Mid April 2020
Sam had been winning democratic primaries left, right and center across the country. He was currently traveling through Pennsylvania on his way to Altoona after two speeches in Pittsburgh. With each primary he won, there seemed to be more media attention thrust upon him. The convention was still months away, but he already had a reporter from every major network and five newspaper reporters on a media bus following his every move. A producer from PBS had met him in Pittsburgh to ask permission to film his travels for a documentary that would air after the elections. Josh was for it, Toby against it, Jenna was still weighing the pros and cons as was Carol. Sam didn't know what he thought, he planned on talking about it with Mara when he finally got home in three more days.
"Toby, where are we going after Altoona?" Sam asked as his friend walked down the aisle of the customized bus.
"Harrisburg, York then Philly. You've got to do something about that daughter of yours. I swear if she gives me one more celery stick, I'm going to kill her with my bare hands!"
"I heard that and I'm impervious!" Jenna shouted from the back of the bus.
"I'm serious Sam." Toby mumbled before walking away.
Sam waited a second and looked back to make sure Jenna and Toby couldn't see what he was about to do. He pulled out a well concealed French mint bar and gobbled it up. Mara had instructed Jenna to keep a watchful eye over what the boys were eating, but he was sure Jenna had gone overboard. He kept meaning to complain to Mara but the last week had been almost unbearable. He looked back at Jenna after licking his lips and noticed she had put her ear phones in. He decided now was the time to speak to his wife and he called her at the Embassy.
Mara had been suffering through a meeting with Lorna from the DNC and she was getting more angry by the second. She had stopped listening to her and was thinking about ways to kill her. The phone rang and Mara grabbed it before the first ring stopped.
"Hello?"
"Hey beautiful, am I interrupting anything?"
"No, I'm just sitting here wondering if I'm going to get Lorna's ass fired today or tomorrow." Mara replied loudly.
"Who is Lorna?"
"A know it all peon from the DNC, who wanted me to know that I'm a horrible wife who may cost you the election. She is stupid enough to suggest I quit my job because your campaign should be the focus."
"Just remember you don't look good in prison orange. I'll give Phil a call and give him shit."
"So how is it going?"
"Not bad but you've got to have a word with Jenna. Toby is ready to kill her and I may not stop him."
"What is Miss Thing doing now? Is she editing Toby over his shoulder again?"
"No, she's taken this food police thing to an insane level. She is constantly changing any food order we make or if we actually get to order, something totally different arrives that she had pre arranged. I really wanted French toast this morning and I got an egg white omelet served to me. I don't think being allowed to order what ever the hell we want for one meal a day would be that unreasonable."
"I'll talk to her. You have to remember that keeping you all healthy is important."
"I know. So what are the odds of you making caramel brownies for my return?"
"I'll consider it. Did I tell you Abbey is coming down Sunday night for a few days?"
"No, where is she going to stay?"
"I'll send Jenna over to Jacob's."
"You know I'm still not happy about her spending every first night home at his place."
"Sam, she's a big girl and I'm sure they aren't having wild sex every single second. "
"Yeah, that makes me feel better." Sam replied sarcastically.
Mara laughed, then remembered Lorna was still in her office. "Hold on a sec, Sam."
"Lorna, get the hell out of my office this instant and I suggest you start printing resumes out because you'll be looking for a new job."
The look Mara gave her propelled her out of the office in less than ten seconds. Mara stuck her head out the door to speak to Leslie.
"Leslie, if anyone from the DNC calls again, you can't make an appointment for them."
"Kay, I'll ask for details latter Boss."
"Sorry about that Sam." She stated as she opened up a can of Dr. Pepper.
"That sounds carbonated, whatcha drinking?"
"Dr. Pepper."
"I barely remember what pop tastes like, I miss it. I take it you are going to call Phil too."
"Yes, when I get off the phone with you. On to a better subject, do you miss me?"
"Of course, I miss you. I spend most nights dreaming about you."
"Aww, you know If I'm not addicted to sleeping pills by the time you win this thing, it will be a miracle."
"I tried one the other night and while it worked I felt like crap until four p.m. I don't think my system likes them."
"My system has no trouble with them. Matty is still having nightmares and I'm not sure I believe him when he says he doesn't remember what they are about."
"I'll call him later tonight and see if I can get anything out of him. So can you reign Jenna in?"
"Yeah, I'll give her a call after I speak to Phil. How can you handle not drinking pop?"
"Well she hasn't deprived me of coffee yet so I'm surviving. Pop is your caffeine source, that's why you can't live without it."
"True, I was looking at your web site earlier, Jenna really has turned it around. Your blog is actually one of the ten most popular ones. The ask the Senator part is amazing because you have actually answered so many questions on such a wide variety of topics. By the way, I love the answer to favourite singer and song."
"Well it's true, you singing Ave Maria brings me to tears every time. Jenna gave me lots of points for that one, she thought it was so sweet."
"So does she ask you every question you get after she filters them?"
"She usually starts by reading the ones she thinks she knows the answers to and I correct her if she's wrong, then we move on to the rest. That's what I spend my Thursday nights doing."
"Well, it's getting you attention and bringing in web contributions so you can't complain about it."
No, I don't actually mind it, Jenna gets to learn more about me. She's working on a FAQ section whatever that is."
Mara started laughing, "Sam, it's not some tax code or anything your over active mind was trying to figure out. Think of computer short form lingo, it means frequently asked ..."
"Questions, I feel stupid now."
"Why? You've done a lot more idiotic things in your life, like agreeing to start a fire with Josh in the Mural room or the time you..."
"Ha, you're so funny. On that note, I'm going to let you go yell at Phil so you can call the food police off our backs. I want a decent meal tonight. I love you and I'll call Matty tonight."
"Love you too and I'll talk to you later, gator."
Mara hung up the phone with a satisfied grin on her face. Phil apologized several times and promised Lorna was acting on her own, without any direction from anyone at the DNC. He promised she'd be reprimanded and fired. Jenna called the boys weak, sissy, vegetable fearing geeks which made Mara laugh but she finally convinced her to give them a break for one meal a day. An hour later, Matty's principal was on the phone telling her that his teacher had kicked him out of class for not reading a class book during reading time. She told the principal she was on her way and would make it in time for recess so she could talk to the teacher too. She wondered if he was writing or drawing instead, but couldn't believe her ears when Matty told her what he was doing. It took every once of will power she had to stop herself from demanding the teacher be fired on the spot.
"Mrs. McLean, does it really matter what my son reads as long as he reads? I wasn't aware that Shakespeare was no longer considered educational."
"I'm sorry, I was just told that he was reading inappropriate material, Miss Fallowfield never explained what Matthew was reading."
"I've spoken to Miss Fallowfield numerous of times about how bored Matthew was and requested enrichment material. My requests have fallen on deaf ears. I'm certainly not going to punish my son for taking matters into his own hands. In fact, I'm proud of you Matthew."
"Thank you Mommy. Mrs. McLean, I wasn't disturbing anyone and I was making notes like we are suppose to. I told Miss Fallowfield, two weeks ago, that I had read everyone of the class books more than once."
"Recess begins in five minutes, Miss Fallowfield should be with us shortly."
"Mrs. McLean, could Matthew run up to the library and choose a book? I'd like to speak to you in private."
"Sure, Matthew you may go to the Library, get a pass from Mrs. Wheels. Please come back right after recess is finished."
"Yes, Ma'am."
Mara smiled at her son and waited for the door to close behind him. Matthew grinned to himself because he knew Miss Fallowfield was about to get a taste of his Mom when she was upset.
"Miss Fallowfield, is obviously not trained to handle exceptional students. I would like Matthew to be switched to a teacher who is qualified or I will be withdrawing my son."
"I'll make arrangements and Matthew will be in a new class by Monday."
The last thing Mrs. McLean wanted was trouble from Mara. Truth be told, she found her to be very intimidating and given the amount of money the Seaborn family donated to the school, she wanted to keep them happy. She also totally disagreed with Miss Fallowfield kicking Matthew out of her class.
"Matthew will be back in on Monday then. I'm sure he'll learn more in the next three days, than he has in the last two weeks."
"I'm really sorry about this Ambassador Whitford, I hope we didn't inconvenience you too much."
"I had to cancel two meetings and my time is very valuable. I understand this is not your fault, but I will be lodging a complaint against Miss Fallowfield with the board."
"Could I get you a cup of coffee?"
"No, thank you."
The door opened and Miss Fallowfield didn't like the look on her principals face. She informed the teacher that they would discuss the situation after school and yielded the floor to Mara. She gave her a piece of her mind, let her know that a complaint was going to be lodged against her and then stated that Matthew would be leaving. She thanked the principal for properly handling the matter and went to collect Matthew and his knapsack.
"Hey Mom, what's up?" Matthew asked when he saw her enter the library.
"We are leaving, go get your knapsack and put all your personal belongings inside."
"I'm not coming back here?"
"You will be in a new class on Monday, until then you'll come in to work with me."
"Cool, I get to do school work like Jenna did."
"For three days. You will finish the school year out and over the summer we'll be talking about next year."
"Whatever, can we stop off to get some chocolate milk and some chips?"
"I've got chocolate milk in my fridge but you can get a bag of chips. We'll be at the office until about six tonight."
Mara was changing into her pajamas when the phone rang a little after nine.
"Matty, get that! It's probably your Dad."
Ten minutes later Matty told his Mom to pick up the phone.
"Yeah, what's up?"
"Mara, let me just clarify something, I am Matty's father, correct?"
"I think so." Mara teased.
Sam chose to ignore her, "When did we decide that I had no say in our son's education?"
"Good grief! If I was permanently yanking Matty out of school, I'd think about informing you. Today was all about the parent who is around, doing what is best, when it needs to be done. If you don't like it, too bloody bad."
"Ouch, you could have at least called to tell me."
"I planned on telling you that he was being placed in a new class, when you got your ass home."
"Oh."
"This is going to sound harsh, but for four or five days a week I'm a single parent which means I'm in charge."
Sam wasn't in the mood to argue with her so he just dropped the subject. "Well I'm going to bed, talk to you tomorrow."
"Night."
Matty was driven straight from his second day in grade seven home. Abbey had never made the trip down because she caught a bad cold. He had been told Mara went home feeling sick around two. He entered the house, checked the answering machine, drank half the carton of chocolate milk and headed upstairs. He dropped his knapsack on his bed and went to check on his mother. She was lying on top of the bed staring at the wall.
"How are you feeling Mommy?"
"Not great, I feel awful and my side is killing me again. I'm going to try sleep the rest of the night away. Sorry about dinner but..."
"I've got dinner covered, don't worry. If you are going to bed young lady you need to put your PJ's on."
"Yes, Dad." Mara chuckled.
"I'm coming back in ten minutes to tuck you in."
Matty retrieved twenty dollars from his secret hiding place and called Sal's to order pizza for dinner. He ran downstairs with the money and a plate for Brad who was on duty in the security booth. Brad was happy to have pizza for dinner over his sandwich. He promised Matty he'd signal with a flashlight when the delivery was made so as not to use the phone and risk waking Mara up.
Once the pizza arrived, Matty polished off two root beers and four slices of pizza before watching TV and going to bed. He was deep in a wonderful dream where he had been locked inside a Jelly Belly factory when he heard his Mom's voice. He flicked on his bedside light and was shocked by what he saw. Mara was pale as a ghost and was trembling.
"Mommy!"
"Call Ainsley and ask her if she could take me to the hospital. Something is very wrong."
Matty touched her hands and they were freezing. "Sit down on my bed Mommy."
As soon as she sat down, he covered her with his polar fleece throw and dialed Ainsley.
" Uncle Tom, sorry to call so late, it's Matty. I need to talk to Aunty Ainsley."
"Matty what's wrong?"
"Mommy is really sick, she can't stop shaking and her hands are frozen solid. Can you drive us to the hospital?"
"Give me five minutes and I'll let myself in. Go get her purse and make sure she has shoes on. Meet me downstairs."
"Kay."
Matty found her purse on a chair and grabbed her penny loafers. He slipped them on her feet and gave her a kiss.
"Everything is going to be fine Mommy. Ainsley is on her way. Can you walk downstairs?"
"Yes."
Mara was rushed into the ER as soon as they arrived and Matty fished out her cell phone to call his Dad while Ainsley gave the admittance nurse all of Mara's information so they could find her in the computer. Matty noticed it was 4:50 am and wondered why Sam didn't hear the phone and pick it up. He left a message and sat down in the waiting room. Ainsley kept him company until the doctor came out.
"Hi, I'm Dr. Lass. We have a few more tests to run but it looks like your Mother has a bad kidney infection. If the remaining tests come back as I think they will, I'll give her antibiotics that should clear it up in a few days. I'll let you know as soon as the test results come back."
"Can I see her?"
"Not now, she'll be going for a test in minutes."
"Thank you Dr. Lass, we'll be waiting." Ainsley replied.
Around 5:30 Matty tried Jenna's cell phone and after the sixth ring, it picked up.
"What?" She sighed into the phone.
"Jenna, it's me..."
"Matty, what's wrong?"
"Mommy has been taken to the hospital and Dad didn't pick up his cell phone earlier."
"Oh God what's wrong? Do they know yet?"
"The doctor thinks it's a really bad kidney infection but he has to do a few more tests to be sure."
"I'll go wake Dad up. Are you on your phone?"
"No Mom's cell."
"Kay, one of us will call you back. Don't worry squirt, she'll be fine."
"Just get Daddy to call." Matty stated and hung up.
Ainsley offered to get Matty a hot chocolate from the coffee machine and he accepted. About ten minutes later Mara's cell phone rang.
"Dad, why wasn't your phone on?" Matty asked instead of saying hello.
"Sorry, I thought it was. What happened?"
"Mommy wasn't feeling very good last night and she said her side was hurting again. She woke me up around 4:30 and asked me to call Aunty Ainsley. She looked awful Dad, she was really pale and she couldn't stop shaking. When I touched her hands they were freezing. Aunty Ainsley drove us to the hospital and the doctor is doing tests now. He thinks it might be a bad kidney infection."
"What hospital?"
"Geez Dad, what hospital do we go to every time you or Mom hurt yourself?"
"Cute brat, I'll be at GW as soon as I can."
"Kay, I'll let Mom know when they let me see her. Hurry up!"
"I will. See you in a few hours."
A little after seven, Dr. Lass returned to confirm that Mara had an acute kidney infection and they were treating her with antibiotics and gave her a fluid IV. He told them that they'd keep Mara for most of the day, to watch her and let her get some sleep because she was exhausted. They were sending her up to room 212. Ainsley tried to talk Matty into going for breakfast with her but he refused to move. She finally gave up and told him she'd go get them egg mcmuffins and meet him in her room. He wasn't really hungry but the look Ainsley gave him made him agree immediately. Matty thought only his mom had that look in her arsenal. He surprised himself by eating two mcmuffins and a hash brown.
"I thought you weren't hungry?" Ainsley teased.
"I guess I'm like you, I can't resist food in front of me." He teased back.
"Your Dad is right, you are a wise ass."
Matty laughed, "What do you expect considering who my parents are. Mom is the queen of the zing but Dad isn't too shabby either."
"Your mom is a natural, and so is Jenna. Sam has to work at it. Why don't we both try to take a little nap."
"I'll try but I doubt it."
An hour later, Ainsley was snoring lightly and Matty was counting the ceiling tiles for the twentieth time. He gave up a short time later and sat down in the chair beside Mara's bed and held her hand. He felt her squeeze his hand a few minutes before she opened her eyes. She looked around to see where she was then smiled at her son.
"So it's a kidney infection."
"An acute one, you scared me mommy."
"Sorry sweetie, I scared myself. I've never experienced anything like that before."
"Dad is on his way, he should be here in a couple of hours."
"Do you know how long I'll be here?"
"They will let you go tonight, if everything is OK."
"I hope Ainsley went home."
"No she's asleep in the chair in the corner, I covered her with your jacket."
"I want to thank her but I'm just so tired."
"Just go back to sleep Mommy. I love you."
"I love you too Matthew."
A few hours later Matty looked up when he heard the door open. He glared at his father and returned his gaze to his mom. Sam gave Ainsley his 'what the hell?' look and she replied with a shrug of the shoulders. He walked over to the other side of the bed and leaned down to kiss Mara.
"Don't wake her up!" Matty hissed.
"Whoa, buddy what the hell?" Sam whispered.
"I have issues with liars."
"Excuse me?"
"I discovered that you told me a bold face lie 3 months ago. I guess if you'll lie to me, the voters don't have a chance."
"I think we all need coffee, I'll be right back." Ainsley chimed in and fled as fast as she could.
"If I didn't know better, I'd swear I was fighting with your Mom. So, what in God's name crawled up your ass? Oh, don't give me that crap about swearing either."
"Hello, sick person trying to sleep here!" Mara muttered, wondering what the hell was going on.
"Sorry, mom, I told the senator to let you sleep."
"Well, I'm awake now and I want to know what the hell...the senator? Sam, why don't you go tell the desk that you are here now."
"Kay."
"So why are you pissed at your Dad?"
"He lied to me, to both of us."
"Sweetie, it may be the drugs but I don't have the foggiest idea what you're talking about."
"He promised that he'd always be there for us, that if nothing else, I could pick up the phone day or night and speak directly to him. He never picked up the phone, I had to leave a message. I finally got Jenna an hour later. What if this was something really serious? At the time I called, I had no idea what was wrong with you and I was scared. Dad was no where to be found."
"Oh, Sweetie. You Dad does a lot of stupid things, I could fill volumes with all the idiotic things he's done or said, but he has never lied to me in eighteen years. I don't for a moment think he lied to you. The battery could have died or the phone rolled over...accidents happen, especially when technology is involved."
"He should have been here."
"Matty, I can see you being annoyed but if I'm not mad at him, you have no reason to be. Why don't you go get yourself a drink and give me a few minutes with him?"
"Okay, you want some Ginger Ale?"
"Sure, get me a straw."
Matthew walked by his father without saying a word. Sam returned to the room and sat down beside the bed.
"So, why does your son hate me?"
Mara chuckled, "Ever notice how Matty becomes my son when you have trouble with him?"
"That's because you are trouble with a capital T and your son is a clone of you."
"I think, he spent a little too long counting the tiles in this room and he started to resent that you didn't pick up the phone the first time. He said that you promised he could always get you on the phone and that it was a lie because the phone was off. I think I talked him in to forgiving you, but Sam, you better make sure that phone is never off again ."
"I've never seen him that angry before."
"Well there is a first for everything. I guess Toby and Josh weren't too happy that you took off."
"Probably not, but they didn't say a word."
"So Jenna obviously doesn't care if I'm sick."
"She was going to come with me, then a friend of hers from Oxford called. The friend was going to be in the area and wanted to have dinner with her. I told her to stay."
"Oh, well I'm going back to sleep now. I suggest you talk to our son somewhere other than in here. Tell Ainsley I adore her even more and she should go home."
"Sweet dreams, I'm going to take Matty down to the cafeteria."
"Mom, here is your ginger ale. Should I open it?"
"Later Sweetie, I'm going to go back to sleep and you are going to have some lunch with your Dad."
"Yes Mommy." Matty replied knowing that he had no say in the matter.
Ainsley came back with two coffees and a hot chocolate for Matty. Sam and Matty took a cup as they headed down for a talk.
"How are you feeling?" Ainsley asked.
"Like I ran three consecutive marathons. Thank you for everything."
"I figured you keep a roof over my head, it was the least I could do. Matty was about to rip Sam a new one."
"Yeah, I think I diffused the situation just enough to prevent bodily harm. Go home Ainsley and get some sleep."
"Yes Ma'am, tell the boys dinner is at my place tonight."
"Thanks again."
"Anytime Mara, anytime."
"You want something to eat?" Sam asked his son.
"Where is Jenna?"
"Having dinner with an old friend from Oxford, I convinced her to go."
"I'm going to call Leslie and let her know Mom is doing better."
"We need to talk."
"I'll let you know when I'm ready to listen."
Sam clenched his fist, Matty was as infuriating as Mara in an argument. While he occasionally won a few arguments with his son, he was pretty sure this wasn't going to be one of them. He took a long breath and sighed.
"We are going to talk about this in half an hour. Don't make me come looking for you."
"Whatever." Matty muttered and walked away.
He called Leslie then Ginger to cancel the movie night he had planned with Samantha that night. Matty took his time and returned back to the table in the cafeteria exactly half an hour after he had left it.
"Would you like to apologize or explain yourself first?" Matty asked.
I am fighting with Mara, Sam thought. "I swear to God, you are channeling your mother right now!"
"Mom is brilliant, so I'll take that as a compliment."
"I'm sorry my phone was off. When Jenna came to tell me the news, I looked at my phone and the switch was between off and on. I think you owe me an apology too for the crack about lying. I've never lied to you Matthew Tobias Seaborn."
"Mommy and you have always told me to never apologize for saying what you truly feel."
"Fine, as long as you realize now, that I wasn't lying."
"Fine, I'm going back to Mom."
"So, did you talk to your Dad?" Mara asked when she woke up again.
"Yes."
"Where is he?"
"He went out to the hall to take a call from Uncle Josh."
"Are you still mad at him?"
"A little. Leslie hopes you are feeling better, she canceled your meeting tomorrow."
She looked at her watch, "I guess they will spring me soon. Ainsley is making dinner for you both."
"That's nice of her, but I'm staying with you. Dad can go."
"Matty, I'll be fine for an hour. I'll probably be asleep anyway."
"I'm staying and that is final young lady!"
"Yes, Dad." She replied with a grin.
When Sam returned to the room he told Mara that they were just waiting for Dr. Lass to sign her release papers. Once she was settled in her own bed, she forced Sam to go over to Ainsley's.
Matty was sitting on her fainting couch reading until she invited him to sit on the bed. Mara fell asleep in mid sentence and not long after Matty leaned back, he fell asleep too. Ainsley forced Sam to eat every course before he went back home. He found Mara and Matty fast asleep and knew he'd be spending the night in Matty's room.