TIME JUMP. AND please let me know what you think.
Two and a Half Years Later
"Miiiiikeeeee." Elizabeth whined as she walked back into the White House. "I just let you drag me halfway around the country. Can I just have one night off?" She carried her coat with her, Blake following behind her.
"You're 9 months from the election, of course you can't just take an evening off."
As Elizabeth walked past her chief of staff towards the Oval, she said, "Jay, I don't care what you have to do, but if you could shove Mike into the closet so I don't have to hear from him the rest of the night, that would be amazing."
"Do you want to continue to be President?" Mike asked accusingly.
Jay's turn to bombard her, "Ma'am, I've sent the briefing notebook to the Residence. The Secretary of State worked back channels to get the aid supplies into Sudan. And both she and the Director of the CIA would like to have a word with you sometime tomorrow."
Elizabeth turned to her staff. And she held up her hands to stop them. "Listen." She said loudly. "I just got done with ten speeches in two days. I have traveled through five hundred time zones, it feels like. Tonight, I get to see my daughter for the first time in three and a half months. Tomorrow morning, my grandchildren and their parents are all coming to visit. All I've asked for is a nice twenty-four hours off unless the country is about to go up in flames."
Jay smiled, "No flames yet, Ma'am."
"Whew." She huffed, and said, "Now, I've got to get upstairs. I told Henry I would help him with dinner."
Mike jumped in, "So we all know that's a big lie."
As she left the room, she called out, "Yeah, pretty amateur lie."
Once she got to the Residence, she called out, "Henry, that smells absolutely amazing."
"I also have wine." He added, "How was Arizona?"
"Hot?" She offered. She hurried to the bedroom to put something more comfortable on, exchanging her pantsuit for a sweater and jeans. "Boring stump speech that highlights the work I've done…"
As she walked into the kitchen, she pulled her hair down, letting it hang loose instead of pulled away from her face.
"Well, I mean, you're the one who wants to be President again." Henry was saying, handing her a glass of wine while he stirred something that smelled like heaven.
She took a drink of the white wine, and then said, "Ok, can we just not talk about work tonight?"
"Of course." Henry said, "You don't have to ask me twice about that." Then he gestured to his phone and said, "Emma said they're about five minutes out. So like twenty once they get checked in and up here."
"Three and a half months is way too long." She complained as she grabbed the plates from the counter. "I mean, we shouldn't have said yes to that."
Henry chuckled, "Babe, you video chat with her at LEAST twice a week."
She set the plate down hard to be saucy, and she said, "But it's not the same. And she's too young…"
She could hear the faux frustration in her husband 's voice, "Elizabeth, she's almost twenty. And she was away at school." Then he added, "Not just school, but an immersive language program in Paris! How are we not proud of her…"
"I never said I wasn't proud of her. But I just missed her." Elizabeth commented, "And then this mystery guy?" She found herself being animated with the silverware in her hands as she talked, "We talk all the time, why didn't she mention him? She just tells us two days before she's flying home that she's bringing someone home she wants us to meet?"
Henry shrugged, "Maybe her mother is the leader of the free world with the ability to get just about any information on this guy whenever she wants. And maybe Emma just didn't want that."
"He's probably old." Elizabeth shot back, "Or – or he's some weird French professor who is all about open living and not repressing anything." When Henry shot her the you're going crazy look, she said, "Just wait. I bet I'm right."
"But you said she's been seeing her therapist remotely?" Henry asked, and when Elizabeth nodded, he said, "And she not only got her GED in eight months with a tutor, but she's on track to graduate college in two more semesters. Exactly when is she supposed to be getting into trouble or whatever it is you think she's doing while she's not here?"
She scrunched up her nose at her husband before giving him a kiss. "Why are you always so right?" She walked over to the freezer and opened it up, "HENRY!" She gasped.
"NOPE." He said, leaving his post on the stove to close the door behind him.
"An Ice cream cake?" Elizabeth said with excitement, "I've been on the road and everyone is so intent on keeping me healthy…" She tried to open the freezer again, but Henry held it clsed.
"That's for the twins," He said, giving her the glare, "And that cake had better be whole when I get that out for them tomorrow."
She grabbed a towel and slapped him with it, "You're literally no fun." When he reached over and grabbed her hip, tickling just a bit, she shrieked.
He'd cornered her against the fridge, the tickling turning towards something else, as he ran his fingers up around her back and pulled her into an intimate kiss.
Then she pulled away, her eyes watching his lips as she whispered, "I'll let you kiss me again if I can have cake."
Now it was Henry's turn to laugh.
"Hello? Mom? Dad?"
Elizabeth pushed Henry aside, her heart full of excitement, "EMMA!" She exclaimed, walking in the living room. She started walking, but then she saw her little girl in the doorway, and she ran over to her, giving her a hug that Elizabeth knew might have taken a bit longer than normal.
"Can I breathe?" Emma asked, and Elizabeth squeezed just a bit before letting go.
"Emma," Elizabeth said, "You look so grown up." And she held her daughter at arm's length while she took her in. Her hair, before long curls, now was cutely bobbed at her shoulder, framing her face along with her tastefully applied makeup. Gone were the overalls and converse. Instead, Emma had a black leather jacket over a grey silk shirt that was tucked into her tight, dark pants. Black boots made up the ensemble.
Henry came into the room and pulled Emma in for a hug. And then Emma stepped back. The way she held herself reminded Elizabeth of someone she couldn't quite recall. But tall. Poised. And very happy.
"Mom, Dad, there's someone I want you to meet." Emma said, smiling while she fiddled with the ends of her hair. "Mom, Dad, this is Charlotte."
Elizabeth felt her face freeze. Charlotte. Eyes wide as Emma leaned around the corner and gestured. Then a woman with long brown hair, dark brown eyes, and her hand already holding Emma's stepped into the living room.
"Madam President. Dr. McCord." The British accent caused the brain to continue spinning.
And it was bit much. All at once.
"Oh,…" Henry said, his voice fading out.
And Emma took a deep breath and said, "I'm sorry I haven't told you about everything, but… "Emma squeezed Charlotte's hand and leaned and kissed Charlotte's cheek. "I just thought… might as well…"
Elizabeth found the words. And she looked at Henry, and then said, "Charlotte, it's really nice to meet you." She extended her hand, and shook hands with this girl. And then she turned to Emma and said, "You look really happy. And I'm just glad you're happy." She was. It didn't matter what gender Emma wanted to be with – Elizabeth didn't care. As long as her daughter kept that smile she now had.
"That's all?" Emma asked, "I thought I'd get a little blow up."
Henry laughed, and reached over to shake Charlotte's hand while lightly punching Emma's shoulder, "I mean, we do have four kids. We figured this into the equation."
"Dad." Emma laughed, and then set her bag down and wandered into the kitchen, "What's for dinner?" Then, as Henry walked into the kitchen behind her, Emma called out, "Ooooo. Chardonnay!"
Elizabeth gestured for Charlotte to walk towards the kitchen, "Can I get you something to drink?" She asked.
"We have Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc." Emma called out.
Elizabeth paused her daughter for a moment, "I know you've been living wherever, but you still aren't 21."
Emma drooped her shoulders and said, "Really, Mom? Really?"
"Really, Em." Elizabeth said.
