The next time that they all came together again in the White House was mid-way through the morning on Thanksgiving Day. It seemed that even the weather seemed to have conspired to work with them; the forecast was for fairly brisk temps but sunny days for the entire weekend - and Fitz intended to take full advantage of them.
As Fitz looked around the state dining room, he enjoyed the rush of pleasure that surged through him at the sight, all of it the results of a plan coming together perfectly. They'd done it. Working together, they'd dropped Mellie's little power trip deep down into its grave, just where it belonged.
Fitz is pleased at what he sees. Instead of the usual formal setting, a series of long and covered tables hugged the walls, making up a series of hot and cold drink stations, from the smoothest espressos to spiced apple cider and everything in between. And the cooks had already started their grills and smokers and outdoor ovens; he could already smell the food.
At Olivia's suggestion, they'd all agreed to turn everything over to Susan and Harrison. And the two of them, working with Cyrus and Jocelyn - and himself and Olivia, as needed - had worked miracles.
From what Olivia had told him, Harrison had also folded the rest of OPA into their plans - and unexpectedly to Fitz, but no less welcome, had included Jocelyn's daughter and Annarosa Ramos. As Olivia had informed him, her Quinn, Shireen and Annarosa were well on their way to forming an unlikely friendship - and Olivia had approved of it.
Fitz couldn't say that he disagreed with her. True and trustworthy friends were hard enough to find in this world - let alone in DC.
At the moment, it was just he, Olivia, Cyrus and Jocelyn in the room and he was just about to entertain them with the tale of his informing Mellie of the change in plans.
Fitz took a swallow of his spiced hot cider and began.
Mellie, still basking in the illusion of victory had greeted him nicely enough when he'd appeared at Blair House earlier to share breakfast with the kids.
She didn't waste anytime in what Fitz was sure she thought of as twisting the knife - and to add insult to injury, she had waited to start in on him until she'd led him into the kitchen, where Gerry was already seated and Karen - holding Teddy's hand - was entering just as he walked into the room.
"I've been told that my first little surprise wasn't quite the happy news that I thought it would be." She gave a meaningful look at their daughter before turning back to Fitz. "Or maybe certain parties haven't learned yet how to be properly...thankful. Either way I just wanted remind you that at least there should be something for you to be thankful to me for..."
"And just what might that be?" Fitz answered carefully, all too aware of Gerry's attention on them both, as much as he was trying to pretend that his phone was currently holding his interest.
He was just as aware of his daughter as Karen busied herself with settling Teddy at the kitchen table and fixing him a plate from the sideboard - one look left Fitz with no doubts that it had all been catered, cooked and delivered, he thought. Never mind that Mellie should have known that he would have made the kids a special breakfast with his own two hands. Of course she knew - this was just one more way of Mellie showing her heavy-handed control over the day. He hoped she enjoyed it while it lasted.
At least Teddy was in high spirits, his eyes dancing from face to face, obviously happy to have his family all together in the same space - something that didn't happen often enough, in Fitz's opinion - blissfully unaware of the tension lurking at the edges of the room.
As much as he was gratified to see at least one of children happy in the moment, Fitz found himself equally if not more concerned about Karen and Gerry, knowing that they were both listening. No matter how much understanding that Karen claimed to have, Fitz still couldn't shake the feeling of needing to protect his daughter from her mother's plans as best he could. And Gerry was still an unknown quantity in the equation - who knew how he was processing any of this?
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Executive Orders
Fiksi PenggemarRemember "The Plan" Fitz presented to Mellie in S2X22? What if Fitz & Olivia had actually implemented it as they moved forward into his re-election campaign? What new challenges & opportunities would it bring to their relationship as they journey to...