A/N – Finally! What a horrible bout of writer's block! For this update and any others I happen to complete in the next few days, you must give your thanks to LP – regardless of the fact that it looked like I had disappeared off the face of the earth, this wonderful person put this story on "alert" and reminded me that there are those who still read. So thank you! This isn't the greatest but hopefully it breaks the ice and I can move on to bigger and better!
By the time C.J. showed up with Chinese Toby was pacing.
"Where have you been?" he grumbled, taking the heavy bag from her and going into the kitchen.
"Maybe you heard about my new job on CNN? I'm the Chief-of-Staff for the President. The President of the United States. And since I very kindly gave my Communications Director the day off, there were things I had to do." She followed him into the kitchen and grabbed the box of chicken balls as soon as he put the bag on the table.
"Don't eat all of those; they're Rachel's favorite," he admonished her. He turned to the cupboards to get plates.
"Speaking of Rachel, where are you hiding her?" She dropped a chicken ball in her mouth and licked her fingers.
"I'm not hiding her anywhere." Toby handed her a napkin and she rolled her eyes. "She's in her bedroom."
"Did you move the playpens out first?" Toby gave her a look. "What? It's a small apartment and I know you have to have some place for the twins to sleep."
"Give me a little credit. It may have been short notice but I don't expect my 13-year-old niece to sleep in a playpen."
"Yeah, but I bet you didn't have time to decorate," C.J. retorted with a grin. She snagged another chicken ball before Toby took the box away from her.
"Seriously, stop it. She won't be glad to see you if you eat them all." He handed her some rice and they stopped talking long enough to load up their plates. C.J. stopped him from putting a forkful of vegetables into his mouth.
"Shouldn't you go get the guest of honor? It's rude to start without her."
Toby pushed the food around on his plate a little before answering. "She might be sleeping and I don't want to wake her. She was exhausted when I picked her up at the airport." When C.J. didn't answer, he looked up. She had a smirk on her face.
"You're afraid of her!" she accused, laughing. Toby wanted to deny it but knew when he was beaten.
"Terrified," he admitted. "I don't know what to say to her. I don't know how she feels about being here. I don't know how she feels about her parents. I don't know…" He was interrupted.
"You could always just ask." Two pairs of eyes looked up in surprise. Toby's niece was in the doorway, rubbing her eyes. She came into the kitchen and C.J. got up to give her a hug.
"It's great to see you again, Rachel. How long has it been?"
Rachel hugged her back. "Probably not since the twins were born. Uncle Toby got busy."
"Yeah, well, you're hugging the reason for that," Toby muttered. He passed her a plate as she sat down between them.
"Thank you again for the hysterical card you sent," C.J. mentioned as she passed the various boxes over to Rachel. "It was almost as funny as the little skit your uncle and his merry men put on for my benefit on my first day." At Rachel's questioning look, she continued, "Oh, I didn't tell you about that? My first day as COS and everyone resigns. Even the President. They thought it was fun to watch me have a heart attack."
"Sounds like Uncle Toby," Rachel said, looking through the boxes. Toby handed her the chicken balls she was seeking from where he had hidden them from C.J. She smiled her thanks. "Do you remember how he set Josh up on Election Day at the voting place?"
"Hey, that was after they all set me up before the debate," Toby protested half-heartedly. The women ignored him as they recounted some of the practical jokes the senior staff had been responsible for during the seven-odd years of being in the White House. Toby was encouraged to see his niece relax. The phone rang and he reluctantly left the warm circle in the kitchen.
"Hello."
"Hey, it's me." The unmistakable musical tones of his ex-wife were on the other end. "Just calling to remind you that you said you would take the kids this weekend. Can you still walk? 'Cause they can and much faster than you might think."
"Oh, so you heard about it too," Toby grimaced, thinking of his altercation with his former friend the previous day.
"It's all over Washington," she teased. "No, not really," she hurried to reassure him when she heard him groan. "I happened to call Rena looking for you and she told me. I hope you guys worked it out."
Toby sighed. "No, not really. Other things have happened that took precedence." He explained to Andy about Rachel.
"Wow," she said, finally. "So much can change in 24 hours."
"You're telling me."
"So with Rachel there do you still want Huck and Molly?" she asked, hesitantly. "I can always cancel…"
"No," Toby interrupted. "I'm still the dad. I can handle it." To Andy's credit, she didn't bring up all the other times that Toby was the dad and didn't handle it. She said instead,
"Can I talk to her?"
"Of course." Toby put down the phone and went into the kitchen. "Rachel, Andy's on the phone. She'd like to say hi." As soon as she left the room, he looked pleadingly at C.J. "I don't suppose I can bring Rachel with me to work tomorrow. I mean, she's old enough to stay here alone but I don't think that's a good idea. And Andy will be dropping the kids by tomorrow night for the weekend so I need to come in and get some work done and I don't think…"
"Toby!" C.J. put a hand on his arm to stop him. "You're babbling again. You gotta stop that because it's freaking me out. If the President starts babbling in a speech, I'm going to blame you."
Toby had to smile. "And I'm going to find that highly unpleasant?"
C.J. cocked her head mischievously. "Mmmm, I seem to remember those very words being spoken to me at some point. Isn't it funny how what goes around, comes around?"
"Hilarious." Toby grabbed the last egg roll and munched contemplatively. He had just realized that C.J. hadn't answered his question about bringing Rachel to work when his niece reappeared, smiling.
"The twins are coming tomorrow! Isn't that great, Uncle Toby?" She looked expectantly at her uncle.
"Yeah, terrific. Let's nail everything down."
"Andy says they're practically running everywhere now," Rachel continued. "She put Molly on the phone but she wouldn't say anything. She put Huck on the phone and he said 'Rae-Rae'. It was so cute." C.J. jabbed Toby with her elbow.
"Did you hear that, speechwriter? Your son said 'Rae-Rae'." When Toby only grunted in response, she turned her attention to Rachel.
"How would you like to come in tomorrow with your uncle, do a little proofreading, maybe help me make fun of your uncle's performance in front of the press… we'll eat popcorn, drink milkshakes. Hey, I just happen to have a chess game scheduled for the President. I'm supposed to have learned how to play by now but I'm sure he'd rather play you. What do you say?"
Rachel's eyes shone. For the first time since Toby picked her up from the airport, he thought his niece might enjoy her time in Washington.
"Play the President in chess? Are you kidding? I would love to." Her tone turned wistful. "Do you think he remembers me?"
Toby cleared his throat. "I know for a fact he does. He mentioned that you would be welcome anytime." He was taken aback by the impromptu hug Rachel gave him.
"This is so cool," she exclaimed and she went over to give C.J. a hug too. "I gotta go and pick out something presidential to wear tomorrow." She danced out of the kitchen and Toby avoided the triumphant smile that he knew C.J. was wearing.
"Toby, this is going to be fine," she reassured him, as she gathered up the empty plates and took them over to the sink.
"Yeah, maybe," he conceded, getting up to help her. But in the back of his mind he remembered how Rachel had looked with her heavy bags in her arms at the terminal and he wasn't so sure.
