"Chantal, I'm not leaving you behind so stop pouting and put on your shoes." Jeannette ordered.
"I'm tired of looking at stupid houses."
"I don't care, put your shoes on or you won't be going to spend the day with Toby tomorrow."
Chantal rolled her eyes, put down the doll house pieces she was playing with and put on her shoes.
She refused to get out of the car at the first two houses and laughed quietly to herself when her Mom asked the agent if she forgot what her requirements were.
Jeannette made a face the moment she saw the Victorian yellow house in Georgetown.
"This gem was just put on the market and is considered one of the most prominent and historic
estates in Georgetown."
"It's yellow."
"It has seven bedrooms, five and a half bathrooms and a guest house." The agent continued.
"It's yellow." Jen repeated making a face.
"It was built in 1857 and features two kitchens and a two car garage. The rooms are all very large."
"But it's yellow!"
"For crying out loud Mummy, we can paint it another colour." Chantal sighed and ran towards the house since it looked so much like her dollhouse complete with the three windows in the attic.
Jeannette had little choice but to follow her daughter in and looked around. She liked the kitchen and large butler's pantry and admired the built in mahogany bookcases in the study. The bedrooms were spacious with pretty views but she hated how they were decorated. She liked how extensive the backyard was and knew she could put in a pool. She liked the idea of using the guest house as her studio and asked the agent the price.
"It is listed at 8, 750 000."
"Offer them six and a half that can be wired to a bank account immediately."
"Miss Pierce, that is more than two million less than the..."
"Do it and remind them the money could be in the bank by the end of business tomorrow. Tell them every room will have to be redecorated and the house painted so there is no way I'm paying asking price."
"Yes Miss Pierce. I'll drop you off and go to the office and contact the sellers."
"I love it Mummy, it looks like my doll house too." Chantal whispered.
"I'd like it better if it was grey."
"Grey would look nice. Wow look at all those stores, there is that place we never ate at. Can we have lunch there?"
"Mrs. Harley, could you drop us off here, we'll do a late lunch."
"Certainly Miss Pierce, I'll contact you as soon as I hear."
"Thank you."
After lunch Jen found a pay phone and called Sam.
"You at home?"
"No a pay phone."
"I've got to get you a cell phone."
"I don't want one, I know my way around now so there is no need for it. I like being unavailable as soon as I leave the apartment. I put an offer on a house."
"What? I thought you were going to let me check it out?"
"Yeah well just picture Chantal's doll house in a hideous yellow colour that will be redone gray. It's got a separate guest house that I'll turn into my studio. It's got a great study for you and a huge backyard for a pool and play set."
"Sounds great but why didn't I get to see it?"
"I put an offer in that was almost three million less than asking price but they'll have it in a day. All the rooms are ugly and the yellow is just ...I'm not paying anywhere near asking price when that much needs to be changed."
"Do you remember where it is?"
"Georgetown."
"That narrows it down to one neighbourhood at least but what's the address?"
"I have no clue, Chantal do you remember the house address?"
"It was number 14 but that's all I remember."
"You could call Mrs. Harley and ask her."
"I might just do that. I should be home around seven tonight and I thought since Toby will have Chantal tomorrow I'll sneak out around four and ravish you."
"Sounds good to me. Oh great an ice cream truck is heading this way. I better go stop Miss Muffet from getting run over."
Chantal ran right over to the curb to see where the ice cream truck would stop. She walked up half a block and took the five dollar bill Sam had given her out.
"One twist and one chocolate cone please."
"That will be 4.00."
She handed the girl her five dollars and dropped the change into her purse before taking both cones. She turned to go back to her mother but found Jeannette standing a foot away.
"I got you one too and stayed within your sight line." she said quickly.
"I know and thank you." Jeannette responded and took the twist cone.
Sam was shaking his head when Toby walked in to drop a file on his desk.
"Now what?" Toby asked.
"Jen put a multi million dollar offer on a house and I haven't even seen it."
"Her money, obviously." Toby chuckled. "Where?"
"Georgetown. That's all she knew, Chantal remembered it was number fourteen."
"Forward to 14 something or other Georgetown, District of Columbia." Toby laughed.
"I'm in love with a control freak."
"What?" CJ shrieked as she entered the office.
"I said I was... yes I love the mother of my children CJ, deal with it."
"I think I'm going to find a bunker somewhere and hide to save myself from becoming collateral damage. I've got a hot date tomorrow." Toby teased.
Sam laughed at Toby until he saw the look of death on CJ's face.
"Come on Ceeg, being in love with her has to be better than just having sex with her all the time."
"Sam, you are going to be the death of me yet! Marry her and maybe, just maybe we have a fighting chance."
"Ceeg, I'd loved to marry her but she is sooo not ready for that! You have no idea how freaked out she got when she discovered she was pregnant again. Abbey, didn't call me up there just for the fun of it. She knew only I could talk her of the proverbial ledge. She committed to staying here for a year. She just put an offer on a multi million dollar house in Georgetown, so somewhere deep in her subconscious she knows that she's going to be spending a lot of time here but she's not thinking that far ahead. If I were to ask her to marry me she'd think it was just to satisfy you. If I asked her now she'd be right. I love her CJ. I want to marry her and if God blesses us with another child after this baby I'd be thrilled too. I love her enough to not hurt her. I'd rather quit then send her packing, panicking about being forced into something she's not ready for. I will not do that to her. I want her to love me back and that is slowly, far too slowly for my likening mind you, yet slowly happening. Maybe once the baby is born but there is no way I'm asking her now."
"I can't even remember why I came over here now." CJ grumbled and walked back to her office.
Sam put his head down on his desk wondering when life became so complicated. He didn't regret loving Jeannette and he certainly didn't regret that night in Fiji. He felt like her owed the President an apology for putting Jeannette and Chantal before his job but he knew Jed Bartlet would not accept it. As much as he adored and looked up to Leo, he never would permanently place a job that could only last eight years at the most before his family. A week or two would be understandable but to miss Chantal growing up, after missing the first five years was unimaginable to him. He pulled his wallet out and looked at the wallet size picture of Chantal from London and smiled. Sam wanted it on his desk but he also adored CJ and didn't want her to spontaneously combust either. He flipped open the file that Toby had given him and started reading it.
He was home a little after six and received his usual greeting from his daughter. She ran to him and flung her arms around him. Sam blew a kiss at Jen as he hugged his daughter. Chantal told him all about her day and the ice cream. She asked if he knew where Toby was taking her, pouting when Sam informed her he didn't have a clue. After dinner, they were soundly beaten at Monopoly by Chantal and Sam decided he was no longer going to take it easy on her. He just hoped that his A game didn't end in defeat once more.
Jeannette had tucked her in and was talking quietly to her about the house when Sam came in to kiss her good night. She told him about the tire swing and that she really hoped they would move in to the house. Sam reminded her that it was hard to understand the way houses were sold and that the owners could say no just because they were in a bad mood. He didn't want her to get her hopes up even though he had the strange feeling that it would go through. He kissed her a few times, shook Winston's paw and turned out the light.
Sam made Jen a cup of tea and brought it in to her in the bedroom. He sat down beside her and kissed her gently.
"How are you feeling?"
"Not so bad, I'm just tired, that's all. I was permanently tired when I was carrying Chantal so I'm use to it. The nausea is worse this time, but I'm not quite as tired all day long since, it comes in waves instead. How much work do you have to do tonight?"
"Nothing that can't keep until morning. I think we need to just relax and have a little chat instead."
"Kay, thanks for the cuppa and sorry about springing the house on you. You have to be patient with me Sam, old habits die hard. At least, I'm thinking about you within half an hour of decisions now instead of hours later. I know saying well it's my money and my house isn't exactly what partners do but I'm still thinking like that. I'm a work in progress."
"I know and I appreciate the effort you are making. I really do Jen! It's one thing to tell you that it's not you and Chantal against the world anymore but I can make it seems like it is with my job sometimes. You seem to be good at taking my budding in with a grain of salt. I also want you to know that I will quit before I let you, Chantal or our baby get dragged through the mud. CJ honestly wants to be thrilled for us, however it's her job to protect the President and his administration's image. CJ was one of your biggest fans. I didn't have a clue who you were but she was whining that she missed you just like the First Lady. Please try harder not to hate her so much. Hate her job, not Ceeg."
"Easier said than done still on CJ. I promise, I will try to remember to hate the message not the messenger and that she is also your friend and a fan of mine."
"That's all I ask Jen. So when the offer is accepted go ahead and buy the house. Just please let me know the address right after you buy it."
"If they accept the offer."
"I have a very funny feeling they will. So tell me all about this house of yours. I know is that it is yellow and our daughter thinks you are a freak." Sam teased.
Jen filled Sam in on all the bedrooms, the kitchen and pantry, the study and the guest house. Her detailed description of how horrible the rooms looked was unnecessary but he knew that telling her wouldn't do him any good, so he let her drone on and on. They were watching Pretty in Pink on TBS when the phone rang. Sam reached over to grab it and quickly handed it to her mouthing I told you.
"Hello?"
"Hi Miss Pierce, you asked me to call as soon as I heard and..."
"Mrs. Harley, do I have a very large wire transfer to do in five hours?"
"Technically no, but you may have one to do in about eight hours. They want 6.75 million. I told them I didn't think you'd budge but I'd call you."
"Tell them I'm willing to budge, my offer is now 6.25. Let's see how they like that. I will not go above 6.5 no matter what. I'll keep looking. I only need four bedrooms not seven. I trust you Mrs. Harley, you've got two hundred and fifty thousand dollars from my current offer to my first offer to play with. They have priced it too high, my estate in England is four times this size and I paid less. You can tell them that too."
"I was pretty much expecting that answer except I thought you'd go right down to six million. Honestly it is worth about six and a half for the neighbourhood and size. The asking price is on the high side."
"Tell you what Mrs. Harley, if you think you can get away with between 6 and 6.25, I will give you the difference between closing and 6.25."
"Are you willing to pretend to walk away for a day or two?"
"Yes. In fact why don't we go look at other houses tomorrow afternoon."
"I'll call you around ten tomorrow morning then. If there is any movement before midnight I'll let you know otherwise I'll talk to you in the morning. I'll remind them that a transfer takes a few hours tops and with the time difference you can't start anything after noon."
"Yes my bank actually closes at 5:00 p.m. so that is noon Eastern."
"So I'll need to call them back and then tell them that I made a mistake and they close at noon. Therefore you'd have to contact the bank between 9:30 and 10:00 to guarantee it will be in their bank before the end of business today.
"Yes, exactly."
"One way or the other I'll be talking to you tomorrow. Will you be up around eight?"
"If I'm not Chantal will be and she'll wake me up."
"Great, good night."
"Good night Miss Pierce."
"Wow, you are playing hardball."
"Yes I am. I'm 99.9 percent sure this house will be ours in less than a week." she chuckled.
"I think so too." Sam concurred. "Will you be able to stay awake till midnight?"
"No, but the phone can wake us up. I don't think we'll hear until Thursday night or Friday morning personally. If they are willing to wait over the weekend I'll be nervous but I'm still not budging over the initial offer."
"Did you consider painting it beige to make it look just like Chantal's doll house?"
"I think grey would look better but I'm willing to consider it. It might look great in it's original brick colour too."
"I'm going to get some cashews you want some?"
"Sure."
Sam couldn't help smiling when she stopped answering his questions and he discovered she was asleep sitting up. He took his time to slowly recline her on the bed and decided he'd try to go to sleep too. Sam set his alarm, double checked that the door and windows were closed before climbing into bed. Five minutes after he had made himself comfortable, he felt her turn and slid her arm around his waist as she spooned him from behind. He kissed her hand and told her he loved her before closing his eyes. He fell asleep thinking of spending Christmas morning with her.