Gracie opened her parents' door quietly and poked her head in. It was still dark in the room but that was only because the curtains were drawn and the lights were off. Smiling to herself, Gracie shut the door quietly behind her as she stepped into the room. She tiptoed over to a window and pulled its curtain back a little bit. She quickly closed it, trying to get her sight back. A good foot of snow had fallen during the night and the bright sun reflected off the snow, causing a blinding glare to meet DC that morning. Gracie smirked and pulled it back all the way. Sam let out a yell and quickly pulled his pillow over his head.

"I'm melting!" came his muffled voice.

"Wake up!" Gracie exclaimed.

"It's too early!"

"You said it had to be daylight when I got you two up and as you can see Dad, it is daylight."

"Gracie..."

"Come on! It's Christmas and the clock says 6:43. I waited long enough. I've been up since three thirty!"

"Did you inhale sugar while you were at it?" Sam grumbled as Gracie began jumping on the bed. "Jesus! What are you? Five?"

Gracie laughed loudly and plopped down on the bed.

"Daddy, come on! Mom!"

"Give us a minute sweetie." Ainsley mumbled. "Go wait in the living room."

"I'm giving you ten minutes." Gracie crawled off the bed and raced out of the room. Sam cautiously pulled the pillow away from his face and gave a sigh of relief, seeing the curtain was closed.

"She is definitely your daughter." he yawned, sitting up. Ainsley grabbed his t-shirt and he flopped back onto the pillows. "Hi."

"Hi."

"Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas." Ainsley leaned in for a kiss and Sam gladly obliged. They pulled away slightly and Ainsley brushed a strand of hair out of Sam's eyes. "How are you doing?"

"I dunno. Half of me doesn't want to care. I mean, he didn't call to see how I was doing when I got shot or when Gracie was kidnapped or when she was found. He's made no effort whatsoever. I feel like I shouldn't care about him. But then the other half of me is upset and..." Sam cut off with a sigh and rubbed his eyes.

"Confused." Ainsley finished.

"I guess. Come on." Sam dragged himself out of bed and Ainsley slowly followed his lead.

------------------TWW----------------

"I already lied once! I'm not doing it again!"

"I don't care! You agreed to help me!"

"They're going to catch you. You should just turn yourself in. Ryan, there's no point to everything you're trying to do. It's never going to happen. You're wasting your time."

"No. I'm just waiting for the opportune moment. Merry Christmas Emma."

The phone clicked and Emma sighed, then snapped her cell phone shut.

-----------------TWW------------------

"Well I'm not cleaning this up." Sam said, leaning back into the couch. Ainsley giggled as she surveyed the room before them.

"Just think, next year it'll be worse." she said, taking Sam's hand in hers.

"I don't mind."

"You will when I put you on garbage duty."

Gracie gave a growl of frustration as she tried hooking her X-Box up to the TV.

"So many wires..." she mumbled. "Not enough outlets."

Sam laughed quietly and moved off the couch to help her. Ainsley watched them for a couple of minutes and they finally figured it out then began playing a video game.

"You guys do realize it's nine in the morning right?" she said.

"It's okay."

"Okay. Well I'm gonna go get breakfast."

"Mhmm..."

"And you two are totally ignoring me." Ainsley mumbled, heading out of the room. She came back about ten minutes later, saying breakfast would be ready in about a half hour. When she got no response, Ainsley sighed and grabbed the book Sam got her off the coffee table. An agent walked into the room and turned to Sam, who was furiously hitting the buttons on the controller.

"Mr. President, the Vice President is here."

"Shoot him." Sam muttered, not really paying attention. Ainsley looked up and stared at her husband but found him thoroughly enthralled in his game.

"Uh sir..."

"No!" Sam slammed the controlled down as the TV announced 'Game Over' and Gracie gave a victorious yell. "What is it Mark?"

"The Vice President is here." he replied.

"Okay."

"You know, I thought I heard you say, 'shoot him'." Josh said as he came into the room. "Merry Christmas by the way."

"Oh. I was yelling at the TV." Sam explained. "Hey, Happy Hanukkah."

"Thanks. What are you playing?"

"Ah... I dunno. Some game Gracie got for Christmas."

"Cool. Can I play?"

"Josh, don't you have a family?" Ainsley asked.

"Uh... I think." he smirked. "Donna took the kiddies to her mom's a few days ago. They'll be home by noon."

"So you're all alone today."

"No. I'm spending the next few hours with you guys."

"I'm honored." Ainsley muttered.

"Take a seat Josh." Sam said, hooking up another controller.

"Ainsley, I have a feeling you don't love me anymore." he said, taking the proffered controller from his best friend.

"Of course I love you Josh. It's just... you're always here."

"What can I say? I'm addicted to you guys."

"Then you need to get into a 12-step program."

"She hasn't eaten yet." Sam said. He ducked as a pillow went sailing by his head and gave Ainsley a sweet smile. "I love you honey."

"See guys think that works but it doesn't." Ainsley said, burying her nose in the book again.

"It does actually."

"Nuhuh."

"Yuhuh."

-----------------TWW---------------

"Today was nice."

"Mmm..."

"What?"

"Nothing."

"What was that 'mmm' for then?"

"I'm trying to concentrate." Ainsley murmured, her eyes sweeping over the chess board. She and Sam were sitting in his personal study playing chess.

"You know you are horrible at chess right," Sam said, stretching his legs out under the table. He grinned, seeing Ainsley shiver as his foot brushed up against her leg.

"Yet you still play me."

"Well I have to be better at you in something."

"So you love slaughtering me in chess. What a wonderful husband you are."

"Don't you know it."

"Oh I do." Ainsley moved a bishop and took one of Sam's pawns. He scowled and sat up straight, looking for a good move. "You know over the years, I have gotten better."

"Slowly."

"Slowly, but I have gotten better."

"I should give you some credit then."

"Well I did learn from the master." Ainsley smiled up at Sam and looked back down at the board. "Check."

Sam's jaw dropped slightly and he looked to see if his wife had made an illegal move. He sighed and looked for a way to get back in the game but found none.

"Checkmate then." Ainsley drawled. "Play again?"

Sam nodded and they quickly reset the board up. They had just begun when Gracie walked in, rubbing her eyes tiredly.

"I'm going to bed." she yawned. Ainsley hugged her tightly and kissed her forehead.

"Did you have a good Christmas?" she asked. Gracie nodded as she yawned again.

"Thanks." she mumbled. "See you in the morning."

"Night sweetheart."

"Good night Dad."

Sam looked up from the board and pulled Gracie into a hug.

"Night honey." he kissed the top of her head and eyed Ainsley for a minute, anticipating her next move. Gracie rolled her eyes and muttered something as she headed out of the room. Ainsley finally moved her knight and looked up at Sam to find him watching her intently.

"It's your turn."

"I don't wanna play anymore." Sam murmured. He reached across the small table and took Ainsley's hand in his, brushing his thumb over her knuckles.

"Got anything else in mind Mr. President?"

"A few things."

"Care to enlighten me?"

"I would love to."

Ainsley gave Sam a smile and slid out of her chair and onto his lap. He pulled her face towards his and kissed her softly. Ainsley sighed quietly and pulled Sam out of the chair.

"Come on..." she began leading them towards the door but Sam pulled his hand out of her grasp. Ainsley turned around, a thin eyebrow raised. "Are you refusing me Seaborn?"

"No... I just have something I have to do first. I'll meet you down there."

"I'll be waiting."

Sam grinned as Ainsley sauntered out of the room, throwing him a flirtatious smile over her shoulder. He shook his head and headed over to his desk, then opened the bottom drawer. Pulling Gracie's laptop out, Sam grabbed a yellow post-it off his desk and quickly scribbled a tiny note on it, then stuck it to the top of the laptop. Sam turned the light off and headed down the hallway to Gracie's room. Opening the door quietly, he saw she was already asleep. Smiling to himself, Sam set the laptop down on the night stand and watched Gracie for a minute. He leaned down and kissed her forehead, brushing her hair off her face. She mumbled something and rolled over, burying her face in her pillow. Sam smiled and closed the door quietly behind him as he walked out into the hallway.