This isn't an update as much as it is a continuation of the last chapter. It isn't that long because this part needed to stand apart from the next update which I am currently working on and should hopefully be up soon. I was going to hold off on this update, but didn't really see the point.

Liv was pulled out of her sleep by the sound of the doorbell ringing loudly. Whoever it was, just simply wouldn't let up. She looked to her left, and saw Fitz still snoring away peacefully by her side. With a heavy sigh, Liv threw on her robe and slippers, and made her way to the front door.

"I swear to God if whoever this is wakes those children up, all hell will break loose!" she groaned as the person on the other side of the door was now holding the buzzer in. Liv swung the door open, ready to murder whomever decided five am was a decent hour to visit and froze as she saw Abby and Matt on the other side of the door.

"You'd better be here to tell me that you came to say goodbye because you have terminal cancer and will die in the next hour." Liv spat as she wiped the sleep from her eyes.

"We have a huge problem. A gargantuan problem." Abby simply stated as she brushed passed Liv and made her way into the family room. Liv shook her head, still trying to wake up and stepped aside so Matt could make his way in.

"Do you all want something to eat, drink?" Liv asked, trying to put off whatever news Abby was about to share.

"We're fine, but we do need Fitz down here for this." Abby said as she took a seat on the sofa and began rubbing her belly. Liv simply nodded and made her way back upstairs.

When she entered the bedroom, her first task was to relieve her bladder since the twins now felt it was a miniature trampoline. She washed her hands then brushed her teeth, washed her face, and threw on a pair of sweats and a t-shirt before going to collect Fitz.

"Honey... Fitz baby..." Liv whispered softly as she placed gentle kisses along his jawline. "Fitz baby, I need you to wake up."

Hearing the panicked tone in her voice, Fitz sprang up and looked around the room until his eyes focused on her worried face. "Livvie, baby, what is it? Is it one of the kids? The twins? What's wrong?" He asked as he tried to compose himself.

"I'm not sure... No... Maybe... The twins are fine... Abby and Matt are downstairs. She said there's some problem."

In less than five minutes, Fitz had cleaned himself up, and they made their way downstairs into the family room. After a few brief hellos, and Fitz asking how Abby's pregnancy was going, he took a seat on the oversized chair, and pulled Liv into his lap. Whatever the issue was, something told Fitz that they would need to be as close as possible in this moment. All eyes were on Abby as she began to speak.

"This morning a received a call from my old business partner John Charleston. He was the one that handled family law matters." Abby began then paused.

"I know John very well. What did he say?" Liv asked, needed Abby to hurry with the news so she could grab something to eat. The look on Abby's face told her that she probably wouldn't be hungry in a few minutes anyway. Just as Abby was about to continue, Liv's phone rang. She looked down at the caller ID and smiled.

"Excuse me for a moment. I have to take this." She said using the call as the perfect opportunity to grab something to eat.

XxXxX

15 minutes had passed and Liv still hadn't returned from taking her call. In Fitz's opinion, she was taking far too long, and was beginning to grow nervous. Not only was he waiting to hear what Abby had to say, he was now curious as to who could be holding Liv up for so long. He walked through the home and heard Liv's voice muffled through the office door. He opened the door slightly, only catching the tail end of the conversation.

"Ah huh, thank you for letting me know. We definitely have to do lunch soon. Love you too... By Verna."

Fitz breathed a sigh of relief when he heard Justice Thornton's name being called out. His sigh however, caught Liv off guard and she jumped as Fitz had startled her.

"Is everything ok?" Fitz asked as he walked into the room and wrapped his arms around Liv's waist.

"Everything is fine. We'll talk about it later. Verna will be stopping by shortly so I can sign some papers for her. For now, let's go see what Abby has to say before the children wake up." She placed a soft kiss on Fitz's lips, and they made their way back into the family room, and resumed their previous position.

"Sorry that took so long. Now, what was it you were saying Abby?" Liv asked as she snuggled into Fitz's lap.

Abby took a deep breath, and did a quick surveillance of the room, to make sure there wasn't anything Liv could use to harm her for this news.

"Like I was saying earlier, my old partner John called me very early this morning. He had received a phone call late last night, from a woman that he had known for a very long time, but hadn't really spoken to her since she changed her last name. Anyway, the woman was barking at him on the phone, wanting to have custody papers drawn up. She wanted to fight her ex husband for sole legal and physical custody of their children. Said his new wife wasn't someone the children should be around. He asked her how long it had been since she had been in contact with the children and she said a year. He advised her that she needed to make an attempt to be in the children's lives, or else she would never win custody. She spat some more orders and he ultimately agreed. After they hung up, the name kept bothering him. He realized soon after that the woman was-"

"Mellie" Liv said, though she wasn't surprised. She knew Mellie was up to something. She just never thought the children would be the pawns she would use next. It didn't matter, the queen knew how to play this game and by the time all was said and done, Mellie would know that this was Liv's world.

Abby searched Liv's expression, but couldn't read her as she remained neutral. "Right, it was Mellie. He was used to her being Mellie Grant, but it wasn't until he remembered she said Fitz's name that who she was, sank in. He knew you two were married, and tried to call you on your cell. But, you had changed your number since... So he called me and asked me to give you a heads up."

"Has he filed the paperwork yet?" Liv asked, her tone remaining eerily neutral.

"He hasn't, yet. He said was he drafting them up this morning after he hung up with me. He said that 9 was the "earliest" he could get to it since that was when the courts opened. He also said that I may want to pay you an early morning visit. That no pregnant woman should get news like this, over the phone."

Liv looked to Abby then to Matt, and could tell they were clearly waiting for her reaction. She felt Fitz's arms tense around her, and decided she would change the subject.

"So, does anyone want breakfast yet? I had an apple, but I'm seriously craving cherry crêpes." she said taking everyone by surprise. She then stood from Fitz's lap and made her way into the kitchen, to begin making said crêpes, effectively shocking them all.

Fitz couldn't help but feel his anger rising that she could be so calm about something like this. He stood and stormed into the kitchen, and froze as he saw Liv singing to the babies. He watched her intently as she filled and rolled the crêpes, then placed them into the oven.

"Don't worry babies, your brother and sister aren't going anywhere. I promise." she said, more so speaking to Fitz, as she had felt his presence the moment he entered the kitchen. She turned and smiled as she noticed Fitz's face soften. She walked into his arms, and sighed as he wrapped his arms around her. They stood like that, in silence for a few moments, until the doorbell rang. Without speaking, Liv kissed Fitz gently, and smiled as she went to go answer the door.

Fitz wasn't sure what the hell had just happened. She seemed so nonchalant about everything, and just as he was about to confront her, she spoke. He knew that message was for him and not the twins. Feeling infinitely calmer, Fitz turned and went to see who was at the door now.

He entered the dining room, and saw Abby, Matt, Liv, and Verna all sitting around the table. Liv was signing papers, and handing them to Abby, who immediately after placed her signature on the assigned dotted line. Just as Fitz was about to ask what was going on, he heard a tiny voice calling out from behind him.

"Mommy, daddy, is it still the party?" Karen asked as she walked over to Liv and climbed into her lap.

"No baby, the party is over. Can you do mommy a favor? Can you go get Jerry?" Liv asked as she placed a gentle kiss on Karen's forehead. Just as Karen was about to get down, Jerry entered the room.

"What's going on?" he asked as he watched Liv sign and hand a final sheet of paper to Abby, who then signed and handed the entire stack to Verna.

Liv could tell Fitz was curious, and slightly irritated that he had no clue what was going on. She gave him a slight nod, assuring him it was nothing to worry about. With a slight smile, she turned to Verna and offered her a cup of coffee. Verna declined, saying she had to run back and have the papers filed before she moved on to her first appointment of the day. Liv hugged Verna and saw her out, then went to rejoin the family in the dining room. By now everyone had joined them, and Maya and Susan were looking at Liv with frightened eyes as they too had no idea what was going on. Liv kneeled down in front of Karen and Jerry, and pulled them into her arms as she began to explain how she had called Verna to have the custody papers drawn up and how she and Fitz needed Mellie's parental rights dissolved.

3 Months Ago

Liv walked into Little Italy and took her seat at her usual table. She was there to meet with Verna for lunch as they had seriously been lacking on their lunch dates as of late. Fitz was in his office, but Liv instructed Cyrus to not inform him that she was there until Verna had arrived.

"Why as I live and breathe, Olivia Pope. How the hell are you hun?" Verna asked as she embraced Liv in a hug.

"Things are going great. You look marvelous as usual."

"Please, my hair is almost white and if it weren't for this bra, my tits would be touching my knees right now, but you, look wonderful. I am so happy for you and Fitz."

"Thank your, and thank you so much for seeing me on such short notice."

"Anytime. I have to tell you Liv, I'm proud of you for stepping up and being the mother these children need. They need someone like you in their lives."

"Thanks Verna. Now, we want you to handle our case. We figured since Mellie is in Tennessee right now, we could use someone who has practiced law in that state. And since you till oversee cases at a state level every once in a while, we immediately thought of you."

"Well I'm honored. Tell me, how long has it been since she's made contact with the kids?"

"She only took them the first weekend. It's been 9 months."

"How did you find out she was in Tennessee?" Verna asked, although she was pretty sure she already knew the answer.

"Huck found her, but no one knows that we know where she is. Except for you."

"Good. Try to reach out to her one final time at her old address. Let people see you coming around to look for her. It'll show that you are making an attempt to reach out to her on the children's behalf."

"Done and done."

"Good, so I have the paperwork which requests the dissolving of her parental rights, as well as the petition for adoption."

Liv and Verna spent the next half hour going over paperwork and signing in the correct spots. When she finished, she told Verna to go ahead and order, that she'd be right back. Liv made her way into Fitz's office, and noticed he was on the phone. She placed a soft kiss on his forehead, and smiled as he asked the person on the other end to hold.

"Hi gorgeous." Fitz said as he pulled Liv into his lap.

"Hi handsome." Liv returned as her hands slid around his neck.

"What brings you into my office to brighten up my day?"

"Verna's waiting and I know you're busy. She brought the forms for you to sign and I wanted to say hi to my favorite guy." Liv responded as she placed a kiss on his lips.

"Well hi."

"Hi. I know you have to get back to your call..."

"It's ok. Just tell me where to sign."

And she did. With one final kiss, Liv returned back to the dining hall and enjoyed her shrimp scampi lunch with Verna.

Present

"It wasn't until last night when I called Verna that she had reminded we I already filed the paperwork. She put a rush on it and that is why she was here this morning." Liv explained as she placed a kiss on each child's forehead. She made sure to leave out the part about Huck. The fewer that knew, the better.

She watched as the faces of every single person in the room brightened, as they realized what had just transpired.

"So does this mean..."

"What I just signed was the final stages of the adoption process. Your father being in a rush that day, had actually signed in all places the last time, which is why his signature wasn't needed this morning."

Hearing this, Fitz rushed across the room and helped Liv to her feet. "So Livvie, does this mean? You're legally, officially their mother?"

Liv wrapped her arms around Fitz's neck, and kisses him softly before responding "I'm legally, officially their mother. And there isn't a damn thing Mellie can do about it."

After a few moments of everyone celebrating, they all moved into the kitchen to snack on crêpes until breakfast was ready. Liv bit into her treat as looked around the room. A feeling of peace washed over her and she was pleased with how happy and relaxed everyone, especially the kids were now that the news was out. Her eyes locked with Fitz's, and she smiled as he realized all of her previous actions that morning. Liv wasn't worried because the situation had already been handled. As for Mellie... If she didn't know already, today would be the day Mellie learned that Olivia Grant is not the one to be fucked with. Olivia Grant always has another card to play, and in DC, Olivia plays hard, with an impressive stacked deck.

It's my shit. Bow down bitches!