"Where's our brood?" Fitz asked as he entered their surprisingly quiet home. Liv looked up from the papers she was grading and took her glasses off smiling at her husband.
"Amy was craving pizza so Gerry has taken her and the little one's with them. They're eating there and bringing us back some. He saw my pile of marking and thought I could use the quiet."
Gerry and Amy had bought the property right next door to the Grant home. Though it wasn't as big, it had enough room for the family they were planning to have. The house itself needed some work and Gerry wanted to do it himself so they had temporarily moved in with the family. They had the downstairs en suite so they would have some privacy. Between Fitz and Gerry they were making some headway in the renovations. Gerry had hired experts for the big things like plumbing, electricity, and installation of the bigs things like toilets, bathroom sinks and marble island in the kitchen everything else he and Fitz were doing with their own hands. The three Grant boys spent a lot of time knocking down walls and patching walls up. Bellie was commisioned to paint with Karen and Liv once they were all done while Amy project managed in the safety of the Grant home. She handled budget, ordering of equipment and supplies and poured over designs with Liv and Bellie. Karen was finishing up her contract at work and moving close to home. With Gerry moving back, Teddy and Bellie growing so fast, a baby on the way she did not want to miss a moment of it.
"You and Gerry working on the house tonight?" With both Gerry and Fitz working their time on the house was limited to evenings and weekends. Fitz shook his head and he sat beside her.
"No. The project is important but time with our wives and the rest of the family come first. So we have tonight off. It feels like I haven't had any time with my wife in a really long time. What do you say you and I go out to dinner? Teddy and Bellie are already with Gerry anyway." Liv kissed him on the cheek and threw her pen down.
"You're on. Do you want to give Gerry a call and let him know?"
"Already done. We talked this morning. I wasn't sure what he was planning for the evening but he had offered to take Bellie and Teddy. He said it was the least he could do seeing as they are living here and we have all been working so hard on his house."
"It's what families do." She replied nonchalant.
"Oh Mellie called. She asked to see Teddy this weekend."
Mellie lived in Santa Barbara with her new husband and their brand new baby was currently running for the governor of California and as promised, had Fitz's full support. Their relationship was amicable, and her relationship with her children was cordial at best. Gerry and Karen had very little to do with Mellie. Teddy who was still too small to protest saw her when she sent for him and his childhood with her only made him keep her at arms length and look to Liv as his mother just as Bellie did for she treated him no less than her own. She goes to his every soccer game and yells the loudest. Tucks him in at night and do his homework with him. She nurtured him, as she did all Grant children.
"Have you told him?" Fitz asked knowing it would meet some resistance and ensue a tantrum of protest. Theodore Wallace Grant made it known that he hated the visits. To him watching his mother dote on his half sister like she never did any of them was like a constant salt on a wound. Liv nor Fitz could barely blame him but refused to tolerate the behavior he engaged in when a visit was scheduled. Liv sighed and shook her head.
"Normally I wouldn't hesitate giving him a heads up but with everything that's going on at school I thought it may have to be a two parent conversation."
While Bellie loved and excelled in school it was a struggle for Teddy. He worked hard but it took him longer to pick up things. The older he got the quicker he got frustrated. Liv and Fitz were forced to subject him to tests and evaluations and found that he was dyslexic. Liv and Fitz had been working with him tirelessly since he was diagnosed only a few months before. When Gerry and Amy moved in they too jumped on board. With their love and support Teddy adjusted well to the changes that had to be made to ensure that he had the tools and that he was learning to the best of his capacity.
Bellie supported Teddy and gave him the space he needed and help without making him feel bad. Being close at age enabled them to be relatively close. Teddy confided in Bellie and considered her his best friend and biggest ally, and she was. She loved him unconditionally and grounded him the way Liv grounded Fitz. Fitz's heart broke when caught one of their conversations outside Bellie's room.
"Bellie what if I can't do it? What if my best isn't good enough?" He asked brokenly days after his inital diagnosis.
"In this family Wally, there's no such thing as not good enough. We're a family. We love each other without condition. Would you love me less if it was me?" Teddy shook his head.
"It's going to be hard Wal, but you're not alone. We are all here for you and with you. We're here to help any way we can to make sure that you're okay. I promise." Teddy l stole a glance at his sister as they sat side by side leaning against the foot of her bed. She had started calling him Wally not long after they had all started living under the one roof and it stuck. It was their thing.
"You are more than enough." Bellie promised.
Like Fitz, Olivia didn't like not giving Teddy the option to see his mother even when he refused to. She knew his reluctance was a defense mechanism. A result of all the years where he felt invincible in Mellie's life. His suspicion of Mellie was evident, aware of her drive to gain popularity for her current campaign. He had long since slipped into his life of almost anonymity and quite enjoyed no longer being America's baby. In the end it was his reluctance that steered Fitz to drop his nomination for a seat in congress wanting to give his youngest children as close to normal as he could for they deserved that. They had sacrificed enough.
"Did she give specifics? How long? What does it entail?" He inquired suspecting that there were public appearances that Mellie wpuld be subjecting Teddy to.
"The weekend. Seeing as she is here for a speaking engagement, one would assume that a public apoearance with Teddy would be a given."
"Of course she is. It can never just be to see her children. I don't suppose we can tell her no appearances."
"Why not Fitz? If he doesn't want to do it. If it's what going to convince him to see her, why not? Seeing him should be more important to her." Liv replied frustrated. Fitz took Liv's hand in his,
"You know Mellie enough to know that's not how she's wired."
"I don't want to put him through that. He has been through enough these last months." Olivia protested.
"Neither do I. But the last thing you want is for Mellie to play the 'we have turned her childten away from her' card. You don't want her to publicly announce that her children want nothing to do with her. They don't need that on the news because you and I both know that Millicent Holden now Huntley will stop at nothing for her political gain."
"We'll talk to him in the morning. I don't want to drop a bomb on him and then leave." Fitz nodded in agreement and wrapped his arms around her.
"I love you Livi." He murmured softly in her ear. Liv looked up at him and cupped his cheek with her palm,
"I love you too Baby."