Part 7

See disclaimers in Part 1.

It's been over two hours since Leo and Margaret said goodnight, and Leo is up once again prowling around his room. He had every intention of going to sleep. He has his pajama bottoms and a t-shirt on and has even laid down a few times, but he just can't seem to turn off his mind and get to sleep. Every time he closes his eyes, he replays seeing his Margaret, naked, in the sunken tub earlier today. His palms are sweaty and he's feeling very antsy, just like a hormone raged teenager lusting after the girl who is completely out of his league. He decides to get a drink and maybe sit on the couch for a while. Maybe a change of scenery will help him relax enough to sleep.

Leo saunters out into the living room, tries to quietly rummage through the refrigerator, and finally finds something that looks good. He slowly walks over to the bar, picks up a glass with a heavy base, drops a couple of ice cubs into it and pours his drink. He walks over to the couch and plops down. He rests his arm on the side of the couch and stares at the golden liquid in his glass. He swishes it a round a little and then takes a drink.

"Leo," Margaret gasps, as she makes her way towards him. She has been standing in her bedroom doorway watching him for the past several moments.

Leo's arm jerks when she calls his name, spilling some of the drink on the couch and on him, "Margaret, what the hell? God, you scared me," he says, as he jumps up, trying to avoid the liquid that is flying everywhere.

"What the hell do you think you doing?" She loudly scoffs, pointing at the glass in his hand.

"Having a drink, well at least I was until you made me spill half it all over myself," he scoffs, as he tries to brush the liquid off himself.

"I can see that," she loudly exclaims. "Oh my God Leo, why now? Was the experience tonight in the bathroom so horrible that it caused you to drink again," she accuses, as she walks over and grabs the glass from his hand.

"Margaret, it's only ginger ale," he snorts. "I'm not falling off the wagon," then he adds under his breath, 'yet, but I may after seeing you in those silky, revealing pajamas.'

"It... is?" She shyly asks, carefully looking at the drink in her hand.

"Yeah, take a drink," he offers, motioning to the glass in her shaky hand.

She takes a quick drink and discoveries that it's only ginger ale. Her head falls as she closes her eyes, and then she looks back at Leo, "Oh Leo, I'm so sorry it's... just well... I thought... I don't know how I could be so stupid." Her face is completely covered in a crimson hue.

"Margaret, really, it's okay," he tries to convince her as he stares at her long legs that seem to go on forever that are sticking out from her very short, silky, thin, midnight blue pajama shorts. He raises his eyes to try to look her in the face, and he notices that she wearing a matching top that is sleeveless with little buttons down the front. She has the top couple of buttons undone, and he can see just a hint of her cleavage. He clears his throat and forces his wandering eyes to stay above her shoulders. "Umm... you just startled me, and I might add... caused me to drench myself," he says, looking down at his pajama bottoms. Trying hard not to stare at her slender and desirable body. 'Thank God that soda was really cold, or I might be having an embarrassing situation arising right now. Man, she looks sexy in those pajamas,' he thinks to himself.

Margaret finally notices Leo's soaked pajama bottoms, and she rushes to the bar, puts down the glass, picks up a towel and hurries back over to Leo. She almost starts to dry him off, but thinks better of it and gives him the towel. "Leo, I'm really sorry. It's just that I... saw you staring at it, and you seemed a million miles away. It really did appear that you were... contemplating taking a drink of alcohol," she tries to explain.

"Margaret, don't worry about it. Your heart was in the right place, and I'm sure it could have seemed that way... because, well... to tell ya the truth..." Leo pauses, closes his eyes and then admits the truth to her. "I have been wanting... a drink lately," he admits, lowering his head in shame as he sits down on the couch.

This is the first time he's admitted this to Margaret since his early days after rehab, when it was almost a constant daily battle to fight the urge. Margaret sits down next to Leo, and puts a hand on his knee, "Leo, what's really going on? This is not all about tonight, is it?"

Leo stares at the slender hand resting ever so lightly on his knee. He's a little shocked that she's touching him like this, because they never touch, and this is the second time tonight that she's touched him in a comforting way. The two of them not touching has always been sort of an unwritten rule of theirs. Well, there have been some quick congratulatory hugs after major campaign victories and of course, when they won the White House both times, but this was different. It was more. He can feel it deep in his soul.

"Well..." he slowly begins. "I'm sure you heard that the President and I disagreed about how to handle the aftermath of the Gaza bombing," Leo looks into her eyes, wondering if she realizes that if it had been her instead of Donna that he too would have been by her side as quickly as he could have gotten there.

"Well, there've been rumors," she returns, as she thinks to herself that even if only half of the rumors she's heard about how the President is treating Leo are true, she's ready to clock him, President or not. But she has witnessed, without their knowledge, some of the things that have transpired between the two of them and she's been shocked at how The President has treated Leo.

"Yeah, I can imagine," he shakes his head. "The President didn't want to retaliate, and I did."

"Leo, you had an office full of people who were demanding the same thing as you, pressing you to do something. The country too, was crying out for the President to do something. You weren't alone in the way that you were thinking."

"Yeah, but... he wanted to try to find a peaceful settlement. He started distancing himself from me especially after... after I said something to him at Camden Yards that I still deeply, deeply regret. I didn't mean for it to come out the way that it did," Leo lowers his head and closes his eyes at the memory of that night in the tunnel. The words he said to his best friend, still echo in his head. 'Your priority should be the security of this country... I think you're gun-shy, Sir. The most important moment of your Presidency and you gonna blow it because you're human, you're a father who almost lost...' He squeezes his eyes tighter, trying to make the memory go away.

Margaret stares at him for a few seconds watching the pained expression on his face, "Leo?" She wants to ask him what he said to the President, but figures that he'll tell her if he wants to, in time.

"Ah... yeah," his mind slowly returns as he raises his eyes to Margaret. "Well as it turns out. The suspects that I wanted him to go after, turned out to be the wrong people, and as you know Camp David didn't bring about the peaceful solution like the President had hoped. So... we both were wrong, but it seems that... it seems that Jed doesn't need me or want my advice anymore and..."

Margaret is surprised that Leo has just referred to the President as Jed. She hasn't heard him call him that since before the first campaign, and even then he usually referred to him as Governor. She can't help but wonder what that signifies. "Have you tried to talk to...?"

"No," Leo says, shaking his head. "I shouldn't have said what I did. I pushed him, and he pushed back harder. He's made his decision, and I'm not going to try and change his mind."

Margaret has tears in her eyes. She can't stand to see Leo like this, and she's very upset with how the President has been treating Leo. It's all coming to a head, and she can't hold it in any longer.

"Leo, I'm well aware of some of the things that have been going on between you two, and... well ... let me tell you that... it's not all your fault. You've given the President everything that you could and more. It's cost you far too high a price and it's... it's... destroying you."

"Margaret please," his eyes and his voice plead for her to stop. He should have known that she would be aware of some of the things that have transpired between the President and himself, because she always seems to know everything that goes on inside the White House and with his life. He also realizes that some of what she's saying is true, but he doesn't want her getting so upset about it.

"It's true," she almost yells. "My God Leo, have you looked at yourself, in the mirror, lately? I've never seen you look so drawn and your clothes... they just hang on you..." Margaret stops. The tears are flowing freely down her face. She knows she's gone too far and gets up off the couch and starts to go to her bedroom.

Leo gets up, follows her and gently grabs a hold of her arm before she can enter her bedroom. "Margaret, please come back and sit down," he pleads as he guides her back towards the couch. "I want you to calm down. You getting upset about this... isn't helping me." Leo can't stand to see her so upset, and he can't remember the last time he saw her cry and it's really getting to him.

"I'm sorry... it's just that I'm tired of quietly sitting by and watching..." she says, as she sits back down, wiping tears from her eyes, "this job destroy you," she says, looking into his eyes.

"Margaret, it's going to be okay, no matter what happens, it'll be fine. Really," he softly tells her.

"How can you be sure?"

"Cause, it'll either blow over or... well... maybe it's just time," he softly explains.

"Time for what?" She asks in a scared voice.

"Maybe it's time for a change," he conveys slowly.

"What kind of change?"

"I don't know for sure, yet," he purses his lips and shakes his head.

"But you're thinking about something, aren't you?" She asks, as she puts a hand on his knee.

"Margaret," he sighs. "I'm thinking about a couple of things right now, and I'm still trying to sort out what I'm going to do. But, as soon as I figure it out, you're going be the first to know."

"Really?" She's surprised that she would come first.

"Yeah, now let's both try and get some sleep. It sounds like I need it, from what I've just heard."

"Leo, I'm sorry it's just..."

"I know... you worry," he smirks, as he stands and offers a hand to Margaret to help her up from the couch.

Margaret bobs her head as she accepts his presented hand.

"And... I do appreciate it, but you need to stop worrying so much. I'm fine. It'll all work out the way it's meant to be," he proposes.

"Oh, so now you're a philosopher?"

"Maybe, but that's for another night's discussion. Right now, you need to get to bed. It's late," he informs her, as he puts a hand to the small of her back and guides her to her bedroom.

"Yeah, it is," she agrees with a yawn. "Sorry," she says, covering her mouth with her hand.

"No problem," Leo drops his hand and stands there next to her. Not wanting to leave her side yet.

"Leo, are you sure you're okay?" She notices his hesitation about going off to his own bedroom.

"Margaret, I thought we covered this already," he groans.

"Well, not good enough to suit me, I guess," she hesitates, "...and there's something else..."

"What?" Leo asks, raising an eyebrow, folding his arms and leaning on her bedroom doorway.

"Well... umm... I think maybe..." Margaret pauses as she wrings her hands. "No, I know that you should start playing poker again on Thursday nights, especially after what you admitted to me here tonight." She stands there waiting for him to yell at her. She's never mentioned his poker games before, other than to remind him that they were on his schedule for the day.

"Yeah, I called someone from the game this morning when umm... I thought..." He remarks, as he unfolds his arms and slides his right hand into his pajama pants pocket. "I told'em that I'd be there next week for the game," he gives her a tight-lipped grin.

"Good," Margaret concurs with the bobbing of her head. "You shouldn't try to handle everything by yourself," she points out to him.

"Like you'd let me," he points out quickly.

"Leo, I just don't want anything to happen to you..." she utters in a soft and caring voice.

"Nothing's going to happen," he sighs. "Between you and Mallory, you'd think I wasn't able to take care of myself."

"Well, you're not. You need both of us and don't you forget it." Margaret wants to confess to him that she loves him and would do anything for him, but she decides against it.

"How can I with both of your reminding me of it all the time," he grins.

Margaret gives Leo a kindhearted smile, "It's my job and besides you'd be lost without the two of us."

"Yeah, I guess I would." Leo glances at the clock on the wall above the baby grand piano. "Look... it's after one; you need to get to bed."

"Yeah, but I'll still get more sleep than I normally do," she enlightens him by stating the obvious.

"Yeah, sorry about that. Maybe one of these days you'll have a job with normal hours." He just hopes that it will always be with him.

"Leo, I'm not complaining. I don't want an ordinary job. I love working for you," she reveals with a blush.

"Good," he flashes her a lopsided grin. "Cause... I... couldn't do it without you. Night, Margaret," he says, turning and walking towards his room. He'd almost told her how he feels about her, but something held him back. It just didn't feel like the right time. 'She needs to get to some sleep, maybe tomorrow,' he thinks to himself.

"Night," she replies watching him desperately trying to conceal his limp as he walks to his room. She closes her door and heads for her bed, hoping for better luck at getting to sleep this time. She lies down, thinks about the closeness they shared tonight, smiles and finally falls asleep.

Leo slowly walks back into his bedroom. He decides not to immediately get into bed, but instead he sits down in the chair, by the window. His thoughts immediately drift to Margaret and what she said to him tonight. She's so concerned about his well-being, and tonight it seemed even more so than her usual rants. It seemed more like that of a lover than a friend.

"Maybe she does feel the same way I do," he mutters out loud. But, he realizes that tonight was not the right time to talk about it. But, maybe he will tomorrow. He lays his head back, trying to figure out a way to tell her tomorrow exactly how he feels. He soon grows tired, gets up and crawls into bed. He closes his eyes and immediately falls asleep.

Margaret wakes to the sound of her alarming blaring Thursday morning and reaches over and hits the snooze button. She's so tired from staying up late last night and from the emotional drain of yesterday. She lies there staring at the clock, watching the minutes tick by. Right before the alarm goes off again, she turns it off and drags herself out of bed.

As she is walking to her bathroom, she notices a light coming from underneath her bedroom door. She grabs her robe, puts it on and slowly opens the door. She shakes her head when she sees Leo sitting on the couch, working on the crossword puzzle.

"Leo, what are you doing up so early?"

"Habit," he replies, as he pulls off his glasses and sets aside the puzzle he has been working for the past half an hour or so.

"Did you even try to sleep in or did you set your alarm?" She asks with annoyance showing in her voice. "Remember, you're suppose to be relaxing while you're here, too," she slightly scolds him.

"Margaret I never set an alarm. I just always wake up when I should," he nonchalantly informs her.

"That's weird," she wrinkles her nose at him.

"Thanks," he lightly frowns.

"Ah... sorry. It's just a little strange don't you think?" Margaret watches Leo shake his head.

"Been doin' it for years," he tells her with a half smirk.

"Well... most of the time I wake up before my alarm goes off, but I always set my alarm."

"Sure ya do," he says in a patronizing tone as he nods his head.

"I do..." she whines, then realizes that Leo is teasing her and she stops. "Leo."

"Hey, ya want me to order some breakfast?" He asks, standing up.

"Sorry, don't you remember, I told you last night I had plans to meet some friends for breakfast?" She notices his smile fade a little.

"Yeah... ya did, I just forgot." He remembers now about her teasing him about some of them thinking he was handsome.

"Do you want me to order you some breakfast?" She asks, walking back toward her bedroom.

"Margaret I'm perfectly capable of ordering my own breakfast," he informs her with a grating look.

"Well... that's true since you live in a hotel, I'm sure you're quite accustomed to room service," she mocks.

"Margaret," he grouses.

"What?" She asks, rolling her eyes. "It's true, and you wouldn't get picked on all the time about it, from me and Mal, if you'd just move out of that hotel and into an apartment or condo. It's not like you can't afford something nice," she readily points out to him.

"I will, one of these days," he heaves a heavy sigh.

"Right," she calls over her shoulder, heading for her bedroom once again. "And I bet it won't be until we're out of the White House."

"Which might be sooner for me than others," he mutters, as he watches her disappear behind her closed bedroom door. He gets up and walks over to the phone, picks it up and orders his breakfast.

"Leo, I'm leaving now. I'll be back sometime after five this afternoon," she says, walking out onto the balcony, where Leo is eating his breakfast.

"Okay," he says, looking up from the paper that he's reading.

"I'd meet you for lunch, but today they're serving us lunch in the exhibit hall," she informs him.

"Don't worry about it. I'm going lounge around here today," he says, looking over the top of his glasses at her.

"Boy now, that's something I'd like to see," she lightly laughs. "I don't think I've ever seen you try to relax."

"It's a sight to see," he halfway laughs.

"I bet. Well, I'll see you later."

"Okay, have a good day," he says, looking back down at his paper, pretending to be reading it.

"You too. Bye," she says, turning and walking away.

"Bye," he calls after her, as he peers over the paper and watches her walk out the door. 'Man, she sure looks good in that outfit,' he says to himself and then goes back to reading his paper.

After Leo has showered, shaved and gotten dressed, he spends the rest of the morning thinking a little bit about his speech, but mostly about how he's going to tell Margaret that he loves her.

At lunchtime, he ventures downstairs to one of the restaurants and has lunch. After lunch, he wanders though some of the shops and then he sits down in the Delta Island area and just watches people walk by. He soon gets bored and heads back towards his room.

After Leo gets to their room, he sits down on the couch and turns on the TV. He turns it to CNN and watches it for a few minutes, but it doesn't take long for him to get disgusted with the anchorman, and he turns it off. He lays his head back on the couch and soon falls asleep.

Leo wakes with a start. He looks at his watch and discovers its just three o'clock. He gets up, and stiffly walks to the refrigerator, and gets himself a tomato juice. He then walks over to the coffee table, picks up his speech notes from earlier and heads for the balcony.

Leo sits down, stares at his notes and writes a few lines but it just doesn't seem to be flowing. He puts his pen down and brings his hands towards his face to rub his eyes. The flash of his ring catches his eye, and he looks at the ring that has encircled his finger and his life for almost forty years. He slowly tugs it off and lays it on the table and stares at it for a few moments. Then he extends his hand and notices the pale band that the ring has left behind. Even when it's gone, he still can't escape its impression.

Leo continues to sit there and think about 'his' Margaret. If he doesn't talk with her soon, it's going to drive him crazy. He looks at his watch and sees that he still has an hour to kill before she gets back. He gets up, stretches and decides to take another walk around the hotel.

It isn't until he's downstairs, passing by the jewelry store that he suddenly realizes that he forget to put his ring back on. He stops suddenly, looks at the bare finger on his left hand. He recognizes that it's his strong love for Margaret that has allowed him to inadvertently leave his ring behind. He knows now for sure that he has to tell Margaret how he feels. She is his strength, his future and the love of his life.

Margaret spends the entire morning daydreaming about Leo. It's a good thing that Lynette isn't in her morning seminar. She doesn't want anything to interfere with her thoughts of Leo right now.

Margaret manages to make it through lunch without too much teasing from Lynette. Margaret doesn't tell her anything about what happened last night. They wander around the exhibit hall after lunch, picking up brochures and free items. They have the same seminar in the afternoon. Time drags by for Margaret. She's go glad when the speaker finally releases them.

"Margaret," Lynette says for the second time, as they are leaving for the day.

"Huh," Margaret finally replies.

"I said, do you want to go out with me and the girls tonight?"

"Ah... no. I should spend some time with Leo. He's been on his own all day today," she says.

"He's a big boy Margaret. I'm sure he's okay," Lynette laughs.

"You're not funny," she tells her friend.

"Am too," she giggles. "So what do you two have planned for tonight?"

"We'll probably just go out for dinner."

"To some nice quiet romantic little spot I bet," she teases.

"I wish," Margaret mutters, without thinking and then quickly blushes when she realizes that she just said that out loud.

"See, I told you," Lynette laughs.

"Lynette, please." Margaret pleads.

"Okay, I'll stop. I'll see you tomorrow," she tells her as they leave the convention area and head off in the direction of their own rooms.

Margaret gets back to the room a little after five and sees Leo sitting out on balcony. "Hey, Leo. I'll join you out there in a minute," she calls to him, as she rushes past the sliding glass door.

"Okay, do you want something to drink?" He asks, standing and walking towards the refrigerator. He's been out on the balcony thinking for the past thirty minutes or so, waiting for her to get back, and avoiding the lure of the ring that is still sitting on the table.

"Yes, please. Anything that's cold, and diet would be great," she throws back over her shoulder, as heads for her bedroom. She hurriedly drops the items she got today at the exhibit hall on the chair beside the bed and then quickly uses the bathroom. Then she briefly checks her hair and makeup in the mirror and straightens her clothes a little. She decides to remove her shoes and then hurriedly goes out to join Leo.

Leo hands her a glass of soda as she joins him on their private balcony. Her eyes are immediately drawn to the bare ring finger on Leo's left hand, which is wrapped around her glass. "Thank you," she finally manages to get out, as she sits down and takes a sip of her drink, trying hard not to stare at Leo's empty ring finger.

"You're welcome," he gently smiles, realizing that she's already noticed his missing ring. It doesn't surprise him at all that she notices it right away. "And how was your day?" He asks, watching her take a drink. It's so nice sharing time with someone he cares about. He can't believe how much he's missed having someone to sit and talk with outside of work. He hopes that in the future that they will get a lot more opportunities to do this.

"It was hectic," she quickly recovers. "I went to the exhibitor's hall this afternoon. You should have seen all those people in there trying to gather as much free stuff as they could," she complains, with a frown.

"And I bet you weren't one of them," he says sarcastically. Picturing his 'spend thirty Margaret' getting free pens and assorted other items of mostly junk

"Maybe," she shyly admits. "But at least I wasn't rude about it," she quickly points out, as she sets her glass down on the table and spots his abandoned wedding ring laying there. 'Finally, it's about damn time,' she happily thinks to herself as she softly smiles.

Leo lightly laughs, "No, but since you could probably see over all the others, you knew if they exhibitors had something worth fighting for or not," as he sees her notice the ring and the smile on her face that follows.

"Well... maybe," she laughs slightly. "Being tall, does have its advantages, sometimes." Her height is something that she had come to terms with a long time ago. If other people are bothered by it, she doesn't care anymore. She hopes Leo doesn't mind her being taller than him.

"I wouldn't know," Leo replies with a smile. He's used to being shorter than most women. It used to bother him when he was younger, but he soon learned that his height had nothing to do with his being a man.

They both sit there and stare off into the Delta Island area. Watching people walking about, taking boat rides, and just sitting there and enjoying the scenery below them.

After a few moments of silence, "Hey," he says, in a soft voice. "You were right, ya know."

"Of course I was," she softly smirks and then quickly asks, "About what?" Turning her undivided attention towards him. She notices he has a very determined look on his face.

"This place is something else," 'and so are you,' he adds in his head, still too afraid to say it out loud.

"Yeah, it is. I just love sitting out here, taking it all in." She looks over at Leo and smiles. She loves it even more now that she can share it with him.

Leo looks into Margaret's eyes and gazes intently into them. He decided earlier today, while he was wandering around the hotel and avoiding working on his speech that he couldn't wait any longer. He has to tell her how he feels. It's now or never. He just needs to get the words out of his mouth.

"Leo, you're... staring," she flushes under the intensity of his gaze.

"Yeah... I know, sorry," he lowers his eyes for a second and then looks back at her. "Margaret, I need to tell ya something."

"Leo, are you okay?" She sits up straighter and her voice shows concern as she gives Leo a worried look.

"What is it with you and Abbey?" He smirks, shaking his head. They can both go from zero to worry in point two seconds.

"You talked with Mrs. Bartlet?" She asks with a surprised expression showing on her face. The First Lady hasn't been by the office that much this past year, plus Margaret knows that Leo doesn't go to the Residence anymore unless he's specifically asked to.

"Yeah, she stopped by the office yesterday morning before I left, but I don't want to talk about that right now," he explains, staring deeply into her eyes.

"What do you want to talk about?" Returning his stare. Hoping and praying that she is on the same page as him.

"I umm... I wanna talk about us," a nervous Leo motions with a hand between the two of them. He's thought about what he wants to say to her and he's gone over it a million times in his head while he's been waiting for her to get back from today's events.

"Us?" Her voice cracks.

Leo takes a deep breathe, and starts, "Yeah, you ...and... me," he slowly nods his head. "Margaret, ya know... lately things have been well umm... sorta changing between us and well I've been... I mean this past year sometime I... well I realized that... look I..."

"Leo I love you," Margaret quickly blurts out, as she tenderly places a hand on top of his leg.

"Damnit... Margaret," he softly laughs, while shaking his head. "That's what I was going to say," covering her hand with his and squeezing it gently. He leans in closer, brings his other hand to her face and gently traces her jaw line. He looks attentively into her expressive blue eyes, not blinking at all.

Chills run up and down Margaret's spine at the soft touch of Leo's finger tips on her face, she leans in closer to him, silently giving him permission with her eyes to continue. She's wanted this and much more for years.

"Is it okay if I... kiss ya?" He whispers, leaning in even closer. He feels her breath against his face. He can smell the sweet scent of vanilla from her hair, and he breathes it in deeply, smiling.

Margaret bobs her head; afraid that if she speaks the spell will be broken and she will wake up, only to discover that she's been dreaming.

"Oh, Margaret. I love you, and I have for some time now," Leo says, just before he lightly brushes his lips against hers for a few seconds then he slowly pulls back, and stares lovingly into her eyes. He notices that they have misted over with emotion. He cups her face with both the palms of his hands, his thumbs brushing the tears from her eyes.

"You are so beautiful," he says, gently pulling her face towards his again and then pressing his lips to hers, this time applying more pressure.

"Oh Leo," Margaret whispers, as she willingly parts her lips, allowing Leo to fully explore her mouth. They both scoot to the edges of their chairs, trying to get as close to each other as they can. Leo wraps his arms around her and eventually pulls her onto his lap. They stay like this for a long time tenderly kissing, and caressing, and whispering long withheld words of love to one another.

They eventually pull apart, and Margaret notices a flash of pain wash across Leo's face. "Leo," she says, jumping up off his lap quickly. "Why didn't you tell me I was hurting you?" She scolds him, starting down at him.

"Margaret, it's... not you," Leo manages to stand, flexes his leg and tries to relieve the pain, "It's just... from that long damn plane trip; you know how I get on planes, especially if I can't move around that much. Commercial flights aren't like Air Force One, so my hip's still just a little stiff." He explains, as he limps around the balcony, trying to stop the pain in his hip.

"Leo, you were on the plane yesterday," she quickly points out. "I would think it would be better by now. Why don't I believe that's all that there is to it?" She challenges him, as she crosses her arms against her chest and gives him a squinty-eyed look.

"Margaret, stop it," he gently growls. "I'm fine," moving closer to her, but not touching her. His hip has finally stopped hurting as bad as it had been. With the loose-body of bone fragments and cartilage floating around in there, and sometimes it just gets caught it the socket and periodically causes him extreme discomfort.

"Leo," she retorts in a worried voice, dropping her arms and easing her stance a little. She knows he's not being completely honest with her right now. He's never been one to complain about his leg, but she's one of the few people who is even aware that he's in a lot more pain than he ever lets on.

"Look... I really don't want to talk about it right now. Can we talk about it later, please?" He pleads, reaching out and tenderly touching her on the arm. When she doesn't back away from him, he takes her in his arms.

"Promise me that we'll talk about it later?" She whispers, as she allows him to hold her in his arms.

"Yes, Margaret, I promise. We'll talk about it soon," he says in a soothing voice, as he kisses her cheek.

"Okay, then," she whispers against the side of his face, as she enjoys the feel of his body against hers.

"Like you'd let me get by without telling ya anyway," he murmurs into her neck as he starts to assault her with kisses.

"Leo," she squirms in his arms. His gravelly voice vibrating against her neck, along with the kisses he's applying, are driving her crazy.

"Hmm..." he responds, as his skillful and loving hands begin to wander her tall lanky body.

"Nothing," she gasps. She loves what his hands are doing to her body, and she doesn't want him to stop any time soon. She presses her hips into him and feels his growing desire for her.

"Oh Margaret," he moans into her mouth, when she rubs her body up against his lower region.

After a few more enjoyable minutes of kissing, caressing and exploring each other's bodies, Leo pulls from her arms a little, reaches down, gently takes Margaret by the hand and gazes into her amorous eyes, "Do ya wanna take this inside," he asks, in a low voice.

"Yeah, I do," Margaret bobs her head, squeezes his hand tighter. She looks down at their joined hands and smiles. She gives him a quick kiss and then leads him into her bedroom.

They stand next to her bed, kissing and caressing some more. They both start working on each other's buttons on their clothes. Leo stops, takes her by the hands, "Are you sure?" He asks, looking at the bed and then back at Margaret.

"You bet your ass," she giggles, as she pulls a hand free and promptly gooses him.

"Ouch," he yelps. "You're gonna pay for that," he laughs, as he gently grabs a hold of her and pulls her onto the bed with him.

"I can only hope," she manages to get out before Leo's mouth covers hers and they start down the path to their new relationship together.

Margaret wakes up and realizes that they both fell asleep after making love. Leo is still asleep next to her, with his arms wrapped snuggly around her. She can't help but smile at the peaceful and contented look on Leo's face. She leans in and brushes a kiss to his cheek. Leo's eyes open, and he pulls her closer to him. "Hey there," he says, grinning.

"Hey, yourself," she responds, sinking further into the bed and enjoying the moment. "I guess we fell asleep."

"Yeah, what time is it?" He groggily asks.

"It's a little after eight o'clock," she softly sighs, as she runs a hand down Leo's arm and then rests it on his hip.

"We better get up and go get some dinner," he suggests, placing his hand on hers. "Any place in particular ya wanna eat at?"

"We could just order room service and find something to do here," she offers, moving her hand to his backside.

"We could," Leo rises up on one arm, and runs a hand down Margaret's shoulder. "If that's what you wanna do."

"I'm kinda too tired to get up and get dressed," she informs him with a smile, plus she has other ideas about how to spend the rest of the evening.

"Okay, we'll eat in tonight, but tomorrow I'm taking you out for a nice dinner," he informs her, with a smile.

"Sounds good to me," she agrees.

"What are you going to do again all day tomorrow while I'm at my seminars?" She asks.

"I need to get more serious about working on my speech, and I'll probably just roam around the hotel again," he says, leaning in and stealing a quick kiss.

"The roaming around part sounds relaxing. You really deserve some down time. You work too hard," she reminds him and then quickly changes the subject before he can rebuff her comment. "Are you getting hungry enough for me to order room service now?" She returns his kiss.

"Yeah, are you?" He says.

"Yeah, lets find the menu," she says getting up off the bed, grabbing her robe and slipping it on.

Leo is still lying in bed watching her. "Margaret, you look magnificent."

"Leo, I'm only wearing a white terry cloth robe," she smirks.

"You make everything you wear look great," he informs her.

"Leo," she softly complains.

"It's true," he reassures her.

"Stop it. Come on lets order something to eat," she says, holding up the menu for room service.

Leo gets up out of her bed, "Okay, my robe must be in the extra bedroom," he remarks.

"Extra bedroom?"

"Yeah, cause this one is ours, now," he explains in his gravelly voice.

"Ours?" She smiles back sweetly.

Leo moves to her side, not embarrassed at all by the fact that he's nude, and pulls her into a hug, "Yeah, ours. Is that okay with you?" He feels so at home with her, like he's never felt with anyone else before her.

"More than okay with me," she agrees, loving the feel of his arms wrapped tightly around her.

"Great, I'll be back in a second," he says, pulling from her arms, giving her a firm kiss and walking toward what used to be his bedroom.

Margaret watches Leo leave the room. 'My God, he's got a great looking butt,' she thinks to herself with a smile, 'and its all mine'.

TBC in Part 8

Feedback is greatly appreciated! Please let me know what you think!!

Thanks to all of you who have already taken the time to provide such wonderful feedback! I have tried to personally respond to all of it, if I have missed you I am terribly sorry. I had originally planned to post the parts of FEW every three days, but I got so many people begging for it sooner, I switched it to every other day. See, your feedback does count!