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"That's it. I am not letting you leave the house like this." Claire stated rinsing off the thermometer in her hands and placing it back in the medicine cabinet. "You haven't left the bathroom all night, Francis."

"Exactly. There's not a chance I could throw up anything else. There's nothing left in my stomach." Francis retorted, coughing as Claire handed him a glass of water and his tooth brush. "I blame James's school. Those kids run around with their messy noses, wipe their snot on their sleeves. It's a miracle any of those kids haven't caught a plague."

Claire giggled, crossing her arms over her chest as she leaned back against the sink. "Well, James isn't sick. You probably caught something at work. The flu is going around, and you work in a building filled with white collar men with white collar families. Kid or no kid, we've caught the flu before." She picked up the blanket from the tile floor, folding it over her arm to wash it. "Speaking of our child, I need to get her ready for school. I'll let Steve know you'll be in the basement for the day. Do you want to try anything for breakfast? Maybe some toast?"

"You got my strawberry jam, right?" Francis asked, letting his head rest against the wall beside the toilet.

"I'll have it ready for you when you manage to make it down, preferably before James leaves. You know how she gets when she can't say goodbye to you." Claire reminded him, walking out and into their bedroom.

Francis smirked, groaning as he used his sore stomach muscles to get up off the floor. "What's wrong with her being a Daddy's girl?"


Francis frowned seeing the worried look on Claire's face as she waited for her coffee to finish. He sat at the counter where she left his plate of toast. "What's wrong?"

"James felt warm when I woke her up. I don't think she slept much last night, and she looked white as a ghost." Claire murmured before seeing their four year old shuffle into the kitchen in her school clothes. Despite her put together appearance, both parents noticed the sluggish movements of their usually rambunctious daughter. "James, sweetheart, are you sure you're okay? If you aren't feeling well, you shouldn't go to school."

James shook her head, rubbing at her eyes. "I'm fine. I need to go to school. Lana Forester keeps trying to take my chair. It's the only yellow one in our classroom." She huffed out a breath. "I don't want to ruin it."

Francis frowned, reaching for the glass of water Claire had set by his plate. "What do you mean?"

"If she takes it and won't give it back, I've got a glue bottle with her name on it. If she wants the chair that bad, I'll make sure it never leaves her." James stated with determination, her spine straightening as she told her own plan. The gesture alone seemed to wipe her out.

"With the glue I bought for you a couple weeks ago? Darlin', she'll see that." Francis explained, rather amused with his daughter's plan.

James nodded and pointed towards her bag. "That's why I took your gorilla glue. I was going to wait until she wears a dress."

"That's awfully mean. The school would be furious with you for doing that." Claire stated, pouring herself a cup of coffee.

"They won't." James said almost as if it had already happened. "Peter Zanders sits next to her, and he hates the school. I'll hide the bottle in his desk. Maybe his parents will send him somewhere else. I'll miss him, but he'll be happy to leave."

Claire smiled. "I'm impressed." She squatted down in front of James, resting her hands on her small hips. "But, be careful. Be smart about it." She kissed her cheek. "Now, what do you want for breakfast? We can make eggs. There's yogurt in the fridge. I got some strawberries last night after work."

Instead of answering, James pushed passed Claire and bent over the trash can before throwing up. She coughed and gagged a few times before Claire returned with a wet rag to wipe at her mouth and cool her down. "I'm not sick." She mumbled adamantly.

"Oh honey, I wish I could agree with you." Claire sighed, giving her daughter a sympathetic smile. "But, there's no way you're going to school today. Looks like you'll be using that gorilla glue sooner rather than later. At least, your father will be here to hang out with you."

"But, Daddy has work." James frowned, wiping at her eyes to rid herself of the few frustrated tears that had managed to spill over onto her cheeks.

Francis winked at her when she looked his way. "Not today, darlin'. We're both sick. It's just you, me, and the basement today." He stood slowly, taking her bag from her shoulders. "Why don't you go change into something else? We'll get some toast ready for you so you have something in your stomach."

"Fine, but don't take the glue out of my bag." James muttered, dragging herself back towards the stairs.

Francis peeked at Claire, his hand hovering above the zipper to the bag. "Do I dare?"

Claire rolled her eyes, taking the bag from him. "Francis, we cannot let her use gorilla glue on another four year old. Imagine if it stuck to her skin." She dug through James's bag, pulling out the bottle. "We shouldn't even allow it."

"She at least told us." Francis mused, sitting back down at the counter and nibbling at his toast. "And, she had a plan to frame someone else. I'm telling you, Claire; she should be running an office. She'd be better at it than most of the people on the hill."

Claire smirked. "And, they'd never see her coming."


Claire pulled on her coat before squatting down in front of James, now fully dressed in one of the sweat suits her parents got her but she rarely wore. "Alright, I already called your school and told them that you wouldn't be in today. Your father will be working some today, so be mindful of that. I'll try to be home early to see how you two are holding up. Do you think you can keep an eye on your father for me today? Make sure he doesn't work too hard?"

"Daddy already promised to watch movies with me today, so he can't work too long." James smirked before hugging Claire. "Bye, Mommy."

"Bye, Sweetheart. Love you." Claire smiled, kissing her cheek.

James grinned as Claire left, waving to her as the door was closing, before heading downstairs. She could hear Francis on the phone with someone as she headed that way, smiling when Francis winked at her when she walked in. When she made her way around to him, he pinched the phone between his ear and shoulder before picking her up and sitting her on his desk. She waited patiently while he was trying to end the call.

"We want Senator Bingham's bill to be voted down. Let's talk to the others in the state. His bill benefits his sectors, but also takes away from others in his state." Francis stated, watching as James picked up said bill and sat it on her lap with wide eyes at the thickness of it. "His neighbors won't like it either. Just feel out for opinions. We need Bingham on our side when this is said and done. I'll let you know if something comes up with Garcia. Thanks, Doug."

"Do you have to read this whole thing?" James asked with wide eyes.

Francis chuckled. "For the most part, I do." He took the large packet from her lap, setting it off to the side. "Did you say goodbye to your mother?"

James nodded with a grin. "Yep, she told me not to let you work too hard. So, I'm in charge today, Daddy."

"Oh, really?" Francis laughed, quirking an eyebrow that made his daughter giggle. "I don't think that will happen, but I did promise you a day together. Honestly, I have no energy to work today. What did you want to do?"

"Can we watch Disney princesses? You never watch them with me." James asked, making her best doe eyes to her father and clasping her hands together.

Francis smiled with a nod. "Alright, darlin', we can watch the princess movies." He picked her up from his desk, resting her on his hip as they walked out to the family room. "I'll watch unrealistic fairytales for you. What is first on your list?"


"Claire, if I have to watch another mouse or candlestick sing, I'm going to lose my mind." Francis muttered into his phone as James stood by the movie cabinet trying to decide on movie number four. While he was sick and wanted nothing more than to curl back up on the couch, the animated tales of a prince solving everything was grating on his nerves.

Claire giggled on the other end of the line, mouthing a silent thank you to Elaine when she set down the lunch she had ordered. "Then, find something else to watch. We have to have more than just black and white movies and Disney."

"Unless you want James to learn about The Godfather, we don't have anything else." Francis huffed, glancing at his and Claire's collection again.

"We do too." Claire insisted with a furrowed brow. "You bought me a whole mess of movies during the last month of my pregnancy and when I had to lay low per doctor's orders. They're probably stashed somewhere up in the attic."

Francis rolled his eyes. "Are they really worth watching if we cast them up into the attic?" He spared another look at his four year old, seeing another princess movie in her hands as she studied the cover. "I'll let you know." He hung up the phone quickly and rushed over to James to put the movie away. "C'mon, darlin', your mother thinks we may have some more movies up in the attic we can choose from."

James frowned as Francis hauled her off the floor. "Why are they up there?"

"Well, we don't watch movies much. They were probably put up there when we first moved in. Then, we forgot about them." Francis shrugged before starting up the stairs. "But, we should have some more options than what's down here. Your dad can't watch another movie about a singing princess finding prince charming."

"We could watch The Lion King." James grinned, glancing up at her father from her place he held her against his chest.

Francis shook his head with a smile. "We need something with no singing animals either." He walked down the hallway before beginning the second set of stairs, happy that he wasn't getting sick from the movement of climbing and carrying his daughter. "I think I got your mother some movies that were kid friendly. When she was pregnant with you, I knew you could hear us and the things around, so we stopped watching most adult movies and shows." He squeezed her a bit tighter. "Your mother didn't like that much."

"Why?" James asked, watching Francis reach up for the cord on the ceiling on the top floor to pull down the ladder to the attic.

"Well, like you, she doesn't like being told what to do." Francis smirked. He helped James get her footing on the ladder. "Now, watch your hands. I'm right behind you."


Claire sighed contently as she peeled off her jacket, walking into a mostly quiet house. She could faintly hear the television playing downstairs, but everything in site was mostly undisturbed. Setting her things down, she quietly made her way to the basement, hoping to make her presence unknown until she saw what her two favorite people were into. The tune from the TV hit her first, and she found herself softly humming it despite not knowing what they were watching yet. Not until she made it to the bottom landing and turned to see the little white car with a 53 on its hood racing around. She smiled seeing James and Francis so engrossed in the innocent film.

"Daddy, Herbie made that guy go into the lake." James giggled, falling back into the couch cushions behind her.

Francis chuckled down at her, pointing up to the screen. "This next part always made your mother laugh."

Claire glanced up at the screen to find he was right. The man driving the yellow car was covered in mud and waiting for his passenger to give him directions only to find out his passenger had been replaced by a bear. Just like Francis said, she laughed when the two realized what was happening and fled the car. The noise caught both Francis and James's attention. "You two found some goodies."

"Mommy!" James beamed before pointing up at the TV. "We're watching Herbie."

"I see that. Which Herbie movie is this?" Claire asked as she picked up James and walked around the couch to sit next to Francis with their daughter in her lap.

Francis glanced at the case beside him. "The Love Bug. We already watched the banana one."

"You two will be tired of all movies when the day is over." Claire mused, brushing back James's hair from her face even though James was intent on not missing a single second of the film. She turned her gaze to Francis. "I'm sure you're itching to get back to work."

"Not as much as you'd think." Francis murmured. "With everything that's been going on this year with work, with finding James a new school, with prodding around Remy's life, it was nice to spend the day with her doing nothing. Not that I want to do it again tomorrow, but I enjoyed it more than I thought I would." He smirked at her. "I do have to talk to Doug, so I told James you would be happy to watch the next movie with her."

Claire scoffed. "Another movie? We should get her upstairs to do a puzzle or something. Get her mind focused on something other than the TV today." She dropped her head back against the cushions, smiling softly when Francis ran his fingers through her hair. "What movie did she want to watch anyway?"

Francis grinned. A grin she knew too well to believe it was just happiness. "The Sound of Music."

"Francis!" Claire gaped. "That movie will run past her bedtime even if we started it now."

"Yeah, believe me. I tried talking her down, but," Francis picked up the movie case, showing her the cover, "you now how she is with her Mary Poppins."

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