A/N: Hello, welcome back! Thank you for all the reviews you left me. I will continue to update this and The Fallout as long as I know you guys still want to read them. Enjoy the latest chapter!
Chapter Ten.
"Daddy, have you heard from Mom at all?" Hannah asks. She and Frank are in his office. Her doing homework on the couch, him skimming a potential new piece of legislation in his desk. His eyes flicker up to meet his, cognac on cerulean.
"No. I called her earlier, but she was with the doctor and couldn't talk. I am going to call her tonight when we get back to the townhouse." Frank informs her and returns to reading, thinking that his daughter would do the same. Hannah gnaws on her pencil, internally debating whether she wants to bring up something to her father. It's a highly sensitive subject, and Hannah doesn't do well with emotions.
"Daddy…" Hannah begins and stands up, choosing to sit down directly across from Frank instead. Frank tosses aside his paperwork. Clearly, Hannah wants to have a conversation with him, and he won't deny her.
"Yes, Hannah?" Hannah averts his eyes, mentally assembling her sentence word-for-word before speaking.
"Do you think Mom will be okay after…you know…the miscarriage?" Frank laces his fingers together. His daughter is concerned about Claire, as is he.
"Your mother is the strongest person I know. She will get through this, Hannah…we all will." He can tell Hannah wants to ask him something else, she isn't sure how to say it.
"Do you think…you two will…try again?" The last thing the teenager wants to think about is her parents having sex, but she is curious about whether she should expect a sibling. Hannah was just getting used to the idea of another Underwood coming, when her mother's shooting happened.
Frank is astonished by Hannah's question. He hasn't even thought about whether they should attempt to have another child. The shooting and miscarriage are too fresh in his mind, Claire's too. It's going to take a while for them to broach the subject again.
"I don't know…I think your mother is going to be the one to have to make that decision."
Hannah's eyebrows furrow, "Why? You guys always make decisions together, right?
"Why are you asking so many questions?" Frank asks, careful not to sound upset. He never sees this side of Hannah. His daughter is usually so guarded, only sharing her inner-most thoughts when pushed. And usually to just Claire.
"I don't know," Hannah says with a shrug. "You and I never get to talk, just the two of us. We are the only two people who can relate to what happened."
A grin pulls at the corner of Frank's lips. Hannah is right. They are the only ones who are feeling the same way about Claire's shooting. It wouldn't do them any good if they decided to shut each other out. He is going to be forthright with his daughter because she deserves the truth.
"Well…to be honest Hannah, I never wanted or liked children. It was your mother who convinced me we should have a child."
Hannah is taken aback by Frank's admission. He has always been a great father to her, though it makes sense as to why she never had any siblings up until now. She remembers begging her mom and dad for a brother or sister when she was younger, but it never happened. Her parents just told her she was all they ever needed. Somewhere in the past few months, that must have changed for them.
"Why? And why all of the sudden was Mom pregnant?"
None of this is making sense to the teenager. Her parents never do anything by accident, they plan everything out. One kid is a mistake, two is a choice.
"Your mother decided she wanted another child about six months ago and I wanted to do that for her since she has sacrificed so much to get us to where we are today." Frank owes his political career to Claire, he must never forget that. "Anyway, I always knew I would have a great career in politics, but once you get to the level where we are, people want to use the people that you love against you." Which is what's happening right now, Hannah thinks to herself.
Hannah flips back to the fight she had with her father earlier in the kitchen. When she asked him if what he was doing was all worth it to him, she didn't realize then he was asking himself the same thing. She knows her father doesn't planning on stopping at the vice presidency, he wants to be president. She just doesn't know if he's willing to do it if her and Claire aren't by his side.
Frank mistakes Hannah's silence for hurt feelings. He is so used to being brutally honest with Claire, he doesn't know if his daughter expects the same treatment.
"Hannah, I don't want you to think I didn't want you or you were a mistake."
"I don't. And you're right, being where we are, it's kind of scary."
"Just wait until we are in the Oval," Frank says with a wink. Just then, Doug interrupts the pair, informing Frank he has a meeting. "I want you to stay here, no wandering. Meechum isn't here." Frank isn't taking any chances, if Secret Service is involved, they could easily grab Hannah in the White House while he is out of the room.
"I have homework to finish." Frank knocks on the desk twice and follows Doug out of his office.
Hannah waits until she is sure the door is closed before sitting in her father's chair. She spins around to face the wall, looking at the various pictures Frank has transferred from office-to-office. A couple are pictures of her father with assorted staff over the years. Another is an image of her mother and father waving to an adoring crowd with their arms around each other taken way before she was born. Hannah has seen the same framed picture in her mother's office. Her favorite, is a picture of her and Claire taken when she was about two. Cake is smeared on her hand and her mother's cheek. Claire is pointing and smiling at the camera, trying to coax a camera-shy Hannah to smile at her father behind the lens. Hannah smiles to herself and sets the frame in its correct spot.
An hour later, Hannah is finished with her homework and is scrolling through her phone when someone knocks on her dad's office door. She assumes it's Doug, coming to check to make sure she is still where she said she would be.
"Come in," Hannah says and spins around in her dad's chair. What she doesn't expect is an older, bald man entering. "Who are you?"
"Raymond Tusk. And you must be Hannah. Thankfully, you look more like your mother than you do your father." Hannah keeps her best poker face on. She has heard about Tusk's under-the-table dealings from her father.
"The vice president is still in a meeting. I don't know when he will be back," Hannah uses her dad's official title to show Tusk she isn't scared of him.
"Of course. I'm sorry to hear about your mother, Hannah. How is she doing?" The teenager isn't sure about how much she should disclose. She doesn't trust Tusk, but revealing information about Claire could prove he is behind the accident and shooting.
"Thank you. She is recovering at a hospital in Gaffney, where my parents were." Tusk seems interested in this information. I got you, you son of a bitch, Hannah thinks to herself.
"That's good to hear. When do you think she will be released?"
"I'm not sure, hopefully within the next few days or so."
"I hope you send her my best."
"I will, thank you, Mr. Tusk." Hannah gives him her official Vote Underwood smile she's been crafting since she was old enough to be out on the campaign trail with her parents.
Tusk turns around just as Frank is opening his office door. Frank glances over at Hannah and then back at Tusk.
"Raymond, I see you met my daughter." Hannah smirks at the underlying annoyance in her father's voice.
"Indeed, I have. She is a lovely girl, takes after her mother for sure." Frank ignores the dig on his behalf.
"Well, luckily, she is going to turn out more like Claire than me."
"Hannah was just updating me on your wife. It seems like she will be released from the hospital soon, which is great news."
Frank wonders why Hannah shared that information with Tusk, but he trusts his daughter knows what she is doing.
"She is. Was there anything you needed Raymond or…?" Frank doesn't want to waste his time talking to Tusk. He would rather go home and see if he can get Claire on the phone.
"Oh, I was wondering if Garrett spoke to you about what we were going to do about Xander Feng."
"Not yet. I am sure he will loop us in when he has made a concrete decision."
"Okay, Frank, goodnight. It was nice meeting you, Hannah."
"You too, Mr. Tusk."
Tusk shows himself out and Frank practically slams the door behind him. Hannah can't help but laugh, she wants to see her parents destroy him when they get the chance.
"Let's go home," Frank tells her. Hannah nods and gathers up her belongings, trailing behind her dad to an awaiting vehicle.
They quickly eat dinner together before calling Claire, putting her on speaker so both of them can talk to her.
"Hey," Claire says when she picks up the phone.
"Miss us yet?" Frank asks with a grin. He can envision his wife rolling her eyes from her hospital room in South Carolina.
"I barely even noticed you two were gone. What's going on there?"
"Not much, I went to work with Daddy for a little bit today after school," Hannah informs her mother. She purposely leaves out the part where she came home and fought with her father. The teenager is confident her father will want to discuss it with her mother privately.
"That sounds fun, I hope your father didn't bore you to death," Claire says to her daughter, fully expecting to hear protests from her husband.
"She was fine. What did the doctor say?" Frank asks.
"They said they will release me the day after tomorrow. I have to start physical therapy for my shoulder while I'm here," Claire tells him.
Both husband and wife are aware the other is merely holding conversation for Hannah's sake. They want to really talk to one another when the teenager is out of the room. And they will, but they will give Hannah time to converse with Claire.
Hannah talks to her mother about school, failing to mention the nasty comments she received from her peers about her mother. Claire listens intently, genuinely interested in her daughter's day at school. Midway through their conversation, Hannah's phone dings.
"Sorry Mom, Lauren needs help with the homework we got today, I got to go."
"Okay, I love you. I'll see you soon."
"Bye, Mom, love you." Hannah grabs her phone and heads to her room, shutting the door behind her.
Frank takes the phone off speaker and holds it to his ear. He grabs a cigarette and lights it before sitting on the windowsill.
"Francis, are you smoking without me?" Claire asks when she hears the click of the lighter.
"Yes. Now, are you going to tell me what's wrong?"
Claire would rather not discuss the video. She is still coming to terms with it being released, and everything associated with her miscarriage. Pretending like it never happened isn't a working strategy. Claire deals with things by suppressing them, suffocating them until it's no longer at the forefront of her mind. It was working until she saw the CNN segment on her, and now, she isn't so sure. Frank promised her he would take care of it, but he didn't. She isn't angry with him, she just wants to know this can be contained.
"The video Doug was talking about. They played it on CNN. People know, Francis." Claire doesn't have to explain to him what that could mean for them. Press conferences. Interviews. The public will demand to know what happened to her. And Claire might have to tell them.
Frank feels like he failed her. He did, in a way. He wasn't able to keep their private affairs out of the spotlight. He's disappointed in his chief of staff. Doug doesn't usually screw up like this.
"I gave it to Doug to handle."
"Why didn't he?"
"I don't know. I will talk to him tomorrow. We might have a leak, Claire."
"I agree. What's our next move?"
Even from a hospital bed, Claire still manages to join in on her husband's schemes. He almost passes the cigarette, imaging she is there with him.
"We should let the story die down. If you want to make a statement when you get back home, it would work in our favor."
"Okay. What's on your mind, Francis?" Claire knows her husband better than she knows herself at times. She can sense when he is upset about something.
"Hannah had a hard day at school today. Her and I…had a disagreement when she got home." Claire swallows her sigh. She hates when Frank loses his temper with their daughter. It doesn't happen often, but her husband is too hard on the teenager sometimes. He forgets that their daughter will make mistakes and instead of yelling at her, they need to help her work through them. Her husband doesn't possess the same amount of patience as Claire, which is why she handles most of the discipline.
"What do you mean she had a hard day? What happened?"
"They were awful to her, Claire. Some teacher told her that she wanted me to get shot too." The last thing he wants to do is make Claire feel guilty for what Hannah's classmates were saying to her. None of this is her fault.
"We have to get that teacher fired."
"Don't worry, I'm going to handle it tomorrow."
"Why did you two argue?"
"She had doubts about what we are doing because of everything that's happened. She asked me if what we were doing is all worth it."
It's natural for Hannah to be shaken by her accident, Claire's shooting. Hell, Claire and Frank are whether they want to admit it or not. As a family, the Underwoods' have gone through enough these past few months to warrant uncertainty.
"I will talk to her when I get home."
"Thank you. Get some sleep. I love you."
"I love you too. Goodnight, Francis."
"Goodnight."
The next day, Frank strides into Hannah's school, flanked by two Secret Service Agents. Hannah is walking behind him, trying to conceal her smirk at her classmates gawking at her dad. She forgets how much power she can wield at this school. Her dad is the vice president of the United States, he works side-by-side with the president. Half the people at her school would kill to have their parents in that position.
Frank and Claire do their best to stay out of what happens at Hannah's school. They pay her tuition and handle security, that's it. They want their daughter to learn how to get what she wants without having to rely on her parents' positions to get it. If Hannah asks them to help with something, or they feel the need to step in, they will.
"Excuse me, I would like to speak to the principal," Frank says to the secretary. The secretary's eyes widen as she looks from Frank to Hannah. She nods and points to the principal's office. "Thank you."
Meechum and Hannah exchange grins as they watch Frank bypass the secretary and enter the principal's office without so much as a knock.
"Vice President Underwood, I don't think we have met before. I'm Principal Rowe, it's nice to meet you. Your daughter, Hannah, is one of our finest students. What can we do for you?" Frank shakes hands with the principal and looks over his shoulder at his daughter. Hannah shrugs and sits down next to her father.
"Hannah came home from school yesterday very upset. Apparently, a teacher at this school made my daughter feel unsafe. Now, you can imagine my wife and I's concern, given how much money we pay to have our daughter go here."
"Of course, Mr. Vice President, I understand completely. Hannah, what happened?"
Hannah averts the principal's gaze, choosing to look down at her lap. She wants to give the impression she is still distraught by what happened yesterday.
"Ms. Newbury told my class she wished my dad got shot along with my mom." The principal is equally as scared as he is shocked by the teenager's admission.
"I sincerely apologize Mr. Vice President and to you, Hannah. Ms. Newbury will be immediately dismissed from this school. That is absolutely unacceptable behavior."
"This isn't the first time this teacher has said things to my daughter concerning the Walker administration. Hannah is only thirteen. She doesn't have any say in what happens at the White House. I would appreciate if teachers' here respect that."
The principal is continuously nodding. He needs Hannah to stay enrolled at this school or he will face a public relations disaster.
"I couldn't agree more, Mr. Vice President. Hannah, I promise you that nothing like this will happen again. If it does, please come to me directly so we can handle it."
Frank glances at his daughter, "are you satisfied?"
Hannah nods, "I don't think we need to take this any further. As long as Ms. Newbury is gone by the end of the day."
"She will be," Principal Rowe pipes up.
"Good. Principal," Frank stands up, along with Hannah, to shake his hand.
"Sir, I'm sorry you had to take time out of your busy schedule to deal with this. It will be taken care of."
"Thank you," Frank exits the office, with Hannah on his tail.
"That was easy. Could you imagine if Mom went in there instead of you?" Hannah asks, faking a chill. Frank smiles,
"Your mother would have him hanging upside down by his ankles in front of the whole school. We would never have to pay a dime to this place ever again." Hannah laughs, her dad is not wrong. Her mother is even scarier than her father when she gets angry.
"I have to go to class. I'll see you at home, later?"
"Yeah, I have some things to take care of. I'll bring dinner home." Frank pinches Hannah's cheek and the two go their separate ways.
"Doug!" Frank yells the moment he steps into his office. He hasn't forgotten about the video his chief of staff allowed to be released to the public.
"What is it, Sir?" Doug asks and shuts the door behind him. He can tell Frank is furious by the way he's biting his lip.
"Claire told me the video I told you to take care of was released on CNN last night. How the hell did you let that happen?" His voice drops dangerously low by the end of his sentence. Frank promised Claire he would take care of this. Doug made him look like a liar, and that is unacceptable.
"I told Connor to handle it. I should have checked to make sure he did his job." Connor is the new communications director Claire hired before they left for South Carolina. It was her idea to bring him into the fold, strictly for a trial run.
"Do I need to worry about you Doug?" Frank asks. His chief of staff knows better than to pass off important assignments to other people who can't be trusted.
"No, Sir. Absolutely not. I will personally handle Connor."
"Doug, Claire will not be speaking about what happened to her."
"Of course, Sir. I'll take care of it right away."
Doug leaves without being dismissed by Frank. Frank is starting to doubt Doug's ability to do his job effectively. Claire's right, there's a leak in the Walker administration and it might be Doug.
"Edward, you don't have to push me in the wheelchair. I'm fine," Claire insists. She just completed her first round of physical therapy at the hospital and Meechum is wheeling her back to her room.
Claire spots a man she doesn't recognize dressed in scrubs in her room. She holds up her hand, signaling Meechum to stop pushing her.
"Edward, who is that?" Claire whispers to Meechum. She is pretty familiar with the nurses and orderlies assigned to her room by now. This person is foreign to her, which makes her uneasy.
Meechum tells her to stay where she is and enters the room, hand on his gun.
"Who are you? Why are you in this room?" Meechum asks. The man holds up his hands when he sees Meechum.
"Hey man, I'm just an orderly. I was assigned to change sheets in this room while the patient was out." Meechum is skeptical, but drops his hand from his gun. Something about this man isn't sitting right with the agent.
"I want you to leave. Now. I will assign someone else to service this room."
"Fine. Sorry, man." The orderly leaves the room, holding eye contact with Claire the whole time. Claire matches his stare, refusing to look away. Meechum wheels her back into the room and stands by as Claire transfers herself to the bed.
"Edward, find out who that is. Would you?"
"Yes ma'am."
Meechum returns to his post outside Claire's room. Claire contemplates calling Frank to tell him about what just happened, but she stops herself. She is overreacting because she is bored. There could be a benign explanation as to why the orderly was in her room that she is overlooking. If Meechum finds something suspicious, then she will alert her husband.
While Claire is sleeping, Meechum goes to the nurses' station on the floor.
"Excuse me, I just wanted to double check something regarding Mrs. Underwood's room," Meechum says to a brunette nurse behind the desk.
"Sure, what can I help you with?"
"There was an orderly cleaning her room this afternoon and neither Mrs. Underwood or I recognized him. I thought that was kind of odd."
The nurse furrows her eyebrows and types something into her computer.
"According to our log, Mrs. Underwood's room was already serviced this morning. Nobody should've been in there, Sir."
Meechum's eyes widen, he had a sinking feeling the nurse would be telling him this.
"Are you absolutely positive?"
"Yes. Whoever the person was that you saw, should not have been in Mrs. Underwood's room."
A/N 2: Next chapter, Meechum tries to get Claire home safely and Frank pushes her to talk about the miscarriage. Please leave reviews, I worry that nobody is reading this anymore. Thanks!