Title: Meeting in a Rose Garden
Summary: Mac reconnects with someone she knew in law school. (West Wing Crossover) (Mac/Other, Mac/Harm friendship)
Part Twelve
"Sam, it's 7:00 and Saturday morning. Come back to bed." Mac pulled the duvet up and covered her head.
He sat down on her side of the bed and pulled it down enough to see her face. "I'm just going in for a couple of hours. Then I'm yours for the rest of the weekend." He gave her a light kiss and stood up to finish getting ready.
"Promises, promises." She propped herself up on her shoulder elbows and watched him dress.
He pulled on a navy-blue sweater and sat back down on the edge of the bed. "What's that supposed to mean?"
She sat up and little more and eyed him curiously. She had said it teasingly and didn't mean anything by it. "I was just kidding, Sam."
"I know that I work too much-" he started.
She reached for his hand and cut him off. "Yeah, you do. But I've known that since our first date. It doesn't bother me."
"Are you sure? You're not just saying that?"
"I'm not just saying that." She squeezed his hand and then rubbed her thumb over his knuckles. "Is everything okay?"
He nodded. "Yeah, it's fine." He brushed her hair off of her forehead and sighed. "I don't know. I'm just feeling overwhelmed lately. Ever since the State of the Union. I'm tired of working so much, I'm tired of traveling so much. I'm just tired."
Mac squeezed his hand. He did work too much, and it was starting to wear on him. When they had first started dating, he had worked twelve to fourteen-hour days for the most part, but baring any catastrophe was at least was able to take the weekend for himself. Now his work week was even longer, and he usually went in on the weekend. She knew the couple of hours he was going in for would turn into most of the day. She had been honest with him, though. It didn't really bother her. Not now anyway. But it did raise concern about the future. What if they got married and had children? That wasn't what she wanted when she thought about having a family someday. "Can you take a couple of days off? Like, really off? I'm talking 'leaving your cellphone off' kind of off."
Sam shook his head. "No, not right now. Now that we have our opponent the campaign is heating up. I think Toby would have a stroke if I told him I wanted to be out of reach for a few days."
"I don't know," she said with a shrug. "Don't you think you'd be able to serve the President better if you were in a better frame of mind?"
He shrugs. "I'm sure I would. But everyone else is working just as hard as I am. We all could use the time off. I'm not going to be the one who complains about it." He moved his hand to her leg and squeezed. "I need to go."
"Okay." They stared at each other for a long moment, and then she laid back down. He took a deep breath and then left the bedroom.
"What's with you?"
Sam slowed down and fell into step beside Josh. "Nothing. Why do you ask?"
"I heard you and CJ arguing earlier and you just snapped at Toby in the Oval Office. Something's wrong."
He swallowed some of his now cold coffee and slowed. "I'm tired."
Josh shrugged. "We're all tired." He started to his office. "Come in. Talk."
Sam followed him into the office and shut the door behind him. He sank down into one of the chairs and closed his eyes for a moment. "I think Sarah is getting tired of my hours." He raked a hand through his dark hair and closed his eyes. "Hell, I think I'm getting tired of my hours."
Josh frowned and leaned against the desk. "You're not thinking of quitting, are you? I mean, I know that most people don't stay in these jobs for as long as we have, but-"
"No. I'm not quitting." Sam sighed and stretched out his legs. "I love what I do. But I also love her. I've just got to figure out a better work-home balance." He looked at Josh and frowned. "Doesn't this get to you? Aren't you annoyed that you weren't able to run off to Tahiti with Amy? Don't you want an uninterrupted Saturday?"
Josh shrugged. "You and I are different, Sam. This job, this life – this is all I've ever wanted. I'm okay with my job being my life, but I know you're not. You were engaged once. You date. Look around. Do you see the rest of us even attempting relationships?"
"You and Amy… And you dated Mandy for a while."
He shook his head. "Amy's job is her life too. She cancels on me every bit as much as I cancel on her. Same with Mandy. You're different. You want a personal life."
Sam nodded. He did want a life outside of this building. He always had. "How do I have both?"
Josh shrugged. "Most of the people in this building are either divorced or single, so I don't think any of us know. I think you and Donna are the only ones who keep trying." He looked out the window and then back at Sam. "Go home, Sam. If you don't have anything that absolutely needs to get done today, then go home. Spend the weekend with Sarah."
"I feel so guilty leaving when you all are still here."
"Don't." Sam looked doubtful, and Josh shook his head. "I mean it, don't. If you've done what you came in to do, then go home."
"But there's that unspoken rule – if your boss is still here, then you should be here."
Josh snorted and grabbed for his bottle of water. "Go home, man. Toby can call you if he needs something. I'm leaving soon myself, even if my boss is still here."
Sam was hesitant, but finally nodded. "Thanks, Josh."
The front door opened and Mac looked up in surprise. Sam was back. It was almost one o'clock, but he was still back much earlier than she had expected. She smiled at him and stood up. "You're back early."
He blushed and leaned in to kiss her. He glanced around the apartment, and his eyes landed on the small blonde child still sitting on the floor. "It looks like I'm interrupting."
She grinned and bent down to scoop the child up. "AJ, this is my friend Sam. Can you say hi?"
AJ Roberts was shy around strangers and he buried his face in her neck. Mac leaned in and whispered something to him that made him giggle, and left his head to look at Sam. He cocked his head to the side to study him, and Sam couldn't help but smile.
"Hi AJ." The little boy didn't respond but began to squirm. She put him down and they watched as he ran into the living area. Sam turned his attention back to Mac and shoved his hands in his pockets. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt. Should I go?"
She was shaking her head when AJ ran back to the two of them, a toy truck in each hand. He looked up and extended one to Sam.
"Want to play trucks with me?"
Sam grinned and accepted the truck. "That sounds like fun. I haven't played with a truck in a long time. Can you show me how?" AJ nodded and grabbed his pant leg, and Sam followed him into the living room. They settled on the floor, and AJ explained what they were doing.
"Hey AJ," Mac called as she made her way to them, "can I play too?"
He shook his head. "You've already played, aunt Mac."
She grinned at Sam's facial expression - she could tell he was holding in a laugh. "Well fine then. I'm just going to sit here and read." She grabbed a random magazine off of a stack and walked behind them to sit on the couch.
"My daddy is on a ship."
Her eyes shot up from the article she was reading about opium and terrorism and went to AJ. He had said it so nonchalantly. Sam had stopped moving and was watching him too, and Mac felt her heart squeeze.
"I bet you miss him a lot." Sam said, his tone gentle.
AJ nodded. "Yeah. Mommy misses him too."
Sam turned his head and glanced at Mac. She cleared her throat. "We're all really proud of him, aren't we AJ?" He nodded and turned his attention back to his truck.
"Hey, I have an idea. Why don't you draw him a picture, and your aunt Mac can mail it to him? I bet he'd love that."
His eyes went huge and he looked at his godmother. "Can we?"
"Of course, we can." She stood and went to AJ's bag. In addition to trucks, building blocks, and a few books, Harriet had also packed a pencil box full of markers and fat crayons. She pulled out the box and went to her desk for a few sheets of printer paper. She grabbed a newspaper and spread it out on the floor, and then put the paper and pencil box on it. "Here you go, sweetie. Do you want any help?"
He sat down in front of the paper and shook his head. "I can do it."
She bent down to kiss the top of his head and then extended a helping hand to Sam. He stood up and walked with her to the couch. "That was a really good idea," she whispered. "Bud, his dad, has only been on the Seahawk for about a week. They're all having a hard time. Especially Harriet. She's been holding it together for AJ, so she's not letting herself feel anything."
Sam nodded. "I can't begin to imagine."
She was quiet as she watched AJ scribble for a moment. She squeezed Sam's thigh and stood. "I'm going to get some water. Want anything?" He shook his head and she made her way to the kitchen. She was filling a glass with ice and turned around when she felt his presence. "Change your mind?"
He shook his head. "I'm sorry about this morning."
"Don't worry about it."
"Don't do that, Sarah. I work too much and you're allowed to be annoyed with me."
She smiled and sat the glass down. "I was only mildly annoyed. But I get it, Sam. I know you love your job. I knew that from our first date. Hell, our first phone call."
He put his hands on her waist and pulled her close. "I do love my job. But I love you too. I'm going to try to do better."
She shook her head. "I don't care so much about the present. It's the future I'm worried about."
He frowned. "What do you mean?"
She opened her mouth to explain it to him, but a small voice from the living room distracted her.
"I need help, aunt Mac."
Sam's hands fell from her waist, and she squeezed one of them. We'll talk later, okay?"
He nodded and watched as she sat on the floor next to AJ. She picked up a marker and colored in the spot he had dictated.
"Thank you so much for watching him," Harried said. She put one bag over her shoulder and closed her eyes and took a deep breath when it slid off her shoulder as she was bending over to pick up her sleeping son.
Mac started to offer to carry him when Sam bent and easily picked him up. "I'll help you to your car."
She smiled appreciatively at him, and once he had headed for the door she turned to Mac. "I like him."
She rolled her eyes, but smiled. "I'm happy to keep AJ anytime. You know that."
"I know. Thanks again." They shared a quick hug, and Harriet and Sam went down to her car.
She walked around the room, tidying up the mess they had made. She put AJ's picture on her desk, and put the unused sheets of paper back in the printer tray. She was crumpling up the newspaper to throw in her recycling bin when her door opened again. She smiled at Sam and moved to him. She circled her arms around his neck and gave him a long kiss. "You were good with him."
He grinned and shrugged. "I like kids."
Mac opened her mouth, shut it, and opened it again. "You do want kids someday, don't you?"
"Of course, I do." His answer had come immediately and she felt herself relax. "Sarah, I've known you want kids since our first date. I wouldn't waste your time if I didn't want the same thing."
"That's my concern about the future." She couldn't believe how easily she was able to bring this up. They had been together for seven months now, and she finally felt comfortable saying what was on her mind. She knew him well enough by now that she didn't worry about how he would react, and it was a good feeling. "How will you have a family if you work eighty hours a week?"
He thought back to the conversation he had had with his ex a few months earlier. She had told him, that if she couldn't deal with his long hours then he'd have to make a change – either the job or the relationship. He swallowed, not liking either option. He didn't want to give up this job, but he couldn't give up her. He couldn't give up having children someday. And when he did have kids, he wanted to be an involved father.
"I won't work eighty hours a week." He smiled and ran his fingers through her hair. "This works okay for us, for now. Mostly because you don't sleep much and don't mind if I don't come over until nine or later. But I know if we have children, things will have to change. I won't be able to go in at five and work until nine all week and go in on weekends, leaving you to essentially be a single mother. On our first date you told me that you probably wouldn't stay in your job forever, because it would be hard to do if you ever settled down and had a family. I feel the same way. I would try to make it work, but if I had to choose between my job and my family, my family would win. No question."
She swallowed. "You wouldn't resent me for that?"
He shook his head. "No. Not for a second."
He unlocked the door to his apartment and they stepped inside. They usually spent weekends at his place, since he came to her every night after work. She set her purse on the counter and kicked off her shoes and started for the bedroom. "I'm going to go change."
Sam nodded and followed her. "Okay. I'm going to take a quick shower." He pulled off the sweater and looked to the bathroom. "Want to join me? I have this really great new showerhead."
She smiled and shook her head. "If I join you, we'll never make it to the concert." She leaned in to kiss him. "But I'm sure the club will be smoky. And I'll definitely need a shower later." He grinned and kissed her again.
"I'll be out in a minute."
Mac nodded and opened the door to his closet. It was bigger than hers, and she went to the side where her things were hanging. She rifled through the dresses and finally found the one she was looking for, and frowned. Most of her civilian clothes were hanging in his closet. She looked at the shelf above the clothes and saw so many pairs of her shoes. She left the closet and sat on the bed. The past few weeks had been a blur, and she didn't think she had been here since that conversation about moving in together. She had traveled for work, he had traveled for work, and since he hated her driving late at night, he had continued to come to her. He had been right when they had talked about moving in together a few weeks ago.
He stepped out of the bathroom, and raised his eyebrows when he saw her sitting on the bed, holding a dress in her hands. He sat down next to her. "Is everything okay?"
She looked at him and smiled softly. "We haven't spent the night here in a while. You were right. Most of my clothes are in your closet."
He grinned and nodded. "I know. And most of mine are in yours. I can't tell you how many times I've gone looking for a specific tie or a shirt and I realize it must be at your place."
"I didn't realize it." She held up the hand that had the dress in it.
Sam shrugged. "You wear a uniform and we spend most weeknights at your place. But your regular clothes are colorful and it was easy to see when my closet was suddenly full of colors beyond gray, black and navy."
The dress she was holding onto was red and she smiled. "I can imagine." She stared at the dress for a long moment and then looked up at him. "Let's move in together."
His eyes widened. "Are you serious?"
She nodded. "Yeah. I am. I'm nervous, but I want this."
He nodded. "I want this too." He leaned in and kissed her. "My place or yours?"
"Yours." She shrugged. "You own yours. I'm renting mine. It makes sense." She grinned at him. "Plus, there's that new showerhead."
The club was crowded and there was a wait for one of the few tables. She walked up to the hostess to put their name down and then found Sam at the bar. He handed her a tonic water, and took a sip of his beer.
"If we had gotten here earlier, we may have gotten a table."
He grinned and bent to kiss her bare shoulder. "Being late was worth it." The club was dim, but he could still see her cheeks redden and his smile widened.
She raised her glass to her lips and froze. Standing on the other side of the bar was Harm and a pretty woman with long blonde hair.
"What?" Sam asked. He turned to look in the direction she was looking and saw Harm. He wanted to groan. Of course Harm was there. He watched as Harm spotted them, leaned in to whisper something to the woman he was with, and then they began walking to them.
Everyone smiled politely, except for Harm's date. She obviously wasn't aware of the dynamic between the three of them and smiled warmly.
"It's so good to meet you! I've heard so much about you!" Mac eyed Harm suspiciously. Why would he talk about her to his date? The woman noticed the look and laughed. "Oh, not from him. Although he did tell me if I ever met you, I should ask you why flying with him was a bad idea. My aunt Sydney has told me all about you!"
She had choked on her tonic water at the flying comment, and then raised her eyebrows at the 'aunt Sydney' remark. This was Sydney Walden's niece? She looked at Harm, and as if he could read her thoughts, he discretely nodded.
"Mac, this is Julia. She's Dr. Walden's niece. Julia, this is Sarah MacKenzie and her friend Sam."
Mac and Julia shook hands, and then Julia turned to Sam. "I know you from somewhere."
He blushed and Harm frowned. "He works for the President," Harm said quickly, "you've probably seen him on Capitol Beat."
Julia shook her head. "No, I don't watch much TV." Then her eyes widened. "The President! Of course. You came to GW the night of the shooting. I'm an ER nurse and I worked that night."
Sam paled a little at the memory of that horrible night. "I'm sorry, I don't remember much about that night. It's all a bit of a blur."
"Yeah, of course." Julia smiled. "I didn't assist with President Bartlet, but I helped with Josh Lyman. I remember we had to force you guys out of the room. How is he doing?"
"He's doing really well." He smiled at her and tapped his beer bottle to hers. "Thank you for all you all did that night.
Julia beamed at him and looked up at Harm and then back to Sam and Mac. "Did you guys manage to get a table?"
She shook her head. "No, we just got here. We're on the list, but I'm not optimistic. Did you?"
Harm shook his head. "No. We're on the list though, and we've been here for a while."
And at that exact moment the hostess came up to them, and smiled at Harm. "Mr. Rabb, we have a table for you." She gestured to a round booth in the corner and smiled at him before walking away.
Julia watched her leave and smirked. "Well, at least you know if you get bored with me tonight, you can always go home with her."
He rolled his eyes, but couldn't help a small grin. "I'm going to settle up here. I'll meet you at the table."
She ignored him and turned to Sam and Mac. "You two should come join us! No point in standing all night when you can sit with us."
Mac had gone white, and Harm and Sam both blushed. "Oh, that's okay." Mac said. "We'll be fine."
Julia shook her head and grabbed Mac's arm. "That's crazy. Come join us. You can even tell me the flying stories that he's convinced will change my mind while we wait." She watched as the other three exchanged looks and rolled her eyes. "You three can be awkward some other time, because I'm not taking no for an answer."
Finally, Mac nodded. "Okay."
Sam nodded, resigned to a long night of sitting with his girlfriend, the man she had once had feelings for, and his date. He leaned in to kiss her cheek. "I'll be fine." He whispered. He straightened and forced a smile. "Go on. I'll settle up here."
End Part 12