CHAPTER SIX: AWAY WE GO!
20 YEARS AGO:
Tima sat down on one of the lounge seats on the outside deck of the Grant Villa in Antiqua in shock. Her only child just confessed to murdering his parents in cold blood. She knew that Gerry's relationship with Senior and Susan was fraught with tension - Gerry often accused Susan of abuse - but she didn't know it would ever lead to this.
Senior and Susan had summoned Gerry to Antiqua to confront him about his philandering ways. He was engaged to a woman his parents wanted him to marry, but yet again, he was all over the tabloids running around with the latest model de jour. The parents had political aspirations for their son, but with his rebel reputation, he was throwing his political career in the toilet. After the death of his wife, they gave him a little time to grieve, then found him a suitable candidate for a wife.
Gerry didn't want to remarry, he was still in love with his dead wife. Not wanting to deal with the sadness of her death, he went to bars, got drunk, partied and took home random women. His exploits were all over the newspapers and Senior and Susan were embarrassed. They summoned him to their vacation home to warn him that if he didn't get his shit together they were disowning him, dissolving his trust fund and restricting his access to their bank accounts. They were not playing with him and he snapped.
Instead of acquiescing to their wishes like he usually did, he stood up for himself. He didn't back down when Senior threatened him with disinheritance. He didn't flinch when Susan slapped him in the face - once again. Instead, he calmly walked to the kitchen, pulled out a knife and walked up to the person closest to him and started stabbing. When he was finished, he'd stabbed his father over twenty times. The entire time Gerry was killing his father, Susan screamed and tried her best to pull Gerry off of his father. Gerry soon silenced her when he slit her throat in a swift move, blood splattering every where. He felt satisfied as he sat on his knees between the lifeless bodies of his parents, their blood slowly leaking out onto the white carpeted floor.
After a few hours of sitting in a trance, Gerry blinked his eyes and took in his surroundings. He looked at the knife in his hands and then at his parents bodies and began to panic. In that moment, his cellphone rang. He wiped his hands on his pants and pulled the phone from his back pocket.
"Hello?"
"Gerry? I've been calling you for hours! Where are you? You were supposed to meet me for dinner and…"
"Verna," Gerry interrupted, his voice cracking. "I think I…"
"Are you crying? Gerry, what's wrong?"
"I think…I think I killed my parents!"
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After getting off the phone with Verna, his next call was to his real mother, Fatima. He was still covered in blood when Fatima showed up hours later. He cried on her shoulders and told her what happened.
Fatima was still sitting in the same spot when Verna showed up, a few hours after her phone call to Gerry.
Verna didn't show up alone. After she hung up the phone with Gerry, she called her a friend from college, someone she knew could clean up the mess that the love of her life was in.
"Verna, who is this?" Gerry asked, coming down the steps in a robe and rubbing his damp curls with a towel.
"Gerry, this is Eli Pope, fixer extrodinaire. He and I went to Georgetown together. He's going to help us get you out of this…situation."
Eli, who'd been standing off to the side, whispering into his cellphone, hung up the phone at the mention of his name. "You must be Fitzgerald Thomas Grant, II. Nice to meet you, I'm Eli." Eli held out his hand for Gerry to shake.
Gerry shook Eli's hand skeptically. "Verna says you're a 'fixer'? You can help me?"
"I am. I can," Eli nodded. "But it won't be easy. I'll need your full cooperation, and of course, I'll want something in return."
"Of course," Gerry grumbled. He wasn't numb enough to truly believe he'd get away with double murder without any consequences. "What do you want?"
"At some point in the future, I'll be calling in a favor. When I call, you better come through."
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As she waited for Fitz's brother, Rick, to announce them as a couple, she looked across the room at locked eyes with her husband. He looked so dashing standing beside the curtain watching her as if she hung the stars and the moon. She raised her hand to catch the kiss he blew to her and returned his ear to ear smile.
After he'd come home early, much to her surprise and delight, they'd made love for hours, effectively ending her chastity. They'd been awoken a few hours after closing their eyes by Michonne knocking on their bedroom door, letting Olivia know that she was ready to leave for the airport. Olivia begrudgingly got out of bed, deliciously sore between her legs, brushed her teeth and washed her face and nether regions, then quickly dressed in leggings, t-shirt, ballerina slippers and pulled her hair into a messy bun, then drove her dearest friend to the airport. After a watery goodbye, Olivia assured Michonne that she'd be in Atlanta for her baby shower in a couple of months and waved until Michonne disappeared amongst the throng of people at the Seattle Tacoma International Airport. Then she was off to meet with the party planner at the Olympic Rooftop Pavilion, a beautiful open aired banquet hall and restaurant that featured vaulted ceilings, a 20 foot skylight, south and west facing window walls that opened fully, and sweeping views of the mountains and waterways that sat atop Hotel Ballard along Ballard Avenue facing the Elliot Bay. After going over the Mediterranean style menu, and making sure that the decorations and seating in the banquet hall were perfect, Olivia drove home and walked in to Fitz drinking coffee and feeding the twins in the kitchen while chatting with Quinn, Abby, Gideon, Tima and Jeremiah. Fitz poured her a cup of coffee and fixed it just the way she liked it, with a dollop of honey and lots of oat milk and handed it to her. After blowing the coffee to cool it down, she slowly sipped on the beverage while watching Fitz interact with everyone. Quinn and Abby, who'd never met him before this morning were staring at him and hanging on to his every word, while Tima and Jeremiah ribbed him about not doing Stella's hair right. Olivia giggled at Tima - who'd brought Stella's hair-box down to the kitchen and quickly re-did Stella's hair into a style much more becoming than the lumpy ponytail Fitz had given her - fussing at Fitz under her breath while she untangled the hair band he'd managed to get stuck in Stella's hair. Fitz, who'd turned bright red from embarrassment, welcomed the feel of Olivia's arms wrapping around him from the back. He turned around in her arms and gave her a peck on the lips. The kiss would have gone further, but Jeremiah dragged Fitz away from Olivia to show him how to properly pick out Xavier's hair. Eventually, Mrs. Smith, the housekeeper, came into the kitchen mortified that there was hair products and hair combing in her kitchen. She shoo'd everyone out in a tizzy of cleaning, causing everyone to disperse to get ready for the reception.
While Olivia showered, Tima helped Fitz get the twins dressed in their outfits that Olivia had picked out for them especially for today. Xavier was dressed in a mini Tom Ford suit and little slip on Louboutin dress shoes that matched Fitz suit and shoes exactly, and Stella was dressed in a white taffeta and lace frilly dress with white, red bottom Mary Janes. They were so cute, Fitz couldn't take it and pulled out his phone and snapped pictures until they fell asleep for nap time.
An hour later, Olivia, Quinn, Abby and Tima left the house to meet their make up artist, Ashunta Sheriff in one of the rooms at Hotel Ballard, while Fitz and Gideon drove to Fitz's airstrip to pick up Harrison and Huck. Stephen, who already lived in Seattle, and Rick, who'd be flying in on his own jet later, were going to meet them at the venue.
Olivia had barely finished getting dressed when she was alerted that the paparazzi had showed up and were blocking the entrance to the party. 'Alright girlie, it's show time' she reminded herself as she got in boss mode. She ordered the guards to push the paps back and make room for her guests to enter the venue, then she made her way to the ballroom to await greeting her husband. It'd been a long day, a long six months and an even longer year. Olivia was ready to let the world know that one of the world's most eligible bachelors was no longer on the market. She was also hoping that her father would see news footage of their reception and see that she'd done what he'd wanted her to do and leave them alone, but deep down in her heart she knew better. She knew that for Eli, her marrying Fitz was just the beginning. He'd never leave them alone until his complete plan came to fruition. Olivia wished she knew what that plan was. Now that she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she was madly, hopelessly and deeply in love with Fitz, and they'd formed a bond as a family, she'd do anything to protect them. As she listened to Rick bring an end to his speech, she took a deep breath and smiled.
"Without further ado, I want to introduce, for the first time, but definitely not the last, Commander and Doctor Grant!"
Coming from each end of the platform from behind curtains, Fitz and Olivia met each other in the middle. While the audience applauded, Fitz hugged his brother and introduced him to Olivia who he hadn't got the chance to meet yet. Rick stuck his hand out for Olivia to shake, but she pushed his hand aside and drew him in for a hug. "We're family now, and in this family, we hug!"
Rick pulled back from the hug, grinning. "It's nice to finally meet you, Olivia."
Olivia stood back and took in the brothers standing next to each other. Fitz was slightly taller than Rick, so Rick had to be 6'3. They had the same fluffy, curly, dark blonde hair, the same luminous blue eyes, same nose, same dimples, pouty lips, glaringly bright white teeth, and tan skin and they both had GQ model good looks with lean muscular builds. Despite how much they looked alike, they weren't twins; Rick looked exactly like their father, and Fitz favored his mother, Katherine. "It's nice to meet you too! How was your flight?"
"It was great…"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah…" Fitz gently pushed Rick out of the way. "I want to kiss my wife. Dr. Grant may I?"
"Yes you may, Commander," Olivia smiled in anticipation.
Fitz took her hand and pulled her against his chest. Even though she was wearing heels, she still had to stand on her tip toes to meet his mouth. Fitz lifted her by the waist for easier access to her mouth and pressed his lips gently to hers, trying his best to not ruin her lip gloss. The audience applauded louder and Olivia blushed as Fitz lowered her until her feet touched the ground. Lowering himself down on one knee, he pulled a box from his pocket, opened it and presented it to her. Olivia looked down at the box and gasped, covering her mouth with one hand and placing her other hand over her heart. Inside it was a huge Tacori diamond engagement ring surrounded by multiple smaller diamonds set upon a platinum band and a matching wide diamond encrusted wedding band.
"I never got the chance to properly ask you to marry me, so I'm asking you now…Olivia Carolyn Grant, will you do me the honor of re-marrying me on our one year anniversary?"
Olivia knelt down in front of Fitz and wrapped her arms around him. "Of course I will! I would marry you over and over again!"
Fitz stood up with Olivia and put the wedding band on her fourth left finger first, then the engagement ring. He then pulled out another box and handed it to her. She opened it and there was a larger, Tacori diamond encrusted wedding band. She took the band out of the box and slid it onto his fourth left finger and smiled. It was official he'd claimed his woman and she'd claimed her man in front of their close friends and family.
She was happy and slightly dazed as Fitz led her amongst the crowd of people. She didn't know feeling like this was possible, like there was no ceiling, no limit to happiness. For most of her life she felt like she was always waiting for the other shoe to drop - like something bad was always around the corner - and for most of her life that bad was always her father, waiting for some opportunity to try and ruin her life.
After Fitz led her around the room and introductions were made on both sides, Fitz and Olivia retrieved their twins from Tima and Jeremiah. Fitz then led her outside where there was a limo waiting for them. When Olivia questioned Fitz about where they were going, he said, "You probably think that my surprise was me coming home early and the wedding rings…and in part it was. But, my real surprise is where I'm taking you for our honeymoon."
Olivia's eyes grew round. "But Fitz, we were barely at the reception! Shouldn't we stay a little while longer?"
"The reception was to introduce us to the world as a married couple. The rings are a symbol of our unity. With all the cameras and video footage, all of that will be made apparent very soon. I've been away from you for 6 months. During that time, we talked everyday. I got to know you, I got to know the twins. Now that I'm home and done with military life, I just want to spend time with you and our babies. Maybe make some more babies - that's completely up to you, by the way. I want us to travel, eat good, sit on beaches around the world and stare into each others eyes. I want to live life to the fullest with you!" Fitz opened the limo door and got in with Xavier to buckle him into his car seat then took Stella from Olivia and buckled her into her carseat. He then helped Olivia into the limo, and got in beside her. He then pressed a button on the door to alert the driver that they were ready to go.
As the limo took off towards their private air strip, Olivia laid her head on Fitz's shoulder sighed contentedly. "Do I at least get to know where we are going?"
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FITZ'S POV:
When Olivia walked out onto the other end of the stage in her white, lace, bell bottomed, Nadine Merabi jumpsuit with white Louboutin platforms, she quite literally took Fitz's breath away. She wore her hair straight with a part down the middle and flowing down her back, her only jewelry were the large diamond hoop earrings dangling from her ears and her dainty septum and lebret piercings. She looked like a model with edge and he loved it. He couldn't wait to get her alone, but he had more surprises for her.
As soon as they were in the air, Olivia and the twins fell asleep in the bedroom cabin at the back of the plane. Fitz stayed up a little while longer making phone calls to his staff to make sure that everything was ready for when they landed. After sorting out all the final touches of his surprise, Fitz finally climbed into bed with his family. Nine hours later, they awoke to the pilot's announcement that they were within a half an hour of landing.
"Fitz, where are we?" Olivia asked as she walked down the air steps carrying Xavier.
Fitz took Olivia's free hand and helped her down the last remaining steps before waving his arm in the direction of the lush trees and foliage in front of them. "Welcome to Georgiou Island babe."
"Georgiou? Isn't that your mother's maiden name?"
"It is," Fitz grinned. This island has been in my mother's family for six generations and it now belongs to you. Surprise, Sweet Baby!"
"You're giving me an island?" The tears that'd been pooling in Olivia's eyes finally spilled over.
"Yes, baby. Do you like it?"
"I love it!" Olivia cried.
Xavier saw his mother's tears and wiped them away. "No Mama!"
"That's right Xavier, tell her! No tears on Georgiou Island!" Fitz chuckled, kissing Xavier on his cheek.
Stella, who'd been sleeping against Fitz's chest raised her head grumpily. "Eat."
"Ok, Little Ma'am. Let's get some food in you!" Olivia brushed her daughter's cheek then looked to Fitz. "Show us the way?"
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After driving five miles inland, they finally approached Georgiou Manor, a sprawling two story villa complete with columns across the front of the wide entrance. Once inside, Fitz lead her through the great hallway through two rows of columns that led directly to the back of the villa into a wide open courtyard. The view from the courtyard was amazing and showed off the rest of the island, the beach and the Mediterranean Sea. It was breathtaking and Olivia couldn't stop smiling. Fitz then led his family to the large, step up kitchen that had already been stocked by his island staff. He'd called ahead and let them know that they could leave for the weekend, so it would just be him and his family. Fitz sat Stella in a highchair while Olivia did the same for Xavier. Opening up the cabinets, Fitz quickly found some organic blueberry puffs for the twins to munch on while he fixed them some breakfast.
"This looks amazing!" Olivia gushed as she dug into the plate of scrambled eggs, turkey bacon, pancakes and hash browns. "Did Tima teach you to cook like this?"
"She did," Fitz responded as he fed Stella a bite of eggs. "She told me and Rick that she was teaching us to cook so she wouldn't have to do it for us for the rest of our lives."
"Did she not like cooking?"
"Nope. I never understood it because to this day she has the best cooking I've ever tasted."
"She can burn in the kitchen!" Olivia agreed.
"Have you tried her shrimp and grits? They are AMAZING!"
"No, I haven't. I'm more of a sweet with grits over savory, so…"
"What?" Fitz sat his fork down, swallowing his food with a gulp.
"I'm a sweet over savory type of gal," Olivia shrugged.
"That is blasphemy! I'm telling Tima when she gets here! I bet you change your mind after you have her grits!"
"It won't change my mind. Tima is coming here? When?"
"The last week of our trip. Along with Pop Pop, Quinn and Abby. Also my brother, Stephen, Harrison, Huck and Gideon. They'll all be staying here with us for that week, then we're all flying to my next surprise."
"Another surprise?"
"Yes Ma'am! And before you ask, no, I'm not telling you!"
Olivia pouted, prompting Fitz to kiss her downward turned lips. "Pouting doesn't become you, Beautiful."
Olivia returned his kisses, running her fingers through his soft curls.
Fitz moaned, kissed her forehead and pulled away, continuing to feed Stella. Fitz laughed as Olivia tried to feed Xavier but he turned his head, preferring to feed himself.
"Well excuse me, Little Sir! My bad!" Olivia smirked, returning to her own plate of food. "Are we still going to be on our honeymoon during the kids 1st birthday?"
"Yes. That is part of the surprise, actually."
"Oh, ok."
"Don't worry, everything will be perfect for their first birthday, I promise."
Olivia nodded her head and continued eating breakfast.
When breakfast was finished, Fitz took his little family on a tour of the palatial villa. By lunch time, they'd toured most of the island, including taking a swim with the twins in the pond on the southern side of the island called The Looking Glass, aptly named because of the water that was so clear you could see to the bottom.
The twins took to the water like fish as the splashed and kicked around in their covered swimming rings. Fitz took Xavier out of his ring first and floated him in the water, allowing him to get acclimated to the water. Fitz was using the same technique that Tima used on him and Rick to teach them how to swim. After awhile, Xavier was kicking his feet behind him as Fitz gently pulled him along with his hands. After watching them for a little while, Olivia pulled Stella out of her ring, and followed Fitz lead. It wasn't long before both babies were using their legs to splash in the water while holding on to their parents hands. Fitz was so proud of them. His little twins were fearless and he was ecstatic to be the one to show them new and exciting things. He'd missed so much of their first year of life, that he'd sworn to himself that he would make up for every first and every day that he'd missed. A lot of people would want to spend their honeymoon alone with their spouse, but not Fitz. He wouldn't dare leave his children behind. He didn't remember much about his childhood before Tima took him in. And although Tima did an excellent job raising Fitz and Rick, both boys grew up wondering why their father seemed to not want anything to do with them. Why didn't he come visit? Why didn't he TRY to be a father? From a young age, both Rick and Fitz vowed to be better and do better than their father. Now that Fitz had a family of his own, he wouldn't DARE leave them behind. He didn't want his children to feel about him what he felt his entire life towards his father - anger, resentment and loathing.
After a light lunch of caesar salad, baked chicken and lemonade for the adults and chicken bites and green beans for the children, Fitz and Olivia put the twins down for a nap in the upstairs nursery. While they were asleep, Fitz and Olivia unpacked their suitcases then fell asleep exhausted in each others arms.
When they awoke from their nap, Fitz spent the rest of the afternoon showing Olivia and the twins the vast farmland and orchards that sat to the east of the island. By the time evening came around, Fitz and Olivia had gathered plenty of fresh produce to help make dinner.
Earlier in the day, Fitz pulled a rack of lamb out of the deep freezer to thaw. After rinsing and cutting up potatoes, carrots, onions, and green beans, he added the veggies to the pan with the lamb, covered the pan and put it in the oven. Two hours later, the family of four sat at the circular, hand made Olive Wood, glass covered table and enjoyed their meal.
When the meal was finished, Olivia cleared the table and put the dishes in the sink for Fitz to wash. While he was doing the dishes, Olivia carried both the twins upstairs and bathed them. By the time she had them dressed in pajamas, Fitz was done in the kitchen and took over getting the babies ready for bed by reading them bedtime stories. Olivia giggled uncontrollably every time Xavier and Stella said, "Again, Da Da!" remembering how Fitz swore that he'd only read them two books at bedtime. While Fitz was reading his fifth book to the twins, Olivia left the room to take her own bath and wait for Fitz.
By the time Fitz was done reading to the twins and taking a shower, he got into bed with an already asleep Olivia. She'd forgotten to wrap her hair for the night, and it surrounded her face and pillow. Fitz smoothed her hair from her face and placed kisses on her forehead, nose and cheeks. "Good night, Sweet Baby," he said as he got comfortable on his side of the bed.
As the weeks went by, they solidified their bond as a family, spending every moment discovering new things on the island and learning new things about each other.
By the time the jet carrying the rest of their friends and family landed on Georgiou Island, they were an unshakable family unit - they had each other's backs and dared ANYONE to threaten what they had.
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A/N: Sorry to cut the chapter off right there, but, I had to…I wanted to get a chapter out to you guys and start fresh tomorrow with a new chapter. Let me just say right now: I won't be editing this until tomorrow so please forgive any typos and unstructured sentences. A bitch is tired! LOL!
Also…YOU GUYS!!! I just wanted to take the time to say THANK YOU!!!
Just imagine, finally getting a day off from work, checking your email and it being filled with amazing reviews for a little story that popped into your head one day…
I've had so many positive reviews - I'm seriously overwhelmed from the good energy y'all sent my way! IT'S A WHOLE VIBE AND I APPRECIATE Y'ALL! So, I'm gonna take the time to answer as many reviews as I can before my eyes start to drop from exhaustion.
I don't remember where I left off with the reviews, so if I've already answered some of these, just skip ahead.
FIRST AND FOREMOST, I need to FANGIRL for a second…KEKE THE GODDESS is READING MY STORY! OMGOSH! I think I have read everyone of her Olitz fan fictions! THANK YOU for reading my little story and taking the time to review! I am so happy you like my story! I hope I can live up to your expectations!
Ok. Fangirl moment over…for now!
@ kelleekellkell: you were right! Tima and Jeremiah were digging each other! And, I agree with you - I think she will survive Michonne moving away, but don't count out Michonne, she's a part of this story for a reason…
@ coralsue3: I understand completely about how you feel about Jake…however, his story arc directly impacts Fitz and Olivia, but trust, NOTHING IS AS IT SEEMS! As the story fleshes out, you'll see, I promise!
@ vivi76: Thank you!
@ ScandalOnica: You ain't read nothing yet! Mwah ha ha! LOL!
@ Seriyahfalls: You crack me up! I do tend to write with intention, and attention needs to be paid to the details, which brings me to the next point:
To all the reviewers who were confused about Olivia's virginity - RE-READ THE VERY FIRST PARAGRAPH OF THE VERY FIRST CHAPTER! All your answers are located there. Special shout out to @ vivi76 who did just that and answered her own question.
To everyone who is curious about Rick and Michonne: They each play an integral part of the story, and YES, they will meet VERY soon. I promise! HOWEVER - and I hate giving spoilers but I know I will keep getting this question so I'll just put it out there - their romance will be more of a focus in the next book of this series. Remember, this is a three book series, and this is just the first. I told y'all that when I outlined this story, I was shooketh at my OWN ideas! But I had to break them up into a three part arc because this story is massive! It is also AU, and full of a little bit of everything! Romance, suspense, adventure, danger…maybe a little sci-fi/fantasy…
ANYWAY
I want to thank ALL of you who left reviews, y'all lifted me up after a VERY LONG work week! I hope you liked this chapter. I've already started on the next chapter, and my plan is to have it uploaded sometime tomorrow.
In the next chapter, the rest of the gang lands on Georgiou Island with some new characters that I've yet to introduce.
I'm excited!