Fitz waited in the Oval, checking the time as he glanced over at Bellamy and Ben, who were playing on a blanket on the floor. He was waiting for Olivia, and then once they were done speaking, him and Mellie had to finish getting packed for the trip they were taking for Teddy's birthday. He had purposely had the 6 month old babies brought to him, so that he could passively brag to Olivia about how well him and Mellie were doing. When Lauren announced that Olivia was there, Fitz told her to allow her to come in, and he got up, walking over to where the babies were playing, and sat down next to them, pulling Bellamy into his arms. The baby giggled and Fitz tickled her belly, looking up once he saw Olivia walk in.
"Hi." Olivia whispered, walking over toward him.
Fitz set Bells in his lap, nodding. "Hello."
"Is this…Did you and Mellie-?" She sat down on the couch, looking down at Fitz and the two babies.
He nodded. "We did. Bellamy and Ben. 6 months ago." He was giving her short sentences, because he was irritated. He was angry. He shouldn't be, because he was doing better with Mellie and he shouldn't care about why Olivia left, but he was still angry. She had left him at the worst time possible. And he could never forgive her for that, not that he had any obligation to.
"They're beautiful…" Liv whispered, biting her lip. "May I?" She asked, nodding down at Ben. Fitz nodded slowly and she picked him up. "Hi, sweetie." She held the infant and Fitz looked at her, his heart aching slightly when he noticed a ring on her finger.
"Did you, uh, you and Jake…?" Fitz asked and Olivia knew exactly what he was talking about.
She just nodded, closing her eyes for a second before looking back at the baby. "We did. About 7 months ago." Olivia told him, frowning slightly as she gently bounced Ben on her leg. "So…Fill me in on what's happened since I've been gone."
Fitz just shook his head. It was obvious that she was trying to avoid this, that she was trying to avoid explaining, but he knew better. He didn't invite her here for the small talk, he invited her here to hear all about why she had left, why she had ditched him when he was most vulnerable and when he needed her most. Of course, he was glad that she had left him, because if she hadn't, he wouldn't have fixed things with Mellie. But he still wanted to know. "Olivia." She was disappointed that he hadn't called her 'Liv' or 'Livvie', but she understood why. "Why'd you leave?"
"Fitz…" She sighed, shaking her head slightly. "You needed a break. You needed to be away from me. And I knew you weren't going to make that decision, so I made it for you. I was the reason your son was dead, I was the reason your marriage was dead. I was the reason for a lot of things. By taking me out of your life, you were so much better off. You had the chance to breathe, to live the life you needed to as president with Mellie and with your children. You could have the chance to take your second term and be the best president that you could possibly be, without having to worry about all of the scandals that came with our relationship." She took a deep breath. "I had to leave. I had to get away from you so you could move on. You would never have made the choice to do that if I was here. You would've still been making me promises you couldn't keep and talking about some home in Vermont that we could live in and raise a family in in a different life. You're better off now."
"I know I am." Fitz told her, rubbing Bellamy's back. He didn't say anything else, just waited for Olivia to continue.
"You have a life now. You have a happy life with your wife and your son and apparently with your twins. You can't get back the parts that I ruined, the death of your son or the 5 years of your marriage that you wasted because of me…But you can continue on with the happy life that you have with your boys and Mellie and your daughter." She frowned. "You should be happy that I left."
Fitz sighed. "I am, Olivia. Believe me, I am. I wouldn't have these two if you hadn't left." He frowned. "But I needed to know why you did. I needed to know why you left when I needed you most."
"You didn't need me, Fitz. You didn't need your mistress. You needed your wife."
"You were never my mistress, Livvie. You know that. But I did. And she needed me…"
Olivia nodded. "Exactly." She frowned, setting Ben back down on the ground. "I'm gonna go…Congratulations, Mr. President. Tell the First Lady I said the same. You two deserve happiness for the first time in a while."
"Thank you…Congratulations to you too, Ms. Pope…Or Mrs. Ballard, I suppose I should say." He gave her a small smile. "It was nice seeing you."
"It was nice seeing you too, President Grant." She stood up, smiling at him before walking toward the door and leaving the office. Fitz watched her leave, waiting a minute before looking at the twins.
He held Bellamy up, kissing her cheeks. "That's that, little one. That's the end of daddy's old life." He smiled at her. "Now let's go find mommy and your big brother and we'll finish packing for our trip." Fitz stood up, cleaning up the babies' toys before taking both of his children into his arms. He kissed them both before walking up to the residence and to him and Mellie's room, setting the twins down on the bed. Fitz walked into the closet and smiled when he saw Mellie.
"Hi, beautiful." He whispered, pulling her into his arms.
She giggled, kissing his lips softly. "Hi sweetheart." She smiled at him and pulled her face away, looking up at him. "How was your meeting with Olivia?"
Fitz shrugged. "It was okay. I found out what I needed to know. And I reassured some things."
Mellie raised an eyebrow. "You reassured some things? Such as?"
He kissed her again, this time the kiss longer, and more passionate. "Such as the fact that Olivia leaving was one of the best things that has ever happened to me."
She smiled at him. "Really?"
"Really. Now let's go get everything packed so we can go on our trip." He kissed her cheek, smiling as the two of them walked back into the bedroom to be distracted by the twins.