Title: Smart People who Disagree

Summary: In an alternate universe, Sam Seaborn and Ainsley Hayes marry in the summer of 2001 and have a family together.

January 2007

"Let me get this straight," Sam said slowly. "You want Ainsley and me to go casually have dinner with President-Elect and his family."

"Not exactly," Josh replied.

"What do you mean?"

"I want you to bring the kids too."

"So my family and his family, we're just going to have a casual dinner in the house where they're staying during the transition?"

Josh nodded. "That's the general idea. It'll just be a casual, family dinner."

"Why?"

"Matt said-sorry, the President Elect said that his wife wanted to have a nice evening with another family where no one was expecting anything but a pleasant evening. She wants one evening of her life to not revolve around politics."

"She does know what her husband's new job is, doesn't she?"

"She does, but she still wants to be a real person. And Donna and I thought that was the perfect job for your family. You guys have lots in common."

"Like what? They're from Texas, Ainsley is from North Carolina, and I'm from California."

"Peter and Miranda are like six and eight or eight and six. Your kids are about that age."

Sam snorted. "Nora is four going on five, and Tommy is two."

"So they're all about the same age."

"Josh, I pity your future children."

His friend shrugged. "So you'll do it? You guys will have dinner with the Santoses?"

"I need to check with my wife, but I'm pretty sure that we can do it."

"Thank you."

Two nights later, Sam and Ainsley were standing on the front steps of a house trying to pretend that this was all normal-that the Secret Service isn't behind them and that they weren't about to spend the evening with the President-Elect of the United States and his family. "It'll be fine," he said.

She looked up at him. "That's easy for you to say. You've met him before. I've never met either of them."

Before Sam could reply, the door opened and Matt Santos greeted them. "Sam, Ainsley, please come in. Welcome."

They walked in to be greeted by Helen Santos. "Sam, Ainsley, it's so nice to finally meet both of you."

"It's good to meet you too, ma'am," Sam replied.

"Please, not ma'am, it's Helen."

"Got it."

"And who are these two?"

"This is Nora," Ainsley answered gesturing to her daughter who was clinging to her mother's hand with both hands. "And Sam is holding Tommy."

"Tommy Tank Engine!" the small blond boy pronounced.

Smiling at the toddler's outburst, Helen knelt down at Nora's level. "It's nice to meet you, Nora. My name is Mrs. Santos. Do you want to take off your coat?"

Nora nodded her head of thick dark brown hair wordlessly.

"Nora, you've got to take off your coat for her to take it," Sam reminded his daughter as he helped his son out of his coat.

Tommy looked up at the President Elect. "Hi!"

Matt smiled. "Hi, Tommy, how are you?"

"Two!"

Ainsley smiled as she gently pulled her hand out of her daughter's so she could take her coat off and put it in Matt's waiting arms. Nora quietly took off her own coat and handed it to Helen before grabbing her mother's hand again.

"I'm sorry," Ainsley said to Helen as they began walking further into the house. "She can be a bit shy at times."

"Don't worry about it," the other woman replied. "Meeting strangers can be overwhelming."

"The past few weeks have been a bit overwhelming for her. We moved from California quite suddenly."

"It's been a lot of new things for her very suddenly," Sam agreed.

"I know the feeling," Helen replied. "Peter and Miranda, I want you to come here and meet Mr. Seaborn and-I'm sorry, Ainsley. Are you Mrs. Seaborn or Ms. Hayes?"

"Mrs. Seaborn is fine."

"This is Mrs. Seaborn and her children Nora and Tommy," Helen continued. "These are our children, Peter and Miranda."

"It's nice to meet you," Sam said as he shook first Peter's and then Miranda's hand. "How old are you?"

"I'm seven, and she's five," Peter answered.

"My daughter, Nora, will be five later this month."

"She was born when you worked in the White House together, wasn't she?" Matt asked as they made their way into the kitchen.

"Right after Bartlet's fourth State of the Union," Sam replied.

"The day after," Ainsley said flatly. "I don't recommend it."

Helen smiled as she gestured to Ainsley's burgeoning belly. "When is the next one due?"

Ainsley ran a hand over her belly. "Late March."

"Are you feeling excited?"

"Excited, nervous, it's all a bit surreal still at this point."

"Can I get you anything to drink? We have beer, water, soda, milk…"

"Just water," Ainsley replied.

"Same," Sam added.

"You don't have to," his wife told him. "If you want a glass of wine, I won't stand in your way. I wish I could have one myself."

"The worst part of pregnancy," Helen said sympathetically. "No coffee, no alcohol, and then there's labor."

"Don't remind her," Sam said. "Ainsley is trying to put off thinking about that until absolutely necessary."

"So you'll have a glass of wine?" Matt asked.

"Beer actually," Sam answered.

"You're a beer man? I think we'll get along well."

After dinner, the adults sat in the living room chatting while the kids played nearby. Nora had warmed up to Miranda and Peter, and Tommy could warm up to anyone in two minutes. "So how did you two end up together?" Helen asked. "I know how you met, but how did a Democrat and a Republican end up married?"

"Oh, we were cast as Romeo and Juliet in Leo's annual Shakespeare review," Ainsley said. "And we skipped the whole suicide thing and just went for the whole marriage and the baby carriage thing."

Matt snorted. "You're funny, but that's not true. What really happened if you don't mind me asking."

"Well, it all started the night of Bartlet's second State of the Union," Sam began as he played with Ainsley's fingers.

"They were painting the benches in the Rose Garden, but they didn't tell us," Ainsley continued.

"Mostly," her husband said with a smile. "I like to blame it on the bossa nova."

January 2001

The first time that Ainsley Hayes found herself in Sam Seaborn's apartment it was late and she was more than a little drunk. She'd had an interesting evening with the State of the Union and sitting on a freshly painted bench and drinking Pink Squirrels and meeting the President while in a bathrobe and tipsy. It had been interesting. Tired himself but more concerned about his friend, Sam had taken Ainsley to his apartment so that she could sleep off the Pink Squirrels. Her assistant had given her a change of clothes to wear the next morning.

A/N: Love it? Hate it? Feel free to let me know.