Chapter Sixteen
A/N: Happy Holydays!
JAG Headquarters
Falls Church, Virginia
Harm was reading a file, hoping to get through his work soon. Currently, Mattie was home alone. While he had wanted to stay home another day, he realized that there was nothing more he could do at the moment. As he had taken several personal days the past few months, far more than usual, he went to work.
Of course, as soon as he arrived, he had updated the Admiral. They had spoken shortly the day after Harm had collected Mattie, but Harm informed his superior about his and C.J.'s decision to get legal guardianship over Mattie.
His call to CPS went as well as he could hope. The person he had spoken to hadn't been happy with the delayed call and the fact that he had removed a minor from her house. However, after he had explained more about himself and C.J., she agreed to come to speak to them the day after the Election.
He had tried to concentrate on his work but was interrupted several times when people came in to ask him whether he was all right. That they had been concerned that he had taken another personal day. He appreciated the concern, but it interrupted his work. Mac hadn't come to visit him.
His ringing phone interrupted his musings. Hopefully, nothing's wrong with Mattie.
Harm stopped for a moment, stunned that this was his first concern.
"Rabb."
"Harm, it's Sam. Uh, Sam Seaborn?"
Oh god, C.J. "Is C.J. alright? Has anything happened to her?"
"Oh, no, no. Sorry. Everything is alright with C.J. I'm not calling about her. I'm calling for me. I, uh, I need some advice."
"Don't worry about it, Sam. So, what can I do for you?" Harm asked.
"I did something last week. Uh, as you know, I went to Horton Wilde's campaign in Orange County on the day of the debate."
"I remember. That's the campaign with the dead candidate, right?"
"Exactly. I was supposed to go there and convince the campaign manager, a guy named Will Bailey, to end the campaign. Because it was an embarrassment for the DNC. Anyway, I talked to him, but I couldn't convince him. He knew going in that Wilde would not have any chance to win against the incumbent, Chuck Webb. And he had less a chance after Wilde died. That didn't matter to him. He and his team showed a level of passion and conviction that I haven't seen for a few years," Sam rambled on."
"Sam, relax."
"Uh, sorry. Will told me that Wilde's widow wanted to know what Democrat was going to stand in for her husband should he win, but they couldn't find anyone."
"And you told them you'd do it," Harm thought he knew where Sam was going to say.
"Yeah. You have to understand this wasn't something that cost me anything. However, it lightened Will's burden a bit. That was the only thing I could do as the White House wouldn't do anything else for their campaign."
Sam sighed.
"Telling him I'd do it didn't cost me anything. I made sure that they wouldn't announce that fact unless Wilde won. And that would never happen in Orange County. It's like the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development saying, 'Sure, I'm ready to assume the Presidency should the dozen people who come before me die. Why not?'"
"Yes, I know. I grew up in La Jolla, so I know a little about Californian politics."
"Yeah, that was another factor why I did it. I grew up in Orange County, too. Actually, I grew up not far away from the Wilde campaign HQ."
"All right. I understand you made a promise. What's the problem?" Harm asked, but before Sam could reply, he knew the answer himself. "They are winning?" Harm asked, shocked.
"Yeah," Sam said miserably.
"They are actually electing a dead candidate?"
"Yeah."
"How often does that kind of thing happen?"
"Never," Sam exclaimed, frustrated.
"So, what do you want from me?" Harm asked, not sure why Sam had called him.
"Well, I needed someone to talk to, a second opinion, if you will. Someone who wasn't working in the White House."
"All right."
"The prospect of going back on my word to a recent widow..."
"Why would you go back on it?" Harm asked, surprised.
"Because the alternative is taking 90 days off to go home, lose by 20 points to a Republican committee chair I hate, and never be able to run for public office for real, which is something I wouldn't mind doing one day."
"Sam, we don't know each other very well. But from the limited time we spent together and what C.J. has told me, from all senior staffers, you're the most likely to make a career as a politician. Well, besides Leo, should he ever decide to go that route again."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, C.J. enjoys working the issues: to better the life for people. Especially for those who are underrepresented in mainstream politics. But it is more behind the scenes than as an actual candidate. Although I think she'd be a terrific candidate, then again, I'm biased," Harm said. "Anyway, similar goes for Toby. Besides, and I don't mean any offense, I don't think he'd win the people over with his rather sour attitude. And Josh likes the fight too much, to win against an opponent, to show them that, uh, that he's 'da man'. That is why he is good at his job now, but I don't think he's making too many friends inside and outside of your party. And as far as I understand it, that would make getting elected rather difficult."
"But I do the same."
"I don't think so. From what I've seen and heard, you do it less aggressively and less personally. You're also more passionate about the topics. And as you said yourself, the passion and conviction from this Will Bailey and his people made you give them your name. I'd guess you've seen yourself in it. Maybe not so much as you are now, but as you have been a few years ago?"
There was a moment of silence on the line.
"Yeah, that's possible. So, what do you think I should do?"
"I'm probably the wrong person to ask."
"Why?"
"Because one of my core beliefs is that you never break a promise," Harm stated.
"Yeah…" He didn't like it either. "You're probably right. I have to think about that for a moment. Thank you."
"You're welcome."
"And, uh, Harm?"
"Yes?"
"Could you perhaps…"
"…not tell, C.J.? Sure."
"Thanks. Bye."
"Bye."
The Oval Office
At the end of their senior staff meeting, C.J. asked her colleagues for a moment of their time.
"So, C.J. what is it you want to tell us?"
C.J. was nervous. She'd prefer having Harm with her, but they decided that he'd stay at home with Mattie.
"Uhm…"
"Are you pregnant?" Josh asked.
The others looked surprised at the blunt question.
"No!" C.J. exclaimed. "Why would you think that?"
"Well, you just started a new relationship. And now you ask for a few minutes of our time. It's a logical conclusion," Josh replied.
C.J. looked at her colleagues and could see that they shared Josh's opinion.
"You all thought that I'm pregnant?"
"Yeah." Yes."
"Well, I'm not," C.J. stated. She sighed. "However, uhm…" She paused for a moment. "A few months ago, Harm and I went flying on a weekend…"
"You went flying?" Sam asked.
"Yes. Harm has an old plane…"
"What kind of plane?" Leo asked, interested.
"Uh, an old World War Two biplane, a Stearman, I think."
"Wow…"
"I told him you'd like to fly in it. He's willing to take you up sometimes."
"Really?" Leo looked interested.
"Yes. Anyway, we met a teenage girl, Mattie, whose family owns the airport."
For the next few minutes, C.J. explained Mattie's situation and their plan to get custody of her.
"So, you're not only living with your new boyfriend, but a teenage girl?" The President asked. "How's that going?"
"I'm adjusting, sir."
"I can imagine. How is the Commander doing?"
"Oh, going from single and living alone, to living with a woman and a teenage girl?" C.J. asked. "He's adjusting, too."
She said smiling, and the others chuckled. Especially the President and Leo, who had experience with teenage girls.
"So, what is your plan going forward? Do you want to tell the press?" Leo asked.
"No. We want to keep the entire process out of the press as much as possible. Not only for our sake, but Mattie's."
"If somebody asks, we turn back to our old message that 'We don't comment on the personal life of the White House Staff'," Toby suggested.
"Okay," the President said. "C.J., I'd like to meet that young girl someday, if it is alright with you and the Commander?" Bartlet said carefully.
"Yes, sir. We thought you would. If it's alright with you, we'll wait for a few weeks, sir. Meeting you now would be too much."
"I understand, C.J. That's not a problem."
"Thank you, sir."
"Is that all?" Leo asked.
"Yes." "Yes."
The West Wing
Sam's Office
Later that evening, Sam walked out of his office into the communications bullpen.
"And we're ready to report some news from the House race in the California 47th where the impossible seems to happen and we send it to Gail Mackee who's standing in Newport Beach. Gail?" Julie, the reporter, asked.
"Julie, I'm at the Hyatt in Newport Beach with the Horton Wilde campaign and the place is going absolutely berserk. Kay Wilde, the widow..."
Hearing that, Sam's face went white. "Bonnie, Ginger, get me Will Bailey. Get me Kay Wilde very quickly, please."
"...of the Democratic challenger just received a phone call from Congressman Chuck Webb. He's conceding the election, thanking Mrs. Wilde for a well-fought campaign, and that he's looking forward to running in a special election," Gail, the reporter, replied.
"Gail, is there any word on who the Democrats might run in the special election?" Julie asked.
"No, there isn't. Not yet. But I can report a rumor that's been making its way around... "
"Of course, you can. Why not?" Sam said sarcastically.
"...the former Orange County resident and current White House Senior Advisor Sam Seaborn will seek the seat."
As soon as the words had been spoken, it went deathly quiet in the bullpen.
"Sam Seaborn, of course, an architect of the President's first victory as well as his - I think we have to start calling it a landslide—tonight," Julie said.
"They're talking about someone else," Sam said weakly.
"I'm told that we've got a picture we're going to throw up on the screen," Julie said.
"Julie, I have to interrupt. I just have to say if this rumor is true, the Republicans view the California 47th the same way the Democrats view the New York 16th. They see it as unlosable. I mean the Democrats have not only never won the 47th, but they've also never even been a factor before."
"So, who is this Sam Seaborn? He has been an integral part of the President's inner circle since joining the Bartlet campaign after several years at a New York law firm, Gage, Whitney, Pace. He's a graduate...," Julie reported.
"Yeah, okay. Anyone know where Toby, Josh, and C.J. are? Hey! Toby! Josh! C.J.! Does anyone...?
"They're over in the thing," Larry said helpfully, pointing back to the communication offices.
Sam ran off to go find Toby, Josh, C.J. He found them in C.J.'s office. C.J. was sitting on her couch, leaning against Harm.
Previously, Harm was supposed to spend most of the evening with C.J. But with Mattie, they had decided that he would only come in late for an hour or two. They had thought about taking Mattie with him, but all three had decided together that it was too much too soon.
"Hi," he said weakly, but was mostly ignored.
"Josh, Sam Donaldson from the ABC Nightly News program is on the phone. He'd like to know if the President is endorsing Sam," C.J. asked Josh.
"Toby, is the President endorsing Sam?"
"I don't know. He's asleep, but let's go ask him," Toby replied.
Toby, Josh, and C.J. got up.
"All right, all right," Sam said and slammed the door shut. "All right, look, this is extremely easy to explain. First,... okay... How familiar are the three of you with Aristotle?" Sam said.
"He said... what he said was this - he said, 'A probable impossibility is preferable to an improbable possibility.' The impossible is preferable to the improbable. What did he mean? He meant that it's okay to have a broomstick sing and dance, but you shouldn't turn on the radio and hear the news report you need to hear," Sam rambled on.
"It was a confluence of events that I'm saying. If you pitched it to a Hollywood movie producer, they'd tell you that Aristotle says, a probable impossibility is preferable to an improbable possibility."
"It doesn't quite sound like them," Josh said.
"The Midwest, the RNC exits, a dead candidate, a rainstorm...? It's Aristotle all over the place," Sam exclaimed.
"You agreed to run?" Josh asked incredulously.
"Sam, what the hell...!" Toby exclaimed.
Sam sighed. "I talked to the woman. She had tears in her voice. Her husband loved the President, admired his integrity. Yes, we're big on integrity. By the way, when I said I'd run in his place, it's not like I meant it. Not really anyway," he shook his head.
"I said it for the widow. She wanted a name for election night, and I said, 'Use my name', not thinking for a second it was ever going to be a practical option. Can I ask, is your office now 'The House of Rising Sun'?"
"Yes," C.J. replied.
"You did it for the widow?" Toby asked.
"Yes, and for a guy I met named Will Bailey, who was running the campaign and worked his ass off and never backed off and, by the way, navigated a dead liberal Democrat to a win against Chuck Webb! Five hundred races tonight. That was pretty impressive. Though it was an Aristotelian confluence of events that could only happen to me. I have to talk to the widow."
"I would talk to the President first," C.J. told him.
"Really?"
"He's going to get it first thing in the morning. There's a seat in play. He's going to be asked about it and he can't say, you know, 'My God, I have no earthly idea what you're talking about'."
"Okay. Yeah, all right," Sam said and left.
C.J. turned to Harm. "You didn't look surprised?"
Hearing her question, Josh and Toby turned to Harm.
"I wasn't. He called me earlier today and told me about his meeting with Will Bailey and his promise to run."
"Why would he tell you and not me or any of us?" Josh asked, jealous. Sam was supposed to be his best friend and come to him for advice.
"Because he wanted an outside opinion. I also think that he didn't know how to tell you. Any of you."
"What did you tell him?" Toby asked.
Harm knew that his next words would not go over so well.
"I told him he shouldn't break his promise."
"WHAT?" Toby exclaimed.
"Why would you do that?" Josh asked, pained.
"Simple. Because I think you should never make a promise that you don't want or can't keep. He may have made the promise to run out of compassion for the campaign manager or widow, not believing it would matter. Nevertheless, he did make the promise and I think he should stick to it," Harm told them.
"But he'd lose?" Josh said.
"So?"
"What do you mean, 'So'?"
"Is the potential loss a valid reason to go back on his word?"
"It is more complicated than that…" Josh began.
"No, it's not. Look, I know that you all work in various grey areas. But I don't think that this is one. Besides, who says he's going to lose? For whatever reason, the people in Orange County just elected a dead candidate. Why shouldn't they elect Sam?"
"Harm, you don't understand…" Josh said, frustrated.
"All right, enough guys. We can talk about that later. Let's go out and celebrate," C.J. said.
"Yeah, I'm going over to Andy's party," Toby told the group.