A/N: Hi, welcome back! Thank you for all the lovely reviews and I hope you enjoy the next chapter.

Back at the Capitol, Frank rises to his feet, ignoring the pure shock on Donald's face. He can tell by the carefully hidden expression on Claire's face that she has no idea how to respond. The article is true, Frank was sleeping with a journalist during the last few months of Claire's pregnancy. Claire knew about it and agreed to it, like she always has done in the past. As long as they openly discussed it, Claire had no problem with Frank stepping out.

Frank gently closed the door to the townhouse behind him so he wouldn't wake up Claire. He sneaks up the stairs, not turning on any lights, knowing the way to his bedroom in the dark. When he eases open the door to their bedroom, he is surprised to see Claire awake and reading something on her iPad.

"Hey," Claire says as she looks up from her device. Frank notices that his wife is upset about something by the heightened worry lines etched into her face. He climbs into bed next to her and rests his head on her shoulder.

"Hi," He watches Claire stretch across to put the iPad on her nightstand. He skims his hand over her slightly swollen stomach and raises his eyebrows, wondering if she is going to let him in on what is bothering her. "Are you going to tell me or am I just going to have to guess?"

Claire snatches up the iPad and turns it on, showing him the article that she was just perusing. Frank takes it from her and sighs heavily. The headline blaring across the screen makes him uneasy. Although the article never names him personally, it is clear who it is alluding to.

"Don't worry, I will take care of this," Frank promises Claire. This is his mess and he will do anything possible to make sure Claire doesn't have to answer any questions regarding his affair.

"I know…I just wish…" Claire trails off, knowing that if she says what she wants to, it might ignite an argument between the two of them.

"What?"

"I just wish that you would have been more careful." Frank nods, thinking that she is right. He knows how risky it is to be sleeping with a journalist and was naïve enough to think that the media would never find out about it. Frank leans over to grab his cellphone, sending Doug a text to start doing damage control.

"I'll take care of it, you just worry about our child," Frank assures her once again. Claire manages a half-smile and reaches over, capturing Frank's hand. She doesn't push the issue, she knows that her husband will handle the blowback appropriately so this will go away quietly and quickly.

Claire will not admit to the affair on live television, she is smart enough to realize how damaging that could be. She needs to find a way to explain it without making it seem like she is condoning Frank's behavior.

Frank waits along with everyone watching for Claire's response. He hopes that she speaks up soon because silence makes her seem guilty. Donald is looking at him, a hint of disgust is present in his features. Frank internally rolls his eyes and takes a sip of his scotch.

"Can we take another break?" Claire asks, feeling utterly trapped. She doesn't have a clever retort at her disposal currently.

"I would appreciate you answering the question first," Ashleigh says. The reporter can sense that she could be on the verge of a breaking story. Letting Claire take time to think of a lie will not be good.

"Francis and I usually make a point not to indulge tabloid gossip. However, I will say for the record that my husband absolutely did not cheat on me. Can we please take a break?"

Ashleigh's eyes grow wide and silently nods. She has never seen such emotion coming from the second lady before. The reporter watches a frazzled Claire skyrocket out of her seat and brush past all of the interns, heading upstairs and slamming the door behind her.

Claire paces in her bedroom. She was very close to revealing a huge secret about her marriage, one that could have caused a lot of controversy and unwanted press into their lives. A part of her can't help but blame Frank for sleeping with the journalist to begin with, knowing that it would ultimately become public. Although, none of this would have happened if Ashleigh stuck to the talking points instead of veering off into uncharted territory.

Frank owes Claire an apology, one that she will take with stride. He wishes that he could be there because it shouldn't be her that has to deal with the fallout of his indiscretions. He is debating calling her, but she has to go back on the air momentarily so they will just have to discuss it later. Plus, Frank can almost guarantee that his call will be sent to voicemail whether Claire is available to talk or not.

Connor knocks on the bedroom door, opening it just a peek to see if Claire is ready to come back downstairs. They should be wrapping up this interview pretty soon.

"Mrs. Underwood, should I tell Ashleigh that you need a few more minutes?" Connor asks.

"No, I'm fine," Claire smooths down the non-existent wrinkle on her dress and bypasses Connor to walk downstairs. She is counting down the seconds until this interview is over. As soon as the interview concludes, Claire is collecting her daughter from the nanny and kicking everyone out.

Claire is corralled by a makeup artist before she is able to get back to her chair. She flinches away from the brush and the makeup artist immediately backs off.

Ashleigh is reading through her notes, trying to decide how many more topics she has to cover before they are off the air. The journalist realizes that the second lady is angry because she is having her private life displayed in front of the country. However, Ashleigh will not apologize for doing her job and gaining access like no other journalist before her. Claire knew what she was signing up for when she agreed to do the interview and she is aware that she can back out at any time.

"We're almost done," Ashleigh whispers over to Claire once she sits down. The journalist is trying to gauge Claire's emotions by her response. Claire paints on a fake smile and nods, sitting a little higher in her chair. For whatever reason, that makes Ashleigh's palms sweat.

The scarlet light of the camera blinks back on and Ashleigh pretends that she and Claire were just having a thrilling conversation.

"Thank you for staying on for the latter half of my interview with the Second Lady Claire Underwood. Claire, thanks for sticking around."

"It's my pleasure to be here Ashleigh." Liar. Ashleigh thinks to herself, but still manages to maintain a professional demeanor.

"Before the break we were talking about your husband's alleged affair. You denied it, but I have a trusted source telling me that Vice President Underwood was not present for your daughter's birth. What do you have to say to those reports?"

Claire furrows her eyebrows, wondering where that story even came from or if Ashleigh is just making it up. Her husband is digging a deeper hole for them than she has realized.

Frank sucks in a breath and waits for Claire to refute the claim, again. Although this time, what Ashleigh said is actually false, unlike the affair. He is trusting Claire to handle this like she did the last attack against them.

"Well, my husband was in Gaffney when I went into labor, but I can assure you that he was there when our daughter was born."

"Why did your husband travel to Gaffney when you were so close to delivering?" Ashleigh asks, thinking that she will trick Claire into admitting that her marriage isn't the fairytale that they are being led to believe it is. She has a feeling that Claire isn't the kindhearted supermom that is being portrayed on camera and that something is deeply wrong with the Underwood's marriage. Ashleigh feels like it's her duty to expose who Frank and Claire really are to the American people.

Claire is ready to simultaneously kill Ashleigh for prying so hard into her personal life and Francis, who is letting her take all the punches on his behalf.

"He had to go back home to Gaffney for a political event."

"I'm sure he could've rescheduled. It's not like his congressional seat in South Carolina is in jeopardy."

Claire clears her throat and stretches her lips into a thin line, attempting to keep her lips from collapsing all together. The truth is that Claire didn't care if he went, he was not obligated to be waiting at home for her to deliver.

"What I am saying is that I was not dependent on my husband to be there every second of my pregnancy. We knew that there was a slim chance that I could go into labor while he was gone and we had a plan in place in case that happened, which it did."

Claire is hoping that she isn't coming off as too defensive. She never expected to reveal this much about her family, but she wasn't going to be left looking stupid. Claire is curious as to how Ashleigh was able to obtain all this information when she and Frank made clear the topics that were open for discussion during this interview.

"Explain to me and the people watching at home what happened because I am not convinced."

Ashleigh knows the repercussions of going off-script in a televised interview, and yet, she is willing to risk the punishment. She doesn't necessarily like Claire, the second lady comes off as dispassionate and cold. Ashleigh wouldn't be doing her job if she didn't try her best to obtain genuine answers from her interview subjects.

Claire is losing her patience and tired of feeling like she has to shield herself. She agreed to do this interview solo because she thought it would bring good press, but it's now doing the opposite.

"Well, when Francis left, he told me that if at any point I went into labor that he would fly back to Washington immediately."

"Why go at all then if he would have to cancel the events?"

"Because…" Claire pauses for a second and suddenly has an idea. "We had a fight the night before he left and I wanted space. His trip to Gaffney for a couple of days seemed ideal at the time."

While Claire is spinning this lie on television, her mind flips back to the actual fight her and Frank had during her pregnancy.

Frank closes the door to the townhouse behind him. He rushes up the stairs, taking them two at a time. His meeting at the Capitol ran late and now he has only a half an hour before he is scheduled to arrive at the charity gala. When he swings open the door to the master bedroom, he is shocked to see Claire standing in front of the mirror, deciding between two seemingly identical black dresses. One is sparkly and strapless, the other a more conservative gown. Frank furrows his eyebrows, he thought they agreed that she wouldn't attend anymore events until she gives birth. Claire is entering her sixth month of pregnancy and her previous concave abdomen has protruded out to form a noticeable bump.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Frank asks, hoping that he is just misreading the situation. He doesn't have time to get into an argument with his stubborn wife.

"I like this one better, what do you think?" Claire asks, ignoring his question as she turns to face him, holding the gown.

"I agree. What's going on?" Frank asks again, but more forcefully this time.

"I laid out this suit for you, get dressed or we are going to be late for the gala." Claire gestures toward the three-piece tuxedo sprawled out on their bed. Frank sighs and threads his fingers through the cerulean tie he is wearing, loosening it from around his neck.

"I thought you weren't going."

"I have to go Francis, the gala is honoring the CWI's partnership with the African Children Coalition. If I don't go with you, people are going to wonder why." Frank registers the sharp edge in Claire's voice and reminds himself to tread cautiously.

"I understand that, but if you go then it will defeat the purpose of people not knowing that you are pregnant. You are starting to show Claire." Frank is confused as to why they are even arguing about this. She was the one that wanted to keep her pregnancy a highly guarded secret and for her to have a sudden change of heart is confusing.

Claire glares at him, not appreciating his approach. Yes, she was the one who decided to be more selective about the events she would be attending, but this gala is the exception. She thought her husband understood that.

"I don't have to ask for your blessing to attend an event, Francis."

Frank thinks Claire sees it as him telling her what she can and can't do, which is not necessarily the case. He knows how defensive Claire is of their private life and if the wrong person were to discover that she was pregnant, it would bring unwanted attention on them. This is his way of protecting her.

"If you go, it might become a story, Claire. About us." Frank tells her, knowing that the only way to appeal to her is by reminding her what's at stake. They barely dodged the affair allegations, they don't need another reason to be in the headlines.

Claire knows he is right, but she is too stubborn to admit it. They had an agreement that she made them adhere to and now she is unexpectedly changing the rules. As Frank climbs the political ladder, the more they are at risk for becoming fodder for the press. Claire has had difficulty adjusting to the idea that people actually want to know what's going on in her life. Regardless, they have to come to a détente and quickly, so they can slip into the gala undetected.

"We will go to this event and then after that, I won't make an appearance until after the baby is born. It's going to come out eventually Francis, but I think we should be the ones controlling the narrative. You owe me this."

Claire didn't want to say it because that is not how their marriage works, but she is determined to go to the gala. She can tell that Frank has surrendered by a subtle shrug of the shoulders.

"I'll call the car."

"Thank you." Claire grabs her dress and shuts the door to the bathroom.

The next morning, after the gala, Claire meets Frank down in the kitchen for breakfast where he is already scanning headlines in the newspaper. He frowns and takes a long sip of his coffee. Claire comes up behind him to peek over his shoulder, wondering what he is staring at. Sure enough, an article about last night's gala mentions "Congressman Frank Underwood and his pregnant wife Claire." Claire's eyes dance up to the byline, recognizing the name of the reporter who wrote the story.

"She's quite the writer," Claire comments and navigates over to the other side of the counter. Frank can tell by her demeanor that Claire is upset over the article. He reaches across and puts his hand over hers.

"Claire…"

"It's okay Francis, I know you will talk to her."

"Of course," Frank gathers up his belongings and dusts a kiss to her cheek before leaving for the Capitol.

Ashleigh's eyebrow raises at Claire's admission. She is surprised that the second lady is revealing this on camera. It seems so unlike Claire to air her dirty laundry on television, which has Ashleigh suspicious.

Back at the Capitol, Frank suppresses a smile, realizing what his wife is doing. She is gaining sympathy for herself by making them seem more like a normal married couple. He hopes Claire notices that she has to play this carefully in order to make her lie convincing enough. Frank has no doubt that his wife will sell this story like the miscarriages and denial of the affair before this.

"What was the fight about if you don't mind my asking?"

Ashleigh doesn't give a damn what Claire and Frank were fighting about, she just wants to test her. If Claire denies to comment, then she appears untruthful. If Claire elaborates then she appears human.

"It was one of those meaningless arguments that turned into something more. I think it started because he didn't put the toilet seat down if I remember correctly." Claire fake laugh as she scratches an imaginary itch on her cheek.

"Why did it escalate?" Ashleigh ignores Claire's laugh all together, thinking it's just a deflection technique.

Claire feels her face heat up, she didn't account for a follow-up question. Okay Claire, you can do this. You have to remain untarnished in the eyes of the American public even if you have to take a bullet for Francis.

"Because he wasn't there."

"What do you mean by that?"

"He was never home. And when he said he was going to Gaffney, I just…" Claire takes in a shuddering breath and internally scolds herself for becoming emotional on live television. "He is my husband and I wanted him there."

Something about the shift in Claire's demeanor alarms Frank. Even though she is lying about the fight, the underlying cause is still there. He knows that what Claire is talking about has been an issue between them ever since she got pregnant with Emily. Frank is aware that Claire feels like she has to shoulder the majority of the parenting and she is right. He works long hours, especially now that he is vice president. Claire has stepped down from running the CWI and is working at the White House in order to be home more with Emily because he can't be.

"That's understandable."

"Can we take a break?" Claire asks abruptly, feeling uncomfortable for allowing herself to appear so vulnerable in front of the millions of people watching this interview.

"Of course. When we come back, we will wrap up with Second Lady Claire Underwood."

A/N 2: There's still more to come! Your reviews helps shape this story, so please leave your thoughts on the way out. Thank you!