October 2012
Sam looked at his watch and groaned. By the time he got home Mara would be fit to be tied. If she told him once, she told him twenty times, she wanted to leave Andrews at five on the dot.
She was going to LA with Jenna and Sam had to be home to look after Matthew. There was a knock on his door and Ginger entered.
"Ginger what ever it is I can't deal with it. I'm already late and Mara is going to kill me."
"I think you'll want to see this person." Ginger opened the door fully and Matthew strutted in.
"S'up dude?" Matthew asked.
"You are spending too much time with your Uncle Josh." Sam chuckled. "Hi buddy, what are you doing here?"
"Mommy didn't trust you to be home on time, so she dropped me off. I went to see Aunty Donna first. We've got a dinner invitation for tomorrow night."
"OK. So what do you want to do tonight?"
"Can we go to McDonald's then go get some ice cream?"
"Sure, just give me a few minutes to finish up here."
"Can I asked you a question Daddy?"
"Do you want to know what I do as a Senator?"
"Nah, Jenna told me once, it's a boring job "
"Hey!"
"Sorry but it's not like you have your own Embassy like Mommy or a TV show like Uncle Josh."
"What's your question squirt?"
"What were you doing to Mommy the other night?"
Sam dropped his pen on the desk. Images filtered across his mind and none of them were PG-rated. He thought for a few seconds how to best handle the question and decided to just find out what Matthew meant. Hopefully, it would be something completely innocent, but he had a feeling he wouldn't be that lucky.
"What did you see me doing?"
"It looked like you were going to twist Mommy's head off. You had one hand on her neck and the other on the top of her head."
Sam breathed a sigh of relief. "Your Mother had a sore neck so I was trying to massage the muscle. My hand was on top of her head just because that's where I put it."
"Oh. So can we go to McDonald's now?"
"Give me a minute, then we can go."
Sam picked up a few files he was going to work on over the weekend, closed his laptop and packed his briefcase. He checked to make sure his cell phone was on and tossed his jacket over his arm.
"Okay, buddy, we're out of here." Sam swung his office door open. "Ginger, we are off to create mayhem. Go home and give Sam a kiss from me."
"I've been ready to go for the last half-hour. You're lucky that Mara understands that you have no concept of time."
"With both of you nagging me constantly, I don't need it," Sam countered.
Ginger gave him a playful shove and rolled her eyes. "Matty, since you are more mature than your Daddy, keep an eye on him. Don't let him eat too much ice cream or he gets silly."
Matthew started giggling, "I'll make sure he behaves, Aunty Ginger."
In the car, Sam reassured him that his Mom and Jenna were not going to go to Disneyland and have lots of fun without him. Sam found a spot to park right near the door and waited for his son to jump out of the car.
"So, a cheeseburger Happy Meal with milk?" Sam assumed.
"I thought I'd try a Big Mac."
"Matty, it's bigger than your mouth!"
"It's bigger than your mouth, too, Daddy."
"Why don't you try a Quarter Pounder with Cheese."
"Jenna says they are too salty. I want a Big Mac!"
"Two Big Macs, a large fry, milk and an iced tea please."
Sam's heart melted when he saw the proud grin on his son's face. He was sure the tray would get more Big Mac than Matty and he wish he had a camera to save the moment for posterity. Matthew opened his milk and watched how his Dad attacked the huge hamburger. Sam turned it upside down which Matthew decided would not be a good idea. He simply squashed it down as much as he could and took a bite. He got more bun than anything else, but was proud of himself. Sam watched his son and was surprised that no more lettuce or sauce was dripping out than normal. When he was finished, Matthew licked his lips, just as his mother did and wiped his face.
"That was good Daddy. I like Big Macs."
"You did a pretty good job of eating it. Do you have room for ice cream?"
"I always have room for ice cream. Can we go to Sal's and get apple pie sundaes?"
"I guess so. You have your mother's appetite when it comes to dessert."
"Of course. It's the best part of the meal. Mommy hasn't made chocolate chip cookies in a while, do you think she will want to make some when she gets back?"
"If you ask her, I'm sure she'll make them soon."
"Jenna's cookies are really good but Mommy's always taste a bit better. How come you don't cook ?"
"I've made you mac and cheese, sandwiches and eggs before. I really don't need to cook with chefs the caliber of your Mom and Jenna in the house."
"I like helping in the kitchen. Jenna always lets me toss the salad. I'm really good at it."
"You do toss a fine salad, my boy," Sam replied with a grin.
"Oh yeah. Aunty Donna said we should bring dessert tomorrow. She said she wanted something chocolate."
"When doesn't Donna want something chocolate? The baby is going to come out of the womb and demand chocolate."
"Babies can't demand things, Daddy! You're being silly."
"Yep, that's me. Senator Silly."
After the sundaes Sam and Matthew returned home to play several games of Hungry Hungry Hippo. Sam was getting a headache from listening to the marbles bounce around in the plastic tray. He had also lost all five games so he was sick of playing.
"Matty, I think the hippos are tired. It's time to put them away."
"You aren't very good at the game, Daddy. I won every one."
"I'm better at games that require strategy. Why don't you go upstairs and read for a bit? I've got some work to do."
Sam had just laid a few files out on the coffee table when the phone rang. He looked at his watch and knew it had to be Mara.
"Hi baby."
"Hi, you were running late weren't you?"
"Yeah, Ginger already gave me a hard time."
"Yeah, well, I thought I had one son, not two. Do I need to teach you how to tell time?"
"Cute, Mara. So how was the flight?"
"Fine. I'm taking Jenna to the Sky Bar, so she's changing. I don't want to hear it, Sam."
"I wasn't going to say anything about taking a minor to a bar."
"Yeah, right. She's not going to drink. She's 18 and I want her to experience controlled nightlife. So what did you and Matty do tonight?"
"He forced me to play Hungry Hungry Hippo and beat me five games straight. We went to McDonald's and he ordered and ate a Big Mac..."
"A Big Mac! Sam, he's too little."
"He ate the whole thing, then had an apple pie sundae from Sal's. I sent him upstairs to read so I could get some work done."
"Sam, I'm sure the work is not that pressing. Go upstairs and read to Matty. You can work when he goes to bed."
"Yeah, I was only going to leave him up there for half and hour. So how long is your training session tomorrow?"
"I'm doing three of them at ten, noon and two. They'll be running to my satisfaction by Monday."
"I'm sure they will be or else they will have to face your wrath. No one wants that."
"True. Well, Jenna is ready so I'm off. Sweet dreams, my sweet. I'll call you around dinner time tomorrow."
"Donna invited us over for dinner."
"I'll call you there, then."
"Have fun, I love you."
"I love you too, bye."
Sam found Matty sitting on his bed eating M& M's and reading Curious George. Sam swooped down and took the last green one.
"Daddy, that's my last green one! You know green is my favourite."
"Green is my favourite too, buddy."
"I'm a child, thought. You can have two yellow ones instead."
"I'm sure there was more than one green one in the pack."
"Daddy, they are my M & M's and it's not nice to just take something without asking. Mommy would put you in a time out if she was home."
"Fine," he sighed, "Son, may I have this green M & M ?"
"No," Matthew plucked it out of Sam's hand and ate it. He then pointed to the rest of the candies on the bed. "You can have any of those."
Sam scooped up a handful and popped them into his mouth, "So. what story do you want me to read?"
"Can we play Go Fish instead?"
"Don't you ever get tired of that game?" Sam asked wearily.
"Nope, I love it. Deal, Dad.
After four games Sam put Matthew to bed and went back downstairs to finish his work. His eyes were closing while he worked so he headed up to bed after checking on Matthew.
July 28, 2015
"Matty, your mother is going to kill us both if you don't get out of the pool now and dry off!"
"Today's my birthday and I want to swim."
"You've been swimming all morning. Now, get out of the pool this instant."
"Why does Mommy insist on throwing me a big party? I just want to swim," Matthew whined as Sam gave him a towel.
"She's doing this for you, buddy. Don't you want to see Grandpa Jed and Grandma Abbey? You don't want to get a bunch of presents from everyone? Don't you want to eat all the delicious food your Mom and Jenna made?"
"Yeah."
"Then I suggest you get inside, put on some shorts and improve your attitude or you will find yourself in a time out for the rest of the day."
"Mom in a bad mood?"
"Yes, she is. Don't worry, it'll improve when the guests arrive. Until then, it'd be a good idea to stay on her good side."
"Thanks, Dad."
"Anytime, buddy. Now, scoot."
"Saaaaaam!"
"Coming, Mara!" Sam shouted back.
"You bellowed?"
"Yes. Can you go make sure the bar is ready to go?"
"Sure, you might want to change out of your PJ's."
"I will when Jenna gets her butt down here. It's her brother's 7th birthday, not a gala but apparently shorts and a T won't do."
Sam chuckled, "We raised a fashionista, a summa cum laude fashionista, but one nonetheless. Want me to go get her?"
"Naw, I'll give her a few more minutes then I'll summon her on my own."
"Let me go find ear plugs."
"Cute, Seaborn. Go do your task before I add you to my shit list."
"I'm going, I'm going," he muttered. The last place Sam wanted to be was on any of his wife's lists.
An hour later Mara, CJ and Abbey were sipping wine on the deck while Sam was playing with his three year old godson Noah. Donna eased her way into the chair next to CJ and sighed.
"You still haven't found Noah's off switch?" Mara asked with a grin.
"I've given up. The kid doesn't have one and Sam isn't helping. Noah was chomping at the bit to play with his Uncle Sam. He's not going to want to eat any of the healthy food but he'll want seconds on the cake."
"You talking about Sam or Noah?"CJ joked.
"Sam will eat anything that resembles food," Mara remarked.
"Where on earth is my husband?" Donna asked.
"Last time I saw him he was giving Jacob a hard time. You'd think after all these years, he'd give the kid a break," Abbey replied.
"That kid is 24. I swear I don't know where the time has gone. Jenna can't be 21 already."
"I'm afraid she is, Mar. You're going to have to stop saying that you're 29," Donna teased.
"Jacob's really going to miss her while she's at McGill."
"Not half as much as I'm going to miss her. She really wants a second degree in International Relations. It's a top notch program and she's getting credit for half of her Poli Sci courses. She'll be done in two years."
"Then it's off to Oxford to do her Master's,"CJ added.
"What?" Mara asked.
"That's what she plans on doing. We were talking about her future when we had dinner last week."
"I wonder when she was going to share this with me?"
"She said she had just finished doing the research on Master's programs and decided on Oxford. I'm sure she was going to tell you when an opening came up. It's not a random blurt out thing."
"I guess. Hey, Sam; what did you do with your shadow?"
"I left Noah with his Dad. I was getting hungry. I'm going to make myself a plate. You want one?"
"No, I'll go in a bit. Did you know that Jenna intends to do her Master's at Oxford?"
"No, but then, her future hasn't come up lately. McGill and Oxford, just like you, Mar."
"Yeah, go eat Samuel."
"Mommy?"
"Yes, my love."
"When can I open my presents?
"Sweetie, I know you are anxious but let's give everyone a chance to eat. Have you eaten anything?"
"I stole a stuffed mushroom off, Jenna."
"Your Dad just went inside; he'll help you fix a plate."
"'Kay."
Two minutes later, Noah came dashing to the table with Josh running after him.
"Noah, you were told five times not to run around near the pool! If I see you running again we are going home."
Noah seemed to ignore his mother and turned towards Mara, "Aunty Mara, I want cake."
"Noah, first you have to eat food. Matthew is going to open his presents, then we'll have cake. There is no cake if you don't eat. Let's go inside and I'll fix you a plate. You have to eat everything I give you, understand?"
"Yes."
A few minutes later Mara came out with a plate piled high with food.
"Mar, he's never going to eat all of that," Donna laughed.
"Noah is eating inside with Sam and Matty. This is for us. It's too bad Ginger's sick. She has been working on the reelection campaign and I wanted her to just chill this weekend."
"I hear Sam is polling incredibly well."
"Yeah, Maryland is very happy with him. He'll be re-elected. So I was thinking of bringing Matty up to the farmhouse next Monday."
"That'll be perfect, Mara. What about Sam and Jenna?"
"Sam's going to try to make it up by Thursday and I haven't got a clue what 'Miss Thing' is up to. I usually just assume that she'll be attached to Jacob."
"Oh, by the way, Jacob applied for a junior position at the foundation. He's overqualified for it. I wanted to talk to you about it."
"Ceeg, are there any openings in requests?"
"I don't know, but Margaret would. Want me to go find her?"
"Never mind. Margaret!" Donna yelled.
"Hi guys. Great party, Mar. The food is fantastic."
CJ pulled a chair up, "Sit, Margaret. Mara wants to know if there are any positions open in requests for Jacob."
"Not right away, but we're going to lose a few people to school in September."
"Offer him a request position starting after Labour Day. It will keep him busy while Jenna is at school."
"I'm going to go find him and give him the news," Margaret replied.
Matthew was thrilled with all his gifts and sorry to see everyone leave. Jacob helped him build his train set while Jenna was drawing with his new art set. Mara had taken a large slab of cake to eat down at the dock. Sam followed shortly after and managed to get one bite of cake off her.
"I missed Ginger."
"Did you actually miss her, Sam, or were you hoping for an extra update on how the campaign is going?"
"Mara! I missed Ginger's presence and I wanted to see my namesake. Matty pouted when he found out Sam wasn't going to be here."
"He's already lodged a complaint. He thought I could order Ryan to drive her up here. I told him that Ryan's job was to look after his sick wife and make sure Sam didn't get sick, too."
"How scared should we be that he is already trying to use our power to get what he wants?"
"Are you kidding! I'm proud of the little bugger. He didn't want to take no for an answer."
"Oy, what am I going to do with you two?"
"Be proud of your son and kiss me."
December 18 2019
"Senator Seaborn's Office."
"Marie? Where is Ginger, this is Jenna."
"No it's Susan, Ginger is on vacation already."
"Oh, can I talk to my Dad?"
"Sure, I'll connect you."
"Hey sweetie, shouldn't you be packing?" Sam asked.
"I should be but something came up."
"Jenna if you are trying to tell me you won't be home for Christmas..."
"No I'll be home but not tomorrow. I have to defend my thesis the 21st."
"I thought that was in late January?"
"It was but my advisor is leaving Oxford over the holidays and I'd have to find a new advisor. I'm not vetting the damn thing all over again. So I'm defending my Master's thesis in 3 days instead."
"So you have three days to know 30,000 words inside and out, backwards and forwards."
"Yeah so sleep is out. It will be over though and l won't have to do any work on it over the holidays. So can you let Mara know I'll be coming home the 22nd instead."
"Sure, but why don't you tell her yourself?"
"I don't want to hear the lecture on 'preparing to defend your thesis'. "
"She's read your drafts, she might be able to help you."
"I'm sure she could, but I'd like to do this one all by myself."
"I'll tell her then, but you'll owe me big time for having to listen to her when she starts ranting and raving. Good luck."
"Thanks and yeah I owe you. Love ya."
"Love you too squirt."
Sam called it a day not long after he hung up with Jenna. Mara took the news better than he expected, and yet he wasn't surprised when he heard her on the phone at 5 am. Both had agreed the 20th would be their last day of work. Matthew was looking forward to having dinner with CJ that night. Mara was pleasantly surprised to see Danny sitting down with CJ when the three of them arrived at the restaurant.
"Daniel! Merry Christmas, what brings you to DC?"
"I'm writing a scathing expose on Senator Seaborn."
"Cute, Danny. Have you met our son Matthew?"
"Pleased to meet you, Matthew, I've seen several pictures of you over the years."
"You gave CJ, the first Gail."
"Yes, I did. You've got a great memory."
"Thanks. Mom can I have a chocolate milk?"
"Sure, Danny you didn't answer me. What are you doing here?"
"I'm going to be the senior editor of the Post effective January 4th."
"Congratulation." Mara and Sam replied in unison.
"Thanks. I'll still do the odd story so feel free to let your true colours show Mara."
"Hey, I've gotten this diplomatic crap down to an art. I'm the longest serving Canadian Ambassador in history. Sorry, Danny, you aren't getting any stories about my temper."
"I could tell you stories about Mommy's temper." Matty giggled.
"Matty, it's still not too late for me to give Santa an update on your behaviour."
"She's in to blackmail, too, Danny." Matty replied with an impish grin.
"He's a troublemaker, Mara, just like you." Danny laughed.
"He is a growing concern. I try to influence him but Mara and Jenna tag team him."
"Well Spanky, I don't think Matty will be getting his butt whipped on TV by a girl."
"Ainsley still living next to you?" Danny asked.
"Yes and aren't you ever going to let that one die Ceeg."
"No, it's a classic Samuel."
"And the classics never go out of style." Mara stated with an evil grin.
After dinner, Sam and Mara took Matthew out to the mall to look for a present for Jenna. He bought her a deep pink angora sweater that Mara said she'd love. His plea for a soft pretzel fell on deaf ears and he grumbled the entire way home about how mean they both were.
Mara woke up Christmas morning from the persistent shaking of her shoulder. She tried to ignore her son for as long as possible, but he wouldn't give up. She finally opened one eye and growled at him.
"Mom it's ten. Dad said I could wake you up. I've been waiting 3 hours to open my gifts."
"Patience is a virtue Matthew Tobias Seaborn."
"On Christmas morning it's a virtue kids could care less about. Come on Mommy! Get up!"
"Go tell your Dad that he'll pay for letting you come wake me up."
"I'm not leaving till you get out of bed."
"Matthew if you don't get out now, I'm canceling Christmas."
Matthew quickly left the room and went down to the living room.
"Hey, where's your Mom?"
"She said she'd cancel Christmas if I didn't leave her alone. She also said you'd pay for sending me to wake her up."
Twenty minutes later, Mara descended the stairs and went straight to the kitchen. She had a large glass of orange juice and then sat on Sam's lap on the couch. Jenna took her time opening each gift, setting aside ribbons and decorations while Matthew tore in to each package with reckless abandon. Sam wondered if Matty was in a race to unwrap gifts while he fiddled with the package Jenna had just handed him. Inside he found a 3 picture antique frame with black and white pictures of Mara, Matthew and Jenna.
"Sweetie, I love this gift. The pictures are great and the frame is outstanding."
"I found it in a little shop in London, I picked up a pin for CJ, too."
"It's perfect for my desk. Your present from us is in the big box with snowflakes on it."
Jenna saved the crystal bead snowflake she knew Mara made and opened the box. Inside she found several DVD's with dated titles.
"I don't understand."
"We had all of your and your parents' pictures scanned and transferred to DVD so you can have a compact collection. I had my pictures of Sue from when we were growing up done for you too."
"Oh wow, this is the coolest gift ever. Thank you.. I love you both so much."
Sam gave Mara his traditional box of letters and e-mails he had sent her during the year. She had been working on scanning them all to disc in case they were ever lost. She was almost finished with the prior year's set. The project seemed daunting when she'd first started it, but it had only taken her five months to scan seventeen years' worth of letters, e-mails, mementos and doodles. Mara had given Sam a new watch since his old one had started losing time..
They spent the New Year up at Manchester and Mara cherished the quite time she had with Sam. She knew that Leo would be ringing their bell soon enough and times like this would only be a wonderful memory