Thank you Mac for adding some great stuff to this chapter. If it wasn't for your cool ideas this would be very boring. Salutes chief Mac Please review guy's the more I get the more I write.

Chapter 18

After Joshua left the White House that morning he called his Mother. He could no longer put off telling his parents about Avery. The President had seen to that with her invitation to Camp David. Though it was Saturday morning, he hoped his father was at the office. His mother would be much easier to break the news to alone.

"Hello."

"Hi Mom."

"Sweetheart, how are you?"

"Fine. Is Dad home?"

"No, he's playing golf."

"Good. I'm coming right over."

"Okay? Josh..."

But he'd already hung up.

When he arrived, Sarah was waiting to greet him at the door. She gave him a hug and asked, "Now what's this all about?"

He went and sat on the living room couch. "Well, Mom I have some news."

"News?" she asked taking the seat next to him.

Josh took a deep breath and just came out with it, "Mom, Avery Calloway and I are seeing one another. I actually just came from the White House where the President and Mr. Calloway found out."

"Found out?" Sarah raised her brow. "Let me guess, it wasn't a planned encounter?"

Joshua nodded, "Yeah you could say that . . . The President was great about it. Though Mr. Calloway, was a whole different story... but we expected that." He paused, trying to read her expression. "Well?"

Sarah studied her son and saw a look–a resolve, she'd only seen from him on rare occasions. "Sweetheart, you know I respect any decision you make: whom you date, where you work... whatever it is that would make you happy. And if Avery Calloway makes you happy, who am I to judge?" She rose from the couch and poured herself a glass of juice, offering one to Joshua as well. "And in my opinion, from the times I have met her, she seems to be a lovely girl . . . but I'm not the one you should be worried about."

Josh sighed. " I know. That's why I came to you first. I need you to talk to Dad. You know how he is... Mom, you're the only one he'll listen to."

Sarah new the truth in his statement. Nathan "Bloody Hell" Templeton never let change his mind, once it was made up . . . no one but Sarah–his wife and his weakness. She was the only person to ever break his cold and condescending exterior and now would be the time Joshua would need her influence the most. Sarah put her hand on her son's arm. " Darling, I'll do my best with your father. It's just going to take some time to get him used to it."

"That's another thing. The President would like us all to come for the weekend at Camp David. I'm sure she'll be calling or having someone on staff call to formally invite you."

"Wow... so it won't be as easy as I thought." She smiled. "Well, don't worry about your father, darling, I'll handle him."

Josh grinned and gave his mother a kiss on the cheek before standing up. "Thanks Mom, you're the best. I have to go. You'll call me though... after you've talked to him."

"Joshua..."

He turned around.

"It will work out, sweetheart. I promise."

He smiled. "Thanks, Mom."

Joshua left his parent's house and almost as if on cue the phone rang. Sarah looked at it before answering, hesitating and coming to the conclusion that it was more than likely one of two people.

"Hello." Sarah answered, letting out a breath of relief when she heard the voice on the other end of the line. "Madame President. Good morning."

Mac smiled on the other end of the phone. Knowing the Templeton's for many years now, she'd always wondered how it was that such a sweet woman like Sarah ended up with a man like Nathan. "Good morning Sarah, I hope I haven't called too early?"

"Oh, no, no I've been up for hours," she said cheerfully. "In fact, Joshua just left, after informing me of this morning's happenings."

Mac leaned back in her plush chair, behind her desk."Ah, yes... it was quite the discovery, which is precisely why I'm calling. I'm sure it came as quite a shock to you, as it was to us, but I'm hoping we can make the best of the situation. I assume he mentioned my invitation for this weekend?"

" Yes he did. I also agree that we should all try and get to know one another a bit better. Our children seem quite serious."

"Yes they do. I'm not sure if Joshua is the same, but I've never seen Avery act this way before about anyone. They really do seem to care about one another and I think it would be good if we tried showing them that we support them."

"I guess you and I are on the same page, Madame President." Sarah smiled. "Now the only difficult part is to get our husbands to agree with us," she joked.

Mac chuckled, " Yes, if Nathan's reaction was anything like Rod's, I think we're going to have our hands full... well maybe you more than I."

"Oh don't worry about Nathan. I'll get him on board. We would be delighted to join you and your family this weekend ma'am."

"Great. I will see you then, bye Sarah."

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Nathan walked into his home, after a morning of golf and an afternoon of work, and as usual retreated straight into the living room before hearing his wife's voice from the dinning room.

"Nathan darling, dinner is ready. Come and eat before it gets cold."

Nathan furrowed his brow. Instinctively he knew something must be up. Usually Sarah would join him on the couch to catch up with each other before their meal. The only time they ate first was when they were celebrating or if Sarah knew something he wouldn't like. She knew him very well... understood that the best way to get to Nathan Templeton was through food as he could never resist one of his favorite meals. He walked into the dinning room and saw many of his favorite dishes out on the table; Roasted potatoes, baked, lemon and garlic chicken, and a bottle of his favorite wine, slightly chilled. Sarah appeared from the kitchen. Smiling she gave her husband a kiss on the cheek and placed the salad she'd been carrying on the table.

"How was your day sweetheart?" she asked gesturing him to sit down.

Nathan played along. "It was all right, not too much to do on the hill today, but some paper work. However, my golf game was spectacular. I only wished I'd been playing against Calloway. I'd have loved to take him down a peg... Although with this spread," he gestured to the table, "I'm assuming my good mood is not going to last."

" Don't be such a pessimist darling. Really, you never know I may have good news for you."

"Is it good news?" he asked taking a sip from his wine glass.

"Well, for our son yes, for you, maybe not."

He leaned back in his chair, hoping it would soften the blow in case he keeled over. "All right, just tell me."

Sarah smiled. " He's in love, darling. Isn't that wonderful? A lovely girl too."

Nathan's fist's tightened around the arm rest of his chair. "Avery Calloway isn't it?"

Sarah simply nodded.

"Bloody hell! I told you, didn't I? I knew that girl had trapped him. She's been gunning for him all along."

"Now, Nathan really, you don't really believe that. This is not as horrible as you make it out to be. Can't you just be happy for our son, our ONLY son, Nathan? We are his parents, we should want him to be happy. He's a good man, darling–a wise man. In fact, he's a lot like his father."

She watched the wheels churning in his mind. He wasn't really listening to her, probably coming up with a million ideas to sabotage the relationship. "I won't allow you to bring him down or do either of them any harm . . . Nathan I know you, I know how you work. This is one matter you will stay out of."

"Dammit Sarah, there are many other women out there he could choose from anyone and he has to go and choose Calloway's daughter? It's as if he's trying to bring me down."

"Nathan he is doing no such thing. You just have to put your feelings aside and accept this. Get to know her, then judge whether you like her or not. But you will not judge her over the fact that you want her mother's job and hate her father."

Tapping his finger on the table, his mind changed tactics. "This is a fleeting romance. He's going to realize she is not in his league." He nodded. " Let him have his fun as long as I don't have to participate."

"Well it won't be as simple as that, darling. The President has invited us to Camp David for the weekend and I accepted. I would also like to have Avery over for dinner tomorrow night . . . and yes you must be respectful. This isn't a fleeting thing, sweetheart. I can feel it in my gut."

"Uh oh," he thought, knowing all about his wife's gut feelings. "Why do you say that?"

"Do you remember when Joshua accompanied us to Africa when he was ten?"

"Yeah..."

"We took him to a hospital and to an orphanage where we saw that not only was the infant mortality rate high but also great numbers of women were dying in childbirth because of poor nutrition, and a lack of skilled doctors and medical care."

"So?"

"Nathan, that is when Josh told us he wanted to become a doctor–an obstetrician."

"What does that have to do with today?"

"Because talking about Avery... he had that same serious look on his face and resolve in his voice."

"Bloody hell! If age won't kill me this will."