"We didn't realise we were making memories,

we just knew we were having fun." ~ A.A. Milne (Winnie the Pooh)

"Motherfucker!"

Olivia giggled, legs dangling in the air as she lay on her stomach on the soft, California King in her master bedroom, flipping through glossy pages of some fashion magazine. Blowing a pink bubble, her eyes travelled to the brunette standing in the doorway of the en suite. Mellie's hair was tossed into a messy bun and she wore a pair of black, Nike sweats with a white, fitted tank. Olivia smirked, glancing at the pink and white stick Mellie held in her hands - that fitted tank wouldn't fit much longer.

"I thought you two were using protection." Olivia's eyes returned to her fashion magazine, hand freezing as she was greeted with the image of her own face. She barely remembered the photoshoot, but there she was - natural hair held out of her eyes by a black headscarf, curvy body accentuated by the short, neon green sweater dress she had originally doubted. The photograph had caught her mid-laugh, head tossed back and eyes sparkling. The top of the article read: Entrepreneur. Wife. Mother. Model: Inside the Life of a Fortune 500 Business Woman. Olivia rolled her eyes. Model? That was being generous. After Elisha's birth, she had slowly started to model for Daughters of Artemis. It hardly classified as modelling.

"We were until I forgot my birth control and we had sex before I could remember," Mellie sighed, turning into the bathroom. A moment later, Olivia heard something hit the trashcan and the sink began running.

Closing the magazine and tossing it to the side, Olivia rolled toward the edge of the bed. Planting her feet firmly in the plush carpet, she stood, yanking her floral tank over her exposed stomach. Raising her arms in the air, she stretched feeling a few feeling a few bones pop as she did so. Laying in the same position for the past half-hour hadn't been such a great idea. Padding across the carpet, she came to a stop in the doorway of the bathroom. Mellie stood at the double vanity, her hands resting on the carribean blue quartz as she stared blankly into the mirror.

"Mells?"

"We agreed. No babies."

"You can always…" Olivia let the silence speak for her. She couldn't imagine ever making that decision herself, but she wasn't against someone else's right to choose. If that was what Mellie wanted. It was hard to tell. Olivia knew that her friend didn't want any children. Mellie had made that comment a handful of times and there was the whole incident with Fitz...the one they didn't speak about. But right now, in the moment, Mellie's expression was almost impossible to read.

"No." She shook her head sharply, strands of hair falling from her bun. "I won't do that again. I can't."

"When are you going to tell Jase?"

The brunette sighed, finally turning around. She leaned heavily against the countertop, knuckles turning white as she gripped the edges. Wide-eyed, she chewed on her bottom lip. "The sooner the better."

"Hey -" Olivia entered the bathroom fully, nearing her friend and throwing her arms around her, "-it's going to be okay. He loves you and even if he isn't sure how he feels at first, he'll come around. And you two will be bomb-ass parents."

"Oh God -" Mellie chuckled for the first time since she had arrived at Olivia's, a pregnancy test in her bag and fallen spirits, "-Fitz has got to stop teaching you new phrases."

Olivia joined in with Mellie's laughter - content to let the moment pass. When it finally did, she rested her head on Mellie's shoulder. Why did everyone have to be taller than her? Patting Mellie's back, she stated: "I'm here for you. No matter what."

"Because you're my person." Both being huge Grey's fans, it was only a matter of time before they adopted Cristina and Meredith's phrase - using it all the time. It was to the point that, a few years back, Fitz had gotten them matching hoodies with the phrase for Christmas.

"Because you're my person," Olivia agreed.

/

"Leo Elijah Grant." Olivia's hands rested on her hips, her face contorted into her infamous, no-nonsense expression, as her gaze landed on her son. The curly-haired six-year-old stopped, mid swing at his little sister. The little girl, mature for her four years, stuck her tongue out at her brother, shoulder-length ringlets bouncing as she darted behind her mother's legs.

"Why were you trying to hit your sister?"

"She took my toy!"

Sighing, Olivia twisted around to look at her daughter. It wasn't until she put a finger under Harper's chin, gently forcing her to look somewhere other than her own feet, that she was finally met with her daughter's dark blue eyes.

"Did you take your brother's toy?"

Slowly, Harper nodded, her lip trembling. Frowning, Olivia crouched to her daughter's level. "What do we not do, Harper Faye?"

"Take toys before asking."

"Bingo. Now give your brother's toy back."

Standing, Olivia watched as Harper slowly trudged toward Leo, pulling a toy car from the front pocket of her white overalls. Leo took the toy from his sister's outstretched hand and, almost as if by afterthought, wrapped his arms around her neck, releasing so fast that if Olivia had blinked she would have missed it.

"I'm sorry," he muttered before taking off down the hall at a sprint. Olivia shook her head. No matter how many times she had told that child not to run…

"You can go play too," she told the little girl milling around the kitchen, watching sadly after her brother, "but one more fight and you're both in timeout until your daddy gets home."

With the warning still ringing in her ears, Harper took off down the hall, following her big brother's footsteps. Shaking her head, Olivia glanced at the clock on her watch. Fitz would be home in another hour. Pulling her phone from the pocket of her leggings, her fingers flew across the keyboard.

Feel like picking up pizza on your way home? xx

Sure thing, babe xx

She smiled at the quick response and the way, after all these years, he still called her babe. Returning her phone to her pocket, she padded down the hallway past the playroom and to the last door on the left. Cracking the door open, she peeked inside to find her two year old standing in her crib, chunky fists wrapped around the railing. Smiling to herself, Olivia fully opened the door and entered the room. Elisha, the only of her three children to have come out a near carbon copy of herself, was always thrilled to see her mom. Wrapping her arms securely around Olivia's neck, she giggled as Olivia lifted her from the crib.

"Do you need a diaper change?"

"No mama." The high, squeaky voice coupled with Elisha's struggle to pronounce most words turned every struggle into an elaborate game of guess that word. Somehow, though, Olivia still managed.

"Hmm," Olivia tsked, feeling the toddler's diaper through her orange, lacy romper. Satisfied that Elisha's diaper was, indeed, dry, Olivia adjusted the spaghetti straps of the outfit she was wearing and carried her down the hall to the playroom.

"Eesha!" Harper was always happy to see her sister - and always seemed to forget the L in Elisha's name.

Setting the toddler on the floor, Olivia took a seat in the rocker that was in the corner of the room. And that was where Fitz would find them when he got home an hour later.

/

"Elisha, sweetheart, you have to go to sleep," Fitz sighed, finally giving in and plucking his screaming two-year old from her crib. Laying her against his chest, he began rubbing circles across her back as she rested her head on his shoulder, fists rubbing at her tear-streaked cheeks. Moving toward the doorway, he hit the lightswitch beginning to sing softly before she had a chance to protest the sudden darkness.

"Twinkle, twinkle little star

How I wonder what you are

Up above the world so high

Like a diamond in the sky

Twinkle, twinkle little star

How I wonder what you are."

From the hallway, Olivia watched as Fitz repeated the lullaby over and over. A small crossed her face, watching her husband pace throughout the room and comfort their daughter. Finally, when she could fight sleep no longer, Elisha's eyes closed. Even then, Fitz continued to pace the room with her for another few minutes - making sure that she was well and truly asleep. After he had laid her in her crib, he turned the baby monitor on and quietly left the room, cracking the door just a bit. Elisha hated the dark.

"Leo and Harper?"

"Sound asleep," she responded, standing on the tips of her toes to sweetly kiss his cheek. Together, they walked down the hall passing the cracked doors of the older children's rooms. None of the kids would sleep unless the hall light was on and their doors were cracked. It was a habit Olivia knew she would have to break when they were a bit older, but for now, she let them be.

"How was work?" She questioned as they trudged down the hall leading to their bedroom.

"Micah's designing some new brain activity scan...Hell I don't fucking know." Micah was slowly, but surely becoming one of Fitz's friends. He was insanely smart - a much different kind of smart than Fitz, but it was a quirk that complimented their group's other quirks.

She giggled, twisting the knob of their bedroom door and entering the room. He flipped the lightswitch behind her as she moved toward the bed, flipping their covers back. She watched as he entered the bathroom, sink running once he started to brush his teeth. Yawning, she turned the television on before joining him.

Snuggled in bed together, they watched the evening news. Occasionally, the droll tones of the news anchors would be interrupted by their quiet chatter. Fighting to keep her eyes closed, Olivia scooted closer to Fitz, resting her head on his chest. Moments like these were ones she had come to look forward to - quiet evenings with her husband, discussing their days and their children.

"And here, four years ago, is where the last signal from JL670 was received. Tonight…"

Suddenly, Olivia sat up in bed, eyes wide as the news anchor's voice faded in the background. In unison, she and Fitz spoke - her tone soft and whispered while his was loud. Still, the words were the same:

"What the fuck?"