"And they call this the resolute desk." Aaron said, gliding Elena's hand across the smooth wood grains of the desk.

"I color?" Elena asked,eyeballing a cup of pens.

"No baby you can't color. We don't even have crayons." Emily answered, peering out the window into the rose garden.

Elena puckered her bottom lip. She looked up at Aaron. "We get crayons?"

Aaron boasted the toddler up onto his hip. "There's got to be crayons somewhere around here. Come on we'll go ask Mars." Emily suppressed a giggle. Elena already had Aaron wrapped around her tiny finger.

He glanced at Emily, and motioned to the door.

Emily nodded. "Sure".

As the door shut, Emily sank down onto the couch. It's cream-colored cushions were just as soft and plush as she remembered. Her stomach was on edge, quite like the last time she had been in the Oval Office.

"What's this?" President Kirkman asked, examining the envelope Emily had just handed him.

Emily shrugged "Just a little note, That's all. You can read it later."

Tom sleepily smiled. The day had been long and pressing. "Ok. Good night Em."

Emily fought the urge to hug him, over the years he had become more like a father figure than a boss to her. "Goodnight . . . .and thank you."

Tom looked up puzzled. "Thank you?"

Emily fought back tears. "For everything."

The envelope was Emily's resignation. It had killed her to resign, she had high hopes for herself, but it killed her more to think of her and the baby she was carrying, weighing down Aaron's political aspirations. This was the only way.

"Emily." a familiar voice called, snapping her out of her thoughts.

Emily jumped up. " ."

The air was so brittle it could snap. Neither of them spoke, what was there to say?

" . . . I can explain. . . " Emily began.

Tom held up his hand. "Please. You did what was best for your family. I understand completely. Just know, you could have told me."

Emily exhaled, not realising that she had been holding her breath. "I've missed you."

"NO CRAYONS!" Elena cried running full force, Aaron a few paces behind her. "She is fast!"

Tom knelt down. "And who do we have here? What's your name?"

"Elena Alexandria Rhodes!" Elena exclaimed.

Tom looked up at Emily. " Alexandria?"

Emily smiled. "Alex was a strong woman, just like I want Elena to be.'

"Well hello Elena Alexandria Rhodes, I'm your mommy's friend Tom."

Elena crossed her arms. "No Kirk, Minnie Mouse!"

Tom chuckled. "Are you looking for crayons?"

Tom's question piqued the toddler's interest. "Crayons?"

He walked over to the Resolute desk, leaning down to the bottom drawer. "My daughter Penny used to keep a box right.. . . here." he pulled out a small box of Crayolas.

"Crayons!" Elena cheered.

Tom took some paper out of the other desk drawer, and sat down on the floor, motioning for Elena to join him. "I think I can draw Minnie Mouse."

. . .

Aaron tickled Elena, the tot collapsing into a fit of giggles. "Again, again!" she cheered.

Aaron paused, "No. . . no. . .Well. . . " and he tickled her again setting off another peel of laughter.

A shrill voice cut through the laughter. "Oh this is just perfect!"

Tom stood up. "Emily, this is my campaign manager, Lorraine Zimmer."

The room turned to see Lorraine Zimmer sauntering in.

"They tried to throw us with this scandal but jokes on them! She's beautiful! This will be great for our campaign. We'll dress her up in a cutesy little dress, put daddy here in a matching tie, Oh Aaron I love that I get to call you daddy!"

. "NO." Emily interjected sternly.

"Oh chill out, I'm not after your man candy. He's spoken for anyways. " Lorraine snapped.

Emily fought back the twinge of jealousy she felt at the mention of another woman. "No, I mean we're not putting her in the spotlight. I want to keep her away from the media."

Lorraine pursed her lips into a small line. "Like that could even happen. She was already the hottest story of the campaign, might as well spin it to our advantage. She's his twin! The media will just eat her up!"

"She's not some show pony!" Emily shouted.

The president stepped between the two women. "Lorraine, No means no. Emily values her privacy and I value Emily's decision."

"Such wasted good publicity" Lorraine lamented.

Aaron cleared his throat. "My daughter's privacy is more important than any publicity."

"HAVE YOU SEEN THE. . . ." Seth said, barreling into the oval office. All of the color drained from his face. "Emily?"

She waved."Hi Seth"

"You. . . you. . . you're back?" he stammered, still shocked to see her.

"Just visiting."

He glanced over at Elena, still sitting on Aaron's lap. "Well hi there Aaron junior! I'm Seth." he glanced up at Aaron. "Oooh can I be uncle Seth? I've never been anyone's uncle! Man, this is trippy! You and Emily have a KID! Like a real life KID! I mean"

"SETH!" Lorraine snapped, "what did you want to show us?"

"Oh." Seth replied, getting back on track. "Have either of you seen the Washington Post?"

Tom's face curled up in concern. "Is it good news or bad news?"

Seth tossed the paper onto the Resolute desk. "You be the judge."

Emily gasped, studying the paper. "How did they even know where I live?!"

"PLAYING HOUSE?'' The headline read above a picture of Aaron hugging Emily on the steps of Emily's house. "The Vice presidential candidate has a dirty secret. . . and it's not the trash" it read underneath next to a picture of Aaron taking out the trash.

"When did the Post become the National Enquirer?" Aaron scoffed.

"When you decided to have a secret love child and run for Vice President of the United States." Lorraine replied. "Get ready to be the gossip of every paper across this great ol' country."

Emily raked her fingers through her hair. "Great."