Disclaimer: I do not own Commander in Chief, the brilliant Rod Lurie does.
Chapter 1- Sudden News.
Mackenzie dropped her glasses down on her desk and rubbed her throbbing temples. She had just came back from her trip over to Europe regarding a meeting about global warming around the area 4 hours ago, and ended a meeting with one of the candidates she considered for Vice President in the Cabinet Room. She was exhausted, but there still were millions of things waiting for her to finish. For three days straight, she did not get a decent amount of sleep.
"I see you're finally back in your office." A voice said as the door of the oval creaked open.
"Yeah." Mac sighed.
"We haven't seen each other in days." Rod walked behind her desk and gave her a light kiss as he wrapped his arms around her. "The most important thing of all, you need to come to bed."
"You know I'd do anything just so I could go to bed, but there are so many things I haven't finished yet….."
"Well, those 'things' just need to wait." Rod said as he rubbed both of her arms. "I see you haven't been having a decent meal either."
"Before I could take a bite at anything that's edible, Jim rushes in and tells me that there's something I needed to do."
Rod winced at the thought. "I don't know how you can survive three days with practically no sleep and no food. I'm going to cook you something special. You can bring some of your work back to the Residence to work on while you eat; but you do need to sleep, Mac. I'm not going to let you put your health at stake like you did last time again."
"Relax; I'm here, am I not? So….what should I bring?" Mackenzie pointed at the stacks on her desk.
Rod eyed the thinnest folder and pulled it out. "This one."
"My speech on global warming, I memorized and revised that on the plane."
"Well," Rod grinned. "You're going to memorize and revise it again."
Mac rolled her eyes and gave him a weak smile. At that, she and Rod walked back to the Residence, hand in hand.
xxxxx
Rod set down a plate of spaghetti in front of her. "You don't care about your diet, do you?"
"Not anymore. I'm starving."
"Good," Rod said as he pulled out a box of apple juice and poured it into a glass. "I added a lot of cheese, meat and an extra handful of noodles into your spaghetti." He set the cup in front of her.
"Exactly what I need." Mac said desperately as she began to ravenously devour the food presented before her.
Rod sat down across from his wife and watched her eat. "Tomorrow the kid's and Kate are going downtown." He said, after she was almost done with her first proper meal in three days.
"I assume you're going with them?" Mac replied as she set down her fork.
Rod nodded. "Well, Horace begged me to. He doesn't want to be the only guy stranded with a bunch of gals."
Mackenzie laughed. "Have fun, okay?"
"That's going to be hard without you."
"I'm sorry."
"I'm just kidding," Rod chuckled as he lifted her chin up for a kiss. "After an entire year, we're all used to it."
"I would rather be there with all of you." Mac muttered.
"You're the President of the United States; you have the American people to take care of. But for now, I'll be in charge of taking care of you."
They headed to their bedroom, Mac felt as if a shower, the change of clothes, even brushing her teeth a stressful act. All she wanted was to lie on the bed and go directly to sleep. After straining to keep her eyes open while standing in the bathtub, Mac finally finished her nightly routine and climbed into bed.
"You should dry your hair." Rod said as he ran his fingers against her shoulders.
"Rod." Mac glared at him in an incredulous manner.
Grinning broadly, Rod spread his left arm and gestured Mac to come close. Mackenzie immediately obeyed and laid her head down on his wide chest.
"Good night," Rod whispered in her hair and kissed the tip of her head.
xxxxx
Few minutes after Mac fell asleep; Rod was startled by the sudden ringing of the phone. Rod was thankful that Mac was way too tired to allow the phone to wake her. Softly releasing her from his embrace, he reached over and picked up the phone.
"Hello?"
"Rod, this is Jim."
"Jim, what is it?"
"Is the president asleep?"
"Yes."
Rod heard a sigh of relief on the other side of the phone. "Good, let her sleep."
"I'm sure you didn't call to assure the president is asleep, what's wrong?"
"It's….."
"You wouldn't mind telling me, would you?"
"Of course not, once again, the media knows it before we do."
Rod instinctively threw off the blanket wrapped around him and groped for the remote. Switching on the television, Rod froze in his seat as the reporter began informing exclusive details.
"At approximately 3 o'clock in the afternoon, Taiwan had been threatened by a bomb landing around 200 miles off of its east coast. We are notified that the bomb fired by China is a threat towards the opposition of Taiwan's determination on remaining a democratic government after unifying with communist China for five years….."
"Rod, I hate to say this, but we need to wake the president." Jim's voice was barely audible on the other side.
A/N: Yay I finally published my CiC fan fic! I would love any constructive criticism or any type of advice remember to read and review xD
Oh, btw….I'm in a desperate need of a beta…. Would anyone like to help?