AN: So... finally chapter 5, hope you guys enjoy please review :)
Olivia got up the next morning to a text from Fitz wishing her a good morning, she texted right back with a similar message. That simple gesture made the beginning of the day a whole lot better for both of them. She called Huck to get to the office early to discuss his early findings on Mellie's activities. So far it seemed she had found the sponsorship of the rich and evil lobbyist Hollis Doyle, but he was still yet to find out what was she going after.
If Mellie was plotting anything that would directly affect Fitz they needed to make a plan to stop her, but if she had just got Hollis for her political aspirations then they would stay away and just keep an eye on her. Olivia just hoped Fitz didn't ask details of how Huck got the information, because she was well aware that some things he did were illegal.
When Abby got to the office Olivia called her in to talk to her about not working that afternoon. She wanted Abby to be at the White House leading the team, they had to monitor the stats from the streaming, the social media, whatever they said on tv about it, and check the polls. Abby of course made a big deal about her going as a guest before finally accepting taking responsibility for all the work. She would take Stephen again just to spite Cyrus, and also Quinn, leaving Harrison to hold the fort at the office. Huck was left out of that, per Olivia's request, simply saying that he was on something else.
The rest of the morning went by in a rush, Fitz had said he needed her at the White house at 3pm, so she left her office before 1pm so she would have barely enough time to get ready. When she was pulling into her parking lot, she got a text from Fitz saying the car would be there at 2:30 to pick her up, she was shocked to say the least, which made her call him before she realized what she was doing.
"What do you mean the car will be here to pick me up at 2:30?" She asked as soon as he picked up.
"No hi, hello, how are you?" he answered nonchalantly
"Hi, hello, how are you, now what did you mean with that text?" She asked again.
"I thought it was pretty clear, I think it's enough time to be here at three" he replied
"l… yeah that part was clear, but why, I mean you didn't tell me, we didn't discuss that" she stammered.
"Oh didn't I?" he said casually "My bad, but seriously did you think I was just going to have you drive yourself after I asked you to come to the event as my guest?"
"I guess I did" she answered after a few seconds of trying to think of an argument.
"Well, as much as I love talking to you, I must go supervise showering and readying of my two young ones, so is everything ok?"
"Yes, I will see you later" she knew there was no point to argue.
"I can't wait, goodbye" he hung up the phone with a huge smile on his face, feeling so good not even Cyrus could spoil his mood.
Fitz had the kids picked up from school early so they had time to get ready, he left for the residence right after his call with Olivia because they were already home. He would help them and then he had to get ready too so they had time for more practice before it was time to leave.
Olivia arrived at the White House shortly before 3pm, and she was lead straight to the residence. She walked inside and found Fitz in the living room struggling to fix Karen's hair, she smiled at the sight and stood there quiet for a moment just looking at him. Fitz and Jerry were wearing navy blue coats and matching dark red scarfs, Karen was wearing a coat the same color as the scarfs and a hers was navy blue. She thought they looked absolutely adorable.
"Hi guys" she decided to greet all of them.
"Hi" Fitz had to fight the urge to go to her since he had his daughters hair in his hands.
"Do you need help?" Fitz was doubtful, but Karen answered for him.
"Yes please, dad has no idea what he is doing" she turned to look at him "I know you tried dad, it's ok" Fitz moved and allowed Olivia to step in.
"Would you like a braided hairband?" Olivia asked her
"Oh yeah that sounds cool" Karen answered.
Olivia worked effortlessly of Karen's hair, she thought it was sweet Fitz tried to do it even though they had people hired for that. They left a bit after 3:30, Fitz managed to sit next to her in the limo and the kids were seated one next to each of them. Fitz couldn't even begin to describe the way he was feeling, it further confirmed what he already knew he wanted; Olivia was the woman for him and he would do whatever it took for them to become a family.
"You look beautiful" he whispered in Olivia's ear making her shiver. They had spent most of the ride in silence, just listening to the children ramble about their excitement. He knew once they got to the park, there wouldn't be much time for them to be at peace together.
Olivia turned to face him, and gasped when she realized he hadn't moved. Their faces were almost touching. She struggled to form the sentence in her head before answering. "You don't look bad yourself Mr. President"
Fitz was lost in her eyes, all he could think about was kissing her. The world had faded around them, neither of them moved. She knew that wasn't the time or place, but she had lost the ability to think clearly. Karen and Jerry had gone quiet, they were looking at them and giggling but they didn't notice. Fitz was about to kiss her and there was a knock on the door, they had arrived at their destination.
Olivia was shaken back to reality by the sound, she moved away from him abruptly and bumped into Jerry. It was that moment it hit her that the kids had been watching and she blushed 10 shades of red. She turned too look at Fitz who was just as red and he gave her a sheepish grin. There was another knock on the door and they got out of the limo.
They were led to the place were Fitz was supposed to wait until the ceremony started. The staff was going over the last details, explaining everything they would be doing. Time passed by pretty fast and in the blink of an eye it was a quarter to 5 and Olivia had to go take her seat.
Fitz stood there with Karen and Jerry and the three of them did the countdown together for him to light the tree. After the lighting they would be reading the poem so when they were done the kids would take their seats before he did the speech. People seemed quite shocked when everything was set up for it, everyone had assumed there would be no reading, and they were even more shocked to see the three of them come out and take a seat in front of the kids they had invited.
He had wanted one of them to start the reading and Karen was more comfortable doing it, Jerry would continue and then Fitz. They decided to keep doing the reading in that order, each of them doing a verse. Karen sat up straight and looked at her dad for a bit of encouragement before she began.
"'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there." Karen read with confidence.
"The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
while visions of sugar plums danced in their heads.
And Mama in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,
had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap." Jerry continued
"When out on the roof there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
tore open the shutter, and threw up the sash." It was finally Fitz' turn to read and the audience was completely captivated.
In the order they read the verses it was Fitz who finished the poem and that just wrapped it up beautifully, everyone loved it. After they started suddenly the numbers went up on the streaming and it was all over social networks. He was happy, the kids were happy and the country was happy so the whole thing had been a total success. He left the stage after a loud round of applause and then everything was set for his speech.
The speech that was originally written for Fitz to say at the ceremony completely ignored the problems and rejection he had been facing since the divorce. It talked a lot about family in a way that it sounded like Fitz was pretending nothing had happened, almost like he was mocking what was said about him. Olivia knew it wouldn't be taken well so she made a few changes to it.
In the new version he did talk about it, instead of just sweeping it under the rug, Olivia thought it was far better for him to acknowledge the issues with his reputation and all the distrust people felt towards him and his commitment to family. It was risky to bring it up on that particular event, but she knew it could be much worse if he didn't. Fitz delivered a speech in which he said he knew how his situation looked, but explained that he only wanted what was best for his family. The purpose was to communicate that sometimes is better to part ways and that all types of families are valid, that him being divorced shouldn't diminish his family status.
Abby was going over social media response and things seemed to be looking up, other divorcees were showing support saying it was true staying together could end up being worse for everyone involved and expressed gratitude on him saying there's not only one right way to have a family. The views on the streaming had actually gone up when he started talking about his issues so they were doing well.
Fitz kept glancing at her all through the speech and she was concerned someone would notice, but he didn't seem to care, he just couldn't help but stare at the woman who had stole his heart and made him a better man in such a short amount of time. Much to her relief no one gave much thought to her being there sitting next to his kids because James was there too and people just assumed she was there for work.
After everything was over they went back to the White House, on the way there Fitz and the kids insisted she stayed to have dinner with them, she was having such a good time, she said yes without giving it much thought. Olivia figured that if she was allowing herself to like him and entertaining the possibility of something happening between them, she had to stop trying to run or resist him.
They were all quite hungry so they went straight to the dining room after they arrived at the residence. Fitz had asked the chef to prepare lasagne bolognese since he had already planned to invite her for dinner and it worked great for everyone because Karen and Jerry loved it too. The food was served promptly and Olivia eyed him suspiciously when she saw what the were having.
"This is one of my favorite dishes" she told Fitz after she got her plate.
"Oh really, good to know" he replied supressing a smile.
Olivia took her first bite and realized it had been prepared with both mozzarella and cream cheese just how she liked it and she eyed him suspiciously, realizing maybe he knew more than she thought.
"Did you talk to Abby about anything other than work?" she asked him while still eyeing him suspiciously.
"Maybe…" he said failing to stop himself from smiling.
"Very sneaky Mr. President" she told him in a flirty tone. For a moment they were again oblivious to the children watching them.
"Why do keep calling him Mr. President" Karen asked innocently, shaking Olivia out of her daze.
"Because he is the President so it woubld be inappropriate not to do it" Olivia answered politely, trying to hide her nervousness.
"But you guys are friends" Jerry countered "right?"
"Yeah… we are friends" she admitted.
"So why don't you call him Fitz, his friends call him that, and it sounds weird that you keep calling him Mr. President." Karen told her
She blushed and Fitz just smiled, he mentally thanked his kids for bringing it up, that way he thought it was more likely for her to agree. Olivia turned to look at him for help, but she already knew that was a lost cause, he just gave her his most charming smile which made her cheeks burn up even more.
"I guess you guys have a point" she finally told the kids
"What do you think dad?" Jerry asked Fitz
"I think she can call me whatever she wants, but yeah I would very much like it if she called me Fitz" The three of them were looking at her expectantly, he just hoped he wasn't pushing it too much.
"Well then it's settled I shall call you Fitz now" she said to him at last. He gasped upon finally hearing his name come out of her lips, at that moment he felt like his heart was bursting with joy.
The children went back to their meals like nothing had happened and Olivia followed suit, she and Fitz just continued eating attempting not to dwell on the significance of what had just happened. After a few minutes of awkward glances and quiet eating, everything eased back to normal. Before they knew it it was time for dessert and a box from Carlo's was brought in.
"My chef was a bit offended by this, but I heard Carlo's has the best cannoli" he explained.
"Abby has a big mouth" she said with a chuckle.
"These are so good, remember we had this with grandma and grandpa?" Jerry said to Karen, who just nodded eagerly.
"Can we eat them now?" Karen asked Fitz, who had again gotten distracted with Liv
"Sure, yeah, lets dig in" he told his daughter while thinking he had to exercise some self-control and not forget his kids were there too.
The rest of the meal was uneventful, after they were all done with dessert it was time for Karen and Jerry to go to bed, Fitz sent them to get ready and after a few minutes he excused himself to go tuck them in. He and Liv had moved to the living room so she just sat there enjoying the fireplace while he returned, her logical side was telling her it was getting late and she should leave, but she had decided to ignore it and do what she really wanted.
Fitz returned from putting the kids to bed he brought a bottle of red wine and suggested they drink to celebrate the success of the evening. She loved red wine so she didn't even try to talk herself out of staying. After toasting to the wonderful evening they just sat there in comfortable silence sipping the wine and enjoying the company.
"Thanks for helping me with Karen" It was Fitz who broke the silence.
"It was my pleasure" Liv turned to him and gave him a warm smile.
"I'd like to say it was my idea, but after I combed through Jerry's hair she asked me if I could fix her hair too and I how could I say no, but I really had no idea what I was doing so thank you, I guess I will be looking up youtube tutorials later tonight"
"I could teach you" Olivia volunteered, sometimes it just amazed her how when it came to Fitz she just didn't think things twice or worry about everything that could go wrong.
"I'd love that, but you would have to come here more often" he said in a mock serious tone.
"I guess you are right" she really didn't mind seeing him more often and neither did him.
They talked for a little while longer and eventually the bottle was empty and she took it as her cue to leave. Just as she was getting up to start saying goodbye it suddenly hit her she had left his clothes at her apartment.
"Oh god I totally forgot to bring your clothes" she exclaimed
"That's alright, I honestly think you should keep 'em, they look way better on you than they do on me" he said trying ease her worry.
"I don't think so, I will bring them tomorrow"
"So you are coming here tomorrow?"
"I was planning to drop by and check on things before you leave for the children's hospital" she felt like she needed to clear it was for work, but she changed her mind a bit along the way "and you need to get started on those hair styling lessons" she added.
"That is absolutely true" Fitz stepped in closer to her, he really wanted to ask her out on a date, but he was getting nervous and wasn't sure what to do.
"I guess I should get going" she said after he was quiet for a moment.
"Right, there's a car waiting for you" he knew he really needed to snap out of it and just do it but he was struggling to get the words out. Olivia reached for her coat to get ready to leave
"Ok… hmm… good night" she wasn't sure what to do either, she thought he was standing in her way, but he wasn't doing anything. She started moving to go around him when he finally spoke.
"I wanted to ask you something" he blurted out. Olivia stopped and turned to him again, they locked eyes and the room filled with tension.
"Would you like to have dinner with me... I know we've shared meals I mean like... Like a date" he stammered. Olivia was anxious at first when she realized what was happening, but after realizing he was feeling the same way it made her feel a lot calmer.
"I would love to go on a date with you Fitz" it was the second time that night she said his name, she had avoided it after the conversation with the kids, but at that moment it just felt right.
Fitz breathed a sigh of relief, despite his not so smooth words she had not only said yes, but also she was finally using his first name. Both of them were just standing there smiling at each other, he was just trying to remind himself he was going to speak again.
"So hmm... Is next Friday ok?" He wanted to have enough time to plan something special.
"Yeah next Friday works for me" she smiled at him sweetly
"Ok, next Friday it is" he replied
"Ok hmm I'll see you tomorrow I guess"
"I'll walk you out" Fitz helped put her coat on and then went to grab his.
They walked in silence until they reached the spot where the car was waiting to take her home, he wanted to go with her but he knew she would probably freak out and it would give his agents plenty of trouble. So instead Fitz decided to plan accordingly so he could take her home after their date. He opened the door for her and just like the day they met he kissed her cheek.
"You have no idea how happy you just made me" he whispered in her ear, sending shivers down her spine. "Good night Livvie" he told her after he moved so she could get in the car.
"Goodnight Fitz" she told him, he heart was racing, and still trying to come to terms with the fact that he wanter her over anyone else.
AN: Finally they will have their first date, Emily and Abby will most likely freak out. Also Fitz needs to do something because Cyrus is still plotting. Hopefully everything will be ok.