Chapter Seven

The two slept in silence. The only sound in the room was the soft ticking of the bedside alarm clock. For the first time in longer than either could remember, one hadn't woken the other up for a midnight chat. They did that at times... One would have a hard time sleeping so they would wake up the other using any way imaginable.. Whether that be a nibble on an ear lobe... a rake of her nails down his back or an innocent game of footsie, one almost always woke the other up.

It was only the high pitched squeal of the alarm clock going off that broke into the reverie.

"Yes, Mr. President, I'll fax the papers to Camp David!"

Jillian woke up quickly and found her husband sitting straight up, his hair sticking to his head with a film of sweat. Sighing softly, she fell back down on the pillows, muttering softly, "Ed, shut up."

Ed sighed softly as he reached for the glass of half full tepid water and finished it off, muttering softly, "I swear, one of these mornings, I'm gonna divulge something that will get me killed..."

Jillian laughed softly and shook her head, "Ed, you've been waking up like that every morning for the past fifteen years. If you were going to say something, I think you'd have said it before... besides... let us not forget... you talk in your sleep."

Ed looked at her, horrified. His greatest fear was that he was going to let something slip that needed to be classified. Jillian laughed harder and rubbed her husband's back affectionately. "I'm only teasing."

Rolling his eyes, he grabbed one of the smaller decorative pillows that rests on their bed and threw it at her head. His wife's body shook as she laughed. Sitting up, she was holding her side. "That's gotta be spousal abuse."

"And what you do to me has to be spousal abuse."

The two laughed more as they got out of bed and fell into their morning routine. Ed began to make up the bed as Jillian opened the blinds and turned on the small lamp on the dresser. After making up the bed, he walked into the walk in closet and watched his wife... "Eggs, waffles, pancakes or fruit?"

Jillian smiled softly. They shared the cooking duties. One week she'd make breakfast and the next he'd make it. "Pancakes sound good. I just bought a new box of Bisquick, it's the cupboard."

"Syrup?"

"Right next to the pancake mix."

Ed nodded as he reached for a pair of khaki slacks, a bright cobalt blue dress shirt and an elegant bright blue silk tie, dyed the same color of the shirt. Jillian smiled softly in approval. "You always look so nice in blue, it brings out your eyes."

Ed smiled as he leaned in and kissed her softly. "You want coffee?"

Jillian nodded and watched as her husband laid his clothes out on the bed and headed downstairs. Jillian surveyed her wardrobe and reached for her own khaki slacks and a black silk top. As she walked into the bedroom, she put her clothes next to her husband's and headed into the bathroom for her shower.

Samantha opened the door after the first knock and smiled as the waiter pushed the cart of food into the room. "Good morning, Miss Marquez."

Sam smiled as she tied her robe tighter, "Good morning. Thanks for bringing this up." She walked over and grabbed the wallet out of her purse and gave him a tip. The waiter smiled and nodded in gratitude and left.

Sighing softly, she removed the plate covers. Since she was unsure of what Jasmine liked, she ordered a little bit of everything. Checking on the girl, she found her sound asleep. Sam took this opportunity to try and call Ed.

Ed stopped what he was doing as he heard the faint ringing of his cell phone. He put the mixing bowl on the counter and walked over to the coat he wore the previous night and fished his phone out.

"Deline."

"Ed, thank god, I've been trying to reach you all damn night."

Ed frowned a little as he walked back into the kitchen. He hated being out of the loop on things, even if he did tell his staff he was taking some time off. "Sam? What's up?"

Samantha walked into the bathroom and closed the door so she didn't wake up Jasmine, speaking softly, "What happened is Douglas and Katherine Cline checked out of the Montecito yesterday morning and left behind a very important item. And before you tell me to just stick it in a box and FedEx it, I can't."

Ed sighed softly, "What is it? A dog or something?"

"No... Their daughter."

Ed stopped abruptly and put the whisk in the bowl and concentrated on the call. "Their kid?? Sam, if this is a joke, I'm really not in the mood for it..."

Samantha sighed, her voice rising an octave, "Ed, I wouldn't joke about this!"

Ed blinked, "Your voice is echoing. Where are you?"

"The bathroom."

Ed made a face, "Sam, you are a sweet girl, but there are just some things a man doesn't need to know about his employees..."

Samantha Jane rolled her eyes, "Get your mind out of the gutter, Ed. Jasmine is sleeping in the other room and I didn't want to wake her."

"Jasmine?"

"Yeah... their daughter."

The man sighed deeply, he did not like this. "Sam, what in the hell is she doing in your hotel room? Didn't you call the police?"

Sam stood up and twisted her hands, "Yeah, but Mike and I thought that it was best to hold Luis off till this morning, no need in dragging her out of here in the middle of the night, it'd only scare her more."

Ed nodded, "Yeah... You are right. Okay, listen, Jillian and I have a thing we need to do today, so I'll be unavailable for a few hours, but I'll check in, okay?"

She nodded, "Yeah, okay. I'll be on my cell. Give your wife my regards." That said, she hung up and left Ed to wonder if she knew what was going on with his wife.

Ed sighed quietly as he poured some pancake batter in the hot skillet and let them cook. As the pancakes cooked, he took out some oranges and a juicer and made them some fresh orange juice.

Immersed in what he was doing, he didn't hear his wife walk down the stairs. She grinned softly as she watched her husband, clad only in gray sweats and a navy blue apron with bright red words emblazed on it "Don't bother kissing the cook... kiss his ass instead". She giggled as she watched her husband maneuver around the kitchen. "Emeril would be proud."

Ed laughed softly as he flipped the flapjacks. "Somehow I doubt making pancakes and oj would impress Lagasse."

Jillian shrugged as she walked in and reached for a glass and then stopped and set it down, cursing softly. Ed looked up at her, "What?"

Jillian sighed, "Oh Eddie... I feel just awful. I completely forgot the nurse told me no food and beverages the morning of. Only clear liquids."

Her husband stopped what he was doing and just looked at her a moment before nodding, "So we'll eat when you get back. It will be nice to have everything prepared and that way all we have to do is just sit down and eat." He glanced up at his wife as he took the pancakes out and put them on a plate, "You look beautiful by the way, honey."

Jillian smiled softly as she walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around him. Ed smiled softly as he gently patted her hands on his chest as she snuggled her face into his back, softly saying, "I don't deserve you, Ed."

"I know, but who does?"

Jillian rose her leg up and kneed him in the rear end and Ed laughed as he pulled his wife around to kiss her. He pulled back and smiled softly at her, "I'm going to get dressed. Since you ditched me for breakfast you get to clean up."

She laughed softly and nodded, "You got it, Mr. President."

Ed winked at her as he headed upstairs, leaving Jillian to clean up the kitchen.

"I'm hungry."

Sam glanced over and saw the little girl sitting up in her bed, rubbing her eyes. Smiling softly at her, she walked over and sat down on the bed next to her. "Did you sleep good last night, sweetie?"

Jasmine shrugged a little, "Where are my mommy and daddy?"

It was a question that Sam knew she would be asked sooner or later. Sighing softly, she reached out and tucked a long chocolate curl behind the girl's ear and gave her a soft smile, "You know, your mommy and daddy had to go on a real quick business trip and there just wasn't any time for them to pack things up and take you with them, so you are going to hang out with me for a bit, how does that sound?"

Jasmine's face fell, softly, "They always do that."

The comment caught Sam off guard. She lowered her face a little so she can look into the little girl's eyes, speaking softly, "Do what, honey?"

"Leave me with strangers. But they come back."

Sam's eyes blazed with fury. Keeping her cool so not to scare or upset the child, she struggled to keep her voice even. "How many times have they done this, Jasmine?"

The girl shrugged her shoulder a little and Sam quietly sighed. "Okay, how about some breakfast? Do you like waffles?"

Jasmine's face lit up and she nodded and Sam grinned as she reached for the covered dish and took the cover off. "Waffles it is then."

After cutting the girl's waffles and pouring her some apple juice, Sam watched her eat, sighing, wishing she knew what to do next.