You hang up with Daddy and hand Lindsey back her phone. She helps you climb up into your bed and brings the covers up to your chin. Daddy's promised you an extra hour of hanging out tomorrow night if you go to sleep now. You snuggle into your blankie and bring Mr. Sprinkles up to your chin. Extra time with Daddy is worth it.
And then Lindsey is waking you up and putting your coat and shoes on over your red jammies that she helped you put on earlier and bundling you into a weird car that's not yours and a Secret Service guy who's not Mike is driving and there are sirens and flashing lights and you're tired and where are we going and it's the middle of the night and you want Mommy but she had to go to work with Daddy tonight and the flashes and noises are giving you a headache and then Lindsey is unbuckling you from the car seat and someone else is opening the door and why are we in the White House if it's late late night and it's not Easter or Christmas
"But at the end of the long hallway you see
"Mommy!"
and you're getting a warm, familiar, comforting hug before Mommy brings you to a huge bed in a huger bedroom with silky soft sheets, much better than the ones you have at home.
It's quiet in the new big room but you can hear people walking in the hallway - unfamiliar, busy footsteps pass by again and again. You and Mr. Sprinkles explore the room a little. It's got a ginormous closet that you can lay down in and the bed has a pretty curtain. You flop on the bed on your belly and rest your chin on your hand. It's confusing. Why are you sleeping in the White House tonight? That's where President Richmond lives and where Daddy works sometimes.
You realize a few days later, when you're still living in the White House but now it's yours, that Daddy didn't hang out with you.
