Chapter 19

The room had a certain glow to it in the morning. The cream and white striped walls were bright, making her wince as she woke. She was wrapped in Henry's arms making it no different than any other day. But, today wasn't just any day.

Today, was her last day here with the way it had always been. They would leave today and not move back in until late March. Tomorrow, the barn her parents built for her horse obsession, would be torn down. The kitchen and bathrooms demolished. The staircase that she always loved. She thought about all the memories on that staircase. She would run up every two steps as a child. Will used to slide down the railing. The one she told her own children to not run or jump on as they ignored her motherly requests. The one she sat down on one night after returning from Iraq, too exhausted from jet lag and a long week of interrogations to make it up the rest of the way. Henry scooped her up and carried her. Something he had done often. The same one that Henry pulled her back into his arms and kissed her last night as they made their way up to their bedroom.

She pulled herself off of Henry. He rolled over which didn't surprise her. They didn't get back to the house until after 1am. She looked at the clock and it was almost 9am. She threw her yoga pants and her Harvard Law sweatshirt on slid into her sneakers and headed downstairs for coffee.

"Good Morning, Madam President. Did you enjoy your time out way past your curfew last night?" Jason joked with her as she walked into the kitchen.

She grabbed the coffee pot and turned to her two youngest children, "Very funny!"

"Where did you and Dad go last night? We heard you leave," Alison said.

"We had a nice romantic night and went back to UVA for a walk," she said sniffing the milk and pouring it into her mug.

"For almost two hours?!" Jason scoffed. "We heard you come back in and what happened after." It was almost as if her children were scolding her.

Alison joked, "Yeah maybe you should have them soundproof your room as part of the renovations. Those walls are thin!" She winced as she spoke to her.

Elizabeth swung around to face them. She was about to speak when he walked into the kitchen, navy sweatpants and a green sweatshirt on, he pointed at the kids and say, "Aww we just want to make sure you know we still love each other. Morning, Babe." He placed his hand around her waist and kissed her as she handed him a cup of coffee.

The kids grimaced and walked out of the kitchen.

Jason said, "I've seen enough. Going to go pack."

"Motorcade leaves at 11. Be ready to go. I have meetings today," she yelled behind them.

"We're not riding with the two of you. You clearly need time alone," Jason yelled back as they ran up the stairs.

"Hey, you okay?" Henry asked as he pulled out eggs to make them some breakfast.

"I'm okay," she whispered.

"No, you're not. I know this is a hard day for you," he turned back with a reassuring look.

She always felt that keeping this house the way it was, would allow her to hold on to that little bit of her parents that she had left. The house seemed empty to her. But, she knew it had to be done and she would be happy in the end.

"Well, I will be okay. Once we leave," she smiled at him.

Eliza's footsteps running in from outside brought them out of their circle. Stevie and Dmitri were not far behind her.

"Grammy! We got you a present," she handed her a small blue gift bag.

Elizabeth put her mug down, "Oh Sweet Pea, let me see!" She took the bag from her and reached inside, pulling out the item in the bag which was cold and wrapped in tissue paper.

She unwrapped it. Henry looked on from the stove.

When she realized what it was she gasped a bit and looked to Stevie and Dmitri. It was Buttercup's nameplate which she never had the heart to take down or even put another horse in his stall.

Dmitri spoke gently to her, "I had to sneak out early this morning to take it down. Although, sneaking out seems to be a thing in this house."

Elizabeth dropped her hands down and glared at him.

Stevie laughed, "Anyways, we thought you would like to have it for keeps."

"I love this. Thank you." She leaned down and hugged Eliza then Stevie and Dmitri.

Eliza trotted off to find her aunt and uncle.

"So, where did you guys go last night? We heard you leave," Stevie questioned as if she was running an interrogation like her mother used to do.

"We just went over to UVA for a walk," Elizabeth answered.

Henry finished her statement, "And we got matching tattoos." Elizabeth fired him another look.

"What? That is so cool and so sweet. Let me see." Stevie squealed.

Elizabeth showed her wrist to her and Dmitri. "Awww. I love it."

The four of them sat down together while Henry and Elizabeth ate breakfast. After she finished eating, Elizabeth looked at Henry and said, "I'm going to take a quick walk around."

"Want me to come with you?" he asked.

"Yeah," she answered smiling back at him.

"Go ahead, we'll clean up," Stevie said, sensing her mother's need to take one last walk through.

She took in every inch of the place as they walked through the property. She and Henry went through all the memories at the house.

They were walking through the pasture on their way back to the barn. "I remember the first time you brought me here. Aunt Joan was away on a trip. There were no horses in the barn," he said.

She answered back, "Like right now."

"Nooo, not like now. We own horses now!" he gave her a little shove with his shoulder.

"Oh you are talking about how Aunt Joan sold my two horses when my parents died. Yeah that time!" she replied sarcastically.

"Oookay, it's been a long time maybe you should get over that. Besides we fixed it," he pulled her to face him and smiled at her.

"Yes, we did," she smiled back.

"Just like we are going to fix this and I think you will love it in the end," he pulled her in for a hug and kissed her head as she took in the comfort of him. "It will be okay."