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Grant Ranch - Santa Barbara, CA

"Okay, so now that we are on the same page, let the full disclosure begin. First, why would you decide, now of all times to divorce your wife?"

Fitz took a deep breath, he knew this one was coming. he figured he might as well tell her the whole truth. Besides, she just told him that she'd be by his side no matter what. So, he figured that the least he could do was tell her the truth. Something about her made him want to be more open, and, this was something he needed to get off of his chest.

"For me to tell you why now, I'd have to tell you how we got this point. Although, I myself don't get it sometimes. So, I'm going to tell you everything and I expect you not to say anything until I'm finished."

She nodded. And he started recalling his relationship with Mellie.

He told her the story of the 16-year-old who found himself sent to college. He told her how isolating and lonely it was to be surrounded by people and yet feel completely and utterly alone. Being the youngest in his class, and going around with bodyguards had made it hard to make friends. He always looked forward to going home for the weekend.

After his undergrad, he was offered a Rhodes Scholarship. At Oxford, he thought that he had finally found a place for himself. He didn't feel like the odd one out, just a sense of belonging. But, just as he had started to make friends, his program was over and he was alone once again.

He was just going through the motions, so he followed the plan his father had laid out for him by going to law school. This time around, he found a friend from boarding school, Andrew Nichols. He was the first real friend he had. And the two had bonded at Andover. They were good friends. He was like the older brother he always wanted.

At Harvard, Andrew moved in with him. And for the first time since Oxford, he had felt like he wasn't alone. Law school wasn't as bad as undergrad. Fitz started dating. He dated a freshman by the name of Jennifer Thompson. But he remained mostly the reserved kid who didn't want to draw too much attention.

He met Mellie in his second year of law school. She was nice to him and, he thought that for once, he found a friend beside Andrew. The three of them became close friends although Andrew was convinced that Mellie had a thing for Fitz. Life seemed to be great.

But things didn't remain so. One weekend, during his third year, Jennifer broke up with him. It was a bad weekend because Andrew wasn't there, and he had gotten into a huge fight with his father about joining the Navy. He had wanted a little time to himself, to be normal, but his father kept pushing about how it would be the last step to making history. The youngest ever congressman, governor, or senator. He was meant for greatness and that started by building his military credentials. He has been so devastated. Here was a woman he loved, unable to love him back. And he wasn't even allowed time to just be himself, all in the name of the Grand Master Plan.

He had been feeling low, he started drinking. Somehow, in an act of desperation, he had called Mellie. He had needed someone and she had been there. They drank and they ended up having sex. In the morning they agreed that it was a mistake and could never happen again.

3 weeks later, Mellie came to him saying that she was pregnant. He offered to pay her child support and she declined she said that she was getting an abortion if they didn't get married. She had known how much Fitz loved children. She also knew that he wanted to run for office, not just because of the Grand Master Plan, but because he wanted to help people. She convinced him that the party would never allow him to run if he had had a child out of wedlock.

He thought she was his friend and wanted what was best for him, so he became intent on marrying her.

To say that his parents were pissed when they found out about the marriage would be an understatement. They threatened to cut him off financially if he didn't go for an annulment. They offered to pay her so she'd go away, and they could take care of the abortion. But Fitz was categorical, he never wanted her to feel like she was forced into having an abortion she didn't want. So, his parents cut him off. While both sets of his grandparents disapproved of Mellie, they stood by his side during the small courthouse ceremony but ensured that Mellie signed an air-tight prenup agreement first.

A week before Thanksgiving, Mellie miscarried. The loss took its toll on them, Fitz tried his best to be there for her, but Mellie kept pushing him away. Fitz had hoped that they could rely on each other through the terrible ordeal and tried his best to make their marriage work. Feeling hopeless around Mellie, and his own depression for the loss of his child convinced Fitz to join the Navy upon graduation.

The Navy gave Fitz a sense of purpose and an outlet for his frustration at the world. Perhaps it was being away from Harvard or the thought that he might die, but while Fitz was deployed, they tried to make an honest go of their marriage. They called each other and wrote to each other. They went on dates, whenever Fitz could get onshore. It reminded Fitz of the beginning of their friendship. For a while, it worked, they became a real couple, he even thought that he might have been falling for her.

Mellie became pregnant during his run for Governor. Fitz was overjoyed, he was finally going to be a father. He won his election and Mellie was thrilled to become the First Lady of California. However, the relationship between him and Mellie began to fray, and things only got worse once the twins were born. She refused him to touch her and said that she was no longer a sexual person. It just seemed that after the kids were born, the person he had come to care deeply about disappeared. He thought that it might have been postpartum and did his best to be there for her while encouraging her to get help. But it seemed that the harder he tried, the more she pushed him away. The kids became his whole life.

It was Jason, his bodyguard who told him that Mellie was having an affair. They had been in the governor's mansion for almost two years at that point, and the twins were almost a year and a half. It completely tore him apart. Although he knew that they weren't in love, he always thought that somehow, being in the same place would allow them to get back the semblance of normalcy they had before the twins were born, or that at least she would tell him if she was so unhappy that she went to look elsewhere.

Fitz was effectively a single parent since Mellie took very little interest in the kids. He was the one that took them to daycare later on to pre-school. He was the one that went to parent-teacher meetings, and he was the one that knew exactly what was going on in their lives. He tried to give them the best that he could and made sure they knew how much they were loved. He put them in the best schools and made sure that they lacked for nothing. But he also thought them respect and the importance of hard work. He made sure that they understood that having people that help you around didn't mean that they didn't have responsibilities. The kids knew that they had to clean up the playroom after playing for example, or they'd be grounded. Fitz only continued to hang on to what was left of his marriage for the sake of the children. He didn't want to deprive them of a good family. For the same reason, he allowed his parents to know the kids despite his strained relationship with them. He felt like his kids deserved to know where they came from and who they were. However, his parents refused to see Karen and Gerry in Mellie's presence and she refused to see them either. So, whenever he'd take the kids to his parents' house, she'd stay behind or whenever they'd come, she'd vacate the house.

He often thought about divorcing her but, always worried about the kids and how they might end up resenting him for destroying their family. So, he resigned himself to being trapped in this toxic marriage at least until the kids were older. His kids were his everything and he would sacrifice his own happiness to ensure theirs.

It was as if Fitz was reliving every detail of the real story of his marriage as he recounted it. She could see how much it pained him to open up and tell her the truth. She feels such compassion towards him and what he's been through. She wishes so much that was a way for her to erase all the pain and all the hurt he's feeling.

They go silent for a little while, Liv taking in what he just shared with her. Fitz doesn't know what to do. It's the first time that he ever opened himself like this. He never was this vulnerable, even with Andrew.

Finally, Liv breaks the silence. "So, why now?"

He simply answers "My baby girl" his voice cracking with emotions. He tries to compose himself before continuing. "The toxicity of my marriage is ruining their childhood."

She doesn't understand what he's saying so she remains silent to give him the opportunity to compose himself. They fall silent. The room is thick with emotions. And then, Fitz told her how Karen had asked if he also kissed other people, while he read her a bedtime story. Apparently, she had walked in on Mellie making out with the chef. He had realized that staying was not providing his kids a normal childhood, it was robbing them of one. It had been too much of a reminder of sitting outside his dad's office on his tenth birthday. It was supposed to be a father-son bonding moment, instead, he had listened to his father having sex with his secretary as his wife, the mother of his children, laid in bed dying. It was one thing for him to know that she was cheating, but having the kids walk in on her? He knew she couldn't care less about him but, couldn't she at least try to protect them? They were innocents caught in the toxic swamp he called a marriage.

The air in the room was thick with emotion. Fitz was the one to break the silence.

"Stand here with me for one minute. Let's not start strategizing, or talk or think. For one minute, we just stand here. I'm not the candidate or your client and you're not the campaign manager or fixer. We're just us. One minute, for one minute, just stand here with me."

"One minute" Liv replied.

They fell into a comfortable silence. Their eyes locked once again and once again, they saw it; the house, the kids, the future. Their minute was ended by a knock at the door.

She now knew what her decision was. She paid Charlie and paid for her cappuccino. And then headed home. On her way over, there was only one question on her mind: What happened between before and after the kids left that changed Fitz so drastically?

She arrived home around 6.30. Since her decision was already made, she just needed to find Fitz for them to hash out the details concerning the divorce. She entered the house and was surprised to find the house silent, too silent. No one was in the living room. You could hear a pin drop as it was so quiet. She decided she'd tell Cyrus her decision first so, she headed to his room.

She found him sitting on the carpet with a tone of paperwork on his coffee table. He was so concentrated he didn't hear her come inside. She went and tapped his shoulder a little. He jumped out of his skin at her touch.

"You scared the crap out of me! Do you want me to have a heart attack? I'm barely divorced and I haven't started dating yet. I'm too young to die." He said once he calmed down.

"Cy, you had me and Fitz as students at Harvard over 10 years ago, you're not that young..." She replied sarcastically.

"Geez, thanks. You sure as hell know how to make a man feel special."

"Anyhow, that's not why I came here to see you. I made my decision regarding the divorce..." she trailed off.

Cyrus became impatient when she didn't finish her sentence. "And?" He couldn't wait, her decision was crucial to the campaign. He had been playing scenarios of the campaign based on her decision all day.

"I think that I'm going to sign them. At least that way I leave this marriage with some integrity. If I decide to fight him on this, I'd be fighting the whole Grant-Reichenbach family and I couldn't win. They all hate me and they've been waiting for this divorce for almost 13 years. I don't think stand a chance against them if they are united against me. It's one of the most powerful families in the country. They'd bury me alive and have the nation cheering for them. So, I'll sign the papers and start a new life. I think it's what's best for me." She said somehow defeated.

Cyrus couldn't find words to express what he was feeling. Never in his life would he have thought he would see Millicent 'Mellie' Grant resign to Fitz. The feeling he had was a mixture of surprise, pride, awe, and complete shock. At this moment, for the first time in his life, he started fearing a determined Fitz. If he was able to bring the 'Ice Queen' to her knees, he feared what else he could do.

"Wow. I don't know what to say. I never thought I'd see the day where you'd resign to Fitz of all people."

"We all change Cy. For better or for worse, we all change."

"So, have you told him yet?"

"No, I was actually thinking that he might be here seeing how the house is quiet. Do you know where he is?"

"I left him with Olivia in the study. They're strategizing."

"Olivia?" she asked somehow unsure. Her husband, soon to be ex-husband, was alone in his study, with a woman she'd never met. A little bit of hope came to her eyes, She hoped that maybe, she'd catch him in the throes of passion and delay the divorce for a while.

"Yeah, Olivia, you remember that friend I told you about, the one I asked to help. She arrived early this afternoon. She and Fitz have been strategizing ever since. Fitz's got me doing campaign work so they can work on the divorce."

"And you're certain she'll be able to help?" Mellie asked skeptically.

"She's the best. If anyone can, it's her." Cyrus had replied.

" Well, let's see if she's good enough to guarantee as both what we want." She said heading towards the study.

She entered without knocking and Fitz looked irritated to have been interrupted. Before Fitz could say a word, she said "I'll sign but I want a deal".

Please tell me what you think. Your opinions are welcomed and desired.

JLG20