Peter left to get a carrier as Olivia allowed herself time to become calm before attempting to even enter the room where Olive was but the infant was screaming. It made Olivia get up immediately and go inside, her maternal instinct to find out what was paining her child.
"Shh...Olive, Mommy is here." She looked at the baby, her tiny and beautiful face reddened by the crying and tears in her eyes and on her cheeks. The baby began to calm immediately as Olivia picked her up.
Mommy upset, mommy sad...hate Other Mommy for make you sad! Daddy make you sad, be with Other Mommy not you. Hate Daddy!
Peter walked in with a carrier from Child Development, "they said you could borrow this but it needs to be returned upon coming back to New York...two weeks tops." He chuckled, "I did however tell them to shove it, my daughter needed it and as my father owns Massive Dynamic, he was entitled to anything on the site...I asked them if they wanted to deal with Walter when he finds out they deprived his granddaughter of something...they said never mind, just return it when you can or not at all."
Hate you Daddy, hate you hurt Mommy...hate you!
Olivia saw Peter's face drop and she knew he had been hurt but continued on setting up the carrier for her. Again the message played in her mind...to not push Peter away and despite what her alternate assumed, Peter had not loved her...it had been a one-sided love. Now, just when they were given a new hope for a future despite the long journey ahead...he'd been rejected again, but this time by the tiny daughter he seemed to love as only a father could.
Looking at her daughter, Olivia took her little hand and thought to her...knowing her daughter could read her thoughts. Don't hate Daddy, things aren't what they seem baby girl...Daddy made a mistake, look at his thoughts and you'll see...it was me he saw not her and he never loved her...it was always me, it was always Mommy.
Olive seemed to stare at her and then turned her head towards Peter, she knew the infant couldn't visual see clearly but was doing so mentally. She reached out her tiny hand as if to say she wanted to go to Peter.
Daddy! Want Daddy...Daddy now!
Peter immediately left the carrier and moved to Olivia, taking the infant from her. Olive curled into him and Olivia noticed how much she realized the truth in that moment...when she felt the same rejection she had given Peter, this time their daughter had given it to him.
No hate you Daddy...love you, you love Olive?
He chuckled and looked at Olivia, "her mother's daughter...down to the erratic emotions." Peter shook his head and looked at the baby, "always princess, I'll always love you."
Always love you too Daddy.
Olivia had to wipe a tear from her eye, it drove her emotions over the edge to hear her daughter speak to her father with an all innocent love, one a child held for her father. A love unconditional and unending, like nothing could tear it away...their daughter would never fail to love Peter just simply because he was her father and protector.
Peter looked at Olivia and noticed the second tear escaping her eye, he reached up and brushed it away. "Hey, what is it?"
She shook her head, "its nothing, just surprised she could love you as much as she does, she's only just met us and already she loves you because you're her father and her protector...so strong and so pure...nothing can tear that love from her."
Peter understood the underlying meaning, she was beating herself up for everything that had happened. He knew she was wondering how their daughter could love him while she was struggling to just return to him after the ultimate betrayal. They were somewhere in between their old dynamic of unrequited love and a new dynamic of knowing they loved each other but trying to move forward slowly. They both knew their love was compassionate and deep, that they could work through it and after nine months they were nearly over the hurdle.
"She's loved you longer, she knew about you as my biological father told her you didn't want her but she knew you would...that you would love her. She wanted to protect you Olivia, even going so far as to hate me because of what I did to you." He sighed, "I have to break the news to Walter after I get you and Olive home...back to your new apartment. I'll take you shopping tomorrow for the necessities...until then we'll just pick up some diapers and bottles with formula from the store on the way out of New York."
Olivia looked at him, "you aren't coming with us?"
As much as she didn't want Peter there and also dreaded him there...in her apartment, Olivia wondered why he wasn't going to stay. She had two spare rooms that weren't in use, one had a bed while the other was empty...he had a place to sleep if he wanted to stay.
"No, I know you Olivia...you'll want space to think and time to bond with Ollie..."
Olivia chuckled, "Ollie...its better then Liv for a nickname, Ollie..." she tested it on her tongue, "Ollie...it works."
"Yeah it does," he looked at Olive, "hi Miss Ollie...ready to go home with Mommy while Daddy talks to Grandpa?"
Mommy and Daddy...want you too Daddy.
"Daddy will see you in the morning, Mommy is going to bring you to the lab to meet Grandpa and Aunt Astrid. Besides, I'll be with you all weekend while Mommy takes care of your room, she'll want the time to do it and of course giving me my fair share of sleepless nights." He looked at Olivia, who took the infant within seconds.
"I don't have time to waste unlike you...the consultant, I'm the agent." She looked at Olive, "you'll be one too one day probably...just don't date your partner."
Peter coughed and looked at Olivia, "date...she isn't dating till she's at least thirty or until I'm dead...its bad enough I'll be shooting guys left and right once she's thirteen...dating is a no for her."
"Leave the shooting to me," Olivia laid the baby in the carrier and strapped her in, green eyes stared at green eyes. "Let's go home Olive, to Boston..."
The trip to Boston was considerably quiet, Olivia sat in the back with the baby who slept most of the way. Peter watched the blonde through the rearview mirror as she smiled and spoke to the infant, actually happy with her.
Peter knew Olivia always adored kids, loved Ella as if she were her own, and now Olive would be able to fill that void he somehow knew Olivia carried...the wanting of a child of her own, to feel the love only a child could give a parent...endless and nothing could take it away. Their daughter wouldn't judge her, wouldn't hate her and couldn't betray her...she'd just love Olivia till the day she died.
Those two words kept at him 'their daughter' as if it was a sign everything would be alright...that they could move forward no matter what was ahead or in the past. Olivia said she was ready to forgive but not forget and he doubted she would but at least the fact she forgave him meant that he had a chance...a chance with her and their daughter.
He could admit, if asked, he knew when it happened...when he realized he loved Olivia. He could admit when he knew he wanted her for more than a partner and friend...he knew the minute she had told him that he belonged with her that he wanted her as his wife in the future, the mother of his children...he wanted her and her alone. He had dreamed of a beautiful baby girl with blonde hair and big green eyes as he laid on the other side thinking about Olivia...he realized he'd lost Olivia and that baby girl early on while he was over there and it pained him even if he said nothing or acted as if nothing was wrong.
Now, after betrayal and hardship, that pain of loosing Olivia and that baby girl was slowly dying away. It had hurt him all over again when Olivia had said she didn't want to be with him. Through the nine months since that night he'd worked hard to gain back her trust and eventually did six weeks in, he worked to gain their friendship back and he had, very slowly...gaining that partnership had been instant, like they had never lost it. He had that baby girl he dreamed of and she was perfect but he wanted Olivia and he was willing to work until he died to get her...he loved her enough to give her time.
After dropping Olivia off at her apartment, giving a kiss to Olive and promised to see her in the morning, he left...the entire time the baby was crying both mentally and vocally.
No, Daddy! Daddy come back...want Daddy!
Getting into the SUV, Peter wiped away the tears in his eyes...he never imagined that pain could hurt worse then what Olivia had done, saying she didn't want to be with him but hearing his daughter's cries of wanting him to come back...it was something he just couldn't handle. Having his heart pulled out with a burning knife would be less painful then hearing his daughter wanting him.
Eventually the cries became silent, he could hear his daughter miles away but he knew the minute the connection slipped was because she was asleep. She had asked Olivia over and over again for him, screaming mentally for him to come back.
As he pulled up beside the house he knew his father was in, he sat there wondering what he could say and how he could say it. He knew one thing, if Walter dared try to test Olive he'd literally shoot the man...no one was going to harm her like her mother had been harmed...Olivia had been turned into a guinea pig more than a few times and it still haunted her to the effect she had a phobia of needles when she came back from the other side, Olive would not go through that...the phrase 'over my dead body' was literal in that sense.
Getting out, he went inside and found Astrid and Walter playing a game. The young agent rose when she saw him.
"Good you're back...you were gone all night, what happened?"
Peter sat down, "you should probably sit down and listen, it affects you too."
Astrid sat down and Walter looked at Peter, "is it Olivia? Peter did something happen to Olivia?"
"Our Olivia is safe and alive, however the other Olivia is dead...she crossed over with help three days ago and died shortly after crossing."
"Thank goodness, that woman deserved no less after what she did to you." Walter looked at him, "you said help...who helped her?"
Peter pulled out his phone and showed them a picture of Olive, "Olive Elizabeth Bishop, born three days ago. She weighed six pounds, five ounces and was twenty inches long...blonde hair and big green eyes."
Astrid looked at Peter and gasped, "oh Peter...what did Olivia say?"
He shook his head, "just that she wanted to take our daughter home...tests show that Olive is biologically mine and Olivia's...the one from this side. Walternate wanted her as the perfect specimen for his machine, with Olivia's ability to cross and my DNA...he had that side's Olivia do the gestation...I guess he thought Olive would accept her as her mother but she rejected her."
"How can a baby reject someone?" Astrid looked at him, "I mean she was carrying her but how the baby reject her?"
Peter chuckled, "she's Cortexiphan positive, she has telepathy and apparently knew what Walternate saying about Olivia not wanting her was untrue and that the woman who carried her wasn't her mother and she wanted her mother. She brought Olive over after giving birth to her, I don't know why though."
Walter nodded, "its possible that Olivia's mutated DNA from the Cortexiphan was passed on when conception occurred...thus the child was Cortexiphan positive from conception. Peter, I'd like to do some tests..."
"No!" Peter looked at Walter and pointed, "you will not touch my daughter like you did Olivia...I'll have Olivia take Olive and move across the US to prevent it. You. Are. Not. Touching. My. Daughter...period."
"No of course not like I hurt Olivia, they would be at Massive Dynamic and non-invasive...you and Olivia would be there the entire time. Peter you must understand there has never been a baby like her before...no Cortexiphan child has ever given birth. The fact she is from two universes means that more could be going on then you believe...that energy I spoke of, the glimmer Olivia describes is specific to one universe but here you have two universes together...Olivia's energy from this side and your energy from that side, the fact Little Olive is from two universes could mean that she could either heal the universes or bring them to their destruction. She shouldn't exist, its against nature...our universes were never meant to mingle...that's why I've always feared you and Olivia falling in love despite that you are."
Peter stood up and looked at Walter, "are you telling me my daughter could singly end the universes just because she exists?"
"Yes, Peter...I'm sorry, she's very beautiful." Walter picked up the phone, "she has your nose and Olivia's eyes."
"Fine, run the tests but the first sight of a needle and I'm telling Olivia to take Olive and go."
Midday Olivia stood trying to feed Olive, the girl still refused to take a bottle and after hours of trying she was getting worried.
"Come on baby girl, just a sip." She placed the bottle to the infant's mouth but she turned away, "Sweetheart..." the sound of Peter's nickname for her came out and instantly she felt a little closer to him despite them being a full city apart. "Come on...I can't," the baby dug into her chest, "I can't breast feed you...you need to take the bottle."
Two hours later Olivia picked up the phone and called Peter, hoping he had an answer. "Peter?"
"Liv...is everything okay, is it Olive?"
Olivia looked at the baby, "she won't eat, I've been trying for hours."
"I'll be right over, keep trying."
Olivia hung up and attempted it again, Olive turned away from her...refusing it once again. She could only be thankful that Olive didn't turn into her chest to get breast milk but instead to get away from the bottle. "Ollie...baby girl please take it...you must be hungry. You've been rejecting it all day...why won't you take it, you did at Massive Dynamic when Daddy fed you."
Peter had fed her at Massive Dynamic before they had left, the doctor had to put a tube into her belly because she wouldn't take a bottle and wasn't eating. Peter was the first to give her a bottle and the doctor's had been amazed by that when he attempted it by mistake, not knowing not to feed her and she had taken it.
It felt odd calling Peter 'Daddy' but Olivia also found it somehow natural...deep down she knew that Peter would be the only one she would call the father of her children. It was something about all other men not being father material with her, once she had seen him with Ella and then the occasional child they worked with she knew he'd be the perfect father. Never too soft but never too stern...just the perfect amount of both and he loved with a passion, protecting those he loved with a fiery vengeance...no one wanted to harm those he loved or face their worst nightmare.
Walternate was on his 'to kill' list and her alternate had been on it too, however she was no longer an issue. Peter would not let up on making it known that before he died, he'd cross over and kill the bastard who was his biological father...for what he had done to her and now knowing what he planned to do to Olive, that furry was more than before.
It only took ten minutes before the doorbell rang and Olivia stood up, walking to the door to unlock it. She found Peter with a bag in his hand. "Come in, what is that?"
"The brand they use at Massive Dynamic," he set the bag down and pulled out a box of bottles and nipples as well as formula, "can I borrow your kitchen?"
She pointed to it and he walked in, Olivia followed and watched as he washed a bottle, nipple and began mixing formula with water. Capping the bottle, he shook it before placing it in the microwave for a few seconds, removing it. "Think it will work?"
"We can hope," he handed her the bottle and took the old one, Olivia tried to feed Olive and immediately she took the bottle and began to suck with great urgency. "Your budget is going to be big...that stuff is the most expensive on the shelf."
"As long as she eats I don't care how much it costs, I tried for seven hours to get her to take a bottle and she refused...even in the car she refused it."
Peter chuckled and looked at Olivia, "that's my attitude in her...sorry, one of me is enough, two is just too much trouble."
"Not trouble...just a pain in the as...rear." She looked at Olive, who was looking in Peter's direction, "yes its Daddy."
Her tiny hand reached out and Peter took it, kissing her hand. "How's my princess this afternoon? Being stubborn for Mommy? You know, Mommy doesn't like stubborn people, only because she's so stubborn herself."
Olivia looked at Peter, "pot meet kettle."
Peter laughed, his phone rang and he saw it was Walter. "Give me a moment...Walter." He answered and moved away, "yes Walter...no I have more responsibilities now, I'm not just there for...because I had to go to the store. I went to the store for my daughter not for groceries, I went grocery shopping yesterday morning...they're in the freezer...the spare freezer. Yes I'll tell her but I can't promise she won't shoot you later. I'll be home soon Walter, bye." He hung up and turned to find Olivia burping the baby, she got a big one and Peter chuckled. "Sounds like Walter."
"Speaking of Walter, what did he want?"
"He wants to run tests on Olive," her face changed and Peter took a step back as she stood. "It would be non-invasive at Massive Dynamic, he told me why and I have to agree its best he does...but we'll be in the room and can stop him at anytime."
Olivia eyed him, "tell me why I should...what were his reasons?"
"He explained that the energy unique to both universes rests in her...both of them and it could be either good or bad. He said that she isn't supposed to exist...that Olive is against nature, universes never meant to mingle now exist in a single person. Olive could heal both worlds or destroy them...he wants to test for her energy...how much of each universe exists in her, Walter believes he can modify their particle scanner to measure each universe's energy then measure how much she has of each."
Olivia looked at the baby in her arms, the baby girl was beginning to fall asleep. The pain of knowing her daughter could be possibly responsible for ending both universes because she simply existed made Olivia aware that things were not what they seemed. Walternate had not thought his plan through, only that his vengeance was at full speed...he didn't care what the cost was, just that her universe was gone from existence.
Olive was perfect, the most beautiful baby she had seen, not even Ella could compare. She didn't want her daughter to be responsible for such tragedy; she just wanted her to be as normal as possible with her abilities that would develop. If Walter could find a way for her to be just a normal baby she wanted him to.
Chapter By: FringeDivision2008