The Journey to Love: Love and Politics
Disclaimer: I don't own any part of the following:
1. The West Wing (the show or that part of the building).
2. I do not own the names of President and Mrs. Obama. They are public figures that I highly respect. He is my president because I voted for him and nothing in this fic will bring shame or degradation to his name, her name, their children or the Office of President of The United States.
3. I also do not own the name Barney Frank (D), the Congressman from MA who happens to be openly gay.
4. I do not own any of the music of Dave Koz (an openly gay man and one of my favorite jazz musicians), New Edition, Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis, or Boyz II Men. Yeah, I already know some of the songs I intend to use.
5. I do not own the following news/entertainment publications/outlets- The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, Headline News, C-Span, C-Span 2, The Advocate, Out, Fox News, and California Times.
Warning: This fic contains slash, a male/male romance between Samuel Seaborn and Joshua Lyman of The West Wing. It is rated M as a whole, starting with the first chapter. There will be male/male sex and severe language. I can indicate changes as the story progresses. I don't want to see any flames. You have been politely warned. If you don't like male/male relationships or reading foul language, please click on something else. I won't be upset or offended, I promise.
A/N: The West Wing was one of my favorite shows that I watched while I was an undergrad. My friends knew not to call me after 7:45 CST because I was getting ready to watch the show. It didn't start at 8 p.m. in Central Time Zone but 7:59 p.m. They even knew not to call me during the commercials. Even after I graduated and was back in Memphis, I kept the same rule: call be before 7:30 or call me at 9. I've had to do some remember/researching; it's been a while since I've watched any episodes. I have to remember who some of the side characters are. I remember names, but I need to remember faces in order to picture whom I'm writing about.
This fic's frame (the fourth in my Journey to Love series), in my world happens after Santos is elected President. The first Latino President serves four years and decides not to run for a second term because of family issues. However, he supports a junior Senator from Illinois by the name of Barack H. Obama to become the country's first African-American president. Obama then returns the favor by supporting America's first Bisexual-turned-Gay President. Notice how I left out the Bushes altogether? Isn't writing from your own world wonderful? The fic is set for the current time with flashbacks. That's the part I have to research/remember.
Journey Intro: The Journey to Love can be a fun and enlightening one. It's one filled with plenty of turns and detours. Road signs are misinterpreted, if seen at all. Road maps are useless. No one knows the exact directions nor can anyone give advice on how to get there. No one knows exactly how it looks because everyone arrives at a different destination at different times. You'll just know when you arrive. But who's to say the travel plans won't change once you get there? Remain open to the journey. Sometimes it's the best part of the trip.
Branch Summary: Romance started after being friends 10 yrs. "The Real Thing" took on new meaning. 1 yr together, 1 break up, 1 outside relationship, 1 reconciliation, 5 elections, thousands of miles & 12 committed yrs later, Love and Politics still keep them together.
S/N: I was surprised when I did the spell check that these words Barack H. Obama, Santos, and Lyman didn't have to be added to the dictionary but Seaborn did. Odd.
Update 6/16/10: If you been reading and rereading this story, you might notice some changes. That's because of my remembering/research. I hope I've gotten all the inconsistencies straightened out. There will probably be more. Maybe the mistakes weren't important enough for anyone to notice, but when I'm dealing with real people with real searchable information; I think I should be able to get that right. For example, the year Congressman Barney Frank came out. I had the wrong year listed. I had Rahm Emanuel's name spelled three different ways and had published the chapter before I realized it. Thanks for reading. I hope you're enjoying it as much as I am. I have to admit, I like this one so much I keep reading my own story. *smh*
