Russell's weeks leading up to the State of the Union address were filled with endless revisions and agonizing over every word and nuance. Stevie was settling into Hurst's office and learning that there was more to the role of vice president than was generally known. They saw each other a couple of times each week in the evenings but it was easy to avoid scrutiny. Russell didn't want possible fallout from their relationship to affect the speech but when it was over they wouldn't have to be so cautious. They wouldn't advertise their relationship but they wouldn't hide it either.

The evening after the address Russell got Ken and Logan on a three-way call. After asking about their classes he dove in. He knew that they knew something was up because the last time he called them at the same time was to tell them about Carol.

"There's a woman who's become important to me since your mother died."

Silence. Russell decided to give them a minute to process.

"So you're seeing someone," Logan said.

"Yeah."

"That's a relief," Ken said.

"I was afraid you might think it's too soon."

"It sort of is but it's still a relief."

"How so?"

"Dad, we thought you were calling to say your heart was worse. That you needed a transplant or you were dying."

"I'm glad my news is better by comparison. So, what do you think?"

"Will you give her up if we don't like the idea?"

Russell paused. "No."

"There you go. What we think doesn't matter. I'm okay with it, by the way."

"You sure?"

"Pretty much."

"Care to weigh in, Logan?"

"I'm glad to hear it, in a way. I mean, Mom's gone and we're not around. You need somebody."

"When do we meet her?" Ken asked.

"You already have. Stephanie McCord."

Silence. Again, Russell decided to give them a minute to process.

"Wait. She's your intern. Isn't that illegal?"

"Not unless some other charge is involved, like financial misconduct. But ethically it's a bad idea which is why she transferred to the vice president's staff."

"How old is she?" Logan asked suspiciously.

"Twenty-five."

Logan laughed. "This conversation has come full circle. You're going to need that heart transplant, Dad."

Meanwhile, Stevie thought it was only fair to let her new boss know. On Friday afternoon she asked for a few minutes with Teresa Hurst. Stevie liked her even though the vice president and secretary of state hadn't gotten along at first and might ending up opposing each other for the presidential nomination.

"I have a personal relationship with someone in the west wing. It's recent but word will get around and I wanted you to hear it from me."

"I appreciate that. Who is it?"

"Russell Jackson."

"So that's why he sent you to me."

"He didn't send me, I asked to be transferred to your staff. I'll resign if you want."

"Not at all. Thank you for telling me."

"Thank you for not saying all the things people will probably say."

"If I could think of anything original, I'd say it but I bet you've already heard it from your parents. Does the president know?"

"Russell told him."

"You must love him, or you have political ambitions, or you're a power fucker."

Stevie was a little shocked by the veep's frankness but she refused to show it. She smiled and said, "Why can't it be all three?"

That evening Elizabeth arrived home in high spirits. "It's been a great week and I want to celebrate. We haven't been to brunch together for ages."

"I'm busy," Jason said immediately.

"With what on a Sunday morning?" Henry asked.

"I'll think of something and get back to you."

"Jason …"

"Henry, he doesn't want to go. Stevie, ask Russell."

So Stevie called Russell in private. "We don't have to go. I'm staying over tomorrow night and we could sleep in instead."

"Your parents are making an effort. We'll go."

The news broke Sunday afternoon in a gossip column online: Secretary of State Elizabeth McCord and husband Dr. Henry McCord had brunch with their daughter Stephanie McCord and White House chief of staff Russell Jackson. Jackson and McCord arrived together at the Blue Duck Tavern. They left holding hands and walked to his house.

"Why does Stevie have to ruin my life?" Jason asked his parents.

"Pretty sure that wasn't her intention," Henry replied.

"You've done a couple of things that brought unwelcome attention to this family," Elizabeth said.

"But every time Stevie has a date, we suffer. She's a magnet for bad boyfriends. What am I going to say at school tomorrow?"

"Think of something that doesn't include the words 'magnet for bad boyfriends'," Henry said.

"Something that won't embarrass your sister or Russell," Elizabeth said. "Or your father and me if possible."

"I won't be able to say anything!"

Henry looked at Elizabeth. "He's catching on."

Alison called from college. "What are you going to do about this, Mom?"

"Secretary of State has no involvement in the matter."

"You know what I mean. Did you and Dad know?"

"Yes, they told us."

"And?"

"And we took them to brunch. Russell wanted to pay but we insisted."

"You're not going to be serious. I'm calling Dad."

"I wish you would."

"Hi, Noodle."

"Dad, are you and Mom okay about Stevie and Russell?"

"It was a surprise but we're not disowning her over it."

"No, you're rewarding them with brunch."

"Russell's picking up the tab next time."

"Again with the brunch bill! You're not taking this seriously."

"We are, Alison, but think about it. There's nothing we can do. And as we also told your brother, it's not your place to make trouble for your sister."

Silence for a moment. "I really do want Stevie to be happy," Alison said. "She hasn't had such good luck."

"Your sister has had several relationships the past few years that ultimately didn't work out. Pretty normal for twenty-five. It's become a family joke and that's not fair to Stevie. That's on your mother and me for making too big a deal of it. We're all going to stop now, okay?"

"Okay. 'Night, Dad."

"Goodnight, Noodle."

No one met Elizabeth at the elevator when she arrived at work Monday morning. She found her staff gathered around Blake's desk.

She peered over their shoulders. "What's going on?"

Blake jumped up, appalled at his dereliction of duty. "I'm so sorry ma'am."

"Must be something really interesting," Elizabeth said with a knowing smile.

"Is that irony or sarcasm, ma'am?" Jay asked.

"I knew you'd have a sense of humor about it," Daisy said.

"Props on going to brunch with them," Matt said. "That's class."

"Kat, do you have anything to add before we get to work for the taxpayers?"

"I called it when Stevie moved to the veep's office."

It was a hot topic and Stevie had to endure a lot of looks and some comments and questions. Henry called at nine.

"How about lunch somewhere quiet? You could probably use a break by then."

"Yes, please."

"It'll blow over in a few days."

"I know. Russell and Mom are probably going through it, too."

"They're tough pros. I'm not taking them to lunch."

At ten o'clock Blake entered Elizabeth's office. "Russell Jackson is here. He says he needs to discuss the 'SM' situation with you. I feel it's in poor taste for him to refer to your daughter that way and would be happy to refuse him admittance."

Elizabeth leaned over to look past Blake.

"Did he follow me in, ma'am?"

"Yes, he did. As he so often does."

"Close the door on your way out," Russell said.

Five minutes later Elizabeth called Blake in. "Get everybody working on San Marino."

Jay burst into the office. "Ma'am, something is happening near Italy. A microstate called San Marino. Kat is on it."

"Excellent. Brief me in twenty."

"Your staff seems competent to take it from here," Russell said.

"The SM situation," Blake said to Russell. "I apologize for the earlier misunderstanding."

"Accepted."

"It's just that I'm very protective of Stevie."

"And you think I'm not?"

"Well. I suppose you would be. In light of recent events."

"I always have been."

"That's a fair point, sir."

Russell departed.

At eleven, news broke of the crisis in San Marino. This captured the attention of almost everyone due to something happening where so little ever happened that hardly anybody had heard of the place. That it was also known as The Most Serene Republic of San Marino added to the novelty. Within hours Frank Costanza's mantra of 'Serenity Now!' had been revived from the archives of the Jerry Seinfeld series. An age gap relationship between White House staffers was old news.

"I'm sorry about San Marino," Stevie said when she met her dad at the pub. "But the timing couldn't have been better."

"Exceptionally good timing," Henry said meaningfully.

They looked at each other.

"Is it possible?" Stevie asked.

"Definitely."

"Mom engineered a crisis to take attention from Russell and me?"

"What? No! She wouldn't do that. But I bet she knew it was going to happen and that's why we went to brunch on Sunday so your news would break first and then get swallowed when San Marino went viral."

"I wonder if Russell knew."

"Of course he did. They orchestrated this together but it's a toss-up whose idea it was to begin with."

It had indeed been orchestrated. Russell had gone to the McCord house late Thursday night. Everyone was in bed but Elizabeth was accustomed to being awakened at odd hours.

"There's a situation developing in San Marino that we could use to our advantage," Russell said. "If we want to make things easier for Stevie."

"I like it," Elizabeth said after he explained. "Nothing can be done to stop it so my office won't be blamed for not stepping in. And it's not terrible, it's just interesting enough to dominate the news cycle for a couple of days. Timing is everything. When will it break?"

"By noon on Monday."

"We'll go to brunch on Sunday. You and Stevie will be in the news by afternoon but you can avoid the vultures on a weekend."

"Monday morning will be bad."

"We're used to much worse. Stevie will have to suck it up. It shouldn't be dodged entirely anyway. People need a few hours to express their uninformed opinions about something that is none of their business or they'll come back to it later."

Monday night Henry waited until they went to bed to ask, "Was it your idea or Russell's?"

Elizabeth wasn't surprised that her husband had caught on. "Russell's. He's got that photographic memory. The feeds from Europe are always stuffed with data. No one else paid attention to that single line about San Marino."

"He really does care about Stevie."

"He always has. He's loved her platonically since they met. Now he's in love with her, too."

"I'm starting to hope it works out for them," Henry said. "Because I'm going to be upset with Stevie if she dumps Russell."