Chapter One: Home
The Vermont air is crisp, carrying the scent of pine and fresh snowfall as Fitz steps onto the porch. The sky stretches wide and endless above him, the early evening light casting soft shadows across the wooden steps. Inside, the house is warm, filled with the quiet hum of possibility.
This is their first time here—not just visiting, not just imagining—but truly arriving. The house is no longer an idea, a whispered dream between stolen moments in Washington. It is real. The fire crackles in the stone hearth, casting flickering light across the wooden beams. The scent of cedar and fresh paint still lingers in the air, mingling with the unmistakable aroma of Olivia's favorite tea, already brewing in the kitchen.
She stands in the doorway, taking it all in, her gaze sweeping across the open space. The high ceilings, the wide windows overlooking the snow-covered fields, the kitchen that will soon be filled with the sounds of laughter and morning pancakes. Fitz watches her, memorizing the way her lips part slightly, her fingers grazing the edge of the marble countertop as if grounding herself in this moment.
He walks up behind her, sliding his arms around her waist and resting his chin on her shoulder. "It's perfect."
She exhales softly, leaning back against him. "It is."
For so long, their world has been built on schedules, security briefings, and the ever-present weight of expectation. Now, here, in this house that is theirs alone, there is only silence. A peaceful, waiting kind of silence.
Fitz presses a kiss to her temple, a grin forming as a thought crosses his mind. "We should get a dog."
Olivia turns in his arms, arching a brow. "A dog?"
"Yeah," he says, the idea settling in his chest. "A big one. Maybe a golden retriever. Something that runs around the fields, chases the kids, sleeps at our feet."
She tilts her head, considering. "You, Fitzgerald Grant, want a dog?"
He smirks. "I want a whole damn life here, Livvie. The kind we never had time for before."
Her expression softens, and she reaches up, brushing her fingers through his hair. "Then let's do it. Let's have it all."
The fire crackles, the snow falls, and in the warmth of their new home, the future stretches out before them—full of love, promise, and the quiet, steady certainty that this is only the beginning.