Please review! James is 13.

"Yes, and confirm the donations before the event starts." Claire ordered into her phone, glassing out the passenger window to see James and some of her friends walking out of the junior high school. "Also, confirm with the hotel that we can start setting up at noon. We fought hard to get there early."

James opened up the passenger door, slinging her bag into the back seat and kissing Claire's cheek before buckling up. Claire blew a kiss back at her before her attention moved to the phone. "Alright, text me if you need me. Call me it's an emergency." She hung up, slipping her phone into one of the cupholders between the seats. "Hello, sweetheart. What did you learn today?"

"Nothing I didn't know yesterday." James smirked, kicking off her sneakers and pulled her feet up onto the seat. "At least, from the teachers."

"Fantastic. Your father and I won't have to pay for college." Claire chuckled, pulling out of the pick up lane. "But, what do you mean? You learned something today, but it wasn't from the teachers? Maybe I should be paying tuition to this mystery person."

James held back a grin. "Well, she could use the money. Do you remember Astrid? The girl in my class who almost threw up on Daddy at my fifth birthday party?"

Claire clicked on her blinker, glancing behind James's seat to the next lane of traffic before merging over. "Of course, I remember her. She threw up on the old dining room rug, and that's why it became the old dining room rug. Your father had Steve roll it up and throw it out immediately after all your friends left. What did she tell you?"

"She found out she's pregnant." James stated, snickering at her mother's shocked expression. "I was in the bathroom with her last week when she took the test, but she finally got it confirmed this morning during her doctor's appointment. Sounds like her parents might be sending her away during the last few months too."

"Pregnant? Jesus, she's only a few months older than you." Claire stated before her eyes quickly turned to James. "Don't tell you're-"

James held up her hands in mock surrender. "There is no possible way that I am pregnant. Unless I'm the mother of the next Jesus, you don't need to worry." She chuckled when Claire physically relaxed beside her. "Imagine what my future campaign would look like if I had a kid now."

Claire scoffed. "You'd be lucky to even have a chance at a campaign if you had a child now." She stopped at a red light, glancing over at her daughter. "Did she say what she wanted to do with the baby?"

"Astrid?" James asked before seeing Claire's nod. She shrugged. "I didn't ask her. I'm assuming she wants to keep it since she was so excited about the positive pregnancy test. But, her parents might say differently." She peered out the window for a moment, watching other students walk along the sidewalks. "It almost sounded like she planned to get pregnant. She's not even serious with anybody."

They sat in silence until the light turned green, and, even then, Claire's thoughts were running in overdrive. "There would have to be something psychologically wrong, or at least something troubling, to cause her to go to such drastic measures. To choose to have a child at this age. . .what kind of life does that lead to?"

James sighed, leaning against the car door. "I don't know, but it's not this life." She let her fingers glide along the bottom of the window sill, tracing the rubber just at the base. "She thinks the father will want to marry her when they get older, so they can be a real family. I'd be surprised if she even knows who the father is."

Claire shook her head, reaching over and rubbing James's shoulder. "That's not how you decide who you're going to marry." She met James's eyes for a brief moment. "I'll admit; I knew your father was the one for me very early in our relationship, but I didn't expect him to feel the same way." She smiled, a small chuckle escaping her lips. "Even the way we met, it was like I'd been talking with him my whole life. He didn't gawk at me like the other guys did. He didn't try some lame pick-up line. He talked to me like. . .we had this secret between us. The moment we met, we understood each other on a level I've never experience with anyone else."

"You two still talk like that." James laughed, turning in her seat to face Claire fully. She dropped her head to the side, resting it against the seat.

Claire grinned. "Well, we do have a lot of secrets between us. But, we respect each other. We don't keep each other in the dark, or at least try not to." She glanced down when her phone buzzed, seeing Francis's name on an incoming text. "I know everything about your father, and the same goes for him about me. When we feel weak, we know how to make each other stronger. When we're strong, we're unstoppable. That's what I want you to have with somebody."

James smiled. "Daddy says I have to wait until he's dead and then wait another three days. You know, just to make sure he's actually dead."

"Your father will be the last person to rise from the dead." Claire laughed. "He doesn't want to let his little girl go, so whoever you do end up with will have to go five rounds with your father."

"Then, I might as well not even start looking until his funeral anyway, because we both know Daddy would destroy him." James smirked.

Francis sighed as he walked through the front door, seeing only a small light in the kitchen was left on. It was late, later than he expected to be home. But, he was pleasantly surprised to see Claire moving around the kitchen. His feet carried him there before he even shed his coat, finding her wrapped up in her robe. He stopped just inside the door, sighing in relief when she smiled at him and walked into his arms. "Oh, I've been waiting all day to come home."

"I'm sure you kept busy. You aren't that patient." Claire hummed softly before pecking his lips. "Long day?"

"Garrett Walker approached me today." Francis relented, taking off his jacket and draping it over one of the barstools. "He wants me to help him run for the 2012 election." He chuckled when Claire frowned. "Yes, the Presidential Election."

Claire resumed her previous task of putting the dried dishes away in the cabinets. "How exactly does he want your help?"

Francis leaned against the counter, resting his weight on his elbows. "Campaign advice. Platform stances. What not to say when you're on national television." He waited until Claire put the last dish away and met his eyes before adding. "If he is elected, he wants me to be his Secretary of State."

"Do you trust him?" Claire asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"No," Francis shook his head before smirking, "but I'll wade cautiously." He glanced to the breakfast nook, seeing his daughter's school bag on the bench seat. "Speaking of caution, I got an email from the school about a precautionary meeting to talk about parental guidance during a child's adolescent development. What's that all about?"

Claire bit her lip, trying not to outright grin. She knew what his reaction would be, but it still amused her how worked up he could get over the daughter he never wanted. "One of James's friends found out she was pregnant. James was even in the bathroom with her when she took the test. I'm assuming her parents called the school in fury, and now they are doing damage control."

Francis's eyes widened as his spine straightened. "Pregnant? James is thirteen. Please, tell me this friend of hers is a senior in high school." When Claire shook her head, he ran a hand down his face, rubbing his slack jaw. "Oh my God, Claire. I didn't think we'd have to worry about this now. Prom night, yes. I'd follow her around like I usually have Doug do. If her friend is pregnant, she could be- what if she- that's my little girl, Claire."

"Honey, James isn't even interested in any of the guys at her school. She's still your innocent little princess." Claire assured him, cupping his face in her hands. "In fact, she thought the whole situation was rather amusing in how stupid her friend was. Our girl has her head on straight."

"She better. I'm not ready for someone to call me 'Papa'." Francis breathed. He gestured towards the ceiling. "I'm going to go see if she's up and head to bed. Will you be long?"

"I'll be up in a few minutes."

Francis slowly opened the door to James's room, seeing her groggily swiping her phone. She was nearly falling asleep as she gazed at the screen, laying on her stomach and propping the phone up on the pillow beside her. The light he let in from the hallway though caught her attention, causing her to look his way. "Hey, I didn't know if you'd be up."

"I probably shouldn't be." James smiled, turning onto her side as Francis walked over and sat on the edge of her bed. "You look tired."

"So do you. Sounds like you've had a more exciting day than me." Francis quirked his eyebrows at her, chuckling when she rolled her eyes. "Thanks to your friend, I have to go listen to a lecture from someone at your school to tell me how to raise you responsibly as a teenager with hormones."

James giggled, imagining her father sit in her commons area to hear her principal talk about the changing of bodies. "You used to tell me when I was younger that if I ever let a boy touch me that I'd die. I was petrified to go outside for recess for three months."

"I should've saved that talk for now. You couldn't get pregnant when I first told you that." Francis laughed before taking her hand into his. "But, seriously, I know that you'll make your own decisions, as much as I'll try to stop you. You're like your mother and I. I'll be okay as long as you make those decisions responsibly. . .and I don't find out about them. No father wants to know about the intimate details of their daughter's relationships. So, please, don't let me find out."

James chuckled and sat up, pressing her forehead to her father's. "I promise, Daddy. You have nothing to worry about right now anyway. The most viable guy in my class wants to become a traveling hermit. That choice could change, but he's already starting to smell like that lifestyle choice."

Francis belly-laughed, shaking his head, before cupping the back of James's head and kissing her temple. "I'm glad you're choosing wisely. Goodnight, darlin'."

Please review! It's been a couple weeks. Things have been crazy here in LA. I spent May working on another story and then finishing a script to submit for a competition at Warner Brothers. But, we finished that! So, I can focus back on this and the other project I have brewing for Law & Order: SVU since Stabler is coming back whenever season 22 aires. Everyone stay safe. I don't know where you all are, but the world is crazy right now. Hopefully, this helps you escape the chaos for a few minutes.