And I'm back. It's just after midnight Saturday night/Sunday morning, but it's still Saturday in the central and west parts of the US so I made my tentative update schedule, GO ME! I hope you like this chapter. I really liked writing one part of it and I think you'll all agree with me on how sweet it is. So, without further ado, I'll leave you to it.

Preciousfairymom80 is the fleas to Jacob, the sparkles to vampire skin, the Ward to my Ed! Love ya chicky!

Don't own Twilight but this plot is totally mine!


The Presidential Treatment Chapter 29

EPOV

I felt bad that I was so short with Bella when she came into my office earlier, especially since it wasn't her fault. I had been on the phone all day trying to avert a crisis. The airline pilots were threatening to strike if their demands weren't met, and the union reps and the airlines couldn't seem to reach a happy medium. A mediator had stepped in, but still, nothing seemed to be getting resolved. I had a bad feeling that if they couldn't reach an agreement I would be heading out to stop the strike from going through. It was set to start the next night at midnight, which would practically ground all air traffic in the US.

I finally got a few minutes to consult with Aro about dinner, making sure that it would be ready at seven, and he assured me that it would be.

I got word from Emmett that Bella and Rosalie had arrived back at six, and that Bella had gone directly back to the residence. Rosalie hadn't stopped by the Oval Office to tell me that she almost killed Bella, or vice versa, so I had to assume that things went fine with the two of them.

At six-thirty, I left my office and headed to my room for the world's fastest shower, changing into a pair of black slacks, a plain white v-neck shirt, and a light blue button-up. I rolled the sleeves up to my elbows and slipped on my shoes once again, not wanting to go as casual as bare feet would have been. This was kind of a tentative first date of sorts and I didn't want Bella assuming that I wasn't taking it serious by showing up barefoot.

I headed across the west sitting hall to the dining room, and was pleased to find Bella strapping Seth into his high chair, a plate of tiny, bite sized pieces of food on it was on the dining room table.

"Hey," I said, leaning in to kiss her on the lips, but she quickly turned her head so I only caught her cheek. "Oh, sorry," I replied sheepishly, pulling back from her as she nodded toward Seth, who wasn't even paying attention.

"It's fine, I just don't want to do too much in front of him in case this doesn't work out, you know? He may be young, but he's still observant," Bella explained and I assured her that I understood.

We both sat down right as Aro wheeled in a silver cart with plates, glasses, and more.

"Buona sera!" Aro exclaimed as he took Bella's hand and kissed it, his typical greeting to women; and then bowed toward me. "Tonight I 'ave preparred ze speseeall Presidente Cul-een. Per favore, please, enjoy!" Aro said in his thick accent and uncovered the trays to display the meal.

I had asked him to prepare my favorite meal, beef tips smothered in mushroom brown gravy, served over a bed of rice, with garlic green beans on the side. Bella eyed the plate that was placed in front of her, licking her lips, and I smiled, pleased to know that she already appeared satisfied with my selection.

"Thank you, Aro, that will be all," I excused him as he placed glasses of ice water by each of our plates, along with wine glasses and a bottle of Australian Shiraz red wine.

I picked up the bottle, which Aro had already uncorked, and offered Bella some, which she actually turned down. She must have noticed my perplexed expression because she was quick to explain.

"I'm not really a wine fan," she said, blushing slightly as she put some of Seth's food on his tray.

"Good-good," he said, picking up what looked like a piece of a hot dog.

"Yes, honey. Your vienna's are good-good," she replied and laughed at me and my expression.

"What are vienna's?" I asked, forgetting the wine question I had wanted to ask her.

"Vienna sausages, they are safe for him, unlike most hot dogs which contain the preservative sodium lactate. Seth's allergic to it," she explained and held up a bite of the 'vienna's' for me to try.

I did so reluctantly, and found myself chugging half of my water to get rid of the horrible taste.

"That's repulsive!" I exclaimed as she laughed at my reaction, Seth mimicking her and giggling from his high chair. "I'm serious! It tastes like canned dog food!"

"Do you make a habit out of eating canned dog food?" Bella questioned with a smirk before taking a bite of her meal, moaning around the fork, and I was momentarily distracted by her noises, remembering last night in my bedroom. But I quickly composed myself, willing away the half mast I was sporting and replied.

"No, but it smells the same and tastes horrible, so I just imagined that they would taste similar. How can you feed him that vile stuff?"

"His diet is pretty limited, so if it's safe and he'll eat it, and it's not too bad for him, I just deal with it. Just be happy you aren't the one to taste test all of his concoctions like I have to. His cheese smells like stinky feet so I was reluctant to taste it, but it's not too bad. However, I'd have to agree with you on the Vienna sausages. They are pretty horrible."

I completely agreed with her, taking a bite off of my own plate before speaking again.

"So, why don't you like wine?" I asked just as she took another bite, and she held up a finger, covering her mouth with her other hand while she finished chewing, then replied.

"I've never found one I like the taste of. I'm pretty particular about alcohol. I hate beer, wine, vodka, rum, whiskey, and gin, unless it's in a dirty martini that is."

"That doesn't leave much. So what do you like to drink? It might be an easier list," I said with a laugh, and then took another bite.

Bella looked down and blushed, then looked up at me through her long lashes and replied with the last thing I thought I'd hear come out of her mouth.

"Tequila."

"Really! Te-kill-ya? That stuff is horrible!" I replied, remembering one night in college when a frat party became a puking party after I decided to go shot for shot with a couple other guys. I knew that it was tequila that we were drinking, but it was brown and looked like some sort of household cleaner over alcohol.

"It all depends on the brand and if you mix it right or not. I love a good white tequila, and margaritas and tequila sunrises are to die for," she replied and I made a mental note of her preferences for a later date.

"So, you like the hard stuff, huh?" I asked, making sure to wiggle my eyebrows at her so she caught the double meaning of my words.

Bella blushed and was about to reply, when the last three people I wanted to see, walked into the dining room.

"Mr. President, sir, Marine One is waiting on the south lawn for our departure. We need to leave in ten minutes. The negotiations went horribly wrong, and the pilots are threatening to strike tonight if something isn't done," Rosalie said as she entered the room, Emmett and Jasper on either side of her.

I looked at them and saw suit cases in Emmett and Jasper's hands, and knew that they already had packed items for me, and I was the last item needed in order to depart.

Bella sat there, trying to ignore what was happening around her, busying herself with Seth, but I wasn't going to have her left out of anything if I had my way about it. I couldn't bring her along, but I could fill her in and apologize.

"I'll meet you downstairs in five," I told Rosalie, Emmett, and Jasper, and Rosalie went to protest, but I cut her off with a warning glare.

Emmett turned and led the way, and the three filed out of the dining room and around the corner, leaving Bella, Seth, and me alone.

"I'm so sorry, Bella, but I have to go," I told her, wiping my mouth and pulling her up to her feet.

"It's alright, I know it's part of the hazards of your job," she said, trying to act all casual about it, but I saw something else in her eyes, something soft and sad, as if she hated to see me go.

"I'll come back home as soon as I can, once I make sure everyone can continue to fly," I said and then pulled her closer to me.

Her eyes locked with mine as I leaned toward her face, my lips inching closer to hers. At the last minute, she went to turn her head away, but I gently placed my hand on the side of her face, cupping her jaw as I held her head still so my lips could meet hers.

The kiss was slow, soft, and completely innocent compared to our others, but something about it made it feel more significant than all the others combined. There was almost a vulnerability being unleashed as our lips met slowly. Bella's body molded to mine, her arms wrapping around my neck as we continued to slowly kiss one another. It wasn't until Seth spoke that we parted.

"Mom-mom," Seth said and then I heard his little hands clapping together, him giggling adorably as we pulled apart and both looked around as if we were afraid of being caught.

"Dat, good-good," Seth said again, this time pointing at me, and I had to laugh, causing him to laugh with me.

"Yes, Seth. I'm good-good," I replied, walking over to ruffle his hair.

Bella hadn't said anything, and I didn't risk looking at her just yet, so I bent over and looked directly at Seth.

"You be good for your mom, little man. She's going back to work tomorrow and your new nanny, Ms. Sue, will take good care of you. I made sure to check up on her and she's as good as they get. Top notch, in fact. So be a good boy and I'll bring you back something, ok?" I said, poking him in the stomach playfully. I'm not sure where my newfound adoration for little guy was coming from, but he had said that I was 'good-good' so he had to be a smart little guy to be able to make that kind of assumption.

I turned back around to face Bella, and saw her wiping at her cheeks, and before I could ask if everything was ok, she spoke, stopping me.

"You go and play the hero and I'll be here when you get back," she said, looking up at me with a soft smile on her face.

"Again, I'm sorry I have to run out. When I get back, I'm going to arrange for Sue Clearwater to keep Seth for the evening so I can take you out properly," I told her, pulling her in for another quick kiss.

"But how-" Bella started to ask but I cut her off with my lips, my tongue quickly slipping into her mouth, and she eagerly returned the gesture, pulling away a minute later. I know she said to keep it PG around Seth, but I didn't know how long I was going to be gone, and knew I was going to miss out on some lip-to-lip time with her, so I was trying to get my fill in quickly. We had both agreed to take things slow, but I just couldn't seem to stop myself with Bella, and I wanted more, I wanted it all.

"Don't worry how; just know that I'm going to arrange it."

My phone started ringing in my pocket, and I pulled it out, seeing that it was Rosalie calling.

"I have to go. I'll see you when I get back, ok?"

"Ok," Bella said, stepping aside so I could exit the dining room.

I looked back at her before I disappeared around the corner and saw her standing there, watching me leave, a sad smile on her face. I smiled and waved, then sprinted down the back stairs, by the elevator, through the Blue Room, and down the outside stairs to the south lawn where the helicopter sat waiting for me, loaded with my aides and personal agents, ready to whisk me away from Bella to do my job.


Did you guys wanna go 'awwww' when Prezward and Seth had their little conversation? I did! Love that little guy. Our real life Seth, Cayden, is doing pretty great today. He's actually gaining weight now that I have him back on the hemp milk, in addition to his elemental formula. He's actually gotten so big that I had to make the car seat straps longer and he needs new shoes finally! He's 21 months old and finally going into a size 5. But he's growing so that's great news. Ok, I'm outta here and off to RL and Masters program homework, bleh. Internal Controls are so not my love. I'll see you all around Wednesday, and if you want something to read in the meantime, check out my new drabblish fic, Hear Me. Chapters are 500 words or less, I update daily Monday through Friday, and Bella is in a persistent vegetative state and Vampward is trying to bring her back.