"You're brilliant." Josh mutters under his breath. "Have I told you that lately? Utterly brilliant."
I just grin at him as we pause at the entrance ever so slightly and wave at the press. Lulu blows them kisses and waves frantically at Chris Seeger when she spots her.
Once we are through the door, we slide into a back row, while the Bartlets and the Santos family continue down the aisle to the front.
"I can't believe you got Matt to agree to this." Josh continues whispering under his breath.
"It was more of a don't ask, don't tell situation." I confess.
Josh's eyes narrow as realization dawns on him. "Donna?"
"This isn't a press event. You know he'd never agree to using church as a press event." I insist.
"And yet, there is press out front." Josh observes without any heat in his voice. "And the way I know there is press out front is that you made us all smile and wave at them."
I give him one of my patented innocent grins. "I didn't invite them!"
"Donna. It's our press corps." Josh smirks. "You told Amy."
"You know. Now that you mention it, I believe I did mention to the campaign director that the first family would be joining the former first family for Mass in Manchester on the Sunday before the New Hampshire primary. Hey, you don't suppose she thought that it would make a good photo op and sent the press, do you?"
"Matt's gonna be pissed."
"Helen will smooth it over. He'll be fine. He doesn't have to engage with them. It's only photos. Abbey says that it's not completely uncommon for there to be a photographer or two anyway, especially at times like this."
"Like I said, brilliant." Josh repeats, as the priest begins to pray in Latin.
Josh does a good job of keeping himself and Lulu quiet as the service drones on. There is an absolute prohibition of press in the building, and the parishioners all respect the Bartlets' privacy, so I don't have to worry about any pictures of the two of them spending an hour with an "I-Spy" book in their laps.
While they are doing that, I review the weekend in my head. Using the Bartlet farm as a home base for a quick New England swing really had been brilliant, if I do say so myself.
Seeing the Boston Symphony on Friday night felt more like date night than campaigning anyway, but with Super Tuesday coming, any visibility in one of those states really is part of the game, and the Artistic Initiative Fund is a good cause.
The fact that the kids had dinner and a movie with Grandpa Jed and Grandma Abbey was icing on the cake for everyone. And I'm pretty sure they actually got cake too. And from what I hear, Miranda is going to lobby pretty hard to take a kitten home. As long as Josh and Lulu don't get any ideas, I'll be okay.
Plus I got to see Josh in a tux, so that's always a win for me. And seeing him enjoy the music really is a double win. He says it always makes him feel close to Joanie. I wish I could have known her, from what Mom says, she was an incredible young woman. That his ability to enjoy music was taken from Josh for a time still breaks my heart a little. Thank God Stanely was right, and we get better.
Saturday, on the other hand, felt like campaigning without a doubt. Matt, Amy and Josh spent their time at events in Vermont and New Hampshire, while Helen and I headed to Maine for the day. We participated in rallies and events across the state and met so many people!
Maine has a great history of electing women. Unfortunately we really need to oust the incumbent. A female senator that claims to be a pro-choice Independent moderate, but who ends up voting with the Republicans most of the time doesn't deserve our support. Luckily we have a great democrat ready to take her seat. Helen and I will be throwing all the support that we can towards her challenger.
Yesterday was a long day, but knowing that Lulu was with the Bartlets and that I'd get to sleep next to Josh at the end of it made it better. But I know it was a hint at what's to come and it won't always end with us together in a place we love. There are going to be a lot of nights at separate hotels in our future.
Josh looks over at me with his eyebrows raised as I sigh a bit. Then he smirks. I think he's happy to know that I'm paying attention to the service about as well as he is. At least he has Lulu to keep him entertained. I'm pretty amazed at just how quiet the two of them are being. But then again, I shouldn't be surprised at the fact that Josh still surprises me. He did such a good job of playing the chaotic grandstander for so long that I almost forgot that still waters run deep. I knew there was more to him, even while he tried to convince everyone otherwise.
It takes everything within me not to roll my eyes as the priest starts in on his third point, something about being subjective to one another. Hopefully he's getting close to wrapping up. And hopefully there won't be a quiz over brunch.
As soon as we get back to the farm, I head to the kitchen to make sure the oven started for the casseroles that Abbey put together last night, while Josh takes Lulu upstairs to get her changed. I start another pot of coffee brewing before I run upstairs to change myself.
When I get back to the kitchen in jeans and a comfortable sweater, Abbey is pouring the coffee into a carafe.
"Can you set the table?" She asks, pointing to the cupboard. I quickly get to work in the dining room and she joins me a few minutes later with the coffee and a couple pitchers of juice. Together we add baskets of muffins and bagels, along with bowls of fruit. While I gather the final touches, cream cheese and smoked salmon, she fries some bacon. Then just as we hear a knocking at the front door, we pull the casseroles out of the oven and take them to the other room.
"Be subject to one another!" Jed announces as he opens the door for Matt and Helen to join us.
"Indeed." Matt agrees, while Helen and Abbey exchange a look.
"They were at the service, gumdrop." She chides him gently, smiling at the children.
"So they were! Come in, come in." He moves out of the way to give the Santoses room to take their parkas off. Once the outer gear has been removed and hung on the tree rack, Jed shepards them into the dining room, where Abbey and I have assembled the feast.
I really do enjoy cooking with her.
"This is really good, Mrs. Bartlet." Peter offers politely, taking a second helping of the Southwest Breakfast Casserole.
"I thought you might like that. I got the recipe from your Mom. And I told you, you can call me Abbey when there aren't people around."
Peter looks over at his father, who nods slightly.
"They aren't people! They're your parents!" Abbey chortles, causing Peter to give her a quick grin. I'm glad he's comfortable with her. The poor kid doesn't have very many people he can relax with.
"What about you Josh?" Abbey asks, gesturing to the dish.
"No thank you Abbey." Josh offers primly, causing another round of laughter. By now everyone is well aware of Josh's distaste for spicy food, but teasing him about it is always good for a laugh.
"Me!" Lulu chimes in. She's finished everything that Josh gave her, but she didn't have any of the casserole, I'm not sure she'll like it, but you never know unless you try, so I put a small spoonful on her plate.
Everyone watches as she takes a forkful and puts it in her mouth. Two seconds later she spits it back out. "No! I don't like it!"
"Lulu!" I admonish her. "That's not nice. We don't spit food out on our plates."
Her eyes fill with tears, immediately distraught at being scolded. Ugh. I hate seeing her like this but she really has to learn manners. Still, I soften my tone. "You should try to swallow the bite in your mouth or if you really have to spit it out use a napkin. Okay, sweet pea?"
"Okay, Mama." She nods solemnly. She looks around the room, with her lower lip trembling, to see if anyone's mad at her, and all at once everyone trips over themselves to reassure her that they love her and that everything is fine. It'll be a small miracle if I can manage to keep this child from being completely self-absorbed. A sibling really could be a good thing for her, although I'm starting to wonder if it's ever going to happen, given that yet another month has passed and I'm not pregnant.
"Do you want some more fruit?" Josh asks Lulu.
"Yes, peas."
Once Lulu's back to munching on her favorites, the conversation shifts to yesterday's events.
"I'm sorry I couldn't join you for the town hall in Montpelier." Jed tells Matt.
"That's okay. We appreciated your appearance in Nashua. The Granite State loves you." Josh quickly reassures him.
Everyone but Jed fully understands that he can't do multiple appearances in multiple states on the same day. Abbey would have our hides if we even considered it.
"Yes, New Hampshire's greatest son. You can help from right here." Abbey insists.
Jed waves her off with a hand. "But tell me, Matt, how did it go?"
"It was good. A good chance to work through some of my stump speech material and get the feel with a friendly audience. You know, Amy and the Presidential voice." He chuckles.
"No need to worry about that," Jed promises, "you've got it down just fine."
"Well, thank you. It felt good. It's nice to be able to talk about a grand vision in a place where the audience welcomes a progressive message."
"Yes, that's true. Although they don't seem to understand that getting elected doesn't come with a magic wand. There is still a whole other branch of government to work with."
"Don't I know it."
'Well, at least you've got the house. And maybe Josh here can flip those last few seats in the Senate." Jed offers with a grin towards Josh.
"I've been trying for almost a decade." Josh grumbles. Nothing gets him more annoyed than trying to understand how the voters can split their tickets and think that we'll get anything done.
"Enough politics at the table." Abbey announces. "Miranda, have you convinced your parents to let you keep a kitten yet?"
"Kitty?" Lulu perks up as the topic turns to her favorite subject, while Matt, Helen, Josh and I each let out a low groan, and Abbey smiles wickedly. Sometimes she's evil.
"Please, Mommy." Miranda begs.
"Peas, Mama?" Lulu copies. I'm not even one hundred percent sure that Lulu understands the concept of keeping a pet at home, but if Miranda's on board with something, Lulu is more than willing to go along.
Helen and I both give Abbey the evil eye.
"After your nap we'll go pet the kitties in the barn." Josh promises Lulu, who claps in delight, affirming my belief that she isn't completely following the conversation.
"I'm all done." Lulu announces. "I get down, peas."
"A couple more minutes babydoll." Josh informs her.
Miranda is silently pouting, having been told no, yet again, to a cat. I can't tell her this, but she'd have a real advocate in Amy Gardner, who'd love to get photos of the first family adopting a pet. She's brought up pet adoption events more than once. So maybe that'll happen this summer for them.
"So what do you say, Peter?" Jed turns towards him. "Do you want to play chess this afternoon?"
"Yes, sir." Peter lights up as he quickly answers. I think he really enjoys Jed's company. They've had some good conversations over the years.
"How about you help clear the table first?" Matt suggests, standing up. "I'll help you before I go."
Josh stands up and gets Lulu out of her seat. We've got just enough time to get her down for a nap before we need to get ready for the last campaign stop of the weekend.
Amy is waiting out front with ten volunteers as we pull up in front of the Concord field office on our way to Plymouth. I'm glad we could do this. A lot of people work on a campaign without ever meeting the candidate in person. I know from experience it can change your life.
The group applauds as we get out of the car. "Hello, everyone!" Matt shouts out to them. "Thank you so much for being here, and thank you for your hard work! Can you show me around the place?"
"Right, this way Mr. President." Amy gestures and then turns and walks into the building. We follow her inside and the group piles in after us.
It's a small office, even smaller than the Nashua office we had in '98. It's basically one large room with several desks. One wall is lined with tables covered by yard signs and banners. Two small offices are at the back along with some restrooms.
."Well, it's a small office," Amy starts, "but full of heart. Let me introduce you to everyone." She runs through the group and Matt shakes hands with everyone. Helen follows suit, while Josh and I hold back a little. They are meeting the President and First Lady! No one is going to feel bad if we don't shake hands.
When he's done Matt beams at them. "I wish we could spend more time with you, but we need to get up to Plymouth for the rally. I just want you to know that we appreciate your hard work. The primaries might not seem like a big deal, but we can't take it easy if we want to keep making progress for New Hampshire. I know I can count on all of you."
As soon as he's finished speaking Amy ushers us out the door, as we leave I hear one of her lieutenants giving instructions for canvassing for the afternoon. That was really smart of them. These guys will be excited to go out and tell everyone that they just met the President and that he cares about their state.
"There's room for you in here Amy." Matt tells her as he climbs into the Beast. Amy looks pleased. This will give us a chance to go over the details before we arrive.
As soon as we're all buckled she launches right in- "We'll be at the Freedom Hill amphitheater, Representative Holksome is introducing you, and then Representative Guernsey will speak after you. Modified stump. Rah, Rah. And that's it. Last one here before the primary."
"Sounds good." Matt responds with a smirk and a twinkle in his eye, that's I know mean he's up to something.. " So Amy, I have a question for you."
"Yes, sir?"
"Know anything about those photographers at church this morning?"
