Hi there. I am so sorry for the delay in publishing this episode. I have been away from a decent internet connection for the past few weeks, and my computer crashed in the meantime, making me write on my iPad, which is quite a pain. Anyway, I stop complaining, this is the last chapter of this story. The epilogue. I truly loved writing it, since it started really different from what I was used to writing. I am really grateful to all of you who commented and favorited and followed this story, I never expected to have that many followers in such a slow time for the show. I hope you will like this epilogue, even though it comes super late.

June 7, remember to log on Netflix and watch season 3, I cannot wait to see what they will come up with, the trailer really pumped me for this. If you want to talk about it at some point, I'm your girl, drop a PM or follow me on Twitter, same handle than here.

See you soon for more stories I hope!

Epilogue

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Aaron asked.

"Yeah, I can't anymore. I need a break, I need to take time for myself, and for Liv." Emily answered.

Aaron looked at her in the eyes, towering over her and trying to detect any ounce of hesitation in her eyes, but he couldn't see any. She was resigning.

"You know there is no going back?"

"I know, but I am sure I'll find something that I like, the time come."

Aaron nodded and kissed her forehead before letting her head toward the Oval Office. Emily had her resignation letter in her hands and was leaving the Chief of Staff's office. The one she had used for the past year. She had thought about this every which way, but in the end she knew she didn't have a choice. Even though everything was personally fine since she and Aaron had gotten back together a couple of weeks ago, everything was really too hard to handle professionally.

Everyday was a struggle to get out of bed, everyday was a struggle to get to work, and everyday was a struggle to think about all the challenges that were awaiting.

At first, she thought it was just because everything was a mess in her life. Then, she thought it was the lack of sleep. But after a few days of rest, she still felt tired and realized that it wasn't the problem. It was the job, nothing more. She had spent most of the past year running here and there, pregnant and barely taking time for her, and with the birth of Olivia, it had become unbearable.

"Mr. President…" she said, handing him her letter as she arrived in the Oval Office.

"Emily…" he sighed. "Are you sure?"

"I am. I need to refocus. I am becoming crazy, I am not my usual self anymore… And I fear that I am letting you down. I need to leave before I make an unforgivable mistake."

"You know how sad I am to see you go, but I cannot say that I am very surprised. I know how hard it's been for you the past few weeks."

Emily just nodded. She didn't want to enlarge on her personal life, even if she knew that the President knew everything already.

"Know that the time come, when you'll be ready to come back, you'll have a seat at my table." he asserted.

"Thank you, Sir."

Tom Kirkman took a step toward Emily and hugged her kindly. She had always been and would alway be much more than a senior adviser to him, just like he was much more than the President to her. Leaving his office for the last time, she finally shed a tear, thinking about everything that had happened, but knowing that she would never regret her choice.

When she came home that night, after packing her office, Aaron was walking by her side, holding her hand. They were welcomed by Gemma who had picked up Olivia earlier in the evening, and they talked, drank wine and remembered everything that the White House had brought them.

"So, you basically forced me to work at the White House a year ago, and now you are the one leaving. What am I gonna do without you?" Gemma asked.

"I'm sure you'll do fine without me, and you'll be able to push his buttons without me interfering…" she joked, pointing at Aaron.

"Though, if you could avoid being a pain…" Aaron added, chuckling and making the girls laugh.

"What are you going to do now?" Gemma asked Emily.

"For now, take care of Liv, take care of myself, sleep more. And when I'll be ready, I'll think of something."

"I'm sure you'll be back at the White House…" Aaron stated.

"What makes you so sure?" Emily asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You'll always have a seat by his side, he told you. And the man loves you more than his own children…" Aaron laughed.

"You know that's not true."

"Okay, it's not. He loves his children more, but he really cares about you. He'll always have your back."

And that's how a few months later, they were joined by Seth and Nadia on that same couch, talking and drinking wine, celebrating Emily's new job at the White House.

These four months off had done a huge difference in Emily's state of mind. She was feeling refreshed and ready to tackle new challenges. She had been named Associate Director of Intergovernmental Affairs. It was a less demanding position, but still high enough for someone like Emily who had been the White House Chief of Staff. That position required Emily to travel a lot, but at least she was home most nights to take care of Olivia, and that's what she wanted the most. On nights when she couldn't be home, she knew that Aaron was there for them. In a few months, Aaron had proven to be the best father and best boyfriend Emily could ever hope for. He had become her rock, the one person she could count on at any time.

"So, when are you moving in together?" Gemma suddenly asked.

She made Aaron and Emily almost choke on their glass of wine while Seth and Nadia started laughing at their embarrassment.

"What?" Emily exclaimed, shocked.

"Isn't it time for you to move in together? I mean, especially since you're starting to work again…" Gemma continued.

The red-haired had not stopped teasing the pair, especially after succeeding in her plan to get them back together. She was just too proud of herself to even think about stopping.

"Come on, you're embarrassing them…" Seth continued on a teasing tone, making them all laugh even more.

"Be sure I'll lock you in that damn apartment again if I have to. And I'm serious!" Gemma exclaimed.

"Yeah, no thank you. We'll take it one step at a time." Aaron finally answered.

The truth was, they had not talked about it together. They were not sure they were ready for that step, even though everything was great between the two of them. They had finally found a good balance between everything going on in their life and they were not sure they wanted to change it yet. Even though they were spending most of their nights together, especially in the four months Emily had not worked, they knew it was a big step to move in together. It meant they wouldn't be able to count on Gemma as much as they were now, it meant they wouldn't have date nights as often as they wanted to, it meant that they were ready to stand each other's daily life.

"Marriage then?" Gemma continued.

"Hard no for both of us!" Aaron exclaimed.

"Yeah, we don't want to get married." Emily confirmed.

"Not fun, I wanted to organize a big wedding for the two of you…" Nadia pouted.

"Or babies then! You make very cute babies!" Gemma exclaimed.

"Gemma…" Emily groaned.

Everybody in the room new about her fertility issues, she had ended up telling them all, but it didn't make it more fun to talk about.

"Come on, it took you one night to make such a cute kid…" Gemma continued, looking at Olivia on her lap. "So I'm sorry to say this, but it's definitely not a fertility problem, but a chemistry one…"

Everybody laughed and Emily buried her head in Aaron's neck, embarrassed that people would laugh about her private life.

"Ok, enough…" Nadia said, coming to the pair's rescue. "How do you like that new job?" she asked Emily.

"It's great! I'm really happy Kirkman offered me this position. I mean, it coincided so well with Stevenson's departure, and I like working with people outside of Washington. I tended to forget that there is a life outside of the capital. You know, when you're spending so much time working for the federal government, you forget where you're from…"

Nadia nodded, Aaron gave a faint smile. They too, could understand that. Talking often together, they needed to remind each other that they had a family in Texas. They had come to Washington to make a difference, to represent people like them, who didn't come from wealthy families. Sometimes, caught up in things, they tended to forget about it.

"And I like that I can travel, but that I can still be home almost every night to take care of Olivia." Emily continued.

"And Aaron…" Gemma hinted with a teasing tone.

"Oh, shut up…" Emily laughed, threatening to throw a cushion toward Gemma.

Everybody laughed. Everybody knew it was true. In just a few months, Emily and Aaron had become that kind of couple that couldn't live without the other.

"Oh, come on… You know it's true! Every night, I can hear you say 'I'm going to Aaron's'" Gemma said, imitating Emily's voice in a mocking tone.

Everybody laughed as she buried her head in Aaron's neck once more. He tightened his grip around her shoulders and kissed her forehead.

"Ignore them…" he just whispered.

A few hours later that night, as Aaron was sound asleep, Emily couldn't help but toss. She was overthinking, like she often did. She couldn't sleep and ended up waking Aaron up, without meaning to.

"Babe…" he groaned, still half-asleep.

"I'm sorry…" Emily said. "I promise I'll stop tossing…"

They stayed silent for a couple of minutes, Aaron trying to surface and Emily doing her best to stay put, not wanting to toss more.

"Ok, tell me… What is going on?" Aaron asked, pulling her against him.

"Nothing, I'm sorry… Just go back to sleep…" Emily ignored.

"Em… Babe."

Aaron didn't want to take no for an answer. He could feel that something was going on with her, and he didn't like that. He knew he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep anymore.

"It's just…" Emily started. "I keep thinking about what we talked about in the evening…"

"You'll have to be more precise…"

"About moving in together…"

"Is it because I said one step at a time that you are worried?"

Emily nodded, and even in the dark of the room Aaron could see it.

"Babe, I just said that to brush things off. We haven't even talked about it together yet." Aaron explained.

"Yeah… I know it's stupid to worry about that, but I cannot help it…"

"Why are you worrying? Do you want us to move in together?"

"I don't know… Do you?"

"I asked you first, Em…"

"I think I do. But what if everything falls apart because we cannot handle living together?"

"Why would that even happen? We basically already live together…"

"Yeah, but…"

There was a silence as Emily was thinking, unable to finish her sentence.

"Em… Don't worry, we'll move in together when we feel like moving in together, we don't have to rush. If it's tomorrow, it's fine by me, if it's in six months, it's fine too. I don't want you to feel pressured.

"But isn't Gemma right? Don't you think it would be better if we were living together, now that I started working again?"

"Maybe Em. Probably... But I don't want us to rush things just because you started working again or because Gemma said so..."

"Ok..."

Emily sighed and wrapped her arm around Aaron's chest, holding tight to him. She didn't seem convinced with Aaron's comment, and he could feel it too. It was the insecurities coming back, she knew it. She knew she still had a lot of progress to make before feeling completely at ease with someone and be able to tell that person everything.

"You want me to tell you that we should move in together now?" Aaron asked.

"I'm just afraid I'm pushing things, that you don't want the same things that I want." Emily admitted.

"If there is one thing I can assure you, it's that nothing is too fast when it comes to you and me. No matter what, we will be fine, because I know you, and you know me, and we know how to overcome the challenges between us. Okay?"

"Okay." Emily answered.

"So, you know what we should do tomorrow?" Aaron asked.

"No?"

"We're going to start looking at apartments where we can live together, and we're going to take our time until we find the perfect place for the three of us. Deal?"

"Deal."

"Don't forget that, Em. When you worry about something, when you feel like you're drowning, remember that you and me, we're endgame. I can promise you that because I am sure of it. Forever."

"Forever."