Twilight Series

by chipmunk2

In the first fic, Leo gets Attacked

14. Recovery Friday Final

Title: Recovery Day 4 of 4 Days Twilight Series 2 /?

By: chipmunk and Lynn 

Pairing: Leo/Margaret

Rating: R

Spoilers: None really

This is not strictly cannon by the show.

Doesn't matter the year or the situation.

Plot Development By: Lynn lhjessome@yahoo.com

Beta and Mentor By: Lee pigletnpooh@comcast.net

Disclaimer:

The characters are from the NBC, WB, Bravo, A John Wells Prod.,

TV show, 'The West Wing'.

They own them; therefore, they do not belong to us.

They are the creation of Aaron Sorkin. We only borrowed them.

No copyright infringement is intended.

No monetary benefit is received or anticipated.

A 'grateful' and 'enormous' thanks, to the actors and actresses,

who portray the characters 'brilliantly'

and bring them to life in our heads.

Feedback: We would love it hear your opinion! PLEASE! 

It helps to improve our writing!

Archived at: 

Summary: Sequel to Leo's Dilemma – The next week

Note: This series is even hotter.

Warning: Sexual content and cursing!

*****

It is Friday morning and the alarm finds Leo asleep on his side, curled again Margaret, who is lying flat, her hand up to cup under his face. Leo rolls his face to place a kiss in her palm, before he reaches to her nightstand. She smiles slightly, with her eyes closed and she wakes slightly to the feel of his bodyweight pressing on her when he leans over her reaching for the alarm.

He pulls back enough to look at her sleeping face, "Yeah, Baby, time to wake-up." He hovers over her, marveling at her beauty and enjoying the way her wonderful red hair is framing her face on the pillow. He lowers his lips to meet her soft lips, waking her with gentle kisses.

Margaret opens her green eyes and smiles at his face above hers. She raises her hand to caress his face, which is more relaxed in the early mornings and holds a beauty all its own to her. "Morning, Sweetie." She moves her arms up over her head and stretches her long body in a flex, to wake more fully.

Leo's breath catches as he admires her length and the grace in her arching body. He can't resist placing his lips over her raised nipple that is evident under the taunt satin of her sleep shirt, as she holds the stretch for a few moments. She giggles at his playfully taking advantage of her morning stretch. She relaxes and reaches for his face with her hand to indulge in their favorite waking-up activity. Kissing, touching and loving are all that their minds are occupied with in the morning.

Leo's lying on his right side, which supports him better and he leans slightly over top of Margaret on the bed, to more thoroughly explore her body. Leo, in his passionate ardor this morning, explores for more ways to pleasure her. He's a little bolder, after Margaret's acceptance of his touching her soft red curls in her most private area, last night. "God, you're beautiful, Margaret." He kisses her passionately. Never wanting his lips to leave hers. Trying to pleasure her with his damaged hands, he now regrets knowing how to fistfight with both hands, even if it did give him an advantage. With his sore left hand, he softly and slowly moves his hand to slide her panties lower to give him better access to between her thighs. To caress her in the warm, moist area, which she keeps secret.

She gently lifts her hips to give him encouragement. Her fingernails are stroking his chest and playing patterns around his nipple.

"Let me find what pleasures you, Margaret," Leo whispers against her lips.

"Please, Leo," she cups the back of his head to hold his lips to hers.

He then gently caresses her with his fingertips. To explore and discover some of the touches that brings joy to her. Stroking and fondling with his hand as well as he can. Using a circular motion with the heel of his palm against her pleasure point. "Margaret, I love you in so many ways." He adds to his discoveries, by her eager responses to his touch, marveling at the small moans that it extracts from Margaret's mouth into his.

Unfortunately, Margaret gets a turn at 'cooling off.' Disappointment is evident, not only by the sounds she makes, but in her body language. It's possibly a little easier for her, because she sees that Leo feels so bad about not being able to push her to the edge.

He wants to help kiss that frustration away. He places several fast small kisses to her lips that are slightly swollen from their lovemaking, "Baby, I'm sorry I can't give you the gift of release, with my hands this way. The day will arrive that I can love you more fully."

"Leo, just having you here loving me is love enough. How we express it is a choice we make each time we're together." She looks at him with a soft smile, her love for him showing in her eyes and he smiles softly back.

He slides his arm under her neck to embrace her closer with a hug. He lowers his mouth to capture hers. They hardly remember to breathe.

She gently applies pressure to his shoulder to roll him flat onto his back. Margaret pulls her lips away and she places small kisses down his neck and continues across his chest to his nipple. She gives special attention to administering the same tactics to the nipple that Leo gives to hers. She stokes the matching one to drive him crazy. He gives her the same moaning response, his hand behind her is rubbing a caress to her back and his other hand is spread out on the bed, not knowing whether to touch her or hang on to the sheet to keep his from falling off the edge of the earth. She grins, knowing she can make him lose a little of his steel-like control that he holds himself with. She next moves to that intriguing line of hair running down from his chest to run under his waistband. She follows it down with her kisses. Leo growls with laughter, "Remember the rule, Margaret."

"I know where the cut off line is, Leo." She continues with her kisses to his unexplored navel, she peeks a grin up at him.

"Margaret," he growls in asking. ~She has allowed us to touch below the waist. She does dip below the line on the back of me, to kiss the tattoo that she's fixated with.~ His rational thoughts stop for a moments to savor her attentions to his body. ~She better not dip in the front or I'm not responsible for my reactions.~

She continues to kiss and use her tongue to explore his navel, enjoying the vocal responses that he's emitting and his shaky breathing. She smiles as he instinctively pulls in his abdominal muscles as she blows on the wetness. He sucks in a low moan and softly growls a warning, "Margaret, you'd better move back up here or I'm gonna absolutely explode this morning. Yesterday was an accident, but now you're provoking a reaction."

She giggles at Leo's total discomfort and the fact that he's at the edge of losing control.

She moves up beside him. They are looking in each other's eyes and their hands are still slowly skimming each other's bodies with gentle caresses. They look for the passion in the others eyes, never breaking eye contact, with small smiles on their faces. She lowers her face and locks her lips to his.

He returns her kiss, she's really causing him to have trouble breathing, and he pulls away, "Margaret, this is 'not' cooling me off. We need to quit the kissing for a few moments."

"OK, we'll stop kissing for a little bit, Leo," she grins at him. She lays her head gently on his chest. She can see his bulge under his satin boxers and has a plan. She runs her hand down his side and slides her thumb underneath his waistband and pulls down on the boxers to reveal his current morning condition. She touches him in the daylight. Leo breathes her name, but doesn't stop her. She begins a pattern of caressing him. Leo's panting in shaky breaths and softly murmuring her name, getting more incoherent. His heartbeat is increasing and she can hear it with satisfaction. She turns her head to kiss him passionately. They both know that cooling down in no longer an option. Her plan is working, to pleasure Leo. Letting him know that she loves him and is giving him the pleasure that he's unable to administer to her, at this time. That she's learning that loving in not always a two-way activity. That she derives pleasure in loving him. Within moments Leo can longer hold control and he brings his hands up to hold the sides of her face and whispers, "I love you, Margaret," and gives up all total over his body.

She replies softly on his lips, "I love you, Leo." Afterwards she covers him with the sheet. Holding him gently and listening to his heart return from the peak he just experienced with her gift to him.

*****

When Leo is recovered and still wondering if he did just fall from earth at her kindness, he rolls to her and kisses her softly with his love shining in his eyes, "Margaret, I want thank you for that wonderful surprise. I wasn't expecting you to do that and I want to let you know how much I appreciate what you did. I know it was a big step for you." Leo's a bit sad, because he can't do that for her, yet.

Margaret kisses his cheek in understanding, "Leo, it just seemed right." She pauses getting a bit shy with him, "Yes, it was a big step. It was a spur of the moment. I realized you were so close to the edge and that it wouldn't take much effort to finish you. I did it without thinking of our limits. It was just a gift, because I love you and wanted give you the pleasure of release." Margaret wants to hide her worry. ~ It's easy for him to finish. It may not be as easy for me and I don't want to disappoint him and let him think that I don't find him attractive.~

Leo hugs her to his heart. Her selflessness is her greatest gift to him and a trait in her that he loves most. "Margaret, you are the most giving and generous person I have ever known. My being able to have you in my life is gift enough, but you just keep giving to me. Someday, I'll return your kindness."

Margaret takes a deep breath and takes a leap of faith, "Leo, I want to be honest with you. I've not ever told this to anyone. My being able to ……finish… is something that I've not been able to or maybe let myself, do. I'm not sure I can respond like that with a man." She asks him what she really needs to know, "Can we stay where we are with loving each other by touch and not expect more for awhile?"

"Margaret, I love you and really mean it when I tell you that I'm happy with whatever is comfortable for you." He looks into her liquid eyes where she is half way to tears from fear of disappointing him. "If anything we do, makes you uneasy, we can step back. I don't have any expectations that might pressure you. If it's a little scary for you, we can certainly stay at this level, till you're comfortable to explore more."

Margaret tears do threaten to spill over at her relief and joy. She wraps her arms around him in a thankful hug, "Oh, Leo, you are so wonderful and understanding with me. I think we can do anything in life, if we work at it together."

"Margaret, I know we have moved our relationship at a record pace this week, but I think we were ready for it." He sighs in contentment, "We have had so many years together that we seem to have known each other forever. This morning your instinctive nature to give me pleasure just proves how much we know and love each other." He kisses her again to show his appreciation.

Margaret is so happy in his arms and tells him again, "I thought one of us should have some fulfilling pleasure and since you can't, ...... you know. I'm fine with that.

I'm not ready for that part of our relationship, yet for me to .....you know. I'm OK with touching, but not for the next step."

"Margaret, when you're ready to explore more, we'll work on it slowly. There are no time factors to our relationship. We just savor what we have, at any level you want. If you're comfortable with pleasuring me, even if I can't for you right now, then that's what we will do. I'll just need to get more creative, with my lovemaking to you."

"Leo, creative lovemaking? Now that does sound interesting. Gives me something to look forward to." She snuggles against him, happy that she told him and he loves her enough to wait for her to catch up.

Leo smiles at her hopeful look, "Baby, looking forward is what we do best!"

They cuddle for a while longer, before they need to get up and shower.

*****

Once they get into the shower, Leo, being a gentleman, lets her have first turn with the puff, using it on herself. He loves watching her run the bubbly puff over all of her body. There is no turning shyly away today. His heart rate increases to let him know he's definitely awake, now. The bubbles sliding down her wet body, as she rinses, has his full attention and he hangs onto the soap dish handle almost desperately.

Margaret smiles at his wide eyes, which are trying to watch her whole body at once, as if he wishes he could watch everything in slow motion. She puts shampoo into the palm of her hand and steps close to his wet body and reaches up to quickly wash his hair. She thinks it's safe to get frisky, with Leo having been completely pleasured, this morning.

He continues to stand close to her as next she washes her hair. He thinks it's so incredibly erotic to watch her while she washes her hair, with her arms up and her breasts firm and perky as they are drawn upward as well. The bubbles sliding like small, white clouds down her body. He leans forward and kisses her wet nipples and then he flicks his tongue over the hard nibs and latches on for a firm tug on each one before he glances up at her with a smile and a shrug, he just can't resist. It's a true weakness of his.

When she hands him the puff, he smiles and hands it back to her indicating that he wants her to wash him. His hands and ribs are still stiff and hurting. He will owe her and another day they can reverse. She enjoys soaping him all over and he growls softly in appreciation. She hesitates after she has soaped all of him except for his private area. She is sure that the puff would be slightly to abrasive for that area. She rinses the puff and hangs it up. Leo looks at her assuming that she has gone shy and is passing on washing him there. But then she surprises him by squeezing a small amount of body shampoo into her hand. She grins and leans in to kiss him and reaches down between them to soap all his tender parts, doing a very thorough job.

He reaches up a hand to cup her face in thanks for overcoming her shyness at touching him. This quite naturally starts them necking in the shower. They are touching body to body, nude for the first time. Wet bodies touching, with the warm water cascading down their bodies.

They both seem to feel that necking at this time is safe and that the limits will not be at risk. They both are wrong, as they find he's indeed not yet dead. His morning condition is trying to reappear. He's getting firmer but he has not gotten a fully returned condition, yet. Leo's pleasantly surprised at his recuperative ability. This is another first for them, before he has always been able to control it in the shower, but, with their bodies touching as they continue their passionate morning, there has been more temptation than ever before. He pulls back and just smiles at her, his eyes twinkling and telling her that she does that to him.

Leo gives her a last quick kiss, "Margaret, we should put a stop to this now, we don't want to go any farther this morning and lovemaking in the shower is just too tempting. We need to dry off before Josh gets here."

Drying off and watching the other at the same time, Margaret suggests, "Leo, I think we can compromise with showering in the mornings. I think we can manage to shower together, from now on, if you finish getting ready in the other bathroom every morning. We both enjoy this too much and it doesn't seem to slow us down, it takes the same amount of time." Both smile in agreement. This is now part of their morning ritual.

*****

Josh arrives while Leo is waiting in his robe, at the table, with his first mug of coffee. "Hey, Leo. My timing is impeccable as always."

"Freeze right there, Josh, I 'am' going to finish the last two swallows of coffee in my mug," as he possessively holds the mug away from Josh..

"Sounds like you're pretty desperate there, Leo. Does Margaret have you on a schedule?"

Leo grins, "Yeah and I always manage to mess up her schedules, here and at the office. I think her new tactic is to withhold coffee till I'm ready in the mornings. I think she might have found the one thing that will work. So I'm learning to grab a mug whenever possible."

"You mean, you got your own coffee this morning?" Josh is shocked and his smiling face shows it.

"No! Margaret was afraid that I would spill the hot coffee on myself, with my bad hands." Leo takes a long last swallow and set the mug down. "I'm ready to get shaved now." Leo grunts slightly as he rises from the chair.

Josh grins at Leo, "Hey, you're doing better today." He watches Leo amble across the room, noting that Leo's swagger is making a small comeback. This totally makes Josh's day. That the world is starting to right itself, with the return of the normal Leo.

"Yeah, I seem to move easier for awhile after the warm shower." Leo sits himself on the stool in his bathroom. He knows that he can't stand for long periods of time.

Josh gets Leo's shaver out of the charger, "You ready for me to use this dull razor on you again?"

"It's not dull." Leo boasts, "That's a well made shaver. You just treat my face, like it's a race course." Leo scolds with a grin for Josh.

"Well, it is a race course, Leo, for cross track dirt bikes," Josh laughs at his tormenting of Leo. Leo reaches out to backhand Josh softly in the abdomen. "Hey, watch it, Leo, you might hurt your hand."

"Not a problem there, Josh. You may need to do laps with me, when I recover more." Leo pokes Josh in the stomach with his fingertips.

Josh pats himself, "That might be a good thing after all, Leo, especially, if you're back to doing the cooking by then. You'll be trying to fatten me up anyway."

"Well, it'll be better than what you stuff into yourself, at the fast food stores," Leo points out. "Look at me and see what happens, if you eat lousy at work. I need the laps as much as you do." Leo backtracks to the insult that Josh almost slipped past him, "Besides, I feed you good meals here, not the fattening stuff from the White House." Sounding more like his old self, Leo takes charge, "Now hand me the shaver and let me try to do it this morning."

"OK, Leo, give it a shot." Josh knows this is important to Leo, "I'll stand here and hand you what you need."

Leo manages to shave himself pretty well with more concentration and then he hands the shaver back to Josh, pleased that he's finally managed to do it again. Josh next hands him a damp washcloth, which he wrung out, to wipe his face with. While Leo was doing that, Josh squeezed some toothpaste onto the brush for Leo. The toothbrush is harder for him to hold onto than the shaver, but Leo has never let anyone brush his teeth. It's just a quirk of his. Josh is waiting with the cologne that he loves so much and when Leo's ready, he pours some onto his own hands, to apply to Leo's face as Leo would more than likely have a hard time getting onto his face. Josh also wants the opportunity to wipe the excess onto his own face. Leo just shakes his head and smiles at Josh. He plans on calling New York tomorrow and ordering two bottles of cologne, a new one for himself and one for Josh to have at home, as a thank you for everything he has done for him this week.

Leo grabs the edge of the sink and stands, "Did Margaret lay out clothes today or are we on our own?"

"She laid out clothes, I saw them when we came in." Josh stays behind Leo to help him, if needed. "I'm sure she does that to help with getting the suspenders on the pants. She probably figures I'd mess them up and you are unable get them attached," Josh adds with a smile.

Leo sits on the side of the bed. "She probably just hopes it will help us to save time." Leo's being more realistic in guessing Margaret's motives.

"That or she figures we would make a project out of getting them attached," Josh laughs.

"Here, Leo, I have your socks on, now stand up and step into the pants." Leo was working his arms into his shirt and as Josh straightens up, he reaches around and helps Leo to get into the last sleeve and slides the suspenders over his shoulders and starts to button the shirt.

"Hey, Leo, we forgot something," Josh exclaims with surprise and his hands freeze.

"What?" Leo looks at Josh with mild concern.

"Your wrap." Josh looks him in the eye with disbelief, how could they have possibly forgotten.

Leo grins, "Isn't that just terrible? Oh well, maybe Margaret won't notice till later. I think I can go with out it today." Leo boasts with confidence. He wants to feel better and it makes him itch, even though it helps.

"Leo, you know that if the ladies discover you forgot it, they'll strip you down and get it on you, one way or another." Josh gives a serious forecast, while he finishes Leo's buttons and hooks the top of Leo's pants.

Leo is still grinning, but advises, "Josh, I'll take my chances, but if you hear me holler for help, today. I really mean it!" Leo sits back down on the bed.

Josh looks at Leo like he's crazy, "Like I'm going to rescue you from the Sisterhood. I'll just get sucked into helping them or worse they'll extract revenge on me at a later date for helping you." He puts Leo's cufflinks in.

Leo chuckles deeply, "I know they're scary, but we love 'em all the same."

"Yeah, we do like our women to be the strong-willed type." Josh's dimple shows as he grins, "That's what we get for surrounding ourselves with them."

"You want to finish my tie and shoes here or at the table?" Leo looks up at him from the edge of the bed with the suggestion.

"Leo, lets get them on here and then you'll be done." Josh squats down in front of Leo, to put the shoes on, "I hear Margaret moving around in the living room, getting the hot wax machine ready along with a quick breakfast for us." Leo picks up the tie and flips it around his neck. He works at getting it under his collar buttons, ready for Josh to tie.

Shortly, Josh announces as he opens the door for Leo, "Success, Margaret, Leo is once again ready to take on the world."

*****

Jed decides to have a surprise for Leo in his office, this morning. He knows he has found a perfect way to help Leo and make it easier for him to do his work. "Charlie," the President calls to the other office, after he enters the Oval Office from the Portico.

Charles promptly steps into the Oval Office, "Good morning, Sir. Do you need something, first, or do you want to review today's schedule?"

"Charlie, you read my mind." The President has a too pleased look on his face, "I need you to run an errand for me first thing this morning."

"Certainly, Sir." Charlie quickly agrees, but he knows that look, "What do you need me to do?" He's a little hesitant to hear the answer. The President is acting really cheerful and it puts Charlie on his guard.

"I want you to go out and purchase on of those hot wax machines for hands." The President flippantly makes it sound like a normal item.

Charlie now fears the worst, "Sir, you mean like the women all rave about?"

The President tries to look busy as he stands at his desk, "Yeah, they're using one for Leo's hand therapy and I want to have one here for him at the White House. At least I can do that to help him."

Charlie tries to tactfully find a drawback to the request, "Sir, can you give me a hint, as to where I can start looking to purchase it?"

"I don't know, Charlie. You probably can get it at the mall, at one of those boutiques."

He is not going to blindly give in so easy, "Right, like I'm suppose to go into a ladies boutique and purchase one". This is a man-to-man moment, "You know, Sir. People in this city know my face, since I walk right behind you." He gives the President a serious look, "They're going to snicker at me."

"Work it out, Charlie." The President knows he has to take command now that Charlie is starting to balk tactfully him, "I want a machine here this morning. Leo can use it at lunchtime, to help with his hands, for his work in the afternoon."

"Yes, Sir." Charlie politely give in, but gets in a dig, "I'm just going to go and recruit a female volunteer to go with me."

"Good idea, Charlie. Take your Nancy with you." The President is all smiles again and feels safe in giving Charlie the rest of the good news, "Oh and Charlie. Josh mentioned that Margaret purchased unscented wax for his home machine."

"I'll check on that, Sir." Charlie is taking mental notes to tell to Nancy.

Charlie puts his hand on the doorknob and finds that the President isn't done, "He'll also need some disposable latex gloves, get size ex-large to go over his swollen hands."

Turning back to the President, "Sir, where do you recommend I get the gloves?" Charlie is not caring at this point, if it sounds like a stupid question.

"Ask Abby. She would know where they sell them," he answers with a smile at having a quick answer that gets him off the hook.

Charlie deadpanned his reply, "Yes, Sir. Good idea, since she's a doctor and all."

"Charlie, get smart with me and you can go alone as a punishment." The President warns, but he's never taken that seriously, but they never know.

"I hear you, Sir. Can I get you the schedule before I leave?" Charlie is smoothing over the waters.

"That'd be great, Charlie. Now get. I want that machine, ASAP." The President is so pleased. He's anticipating trying the machine himself, if it's as nice as Josh says it is.

The President reviews his real reason for getting Leo a machine for at work. ~Leo keeps finding all the good toys. First, he has a hot tub at his disposal and now the wax machine. We may have to keep it around after Leo's hands are well. Mine hands are not getting any younger and neither are Leo's.~

*****

An hour later Charlie returns with a box and a bag from the mall. "Mr. President, we found just what you wanted. Good thing Nancy went with me, she knew just what we were looking for and knew right where to get it."

"Yeah, it is always smart to take a woman with you to a mall. They know the layout the instant they walk in." The President looks at him seriously, "Just instinct, I guess, Charlie."

"Well, I was just glad that she did the talking." Charlie wants the President to know what a sacrifice he made, "I just stood back and looked dumb till time to pay for it."

"You played your role correctly, Charlie. Women tend to get cranky if you interfere with their negotiations." It shows that Jed has lived in a household filled with females for many years. "Open it up and let me see what it looks like."

"Nancy said that they heat up the wax in the microwave to get it softer, but not too hot so that it will burn and then let the machine keep it warm." Charlie tries to sound helpful, while he gets the lid unsealed on the box.

The President is watching impatiently, "Get out the instructions, Charlie. We need to see how to set it up."

Charlie is now leery of their ability, "Sir, do you want Nancy to come in and set it up?"

"No, Charlie. Let's be men about this. I think we can manage a simple set of instructions." The President has lots of confidence. How hard can it be, it comes with a plug.

"I still suggest we get Nancy." Charlie still makes one last try. He has seen the President when he is this enthusiastic with something. It doesn't always turn out as expected and we they taking about melting wax.

The President looks him in the face and challenges, "Charlie, show a little faith here."

"Yes, sir. I'll unpack it and you read the instructions." Charlie gives in to the plan. "Here you go, Sir."

*****

After the President has a handle on how the machine operates and what the instructions recommend about melting and using the wax, he sends Charlie to heat the wax and to bring it to Leo's office. The President grabs the machine and heads through the connecting doors. "Hey, Leo. I've got you something to help with your hands."

"Sir?" Leo is sitting at his desk and makes a slow rise from his chair when the President enters his office. Leo moves from around his desk to follow the President to his sitting area. "Did you swipe Abby's machine?"

The President looks at his friend like he's crazy, "Are you kidding? She'd kill, you and me both." He then boasts, "I purchased this new one for you this morning."

Leo speaks with certainty, "Sir, I can bet good money that you sent Charlie to get this and where did he have to go to find one?"

The President grins, "I sent him to the mall. I was correct that a boutique there would have them."

Leo grins back at his friend, "You sent him into a ladies boutique?" Leo can just see Charlie with his uncomfortable mission.

"Yeah, but he outsmarted me." Jed had to admit, " He drafted Nancy to go with him to make the purchase."

"Smart boy," Leo agrees as Charlie arrives with the warm wax.

"Here you go, Sir." Charlie sets the tray with the warm wax into the machine. "Sir, we need to plug it in, to keep the wax warm."

Leo helpfully instructs, "There's an outlet over there behind the lamp table."

The President watches him and when he stands back up, "Thanks, Charlie, for all your help this morning."

Leo adds a dig at the President and to congratulate Charlie, "Yeah, Charlie, he really appreciates you making the trip to the mall."

"Anytime, Leo, happy to help." Charlie is grinning at his successful mission.

The President is hovering over the machine and he is getting impatient. "Come on, Leo, show me how it works for your hands."

Leo sits at one end of the couch and the President sits on the chair beside him to watch. "Well, first I need to get a glove on and I can't do that alone."

The President picks up the box of gloves, "No problem, Leo. I can help put one on your hand." Leo doesn't even protest, he can see that Jed is not going to listen to any protests. Leo holds out his hand and the President cheerfully helps Leo get his hand worked into the glove. "Now, Leo, show me how you dip into the wax."

"It's not a big deal, Sir. I just dip my hand in to the wrist and not over the cuff of the glove." Leo dips his hand a second time.

"You always dip in twice?" The President wasn't expecting or considering a double dip. Definitely seems better to him.

"Yeah, it helps to keep the heat on you hand longer." Leo informs him, as he makes sure that his hand quits dripping, before he moves it away from the machine. "See, it hardens and you leave it on till the heat leaves. Then you peel it off and put it back in the machine to reuse it." Leo has a soft smile of pleasure on his face as the warmth sinks into his hand and he rolls his hand over to see it he got it high enough on all sides. "That's why I wear the glove, to keep the wax clean."

"Do the women wear a glove when they use the machine?" Jed asks, as he doesn't remember Abby wearing a glove.

"No, they don't have very much hand hair to worry about, Sir," Leo answers matter of fact way. "It's finer and a lot less than what we have."

"Damn, Leo, I knew there was a difference between men and women. Thanks for letting me know that." Trying to sound serious, Jed could not resist teasing Leo.

Leo gives him a sarcastic look, "Glad I could help, Sir."

The President grins at him and Leo grins back, "Get a glove on, Sir. I know you're anxious to try it. It really does feel good on your hand."

"All right, Leo." The President eagerly reaches for a glove, "You know I like a new toy."

"Yes, Sir, you do." Leo watches his friend get a glove on, then cautiously and slowly dip his fingers, then his hand, into the melted wax.

Abby and Margaret enter the office as the President pulls his hand out to drip. Abby just has to tease, "I see you, two 'boys', have found a new toy to play with."

"Yeah, Abby, this is nice. No wonder you won't let me touch yours." Jed accuses her.

"I'm justified, you have you spa bath." Abby in no way feels guilty, even if she does use his tub.

Margaret is slightly behind Abby and can see the two men watch the wax harden. She is braver with Abby in front of her, as she pulls out a camera and catches this moment on film. A moment where two of the highest ranking men in world politics are in the White House playing with a hot wax machine.

"Margaret," both men exclaim as the flash goes off.

Abby grins at Margaret, "The Secret Service will develop it for us and I get the double right?"

"That's right, Abby." Margaret grins at her conspirator

"Good, we've got blackmail material now!" The women grin at the men, who have disbelieving looks on their faces. They look at each other next and finally grin at being caught with their hands covered.

Margaret hands the camera to Abby for safekeeping and moves over to help Leo get the wax off the glove. Abby moves over and sits on the chair arm with her husband. The President watches Margaret take the wax off and place it back in the machine to re-melt. He tests the hardness of his wax and following her example he starts peeling the wax off.

*****

The Physiotherapist arrives while the guys are still playing with the wax. The President is blocked from her view, by Abby, who she met on at her first visit. "Hello, Leo, I see you and your friend are learning the benefits of hot wax." Lisa stops at the when she reaches the sitting area. Working in the DC area she has worked with many important officials, but her eyes widen when she recognizes the President. His face splits into a grin at getting caught playing with Leo's new toy.

Abby comes to her rescue, "Lisa, as you can see, this other kid playing in the wax, is my husband, Jed Bartlet."

"Yes, Dr. Bartlet, thank you." Lisa's eyes turn to the man on the chair beside the doctor, "Good Morning, Mr. President."

"Hello, Lisa. I'd shake hands, but as you can see, I'm a little preoccupied right now.'" The President teases to put her at ease with him being there.

"Yes, Sir. I can tell that you look like a true convert." She turns to address her patient, "Well, Leo, is the hot wax treatment helping the stiffness in your hands?"

"Yeah, it seems to help for a while. The hot tub works as well, but both treatments wear off after a couple of hours, at the most. My hands are not working much better than when you saw them on Tuesday and they were really swollen then."

Margaret removes the wax from Leo's other hand, in preparation for Lisa to check his hands.

"Well, Leo, since I've arrived after a wax treatment. I'll go ahead and check what range of motion you can achieve when your hands are at their best." She teases Leo to get him to relax with her, "I see that the predictions were correct you are getting more colorful as the week progresses. Hopefully, you'll be getting back to normal when I see you again on Monday."

Lisa gets out her clipboard and takes Leo's hand in hers to stretch the fingers out, judging the flexibility as she goes through each finger and she repeats the action with the other hand. "Leo, make a fist to show me the extractability of the ligaments."

Leo has a hard time of getting a tight fist even with the wax treatment.

The President is still peeling off the wax from his second hand and is watching Lisa with her exam.

Abby informs Lisa, "I stopped by yesterday and Leo was having a really hard time of using an ink pen and I examined his hands. His fingers are slightly better than Monday. Especially the outer fingers, but the index and middle fingers are not recovering as quickly, probably due to the fact that they took the blunt of the impacts. The ligaments between his fingers, I'm sure they are damaged and causing the delay in his recovery. He was concerned and disappointed with his progress and I assured him that he's doing everything he can for his hands and that the ligaments just take time to heal properly, even thought the swelling is greatly reduced in his hands."

Lisa looks Leo in the eye, "You heard the doctor, Leo. There's not much else I can add to that. It 'will' take time." Leo gives her a guilty grin and she returns a smile. "So, Leo, what else have you been doing for you hands?" Lisa likes the patent to tell her what efforts that they're making with their own recovery.

"I've been doing the flexing exercises in the hot tub and Margaret has been massaging my hands every evening. It seems to help for a while, to stretch out the fingers some. I go to the pool to use the kick board, but I've not been doing too well at that. I seem to tire really quickly in the cooler water after the hot tub."

"I bet the water does seem cool." Lisa suggests, "When your ribs get a little better you might want to try the pool first and then go to the hot tub to warm back up"

Margaret jumps in to rat on the guys, "Josh will be disappointed to hear that one daily session in the hot tub is going to be cut from the therapy." She smiles at Lisa and informs her, "Leo and Josh have been using the hot tub, both before and afterward the pool. They just love that tub. Leo wanted to sleep there the first night." Margaret giggles softly at the look on Leo's face.

Leo agrees, "Josh has us mapped out for the next year, to give him an excuse to use the hot tub afterwards."

"It's good for you both to swim laps." She teases Leo, "Sounds like Josh is going to milk your recovery as long as he can?"

Lisa has been focusing her attention on Leo and trying not to let the presence of the President get her rattled.

He has been sitting quietly watching and listening. The President contributes, "Leo seems to be progressing pretty well with his ribs the last two days. He's able stand from sitting on higher or hard seats and he is walking without assistance."

Margaret pops in a quick note, "Unless he's really exhausted and then we stay with him. He sometimes tends to lose his balance and the ribs don't let him catch himself. Like with stairs."

Lisa can tell that his friends are a caring team. She impressed that the President is patiently observing and adding helpful notes on Leo's recovery and not needing to be the center of attention.

"Thank you, Sir. All those factors do indicate that Leo's recovering at an expected rate with his ribs." Lisa gets a smile from the President. "Leo, are you doing your breathing exercises here at your office?"

Leo flashes a grin at Abby, "Oh, yeah. I just about have back my 'old bellow' for Margaret. That seems to help with the deep breathing."

The President cheerfully adds, "I warned him that Margaret is going to do bodily harm to him someday, for yelling for her."

Leo growls at his friend, "Well, Mr. President, you don't use an intercom any more than I do. Must have been our upbringing."

Margaret tells her version of Leo's breathing therapy, "He doesn't need to stop and work at deep breathing. He is huffing and puffing around here just from the normal day to day problems. You'd think he was half dragon." She gets her digs in when possible. It's payback for his bellowing.

"Well, Leo, you seem to be on track and your support team is still working. Just keep up the therapy and remember is takes time." Lisa gives him as pep talk.

"I definitely will with the therapy." Leo grins and boasts a little, "Josh has planned for us to do two therapy sessions a day over the weekend."

Abby reveals, "I let Leo know that at the hospitals they do the sessions two to three times a day. That gave them some incentive to try to work more into the schedule."

"Sounds good." She turns back to Leo and Margaret," I'll see you on Monday about this time, if it will work into your schedule."

Margaret answers when Leo looks and defers the question to her, "I have the times already saved on his schedule for the next few weeks."

"See, Margaret always takes care of Leo," the President remarks as he rises, knowing the visit is over and he needs to get back on schedule himself.

Lisa is packed and ready to leave, "Nice to meet you, Mr. President. Leo, I'll see you on Monday. Dr. Bartlet, thank you for being here, to let me know your findings since Tuesday. Margaret, it's good to see you're taking good care of Leo."

The President remarks, to excuse Lisa, "Thanks for seeing Leo here at the White House. I know it takes more of your time and extra effort to accommodate us."

"Thank you, Sir. Happy to help." Lisa flashes a smile to all and leaves the four behind her, happier with her review of Leo's progress.

The President looks at the women and catch them exchanging knowing glances, "You two don't get any ideas about commandeering that machine." He wags his finger back and forth between the women, "It stays right here in Leo's office." The President warns them, but they don't look too worried.

Leo smiles, he knows for once what the ladies are thinking, "Bet I'm gonna have lots of female visitors in the near future or at least my new machine is."

The ladies do not even look guilty at being discovered.

*****

After lunch Margaret enters Leo's office and finds it empty, but his first door to the Oval office is open and the far door is closed, so she assumes that he has gone in to see the President.

Leo returns shortly with a satisfied smirk on his face. " Margaret, I'll have you know that I made it to the 'little boy's room' by myself with no rest stops on the way. I will admit that I rested against the sink once I got there."

Margaret smiles at his determined accomplishment, "Leo, you are doing so much better today with your walking. I can hardly believe that Monday you could hardly get around." ~ He's getting more and more independent at the little things.~

Leo unbuttons his suit coat and takes it off, to hand to her, before he sits down for some afternoon work at his desk.

Margaret steps closer and does not take the coat immediately. She reaches down to the front of his pants. She quickly and deftly zips his fly that he either forgot to do up in the restroom or was unable to get all the way up and it slid back down. She adds a finishing double pat to the top of his zipper when done and then she takes the jacket. It all happens so fast that Leo barely has time to get a surprised look on his face at Margaret handling the front of his pants in the office.

"Damn, you were fast at that, Margaret. I didn't get a chance to enjoy that at all and I had the glimmer of hope when you patted the front of me." She smiles at his disappointment. He softens his voice, "Good thing you patted at the top of my pants. Any lower and I would have had a problem. Then I would have needed to hide behind my desk for a while, after I ordered you from the room, so I could cool down."

Margaret can't resist a tease, "Usually the guys take you to the little boys room, Leo, but you were able to go all by yourself." She goes for the dig, "I'm so proud of you. You went to potty by yourself!"

Leo replies sarcastically, "Thanks a lot, Margaret. First, on Tuesday, Charlie treats me like a little boy at his church and now you sound like I've just graduated potty training." He looks at her with a thoughtful look on his face, "You zipped me up without thinking twice about it."

Margaret smirks a secret smile at him, "It isn't the first time that I've had to zip you up. You just don't remember, but you did thank me!"

Leo gives her quizzing look, but he decides that he'd be better to leave that one alone. "Let's get started, Margaret. What do I need to do first?"

*****

At the afternoon press briefing, CJ gets asked the one question that she's not expecting that day, "CJ, can you confirm that C.O.S., Leo McGarry was attacked and beaten last weekend and now has Secret Service protection." Another reporter blasts CJ at the same time and reveals the leak, "CJ, can you tell us why he was attacked by two attackers, whose composite drawings are being circulated around the DC law enforcement agencies." The reporter holds up a copy of the computerized pic of attackers to show her.

Realistically this last week of keeping the public in the dark, about Leo's attack, has been a pipe dream. CJ knows that any good investigative reporter would have been able to find out that Leo was attacked and beaten. CJ studies her notes as if the answer is printed somewhere there. She's taking a moment to review what response she could give that would not only satisfy the reporters, but minimize the true info given and not give the attackers the satisfaction of hurting Leo and the administration.

Even though CJ is blindsided somewhat by the question, since it's been almost a week after his attack, she has had this dread in the back of her mind. She scans the room for Danny and it's just her luck, he's not in the room. That's probably why the other reporter had gotten brave and pulled a coup like this. ~ Danny will kill someone that he didn't find the scoop first, with him so close to us, the senior staff.~ She takes a deep breath and tries to down play the significance of the attack, "Yes, COS Leo McGarry was attacked Saturday night after work, as he was parking his car in the underground garage of his hotel. The hotel security intervened during the attack. The attackers did escape the security, as their first priority was Leo McGarry's safety."

"CJ, was Mr. McGarry seriously injured in the attack," asks a third reporter. The press is acting like feeding sharks by this time. All of them were vying for her attention.

"Jean, you're not doing your legwork, are you?" CJ chastises the third reporter and then addresses the whole press corps. "A check of the local emergency room records will 'not' show any substantial injuries or treatment for Leo McGarry last weekend." She pauses to let her cut down sink in. She decides to give a small statement on Leo's condition, "I can tell you that Leo McGarry had some minor injuries and is well on his way to recovery."

"CJ, is this, yet again, a secret that 'this' administration is keeping from the American public? Mr. McGarry seems to be on a roll with keeping secrets from the citizens. Was this a 'personal' incident then? Is that why you are unwilling to give us any details?" This is again from the second reporter, who seems to be out for blood, Leo's blood.

Leo is in his office, watching the news briefing and sees that his attack has broken, on the closed circuit TV of the White House. While he watches, he just gets angrier at the questions asked by the reporters. Leo sees red. He has had it with this week. He's had it with being hunted and he's definitely had it with the press and them trying to drag him and this administration through the mud. He roars at the TV, "Damn you all to hell!" He grabs his side instinctively and his anger is so great that the pain doesn't register. Without a thought, he launches himself to his feet and hurries as fast as he can toward the briefing room. Striding and holding his side, with Margaret hot on his heels.

They pass Donna in the hall. She's frozen in place, stunned by the site of Leo in full stride with anger and pain on his face, let alone his labored breathing. Margaret shots her a look of panic and desperation. Donna takes off in the opposite direction, looking for help from any of the senior staff.

He's fighting mad. His street wise Irish is boiling over. ~The press just wants to stomp on me, again and give my attackers the center stage that they seem to be looking for. That's just what the senior staff and I were trying to avoid. All the trouble we're gone through and they're going to blast it across the papers. Damn them! ~ Leo interrupts the briefing, by just barging in.

At Leo's abrupt appearance in the briefing room, in all of his angry facial colors and holding his side at the exertion, CJ immediately yells, "Cameras off, print only." They can tell she really means it, when they take in Leo appearance. This will be a closed press conference, obviously there's more of a story here than they realize, for Leo McGarry to address them personally with a statement.

CJ puts her hands on Leo's shoulders, half to restrain him and the other half to support him. She protests with her eyes to Leo and he lifts his face to hers with a look that is determined, but conveys to her that he knows why she's trying to stop him. While he grabs a couple of deep breaths to get a handle on the pain, she leans in to him and briefly presses her cheek to his. She steps aside quickly realizing that Leo really is going to talk directly to the press corps.

The reporters get silent after they first see his face and his still healing hands gripping the podium for support. They all can see what he looks like now, a week later. Many of the faces that are staring at Leo are thinking about what he must have looked like earlier in the week. They note that Margaret hovers at his back, but that story is past its prime.

Still fighting the pain and to control his breathing, Leo glares at the room, his eyes scanning the near shocked press. " You think I'm hiding secrets from you and the American public. I was attacked because I work at the White House. I was attacked because two Jackasses think that because I'm close to the President that through me, they can control the President and hold us all hostages." He pauses a moment and drops his head as his ribs spasms at his forceful speaking. He forces himself to continue, knowing that he'll not be able to last much longer, before his body will win against his will power. "I'm not trying to deceive the public, but trying to protect them and every employee in this building. As if their jobs were not hard enough" Leo bellows, " I'm the COS here. I protect what is mine!" Silence echoes in the room as they start to understand his reasoning, but they are reporters and questions are their life.

Reporter number two is brave, stupid or too new to realize he's committing suicide to his White House journalism career. "Mr. McGarry, can you tell us any details as to what was the attackers cause, when you were attacked and what your injuries are. We can see that they're more than just some minor injuries, as CJ implied." There are a few nods of agreement at the reporters' assessment of the damage to Leo.

Leo growls at the reporter, "I'll tell you the blunt truth. Since, you just 'have to' give the kidnappers the satisfaction of knowing just how much they hurt me. I fought off both of the younger men with my bare hands and I didn't really have time to ask them why." Leo holds up his hands for them all to see the bruising and the healing knuckles. "You, the press, now have made myself and the others here, more at risk, because in my opinion you're helping the attackers to get what they want. You now wear the shame of helping the terrorists. The ones that we fight at home." He holds up a finger to indicate he needs a second before he can continue.

The men of the senior staff start to quickly slip closely in behind him, as they arrive at a run. The word spreading like wildfire through the West Wing that Leo is fighting mad and tearing the Press over his attack. Margaret has now moved to his right but still slightly behind him and CJ is flanking him the same way, to his left. Josh, Sam and Toby are standing united and strong behind him. They would follow him to hell and back, but Leo always seems to lead the way to hell for them or it just seems to find him first. They are old enemies.

Leo gets a better hold on the podium, " They tried to grab Margaret and another assistant in the mall parking lot, in broad daylight. How would you like it, if it was the people in your lives being in that constant danger?" He's really angry still. The press sees Margaret trying to calm him down from behind him. Donna is near tears at the doorway. She's the only one to notice that the first couple have arrived behind her at the doorway and they both lay a hand on her shoulders to hold her there in front of them, where they can watch and not draw attention. The pain for Leo is showing in their eyes.

Josh is as angry as Leo, that the press has done it to Leo again. He bitches softy from behind Leo, "They just want the gruesome proof. Good thing you're not me, Leo. I'd strip off my shirt and show the ass holes what they want."

Leo glances back at Josh and then to the panic look on CJ's face. CJ can tell that Leo is at his breaking point and that he feels he has nothing left to lose. She quietly but desperately pleas "Leo, think first before you say any more." Leo turns back to the attentive press corps, "I draw the line here, with you people. If you want your pound of flesh, I can show you which pound." He steps to the side and he shrugs off his jacket. Margaret grabs it, before it drops to the floor. Leo quickly slips his painful arm out of the suspender and at the same time he pulls out the tail of his shirt, the lower buttons pulling open, he then spread the shirt aside wide to show the bruising that has spread over most of his left rib area, "This is what happens when you're bodily slammed into the hood of a car in the attempt to subdue you." A few gasps can be heard from some of the females in the room and some of the more knowing men get a hardened look on their faces.

Carol, in the corner, places a hand over her mouth at the site of Leo's side to keep her moan silent. She glances at CJ in sympathy, sometimes she's glad she's not always in the loop. When she looks at Leo, she has a hard time fighting off the flashes of memories, of when the Sisterhood enjoyed teasing Leo at the apartment. This is a totally different Leo. He has so many sides that most people never see.

Leo admits to them, "Well, I'm fading fast now that the adrenalin is leaving me," he has no choice. Josh reaches out a hand to steady him. He would hold him bodily, but he knows that Leo is trying to look strong for as long as possible, in front of the press.

Then the President and Abby step into the room to be closer to Leo. Donna and Charlie following them into the room. Leo glances to the door as the Press corp. rises to their feet, more than a few are embarrassed at how the briefing as evolved. Leo gives his friends a crooked little smile in pain, not ashamed at getting caught in a temper. Leo gets a little emotional after the anger starts to fade. This shocks the press more than the anger does. With his shirttail still hanging open Leo takes a moment to bring out the honest truth and gratitude, "The people here with me are the family that has done everything for me since the attack. From caring for my injuries, dressing me, feeding me, walking me like a toddler, to even personally helping with my recovery therapy."

Margaret's crying to see Leo makes such an emotional statement. She stays back with Abby as the President moves to Leo's side. Jed places reassuring hand on Leo's shoulder. Leo practically wilts with his last reserves leaving him. His duty to protect his people is accomplished. The President nods to the men behind Leo.

They know that Leo needs their help now. Toby moves to hold him up, as Josh gets his shirt back in and Sam helps to get his suspender back in place. The teamwork is not going unnoticed by the press. Leo is at this point, leaning back onto Toby's body for support and he lifts his head to look into Josh's eyes and the quite room can hear his weak plea, "Guys, get me out of here." Josh stands to block the view of Leo from the press. He leans down to Leo's ear and assures him, "It's OK, Leo. We have you." Then Josh moves to trade places with Toby, to walk Leo out like they did to the Oval Office on Monday. Sam and Toby flank them as they get him off the raised stage.

The President wants to help Leo, but he lets the younger guys help him. As the men pass him, he signals them to pause and he gives Leo a kiss on the temple. He's so proud of him. He watches as Leo leaves the room, he turns to the press, "Leo McGarry's only goal in life is to bravely serve his country and his first commitment is to serve at the pleasure of the President." The President then pauses a moment for that to sink into the quite press. The President now lets a little of his anger show and points to the doorway that the ladies are going out as they follow Leo, his last words to the press, before he follows are, "I hope your happy, now!!! There goes my hero!"

*****

Out in the hall, the group moves rapidly to get Leo to his office. They look like men on a mission and the women are marching right behind them, to lean assistance if needed and Abby is certain she 'will' be needed. The President follows behind, with his detail making a good show of keeping up and talking to their mics at the same time. Ron Butterfield needs to be kept aware of any changes that the President makes in his schedule or location. Ron will arrive shortly at Leo's office is now a given fact.

The guys take Leo straight to his couch. Josh takes command, "Toby, pull the coffee table out of the way." Josh then stops in with Leo in front of the couch. "Sam, help me get him turned in my arms. Toby, can you help to get his jacket off?"

Toby steps to Leo's side and tries to gently slip Leo's arms out of the sleeves, while

Josh holds Leo under the arms and Leo rests his head on Josh's chest. Toby and Sam grab on to the sides of Leo's belt to help Josh to lower him to the couch, without dropping him like dead weight. Josh speaks over Leo moans and groans, "Sam, get his shoes off, so we can swing his feet up and lay him down."

Sam is instantly on his knee, reaching for the shoes, hardly waiting before Leo's weight is off his feet. "They're off, Josh." Josh and Toby then turn Leo's body sideways and lowers him down, to lie on the couch, while Sam helps to raise Leo's legs up. Leo pulls his knees up as his rib muscles are still contracting.

Abby and the ladies have been waiting behind the guys as they got Leo settled. Abby moves up behind them and they move aside to let her see to Leo's needs. Abby sits on the edge of the couch and quickly see that Leo has totally lost his control over the pain. "Margaret, how much of his Aleve did he take this morning?"

Margaret instantly replies, "He took two Aleve's. Starting today, he cut back to two tables, twice a day, as you instructed."

OK, then he can have another tablet now and two more tonight as scheduled," Abby says in the way of directions to Margaret. Margaret is immediately out the door to get water and the Aleve. Abby continues with her instructions, "Donna, could you get him an ice pack. Maybe we can deaden the pain, till the extra meds take effect."

"I'm on it, Ma'am." Donna's right out the door, as fast as she can get to the kitchenette where his ice packs are stored this week.

Abby now tries to get Leo's attention, "Leo, I know you're in a lot of pain right now, but you need to try and calm down and breath at a steady pace. You need to help the muscles to relax. I know it's hard, Honey." She strokes his head in the familiar pattern that those close as family knows will calm him. Abby looks at the guys standing to the side. "See, if someone can find a small paper bag, he's hyperventilating some and he could use some more pillows behind him to raise him higher. It might help with this breathing."

Sam volunteers, "I'll scout out the paper bag."

Toby is heading for the door, "I'll get the pillows from my office."

Josh crouches down by Leo's head. "Leo, listen to me. You trust me. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out." This seems to helps some, at getting Leo to stop moaning and concentrate on Josh's voice.

The President arrives with Charlie at his back, "How's he doing, Abby? Think we can get him to go to the ER now?"

Leo hears his question, and gasps out a defiant, "No."

The President gives a slight, but sad smile at Leo prompt answer, "I guess that tells us that you'll live, Leo."

The President shots Abby a look that asks so many questions. Abby reads it and her look tells him not to panic, she has it under control. She gives him a run down, "They're getting him his meds, an ice pack, a paper bag for his breathing and some more pillows. He needs to try and relax. It would make it easier for the meds to work." She just gets this said as the senior staff arrives back with the needed items. They all work as a team again, to hand Abby the things she needs, while Josh and Toby gets him raised to take the meds and put the pillows behind him.

The President makes a decision. "I do 'not' want to see Leo off that couch, till his scheduled time to leave. I know he'll not go home any sooner and the rest of you can finish up want needs to be done here, before we call it a night." He looks at the staff standing and waiting for him to continue. "Toby, can you and Sam be around here some tomorrow?"

The President turns to hear their answers. "Yes, Sir." Toby also nods and lets him know his schedule for in the morning, "With it being Saturday, I'll be happy to come in after synagogue. Work should be light and I can catch up on a few things."

"Certainly, Sir." Sam assures the President, "I'll be here and help with anything that's needed."

The President looks back at the sad site of Leo tying to get control of the pain and his breathing, "Josh, what is the schedule tomorrow, with Leo's therapy?"

"Mr. President, we had planned on doubling up his treatments over the weekend. With one session in the morning and another one, again in the evening." Josh's eyes shift to watch Leo's progress, "I imagine that tonight he'll only be able to soak in the hot tub." Josh says the last part with a smile that he just can't restrain.

The President see the logic in Josh's realistic assessment, "That's good then. I'm throwing Leo and Margaret out of the White House for the weekend. This place is detrimental to his recovery today." He pauses and reads the argument in Leo's eyes, but continues to address Josh. "He lives only four minutes away, if we have an emergency." He turns to squarely face Josh, "By the way, Josh, you're gonna be on a limited pass around here this weekend. I know you need to stop by and check up on things, but no more than three hours." He glances behind him at the assistants, "That includes Donna, too. I don't need any martyrs around here, if you'll recall our conversation from before."

"Yes, Sir, I remember. Three hours tomorrow. I'll come over between Leo's therapies tomorrow." Josh recommends and waits for the Presidents approval.

The President moves in close to Leo. "You take care, my friend and I'll be checking on you later. You have a few hours left here this afternoon and you better not move off that couch, unless it's to get Charlie to escort you to the 'Little Boys Room'."

Leo moans at the memory of Charlie teasing him good-naturedly on Monday, but he knows that he really will need the help again.

Leo is breathing better now that Abby has him breathing in the paper bag. She removes it when she sees that Leo wants to reply. Leo looks at the President. "I hear you. Kinda hard to argue with you right now, Sir. With me laying flat on my back." He glances at Abby and gives her a weak smile, I told you that the females love to find excuses, to inflict treatment on me."

"I hear you, Leo. You earned a rest today." The President grins at him, "In the pressroom, you slapped them down good, like I've wanted to do ever since I took office. Thanks, Leo." He bends and kisses Leo's forehead and squeezes Abby's shoulder, she touches his hand with hers, before he turns to leave. The President, with Charlie in his wake, returns to the Oval Office to pick up his schedule where he left it, in his hurry to get to Leo.

Before the rest of the senior staff can leave the room, CJ hurries in to see how Leo's doing. He had looked like 'death on a trisket,' when they helped him from the pressroom. She moves to the end of the couch and looks up to Leo's face. "Well, Leo, you put the fear of God into the press corp. this afternoon. The other reporters, for his blunt way of trying to handle you in there, are ostracizing that brassy little reporter. They're professionals and he acted like an amateur from a 'check out rag mag'. I know Danny's going to kill him, if he lays eyes on him." She tries to get a small smile from Leo, to make them all feel better, "Talk about taking out the trash day, Leo. I think, you not only threw out the trash, but you cleaned the garbage out of the pressroom while you were at it." She's rewarded with his little smile of satisfaction. She sits at his feet on the couch, her own adrenaline is leavening her. She sees him shift his feet some and with her hands, she helps him to stretch his legs overtop of her lap. "Is that better with them raised up on my lap?"

"Yeah, it seems to be." He asks since he knows she has more to say, "What else?"

She get a little more serious and goes ahead with her review of his appearance at the briefing, "Well, Leo, with our luck, we should have expected your attack to be uncovered. I just was hoping it would've been one of the more experienced reporters. The good part about you smacking them down is that they now realize that sometimes when we're withholding news, it's because we're trying to keep the good people that work here, safe. That everything we hold from them is not to avoid a scandal." She pauses to reflect on the atmosphere that remained after he left. "I think that they'll view this administration in a different light now and quit treating us like the bad guys, when there are real bad guys out there. They were really shocked, I think, when you pointed out that they were helping the homeland terrorists." She pauses to give her own personal opinion, "We probably won't hear to much more about your attack now. If any mention is made." She pauses a moment. "I think that the President may be quoted. He told them that you were his hero!"

Leo avoids looking at her or remarking on his friends wonderful comment and decides to go with her opinion instead, "I hope they do let it drop. But, if you hear anymore on it, let me know and the next time I'll drop my pants and show them the bruise on my ass." He threatens sarcastically.

The room breaks up with laugher. They believe that in Leo's pain and foul mood, he just might do it.

CJ is still chuckling, "Leo, can I have your permission to pass that threat to Danny? He'll love it! Right after we have to bail him out, for killing a junior reporter. I'm sure someone can get him off on justifiable homicide."

Abby rolls her eyes at that comment, "Leo, you seem to be doing much better now. I'm going to leave you here to rest and I'll stop by before you leave, to see how you're doing." She rises to leave and the men move to follow her. Donna gives Margaret a squeeze on the arm, before shadowing Josh to his office.

Margaret sees that CJ is still shaken at Leo's condition from his blow-up and she's hesitant to leave, just yet. "CJ are you able to stay a few minutes? I need to go downstairs and grab him something from the mess to eat, now that he's taken his meds again. He needs something to eat with them."

"Sure, Margaret. I can stay with him, while you go down." CJ is happier now that Abby has decided Leo's doing OK and decides to tease him, "He knows better than to try to get up, with me here. I tackled him once before and I won't hesitate to repeat it."

Leo tries to chuckle softly, but ends in a moan. He still manages to groan out to her, "Sisterhood revenge, again?"

"Damn straight, Leo," CJ assures him and rubs his lower legs in a comforting manner to soften the threat. He really scared her back in the pressroom. His Irish is a scary thing to see, when he's defending his own people. She's proud to be one of them. "You just rest, Leo. We have you."

He closes his eyes and tries to relax. He controls his breathing to slow and regular.

CJ leans her head back onto the couch and enjoys the quiet. She looks at his face a little while later and can tell that Leo is fast asleep with exhaustion. She continues to softly rub on his legs, hopeing to soothe some of the lines of pain from his sleeping face.

*****

Near the end of the afternoon, Leo awakes to find himself alone in his office. He rubs his side knowing that Margaret is not going to let him go without the wrap, for a long time to come. He paid the price today for trying to jump the gun on his recovery and now he's hurting again. He rolls to his side and as he attempts to sit up and he clenches his teeth and holds his breath till he is upright. He blows out his breath with relief and closes his eyes for a moment, while the stitch in his side fades. 

"Margaret! Damn," Leo groans and grabs his side. He just found out that his bellow would have to wait until another day to return.

"Hey, Leo, you feel any better?" She gets farther into the room and can see him more clearly. "I see that your ribs are hurting again, right?" He glances up at her but doesn't hold the look or give her an answer. "Ok, if you won't answer me, they must be, since my name is not, Margaret damn," she grins to let Leo know that she's teasing and not upset.

"Do you need a few minutes, before the staff meeting?" Margaret can see that he's not really together yet. Realistically, he may not be recovered for the rest of the day.

"Yeah, I need to get straightened up a little. Leo tries to straighten his tie and shirt, by running his right hand down the front of himself, "Man, I feel like crap."

Margaret sits on the coffee table to face him, "Leo, it's not your little secret. You do look like crap." She smiles at the scowl on his face and straightens his tie, taking her fingertips and tucking his shirt in, so he looks a bit neater.

Leo is torn between being unhappy that he feels like he's back to square one with his recovery and thankful that Margaret is there to take care of him every step of the way especially with his grouchy attitude.

He runs his right hand down the back of his hair and then rubs in down his face to stifle the yawn that catches him unaware. He grins at the look Margaret gives him, "I think I just crashed, when I finally let myself relax. When did CJ leave? I didn't even feel her get off the couch." He is a little uneasy that he was that totally out of it. The adrenaline drop had left him weak and shaky, but Abby and the rest of them took care of him, but his system was not well enough yet to handle it and his body just shut down, to rest and to recover.

Margaret studies him and vows that she will get him to rest tonight with a quiet evening at home together. He needs time to recharge. With his side hurting again, she knows that Josh is right and that he can only relax in the hot tub tonight. ~ I'll call Donna and see if she can skip out with Josh. All four of us can then go to the tub tonight, even if they have to return to the office afterward. She'll understand that I want to keep an eye on Leo. If I go with just the guys, Josh might think that I don't trust him to take care of Leo alone and I totally trust him. ~ Margaret leans down to slip Leo's shoes back on. She rises up and hands him the bottle of cold water that she carried in. "I brought you a sandwich up from the mess, but you were sleeping so deeply that I just let you sleep."

Leo takes a long drink and then hands her the bottle back, with a small smile. "Thanks, Margaret. You can round up the troops now. If we get this over with, then we can go home."

"Home sounds good, Leo," Margaret flashes him a smile and heads to her office to call the senior staff.

The staff starts to filter in and once Josh and Donna arrive, Leo clears his throat and addresses them, "Guess we should get the questions out of the way, first. CJ, you have that look on your face."

"Which look, Leo?" She almost smirks at him, "The concerned one that wants to know how you're doing or the jubilant one that is so happy at seeing the press corps crawling out of the pressroom in shame this afternoon."

"Getting pretty brassy there, aren't you CJ?" Leo knows that she's trying to make him feel better for needing to rest this afternoon, "Just because you and Margaret had me pinned on the couch earlier, don't get high and mighty on me."

"Well, Leo we did have the full backing of the President for the Sisterhood to make sure you stayed on the couch." CJ laughs and has the final say on her right to stand guard over him.

Leo sighs in exasperation, "Some men in power would use a mafia like control, but he has a group that is more dangerous, he has the Sisterhood."

"Well, we 'do' know how to keep men in line," she smiles in superior confidence to the other ladies the room. Margaret and Donna just smile back in agreement.

The other men in the room laugh softly at the two of them tormenting each other. But, just softly though, because they have seen the Sisterhood in action and added to that, the fact that CJ is the unofficial leader of the Sisterhood.

"OK, I'll say this once and then we need to get finish in here. After that, everyone that is able is to clear out. It's Friday evening and time to gear down." He looks at the assembled group of people or family as he thinks of them in his mind and says, "I'm feeling better after my rest and yes, my ribs are hurting, more right now, but I'm sure Margaret, the President and Josh will each give me pointed look, for not taking care of myself better today. Thanks to you all, for helping me after I blew up at the press." He sees nods and shrugs for the others. Now, Leo wants to get the meeting on track and moving along.

He starts around the room, "Toby, what's your schedule?"

Toby rubs his forehead in thought and calmly answers, "I need to make two calls to the west coast and then I'll clear out, since the President is giving us the bums rush around here tonight." Toby smiles softly at his own comment. "I'll be in tomorrow after synagogue to keep an eye on things. Sam is going to be here early and we'll work on a few minor speeches that need some polishing. No rush or pressure."

Leo turns to Toby's deputy, "So, Sam, do you have anything to add to that?"

"Just, that I'm coming in early tomorrow to staff the President if needed, till Toby gets here. On Sunday, we'll reverse and he'll come in early." Sam assures Leo, "If the President needs anything, we have informed Charlie to contact us."

"Josh, I know your schedule, since the President is limiting you time here this weekend."

Leo turns to look back at the press secretary, "CJ, what is your weekend looking like?"

CJ get into her professional mode, "Unless there's a major event, I will just be doing the morning and noon briefings then call a lid for the weekend. Sam and Toby will be here to advise me on any last minute details." She glances around at the others from her notes. "We can only hope the world stays calm for two more days."

Leo sweeps a look around the group, "OK, then, are we done?"

"No, Leo, you're not done yet." The President and Ron Butterfield enter from the Oval Office during Leo's final question. The President waves them all to reseat themselves.

"What now?" Leo can see the serious look on the two men's faces.

Ron has just brought me some interesting information," the President gives the agent a dark look and a nod for him to brief the group.

Sam quickly asks, "I'm not code clearance. Do you need me to step out?" He glances from the two standing men and over to the two assistants, since they would need to leave also.

"No, Sam, you and the girls should stay. I want you to be up to date with the events." The President reassures them.

Ron takes this as his signal to start, "About 30 minutes ago, another note was dropped in front of the main gate, from the attackers." A gasp is heard from the ladies in the room.

"Keep talking," Leo growls out.

Ron addresses him now, "Mr. McGarry, we can tell that the note was written by the same author as the previous one and left in the exact same manner."

Toby demands, "So, what did the morons have to say this time?"

Ron swings his eyes to Toby and back to Leo, "That someone would not be returning to their job on Monday, at the White House."

Sam voices what they are all thinking, "So, obliviously they're announcing that they'll try again this weekend. Did they hint at how, where or who, they're likely to try for?"

Ron gives it a serious moment of thought, "No, they didn't and that's why both the President and myself wanted to inform all of you, about this latest threat. We assume that they still mean to try for Leo or Margaret, since he has connections to the President, but there's always the possibility that they have decided to try for someone less guarded. It's the Secret Services' opinion that they seem to be getting desperate, after their previously unsuccessful attempts."

The President takes over in relaying the ramifications of the new threat, "This means that all of you and your assistants should be cautious and be on guard this weekend. We'll leave it up to you to inform them, in a manner that will both inform them and not frighten them." He pauses to let them see how he is serious. "I'm sure that the attackers are aware of Leo and Margaret being under protection and after Leo's little adventure to the press room, we don't need to worry about who knows." The President sighs and looks at Leo's colorful face that still shows the damage that an attacker can cause to one of his staff. The he turns back to the senior staff, "I'll let you go now, so that you can catch your people, before they leave for the weekend. Give them some guidelines to use in keeping them safe. You'll know what to say. You can contact Ron if you have any questions."

He looks at the agent, "Ron, keep us informed," the President again dismisses the agent with this sentence.

"Yes, Sir." Ron turns and swiftly exits to the hallway. ~Leo's little adventure, didn't help my department or to keep him and Margaret safe. He glances at Margaret's sad face as he passes her and he has a mix of emotions, ~Where's a Margaret for me?~

The rest of the staff and the assistants follow him out, after calls of, "Thank you, Mr. President."

Josh adds, as he leaves, "Leo, as soon as I wrap up in my office, I'll be over to the apartment."

"OK, Josh," Leo answers. "I'm sure I'll get there ahead of you, since I think momentarily, I'm to be booted out of here."

When the two friends are left alone, Leo starts to struggle to get up. Jed reaches out to take Leo's right hand, while Leo clamps his left arm tightly to his ribs. Jed notices that Leo doesn't quite stand up straight. "Leo, can we say, stupid?"

"Yeah, I have been, repeatedly, ever since they got me back here to my office." Leo guiltily admits. "I let my Irish temper get the better of me."

"Yeah, I bet you have been kicking yourself in the ass, Leo." Jed pauses to get serious and quietly says, "I meant what I said in the pressroom. You are my hero, Leo."

"Thanks Jed." Leo smiles shyly and looks at the floor. He softly admits, "There are days that I need to hear that, but you're the one I look up to, Jed." Leo raises his eyes to meet his friends. They share a smile that has been reflected for years.

"Yeah, we make a good team, the two of us," the President and his best friend agree.

"Right and see where it got us," Leo sounds like he still can't grasp it. " We're running the White House." He pauses a moment, "We went from a couple of dreaming boys, to this. Life is amazing sometimes, Sir."

Jed leans in and cups Leo's head to his and places a kiss on his temple.

"Sir, you gonna keep kissing me all the time. I didn't die, ya know!" Leo's not as demonstrative as his friend and Jed knows this, but he also knows that Leo appreciates this need that Jed has, to demonstrate his love for those he holds dear to his heart.

"No, you didn't Leo and yes, I am gonna keep kissing you. Margaret can get jealous all she wants. Let me warn you though, it's only your busted ribs that are saving you from a big bear hug from me." Jed looks serious. "Every time I look at your face, I just want to hug you and keep you safe. I'm like that with family, you know."

"I know. Thanks again, Jed." Leo heart is swelled to fill his chest, making him take a deeper breath and his ribs protest.

Margaret enters to get some files off Leo's desk for filing, before they leave the office. "You need anything, Leo, before I shut down the offices?"

"Yeah, I need you to protect me from the President, from him kissing on me when he thinks I'm in danger. He grins at his friend and tattles on him, "He even threatened me with a bear hug."

Margaret looks at the two men who are innocent smiles that they no doubt perfected together as boys, "Don't look at me, Leo. I agree with him. If it would keep you safe, we'd just pass you back and forth, with hugs."

The President is pleased with her agreement, "Margaret, come here. I feel the need to hug someone and Leo is hurting again."

"I serve at the pleasure of the President and I feel the need to collect hugs today." Margaret steps over for her hug, which the President gives her as he growls and he squeezes her tightly.

"What about me?" Leo mockingly protests at the hugging couple.

"Don't worry, Leo, you can hug on me all you want when we get home and I'm sure that the President will save your hug, until you're well enough to collect it." She plays right along with the two teasing men, she's not about to get caught between them.

"Thank you, Margaret, 'yours', I'm definitely gonna collect. He looks at his friend with skepticism, "He'll just re-break my ribs, with the kind of bear hugs he gives me. He damn near busted them, when I got back from Nam"

The President defends himself, I was just glad you were home safely, Leo. Just like I am now."

Leo sighs and knows he's not going to win this time, with it two again one, "Sir, this is your cue to return to your office."

The President grins down at Margaret, he still has his arm around her shoulders. He responds with a pout, "I'm the one, being given the boot now." She grins her agreement back to him.

Leo happily confirms, "Yeah, payback time, Sir."

The President smiles, "Fine, but you have 30 minutes and then I better see you cutting through my office, on your way out."

Margaret answers for them, "Yes, Sir, he'll be there."

The President hugs her close to his side and drops a kiss on top of her head, "Thank you, Margaret, for everything." He returns to his office, as ordered, with a quick step to his walk. He always feels better, after reaffirming his friendship with Leo. It just puts the whole world back to rights for him.

Shortly thereafter, Leo and Margaret are passing though the Oval Office on their way out. "Good night, Sir."

"Good night, you two," the President replies as he watches them leave. "I'll call later to see how you're doing."

The couple freezes at the door and warns him in unison, " Not too late."

They continue on as they hear the President's laughter behind them,

*****

Leo makes it into the apartment building's elevator, before he has to give in to the exhaustion and pain he feels and he leans into the corner, for the ride to the fifth floor. When the doors open, he hauls his body upright to exit the elevator, but Margaret can tell that he's making a great effort to appear normal and she wraps her arm around his waist. He slowly steps out and he stumbles over the threshold, but since they're in the relative safety of the building, one of the two agents helps Leo from the other side. Margaret unlocks the door and the free agent quickly sweeps the apartment before they enter.

"Ma'am, where should we set Mr. McGarry down," the agent asks Margaret instead of Leo since he's too busy panting and grunting with pain.

"In the bedroom, he needs to rest and catch his breath," Margaret has a no-nonsense tone to her voice and Leo is not about to protest.

"Yes, Ma'am," the agent helps to set Leo on the side of the bed and with a nod he retreats to the outside hall.

Leo looks up at Margaret as he holds his side and still panting he implores her, "Please, can we hold off the killing of me, till later. Right now, I just might welcome it and I know you want me to suffer instead."

"You said it, Leo, not me. You're the one that's suffering right now, Mr. Dragon." She looks at him seriously, "Burnt your own tail again, didn't you?"

"Yeah, I did. You may need to get a bigger fire extinguisher for around here now, with me living here." He sadly admits to her joking.

Margaret finally giggles at Leo's self-imposed tongue lashing, "Oh, Leo, we'll get what ever we need, a fire extinguisher or marshmallows, whichever we're in the mood for?" She hugs him gently around the neck.

He sighs, "It's good to be home, Margaret. I mean that from the bottom of my heart."

"I know you do, Leo. Lets get you out of those clothes and you can curl up on the bed to rest, till Josh and Donna get here." Margaret slips her work shoes off and sets them in her closet.

"Donna's gonna try and come with Josh?" He has his head bowed and is concentrating on slowing down his breathing.

"Yeah, that way, we women can join you in the hot tub. You two are making it your own exclusive boys club." She's taking off her jewelry and laying it in the box, on her vanity table.

"That sounds good to me, Margaret." He manages a grin up at her. His breathing is getting better, now that he's sitting down and relaxing, "Getting these clothes off, sounds even better."

She turns and walks back around the bed and stops in front of him, "You want to put your swim shorts on now, so you'll be ready when they get here?"

Leo straightens and lifts his head to give her a mischievous grin, "Sure, Margaret, strip me down to the skin. I'm in no condition to fight you off."

"Like you'd fight me off. You'd be sitting there in your birthday suit and a big grin on your face, just loving it." She gently helps him to remove his suit coat and then reaches for his tie.

He looks up at her face that is so close to his and grins, "Guilty as charged. Arrest me and pat me down." He holds out his arms, one at a time, for her to remove his cuff links. She slips his suspenders off his shoulders, before she starts to unbutton his shirt.

"Leo, you're bad! Sadly, right now, you're in no condition to mess around." She lays his shirt on top of the suit coat, making a neat pile. He rubs his bare chest and runs his hand down over his sore and colorful ribs. She squats down to remove his shoes and socks, putting the shoes neatly together with the socks inside. She'll put them away in the guest room once Leo's asleep.

"Damn, you're right again. Couldn't you be wrong just this once?" He slides forward so she can help him to stand.

"Sorry, Leo. I'm always right when it comes to caring for you." She smiles back at his smiling face as she unzips his pants and they slide to the floor. "Step out, Leo," she orders as they clasp wrists to steady him.

"You didn't give me an answer on the swim shorts, Leo. You want them on now?" She asks him directly in the eye, with her hands on her hips waiting for an answer.

Leo hooks his thumbs under the band of his boxers and pushes down, to let them slide down his legs to the floor.

"I'll take that as a yes, unless you're planning on resting in the nude?" Leo leans back against the bed once more. She notices that his abdomen has a crease running across at his navel, when he leans forward with his back bowed. Her eyes are curious and she does notice other things. ~I wonder if he's ever slept nude at the hotel. I bet he did sometimes, when he was too tired to redress. I think he's happy as a lark, naked. ~

"As nice as that sounds, Margaret, and you'd be welcome to join me, of course" he pauses a moment before continuing to see if she takes him up on his backhanded offer. She gives him a pointed look. He grins mischievously and slightly nods his head to the side knowing her answer, "Would you kindly get me the shorts? When Josh and Donna get here, I know that he'll be changed and waiting at the door for me, before I could get my bare ass covered."

"What's a matter, Leo? You're not to shy, you know. You were stripping for the press today and Josh 'is' practically family." She decides to try and put a light note on this afternoon's blow up.

Leo does a soft growl at her for teasing about him stripping at the White House.

Margaret kisses him on the forehead, not trusting him or her to touch at the moment. They don't need to start something they're not able or willing to finish right now. "Leo, it's either joke about it and enjoy it or cry about it again. The former just seems to be our way of dealing with what life throws at us."

"Thanks, Margaret. You gonna get the shorts or join me?" He has a hopeful look on his face.

"Sorry, Leo, I'm getting the shorts." She sees his body sag sadly at her answer and slightly relents, "You need to rest, but I'll lay with you, till you get to sleep, if you'd like me to?" Margaret stops at the door to hear his answer.

"That'd be nice. I could use a good cuddle right about now." Leo quietly admits, it's been an eventful day after all.

Leo behaves, while Margaret gets him into the shorts and they curl up together, to wait for their friends.

*****

Sitting in the hot tub, the two couples take pleasure in the warmth and bubbles, enjoying the fact that they're the only ones there tonight. Josh and Donna are in a playful mood this evening. Donna has her legs across Josh's lap as if they're in the recliner. They are engrossed in some teasing, with touching and nipping to go along with some playful kissing. Leo and Margaret are sitting across from them and not paying too much attention to the banter that is ongoing with younger couple. They are relaxed and happy to be close together. Leo is feeling much better as the hot tub does it miracle work of finally relaxing his rib muscles. Leo's in no hurry to leave and decides to take advantage of the near privacy, to also get in some necking time. "Hey, Baby, since we're going to be here awhile, can you get closer to me?" Margaret looks over at the other couple and can tell that they have retreated to their own world, so she lifts her legs across his lap and tucks herself in close to him. He slips his sore left arm around behind to rest on her waist, since he can't raise it high enough to hug her around the shoulders. Under the cover of the bubbling water he slides his right hand up and down the outside of her legs, he loves her smooth long legs. Margaret smiles and kisses his grinning face. She can tell he's pleased with her manner of getting closer. She slides her arms around his neck to caress the back of his neck. They lean their foreheads together, savoring the wet closeness of water's surface to their faces. The sparkling bubbles are flowing between and around their bodies, making the light shimmer and dance across them. The only sound is the flow of the water and Josh and Donna's soft banter. They are not really listening to Josh and Donna, but yet, they can hear what is being said, especially when they let something slip while necking and Leo and Margaret become aware that the banter is getting a little more personal in nature. They can hear their hushed voices over the whoosh of the bubbles. Josh and Donna were discussing whose place they'll sleep together at tonight and debating where their EEB and SEC were last used. They are planning a long and sensual night tonight and wanted to use them to enjoy each other's bodies to the fullest.

Margaret eyes get larger when she doesn't understand what Josh and Donna could possibly be referring to that would add to their pleasure. She pulls her face back to look questioningly into Leo's eyes and he has a knowing grin on his face. He quietly just shakes his head, for her to not voice her question. He knows it'll drives her crazy to have to wait for an answer and leans forward to kiss her, as a means to distract her.

Following the lead of the younger couple, Leo and Margaret are enjoying the novelty of making out in a hot tub. Both couples are oblivious to the others, but after a while even good things need a break and both couples again relax with their eyes closed to quietly soak up warmth of the bubbles. Leo is again slowly stroking Margaret's leg with his hand. The other couple does not detect his actions. He takes advantage of them not seeing under the surface of bubbles. Margaret has her eyes closed as she rests her head on his shoulder. His hand starts creeping under the water and only she is aware where he's putting it, as he goes exploring to exactly where anyone would think. She raises her head, as he turns to her and they lean their foreheads together again, to look into the others eyes. He just softly smiles as he moves closer to her more intimate place. She blushes at him stroking gently along her soft inner thigh, even though she knows the bubbles hide his wandering hands. She's ok with it, until he dips his now more limber fingers under the leg edge of her swimsuit to find her center and he hits her pleasure point. She jumps in surprise and loses her balance, to slip sideways off the bench seat and with her legs on Leo's lap, her head goes under the water as her butt hits the bottom in the center of the hot tub. Leo quickly pushes her legs off his lap to enable her rise and he reaches for her. His face is grinning at her reaction to his discovery. Josh and Donna are startled and are also grinning at Margaret as she seats herself again next to Leo. They immediately understand what possibly made her move so suddenly, when they hear Leo start to laugh and Margaret gently slaps a wet hand to his chest and is giggling at her quick dip in the middle of the tub. Her blush is in high color, but she can enjoy the sight she must have made going under water. Laughing together, it is agreed that now would be a good time to end the soaking session and return to the real world.

*****

Back in the apartment, Leo and Margaret are redressed with Leo sitting on the bed dressed in just his jeans and is watching Margaret blow-dry her hair in the bathroom. The warmth of the tub is leaving him some and he's recuperating from the walk back up to the apartment. Josh and Donna have not made an appearance from the other bathroom, yet, after going in to get redressed. Leo has a bit of a dilemma and finally has to stand and move over to the doorway to ask Margaret personal question. He knows that he might still be in hot water in more ways than one, while she's getting her hair dry. The sound of the dryer masks his approach. He stops and waits a moment for her to become aware of him in the doorway, "Margaret, I don't know how you'll take this, but can I come in and use it? I really am about to bust. I should have gone before we went to the hot tub." She looks at him with a blank look, not really understanding him waiting on her to finish, to use 'her' bathroom. "Josh and Donna are still in the other bathroom," he explains and he sounds a little desperate at this point. Margaret quickly realizes his problem, "Sorry, Leo. Sure, let me get myself untangled here," she glances around at the blow dryer and the hot curling rod.

"Margaret, soon," Leo prompts, with a little more urgency.

"Oh, come on in, Leo. I'm fine with it, if you are?" She gives up deciding if she should take the time to unplug everything, before leaving the room.

"I'm definitely fine with it. I'm not shy about anything in front of you." He grins at her, "Don't worry, I'll stand up."

She grins back at him, "I guess after this morning, I'm not either, Leo," she watches as he stumbles to a start, from the doorframe that he was leaning on. "Leo, maybe I better stay in here. You're pretty tired and we don't need you to fall with your bad ribs and have to start all over again."

"Thanks, Margaret." Leo struggles to get the zipper of his jeans down and in his haste he's having more trouble than usual at getting his fingers to work the way he wants them to.

She sees he's struggling, "Here, Leo." Margaret hurries to get the pants unfastened and unzipped. Leo grins at her helping to unzip him, she getting really good at that this week.

Standing and leaning with one hand braced on the wall over the toilet, he's finally able to access and withdraw himself from his boxers.

Margaret smiles at the relief on his face and gets in small dig, "Don't think that just because you can get hand prints on my wall tonight that I'm going to let you make a habit of it, even if it is a guy thing." She's hesitant at first to view what he is doing, but then she shyly looks down. Leo glances at her, just as she peeks and he smirks in manly satisfaction that she did. She looks back up and with them being in such an intimate situation, she decides to explain and/or ask a couple of personal questions that came to her this evening. "Leo, in the hot tub, I jumped when you touched me, because I never thought about us touching in a lovemaking way, while we were in there. Maybe it's because we never usually have that kind of privacy in the hot tub. I guessed it just surprised me. A nice surprise, but just new."

He's still not ashamed or apologizing for doing it, "Margaret, it can be interesting and enjoyable to try new things, in new places for both of us."

"Ok, I'll try it keep an open mind about new possibilities, but yeah, you might be right," she grins at him that she might be happy to learn. "Leo, next I have a question, while you're busy in here and it's a little more personal, but you're always good at explaining things to me that I don't understand." She pauses to breath, "Do you remember when Josh and Donna mentioned something in the hot tub, about wondering where they left some items that they needed, to add to their pleasure tonight? I didn't get it, but you obviously did."

Leo finishes what he's doing and moves closer to her. He reaches up a hand to gently touch her slightly damp hair, "Margaret, it's always about giving and receiving pleasure."

His jeans are still hanging open and she's sure he doesn't particularly care, but his black satin boxers revealed in the v shaped opening, makes it slightly difficult for her to swallow, due to the nature of their conversation, and so she reaches down between them to re-zip him.

Leo decides to honestly answer her question like he always does, but knows that there are times that she needs to mull things over in her mind, so he gives her the basic details, Margaret, "they're for pleasure enhancement, the EEB is a band for the male and the SEC is a cream for women."

Margaret nods that she grasps the meaning and then she gives him a look that asks how does he knows this and did he ever.

He reads the look easily and returns a small tight smile, "No, Margaret, but guys do talk and I hears things." Leo finishes with a nod of his head to the side, to indicate that, that's the way it is.

"OK, I'll think about it later." She is curious, that they would use those things. They're so responsive to each other, already.

Leo watches her puzzled face and knows that she's gearing up a question, "Leo, just one last thing. Josh and Donna?" Margaret leaves the rest of the question unasked. She doesn't need to finish it for Leo.

He drops he head with a soft smile and blows out a breath. This is a typical 'so' Margaret question, "Baby, with Josh and Donna, it just shows that sometimes younger people are willing to experiment, with many things for more fun and satisfaction."

"Thanks, Leo. I know I can always trust you to tell it to me straight." Margaret leans in for a hug. She is so thankful that they are closer now and Leo is here with her.

"Anytime, Baby, anytime." Leo returns her hug with a sigh, as he enjoys the feel of her soft hair against his cheek.

*****

After she finishes drying her hair, Leo and Margaret exit the bedroom, just as Josh and Donna finally emerge from the guest room, both are looking very pleased with themselves and they cheerfully wave good night, on their way out. They're heading back to the office to quickly wrap up a few items, before the President's time limit restriction starts on Josh's presence in the White House over the weekend.

Standing in the living room, Margaret and Leo both have knowing smirks on their faces that they gave no effort of to hide from the happy couple that just left. Margaret is the first to voice the obvious, "Guess it's a good thing neither of them smokes or the smoke alarm would be going off now, from the small cloud those two would be making right now."

Leo grins at Margaret, as he rubs his hand up and down on his chest, "Yeah, looks like they started early on their night together, at least they waited till they were in the privacy of the guestroom. We almost didn't need the water heater going in the hot tub. Those two were warming it up nicely all by themselves."

Margaret gives Leo a grin, "Well, we weren't doing too bad ourselves, till someone decided to go exploring."

Leo wears a pleased smile and admits, "Guilty as charged, but I do enjoy new adventures with you, Margaret."

She gives him a sassy comeback, "I'm happy to go along on any new adventures with you, Leo."

*****

Leo is situated on the couch again, by decree from Margaret, with an ice pack on his ribs. "Margaret, what are you doing rattling around in the kitchen? Are you going to let me off the couch long enough to help with dinner?" Leo answers his own first question.

Margaret answers him through the kitchen window to the living room, "Leo, you're staying on the couch as much as possible this weekend. You need to recuperate after the double sessions that you have planned for this weekend. Unless, of course, if you're going to take me to see what you have in storage, then I'll relent. You have been pushing your self to recover and you have been taking two steps forward and one back. You're slowly getting there, but, Sweetie, you have to give your body a chance to heal."

Leo agrees with a small scowl on his face and he picks at the fringe towel that is wrapped around the ice pack. He had a faint hope of helping Margaret with dinner.

"I hear you, Baby. You know it's just my way. I just wanted to help with dinner is all."

"I know, Leo, but I put some frozen Lasagna in the oven on slow bake, when you were resting and waiting for Josh and Donna to get here. It's ready to come out now and I can quickly fix us a basic salad and some warm bread to go with it." Margaret has dinner well under control, in his kitchen.

"Margaret, frozen?" He growls slightly, just to be loyal to his love of fresh cooking. "See, I could have done the salad."

Margaret sets him straight, "Leo, this is the one you that you like, even though it comes frozen and I said basic salad. It might not be up to your accomplished talents, but it'll be nice."

"I'm sorry, Baby. I didn't mean to find fault with your efforts. I'm just disappointed. I'm looking forward to us spending lots of evenings with us fixing dinner here at home." Leo softly explains.

"I know you're disappointed and we'll have lots of evenings." She agrees with him, but she doesn't give in and firmly adds, "Just, not tonight."

Leo decides to see if he can test the boundaries of his grounding to the couch. It's also his nature to work out different tactics. "I will be getting up to eat at the table, in a little while."

"No, wrong. We're going to picnic on the couch. So, don't you even try to get up." Margaret seems to read his mind and she heads off his next try, "Before you try any other tactics, just remember, I know for certain that you don't need to get up and go pee."

Leo's deep laughter is his only reply, at Margaret outsmarting his obvious attempts to get off the couch.

Margaret brings the food to the coffee table on the tray, she hands him a plate and a fork and spreads out a large napkin on his lap.

Leo grins up at her, " What if I spill some on my chest?"

Margaret gives him her sassy look again, "You won't need a napkin for that. I'd be happy to help you clean it up." She takes her plate and napkin and sits at the other end of the couch, with a playful grin on her face.

They eat to the sound of some soft music, both watching the other enjoy their meal. Just making idle conversation about the food and mention some Italian dishes that they like and which restaurant has the best food.

When they finish Margaret takes Leo's plate and can't resist using her lips to retrieve a small morsel off Leo's chest as promised. He cups her face and kisses her in thanks. She relents and lets Leo off the couch to go to the bathroom to wash up.

Leo returns to find Margaret already on the couch with their glasses refilled. His jeans are not buttoned, since he has given up on trying for the night.

Margaret stretches and leans over when he gets to the couch and deftly zips the jeans, but she too, gives into the temptation of leaving them unbuttoned, he just looks sexier with his jeans that way.

Leo watches her fingers as she folds down the locking tab of his zipper and once he's sitting down, he asks a question that he's been saving since this afternoon, "Margaret, you mentioned earlier today that you'd re-zipped me before at the office. I don't remember you re-zipping me prior to this last week and you gave the impression that it was a while ago. It couldn't have been at the White House, I would have remembered."

Margaret smirked at Leo trying to work out where it happened before. "Well, you were very appreciative. You did thank me," she teased.

"Margaret," Leo admonishes her. "I have never made a sexual indication toward you, before we started seeing each other. Did I?"

"No, you didn't then either, Leo. You treated it the same as if I was helping you on with your coat. We both took it in stride. It needed to be done and I did it. You're my, Leo. I've always taken care of you." Margaret tries to reassure Leo that he was never improper with her, in the past.

"But, when and where, Margaret?" Leo just won't let it go at that. He can't imagine her touching his pants and him not remembering it. Guys just don't forget that kind of thing.

Margaret sighs and knows the teasing is over, "It was when we were at the SoL office. You were going to a fundraiser, from the office. Some others were joining you there, to go over together. You had changed into evening clothes in the restroom and when you came into your office, where they were waiting, your zipper was down. There was no way I could in good conscience let you go with it open and just hope you'd notice. I didn't want to embarrass either one of us, so I just stepped over close to straighten your cummerbund and quickly zipped you up and adjusted your tie. With me standing in front of you, they never noticed that I zipped you. You just smiled, thanked me and told the others that I was a good girl."

"Margaret, was there the possibility that the reason I don't remember, is because I was drunk at the time," Leo questions her with a sad but accepting smile on his face.

"A very good possibility, Leo," Margaret honestly replies returning the same smile back at Leo.

Leo leans his head back and looks at the ceiling, "Oh, Margaret, we do have a lot of history behind us, don't we." He sighs and looks back at her, "I'm glad that you didn't shy away from mentioning it, since I was drunk. We have memories that we will want to remember from before rehab. Some are good and some not so much. " He smiles and teases, "Man, the mileage that you could now get, out of some of the situations you got me out of back then." He's still smiling as he studies the coffee table in front of them as he reflects back to the ones he now remembers. ~I would be so toasted, if she wanted to. ~

"Leo, that was back then. You paid that price and you have a new life now." She can't resist a small grin, "But I did get some mileage out of that one." She leans over and rests her head on his shoulder with a soft thoughtful look on her face. ~ I know things that maybe he doesn't think I know. Some secrets with his drinking I've even kept from him, maybe he doesn't even remember, but I'll take those secrets to my grave, before I let him feel guilty all over again. We 'have' put the past behind us. ~

Leo wraps his right arm around her shoulders and lays his head atop of hers, "Margaret, It's been a long road for us, but it's worth it for me to end up here with you, like this." He turns to kiss the top of her head. They both sigh and agree with the truth of that statement.

Leo wants to break the melancholy mood and suggest, "Margaret, why don't we stretch out here and watch a movie. You've been wanting me to relax here on the couch and I feel like some cuddle time." He rubs his hand up and down to caress her arm.

"Leo, you're sure you want to watch a movie? I'm sure I could find another box for us to unload this evening," Margaret's having a hard time keeping the happy smile off her face as she teases Leo.

Leo uses his best tactic and goes for bribery, "I'll let you pick the movie."

Margaret's now really glad she teased and got the bonus of choosing. For payback for his bribery tactic, she's picking a chick flick, "OK, Leo, I think I'd like us to watch 'Six days and Seven Nights', it's a romantic comedy. Harrison Ford plays a charter pilot on a South Seas island. Anne Heche plays a fashion editor that hires him to take her to another island. They really don't get along and it gets funny." She rushes to the end of her speech.

"Margaret, my guess is that you're hoping with it being about a pilot that I'll quietly go along with a chick flick." He states, with his head leaning knowingly to the side as he looks at her innocent face.

"Yeah, Leo that's exactly what I was hoping for. How am I doing?" She grins at him honestly.

"You're doing fine. I surrender. Pop in the tape and get over here in my arms." Leo grabs her throw pillow and moves to lie down again at his end of the couch.

"Hold that thought, Leo. I'm on my way." Margaret smiles and crosses to the entertainment center and she's so thankful that Josh has the tapes in alphabetical order.

Leo scoots over to let Margaret onto the couch and tucks her in against the front of him, just like they always do to watch movies. Her head is laying on his shoulder and her body is leaning back to his. "Well, Margaret seems you do have me pinned on the couch, to make sure I stay here for the evening."

"It works for me, Leo. You've had too much going on this past week and rest is what you need the most." Margaret snuggles her head in closer under his chin, enjoying her favorite perk of cuddling, of smelling his manly scent. She has no way of describing it, she knows that after the hot tub, his cologne would be washed away, so now it's just Leo.

"Yeah, I know," Leo quietly admits. "It's good that the world has been relatively quiet this week. Josh hasn't called me back into the White House once. He's really been doing an excellent job this week. I think that fact is giving me more comfort, than he or I could even imagine. It gives me a safety net, not that I can imagine him totally filling the role that I fill with the President, but it does take some of the weight off my shoulders."

"So, besides you showing the thanks and love shining out of your eyes whenever he's around, when are you going to tell him?" Margaret softy asks.

"I thought I'd have a serious talk sometime this weekend. He'll be around a lot and we'll have plenty of time to talk," Leo pauses to consider the coming weekend. "I really enjoy the family time we have had together the last couple of months and he has jumped in where needed, especially this past week."

The movie previews end and they settle in to watch the movie. After the movie they discuss the movie while it is rewinding. Still snuggling in cozy together. Glad that Leo seemed to like the movie, Margaret decides to tease Leo now, "Leo, I think in the movie, Harrison Ford bellows just like you do and you know, he seems to stomp off just like you do."

Leo takes up the challenge, "I just bet you'd make me sleep out in the open and you take the security of the plane all to yourself."

"No, I wouldn't, Leo. You could join me in the plane. We'd fit in. We're not taking up much room here on the couch," Margaret logically points out.

"It wouldn't be as comfortable as this couch, but we'd manage. It's a deserted island after all." Leo sounds confident of their ability to overcome the obstacles.

"Oh, Leo, imagine just us, the sun, the sand and the surf. It sounds good to me, if just for a little while." Margaret gets a dreamy sound to her voice.

Leo grins at her dreamy tone. ~ Wonder if I can find out if they have island getaways that we can sneak off to. To hell with the cost. If they don't, then I could find someone to make one for us. Then, I'll have to find a way to get us some free time to go. I bet I could bribe Josh to help out, if I pay for him and Donna to go away after we go and I can cover for him at work. I'm sure Mallory could find out about it for me, without Margaret knowing. ~

Leo's feeling pleased with his new idea, "Margaret, if we were on an island and something swam into your pants while bathing, I'd be happy to go looking exploring for it." Leo makes it sound like a huge and brave favor he would unselfishly do for her.

"I just bet you would, Leo." There's no doubt in her mind.

"Sure I would, just like this," Leo quickly slides his hand down the back of her pants and lightly pinches her butt through her panties, not even taking the time to go under them.

"Leo," Margaret squeals loudly and nearly falls off the couch as she jumps from the surprise.

Her hand is immediately over her mouth, hoping that the agents don't charge in the doors and just as the thought is complete in her mind, the door pops open and the agent steps in. He immediately sees the laughing couple on the couch, "Mr. Garry, I'm sorry, I heard a scream and I'm just checking that you're alright."

"Thanks for checking, Lewis, but we're fine." Leo grins at Margaret blushing in embarrassment. The agent nods and leaves, closing the door behind him.

"Leo McGarry, you just had to get the agent in here. You just couldn't resist making me blush." Margaret pretends to pummel his chest and ends up giggling against it. "Oh, Leo, this is so much fun to be playful together."

"Well, I did like the movie, especially him trying to fly the plane and not pass out." Leo decides to tease her, "If that was me, you could fly the plane, Margaret."

"Oh, no I couldn't, Leo, no way. We'd end up in the sea." Margaret adamantly denies his claim.

"Margaret, I think you could do anything. You're always dependable in a crunch." Leo says honestly.

"Glad you believe in me, but I have my doubts, Leo" Margaret kisses him in appreciation.

She snuggles in facing him, to cuddle for a little more, before getting ready for bed.

*****

While cuddling after the movie, one thing leads to another and they soon find themselves trading kisses and caresses. Loving the coziness of the couch, where they first began their necking sessions. It's not long before the passion they share for each other, heats up the lovemaking that they now share. They find that still wearing clothes, retains the sense of mystery of each other's bodies and adds to thrill of exploring. Margaret pulls front his lips and grins, "Leo, you might be tired tonight, after your trying and hectic day, but some parts of you are still ready and willing," Margaret teases him when his condition is noted. Her head is resting on his chest for a breather. She's not helping, when she gently caresses her hand down the front of his now tight jeans.

Leo growls, with satisfaction in his tone, but decides he needs to make something clear, here at the beginning stage of them pleasuring each other by touching. "Baby, I do love you touching me, it makes me feel so loved, but I want you to know that I'd never expect you to help me find release, every time my problem pops up. It's just an outward sign of how much I love you, my body automatically responds to your touch."

Margaret smiles softy and sighs with mild relief, "Leo, I'm glad you explained that it's just another way you express your love to me. I didn't really think that you'd expect more, because you're a giver and not a taker, type of lover. It's still nice to know, so I'll never worry about disappointing you, if at times it doesn't seem like the fitting way to express my love for you."

Leo can't resist and teases her now with an old myth, to see if she'll blush, "Baby, after the last two mornings, I'm not going to go blind from frustration. In fact, it's having such a workout lately that I think its in shock. I've never really been this responsive in years."

"Leo," Margaret exclaims into his chest were she hides her glowing red face. Leo laughs his joy wonderfully deep in his chest. So few people ever hear his bold all-encompassing laugh. It just draws you in and makes you glad to be near him. She savors the sound and wraps her arms around his healing body.

*****

The time has come for them to move into the bedroom for the night. "Sweetie, lets move to the bedroom and start you hand massage." Margaret's always the one to decide what's next in their lives. She happily lives a scheduled life, adding and adjusting as she leads them though life, their lives are now more firmly entwined together.

Leo sighs with agreement, he has found from weeks of experience that this wonderful couch is hard to get up off of with Margaret snuggled against his body. Only the joy of knowing that he now gets to hold her all night motivates him into comply. He grins happily at her, "Margaret, your wish is my command. Drag me off to the bedroom and do wonderful things to my body."

Margaret gets up, giving him a pointed look of reproach to his flippant teasing and then helps Leo to his feet. Leo, you're so bad," is her now classic remark to his ribald statements. He just gives her a silly grin of hopeless reform. She rolls her eyes at him and breaks into a matching grin. She picks up the tray with their glasses and popcorn bowl on it, to return to the kitchen.

They move around the apartment silently slipping into a new but soon familiar routine, to end their day and retire, snuggled together for a quiet night.

She moves around to check that all the lights are out in the rest of the apartment. She knows the door is locked with the agent on the other side. She smiles when she leaves the guestroom at the fact that tonight she didn't have to set out Leo's suit clothes for tomorrow. They have the day off and she can just imagine that Leo will be wearing as few clothes as he decently can.

Margaret hears the news through the open kitchen window and calls out a teasing sweet warning, "Leo," for him to turn it off. After a few minutes and the news is still on and she give him a second warning, "That's fine, Leo. If you want to watch the news, we can just skip you hands massage tonight." She smiles as she hears the TV go off... she knows him so well.

Leo puts away the videotape and turns off the TV, after getting busted at having a quick sneak peek at the evening news.

Leo then makes his way to the bathroom and grabs his satin robe from behind the bathroom door, to lay it near the bed, just in case of agents. When he enters the bedroom Margaret has put some soft music on the Bose CD player and is in the process of lighting some scented candles.

Leo walks up behind her wrapping his arms around her waist from behind and just starts kissing the back of her neck. Picking up from where they left off in the living room. He gets more adventurous and slides both his hands under the front of her shirt for a quick feel of her breasts, drawing her back closer against the front of his body. Margaret softly moans an approval, but turns in his arms, "Leo, this is not helping. This is when we're doing your massage. You'll just have to be patient."

"It's your fault, Margaret, you're the one that set the mood with candles and music," he ignores her protest and kisses her lips.

Margaret is still struggling to get him back on track, but when she pulls away from his tempting arms, her eyes drop down his body and swallows at the sight of him.

His jeans are undone but he has no intentions of doing them up again tonight. He regretfully makes his way over to the side of the bed. She follows behind him at a safe no-touching distance. She needs a moment.

He turns to face her, dropping down his jeans without saying a word and kicks his feet a little to get out of the legs, before stepping back. He knows that really get to her.

Margaret bends over and picks up the jeans that are still warm and shaped to his body. He sits on the bed, grinning as her sighs while folding the jeans over her arm. She looks back up at him, "Do you want to sleep in your satin pants tonight?" She already knows the answer.

"No, I think this will be just fine," as he looks down at his black silk boxers.

As she gets Leo settled, she sees some fatigue on his face but he has had a couple of naps today thinks he will be awake for awhile yet. "Ok, then I'm going to go into the bathroom and get the lotion for you hands massage to warm up."

Leo watches her go with a smile as she adjourns to the bathroom. He flips off the lamp to add to the romantic atmosphere of the room. He rests his head back against the headboard and his eyes roam around the softly lit room. Memorizing the details of their haven, to carry it in his mind, for when he needs to remember that he has a place where the world recedes.

Margaret returns and she isn't change yet, but her buttons are open. Not paying attention that her satin nightshirt is swinging suggestively from her hand. Laying the nightshirt over the back of her vanity chair, she slips off her shirt. Not realizing that Leo's eyes are glued to her every motion. With the shirt hanging from the ends of her fingertips, she's still unaware as she tosses it toward him to land on the end of the bed. Looking toward the dark window at the city lights, she reaching behind her back, she then unclasps her bra, letting the straps slide down her arm as she hold the sides of the bra tight to keep it from falling to the floor, which keeps her breasts covered. Turning around and revealing her long smooth back to Leo, her eyes instinctively glance to the mirror in front of her, noting the hot look in his eyes. With a sassy smile at his reflection, she slips off the bra. Watching his reaction, she notes that Leo's eyes are admiring the reflection he has of her bare breasts. Margaret feels mischievous and puts on her satin nightshirt, buttoning it slowly. Their eyes never leave the mirrored reflection of the others. She then slips out of her pants, letting the shirttail immediately drape down.

Once again leaving Leo to wonder what is the color of her panties tonight. Watching her undress leaves his mouth dry. ~Dear, God, thank you. She's entirely mine, if she allows.~

Margaret turns toward him, knowing that she just gave him a little bit of a show and she can tell how much he enjoyed it, by the hungry, dark eyes that greets her look. She moves around the room, continuing to put away her clothes. Passing the bed, once again on her way to the bathroom, she adds an extra swing to her hips as a tease to Leo.

She returns from the bathroom and with the warm lotion in hand and approaches him in the bed. "Ready?"

Leo grins at her in admiration, "You bet I am. I'm most certainly ready, especially after the little floor show you just put on," He adds with an impish grin. "I think something like that is almost better than full nudity." He laughs at her doubtful look. "Almost, but not quite. Thank you for that."

"My pleasure, Leo. Any time." she did get into it a little, just feeling sexy.

He settles back onto his pillows and she takes his hand into hers. ~Maybe this can be a nighttime routine for our weekends. Candlelight and my beautiful Margaret gifting me with undressing. God, I am so blessed.~

Margaret is thinking about the past week while she strokes and massages the lotion into his stiff hands. Remembering all the new details that they have learned about each other, especially last night when they unpacked his box of keepsakes and then looking at each other's photo albums. Like tonight, when they were taking about the time before his rehab, they were finding out memories that each had of the other. She has the beginning of a plan coming to her and she shares it with him, "Leo, I have an idea of a way we can get to know more about each others private lives that we never have learned over the years of working together.

"What's that, Baby," he doesn't quite understand her line of thought. "I didn't think there was anything you didn't know about me," he sincerely admits.

"Leo, there's lots for things about your childhood and your family that after last night, I realized that I never knew about you. What was it like during your time in school and college? Even your military service is sketchy to me. Things like, did you have your tonsils out as a kid? Did you play sports as a teenager in school and who was your first puppy love? That types of things, Leo," she watches his face to see how he

"Wow, that covers a lot of territory," he drawls in a reflecting breath as he thinks back to some of the things she mentioned. "Ok, what's your plan and don't deny it. I can see it written on your face that you have a plan forming in that beautiful head of yours."

"All right, I confess. Here's my plan and keep in mind that it just popped into my head, so there may be some flaws in it," she warns before she starts.

"Duly noted, go ahead," Leo's wearing a small smile. This is what Margaret does best and she loves to do it.

Well I'd like us to agree to tell each other something new about ourselves every night before we go to sleep. Maybe it could be a tidbit from our pasts. Just something small, nothing deep like theories on life. We could have a quiet moment or two to discuss them. Like a different topic everyday." She's on a roll as her mind gets hold of more possibilities. "The topic could be picked in the morning and we'd have the day to think about it. Oh, and we can alternate days as to who picks the topic, that way you can use your days to chose a topic to learn about my past." She gives him a reminder look. "You have to have a tidbit on the topic to tell me, as well. I'll be choosing the next day, remember."

Leo grins in anticipation of learning her past as well, "So are any topics allowed? Like first kiss, first boyfriend/girlfriend or maybe first time you went to first base, second base, etc." He sounds like he's in legal proceeding or getting the ground rules to a new contest.

Margaret is pleased he is being agreeable and grins at him, Sure, Leo. I'd like to hear all those things about you. Can we agree that we have to have answer by bedtime no matter how uncomfortable with the chosen topic, but always with an honest answer. At different times it will be hard. I can trust you and you, me that none of the topics will ever be mean or malicious, but mostly it should be fun and enlightening. I also promise not to ask about your wartime activities, since I know that you had nightmares and they contributed to your alcoholism. You can tell me or not tell me at some later date. That will be your decision. She looks him straight in the face to let him know she is serious. "You do not need to go back there on my account, ever." She reaches out a hand to caress his face, she switches to a grin, but I still can get some mileage out of some funny things you did at SoL like when you unknowingly used the ladies room and I stood guard outside so none of the other women would walk in on you.'"

"What," Leo asks with surprise on his face. He catches her hand that's on his face, in his and pretends to bite it as a mock punishment for teasing him. 'You better not tell that one around or I'll have to talk to Colin and get some dirt on you."

Margaret falls back on the bed laughing, "Leo, I love it when you get playful."

He pulls her back up and loves the laughter in her eyes. The candlelight is making her face glow.

She's smiling as she looks at him, "So, is it an agreement? You can pick first in the morning?" she uses his own tactic of bribery on him.

"Deal, Margaret," he turns over the hand she's just done massaging and shakes her hand. He then pulls her in to seal the agreement in their special way, with a kiss that takes their breath away.

Pulling back for air, Margaret takes a deep breath, "Leo, we still have another hand to do yet." She picks up the lotion bottle to hold him at bay or it would not get done tonight.

Leaning back to behave himself, he closes his eyes and blissfully let's her take over, doing her magic to his hand. While his eyes are closed, he begins to think about something that he's been wondering about for a while, especially with how their relationship has been progressing. He's just not sure about how to bring it up. He finally decides that it's just best to ask.

"Margaret, I've been thinking that we need to have a talk about something. It's quite personal and since today we have been opening the door to more of ourselves, I think that this might be the perfect time to bring this up." Leo sits up straighter and waits for her to look up at him. "We've been getting closer for a while now and I just want to be prepared for when we decide to go further. Do you understand what I'm referring to?"

Margaret has been massaging his hand and watching his face as he relaxes at her face telling him she seriously listening. She watches him lower his eyes to watch her hands on his.

Leo looks glances at her face as she picks up the lotion again to apply more to his hand, "Margaret, we need to talk about protection. We're getting closer and we really need to think about this, because, Baby, if we need something, then one of us needs to arrange for someone to purchase it for us." He shrugs his shoulders at he and points out a truth, "Its not like we can just slip out and go the drug store for the things we need." He lets his dry wit get the best of him, "We could always torment the agents and give them a list to go get for us."

Margaret lets him see her smiling softly at the image of the agents face when he reads a list like that. She looks down as she continues to massage his hand and takes a deep breath, "Well, I have always used condoms, with anyone I have been with before, but it has been awhile since I was with anyone," she adds with a blush.

Leo loves her brave honesty and looks at her face that is partly shaded by her hair and reaches out a finger to tuck it behind her ear, "Well, I was faithful during my marriage and I've not been with anyone since Jenny." He points out another truth for any of the senior staff, "With our work there was never the time or the extra energy to go out and find someone to be with. Lucky for me, you came to the White House with me."

Margaret looks at him and sarcastically says, "Tell me about it. I leave when you leave, I sleep when you sleep. Sound familiar?" She adds with a grin. She then becomes more serious and looks him directly in the eyes, "Leo, when we finally get together, I don't want anything between us. I don't want us to use condoms. What we have is real and I want our lovemaking to be real."

Leo looks a bit surprised, "I know that we're both Catholics, but I need to ask you how you feel about birth control. There are many kinds available."

"Leo, I'm OK at using birth control. I'm not that conservative of a practicing Catholic." She gives him a small tight smile, "I guess, I should confess that I have been on the pill for awhile now."

Leo a little surprised, "Really? You have? I don't think I've seen you ever taking it. I haven't seen it in the bathroom or here in the bedroom. She raises an eyebrow at him taking note of her daily habits, "Oh, ………I don't want you to think that I've been snooping around, but ah…………these are the kind of things you start to notice when you're living with someone," Leo adds a little quietly.

"It's ok, Leo." She lets him off the hook and calms him. " I know my being on the pill may a bit of a surprise to you. They're not in my bathroom, because I keep them in my purse. She smiles and gives him his logic back at him, "With the kind of hours that we work, I can never be sure that I can take the pill at a consistent time everyday, but by keeping the pills with me I can take them whenever I need to. It's Leo's turn to raise an eyebrow at her being so careful. She sees the question on his face, "Ah……and before you ask, I was not on them for birth control purposes, when I first went on them."

Leo now looks a little confused at her last statement, "Why then?"

She knows that they were soon going to have this talk and is glad to get it said between them, but she still blushes as she goes. She has never spoken to any man about her periods, but she realizes that he needs to know some of the mysteries of her body, "I went on them, because I was having problems with my periods, unreliable timing, excessive bleeding and really bad cramping." She pauses and looks at his eyes and she happily finds some understanding there, so she continues, "It was becoming something that I couldn't deal with and live my life as I wanted, having the control I wanted." She takes a deep breath to slow down the risk of her breaking into rapid talking, "So, I talked to my doctor about some options and this was the best one. The fact that it helps with birth control is a bonus for me, especially now." Her blush is still on her face, but she glad she's telling him.

Leo nods and leans in to kiss her blushing cheek, "Well, I'm glad it helps. Are you sure that it's enough? There are other methods, for males as well as females. If down the road, you decide not to have children, I could have a vasectomy, it's not that big a deal. Women get their tubes tied, some of them in my family did. I learned a lot living with a mom, two sisters, a wife and a daughter. I was surrounded, so I probably got a better first hand education than the average man, not counting Jed." Leo thinks about some of the info he has learned recently. "Margaret, I let you read the reports on sex ed and birth control that have come through the office, plus others dealing with women's health issues. You might someday need to come off the pill, there can be complications with being on it for too long."

She looks at him and says," Gosh, I hope I don't need to go off it. You think my chocolate time is bad now, you should see me when my hormones really rage." Her eyes sparkle at her warning. She grins at him, "Leo, you've been though enough already. Seriously, Leo, I think the pill is enough for birth control and I want to stay on it as long as the doctor thinks it's safe for me to be on it. Life is full of risks."

Leo smiles at her attitude, "I like that you want to be close to me, without using condoms, but only if you think you feel safe. I want that too." He gets another thought, "Do you think we should get tested? Not too long ago, I had an HIV test for a life insurance policy." His eyebrows pull together trying to come up with a date, "I think it was when we started in the White House. I can't remember exactly when, but I do know that I haven't been with anyone since then."

"Yeah, Leo, I remember, it was right after we got into the White House. I did the same for my life insurance. My brother, Colin and his kids are my beneficiaries on my policy and I had a test then, too. I haven't been with anyone since then either. She leans to kiss his cheek, this time, "Aren't we the two saddest cases you've ever seen? Too busy for a life?"

Leo returns her kiss with a matching quick kiss back to her, like playing face tag. He grins at his success, "Yeah, that's right. That's when I had it. I guess I should let you know that since the divorce, Mallory and you are my two beneficiaries and before you say anything, that's the way I want it," he says holding up his free hand to stop her reaction, as she starts to object.

"Leo, I don't need or want anything from you financially, especially a life insurance benefit." Margaret get a firm look on her face, "You should leave it all to Mallory. She's your daughter, she's your family."

Leo softly states, "No, Margaret, I can choose to leave it, to anyone I want and I want you to be taken care of, always. He kisses her firmly enough of the cheek this time to gently rock her body, "Mallory will be well taken care of. It's already set in place for her. You, on the other hand, are also my family and you have been for a long time. I just never realized it," he says softly while looking down at his hand being massaged.

"OK, Leo, you know how I feel about your money, but I know I can't change your mind about this. It is your choice, not mine," she finally relents. "I'll just quit breathing, when you quit breathing."

Leo decides to drop the issue after her last remark, mostly due to the fact he agrees with her, if anything happened to her, he'd just quit breathing, too. That is why the threat of the attackers is so serious to them this week. He returns to the previous topic, "So, we can both can rely on these test results, just to have peace of mind, to be sure ourselves before we go any further. I'm not concerned at all."

Leo looks at Margaret's nodding head, but she looks a little worried about something. "What's wrong Baby?"

"Leo, I may have a bit of a problem coming up. I have an appointment this week with my gynecologist and now with everything going on, I don't know if I can go, but I really need to keep this appointment. I'll need Secret Service protection and I don't know how we can arrange it, because I'm not really eligible for it. I don't really feel comfortable going without it, you certainly don't want me to go with out protection and I really need to go," she rushes to finish.

"Can you change it to another time?" Leo suggests, hoping the attacker problem will soon get resolved.

"No, unfortunately not." She explains why, wanting him realize it's a timing situation, "I'm on the last month of my birth control pills and the appointment is timed for a certain time in my cycle. It can't be too close to my period. It has to be mid cycle."

"And that time is this now. Right?" Leo let's it out that he knows.

"Yeah, it is. How did you know that, Leo?" She gives him a look of surprise.

"Well, for two reasons really." Leo confesses, "I remember when you had your chocolate time and I've sort of been keeping track of your chocolate time, ever since. I guess, with next week being the week before your time, I should order chocolate for your PMS this week, maybe we can send Donna to do some chocolate shopping for us," he adds with a grin. "Plus, you made an appointment for next week, so you are about at that time, right?" He knows he's right this time.

She looks shyly down at him, "Yeah, it is almost that time. Some chocolate would be most appreciated," she smiles at him and continues, "This is the first month that we've been this close, when it's chocolate time, so there are changes to my body that will happen after this week, besides the mood swings." She smiles as she gives him the bad news, "You might have to refrain from acting on your fascination with my breasts. They may get a little bigger and firmer, much to your eyes delight, but they're going to be sore. Sometimes, even the water spray in the shower hurts them, so I'm giving you fair warning that they'll be off limits for a few days."

Leo looks at her slightly disappointed and also concerned, "I had no idea that they hurt like that. None of the McGarry female have complained about that in my hearing."

"Well, every woman is different with their PMS symptoms. Some are more severe than others. For some women the symptoms change from month to month and obviously taking the pill can drastically change symptoms for the better. For which I'm thankful and you will be also, now that you'll be around me 24/7."

"That's good to know. Margaret, you just let me know what I can do to make things easier for you." He promises, "When I'm better, I'll be able to return some of the TLC you've been giving me this week."

Leo has an idea, "Listen, why don't we give Jed and Abby a call. It's getting late and he hasn't called yet. Abby might have some ideas on how to help you with your appointment." Margaret picks up the phone and dials the number, she then hands the phone over to him. Jed answers the phone. As usual he wants to find out how their evening has been and how Leo is recovering after this afternoon. Leo then asks, "Jed, is Abby there by any chance? Margaret wants to talk to her about some things? Wait a minute, Jed before you put Abby on. We're heading off to bed, before too long, so I'll talk more to you tomorrow. I'll go ahead and say goodnight now, Jed. Yes, we love you too."

Leo hands the phone over to Margaret while Jed gets Abby on the line. "Hi, Abby," Margaret greets her when she gets on the phone.

Abby's happy to hear from Margaret, "Hi, Margaret, Jed said you wanted to talk to me about something?"

Margaret hesitates before continuing, "Yeah, um, I have a bit of a problem and I hope you might have some ideas as to how to help me with it."

"Sure, How can I help you? I'll help anyway I can." Abby reassures her, "That's what girlfriends are for."

Margaret is cheered by Abby's quick willingness to help, "Well, this week I have a doctors appointment that I can't miss and I have no way of getting there, because I don't qualify for Secret Service protection. I'm afraid to go out on my own and Leo really doesn't want me to either."

"You can't postpone it?" Abby tries the easy way first.

"No, it's my yearly check up with my gynecologist and I'm on my last month of birth control pills. It's timed for taking my Pap test and getting my prescription refilled that has me worried." Margaret wants to put Abby's mind to rest before she gets the wrong idea, "I've been on the pill for several years, because of problems with my menstrual cycle and I don't want to stop them."

"Ok, Margaret, I now see the problem." Abby pauses to collect a few options in her mind, "Well, we can try and talk to Ron Butterfield and see if he can spare a female agent to run you over with you for your appointment." Abby gives another option she thought of to get around White House policy, "If he has a problem with that then maybe one of the female agents on my team might volunteer to take you. Abby chuckles softly into the phone, "You know the Sisterhood is far reaching?" Margaret chuckling joins her, knowing the guys will worry at the sound at both ends of the call. Abby gets another quick thought, "Maybe Leo could go with you to your appointment? I know you see the same gynecologist that I do here in DC and he's happy to have any partners go along to the appointment." Abby explains how they do it at his office. "Leo can sit up near your head on a stool, while you're being examined." Abby pulls up short, "Oh,… I'm sorry, I forgot you're not at the point in your relationship yet."

Margaret sighs softly to her friend, "No, don't feel bad. It's OK, Abby. It might be nice to have him there, I told him some of my problems. He might have questions and being there might work out best. I just never thought about him coming along." She hints to Abby, "We have been getting closer, since this whole thing started, but I don't know. I'll talk to Leo and let you know."

Abby has a smile in her voice, "I'm glad you two are getting closer, you're so good for each other. Any one can see how much you two love each other." Abby now sounds confident, "Talk to him and ask him to go. I'm sure he wants to be there for you, in any way he can."

"Thanks Abby, I think I will." Margaret's more confident after talking to her, "I'll let you know tomorrow what we decide. Margaret happily promises, "I'll let you go now. Tell Jed good night for me. Abby, Thanks again for your help. Good night."

"Any time, Margaret, good night," Abby's pleased that Margaret's feeling comfortable enough to treat her like a friend and ask for advice, "Tell Leo good night for me, too. I'll talk to you soon. Bye"

Leo's been listening to the conversation and wonders what Abby has come up with and why Margaret was chuckling, "Well, Baby, what did she say?"

She nervously looks at his hands and then at hers, "She gave me a few ideas about how to get to my appointment, including talking to Ron about getting an agent. She would ask one of her team to go with me or …… she … wondered …… if …… you … might want to come along to the appointment with me? That way I'd still be covered by your Secret Service protection." Margaret tells him what Abby explained to her, "Abby said that our doctor is happy to have partners come along to the appointments and that you could sit at my head, while he examines me, but you don't have to go if you don't want to. It was just a suggestion." She rushes to the end of her explanation.

Leo looks at her red face as he considers this idea. "Baby, do you want me to come along with you to your appointment?"

She picks at a thread at the hem of her nightshirt thinking and quietly says, "I don't know, I mean, I know we've only been recently together, but I would feel better if you came along with me. She tilts her head to the side while looking at him, "I know it's only a check up, but we're going to be entering into a more sexual relationship and maybe there are some things we can discuss with him." She straightens and assures Leo, "He's always been really great about answering questions."

"OK then, we'll go together." He kisses her forehead to reassure her, "I sure you're right, Margaret. He'll be able to give us the best advice on birth control, with him knowing your problems and having you on the pill to correct them." Leo considers it settled, "When is the appointment?"

Margaret brightens and gives him the details. "It's Wednesday morning at ten o'clock. I know that isn't a great time, but it's the earliest I could get. I could get Charlie or Donna to watch the phones. Is that going to be a problem for you?"

Leo sees she ended with some concern in her voice, "No, not at all, we can have staff at nine o'clock and you do control anything else that goes on my schedule. Is there anything important that morning?"

Margaret stops to think, "Not that I can recall, right now." She gets back into her planning mode, "It's only about ten minutes away by car, especially with the Secret Service driver. She grins at an added bonus, "We won't even have to look for parking. We should only be out of the office for an hour or so."

"OK, that's fine then. Why don't we go for an early lunch when we get back? It'll give us time to talk, before we jump back into the thick of things." He knows they'll need to talk about a few things while they're fresh in their minds.

"Ok, if you're sure." She expected to have to wait till the end of the day and at home to review the visit.

"Yeah, I'm sure. He reaches for her and gives he a hug even with his bad ribs, he feels honored and so proud of her, for being able to tell him so much of her private side, "Come on Baby, let's get into bed and cuddle for awhile." He grins sheepishly at her, 'I need to go to the bathroom first and then I'll be set for the night."

Margaret hurriedly agrees as she looks around the candlelit room, loving the slight flicker of the flame light, dancing on the walls, "Yeah, let's have a little fun before we go to sleep." She calls a warning to him, "I'm turning off the alarm for the morning. I want us to sleep in as long as possible. Josh isn't supposed to be here until eleven for your first session. It gives all of us a chance to sleep in and we need it." She gets off the bed and pulls the bedcovers back, while Leo's in the bathroom. She wants to leave the music and candles going for a while yet. She knows she needs to still talk to Leo about some things but she doesn't know how or where to start. ~ It's still early enough that we can talk, if I can only think of the words to say. ~

Margaret smiles and watches as Leo makes his way cautiously back to the bed. She knows it makes him so happy that he's finally getting some independence back. ~ I know it's not soon enough for him, but he's making wonderful progress.~

"What's that smile all about?" he asks as he sits slowly on the bed.

"Just watching how much you've improved this week," she says as she helps him get settled and then walks around the bed and crawls in beside him.

In the candlelight, they move closer together and he pulls her into his arms and places a small kiss on her forehead. She snuggles in, careful not to hurt his ribs. They smile at each other as they move into kiss. Their lips touch and they quickly deepen the kiss. Both being confident and agreeable with the boundaries set, they feel free to express their love and passion for each other. She opens her mouth and her tongue gently begins to explore his mouth, slowly encountering his tongue and they dance to the music playing softly. She pulls back and smiles at him and then moves to kiss his neck as her hands begin to explore. Her lips follow her hands down to his nipples. On one nipple her tongue massages it, before she sucks it into her mouth, her hand busy teasing his other.

His hands are just as busy as hers, exploring her body, sliding his fingers slowly down her back, running over her satin night gown to her full hips. He can feel her panties under her nightgown, but he doesn't know what color they are yet. But there's more time later to investigate that. He reaches to the front of her nightgown and starts to unbutton it. His fingers are less stiff as he makes his way up to her beautiful face. He brushes the back of his fingers across her cheek as he looks lovingly into her eyes.

She can feel his hands moving up and unbuttoning her nightshirt and that look he gives her just makes her knees go week.

She lays back and he opens the shirt and begins to move down and to kiss her breasts. He latches on to one breast and begins to suck and he's flicking the other breast with his thumb. He licks her nipple again and moves to the other side, she can feel deeply when he suckles on her. He latches on again and she moans as she feels her womanhood start to throb with desire. For the moment, she just stops touching him and lets him continue to give her pleasure.

His hands are exploring her body more, working down to her panties and inside.

Margaret wants him to touch her, especially her most tender area. She wants to be closer to him. He's been so free about his sexuality. Of Leo letting her touch him and letting her touch him enough to let him um … have total pleasure. Margaret knows he wants her to feel pleasure too, but she isn't ready to go as far as he has. ~How does she explain why she's not ready to go further?~

He wants to pull her panties down and she's enjoying this, so she lifts her hips and allows him to pull them down. His fingers are touching her and they are a little more flexible tonight after the massage. Leo's happy that she's allowing him to explore her a little more. Her moans are telling him that she is enjoying what he's doing. He knows he better get in some loving time on her breasts, before he banned from them for a few days. He comes back up to her mouth and he leans over her more to deepen his kiss. She moans again, as he rubs her pleasure point and she lifts her hips to encourage him more, letting him know that she's truly enjoying what he's trying to do for her. He slides his middle finger down closer to her womanly opening, gently coaxing her legs slightly apart to give his hand more room.

Margaret can feel that Leo's fingers are more flexible than this morning, from the movement between her legs. He's trying so hard to bring her pleasure, but she doesn't know if she can do that. His hand is now moving down to her opening and he is asking with his actions for her to open her legs a little bit more. She knows he will be gentle, but she is afraid of being hurt. She trusts and loves him with all her being, so she does what he's silently asking. He's so gentle and his finger slides to outlines her womanhood.

He stops kissing her to look into her eyes, "Baby, is this alright? Can I touch you ……inside?" He continues to caress her tenderly as he waits for her answer. He puts small butterfly kisses on her neck and breasts, patiently touching and arousing her more.

She knew that this time would be coming soon, and she knows that she has to trust him to try and make her feel something, anything. She already does feel more, more than she thought possible. So she softly touches his face and smiles at him and opens herself up more to him. He's so happy that he can do this for her. She can see the love in his eyes, when she grants him permission to let him touch her there.

He moves up to kiss her lips, as he tries to slip his middle finger inside her. He opens her womanly folds to slip his finger in and he kisses her. He expected to find her wetter than she is and in fact she's quite dry and small inside. He doesn't want to hurt her by inserting his finger farther. Could this be a reason why she hasn't enjoyed sex? He's just about to pull his finger out when her hand comes down.

"Stop, please," she looks at him with sad eyes and then she shyly looks away.

"That's OK, Baby. We've just gone beyond your comfort level. Can we just neck and cuddle some more? Like this……………………?" He kisses her neck, and works his way back down to her breasts. He can tell she isn't ready yet for this. He looks at her face, "Do you want to talk about it? Did I hurt you just now?"

Margaret tries to and wants to explain to him, "No, no, but I'm not ready for that yet," she reassures Leo. "It just reminded me of some times, when the guy I was with, at the time, didn't care if I was ready or not. It was always a rush for him to get inside me. Never caring that I wasn't ready." She sees the black look coming on Leo face even in the dim candlelight. "We always used lubricated condoms, but it still hurt anyway. I've always been a bit dry and being on the pill doesn't help that. Leo face gets more relaxed again, to let her do the talking. She sighs and reveals, "It was always about his pleasure, never about mine. Sometimes, it wasn't the guy's fault. He may have been as inexperienced as I was and just didn't know any better. Other times that wasn't the case," she looks sadly at him.

Leo doesn't know how to respond to this very private confession, except to love her more for her trust. He knows that this was difficult for her to tell him, but he quickly reassures her, "Baby, thank you for telling me this. I don't want to rush you into any more than you're ready for. I now know that we need to take our time getting to know each other's bodies. Everyone is different and your responses are different with every person you are with. These men you have been with before, didn't take the time to get to know your body, they were selfish in only wanting to please themselves." Leo promises her, "It'll never be like that with us. I love you and your body, not just because of it. We'll always take the time to explore and build your arousal." He teases her with a comment she can't resist smiling at. "That may be a good reason for you to be involved with a man a little older than you are. We tend to take our time and savor the delights were with." he adds with a grin. He pulls her into a cuddle and she relaxes into him.

She is smiling but sadly and admits to him, "It just hurts. It always hurts."

His heart just breaks when she tells him this, "There are other ways of making love, have you ever had someone use their mouth to pleasure you? It wouldn't involve penetration and yet it could be very fulfilling."

Margaret quickly and adamantly answers, "No, I don't like oral sex. I know most men love it when a woman does that to them, but I have never enjoyed that part of sex." She looks up earnestly to see his face, "Do you want that? Do you really like that done? Because, I don't know if I can do that, I wouldn't even try it before," she adds a little fearfully.

"Oh, Margaret." He kisses on her face to comfort her, "I'm never going to make you do something you don't like or want to do. Making love is doing things that pleasure the other person. Whether or not I like something is irrelevant, if you dislike it. If you don't like anything we don't do it, period." He rubs his hands softly up and down her back, "Baby, you just have to tell me, we have to have open communication when we're doing anything intimate. I'm just trying to think of things to make it more pleasurable for you."

"Oh, Leo, I know you want to make it good for me, but I don't know how to do that. I trust you and I want to be with you. I'm just afraid …… that you won't love me, if I can't love you that way." Her voice sounds teary at confessing her fears.

He feels her pain and frustration, "Margaret, my love, that will never happen. I will love you, no matter what. We're together and are still just getting to know one another that way. Sex is just a part of our relationship, one of many parts." He looks at her face to see it she believes him. Her smile is back where it belongs on her lips. With his thumb, he wipes off the tears that are ready to spill over her lashes. "You know what we need right now, besides more hugs and kisses, is some thing to soothe our souls? How about we share some ice cream? Do we have something in say 'chocolate' that can have as snack in bed? I'll even go and get it." He sees her smile brightly and it spreads to her eyes. Her tears just crush his heart. He's so happy to have her smiling at him. "You just stay here and relax. I'll be right back," he pushes off the bedcovers and manages to get to his feet. He wants to do this for her.

Margaret's glad to see him moving better and she snuggles down in bed, thinking about the things that they've talked about tonight. She's glad she has told him some of the things that they needed to discuss and he didn't run for the hills. He was wonderfully understanding tonight about everything. ~How did I ever deserve such a gentle, caring man in my life. I thought I loved him as much as I could before tonight, but just seeing how understanding he was, shows me just how unlimited our love can be and if it's possible, I love him all the more for it.~

He comes in with his silly, excited, impish grin on his face, so happy to have been able to do the simple task of getting them some ice cream, despite the swelling and bruising that remains on his body. He sits on the bed and hands her the container while he gets himself settled once again.

Margaret opens it and with the spoon scoops out a bit and pops it into her mouth and then she leans over and shares her treat with the man she loves. She feels his tongue sweeping and caressing her mouth. There's no hesitation in that loving gesture as she returns it. She knows he loves her too. They'll finish this treat together and then settle into each other's arms, to fight the night demons they have had to contend with this week. Knowing that they can, because they have each other and that's all that matters.

Loving each other, they will recover in more ways than one.

The end

Till the next adventure!!

Thank you so much for reading and supporting us in the writing adventure of Recovery. We know Lynn will not forget this one. She killed her computer during the posting process and we both appreciate your patience with our delay. We guess this is what makes Fan Fiction so interesting. You never know what's going to happen. Thanks for the great feedback from our loyal readers. It truly is what keeps us writing. We admit, we're hooked on writing. Good, bad or ugly. We just have to see what is next in the lives of Leo and Margaret. Join us again, we have plenty of plots in the works, just not enough hours to enjoy typing them up. We are considering giving up sleep.

Now were can those attackers be hiding?

Thanks again!

Blessings

Chipmunk

Lynn

To visit the Leo and Jed early years read pung's 'Sins of the Father' series.

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