It's been ages since I've updated! It took me a while but here I am. This story ( my first Scandal fic) has been my greatest obsession and I just couldn't stay away for ever :D

Thanks to all that have reviewed, favorited and followed this story in the past couple of months during the hiatus.

My plan: This fic is coming to an end in the next few chapters. I will most likely write a sequel, probably a different type of story, not a mystery.

I hope you enjoy this chapter: light and fluffy, sugar and spice, and all things nice :) It picks up where we left off.

Later that afternoon, Fitz told Quinn about his plans to propose. Since they were traveling back to the States later that evening, they didn't have much time and needed to get down to business.

The hardest part was keeping Olivia from finding out what they were up to. First, they made sure to enroll Karen in the task of keeping Olivia happily occupied playing game after game of connect four. Whenever Olivia suggested that they take a break and that 'perhaps' it was her daddy's turn to play, Karen would whine and say with the sweetest of smiles that she just 'loved' playing with her.

Of course, Olivia would then agree to play yet another game.

At one point late in the day, Quinn and Huck left to run an errand.

"I wonder what's taking Quinn so long," Olivia wondered out loud while she and Karen played the board game by the patio with a view to the courtyard and the three tier water fountain.

"I'll be right back," said Fitz who had been mysteriously occupied texting most of the afternoon. Olivia had assumed that his texting was business related.

A while later, Olivia began to wonder about Fitz. "Okay, sweetheart," she said to Karen," I am now officially tired. She stood up and stretched. "I'm gonna find your daddy." she sauntered over to the guest bedroom.

"Olivia, come I wanna show you something," Karen motioned over to the water fountain.

Olivia sighed. "Okay, what is it?"

"There in the water," she pointed down to the bottom of the fountain.

Olivia leaned over to look closer.

"There is something shiny down there."

"Did you throw some coins in there? Olivia asked. She looked up at the sky, it was now getting close to sunset so whatever was shining in the fountain was not being caused by the sun reflecting off the water.

Olivia's ears perked up. "Did you hear that?"

Karen cocked her head, "What?"

"I hear music…"

It was the soft strumming of a guitar.

A moment or so later, four men sauntered into the courtyard wearing identical attire and wide brim hats. They were carrying musical instruments with a belt across their torso : a massive pot bellied acoustic bass guitar, a standard looking guitar, a trumpet and a square instrument that appeared to be some sort of accordion.

Huck and Quick strolled in and gathered around the water fountain wearing the biggest of smiles-well, mostly Quinn as Huck never smiled much.

Olivia said to them, "What's this about? You brought home a band of Mariachis?" she smiled while the Mariachis continued playing an instrumental harmony that slowly picked up the volume and tempo.

Karen jumped in place and clapped with excitement.

The band started singing "My little buttercup." seemingly approaching Karen who was standing by Olivia.

Then, the band of four parted down the middle to make way for a fifth member of the group.

It was Fitz dressed in a matching Mariachi attire (sombrero and all) carrying a bouquet of red roses. The music suddenly stopped.

Olivia held her breath. What was going on? Had he arranged this just for her? Her heart beat faster at the sight of him. Tears streamed down her face.

The mariachi band started their music back, this time playing softly. This time they played a Mexican song.

Olivia took a step toward Fitz. Each step faster As she drew near, she saw the love in his eyes as he handed her the roses.

She smiled, smelled the roses and thanked him.

He placed his hand over his heart and went down on one knee.

Oh, my God! Oh, My God was he going to propose?

She passed the flowers to Karen and covered her face with her hands.

"Olivia..." he started while the music continued to play softly, "Will you marry me?"

She laughed and cried at the same time. "I love you, Fitz," she murmured overwhelmed with emotion.

"Is that a yes?"

Everyone else watched them intently, smiling.

"Hug me!" she said wiping away her tears of joy.

He couldn't get to his feet fast enough. She leaped into his arms, couldn't feel his arms wrapping around her tight enough. She couldn't breath for the joy of it all.

Against his ear, she whispered, Yes, Yes!

She felt his embrace ease as he pulled out of his pocket a diamond ring and slid it onto her finger. In response, she pressed her lips against his and they shared one sweet kiss under his Mexican sombrero.

Fitz then turned to their audience, "Did you hear that?" He announced, she said "Yes!"

Everyone cheered and applauded.

The mariachi band started again, this time picking up the tempo and playing Gloria in excelsis deo-Gloria- to God in the highest.

Olivia wrapped her arms around his neck as they slow danced to the music. This was the happiest day of her life.

xxx

When they got back home to Santa Monica Olivia was surprised to see Cyrus already waiting for them at the house. Fitz set their bags down near the front door.

"Well, glad to see you back from your journey across the border, Cyrus smirked, nodding his head slightly, peering at Olivia and Fitz who nodded as a way of a greeting.

"Cyrus!" Karen barged in wearing a mariachi sombrero. In one motion, she took off the jumbo sized hat and handed it to him. "This is for you!"

"Well, thank you, senorita mia, " Cyrus put the sombrero on his head and bowed. Then, he started singing, "la cucaracha, la cucaracha ya no puede caminar" in a rapid foot-stomping dance which made Karen chuckle. She joined in the stomping doing her best to match his tempo, raising her arms flicking her fingers.

"We just have to get you a trumpet and guitar and your very own mariachi band," Fitz smirked.

"Aw, Fitz don't give him ideas, we need him around here," Olivia said, taking a seat in their formal living room. It felt great to be home.

"Don't worry, no chance. La cucaracha is the only song I can sing."

"Daddy proposed to Olivia dressed as a Mariachi," Karen grinned.

Cyrus peered at Olivia cocking his head in that signature way of his. "Well, then, congratulations," he paused. As soon as Olivia graciously thanked him, he added, "mind if I borrow your groom for a few minutes?" his expression changed just a tad weighing how much he should say. "Need to take care of a few things, shouldn't take long."

Olivia gave Cyrus a curious look. Even though she didn't know him that well she could tell he was up to something.

"Sure," She stood up and started walking down the hall to the bedrooms. "come," she motioned to Karen, "let's unpack. She tried to say it in an upbeat tone which didn't quite come out right. She was trying hard to keep it together. She couldn't help but miss Aaron. There were reminders of him everywhere, especially in the master bedroom. She would need to keep the door to the adjoining room closed at all times so she wouldn't have to look into the nursery and see his things.

The day went by faster than she imagined. Fitz stayed home with her most of the day after Cyrus left. He would in and out of his study to log on to his computer and/or make phone calls.

Then, towards the end of the day, Fitz announced that he was going to be making an out of town business trip.

"Hmm...and to think I just unpacked our bags and here we go again," Olivia stated in a flippant tone.

Fitz cleared his throat. "Ah...well, the thing is that I need to make this trip on my own. I leave tomorrow morning and come back tomorrow Monday night."

Olivia's heart sank. Two days? The last thing she wanted was to be without him in this house, she was still trying to cope with the loss of Aaron.

She gave him a long suspicious look "So why can't come along, you're not hiding something from me Fitzgerald Grant, are you?" she said it half joking, half serious.

He threw his head back and chuckled. "Now what kind of fool would I be to do that, after just getting engaged to the most wonderful woman in the world ?" He put his arms around her. "Hon, this is not the kind of trip for Karen. And It would mean a lot to me if you stayed home with her…she needs to be with one of us at all times with everything that's happened. "

Olivia's facial expression brightened. "Of course, my love." He was thinking her in term of co-parenting. Even though they were not married yet, she was now being given the role of a stepparent. It felt good; she loved Fitz's little girl so much.

While Fitz was out of town, Olivia did some soul searching.

Thinking about everything that had happened since the crash of flight fifteen sometimes made her head spin. There were some questions still unanswered. The freighter came back. The captain had been detained on account of the Oceanic six survivors who said the he had falsely claimed that the engine had broken down, leaving them stranded for days. The important thing though was that everyone was safe.

Except for Claire, she was not with the rest of the survivors. Somehow, part of Olivia had hoped she would have been, even though she had no reason to expect that. Claire had disappeared into the jungle long before the arrival of the freighter and had been missing since then.

There were other questions that plagued her mind from time to time, such as the role (if any) that her mother played in the events that lead to the mass killings back in the 70's. Something told her that at the very least, her mother must have known something. Her exact role, however, was something she would never know…and perhaps, it was for the best.

Therefore, she decided to let the matter rest. After verifying that the contents of the safe deposit box, she'd transferred the evidence to a safe deposit at a bank of her own choosing.

Regarding her father, she was certain he would leave them alone. His secret was safe. The only people that knew about him and the Dharma Initiative were Fitz, Sayid and herself. Fitz never shared the discovery of his photograph at the Looking Glass Station and he has no reason to suspect Sayid of outing him, since he had no idea of the evidence that Sayid found.

She decided that the best was to let bygones be bygones. Although one thing was for certain: she never wanted to see her father again.

Monday late in the evening.

Fitz got home later than she expected. Karen was already in bed and Olivia was getting ready to call it a night. She had not napped all day and she was really tired. She'd been told that's how it is for most women in early pregnancy.

She was now standing in front of the mirror in the master bedroom, checking her waistline and wondering when she was going to start showing. Part of her couldn't wait to get to that stage of pregnancy when there would be no question as to her condition for the evidence was right there plain for all to see.

"Daddy is here, Daddy is here!" she heard Karen shout as she ran down the hallway. She had heard a vehicle pulling up the driveway.

"Karen, no running!" she called out. She didn't want her to trip and get hurt in her haste. She sauntered over to the living room on cloud nine. Fitz was home. She had missed him so much.

"Oh my God!" Olivia covered her face with her hands. "Oh, my God...Fitz!" she couldn't believe it. So that was the reason why Fitz had left alone on this business trip, why he had insisted on coming home in a cab instead of having her picking him up at the airport.

It all made sense now.

AND she couldn't be happier.

Karen was also jumping up and down with excitement. "He's back!, He's back!"

Next thing she knew her legs had carried over to where Fitz stood in the foyer holding Aaron in his arms and grinning back at her.

With tears of joy, she took Aaron from Fitz and rocked him back and forth in her arms. "But how, how did you….oh, Fitz…" she happily sighed. She leaned in and placed a kiss on her fiance's lips.

Karen came around Olivia's side. Olivia lowered Aaron to Karen's eye level. "Hi, little baby!" Karen cooed, not wanting to be left out of all the action. Aaron, clad in a warm-footed PJ, got excited by Karen's attention and rewarded her with a big smile.

Olivia and Fitz exchanged a look. Yes, they had to make sure to include Karen. Neither one of them would want for her to feel as though she was the odd one out in the family.

"Wait…" Olivia's smile faded. She needed to know this was for real. "Fitz...can we keep him?"

Fitz's smile widened. "Yes, he's ours!

Olivia stared back at him overjoyed. She still couldn't believe it. "How, how?" she kept asking over and over again.

"Yes, daddy, did the stork brought him back to our front door?" Karen smirked.

"Well...that's a long story that I will happily tell you tomorrow," Fitz replied.

"Hmm...yes, young lady...as a matter of fact, I believe you were supposed to be asleep."

Karen shrugged. "I couldn't sleep, I wanted to see Daddy."

"Well, it's getting pretty late young lady and you need your beauty sleep." Fitz said, taking Karen's hand and guiding her back toward the room. "So why don't you say goodnight to Olivia and Aaron?"

"Goodnight Olivia, goodnight Aaron."

"Goodnight, Karen, sweet dreams…"

Fifteen minutes later, Fitz found Olivia in the nursery rocking Aaron in the rocking share. She was glowing with happiness which in turn brought a joyful smile to his face. This is what he had wanted the most to see his precious Olivia this happy. He said a quiet prayer of thanks to the Almighty.

"Fitz," she said his name softly. "He wants to nurse," she marveled. It had been days. Prior to the press conference she had started the process of weaning him, subconsciously preparing for the possibility of having to give him up. But weaning was a slow process and her breasts were still producing milk at a lesser quantity but still Aaron was able to nurse happily.

"Did you think he would forget you, Liv, it's only been a few days," he added sitting down in another chair nearby.

"How did you do it?"

Fitz leaned back in his chair and sighed with satisfaction. "Apparently, Aaron was not with social services very long. Almost as soon as the press conference aired, the Australian government petitioned for him as an Australian citizen." He paused, not wanting to rush the story. "As it turns out, Cyrus was in Australia trying to locate...Claire's boyfriend,' he added not wanting to say his name as he had such low regard for Aaron's natural father. "The man crawled out of the woodwork wanting to claim Aaron. Cyrus offered him three the amount of the maximum settlement he could possibly expect from Oceanic Airlines…and well, the rest is history," he concluded with a proud smile.

Olivia gave Fitz a look of pure love. "And you flew to Australia…" she prompted for him to continue. She was not going to let him get away with not providing ALL the details.

"The document that Cyrus drafted is foolproof. He sighed away all his parental rights and giving custody of Aaron to us...well, technically to me since I was the one present to sign."

"We could have both signed," she said simply without recrimination.

"And what would have been the fun in that?" he shrugged. "I wanted to surprise you, the look on your face was...still is absolutely priceless."

She rewarded him with the brightest smile.

"The document is foolproof. The man had a lawyer present and it was all legal and properly notarized...oh, yes, he also signed a document where he is to refrain from going to the press with the story." He sighed. "Well, actually I think we have nothing to worry about there. If he ever makes the story public he's the one that has the most to lose. After all, what kind of man would sign away his child to total strangers?"

She gave him a worried look. "Do you think though that he might come back demanding more money?" She lifted Aaron on to her shoulder to burp him.

"Cyrus had a 'serious' conversation with him about that. If that lowlife ever comes close to us...anyway, legally he can't take Aaron away from us. In Australia once you give up your parental rights voluntarily you can't get them back."

"But he still could come back and blackmail us." Olivia persisted.

Fitz pursed his lips. He was sitting with his legs crossed, both elbows on the armrests. After a moment he rubbed his chin in a pensive fashion. "Liv, let's not let that possibility, an unlikely possibility I might add, ruin this moment."

"Okay," she readily agreed. Life was good. No sense worrying about something that might never happen.

A/N:

Next up, the wedding! Your comments, greatly appreciated. Thanks!