November 8, 2020
Sam had forgotten to set his alarm when he crawled into bed earlier that morning. He was still sleeping peacefully when Mara woke up at ten. She was surprised Sam was still in bed and chuckled when she noticed that they were both still dressed. She carefully moved out of his arms and decided to give him a special wake up. She removed her blouse, bra and jeans and straddled him. She leaned down and planted an erotic kiss on his lips before arching her back. Sam's eyes fluttered open and the first sight he saw were her breasts, he slowly lifted his body and left a kiss on each nipple before locking his arms around her neck and pulling her in for a kiss.
"Good morning sexy."
"Morning, blue eyes."
"I wish you'd wake me up like this every morning."
"I'd be happy to if you didn't get up so damn early."
Sam looked at his watch and couldn't believe his eyes. "Crap, I forgot to set the alarm."
"Sweetie, I don't think the world will end if transition doesn't start today. You could spend the day in bed with me."
"I'd consider it if I didn't already know that you had plans with Abbey today. I could be persuaded to spend an hour in bed with you."
"Fine, if you only want a quickie..."
Sam stopped her with a kiss and had his way with her for a little over an hour. Abbey had been reading in the study when she heard Mara moan. She smiled and tried to continue reading until the noise ruined her concentration. She stood and walked into Matty's room, closed the door and sat on his bed. She couldn't hear anything until she opened the door again. She tried Jenna's room but this time even with the door closed it was obvious what was going on in the master bedroom. She wondered if Mara was aware of how well her voice traveled and decided to let her know later. Abbey went downstairs and sat down on the couch beside her husband.
"Hi Sweet Knees, sounds like our hosts are BBQing." Jed chuckled.
Abbey laughed, "You can hear Mara down here too?"
"Every so often, she's got quite the powerful vocal cords."
"So, did you make lunch arrangements with Leo?"
"Yes, what are you and Mara up to today?"
"Well, if she ever pulls herself away from Sam, we are going shopping then meeting Jenna for high tea. What did Sam win by?"
"358 to 180 and I think the popular vote was 80 something to 50 something million."
"I wish more people would vote."
"Me too, me too. Did you have a chance to speak to Josh's new assistant Amanda?"
"No, why?"
"She's a firecracker. She is going to keep Josh on his toes after she trains him. "
"Trains him? She's obviously a smart girl."
"She's one of Sam's former students. She was in charge of west coast fund raising and during a trip Sam overheard her battling with Josh and she was right. Sam figured she was exactly what Josh needed."
"Lord knows someone has to be around to reign Josh in. He's too smart for his own good sometimes."
"Good morning." Mara announced as she came down the stairs.
"It's almost afternoon Mara." Jed quipped.
"You seem in a better mood this morning."
"Yeah, I'll be ready to go in about ten minutes Abbey."
While Mara went in to the kitchen to have some juice Abbey went upstairs to get her purse. She met Sam coming out of his room.
"That's some grin on your face Samuel. I don't think it has anything to do with your win though."
"No, this is my Mara grin."
"Yes, I heard." She replied before smirking .
Sam blushed, looked down at the ground and fled downstairs to the kitchen. Mara handed him a mug of coffee and gave him a kiss.
"Abbey heard us, well actually you!"
"Relax, she's not going to ground us or give us the birds and bees talk."
"I'm still mortified."
"We'll get over it. Don't be late for dinner."
"I won't, love you."
"Love you too."
When Sam walked into Seaborn for President's office everyone stood up and applauded. His attempts to get everyone to stop were unsuccessful so he waited until they came to an end.
"Thanks folks, now the fun really starts."
"Good afternoon!" Josh said sarcastically.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm hungry. I want my regular from Lick's."
"Fine, I'll send Tessa down to get you food. Since you were not here I got your NSA briefing."
"Anything I need to know?"
"No, Toby wants to set the schedule until the inauguration today."
"Let me call Margaret and find out when she's coming in to help Amanda."
"I'm still think I should have the right to pick my assistant!"
"No, end of discussion. You need to call Leslie to find out when professor Mara can hold your classes."
"You do remember what happens when we work together on something, don't you?"
"I've been over this with Mara, the two of you try to kill each other. You haven't succeeded in almost twenty years so I'm not too worried."
"Josh, Toby asked me to print up a calendar. I thought this was a better idea. I also noted the week I'm taking off." Jenna said as she entered her Dad's office and took a seat.
Sam pinned up the three large glossy write on wipe off calendar pages in his office. He picked up the marker and wrote office closed from Dec. 24- 27th and Jan 1-2. He also noted Sam off from Dec. 24- Jan 5th.
"Sam, you can't take 13 days straight off." Josh complained.
"I'm taking Christmas off and then Mara and I are going to Anguilla. I also promised Mara that you and Toby would take one week off before inauguration. So talk to Donna tonight so you can schedule your week off on Monday."
"Sam, there is too much to be done, we can't be taking off for a week!"
"Josh, you and Toby have been working like dogs since January, you need a break. If you want to be employed you will take the week. I know Donna would love to relax at the beach house."
"Josh, I love you but you are nearly impossible to work with when you are completely stressed. We all need time to decompress. Trust me, your mind will work better after a break. I suggest you leave right after I come back."
"You know, Jenna, is right buddy."
"Fine, mark me out for the week after you Jenna."
"One down, one to go." Sam muttered.
"Sam, here is the updated list of the positions you need to fill."
"Thanks Larry, so what job did you take this time?"
"Sec of State." Larry laughed.
Sam looked at the long list of blanks and sighed, not only did he have to find people he trusted, he had to worry about them making it through the Senate confirmation hearings. He saw four blanks that Ainsley would be perfect for but she refused to leave the cushy hours and pay that Mara offered her at the embassy. He picked up his phone and dialed, not expecting to get anywhere but he had to try.
"Hi Nancy."
"Sam, congratulations. I guess you need to schedule our tutor sessions."
"So are you tired of a life of leisure yet?"
"Sam?"
"I need a Secretary of State that actually knows what the hell they are doing, you are the only person for the job. Please Nancy! If you don't accept I'll be forced to give Larry the job."
"Larry? Jenna is more qualified." She chuckled.
"She's got two jobs already. Do you really want to be the one responsible for unleashing Larry on the world?"
"Sam, sweet talking works better than guilt you know."
"Maybe, but I figured I'd save us both time and go for the jugular."
"Lord help me but fine I'll do it."
"I love you Nancy."
"I'm telling Mara on you. I'm free tomorrow at one for your first session."
"Fine, I'll be a well behaved student."
"Yeah, right. See you tomorrow."
"Nancy agreed?" Jenna asked.
"Yes."
"I'll go break the bad news to Larry." Jenna snickered.
Sam crossed out Larry's name and wrote in Nancy McNally beside Secretary of State.
"One down and how many more to go?" Josh asked,
"Too many!"
"I had an idea for your social secretary this morning. What about Deanna? She's strong enough to battle with Mara."
"What about asking her to be Charlie's assistant? You know how important a good assistant is for the DCOS."
"Sam, a brother and sister working that closely together is not a good idea, besides we need someone tough on social."
"Call her in then. I think Ginger wants Angie as her secretary."
"Call Ginger and ask her if she has any ideas and when is she going to grace us with her presence? We also need Carol here from now on."
"I'll call Ginger Dad, I'm not doing anything."
"Kay, so how many calls did I get Josh?"
"About a hundred, most of them from people volunteering to be in the cabinet, to head departments or seek favours."
"Do I give a shit about any of them?"
"No, but I saved a couple of them to give us a good laugh when we get stressed."
"So what's next?"
Matty let himself into the empty mansion. He poured a big glass of chocolate milk and picked up the note on the counter.
Matty,
Abbey and I are out but we should be back around 4:30.
Could you please set up two card tables, where I normally put them and grab the chairs too.
Dinner tonight is for 26, if you want you can make a punch.
I hid a few brownies for you in our normal spot.
I love you, see you soon
Mommy
He finished his milk, found the three brownies, ate two of them and went down to the wine cellar to get the tables. He had just finished setting up the second table when the door bell rang. He looked out the window and smiled.
"Hello, mi amour!" CJ exclaimed and gave him a big hug and a kiss on each cheek.
"Aunty Ceeg, you're early!"
"Yeah, it was a slow day so I decided to knock off early. Whatcha up to?"
"Bringing chairs up from the wine cellar."
"Want a hand?"
"Sure."
Fifteen minutes later all the chairs were set and CJ was eating the last brownie while Matty got to work making a punch. CJ was on her third glass of punch when Matty batted her hand away and made more. Once everything was done they both sat down on the couch to relax.
"Aunty CJ, how come you and Danny never got married?"
"We are both comfortable the way we are. You don't always need a piece of paper."
"Yeah but the paper gets you gifts."
CJ laughed, "Over the years we've received many gifts and I didn't have to look like meringue."
"I think Mommy looked beautiful on her wedding day."
"She did squirt, I'm just not one for fancy dresses."
"What about kids?"
"I would have loved to have a little boy like you but I never got pregnant. I didn't' want to try artificial means so I love my nieces and nephews like crazy instead."
"What about adoption? You'd be a wonderful mother to some child."
"Danny was never crazy about the idea."
"If I was Danny, I'd do anything to make you happy."
"You are so sweet, just like your Daddy."
"Really? Everyone always tells me I'm just like Mommy."
"You are but you also have a lot of Sam in you. What are they doing outside?"
"They are putting up a tall fence on the border of Aunty Ainsley's house and the house on the other side of us. You know Mom bought it last year?"
"Yes, I remember her saying she'd need a replacement for the Ambassador's mansion because she was never giving this place up. She's lucky the Canadian government had no problem with a house switch when and if she ever steps down.
"Mommy always gets what Mommy wants."
"True, she use to say 'Mara sees, Mara likes so Mara takes'. It drove your Dad and Josh crazy."
"Mommy enjoys driving them crazy."
"So do I, so do I."
They heard the door handle turn and looked up. CJ waved while Matty got off the couch and gave his Mom and Abbey a hug.
"Thank you for setting up for me."
"You're welcome, CJ helped me."
"Thank you Ceeg.'
"Anytime Mar. You seem to be in better spirits today."
"That's what happens when you accept the inevitable. Matty you want to help me make dinner?"
"Sure Mommy."
"If you can't find something for CJ and I to do we'll watch you." Abbey added.
"What are we having, anyway?"
"A arugula, clementine and cashew salad that Abbey and Ainsley both love. My spinach, ricotta and three cheese cannelloni with a rose sauce, Ginger is picking up a large raspberry butter cream cake from Cake Love for dessert. "
"Yum, I'll split the cashews and section the clementines."
"Matty can you wash the arugula and Abbey how about boiling me some water while I work on the rose sauce."
"Mom, we have some fresh parmesan in the fridge, it would be good on the salad, I'll use the cheese cutter to get some thin slices."
"Good idea Matty."
Twenty five minutes later all the dinner preparations were done and the cannelloni was put in the oven. Matty's punch got more praise and Ainsley and Michael entered the house from the patio door.
"Something smells wonderful!" Ainsley declared.
"Probably the cannelloni, have a glass of Matty's punch it's awesome."
"Dinner is at six, so what can I snack on?"
"Ainsley, have you ever asked your doctor about having a tape worm?" CJ teased.
"I can make you garlic bread."
"Garlic bread would be great, oh CJ's here, I didn't see her."
CJ rolled her eyes and smirked when Ainsley made a face at her. Matty poured a glass of punch for Ainsley and Michael and then helped his Mom by grating cheese for the bread. Mara prepared the entire loaf but only broiled half of it and brought it out on a tray. Sam and Josh were the last to arrive at 6:05.
"You were about to start dinner without me."
"Yes I was, you had five more minutes to get here. So how was your first day?"
"Hectic, there are so many positions to be filled but Josh agreed to take the week after Jenna off."
"Cool, I'll ambush Toby later. Carol wants to talk to both of us before she leaves. Send Josh down to get some wine. I'll get dinner ready."
Mara was amazed that not one word was said about politics during dinner. Everyone was so busy getting caught up with personal lives that dessert was finished and the talk was still on vacations, children and books. After dinner little groups formed, Jenna and Jacob took all the kids in the backyard and laughter and screams could be heard every so often. Mara had just left the downstairs bathroom when Sam grabbed her and danced her into the kitchen. Carol was sitting on a stool enjoying a glass of punch.
"So what's up doc?" Mara asked.
"I got eighty press calls today alone, all with interview requests. Half of them wanted both of you.
We've got Dateline, 60 Minutes and 20/20, all wanting to dedicate an hour to the Seaborn's. You can pretty much pick your interviewer, the location, the time but please pick one soon so I can announce it and get them off my back."
"To bad Barbara Walters is retired, I always liked her."
"What about Diane Sawyer? I like her." Sam suggested.
"Isn't she just doing specials now?" Mara asked.
"I could call her tomorrow and find out. I'm sure she'd be happy to do the interview."
"If Sam wants Diane, that's fine with me. Actually Leslie called this afternoon to tell me that PR was getting overwhelmed by press requests. Do you want any requests not directly about my Ambassadorship to be forwarded to you?"
"I can't handle them! Sam, Rachel needs to stay to handle senate press since your term isn't over yet and Ginger should stay too. I can join you but I'm going to need help! I need to hire a staff. Mara, you need to hire your own press staff to handle your requests. I can stay tonight to help you and Donna get started, you should ask Abbey to join us and I'm sure CJ would stay too. You know I'll help you all I can Mara, but this one, is my priority."
"Yeah, the shine is off, I went from Senator to President Elect to This One." Sam laughed.
"I'll go let Donna know, Abbey is staying here and I'll go ask CJ to help. Can we start now because I'm going to be grumpy and sleepy by midnight."
"Trust me, you don't want to deal with her then." Sam teased.
"Sure, I told Ted he'd be going home alone with Lucy and Aidan."
November 11, 2020
Remembrance Day always made Mara miss Ottawa even though she hadn't attended a wreath laying ceremony in nineteen years. At 11 am five minutes of silence began in the Embassy and Mara's nostalgic mood took over for the rest of the day. Leslie had learned long ago not to schedule anything on that day because she was always distracted and a million miles away. Her thoughts of skating down the Rideau canal the first day it opened were interrupted by a knock on her door.
"Come in."
"Hey Mara, can I work for you?" Ginger asked with a sigh.
"Oh no, what did Sam do this time?"
"He's making me hire five secretaries, well four and an assistant."
"You don't want to work for me, I laid everything on Donna's head. She'd be planning my demise if she had the time."
"Josh offered Deanna the social secretary position but she turned it down a few hours ago."
"I guess that means Donna offered her my deputy COS position. Deanna called me and I told her we could use her and she should call Donna. I couldn't let her take a job knowing I'd be bitching at her all the time."
"Yeah but now I have to find your whipping person. Who in their right mind wants to deal with you when you're pissed?"
"I guess you'll need to hire someone knowing that there is going to be a high turnover rate."
"Yeah, that's helpful! I don't care that all these people are going to funnel things through me, I don't need to hand pick them to work with them. I already have my assistant."
"What about asking the people who currently hold the positions if they'd like to stay on?"
"Good idea, if even one says yes my life would be easier. Can I use your phone to call the White House transition office?"
"Sure."
Ginger got off the phone with a smile on her face. "I can go over now and speak to them all. Wish me luck."
"Good luck."
A few hours later two embassy employees took a chance and asked Leslie if it was possible to see the Ambassador. Leslie figured since Mara wasn't doing anything it would be fine. The buzzer went on Mara's phone.
"Yeah Leslie?"
"Joy from economic development and Sandy from passport control would like to see you."
Mara recognized Sandy but didn't know who Joy was. "Sure but could you pull Joy's profile and bring it to me first."
"You got it."
Leslie printed the profile and brought it into Mara. She read it to give her an idea of who Joy was and what she did. Once she was done she buzzed Leslie who let the girls in.
"Thank you for seeing us Ambassador." Sandy stated.
"No problem, what can I do for you?"
"We were wondering who we should contact if we are interested in working in the First Lady's office?" Sandy asked.
"I assume you mean my office?"
"Yes." Joy replied.
"You do realize that the job would only be temporary, eight years at the most."
"Yes, while we enjoy our jobs here, working in the First Lady's office sounds like it will be more challenging." Joy answered.
"Well, the person you need to talk to is Donna Lyman. If you could give me a copy of your resume this week I can pass it on. Joy, you must know Ryan Gauthier?"
"Yes, of course."
"Give him a copy of your resume too. He'll know what to do with it."
"Thank you." Joy wondered what Ryan had to do with her working in the White House.
"I actually have a copy of my resume now." Sandy said.
"Great, I'll take it from you. Joy how about you?"
"I have it downstairs."
"Go get it, leave it with Leslie and make sure Ryan gets a copy."
"Thank you."
"Thank you, very much."
Mara escorted them out the door and called Ryan to let him know why he'd be getting Joy's resume and that he should tell Ginger what he knew about Joy. She remembered that Josh would be over for his first lesson and called Donna to let her know Josh would bring home a resume for her. She finished creating the worksheets for Josh and pulled some past incidents to give him an idea of information he'd be getting in the situation room. Her door opened and Josh strutted in exactly on time carrying an extra large Tim Horton's coffee and a Beavertail.
"I thought we could share the tail Teach."
"What I don't merit a drink?"
"You hate coffee, it's still too warm for hot chocolate and you've got a mini fridge in here."
"Fine, have a seat. I hope you've read the manual several times."
"Yes, though staying awake was an issue."
"Any questions?"
"No."
Mara handed Josh a sheet with 25 questions on it. "Simple test, circle the section you think the term belongs in."
Josh groaned but took the page, grabbed a pen and started. He found the first five questions very easy and the progressively got harder until Josh was outright guessing at the last three. He handed Mara the page back and started eating the Beaver Tail before there was none left. Mara marked it quickly and handed it back to Josh.
"Not bad, you got 19 confused and how does 23 sound like military transport?"
Josh looked at the test and grinned when he realized 2 of his three guesses were right. He scanned 19 and realized that he did indeed get two terms mixed up.
'21 out of 25, not too shabby."
"Yeah but Sam got 23. Every test you get Sam will take too."
"Next time I'm going to kick his ass and he'll never be ahead of me again." Josh responded.
The idea of a competition fueled Josh's ego as Mara knew it would. She handed him a situation briefing to read and pulled out a licorice lollipop from her desk. Josh read it and looked up.
"Sam wasn't kidding you are addicted to those licorice lollipops. So what am I suppose to do with this?"
"Do you understand it all?"
"Yeah."
"So what would you recommend then?"
"That we wait and see and send a message that we are monitoring the situation closely."
"So a doubling of troops on the border doesn't concern you?"
"Well now that you mention it...yeah it would concern me a bit."
"A bit? Joshua, I'd recommend activating our nearest destroyer and sending it straight into the area! Once it arrives a military training exercise would begin. With that many troops moving on the boarder your message has to be back off or else!"
"Oh."
"Josh you and I are going to create three lists of situations and necessary responses. Diplomatic measures, warning measures and action measures. We'll start with action measures and then sub divide in terms of severity. So give me one reason to take action?"
"Firing on a civilian or military aircraft."
"Of course, what else?"
An hour later Josh left the office feeling less than confident and crossed the street to tackle issues he had a firm grasp on. When he walked in, Jenna and Toby were arguing about something and from the look on Toby's face, he wasn't the one winning. Carol looked like she had a headache while Ed and Larry argued about when the first statement should be made. Sam was rubbing at his neck with one hand while flipping through papers with the other.
"Sam, I've got a great idea. We handle everything but the situation room. Mara handles all that stuff, we both know she'll do the job faster and a hell of a lot better. Not to mention the fact that she'll scare the crap out of everyone."
"Josh while every word you say is true there are two problems. The first is the fact that she has a full time job. The second problem is a little thing called a coup d'etate. She wasn't elected to run the country, hell she's not even American."
"Can't we draft a little law to take care of that second problem?"
"You think I didn't look into that already? It's impossible. Here are my short lists for 8 key positions. Look them over."
"So how did your tutorial go?"
"Pretty good, Nancy is tough on me though. It's as if she's forgotten I haven't done any of this in twelve years. I would have been in big trouble if Mara hadn't included me in decisions she's been making over the years."
"What on earth are Toby and Jenna fighting about?"
"I don't know but I can hear them every so often. So how was Prof. Whitford?"
"She told me I was an idiot twice but she put it gently."
"Well we better get back to work. I promised I'd be home by 5:30."
"I guess if this transition doesn't kill us we might be able to govern. I never thought we'd get a democratic house and senate."
"The senate surprised me too. Back to work."