When Abby opened the door after hearing a loud harsh knock the first thing she felt was hands gripping her throat. Fitz grabbed her neck and squeeze after dropping the box on the ground.
"For 5 years you knew," he said angrily.
Abby grabbed his hands trying to pull them from her neck. She couldn't breathe.
"I-told-them-no-" she wheezed unable to finish her sentence. "Please-" she begged him to let her go.
It was hard to let her go, he anger had gotten the best of him but after a few moments, he realized that if he didn't let her go she would die and then whatever she knew would go with her.
He finally let her go and she dropped to the floor wheezing and gasping for air and holding her neck.
"-I'm sorry- I told them not to."
Her throat burned like fire and her voice was hoarse.
"What's my name, my actual name because Thomas Fitzpatrick isn't it?"
"-it's Fitzgerald Thomas Grant," she said panting.
Fitz asked the question he was afraid to ask.
"Why didn't you tell me? Did she die? Are they dead?"
Abby shook her head.
"No, they're alive."
"Where are they?" he asked.
"They live in California."
"What does she think happened to me?"
"She thinks you died."
"What about my parents are they really dead?"
"Yeah but not the way we said they died, you weren't a foster kid, you knew them."
"Do I have any other family?"
"A brother but he died too." Abby took a slow breath. "I can tell you everything I know about your life-"
"No."
Fitz picked up the shoebox from the floor.
"Why does Huck have this?"
"He kind of became obsessed with Olivia after everything happened. He had way more things but after I found his box by accident he dumped most of it."
"Olivia, as in the name on the tattoo on my arm? And Lily is my daughter?"
"Yeah."
Fitz took the phone from the box.
"Whose phone is this, was it mine?"
"Yeah, we found it on you after the crash that caused your amnesia."
"Do you know how to open it?"
Abby took the phone.
"No, I don't know the code."
Fitz took the box and walked outside.
Abby followed him.
"Fitz, there's a lot you don't know, I can help you but you have to be careful."
"I am supposed to be afraid, well I'm not if you wanted to help me you should've told me about my family 5 years ago. The way I see it, you're just as much my enemy as everyone else here."
Fitz took the phone to mission control and made them break into the phone and disable the passcode. Then he made arrangements to confine Huck, Harrison, Abby and five other deltas to the cells in the lower level. He went to his office and locked the door behind him and then unlocked the phone. The first place he went to was his text messages only to find them all deleted. The thought that they took them away from his made him angrier and angrier. He looked through his camera roll at pictures and videos that were still there. There was a mix of pictures and videos of Olivia and Lily. He started from the very first picture which was one of Olivia in bed sleeping and continued through pictures of her in the delivery room, to pictures of Lily just born all the way through the last picture which was a selfie of them both. As he skipped through the pictures tears came to his eyes know that he had a family out there that he hadn't been there for in 5 years.
He took the DVD from the box and slipped it into the slot on the computer. When the video window popped up he pressed play. To his surprise, it was a sex tape that it looked like he recorded.
"...uhhh-" Olivia moaned.
"Fuck…" he heard himself say.
He was hypnotized by the visual of himself stroking her. After a few seconds of watching he felt his penis jump in the pants and the hairs all over his body stood up and he quickly turned it off. Fitz put everything in the box except the phone.
He wondered if her number was the same. How would he even start to reach out to her? He opened Google and typed in "Olivia Grant" but before he hit search he stopped himself. It was almost five years later and he didn't know what he would find, if she'd moved on and remarried, he really wasn't prepared for the reality.
He was overwhelmed with emotion, just pure anger and sadness as he sat waiting for Huck and the team to get back.
Whatever happened years ago that cause a fracture within the deltas was no longer the case. He was in full control and after hiring and training hundreds of new crew members, recruits and staff, he had overwhelming loyalty to him so getting rid of a few fighters from a deltas team would be no problem at all. He already knew he couldn't stay and needed a replacement.
Once he pulled himself together we went back out to prepare for the team arriving. He had them take Abby from her suite first and lock her in the cell and while he was waiting on the others he began running numbers, he wanted to know who at the base at the time and who had a hand in the planning.
He wanted to go see his family but he needed to take care of this first because he couldn't trust them to leave this unhandled. Who knows what else they would come up with.
When Huck and the team arrived a few hours later, he met them at the plane.
As soon as they disembarked they saw him with a team of soldiers.
"Fitz, what's going on?" Harrison said, only slightly nervously.
They were always on edge that his memory would come back even though they thought it unlikely.
"Arrest them," Fitz ordered.
"What?' Harison said before a soldier jumped on him and arrested him.
Huck followed along with 5 of the old members.
Fitz listened as they screamed and resisted but they were arrested all the same.
He made sure they were put in the cells then he entered a special code so only he could unlock the doors.
Once he got back to his office he had his aide go to find Olivia's address. About an hour later, he returned with her Beverly Hills address. In the meantime he searched his name online, his actual name and the first thing he found was the video of his beheading. He assumed it was doctored but he couldn't be sure after the lengths they'd gone to keep his identity from him. He didn't understand the story behind it and since he could trust no one he accepted the fact that he would never truly know it.
As the days passed he built up the courage to go because soon it would be Christmas and he couldn't let the day pass without seeing his family. He refused to spend another Christmas alone. A big part of why he was afraid to go home was because he had no idea where to even begin when he saw her or what her reaction would be.
Christmas Eve.
Olivia sat Lily, Isabelle and Daisy island in the kitchen and place a plate with a warm chocolate chip cookie and a cup of milk in front of each of them. They baked the cookies together earlier in the evening.
"Come on girls, taste it and let me know if you like it. Remember we have to leave some out for Santa and we want him to like them."
"Santa's not real," Lily said.
"Santa no real?" Daisy repeated puzzled.
Isabelle laughed and repeated the same.
"Santa?"
Olivia smiled, "how's the cookie?"
"It's really good mom," Lily said.
"Yummy," Isabelle and Daisy said together.
Olivia found it cute that they often said the same things at the same time, it was satisfying. They were identical and looked about the same as Lily except where Lily's hair was almost completely honey blonde, their hair was more chocolate brown with a few light brown highlights. Lily's eyes were blue, theirs were green. All three were beautiful and whenever she took them out she would get tired of strangers stopping her to tell her how beautiful her girls were.
She stood and watched as they ate the cookies and drank their milk.
"All done!" Isabelle yelled with a milk mustache.
Olivia took the plate and placed it in the dishwasher, followed by Daisy and Lily's dishes.
"Come on girls, let's brush our teeth so we can get to bed, we have a lot of gifts to open tomorrow."
Lily jumped up and down excitedly and when Isabelle and Daisy followed her as they usually did.
"Come, girls, up to our bedrooms, let's go," Olivia said.
They walked upstairs together and went to the girl's bathroom. She had them all share a bathroom because it was just easier to give them baths and brush their teeth together. When they walked into the bathroom, painted lavender with artwork on the walls, Olivia brushed the twin's teeth first and then Lily's after.
"Okay, Rosebud do you want to help me put your sisters to bed?"
Lily nodded excitedly.
"Okay, let's go girls."
They walked down the hall to the room the twins shared.
"Alright, climb into bed Daisy, Izzy."
"We want to sleep in mommy's bed!"
"You want to sleep with me tonight?
"Uh-huh?" Both Isabelle and Daisy said.
"What about you Lily?"
"Yes please!"
"Okay, it's Christmas eve we'll have a slumber party in my bed but with mostly slumber and not so much party."
Isabelle and Daisy ran out of their bedroom down the hall to Olivia's room, followed by Olivia and Lily.
"Izzy, Daisy no running," Lily screamed.
Olivia chuckled as they walked to the room. Isabelle and Daisy had already climbed onto her bed when Lily joined them and got under the covers.
Olivia kissed each of them goodnight and hugged them.
"I love you guys. It's bedtime so were going to sleep now and then we'll wake early tomorrow to open our gifts."
"Mom, is it your birthday tomorrow?"
"Yes, it is Lily?"
"Mommy's birthday?" Isabelle said.
"Birthday," Daisy added.
Olivia chuckled.
"Yes, it's my birthday."
She turned off the lamp by the side of her bed.
"Goodnight girls."
"Goodnight mommy," they all said together.
Fitz arrived in Los Angeles early Christmas morning. All his original and correct documents including his passport and driver's license they had found stashed away at the base so he didn't need to use the doctored one he was given. He first stopped at his old house after using his key card he created at the base to get into the gated community. He was surprised it hadn't been sold after so many years. It looked like it hadn't been occupied in years but it was clean as a whistle. After walking through the house it offered him no clues as to his past and it didn't bring back any memories.
He was told Olivia had guards at their house. He wanted to stop by and walk through the house to see if he could remember anything but he didn't want to be detected so he decided to stay at his house through the early morning. He could barely sleep because his anxiety was so bad.
In the morning Olivia woke early and went down to the kitchen to make breakfast for her children and put the rest of the gifts she'd hidden from them under the tree. She checked her emails as she cooked breakfast and laid out the large gingerbread kit she bought to build with the girls.
Around 7am, she went up to her bedroom to wake them up.
"Girl, it's time to wake up," she said as he sat on the bed.
All four of them were dressed in matching red pajamas.
"It's time to open presents."
Olivia began bouncing on the bed.
"Come on, wake up."
Isabelle was the first to sit up.
"Mommy?" she said sleepily.
Olivia lifted her and kissed her.
"Merry Christmas Izzy. Can you help wake your sisters."
Isabelle climbed onto to Daisy and began patting her face.
"Dai wake up? Wake up Dai."
Daisy fussed and sat up and the Lily sat up moments later. Olivia kissed them both.
"Merry Christmas, it's time to open presents."
"Yay presents!" they all screamed.
"Wait, mommy, is it your birthday? Happy birthday!" Lily screamed.
"Thank you, sweetheart."
"Happy birthday," Isabelle and Daisy said together.
"Thank you, my lovely girls."
Olivia kissed them again.
"We have to get mommy a present," Isabelle said.
"The three of you are the best birthday present I could ever have."
Lily smiled, "really mommy?"
"Of course and right now it's time to open presents because you have been such good girls this year, come on let's go."
Daisy and Isabelle ran out of the room, followed by Lily with Olivia trying to keep up with them.
"Careful down the stairs," Olivia called out to them.
When Olivia got downstairs they all sat by the Christmas tree waiting for her. They were so well behaved it surprised her sometimes.
"What are you waiting for, dig in."
Lily took the first gift and look at the tag then read the words. She'd been reading very well and above her age group according to her teacher.
"Um..from: Mom to Daisy," Lily read, "Daisy this is yours," Lily said as she gave it to her little sister.
"Thank you," Daisy said as she took the gift and began taking the wrapping paper off.
Lily took the next gift that had her name on it.
"From Mom: to Lily."
She tore that one open quickly and a MacBook laptop. Olivia had ordered it and had it specially modified so it would be easy for her to use. She found Lily asking to use her laptop often and decided she was old enough to get one for herself.
"A laptop? Thanks, mommy!" she said with a big smile as she ran over and hugged Olivia.
Daisy opened her gift and saw an American girl doll.
"Doll. A doll. A doll," she said as she jumped up and down.
Olivia handed Isabelle a gift with her name on it and when she opened it it was a porcelain tea set.
Olivia tried to keep the gifts equal, giving them about 10 gifts each. Since Lily got a laptop, she gave the twins a new iPad each so no one would feel left out. They had more than enough toys but it wasn't about how much they had, she just wanted them to feel special on the day. They also got gifts from Erin and her wife, Sonia, most of the rest of the house staff and a few of Olivia's closest colleagues. In the end, they had too many toys to carry.
After they opened the gift she took them to the kitchen for breakfast and after breakfast, they brushed their teeth and then built the gingerbread house.
When they finished she left the gingerbread house to set and took the girls for a bath. She brought them back to their bedroom to get dressed and then while they played in their playroom with their new toys she went to bathe and dressed. Sonia had invited her and the girls over for brunch with her family. Over the years she had gotten extremely close to Sonia and her family, oftentimes Sonia's grandchildren came over to play with the girls or the girls would go over to Sonia. Her family would come sometimes to swim in their pool or play on her tennis court. Sonia was so supportive and patient and helpful after Fitz's death that she felt the need to show her appreciation so two years earlier Olivia bought Sonia a house for her birthday gift. It was a two million dollar, two-story home at the foot of the hills.
Once Sonia let Erin know that Olivia was on her way to her home, Erin headed over to Olivia's house with a team from work to begin setting up for Olivia's party. Erin liked to plan and decorate so she didn't bother to hire a party planner, she thought that was expensive and pointless and most of the prepping were done from her home.
Erin had help from her wife and most of Olivia's team along and within about 3 hours they'd set up in a large space at the back of the house where Olivia had built 360 glass patio covering earlier that year for Lily's 5th birthday. It was complete with a stage for the many entertainments acts she had for her birthday and it was perfect because Lily made a special dance for Olivia that she and Erin had been working on for a few weeks. She had originally planned to take down the paneling but she decided to keep it because it was a great event space for when the weather didn't permit an outdoor space.
Around 2pm, guests started arriving which was perfect because when Olivia arrived back at the house with the girls at three and Sonia who for some reason insisted on coming back with them, most of the guests had arrived. She saw a line of cars along the street as she drove.
"What's going on?" she asked when she stopped at the guard booth at the gate.
"Happy birthday Ms. Pope"
"Wait," Olivia looked to Sonia, "Is this some kind of party?"
Sonia shrugged as if she didn't know what was going on.
Once the guards opened the gate, Olivia pulled into the yard and drove down the driveway. When she got inside the house Erin came running up.
"Go change your clothes and wear something cute, we have a little surprise."
Olivia smiled, "okay."
"Happy birthday hoe! And Merry Christmas!" Erin yelled as Olivia walked up the stairs then she turned to Lily and the twins, "merry Christmas babies, did you like aunty Erin's gift?"
"Yes," Lily said as she jumped up and down and then hugged Erin.
Isabelle and Daisy followed.
Erin walked the girls to the back of the house where all the guests were.
About 20 minutes later Olivia descended from the staircase and walked to the party.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" everyone yelled when they saw her.
She covered her face and smiled.
"Oh my god, this is - I didn't expect this," she said as she smiled.
Erin walked up to her.
"Do you like it?"
"I love it," Olivia hugged her, "thank you, Erin, so much, I really appreciate this."
"Yes, you work so hard being a boss ass mom/fashion icon I just thought you needed a nice little party to just be."
Olivia hugged her again.
"Thank you."
"Does this makeup for setting you up on that dinner?"
Olivia nodded.
"Yes."
"Okay good cause I invited him here too."
Olivia's mouth fell open as Erin turned and pointed and then she just smiled and shook her head.
"You know what, I don't even care, I just want to have fun, I have no idea how you got all these people to be here on Christmas day."
"You employ most of them and everyone else is single and childless so what else is there to do on Christmas, I mean really?"
Olivia shrugged.
"Go on, go mingle," Erin said as she shoved Olivia forward. Once Olivia went to socialize, she took Lily upstairs to change into her dance outfit.
When Fitz was notified that Olivia had arrived back home he decided it was time to gather the courage to go see her. After a quick drive, he was in front of the house. He saw a lot of cars on the road but he didn't know it was for her or another house. He pulled up to the gate and rolled down his window when one of the guards walked up to his car.
"Are you here for a party?" the man asked.
Fitz didn't know what party but he said yes. The guards had only told him she left and then returned.
"Okay, give me your id."
Fitz reached into his pocket and took out his driver's license. The man took it and walk to the security booth at the gate.
When he came back he had 3 other men with him.
"Step out of the car," one man said.
Fitz opened the door and stepped out.
The man took a few moments staring at him.
"What's your name?" the man asked.
"Fitzgerald Grant," Fitz answered.
"See here's the thing Fitzgerald Grant, the one who looks exactly like you was beheaded on national tv almost 5 years ago. So either you're a fraud or that one was."
He didn't have time to stand there and explain himself to them. The only person he needed to explain himself to was Olivia and his daughter.
"Give me my ID and let me into my home. I don't have to explain myself to you."
The same man stared at him, inspecting his face.
"What's my name?"
"I'm not answering another question. Open the gate and I'm not going to ask again."
The newer guards didn't know Fitz but the man remembered Fitz because he was the one who'd hired him so many years ago. He seemed familiar and it was absurd that even though he stood in front of him looking exactly how he remembers him, he was questioning if it was really him.
He handed Fitz his ID back and signaled for them to open the gate. Fitz got back in his car and drove down the driveway until he reached the front of the house. The guards were parked on the curb as he'd ordered them not to enter with him.
When he got out of the car in front of the house he took a moment to look around. The house felt familiar. From the corner of his eye, he saw a bunch of guards walking down the driveway.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath and headed towards the house. When he opened the front door he could hear Christmas music coming from the back of the house. He saw a large Christmas tree in the grand entryway close to the grand staircase.
He heard footsteps running down the stairs and when he looked up, he saw a little girl. She was a gorgeous little girl and she had the same blue eyes as the baby in his dreams, the same blue eyes as him. It had to be Lily. Fitz stood frozen.
When Lily reached the bottom of the stairs she stopped and looked at him.
"Are you here for my mom's party?" she asked.
Fitz nodded.
"Um, I can show you where it is."
He wanted to form a word but really he couldn't so he just nodded again.
Lily turned and walked then she stopped and looked at him again, inspecting his face.
"Are you my dad?"
Olivia had a large picture of Fitz in all of the girl's bedrooms and in her bedroom and in the hallway. Lily saw him every day. She knew his face.
Fitz kneeled down so he was at her level.
"Yes," he said slowly, "I'm your dad."
He wanted to burst in tears and grab her and kiss her but he didn't want to frighten her.
Lily was puzzled.
"Um..but..but my mommy said my dad is dead and when you die you don't come back. She said he died protecting me and...um...her and Isabelle and Daisy."
Fitz wondered who Isabelle and Daisy were and was now regretting not looking into more information out of fear of what he would find.
"Are you okay?" Lily asked, wondering why he stared at her.
"Yes," Fitz cleared his throat. "I'm okay."
"I'm gonna do a dance for my mom, do you want to see?"
"Yes, I'd love to."
"Okay come on, follow me."
James walked up to Olivia.
"Why are you here?" Olivia asked.
"Merry Christmas and Happy birthday. I wish I knew. Erin invited to a party and said there'd be good food. I didn't know it was your party."
"Sure," Olivia said with an eye roll.
"You know something Olivia, I think the reason why you pretend not to like me is because you do."
"I'm not a child, I don't need to be coy with my feelings. If I were you, I'd think twice about accepting another invitation from my sister she doesn't have your best interest at heart."
He took a sip of his champagne.
"I think you're just afraid I'll make you forget all about your dead husband."
"So you're the really sweet guy my sister wanted me to meet, another arrogant asshole who thinks they can asshole their way into a woman's bed. But I'll give you credit, it does work sometimes so let's play this game, what do you have to offer? My husband, looked like a matinee idol, had a 10-inch cock that made me see stars and 15 billion dollars to back it up what do you have Mr. mid-level, corporate lawyer?"
"Don't you mean former husband, because he's dead."
"So nothing right? Enjoy your glass of champagne and then take your leave and don't ever disrespect my husband in our home again- wait what am I saying you won't be here again. Now hurry up and leave before I have my guards throw you out."
Olivia was so furious that she didn't feel when Lily tapped her the first time. When Lily tapped her again she turned around.
"Hi sweetheart, you changed your clothes?"
Lily was wearing a light pink leotard with a pink tutu and ballet shoes.
"Umm mommy, I saw dad in the hallway, he's over there."
"What?" Olivia's face fell.
When Lily pulled Fitz to the back of the house she stopped at the entrance of a glass-covered space.
"Wait here, I'm gonna go get mom."
Fitz nodded nervously.
It took just a moment before a few eyes wandered to the back of the room. When Sonia saw him she dropped her drink.
Fitz watched Lily skipping across the room and when he looked he saw Olivia. She was talking to a man, he seemed amused.
He could barely see her face, only the back of her. He saw Lily tap her back and she turned around.
When Lily said the words Olivia felt her heart beating.
"Lily what? Why would you say that?"
"No mommy, look."
Lily pointed to the back of the room. When Olivia turned and looked she met a pair of ocean blue eyes staring into her.