"You're Livvie's Mom?" Scarlett asked with wide eyes, intrigued by the woman that looked like Olivia, but not quite right.
"Only in the literal sense." Olivia mumbled to Claudia, while Maya looked at Scarlett with nearly as much interest as the child stared at her with.
"Yes, I am, you definitely look like Fitzgerald, no denying you're a Grant." She added somewhat disappointedly as if they would find out Scarlett wasn't related to Fitz, or that they would abandon her if they did.
"We brought food." Dominick added somewhat awkwardly when the silence became charged. Whatever truce Olivia and her mother had come to lately was going to be thrown out the window if she didn't show Scarlett the respect and love Olivia expected of everyone in her family. Dominick could see this and hoped Maya would too. She had confided in him often about her relationship with her kids or lack their of. This was her attempt to make it better, now that Rowan was on his way out of power, she might have a shot.
"Great, Liv hasn't eaten anything but Jell-O for two days, and I'm starving." Fitz said, sensing him trying to turn the tide of the conversation Olivia accepted it.
"Alright first family dinner has to be at the monstrosity of a table Fitz picked out." Olivia said helping Claudia up off the floor as well as a relieved Cammie. She knew her cousins wouldn't drop the subject, but she was glad for a bit of a reprieve.
"I just wanted to make sure everyone would fit." Fitz said sheepishly. The long wide table had room for twenty people to sit comfortably. He had it special ordered, so that the size would come in the wood he and Olivia had chosen for the house. Olivia nearly doubled over in laughter when she saw how many men it took to bring it into the dining room, than nearly burst into tears when the delivery men asked where they wanted the leaf to extend the length of the table. She grabbed his hand and led him to the head of the table.
"Better call everyone in, Ill go find them." Claudia said and was off.
"Liv you should sit and rest to prove her point she pulled out a chair next to Fitz, pushed her into it and plopped a giggling Scarlett on her lap to keep her seated. "Abby and I will grab everything."
Olivia look disgruntled but stayed where she was snuggling Scarlett tighter and sticking her face in her curls.
"You do need to rest more Liv, you didn't hurt your stitches did you?" Fitz asked nervously looking at her abdomen.
She reached for his hand to assure him that she was fine. After an awkward pause, where no one really knew what to say Maya broke the silence startling everyone.
"Scarlett, what do you want Santa to bring you thing year?" she asked in her normal voice, not really getting on the level of a child, but no one ever expected her to.
"Santa doesn't bring stuff to me." Scarlett said quietly with her head down.
"What do you mean?" Olivia asked.
"Well I never wrote him a letter or went to see him." Scarlett tried to explain. She was only six and assumed if she wasn't getting things from Santa it wasn't because she had been naughty but because her mother simply didn't buy into the idea.
"We are going to take you to see him this weekend and maybe tonight we can help you write a letter, so you'll get lots of stuff from Santa this year."
"Quinn took me to see him once, but I still didn't get anything. I don't think I made the nice list." Scarlett started to cry at her confession and Olivia had tears in her eyes as well. She buried her face in Olivia's neck and they cried together. Fitz looked full of rage and even Maya looked shocked.
"Did your last house have a fireplace little one?" Dominick finally asked the girl having an idea.
Scarlett shook her head 'no', not looking up from Olivia's neck. He smacked the table.
"Well that explains it. I'm sure you know Santa comes down the chimney! If you didn't have one he couldn't get in to drop stuff off!" He told her excitedly. "I bet when he brings stuff through that big chimney over there, you'll get plenty of stuff from Santa, more than you could possibly want."
"Really?" Scarlett looked up in Olivia's eyes, they were wet and red but she nodded.
"You're going to have so much stuff under that tree we may have to move just to make room." Olivia assured her. Fitz nodded along with her stroking her back. When the child had calmed and gotten visibly excited, he excused himself. Seconds later Olivia heard the back door slam and what sounded like a fist hitting the wall.
Claudia came in assuming her mother had done something, but quickly got caught up. She picked Scarlett up from Olivia's lap.
"Go." She told Olivia, without a seconds hesitation Olivia was following his route, listening to Scarlett talk about the books and frozen toys she wanted from Santa.
He was sitting on a chair bent over with his head in his hands, gripping his hair. He looked up when he sensed her and she saw that his eyes were bloodshot.
"If I could get my hands on them Id kill them. Both our mothers, for keeping us from each other, for treating her… Id kill them Liv, with my bare hands. I hate them so much." He stopped talking, unable to get anything else out. She stepped between his legs and he wrapped his arms around her resting his head on her stomach and holding on for dear life.
"I hate them too." Was all she said, it was all she could say. He knew that this Christmas would be better than any others, he knew that she would never doubt the love of her family again, but it wouldn't make up for her own mother, for her first six years of neglect. It would fix it, like Olivia and Fitz had fixed each other, but it wouldn't erase it, and that was all they wanted to do.