Chapter Two: Meeting Abbey

He stood over her tiny bassinet and stared down at her, his baby. His little, perfect, beautiful angel. He was in awe of her and her existence. He had wished for her and prayed for her every single time he made love to Olivia. He knew it was wrong to wish for a mistake, a missed pill but it didn't matter, he just wanted her so much. A tiny little combination of himself and Olivia and here she was sleeping peacefully in front of him. Fitz felt Olivia in the doorway watching him.

'She is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.' He whispered.

'She is pretty extraordinary. Sometimes when I am feeding her or holding her, I see so much of you. She has your eyes and a hint of that lopsided grin and that Grant chin. I used to worry that people would look at her and know immediately that she was yours and not Jake's. But now….Now I don't care in the slightest.' Olivia replied quietly. Fitz turned and looked at her for a moment and then motioned for her to follow him into the living room. He took her hand and pulled her to sit next to him.

'Can I confess something?' He asked her shyly.

'Of course.' Olivia smiled softly as she took his hand.

'A few weeks ago, I came looking for you in your office and Abbey was there with your nanny. What's her name?'

'Molly.'

'Molly, right?. Anyway Molly got a phone call and asked if I would keep on eye on Abbey for a moment. I, of course agreed. Abbey was laying on her tummy on a blanket on your floor playing with a couple of toys. Once Molly was out of the room I sat down on the blanket with her. She glanced up at me and this incredible smile spread across her face and I knew. Livvie, I just knew she was mine. And I think she knew because she started kicking her legs and cooing until I picked her up. Once I held her she just giggled and grabbed at my nose. I was just so happy holding her.' Fitz had this gleam in his eye that she hadn't seen before. Olivia knew that she had done the right thing telling him.

'Why didn't you ever tell me this?'

'When Molly came back, I handed Abbey back and left. I felt hollow the minute she was out of my arms. She started to cry as I left the room and I swear, Livvie, I swear she said 'daddy'. I know logically she didn't but I promise I heard it. I just couldn't stand it. So I left your office and stayed away. I had wanted her for so long and the pain was so excruciating that I just decided that I wouldn't be around her anymore. You, I could handle...barely but not Abbey. It was just too much to see the dream but know it wasn't really mine.' Fitz sounded so sad. Olivia felt her heart chip away with every word. She felt so guilty for lying to him. She had no right to keep him from his daughter and she knew she would spend the rest of her life making it up to both of them.

'I'm sorry, Fitz. I never should have kept you from her. I never should have lied to you or gotten into this mess with Jake. It was the wrong decision.'

'No more apologies, Liv. I'm here now and it nothing will separate me from you or that baby again. We're a family and we will remain that way. I do have a question I wanted to ask you though. A question about her.'

'You can ask me anything, baby.' Olivia ran her hand along his cheek. Fitz leaned back into the sofa and pulled Olivia's legs over his lap leaving his hands on her thighs.

'Her name? How did you chose her name?'

Olivia smiled softly. 'Well, both Fitzgerald and Olivia are classic names. Romantic even and I wanted our daughter's name to have the same feel. I went through a book of classical names and Abigail was the first one I wrote down. I toyed with a couple of others. Emma and Isabella but I kept coming back to Abigail. The middle name was easy. I thought of you and our relationship and the best word to describe you was 'faith'. You have always had unwavering faith in our love and in me so Abigail Faith Grant was it. That was our baby girl.'

Fitz smiled and leaned in to kiss Olivia. 'I wouldn't make a single change. I love her name and I love her and you so, so much.'

'We love you.' Olivia ran her hand through his curls and moved in to capture his lips when a high pitched squeal came thundering through the monitor on the table next to them. Olivia giggled as she looked at Fitz. What she saw stopped her dead in her tracks. She wanted to freeze the look on his face and commit it to memory. He had a look of childlike wonder and complete and utter love in his eyes. He was anxious and happy and she could tell all he wanted was to get to Abbey. Olivia stood and motioned for him to remain seated. She disappeared into the baby's room and Fitz could hear Abbey start giggling and making gibberish talk at her mother through the monitor. 'Well hello Miss Abbey. Aren't you wide awake for 2am! That's ok though. There is someone here that really wants to see you. Let's get you changed and then you can go say hi, okay?'

Fitz waited impatiently. He couldn't remember being this excited. He couldn't sit still. He kept crossing and uncrossing his legs and leaning forward and then back and then forward again. He was nervous and thrilled and terrified and happy all at once. After what seemed like hours Olivia appeared again with Abbey on her hip.

'Abbey, baby can you say hi to your daddy?' Olivia said as Abbey caught sight of Fitz. Abbey cocked her head slightly and smirked at her father. After a couple of second she started flailing her arms and legs excitedly and squealed happily. Olivia laughed as she handed her squirmy baby to Fitz. Fitz took Abbey and stood her on his thighs and looked at her. He felt the entire world shift and everything felt right, it was almost perfect. He pulled her closer to him so he was holding her up against his chest but in a way that she could still see his face. He smiled at her and was about to speak when Abbey placed both hands on his face and leaned in giving Fitz a very wet open mouth kiss on his nose, it was either that or she was trying to eat his nose. It didn't matter because the gesture melted his heart and tears filled his eyes.

'Oh my. Are you trying to eat Daddy's nose, baby girl?' He asked her and she giggled and squealed again.

'Would you like to feed her?' Olivia asked.

Fitz nodded as he continued to stare at Abbey who was now trying to grab onto his nose. Olivia left the room and came back shortly with a bottle. Fitz sat the baby on his lap and took the bottle from Olivia. 'Are you hungry little lady?' He asked Abbey as he held the bottle to her mouth. She immediately opened her lips and began to drink from it. After a few moments she laid her head on Fitz's chest. He shifted so he was holding her properly to feed her. He never took his eyes off of her and Abbey's eyes never left him. Occasionally she would reach up and touch his nose or cheek. After most of the bottle was gone and Fitz burped her she fell back asleep in his arms. Olivia watched them with tears in her eyes. It had literally taken nothing for father and daughter to bond. They were perfectly content in one another's presence and nothing was more important to her. Olivia knew this was the way it was supposed to be. She moved from her place on the chair and sat next to Fitz with her legs curled underneath her. Fitz shifted Abbey so that she was now sleeping with her head on his shoulder and her tiny body resting on his chest. Olivia laid her head on his other shoulder.

'You're so good with her already, Fitz. She already trusts you completely. She knows you are her father.' Olivia said softly with a yawn.

Fitz took a deep breath trying to control his emotions. He thought about the day and how it had started the same as yesterday but ended so differently. He had awoken alone and empty and now in this moment he had everything he had ever wanted. Asleep on one shoulder was the love of his life. A woman he had been devoted to for the better part of a decade. A woman that had walked into his life on a fall evening at a political event years ago. A woman who he had admired from a far but knew the second he laid eyes on her in person, his life would never be the same. This woman had forced him to live again and love again and tonight she had finally agreed to marry him. She had saved him. Asleep on his other shoulder was the product of that love. A beautiful baby with her mother's nose and giggle. A baby that he had spent so much time aching for. A baby that he always knew deep down was his. Fitz was so happy and fulfilled he couldn't think straight. Life was exactly what he wanted from it. Tomorrow would be hard and the days that followed would be long and cruel but he would protect them. Fitz would not allow the venom that was sure to be spewed in their direction touch Olivia or Abigail. Their family wasn't perfect and it wasn't created in the most traditional or fair of circumstances but they were real and they were together. Nothing would change that. Love allows for forgiveness even when you have to ask the world to forgive you. Fitz believed they would. Fitz believed that the world would see the way he and Olivia loved one another and how much they loved their baby and they would forgive them. Fitz believed. Even after all of this time and all of the pain, Fitz still had the faith that helped name his daughter. Nothing was stronger than their bond and eventually the world would see. Fitz believed.

Okay...you talked me into meeting Abbey but this is the end of this story. Maybe I will revisit it later but for now this is where the story of Fitz, Liv, and Abbey ends. Thank you for all of your kind reviews. Once again this is an alternate universe version of our couple. Abby Whelan doesn't exist here. Oh and for the nasty guest reviewer that clearly didn't bother to open the story before complaining about the spelling of Abbey's name...you really shouldn't make judgments nor criticize someone's lack of research if you aren't going to bother doing your own. After all you just made yourself look foolish now didn't you? Anyway for the rest of you not judgey folks thanks again and please let me know what you think of this chapter!