Chapter 10: Moving On

Sam made his way back to his room where he found Ainsley laying in bed. "Are you asleep?" whispered Sam, hoping she wasn't.

"No."

Sam got undressed, climbed into bed next to her and started to stoke her hair. "Do you feel like talking?"

"About what?"

"I don't know. I just want to talk to you."

"Okay."

Sam didn't know what to talk about. Should we talk about the funeral? She doesn't seem to be in the mood to talk about anything. I don't even know what I did to get her in this mood. We could talk about work? Should we talk about the campaign?

"The President is going to be campaigning in Florida in a few weeks."

"Oh?"

"Would you like to go campaign for him? I know he's Democrat and probably not your choice-"

"I'll go," interrupted Ainsley still looking away from Sam.

"Good. It'll be fun." Ainsley was still not looking at Sam and he was starting to get annoyed. Well that talk lasted long. I really did do something wrong. I can tell. We aren't even married yet and she has the pissed off wife look on her face. Maybe we could go for a walk. But we're undressed and in bed. "Ainsley?"

"Yes, Sam?"

"Look at me please." Ainsley turned over and looked at Sam right into his clear eyes. "I understand you had a hard week, but did I do something to upset you?"

"Why do you think that?" asked Ainsley, not answering Sam's question.

Sam was trying hard to not sound like a lawyer. "Because I haven't been there enough for you this week or I may have been there for you too much. I could have said something wrong, but I don't know what I could of said to make you unhappy. When I tried to talk to you about something, we didn't have much of a conversation. And finally, I feel like I did something wrong, but I just don't know what I did."

"Gosh, Sam," said Ainsley looking at him directly into his eyes with compassion. She didn't know he was worried troubled by what she was feeling. "I'm just…sad."

Sam let out the breath he was holding in.

"Sam, if you ever make me mad, I'll let you know."

"Okay," said Sam as he gave Ainsley a kissed. "You promise you will tell me?"

Ainsley gave a faint smile. "Yeah."

"Do you want to talk about your dad?"

"Okay." Ainsley began to talk to Sam about everything that was on her mind. From the games she use to play with her father to the memories she won't have of him walking her down the aisle at their wedding. She even told him about the time her father came up to Harvard to surprise her, but he was really surprised when he found a man in her dorm half dressed. Sam still didn't like to hear that story, even though he heard it three times before. Sam didn't really say anything while he let Ainsley talk and cry. He held her and rocked her back and forth until Ainsley became quite and took a deep breath. "I think I'm done."

"Are you sure?" asked Sam.

"Yeah," sighed Ainsley. "I really needed that."

"Do you want some water?"

"I think I'll go to the bathroom anyway," said Ainsley as she crawled out of bed and tip toed out the door.

Sam and Ainsley both slept very well. Sam was glad that Ainsley wasn't mad at him and Ainsley finally had a good talk and cry, which she needed because the little talk and cry she had with her family when she first arrived in North Carolina wasn't enough for her. The remainder their stay was pleasant and relaxing since the funeral was over and everyone was starting to move on from the death. Ainsley and Sam even went over their wedding plans with her family.

Soon enough, Sunday came and the couple said 'good-bye' to their family or soon-to-be family. The car ride to Washington was very similar to the car ride to North Carolina. Sam and Ainsley both drove this time while the other person slept, so the car ride was pretty quiet. When both of them were awake they would usually talk about work or their dream house they hope to buy once the wedding was over. And of course, they talked about their nuptials.

"I'm thinking about asking my brothers to walk me down the aisle," said Ainsley while she was taking her shift of driving.

"That sounds good," said Sam nodding his head.

"I'll call them in a few days."

They arrived at Washington in the late afternoon. Ainsley stayed home to unpack after dropping Sam off at the White House to catch up on work.

"Toby!" yelled Sam as he walked into the bullpen getting Toby's attention at Ginger's desk.

"Thank God you're back," sighed Toby.

"Have you been busy?"

"Like you wouldn't believe. How's Ainsley?"

"She's doing well. She's at home unpacking."

"Good." Toby took out his notebook he keeps in his coat pocket. He ripped out a page and then gave it to Sam. "Here's a list of things that you need to get done before Florida plus whatever we had going on this week. And…" Toby fumbled with the folder's on Ginger's desk. "here is the campaign schedule and we have a staff meeting at six o'clock- so in about two hours."

Sam nodded his head. "Thanks," said Sam as headed to his office.

Six o'clock came quickly and everyone was glad to have Sam back. They understood why he was away, but having him not in the office put extra work on everyone's already busy agendas.

"Welcome back, Sam," said the President before staff meeting had begun. "How are you and Ainsley doing?"

"We are doing much better, thank you. Ainsley would like to campaign for you and she will be coming with us to Florida next week."

"That's great. It will be fun to have her with us." The President turned to the rest of the staff. "Okay, everyone. Let's get going with this meeting."

Sam's week had been hectic since he took a week off, which left him and Ainsley barley any time to talk. It was Thursday before the Florida trip and he had to get a speech done and two meetings with some senators about things he wasn't prepped for. But he agreed to have lunch with Ainsley so he was on the way to the mess trying to forget about everything that needed to get done. "Hey, Ains," said Sam as he spotted Ainsley looking at the pre-made sandwiches.

"Hi, Sam. I was getting hungry so I thought I would start looking."

"I'll eat whatever you give me."

Sam and Ainsley found an empty table and sat down. They talked mostly about work until the end of their meal when Ainsley brought up the wedding.

"So, I need someone to walk me down the aisle," said Ainsley wiping her hands off with the napkin.

Sam looked up from his tray to Ainsley. "I thought you were going to get one of your brothers."

"Yeah, well, it won't happen. They don't want to take Dad's place or have anyone else take Dad's place."

"So they want you to walk by yourself?" asked Sam trying to understand the whole situation.

"Yes, except I don't want to walk by myself."

"How about your mom?"

"Doesn't want to do it."

"So what are our options?" asked Sam sounding like a lawyer.

"Option number one; walk by myself- which I don't want. Option two; pick someone to walk me and make my brother's mad- which I'm fine with. And option three; head to Vegas and elope- which sounds very nice right now."

"Okay," said Sam thinking about what Ainsley just said. "I think option three will get us into lots of trouble with CJ, but option two sounds good."

"Yeah, I'll pick someone."

"Have anyone in mind?" asked Sam.

"I'm not close with anyone else in my family."

Sam and Ainsley both got up from their seats. "How about you take sometime and think about it. I have a few meetings to go to and a speech to write so I better get back to work."

"Yeah, I'll think about it," said Ainsley.

"I love you," said Sam after he gave her a quick peck.