Chapter 9

Henry walked into the living room. "Hey babe, I cooked some pretty good..." He paused when he realized his wife wasn't on the couch. "Elizabeth." He turned toward the stairs to see Stevie.

"Dad, are you okay?" She could tell he seemed anxious.

"Have you seen your mom?" He couldn't help but feel panicked.

Stevie nodded. "Yeah she's upstairs with Jason. It looks like she is sleeping, so I closed the door."

"Oh okay. Well that's good." Henry was relieved. He wasn't sure where he thought she might have gone, but he was worried to have her out of his sight, even if it was only for a minute. He sat down on the couch. He decided it was best to give her sometime alone with Jason. "Were they both asleep?"

"Yeah it seemed that way." Stevie answered.

"That's good. What are you still doing up?"

"I was studying."

"That's my girl." Henry smiled and Stevie chuckled.

"So how did her talk with Russell go?" Stevie sat down next to her father.

"It went well." Henry told her her.

Stevie knew her dad wouldn't give her much more than that. "So she's not fired?"

"The President would be stupid to fire your mother. He knows that. She knows that. We all know that." Henry smiled. "She saved his ass."

"How is she feeling?"

"One step at a time." Henry looked at his daughter. "I think she was a little mad at me. I told her she couldn't go to work tomorrow. I've already talked to Blake."

"I told you she wouldn't be a big fan of your friendship with Blake." Stevie smiled. "You better chain her to the bed and hide all of her technical devices."

"Might need your help tomorrow."

"I've got your back dad." Stevie smiled at her father.

"Thanks kiddo and thanks for being so helpful lately. I don't think we could get through this without you."

"That's funny. I was going to say the same thing about you, dad. You are our hero." Stevie hugged him.

They were lucky she had moved home from college. She really had been a huge help. And it made him feel good that after all these years, he was still their hero. That was a big accomplishment for any father.

"And are you admitting that you are glad I dropped out of school?"

Henry shook his head. "Not a chance."

"Well it was worth a shot." Stevie laughed.


"Mom," Jason said groggily as he rolled over to see his mom lying in his bed. "What are you doing in here?"

"Oh." Elizabeth opened her eyes slowly. She hadn't been able to sleep in a long time. It actually felt nice to get a little sleep. "I'm sorry. I came to check in on you, and I was so tired I fell asleep."

"Oh," Jason stared at his mom. There was so much he wanted to say.

"I used to do this all the time when you were a baby, but it is probably weird now that you're a teenager. I should get to bed.." She knew they needed to talk but decided to wait. She started to get up from the bed.

"Wait. Mom, I'm sorry." Jason told her. He couldn't wait any longer.

Elizabeth smiled but didn't say anything. She waited for Jason to finish.

"I shouldn't have yelled at you, and I shouldn't have ditched my detail." Jason admitted. "I was just mad."

"Well your father did pick the tallest, least discrete guy on the planet." Elizabeth knew he had done that on purpose, but she wasn't going to bring it up again. "I can imagine how it made you feel after you thought you were going to be a normal kid in normal school." Elizabeth ruffled his hair. "I kind of ruined that for you."

"It's okay." Jason knew he would never be a normal kid. Those days were over. "Kevin isn't so bad. He likes video games almost as much as me. And a lot of the girls liked him too. I got several phone numbers."

"Well that's a big plus. I guess you want us to keep him on then."

"Wait," Jason began to clue in. "Are you going to let me go to school without him?"

"You don't need him, Jason." Elizabeth patted his leg. "You were right. The security had nothing to do with you. I've been going through something since I got back from Iran." She knew it wasn't a secret and the kids weren't stupid.

"I know, mom."

"I know you do. I'm sorry I've been acting like a crazy person."

"You aren't a crazy person, mom."

Elizabeth sighed. "Thanks, baby." She hugged him. "You need to get some sleep."

"Hold up, mom. There is something else I need to talk to you about." Jason hadn't told anyone how he felt, but he was ready to tell his mom. She needed to know.

"What is it baby?"

"That." Jason pointed out as she called him a baby. "I'm not a baby anymore. But that is exactly how you guys treat me."

"Jason. You are our baby." He would always be her baby. That would never change no matter how old he got.

"I didn't know you were in Iran. They let me walk around here like nothing was going on, all while they were secretly freaking out inside." Jason sighed. "I know they were just trying to protect me, but I don't need to be protected. They should have told me."

"Honey," Elizabeth touched his shoulder. "Your sisters weren't supposed to know, but they figured it out. It was a top secret mission, and I know that you aren't a baby anymore. But I'm glad that they didn't tell you. I hate that your dad and sisters had to worry about whether or not I was alive or not. I'm grateful that you didn't have to go through that too." Elizabeth realized in that moment that she never even thought about how Henry and the girls must have been feeling. Yes. She thought about her family as it all was happening and soon after, but she hadn't thought about them enough since returning her home. She needed to talk to all of them about how they felt and how much she loves them."I think you are lucky that you have sisters that are willing to protect you from the bad stuff in this world."

"I would rather be included." Jason huffed. "I know the world sucks." Jason told her.

Elizabeth cringed. She hated when he talked liked that.

"But I also know that you are a superhero disguised as the Secretary of State."

Elizabeth smiled. "You really think that."

"Of course I do. I think that is why it has been so hard to see you so broken."

"Broken?" Elizabeth questioned. She hated that he thought she was broken.

"Yeah," Jason admitted. "You are always so put together and on top of things."

"I must be a good actor." Elizabeth chuckled.

Jason smiled and Elizabeth wrapped her arms around him. "I love you so much Jason. And I'm sorry if you feel like we treat you like a baby. The truth is we probably do because you are our baby. But I know you are growing up, and I will try my best to let you do that." Elizabeth hugged him even tighter.

"Ow! Mom! That super human strength is kicking in." Jason laughed. "I'm really glad you are okay. I couldn't imagine team McCord without you."

"You never will!" Elizabeth stood up. "Okay. You need to get to bed young man. It is way past your bedtime."

"Oh. Alright. But you are the one that woke me up." Jason reminded her.

"I get great pleasure in watching you sleep." Elizabeth smiled. "I better get to bed before your dad puts out a missing persons APB on me."

Jason smiled. Maybe his mom was getting back to normal and everything was going to be okay.

"So Jason, do you think I'm better than Batman?" She asked as she reached the door.

"That depends. Can you talk dad into letting me go to a basketball game this weekend?" Jason crossed his fingers.

"Not on your life buddy." Elizabeth knew Jason was grounded. "I have a feeling we are all going to be staying in with you this weekend."

"But mom."

"Hey no whining. Be treating like a baby works both way."

Jason gave her a look. She was good. "Goodnight mom."

"Goodnight Jase." Elizabeth walked into the hallway and shut his door. She leaned against the door frame and a small tear fell from her face.

"Elizabeth," Henry walked up the stairs. "Are you okay?"

She nodded. "I will be. One day at a time." She rested her head on his shoulder as they walked to their bedroom hand in hand.