Title: Claddagh part 4B/4D/10 Twilight Series 5 /?
By: chipmunk and leosimpishgrin
Pairing: Leo/Margaret - Romance
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: None really
Timeline is near the end of year one, to start with and then it goes off to Never, never land.
This is not strictly cannon by the show. Doesn't matter the year or the situation.
Plot Development and Beta By: Imp leosimpishgrinyahoo.ca
Disclaimer: in part 1
Archived at:Summary: It's Leo and Margaret's first anniversary and nothing is going right! Friends help make it right!
Warning: Cursing!
Link to first fic that started it
Note: A special thanks to Korrine2003 . We really love that she just couldn't resist writing the first few lines of Margaret's next morning, to help get it rolling for us! Hope what we added, is what she was wishing for!
Part 4B Thursday morningMargaret slowly wakes up face down on his pillow, burrowing her face in a little deeper where she can smell the lingering of his aftershave, softly purring, as she inhales his scent. As sleep soon fades, realization dawns that it's not a smell she can associate with Leo. Oh, my God! She jerks her head straight up in shock and stares at the pillow right under her nose. She immediately scrambles back onto her knees and looks at the pillow like it might bite her. "Abbey, it's his! How could I? It's his!" Sitting back on her heels, she wrings her hands in worry, giving a glance to the room's door, as if she's afraid that the agents outside it overheard her. "Oh, hell, Abbey! I slept in the official President's bed. In the White House! On the President's official pillow! I am so dead!!"
"Who's? What's his? Who's dying?" This gets Abbey's attention enough so that she moves her face toward Margaret's voice and cracks an eye open at the crazy women crouching at the foot of the bed, who has her mouth covered with her hand in shock. Abbey, seeing that nothing is seriously wrong at the moment continues, "It's too early for you to make me play guessing games. Would you calm down? You don't sound like it, but are you even awake, Margaret? Because one of us is still asleep and I'm hoping it's me."
"I did it. Oh God, I actually did it," she gives Abbey's relaxed body a momentary glare at her lack of concern, but the panic swiftly returns, as she again glances to the dented pillow. "I slept on the President's pillow!"
Abbey raises her head and twists to look more fully at her seemingly demented friend, "Margaret, calm down before you hyperventilate!" She turns to lie back down and punches her pillow, hoping to get ten more minutes sleep. She states with a muffled voice, "Oh course that Jed's pillow. It's his side of the bed. Then again, this bed is the size of a small football field. A person could pick any side of the four sides to claim as theirs." She's not making much sense, before coffee or the alarm. "Remind me tonight to use a baseball bat to lull you to sleep, if you want to sleep in your own room?"
"That might not be a bad idea, Abbey. Your husband is going to make my life a living hell for weeks, when he finds out. You know how he loves to make me blush at the absolute worst time." Her panic is not subsiding.
"Deal with it, Margaret. We can beat him senseless, after he gets out of the White House, but for now, let me sleep or I'm gonna pound you with that pillow."
"Abbey! You're no help at all!" She slides from the bed, "I'm letting the President, the agents or which ever high official I'll have to answer to, know that it's all your fault. I heard that, Abbey, no snickering. I'm serious. I'm going drag you right into any punishment they deal out to me. You talked me into gossiping with you and the next thing I knew, I woke up with my face in his pillow. He will be absolutely delighted about this and just how do I explain this to Leo? I took liberties and slept in the President's bed." Her rattling panic ends abruptly. With too much water and too many shot nerves, she hasn't a choice. It's time for her to make her way to the bathroom in the spare room. Before she makes it to the doorway, she makes a final point, "One of these days, Abbey, you two are going to be the death of me." She can hear her friend trying to hide her chuckling into her pillow. "I'm glad I'm bringing you such joy this morning. One of these times, I'll either have a heart attack right on the spot or at the very least I'll get dragged out by the agents, when I forget myself and try to strangle someone."
Jed surprises Abbey with an early morning call. He's so pleased to catch her, before she goes to work, to indulge in a short phone call, "I know you lovely ladies are probably having breakfast or getting ready for work." He pauses trying to give a relaxed and unconcerned impression, "Since we have a short break, I thought I'd just kill some time and see how your night went and to let you know how I spent my night."
"So, Jethro, after we got off the phone last night, what did you eat that you weren't supposed to?"
He chuckles at her knowing him so well, "I will confess, Abbey. We did have a midnight snack of banana bread before bed and…" Jed drops his voice so that he's not over heard by anyone passing by, even though Leo is at his elbow, and quietly mentions, "Later, I was up in the wee hours helping Leo with an old demon."
Abbey is almost amazed and hesitates replying till she notes that Margaret is going to her room to use a tissue, luckily right at that moment, "Jed, are you tell me what I think you're telling me, because if you are, let me tell you that Margaret predicted it." Abby adds sadly, "Oh, Jed, she had a feeling last night that he would."
"Yeah, he did, Abbey, but we worked him though it. He's had worse, but not by much." Jed looks at his shoes and sweeps his eyes back up and around over his head, but not at Leo.
Leo has been trying not to listen in on the conversation, till it registered that it's partly about him. He's not pleased, but not surprised that Jed shared his nightmare. It is Abbey after all. The both of them have gone through this with him so many times in the past. So he looks at the floor and scuffs the toe of his shoe around, still with half and ear to his friend's side of the conversation.
Abbey replies to Jed's news, "Poor, Leo!" She immediately drops her voice, "I was so hoping she was wrong and that she was just overreacting. They've both seemed so upset this week. It must have triggered it again?"
She sadly locks her eyes with Margaret's, as she returns after hearing Leo's name spoken, but not hearing enough to be sure what Abbey meant by it.
Jed agrees, "Yeah, it must have, as it had his fear for Margaret's safety with the kidnappers mixed up in it. It really was hard on him." His eyes get wider, as he realizes, "She just heard you? Didn't she? Ah hell, Leo is now sending dagger looks at me for letting the cat out of the bag and Margaret possibly finding out." Jed sighs and tries to avoid looking at Leo.
Jed is now in trouble and tries to back peddle, "I just wanted to see how your night was. We'll soon be attending a luncheon that is next on our schedule. It will be announced, as soon as everyone's morning meetings are done."
Abbey knows that their friends are both going to be upset about Leo's night, so she decides to quickly impart a little levity to the conversation. Abbey taunts Jed by informing him, "Jed, I think I should let you know. I did have a bed partner last night."
Jed gladly grabs a the change of topic, "Who did you let crawl into my bed and sleep with my wife, when I need to leave town, like some poor traveling salesman?" Jed tries to sound serious, but the lilt in his voice tells Abbey differently.
Abbey is so glad that Jed falls right in with her plan, "Well, Sweetie, my sleeping mate from last night is tall and lean."
Jed gets her drift and his eyes lights up with pleased surprise. "No! No way!"
Abbey confirms his happy guess, "Yeah, we were talking and the gossiping when longer than expected and seemed to distract her, until the next thing she knew, she was waking up on your pillow this morning."
"Oh wow! Let me talk to her." Jed is now definitely ignoring Leo's near stomping around him in distress.
Leo has just figured out the same thing as the President. Not only is he taken by surprise, but he also knows that Margaret is more than likely surprised and upset with herself and is not going to take the President's reaction well.
Abbey has no choice but to hand Margaret the phone. She is slightly pissed knowing that Jed going to make Margaret even more hyper and upset.
Margaret is back peddling, for real this time, away from Abbey's outstretched hand. Moving backwards across the bedroom, she stops unexpectedly, as she bumps, and sits down quickly onto the bed. Margaret immediately pops back up, as she finds herself on the President's bed again. After the phone is firmly placed into her hand, Margaret holds the handset like it might bite her and she bravely says, "Hello, Mr. President."
Jed stiff arms Leo with his free hand to his chest, to hold Leo at arm's length, to keep him from grabbing for the phone, as he responds to Margaret's tenuous greeting, "Hello, Margaret. Did you sleep well last night?" He knows she must be freaking over this and tries to calm her, but still delights in asking, "It's a comfortable bed, isn't it Margaret?" At her seemingly inability to answer, he decides to shock her into answering and teases again, "So, you're sleeping with my wife now?"
"Sir, I ah... I ah… Sir, are you trying to kill me right on the spot?" Margaret sighs and places a shaky hand to her hot cheek.
He chuckles and reassures her, "Margaret, you only slept in the President's bed last night. It's fine with me, just as long as you vacate it before I get back home. I'm kinda partial to the bed and the lady I share it with. So just calm down and breathe!"
He turns to face Leo, who now happens to be standing quietly and glaring right in front of him, with arms crossed, "Hey, Leo, I wonder how bright she's blushing right now?"
Leo rolls his eyes, knowing he should have guessed what his friend was going for. The big blush.
The President returns to Margaret on the phone again, "I'm, sorry, Margaret. I just couldn't resist teasing you. It's fine really. I'm just glad you got some sleep and are feeling better today."
Leo knows he really needs a minute with Margaret, not only to hear her voice after last night, but now, also to keep her from fainting away from embarrassment with the President's teasing. Leo holds out his hand, fingers wiggling, in a quiet command to the leader of the free world, who is grinning at him like a teenager who just caused trouble between his best friend and his girl, which is exactly what he unexpectedly just did. Jed is still so pleased with the blush he knows Margaret is wearing right now. He grins, as he hands the phone over, allowing Leo to smooth things over with Margaret. This has been an interesting trip already. Funny how the agents know when to stand back and let the two men practically get physical with each other when they get going at it like this, as best friends sometimes do.
Leo takes the phone from his happy friend and gives him one last pointed look, before he turns his back on him, to talk a little more privately to his Margaret. He knows that the meetings are only on a short break and that they have only a few minutes to talk. All Leo wants is just a moment to hear her voice. After the vivid night terrors he had last night, he really needs to reassure himself in his mind that she's fine, so he attempts to calm her down, without worrying her. "Baby, please calm down. You know Jed just had to tease you, like family does. He really is fine with you sleeping with Abbey."
Margaret instantly forgets that she was going to ask him why Abbey was talking about him, in her shock, at what he just said. "Leo, that just sounds bad, or not quite right. Oh…you know what I mean!"
Leo growls at this not going as he'd hoped, "Margaret, you know damn good and well, I didn't say it that way. Baby, I'm just saying…. It's fine with everyone. You were over tired, and hopefully, you got the good night's rest that you needed, to help get you well. I was afraid you wouldn't sleep well, after the last two days, without me there." Feeling that he's in the clear and focused on her, he gets lax and he lets slips. "I'm glad one of us could. Hopefully there are no more nightmares."
Margaret switches the focus from her to him, "Leo, what do you means no more? Did I just understand you right that you had nightmares again last night? Were you worrying about me? About you maybe not being here this weekend?" Margaret is now upset that his night was bad.
"Margaret, it's fine. I'm fine." Leo has to go, and he wants to get off fast now. He's hoping that she'll calm down by the time they talk that night. "Baby, there isn't enough time to get into it now." He knows with Jed and Abbey listening in, she won't tear him now, but will probably stew over it all day. "Please, Baby. I just needed to hear your voice this morning, and you do sound better, not so congested."
Margaret is torn. She knows, and is thankful that he's drawing some comfort from talking to her, but she also knows that he worried so much yesterday that he ended up having a bad night. Just like he has done before. She sighs knowing that their 'talk' will have to wait. "I'm feeling better too, Sweetie." She decides to try to quickly give him the rundown on her new treatment. "I'm now taking Advil cold and sinus for a decongestant and Abbey also suggested this morning of switching me from Biaxin to Zithromax, since I'm taking so long to respond to the first antibiotic and I can complete the second one faster. It's only a four days total treatment. I double up the first day and then I take it for another three or four days. I agreed with her, since I'm staying here where she can watch over my treatment. Between these two antibiotics, they should kill anything. They're the big guns." Margaret explains in a rush, knowing that Leo really wants to know her treatment and that he needs to give the phone back to the President.
He grips the phone handle closer to his face, "Thanks for telling me, Baby. I really hope it works. I so want you to get well, especially so it doesn't return on you. It would be nice if you were well by this weekend, just on the off chance I do get home by then."
"Leo, I know you need to give the phone back. Sweetie, I love you, but remember we do need to talk tonight. Bye till then." Margaret is not about to forget. She means to set Leo straight, when she talks to him tonight. To get him to realize that his health is just as important to her, as hers is to him.
"Luv ya, Baby. Bye till later." Leo knows this is another time that using the 'Baby' endearment is not going to save him. Damn, it's going to be a long day. Hell, a long week.
Leo is grumpy all day, knowing that his call to Margaret tonight will not go well, if she has her way. He is again being a bear, growling and snapping at everyone in the support team, while keeping his temper in hand with a happy President. The agents attribute Leo's cranky disposition to his lack of sleep from the night before. The staff just thinks its due to the fact that Leo prefers to stay at the White House and hold the fort down. Actually, it's because he misses his Margaret so much and their special weekend is coming up, with an ocean between them.
Thursday night
Margaret does stew all day. The more she thinks about him doing as she feared, by having a nightmare, and him so far away in London, and her not being there to comfort him. She is even more pissed as the day goes on.
By the time they get back on the phone that night, she is ready to rip him a new one, for making his nightmares return.
Margaret snatches up the phone almost before the first ring finishes, and tonight she only answers with "Hello. Leo?"
"Hey, Baby! Yeah, it's me." Leo rumbles in a low tired voice, even though it's just before midnight in London, his mood has been wearing on him, as well as those around him. He knows a storm is coming across the line at any moment, if he knows his Margaret.
She barely lets him finish speaking, "Leo, you know how I get and you might as well let me have my say first."
"Yeah," he tries to hide from her that he is resigned to the rant that is coming.
"Leo, I am so pissed at you that I could cheerfully choke you. With you safely on the other side of the ocean, I will have to make do with giving you a verbal ass tearing." She draws a quick, deep breath, "How could you do this to yourself? I know you like to beat yourself up when you can't fix something, like you're some kind of Superman. You have been preaching to me to take care of myself, and you do this to yourself, by worrying about me. You didn't take care of you, Leo! I really feel that you were careless with your health, after all the work you have done to get yourself fit. I know you were probably sweating with the adrenaline. You could get a chill this time of year and really get sick. After your damaged ribs last summer, it could settle in your lungs, especially with the cold in England, Leo. It's early April, with the dampness and rain..." She grabs another deep breath, "Damn it, Leo, we know that stress and worry can result with your nightmares coming back to haunt you. It's so hard on you!" She almost lets a sob slip out, as she winds to an end.
The catch in her voice is nearly his undoing, so he tries for a redirect, "So, you're telling me that I'm not Superman? You sure?" Leo sounds sad, like his childhood image of himself has just been taken from him. He knows she will understand he's being a little cute with his question. He's slightly punchy, now that the rant he was dreading is over. He pauses a moment to get serious. "I know, Baby. You're right. I'm sorry. My worrying came back to bite me in the ass. We have both been trying to get me healthy again, and I have only been hurting myself. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. I promise, I'll do better, Baby."
Margaret knows he's sincere and she didn't want to hurt his feelings. She just wants him to seriously take care of himself while they're apart, "Oh, Sweetie, I forgive you. You'll always be Superman to me. I'm so proud of you and how you have overcome all that life has thrown at you. Will you forgive me for getting so upset and causing you to worry about me?" She honestly knows she has added to this situation.
"Yeah, of course, Baby. We are a matched pair, aren't we?" Leo admits with his deep chuckle.
"Yeah we are, Sweetie. You need to get to bed soon. So, I guess we better get off. I'm so glad we're OK with each other again." She drops her voice, "I love you so much."
"I love you too, My Love. Yeah, I guess I do need to try to get some sleep soon. I should try to make up for last night." He agrees and drops to his soft rumbling voice she loves. "So, I'm your Superman?"
She gives a soft chuckle, "You're even better, Leo. You're my hero. Night now, Superman. Fold up your red cape and call it a day. I love you. Nighty, night."
Later in his room, as Leo gets up to pace the room once again and with his resolve wavering, he considers for a fleeting moment not sleeping at all tonight. He could at least wait till the wee hours to fall asleep, when he would be too exhausted to dream. He really doesn't want a repeat of the nightmare from the night before, but he knows from experience that going without sleep is not the answer either, as the demons of the nightmares are unpredictable and without logic. He so hopes that he does sleep better, despite his fears. Leo is positive that Jed will, during the night, check in on him and that he better be asleep.
One of the times that Leo is out of bed, Jed finds him in the kitchen. Leo explains simply, as he looks at the plate in his hand, "I just got up to get a glass of cold milk and a few cookies to eat, before trying to get myself back to bed."
Jed knows why Leo is up, but covers with, "I heard the fridge open up and it was calling to me, to check for a snack." Stopping beside Leo at the counter, as he reaches for the cabinet handle to grab a glass, Jed checks out Leo's plate full of cookies. He asks with happiness, "Are those the soft homemade type cookies? Did you leave some for me?"
Leo grins at Jed's feeble excuse to raid the kitchen in the middle of the night. It sounds to him like Jed has used this excuse before, probably on Abbey, when he got caught snacking during the night. "Yeah, big ones with chocolate chips and I did leave some for you." Leo moves away, as if to keep his snack safe, he knows Jed will swipe food from him, if he's not careful, like family does when you're not watching.
Jed busies himself getting some milk and his own plate of cookies, as he flips a look over his shoulder at Leo sitting at the table, before he warms his snacks separately in the microwave.
Jed is soon sitting across from Leo, and taking a big bite of a cookie. He smirks with satisfaction at his trick for warming cookies to go with his warm milk, on a cool London night.
Leo glances from Jed's plate of warm cookies, to his own plate of cold cookies. He grins, as he quickly stands to step to the microwave and pops his plate of cookies in to warm, as well. With in a minute Leo is settling back down at the table, switching between bites of warm cookies and deep draws on his large glass of cold milk.
Jed is now content to dunk his cookies in his milk, knowing that he can, with the warm milk, and not cool the cookie down. He 'is' a smart man after all.
They happily snack away in comfortable fellowship, in the quiet of the night, like little boys raiding the kitchen in their pj's. Both are savoring the snack that they might not have gotten away with at home, with the ladies watching over their diets.
Back in his room, Leo enjoys the lingering contentment from their snack and climbs back into bed, knowing that Jed is there, if he needs him. This last calming thought is enough to allow him to settle down and to sleep the rest of the night, so Margaret won't need to tear into him again.
Bedtime again finds Abbey reading in bed. Tonight to calm her and Margaret's nervous tension from the day, she has some soft music playing in the room.
After the two phone calls from Leo today, where he confirmed that she was right last night about his nightmare, she is uneasy and is again unable to settle down for the night without her Leo there to hold her.
She frets knowing that Abbey wants her into bed early, for the rest she needs to get well. Margaret admits to herself that she's tired from yesterday's emotional day and restless evening. Today has been another stressful one with her worrying about Leo's demons returning. Still, she paces the floor, unknowingly mimicking Leo in his London room, a few hours before.
After Margaret's the third trip into the room to ask Abbey dumb questions about the guy's agenda that she already knew the answers to, it's obvious that Margaret is trying to deal with a serious case of nerves. Before Margaret can turn to go back in her room, after the last question that Abbey had answered with a pointed look of 'are you kidding'? Abbey rises to her knees on the mattress and reaches over to snag Margaret by the arm and pulls her into the bed.
Margaret protests, "No way, Abbey, not after what happened last night and the Presidents teasing me this morning. I'm not sleeping in the President's bed again!" Which she knows she will never live down.
Abbey orders her, in her doctor voice, "Lie down. Close your eyes. Go to sleep. You're never going to get well by pacing the floor all night. Plus, you're making me dizzy watching you bounce in and out of the room. Do I need to go get Jed's baseball bat from the closet?"
Margaret gives Abbey a judging look, as if trying to decide if Jed really does have a baseball bat stored in his White House closet and more important, if Abbey will really go get it. Yeah she might. "OK, Abbey. You just might do that, so I surrender! I guess I do need to sleep more and get well." Margaret gives the President's pillow a last cautious look and sighs, as she gives into the inevitable and lays her head softly on it. I might as will be hung for a sheep, as a lamb.
Abbey is pleased that Margaret is not protesting more and starts talking softly to her, just telling of a cute thing that Gus did on his last visit and soon she realizes that Margaret is finally falling asleep. Abbey decides to be sneaky and take advantage of this opportunity to try and catch Margaret unaware, as she's nearly asleep. She asks nonchalantly, as if to herself, "I wish I could help you guys with whatever it is making you so on edge this week, but I don't have a clue as to how."
Margaret mumbles, "Sunday's our anniversary." She shifts a little to get more comfortable and sadly sighs into the pillow, making Abbey lean in close to catch her words, "Now, we won't be together. We had such nice plans for the day." Margaret's voice fades, as her body at last gives into sleep. Once more she falls asleep in President's the bed with Abbey. She does again, something that two days ago she wouldn't have been able to fathom a situation that would find her in this bed.
Abbey looks intently at Margaret, after hearing her sad sigh and bemoaning about the lost plans for their anniversary, thinking, Oh Jed, what have you done? We knew something was wrong, but not this. I would kill Jed if he were away from me on our anniversary, especially if it was a first anniversary of a special event in our relationship. Why didn't Leo say something to Jed?
She continues with her thoughts, I'm amazed that it's been a year. They have never really talked about when and how they got together, after all these years. Margaret and Leo are pretty private about the personal side of their relationship. I know after talking to Leo back in August, when he was worried about the recovery of his hands that they waited for a while, before taking steps toward a more physical relationship.
Jed and I have always been open about our love life. Not much can be a secret around here, not with the agents, Charlie and even Leo popping in at all hours.
She settles down onto her pillow to think of what might be done to fix it. Jed might have some ideas, as he's such a hopeless romantic. Not really coming up with a solid idea on her own has her sadly worried for her friends. But then, Abbey smiles to herself with satisfaction knowing that tomorrow she can gloat, as she tells Jed what the problem really is. She always gets to the bottom of things. She has her ways. Now what to do about it!
To be continued in Part 4c/4D of 10
Yes you like to make you crazy with breaking the part up!
Sorry!
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blessings
chipmunk aka: Betty Lou Riley
Imp aka: Lynn Jessome
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Posted 08-24-04