"What can you tell me about Olivia and Edison when they were your neighbors?" David asked

The woman sipped from her coffee mug. "She was far more lovely than he was. She would come over here and check on me at least three times a week. That man, on the other hand, was as cold as ice. He was passive-aggressive, but in a nasty way. For two years, I watched him break her down until there was a dullness in her eyes. They argued a lot—well from what I could hear—he started those fights. They sometimes threw dinner parties at their house. I went once and left as soon as I could. He was so busy sucking up to those men that he didn't even realize that she had left with me. I didn't go to any more of those dinners but I did keep my door open so that she could sneak out and come sit with me. I told her more than once that he wasn't the man that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with."

"Was there ever anything else that worried you?" David prodded.

The woman shook her head and tsked. "I'm convinced that he was beating her. I saw her once with bruises on her back. She was helping me in the garden and her shirt lifted up. She had bruises on her stomach and her back. She told me over and over that he didn't touch her but I didn't believe it."

"Why not?"

"Because that man has the darkest eyes I've ever seen—eyes like Satan. I thought that he'd kill her before she ever decided to leave him. I remember the night they broke up. They had the loudest fight that I'd ever heard from them. I went over there and could hear the sound of stuff breaking. I banged on the door and no one answered. When I threatened to call the police, that man swung the door open and told me to mind my business. He manhandled me and all but pushed me off his porch. When he opened the door, it sounded like she was crying. I wanted to help her so badly but I couldn't. A week after that, she came to my house and told me that she was moving out of the neighborhood. I told her I would miss her but that I was glad that she was leaving him. He was a disaster for the next few months. Eventually, he sold the house and moved out of the neighborhood."

"In all the time you knew Olivia, was she ever pregnant?"

The woman shrugged, "If she was then I couldn't tell." The woman put her mug down. "Now you answer a question for me. Has he hurt her again?"

David opened his hands, "As far as I know…he hasn't."

"So why are you asking all these questions?"

"Just part of an investigation."

The woman pursed her lips. "If there's an investigation, then it's only a matter of time before he tries to hurt her again."

%%%%%%%%%%%

Olivia was watching one of the trainers overlooking Ivy as she leisurely rode a pony. Olivia couldn't believe how much she seemed to grow since the last time Olivia saw her. Ivy had lightly bronzed skin with long chestnut hair and big brown eyes. Looking at Ivy always made her miss Mac and Ingrid.

Rip walked over to where Olivia was standing, pointing to Ivy, "She's getting really good. She might be ready to try a horse pretty soon."

Olivia kept looking at Ivy, "I'm gonna take Ivy somewhere else to stay."

Rip was confused, "What are you talking about? What's the problem?"

Olivia looked at him, "Rip, why didn't you tell me that you thought Hollis had Chastity killed?"

"I see you've been talking to JoJo."

"Damn right I have. Are you sure this whole thing is about fracking and not you getting revenge on Hollis?"

"They're one in the same Bambi."

Olivia shook her head, "Ivy is coming with me…end of discussion."

Rip grabbed her hand, "You mad because I didn't tell you or because it's not a problem you can fix?"

Olivia rolled her eyes, "No, I'm not doing this. I'll figure out somewhere for us to go."

"Don't walk away from me. This is a safe environment—that she loves—so just let her stay here."

"For how long huh?"

Rip shrugged, "You didn't let me know an end date."

Olivia shook her head, "I shouldn't have brought her here. I don't want her caught in the middle. I don't want to be caught in the middle."

"Middle of what?"

"I don't want to talk about this Rip. Ivy and I have an appointment."

Rip let go of her hand, "Fine. But mad or not, you're taking a couple of my guys with you."

Olivia didn't feel like arguing. "Fine." She walked over towards Ivy. "Hey there Happy Feet."

Ivy got off the pony. "Hi mommy."

"We've got a special day ahead of us."

Ivy smiled and grabbed her jacket. "I'm ready if you are."

Olivia and Ivy got in the car and left the ranch. "Have you been having fun Happy Feet?"

"Yeah. All the animals are beautiful. Mommy, where are we going?"

"I was thinking that we could have a little spa day."

"Like we used to a while ago?"

"Just like that." Olivia pulled into an underground parking structure and walked Ivy inside of a building. Ivy's eyes went wide when she realized she was in an actual spa. Ivy saw Quinn and looked around for other people. "It's just us baby. Mommy wanted you to have a special day all to yourself." Olivia nodded over toward Quinn, "You remember Quinn baby?"

Ivy smiled wide and shyly waved at Quinn, "Yeah, she's your friend from work."

Quinn kneeled down, "Hey there pretty girl. How about we go pick out some nail polish? What's your favorite color?"

"Yellow. I like yellow."

Olivia smiled at their interaction and allowed Quinn and Ivy to wander off and find some nail polish that they liked. She felt her phone ringing and was surprised at the person calling her. "Mrs. Delaney? Hi, it's been a while."

"There was a man here asking about you and that horrible man you used to date. I hope I didn't overstep but the man seemed to be looking for information on Edison and not you."

"What was the man's name?" Olivia asked.

"It was David Rosen. He left his card for me. I hope I didn't make things complicated for you."

Olivia waved it off with a faux tone of indifference, "No. It's fine. He was more than likely only looking for some information on Edison."

"He asked me if you were pregnant. Olivia, did you have a baby with that man?"

"No. I promise you that I did not have his baby."

"Okay, I believe you. whenever you have free time, we should get together like the old days and have lunch."

"Yeah of course. Have a good day Mrs. Delaney."

Olivia hung up her phone and let out a sigh. She quickly slapped on a smile and went over to pick out her own nail polish. She quickly texted Abby (David is poking around about me and Edison. He'll probably come to you next.)

((((((((((((

"Hello Mister….Sidarthur. My name is Alyssa and I work for the U.S. Attorney's Office."

"Why you at my house? I ain't done nothing."

Alyssa smiled, "I was hoping that you had a few minutes to talk about your old neighbors Edison Davis and Olivia Pope."

The man was agitated, "Whatchu wanna know? She was with that bastard. The bastard put his hands on her. Her and the bastard split up. She got pregnant. She disappeared. Did the bastard kill her or something?"

"Um no, he didn't. Are you sure that Olivia was pregnant?"

"Just cause I'm old don't mean I'm blind. I know what I saw. I was at the airport picking up my grandchildren. I saw her and a Hispanic girl heading toward the departure section. Now I wasn't nosy enough to follow them to where they were going. Olivia was a tiny little thing that wore her clothes fitted to her body. It wasn't hard to figure out she was knocked up."

Alyssa was taking notes, "And you're sure that this was after she and Senator Davis broke up?"

"Young lady…all due respect…are you hard of hearing? Olivia and the bastard were not together when I saw her at the airport."

"Do you remember about when you saw Olivia pregnant?"

"Um. My youngest grandchild was 5 at the time, so it was a little over 8 years ago."

"Thank you for your time."

"Now wait a minute young lady. What has the bastard done to her? He hurt the kid or something?"

"No sir. It's just an investigation into an accusation."

"I'll be happy to testify against the bastard. She's a lovely woman that didn't need to be dragged down by him."

It had been a couple of weeks since Olivia talked to Fitz or Rip. She had yet to bring Ivy back to his ranch so he made sure that the guards, he sent with her, knew where they were at all times. Apparently, Olivia had bought a new place just outside of D.C. It was a semi-secluded suburb that only had 20 homes in it. She'd sent Quinn to pack up Ivy's things and move them into her new place. Rip automatically knew something was bothering her and that she was shutting him out. Rip figured that he'd see her again at Ivy's birthday party. Ivy had been begging Olivia for a cowgirl birthday and ever since she saw Rip's ranch, that was where she wanted to have her party. The complicated part was inviting kids. The school year hadn't started yet so Ivy didn't have classmates to invite. JoJo's kids invited the rest of the kids in her family and Rip did the same with his nieces and nephews. Olivia hated that she didn't come from a family big enough for Ivy to have cousins. Nyla was bringing a godson of hers. Abby would be bringing both of her nieces and Harrison had a young cousin that was close to Ivy's age. Olivia also decided to invite the 5 other kids who lived in their new neighborhood. Olivia was dead set on not having the party at Rip's ranch until Ivy pulled out the puppy dog eyes. In spite of her problems with Rip, she didn't want to take away from Ivy's party. Olivia would suck it up and deal with Rip another day.

Fitz, on the other hand, was fuming. He was trying to keep his cool whenever he was around Rip but it washard because all he thought about was him being with Olivia. It burned him up from the inside out just thinking about the two of them. He was doing his part in keeping up with Rip's conditions…until it came time to discuss his potential Cabinet. The former Senate Majority Leader was retiring and with the right votes, Edison Davis would be shoe-in for the position. Fitz wanted to use electing a Democrat to that position to his advantage by swaying the Senate towards him instead of throwing their influence behind Sally. The major problem with that decision was Rip's refusal to back it.

That was why he was currently about to lose his shit in the meeting he was in with Rip and Cyrus. Cyrus was trying to get through to Rip. "Mr. Cartwright, how many times do I have to say this? To beat Sally Langston, we have to be two steps ahead. That means nominating a Democrat to fill that seat and doing it before she has the chance to whisper in someone's ear."

Rip was annoyingly calm, "Doesn't have to be that Democrat."

"He has seniority. Passing him over will seem intentional."

"Because it is!" Rip looked at Fitz, "We need the room Fitzgerald."

Fitz finally looked up and at Rip, "Give us a minute Cy." Cyrus was flabbergasted and slowly exited the room, closing the door behind him.

Fitz sat on the edge of his desk, "Why did you want the room?"

Rip stood up, "I'm only going to say this one time only. For you to claim that you love Olivia, you're willing to put him in that position."

"I thought you said that this wasn't about Olivia?" Fitz egged on.

Rip took a step closer to Fitz. "If he was willing to do whatever he did to thewoman you 'love' then what's to stop him from screwing you over, in the Senate, every chance that he gets? If you can't see that for what it is, then that's where we have a problem." Rip got up to leave the office. He got a notification on his phone reminding him of Ivy's birthday party happening in 2 days.

Fitz was pissed off that Rip had the audacity to call him out…and be right about what he was saying. He knew that Edison was not to be trusted. He hated feeling like he was competing with Rip for Olivia's heart and…the country's."

Fitz wasn't used to being ignored by anyone. Fitz had been trying to call or schedule a meeting with Rip for the past two days. Fitz was angry as hell and decided to not give Rip the opportunity to ignore him anymore. He decided to go to Rip's ranch in person.

Ivy's party was in full swing when Fitz's motorcade pulled up to the ranch. There were yellow and tan balloons everywhere, a few photobooths, a petting zoo area, alassoing area, aface painting area, abobbing station, and even a couple of bounce houses. Fitz was trying to figure out whether or not Rip ever mentioned having kids. As the motorcade got closer to the house, Fitz saw a few familiar faces. He saw JoJo, Harrison, Quinn, and even Rip's assistant. He had yet to see Rip. Most of the partygoers ignored him altogether while others stopped and gave him their undivided attention.

JoJo walked over to him, "Why are you here? You shouldn't be here."

Fitz scoffed, "Then maybe Ripley should answer his phone."

"You can't just show up at the man's house."

"He's always at mine."

Rip came outside and walked up to Fitz. "You really need to grow up Mr. President. No one told you to apply to be in a house that people frequent too much. Now why are you at my house?"

"I've been calling you."

"I'm a busy man. I'd prefer if you leave my house."

Fitz' eyes narrowed, "Why? Is Olivia here?"

"Unlike you, I spend time with my family. This is a family get-together. You're not my family Fitzgerald."

Ivy had abandoned her horse and ran over to Rip. She tugged on Rip's leg and held up a treat, "Want an apple?"

Fitz looked from Ivy to Rip, "She's your daughter?"

Rip protectively pushed Ivy behind his leg, "I asked you to leave. I'm not going to repeat myself."

Inside the house, Abby was looking for Olivia. "Liv! There you are."

Olivia turned around, "Hey. Ivy has been hellbent on learning how to rope. I don't want her or any of the other kids to have chaffed hands, so I'm looking for Vaseline or cocoa butter. Do you see any?" When Abby didn't respond, Olivia stopped what she was doing to ask "What's wrong Abby?"

Abby felt sick to her stomach and didn't want to have this conversation with Olivia. "Liv, David did reach out to me like you thought."

"Okay. What happened? Did he threaten you?"

Abby shook her head, "He wanted to give this to you himself but I wouldn't allow it."

"Give me what?"

Abby held out the folded document. "Liv it's bad. Edison got a judge to sign an order for a custody hearing. Edison thinks that Ivy is his and has gathered some amount of evidence to bring this to court."

Olivia was shaking, "One of my old neighbors told me that David came around asking about me and Edison. Edison really thinks that Ivy is his. The asshole is going to force me to bring her out in the open and put an even bigger target on her." Olivia held her tears back, "Edison didn't come up with this on his own. Somebody put a battery in his back. I can't let him drag Ivy into this."

Abby pulled Olivia into a hug, "I'm so sorry we couldn't stop this before it got to this point."

They both heard Ivy yelling from near the front door. "Mommy are you coming outside? It's time for cake and ice cream!"