AN: I am sorry for not updating in such a long time I mean it's almost thanksgiving again, I just couldn't write for a very long time. I am really very sorry. I hope you guys are still interested in this story. Anyway, here is chapter 6, the next one will finally have their first date.

On Saturday morning Olivia did go to the White House, and finally returned his clothes. She also helped Fitz fix his daughters hair as they were getting ready for the hospital event, it was a very short visit because Fitz was on a tight schedule to go do the reading. The kids insisted on doing that one with him too so everything was working out great in terms of his public image.

They kept in touch the rest of the weekend through texts, Olivia worked from her office to check polls and monitor media. Fitz started wearing the pjs she returned and he loved they smelled like her, he fell for her a little more each passing day. It was Tuesday when Olivia would go to the White House again because they had the cookie decorating event scheduled. She had planned to go there after lunch so she could get some work done for her other clients, and also go through the rest of the White House plans and have something prepared.

As she was going through the papers she found mentions of birthday cake ceremony thing and it suddenly hit her that it was Fitz' birthday on the 17th. Since it was in the middle of the week the staff had incorporated it into the holiday party that Friday, nothing special, she figured Fitz didn't want to make a big fuss about it.

Olivia thought he deserved something better, but she was afraid to say something to him since they hadn't even been on a date yet, and she thought he might take it the wrong way if she brought it up as something related to his image, even though it did matter. She was feeling very confused so she decided to get Abby in for help, she actually preferred Emily's advice but that would take too long and they had to leave soon.

"Abby come here please!" she yelled from her office. Abby walked in a few minutes later looking suspiciously at Liv.

"What can I help you with boss" Abby said in a way too polite tone.

"Cut it out and close the door please I need your help" Olivia said in a rush

"Ok, what is going on, Im guessing it has something to do with POTUS boy" She said as she took a seat across from Liv

"Abby please show respect, and yes it does"

"Spill then" Abby urged her to talk

"I was going through the Holiday plans and I just remembered his birthday is next week, with all that was going on it totally slipped my mind because yes I knew his birthday already, and saw he has nothing special planned and I thought I should do something, like as me Olivia, but I don't know and with this whole plan maybe he should do something else for his image, but what if he gets mad" Liv rambled and Abby just tried to keep up

"Olivia!" she said loudly to get her attention "Calm down please, and take a breath"

She took a couple of deep breaths and once Abby saw she was going to stay somewhat calm she spoke again.

"Let's see if I get this, you think that since you guys have a thing you should do something for his birthday" Olivia nodded "But you are not sure because… its too soon?" Olivia nodded again "And also you think he should do something for the sake of his image, but… hmm… you are afraid he will think you are only concerned about his birthday because of the job, not because you care?" Olivia nodded again "But doing or saying something to make sure he doesn't think that brings us back to issue number one?"

"Yes" Olivia finally said something

"Damn, I'm good at this" Abby said to herself

"Abby! I kinda need some help here" Liv chastised her.

"Right, sorry…" Abby took a deep breath and gathered her thoughts "I don't think it's too soon or weird or whatever you are thinking because you guys have spent more time together that people who have been dating for 3 months" Liv was about to interrupt, but she held up her hand "And clearly the guy is nuts about you so he would be thrilled, now if you hide behind work I don't think he would really believe that's all you care about, I think he knows you just pretend to be all work already"

"Maybe you are right, but what if he actually doesn't want to do anything big?" Olivia didn't want to spoil the day for him or anything

"Look, it would be really hard to pull off anything spectacular for next week, I'm sure a good venue would be available for the President any day, but you can't invite people like that, I guess a small gathering with important people is doable, but do you really think it's that important for his image?" Abby knew this could backfire on them, that it was better to leave it as the WH staff had planned and that all of Olivia's concerns were just personal.

"I guess not, and now that you mention it, a poorly planned party could be a lot worse…" Abby nodded in agreement.

"If you don't want to say anything to him yet, then don't, just get him a nice gift and think of something nice to do, and just keep it to yourself until after your date" She suggested

"That sounds good I guess" Olivia was feeling much better

"Although I don't think you have to, it's not like you guys will stop liking each other out of the blue and things will be over, seriously, and I know you know that, but whatever helps you sleep" Olivia rolled her eyes at Abby and finally told her she could go back to her office so she could get ready to leave with her

Fitz got up in a really good mood that morning, he didn't even mind he had to work twice as much to make up for the free afternoon because he would see Olivia and spend some time with his kids. Cyrus was as grumpy as always, but he didn't seem so concerned about Liv anymore, Fitz knew that didn't mean he had dropped the subject, but it gave him time as long as he didn't find out about the date.

The cookie decorating event was scheduled for 5pm and it was almost 4, which meant Olivia would be there soon. Fitz called Cyrus into his office to ask if they were done with everything he had to do in order to take a break for a few hours, and also to remind Cyrus he had to behave with Olivia and keep his opinions to himself.

"You called me Mr. President" Cyrus said as he walked into the office, he sounded oddly polite which Fitz found rather weird.

"I did, I need to know if there's anything else I need to take care off before I leave" Fitz answered

"Not much, I just checked, just sign these papers" he walked over to the desk and placed some papers in front of Fitz "and that's about it for now"

"Good" Fitz said as he read them before signing.

"I should go now, James said he needs to see me, I will see you later for the event" Cyrus was getting ready to leave but Fitz stopped him.

"Cyrus" The old man stopped walking and turned around

"Yes sir?"

"Don't forget what I told you, you seem to be awfully calm, but I know you very well. I know you still don't want anything to happen between me and Olivia and you won't just drop it, but I'd be careful if I were you, I meant what I said" Fitz was dead serious and Cyrus knew it, he was hoping Fitz would let his guard down at some point or forget the whole idea, but that didn't seem to be happening any time soon. He simply thought he had to wait a bit longer and play his cards well.

"You don't need to worry, I'm just glad things are looking up with the media" Cyrus replied and forced a smile.

"Right… you can go now" Cyrus left the office and Fitz left right after, his kids were already in the residence getting ready.

Half way there he received a text from Olivia telling him she had just got there, he told her to meet him at the residence. They got there almost at the same time, the kids were already dressed up and both of them were waiting for Fitz to fix their hair, it had kind of become a thing for them. With Olivia's help he now had a clue of what to do with Karen, he still couldn't do anything too fancy or complicated but the little girl was pleased nonetheless.

"Are you guys ready?" Olivia asked the kids

"Are you kidding, it's cookies" Jerry replied

"And frosting" Karen added and Jerry nodded in agreement. Fitz let out a small laugh, he liked seeing them happy.

"Come on guys lets go" he ushered the kids out of the residence with Olivia by his side, it was off to being a great afternoon.

Everything was already set up in the room they had picked, there were hundreds of cookies and all sorts of icings and frostings. Fitz and the kids got some aprons and Olivia went to stand with Cyrus and James, right next to the press so no one questioned her being there. Fitz would've liked for Olivia to be with them working on the baked goods, but he new it was not possible at the moment so he was just happy she was in the room.

Cyrus was moving around giving people instructions and getting in everyone's business as usual until he realized James had occupied himself with the press and Olivia was all alone, he decided it was his chance to talk to her and see if there had been any developments in her relationship with Fitz. He starting walking towards her, thinking of a way to bring it up, and suddenly he got that very distinct feeling of being observed. When he got to Olivia, before he started talking he looked up and Fitz was giving him a deadly look, the old man considered his options and realized it was better to wait.

"Things seem to be going pretty well" he told Olivia, Fitz' eyes were still on him, and Cyrus began to worry it would look bad on the photos.

"Yeah, it's incredible what a few changes in the Holiday events can do" she replied

"I feel like a lot of progress has been made in such a short time" Cyrus told her, before he looked over to Fitz again, he was not staring anymore but he kept looking in their direction.

"I think we still need to be careful, the media has an uncanny ability to find a problem where there's none, but I'm optimistic we are on the right path" Their conversation was very civil and it was all about work, she didn't think much of it, and after Fitz saw she hadn't changed her demeanor and everything seemed normal he was finally able to focus on what he was doing.

Both kids were having a blast with their dad and the other children, and after a while of putting poorly drawn icing of trees, snowmen and Santa hats on the cookies, Karen decided they should make some cookies for Liv, since she was missing all the fun.

"Hey Jer, I think we should save some cookies for Liv, she's just standing there working and missing all the fun" Karen told her brother

"Yeah you are right we totally should, it's too bad she can't be here with us" he paused for a moment "Oh, you know maybe we should decorate some cookies for her, that say merry christmas or something" Karen nodded at her brother's idea

Fitz was interacting with the other kids, so Karen grabbed Jerry and walked over to their dad so they could tell him about their idea.

"Dad" Karen got Fitz' attention

"Yes sweetheart?"

"We were thinking maybe do some cookies for Liv, and just save them for when this is over, cause she's missing all of it" She told her dad her idea.

"That is very thoughtful of you, and I think it's a great idea" it made him very happy to see the kids cared about her already.

"Yeah we thought we could write merry christmas Liv on the cookies" Jerry added.

"Oh and we can add some cookies at the end were we sign our names" Karen was feeling excited.

"Ok, lets do it" Fitz said with a big smile on his face.

After the event Fitz went back to his presidential duties and the kids asked Olivia to come up to the residence with them to eat the cookies they made, it didn't take much to convince her since she actually liked spending time with them. They had put all the cookies on a plate and covered it to surprise her, the top three cookies said merry christmas Liv and then one in the middle said from and there were three at the bottom with their names. Also on both sides of the middle one they put cookies with christmas trees. When they got to the residence the kids asked for milk to be brought to them and made Olivia close her eyes before they revealed the cookies. Also Jerry gave his ipod to Tom so he could take a photo of the moment she saw the surprise, Tom was assigned to them whenever Olivia was around because Fitz trusted him and it reduced the amount of people who knew something was going on with them.

"Oh my God guys this look amazing, thank you" she said after she was allowed to open her eyes, she was deeply touched by the gesture. The kids were sitting one on each side of her so she put her arms around them and pulled them in for a hug.

"We felt bad you were missing all the fun, and thought you might like it" Karen explained

"Well of course I like it, I love it, thanks guys" Olivia couldn't believe how much she had come to care about those kids in such a short time and she was relieved and happy to know they cared for her too, it eased her nerves about starting something with Fitz. She kissed their cheeks to show her gratitude and then pulled out her phone to take a photo of the whole plate before eating.

The three of them ate together, she had to insist though because they were adamant those cookies had been made for her and they had already ate many, but she told them she didn't like to eat alone and would enjoy them a lot more if they all ate. She also took a few selfies with them, they were having a lot of fun and Tom was getting it all on camera. He had actually made a quick judgement call and recorded the whole part when she first saw the plate, and then he just took a bunch of photos afterwards even though he wasn't asked to do that, he was sure Fitz would appreciate his initiative.

After a while they just watched tv until Fitz returned because, as it was becoming a habit for her, she stayed for dinner and of course Fitz took a break from work to go join them. Even though it just a typical weekday dinner, for Olivia it felt special because it made her feel like she belonged with them, and for Fitz it was a vision of what his future could be like and he couldn't be happier.

Later that evening, after Olivia had gone home, Tom returned to his presidential duties and escorted Fitz back to his office, but instead of standing outside as he usually did he went inside the office.

"Everything ok Tom?" Fitz asked him due to the unusual behavior

"Yes Sir, I just wanted to show you something" He walked towards Fitz' desk and handed him the ipod "Jerry asked to take a photo of when she saw the cookies since you were going to miss it, but I took the liberty to shoot a video instead, and then snap a few photos afterwards"

Fitz unlocked the device and clicked play on the video, he felt like he had never seen anything so beautiful in his entire life. Her interactions with his kids made his heart melt, his eyes were moist by the time he had watched the video and all the photos. He turned to Tom and cleared his throat.

"Thanks Tom, that was a good call, I'm glad you got this"

"You' are welcome Sir, I'm just glad I could be of service" Fitz nodded at Tom, and he left.

Fitz tried to concentrate on his work, but it was hard, he couldn't get Olivia put of his mind. He was beginning to worry about their date because it couldn't be just dinner, they'd already had too many of those, not that he didn't like it, but he didn't want their date to be just another dinner, minus the children. He wanted to bounce his ideas to someone, but there wasn't many people he trusted and then it hit him that the solution was standing outside his door. Also he needed to make sure Tom made all the necessary arrangements so he could go pick Olivia up and take her home.

"Tom, can you come in please?" He said loud enough to be heard outside.

"Everything ok sir?"

"Yeah, I just need your feedback on something"

Wednesday morning was busy and complicated for everyone involved in managing the Presidents public life. James was running around like crazy trying to keep everything under control, while OPA assessed the situation and how bad could it become. Just as Olivia had predicted, some media outlets had found a way to turn Fitz' good actions into a problem, they were now saying he was using his kids to make himself look better. It was ridiculous and there was just a few people saying it and not very important ones, but if not handled immediately it could turn into a huge deal. After they decided how to go about it James went to press briefing room to tame the beasts.

"Good morning, I know you are all eager to hear what we have to say about President Grant being accused of using his children to boost his approval rates, but first I would like to ask all of you to take a moment to consider what you are claiming, and if it even makes any sense.

President Grant has never given any reason so doubt his capabilities as a father, you say this just started now and it seems very convenient, but keep in mind that this is his first christmas in office so how could he have done all of this before. How do you find it odd that a father wants to share important Holiday events with his children? How is it weird that kids want to share christmas events with their father? Are you seriously questioning a couple of kids willing to participate of and event about cookies, actually about kids and cookies?"

James took his chances when he agreed to take questions after he finished his statement, but it seemed like it had worked because he was only asked about future holiday events and when the christmas message video would be released. Quinn was monitoring social media and most people agreed it was ridiculous to say he was using his kids just because they showed up at a couple of Holiday events, other also said it was great to see them together and that it made since because they were a family.

After the crisis was averted everyone went back to their activities, Olivia was busy at her office finishing up on other cases, as much as she wanted to go visit Fitz and the kids, she had work that couldn't be postponed anymore. She was nervous that the next time she would see him would be for their date and decided it was time she told her sister and Abby.

Around dinner time, Olivia dismissed everyone at the office except for Abby and called Emily so she would join them. She also ordered take out and set up the conference room to have diner there.

"So… what it is that you want to talk about?" Abby said as she loaded her plate with food

"It has to be about President boyfriend cause we are both here" Emily added.

"Come on, can't I just buy dinner for my sister and best friend just to spend sometime together"

"You could, but that's not it, what happened?" Abby insisted.

"Spill" Emily told her.

"Fine, fine, I do have some… interesting news to share… Last Friday he… he asked me out on a date" She finally got it out.

"Oh my god this is great! I knew it, I knew he was into you, I told you time would prove me right" Emily said excitedly.

"Well it took him long enough, also I already knew for sure he was into her, he told me when I went to the White House, sorry I didn't tell you" She said the last part to Emily.

"It's alright, I did get the first part of the story right after it happened, we are even" Emily replied

"I'm right here" Olivia got their attention.

"Sorry Liv"

"Sorry sis"

"Ok, now can you please stop gloating for five minutes, I have a date with the President on Friday, it's kind of a really big deal I'm still having trouble coming to terms with the fact that he likes me that way"

"Liv, we've talked about this, how could he not like you that way" Emily reassured her, it pained her to see Olivia question her worth. Both her and Abby knew the reason why that happened sometimes and it was very frustrating and maddening to see how the actions of one person had such a big impact in her life.

"I agree with Emily, that man is extremely lucky to have you in his life" Abby added

Olivia knew they were right, but she knew there was no reason for her to feel insecure, but sometimes she just couldn't help it. She had let that get in her way too much already, but now she actually felt determined to put it behind her and be happy.