Margaret shrugged away the nose that was lovingly nuzzling her neck. "If you wanted to get lucky this morning, Concannon, you shouldn't have let me get so drunk last night," she mumbled into the pillow.
Danny didn't let her refusal deter him however. "Your daughter got married last night," he reminded her as he gently rubbed her back. "We were celebrating."
"Celebrating my pregnant daughter getting married," Margaret grumbled.
"Now you sound like our mothers," Danny retorted with a grin. The grin disappeared quickly though when she met his gaze. "You'll never convince me you regret being with Leo," he told her. From the serious expression on his face, Margaret could tell he was remembering the day long ago when he'd brought Mike home. The day that had started them on their path together.
It had only been a few weeks after Leo's death. After the funeral the rest of the Bartlet clan had scattered to the winds. With Congress not in session, even Josh and Donna had left DC for their Connecticut home. Mike had taken the Metro to his Uncle Danny's office at the Post.
"Does your mother know where you are, Mike?" Danny had asked as he ushered the eight year old into his office, but Mike would only shrug in answer. "What's going on?"
"There's this thing the scouts are doing..." Mike had mumbled so quietly Danny had needed to lean forward to hear him.
"What kind of thing?" Concannon had asked quietly in reply.
"A thing with our dads," the boy had replied as the tears had begun to flow. "Uncle Josh and uncle Sam aren't in DC, and Mom..."
"It's okay. How about I take you?" Danny had asked the boy unwilling to take more of his pride by making him ask. Mike had nodded as he'd wiped the tears from his eyes. "How's your mom?" Danny had been unprepared for the reaction he got as the floodgates opened on Mike's tears. "Hey!" He'd wrapped the distraught boy in his arms and listened as the jumbled words poured from his lips. After he'd calmed down, Danny had bundled Mike up and taken him home. Danny had been shocked at what he'd seen as he followed Mike into the McGarry home. Margaret was known to keep their home immaculately clean at all times, but Danny would never have guessed it from the sight that had greeted his eyes. Empty takeout containers had littered the coffee table in the living room near where a pile of newspapers lay strewn on the ground. Dee had been watching a program on television that Danny had no doubt she shouldn't have been watching. Danny had turned the television off immediately solving that problem. "Where's your mom?" he'd asked ignoring her protests.
"In bed," Dee had told him.
After getting the two kids started on their homework, Danny had wandered back to the master bedroom almost afraid of what he'd find. He had signed a breath of relief to find Margaret clutching a pillow to her as she lay curled in a ball in the middle of the bed, still in her pajamas. "Well at least you haven't hit the booze," Danny had remarked loudly enough to wake the dozing woman on the bed. "What the hell are you doing to yourself, Margaret?"
"Leave me alone, Danny," she'd growled in response hiding her red swollen eyes in the pillow.
Danny had stood staring at her for several minutes unsure how to help his friend through her grief before finally turning away. He'd fixed the kids a real dinner than night instead of letting them order takeout on their mother's credit card as they had apparently been doing since the rest of the family had left the previous week. Margaret, still in her pajamas, had come out of the bedroom briefly to fix herself a plate. Danny had stayed that night until both children were in bed and promised them he'd be back the next morning.
He'd let himself in early the next morning with the key he'd gotten from Mike. The two children had been eating a cold breakfast of cereal and juice when he'd entered the kitchen. There hadn't been time to make them anything else though before the school van had honked for them. After he'd seen the two McGarry children off at the door he'd made his way back to the bedroom where he'd found Margaret exactly as he'd left her the previous night.
"Get up, Margaret, or you'll be late for work," Danny told her in a firm voice as he pulled the comforter off the bed.
"I don't have a job," she'd grumbled as she made a blind grab for the missing covering.
"You do now," he'd informed her. "You're my new assistant as of this morning."
"I don't need a job," Margaret had told him still curled up in the bed she'd shared with Leo for almost ten years. It was true Leo had left her with more than enough money, but it had become obvious to Danny that she did need to work. She couldn't stay in that bedroom grieving for the rest of her life.
"Get up and get dressed. You're coming to work with me," Danny had ordered her leaving an unspoken threat hanging in the air.
"Or what?" Margaret had growled sure he was bluffing.
"Or I call the Sisterhood," he'd replied pulling out his trump card. He had known Margaret would hate for them to see her like that.
Margaret had cracked open one eye to glare at him angrily. "That's blackmail," she'd told him.
"And damn good blackmail it is," he'd agreed cheerfully. "How do you think I got C.J. to date me?"
Margaret smiled now at the memory as she gazed at the man beside her. "No, I don't regret being with Leo," she agreed quietly before leaning forward to place a gentle kiss on his bearded cheek. "You know I don't regret being with you either?" she asked seeing the lingering jealousy and doubt in his eyes even after all this time.
"Yeah," Danny replied but couldn't quite convince Margaret that he really knew how much she loved him.
"Go get the paper, love" she ordered as she rose from their bed and made her way towards the kitchen. "I'll get the coffee." This morning ritual had started that very morning as he'd read the Post to her through the bathroom door as she got dressed. Returning to their bed they settled next to each other with pillows propped behind their backs. "Read me your piece," Margaret commanded as she handed him his cup of coffee.
Danny took a hurried sip of his coffee before sitting it on the nightstand, then began to read, "You've just declared war on the West Virginia White Pride. What are you going to do next? Well, if you're a member of the formidable Bartlet dynasty, you don't go to Disney World. You throw a gala wedding with less than twenty four hours notice. Yesterday morning, the extended Bartlet family came together to support four members of the family as they filed suit on behalf of the children of Mark and Jasmine Genaro, the inter-racial couple believed to have been murdered by the West Virginia White Pride. In an evening ceremony held at an undisclosed location last night, Josiah Ronald Young, the son of attorney Charlie Young and New Hampshire Lt. Governor Zoey Bartlet-Young, married Mary Delores McGarry, daughter of the late Leo McGarry..."
Margaret continued to listen with half an ear as Danny read his editorial, but most of her attention was focused on Danny himself. She couldn't help but think how little he'd changed over the years. His hair and beard were still red, though he had to dye it to keep the gray from showing now. There were a few more wrinkles around his eyes and a few more pounds around his waist, but he was still the same man who had bullied her out of her grief by forcing her to work. He had shown up every morning for weeks to make sure she forced herself out of bed. Margaret had never questioned that his motives had been anything other than friendship. He had taken Mike to the scouting event and others in the months after Leo's death making sure the little boy had someone other than his mother to talk to about his father's death. Sometimes Dee would go with them to a movie or some other event leaving Margaret time to herself. He had even been willing to babysit as she'd tentatively returned to dating six months after Leo had died. It had only taken her two months of dating 'local gomers' for Margaret to realize that she wanted someone who had already found a place in her heart.
It was at that moment that Danny noticed her watching him and lowered the paper to return her gaze. "What?" he asked raising an eyebrow.
"I'm just thinking about how lucky I've been," Margaret told him honestly. "Dee looked beautiful last night didn't she? Walking down the aisle on your arm."
"Her father should have been there to walk her down the aisle," Danny said.
"One of her fathers was there," Margaret reminded him. "She wants to name the baby Daniel." Danny opened his mouth as if to say something, but no word came out. Margaret could see tears pooling in his eyes. "You're her Pop, Danny. She loves you. Almost as much as I do."
For another minute Danny said nothing. The doubt she'd seen in his eyes earlier was gone replaced with a twinkle of mischief as he waggled his eyebrows. "You changed your mind about me getting lucky?" he asked as he leaned towards her.
Margaret laughed as she pulled the Post from his lap and dropped it on the floor beside their bed. "I think I can be persuaded," she told him before Danny lowered his head to claim a kiss.
