There are times when we make history, and there are times when history makes us.
This is a crucial moment for our nation, and America's colors burn brightest when we meet challenges head-on.
"Sammy, come on! You're going to be late." April called out, finishing the apple that she was cutting up for his lunch. "I don't know what's with him lately. He used to always be on time." She remarked with a shake of her hand, glancing up at her husband.
"He's almost a teenager," Jackson shrugged his shoulders. "I was the same way at his age."
"Oh, don't say that." She pressed down on the Ziploc, dropping the apples into his lunchbox. "You're supposed to comfort me and tell me it's going to be fine. Today's already a big day."
"You are going to be fine," he stepped over toward her, pressing his lips on top of his wife's head and catching a whiff of her shampoo. "Promise. You don't even have to go to the state of the union, remember? It's just going to be the two of us and one big ol' pizza with extra cheese." He beamed.
"What about me?" Harriet interrupted, bouncing the soft soccer ball in her hands. Jackson had bought it for her two weeks ago and she was obsessed, nearly refusing to go anywhere without it.
"You, Sammy, and Grandma Catherine are all going to have an awesome tonight together." Her mom answered.
"Samuel." Their eleven year old son interrupted to announce his presence. "It's Samuel now, Mom."
"Oh, you're always going to be my little Sammy." April insisted, arms wrapping around him in a tight hug and pressing her lips against his forehead despite his protest. Her lipstick smudged across his skin and she didn't bother to wipe it away, smiling at him. "But you're going to be my late little Sammy soon. Do you want breakfast?"
"I'll just grab a smoothie," he shrugged. "I was throwing up."
Jackson and April shared a look, the redhead visibly stilling as the guilt hit her for her teasing. This wasn't easy for any of them.
When Samuel had first started complaining about aches and pains, both of them had attributed it to just growing pains. Even Jackson, who burdened a little more guilt than his wife, as a talented doctor didn't see it coming. Just because his specialty was plastics and not ortho didn't mean any of the guilt of not seeing the signs sooner had lessened. It had still been caught in the early stages and the outcome looked good so long as it didn't metastasize. They had gotten lucky that they had finally taken him to the doctor to see how things were and not continued to brush it off. But treatment wasn't easy. Not on Samuel physically, not on the rest of them emotionally. They were all still learning how to adjust to the new normal.
"Yuck." Harriet blurted out, easing the sudden silence.
"Yeah," Samuel lightened up with a slight chuckle. "Yeah, it was pretty gross. You wanna hear the details?"
"No!" She screamed.
Even if he was going through a lot with the new chemotherapy treatments and deciding that he wanted to stay in school, he hadn't failed to continue to be a wonderful big brother. The age gap between them was seven years and when April had sat down with him to tell him he was going to have a little brother or sister, he had been excited. Even if the novelty had worn off, the fact that he was always sweet and protective on his little sister hadn't. He was a good brother.
"Dad's going to pick you up from school and stay a bit until Grandma Catherine comes over," April spoke again, addressing both of her kids. "Mommy's going to be very busy with work tonight and Dad has to come, so we're both going to be out late. But I'll call to tell you goodnight, I promise. You're going to be good for Grandma, right?"
"Yeah," Samuel nodded.
"Fine." Harriet agreed, but a little pout jutted out her bottom lip. "Can we have TV time?"
"I…" April looked at Jackson for help.
"After dinner," he answered. "But that's only if you're good for grandma. Okay? Otherwise, there's no TV time."
"Okay!"
Both of them loved their little girl dearly even if she hadn't exactly been planned and they would have given anything in the world for her. But a lot of their attention had been on Samuel lately as they tried to deal with his disease and it had started to show in their daughter. She was more dramatic about them not being around and didn't want to be with Grandma Catherine or any babysitter.
"Alright, it's time to get rolling for school," April clapped both of her hands together to get them going. "Don't forget your lunch boxes. Into the car we go!"
"Hold on," Jackson paused to grab Samuel by the shoulders, wiping off his mother's lipstick. "Alright, there you go. Come on, Ms. Olian is going to be mad if we're late again."
Once her husband and kids were out of the door, April went back upstairs to finish getting ready for her own day. There would be no dressing up or getting fancy for the state of the union address tonight like she had last year. She would be the only member of the president's cabinet who was not under any scrutiny tonight. Every event like this, someone was always set aside in case the end of the world happened. No one ever liked it. It was boring. It always felt like you were being a burden to the secret service detail assigned and seemed like a waste of time. But she had no choice in the matter. The call had come through a couple of days ago and she'd accepted it. At least it meant that she was getting a date night with her husband. Those had been rare lately.
The White House was buzzing with activity by the time that she got there, the sound of her heels clicking against the floor getting lost in with everyone else around. The State of the Union address was always a big deal and President Webber was still finalizing the last details of his agenda, trying to make sure that everything fit in. She had submitted her outline for the next twelve months to him a week ago, still waiting to hear back about what would be included.
"April!" Stephanie, her right-hand woman, caught up with her quickly. "There you are."
"Here I am," her eyes widened as she glanced at the frazzled woman. "This must be important if it can't wait until I get to my office." She remarked.
"Yeah, it is," Steph matched her pace quickly. "I just got a copy of Webber's finalized speech and he didn't include any of our talking points in it. Not a single one."
"You're kidding me!" April replied.
"No." She shook her head. "All of our work just wiped from the agenda."
"I need a meeting with Webber." Her brows had already drawn together, wrinkling the skin between them.
"Already set up. We're heading up there now." A quick left instead of right was taken to reroute herself to the president's office. "And if this doesn't work, we can always leak your plan."
"No," April shook her head quickly. "This is about the State of the Union tonight. I don't want to make things about me. I'll talk to him and see what I can get slipped back on the speech again." Her lips pressed together in a thin line, holding back a sigh. "I don't know why he would do this. Let alone without saying something to me before."
"Let me know how it goes," Stephanie said.
It doesn't take April long to reach the oval office where the president was inside waiting, no doubt booked with meeting after meeting for the day. Just because there was a big event tonight didn't mean that he was going to get a break from all of the other responsibilities that came along with his job.
"Madam Secretary," Meredith greeted her as she approached. "He's in with the defense secretary. They should be done in just a minute."
"Okay. Thank you." April sighed out, her arms folding in front of her chest.
She had really wanted to hit it hard with improving the food stamp system in the next year and making sure that the people who needed them were able to get healthy, sustaining food. It hadn't been an easy push. She was an Independent in the White House and it was hard to make friends, especially running under a Republican president. Her foot was in the door but people didn't like listening to her, especially given that she was the first woman to ever have this particular position. Diversifying the cabinet had been a push on Webber's end as the second black President.
When the defense secretary walked out of the oval office, April straightened up again, her hands smoothing out her pants. There was no need to be paranoid about her appearance, they had been friends for a long time, and she knew that right now it wasn't going to make a difference one way or another. She just had to find a way to change his mind.
"Richard," April sighed out as she entered, tough exterior seeming to fall apart. "You couldn't put a single mention of any of my plans in the speech for tonight?"
"I know. I'm sorry, Madam Secretary, but the speech is locked. That's how it's going to be." He replied.
"What about food stamp reform?" She exasperated. "Improvement for the Forest Service system? I know that environmental concerns aren't big on your agenda but that could really help to hit them. People would love it. It would be a good way to reach across the aisle."
"I'm sorry," he repeated himself. "But as I said, the speech is locked."
"Do you not like the ideas?" April questioned. "I've reached back and forth to support you, Mr. President. Even when I haven't agreed with you. Do I not get any of that support back?"
"April, we're beginning to look at the next term." Her stomach sank as he spoke. "And even if you do identify as a Democrat… some of your ideas are just too liberal and my party isn't going to like it. The more that we can put that on the back burner, the better that it's going to be for both of us."
"The better that it's going to be for you," she corrected him. "For you and re-election."
"What's done is done," Richard said.
"Well, I'll still be watching the speech tonight," she sighed out. "In case you change your mind."
It was hard to maintain her dignity as she walked out of the oval office, past Meredith without saying a word toward her and headed back down toward her own office. She refused to give up on her own plans. They had been made for a reason: she genuinely thought that they were what was best for the country and its people, and she had the facts and statistics to back up what she believed. She couldn't give up on that. She was just going to have to find a way to start again without letting the politics of Washington get in the way – if that was even possible.
Sometimes, April had her doubts about that. She had never been good at playing the game. She wanted to do the right thing and nothing else. Now, it seemed like that was the very thing that was getting her into a tight spot of trouble.
The feeling of defeat made the day drag on. She had tried not to fill up her day with meeting after meeting like other days were, for the sake of making it a little easier tonight. Of course, that had been done before she realized that she wouldn't actually be in attendance for the speech itself. Now, she wanted nothing more than some kind of distraction to come up and keep her going for a few more hours.
When her husband finally arrived at the White House, it takes the edge off.
"Not a single thing," April complained, sitting cross-legged in her office chair. "He took out everything. Can you believe that? I mean, I like Richard, I do. But that was just wrong of him."
"Is he going to bring you on for his next term?" Jackson asked.
"Oh," she breathed out. "I… I hadn't even thought about that." Her head fell back against her chair. "Ugh."
"We're finally settled in D.C., that's why I ask." He commented and leaned forward. "Sam and Harriet both really like their schools. And he's comfortable with his doctor. If there's going to be any kind of change to this thing… that's something that would be good to know with as much notice as we can get."
"I know, I know," she agreed with an uneasy nod of her head. "I just… don't know. I guess I kind of assumed that he would want to but who knows? Maybe I'm too liberal for him."
"His loss." Jackson reminded her.
"Whatever," she shook her head. "Please tell me that you had a better day at work than I did."
He doesn't get too far into telling his story about the surgical case that he had been working on earlier in the day before secret service came knocking on the door to bring them to a secured location inside of the safe house for the duration of the speech that would be made. There was already a pizza down there waiting for them like she had asked for earlier in the day, a television in the room as well so that they could both watch the speech at her leisure. But with her anger having boiled throughout the day, she wasn't sure just how interested in that she actually was. Nothing sounded worse than hearing him talk about everyone's plans but hers.
Yet despite the agitation, the television is still turned on so she can hear everything else that is talked about. Stephanie had only given her the details about how her points wouldn't be mentioned, not everything else that had made the cut.
Crumbling up a greasy napkin, Jackson tossed it in the trash can before his focus turned to his wife. She was staring at the screen despite her previous hesitation about watching in the first place, her brows drawn down and a slight squint in her eyes as she focused. She probably needed a new prescription soon. But she always squinted like that whenever she was focused, so it was hard to tell.
"It's like he doesn't care about anything other than taxes, taxes, taxes," April complained, tearing off a piece of crust and dipping it in the blob of ranch squirted on her plate. "Hi, there are other important things too. Like eating."
"Even if he thinks you can look over it, there are millions of people who disagree with him." Jackson reminded her. "Myself included."
"I know, and you're so sweet." She pouted at him after she had chewed and swallowed.
He scooted closer to her, lowering his voice slightly so the secret service agents couldn't hear. "And you know… if we get out of here early, both of the kids asleep… I think I might be able to take your mind off of it once we're alone," he smirked at her.
"I like the sound of that," April leaned in toward her husband, their noses nuzzling together. "Let's do it."
The sound of static buzzing on the television distracted both of them from each other, looking up to see the stream of Webber's speech suddenly cut out as the television went black and white.
"Huh, weird." She commented.
"Probably just the television," Jackson remarked as he reached forward to grab the remote. He flipped up a channel and the television went back to normal, showing a kid's cartoon. Changing the channel back to the station that the speech was supposed to be broadcasted on, it went right back to the black and white static buzzing on the screen. "Weird."
April's phone rang. "See if you can get it back on." She commented as she answered her phone. Stephanie was on the other end, seeing if her speech had cut out. "Yeah, ours too."
"Guess we'll just settle here." Jackson flipped it to a news station.
The door to the room opened and Ben, the secret service agent who typically ran her detail, walked in. "Madam Secretary, I need you to put the phone down." He instructed, his voice firmer than the usual light, pleasant tone that he carried. "Right now."
"What's going on?" April asked.
"The phone," he repeated himself. She nodded her head and hung up the line, handing it over to him. "We also need your government-issued phone. Dr. Avery, we need your phone as well."
"Sure," Jackson agreed, fishing it out of his pocket and handing it over.
"What's going on?" April asked as she walked over to her purse to get the other iPhone out of it, setting it down on the table and sliding it across to Ben.
"We've lost contact with the Capitol," Ben answered. "We're sheltering in place until we know more."
"Jeez," Jackson sighed out.
April paced the length of the room, moving toward the window. From the room, there was a perspective that allowed you to see miles of the city if the weather conditions were right. The Capitol building wasn't far from the house, and it should have been easy to see even with the light pollution that came from the night.
On the television, the news reporter spoke. "Hold on. We're just now getting reports that there has been some kind of explosion near the Capitol building."
But tonight, April couldn't see the large white dome that marked the Capitol building. Instead, she saw a thick, ugly orange cloud in the air above where the Capitol should have been in the skyline. The cloud of the explosion was thick in the air and she couldn't see any part of the building. The explosion was high and towered over any of the monuments in the city. Where the Capitol building should have been, all she could see was fire from the explosion. There was no building structure. Just violent flames.
"Madam Secretary, we need you to get away from the window, now." Ben barked the order.
She didn't listen. It wasn't until Jackson and Ben both grabbed onto either side of her to guide her away from the vulnerability that came with the glass window.
"Oh my god…" April breathed out, a hand coming up to cover her mouth.
"Madam Secretary, we need to leave now," Ben spoke.
Everything moved in a rush as he tried to guide her out of the room, the only resistance coming in the slowness that it took her to process that was going on. April reached out for Jackson and clamped a hand down around his. The Capitol had been attacked. Some kind of explosion. She could have been in there – they both could have been in there.
With Ben keeping a tight grip on her to make sure that she didn't go anywhere, they moved quickly through the safe house. She could barely overhear some of the chatter that was going on through his earpiece, trying to pick up on what was going on without interruption too much. But the panic was beginning to settle deep in her chest. There was no doubt that it was a direct attack on the government. By the size of the explosion… people were probably dead. Many people were probably dead. She couldn't tell if there was more contact with the Capitol building than there had been minutes ago, but judging by the stress on Ben's face, it didn't look like things were going well.
"What's going on?" Jackson was less afraid to be vocal in the heat of the moment than she was. But he didn't get any answers despite asking as the two of them were rushed into a motorcade and taken out of the White House. Neither one of them knew where they were going.
Both of them were put in the backseat of a dark armored vehicle, Ben and another secret service sitting in the front. Jackson's arm was around April, holding her tight against his chest and his hand rubbing up and down. Harriet and Samuel were on both of their minds, even if their house was more in the suburbs than it was downtown. April complained about the traffic getting to and from, but now, she couldn't have been more grateful they were nowhere near this. Hopefully, Catherine had the TVs off now.
April couldn't stand the anxiety that was building inside of her chest. She wished that she had her phone or laptop, something so that she could pull up a news website and try to figure out what was going on. She wasn't getting answers sitting here.
"What's going on?" She repeated the question, hoping that this time, there would be answers.
Ben doesn't immediately give any, though. When he spoke, it was clear that it was into his earpiece and not directed at them. "This is Warren. Don't tell me that. Oh, God." April felt her heart skip in her chest. Jackson's hand tightened on her arm.
"What's going on? What is it?" She tried the question again.
"It's been confirmed." Ben turned to face April before he continued, looking her in the eye. "Eagle is gone. Congress, the Cabinet… No one made it."
"Oh–oh my god," April stuttered out, her jaw falling open as she stared back at Ben. They were gone. Everyone was gone. Friends, coworkers. Everyone that she saw on a daily basis and didn't think twice about as she passed them through the hallways, everyone trying to go about their own business. All of them were dead. And she would have been if she had been in the room with them.
"Holy shit," Jackson swore as he pulled his wife tighter against him.
Panic settled deep inside of her chest as she tried to figure out what all of this meant. Jackson's mind had already been made: it was a brutal act of terrorism, plain and simple. There were a hundred other questions about who had done it and why, but he could see what it was plain and simple. The Capitol was a symbol. By itself, it would have been a drastic act of terrorism. But the fact that almost the entirety of the U.S. government had been inside of the building when it happened… an attack like this was entirely unprecedented. Nothing seemed to compare to it.
April's chest was tight and she had a hand on her husband's thigh, trying not to grab on too tight. Her hand was tight but he wouldn't complain about it. All of the worries that she had earlier in the day about not being included in the speech didn't matter. The insecurities that she was being pushed aside by both not being included and not being able to be at the State of the Union address were gone. Now, she couldn't have been more grateful to be alive. That she would be able to kiss and hold each one of their children again. But there were a thousand other questions swarming through her head – who had done this, how had an attack like this been planned. Security for events like this was as tight as it could have been and yet something like this had still managed to slip through despite all of that.
What happened next?
"Yes, sir. I'll let her know." Ben continued on with some kind of conversation in the mic. Both of Jackson's arms were now around April, not wanting to let go of her. He didn't care that he wasn't buckled up even as the motorcade whipped through the city.
"Let me know what?" April questioned, looking up from Jackson's arms and blinking back her tears.
"Madam Secretary, we are now enacting continuity of government. A D.C. appellate judge will meet us at the White House." Ben's voice was still calm despite everything that was going on. Neither Jackson nor April had any idea how he managed to keep up such an exterior.
Her heart pounded inside her chest, so loud that she could hear the blood rushing in her hears.
"Ma'am, you are now the President of the United States."
Nausea hit her immediately after the words had come out of Ben's mouth is nearly overwhelming and she squeezed tighter on Jackson's thigh as she tried not to have such a visceral reaction. Hours ago, she'd been questioning whether or not President Webber still wanted her on her cabinet, whether she was going to have to start looking for a new job or if perhaps she'd take a little time off to just be a stay-at-home mom and let Jackson work. The most stressful thing in her life was supposed to be managing everything with Samuel and his cancer.
Now, there was the entirety of a shattered United States on her hands.
"It's, okay, it's okay." Jackson could sense his wife's panic in her silence. How could she not be utterly terrified by everything that was going on so suddenly? His lips pressed against her temple, a few gentle kisses being placed there as he held her tight, rocking back and forth slightly as if she were a child. Neither one of the secret service agents in the front said a word about it, just as much as in shock as they were.
April wasn't qualified to be the leader of the free world. She was well aware of that. Part of the reason that Webber had taken her on as the Secretary of Agriculture was that she wasn't a politician, but she had so much hands-on work with both farming and all of the technicalities behind it. She had only been teaching at Texas A&M for a few years before D.C. It had been a drastic change and she didn't regret it, she loved her job and the work that she was able to accomplish on a national scale. She knew that it was important and she knew that she was good at it. But that was a smaller-scale, focused on only a few select issues. It was nowhere near the same as running an entire country.
The same question ran through her mind again. What happened next?
Even if she didn't know how to keep going forward mid-panic, there were people that did. When the motorcade arrived at the White House, April and Jackson were both rushed inside by Ben. The White House wasn't crowded like it normally was during the day – so many had gone to see the speech in person. So many that were now dead.
"Ma'am." The appellate judge spoke, trying to get April's attention. "Ma'am, please."
April blinked before looking at her, giving a nod of her head. She was in jeans and a Harvard sweatshirt – Jackson's – with camera lights shining at her from phones.
"Sir, if you can please hold the Bible." The judge spoke to Jackson. He nodded.
"Ma'am, please place your hand on the Bible." April felt like she was in a daze as she placed her hand down on her book. "Now, repeat after me. I, April Noelle Kepner, do solemnly swear."
"I, April Noelle Kepner, do solemnly swear." She echoed.
"That I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States." The judge continued.
"That I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States."
"And will, to the best of my ability."
"And will, to the best of my ability…"
"Preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, so help me God."
"Preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, so help me God." As April repeated the final words from the judge, she could feel the weight of the world settle in on her shoulders.
This was it. There was no turning back.
"Madam President," the judge nodded toward her and she nodded back, taking a deep breath.
"Madam President, you're going to have to come with me now," Ben spoke.
"Dr. Avery, Secret Service will take you up to the residence now." Another agent spoke to her husband. She looked at him with panic, wanting nothing more than to keep him right by her side for the rest of the night. What if something else happened? Would he be safe?
She shook her head, standing her ground for a moment. "What about our children?"
"Secret Service has already been sent to your house to pick up Samuel, Harriet, and their grandmother," Ben answered. "Ma'am, you really need to come with me now."
April stepped aside for a brief moment to stretch up her toes and share a kiss with Jackson that was far too short before she was pulled aside to follow Ben somewhere. She wasn't sure where they were going. She had never been through this portion of the White House. She knew that it was a big build and it had tons of secret tunnels and passages, but she'd never seen most of them before. She supposed now, that was all going to change.
"Ben–" she gripped onto his arm suddenly. "I'm so sorry. I need to go to the bathroom."
"Of course, ma'am." Down one hallway and a few steps later, he stopped outside the door and opened it for her. "I'll be out here."
Throwing herself into a bathroom stall, the pizza that she had for dinner doesn't hesitate to come up. She retched into the toilet, flushing it quickly once she was done before sitting back on her heels. She wiped her mouth with some of the toilet paper, only realizing at the sound of another toilet flushing that she wasn't alone in the bathroom stall.
"Yeah, me too," a female voice spoke up.
"Sorry. I didn't realize that someone else was in here." Slowly, April stood up.
"Well, everything's different now." A dry chuckle followed the other woman's words. "I went from celebrating and now… I mean, who's in charge? I'm asking because I actually don't know."
"Kepner. April Kepner." She opened up her stall and went over to the sink, gargling a little water and wiping beneath her eyes to make sure that there were no mascara stains.
"Kepnerd. Yeah, agriculture. She's going to be the president? I bet most of the country doesn't even know who she is. I'm telling you, we need a leader. We're not getting one." The voice was snide as she spoke and she turned to look at them as the bathroom stall door open. She recognized the face – Cristina Yang. One of the aides.
The panic was immediate. For once, April was glad to not be the one reading out. "I hope you're wrong."
"Madam President. I'm so sorry," She apologized quickly.
"It's okay." She took a deep breath. "You're allowed to have an opinion. I just hope that I can change it."
Exiting the bathroom, Ben was waiting for as he had promised. They continued to walk down the hallway, heading down a staircase that she had never seen before. His badge was scanned at the door and he held open the door for her to step in.
Inside of the unfamiliar room was a round table surrounded with men yelling back and forth, large screens conveying shots of the explosion, the news, and other things. On the news, they were talking about her. There was a shot of her being sworn in already on display, looking like a deer in headlights – something the anchors didn't hesitate to discuss. No one seemed to notice when she walked into the room. From the image, she could tell she looked far from presidential right now.
"Excuse me," April spoke up, getting no attention. A few seconds passed before she repeated herself. "Excuse me!"
"Madam Secretary." An older redhead addressed her. "I'm Major Hunt."
"Do we know who did this?" April asked.
"Not yet." He turned from her, addressing some of the other men at the table. "Do we have the CIA director yet? Get a secure comm. We need to alert all of the embarrasses to convey to each host nation that the U.S. is on a war footing and now is not the time to test us." He barked orders back and forth without hesitation, and it seemed like everyone at the table just listened. She was momentarily jealous.
A hand on her arm surprised her and she flinched, relieved when she realized that it was Stephanie. Both arms immediately wrapped around her in utter relief. "I'm so glad to see you," she murmured.
"We're going to be live in forty minutes from the East Room," Stephanie said.
"Crap," April breathed out. "Can you bring me a change of clothes?"
"Of course. They don't know who did this?" April shook her head. Stephanie turned toward Major Hunt, sizing him up without any hesitation. "Major Hunt, you need to find answers in the next half hour. The entire world is looking at us right now and you are not going to put April in front of the camera without them. We need to tell them something."
"Yes ma'am," he nodded, moving back to the table to follow orders. "Tell the joint chiefs we are going to DEFCON 2."
"Thank you, Steph," April said, taking her hand and giving it an appreciative squeeze.
"Don't thank me. You need to start getting ready."
Ben escorted her to the residence so that she could get changed into something more presentable. The only real relief came when she finally set her eyes on her husband, throwing both of her arms around his neck in a tight hug. He lifted her up for just a moment, holding her against his chest before setting him back down. This was utter chaos. Neither one of them knew where to begin but he helped her get into a nice dress and blazer. She fixed her makeup in a rush and Jackson walked along with her down to the East Room.
"How are the kids?" April asked, her hand holding onto his as they rounded the corner.
"Samuel's freaked out. Scared. I got one of the agents to take him down to the kitchen so that he could have some ice cream to hopefully take his mind off of it for a little bit. Harriet was asleep, so she doesn't really know what's going on." Jackson explained.
The cancer talk had been had with both of them after Samuel's diagnosis. But this… this was something different.
"What are we going to tell them?" She looked up at him for guidance. "I mean, I don't want to scare them even more. But… this is scary. This is really scary. I'm terrified. I'm completely unprepared for this and now the entire world is about to be staring at me while I try not to cry on camera."
"You are not going to cry on camera. You look the part." Jackson squeezed her hand. "Don't worry about the kids. We can figure that out afterward. You've got this. The speech is written for you. All you have to do is read it. Just like reading the kid's a bedtime story."
April snorted, a smile softening her lips. "This is nothing like that."
She was right.
With the camera crew setting up the camera and lights, a woman comes up to her once she was seated down to tweak with her hair and makeup. She appreciated the help. Even if she had managed to cover up most of the freckles on her face with foundation and brighten up her eyes with mascara, being on camera like this was intimidating in absolutely every sense of the word. It helped now that she had Jackson standing on the edge of the room, alongside Stephanie. Two people she trusted were right there. All she had to do was read the speech off the page, and hope that she was able to deliver.
"Uh, Madam President, your bracelet." It was a craft bracelet – Harriet had made it for her one day at school and she rarely took it off. "It's not very presidential." One of the women spoke.
"Right," She muttered, sliding it off her wrist and tossing it to Jackson. "Thank you."
"Madam President, you're live in five, four, three, two…"
April took a deep breath.
"My fellow Americans…"
