"Dad!" Gracie raced after Sam and a few of his staffers as she saw him pass through the communications bullpen.
"Excuse me," Sam turned away from his conversation to his daughter. "What did I tell you about yelling at me like that?"
"Well you didn't seem to be blowing up some unarmed country. I need your help."
"With what?"
Gracie bit her lip as she tried to stop grinning.
"What did you do?" Sam asked, a suspicious look on his face.
"Okay so Ben tried out for—" Sam cut his daughter off with a loud groan and waved a hand at her.
"I don't have time for this."
"He tried out for the school play and he got the male lead and I wanted to get the female lead because it would be so cool if we were in the play together. So I tried out, that's why I wasn't home yesterday, not like you noticed anyway. But I was told today that I made it."
"What play? What are you talking about?"
Gracie sighed and crossed her arms over her chest.
"The school is putting on its annual spring play and this year we're doing... well, Romeo and Juliet."
"Oh come on!"
"It gives me a reason to kiss him,"
"Oh like you aren't already?"
"Dad!"
"What do you need help with?"
"Help me go over my lines."
"Help you go over your lines?"
"Yeah." Gracie nodded. Sam sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
"You drive me insane. You know that right?" he said. Gracie nodded and stared at him.
"Please Daddy? You're always telling me I have to do more and since you told me softball was too dangerous to join..."
"Sweetheart, no offense but do you know how to act?"
"No. Not really. That's why I need your help going over my lines."
"Oy vey."
---------------------TWW-------------------
Sam shut the door to the Roosevelt Room and looked around the room. CJ, Zoey, Will, Amanda, Eric—the Deputy Chief of Staff—, Josh, Donna, Ainsley, Bridget, Ashley, Gracie, and Ben were sitting at the large table, waiting for Sam to say something.
"You know, when I asked you to help me with my lines, I thought it meant you not the whole entire West Wing." Gracie said.
"Yeah but this seemed like a lot more fun." Sam replied. "Okay so a few of you are probably wondering why I've locked you in here."
"We're really locked in?" Ainsley asked.
"Don't we have anything better to do?" Zoey asked. "I mean, like blow up a country?"
"We can spare an hour of our time." Sam replied. "And no honey I didn't lock us in here."
"Good, because I'm hungry." Ainsley said.
"What else is new?" Josh asked. Donna smacked him and the room went silent.
"So... we have to designate parts then..." Sam flipped through the book in front of him and stopped at a page. "Well, obviously since it's our daughter playing Juliet, I guess me and Ainsley will be the Capulet people. Josh you wanna be Ben's parents?"
Josh glanced at his best friend and made a face.
"Fine. CJ, Will, you're the Montagues."
"Ashley can be my servant." Gracie smirked. "Seeing as she's my agent."
"Right. Okay great. Uh... Josh, you can be Tybalt. Zoe, what do you want to do?" Sam asked.
"Uh..." she glanced at the copy in front of her and shrugged. "I don't care."
"Great because we've got parts left and not enough people."
"I don't want to be a man." Amanda complained.
"Mandy, you're not really putting the play on." Sam said and dished out the rest of the characters to his various staffers. "Where do you guys want to start?"
"Obviously where my lines begin." Gracie said. Sam flipped through the pages and stopped.
"We'll just start at Act 1, Scene 3 then." he said. "Ainse, guess what?"
"What?" she looked up and over to her left to her husband.
"You're starting."
"Oh joy. Uh... 'Nurse, where's my daughter? Call her forth to me."
"This is very weird." Zoey commented. "Hey, how come we never did anything like this when my dad was President?"
"Because I'm cooler." Sam replied. "Keep going."
"That's it." Ainsley said.
"Your turn Ashley." Gracie said.
"What? Oh. 'I bade her come. What, lamb! What, ladybird! Where's this girl? What, Juliet!" she read.
"Did people honestly talk like this?" Josh asked.
"Yes, get over it." Sam replied.
"Hey, I don't have any lines."
"Good. Don't talk then. I want to get this done."
"Gee thanks Dad!" Gracie exclaimed. "'How now? Who calls?"
"Your mother." Ashley mumbled. Sam sighed and rubbed his forehead. This was gonna take a while.
------------------TWW---------------
"This, by his voice, should be a Monatgue. Fetch me my rapier, boy. What! Dares the slave come hither, covered with an antic face, to fleer and scorn at our solemnity? Now, by the stock and honor of my kin, to strike him dead I hold it not a sin." Josh read dramatically.
"Someone shoot me." Sam muttered before reading his line. "Why, how now, kinsman? Wherefore storm you so?"
"Uncle, this is a Monatgue, our foe, a villain, that is hither come in spite to scorn at our solemnity this night."
"Young Romeo is it?" Sam glanced at Ben, who was reading ahead for his lines. 'Bastard. Stealing my daughter and...'
"Tis he, that villain Romeo."
Everyone tried not to laugh as they watched their President and Vice President read their lines.
"Why, uncle, tis a shame." Josh snickered, getting a kick out of his afternoon. He had to admit, it beat sitting in a boring meeting.
"Go to, go to!" Sam exclaimed. "You are a saucy boy."
"Why thank you Mr. President."
"Okay, as much as you guys are enjoying this, we need to practice our lines." Gracie said, laughing softly.
"Saucy boy." Sam snickered. "That's pretty funny."
He leaned back in his seat and listened to Gracie and Ben say their lines.
"It says here in italics, he kisses her." Gracie said.
"Well, you two can keep your lips to yourselves." Sam said. "Go on."
--------------------TWW---------------
"Man, what happened to, 'Romeo, oh Romeo, where art thou thy Romeo?" Josh asked. The group had now dwindled down to the First Family, Josh and Donna, and Ben.
"That's somewhere in here." Sam muttered.
"Yeah, actually it's right here." Gracie said, flipping the page. "O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name, or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, And I'll no longer be a Sea–- er Capulet."
Sam peered over the book at his daughter, who gave him a sheepish grin. Ainsley glanced between them and rubbed his arm affectionately. Ben glanced at his watch and cursed quietly.
"I got to go." he said. "I told my parents I'd meet them for dinner."
"We need to get back to work anyway." Sam said. Gracie pouted and watched Ben grab his stuff.
"I'll talk to you later." he said, kissing her quickly.
"You want me to walk you out?"
"No. I got it. Good night Mr. President, Mr. Vice President."
"Nice seeing you Romeo." Josh grinned.
"Night Ben." Sam muttered, reaching for the glass in front of him.
"It was nice seeing you again Mrs. Seaborn." Ben smiled.
"Yes it was." Ainsley returned the smile, feeling Sam kick her under the table.
"It was nice meeting you Mrs. Lyman."
Donna smiled and Josh rolled his eyes.
"You are very charming Ben. Just like your father." she said.
"I'll see you later Gracie." Ben said.
"Bye." she said, giving him a dopey grin. Ben shut the door as he walked out and Gracie squealed, flopping back in her chair. "How cute is he?"
"Oh he's up there." Sam said, rolling his eyes at Josh.
------------------TWW---------------
"Hey," Sam saw Gracie standing in the doorway of his study and beckoned her in. "What's up?"
"Nothing. I was just bored so I figured I'd wander around." she replied, sitting down on one of the couches. "What are you doing?"
"I'm not really sure."
"Anything important?"
"No. I'm just trying to get my thoughts organized."
"You wanna play chess?"
"Set it up. Let me just finish my sentence here." Sam turned his attention back to his laptop. He quickly typed for a couple more minutes and by the time he stood up, Gracie had the board set up and was waiting on her father. Sam hid a smile and sat down across from his daughter.
"Are you writing a book?"
"I'd like to."
"About what?"
"I'm not sure. I'm just outlining stuff right now. Right now it's just for fun but I don't know. Maybe I'll publish it one day if I ever write it." Sam said.
"I'm sure you will. You're a good writer." Gracie muttered, moving a pawn. "Thanks for helping me today."
"It was no problem. I had fun."
"I only messed up the names because I wanted to annoy you. You know, how I said I'd stop being a Seaborn instead of I'd stop being a Capulet." Gracie glanced up and gave her father a coy grin. Sam laughed quietly as he took his turn. "Did I succeed in my task?"
"No." Sam lied, making Gracie roll her eyes. She knew him better than that and he knew that. "Your report card came."
"Yeah I know."
"Not bad."
"I went down in English."
"That's only because you switched teachers from last marking period."
"No it's cause my essays suck." Gracie said, eyeing the board. Sam leaned back in his chair and watched her examine all her possible moves.
"Why do they suck?"
"Ask Anderson."
"She has nothing against you."
"She kept me after class the first day she was there and said, 'I don't care whose daughter you are I'm not going to favor you.'"
"That's good."
"I don't know why she had to say it. None of my other teachers favor me. I don't think she realizes I'm smart and I'm not near the top of my class because I'm the President's daughter."
Sam gave a grin and sat up straight, moving his knight and taking Gracie's pawn.
"Well, I spoke with her."
"What? How did you do that?"
"Gee, there's this thing call the telephone. I don't know if you've heard of it or not. It's actually quite a marvelous invention. It's only been around since about the early 1900s. And now, you can take it on the road with you! That is called a cell phone."
"Wow. I now know where I get my humorous ways from." Gracie said, just as much sarcasm in her voice as her father had. "How did you call her? Don't you need like... a background check to do that? I mean, she might be a terrorist, or even worse, Satan."
"She was actually very nice."
"What did you talk about?"
"Having dinner together."
Gracie raised an eyebrow and Sam gave her a look.
"What do you think we talked about?"
"How charming I am and she did not buy it."
"She thinks you're a great kid honey. She just isn't going to tolerate your crap."
"What crap?"
"Your smart ass routine."
"I am not a smart ass."
"Oh yes you are." Sam snickered. "You are. I hate to admit it but you are."
"Since when?" Gracie asked.
"Since the second you could talk."
Unbeknownst to the duo, Ainsley stood in the doorway, watching the two of them. She smiled and turned away from the door, heading down the hallway.