A Match to Remember

Epilogue

2044 Olivia Grant stood in the crowd as she watched as her brother -in-law William Edward Grant was sworn in as POTUS. This is being like playing the 18 holes at St Andrew and never landing in one pot bunker. It was like winning every Tennis Grand Slam match one ever played …. you never lost a set…. Having the best vacation eating everything slathered in butter and whipped cream and fourteen days later….and the scale has not moved. It is something that should not be happening, but it is. Something so special with so many special people this inauguration was a family inauguration…. not just William's...

It was a long shot that became a shoe-in. From her meeting Billy before she met Fitz they exchanged information and kept in touch. She now watched the smiles on the Grant parents as Margaret held their family bible with tears rolling down her cheeks. Fitz gave her hand a tug that said …. thanks.

"Thanks nothing…. I had a candidate who was nearly a shoe in. He is a member of a family that did not believe in doing wrong in business or their personal life."

"Olivia you have put your life on hold for over twenty years to make this possible…. I appreciate how much you have sacrificed…. the family appreciates it and of course the new Prezz. appreciates it." Fitz commented as he gave his wife another hug.

"I did not put my life on hold…"Billy" brought a lot of joy to my life. Making his dream come true also made mine come true. A wonderful loving family a husband I adore and four great kids."

"Four?"

"Well…..she doesn't have a ring in the tongue." Olivia sighed

"not yet." Fitz shook is head talking about their youngest child…..fifteen year old Brandi who will graduate from high school the coming June. They believe the thing that has kept their child somehow in line…she wants to work as an intern at the White House if she can convince her parents to let her take a gap year. She had caught up with her twin brothers …two years younger….. all would graduate H.S together.

The swearing in completed William gave the most family orientated speech that will ever be heard from a future POTUS. He thanked his church…his family and all the people who believed in him …pausing for a moment it looked as if he lost his thoughts he finally said…." I'm going to make this short and simple. I am the product of a great family going back over five generations in America We have accomplished a lot through hard work, being fair and a lot of effort. Everyone we dealt with we treated them fairly. My family taught me values. I'm throwing down the challenge to the elected and unelected stop worrying about yourself and worry about the guy next door because as he goes so will you. We need a plan to make sure as many children as possible have the same opportunity as I had. If we can do that homelessness can be managed…. opioid addition can go in the "under control" trash bin with measles. Hungry Americans and those without the best education can't ever we eliminated but it can be downsized to as one infamous American….it can be drowned in a bathtub…. but the bathtub will be one filled with hope and help not filled with greed and division."

William paused and looked out at the crowd

"Many will say it can't be done…. when you hear that delete that person from your life…. use the energy to build …. you lose too much energy trying to fix stupid."

"Let's work to not make America Great again because I am sure to the native Americans it's been downhill since we arrived and will only be great again when we leave."

"Let's push forward together…. I will be there pushing…. right with you or over you are necessary to do what is right for as many as possible."

Fitz looked at Olivia…." you wrote that speech …or most of it … I know that's all you."

"I wanted him to accentuate his family…and how a strong family made his presidency possible"

"you mean our family…." Fitz reminded her

"OK…. Our family… because there is going to be a lot of nepotism in his administration. I wanted the country to know about his family background. Everything earned legally using their brain and brawn. Each transaction fair and above board and strong family values without being prude…. not one divorce in the family.

"Mrs. Grant, I knew when I saw you your brains matched your beauty."

"Remember when he told us he was going to be potus?" Olivia asked

"yup…. I remember." Fitz answered

"Yup… from a school administrator and the brother of the potus."

"Yup" Fitz answered her as he kissed her head.

William had never married so his mother and sister Mary shared the duties of FLOTUS. His sister being youngest traveled with him….she was his official WH hostess. ….his mother handled daily White House ins and outs. Margaret took as many of the mundane things off his plate yet left enough on to keep his tethered to the people. They both knew their lane and stayed there. . That meant neither would feel overworked and both could still send quality time with their husbands.….. They agreed on how to best share the position and that was it.

Since his speech was about family… his mother and sister would do a lot of leg work and would make as many visits to as many places as possible trying to find a fix for something that was beyond fixing . The visit from either, or both, let people know someone was listening. . Family member all stepped up and took over the duties on the farm. Marcus was a bit ruffled at first but his wife was happy and that made him happy. He stayed away from any official post but they all knew, like Fitz, he was there as their backstop….the go to guy.

Olivia stayed in the background, but her fingerprints would be on everything that happened the first year.

He asked Fitz and Olivia what did they want…Olivia said she would make recommendations but with four children at home three in high school and one in college she needed to stick close to home and be available to help with the farm if needed …...plus she still had a business…she could not leave it all on Marcus, Quinn and Robin. . He finally convinced her to a one-year commitment as his communications director with Abby as his press secretary. Olivia would find the right people…train them. She would always be there for support in an unofficial/official capacity. Fitz told him…. the farm still needed care, input at the college and he is the father of four children. His best job would be making sure he helped maintain a successful business, was a husband to his wife and a father to his children. . William accepted that knowing his big brother would always be that important voice in his life, and administration, even if he said he wanted to stay on the sidelines.

Cyrus was older now, but Will knew the administration needed stability, so he agreed to be COS. Stephen took the position as his deputy …. learning and ready to step in. With his core group in place he cast his net to fill positions with qualified people.

Jake with his feet planted in wall street became his Secretary of the Treasury…he needed someone he could trust to watch the money.

Raven the cousin who also had he eye on the top job threw her hat into the ring as Scty. of State. William….and Olivia….knew they would get pushback from the Senate when times came for this confirmation . Raven being a Senator from Iowa and on many of the foreign relations committees, suggested on purpose by Olivia, …. she was expected to be confirmed without too much noise. With 10 of the important slots filled they called it a day and got ready for the festivities. .

After a night of fun Olivia and Fitz finally went to their room for the night…. the Lincoln Bedroom. … Tomorrow they would return their DC home. Fitz looked around "I wonder what did we do to deserve these accommodations?"

"You would not accept any part in his administration I think it's your brother's way of saying thanks." Olivia asked Fitz if he minded being mom and dad for a while "I will keep one evening open for the family until we are settled then we should be able to have dinner together most of the time. Have you made any plans?" "I'll find something interesting. …We need someone to coordinate three houses…your business…the school …the farm ….our children. I have enough to keep me busy…It will only be a year…..give or take. " The good thing we already have a house in DC in a great location ."

"I'm glad the family took my dad's advice and bought the house next door to his…...it's perfect. It solves a lot of housing problems from Raven to any other family who will be working for the administration. There is room for as many Grant visitors that sleeping bags will allow. We should name it Grantcave East."

"The kids have always been raised like we live in a commune they'll easily take orders from me."

"Even Brandi...?"

….. "Yes, even Brandi. "Fitz answered

Fitz ran his hands through his hair…." You take her with you whenever you can and turn her over to mom. She figured out Mary…...…Brandi should be easy."

"Fitz you do know Brandi only shows us and her brothers her other side..."

"Mom, dad, Dot and Mary knows …they are just waiting for the right moment to let her know."

"Fitz, I don't understand it the other children were so easy…are you sure they gave me the right baby?"

"Yes, Olivia I was there we have the right child. " The two could see the silhouette of the Washington Monument on the bedroom wall. "Fitz did you ever consider being POTUS?"

"Nope"

"Why not?"

"I have enough handling you and your daughter …. a country full of daughters" …. Fitz shivered…"no thanks."

"But listen…. Fitzgerald Thomas Grant III POTUS…. has a nice ring."

"Fitzgerald Thomas Grant III…husband, father, son and brother has a better ring. Every job is not for everyone and we have the right Grant in the right place….… Do you want a root beer before we call it a night?"

"Root Beer …. Fitz is that a serious question or are you bringing up something that happened years ago …. it's been 25 years."

"I just want you to know I have not forgotten your root beer story …..Olivia admit it you and uncle Harry crunched the truth."

"Nope" Olivia shook her head

"If you can't tell the truth about something that happened so long ago and was so minor how can I expect you to tell the truth on things with national importance."

"…Any truth or slanted truth will come from the president…. not me….… what is important to him it involves the entire country not just our family …...The root beer story you keep bringing up trying to make me change …. was told nearly 25 years involved a marriage…. A marriage that will always be more important to both of us."

"'I will admit one thing…. I learned from your perception of what happened. Any small fissures in a relationship can grow into big ones which, over time can split even the closest relationship apart.".

Maybe…. I'm not saying I did…. but just for the sake of argument …. I jumped to a conclusion . Maybe I learned from that one incident how much you loved and missed me. Maybe there was some underlying jealousy that I did not even realize I had…. You did not want to pressure me to relocate to Iowa, so you made sure some parts of me was always with you."

"And what did I learn?"

"You had nothing to learn…. nothing happened like you think it did … you are perfect and have been since day one…although it was difficult adjusting to a perfect man with even better assets which he used with precision. But maybe …I am just guessing…. You learned how much our wife loved you …, she was jealous which she did not realize and hid well …what she would do to keep a fissure from developing…just a guess. "

"Olivia…"

"Olivia…what…you asked about something that happened a quarter of a century ago…. I answered it the best I could remember…. We have solved the Brandi problem…. right.?"

"Are you changing the subject?"

"Nope …. but what happens with her is a lot more important than something in the past which made or marriage stronger."

"Are you admitting you and uncle Harry concocted a story.?"

"Nope…lets get back to Brandi."

"She's a lot like Mary…brash, unfiltered, opinionated, …"

"Right …she will graduate in five months…. we can let her take a gap year and work with her aunt, granny or Abby …Maybe even in the Oval. let's see what happens then. If we let her use some of that energy it might just make her acceptable to 50% of the people, she will meet."
"Fitz we are about to come full circle…. starting with Mary and ending with her clone…. but without Mary none of this could have happened so let's not throw out the good parts."

Olivia and Fitz walked over to the window…. looking out at the city lights... "Just think Fitz all this started with a lazy fall day "… "Don't forget 50 steps up and 50 steps down."

"And" ….Fitz added " your interest in where my tattoos stopped.

" You do know if we were not in the Lincoln bedroom I would conduct another inspection. "

'You do know if we were not in the Lincoln Bedroom I would insist on an inspection ….lets get the heck out of here and back to our own bed…there are just some things that are far better than sleeping here when I can stay awake all night at home and enjoy it a lot more …so tell me how do me get out of here without making a big fuss ?"

"Easy…just call the officer on duty and say we have a family emergency…. with four children I am sure it will sound logical."

Three hours later in their own bed Fitz pulled Olivia on top of him with a sigh….now that was the end of a perfect day. Mrs. Grant you have not missed a move. "

Ok….that's it. Only 19 chapters but it's time to get out before I really ruin things. I don't write Ovals…. mainly because I could never come close to the stories already written by super FF authors. In the AU universe, the Oval could be occupied by someone who got there with Olivia's help. That's my take. Three open stories which will be short and light. I would like to do a 10 chapter involving Chatty Cathy if I can find away to make Olivia and Fitz at east 50% of the story…..Probably nothing else until November since my stories are all posted as complete .