One night after dinner, the house was quiet as he kids were upstairs in their own rooms doing homework or more likely wasting too many hours on social media. Elizabeth was taking ice cream out of the freezer for herself and Henry when Ali began descending the stairs.
"Mom?" she called before reaching the last step.
"What's up, Noodle? Want some ice cream?"
"Some girl from school retweeted this." Ali thrust the phone towards Elizabeth's face.
Elizabeth took the phone from her in order to hold it at a readable distance. The tweet was of a heart emoji and a photo of herself and Henry kissing in the park a week earlier. She smiled when she saw it, remembering the moment:
They had taken a break together during the day and walked in the park sharing a few minutes with each other. It was always so good to see him on busy days. Their conversation and being in each other's presence always re-centered her for the rest of the day. The photo was a collage of two photos; both from the moment when they parted from each other for the afternoon. In one, their lips were joined, Henry's hand resting on her hip and her arms between them resting against his chest. The other was of their outstretched hands linked together as they parted in opposite directions.
"Aww, This is so cute!" Elizabeth said, smiling.
"Ugh, Mom, no, it's not."
"What is it," Henry asked, having just come into the room.
"Babe, look at this," she said, holding out Ali's phone to him. He approached her and placed his hand on her lower back as he leaned in to take a look. "It's sweet, isn't it?" Elizabeth asked.
Henry paused for a moment, "Honestly, yes, it is." He gave her a peck on the cheek.
Ali sighed. "You two are gross."
"I know," Elizabeth said proudly, smiling, and then looked back at the Tweet. "Wow, looks like 1,549 people think it's NOT gross."
Henry took Ali's phone from Elizabeth to take a closer look and began reading comments out loud;
"'Why are they so cute?' 'Couple goals,' "Henry and Elizabeth looked at each other with an approving look. "'love is real', 'crying emoji, blushing smiling emoji, 3 pink heart emoji's'"
"In the same tweet?" Elizabeth asked.
"Yup," Henry said. "Then there are about seventy more replies and 200 re-tweets."
"Aw!" Elizabeth exclaimed. "Who posted this, though?" Elizabeth tapped on the original Tweet and saw the account name at the same time as Ali said it out loud. "Mccord Love? That's the name of this Twitter account?"
"Let me see," Henry said.
He looked on as Elizabeth read aloud the account description. "Dedicated to all of the cute, loving moments caught on camera between Secretary Elizabeth Mccord and husband Henry. An inspiration for us all."
"Can I have my phone back now?" asked Ali impatiently.
"Not yet," Elizabeth said, as she scrolled through the pictures that had been retweeted by the account. So many pictures from different occasions over the past few months, of herself and Henry holding hands while walking, gazing at each other lovingly at public events, a bunch of photos of them kissing in different locations.- some little pecks, others that looked more passionate. Thankfully, none of them seemed to be invasions of privacy- no pictures of them inside their home or at any locations or events that the public wasn't supposed to know about. In this day of smartphones with cameras, she wasn't surprised that they're caught on camera as often as they are- both by regular people who notice them and take a quick picture, or by paparazzi. They're public figures, so Elizabeth and Henry expect a certain amount of public interest in their personal lives.
"Babe, look at this one," Henry pointed to a photo and she stopped scrolling to take a closer look. It was a photo of them facing each other, both hands linked together with each other's, happy and contented smiles on their faces as their noses were pressed together playfully.
"So cute!" Elizabeth squealed. "I don't even remember this, do you?"
Henry shook his head. Public displays of affection were just one of their things. They've always been that way- not ashamed to show affection for each other in public, or even in smaller settings like dinners with friends or colleagues. It was just second nature. So neither of them were that surprised that there were so many photos.
Ali sighed impatiently again.
"Okay, okay," Elizabeth said, handing Ali's phone back to her.
As Ali walked back up the stairs, Elizabeth took Henry's hand and led him past the table where she picked up her laptop, and then pulled him down onto the couch with her. She opened up Twitter in the browser and logged in with her personal private account.
"Okay, first thing..." she began, and followed the Mccord_Love account. And then the two of them settled into the couch against each other, scrolling through pictures and reading comments.
She'd had no idea how many people found their relationship so inspiring, and she couldn't help but to feel proud.
Elizabeth turned her face up towards Henry. "This is really special," she said.
"It is," Henry replied with a soft smile, leaning in for a kiss.