XX
Everybody looked up as Leo entered the room. It was Josh who first plucked up the bravery to ask. "Leo, is he-?"
"Charlie is alive and well," he reported. Even though they all knew that the president wouldn't really do anything to his young aide, the sigh of relief that rippled through the room was in no way feigned.
CJ leaned forward in her chair. "How are we gonna handle this?"
"Nobody has anything to be ashamed of," Sam spoke up.
They all exchanged brief glances, and then Toby gave a single, brisk nod. "All above board. They've been dating four years and America knows it, now they're getting married."
"Problem is the impression that they wanted to keep it a secret," CJ pointed out.
"Waiting for the right moment," Josh shrugged.
"To announce to the public, sure," she shrugged back. "Waiting to tell her parents... not good."
"People are gonna think the president doesn't approve," Sam surmised.
"The president... does approve, right?" Josh asked Leo.
"Beyond the initial objection that Charlie is A; male and B; intending to marry his daughter? Sure."
"We should sell the press that," Toby spoke up. Leo rolled his eyes.
"That the president's behind the engagement? Well, thank you for that advanced lesson in public relations, Toby."
"No, what you said," Toby corrected. "The president's an overprotective dad, and the press have occasion to know it."
"I can work with that," CJ nodded. "Family values on both sides; the young people wanting to marry and the father looking out for his daughters. Plus we point the press at the 'Charlie must be brave as hell' angle."
"And boy, does that need emphasising," Leo agreed, raising his eyebrows. Not even he, with his long association with the president, would relish confronting him on such a touchy subject. He shuffled papers as the others grinned. "Okay, is that all?"
"One more thing," CJ added, pulling a face. "Inevitably, there are gonna be rumours."
"Rumours?" asked Josh. They all frowned at her in puzzlement, and she rolled her eyes.
"Okay, I sense you boys have never stuck around a wedding discussion long enough to hear the inevitable gossip. The first item on the agenda is almost always the question of whether the blushing bride... has good reason to be blushing."
"They're gonna think Zoey's... in the family way?" Sam asked delicately, as if even thinking about attaching the word 'pregnant' to one of the First Daughters' names might bring presidential retribution.
"Yeah."
"She's not," said Leo, without a shred of doubt. Paternal protectiveness or not, he was more than positive that Zoey Bartlet would tell her parents if that was the case.
"Amazingly enough, that's not likely to be a major factor in the discussion," CJ said dryly.
"How to we kill that before it leaves the ground?" Josh wanted to know. Unfounded rumours in gossip columns would probably never go any further than that, but still, none of them wanted Charlie and Zoey to have to put up with that kind of nastiness. They were going to have a rough enough time of it as it was - no matter how well CJ controlled the spin, there were sections of society who would never see the president's daughter engaged to a black man in anything other than a prejudiced light.
"Well, the most obvious thing is to keep Zoey on display. I really wouldn't blame her if she wanted to hide away in the Residence for the next six months until the press attention looks like dying down a little, but we really can't afford the way that might look. Second, and perhaps more importantly, it can't be a hasty wedding. This is gonna have to be a nice, unhurried, respectably long engagement."
"Believe me when I assure you we will have no trouble selling the president that," said Leo dryly.
"It would be better if they didn't get married until the end of our second term," Josh pointed out hesitantly.
Leo nodded slowly. "It would - but nobody here is gonna decide that," he said firmly. His conversation with Abbey earlier had led him to dwelling on Mallory and his own family life. He'd made some terrible choices in his time - he sure as hell wasn't prepared to press such important decisions on anybody else. "We have to think about the administration, but not at the expense of what's right for the people in it." Sam rewarded him with a brilliant smile for that.
Josh shifted in his seat awkwardly. "Okay - and I acknowledge I'm getting a little ahead of ourselves here - but how's it gonna look if we end up with the president's son-in-law working for him?"
Leo shrugged. "He had the job before the romantic involvement - screw it."
"I'll write that down," said CJ dryly.
There was a sudden knock, and they all scrambled hastily to their feet as the president entered. "Sir," Leo nodded.
There was no trace of the towering rage he'd been showing that morning, but the president's jaw was set with a firm determination as he swept his gaze across them all. "Well?" he asked pointedly.
"We're handling it," Leo assured him.
The president apparently wanted a little more detail than that. "CJ?"
To her credit, CJ didn't hesitate. "Mr. President, there are gonna be some questions about why Zoey didn't announce her engagement as soon as it was made."
The president shrugged. "Tell them we were waiting to have the party."
They all exchanged puzzled glances. "Sir?" Leo questioned.
He smiled at them. "The engagement party we're having tomorrow night."
"Sir, it's a little short notice-" CJ observed carefully.
"Ah, it's strictly informal," the president waved off her concerns. "Just a little private gathering to celebrate before we let the whole world in." To listen to him, no one would have known that he was ranting and raging about the engagement scant hours ago. "Family and friends; you're all invited."
He turned to go, and Sam straightened up. "Mr. President? I was wondering if I could have a word?"
His brow wrinkled, but then he shrugged. "Sure, Sam. Come on through."
Sam turned to Leo for permission, and he nodded the younger man on. "Go ahead, Sam."
As he left the others exchanged glances, all suspecting what the speechwriter wanted to tell him about. "Boy, the president's gonna be wondering what universe he woke up in this weekend," Josh observed quietly.
"What was it you wanted, Sam?" The president smiled brightly at him as he settled into the couch. Behind the smile he seemed a little drained, though, and Sam felt momentarily guilty about burdening him with yet another complication. Hadn't he seen enough of those recently?
Still, the important thing was to get it out in the open.
"Sir, I... I wanted to tell you that I'm in a... potentially problematic relationship."
"Well, this would seem to be the week for it," the president said dryly. "Who is she?"
He took a breath. "Well, actually, sir, she is a he, and his name is Steven Radcliffe."
The president just nodded. "Okay."
"Sir?" he had to query, and the president casually waved a hand.
"Bring him along to this thing tomorrow night," he suggested.
Sam had to smile in disbelief. "Uh, Mr. President-"
The president looked up at him. "It's a party, Sam, you can bring a date. Does everybody know?"
"Um, pretty much," he agreed, thinking that he'd have to tell Charlie at some point. And Bonnie and Ginger - that should be an interesting experience.
"Well, there you go then," said the president, with a cheerful lack of concern. "Bring him along, I'm sure everyone's dying to meet him."
And that would appear to be the end of the discussion. Sam left the Oval Office, shaking his head and smiling quietly to himself.
Late that night, Jed lay curled in bed beside his wife, trying to sleep. He knew it would take more than a single night to banish the aching weariness that seemed to creep up on him sooner every day. It felt as if he was caught up in a neverending cycle; he could never rest quite long enough to reduce the weight of hovering fatigue, and every night that he missed sleep it grew a little larger.
Still, he couldn't deny that he'd felt some kind of weight shift off his shoulders when he'd finally spilled everything to Abbey.
As if she was attuned to his thoughts - something he'd often been convinced of - she stirred beside him, and turned to look at him. "Still awake, honey?" she asked, and he heard a slight quiver in her voice that she might have hidden better at another time of day.
"Yeah," he admitted softly, wishing he had some foolproof way to banish that shred of fear, but the only way was lying and it was too late for that now.
"You should have told me sooner," she said gently, reaching out to touch his hair. Not accusing, only concerned.
"I-" I was scared. I wanted it to go away. "I thought it wasn't- It still might be nothing."
"And it might not be."
"I know." And that was it, that was the crux of the matter, the part that it was easier to step around and pretend didn't exist. What if it wasn't nothing?
What if it wasn't nothing?
Even now he almost wished he could take back his honesty, pretend a little longer so he didn't have to contemplate the answer to that question.
Abbey snuggled closer against him in the dark. "Whatever happens, you've still got Liz and Ellie and Zoey," she reminded him. "And now you've got Charlie too." Yes. His family, his children. Whatever else was taken from him, he could never lose that. The light that kept him going.
"And I've still got you," he said softly, and pressed a kiss to her lips.
And for a while, at least, there was no room for being afraid.