"No!"
Sam walked into the kitchen and raised an eyebrow, seeing Ainsley yelling into the phone.
"I don't need your help!" she was saying. "Oh like you really care. I don't want you coming up here. I don't care! Why? Why so you can criticize me and Sam?"
It had to be Emily. Ainsley did not yell at anyone like that but Emily. To Sam's surprise, the months had flown by quickly and it was May 15, only a few weeks away from Ainsley's due date. Sam sighed, wondering where the time had gone. He felt as though they barely did anything to prepare for the baby yet in reality, lots had been done. The only thing that hadn't been done was deciding on a name, which Sam was beginning to believe would be the death of him.
"Good bye Mother." Ainsley hung the phone up and sighed, burying her face in her hands. "She's coming here."
"What? No!"
"That's what I said but she insists."
"Why?"
"To help take care of the baby."
Sam groaned and flopped down into a chair next to his wife. She looked at him, sweeping her hair up into a ponytail. Ainsley let out a sigh and put a hand on her stomach.
"Kicking again?"
"That's all she does!" Ainsley exclaimed, reaching for Sam's hand. He moved his chair over and Ainsley waited a couple of seconds and then placed Sam's hand on her stomach. They sat there for a couple of minutes like that and Sam sighed, making Ainsley smirk. "Now she stops."
"She must not like me very much."
"Don't say that." Ainsley smacked him as best she could and leaned back in her chair. "I'm so bored."
"You've been on leave for two days!" Sam exclaimed.
"I'm used to the hustle and bustle of the West Wing."
"I wish I could take a few days off."
"When are you going in?"
"I'm leaving in a few minutes. I don't like you being home alone like this." Sam said.
"Trust me honey, neither of us are going anywhere." Ainsley said, resting her hand on her stomach again. "There she goes again. We still haven't decided on a name."
Sam sighed. He was getting fed up with this. He honestly was.
"I'm putting an end to this right now." he said, grabbing the baby names book off the counter. "Whatever name I pick out is going to be her name. I don't care if it's like... something insane. That will be her name."
"And you're doing this at random?"
"Yep." Sam stared at Ainsley as he opened the book and jabbed at the page. He looked down and read where his finger was.
"Well?"
"Grace."
Ainsley made a face and Sam held up a finger.
"I don't want to hear it. That's her name."
"You can't be serious."
"We can call her Gracie. Personally, I like it."
"Gracie Seaborn... that's not bad." Ainsley said.
"I know. I'm amazing." Sam grinned, leaning over and kissing her. Again, he rested a hand on Ainsley's stomach and she gave a wince as the baby kicked, hard.
"Either she doesn't kick for you or she kicks so hard she rearranges my inner organs." she muttered.
"I'm telling you, she doesn't like me."
"Stop it."
"I'm serious. She always kicks for you."
"Obviously!" Ainsley exclaimed. "She's taken up residence in there."
Sam laughed and kissed Ainsley's stomach, making her smile. Then he stood up and kissed Ainsley lightly on the mouth.
"I'll call you later." he said.
"Okay."
"When's your mother coming?"
Ainsley fidgeted and pushed herself up out of the kitchen chair.
"Ainsley..."
"Tonight." she mumbled, walking into the living room. She laid down on the couch and sighed, then looked up at Sam, whose jaw was hanging open. "Can you hand me that pillow?"
Sam did as he was told and looked at his wife.
"Tonight?"
"Tonight."
"I... no she... are you sure?"
"That's what she said. She said she was driving up here at around noon and should be here by six."
"Oh God! Don't expect me home."
"Sam!"
"I'll see you tonight."
"I love you."
"I love you too." Sam said, heading for the door.
"Sam!"
"What?"
"Can you hand me the remote?" Ainsley asked.
-------------------TWW-----------------
Sam sat in his car, staring up at his house with dread. He knew what was waiting for him when he walked in there. Letting out a sigh, Sam got out of the car and shut the door quietly, then slowly made his way up the driveway to the sidewalk then finally to the front door. He fumbled with his keys for a minute, then unlocked the door and glanced into the kitchen. Emily was busying herself in various cabinets, her back to the doorway. Sam gave a shiver and headed into the living room. Ainsley looked up, hearing his quiet footsteps and smiled.
"Hi."
"Hey," Sam leaned down and kissed her quickly.
"How was work?"
"The usual."
"How's CJ doing?" Ainsley asked.
"Everything seems fine." Sam flopped down onto the couch and undid his tie, then tossed it onto the coffee table. "What about you?"
"I'm fine. I watched TV then argued with my mom."
"Sounds like a productive day."
"It was. I feel very good about myself now." Ainsley joked, making Sam smile. "She's cooking. She refuses to let me stand up."
"I'm not hungry."
"Stop."
"She'll probably try and poison me."
"Sam."
"Can I go back to work?"
Ainsley shook her head and Sam sighed, then reached over and grabbed the remote off the other arm of the couch.
"Ainsle— oh hello Sam." Emily said flatly, walking into the living room.
"Hi." he muttered. "How was your drive?"
"Oh it was good. Ainsley, I don't know where anything in that kitchen is!"
"That's because it is my kitchen." she said, grasping Sam's shoulder as she pushed herself up off the couch.
"Sit." he nudged her down and stood up. "I'll find whatever she needs."
"It's okay." Emily said quickly. "I'm sure I'll manage."
"Mom, you don't need to cook. We can order a pizza or something."
"You are not eating that greasy thing now. You're pregnant."
Sam smirked and turned back to the TV. If his mother-in-law only knew how many pizzas Ainsley had devoured since finding out she was pregnant.
"You're having something healthy." Emily went on, then threw Sam a scathing look. "Lord knows you haven't been taken care of in the past few months."
"Mom..." Ainsley started. "You know, Sam could help you. He happens to be a very good cook."
Emily laughed loudly at this statement and walked back into the kitchen.
"I'll do just fine on my own." she called over her shoulder. Sam shook his head and looked over at Ainsley, who squeezed his hand.
"How long is she going to be here?" he asked quietly. Ainsley sighed and buried her face in his shoulder. "Ainse..."
"A while."
"How long?"
"She hasn't made it clear."
"Ainsley, she's not staying until the baby's born is she?"
"She said for a few weeks after the baby's born." she said quietly.
"You're not due for another two weeks!"
"Yeah..."
Sam let out a groan and buried his head in his hands.
----------------------TWW-------------------
Sam closed his bedroom door and turned the lock, glad to finally have some privacy.
"I cannot believe she's going to be living with us."
"Please don't start." Ainsley said. "Please Sam. I've had enough with the two with you."
"I'm sorry." he apologized. "What are you watching?"
"Gone with the Wind and I'm not watching it. I'm about to put it on."
Sam raised an eyebrow as he walked into the adjoining bathroom.
"We really haven't talked at all tonight." Ainsley called.
"Anything I say your mother comes up with a rebuttal for."
Ainsley let out a loud sigh and leaned back against the headboard. Sam came out in his boxers and walked over to the dresser, rummaging around for a t-shirt. He found one and tugged it on over his head, then walked over to the bed, sitting down next to Ainsley.
"Can you turn that light off?" she asked. "There's a glare."
Sam leaned over and turned the light off. Ainsley tried to move closer to him and sighed.
"I'll move." he said, a small smile on his face. He moved closer to her and wrapped his right arm around her, his hand resting on her stomach. Ainsley leaned her head onto his shoulder and pressed play on the DVD remote. "How many times have you watched this?"
"There is nothing wrong with this movie."
"I never said there was. I asked how many times you had seen it."
"What's the big deal?"
"You're being snooty."
"No I'm not."
"You're mad at me."
"I'm not mad. I'm just annoyed."
"Why?"
"You know why." Ainsley muttered.
"You know, I tried being nice to her. She just doesn't like me." Sam said.
"I don't understand why you guys cannot get along."
"I don't understand it either. Maybe you could ask her for me."
"I have and she hasn't come up with a legit reason yet."
"Well she should." Sam muttered. "She's probably downstairs snooping through our stuff."
"Probably but don't worry about it."
"So when she makes some comment in the morning and then you get upset, I shouldn't worry right?"
"Right." Ainsley's tone was flat and Sam could tell she didn't want to talk about it anymore.
"Honey, I'm sorry." he said softly.
"Don't be."
"Well I am."
"Well stop it."
Sam nodded and kept his eyes glued to the TV mounted on the wall. The next few weeks were going to be very long. Sam didn't know how long they had been watching the movie but his eyes were beginning to droop even though Ainsley was still very much awake and enthralled in her favorite movie. Sam finally let his eyes close and was almost asleep when he heard Ainsley give a loud ow. His eyes flew open and he quickly sat up, staring at her with panic.
"What? Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. She just kicked a little hard."
"Are you sure she was kicking and it wasn't a contraction?"
Ainsley turned her head and stared at Sam wildly.
"There's a pretty big difference so yeah I'm sure. Go to sleep."
"I can't now."
Ainsley rolled her eyes and turned back to the movie.
"I swear by the time she's born, I'll most likely have suffered a heart attack." Sam said.
"You need to relax. Believe me Sam, I'll know when I'm having a contraction and I can bet you I'll give a louder ow then I just did now."