Time Flies

Fifteen years later

It had been a long difficult week at work, and Olivia had been counting the minutes for it to be over. Her plans had been to go home, pour herself a large glass of red wine, and drink it as she soaked in the tub until the water turned cold. She'd let the peace and quiet do the rest to soothe her worn patience and weary mind. Maybe afterwards she would wrap herself up in the warm and fuzzy robe her father had bought her for Christmas last year and get started on a new book.

Who was she kidding? She knew she'd just end up sitting on the sofa with her laptop open, doing some more work.

But all of those gloriously relaxing plans had come to a screeching halt with one sobering phone call. Her father had called Olivia to tell her that her mother had passed away. Apparently, Naomi Pope had had a heart attack two nights before. A neighbor had gone by to check on her and found her inside. She was in her pajamas on the living room floor.

A call had been made to her boss to let him know that she would be taking a few weeks off for the funeral and to tie up some loose ends in Georgia. He understood and offered his condolences for her loss and told her to take as much time as she needed to get everything taken care of. There was only one week of school left, followed by post planning for teachers. She could handle most of it from her computer or over the phone. Olivia thanked him profusely, knowing she wouldn't have been allowed any extra time off if she had taught for a larger school system. She promised to keep him posted on her return the moment she had everything handled.

As she disembarked the plane at Hartsfield-Jackson airport in Atlanta, she walked at a brisk pace to collect her suitcase from baggage claim. Once she'd retrieved the familiar black bag, Olivia walked outside to snag a taxi. The first thing that welcomed her to being back in the state she grew up in was the ungodly heat. Her hair instantly felt like it was clinging to her face and neck, just as it had when she was a kid. She groaned lightly, instantly recalling those mornings waiting for the bus.

When a taxi pulled up to the curb beside her, Olivia set her suitcase in the back seat and sat down beside it. She told the driver the address of her mother's house as she searched her purse for something to pull her hair back with.

Liv had an appointment with her mother's lawyer to go over the will. She agreed to meet with him early in the morning the following day to get it over with. She needed to know what her mother's last wishes were before she went to her second appointment at the funeral home. She was to be there at ten. Olivia wanted to get the business out of the way so she could get her mother's things packed up and get the house on the market. She had no intentions of keeping it, so the quicker she was rid of it the better.

A little over an hour later, the taxi pulled onto the street she used to live on. Everything seemed to be exactly as it had been fifteen years before. Seeing most of the same names printed on the same mailboxes made Olivia feel like she was still fourteen years old. "Don't these people know that there's a great big world out there?" she muttered as she looked out the window.

"What did you say ma'am?" the driver asked from the front seat.

"Nothing." she told him. "It was nothing."

He pulled up into the driveway of the house Olivia grew up in, put the car in park, and told her how much she owed. Olivia gave him a twenty dollar tip on top of the total and thanked him for taking her so far. She grabbed her suitcase, slid out of the seat, and closed the door behind her. She was back in the sticky heat that only the South was known for.

The cab backed out of the driveway and disappeared.

Using her right hand to shield the sun from her face, Olivia squinted at the house she had grown up in. It looked a lot smaller than she remembered it as a kid. The yard was still pretty and the grass appeared to have been recently cut. The two trees that she always thought protected her were still standing. They were taller than the house now, but they were full and beautiful too.

A peek at the upper left hand side of the house showed her that one of the trees covered the upper balcony that protruded from what used to be her parent's bedroom. It was the last spot she remembered being before she was forced to leave with her father late that night. Her father had bellowed for her to come outside so they could leave.

She didn't want to think about it anymore. She had enough to deal with as it was with her mother's passing. Adding unresolved feelings and pent up anger wouldn't help the situation. She'd need a bottle of her favorite wine if she was going to deal with all the stuff she had shoved deep down inside and avoided at all costs for the past fifteen years. And since she doubted very highly that her mother had a bottle of Du Bellay lying around, she wouldn't be dealing with any of it tonight.

Realizing that she probably looked ridiculous standing in the driveway with her suitcase, she took a deep breath and grabbed the handle to go inside. She hadn't taken more than two steps when she heard a voice calling. "Hello? Can I help you?"

Deciding the question was not aimed at her since no one knew she was coming here in the first place; Olivia kept going without turning around.

The voice was closer the next time she heard it. "Excuse me? Hello?"

She continued to ignore it and kept going. Whoever it was had to be speaking to someone else. She was not about to entertain them by turning around like a nosey neighbor. Someone tapped her on the shoulder. "Hey."

She yelped and practically jumped out of her skin. She couldn't help it. Gathering herself together, she turned around and was greeted by the chest of someone not wearing a shirt. The chest itself was broad and fairly covered in hair. She averted her eyes up to a pair of blue eyes that once upon a time had been as familiar as her own. "Yes?" she asked the stranger.

"Olivia? Is that you?" he asked, squinting down at her.

"That depends. Which one are you?" she asked skeptically. It had to be one of the Grants and she was in no mood to deal with an assholey one.

He grinned at her, opening his arms. "It's Jenson."

"Ohmygosh!" She squealed. Letting go of her suitcase, she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. After a long moment, she looked up at him. "You've gotten so tall and handsome!"

"Thanks. I think my wife would agree with you." he said with a grin. "Why are you still so short?"

She pulled away from his embrace with wide eyes. "You're married? Of course you're married. You were the nice one. That's fantastic, Jen! Congratulations!"

"Thanks, Liv. How about you? Married? Kids? Any of that?" he asked.

"Still single. But I have twenty kids." She watched as his eyes went wide at her declaration before she chuckled and explained. "I'm a school teacher in D.C. My students are my kids."

"A teacher huh? That's weird." He grabbed the handle of her suitcase from her hand and started for the front door.

She didn't know how to tell him she wasn't quite ready to go inside just yet but followed him anyways. "Why is it weird, Jenson?"

"Because Fitz ended up becoming a school teacher too. He teaches at the elementary school we all went to as kids." he told her.

That was weird, Olivia thought to herself. For some reason she imagined him becoming a football star on a professional team somewhere far away making lots of money and surrounded by attractive women. Not stuck here in Georgia shaping young minds. "Oh?"

"He played football when he went to college. We all thought he'd go pro, but something happened to him."

"What happened?" She blurted out too quickly. Pausing for a moment, she smiled at Jenson & added, "what I mean is, I thought he would play football professionally too. He really was very good in high school. What changed?"

Jenson wondered why Liv was so curious about Fitz all of a sudden. She didn't even like him as a kid. Hell, he was thankful that she liked him, even if only as a friend. He shrugged. "We don't know."

"Of course you do." She stated in disbelief. "You and your brothers were very close growing up. Surely he told you what made him change his career path?"

He and his brothers had been close growing up, but things change as they inevitably always do. Instead of going into it, Jenson gave a light shrug. "He never said why. Not to us. Once he decided to become a teacher, he never looked back. He's happy now and loves what he does."

It didn't matter, she reminded herself. She pulled out the house key she kept behind a small zippered compartment in her purse that never saw the light of day and handed it to Jenson.

"What grade do you teach?" he asked.

"Hmmm?" She asked absentmindedly. "Oh. I teach fourth grade."

"That's great. Fitz teaches third." He opened the door and flipped the light switch on the wall in the living room. "It's really is odd that you both became teachers."

Jenson was halfway into the living room when he realized Olivia hadn't responded. When he glanced over his shoulder, he saw that she was still standing outside in the heat looking very uneasy. He left her suitcase in the middle of the room and went to the door with his hand out to her. "Liv? Why don't you come inside where it's cooler?"

"I...I don't know if I can." She whispered.

Her brown eyes darted around the room, wondering exactly where her mother's body had been found. She wondered which was more unnerving? The fact that she hadn't been inside this house for over fifteen years? Or the fact that her mother had died in the first room she had to step into? Maybe a little bit of both, her brain reasoned.

Jenson had no idea what she was feeling, but he wanted to help. Touching her arm, he softly said, "hey."

Olivia's searching eyes flicked up to Jenson's calm ones. She studied his face for a moment, feeling the reassurance of her childhood friend. Touching his hand on her arm, she nodded once and stepped inside.

"I know you're here for the funeral. I'm really sorry about your mother, Liv. She was a wonderful lady."

Olivia smiled tightly and took the key he offered from his palm. Not wanting to get into a discussion about her mother, she quickly replied. "I'm sure she was. Listen, I'm going to find something to eat for dinner and call it an early night. I have a few things to deal with in the morning, but after that I'll be spending the next few weeks packing up the house so it's ready to be put on the market. Maybe I'll catch you again before I leave for home?"

"Oh. I didn't know you were going to sell the house." he stated quietly.

"I have my apartment in D.C. There's no reason for me to keep this big old place." Liv knew it sounded like a weak excuse as it came out of her mouth, but she had absolutely no intentions of living here.

"Why don't you come over to dinner with us. Mom is grilling chicken and she..." he began.

"Thanks for helping me get inside." Olivia gently said, cutting him off. She wasn't interested in strolling down memory lane tonight either. "Take care of yourself, Jenson."

He took the hint, gave her a small smile, and headed to the door once again.

She ushered him through the door and closed it once he was on the other side. Leaning against it, she took a deep breath. She definitely didn't have the strength to deal with the Grant brothers on her first night back. That would call for something a lot stronger. Whiskey maybe?

She left her suitcase right where Jenson parked it and began to wander the house, refusing to overthink the things that had happened in this room a few days prior. It seemed familiar and foreign at the same time. It was difficult for her to process. She saw the marks on the door frame from where her mother would measure her on the first of every month at Olivia's insistence. She was on the petite side, and while there were many marks on the wood, there wasn't much space between those marks.

She saw the family photographs that had been in the house long before she and her father had left that night long ago. Olivia marveled at the fact that her mom hadn't taken them down or gotten rid of them. They reminded her of happier times for the three of them, and Olivia realized that was probably why her mom had kept them around too.

Her stomach growled and Olivia decided to check out the food supplies in the kitchen. She hoped there was at least enough ingredients for her to make an omelet and toast for dinner.

Coffee! There had to be coffee! Olivia wasn't human without coffee in the morning. She decided to settle that first and went in search of the brown granules.

She found the coffee canister and looked inside but it was empty. That wasn't a good sign. She looked in cabinets and found peanut butter, sugar, a box of macaroni, a jar of spaghetti sauce, and several other food items, but no coffee. Remembering that her mother used to keep the coffee in the fridge, Olivia went to the fridge and yanked the door open. There were a few dairy necessities inside, but no coffee.

Olivia began to panic. She was not in the mood to call a cab for a ride to the grocery store to have coffee when she woke up, but she had to have her morning java. What kind of monster didn't keep coffee in the house at all times? Loud sounds coming from outside caught her attention. She lifted her head toward the window to inspect whatever it was that she had heard.

It was a couple of kids playing in the yard across the street. That meant that the kids were probably Grant offspring. And that meant they were probably holy terrors just like their fathers had been at their age. She looked to the house next door to see if any lights were on inside. Lights meant people were home. People at home meant that she could ask them to borrow some coffee. Even though there was a decent amount of space between her mother's house and the neighbor next door, the house looked dark and empty.

The neighbor was on the corner lot so there wasn't anyone on the other side to ask. That meant the only sign of life, and possible hope to find coffee, was currently coming from the house across the street. Did she need coffee that badly in the morning?

She huffed loudly, already knowing the answer. She was going to have to go across the street and ask. As she stared at the wildly active house where the Grant brothers lived under one roof fifteen years ago, Olivia decided they couldn't possibly all live there now. Maybe it was just Jenson and his family? Did he say he had kids? She couldn't remember. She decided to chance it now before it got dark.

Closing the front door behind her, Olivia squared her shoulders and proceeded to walk down the driveway to the road. She looked both ways and began crossing the road, which was pointless since the street usually had very little activity. The kid's laughter became much louder the closer she got to the house. When she stepped on their driveway one of the kids, a little girl, sweetly said, "hey."

Olivia stopped. The girl appeared to be about seven or eight years old. Giving the girl a smile, Olivia leaned down and greeted her back. "Hello. Is your mom or dad at home?"

Ignoring Oliva's question, she instead smirked in Olivia's face, turned to the other children outside with her, and proudly shouted, "Pay up! I told you she could talk."

Olivia stood up taller and kept going to the door. That child's last name was most definitely Grant. She gave two short quick knocks on the door and then stood back a few steps and waited.

A man with a familiar pair of brown eyes opened the door, looked at her with a crinkled face, and said, "yea?" like Olivia had just inconvenienced him.

He was definitely a Grant, and Olivia had a pretty good idea which one he was too. "Hello. I was wondering if you could spare some coffee?"

"What does this look like, a soup kitchen? Beat it." He closed the door in her face.

And that, Olivia surmised, was probably Luke Grant. She knocked again a little more forcefully this time. And again, he came to the door. But before he had a chance to throw sarcasm her way, she held up a hand in front of his face and said, "you've got to be Luke."

His eyes darted around, wondering if he was getting pranked by a friend. He didn't see anyone. "Maybe. It depends on who's asking."

"Your old neighbor who used to wait for the school bus outside with you."

He squinted at her face for a long moment, and then the squint turned into wide eyes and a grin covered his face. "Pope?! Is that you?"

"It's me." She replied matter of factly.

"Hey, guys! Look who's here! Olivia friggin' Pope!"

"Wait. What are you doing?" Panic began to set in as she realized he was calling whoever was inside to the front door. "No, I just came by to..."

Loud voices could be heard from within the house. She changed her mind. She could do without coffee for one morning or she'd get the taxi driver to make a stop along the way to get some on her way out. It just wasn't worth all this tonight. She turned around and started to head back home. A hand touched her shoulder, but she ignored it. She just couldn't deal with Luke, Hollis, Fitz and even Jenson. Not all at once. Not tonight. She kept walking.

Someone touched her hand, and then a man was standing in front of her. She stopped abruptly and looked up at his face. He had blue eyes and curly hair, and Olivia knew it had to be Hollis or... "Liv. Hi."

There was no mistaking that voice. That voice belonged to Fitz. She silently examined him as he stood before her. He was tall. Super tall compared to her short self. He had a broad chest and long arms. As she followed one arm, it led to his hand that was holding hers. She dropped it as if it were a hot coal. "Hi, Fitz."

"Listen, I'm so sorry about your mother. I really liked her." he said.

This was news. Olivia didn't think anyone liked her mom. Not according to her dad. "Really?"

"Of course." He was silent for a moment before adding, "I was the one who found her."

Her head jerked back in surprise, and she shot him a confused look. "You did? How? What were you doing over there?" What reason could he possibly have for being at her mother's house? She waited to hear the answer.

"Well, I used to check on her every afternoon when I got home from work. She had days where she would be in pain but wouldn't ask for help. It became more and more noticeable, so I started going by there to see if she needed anything. Groceries, doctor appointments, whatever. It wasn't a big deal."

"Thank you for checking on her. That was nice of you. I'm sorry that you were the one who found her body. That must have been...difficult, but it's good that it was a neighbor and not some stranger or something."

"Liv, your mom was in pain because..."

"No! I don't want to know." She put her hands up, took a deep breath, and then smiled. "I just came over to borrow some coffee. Mom didn't have any in the house and I'm a bear without it on normal mornings. Tomorrow I have a few appointments that are going to be difficult enough to get through. Do you...or whoever lives here have some I could please borrow?"

He looked at her for a long minute. Most likely, she didn't know the truth about her mom. It would hurt terribly when she found out all of it, but he couldn't see how it was avoidable in a small town like this one. "This is still mom's house. I stayed with her ever since our parents got divorced several years ago before my dad..."

Stopping himself from sharing his own dark family secrets, he gave a small smile and took a step back from her. "I'll just run in and put some coffee in a baggie for you."

He left her standing near the street and disappeared inside the house.

She watched him walk away, admiring his body. She hated to admit it, but Fitz looked good. Really good. He'd probably kept up with some kind of fitness regimen. Whatever he'd been doing, it was working in her opinion.

"No, no, no, no!" She scolded herself quietly as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Stop it. I didn't come here for this. For him. I'm here for two weeks and not a day longer! I don't have time for...this. Focus on the goal and get it done."

Feeling a bit more in control and less like her teenaged self, Olivia nodded once, and a bland expression covered her face.

He returned a few minutes later with a small clear bag filled with coffee as well as a plate wrapped in tin foil. "My mother sent this out to you and said you'd better eat every bite. She said she'd be by to see you one day this week."

"Is that all?" Olivia asked curtly, accepting the coffee and the dinner.

"No." he admitted quietly. He looked into her brown eyes and said, "she said she loves you too and that she's here if you need her for anything."

She couldn't help it. Olivia started to tear up but was doing her damndest to keep it together until she was back inside her mother's house where he wouldn't see her cry. She smiled at him and nodded, hoping the waver in her voice wasn't heard. "Please tell her I said thank you" she whispered.

She turned around and quickly walked across the street, up her driveway, and into her house. After locking the door, she set the two items on the coffee table and collapsed in tears on the sofa.

Fitz's eyes never left Olivia until she was safely back inside the house. She looked great. D.C. had been good for Liv, but he was happy to have her back. Even if it was for only a short while, and under these circumstances.

She seemed unfazed about things that pertained to her mother. Maybe she was unaware of what her mother had been through? He thought that Robert would have kept his daughter better informed. Fitz wondered if he should tell her the news before she heard it from someone else. He'd be able to soften the blow some and answer any questions since he and his brothers had taken Naomi to doctor appointments whenever they could.

He didn't want to see her sad the entire time she was here, but he didn't really see a way for her to be happy with all that she was dealing with. Still, he would offer to come by and lend a hand with anything she needed. Maybe she'd open up to him some at the same time?