A/N: Hi, it's me again. Welcome...or should I say welcome back! If you haven't read any of my previous fics (The Interview, The Aftermath and The Fallout) I would recommend doing so otherwise you might be a little lost. I'm going to be honest, some of you will love this and some of you will think I've lost my mind. All I ask is you give this a chance. There will be some elements of seasons five and six in here (not too many for obvious reasons.) Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own any characters (besides Emily) related to House of Cards. Any and all similarities to other author's works are purely coincidental.
Chapter One
"Francis? Could you hand me that towel?" Claire Underwood asks her husband when she sees a sliver of him walking by. Frank pauses his brisk pace and retreats, spotting his wife hunched over the toilet. He pushes the door of the bathroom open and reaches for the eggshell-colored towel looped through the ring, passing it over to Claire. She dabs her mouth and sets the towel on the counter. Her long fingers curl around the sink, waiting for the lightheadedness to pass.
"Is it bad?" Frank asks in his low Southern drawl. Claire nods and briefly closes her eyes. His fingertips drum up her spine, watching his wife with veiled sympathy while she dry heaves into the sink.
"Is Emily home yet?" Her voice comes out husky, fatigued. She's been throwing up off and on for the past hour. Her daughter is due home from school any moment and Claire would rather not have Emily witness her mother vomiting.
"I'm going to get her right now. I just wanted to check on you first. She should know, Claire." Frank's cognac eyes drop knowingly before meeting her cerulean ones.
"Fine. I'll be here when you two get back." Frank steps forward to kiss her and then withdraws when he remembers she hasn't brushed her teeth.
"Hey Daddy!" Emily exclaims as she barrels into the presidential motorcade. The five-year-old drops her backpack next to her on the leather seat.
"Hey Em, how was school?" Frank asks, setting his marked-up speech aside. He enjoys the snippets of time he spends with his daughter. Between him being president and Claire as the vice president, they have to divide their attention accordingly.
"It was good! I learned about animals. Is Mommy feeling any better?" Emily asks, her blue eyes wide with concern. Frank shakes his head.
"Not yet...but she's at home." Frank has been in charge of drop-off with Emily for the past few days while Claire stays at the White House. Even though it's been nearly a year since Emily's kidnapping, Frank and Claire are still hesitant to fully trust Secret Service with their daughter again.
By the time Frank and Emily return to the residence, Claire is curled up on the couch with her laptop. Emily scampers over to her mother, excited to show her the drawing she made at school.
"This is for you, Mommy since you not feeling good." Emily hands her the paper and sits across from her mother on the opposite couch.
Frank sits next to Claire, putting his hand on her knee. Claire gives him a nod, signaling she's ready.
"Emily, there's something we wanted to talk to you about," Claire begins. She isn't sure what to say or the correct way to say it. However, she would rather tell their daughter before she hears it from someone else.
Emily's eyes flicker from Frank to Claire as the seriousness of her mother's tone sets in. The little girl stops fidgeting with the tassels on the pillow next to her.
"What's going on? Are we leavin' the White House?" Emily asks. Frank furrows his eyebrows, wondering why that's the first question out of his daughter's mouth.
"No... we still have our jobs at the White House. Remember about a year ago when you wanted Daddy and I to have another baby?" Emily nods eagerly and then abruptly stops.
"Yeah, but you tell me that you and Daddy are too old." Claire manages a tiny grin at her daughter's phrasing.
"Well, we were wrong. You are getting another sibling," Frank tells his daughter. Claire involuntarily sucks in a breath as she waits for Emily's reaction. The little girl starts glancing around the room, lifting up the throw pillows littering the couch.
"Emily, what are you doing?" Claire asks. Emily lifts herself to look on the other side of the piece of furniture.
"Where is it?" Emily asks. Frank and Claire look at each other with confusion.
"Where's what, Em?" Frank asks. Emily sits back on the couch, her arms crossed.
"The baby, Daddy." Her blunt tone matches her mother's frighteningly well. Claire chokes back a laugh at their daughter's understanding of the situation. They are going to have to explain this more than they previously thought.
"The baby isn't here yet. I'm pregnant, which means the baby grows inside of my...stomach first before it's...born." Claire fumbles through her response. She would rather be thrown into a political debate unprepared than explain the mechanics of childbirth to her daughter.
Frank wonders if their daughter will fully grasp this concept or if she's still too little. Emily nods slowly, letting what her mother explain to her sink in.
"When will she be here?" Emily asks. Her eyes shift down to her mother's flat abdomen, not registering any change. Frank and Claire notice Emily's already assigned a gender to their unborn child. They won't bother to correct her yet. This is all too fresh for the five-year-old.
"Probably around Christmas," Claire says. Emily sighs heavily.
"I have to wait that long?" Frank lets out a tiny chuckle at their daughter's dramatics.
"Yes. We have to make sure the baby is healthy first. And Em, we don't want anyone to know about this just yet. We have to keep this a secret between us three for a little while." Frank and Claire have a plan as to how they want to unveil her pregnancy to the public. The last thing they need is Emily blabbing to one of her friends at school and it getting out to the media.
"Okay, I not tell anyone," Emily promises with a hint of disappointment.
"Not even Ian," Claire mentions, knowing her daughter would most likely tell the boy she has a crush on. Emily avoids her mother's eyes and gives a half-nod. "Emily Claire, this is important."
Emily's eyes widen at her mother using her full name. The five-year-old makes sure her parents can see her agree to their secret.
"Mommy and Daddy?" Emily asks. Claire gestures for Frank to field their daughter's question. She's already tackled the majority of the explanation.
"Yes, Em?" Frank asks.
"How did this happen?"
"Is something wrong?" Frank asks one night when he sees Claire perched on the windowsill, smoking a cigarette without him. They've just moved beyond Claire's cancer scare and he's afraid something else has come up.
"I can't get support for my maternity leave legislation. It's stalled in the House." Claire takes a drag of the cigarette and hands it to her husband. She's at a loss as to how to proceed and needs her husband's expertise.
"I can make a few calls, but I told you this was going to be an uphill battle." When Frank first proposed the idea, he did so knowing the current political landscape. He hands the cigarette back to his wife. Claire holds in front of her face without pressing it to her lips. He can tell by the slight tilt of her head she's developing an idea. "What?"
"Francis, we aren't going to get the support we need unless they see it."
"See what?" Frank accepts the cigarette back from Claire. She pauses to assemble her thoughts.
"What if we gave them a real example of what paid maternity leave looks like?"
"How would we do that?" Frank asks. He has a terrible feeling where this conversation is headed. Claire glances at him and inhales the cigarette deeply. "You don't mean…oh, come on, Claire!"
Frank hops off the windowsill just as Claire motions towards Emily's room. Their daughter just went to bed, she could easily wake up to the sound of her parents arguing.
"Francis, this could secure my nomination."
"It could also get you killed!"
"Keep your voice down." Frank balls his hand into a fist and slowly exhales a breath.
"Putting aside the fact that I've told you time and time again that I don't want a second child, do you know how dangerous this could be? Or impossible?"
Claire is in her early fifties and Frank is closer to sixty. The chances of them even getting pregnant are astronomically slim.
"I have thought this through—"
"Oh I doubt that, or you would realize how insane this idea sounds." Claire glares at Frank, not appreciating his dismissal. Normally, her husband would be the first one on board with a radical idea, if he's not proposing it himself.
"Francis, if we don't come up with something, the only way I'm going to be president is if you resign." Despite everything the Underwoods have done–including having Emily—their continuing to decline in the polls with Claire doing only slightly better than Frank. They rigged the election for Frank once, there's not a chance they could do it successfully for Claire without getting caught.
"Then I will resign. I'm not letting you kill yourself to have a child that neither of us want."
"What if I did?" Frank looks at her in utter disbelief. She's said previously the idea of having a second child was unrealistic and fleeting. It angers him to see her attempting to backtrack.
"Jesus." Claire puts out the cigarette, effectively ending their conversation. She isn't going to beg him to do this with her, but she's not going to let this go.
"Think about it, Francis." Frank shakes his head and starts walking towards his bedroom.
"It's not going to happen, Claire." Claire frowns at the door slamming as she reaches down to light another cigarette. She's confident she can persuade him to change his mind. It's just going to take some time.
"Well...it took some convincing on your dad's part," Claire says with a smirk.
A week later, Frank has finally calmed down enough to discuss Claire's idea. Ever since their conversation-turned-argument on the windowsill, they've barely spoken to each other. He knows how stubborn his wife can be, especially if she has her mind set on something.
"Time for bed, Emily." Claire announces. She looks up from her laptop, noticing her daughter's movie just ended. Emily frowns, but shuts off her iPad to avoid getting in trouble.
"Goodnight, Daddy," Emily says to her father. Frank quickly hugs her goodnight and watches his wife trail behind Emily to her bedroom. He's debating heading back to the Oval like he's done every night for the past week. There's an awkward silence hanging between them that neither of them has addressed.
Claire returns to the living room, surprised to see her husband still sitting on the couch. She sits beside him, setting her laptop in between them.
"Francis—"
"I can't lose you, Claire." He says quickly, probably without realizing he's said it.
"What?"
"If we do this, I can't lose you because of it." Claire reaches over, putting her hand over his.
"I promise you; I won't make you choose. I won't sacrifice my life to save our child's." Claire isn't going to be a martyr in this situation. She would do anything for Emily, but this is different.
"This is for your presidency, not our family. You have to be able to walk away from this at any time." Her husband is right. The chances of a second child coming to fruition are slim. For this to work, she needs to treat this child as expendable.
"Okay."
"Okay."
"We ended up going to the doctor because we are older. We had to make sure your mom would be safe," Frank adds in. They want to keep their explanations to Emily as high-level as possible rather than going into details their five-year-old can't comprehend.
"Claire, I have to admit I'm surprised to see you again," Dr. Larsen says as Claire steps into her office. Shortly after Peter Russo died, Claire visited Dr. Larsen's office after entertaining the possibility of having another child. It also served as a way to figure out information to use against Gillian Cole, a former employee who sued Claire for wrongful termination. "How's Emily?"
"Good, she's almost five. She looks like me, acts like Francis." The two women share a laugh and then turn more serious.
"So, why are you here four years later?" Dr. Larsen asks. Claire clears her throat and does a precautionary look around the office. She doesn't want any information being leaked out into the media.
"I want another child. I know it's going to be difficult because of our age, but I want to try." A frown curls Dr. Larsen's lips. When Claire came to her four years ago, she articulated how hard conceiving would be. Now, it's nearly impossible to do what Claire is asking.
"Okay, have you and your husband talked about this? There are options and we've had this conversation before…I just want to reiterate how difficult this is going to be. The chances of conceiving at your age—"
"I know. I've done a lot of research and I'm not expecting it to happen naturally." Claire is frighteningly aware of what it means to have a baby in her fifties. Dr. Larsen sighs, she's dealt with Claire before and the easiest way is to do what she's asking.
"Alright. There are certain tests we can run and then we can proceed from there. Claire, you do realize how dangerous this can be, right?" Dr. Larsen would be remiss if she didn't fully prepare Claire.
"Yes. My husband and I want to try this, just once." As part of their deal, Claire and Frank agreed to do whatever tests, medications and procedures necessary only once. If it doesn't work, then they won't waste their time and money trying again.
"Alright. Have your office call mine and we can start the process." Claire scoops up her purse resting on the chair beside her and stands up, shaking Dr. Larsen's hand.
"What did the doctor do?" Emily asks. She's intrigued by what her parents are relaying to her and excited about the idea of another sibling. Claire's eyes shift over to Frank's silently asking him how they are going to explain the process to their daughter.
"Well...I had to take some medicine and then have...surgery to make sure I got pregnant," Claire explains. She expected the onslaught of questions from their curious daughter but doesn't know how to efficiently answer them.
As per doctor's instructions, Claire has to inject herself with fertility medication to prepare her body for the insemination. She's having more of a difficult time than she thought injecting herself twice a day.
"Claire?" Frank asks while knocking on the other side of the bathroom door. Claire doesn't hear Frank come in because she is too distracted by the needle. "What are you doing?" His wife jumps and the needle falls onto the floor.
"I have to inject myself—" Claire trails off to pick up the syringe on the floor. "Did you need something?" She doesn't need her husband to watch her struggle with the fertility drugs.
"I was wondering if you were coming to eat. Here, give me that." Frank steps forward, taking the needle out of Claire's hands. "Turn around." Claire spins so her back is facing her husband, hiking up her skirt in the process. She's astonished he's willing to do this for her, given how mildly supportive he's been throughout this whole ordeal.
"Do it." Claire instructs, flinching slightly when the needle plunges under her skin. "Thank you." Frank takes out the needle from Claire's butt and throws it in the garbage.
"When is the procedure?" Frank asks as they are walking towards the living room. Emily is already situated at the table, playing with her iPad while waiting for her parents.
"A week from tomorrow." There's a beat of silence, enough for Claire to surmise her husband's question. "You don't have to come."
"How did you know?" Emily asks. Her parents furrow their eyebrows.
"Know what, Em?" Frank asks.
"That it works! That Mommy was...preg...that 'p word'?" Claire smiles at her daughter attempting to articulate her thoughts.
"Well, we did a test and the doctor told us," Frank says.
"When are they supposed to call you?" Frank asks while he and Claire are in the Oval. It's been two weeks since the insemination, and Claire went back to the doctor's office yesterday to do a formal blood test.
"Today...hopefully." It wouldn't devastate Claire if she wasn't pregnant. Sure, she wants a second child, but she can accept a negative result.
During a meeting with their Labor Secretary, Claire's cell phone vibrates in her lap. She quietly excuses herself from the room, knowing her husband wouldn't question it.
"Hello...yes this is Claire Underwood," Claire says into the phone.
"Hi Mrs. Underwood, is this a good time to talk?" A lady–who Claire presumes is one of Dr. Larsen's nurses—asks.
"Yes, now is fine. What are the results?"
"Well...your blood work is positive. Congratulations, you are pregnant. Dr. Larsen would like to see you next week for your first official appointment." Claire breathes a sigh of relief.
"Thank you, I'll have my office call yours later." Claire hangs up the phone and slips back into the room.
Frank glances up when his wife sits down next to him. Her face is completely neutral.
"That'll be all for now. We can follow up on this issue next week," Frank says, excusing everyone out of the room. Claire and Frank watch them leave, wanting to be sure it's only them in the room before they have their conversation.
"So?" Frank asks.
"It's positive. I'm pregnant." Claire steps into his awaiting hug, grinning at his reaction. She was anticipating him being upset or ambivalent about the news. They separate as Frank brushes a kiss to her cheek.
"Claire?" Frank asks right before his wife reaches the door to his office.
"What?"
"I love you." A smile ignites Claire's lips.
"I love you too, Francis."
"This is going to be a big year for us, Emily," Claire tells her daughter. Emily nods, excited for what's to come. "I'm going to lie down. We can talk more about this later if you want."
"Did you eat something?" Frank asks his wife. Based on how pale she is, he's guessing she's only managed a few bites here and there due to her morning sickness.
"Not since breakfast. I'll have the chef cook us dinner." Claire slowly stands up and walks into her bedroom, shutting the door behind her.
Emily and Frank are left in the living room, each waiting for the other to speak. Frank wonders how Emily will truly handle having another sibling. The thought of a brother or sister is exciting, but actually having one could mean a different thing entirely for the five-year-old.
"Daddy?" Emily asks.
"Yes, Em?" Frank is trying to be patient when it comes to answering all of Emily's questions. He comprehends how new this is for his little girl and doesn't want her to feel as if she can't come to him or Claire with concerns.
"Will she sleep with me?"
"No, it will sleep with your mom and I for a little bit before moving into another room."
"She's not an 'it,' Daddy." Frank sighs. His daughter is insistent on the baby being a girl, but that might not be the case.
"Em, the baby might be a boy." Emily looks positively aghast at the notion.
"No way. I need a sister."
"We didn't get to choose with you, and we won't with this baby. That's how it works." Emily frowns. Frank stands up and grabs his blazer off the couch. He wants to give Emily time to digest everything. "I'm going back to the Oval. I'll see you at dinner. Get your homework done."
"Okay," Emily nods and accepts a kiss from her father.
After dinner and Emily's put to bed, Claire sits next to Frank on the windowsill while he smokes. He briefly passes it to her and then remembers she can't join him.
"Don't tempt me," Claire says. Frank laughs as the smoke filters out of his mouth.
"How do you think Emily is taking this?"
"She's excited. I worry she's going to get too excited." Frank nods in understanding. There's a high chance Claire will miscarry, or the baby will be too unhealthy to bring to term. They are cognizant of that, but there's no need for Emily to be.
"We can prepare her for the worst if it comes. Now that she knows, we don't have much time before everyone else knows." They have little confidence in their daughter to keep their secret. "I think we should loop in Seth and Doug, Claire."
"I agree. We are going to need to frame this in a certain way." Claire's entire idea hinges on how well the public takes her pregnancy. This could all be for nothing if they refuse to accept it and her maternity leave proposal.
Claire leans back against the windowsill and closes her eyes. Her hand reaches up to rest on her stomach. Frank takes a final drag of the cigarette and lets it fall into the cup of water below.
"I really want this to work, Francis," Claire softly admits.
"I know you do." Frank doesn't ask her to elaborate on whether she means the bill or the baby, he assumes both.
"Is the Vice President joining us?" Doug asks. After talking to Claire last night, Frank set up a meeting with them, Seth and Doug for suggestions on how to roll out the pregnancy to the media.
"She will be here in a moment," Frank says. He wants to wait until she's here to announce the purpose of this meeting. Doug, Seth and Frank look up as Claire walks into the room. Frank can tell by the hue of her skin she just got done throwing up. Her morning sickness is far worse this time than it was with Emily.
"Mrs. Underwood are you feeling okay?" Seth asks. Claire sits behind Frank where his picture frames are. She gives him a clipped nod while trying to focus on anything but the smell of her husband's cold coffee idling on the desk.
"Francis, can you—?" Claire motions to the coffee. Frank gets up and grabs the mug, setting it as far away from his wife as possible.
"Are you—?" Doug asks Claire, stopping when she nods.
"Nobody knows yet, and we want to keep it that way for a while," Frank says for the both of them.
"We want this to coincide with the announcement of my maternity leave bill so one can help the other," Claire explains.
"Is that the reason you are pregnant?" Doug asks.
"Yes," Claire states. She figures Doug of all people would appreciate the strategy behind this.
"People will connect the dots just like Doug did and assume because of your age that the bill is the only reason you are having this baby," Seth adds in.
"Okay, but do we let them?" Frank asks.
"It depends. What hurts you is your interview you did with Ashleigh Banfield almost three years ago. It's hard to believe that someone in their fifties with 'two previous miscarriages' all of the sudden ends up pregnant," Seth explains. "And you went on record saying that Emily is the only child you are going to have. Obviously, that's no longer the case."
Frank forgot about the interview Claire gave to CNN when Emily was two. Even if the past miscarriages aren't true, the public believes they are. It's going to make Claire's pregnancy even harder to sell.
"What do you suggest we do?" Claire asks.
"The conservatives are going to play that clip from your interview as soon as you announce, which is to be expected. I think you need to project this in the most honest way possible," Seth says. "Say that you changed your mind and wanted to give Emily a sibling. You kept trying to get pregnant but had to go to a doctor who helped you. Women—especially older women–will relate to your struggle and you can capitalize on that."
"And the bill?" Frank asks.
"That's where it's going to get a little tricky. I would let the public digest the news first and then slowly introduce the maternity bill. If you put all of that out there at once, it's going to look too staged. It's better to wait and make the bill as part of your narrative," Doug adds in.
"What do you think, Francis?" Claire asks. Frank bites his lip while he leans back in his chair.
"I like the idea," Frank says.
"Congratulations, Mr. President, Mrs. Vice President," Seth says. Doug nods in agreement.
"Thank you. I'd like to hear your suggestions as to the best way to announce. I think a press conference might be too…" Claire pauses, searching for the right word, "contrived."
"Agreed. I'll start looking at options. Maybe a formal interview or event. And I suggest waiting a few weeks, maybe until you are showing," Seth says as he gathers up his belongings. Doug excuses himself as well, figuring Frank and Claire want to talk privately.
"Seth might be right in holding off. You can barely keep food down for more than an hour," Frank tells his wife. He swivels to get a better vantage point on her.
"I agree. There should be something for them to see." A smirk slides across Claire's lips at the thought of the public's reaction when they officially announce. Claire carefully hops off the ledge and crosses the room.
"You know Claire, I cannot guarantee all of this is going to succeed," Frank says. Claire glances over her shoulder to look at him.
"I know. I feel like I should be saying that to you." He stands up, walks over to her and places his hands on her shoulders. She sets her hands on his chest. "I know you have your reservations about this—"
"You are doing what you think is best. I won't fault you for that." He's letting her take the lead since this is her plan. However, she has to understand that if it backfires, the fallout will be aimed more towards her than him. She presses a kiss to his lips and steps away. "We might be the first couple in the White House to capitalize on parenthood."
Claire turns to face him, letting her hand fall away from the doorknob. She matches his slight grin.
"I prefer the term weaponize. It sounds more accurate, don't you think?"
A/N 2: Okay, I ended this here to give you a moment to process. Next chapter, Claire and Frank make their formal announcement, which doesn't go exactly as they wanted. I hope I made you guys want more! Ideas are always welcome. Thank you for reading (if you got this far) and please leave a review on your way out.