Elizabeth McCord glanced at the clock and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw there was only 30 minutes of the working week left. It had been a tough 10 days on the international diplomacy front, but somehow all crises had been resolved (at least in the short term), trade deals had been signed, and war had been averted - again - and all just in time for the start of her week long summer holiday with her family. She had barely seen her family in 10 days and a smile tugged on her lips as she wondered if her husband had been praying to the saints again in an effort to get her home, because there had been a time earlier this week when she thought she'd never see home again.
She allowed herself to lean back in her chair and rest her eyes, a smile forming on her lips as she thought about how surprised Henry would be when he discovered she'd willing left work on time before a holiday. She bet Blake had even set a reminder to come and drag her out of her office dead on 5pm, and for the first time ever she was not going to protest. Sleep had been a scarce commodity over the past 10 days and she couldn't wait to catch up on her rest, and maybe more with Henry, this week. Tomorrow the family would be heading to the horse farm for a few days, before returning later in the week so that Henry, Stevie, and this year Alison, could start getting ready for the start of college.
Her reverie was broken as she heard the door to her office open. Immediately her eyes flew open and she quickly sat up in her chair as Daisy stormed into her office, Blake trailing behind her.
"Ma'am, Daisy would like to see you" Blake announced belatedly.
"I can see that" she replied with a smirk, which was quickly wiped off her face at the expression on Daisy's face. "Daisy, what's the matter?" she asked seriously, her senses immediately on high alert and her brain snapping back into work mode.
"Something of a personal nature has been brought to my attention, Madam Secretary. Something you need to see" she replied urgently, casting a glance towards Blake.
"Ok...Blake, give as a minute, will you?" she asked her assistant kindly, being careful to hide the worry from her tone. 'Personal Nature' news from Daisy was never good.
"Yes Ma'am" he acquiesced readily knowing his boss' predilection for privacy when it came to personal matters.
Daisy stayed rooted to the spot until Blake had exited the room and closed the door behind him. She really did not want to give the news to the Secretary that she had too. She hoped what was in her hand was a fake, because if it were true the ramifications were immense.
"So, Daisy, what is it?" Elizabeth asked her Press Co-Ordinator, eying the tablet of doom in Daisy's hands.
"Ma'am, Kyle Jones from the Washington Post has just sent me these pictures and has asked for your comments" she stated in her best professional tone as she placed her tablet on the Secretary of State's desk. Truth be told she was scared to give her boss this news. With baited breath she watched her boss' expression change as the various emotions flickered across her face. Slowly realisation dawned on Elizabeth McCord's face at the significance of the photos that were displayed on the tablet.
"That's...?" Elizabeth asked in confusion, looking up at Daisy for confirmation of what she was seeing.
"Yes Ma'am" Daisy agreed seriously.
"And is that...?" Elizabeth asked in a shocked tone.
"Yes, I think it is" Daisy concured softly.
Elizabeth swallowed thickly as she stared at the pictures on the tablet. Her mind whirled at what felt like a million miles an hour, and like a bad puzzle, suddenly all the pieces fell into place and a lot of things started to make sense. How had this happened? How had she not known? Without even realising it she was out of her chair and headed towards the door, but the sound of Daisy's voice stopped her in her tracks.
"Ma'am"
Elizabeth paused and turned towards her Press Co-Ordinator "Yes" she answered in a choked voice.
"The Washington Post was the first outlet offered the pictures. I've called in a favour and Kyle's promised he won't print anything until he gets a comment from us..." Daisy stated seriously.
"But..." Elizabeth whispered.
"The photographer only gave the Washington Post an exclusive for 48 hours - apparently he's an old college acquaintance of Kyle's - after that..."
"It's fair game" Elizabeth answered resignedly.
"I'm afraid so" Daisy confirmed apologetically.
"I'll be in touch" Elizabeth stated sadly as she headed towards the door again.
"Ma'am"
"Yes" Elizabeth replied as she turned to face her Press Co-Ordinator once again, frustration and annoyance this time evident in her voice.
"I'm sorry" Daisy offered sincerely.
Elizabeth simply nodded before opening the door and calling out to her assistant.
"Blake, get my motorcade ready".
Henry McCord sighed as he yanked open the kitchen cupboard door and reached for the trash bags. As much as he appreciated having summers off as a college professor, being stuck at home with his adult daughter and two teenage children for weeks on end was slowly starting to wear on him. He could hear Jason and Stevie bickering in the Family Room over the computer game they were playing, and Alison was currently moping in her room over goodness knows what. There was only so much of his children's bickering and moping he could take and he desperately needed a break, hence the taking out of the trash bags before it was strictly necessary. His mood wasn't helped by the fact that he'd barely seen his wife in 10 days and he missed her greatly, he couldn't wait for her to get home from work so they could begin their holiday as he was very much looking forward to spending the entire week with his wife.
He carried the bags outside to the main dumpster, lifted the lid and threw the bags in, cursing as the end of one of the bags caught the corner of the dumpster splitting the bag and causing some of the rubbish to fall out. Angrily he grabbed the shovel that had been left resting against the shed and scooped up the fallen trash. He was just about to throw it in the dumpster when something caught his eye and made him pause. He brought the end of the shovel closer for inspection and fished out the item that had caught his interest. His eyes widened as his suspicions were confirmed. A mixture of sadness, disappointment, and rage flooded through him and he forgot all about the spilled rubbish as he grabbed the item, dropped the spade, and stormed back into the house.
"Is this why Jareth's moving here?" he yelled at his eldest daughter as the rear door slammed shut behind him and he waived the offending item at his daughter. "I can't believe you've been this stupid!" he continued. "What about Harvard?"
Both Stevie and Jason turned to look at their father, fear and shock in their eyes at the angry expression on his face. Neither had seen their father look so furious before.
"Well?" he demanded.
Stevie looked at her father in confusion. Why was he talking about Jareth moving to the States and Harvard law? What was the thing he was evidently waving at her?
"I don't know..." she began before her father cut her off.
"Don't give me that!" he bellowed "I found your pregnancy test. I know you're pregnant!"
"Wait! You're pregnant?" Jason exclaimed in shock as he turned to look at his sister. "Way to go Jareth!" he exclaimed in amusement.
Stevie's eyes widened in shock as her father's words washed over her. He thought she was pregnant? She stood up to address her father in an effort to reassure him "That's not mine!" she exclaimed adamantly.
Henry looked at his daughter incredulously. He held her positive pregnancy test in his hand and she still had the audacity to lie to him?
"Games up, Stevie. I found this as I was taking out the trash" he stated angrily as he thrust the stick towards his eldest daughter.
"Dad, I swear, it's not mine" she replied pleadingly holding up her hands in surrender.
"Well, whose else could it be?" he replied scathingly.
"It's not Stevie's" came a quiet voice from the table area of their kitchen.
Henry turned in confusion at the sound of Elizabeth's voice, he hadn't even heard her come in.
"What do you mean?" he demanded, before his eyes widened and his stomach dropped to the floor.
"It's not yours, is it?" he whispered as he stared at his wife, unable to read the expression on her face.
"Wait, Mum's pregnant?" Jason exclaimed in horror.
"No, Henry. It's not mine, is it Noodle?" she stated quietly as she turned to face her youngest daughter who stood frozen half way up the rear staircase, her face pale and her eyes wide in fear.
A deathly silence fell across the room before Alison McCord turned and ran up the stairs, her footsteps and sobs the only sounds in the otherwise silent house.
Having taken part in the season 3 winter writing challenge my writing juices seem to be flowing again and I've started a new story. I thought that as it's the first day of a new year I'd post the first chapter, let me know what you think.