I didn't want this done discreetly, so when I went to the White House I didn't bother with secret tunnels or unmarked cars. I want my presence here today to shake my father so that he'll understand I'm not afraid of him but that he should be afraid of me. My father often rides on my preferred discretion when it comes to my relationship with the President. However, I've never been against a well-thought-out plan that I'm for certain will work. Cyrus and my father have worked so hard to drive a wedge between Fitz and me but the reality is, it's always brought us closer. Because the minute we realized neither of them could be trusted, we started watching each other's blind spots. I've always known Fitz would be on my side no matter what.

In abandoning my usual strategy for entering the White House I had to ignore the not so silent whispers mixed with indignant stares. Not everyone was aware I came back, so it was nice the few people who spoke instead of staring at me like a painting in a museum. Either way, I'm on a mission, I cover half of the main hall before I spot Abby coming out of the briefing room. I brush her off quickly and continue my jaunt to Cyrus' office. What made the visit sweeter is the information I have under my belt.

I speak to Ethan and he's almost speechless. He assures me that Cyrus is alone so I go in. His pupils grow to the size of quarters when he looks up to see me just as he was fixing his lips to fuss at Ethan.

"Hello, Cy," I say

"Picking up on my tricks I see." He's annoyed it's in the tightness of his lips as he tries to give me a convincing smile.

"I don't think I can quite get down every dirty trick you have." I pull out the folder that I have. And it might as well be smeared in blood the way his disposition changed when he saw it. " I never expected to have your loyalty. Especially not after you found out about me and Fitz. But I halfway hoped you'd extend Fitz the courtesy." I lay out each document one by one by watching his expression go from confused to fearful. "Working with the man who killed his son, and conspiring against his unborn child. Well, that's unforgivable don't you think?"

"I don't know what Rowan told you but-"

"He didn't tell me anything, Charlie, the man you hired to steal my DNA so you and my father could perform a DNA test without my knowledge, told me. It won't be what you hoped for. I can tell you that it's Fitz's baby. You can tell my father he lost this round." I slide my purse back on my arm and I walk to the door. Cyrus halts my departure.

"Where are you going?"

Smiling, I turn around to face him. "To tell Fitz everything. This isn't something I can keep from him." I open the door and Cyrus comes barreling from behind the desk to stop me. He slams his body against the door and it shuts.

"Wait. Don't ruin what we have. What Fitz and I have." He inhales deeply, frantically. And exhales "I'll tell you what your father is planning to use the DNA test for. In exchange for your silence"

"I'm listening"

"He was gonna use Ballards DNA to falsify the results, so when you disappeared again, I could bring the information to Fitz. That way he wouldn't look for you." Cyrus reveals.

"And you were onboard." I shake my head. I can't find the words to express the disappointment and betrayal I feel, not just for myself but for Fitz. "What happened to you, was it these walls that turned you cold, or were you always like this, and just hid it well?"

"Don't tell Fitz, this job is the only thing that makes my life bearable without James. So I'm begging, Liv, don't cut my lifeline."

I've helped people who've hit rock bottom and none of their faces have ever been this sad and pitiful. I don't recognize the power-hungry monster standing before me. Willing to invoke his dead husband's name just so he doesn't have to take accountability for his evils. "How did my father know about my doctor?"

"I don't know."

"Who hired Charlie?"

"I did." He says. "I've used him before and I knew he could get the job done. But I'll- I'll get rid of him"

"Goodbye Cyrus."

Charlotte smiles as her eyes rise from the screen, she tells me that Fitz is still in a meeting. And that it ran over a bit. But assures me that there's nothing else scheduled for the day so I sit down. Some minutes later a stuffy old white man came out of the oval office carrying the stench of coffee and excessive cologne. A fist of nausea lodges in the back of my throat, I cover my mouth. Fitz's eyes widen at my sight and he quickly ushers me into the office, leading me out of the eye of the camera. My face asks the question and Fitz doesn't try to deflect.

"That was my divorce attorney. I spoke to David and it's doable. I can divorce Mellie and it won't jeopardize my term." Fitz plant's his hands in his pockets and leans against the window frame, smiling. I want to tell him all the reasons this might not work and tell him that Mellie won't go down without a fight. But I don't, I allow us the ability to dream of a life outside of the walls of scrutiny.

"I'm not just talking, Livvie. This is happening. The party will be pissed at me, with time they'll get over it and embrace you. Embrace us"

A wave of electricity sizzles throughout my body and my hands shake. Even if I tried I couldn't put the emotions into words or express what this could mean for us- then my head spins and I need to sit down because my head and stomach are doing somersaults now. Fitz twirls the chair around and plants me in it. He reaches around me and grabs a manila envelope, he kneels in front of me and places his hand on my growing womb. I give him a small smile.

"Do you want a life with me? Because that's what I want. This office means nothing to me compared to you guys. I would give it all up for you in a heartbeat if you asked." He swallowed hard. "I won't force you to be with me but I will be in my child's life no matter what. And I would like to share that life with you as well."

"I want us to be a family. But I-"

"Sir!" Charlotte bursts into the room, fear heavy in the way she calls his attention. "The First Lady is in the emergency room, your son was rushed to the hospital."

Fitz springs to his feet. "Tell my agents to bring the car around." He looks at me and I mouth go and that I'll be alright. "I'm sorry."

Fitz POV

I pretty much saw red the entire way to the hospital, it's harder than I thought it would be being back at the last place I saw my son alive. I don't collapse as me and my agents enter the children's ward. And the only thing keeping that from happening is the anger boiling in my lower belly for the woman who calls herself his mother. The pediatrician approaches me in the hall and updates me on Teddy's condition and I put the anger on the back burner because I need to be present for my son. He explains that Teddy came in contact with shellfish and his throat and tongue are swollen. Luckily, the secret service administered his EPI pen before the situation could escalate. He's going to be okay but he'll need some bed rest for the next week or so.

I thank the doctor and I walk into the hospital room. Mellie's curled up beside Teddy and I almost got sick seeing my child hooked up to all those wires. The machine beeps and beeps and I'm growing angry again. Mellie raises up and she rushes to me, throwing her arms around me, and for once it hits me that this was hard for her too.

We're able to bring Teddy home tonight and the first thing Mellie does is hand Teddy over to nanny Jen and she takes a shower. Twenty or so minutes later, she comes out running a towel through her dark locks and she sits adjacent to me on the couch.

"I don't know what to say." Mellie sighs "That was the scariest thing we've been through since-"

"I want a divorce" There's no reason to beat around the bush or hide my feelings. She shouldn't be shocked or surprised because this was years in the making. In the past, Mellie could use my presidency against me. However, I'm a two-term President and an honored soldier. My bucket list is complete. As for hers, she still has a ways to go and the best move would be to accept this in silence.

"What? Fitz, what are you talking about? Our son just got out of the hospital and this is what you say?"

"Because of you, he was there because you were stupid enough to give him seafood. You didn't even know he had an allergy. So before you do any more damage to this family I want a divorce." I demand.

She throws the towel on the floor and it lands with a soft thud. "My damage? You cheated on me. Brought that whore into our family. Fitz, you changed, not me." She stomps into the closet but she's not hearing me. This is not up for debate.

"I'm divorcing you, Mellie. End of story."

"I'll never sign." She folds her arms. Thinking I'll cave and leave it alone because she said it in a stern voice. But I'm tired of this fake life, so whatever it takes I guarantee she'll sign.

"Why are you fighting so hard for something that's never been real. No matter how much we've tried to trick ourselves into believing we should be together. This marriage has never brought either of us anything good. What good can we honestly say came from the two of us? Huh, Mel?" I sigh, my temples throb at the building headache. "We aren't good for each other."

"You owe me. Everything you never wanted, never nourished. I held up, I grew you from the ground up and now you want to leave me for a cheap roll in the hay. I'll be damned if Olivia Pope gets the life that should've been mine." There's practically steam blowing out her ears, her eyes are red with tears and she's clenching her fist so tightly her knuckles are pure white.

She lets me step toward her. I bring my hand to her cheek and she relaxes under my touch. "This is not about Olivia. She didn't steal anything from you. Melody, this is about us and our broken life. If we couldn't fix it in twenty-three years we're not going to fix it now. It's not what you want to hear, I know. Though it's the reality."

"I'm not signing. I don't want to talk about this again" she throws my hand and walks further into the closet.

Olivia POV

Now that Cyrus knows I'm pregnant with the President's baby, I'll need reinforcements. Huck is good on the outside front. And deep down I never could trust Cyrus because the second this becomes common knowledge he won't hesitate to throw me in front of the bus to save the perfect image he's painted of Fitz. He sold me out to my father, the American people would be a piece of cake. Everything he promised me yesterday was to save his ass, lying is like breathing to him. While he thinks he steered himself clear of the storm. I still plan on telling Fitz, but there's one another person I have to bring in on this.

There's an unusual bounce in Abby's step when she walks into my office. Smiling from ear to ear. I started to assume it was David-related. But the minute she sat down. She regales me about how she's in Fitz's inner circle. Apparently, he brought her on board to assist in writing his state of the union speech."Don't hate me, but I think Mellie likes me enough to hire me when she's President. Maybe the President will put in a good word for me." I freeze up. I try to match her smile as much as I can but not even I can fake it that good.

"Don't get your hopes up too high," I say.

"Liv, I'm on the level you were on when you were at the white house. If they could, they would hire you to run the First Lady's campaign."

"That's not happening" I scoff.

"I know but it could. There's this kind of contact high after spending time in the oval. It's real power, Liv. And I'm on the inside. How many press secretaries can say they've had the President's ear and he listens."

I smile at her, hoping she catches the hint but she keeps talking and talking until I blurt out... "I'm pregnant"

Her face turns upside down and for the first time since stepping into my office she sobers. Scooting to the edge of her chair she leans closer to the desk. "Please don't say what I think you're about to say." I nod. "Are you two idiots?"

"We might be," I say, chuckling, and for some reason that sets her ablaze.

"Olivia, you cannot have a baby by the President. He's married and the President of the United States. I shouldn't have to say why this isn't smart: You are Olivia Pope, you fix these kinds of messes, you don't contribute to them." She starts pacing the small foot space of my office. She slows and turns to me. "Is it too late to have it terminated?"

"What?" My voice breaks and the smile fades from my face. Tears rush my eyes like angry waves against a rocky shore. It registered at the last minute. "Get out- Get out of my office."

"What? Liv it was just a question."

"No, you just suggested I have an abortion. For what reason I don't know. But I want you to leave before I get Huck to throw you out." I round my desk and pass Abby, who's still sitting down for some insane reason. "Get out, Abby."

"I'm sorry I didn't-" I shut the door in her face and then I pulled the shades down.

My hands shake profusely and tears fall down my face. I saw that going a different way in my head.