This is rewrite of a story I already have written. I thought I could do the story better after rewatching Scandal. I hope you guys enjoy it. Please read and review. Thank you.
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It was early. Early enough where when Olivia opened her eyes, she questioned if it was morning or still night. She lays in bed, listening to the breathing beside her. Keeping her head on her pillow, she turns her head to look beside her. The slight glow of the tv shines and she is able to see the scene before her. Beside her sleeping is her husband, and her two boys. Olivia admires how they are all sleeping the same. One arm under the pillow and the other curled up next to their face. She turns her head back to the tv and watches the cartoons dance across the screen.
She takes a silent breath before sitting up and carefully getting out of bed. Before slipping on her silk robe, she pulls a pillow to protect the 13 month old boy who has Fitz's blonde curls and her smile. She touches his soft curls lightly, admiring him, before pulling her robe around her and leaving the room silently. She walks to her stairs and pauses at the top. She turns and look out the large windows in her and Fitz's Vermont home.
The snow pours over the mountains and Olivia takes a minute to admire the scene. It's been 16 years since Olivia and Fitz decided to make things work. He divorced Mellie and being the fixer she is, she got him 8 years in the White House. Now they have been in Vermont for almost 8 years. Fitz became the mayor and well.. she's not making jam but she's happy. During the time they have been together they have welcomed three boys. Malek is the new addition, the baby. Callum who is 5, and….
Olivia pulls herself away from the window and makes her way down the stairs. She walks over to the fireplace and stands in front of it. She watches as the fire dances around before moving to the side where books are stacked and pulls out a photo album. Call her old fashioned, but ever since she became a parent, there was something about a physical photo that just held a different weight than pictures on her phone.
She places her hand gently across the the front of the photo album and looks up and stares again at the photo album. She knows why she woke up so early. Today is his birthday. Her very first love. Caleb Fitzgerald Grant.
Right after Fitz was elected the first time, a weekend at Camp David resulted in a very positive pregnancy test. She was scared, initially she didn't even know how to tell Fitz. She wasn't sure how he would react, how he would feel about becoming a father. His divorce from Mellie was messy. She was angry and made it a point to prove that Jerry and Karen weren't his, and she did. Fitz was gutted by the realization but ultimately he won. He got the girl and the office.
She didn't have a chance to tell Fitz, one day she was working in the White House and Fitz came sprinting down the halls. Apparently he made a trip to the residence to find her, but found the test instead. He ran through the halls until he found her. Picking her up and swinging her around in front of everyone. Their laughs filling the halls and all the people in it disappeared, for in that moment he couldn't love her more.
For months they planned and Fitz watched over her like a hawk. Not that he had to do much protecting. Between Huck and Abby, she barley did anything for 9 months. Then one October morning, he was born. Caleb Fitzgerald Grant, weighing in at 6lbs 8oz. A head of dark blonde curls and deep blue eyes. Fitz cried for days as he held his new born son. The perfect combination of him and Liv. Most days Olivia would wake up and Fitz would be in the oval working, but with Caleb in his arms. Some days she would peak her head in just to watch him bounce their baby boy by the windows.
Olivia is pulled from her thoughts when the couch shifts. She looks away from the fire place and offers a smile. Fitz, in his navy t-shirt and briefs smiles at his wife and notices the book in her lap. He feels his stomach drop knowing today is the day, the worst day of the year, every year.
"Hi." His deep baritone voice warms her body.
"Hi." She whispers back. She shifts her body so she leaning against him. He holds her and his eyes wonder back down to the book.
"The boys?" Olivia questions softly.
"Asleep." Fitz responds and Olivia hums in approval. They stay silent, Olivia continues to watch the fire and Fitz watches her. He allows a couple minutes to go by before shifting and placing a hand on top of hers.
"Are we opening it this year?" Fitz asks carefully. He doesn't want to push, but he knows sometimes she needs it. "The grief counselor…"
"I am not grieving because there is nothing that has been lost. He is not dead he's just…" Olivia stops and takes a breath. She doesn't know, and that has been the last 16 years. Not knowing.
5 months after Caleb was born, he spiked a fever, high enough to make both Fitz and Olivia nervous. At first Olivia hoped it was teething, she held him as he cried, trying to calm and soothe him. Before too long Fitz rounded up the secret service and took his wife and baby to the hospital.
An hour later, the doctor comes back confused, asking why they were still there, that she had discharged Caleb into Olivia's father care an hour ago. Fitz felt his blood go cold and for Olivia everything happened in slow motion. She watched Fitz turn and start pointing to his agents. She couldn't hear the words coming out of his mouth, but his face turning red and the veins popping out of his neck gave her an idea. They all scattered, shutting down the hospital, putting road blocks up, but Olivia knew it was pointless. He was gone.
They looked, for years they looked, but Olivia demanded that Fitz call off the search. It was taking away from the real work he was doing in the oval. For a while there, everyone around them was worried they wouldn't make it. Olivia worked and Fitz worked more. Both trying to escape the pain, the defeat.
Fitz vowed to take her father down, to find their son, dead or alive. Olivia wanted to keep hope that he was out there, alive and happy. It is the only thing that got her up in the morning, and for Fitz that was enough. So he put his want aside to make sure his wife was able to wake up every morning.
"It's snowing." Olivia says, her voice bringing Fitz out of his thoughts. "We should take the boys sledding." Olivia says with a smile. Fitz smiles at the thought. After DC, after the oval, Fitz and Olivia decided to get away. And for 2 years they disappeared.
The only people who knew where they went, were the secret service, Abby, Huck, and Quinn. They reconnected, and even went to a grief counselor to help them properly grieve their son. They started healing and mending what was broken. But one morning, Olivia was standing in the bathroom of a London hotel with a very eerie scene. A very positive pregnancy test, and an unsure pit in her stomach. She was pregnant again. They had been so careful, they didn't want anymore kids. But the smile that grew on Fitz's face when she got back into bed with the pregnancy test told Olivia everything she need to know.
So they went home. They stayed in Olivia's old DC apartment as they looked for a home. Somewhere to raise their family. They both agreed that DC was a nonstarter. They wanted somewhere small, remote, a place no one would ever think of. That's when they chose Vermont. A small town towards the border, it was absolutely beautiful. Surrounded by mountains, and a gorgeous lake, it was perfect.
They looked for a home, but everything they found required a lot of work they didn't have time for. Olivia needed move in ready, their baby was coming and every day it was getting harder for her to do things, so Fitz did what he knew how to do. He used money and title to get them land and build them a house from the ground up. It was tight but they were able to move in and within two weeks, Callum Theodore Grant was born. Much like his brother, he was born with Carmel skin, dark blonde curls and deep blue eyes.
For the first year of his life, Olivia and Fitz never left him. He was never left without one of them present, but after Huck, Abby, and Quinn moved to be closer to them, they were able to breathe a bit better. They never really can breathe, the thought of Olivia's father taking another piece of their heart is enough to keep her awake at night, but not enough to take away her ability to live in the moment with her boys. She watched and marveled as Callum grew up. She enjoyed every moment with him. His screams, his laughs, sick and healthy. She enjoyed every moment with her boy, and even more she enjoyed watching Fitz be an incredible father.
"Fitz." Olivia's voice brings Fitz back from his musings and he plants a kiss on her pouty lips.
"Sledding sounds amazing." He smiles and looks back down at the book. He won't push it, not this time. He looks back and smiles at the warm brown eyes looking at him.
"We should have some coffee." Fitz says standing up and walking over to the kitchen. Olivia looks back at Fitz and watches him move around their kitchen. She smiles at him before turning back to the fireplace. She sighs before standing up and placing the photo album back on its shelf. She walks over to the sliding glass doors and watches the snow fall, and the dark sky turning light. Fitz walks over and wraps his arms around her, placing a kiss on top of her head.
"Mommy." A small voice from behind them brings them out of their moment and Olivia smiles immediately. Standing before them in a long sleeve grey shirt and underwear, is Callum.
"Hi." Olivia walks over and picks him up. She brushes his long blonde curly hair out of his face and kisses his face. He lays his head on her shoulder and Fitz brings a blanket from the couch to wrap him in. He plants a kiss on Callum's head and leads Olivia to the couch.
"What's going on bud?" Fitz asks in a soft voice.
"Jus missed you." Callum says in a small voice. Fitz and Olivia look at each other and smile.
"I miss you when you're not here." Olivia says softly. It's the one thing she has always said to her boys, always making sure they know how much they mean to her.
"Coffee?" Fitz says as a question but already knowing the answer he walks over to the kitchen and pours them a cup. He walks over and hands Liv her cup, before handing her to remote to turn on cartoons on for Callum.
While Olivia does that, Fitz makes his way up the stairs and back into their room. He smiles to see the smallest member of their family taking up almost their entire bed. Laying diagonal, with his blanket next to him, and his pacifier on the other side is Malek. Sound asleep and surrounded by pillows. Fitz walks over to his son and cups the back of his head softly and kisses the side of his head. Knowing full well he might wake him up, Fitz couldn't help it. He walks over to unplug his phone and walks back downstairs to join Olivia and Callum.
xxxxxx
About an hour later Malek wakes up and Fitz grabs him from upstairs to join everyone in the kitchen. They were making muffins with Abby. Abby finds herself over almost daily. The boys love when Abby comes over, and honestly after leaving DC, Abby has found peace in doing simple things with her best friend. No more wars, or personal attacks; just brunches, and family dinner. Plenty of wine and laughs.
"Ok, NOW you add the flour." Abby laughs as she watches Callum clumsily pour flour into the bowl.
"Good job Cal!" Liv exclaims as she opens their fridge. Callum smiles and wipes his hair out of his face, leaving flour on his forehead.
"Someone is hungry." Fitz announces as he walks into the kitchen with Malek in his arms. Olivia turns and immediately smiles at her boys.
"Hi my baby" Olivia sticks her arms out and before Fitz hands him over, he plants a kiss on his wife's lips and then sets Malek in her arms. She kisses his head and bounces him lightly while Callum continues to help Abby.
"Hi there handsome." Abby greets the youngest Grant, smiling at him. Malek screeches in excitement but quickly starts to get upset.
"I know buddy." Olivia says excusing herself briefly before coming back with a nestled Malek and a blanket covering her slightly. Abby doesn't care and neither does Fitz, but with Quinn and Huck on their way shortly, she doesn't want another incident where Huck panics by seeing her breastfeed.
"Imagine, a secret super spy terrified of breast feeding." Abby laughs noticing the cover up Olivia did. Liv smiles and walks over to sit on a stool. She watches Abby and Cal finish up their muffins before Abby takes him to clean up and Fitz places the finish muffins in the preheated oven. The door bell rings and Fitz wipes his hands before walking out of the kitchen.
"Hey… so.. are you ok?" Abby asks as she walks back into the kitchen and hands a yogurt to Callum from the fridge. She picks him up and sets him on the stool before standing behind it. Abby knows what day it is today. It's the day that haunts her as well.
She accepted with tears in her eyes, as Fitz and Olivia asked her to be a godmother, and it was a title she was proud of. Anytime Olivia needed a break, or needed to work, Abby was there to care for Caleb. It was one of her favorite jobs, and when he was taken it was like she forgot what life was before him, Who she was, and if that is how she felt she couldn't imagine how Olivia felt.
"I'm…" she stops and looks down at Malek. She brushes his face lightly as he eats before looks back at Abby. "I miss him." She says simply and Abby nods her head. She understands everything she needed to from that statement.
"Look who I found." Fitz says entering the kitchen. Following behind him closely is Huck and Quinn.
"Hey." Abby smiles as she picks up Callum off the stool. As they all greet each other and catch up, Olivia notices as Huck hovers anxiously around the doorway. His eyes not meeting any one thing for too long. She studies him for a while before he meets her eyes. As soon as his eyes hit her she knows something is wrong.
"Huck." Olivia says. Not as a question but as a statement. Everyone's conversations die down as their attention is caught by Olivia's firm voice. Huck shoves his hands in his pocket before looking up and into Olivia's eyes.
"I found him." He says. Olivia looks immediately to Fitz and then back to Huck. She waits for more words but they don't come.
"Found who?" She asks. She already knows the answer but she needs him to say it. She needs the words to come out.
"I found him, I found Caleb." Huck says again.
"Huck." Olivia says, her voicing daring him to say it again.
"He's alive, and I found him." Huck says avoiding eye contact. "It was tricky, they were smart, but I found him." Huck says again. Everyone stays quiet. Words escaping even Quinn. Abby sets Callum down and smiles at him.
"You know what pal? Why don't you show me your toy you were telling me about?" Abby smiles and Callum agrees pulling her out of the room. As they leave the room Fitz walks over to the other side of the kitchen and pulls down a bottle of wine. He opens it and drinks directly from the bottle before handing it to his wife who just holds it.
"Your dad, he used a-" Huck stops when Olivia's hand goes up.
"I don't want to talk about my dad. I don't want to hear what he did.. Huck." Olivia stops, taking a breath, and looks at Huck. Quinn walks over and takes a full Malek out of Olivia's arms. She walks out of the kitchen to join Abby as Olivia fixes herself and turning back to Huck "You said he's alive, where he is?" Olivia's voice starts to betray her and she takes a minute before downing some wine herself.
"California." Huck answers. "I reached out to the uh family." Fitz watches his wife before looking up at Huck himself.
"Are they…. Do they know? He was kidnapped." Fitz asks his voices wavering.
"That part is still unclear." Huck says and makes eye contact with Fitz. "But it's him." Huck says in such a way that Fitz instantly believes him. He looks over to his wife who seems to be staring out into space. He puts a hand on her shoulder and one of her hands instantly covers his.
"I have a picture." Huck says and immediately Olivia looks at him. "Do you want to see a picture?" Huck asks, his voice unsure. He still remembers getting the call from Olivia. He dropped everything… quite literally.. and ran to the hospital. He remembers watching Liv, it was if she was frozen in time. Fitz was screaming at anyone who would listen. Shouting orders and accepting no answers that didn't directly lead to their son. He remembers how lost she was, how sad she was even when she smiled.
"I uh… I should check on the boys." Olivia says. She stands up and sets the wine bottle down on the counter before making her way out of the kitchen. Fitz pauses for a minute before walking over to Huck and placing a hand on his shoulder.
"I can't believe you did it." Fitz says. His eyes well with tears before pulling Huck into a small and quick embrace. He pulls away and wipes at his eyes.
"I should check on Liv." He says. Huck stays silent and watches Fitz leave the kitchen.
xxxxx
The day seemed to go by without a hitch. Olivia avoiding, took the boys sledding with the secret service standing close enough to watch but not close enough to interfere. Olivia rode down some small hills with Callum, and Fitz stood with a bundled Malek strapped to his chest. Callum's laugh filled the air and Fitz couldn't help but to smile and snap a few pictures. Callum was always a happy baby. Finding joy and laughter in most everything, it was contagious. Standing off to the side and engaged in a hushed conversation is Quinn, Abby, and Huck.
"I can't believe you didn't tell me Huck." Quinn whispers harshly and Abby runs her attention away from asking Huck questions to Quinn.
"Of course he didn't tell you, Liv should've have known first. And speaking of Liv are we really not going to do anything?" Abby whispers before looking over at Olivia and Callum.
"What are we supposed to do? It's not like we have any idea of what to do next. I mean.. what do we even do next?" Quinn asks and they both look at Huck who's eyes are trained on Olivia and Callum. He doesn't budge, keeping his sigh trained on the two in front of him.
"Huck?" Quinn questions. Huck remains silent and Abby throws her hands in the air.
"I thought we were passed this. The secrets and the drama, the you and Liv only club." Abby says turning to look at Liv.
"It's not up to us." Huck says simply. Abby's face softens and she sighs, this was big. So much to process. They continue to watch Liv and Callum before he gets tired and cold which was their cue to make their way back inside. With Callum happy and warm with a snack, and Malek napping, Fitz takes a moment and pulls his wife aside. Standing in their hallway, Olivia knows what Fitz wants to talk about, she just doesn't have the words for anything right now. Her boy, her very first little love, not only is he alive but he has grown. He has had an entire life without her in it.
"I really want to talk about this Liv." Fitz says. His voice quite to try to avoid Callum or anyone else from hearing.
"I don't know what to say." Olivia responds
"You don't?" Fitz questions. After all these years, all the pain, all the looking, he thought for sure she would put on a pants suit and start ordering them all around, making a plan, but she wasn't.
Olivia remains silent and Fitz feels frustration bubble in his stomach. He shakes his head and starts to walk pass her but her hand on his bicep stops him. They stand like that for a moment before Fitz feels her body start to shake. He turns his head to see his wife with her mouth covered and tears rolling down her face. He allows her a minute to cry before turning his body completely to hold her. Her head lays on his strong chest and she allows herself a minute to cry. To be insanely happy, while grieving the child she never got to know. She allows these feelings for a minute before pulling back from her husband and wiping her face.
They make eye contact, blue meeting brown and Fitz can tell by the look in her eye what is about to happen. The understanding and acceptance in Fitz eyes give Olivia everything she needs. She nods her head at Fitz before making her way down the stairs and into the kitchen. Abby, Huck, and Quinn all look up from their wine glasses and Olivia walks over and grabs a glass for herself. Huck pours the wine and Olivia downs it before letting out a breath.
"Huck, I want to know everything you know. Every detail, every person. I want to be in California meeting with them by the end of the week. Abby I need you to contact and dig into the family, see what they really know. Quinn, I need to to trace EVERY move my father made that day, down to what he ate. This was done illegally and I want to know how the most high profile baby in the country gets placed with a family without even a second glance." Olivia fires off her directions and they all stare, mostly out of surprise.
"You heard her." Fitz says from the doorway and they all stand up simultaneously and leave on their assignments. Fitz walks over to his wife and stands behind her. He feels her weight press into him and he holds them both up.
"Let's bring our son home."