Abbey and Jed sat in silence for a moment, processing this news, after Isaac and Juanita gave them the room and went to check on Charlie.

"Did Michelle ever—?" Jed began.

"No," Abbey said looking at her husband. "She never gave me any indication that this was coming. Jed, can we even do this? I mean I know we're capable. But what about security and the school…"

"Would Charlie want us as his guardians?"

"We'll ask him of course."

"We've done it before, Abbey. Logan is living with us and there doesn't seem to be an issue with that."

"No. But didn't Mitchum agree to pay for the cost of Logan's detail so it wouldn't cost taxpayers?"

"I almost forgot about that. It's one of the few decent things he has done."

"So what about Charlie's detail?"

"We'll figure it out. Charlie will be just like one of us."

"That's the other thing I'm worried about, Jed."

"What?"

"Charlie's African-American."

Jed sighed, "It could be a potential issue with the public. But we've never treated him any differently from the girls."

"No and we wouldn't start now."

"Of course not. Do you know anything about his father?"

"Just that he's been in and out of Charlie's life since he was a baby."

"Will he be a problem?"

"Not that I can foresee."

"Good."

Abbey paused, "There's also the long term to consider. If Charlie does want us to be his guardians, would we keep it that way until he's 18?"

"You mean adopt him?"

"Possibly. Not now. Charlie needs support, Jed. He needs a family. And I'm sure Juanita and Isaac would give him that as much as they can. Look at what it's done for Logan."

"Bad example, Abigail."

"Logan has a family, Jed. He just needed extra support."

"And our baby girl."

"Jed…"

"Charlie has been incorporated into our family for a long time now. I'm sure he loves his grandparents. But they haven't gotten to raise him. He already told me he looks at me like a father. I know Michelle felt the same way."

"But is it right for us to deprive his grandparents of their only family?"

"No, but they've already made it clear that they support our decision to take him in."

"That's true. If Charlie does want to stay, we should follow Michelle's lead and let him go down to Atlanta to visit as often as we can. Ellie and Liz might be willing to go with him. Zoey too."

"Yeah," Jed agreed before his expression darkened, "I suppose we should have that talk with Logan and Alex and see who's going to end up where if Charlie wants to move in."

"Yes, we should," Abbey said and squeezed his hand. "Logan isn't all bad, you know. It might do both Charlie and Logan good to have each other in a house full of girls.

"I couldn't agree more. Still not crazy about Logan, but…"

"But you're warming up to the idea."

"Yes. Yes, I am. I suppose all that's left to do now is ask Charlie."

"Yes, let's do it after dinner and give Charlie some time with his grandparents."

Abbey and Jed waited until dinner was over. The rest of the kids went off to watch a movie to give Charlie some space and privacy. They went into the kitchen where Charlie was sitting at the kitchen table with his grandparents.

"Charlie," Jed said as they sat down at the table next to Issac and Juanita. "We'd like to talk to you for a moment if you're feeling up to it."

Charlie nodded, "Sure, Mr. President," He said quietly.

"Your mom made arrangements to make sure you were taken care of," Abbey said, gently. "It's up to you what you want to do and you don't have to make any final decisions now. But your mom wants you to stay with us in Washington."

"Your mama knows you love your school and your life a lot, honey," Juanita said, squeezing his hand. "She knew losing her would be a lot on your mind already without having to move or change schools. Your grandpa and I want you to be happy."

"We would be glad to have you living with us, Charlie," Jed said.

Charlie looked up, his eyes wide. "I really wouldn't have to change schools if I didn't want to?"

"No," Abbey replied.

"But what about you and Grandpa?" Charlie asked Juanita.

"You could come to visit us during the summers and school breaks if you'd like," Isaac said. "And you call us any time you want."

"But won't you be lonely?"

"No, baby," Juanita said. "We have a whole community of people back home waiting for us. And while I'm sure they would be happy to welcome you, you have a life in Washington, and the President, Dr. Bartlet, and their family are a big part of it."

Charlie bit his lip, "Is it okay if I go ask Zoey?"

"Of course, you can."

Charlie pushed back his chair and went into the family room where Zoey was sitting across from Ellie, Logan, and Alex.

"Hey, Zoey, Ellie, Alex…can I ask you something?"

"Sure, Charlie," Zoey said as Ellie paused the movie.

"Do you think it would be okay if I came to live with you?"

Zoey and Alex looked at each other, then at their older sister.

Zoey stood up. "Welcome to the family."

She rushed over and embraced Charlie. Ellie and Alex joined them.

When they parted, Logan came over and shook Charlie's hand, "It'll be good to have you around full time, Charlie," He smiled.

"It looks like Dad will finally have boys to do stuff with," Ellie said smiling.

"Yeah, maybe we won't drive him so crazy," Zoey laughed.

"Agreed. He isn't so outnumbered now," Alex said. "I'm happy you're staying, Charlie."

Alex's excitement over Charlie joining their family only lasted until bedtime. Zoey entered the bedroom they shared to find her sister changing into her pajamas. They hadn't really spoken all day, not that anyone noticed with trying to help Charlie through his terrible loss.

"Hey Lex?" Zoey ventured as she watched her sister put her clothes away.

"Yeah?" She said. Her voice was so soft that Zoey barely heard her speak.

"I'm sorry for telling mom and dad about the engagement like that."

"No, you're not," Alex said, shutting her dresser drawer. "You get to have Charlie as your brother. And I'm back on dad's bad side again."

"Alex, don't be like this. You know dad does stuff like this. He'll come around."

"Dad has never liked that Logan and I are together. You just gave him the excuse to put an end to it."

"He's gonna make you break up with him?"

"Apparently."

Just then, there was a knock on the door. "Alex?" Abbey called. "May we come in?"

Alex said yes and Abbey entered the room followed by Jed and then Logan.

"I'm going to go see if Charlie needs anything," Zoey said before leaving the room and closing the door behind her.

Logan took a seat beside Alex on her bed while Jed and Abbey sat on the side of Zoey's bed.

Before Jed or Abbey said anything, Logan spoke up, "Alex told me what happened last night and I just want to say that I didn't ask Alex to marry me because I want to hurt your family or because I want to take her away. I don't."

"You…don't?" Jed repeated, surprised.

"No. I love her so much. I would never hurt her." He swallowed. "I know what happened with your sister, and I'm sorry. But we're not them."

Jed sighed. "I'm sorry, Logan. I overreacted…badly. The whole thing struck too close to home."

"That's okay, sir. I understand."

"But, if you're going to stay, then we need to set some ground rules."

"Like what?" Alex asked, speaking for the first time as Longan reached over and squeezed her hand.

"Like," Abbey said, looking at her daughter, "Taking your birth control properly like you've been doing and not forgetting about it and neither one of you will intentionally mess with it. We are not going to deal with another teenage pregnancy. Understood?"

"Yes," They both said in unison.

"And I better not hear about any more incidents with foreign diplomats, the press, the staff, or anyone else involving the two of you doing anything you shouldn't be in public," Jed said, looking at them both squarely. Alex looked appropriately mortified. "You will also be expected to keep up your grades in school and by the time summer rolls around, I want to know how the two of you plan to support yourselves in the future. If you want to be married, financial planning is a part of that."

"I don't think we can wait until we're 18 to get married," Logan said. "I know it's a lot to ask. But the bullying Alex is going through won't go away and I'm ready to be a part of this family. So it would mean a lot if you would consider letting us get married sooner than that."

Jed raised his eyebrows. "Really?"

"Really," Alex said, looking at Logan. "But unless you change your minds, we will respect your decision."

Jed nodded. They had certainly thought this through.

"Fair enough. Thank you."

On Saturday morning, Josh and Donna walked into their apartment with baby Madeline in her car seat. Josh drove the slowest he had ever driven home. He leaned into the car seat. "Welcome home, Madeline." He grinned unabashedly. "Madeline Joan Lyman. I like the sound of that."

"So do I," Donna agreed as they walked into the house.

"All right," Rachel announced. "Let's get you and Madeline all settled. "I want you to get as much rest as possible while we're here, Donna."

"She will, mom."

"The same goes for you, Joshua. Donna is going to need your help when we aren't here. They don't call it the fourth trimester for nothing."

"I know," Josh replied. He placed an arm around Donna, who looked exhausted. "How are you feeling, baby?"

Donna smiled. "A little tired."

"Why don't you go lay down for a bit?"

"But what if Madeline needs me?"

"I'll bring her in."

"Take a nap, honey," Daniel said. "This little one will be up before you know it. We'll take good care of her."

"Thanks, Dad."

Donna went off to her bedroom to take a nap.

"Why don't you go with Donna, Josh?" Rachel suggested. "Madeline probably won't be up for an hour or so."

Josh nodded with a tired smile. "Thanks, Mom. Are you sure she'll be okay?"

"She'll be fine, Joshua. Daniel and I are more than capable of looking after her."

Josh finally agreed. "Okay."

He walked into the bedroom, where Donna was already sound asleep. He quickly joined her on the bed, curling up next to her as sleep soon found him.

"Those poor kids have no idea what's in store for them," Daniel observed as they sat together on the sofa."

"I know," Rachel replied, smiling fondly at her granddaughter. "She reminds me so much of my Joanie as a baby."

"I can see a little of Julia in her too," He admitted. "But I can't imagine what it must be like for you, not having your daughter here."

"It is. I couldn't tell you how Noah and I made it through raising Joshua in those early years. Knowing that Noah is with her now somewhere has given me comfort. I still miss him terribly. But he's with our Joanie now."

"That's a nice thought," Daniel said thoughtfully. They sat for a while, watching as the first grandchild on the Lyman and Moss side of the family slept away.

A few hours later, Donna and Josh had awoken from their nap. Donna had just finished feeding Madeline when there was a knock on the door.

"Who could that be?" Donna asked as she went to answer the door.

Sam and Ainsley were standing on the other side and they smiled when they saw Donna, holding up balloons, flowers, and a casserole.

"Congratulations!" Ainsley said warmly.

"Thank you, guys!" Donna replied, accepting the flowers before pulling Ainsley in for a hug.

Sam and Ainsley had been dating for a little over a year and had just moved in together.

"So, where is the little bundle of joy?" Sam asked.

"Madeline just fell asleep," She said as she stepped aside to let them in.

"We won't disturb her then," Ainsley said. "Sam and I wanted to come over to see how you were doing."

"Forget me," Donna said regarding Sam seriously. "How is Amy holding up? A lot got piled onto her plate very quickly."

"Amy is doing fine, Donna," Sam replied.

"Yes, she is," Ainsley agreed. "In fact, we're having lunch tomorrow with Joey."

"That's wonderful!" Donna said. "You two know each other?"

"Yeah," Ainsley said, almost shyly. "We were teammates."

"Hold on," Sam said. "You were in Atlanta?"

"Yes, Sam, I was. It's not something that I broadcast. But you must not have been paying attention when Alex told you how lucky you are to date me."

"I heard her say that," Sam said. "I just didn't realize that's why she said it."

"Oh you must be a star in her eyes," Donna said chuckling.

"I suppose I am. At least Alex knows her dreams are possible."

"I hope Amy can handle Alex," Donna replied.

"Donna, Amy can handle anything. That's what being a gymnast prepares you for."

"Wait. Amy was a gymnast, too?" Josh asked.

"Yeah. Never at my level, but she competed."

"They were teammates at UNC," Donna said to Josh. "She's the one who introduced Alex to gymnastics."

"Really?"

"Yeah. The President and Dr. Bartlet credit her with saving their sanity."

"Donna, if Amy did that. I'm sure she can handle anything."

The Bartlet house was buzzing with activity as the family prepared to leave Manchester. Charlie's grandparents left the day before to get settled in Washington before starting to make arrangements for Michelle today.

"Charlie!" Jed called from his study.

Charlie entered the room, "Yes, sir?"

"I have someone I want you to meet."

Charlie walked in. "Yes, Jed?"

"Charlie, this is Ron Butterfield of the US Secret Service. He's going to introduce you to your detail."

"It's nice to meet you, Charlie," Ron said.

"You too, sir."

"Charlie, this is Agent Wesley Davis," Ron said, indicating a tall African American man wearing a suit and an earpiece. "He's going to be the head of your security detail. It's important to do everything he asks of you."

"It's nice to meet you, Charlie," Wesley said.

"Charlie," Jed spoke up. "From now on, you'll have a security detail just like Zoey, Alex, Logan, Ellie, and Liz have."

"Oh," Charlie said. "Okay."

Jed raised his eyebrow. "Weren't expecting that?"

"No, sir-I mean Jed. I just didn't really realize what it meant."

"You're one of us now, Charlie. That means you'll be protected as such."

He nodded, "Is there anything I can't do?"

"Just don't try to ditch your detail," Jed said. "Alex has done that one too many times for my liking."

The next day, Ainsley and Amy arrived to find Joey already seated at a table.

"Hey, Joey!" Ainsley called.

Joey turned at the noise and waved. The pair of them approached, and Joey embraced Ainsley. They were the only two of the original "Magnificent Seven" that were in regular touch.

"You remember Amy Gardner, right?" Ainsley asked.

"Sure. Good to see you again." Joey and Amy shook hands. They all sat down.

"So, how's Donna doing?" Joey asked. "I haven't seen her since Friday at the hospital."

"She's doing well," Ainsley said. "I saw her and baby Madeline yesterday. Donna and Josh are still adjusting to having a baby around but they have a generous leave package so I'm sure they'll work it out."

"No thanks to the Bartlet Administration," Amy smiled. "So Joey, I hear you have Logan Huntzberger at your gym now."

"Yes, Logan is there training, and Alex is helping with the younger girls. I told her parents that I want to get her back to competition eventually. But after what she went through with her old coach, it has to be on her terms."

"What do you mean?" Amy asked, concerned.

"Well, I don't know any details, but I think she may have been unnecessarily pressured. Not just in gymnastics but in…other things."

Ainsley and Amy gasped.

"Oh, my God," Amy whispered.

"Like, I said, I don't know for sure what did or didn't happen. But I do know that Clare pushed Alex harder than she should have. It's a miracle that Alex wasn't injured before or during worlds given the amount of stress she was under."

"Abbey has always been good about injury prevention and good nutrition. She put Alex on a different diet when she was little to make sure she was getting enough nutrition for the amount of energy she burned," Amy pointed out.

"Wow," Ainsley said, impressed. "She's lucky. Our parents didn't know a thing."

"Our parents weren't doctors," Joey pointed out.

"Fair point." Amy agreed. "Should we be worried about this?"

"Not now that she's away from gymnastics."

"Ain't that the truth," Joey replied. "If I get her in my gym, I'll never treat her like that."

Amy smiled, "Alex seems to love helping the younger girls. It's a pretty ingenious way to help her reset her brain and get over the twisties."

"You noticed that?" Joey asked.

"I've known that kid since she was born. When she stopped treating the world as her own personal gym, I knew it had to be something like that. Alex went through the JO levels and into elite quickly. I'm surprised this is her first experience with it."

"Do you think something happened?" Joey asked bluntly.

Amy was in partial shock. "I don't know, but…then again, how would I know?"

The three women sat in silence, Joey's question hanging in the air.

In another part of Washington DC, Charlie wandered into his mother's room. He had been at home for most of the day with his grandparents, helping them make arrangements for his mother's funeral on Friday and packing up his room. It had been a difficult day. He was sad to leave his house. But living in the Residence was better than he could have imagined and his room there was bigger. So he would have plenty of room for his stuff.

Charlie opened his mother's small walk-in closet and he could smell the scent of the potpourri she kept in her drawers to make her clothes smell nice. His chest tightened and his eyes filled with tears. He missed her so much. Charlie stepped inside and his hands brushed her hanging clothes which were a mix of suits, her dress uniform, dresses, and other hanging clothes. They swayed on the bar. In between them, he saw a large file box. Pushing some of them aside, Charlie reached in and pulled the box out. In the box were his mother's old case files. He could see names, dates, and circumstances. He was about to put them away, but a name caught his eye.

ALEXANDRA BARTLET

"Charlie!"

Charlie placed the file on the very top and left the box on the floor in the closet. He made a mental note to come back for that file later and shut the door.

"Coming!"

He walked back into the living room where his grandparents were sitting on the sofa.

"Sweetheart," Juanita said. "Your daddy is on the phone. He wants to talk to you."

Charlie blinked in disbelief. "Dad? That's a laugh."

"He's right here on the phone," Isaac said, holding out.

"Well, I'm not talking to him."

"Charlie…"

Charlie sighed and took the phone, "Hello?"

"Hey Charlie," his father said. "How are you?"

"I'm ok."

"I was sorry to hear about your mom."

"Thank you."

"Listen…what would you think about coming to live with me?"

Charlie was flabbergasted. "What?"

"I know I haven't been much of a father to you. With your mom gone, it's time to fix that."

"I don't know dad," Charlie said.

"I could keep you in your same school. If you don't live with me, you'll have to go to Atlanta with your grandparents."

"Dad…I already have someone to live with who can give me all of those things."

"Who's that?"

"The President."

His father paused. "Of the United States?"

"Yeah, I go to school with his daughters Zoey and Alex. Zoey and I have been best friends ever since she moved here."

"That's good, Charlie. But he's not your family."

"The Bartlets are as good as my family. I've spent a lot of time at their house, they've taken me on trips, and invited me over for holidays."

"Charlie…"

"Dad, it's what mom wanted. She asked the President and Dr. Bartlet to look after me."

"Charlie…" Juanita said. "I think it's time to say goodbye to your father."

Charlie nodded. "I have to go now."

"Okay. Goodbye, Charlie."

"Goodbye, Dad."

Notes: Read more about how we decided to bring Charlie into the family on our BTS blog: twwyoursmineours {dot} com/2022/06/03/the-evolution-of-charlie-young/