A/N: Thanks for the feedback. This part picks up a couple of weeks after the first one. Happy reading.
Like a typical Blue Monday, everything was going wrong for Sam. He'd overslept, then discovered one of his car tires were flat and he had managed to find the only cabbie in D.C. who didn't know where the White House was. He sprinted down the halls and burst into the Oval Office, breathless, arriving just in time for the end of the staff meeting.
"Morning, Sam," President Bartlet said, sounding amused.
CJ grinned and said, almost too cheerfully, "Spanky! You've been holding out on us."
Sam glanced at his coworkers, trying to gauge from their facial expressions what she was talking about. For a change, they were giving nothing away. Sam shrugged and sat on the couch next to Josh. "Whatever it is, I didn't do it."
Josh choked on his mouthful of coffee.
"Interesting choice of words, mi amor." CJ gracefully crossed her legs and passed Sam the most recent copy of Scoop, a tabloid magazine. It was opened to a photograph of Sam and Ainsley at a restaurant, snapped as Sam had reached out to tuck Ainsley's hair behind her ear. The caption read 'Taking bipartisan relations to a whole new level'.
Sam stared in horror at the article.
"I have to say," Bartlet said, "it's a good photo."
"I don't see what the big deal is." Josh took the magazine and scanned the article. "Compared to some of the other women Sam's dated, I mean. And besides, Ainsley's hot. He could do worse."
Sam gave Josh a strange look. "Thanks."
"You knew!" CJ squealed. She grabbed the magazine, rolled it up and hit Josh's head. "You knew they were dating!"
Bartlet, unsure just how exactly his office had devolved into a first grade classroom, coughed to clear his throat. These were the people he trusted to help him run the country, he thought. "As interesting as Sam's love life is, could we possibly focus?"
Sam smiled gratefully.
Bartlet made a show of looking at his file, then looked at Sam and smiled brightly. "So, can I put you in charge of the bipartisan breakfast?"
Even Toby laughed.
Ainsley loved her new office. There were windows. Windows meant sunshine and fresh air. The one thing she didn't miss about the White House was the steam pipe trunk distribution venue.
There was a knock at the door and Nate entered. "Hey."
She grinned. "Hey."
Nate flopped into a chair and sighed. "Susan Cavanaugh wants me to got to some function with her on Saturday."
"Susan Cavanaugh. The name sounds familiar." Ainsley offered Nate a cookie, taking one for herself when he declined.
"I handled her divorce."
"Ah." Ainsley took another cookie. "So this thing on Saturday, is it a date?"
"I hope not. It's still too soon. Holly's only been gone a year."
The cousins were silent for a moment. Holly's death had devastated Nate; Ainsley wasn't sure he'd ever get over her. Trying to lighten the atmosphere, she said, "So, you need a babysitter, huh?"
"Yeah. I'll see if Rosa can stay later."
"No need. Your poor housekeeper's overworked as it is." Ainsley reached for another cookie; disappointed to discover they were finished. "Sam and I will do it."
Nate smiled. "You're testing him."
"What?"
"You're testing him. You want to see what he's like around kids."
Ainsley shook her head in denial. Nate just laughed.
"Ains, how serious are you about Sam?"
"Pretty serious, I think. Why?"
Nate leaned forward, lowering his voice as if about to impart a state secret. "'Cause you guys have been outed."
"What? What do you mean?"
Nate stood, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Jamie's got a copy of Scoop on her desk. I flipped through it while I was waiting for the coffee machine. The two of you photograph well."
"What?" Ainsley jumped up and marched through to the reception area. Sure enough, Scoop was lying on the desk. Ainsley picked it up, flicking the pages until she found the article. "Crap. I have to call my parents."
Nate chuckled. "Good luck."
It didn't take long for Jamie Byers to discover her employers were crazy. Jamie was working as a part-time receptionist/personal assistant/general dogsbody to help pay her way through college. She'd thought, since Ainsley had once worked at the White House, that this would be a learning experience. And Nate was cute, kind of, in an older guy way.
Jamie's friends at law school were jealous. Her study partner, Shelley, told her in an awed voice that "Ainsley Hayes is, like, my role model." Her boyfriend, Clem, hinted none-too-subtly that he wouldn't mind a tour of the White House.
Jamie thought about telling them Ainsley and Nate were insane, but didn't. She liked her job, though she hoped all lawyers didn't end up this eccentric. They'd stolen her copy of Scoop, for crying out loud. And she hadn't even had a chance to read it yet.
Of course, other things pointed to their insanity too. Ainsley didn't stop eating. Ever. And she managed to do it without gaining a single ounce. If she wasn't so nice, Jamie thought she might just hate her. Nate rearranged his office every week. He was addicted to coffee and Ainsley was addicted to Fresca. Some of the clients were a little odd as well; take that Susan Cavanaugh woman, Jamie thought. She called for Nate every day; now Nate had instructed Jamie to tell Susan that he was out, even when he wasn't.
Jamie got up to make herself a cup of coffee. When she turned to go back to her desk, there was a man there. She put the coffee down and told herself to act professional. This was a potential client and it wasn't Jamie's job to scare the clients away – Ainsley and Nate were more than capable of doing that themselves.
When the man turned to face her, all thoughts of professionalism went out the window. "Hi," he said, smiling. "I'm looking for Ainsley."
"Uh, sure. One second." Jamie knocked on Ainsley's door. "Sam Seaborn's here to see you."
A smile lit Ainsley's face. "Sam?"
"Sam Seaborn, yeah. The Sam Seaborn. Shelley's never going to believe me." Jamie shut up; she saw no need to make an idiot of herself in front of Ainsley. "Should I send him through?"
"Yes."
Jamie returned to Sam, proud that she managed to do it without tripping and embarrassing herself. "You can go on in."
"Thanks." Sam smiled again, and Jamie's heart fluttered. Yeah, she thought, he was definitely better looking in person.
Without even realizing it, she trailed after him. Her eyes widened as she witnessed Ainsley fling her arms around Sam's neck and kiss him. When Sam returned the kiss, Jamie morosely went back to her desk.
Yeah, she thought. It was official. She hated Ainsley.
The bar was filled with professionals stopping for a drink on the way home from work. The White House senior staff occupied a booth in the corner furthest from the door. Ainsley spotted them as soon as she entered; CJ was standing, gesticulating wildly as she explained something to the rest.
Sam grinned when Ainsley arrived at the table. He moved up, making space for her next to him. When she sat, he put his arm around her and kissed her. "Hi."
"Hi."
CJ, more than a little tipsy, wagged her finger at Sam. "Even though Ainsley's Republican, she's part of the sisterhood. If you hurt her, I'll break your kneecaps."
Sam's eyes widened. Ainsley picked up Sam's drink and raised it. "Thanks, CJ. To the sisterhood."
"To the sisterhood." CJ grabbed the nearest drink, which happened to be Toby's, and took a sip.
Countless drinks later, Ainsley and Sam stumbled out of the bar to hail a cab. Sam, concentrating too much on the feel of Ainsley's hand in his, couldn't remember his address. Ainsley giggled and directed the cabbie to her apartment.
As she fumbled to unlock the door, Sam remarked that coffee might be a good idea.
"'Kay," Ainsley said. "Need to get out of these shoes first."
"Are you going to put your bathrobe on?"
She gave him a strange look. "Why?"
"'Cause isn't that what you do when you're drunk?"
"I'm not drunk." Ainsley headed for the bedroom, Sam following a few feet behind her.
Sam flopped face down on the bed. "Mm-kay. I'm drunk."
"Yeah."
"Not as drunk as Josh, though. He's got a, uh, a sensitive system. Donna's going to kill him."
Ainsley sat on the edge of the bed, her shoes forgotten. "Do you think there's something going on with them? 'Cause the way they act . . . Hey, Sam, you awake?"
She shook his shoulder but got no response. Deciding that he looked cute when he was asleep, she curled up next to him and closed her eyes. Snuggling against him, Ainsley's last conscious thought was that he made quite a comfortable pillow.
Saturday night found Sam and Ainsley watching The Lion King with two energetic children. As the older child, Simone insisted that they watch her choice of movie. Although Nicole whispered to Sam that they'd seen it "like a gazillion times", she didn't complain.
The girls had their father's interesting blue-green eyes. Their blonde curls, Ainsley said, were inherited from their mother. Sam had the fleeting thought that his children had a fair chance of ending up with blonde hair and blue eyes. Then he realized the implications of that thought, hid his grin, and forced himself to focus on the movie.
Afterwards, Ainsley went into the kitchen to make hot chocolate. When she returned to the living room, Nicole was perched on Sam's lap, regaling him with a story. Simone jumped off the couch to help Ainsley, carefully carrying Sam's mug and managing not to spill.
You're going to be great with our kids, Ainsley thought.
Sam looked at her and smiled. "You want to have kids with me?"
Ainsley's eyes widened. "I said that out loud, didn't I?"
"Yeah, you did."
"Oh."
Sam set Nicole next to him and stood. "So?"
"Okay."
"Okay?"
Ainsley smiled. Simone, not quite understand the subtext, put the mug on the coffee table and put her hands on her hips.
"The hot chocolate's gonna get cold."
Sam took Ainsley's hand and pulled her towards him. Completely forgetting about the girls, he kissed her. A chorus of, "Eeuw, gross!" brought them back to reality and they broke apart, laughing.
TBC
