Here's the latest chapter – I know I said the hospital trip would come next, but I got ahead of myself. And while I could just make it longer, I'd rather update more frequently. I'll try not to get too far into this Iran thing, but it was kind of the focus of my studies last semester so I can't promise anything down the road.

I don't say it enough –but to all those who have reviewed: thank you! You each bring a smile to my face.

Mac listened intently during her security briefing, it was only the beginning of what she would be hearing in the Situation Room. After 2 hours of being briefed in the Sit Room later that morning she had decided to remain on the diplomatic path. Although a nuclear Iran was one of her greatest nightmares, she knew they were years away from actually developing the weapons. She wanted to make calls to the other four permanent members of the UN Security Council before she made took any visible actions. She asked John Reddinger, her Secretary of State, to take point on the issue and keep her updated.

The rest of her day consisted of meetings with various law makers and members of her staff. The day seemed to drag by for Mackenzie Allen, who was eager to wake up to the next day and get to Bethesda. She found her mind wandering later in the day and found herself reading the same pages of her briefs over and over again. She looked at her watch, it was already 7 pm. She was surprised, if she hadn't known better she would have thought it was still mid-afternoon. She decided it was time to head back up to the Residence, she had probably missed dinner.

She gathered the briefs that were still in her 'to read' pile and stuffed them into her briefcase. She took her glasses off and left them on the desk before walking out to the outer office. As she headed for the door to the portico she noticed Vince was still at his desk, "Go home Vince, I'll see you in the morning."

Vince stood up, "Thank you ma'am, have a good night – the motorcade will be ready at 8:45."

"Thanks." With that she stepped out onto the portico and headed towards the residence, noticing her agent was still at the portico door to the oval office she shouted over her shoulder, "Let's go home John."

When she got back to the residence she told Rod about her appointment and grabbed some food from the kitchen, Kate had left her plate after the family had eaten. She went to her study, turned it to MSNBC and pulled out the remainder of her day's reading. The only thing she had left were a few briefs and the memos she had asked various members of her staff to draft about possibilities for her new education plan.

Normally she delegated the responsibility of being point person on a project to a senior staffer, but this was something she wanted to oversee personally. She had a unique appreciation for the education system, having been the product of a public school education, the Chancellor of a university and now having 3 children in public schools.

After spending more than an hour going through the memos and a few more briefs, Mac decided it was time to unwind and relax, she knew she wouldn't be getting much sleep tonight. Which to her seemed odd, she knew what she was going to hear come morning, yet she was still filled with a range of emotions: apprehension, excitement, anxiety. There was still a small piece of her thinking she may actually not be pregnant, and she wasn't sure whether to be afraid or hopeful of hearing such news. So Mackenzie spent the rest of her evening with her family, which was a nice change for her. By midnight she was left to herself and decided to watch TV - a rare event for her - until she felt ready to fall asleep. She had seen all the day's news stories and so she decided to browse the television. It was ironic then that she wound up watching C-SPAN for the next hour until she finally decided it would be best to try and get some sleep.

She woke three hours later to the red numbers on her bedside clock reading 4:17, she rolled over with a sigh. She could easily get by with three hours of sleep, but that didn't mean she wanted to. Today was going to be tough, yes she was having some of the biggest news of her life become official, but she also had to carry out the rest of her day as normal – Presidents don't get to just take a day off. She stared blankly at the ceiling, getting lost in her thoughts until about 5 am. Not being able to lay there in silence any longer, Mac decided to go for a swim.

She made her way down to the pool, secret service detail in tow. She really wanted to go rowing, but she needed to give the Service some sort of a heads up to do that, right now her once a week morning row was not going to be enough to clear her head. She felt odd when she counted at least eight men setting up a perimeter around the outdoor pool, and she knew there were more she couldn't see watching her. She had felt odd about being surrounded by armed men and women from the moment she was provided a small detail in the late stages of the campaign trail – now as President, it seemed her "shadows" had nearly tripled in numbers. She wasn't the greatest fan of the Secret Service, though she understood their necessity and was awed by their commitment. She also knew her children were especially not too keen on their protectors, so she wondered how it would be for her next child to (hopefully) spend at least its first seven years of life in their presence, not to mention having to grow up on the national stage. All this was spinning trough her head as she coursed up and down the lanes of the pool.

As she was doing her laps she saw what looked like one of her agents come closer to the pool, thinking something was wrong she stopped. It was actually her husband, already dressed in his suit for the day. He held up her robe as she stepped from the water. He didn't say anything, he didn't need to, he just put his arm around her shoulder and led her back to the Residence. Once they were alone in their bedroom he finally spoke.

"Are you ready?"

"As I'll ever be, are you?"

"Always."

Mac didn't need him to say anymore. "What do you want to do about telling the kids?"

"I don't know, we should wait until they're out of school – maybe when we go to Camp David?"

"If we ever make it there, I don't think we'll be able to take a week-long vacation for the next few years."

"Why not, you can easily work out of Camp David. We'll take a few days for just family and then spend as many days beyond that as you can."

"You sir," she walked up closer to him, grabbing his tie, "have all the answers, don't you?"

"Well someone has to." For that Mac displayed a faux shocked expression and playfully slapped his chest.

"You'll pay for that."

"Oh, really."

"Yes. I was going to…"but she stopped.

"You were going to what?" But Mac was already on her way into the bathroom. Rod looked at the clock it was 6:12. Mackenzie Allen was always consistent, he gave her that.

Mackenzie finally reappeared around the corner, "As I was saying, I was going to ask you to work on my education plan with me, but I guess I'll have to reconsider." She had decided last night that since Rod had gone back to the First Gentleman's office, they hadn't worked on anything together. Especially while she was pregnant, it would be good to have him around a bit more, and education was something he too held dear to his heart.

"Really? You want our offices to work together on that? That would be great Mac, in fact the legislative advisor I met with the other day recommended I work on an issue with you to get my agenda jump-started."

"Yes, I do." She kissed him on the lips, "I don't want to shut you out of the West Wing all together." They shared a few more kisses before Mac finally decided she needed to get ready for the day.

The President made it to the Oval Office by 7:30 that morning, giving her more than enough time for a security briefing and senior staff meeting before she left for Bethesda.

She made it through both meetings without distraction and was finishing her notes for the upcoming meeting about her education plan when Vince appeared in the door to the Oval.

"Ma'am the motorcade is ready."

Even though she had been anticipating this for over a day, she suddenly felt reluctant. "Okay." She continued to work on her notes. A few minutes had passed when Vince reappeared.

"Ma'am the motorcade…"

"I don't think they're going to leave without me Vince."

This silenced him for a moment, until he realized that the President was stalling.

"Ma'am, if…" but he didn't need to finish, she had finally put down her work and was headed towards him.

Mac made her way down to the northwest entrance where the motorcade would be waiting. On her way to Bethesda Naval Hospital she spoke to Kelly over the phone.

"Any questions yet, Kelly?"

"A few casual questions from reporters. No one seems too alarmed or too suspicious. They're mostly just wanting to know if there is a health-related problem or reason for changing the schedule."

"Great, you know what to say. We should be done in about an hour, you'll be over here to field questions?"

"Yes ma'am, I'll be heading over soon."

Kelly had stayed behind to keep her normal briefing schedule, and would meet the President at Bethesda to accommodate the medical team in making their statements about the Commander in Chief's health.

"Thanks Kelly."

"Thank you Madam President."

She watched the cityscape fly by the rest of the way. Vince rode in the car with her, and was silent until they pulled up at the Naval Hospital. "Ma'am, I meant to say this yesterday: Congratulations."

Make gave her aide and friend a warm smile before stepping out of the door that had just been opened for her. She was greeted by a small group of doctors, all wearing khaki uniforms under long white lab coats; some with stethoscopes hanging around their necks, others with various diagnostic tools protruding from their coat pockets.

Mac straightened her suit coat, took a deep breath and began shaking hands. 'Here we go,' she thought before entering the hospital with the medical team and secret service.