kiss, but it was a step. They were taking baby steps, but at least they were steps.
"I'll see you later, okay? I love you." Mellie squeezed his hand before pulling away, watching as Fitz walked to the door.
"I love you too, Mels." He walked out, feeling as if they were really getting somewhere. He hadn't expected it in the beginning; he really didn't believe that Mellie would even consider taking him back. But he was so glad that she did, and he was so glad that they were on their way to becoming a family again. Slowly, but surely.