Elizabeth and Henry had taken a long weekend together out of DC over New Year's. They got home at six. Lights were on but that didn't mean anything because there was usually a light on even if no one was there.

"Hello!" "Anybody home?"

"In here," Stevie called out. "Ali and Jase are out. Separately of course, not together."

As she was taking off her coat Elizabeth asked, "Did you stay home alone so we wouldn't come home to an empty house?"

Henry reached the living room first. "She's not alone, Russell is here."

Elizabeth took in the scene. Stevie and Russell were on the sofa, legs stretched out with feet on the coffee table. She took a moment to notice their shoes were off so the surface of the table was safe. There was a bowl of popcorn. She turned to Henry and said, "Huh," in a very pointed way.

"Yeah." Henry drew the syllable out.

"So, we have something to tell you," Stevie said, "but it sounds like you already know. Which Russell thought you might."

Elizabeth and Henry sat down.

"Go ahead." Elizabeth's voice was tight. "Tell us."

"If you already know …"

"Suspect, not know." There was an edge to Henry's voice. "We don't want to labor under any misapprehension so please make it clear."

"Well, we've spent a lot of time together and not only at the office …" Stevie's voice trailed off as she realized the boss-intern relationship wasn't a good thing to emphasize. She tried a different tack. "We've gotten close since Russell's …" Her voice trailed off again because Carol's death wasn't a good lead-in either.

Russell took over. "Your daughter and I have developed feelings for each other over the past months and recently acted on those feelings."

"There!" Elizabeth spread her hands and looked at Stevie. "That's the way to do it."

"Succinct," Henry added but it didn't sound as if he admired Russell for it.

Stevie's eyes filled with tears. "I was nervous. You've never made it easy for me to talk about boyfriends because you never liked any of them. I know this isn't a conventional relationship but it's important to us and I hoped you would see that and maybe respect me a little."

"Oh, honey …" Henry's voice trailed off.

"Sweetheart, we're sorry," Elizabeth said. She turned to Henry. "Aren't we?"

"Yes. You're right, Stevie. We handled this badly."

"We thought something might be happening," Elizabeth said, "but it was still a shock. Look, Dad and I will go up and dump our stuff then we'll come back down and we'll all talk, okay?"

Stevie nodded. Russell put his arm around her. "Talk is good but don't make her cry again." There was steel in his voice on the last five words.

Upstairs, Elizabeth said, "Wow! Russell Jackson just called us on our parenting."

"It only stings because he was right."

"But is he? She's our daughter. We're concerned."

"I'm not sure how this slipped past us but really, what are our options here? She's twenty-five years old."

"Barely. And she lives at home."

"Are we going with 'She has to abide by our rules while under our roof'? Because Russell has a roof, too."

"He wouldn't let her live with him. He's her boss!"

"Do you want to bet that Stevie will be transferring out of his office tomorrow? Russell won't let sexual misconduct happen with someone in his office."

"It already has."

"Yeah, today. And he'll take care of it tomorrow. I don't think anything happened until now or we would have had this conversation already."

"We've got nothing," Elizabeth said with surprise. "We thought we had parental authority but we don't."

"Because Stevie is still living at home, we thought of her as under our control. If she was in better shape financially she'd have a place of her own and we wouldn't know anything about her sex life."

"That would be so wonderful. I want that."

Henry shook his head. "That ship has sunk, babe."

"The expression is 'That ship has sailed'."

"I said sunk and I meant it."

"It does fit." Elizabeth sighed. "We need to go down. They'll know we've been conspiring up here."

"And they're conspiring down there."

"I don't want it to feel like us versus them."

"It doesn't have to be that way. We'll tell them our concerns and they'll address them and if they make sense we accept defeat gracefully."

"It's not fair. Stevie has Russell on her side."

"She finally found a man who can take us on and win."

"I hate to admit it but I like that he was protective of her. It was sweet."

"Stevie has always had a humanizing effect on Russell."

"I knew it was go time as soon as you said Russell was here. I could hear it in your voice, and when I saw them on the sofa I knew why."

"If they had been at opposite ends I might have thought Russell was lonely on New Year's Day and stopped by. But there's not a quarter inch between them."

"I know, right?" Elizabeth paused. "We used to sit that close."

"We still do sometimes."

"Sure. But more when we were twenty-five."

"Only one of them is twenty-five. Let's go down before I get mad again."

With Elizabeth and Henry safely out of earshot, Russell said, "I have never seen a more masterful manipulation. I believed it at first."

"You don't mind that I turned on the tears?"

"Nope. It shut them down immediately. Makes me glad I have sons instead of daughters. But you can't use it too often."

"Of course not. It's my nuclear option. This is the third and probably last time. I don't think I can get away with it again." Stevie smiled. "Thanks for playing along. Telling them not to make me cry really sold it."

"I wasn't playing along. I meant that."

"I know. I was giving you an out in case you didn't want me to think you were soft."

"I'm beginning to be afraid. You are as smart and ruthless as your parents. Maybe I am soft if I didn't see it before."

"I don't think I was before. I've changed. It started when June died. And then after Carol died, and being with you. I know what I want now and I know how to get it, how to make people listen."

Henry and Elizabeth came back in and sat down.

"So," Henry said. "We suspected feelings were developing at the Christmas party."

"There was a look," Elizabeth said. "I don't think anyone else saw it."

"Feelings were developing before that," Stevie said. "But that's when we knew."

"And now you've 'acted' on them," Henry said with a touch of bitterness.

"Yes, we slept together."

"I like Russell's euphemism better."

"This 'action' means that the White House chief of staff is sleeping with his intern," Elizabeth said. "That has to be dealt with."

"Stevie will be transferring tomorrow," Russell said. "The only question is where."

"Is out of the White House an option?" Henry asked.

Russell said "If Stevie wants that, yes," at the same time that Stevie said "No."

"Two suggestions," Russell offered. "The east wing or the veep's office."

"Explain."

"If Bess becomes president, Henry will be first gentleman. But the country still needs a first lady for certain functions. Or a first daughter. If Stevie transfers to Lydia's staff, she'll have plenty of time to learn the ropes."

"And the veep's office?"

"First lady or daughter is social rather than political and Stevie is more interested in the political side. If she wants to continue in politics, she could transfer to Teresa Hurst's staff at a higher level than intern."

"What about Dalton's staff?"

"Not a good idea. We'd be working too closely together. After Bess is elected she can find a place for Stevie in her administration."

"You're assuming I'll run and win."

"If you don't, the problem goes away because we'll all be out on our asses, including Stevie."

"What if Hurst runs? She'll have to get rid of Stevie. She can't have a spy in her camp."

"Stevie will resign to work on your campaign."

"Obviously a lot of thought has been given to this," Elizabeth said. "If you weren't sitting so close to Stevie I'd think you're dating our daughter as a political pawn."

Russell smiled. "It's a bonus."

Stevie smiled, too. Apparently she didn't feel that Russell's interest was political.

"So, Stevie will make a decision by tomorrow morning and be out of your office by end of day?" Elizabeth asked.

"Yes."

"Next, the age difference," Henry said.

"We can't do anything about our ages," Stevie said.

"So that issue is off the table," Russell added.

Elizabeth looked at Henry. "That did not go how I expected."

"Can you at least acknowledge that thirty years is a lot and we're not out of line to be concerned?" Henry asked.

"Yes," Stevie and Russell said together.

"Feel better now?" Russell asked.

"Again," Elizabeth said. "That was oddly unsatisfying."

"The age difference is absurd," Russell said. "Stevie and I know it, you both know it, everybody will know it. So what?"

Henry nodded. "You're right. I'm just having a hard time getting past the idea that it will be five years before Stevie is half your age."

"I'm sort of stuck on Russell being older than us," Elizabeth said.

"You're whining is duly noted," Stevie said.

"We're starting to snipe at each other," Henry said. "Let's take a break."

Elizabeth chewed a piece of popcorn. And immediately spit into a napkin. "That's not popcorn, it's packing peanuts."

"No salt or butter," Stevie said. "You get used to it."

Elizabeth scooped a small bowlful and took it to the kitchen, sprinkled it with salt, drizzled it with butter from a squeeze bottle and microwaved it for a few seconds. The heavenly aroma wafted around her as she brought it back to the living room to share with Henry.

"That's cruel, Bess," Russell said.

"It brings up another point: your health."

"I get a physical every six months. There hasn't been a problem."

"Since your heart attack, you mean?"

"Which was two years ago. Carol got an annual physical, the last one two months before she died. There are no guarantees."

"True." Elizabeth hesitated. "Carol's death is another thing since it was only five months ago."

"Should we wait six months? A year? Short or long, it's no disrespect to Carol."

"Will your sons feel the same?"

"I don't know," Russell said evenly. "I'll find out when I tell them."

"And when will that be?" Henry asked. "What are your intentions here?"

"We'll see how it goes for a few months. Then Stevie will move in with me."

"So all we can do is hope that you break up?" Elizabeth asked.

"Is that what you really want?" Stevie asked seriously. "Is that what you and Dad will be hoping for?"

"No," Henry said quietly.

"No," Elizabeth agreed. "We love you, Stevie. We kind of love you, Russell. We want both of you to be happy. We're just not used to thinking of that only being possible if you're together."

"We'll get there." Henry sounded resigned.

"Thank you," Stevie said.

"Having you two as parents of my significant other has not been a dream of mine," Russell said. "Until recently."

"When are you going public, or are you going to wait for word to get around?" Elizabeth asked.

"We're hoping to keep it quiet until after the State of the Union. We'll be discreet. I'll tell Ken and Logan after that."

"What about Conrad?"

"I'll give him a heads-up. I don't want him blind-sided if it leaks."

"This is a big deal, isn't it?" Stevie asked.

"I'm afraid so," Elizabeth said. "It should be private but that's not the way it works in this town."