Eleven o'clock on the dot. Dickie and Kelly were long gone, Jim was on his way home, and Vince was just heading out. Mackenzie, on the other hand, was still in her office, poring over the last of that day's work, which still meant she would be there for another half hour… at the least.
There hadn't been a national crisis to resolve for over two weeks. Frankly, it scared her a bit, and for some odd, presidential reason it caused her to lose focus occasionally. Today was one of those days… the entire family would be disappointed. Mackenzie frowned sadly at the depressing scene that tonight's dinner probably had been: Amy, whining and pouting; Becca, being sullen and rebellious, even more so than normal; Horace, playing it cool and putting on a happy face for Amy, but secretly hurt on the inside; Kate, worried for her daughter's sake and desperately attempting to be an optimist, like Horace; and Rod, if he had been there, would be sulking. Of course, no one at the table would know that, because he would also be joking and laughing.
Sometimes to Mackenzie it seemed like the entire family had their own facades. Amy had become so quiet recently, and being a mother, Mac guessed that all her young daughter wanted to really do was sink into her mom's lap and cry on her shoulder and be her best friend, at least for another four years. Becca, of course, was always hiding something. Mackenzie knew that her eldest daughter wasn't as upset about the presidency as she made out to be, and that for all of her fuss and angriness, only a quarter of it was genuine. She also knew, or at least had a motherly gut feeling, that the chunk of genuine rebel Rebecca was complex. Possibly even so complicated that Mackenzie would never figure it out. Bottled feelings could bite you in the butt, and she knew from experience.
She was losing focus again. Mackenzie didn't care worth beans, now that she was seriously analyzing her family. As she spun her swivel chair around to look out the Oval Office windows at the Washington night sky, Mac thought about Horace. Her only son had been a genuine John-John at the beginning of her Vice Presidency. A true Momma's boy, he had stood at Mackenzie's side through the campaign, the elections, the inaugurations, everything. Sometimes it was as though he was more supportive than Rod, the "Second Gentleman". Being a teenager, he naturally was never about to befriend Mom and spill his secrets and desires over a batch of cookies, but compared to Becca, Horace sure seemed a step away. While his sister simmered behind closed doors and threw herself into schoolwork and various rebel boys, he greeted his parents with cheerful Good Mornings and introduced every new girlfriend while lagging behind his schoolwork. Presumably Mackenzie and Rod were disappointed, but it wasn't as though Horace was failing and they knew that with time and patience their son could pull the straight C's up to A's and B's. Their relationship with him was still healthy, and being parents, they were grateful.
Naturally, it all fell apart.
It all began with one suggestion.