After dropping Nolan off at the studio with Fitz, Ashlin came by and picked her boys, Felix and Teddy, leaving Olivia home alone with Asher and Katie.
Now, usually those two could get along perfectly fine, but for some reason or another, they just wouldn't stop the fighting.
And Olivia was truly sick of it.
"Mommy! Tell him to stop it!" Katie whined.
Olivia shook her head and groaned quietly. She knew Katie could over exaggerate sometimes, but she also knew her son Asher wasn't always as innocent as others thought he was. "Leave Katie alone, Asher! And Katie, you leave Asher alone! Why won't you two just separate?"
"Tattletaler!" Asher mumbled as he poked Katie making her scream. "Leave me alone!"
"Ok, that's it," Olivia shouted as she got up and went upstairs. She grabbed one of Fitz's white t-shirts then went back downstairs. She made Katie and Asher get into the stretched out shirt together, then she wrote on the front of it in black, bold letters, "I love my sibling!"
Olivia giggled at their annoyed facial expressions. "You'll wear this shirt until I feel nothing but love in this room. Understood?"
They nodded together, and Olivia smiled. "Good."
She shook her head as she watched them mumble remarks to each other then she took out her phone. She snapped a picture first then made a reel video of them as the song 'Nothing But Love' by the Five Heartbeats played and posted it on instagram.
The caption: "No matter how many times I warned them, these two would NOT stop fighting! Do you think this will handle it, lol? #thejoyofhavingsiblings #thejoyofparenting"
She smiled as her phone lit up with notifications from her thousands of followers. She read and laughed at a few of the comments people had already left before putting down her phone.
"Mom, we're done fighting. Can I get out now," Asher asked, and Katie nodded in agreement. "Me too, mommy?"
"Are you sure you're done fighting," Olivia asked and they both quickly nodded. "Yes!"
"Ok. Now kiss on the lips and I'll let you out."
Katie squealed and quickly shook her head, "Ew! Noooo! Pwease, noo."
"Mom, that's a sin!" Asher yelled and Olivia doubled over in laughter. She let them out of the shirt and they both scattered off just as Fitz and Nolan walked in. She looked at them and frowned. Maybe I need to put these two in a shirt, she thought to herself.
"What's wrong with the two of you," Olivia asked as she made her way over to them.
"Nothing," they both said angrily. Olivia was taken aback by their tones. She immediately knew that that wasn't the truth.
"Well, excuse me? I thought you guys were out having fun? What happened during 'guy time'," she asked, looking between the two of them. Nolan sighed. "I think you should explain, Fitz."
Olivia folded her arms across her chest and looked at Fitz expectedly, "Explain what?"
X
Nolan went to his room leaving Fitz to explain everything that had transpired at Jake's house.
Olivia was livid! She swore she could kill all three of them right now but mainly Jake for being such an asshole. "Fitz.."
"Olivia, I need- I need to know the truth if we're going to try to make this work." Fitz pleaded.
Olivia nodded and slid her hands into her back pockets as they walked into the living room. Together they sat on the couch and in silence before Olivia took a deep breath. "It was back when you and Ashlin were together. Felix was maybe a year or two years old and you guys were having marital issues and so was Jake and I. Well, me and Jake weren't married yet, but we were still having a lot of issues. I don't know if you remember at all, but one night you and I had a late session- working on the 'Woman' album. Once we were finished, we decided to go out and we had drank so much that night.." Olivia trailed off with a chuckle as she reminisced it all.
Fitz smiled, he remembered that night too. They had sat under the stars drinking cheap wine and beer, talking about their dreams and how far in the music industry she was going to go, and eventually one thing led to another once the alcohol settled in their systems.
"Well, that's the night Nolan was conceived. I found out three weeks later and by then, Jake had already proposed to me. I was still gonna tell you about the baby, I had wanted you to know, but you were so angry with me about my engagement to Jake and you wouldn't talk to me. Nolan was two years old when I finally told Jake the truth and I only told him the truth because he started to notice your features and none of his own." Olivia expressed. "Jake had threatened to leave me and to tell the world about our affair, but I was pregnant with Asher and so he stayed. It wasn't easy for either of us, but we got pass our problems and Jake accepted Nolan as his own as long as I didn't contact you and stopped doing music.. As bad as I wanted to call you to tell you, I just couldn't bring myself to do it because I thought you already hated me and would resent my child to spite me. Fitz, I am so sorry that I never told you," Olivia said as she wiped away her tears.
Fitz sat in silence for a while. What could he say to something like that? All these years he's been in the dark while Olivia and Jake knew the truth. "Olivia, how could you do this to me? Do you really think so little of me, huh? You seriously thought I would've willingly abandoned my child because we weren't on speaking terms? I'm not upset at the fact that he's my son, I just can't believe you let me miss so much of his life. How you've lied to me for all these years, Olivia. How you've lied to Nolan!"
She could hear the sadness in Fitz's voice. He didn't even sound angry, but definitely hurt, and that made her feel even worse. Fitz nor Nolan deserved this.
"I know and I'm sorry for that, Fitz! I'm so sorry. If I could do it all over again and do things differently, I would, baby. I really would." Olivia sobbed as she reached out for Fitz's hand. He shook his head and pulled away from her as he tried to come to terms with the fact that he had another kid. One thing he prided himself on was the fact that he was a great father to his children and now that was questionable all because of Olivia and her deceit.
"Fitz, please.." Olivia pleaded.
"Please what, Olivia? Huh?" He semi-shouted.
Their son's presence caught their attention before things could escalate farther. "So, he is my dad? Jake...Jake wasn't lying," Nolan said.
Things were so messed up.
Olivia nodded as more tears gathered in her eyes, then she answered, "Yes, baby. Fitz is your father."
"So why didn't you come get me, huh," Nolan asked as he turned to Fitz with a betrayed look on his face. Since meeting Fitz, Nolan thought he was someone that he could trust, but now he wasn't so sure. He wasn't even sure if he could trust his own mother at this point, she could've told him the truth a long time ago. "Why didn't you want to take care of me? You didn't want me, is that it?"
"Nolan, honey...Fitz didn't know. It was MY fault, and I'm sorry that I kept you away from your father, but it is not his fault, Nolan." Olivia explained as tears flowed heavily from her saddened eyes. She wasn't going to allow Fitz to take the blame. If Nolan wanted to be upset with anyone, then it should be her.
"So it was your fault? Why in the hell would you keep me from my dad, mom?! Then you allowed me to call some other man dad! I hated him! I even hated him for you!" Nolan screamed.
Both of them had tears streaming down their cheeks as they expressed themselves. This had been a long time coming, because what's done in the dark will always come to the light. Olivia grabbed her son and pulled him into her arms. "I'm so sorry, Nolan. I thought I was doing what was best for everyone, but I guess I was only thinking of myself. I never meant to hurt you and cause you all of this pain, baby."
"I'm tired of being lied to by everyone around me," Nolan said, then he pulled out of Olivia's arms and walked away. The harsh separation broke Olivia's heart, she'd messed up badly. She held her hand over her heart as she watched Nolan go upstairs then she turned to Fitz who sat with his hands covering his face.
He hadn't said a word and Olivia didn't blame him. She had just changed his whole entire world. If he wanted nothing to do with her now, she'd completely understand.
"I'm...I'm sorry." She quietly choked out.
X
Fitz and Olivia had sat in silence for nearly an hour before Olivia got up and went upstairs to check on Nolan. When she reached his room, she found it empty so she walked out to search for him elsewhere. When she didn't find him anywhere, she felt sick to her stomach and rushed to the stairs.
"Fitz! Fitz, Nolan's gone!" She shouted as she came back downstairs. Fitz jumped up and immediately his adrenaline was pumping. He'd gone into father mode just as quickly as the news had been thrown at him.
After searching the entire house and rewatching Fitz's security cameras, they came to the conclusion that Nolan had called an Uber and taken off somewhere. And though their minds were on his whereabouts, they took time to explain some things to Asher and Katie who had heard the shouting. They didn't go into details, but they made sure to let them know that things were going to be ok. With those two now in bed, Olivia sat with her face buried in Fitz's neck as she softly cried.
"Fitz, where's my baby? He's been gone for hours and we didn't even know! I- I didn't mean for any of this to happen.."
"Everything's going to be ok, Olivia. We've called everyone we know, he's going to show up soon."
"How are you not upset with me for keeping this secret from you, Fitz? How come you don't hate me," she asked as she looked up at him. "I am truly sorry for everything." Her saddened eyes were a mirror of Fitz's.
Fitz was dealing with so many emotions at the moment, but anger was not one of them. "I'm not upset, Liv, and I could never hate you, ok? I am hurt more than anything, but our love is stronger than this and it's nothing we can't overcome. We'll be alright, now just stop apologizing," Fitz said, then he placed a kiss on her forehead as he held her tighter.
And he was serious. He was hurt by her actions and keeping him in the dark for so long about his son, but now he knows and that's what matters. "There's no reason to hold resentment against you when you did what you thought was right. Hell, you could've aborted our child, but instead you kept him, risking your own marriage, and that says a lot to me. Plus the media would've had a field day back in the day if they had found out about our affair which resulted in a baby. So I understand, Livie. I understand you did what you had to in order to protect yourself and our son."
They both knew she would've been considered a home wrecker or the media would've said that she was only successful because of Fitz, and Fitz was glad that wasn't the case because that wasn't the truth at all. Olivia was a brilliant artist all on her own and didn't need to sleep her way to the top.
"I'm grateful that I know the truth now and that I still have plenty of time to build a relationship with Nolan. I'm not going to spend any of that time being upset with you, Olivia. I love you more than anything. Sure you've made mistakes and this...this is a huge one, but who am I to judge? If I hadn't ignored you back when you were trying to explain things to me, I would've knew about my son long ago and we wouldn't be in this predicament. All I want to do now is focus on building the best relationship with our son and continue to move forward in ours, and nothing's going to change that."
"That's why I love you so much, Fitzgerald," Olivia said as she smiled up at him tearfully.
"I love you too, Olivia Pope. Now let's go find our son."
X
Fitz and Olivia went searching for Nolan, leaving Asher and Katie home with Maya there to watch them. They drove around the city searching everywhere for him. Every time they came up short, Olivia grew more worried and anxious that something might've happened to her baby boy.
"Fitz, can we just go to the police now," she asked with clear annoyance in her voice. She was so tired of him driving around in circles.
They were both getting frustrated. Almost to the point where they were taking their anger out on each other.
"For what, Olivia?" Fitz semi-shouted making Olivia sink into her seat. "They won't start searching for him until he's been missing for twenty-four hours so we might as well do this on our own. We'll find him. Just give me time to think, and I need you think too. Where could he possibly be?"
They sat in silence thinking, then Olivia turned to face him. "Your studio! We haven't checked the studio, babe!"
X
Once they made it to the studio, they spotted a light on in the inside of the building and quickly rushed inside. They both let out a sigh of relief when they found Nolan asleep on the sofa in Fitz's office.
Nolan heard the commotion and immediately woke up. Olivia and Fitz looked at each other, silently communicating, then Fitz walked out, giving the two some alone time to talk.
"Nolan, mama's really sorry and I know I have a lot of explaining to do. I should've told you the truth a long time ago, son, but I couldn't. I was just so afraid of the things people would say about you because of who your father is. I didn't want anyone to hurt you, and I did what I had to do to protect you from the evilness of this world."
"Can you tell me about you and Fitz? How did I happen if you were with my dad..I mean with Jake?"
Olivia smiled warmly as she joined Nolan on the sofa. She was so happy that he was no longer upset with her, or so she assumed. He definitely takes after his father with that forgiving heart, because she knew she would be still upset if she was in Nolan's and Fitz's shoes. "When Fitz and I first met, it was sorta like love at first sight. I was brought into this very studio by a woman named Shonda, she knew your father well and had worked along side of him for years. One day I was singing to myself at a gas station and Shonda had heard me, she convinced me right on the spot to leave my car and to get into hers because she was going to change my life forever. And that she did." Olivia smiled. "When we arrived here at the studio, I had to sing in front of your father and a few others guys. I was a nervous wreck and Fitz could tell, so he pulled me aside and told me,'you're going to do fine, so stop worrying and sing the damn song'." Both Olivia and Nolan laughed at that. "When I went back into the room to sing, I knocked off everyone's socks and they told me that they were going to sign me to their label right away. However, I had been singing along with my sisters for years, but they said they would only sign me. Fitz understood how difficult it would be for me to break the news to my family so he tagged along to support me."
"Fitz has always been there for you, huh," Nolan asked, looking at his mother.
"Yes, he has, baby. And he would've been there for you if I had let him. When Fitz and I...made you, we were both in some pretty dark places in our lives. Things were changing so fast around us, but we loved each other very much and you should know that you were not a mistake. You were conceived by love, Nolan. Fitz would've been a great father to you, but had I not stayed with Jake, things would've gotten real ugly and Asher wouldn't be here, can you imagine our lives without Asher?" Nolan smiled and shook his head no. "I don't want you to be upset with Fitz about this, ok? He's feeling horrible because he hasn't been there for you, but that isn't his fault. It's mine and I am taking full responsibility for it. You two deserve a chance and you still have plenty of time to build an incredible relationship with him."
"Mom, I'm not upset with you or even Fitz. Well, I was at first, but now I'm ok. I know Fitz is a good guy and he's already been more of a father to me and Ash than what Jake was... Thank you for telling me the truth and letting me cool down. I'm sorry if I worried you and Fitz again."
"It's ok, baby. All's forgiven. Now, let me finish telling you how your slick father got me to fall for him..." Olivia grinned making Nolan chuckle.
Mother and son talked for over an hour or so while Fitz waited in the car letting everyone know that Nolan had been found. She wanted Nolan to know their real story and for him to know that she and Fitz loved each other so very much.
Once Olivia and Nolan exited out the building, Fitz and Nolan stood outside of the car. Now that they both knew the truth, it was hard not to see the mannerisms and features they shared. Fitz couldn't believe that he hadn't noticed the obvious signs before. "I want you to know that I'm going to work everyday to prove how much you mean to me, Nolan. I will never let you feel neglected and abandoned again. I wasn't there for you back then, but from this moment forward, I will be. I love you so much, buddy, and I'm not just saying that because you're my son. I'm saying it because I really do love you. I know this isn't going to be an easy, but I believe we can do this. What about you, you think we can?"
Nolan smiled tearfully as he nodded his head. "I think so too, dad. It is ok if I call you dad, right?"
"It's more than ok, buddy. Thank you." Fitz grinned. He had been fighting so hard to keep his tears from falling but the moment Nolan fell into his arms and hugged him tightly while sobbing, Fitz lost his willpower. It was like oxygen had been restored into his lungs. It almost felt like Nolan was a newborn and had been placed into his arms for the very first time. The love he had for this kid was already overwhelming and all consuming.
As Olivia watched on, tears fell from her eyes as well. She had dreamt of this day many times and she thought it would turn out horribly when the truth came out so she was always so afraid of telling her truth. She thought Fitz would hate her and resent their son, but Fitz had obviously proven her wrong, and though Fitz said that he wasn't upset with her, she couldn't help but to feel guilty about lying for so many years and prolonging Nolan's and Fitz's relationship. It had been hard and stressful keeping such a big secret from literally everyone, but now with Fitz and Nolan, and her mother knowing the truth Olivia felt a little lighter. There were still so many people that deserved to know the truth as well, like Ashlin, but for right now she was going to soak in this moment of grace and happiness.
X
"Baby, stop worrying. With time this is all going to get easier," Fitz said, kissing her soundly on the lips then he started the car. Olivia shook her head with a grin on her face, it truly amazed her how he could sense her fears and make it all better with just a few words. "I don't deserve you, Fitz. You are such a good man. I don't know how many men would stick around after all I've put you through."
"Babe, please. You are forgiven, ok? I'm happy to know that I created a child with you. It's what I've always wanted and to know I accomplished that, it makes me happy, Olivia. Yes, I've missed out on a lot, but there's still so much more up ahead. Like him dating, his prom, his graduation day, his wedding day, him stepping into fatherhood." Fitz replied.
"You're right. I just- you know what, never-mind. There's no room for any negativity. Thank you, Fitz. Thank you so much for making this a little easier."
Fitz glanced into the backseat at Nolan as he drove them home. Seeing that his son was asleep, he faced Olivia and smirked, "You know what has to happen next, right?"
"No, what," Olivia asked, looking up from her phone, then she giggled at the look on his face. She knew whatever he was about to say had to be something inappropriate considering the fact that he had to glance back and make sure Nolan was asleep.
"Well, I've got to give you a little girl."
You all can breathe now lol!
Thank you all for the wonderful reviews, pms, and compliments on this story! I'm glad y'all are enjoying it so much!