Family by Trial and Fire

In a hotel room in New York, Marc Castillo sat opposite Penny Ziegler who has agreed to a rare interview. The singer was infamous among journalists for the rare number of interviews she would grant. Many believed that part of the reason for this was the woman watching from the corner like a lioness guarding her cub. CJ Ziegler had been her daughter's manager from the beginning of her career at the age of eighteen when she'd come seemingly out of nowhere to dominate the Nashville music scene.

"When did you first decide you wanted a career in music?" he asked.

Penny hesitated for a moment then glanced at her mother. "It was about two months after Nate and I came to live with Mom and Dad. Nate hadn't spoken since our parents died. I guess Dad somehow came up with the idea that taking Nate out to Cape Canaveral might help get him talking again. So he arranged a trip out there to visit Uncle David. Kate and I didn't want to go watch some rocket launch so Mom took us to visit LA at the same time."

"What happened on the trip?" Castillo asked.

"Mom arranged for a visit to a recording studio. The artist who had booked it had finished earlier so it was empty. We were allowed into the booth. I loved it!" Penny admitted. "Before we left that day, I had an offer for a contract, but Mom turned it down. I was so mad, but we made a deal. If I finished high school, she'd help me get a career in music."

"Did you think she could do it?"

"You do know who my parents are right?" Penny asked with a laugh. "Of course I knew she could do it!"

"What was your mother's job at the time?" Castillo asked.

"She was the spokeswoman for the Southern Poverty Law Center and also taught a few college classes in Communications. About two years after we made that deal some kids in one of her classes asked her to help them promote their band. She thought of it as practice for helping me. Six months after agreeing to help them she was their manager full time."

"What was the band?" the interviewer asked though he knew the answer.

"Blast," Penny replied naming one of the hottest rock bands of the time. They continued to release albums and tour even now, twenty years later. Out of the corner of her eye Penny saw her mother startle and reach for the cell phone in her pocket.

"You are married to Blast's youngest member, Jill Seyfert. Yours was the first legally recognized same sex marriage in Tennessee?" Marc asked though like his other questions it wasn't really a question.

"Yes," Penny replied then explained. "My uncle, Charlie Young, took the case to get our marriage recognized by the state. Jill and I wanted to have kids, and after having experienced the foster care system it was very important to me to make sure that if Jill or I died that there would be no question about our children's custody. There were, of course, other issues that I'm sure everyone is aware of by now. Taxes, being able to make legal decisions for each other, etcetera."

"And do you have children now?"

Penny smiled as she nodded. "We've adopted three children."

"None of your children are yours or Jill's biologically then?" Castillo asked.

"No. Mom and Dad gave my siblings and I such a great gift when they adopted us. Jill and I decided to pass that gift on," she replied with a smile towards her mother realizing only then that CJ's face had gone white. "Mom?" Penny asked in alarm as she scrambled to catch the older woman as she slumped towards the ground. "Mom! What's wrong? What's going on?" she asked before taking the phone from her mother's limp hand. "Who is this? What's going on?" she asked.

"Penny!" Kate's voice cried from the slim cell phone. "Turn on CNN! Uncle Charlie's press conference turned into a riot. Dad's pretty much in a state of shock. Noah isn't much better. Nate's calling to get us an earlier flight."

"CNN!" Penny snapped at the reporter as she helped her mother into a chair. The cameraman continued to film as CJ and Penny sat vigil waiting for word on Charlie's condition. Castillo was already picturing where he was going to put his Emmy for this interview. CJ allowed him to ask her questions about the original Newseum shooting and its aftermath while her daughter comforted her. Castillo wondered if she even realized she was answering his questions or if like riding a bicycle she had fallen into old habits in a time of crisis. When the call came that Charlie was alright Penny sent her mother into one of the suite's two bedrooms to rest. CJ however was having none of that. She was going to arrange for an early flight to DC. Penny told her to book two seats and that they'd leave after she finished the interview.

"First, let me say thank you for letting me sit with you and ask questions these last two hours."

"Thank you for not taking advantage of it," Penny replied.

"You have an unusual extended family," Castillo remarked. "Would you tell our viewers about them?"

"You mean the Bartlet dynasty?" Penny asked with a gentle smirk. "President Bartlet and his wife had three daughters born to them. Like my parents they adopted a much larger family, but Grandpa Jed gathered his adopted children to him as adults. Dad likes to call us family by choice instead of family by blood. Aunt Donna has a different name for it..."

"What's that?" Castillo asked quietly.

"Family by trial and fire," replied Penny. "Rosslyn tempered the steel in their souls, and the hearings welded them together as a family." Penny's attention was drawn back to the television in the background where CNN was interviewing the leader of the West Virginia White Pride.

"....make them think twice about filing suit against our organization!"

Tears rolled down her cheeks as Penny was unable to control the laughter that bubbled up in her.

Castillo glanced towards the television. "Something funny about his statement?" he asked.

"We'll be down at the courthouse before it opens tomorrow filing that suit. They accomplished nothing today but a strengthening of resolve. Now, I'm sorry to say it, but if Mom and I are going to make that flight, we need to leave soon," Penny told him as she stood and began to remove her microphone.

"We will?" Castillo asked.

Penny turned back to the reporter. "Family forged by trial and fire, Mr. Castillo," she reminded him. "You wound one of us, we all bleed. You attack one of us, you're going to be fighting all of us."