A Late Valentine
"Dad?" Tommy called from the back of his father's sports car. It was a Saturday morning and they were on their way to the barbershop in Brooklyn. It was the same barbershop Fitz has been going to since he was a little boy with his father. His barber was an Old Italian man named Romeo.
"Yes, son," Fitz answered, peeking at him through his rearview mirror.
"How do I get a girlfriend?" Tommy asked.
Fitz chuckled lightly, surprised by his question.
"Serious, dad!" Tommy reprimanded him for laughing at his question.
"Bud, where's this coming from? Do you like a girl or something?" Fitz asked seriously, studying his facial expression in the rearview mirror again before casting his glance back at the road.
"Yea." Tommy whispered.
""Who's this girl?" Fitz asked. He had an idea of who it could be, but he still needed to hear it from his mouth.
Fitz took in his shy disposition through the mirror when he said, "Ariel."
Bingo, Fitz thought.
"She asked to be my Valentine and I said yes. So does that make her my girlfriend?" Tommy asked, clearly confused by what this all means for him and his friend.
Fitz swallowed his laughter that was threatening to erupt. His question wasn't funny but his facial expressions were. Tommy was in serious contemplation. His brows furrowed together as he tried to make sense of it all. Poor guy, this was only the beginning for him.
"No son, this doesn't mean that she's your girlfriend. Aren't you two friends?"
"Yes, she's one of my best friends in the whole entire world." He answered confidently.
"Since she's your friend it is ok for her to be your Valentine. Friends can be each other's Valentine's. You don't have to be boyfriend and girlfriend for that. When you're much older that will probably change, but for now you can have friends who asks you to be their Valentine's without them being your girlfriend. Make sense?" Fitz asked, pulling up to the stoplight, he turned his head around briefly to gauge his reaction.
"Yes, daddy. I can't wait to grow big and tall, then I'll ask Ariel to be my girlfriend." He spoke smugly.
Fitz smirked as he shifted the car forward when the light changed to green.
"Don't try to grow too fast, your mother wouldn't like that." Fitz mused, thinking about the heartache his wife would've gotten if she were with them when the conversation was ensued. He already knew that going forward he'd have to keep mama bear's nails clipped when their son gets older.
While the boys went to the barbershop the ladies were having a lazy Saturday. The men served them breakfast in bed, and promised to take them out on a romantic dinner later in the day. So far they have yet to leave the master bed.
Olivia lay on her side with Iya in the same position across from her. They were talking about any and everything. Iya asked her mother questions and she didn't hesitate to answer her truthfully.
"So, I'll start getting breast soon?" Iya looked down at her still flat chest, she was referencing the book her mother and her started reading. The Care and Keeping of You: The Body Book for Younger Girls.
"Anytime now, you're going to be 9 next month."
"Hmm," Iya mumbled.
"How do you feel about that, Sweet Cheeks?"
Iya shrugged her shoulder. "Dunno."
"It can be a scary thing but I'm here with you through each step of the way. When it starts the two of us will go bra shopping just like my mom and I did."
Iya's eyes widen with curiosity at the mention of that, sometimes she'd forgotten her mother was once a little girl.
"Grandma Lexi, read a book with you too?"
"No she didn't, back then she taught me what she knew."
"Oh… So why are we reading a book?"
Olivia smiled, using her free hand she pushed an errant curl behind her ear. Iya Grant was too much like her, they always need to know the why behind things.
"Because I know you and I know that you like looking up information on your own. So I got us a book that you can reference to whenever you have questions. So you have both a book and me."
Iya smiled widely because her mother did know her and she knew what she liked.
"Does periods really hurt?" She moved onto another question that has been weighing on her mind.
"HA! You have no idea." Olivia watched as her daughter's face scrunched up in disgust. She hadn't meant to scare her, albeit it was very funny.
"I don't want to scare you by telling you the truth, but I also don't want to have you be ill prepared. It really hurts. Some days are good while some days you won't feel like leaving your bed. But, you'll have to leave home and go about your day, whether it is to work or school. "
"If it hurts badly why don't you get to stay home?" Iya inquired.
Olivia lightly chuckled, "I wish it was like that, but alas my dear, we live in a male dominated world."
"Well that sucks!" Iya exclaimed. "I'm going to tell dad to give his female workers days off when they're seeing their periods. That's only fair."
Olivia chuckled again; her daughter was growing into quite the feminist. "Make sure I'm around when you have this conversation please." Olivia joked.
"Mom… I'm serious." Iya reprimanded her mother's nonchalant attitude.
"I know you are, Sweet Cheeks."
They fell back into a comfortable quietness, enjoying the remainder of their morning before the boys got back.
"What is going on with your brother and father?" Olivia asked Iya; they were huddled up in the master bathroom getting ready for a family dinner at a restaurant unknown to them. Since the father and son duo had returned from the barbershop with their fresh haircuts they had been acting secretive.
"I don't know. I passed Tommy in the hallway five minutes ago and he started running from me. Weird…" Iya replied, her index finger making circles by her head to indicate that her brother was acting crazy.
"Hmmm," Olivia said, applying a red lipstick to her lips.
"Please?" Iya pouted her lips for some of her mother's Chanel A Classy Cranberry color.
Olivia shook her head negatively.
"Please… mommy..." Iya pouted even harder, giving her puppy dog eyes.
"Iya Nicole Grant, I'm not your father." Olivia chuckled, because the same tricks won't work on her like how it works on him.
"Just a small dab."
"Ok," Olivia conceded, she gave her a small dab on the lips, and then she took her lip liner brush and skillfully brushed the color across her pink lips. "There you go."
"Thanks, mom," Iya squealed. She loved makeup but her mother didn't indulge her in too much of it because she felt like she was too young, plus her father didn't approve of it either. But times like these when she got to wear a bit of it, were every thing to her.
"You're welcome, Baby." Olivia finished her makeup and sprayed some of her perfume on her pulse points.
"Last time for the night I'm begging, please for some perfume?"
Olivia smiled and shook her head good-natured. She took out a different perfume and gave her to spray on herself.
"Anything else you need?"
Iya laughed before answering, "nope."
The ladies regarded themselves one more time in the full-length mirror before leaving the bedroom. Since they were on a mother and daughter love fest day they decided to wear matching outfits, white dresses with red accessories.
"It's very quiet down here. Where are the boys?" Olivia observed the eerie silence as they descended the stairs. "Fitz? Tommy?" She called, but received no answer. She looked at her phone and saw that it was already 6 in the evening.
WOOF WOOF
"Come here boy!" Iya called Rex over. He immediately came and she began patting his back. In the distance the doorbell started ringing.
Olivia led the way to the door with Iya and Rex trailing behind. When they'd gotten to the door, she looked through the peephole and started laughing.
"What in the world?" She began, opening the door for the two gentlemen dressed impeccably in black suits and white shirts with red ties.
"Good evening ladies," the older gentleman said.
"We are here to take you on a date," the younger gentleman said.
Olivia and Iya looked at each other and grinned.
"For you," the gentlemen said in unison, proffering a single red rose to them. Iya was given a rose from her father while her mother received one from her son.
"Thank you," the ladies said together.
"Where to?" Olivia asked, as if on cue a town car came into viewing.
"Your chariot awaits you," Tommy said. Fitz looked down at him and gave him a thumb up for remembering his lines.
Olivia and Iya's face both wore a face splitting smile. The ladies excused themselves and went to retrieve their coats.
They all sat comfortably in the back seat of the town car in route to the restaurant with Huck trailing behind in a SUV. The ladies still weren't privileged to know where they would be dining.
"Was this why you two were hiding from us all day?" Olivia inquired.
"Technically, yes and no. Most of it was already planned about a week ago. However, I had to keep a certain person away from you."
Olivia chuckled, knowing what he was hinting at. It wouldn't have taken much for her to glean information from a certain little boy.
"Understood. Well, this is very lovely so far, guys. Isn't that right, Iya?"
"Yes!" She added excitedly.
They continued their journey with excited chatters until they arrived in front of the skyscraper. Olivia looked at Fitz and he gave her a bemused look. They were at the old apartment building where they had a penthouse. They had talked about selling it, but decided against it. They kept it and rented it out to people who were looking for a luxurious place to stay that wasn't a hotel.
"Too many memories to let go of," he told her.
She nodded her head at him, while wearing a smile.
They exited the vehicle and were led through the lobby and onto the elevator. When they arrived on the elevator Tommy requested to be the designated button presser. He pressed the button to the penthouse and they were ascended to the top floor.
"Ladies first," Fitz said, holding back his son so that his sister and mother could enter through the door first. When they had entered he released him to follow suit before he did the same.
The first thing that hit her nose was the scent of gourmet food cooking. Olivia looked around taking in the atmosphere; the penthouse was still fully decorated and looked very much like a page from a magazine, unlike their warmer and messier home.
Olivia spotted a few people in the open plan kitchen. "Is that chef Roblé?" Olivia whispered.
"Uh huh," Fitz answered, smiling, knowing how excited she would get by this.
Chef Roblé looked up and saw them standing in the distance. He threw down his dishcloth on the countertop before striding towards them.
"He's walking over here," Olivia whispered again. She was a big fan of his cooking and even tried a few of his recipes when she had the time.
Fitz gave her the look, secretly telling her that he's the only man that should get her excited. Olivia returned his look with an eye roll, secretly hoping that the kids didn't see, especially Iya.
"Good evening ladies and gentlemen, welcome to your Valentine's dinner. I'm Chef Roblé." He greeted warmly, extending his right hand for each of them to shake.
"Firm grip you have their young man," he congratulated Tommy who laughed in return. Tommy had purposefully squeezed his little hand tightly around his. That was a direct result from the conversation he heard earlier in the day at the barbershop.
"And you must be the lovely, Mrs. Grant." He stopped and gave the back of her hand a kiss.
Fitz threw him a serious but playful, don't mess with my woman look. Chef Roblé backed away with surrendered hands. "I won't even dare cross III Legend, like if I could," he jested.
"You got that right," Fitz told him, shaking his hand with a giant smirk on his face.
After that they were promptly seated at a round table where they were served strawberry bruschetta for appetizer. The strawberries were cut out in the cutest heart shapes. All four of them devoured it because of the space left in their stomach from the light lunch that they ate.
"You had a good time with dad today?" Olivia asked Tommy, during a chew.
"Uh huh," he told her with a head nod.
She gave him a smile and they talked about their day in detail. After they had devoured their entrée of breaded chicken cutlets with tomatoes and arugula, some requested theirs without the Mediterranean plant, and then they moved onto the fun part of the evening. They were assisting Chef Roblé in making their own dessert, which was an Easy Pavlova. The guys rid themselves of their suits jackets before rolling up their shirtsleeves and donning matching aprons like the girls.
Chef Roblé designated tasks to each one of them. They had fun talking and laughing throughout the entire process while being guided by a professional. Two hours later they were finished, each with a different looking one thanks to their plating skills. Upon last minute by Iya's suggestion they decided to exchange their Pavlova instead of eating their own. Iya ate her mother's with pineapples toppings while Olivia ate Tommy's with strawberries toppings. Tommy ate his father's mango version while Fitz ate Iya's apple one. When they were finished eating and the place was cleared, thanks to Chef Roblé assistances they bid them all a good night.
By the time they were by themselves it was almost 9 in the evening. "That was so much fun," Iya sighed from the chair arm she was resting on. They were all so filled and didn't bother to make a move.
"Yes indeed," Olivia agreed, from the sofa she was lying in with her head on Fitz' lap. "You and Tommy did a great job today, honey." Olivia said, looking up at her husband.
Fitz smirked at her; he lowered his head down to give her a smooch. Once their lips were connected he left it there for a few seconds, enjoying the warmth and softness of her pillow soft lips.
"The day is far from over, and I'm afraid you haven't received your Valentine's day gift."
"Sweetheart, you know that's not necessary," she told him.
"Oh it is." He affirmed. "Tommy, bring out the balloons."
Tommy nodded his head before rushing towards the bedroom where his father and him had hid things earlier in the day. Tommy came out with four inflated red balloons with white hearts
"Let the games begin," Fitz cheered, gently prying Liv off of his lap. When she was in a seated position he stood to his feet and collected three of the balloons from Tommy. He passed one to Iya and the other to Olivia.
"You need to take off your shoes and tie the string around your ankle." Fitz instructed.
"What kind of game is this?" Olivia asked.
"It's called heart balloon stomp," Fitz answered.
"Have you been on my Pinterest account again?"
Fitz gave her a sheepish look but didn't answer.
"I swear you use that thing more than me."
"Keep that between us, please…"
"Promise," she told him, making a cross over her chest.
When they were all suited up for the game, which was just the tied balloon attached to their ankles, they went over the rules. The rules of the game were basic, stomp the other person's balloon, and the last person to have their balloon popped wins. No grabbing and tugging at the other person's clothes or body. That was especially implemented for a pregnant Olivia.
The game was in action and everyone tried to move swiftly to stomp the other person's balloon. Olivia's was the first person to have her balloon stomped on then Fitz. In the end it was a heated competition between Iya and Thomas, neither backing down from the challenge. In the end Iya won when she purposefully distracted him by telling him, "look at the bird by the window." There was no bird and by the time Tommy could've registered that, the sound of his balloon being popped filled his ears. He didn't take it well and began arguing with his sister, which broke out into a physical fight amongst them by him shoving her first.
Being the faster of the two, Fitz got up and went to part them. "Stop this right now!" He admonished, looking from one red face to another.
"What's the matter with you? You both know better than to fight each other."
"She cheated!" Tommy cried.
"You hit me!" Iya cried also.
"I don't care who cheated on who, it's never ok for you to hit your sister or any girl for that matter, Thomas. That is an unacceptable behavior!"
Tommy bowed his head sorrowful. His eyes filled with tears and his lip trembled from the somersault of emotions he was experiencing.
"I want you to apologize to your sister for hitting her right this second. And Iya you will also apologize to your brother for what you did."
"I'm sorry," Tommy muttered through tears.
"What are you are sorry for?" His father asked, it was pertinent that he said what he was sorry for.
"I'm sorry for pushing you and I won't do it again." Tommy said, altering his apology to his dad's demands.
"I'm sorry for tricking you in the game," Iya said after he was finished speaking.
Fitz could tell that their issue wasn't fully resolved; he knew his children and knew that they were both saying empty apologies because they were both still visibly upset with each other. But, that will have to do for now.
"Come here," he signaled them into his awaiting arms. He hugged them tightly, forcing them to hug each other. "I love you both, and we know when we misbehave that they're consequences. So both of you will be going to bed now and you can kiss your TV and Internet privileges good bye for a while until your mother and I see it fit to give it back to you. I want you to go to bed and think about your actions. Do you think that behaving the way you did tonight will make the world a better place?"
They both shook their head no; they were quickly seeing the error of their ways when their entertainment outlets were being denied.
"That's what I thought. Wish your mother a good night before going to your rooms," Fitz directed. They wordlessly went over to their mother and mumbled a good night and hugged her before retreating to the two rooms that were right next to each other. Fitz followed them and helped them prepared for bed.
Later on he returned to a half sleeping Olivia on the sofa, she was too exhausted to stay up any longer.
"How are they?" She asked when she felt his weight dip on the end of the sofa.
"Still pissed I supposed, but they'll be fine. Tomorrow they'll be back to their buddy system."
"I hope so. I hate when they fight, I'm just surprised that Tommy initiated it this time. He was never the instigator."
"I know. I don't like that at all. I remember one time when I was around ten years old Raye and I had a fight. She was dead wrong but my daddy spanked me like if I was secretly plotting how to rob the nearby store. He told me that no matter what a woman did that I was to never raise my hands at her. So from since then I never fought back with her or any women for that matter."
Olivia sighed lightly. It wasn't anything for them to worry about. He was just upset in the moment and decided to hash things out with his sister, but they wouldn't let his behavior fly neither hers.
"And Iya needs to stop trying to trick him because she's older and smarter. I've spoken to her about her behavior too many times to count." Olivia said, letting out a deep breath.
They stayed quiet for a few minutes wallowing in the aftermath of their children's fight.
"This is ridiculous. Here we are on Valentine's night sitting and worrying about our children who will no doubt move on from this. How do you say we put on some music and end the night, a lá romantico style?" Fitz proposed.
"I like the sound of that, Mr. Grant."
"Say that again," Fitz demanded in a deep voice.
"Mr. Grant…" Olivia repeated, in a sultry tone.
Fitz gave her a light peck before hauling himself off of the couch to the iHome dock near the TV console.
"Every time I listen to this song it reminds me of you," Fitz told her, as he scrolled through the hundreds of songs on his iPhone.
"I'm intrigued," Olivia replied, padding towards the middle of the living room.
And with a click of the play button the familiar song rang through the room. She could contest that the song also reminds her of him.
"May I have this dance?"" Fitz asked, when he was standing in front of her.
"You can have this one and the one after." She confessed.
Fitz smirked, joining in with Ed Sheeran as he sang the lyrics to his song 'Thinking Out Loud.' Because of her ever-growing baby bump that restricts their bodies from being too close they decided to dance with Fitz holding her from behind.
When your legs don't work like they used to before
And I can't sweep you off of your feet
Will your mouth still remember the taste of my love?
Will your eyes still smile from your cheeks?
Olivia reveled in the feel of her husband's strong arms enveloping her. She felt loved, cherished and protected.
And, darling, I will be loving you 'til we're 70
And, baby, my heart could still fall as hard at 23
And I'm thinking 'bout how people fall in love in mysterious ways
Maybe just the touch of a hand
Well, me—I fall in love with you every single day
And I just wanna tell you I am
The lyrics leaving his mouth expressed exactly how he felt each and every day for the woman swaying in his arms. Fitz spinned her around as the next verse of the song began.
So honey now
Take me into your loving arms
Kiss me under the light of a thousand stars
Place your head on my beating heart
I'm thinking out loud
That maybe we found love right where we are
He brought her back into his arms, he nuzzled his face into the crook of her neck as he held her tightly.
When my hair's all but gone and my memory fades
And the crowds don't remember my name
When my hands don't play the strings the same way
I know you will still love me the same
Olivia turned her body so she could face him, even though their bodies weren't as close as they were before she needed to look into his blue eyes. She saw the intensity of them; she smiled as she joined him in singing the lyrics to the song that she'd memorized, thanks to its repetition on her Pandora station.
Her hands circled around his neck as she serenaded him with her semi-good singing.
'Cause honey your soul could never grow old, it's evergreen
And, baby, your smile's forever in my mind and memory
I'm thinking 'bout how people fall in love in mysterious ways
Maybe it's all part of a plan
Well, I'll just keep on making the same mistakes
Hoping that you'll understand
But, baby, now
Take me into your loving arms
Kiss me under the light of a thousand stars
Place your head on my beating heart
Thinking out loud
That maybe we found love right where we are
So, baby, now
Take me into your loving arms
Kiss me under the light of a thousand stars
Oh, darling, place your head on my beating heart
I'm thinking out loud
That maybe we found love right where we are
Oh, baby, we found love right where we are
And we found love right where we are
Lucky for them the song was on repeat and they danced it another two more times before they ended with a steamy kiss, promising each other of what's to come later. They held hands as they walked towards their temporary bedroom. Being in a strange place for the evening they decided to stop and check on the children, what they saw when they unlocked the door to one of the bedrooms was enough to make them both smile and sighed in relief. There in Iya's designated room was she and her brother hugging as they slept.
They looked at them for a few more seconds before they moved onto their bedroom, where Fitz took his time showing his wife how much she meant to him. When they were lying spent in bed he finally gave her the Valentine's gift, which was a red heart charm to add to her Pandora bracelet that she'd received from him over a decade ago. They were technically not going to buy each other gifts but Fitz couldn't help it.
"Te amo mi amor." Fitz told her, "I love you, darling," in Spanish.
"Je'taime," Olivia returned the same sentiments in French.
A/N: Next chapter will be a time jump. Probably all the way to baby #3 delivery. Leave suggestions for boys and girls names :) How did you like the mushy chapter? Tommy asking his dad how to get a girlfriend - to Iya and her mom talking about period. Oh man, I remember those days with my mother. Haha.
They had a family Valentine's date night that was going good until the kids decided to act out. That's the thing with kids you never know what will happen. Heck! It's the same way with adults too. LOL.
Thanks again for your continuous support with this story, I know I neglect it while I write my other stories (More To Life and Fighting Hearts). :( Don't worry, one day the other two will end and this one will still be going because we will follow the kids all the way into adulthood.
Don't forget to leave reviews.
XOXO