Reunion
Chapter 14
The reunion was in full swing and the food was being raved about. Sasha had purposely planned it to be a buffet style so the crew could serve themselves and their families as they wanted. Kaitlyn and Gavin kept the food fresh and hot and the drinks filled. Word had gotten out that they were Mike's kids and everyone was thrilled for him. Hannah also helped them a bit.
Everything was kept very lighthearted and the media had been kept away, from both the reunion and from the news of reunion between Mike and his children. They talked, reminisced and laughed. The older, more senior members of the crew would probably not be alive or able to attend the next reunion in ten years and so Sasha had convinced Hannah to take a group picture of them that she would distribute to everyone and in time, to the media outlets.
All Mike really cared about was spending time with his kids and while he visited with the crew, he was clearly focused on the kids and it frustrated Susan. He wasn't even focused on their kids. Susan was sitting at one of the tables by herself, while her kids worked on one of the craft projects that Sasha had organized. Kara and Sasha sat down next to her feeling she needed a pep talk.
"I figured you two would be busy." Susan said.
"Not too much. So, how are you handling all this?" Sasha asked as she pointed at Mike visiting with Grace and Hannah.
"I'm fine. Just didn't sleep much last night." Susan said as she picked at her nails.
"You and Mike have a hot night after your date?" Kara teased and Susan let out a low laugh.
"I wish. No, he's too busy worrying about the older kids. Me and the triplets are a distant second in his mind right now." Susan remarked.
"I doubt that. Mike practically worships the ground you walk on and he adores those triplets." Kara said.
"Now that he has Katie and Hannah back and has Gavin, they will be his total focus." Susan remarked.
"So, we refocus him. C'mon. You go tell Mike to go watch the triplets, you have an errand to run. I'll tell Abby." Sasha said as she stood up and walked over to Abby.
"Do you even have a plan?" Susan asked as she and Kara stood up.
"Nope. Hey, Mike? We need you to watch the triplets for an hour or so, maybe longer. We're taking Susan out." Kara informed Mike.
"Uh…okay." Mike said. Susan gave him a kiss on the cheek and bent down and gave Noelle a kiss before grabbing her purse and following Kara, Sasha and the two Secret Service agents out.
Thankfully, the agents were Abby and another female agent; Lily that had worked with Susan for years and was very protective of her. Both women were completely unfazed when Sasha led them into a lingerie store. Susan had put a ball cap and sunglasses on the disguise herself.
"You do realize, I don't shop at these places?" Susan said.
"So, what do you wear to sleep in?" Sasha asked.
"Uh, night-shirts and Mike's t-shirts. I've always worn those. And the kids like to get in bed with us." Susan admitted.
"Well, you are finding something different and you should lock the bedroom door. What do you think Danny and I do?" Kara asked.
"Hence all the kids?" Susan asked as she glanced through the racks.
"Something like that. Seriously, lock the damn door. The kids will learn to knock and wait. Mike is crazy about you." Kara stated.
"Maybe." Susan said as she continued to look through the lingerie.
"Here, this one? Or this? You guys could have a really fun night?" Sasha asked as she held up a teal colored nightgown and a black one. Both would look good on Susan.
"You really need to model them. I'll go see about the rooms for you to try them on." Abby said.
"You guys are a mess." Susan said before grabbing both nightgowns and another one that she had found. They all found seats in the private waiting area and within a few minutes, Susan came out in the gown she had chosen. It was a jade-green with a black lace overlay. It was also the least modest.
"You look amazing. Hot. Mike's a lucky man, even if he doesn't realize it." Kara said.
"On to the next one." Susan said quietly as she walked back into the back.
"All of her life, she's been told she isn't good enough. Mike is the only one that has believed in her. Sure, his attention is a little off, but its to his kids, not another woman." Abby remarked. Kara was Susan's best friend, but Abby knew Susan better. She had been with her since the early days of Mike's campaign. She had been there for the miscarriages, the stillbirth, and for the triplet's birth. Through fertility treatments and the media picking Susan apart. Abby had had a front seat for it all.
"Maybe we shouldn't intrude." Kara said.
"And let her be miserable? We all know Mike adores her but he is a man. He's a bit like a dinosaur." Sasha said.
"You just called one of the best Presidents we've ever had a dinosaur?" Kara teased.
"Yeah. He's a man. That qualifies him. And there's Susan…wow!" Sasha said as Susan stepped out of the fitting room in the black nightgown. Between the green one and the black, Mike would have to be blind to not notice his wife.
"It's a bit tight. I didn't like the teal one at all." Susan said. Lily let out a low laugh.
"She doesn't like it because it shows off her best assets. And that one only fits like it should." Lily remarked.
"She's single, she knows these things." Abby said.
"You guys are a mess." Susan said.
"So, you'll take all three and these?" Kara said as she held up some panties.
"Why do I need those?" Susan asked.
"Because we are going to put them in a little giftbag and give them to Mike as a promise of things to come." Sasha said.
"Oh. I have no words." Susan said before walking back to the fitting rooms. Within a few minutes, she was back with her clothes, ball cap and sunglasses on. Abby handled the purchase for her and Kara found a local restaurant that served wine and cheese trays. Exactly what Susan needed.
Abby and Lily couldn't drink but they stayed close. The cheese tray had fruit, crackers, cold cuts and chocolate and they had all opted for red wine. Susan never drank so by the second glass, she was beginning to get tipsy and by the third, Kara and Sasha were beginning to get worried about getting her back to the hotel.
They didn't even try to get Susan back to the banquet hall. Abby and Lily utilized a freight elevator and they got Susan into the suite without anyone noticing her. They had her settled in bed in no time. Kara and Sasha would explain to Mike why his wife was upstairs sleeping off a hangover while Abby and Lily watched over her.
What had happened was completely uncharacteristic of Susan, showing just how shocked she was by the older Slattery kid's reappearance. She would never begrudge Mike his kids and would welcome them with open arms but something odd was going on with her. Maybe it was facing Al Smith again and being confronted by another of his victims. Maybe it was facing the fact that Gavin was evidence that Mike's first marriage was not a troubled as everyone thought, or the fact that Mike had had four children with Christine with no struggle whatsoever.
Sasha and Kara found Mike in the banquet hall, trying to make the triplets mind and visiting with crew members. Finally, they got him by himself and the Kara was able to get the triplets sidetracked so Sasha could tell him that Susan was currently unavailable.
"Where's Sue? I need her to look after the triplets. I need to…" Mike questioned but Sasha held her hand up to stop him.
"Susan…isn't feeling so well. She's upstairs in the suite. Sleeping. Abby and Lily are with her." Sasha explained. Paxton was close and Susan wouldn't want her little boy to know that she was drunk.
"She was fine when she left. Does she need to go to the hospital?" Mike asked.
"No, she's…we took her to a restaurant and didn't realize that she was a bit of a lightweight. The second glass of wine, she was tipsy and the third…well, you can imagine. She didn't even get the third one down." Sasha told him quietly.
"Oh, geez. Susan never drinks. Why was she so upset?" Mike asked.
"You. Mike, I know you love her and I know you are thrilled to have your kids back and to get to know Gavin, but you still have a wife and three young kids. I think she is feeling a bit…threatened, maybe? She thinks she and the kids are a distant second now." Sasha told him.
"Threatened by who? Christine is dead and I would never look at another woman." Mike asked angrily.
"I know. Mike, you and I both know, her self-confidence is a bit down because of everything. Why don't you go upstairs and spend a little one-on-one, private time with your wife? We'll handle the kids. We'll take them for pizza and a movie so they are out of the way." Sasha suggested.
"Are you sure?" Mike asked.
"I am sure. Call me when you are ready to have them back…and Mike, be sure to notice what is in the gift bag." Sasha said as she shoved him away. Mike bent down over his three youngest kids and kissed the top of their heads.
"Hey, guys? Mommy isn't feeling so good right now and I'm going to go upstairs to take care of her. She'll be alright but I need to spend some time with her. Aunt Sasha and Uncle Tom are going to be keeping you all. You will behave and they will tell me if you don't. Understand?" Mike asked them. All three of them nodded and Anna handed Mike her coloring page.
"Can you give that to Mommy and give her a kiss for us?" Anna asked.
"Of course." Mike said.
"Don't worry. They'll be fine." Sasha said.
"If Katie or Hannah come out, can you tell them I had to go upstairs and I'll connect with them later?" Mike asked.
"Yes, but now; go, concentrate on Susan." Sasha ordered.
"Yes, ma'am." Mike said as he summoned Alex to leave.
Mike had never known Susan to drink to excess, not that three glasses of wine was particularly excessive. She drank an occasional glass of wine or a shot of whiskey but left it at that. Several of her family members had been alcoholics and Susan had become very diligent about not drinking. Abby and Lily were standing on either side of the suite doors and Alex joined them, sending Lily downstairs to accompany the triplets. When he walked into the suite bedroom that he and Susan had been using, he focused on the clothes and new lingerie laying all over the floor and Susan was asleep, laying sprawled across the bed in a new, very sexy nightgown. He let out a low laugh and picked up the blanket too cover his wife up. As soon as she was sufficiently covered, he kissed her on the forehead and walked into the bathroom to change out of his clothes.
He knew he could be aggravated with Susan but if what Sasha had said was true, he only had himself to blame. Throughout his presidency, Susan had taken a back burner and then the triplets had. Since they had moved to Texas, he had been focused on her and the kids. Was she afraid that would change again, even with his older kids being there?
Mike got in next to Susan, despite not really being tired. In her sleep, she wrapped herself around him and he covered her back up. The lingerie was nice and he was interested but he needed the one-on-one time with Susan. They would talk later.