"'Livia? Is that you?"
She hears a small voice through the dark, clearly catching her trying to sneak quietly back from the bathroom through the dark hotel room.
Fitz had left about twenty minutes prior to go meet Karen in the hotel lobby for a drink and to talk about everything that had transpired over the last 24 hours, just the two of them, leaving Olivia in the suite with the six-year-old.
Earlier that day, Fitz had pleaded with Mellie to share their time with Teddy a bit this weekend, one night with her, one night with him, and after having to wrangle a hyperactive child through a three-hour college graduation, she was more than happy to oblige him with the request.
So, they quickly had their room upgraded to add an additional bed and a few hours later, Teddy was with them. After dinner with just the three of them—Olivia, Fitz, and Teddy—they went back to the hotel, where they donned their comfortable clothes and climbed into the king-sized bed to watch a movie, Teddy's favorite of course, Finding Nemo.
However, without fail, he never makes it to the end of the movie, and tonight had fallen asleep against Fitz's side about thirty minutes in. Dutifully, Fitz had carried him to his smaller bed at the side of the room and tucked him in before kissing Olivia goodbye and making his way to meet Karen.
Olivia had turned off the lights and switched the channel, finding a marathon of The West Wing re-runs to keep her entertained, until the baby in her belly began dancing on her bladder, prompting her to get up from her comfy place in the bed.
On the journey back across the room, her movement must have woken him up.
"Yeah, it's just me, Teddy. Your dad went to see Karen. You okay?" She looks over to where he's curled up on the bed. It's been so long since he was a baby, but she forgets sometimes how little he still is. He's faced more than most people go through in a lifetime, and she's thankful that he has been too young to understand most of it.
He nods his head in response, but his face betrays him. He's thinking hard about something.
Standing awkwardly in the middle of the room, she realizes how infrequently she's been alone with Teddy. No Fitz, no Mellie, no Secret Service agents. Just her. And while she knows him, in this moment she doesn't know him at all. Doesn't know what he likes or needs or is thinking.
"Do you—I'm not sure… do you want me to go get your dad?"
Teddy shakes his head, pushing himself up to sit cross-legged on the bed. He stares across the room at her before his gaze drops to where her hand subconsciously rests against her bump.
"There's a baby in there, right?" He asks timidly, pointing unabashedly at her stomach.
She huffs out a laugh, not expecting the question. "Yeah, there is. You know that your dad and I are having a baby."
"Yeah…" He murmurs as his head drops, looking down at his lap now.
It had been about two months since they told him, when Olivia was just starting to show. They sat him down on one of their alternating weekends to have him at their brownstone and shared the news.
At the time, Teddy had been fairly reserved about the whole ordeal. He wasn't excited, but he wasn't angry. It was indifference, or so they thought. Maybe just too early for him to really understand how he felt about a new baby in the mix.
How he felt about his dad's girlfriend's baby.
Liv sighs, finally moving closer to the boy. She scoots the adjacent chair closer to his bed so that she's sitting, eye-level with him now. "What's wrong, Teddy?"
"I don't wanna talk 'bout it…" His voice is small but determined, and she recognizes Fitz's stubbornness in it, which makes her smile.
"Okay. We don't have to talk if you don't want to," she responds sincerely, her voice soft.
Silence falls over them, as she waits for him. She's less familiar with children, but she's admittedly pretty good at reading people and knows that he will talk eventually. He wants to, just can't find the words yet.
His eyes peer back up at her after a few moments before he asks, "When does the baby come out?"
"In a few months. We don't know the exact day, but it will probably be close to when you start school in August."
"Great," he deadpans, rolling his eyes with all of the youthful sass he can muster.
She clocks his reaction. "You're not so sure about the baby, huh?"
"No," he mutters quickly.
Taking a breath, she looks at him and recognizes the sadness and longing on his face. "Wanna tell me why?"
He doesn't respond, fidgeting with his hands in his lap.
She waits for a few more moments before pressing. "You can always talk to me, if you want…"
Immediately, she realizes that she's made a mistake as he looks back up at her furiously.
"Stop! You're not my mom! I don't have to talk to you! You are not…you're not my—"
He's angry, sure, but his brain can't keep up with the number of emotions swirling around so it all culminates in tears welling up in his eyes. They pour down his cheeks, and then he's sobbing, and she has no idea what to do.
If this were Karen, she'd comfort her, wrap her in a hug, because that is their relationship, but Teddy is different. She doesn't have that kind of relationship with him, and as much as her heart aches to scoop him up, she can clearly tell that he doesn't want that. Instead, she slides off the edge of her chair and onto her knees, kneeling at the end of his bed. Laying a tentative hand on his knee, she smiles when he doesn't move away.
"Shh. It's okay, Teddy. I know it's a lot. Can you take a big, deep breath for me?" He does, calming his shaking body. "Good. I want you to listen to me for a little bit. Think you can do that right now?"
He nods and sniffles, looking up at her.
"You are right. I am not your mom, and I never want you to feel like I'm trying to be her or take her place in any way. Your mom loves you so, so much, and right now, it's my job to remind you of that. You know that right?"
His head bobs again, and she almost chuckles at his attempt of a half-smile—so like his father.
"Right. Sometimes as we grow up, people come into our lives that are not our moms and dads but are people that care for us and love us and want to help us be the best versions of ourselves. Sometimes they can be in our families, and sometimes they are just friends. I know I'm not part of your family…yet…but I plan to love your dad for a long, long time so that means I plan to be a part of your life too.
"You don't have to talk to me, Teddy. But I want you to know that you can. I'm not your parent, but I am a grown-up in your life. It's new right now, and I bet that can feel really stressful, huh?"
He wipes the sleeve of his pajama shirt over his runny nose and sighs emphatically. "Uh-huh. Like I'm going to be in first grade, and I don't even know how to take care of babies!"
Laughing briefly, she quickly tries to maintain her composure, not wanting him to feel embarrassed for sharing his feelings. "Oh honey, Dad and I are going to be taking care of the baby. I don't want you to worry about that! Is there something else you're worried about with the baby?"
"I heard babies cry a lot. Is the baby going to cry when I'm sleeping?" He asks, the worry of the world evident on his face.
"You know, the baby might cry a little bit, but she's not going to be sleeping by your room, so I bet you won't even hear her at night."
"Okay, that's good. I need my sleep."
"Ha! I'm realizing that you are just like your dad. He needs his sleep too."
"For serious! I don't want to be sleepy all of the time, okay?"
Olivia chuckles and nods. "Let's cross that bridge when we get there, kid. Anything else you're worried about?"
He ponders the question for a second. "Can the baby play with me?"
"Well, she's going to be really tiny for a while. She's gotta learn to hold her head up and sit up and walk and talk, but eventually, yeah. You can help show her how to play. You can show her how to share and play all the games I know you love."
"Oh okay. She's gonna take my toys, yeah?" His face looks defeated.
"She's going to have her own toys, but she might want to share yours someday too. I'm not sure, exactly."
"But she's going to be a girl," he emphasizes, shrugging his shoulders as if Olivia couldn't possibly understand. "She won't want to play Legos or Roblox or anything I like, so I think it might be okay."
She sighs and gives him a smile. "You know, we don't know what she'll like to play with yet. We will have to wait and see what she tells us. She might like trucks or dolls or blocks or dinosaurs, or maybe all of them!"
"Girls can't play with trucks, 'Livia! That's 'diculous!" He laughs, throwing his head back like she's said the best joke of the whole day.
She laughs along with him but continues. "Guess what, silly? They actually can! And boys can play with dolls or whatever else they want to, too."
"Mommy said that's girly. I don't want to be a girl."
"Hmm. That's interesting. You know what your dad and I think?"
"What?" He asks, his eyes genuinely lighting up with interest.
"If you feel like a boy, then that's great. No toys or favorite colors or anything that you like gets to dictate that. Your dad is more than okay with you playing with whatever you want and being whoever you want to be—as long as you're safe, of course."
His facial expression is serious, a little weary but accepting of this newfound freedom of identity, even though he was not necessarily asking for it. "Hm. Cool."
"Your dad was really good at playing trains with you when you were little, but he told me he's excited to play dolls and trucks with your sister too when she comes."
Teddy's face goes stoic all of the sudden, and it seems like he shuts down momentarily after their jovial back and forth. She waits patiently.
Then, in a voice barely above a whisper, he asks, "Do you think Daddy will still want to be my daddy when the baby comes?"
Her throat becomes dry at the question, and suddenly, she feels like she's on the verge of tears. "Teddy, come here."
She rises from her position on the floor to sit next to him on the bed, scooping him into her arms, pillowing his face into her sternum, feeling his wet cheeks soak her silk sleep shirt. His little hand lands unintentionally on her belly, and she wants to sob when he doesn't immediately take it off. Instead, he leaves it there, listening to the sound of her heartbeat and smiling when he feels the baby kick his fingers.
"Your dad loves you so much. He does today, and he will for every minute of forever. I know that it feels like everything is changing and it's out of your control, but the one thing that will never change is the fact that your dad is your dad. He will always be yours just like you will always be his. Being your dad is one of his favorite roles to play, and he's been the President before, so that's really saying something."
His little body sags against hers, seemingly at ease in Olivia's arms. "Will Daddy love the baby too?"
"Yes, honey. But just because he is going to love another baby doesn't mean that he won't be able to love you too… Think of a pie, right? We can only have so many pieces to make a pie and once we eat it, it's all gone. But love isn't like that, Teddy. When we choose to let another person into our heart, it doesn't take a piece away, it makes our pie bigger, and our hearts have more love to give. That's what happened with your dad's heart when you were born and when Karen and Jerry were born, and it even happened when we met. His heart had more room to love me too."
Seeming to process it a little more, Teddy leans back, straightening up and looking at Olivia in the face. "What about your heart?"
Her breathing goes still. "My heart?"
He nods. "Did it get bigger too? When you met daddy?"
She smiles, leaning back with one hand on the bed and stretching her back. "You know what, kiddo? It did. And it's getting bigger every day that I get to hang out with you and Karen more, and soon it'll get even bigger when I get to hold this baby for the first time."
It's almost comical how Teddy's eyes widen at her confession. "Wow."
"Yeah, it's pretty cool, huh?"
Before Teddy can respond, however, they hear a rustling at the door—the sound of the key card entering and the door gently pulling open. When Fitz's head turns and finds Teddy awake, the three of them share a sneaky smile.
"What are you doing still awake, bud?"
"'Livia woke me up!" He states, matter-of-factly, trying to shift the blame away from himself and attempting to hide his giggles at the fib.
Fitz looks incredulously at Olivia, with a teasing, faux-betrayed expression. "Miss Pope?!"
She just laughs and shakes her head. "Oh, quit it, boys! Will you just get in here and close the door, already?"
"Oh!" Fitz replies, beginning to shuffle into the room but motioning behind himself. "I almost forgot; I brought a surprise!"
As he passes through the threshold, Olivia can see Karen entering behind him, a wide, yet tired smile on her face.
"Kay-Kay!" Teddy exclaims, leaping from Olivia's side, almost knocking her belly with his elbow, and running toward the door.
"Hi squirt!" She laughs and picks the younger kid up, swinging him in a circle before setting him back on the floor. "I thought you would be sleeping… Not tired?"
"No way! You see, I had some questions about hers and daddy's baby," he leans in and offers a terrible attempt at a whisper, while pointing to Olivia.
"You did?!" Karen chuckles, looking immediately at Liv. "I'm sure that was very fun!"
And while she feels like rolling her eyes or sighing deeply, she just grins. Fitz crosses the room and sits down on Teddy's bed next to her, planting a kiss on her temple and a gentle hand on her round belly. He wants to ask what they talked about but knows better than to try and get the recap in front of Teddy, so he files it away to ask later.
"It was a pretty fun chat," Liv admits, leaning into Fitz's side. "What about you all? Everything okay?"
Karen and Fitz share a genuine grin—one of appreciation, respect, and love. "Yeah, we're…good. Great, actually," Karen says, nodding at Olivia, letting her know that after all of the fear and anxiety, she feels happy and whole sharing her complete self with her parents. That despite her father's naïveté at such issues, he's listening and learning and loving her through it.
"Sounds like we'll be hosting Karen and Kayla for the 4th of July this year and accompanying them to the White House party for their first public appearance. You okay with that?" Fitz asks Liv, and without hesitation, she's nodding and smiling broadly.
"Of course. Wow, that's amazing, Kare. But hopefully I get to meet her before then, right? That's like a month and a half away!"
"—that's what I said," Fitz adds, chuckling. "She said I was being 'high key embarrassing', whatever that means."
The girls laugh, and Teddy looks incredibly confused and thus has checked out of the conversation, running and jumping onto the "grown-up bed", as he likes to call it, in the middle of the room.
"You are going to be embarrassing, Dad! Now, Liv? She's cool and will be chill when meeting Kayla so I'm good with that."
Feigning hurt, Fitz gasps. "I can't believe my own daughter—my own flesh and blood—would turn her back on me like this!"
Karen just laughs and rolls her eyes. "We can revisit it later, if you promise to be cool."
"Karen, baby, I am the definition of cool—former president, partner of Olivia Pope, father of very fun and successful children. You underestimate me."
Liv laughs at that. "Sure, baby. I think you are very cool…and I'll be sure to tell you all about Kayla after I get to meet her first."
When they hear an exasperated sigh coming from the king-sized bed, their banter is halted. All of their heads turn toward Teddy who has now flopped quite dramatically onto his back, arms and legs spread wide to take up as much room on the bed as possible.
"Yes, Ted?" Karen teases. "You need something?"
"I need my sleep, people!" He states it, loudly and decisively.
"Well, I think that's my cue to get out of here…" Walking across the room, first to Teddy, she ruffles his hair and tells him goodnight, before making her way to her dad and Liv. She gives them both hugs and promises to text them—on their group text, of course—when she gets home.
Then, the room is silent, save for the slight squeak of the bed as Teddy flops around and makes his way upright again. For a six-year-old, he has this kind of silly wisdom that Fitz both adores and admires. He cannot wait for the kid to go to sleep so he can hear Liv whisper in bed, retelling all about their earlier conversation.
They both watch as Teddy makes a grand leap off of the larger bed, crashing clumsily onto the floor before dashing across the room toward them. Before he can dive headfirst into Olivia, Fitz stands and intercepts the boy, picking him up and throwing him over his shoulder.
"Woah. Slow down there, man. Your baby sister almost got her first tackle." He sets him back down on his feet, near the bed, as Olivia stands. "Hey, look at me…it's okay, you're not in trouble. But you need to be careful, alright? If we bump mo—Liv…If we bump Liv, she could really get hurt and so could the baby, okay?"
Fitz and Olivia share a look, and by her immediate reaction, he knows that she caught his little slip up. Mommy. He was going to call her mommy. Not wanting to dwell and make her overthink it, Fitz changes the subject abruptly.
"I'm happy you guys were able to talk. It's always good to ask questions if you have them. What do you think, Teddy? Do you have any more questions, or are you ready for bed?"
He takes a second to think, humming and tapping his chin in thought. Fitz considers what his son could ask. If they were talking about the baby, surely it was the generic "how did the baby end up in your belly?" topic, but he wasn't sure and definitely was not prepared for his son's next question, floating into the air and seeming to instantly create a vacuum of uncomfortable, tense silence around the three of them.
"Well, you and Mommy were married before you 'vorced. And people who have lots of love in their hearts get married. Are you and 'Livia gonna get married?"
AN: Ah! I forgot how much I love this story and storyline with the kids and Karen. I'm hoping to revisit and explore more! What do you think? Is marriage on the table for Liv and Fitz now?