A/N:

Although I did some research for this chapter, I'm by no means a medical expert.

This is one of my longest chapters ever...I wrote it fast, please forgive any typos/mistakes.

Chapter 34

Fitz made a beeline for the living room with Olivia at his heels. He could feel her distress-due to his refusal to comply with her wishes- trailing behind him. There was nothing he could do about that.

Sun moved away from her husband's side on the burgundy sofa to greet Fitz and Olivia with warm hug. Jin stood up and greeted them with a nod of the head in a typical Korean fashion.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Fitz wasted no time in letting them know he was not planning on staying for the meeting.

Olivia tried to make eye contact with Fitz but it was obvious he was trying to avoid meeting her gaze. Either because he felt guilty or he was still upset...or perhaps both.

"Sorry can't stay...running late," Fitz said turning toward the door briefcase in hand.

"You're leaving right now?" Sun said in her slight Korean accent, clearly surprised.

"Yes, unfortunately, I've got this important meeting I cannot postpone...but I will be there for the press conference, don't worry," Fitz added this last sentence glancing over at Olivia.

He met her eyes long enough for her to feel that in spite of everything, he still cared about her.

"Fitz?" She gave him a pleading look, one that asked him to stay.

Right now he needed sometime to think things through.

The news regarding the disappearance of the freighter had brought forth considerable discussion between them in the last 24 hours.

Upon learning of Olivia's plan-instigated by her father- to tell the world that she was Aaron's birth mother- he'd tried to get her to change her mind. But it wasn't until this morning when he'd first learned of this meeting with the rest of the survivors that he had a chance to think things through.

"Will call you later, have your cell with you," he told Olivia giving her a quick chaste kiss on the cheek. "Say hi to everybody for me," he added halfway out the door.

xxx

Kate, Sayid and Hurley arrived within the hour and joined the party in the main formal dining room, at a table for 12 of traditional British Colonial design, constructed of American maple and Mahogany veneers. They were all served a succulent breakfast which consisted of many meal courses and side dishes. In all, it took them close to an hour to finish their meal.

Karen, sitting happily next to Olivia, not only participated in the conversation but also-with Olivia's prompting- became the center of attention at various points throughout the meal.

Olivia was too preoccupied to play the perfect hostess. She kept glancing over at her phone- which she had put on silent mode-it kept on vibrating every couple of minutes..

"This weekend daddy said he would take me to get my very own puppy...Cocker Spaniels are the best with their cute floppy ears. They're the perfect size, not too big, not too little...I like the American Spaniel although the English Spaniel is also cute. Oh, and also while at the pet store we're also gonna get a cat...preferably a Siamese. My friend Joanna had a Siamese. He was old, yeah, but he was smart. " Karen said, animated. "He could walk on a leash, can you believe that? They can also do tricks like a dog..."

"Whoa, are you sure about that?" Kate questioned with a smile.

"Wow, two new pets in one day?" Hurley commented. "You're a lucky girl. "

"Well, it's not exactly like that," Olivia kindly reminded Karen. "As I recall, your dad said that we 'might' think about getting a kitten...sometime in the future." She shifted her gaze to the adults. "Allergies, we gotta make sure you know how it is with cats."

Karen looked somewhat disappointed but then Kate asked her a question- the perfect opportunity to continue with her long monologues.

Sometime during the meal, Olivia excused herself to listen to the various voicemails and view the text-messages Fitz left on her Blackberry. In all of them, he'd ask that she re-think her position.

It became perfectly clear that he had made up his mind and she was to deal with this meeting completely on her own.

She didn't bother to reply back to any of his messages.

Shortly after 10 am, after everyone had finished their meals, Olivia excused herself once again when she heard Aaron's cries through the baby monitor.

She came back ten minutes later with Aaron in her arms. At this point, Karen had left the table to entertain herself.

Olivia then asked everyone to gather in the family room which had a more relaxed atmosphere than the main living room.

Yet she was feeling far from relaxed.

In fact, she started feeling so lightheaded she was afraid she might pass out.

Seeing that something was wrong, Sun took Aaron from Olivia's arms. Hurley moved to guide her to take a seat in the nearest lounge chair.

"I'll ask Maria to bring you something sweet, I hear it helps with dizzy spells," Kate volunteered matter-of-factly.

"No, no, I just had breakfast," Olivia replied. At this rate, if she kept on having a snack every time she had a dizzy spell, she would be the size of a whale by the time the baby was born. Although in all, she was not one to complain. After all, her bouts of morning sickness were still mild in the traditional sense of the word.

Jin said something in Korean.

"How about some Juice?" Sun inquired, while gently bouncing Aaron in her arms and rubbing his back in an effort to soothe him to sleep.

Hurley shrugged. "Anything with sugar is a sure bet to keep up sugar levels."

Sayid was far from sympathetic. "I need to go soon, " he regarded Olivia with dark expression, "Why don't you just tell us why you asked us here?"

xxx

In the end, Fitz decided to cancel his first meeting of the day. Thus, instead of driving to work, he went to his father's law firm, about an hour drive from Santa Monica.

While he waited for his father to call him into his office, he'd tried calling Olivia's number but his calls kept being forwarded to voice mail.

He also sent Olivia various text messages. The last one read: "Please don't ignore my calls. I love you. " In addition, he also sent a text to karen's mobile device: "Sorry I was short with you this morning. I love you."

Finally, after waiting for nearly half an hour, Jerry grant came out to meet him in the waiting room, telling him that he'd been tied up in an important meeting.

Shortly afterwards, while sitting comfortably in his father's enormous office, Fitz gave his father a detailed rundown of the situation.

"So you're somehow convinced that Olivia's father is hiding something."

Of course he was. Fitz could feel it in his guts.

"Speculation. You got nothing but your own suspicions, " Jerry Grant said with disdain.

Fitz furrowed his brow. The bottom line was that there were no hard facts to support his suspicions. Yet he didn't appreciate his father pointing this out, with that smug look on his face that he hated so much.

"Anyhow, Elijah Pope is beside the point. I'm sure that he's not the main reason you came to see me today."

"No, it's not, " Fitz admitted.

"Of course not. What you got here son, is the makings of a scandal," Jerry spoke with an air of finality. "Once you make your official statements to the press, there is no turning back. Leaving the issue of the young child aside, whatever you say today will also have repercussions on the type of settlement each of you can expect from Oceanic Airlines." Jerry paused and his eyes brightened as though a light bulb had suddenly turned on in his head. "You say that there is no one to claim the child but the birth father, a drug dealer with a criminal record, "he continued cocking his head thoughtfully, "still, he could show up anytime lured by the publicity and claim his parental rights with the hopes of getting his hands on a sizable settlement."

Fitz's expression darkened. Personally, he could care less about the financial settlement, although certainly the same could not be said about the other survivors (Olivia exempted of course). As to Aaron's birth father, he had nothing but disdain. The man walked out on Claire when she was 5 months pregnant and never looked back. Told her he wasn't ready to be a father. Fitz supposed that the jerk could always come back claiming that he changed his mind about the baby. Regretfully, The legal system nearly always gave birth parents the benefit of the doubt. As it was, many parents with criminal records- including those with a documented history of child abuse-had a good chance of being granted custody of their children in the long run.

"Scandal?" Fitz wanted his father to elaborate more on this.

Jerry gave him a mischievous grin. "Well, it seems that no matter what you do, there is a catch 22, don't you think? If you decide to tell the truth, the child could potentially become the center of a scandal of international ramifications...that is assuming you decide to fight for custody. If you decide to cover things up, it could always come back to haunt you. The truth has a way of coming back...especially if you do decide to run for office sometime in the future...

Fitz's eyes widened. How did his father know about his political ambitions? Cyrus!

"But I'm sure I don't have to tell you that. If someone digs deep enough..."

Fitz stood up and moved over to the to floor to ceiling panel of windows. He stared out into magnificent view of the city, thinking. He could name at least five political figures whose careers had been ruined by a scandal right off the top of his head. The most notorious being Teddy Kennedy who in 1969 pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident-which forever ruined his chances of becoming president of the United States.

He wanted to make the best decision for himself, Olivia and Aaron...not necessarily in that order...and he was starting to believe that this was really a no win situation.

"What if we decided to tell the truth...what can be expect?" he turned to give his father a meaningful look. Jerry Grant was a federal judge. He had the right connections to make things happen.

Jerry spoke as though he read his son like a book. "From me, you mean?" He waited for Fitz's nod in order to continue. "Well, the best way to avoid a scandal is to NOT interfere with the system and lay low. Give up the child. Yes, the news will be all over the place trying to get the juicy details of a custody fight. Yet, we do nothing, we wait until the news burns itself out. Fortunately, the public's memory is short and it will all soon be forgotten. That's when you and Olivia file your petition to adopt. "

Fitz had trouble wrapping his head around this. Do nothing? Do nothing while Aaron was cast around in the throes of the foster care system?

Olivia's words- from just yesterday- rang out in his mind. "You have any idea how many well-meaning parents have lost a child to the foster care system who moves them on to a new home every so often? Or how many children are lost in the shuffle of the system deprived of growing up in a stable home?"

"Olivia...she knows better than anyone how the whole system works," he shook his head, the bottom line was that the system that's supposed to take into account the best interests of the child was completely screwed up. Red tape and legalities were the norm.

All of this meant that they would be placed in a wait-list as potential adoptive parents, if they were lucky. Just because they had him in their physical custody for a little while was not going to put them on top of the list, over and above other parents that had been on the wait list for years.

Unless of course someone pulled some strings...

"What do you expect?" Jerry countered back. "To have special privileges just 'cause you're my son? The media will have a field day with that one. That's why we need to wait."

Fitz glared at his father, he thought his tone was condescending.

"All I'm saying is that if you really wanted to keep this child, it's gonna be a long battle ahead. Even if I'm able to pull some strings down the line...can't be immediate...we'll have to let a few months go by...6 months, maybe a year..."

"A year?" Fitz scowled deeply. He couldn't even imagine what it would be like for them to be separated from Aaron for so long. What would it do to Olivia? He couldn't fathom this...it would just mean that some one else, a stranger-or worse yet a string of successive foster parents slash strangers- would be molding their child's mind and personality while they just...waited?

Fitz was surprised at how strongly he felt about this. Furthermore, he was now acutely aware of the fact that somehow he had grown to think of Aaron as his own flesh and blood.

"It all depends on how long the news burns. And of course, this is if somehow we're able to keep this from becoming an international affair with the involvement of the Australian government." Jerry paused to let his words sink in. "Your chances are practically nil if..." He rubbed his chin in a thoughtful manner. "Are you sure you wanna do this, son? You're not even married to this woman. The best thing for you would be to walk away..."

"Dad," he shook his head again, outraged at the suggestion. He hated having to swallow his pride and formally ask, "Look, I'm sure about this...Olivia and I are the real thing. In fact, I'm going to ask her to marry me," he took a deep breath and met his father's eyes decidedly. "dad, I'm counting on you...I'm counting on your support."

Jerry leaned back in his chair. Then, he pulled out a Marlboro from the top drawer behind his desk and a lighter. He lit the cigarette in a second, took a puff of smoke and then spoke, "Ok...I'll do what I can, " he replied almost reluctantly with a bit of a sneer. "You would need to file an injunction ASAP to keep the baby in the country preferably under wraps... without media involvement, that is." He took another puff of smoke. "Still, we're gonna need all the luck we can get..."

Fitz looked away, satisfied. Olivia. He needed to get through to her before she made the mistake of her life.

He looked at the time, it was a little before 11:00 am.

xxx

Maria brought Olivia a glass of apple juice. Olivia, relieved, sipped her juice slowly. she needed the break. While she recovered, the others-gathered around her living room- engaged in small talk.

"So I hear that you intend to say that Aaron is your son," Sayid spoke again in his staccato Middle Eastern accent, eying Olivia with a trace of disdain.

Olivia pursed her lips and met Sun's gaze for a moment. So Sun had spilled the beans, Olivia thought as the Korean woman lowered her gaze. Then, willing herself to not blurt out a defensive remark, Olivia met Sayid's eyes fair and square. It was clear that Sayid still held a great deal of animosity towards her and this time she was going to get to the bottom of this, even if in the end she only succeed in getting a rise out of him.

"Well?" Sayid persisted.

"Okay, I admit it. It was all my fault," Olivia spoke suddenly in a decisive tone.

Every one of the survivors of flight 815 stared back at her, intrigued.

"So I committed a great crime...I stole your taxi back in Australia, " Olivia retorted sarcastically. "And now what? You'll file a police report ?" she mocked. That felt good! relieved some of the tension in her muscles. Olivia stood up and continued speaking fast as though she was defending one of her clients in a court of law. "What is really your problem? We all have issues, don't we all? " she made eye contact with the others who looked embarrassed and looked away after a slight nod of the head. " c'mon just get it over with and once and for all and start talking...What do you got against me? what's the matter? Not prepared to air your dirty laundry in public?

Sayid glared back at her. The others didn't know what to think.

Right then, Olivia's phone vibrated in her pocket. Even though she could choose to ignore it, this was really the perfect opportunity to make Sayid squirm even more.

"Excuse me a second," Olivia said and without waiting for a response, she pulled out her Blackberry and noted that it was a little before 11:00 am.

Sun nodded. Some of the others nodded as well.

Sayid shook his head in disdain and disbelief.

The text read: "Don't do it! We'll find a way to keep Aaron, I promise you! Trust me!" The words tugged at her heart and she felt guilty for ignoring Fitz's previous text messages.

Conflicted, she stole a glance at Aaron who was now sleeping contentedly in Sun's arms. She felt a surge of love, worry and anxiety toward her little angel, who looked so peaceful and comfy in his warm footed outfit.

Trust. The foundation of a solid/mature relationship. Without it, any relationship would crumble like a house of cards. Of course she trusted Fitz with all her heart, she mused. yet she couldn't help but wish that this decision wasn't so darn difficult to make.