Anything and Everything 6: Kiss of a Rose

Three Days after the Events of 'The Eagle and Dragon'

Prologue

"What do we know about Secretary Designate Rose Long?" The CNN Anchorwoman asked the two 'experts' that sat with her at the roundtable.

One of the men smiled at her and shrugged, "We don't really know all that much about her, we only know what we've received from the Government, from President Eggert's Staff. She was a Senior Detective for the Los Angeles Police Department, based on the testimony of the former Chief of Police and Chief of Detectives for the LAPD for the confirmation committee yesterday, she's extremely talented, tough and brilliant. Through her investigation, she busted a Child Smuggling Operation coming into LA and sent the boss to Death Row. He was executed about five years ago. The former Chief of Police has literally everything nice to say about the Secretary-designate. Her record there is squeaky clean. She would have been given an administrative position in the LAPD, more then likely, if she hadn't abruptly resigned."

The Anchor turned to the other 'expert' on the Secretary of Defense Designate, "Do we know why this happened?"

"Our sources say that she returned to New York City to be with her daughter," The expert shrugged and shook his head, "But we could not independently confirm that as the reason, so don't quote us. From there, she married, she has six children, and her eldest has six of her own. She joined the Central Intelligence Agency roughly thirteen years ago. We, obviously, don't have full access to the records of the CIA, but from what we have managed to get our hands on, she has been called by both the Deputy Director of the CIA and the Director of the CIA one of the most decorated operatives in the past thirty yea-..."

Picking up the remote to the television of her Washington D.C Hotel Suite, Rose Long turned the television off and turned to face her husband with a bit of a smile, "As I recall, when I heard about Johnny Chung's execution and I just had to hear that son of bitches last words. And, his last few moments were, not surprisingly, spent cursing the day that 'cracker bitch who busted me' was born. I was so upset that I couldn't make it to see that needle put into his arm. But, I did manage to give him something of a farewell present. I heard from the guard that he particularly enjoyed it."

Jake smiled, "What did you send him?"

The former Huntsgirl turned and walked to the large ceiling to floor window that overlooked the Capitol of the United States. Rose folded her arms over her chest and smiled at the memory of that day, "You know those special cards and balloons that are made to tell someone 'Happy Birthday' or 'Graduating Class of 2013'? Well, I sent him a balloon that said 'Bon Voyage' and a card that said with love from Rose."

He chuckled loudly and fell backwards onto the bed, he shook his head while the rest of his body shook with unrestrained laugher, "You sent someone, who was about to die, a Bon Voyage card!"

"I know," Rose smiled and turned to look at her face in the mirror, she was just about ready to get going, she just needed confirmation that her family was going to be in the chamber that was serving as her confirmation place when she arrived. She looked great, her hair was tied back into a tight bun and she wore a black top and skirt that made her look her best, "But if you would have seen the things that I saw that man do to kids, you would be getting drunk and shitting on his grave. But enough of the sordid past, give a call to Erin and Alyssa and see if they've arrived at Capitol Hill yet."

Jake nodded and reached over to the bedside table of the lavish suite to pick up his cellphone, Rose turned to watch him and then quickly looked at her own cellphone. She had just received a text message saying that she, her father, mother, brother, nephews and niece had all arrived. She hadn't told any other member of her family that her biological family was coming for the last day of the confirmation hearings. She just wasn't ready to have it out all in the open, but she guessed that today would be the day. Quickly texting back her acknowledgement, she tucked her cellphone into the pocket of her jacket top and turned back to her husband who was on the phone with either Erin or Alyssa. He had been so great during this entire time, and she felt that she couldn't have been luckier to have him.

She and Jake had been in Washington for two days for the entire confirmation hearings. Erin was coming down from New York to attend. Johnny, Alyssa and Liza were coming down also to attend. The rest of her grandchildren were still with Mark in Oklahoma attending Natalia Harrison's, Erin's Daughter, College Graduation. While Marissa and DJ, who had been watching the rest of her kids for the past two days, were coming down as well. Her next occupation would be decided by the end of the night by a vote from the House. The vote was scheduled for 9:00 PM and that meant she had the entire day to wait. Jennie Eggert, the President of the United States, had invited her and her family to come and wait for confirmation at the White House and she intended to take that up. So, including her siblings, nephews and nieces, her entire family, neglecting five out six of her grandchildren, was going to be here with her. Rose smiled to herself, this was her greatest achievement to date and she felt like the Queen of the World.

Jake hung up his phone and turned to his wife, "You'll be happy to know that everyone has arrived at the chamber, and they're waiting. They also told me something very interesting."

Folding her arms over her chest, she raised and eyebrow, "And what is that?"

"They ran into your biological family," Jake said in a light tone, "It turns out that they sat down right next to each other, all of our children did a double take when they saw your sister. They're getting acquainted. Now, I'm not angry or surprised that you invited them, in fact I would have expected you to. I just want to know why you thought it was best to keep this secret from me, any explanation?"

Rose sighed, "I-I don't know-…I just thought-…I don't know why I didn't tell you. I called them when the President and I got back from the Isle of Draco. I told them the news and that if they wanted to come and be here, they were more than welcome to. I just didn't want to spring it on you, you know how I am, I love the element of surprise. Now, we can have the family get to know them, I want to get to know them. I never had a father and a mother, Jake and I want them to see this. I want them to be there when I'm sworn in. I just didn't know how to break it to you and the family, and now, I don't have to."

"Rose, you're getting hysterical," Jake chuckled and stood up from the bed, "Don't worry about it, I can't understand it from your point of view, but I can understand your hesitation knowing our children."

"I mean you heard how Alyssa reacted when you said that they were her grandparents, at least this way, she's smart enough to know if she reacts like that, she'll get thrown out," Rose concluded.

Jake chuckled and adjusted his tie, "Good point, are you ready to go?"

Nodding, Rose looked back into the mirror to look at her appearance and then grabbed a leather bound dossier from the dresser. It was everything she'd need to know about answering questions from the House Members. Grasping it tighter, she winked at Jake and headed towards the door, feeling him flank her quickly. Opening the door, she was met by a large man, dressed in a black suit and wearing black sunglasses, the fact that Secret Service Agents wore sunglasses indoors amused her to no end. Smiling at him, Rose heard Jake shut the door to their room behind him, "Agent Carmichael, are we ready?"

"Yes, Madam Secretary-Designate," The Secret Service Agent assigned to her nodded, "The Motorcade is ready."

"Let's go," Rose said, turning and beckoning Jake with a finger before proceeding down the hall.

The Motorcade carrying Rose and Jake speed down the road towards Capitol Hill with horns and lights blazing, it wasn't an uncommon sight in Washington D.C, and the people on the sidewalks were not at all fazed by it. Since the Terrorist Attack on Capitol Hill, things were beginning to return to normal. The symbol of the legislative power of the United States, The Capitol Building, was damaged, yes, but one side of it was damaged. That side, the side that contained House of Representatives Chamber, was in the process of being repaired and rebuilt. It was sectioned off while the contractors began their efforts. The good news was that the dome and the Senate side were completely untouched. It was in operation and that's where the confirmation hearing would take place.

'My Mother is screwed up in the head,' Alyssa Long-Sindacco thought wryly as she and the rest of family sat in the gallery section of the committee room, 'Why did she want to surprise us with them?'

Alyssa turned and watched as her twin brothers, and little sisters talked with her Grandparents, Aunt and Uncle and Cousins. She didn't hate them, but they were strangers to her, to her they weren't family in her mind. It would take time, but she'd consider them the family they were eventually. When she turned to her right, she looked down to her little brother and noticed that DJ had the almost identical look of distain on his face. She leaned down closer to him, it was best that the rest of the family didn't hear her words. "I know they're family, but I think mom could have sprung this on us a little better then this."

"I know," DJ said looking over her to see everyone else chatting with them, he and Alyssa were the outcasts of the group, "But she has every right to, even if we like it or not. They're her family too, that's her brother, her sister, her father, her mother, her nieces and nephews. We have no choice and sooner or later we are going to be like everyone else. It would be best to bite our tongues and go along with it, because sooner or later it will fall into place. I know exactly what you are thinking, they're not one of us, and they're strangers. Let's face facts Alyssa, they're one of us, we're just not accustomed to them."

"No matter how much you two think that they're not one of us, you are going to like them," Jake Long's stern voice came from behind them, Alyssa and DJ both gulped, almost comically and turned around to their father's stony glare, "Take all the time you want to get to know them and like them for real, but you will not act shitty to them, you will be polite, courteous and funny towards them. So long as you are around them, I expect you to use that bipolar trait you got from your mother. Or, so help me, I will string you two up until you are so red in the face that you'll want to like them just to get away from me."

DJ nodded his head, "Yeah, of course I will, I was out of line."

Alyssa, however, was less than obedient, "I am not a kid, and you can't tell me what to do!"

"You're half right," Jake snarled lowly at his first born, "You are not a kid physically, but you are my kid and as my kid you will do as I say until I am on my deathbed, are we clear Alyssa Therese Long?"

His rant towards his daughter was interrupted by someone clearing their throat, and DJ, Alyssa and Jake all turned to their right to see Robert Green, looking at them sheepishly, "I'm sorry, did I interrupt?"

Jake smiled and chuckled nervously, he never imagined what it would be like to have a father in law 120 Hours ago, but it was pretty damn terrifying now that he had one, "I'm sorry you had to hear that, they're just getting used to the idea of having Grandparents. They'll get used to it, and I'd like to cite the way my lovely daughter here first introduced herself to you as a way that don't act usually. Yeah, this is my eldest son DJ, and you've met Alyssa of course."

"Yeah, I'm …sorry about my first introduction," Alyssa smiled sheepishly and shook his outstretched hand, "You met my husband and my daughter?"

Robert nodded and smiled fondly at his granddaughter, "Yeah, they're great, your cousin Viviane is getting along with them great."

Jake, DJ and Alyssa loved over to their right and saw Liza and Johnny Sindacco chatting lively with Viviane Green. Alyssa's eyebrow rose in curiosity and then she turned back to her father, "She looks exactly like me, hell she looks exactly like mom, even more than I do, she could be the younger version of her. How is it that every single female in this family looks exactly like mom, I mean look at her… she's her twin!"

"Your Aunt Lillian," Jake supplied.

"Aunt Lillian, she's mom's twin!" Alyssa exclaimed

"There's Rachel and Liza who break that mold," DJ offered mildly with a shrug.

Alyssa rolled her eyes at her bother, "It's only the hair and the eyes, and it's only Liza's hair."

Robert chuckled and looked over to DJ and held his hand out for the young man to shake it. When DJ did, the older man smiled, "Your Grandmother told me what you told her."

"I was only being honest," DJ shrugged apologetically, "Sorry."

Jake looked at his son confused, "What did you say-…"

He couldn't finish his sentence because right when he was about too, the sound of a gavel banging came from the head of the room. Everyone looked up to see the committee members going to their appropriate places. The man at the head of the dais, who's name placard read 'Mr. Addison' banged the gavel and began to speak into the microphone, "We are about to begin the final phase of the Confirmation Hearing of Secretary of Defense-Designate Rose Long, I would ask that the members of the media get behind their designated places and that the people in the gallery take their seats."

Jake scoffed in irritation and took his seat behind his son and daughter and watched for a moment as Robert turned and walked back to the other members of the group. He leaned forward and whispered menacingly in his son's ear, "Your Mom and I will talk to you later about this."

He leaned back in his chair and looked back up the dais, "Thank you – let the record show that all members of the committee are present, the Honorable Representative Addison of Ohio as Chairman. We are here to determine the viability of Secretary of Defense-Designate Rose Long to assume the full powers of the position and be officially sworn in as Defense Secretary. Will the clerk please usher Mrs. Long into the chamber?"

All of the heads in the room turned to the oak doors on the side of the chamber, and when they opened, Rose Long stepped out in all of her glory. She clutched the leather bound dossier in her hand and she walked with this sort of confident swagger that made the photographers take picture after picture of her. When she passed her family, she smirked and winked to them before turning her back to the gallery and her family and after setting the dossier down on the table that was below the dais, she raised her right hand, "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?"

Rose nodded to Chairman Addison's oath, "I do."

"Good," He said picking up his gavel and banging it, "We can begin."

Authors Note: I've put this under the T Rating temporarily, but I will be moving it up into M in time, because I'm going to try my hand at making things a little spicier. Warnings will be posted at the beginning of each chapter when that applies. So leave a review - we're at the very end my friends, let's enjoy it while it lasts.