Surprisingly two weeks after kissing Peter in New York and all but confessing she loved him, Olivia found herself no longer feeling the burden of guilt she had placed on him nine and half months before in Barrett's garden.
They seemed to reorganize themselves after a few moments and continue on with their day, however the touches seemed to increase and Olivia herself found it somewhat comforting. Peter was doing his best to keep on her good side, not that she understood what he meant by that.
Olive was finally getting the attention she deserved when two weeks after the agreement was made the joint adoption papers came in. Olive Elizabeth Bishop was legally the daughter of Peter Bishop and Olivia Dunham, as well as biologically.
"I think you need to see this," Olivia walked into her office at the lab, it had been rearranged to suit the need for space for a baby. The table was nearer to the door and the far wall had a couch and on the floor was a rug soft enough to lay Olive down and a small play gym in the corner that had been a gift from Astrid, yet to be used.
Peter was on the floor with Olive, holding a stuffed cat in his hands. He looked up with a smile and sighed as Olivia sat down on the floor beside them. "What's that?"
"For you," she handed him the file and picked up the now one month old, Olive was very grabby so she immediately went for her mother's long hair. "No baby girl," she pulled the hair from her daughter's grasp and grabbed a toy ring from the bucket, letting her try to grab it.
Peter opened the folder and found the birth certificate and that his name was listed under 'father' and Olivia's was under 'mother' where they belonged. "So she's ours?"
"She's ours." Olivia smiled and the smile turned into a smirk when Peter kissed her, he then kissed Olive's head and looked at the baby.
"You're our little girl, no one will take you away princess." He caressed the baby's cheek, "Daddy loves you."
Olive love Daddy and Mommy.
Later that evening while Peter made dinner and Olive laid asleep, Olivia did laundry. She was going through her clothes when she pulled a small piece of paper from her pocket...it was the paper Sam had given her.
Unfolding it, she figured she'd find some task or assignment he wanted her to do like he normally did but she found a text and a picture in similarity to that of the one the Observer had given her about Peter.
The picture was different, it held two worlds on the page and on each side of the worlds were stars and designs. In the middle was a young girl about five, she looked a bit like Olive, with her arms spread out and light coming from her. The light didn't harm her, instead she was smiling and seemed content. Under the drawing was two sets of writing, one in English and one in the same language as before. It was a poem and it was beautiful yet prophetic...about her daughter it seemed.
Born of hatred but doused in love,
No longer of enemy blood.
Children of worlds with love that eternally reigns,
Two worlds united in a child's veins.
Hair of gold and eyes of grass,
Strength and wisdom in her grasp.
From womb emerge the day of birth,
Gates destined closure and life restore.
The war shall end with a child's life,
Death shall cease and end the blight.
She understood maybe half of it but she didn't understand the last four lines. Placing the paper in her pocket, she finished her task and put clothes in the washer. Peter was setting the table as she closed the laundry closet's door.
"I have to step out for a while after dinner, I hope that's alright...I have to visit a friend."
Peter nodded, "sounds good, I have to check on Walter anyways...do you want to take Olive or should I take her?"
"You take Olive, I know Walter enjoys spending time with her." She smiled, "just remember not to leave her alone with him...last time he was halfway high without any of us realizing it because he was acting lucid...you remember what happened."
Peter began laughing, "I know, he was talking to her as if she was a puppy, couldn't figure out why she had no tail and Olive was just as stunned, trying to figure out why Uncle Walter was acting weird."
"I think its time we say 'Grandpa' with him, since he is the only one of the two I want near her...crazy or not."
Peter groaned, that would be fun...there was no doubt that since Walter now knew how to work eBay that several things containing 'World's Best Grandpa' would be showing up at the front door.
Dinner was quiet, just the two of them since Olive had decided to reject her bottle in favor of sleep but it wasn't anything new since her newest ability had kicked in: telekinesis. Despite normal babies, Olive slept for longer periods of time because as Walter put it 'the need to constantly recharge her batteries' was necessary. Her Cortexiphan doused neurons worked overtime because of her telepathy and other abilities so her little body needed time to recharge and that came in sleep.
"What if I told you that the key to saving both worlds isn't the Vacuum?" Olivia looked at him and Peter placed his cup down, he nodded.
"I'm listening, what makes you think it isn't...I mean I don't want to be in the damn thing but if I can trigger it..."
"Olive is the key," Olivia sighed and pulled out the paper she had in her pocket, unfolding it before she handed it over to Peter. "I was given this a few days after we brought her home, if you look closely you'll see the similarities between the girl and Olive. I don't know what the last four lines mean but I plan to find out...tonight."
Peter looked at the picture, "this is what Walter was saying...that she could close the worlds one day because she's of both. Did my biological father know this?"
"I doubt it, I think he figured that with your DNA he could power the thing and with my ability to cross he'd have the weapon to win the war. I don't think he really knew what she could do...he's just too angry and vengeful to see past destroying this world. You're not, I'm not...my alternate wasn't but he is...he can't see past what Walter did."
Folding the paper up, Peter looked at her. "This friend who gave you this...why did they?"
"Sam is...he's one the last few that survive. He was a child when this was written, a couple million years ago...at least to us as you said the First People measure time differently. History repeats, we all know that and it is, with us. Sam says that the woman who foresaw this was from this world and she fell in love with a man from the other side. He was a scientist and in his blinded love thought that building the Vacuum could bring the worlds together so they could live together. He however created a downfall and killed himself and both worlds...leaving few survivors on either side.
"Callisandra, the woman, regretted what she did and blamed herself for the destruction. In her final three days of life she foresaw that everything would happen again, this time the worlds would be broken for a child...you but in return, they would be healed by what should have brought the worlds together the first time... a child of two worlds." Olivia sighed, "Sam never explained how it would happen, the healing but I need to find out because I'll throw myself back into the fight to save Olive from death."
Peter shook his head, "that's highly..."
"What," she smiled, "impossible? Peter we deal with the impossible everyday so nothing is impossible anymore. He's never lied to me and besides, Nina confirmed it a few days later...about Callisandra."
"Don't tell me..."
Olivia shook her head and took a sip of her wine, "yes and no, she's a descendant from those who survived, a pure blood descendant...her family never mixed with humans. Me and you on the other hand...our families did...yours did on the other side and mine on this side. That's how you're connected to the machine and why I have my abilities, Cortexiphan recovered them...apparently all the children given Cortexiphan had some lineage of the First People in them or else the Cortexiphan wouldn't work."
"That's insane."
Olivia chuckled and eyed him, "which part...the fact we aren't exactly human or that Nina Sharp is a descendant of the First People as was William Bell."
"Nina, I always believed we had some alien in us...call me a realist but I don't believe we just appeared, we came from space in one form or another."
After they both worked to clean up, both prepared to leave at the same time. Peter got Olive ready and by the door as Olivia was pulling on her coat.
"I should be back before you are, I'll probably just go to bed so..."
"I'll put Olive to bed and head there myself," he moved towards her and kissed her softly, "I'll see you in the morning if I don't see you tonight."
Olivia smiled and bent down beside Olive, the baby stared at her. "Mommy loves you, I'll see you later tonight okay? Be good for Daddy and ignore Grandpa's insanity...you'll learn that it can't be helped soon enough."
Olive love Mommy, see Mommy later.
The ride to the bowling alley didn't take long and Olivia just listened to the news on the way, parking she found the lot empty as it usually was at ten at night as the lanes were closed to the public.
Heading downstairs, she looked around. "Sam, its Olivia...Peace, Knowledge and Wisdom."
"Peace, Knowledge and Wisdom." Sam came up one of the lanes, "its good to see you again Olivia, so what brings you to my domain?"
Olivia removed the paper and unfolded it, "I don't understand the last four lines...Peter and I were wondering what they mean. As you were around when Callisandra wrote them, you must understand, so...what do they mean?"
Sam moved to the desk and placed his rag down, "Olivia...the knowledge of what is ahead is not one you can shoulder alone."
"So Olive will die...is that what 'war shall end with a child's life' means? Is she going to die?"
"No..." he looked at her, "but it does not mean that peace will come without death. War and peace have gone hand in hand from even before I was born and balance cannot have one without the other. In this case, for peace to come...so must a war and that war will be not over Peter but over the baby you have. I can't respectfully tell you without someone with you, bring Peter and I'll tell you both."
Olivia looked down, "that's if he'll come, Peter is somewhat skeptic of everything I told him."
"I was also going to offer to help rebuild your trust to where it once stood."
Olivia laughed at that, the words 'rebuild your trust' was just another skate-around-the-issue way of saying the two words any man would dread on a good day: couples therapy.
"Couples therapy, that's...that's asking for trouble. I've told you enough about Peter for you to know he would avoid that therapy even if the world depended on it and in this case, it does."
"Not if you tell him to come, Olivia you need him by your side but more so you need his trust. You say you trust him but that trust isn't trust...its just a perception of trust. At this moment the only thing holding you to him are two things: love and your daughter but not trust. You'll need that trust in the future because that trust will turn the tides of war. If the other side breaks your trust all is lost, they won't be able to break your love as that's been tested and separating you is impossible as you return to each other but they can break your trust...they've done it once and they'll do it again."
So Olivia found herself at the lab again the next day, she had a day long meeting with Broyles about Fringe Division's new income of agents as agents had to be rotated every so often or so the Oversight Committee said...she was lucky enough to be able to stay because she was already neck deep into it. It was her lunch break and Broyles said she had time to stop by the lab and talk to Peter if she needed to.
She found Astrid had taken Olive on a walk and Walter was busy with Gene so she looked for Peter in the office and found him working on files, no doubt for Massive Dynamic. "Hey."
He looked up and smiled, "hey, I thought you had that meeting."
"I do, I had to come by and tell you something, I have to leave in three minutes so I'll be quick."
"Okay, what's wrong?"
Olivia sighed, "Astrid is watching Olive for us tonight, we have couples therapy at ten so we need to leave the house by nine-thirty." She looked at her watch, "I have to go, we'll talk later."
Peter never got to say a word, Olivia was gone before he could and to be honest with himself he didn't think he could speak. Olivia knew how much he hated any form of therapy and they weren't even a couple so couples therapy was not what he was expecting...he'd expect her to say she was pregnant with another guy's kid before she said they had couples therapy but she just had.
Olivia walked through the front door of the apartment around seven, exhausted and on the phone. Peter was making dinner for them both, cooking Marilyn Dunham's famous spaghetti for her daughter as he knew it was one of Olivia's comfort meals. Olive was with Astrid, the agent had decided just to take the baby home with her instead of picking her up...promising to call if she needed anything. They would pick Olive up from the lab the next day, the one month old was very well adapted in using her telepathy with the team and not just her parents so Astrid only had half the trouble of babysitting an infant as she could be told right away what was needed.
"Yeah, I'll remember that...what else?" Olivia entered the kitchen and was about ready to open the liquor cabinet when she stops. "I hate it when you do that...no we'll be there at ten as requested. Alright, bye." She hung up and Peter looked at her.
"Our therapist?"
She nodded, "he knew I was going for the liquor before I could even begin to pour some whiskey. He said wear comfortable clothes as we'll be getting physical and before your mind goes to the gutter, nothing of THAT nature."
"Like I'd want an audience." He muttered, knowing she could hear as she began to set the table.
Olivia changed into jeans and a grey shirt that went well past her hips, Peter found it was a cotton dress she considered too short and made it into a top. For once the word 'cute' could describe Olivia because she looked cute in the jeans, mini dress-shirt and flats.
She enjoyed dinner, "thanks...I haven't made this since I moved in, its nice to have not just when I need to eat something other than chocolate ice cream."
"Yeah, because spaghetti is much healthier." Peter smiled at her, "promise not to shoot me if I tell you something." She nodded, "I can't call you beautiful when you wear that..." her face dropped as if insulted, "because its more cute than beautiful...you look absolutely cute and I never thought that word could be associated with you, other than the baby pictures Rachel may or may not have shown me."
Olivia stared at him in shock, he wondered about which part. "She showed you my baby pictures...how is that even fair? Your baby pictures are in another world...that's not fair."
"Well me and my alternate were almost identical...you could look at those." He smiled, knowing he had just won the ultimate dream...she could never see his baby pictures where he had saw hers.
"I may just shoot Rachel or find a way to pay her back...very painfully and very slowly."
They made it to the bowling alley at ten sharp, Peter got out and looked around as if in shock.
"Okay, therapy and bowling alley don't go together."
"Just come on." Olivia began walking and Peter followed like the obedient puppy he was.
He looked at her as they descended the stairs, "you do realize that couples therapy is for people who are actually couples, right?"
Olivia ignored his question and called out when she arrived, "we're here."
"Billiards." The only voice called out and Olivia made her way over to the billiard area, Sam was setting up a floor mat. "Peace, Knowledge and Wisdom."
"Peace, Knowledge and Wisdom," she smiled and looked at Peter, "Peter Bishop may I introduce Sam Weiss. Sam, this is Peter."
Sam nodded to him, "good to meet you Peter, Olivia's told me a lot and of course Nina has too. I must say you look exactly like Corin...the resemblance is eerie."
"Corin?"
Olivia nodded, "Callisandra's lover...the man she fell in love with on the other side."
"Must be from his lineage, not so shocking as Olivia is from Callisandra's...her foremother was Callisandra's sister. Its no wonder she looks like Callisandra herself but the fact you look like Corin just makes the fact history is repeating in all factors a bit more surprising."
Peter looked at Sam as if judging him and Olivia decided to end the tension at that moment. "We're here so what do the four lines mean?"
"Patience, we'll get there...first thing first...your trust." He gestured to the mat, "take off your shoes and step on." Olivia looked at him, "oh come on, its not going to hurt and once we get done with this exercise, I'll tell you what the first of last four mean. Think of this as a four week course, one line each week."
"How about we think of this as you tell us and maybe we come back," Peter looked at him, his arms folded. "This is our daughter and if you think for one second I'm not above shooting you, forget it because I will. I suspect that Nina sent Olivia to you because you know of the other side and everyone else doesn't have the security clearance to deal with issues such as ours so if this 'trust building' is going to continue...the four lines."
Sam sighed, "they're simple and everything in them is easy enough to decipher. However, the last four lines are not as clear because they were never clear to Callisandra. All those left understand about them are what is said."
"Bullshit." Olivia spoke, "I know you know...you know almost everything before its said so what do they mean?"
"Think about it, what is said: 'From womb emerge the day of birth, gates destined closure and life restore.' It means that the day Olive was born, the closure of all the gates between worlds was destined and life that was dead on the other side has been restored."
Olivia looked at Peter, "that's why they haven't attacked...they're trying to deal with the quarantined areas and the blight stricken areas that have been renewed. Boston is probably being repaired as we speak, the areas with amber have probably been cleared and people needing help getting their lives back. Walternate has no idea what happened but he has to deal with it, his war set aside for a moment."
Peter nodded, "but the last two lines...its like a death threat. I mean 'war shall end with a child's life, death shall cease and end the blight' sounds like death."
"Its not and I haven't lied, Olive has been long awaited and many in the world would rather see her dead then alive but she has over four hundred thousand people worldwide willing to lay down their lives to protect her. It means that a child's new life shall end the war not the taking of a life...the taking of a life began the war and the giving of a life shall end it. Deaths due to the effects of the war shall cease and the blight has ended."
"Then why make it seem like danger was ahead...a war is ahead?"
"Because it is Olivia...the war is between those who want Olive dead and those who want her to live. Once the other side gets word that an infant caused what happened, think of what will occur and who will fight, that's why you two need to rebuild your trust...as one day that trust will enable you to end this war but only that trust."
They worked on physical trust, how far Peter trusted Olivia to try to hurt him. It was more like self-defense against each other and was meant to build trust but also aided Peter in defending himself because she still had self-defense moves from her time on the other side. He was a trained fighter but not in the type of fighting she was doing.
In the end, Peter found his trust in Olivia rose even if he had a few bruises to prove she could kick his ass any time of day. Sam had them do a verbal exercise as well.
"Alright, I want you to look at each other and find something you trust about each other and it can't be about your daughter. Say 'I trust you to...' and fill in the blank."
Olivia looked at Peter and realize she trusted him to always make her feel safe...her biggest issue. "I trust you to always make me feel safe."
His eyes widened and she knew he knew he had gained something huge. Peter sighed and looked at her and smiled, "I trust you to know I'll never lie."
She nodded, he hadn't lied to her yet and she knew he never would...at least to her. "Okay, two more times, three things you trust about each other...one down so two to go."
Olivia realized despite her biggest issue being the need to feel safe, the second was trusting that someone wouldn't use her emotions against her and Peter never had. "I trust you to never use my emotions against me."
"I trust you to always keep me in line." Olivia chuckled at that, Peter smiled.
"I trust you to always be the partner I need."
Peter nodded, he was last. "I trust you to know it'll always be you."
Olivia smiled, she knew what he meant...that if he had to choose between his world and her and Olive, it would be her and Olive.
"Good," Sam held out two sets of shoes, "have a game and have fun, I have work to do. Lane three is open."
And fun they had, Peter's rants at the gutter balls he threw made Olivia laugh and they shared a single beer before finally leaving at two in the morning after three games...Olivia won two out of three.
As they got in the car, Peter looked at Olivia over the hood and asked a serious question. "Could those games be considered a date?"
She had a bright smile on her face, the smile she reserved just for him. "You're a genius Bishop, you do the math." She got in the car and Peter could only laugh at her statement.