This is a short one but I felt it ask me to write it. Hope you enjoy and with any luck at all there will be another update tomorrow. I find this app works best for one shots for me because once it crashes I can't edit or save. Over the Christmas holidays I will try and learn how touse Google docs and cut and paste so I can do longer multi chaps. Reviews make me smile. There is one where Russell and Bess meet in the works, one where Bess and Dean Ward have it out, more musings, an action adventure for Henry and Bess, and even an M rated one Ooh la la. Not too heavy sexual dialogue but more reparte as H and E try something new. All right end of the promotions and on with the show!
Brenda
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Based on season 1- Just another normal day
Stevie
My life is a mess. I just blew it up and quit college and now I am a stupid hostess at a stupid restaurant and my own family doesn't respect me. Dad wouldn't even tell Alison to shut up last night.
I didn't go to private school but ever since we moved here to DC and Ali does - she's got these snobby friends and they are such dorks and they're all having these dumb sleepovers and...
Ok I am mad because Ali fits in here and Mom and Dad have these new jobs and I am the idiot. I was on my own and doing well and I am the one who threw it all away. So if Dad was doing that Socratic thing with me I would have to admit that I am furious with myself for being so stupid. I would have to admit that growing up and being on my own right now scares me and I just want to be little Stevie McCord who excels at school and who was homecoming queen and had parents who were proud of her and a cute boyfriend and lots of friends at school. Being 20 is not easy. Not when your Dad is an ethics God and your Mom is the Secretary of State and your siblings are actually still kids and they are all excelling at life and I am just a loser hostess who isn't ready to launch yet.
And I hurt Mom's feelings today because she just wanted to spend time with me and I totally blew her off and if I make her cry then Dad will be mad at me and ... Oh fuck. I can't write anymore right now. I need to go for a run. I'm lonely and I don't fit and I need to cry.
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Henry
It's a gorgeous sunny afternoon but my home feels like a tomb. The women in my life are all upset and that's three people I love with all my heart.
Alison had a sleepover with a giggling gaggle of new friends and I can finally rest easy that for one of my children, life in DC is a plus. Alison resisted this move a lot. She had a boyfriend and was just coming into her own when Elizabeth took this new job. We worried that Ali would blame us for a long time and become depressed but as children are wont to do- we have been surprised. It's our adult daughter who seems to be the most unhappy, the most on edge and the most emotional about everything. Elizabeth and I had sent her off to second year at Lovell. She was loving her classes, dating, into some clubs. My wife and I were ready to check the box that said eldest child- raised and happy. Alas, she needs our guidance now more than she ever has and it's like she's 12 again. We're worried about her and lately it's Elizabeth who is the one to bear the brunt of all of this angst. Alison is testing her own success and she's not as kind to Stevie or Jason as we would like. She's doing well in school and she has these new friends but she has become judgmental and harsh and it's a lot of squabbling whenever two or more kids are in the house. Jason thankfully seems to be able to slough it off. The Xbox we used to mollify him seems to have worked. Elizabeth and I did have a crisis of conscience about such a bribe. We did conclude that being honest about the bribe made it something we could swallow.
My wife is doing an amazing job as Secretary of State but the cost is high. She's exhausted, stressed and constantly dealing with trouble. Conrad is often very frustrated with her and she is yelled at a lot. I catch her staring into space, but she never cries. She needs the release. We went to George's funeral today and I scolded her for giggling with Juliet and Isabelle. Everyone grieves differently and perhaps I should have remained quiet. I just need to help facilitate a conversation between my daughters, and to be there when Elizabeth does feel safe enough to cry. I'll be honest. I don't think I would a better job than she. I would have yelled back at both Russell and Conrad and would likely be fired by now.
...
It happened. She came home missing George, worried that he was murdered, wondering if we are all in danger, if she is. I will confess that thinking about my wife being at risk makes me feel like there is a boulder in my gut. If Conrad and Russell killed Marsh, if my wife solves the mystery and that is the outcome- I might get a call saying she's been assassinated and that idea fills me with dread. She assured me that I am borrowing trouble, I pray she's right.
She is not happy that our girls are fighting. The situation with the Chinese student has her more rattled than she let on. My wife needed that deal to be signed and she was fairly certain it wouldn't be because of the girl. Balancing that with the idea that a girl Alison's age was an orphan and headed back to China to change the world made her feel hypocritical. She can't imagine our Noodle on her own, let alone in a communist country. So finally the wall came down and my super tough no nonsense partner crawled into my lap and sobbed for quite some time. It was heartbreaking to listen too. All her worries came out. She was spent when all the guilt, fear, anger and shame had left her body and he beautiful face was red and blotchy. Her eyes were stormy and defeated. I tucked her hair behind her ears and then carried her up to the bathroom. She's been soaking in the tub and I am glad the kids have study groups tonight. Tomorrow we'll confront the girls and ask them to discuss their issues. Tonight, I am feeding my wife some greasy Chinese food, and we are going to listen to music and play scrabble. I haven't heard Elizabeth really laugh in a while and we both need that tonight. Normalcy is coming back to this house. The whole family requires it. As for the issue with Vincent Marsh; I am going to help her. She shouldn't solve it alone and I can't watch her take needless risks. To date she's always managed to survive the danger, but those nine lives of hers have been tested. She is relieved to not be keeping secrets from me. She told me she doesn't like to worry me. I held her and admitted that I knew she wasn't a typical woman when we met. The day she told me she was interviewing for CIA I accepted that loving her meant accepting certain things. I have no regrets about our love. I do regret how we handled a few discussions. She agrees. Marriages are built daily, through trial, error and communication. She loves me and she chose me. I feel it in her gaze, her words, her beautiful smile. I am not an easy man. She endured my deployment, my studies and my writing. She endures Maureen. I am constantly demanding that we look at the ethics of every situation and I know she has moments where she honestly wants to smack me. At any rate she's my world and I am going to cap this here. That tub must be growing cold and DS says the food is here.