The pregnancy was good timing. If all went well, Stevie would finish finals the first week of May, graduate the third week and deliver the first week of June. But she wouldn't be going to Ken's graduation from Northwestern the third week of June. Russell and Logan would travel to Illinois and it was likely that some of the McCords would join them.

The nursery was finished. They had decided to use the small bedroom off the master bedroom. Russell no longer needed to crash there to avoid disturbing Carol who had needed her sleep in order to rise early and operate. When Ivy was old enough the guest room across the hall would be her bedroom.

Stevie was becoming uncomfortable. She was big, May was warm and June would probably be hot. Finals were over and she would graduate in two weeks. Her due date was two weeks after graduation but babies were unpredictable. She was torn between wanting to attend the ceremony and hoping she would go into labor a little early. She was turning into a shrew, too, but Russell just raised one eyebrow in a superior way if she snapped at him. This infuriated Stevie because she couldn't raise one eyebrow at a time.

He was rubbing cream on her belly to prevent stretch marks. He didn't care if she had stretch marks but she worried about them so he had brought the cream home and it did feel good even if she ended up with stretch marks after all. Still, she couldn't resist jabbing him.

"Your part was easy. I have to do the hard part."

"You wouldn't have a hard part if my part hadn't got hard."

Stevie burst out laughing. "Did you make a dick joke?"

"Apparently."

"I owe you a treat for that."

"It's a treat to rub your belly."

"So you don't want the blowjob?"

"If I turn it down you might think I don't find you attractive so yes, I accept the offer. Under duress."

Despite being very pregnant Stevie had decided to participate in the full commencement experience. She would march in with the other graduates instead of going directly to the stage. She felt well enough and the exercise might even lead to labor.

The ceremony was organized chaos but it stayed on schedule. Stevie glanced over to see her family and Matt from the security detail in the front row. Geri was seated behind her mother and Frank stood watching. Graduate names were called alphabetically and they had reached M. Stevie got ready to rise since she needed a couple of extra seconds to perform that maneuver lately.

Henry and Elizabeth held hands as they watched their daughter cross the stage. This was name recognition only. Diplomas would be received later. It had been a long journey for Stevie but the past year everything had sped up. She would graduate and have a baby before her first anniversary. Suddenly everyone in their row leaned forward with wide eyes. Stevie had paused and bent over slightly. She took a breath, straightened and moved on. Henry, Elizabeth, Matt, Russell, Alison and Jason all sighed and settled back in their seats.

A whisper of voices reached Elizabeth: "Babe?" and "Ma'am?" on either side of her. "Bess?" from beyond Matt. "Mom?" echoed twice from the end. They were looking to her as the voice of personal experience with pregnancy to tell them what just happened.

"Did her water break?" Alison asked.

"She's not leaking," Jason said.

"Contraction?" Russell asked.

"Cramp?" was Henry's guess.

"Indigestion?" was Matt's contribution.

"I can't be sure because of the gown but it looks like she's carrying lower than before," Elizabeth said. "I think the baby dropped."

Henry nodded. "Usually happens a couple of weeks before delivery."

"She seems okay now," Russell said with relief. "But let's get out of here."

They made their way to Copley Lawn where diplomas were being distributed. Stevie waddled toward them holding hers up triumphantly. "I think the baby dropped!" She kissed Russell. "You all looked like you were going to leap up on the stage."

"Do you want to go home instead of having lunch out?" Russell asked.

"We have reservations and I'm hungry," Stevie replied. "Feed our baby and my officially educated brain." She kissed Russell again.

It lasted longer this time until Jason said, "Come up for air. That baby is going to be oxygen deprived."

Alison elbowed him, Elizabeth glared and Henry shook his head.

"What? We were all thinking it."

They went to Fiola for Italian. Stevie conferenced with Ken and Logan who were finishing finals and couldn't get back to DC. After their congratulations she told them about the baby dropping. "You should have seen them. Half out of their seats with horrified looks. I thought they were going to rush the stage."

A week before her due date Stevie asked Russell, "Did you jerk off in the shower?"

"Yes."

"You don't have to do that."

"We're not going to risk contractions by having sex and blowjobs aren't really working anymore."

"The last one was awkward, wasn't it?"

"For you. I had no complaints."

"I could give you a handjob."

"You'd probably get over stimulated and go into labor. I don't mind. It's not the first time I jerked off while thinking about you."

"When was that?"

"Couple months after Carol died I dreamed about you."

"Did I do filthy things to you?"

"We were mutually filthy and I woke up in need of relief. I was in denial about you so I tried to think of Carol but I couldn't get you out of my mind."

"That's when you froze me out at work!"

"It didn't help so I decided to embrace my perversion and ask you to that Christmas party."

"I thought about you first."

"When?"

"After we packed up Carol's things I almost jumped you when I was leaving so I went home and took care of myself. And after the Christmas party. That kiss …"

"Yeah. That kiss is why I caved completely and invited you for New Year's Eve. I knew what would happen and I wanted it too much to give you up."

"That's so sweet, that you even thought you could give me up."

"If I really wanted to end it I would have."

"But I wouldn't have let you."

"What could you do? Stalk me?"

"Absolutely."

"How?"

"I still had clearance to the White House. I could have come in when you were working late, alone, and locked us in."

"Sounds like you've given this some thought."

"It's a fantasy of mine."

"Maybe we should make it happen."

"We'll have a few months after Ivy is born before you leave the White House."

The day before her due date Stevie woke up needing to pee, as she had done an hour ago and two hours before that. This time her lower back hurt more than usual. Sunday morning was the only day Russell could hope to sleep in so Stevie got up as quietly as possible. Russell had slept through her previous bathroom visits but when she came back to bed this time he was awake and told her to lay down facing away from him so he could rub her back.

She sighed with pleasure. "You're the best husband ever."

"I've had practice. I was terrible my first marriage but better with Carol. I should be perfect for my fourth or fifth wife."

"I'm not normally vindictive but I'll make sure you can't afford to marry again if you try to get rid of me. Besides, divorce is messy and depressing and you've been through it already. Let's stay married and happy."

"If you insist. You know you're in the first stage of labor?"

"Maybe I'll deliver today instead of tomorrow."

Stevie didn't tell her mother what was happening when Elizabeth called to ask how she was. Her parents had taken turns calling every morning the past week. It was too early in the process to read them in.

The day dragged as the first stage slowly played out. Stevie, usually calm, was restless. Russell, who erupted easily, was even-tempered. Mild, infrequent contractions became stronger and more regular. When her water broke Russell helped Stevie shower and dress. Thomas drove them to the hospital. Stevie was in active labor now but only dilated to five centimeters. By midnight she was at seven centimeters and moving into the final transition stage.

Ivy Elizabeth Jackson was born just after one a.m. She was red and wrinkled but she had a healthy squall and her infatuated parents were delighted with her. She was cleaned, checked, measured and handed back to her mother for her first feeding.

"Perfect timing," Stevie said. "We don't have to let anyone know until morning."

"Henry and Bess will be here ten minutes after they find out. And it's Henry's turn to call this morning, which he'll do before they leave the house."

"We'll send a text at six."

The text read: Baby born 1:06 am. All good.

Elizabeth and Henry looked at each other.

"Unacceptable," Elizabeth said.

"It's a little light on details," Henry agreed.

They had just finished dressing so they skipped breakfast – including coffee – and the motorcade took them to the hospital.

"They're all asleep," the duty nurse whispered outside Stevie's room.

"Boy or girl?" Elizabeth asked.

"They want to tell you themselves," the nurse said. "You can peek in. They'll probably be waking up soon."

Stevie was holding the baby and was curled up beside Russell who was stretched out beside her. Her hair was pulled back in a high ponytail. She looked pretty and was smiling in her sleep. Elizabeth and Henry had never seen Russell anything but perfectly groomed until now. He had stubble and his clothes were rumpled. But the big disappointment was the bundle of baby. It was wrapped in the usual cream blanket with pink and blue stripes. They had assumed it would be wearing a pink or blue cap but no, it was green.

"Foiled again," Henry murmured.

"This is getting ridiculous," Elizabeth muttered. "Our grandchild is almost six hours old and we can't find out the sex."

Russell's eyes opened and he yawned. He looked over, waved them in and kissed Stevie's cheek. "Wake up. Moment of truth has arrived."

Stevie's eyes fluttered open and she smiled so sweetly that her parents melted. "Come and meet Ivy Elizabeth Jackson."

Elizabeth's mouth opened and her eyes filled. "Henry," she said shakily.

"I know, babe, I know."

Elizabeth approached the bed and kissed Stevie's forehead then she focused on the baby. "Okay, totally worth the wait. And her name … thank you."

Russell had gotten up from the other side of the bed. Henry hugged him. It was too big a moment for a handshake.

Stevie offered the bundle to her mother.

Elizabeth stood, swaying slightly as you do when holding a baby. "Our baby girl has a baby girl."

Henry got his phone out to take a picture. "Three generations of women: Adams, McCord and Jackson."

"Ivy was Russell's mother's name. I hope you don't mind that yours is her middle name," Stevie said.

"It's perfect, it flows. Besides, if her first name was Elizabeth she'd have to go by Ivy to have a name of her own. Will has always called me Lizzie. Russell and Conrad call me Bess. Everybody else calls me Elizabeth."

"Not me," Henry said. "I call you babe."

"And I'm grateful you still want to. But you know what I mean. We're running out of nicknames for Elizabeth." Elizabeth paused. "I wonder what she'll call me. I forgot about a grandma name."

"That'll keep you busy for awhile," Henry said. "Let me hold her while you think about it."

Elizabeth hugged Russell before they left. "You're my favorite son-in-law."

"A title I'll retain until Alison gets married."

"Maybe longer. You kind of wormed your way into my heart, Russell. And now you've given me a granddaughter."

"Ivy is a big win for all of us."

Elizabeth's motorcade dropped Henry at the White House before going on to the state department. Her staff was waiting. Elizabeth refused to hear anything about work until she shared the news of her namesake and showed pictures of her and Henry with their granddaughter.

"Congratulations, Ma'am," Jay said.

"She's a doll," Daisy said. "I wish she and Joanna were closer in age so they could have play dates."

"Girls are great," Matt said. "But boys got no representation in this group. Daisy, Kat and Jay have daughters and now MSec has a granddaughter."

"You could try to even it up," Jay said. "It's your turn or Blake's."

"No thank you," Blake said. "I was born to be an uncle."

"Look at her cap," Elizabeth said. "Green! They didn't even use pink to give us a clue."

"Maybe they used green because of her name," Kat said. "Green for Ivy."

Elizabeth was stunned. "That completely went over my head. I hope Henry doesn't figure it out. I am so going to claim your idea as my own."

Stevie and Ivy wouldn't go home until the next morning so Elizabeth's motorcade picked Henry up at five and they headed back to the hospital.

"Conrad was just off the phone with Russell when I got in this morning so he called me in to see pictures. He noticed the green cap and said they must have chosen it because her name is Ivy. I hadn't even thought of that."

"This is why you're an ethics advisor. You fessed up. Kat said the same thing but I was going to tell you I thought of it."

At the hospital they admired the green cap and said it was a cute idea choosing green for Ivy.

After they left Stevie asked, "Were you thinking green for Ivy? Because I wasn't."

"Of course not," Russell replied. "We were keeping them from knowing she was a girl as long as possible."

"That seems a little petty now. Let's go with green for Ivy."

Alison was designing for her label and Jason had a summer job but they were both in DC so Ivy's aunt and uncle had been to the hospital that day. Ken and Logan were in Chicago and Boston and wouldn't see Ivy in person for two weeks.

Ken's graduation was guys only. Henry and Jason flew to Chicago with Russell and Logan. Elizabeth and Alison practically camped out at the Jackson house with Stevie and Ivy.

There was a family meeting after the guys got home and Ken and Logan had met their sister. Russell and Stevie asked Elizabeth and Henry to be Ivy's guardians if anything should happen. If the McCords were unable to do it, Ken was next in line. It was understood that if the unthinkable should occur and both Stevie and Russell were gone, the whole family would care for Ivy no matter who her official guardian was.

When Ivy was a month old Sam Evans called Russell and asked to see him. Russell went to Pennsylvania two days later.

"You probably know why I wanted to talk," Sam said.

"You retired last year at fifty-five. Has that health issue we discussed manifested?"

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Russell said sincerely. "There are more medical options now?"

"I'm on a cocktail of drugs. Remains to be seen how well I'll do. I hoped to have longer. I may still have a few good years but I didn't want to chance public embarrassment. I wanted to thank you for a few years ago when you … "

"Blackmailed you?"

"Let's call it bringing pressure to bear. I resented the hell out of you at the time but now, well, I wouldn't have made it through one term. I've continued to wonder if you were bluffing."

"I wasn't. You made the right call to withdraw."

"I'm also grateful that you never released it."

"I said I wouldn't."

"That kind of promise doesn't usually hold for more than a year. Then an 'unfortunate leak' occurs. When it didn't happen I started thinking and I believe I've got you figured out. You're surprisingly principled for a guy who likes to give the impression he'll cut corners."

"I cut corners judiciously. Giving the impression it's not always judicious is good for the cutthroat image."

"Conrad Dalton is lucky to have you. He's possibly the best president of the past fifty years and that's due to you and Elizabeth McCord."

"No president does it alone. But he's the one who picks his people and listens to them."

"I would have liked the opportunity to build a team like that but I'm almost glad I didn't get it. Dalton would have been a hard act to follow."

"You once offered to keep McCord and me in your administration. That shows good judgment, if I say so myself."

"Probably would have fired you after a few months."

"Only to be expected."

"I apologize for not offering my condolences when Carol died. The first signs of early onset Alzheimers were starting and I let things slide. I was sorry to hear about it."

"Thanks. You may have heard that I married again."

"Yeah, I was planning my exit by then and more things slipped through. McCord's daughter, right? And you just had a baby?"

"She's a month old."

"Well, my congratulations are timely for that at least. No offense meant but will you be able to put the fear of Russell Jackson into her boyfriends when the time comes?"

"I'm going to rely on that quote about old age and treachery beating youth and innocence."

"My money's on you." Evans paused. "I understand now how former presidents – any politicos, really – can be friends later. In the thick of it everything seems to matter so much, including your side winning. A little distance and you gain perspective." Evans stood up and offered a hand. "It's been a privilege, Russell. Thanks for coming."

Russell stood and shook his hand. "A privilege for me, too, Sam. Good luck."

Meanwhile, Stevie was having her own encounter with an old acquaintance.

Roland Hobbs, whose term as poet laureate had expired two years before, was an infamous curmudgeon who disliked cities in general and DC in particular. Still, he had to emerge from self-imposed exile occasionally if he wanted to make a living. He called Russell Jackson's office and asked for Stevie.

"Stevie doesn't work here anymore," Adele told him.

"That's right, she'd be married by now. Is she still in DC?"

"Of course."

"You think she'd have lunch with me?"

"I don't know her schedule but you could ask."

"How about if you ask? I don't have her number but I bet you do. Tell her to meet me at Washington's Tooth at twelve-thirty. If she doesn't show, I'll just get drunk without her." Hobbs hung up.

Stevie laughed when Adele called to tell her. "I'll be there. That pub is kind of our place."

Roland had downed a couple of ales by the time Stevie arrived with Ivy. "Good lord, you procreated. How long has it been?"

"Three and a half years."

"I thought you'd be in the UK by now. Is Jareth still viewing the universe through the lens of physics?"

"You need to get out of the wilds of New England more often. Jareth and I broke up ages ago."

"Did that weasel leave you with a baby Brit to raise alone?"

"She's pure American. This is Ivy Elizabeth Jackson."

"Jackson? You don't mean Russell Jackson!"

"We got married last year. You didn't hear about us?"

"Contrary to the insular thinking of Washington DC, many people outside the beltway don't care what happens inside it. However, in this particular instance I would like to be informed."

"Russell's wife died. After a while, we … "

"Hooked up?"

Stevie sighed. "Yes. I left his office, we got married and Ivy was born a month ago."

"If only I'd known you liked older men and that Jareth would be out of the picture soon."

"It's not that I like older men, it's that I love Russell."

"That doesn't bode well for me. All right, hand her over."

Misanthropic Roland Hobbs turned out to be surprisingly good with a baby.

One afternoon Elena called Stevie to the basement where a pool of murky water was spreading around the floor drain.

"Tree roots blocked the drain years ago," Elena said. "Maybe they grew back."

"Do you know who to call?"

Elena called the company the Jacksons had used but it was a one-man shop and he was closed for a week while on vacation.

"I know a guy," Stevie said. "Kind of insufferable but he's always fixed problems for my parents."

Stevie called Earl who arrived within an hour. She stayed downstairs while he snaked the drain.

"You're the oldest daughter, right?" Earl asked over the sound of the blades clearing the sewer line.

"Yes, I'm married with a baby now."

"Take care of your pipes and you'll have a happy life."

"I will. I learned from Mom and Dad's mistakes."

"Good for you," Earl said approvingly, oblivious to Stevie's facetious tone. "What does your husband do?"

"Russell is White House chief of staff."

"I knew a Russ Jackson forty years ago in Baltimore. Different guy. He was a couple of years older than me," Earl said, obviously assuming that Stevie's husband would be close to her age.

"Actually, my husband is older and he grew up in Baltimore."

"Huh. You think it could be him? Russ was a little guy but a tough bastard. Excuse my language."

"Sounds like him. Did he have a brother who died?"

"Yeah, I didn't really know Kenny."

Stevie called Russell. "Do you remember Earl Walters from Baltimore?"

"Sure. His family moved the summer before I went to Harvard."

"He's my family's plumber. The basement drain was blocked so I called him and we just found out you know each other. Do you want to come home and see him?"

"I'll have to come back here later but yeah, I'll be home in twenty."

Earl had finished and was packing up his equipment when Russell came down the stairs. The men looked at each other for a long moment.

"Earl, you annoying asshole," Russell said with a trace of affection in his voice.

"Russ, you pompous pipsqueak," Earl replied.

"Do you have another plumbing crisis waiting or can you stay for a beer?"

"If you've put politics on hold, I can do the same for plumbing."

They settled on the sofa and tapped their bottles together.

"I shouldn't be surprised you ended up in DC. You followed politics since middle school."

"And I shouldn't be surprised that we live in the same city and didn't know it. You never paid attention to politics."

Stevie came in with Ivy, handed her to Russell and went out again.

"You robbed the cradle, Russ, and then filled it again. My kids are older than your wife."

"I've got two sons a few years younger than Stevie. Their mother died. This is Ivy."

"Hey, that was your mother's name, wasn't it?

"Yep."

"Pretty baby. She's got your hair. Or lack thereof."

"She's got a good chance of growing some. I do not."

"So, chief of staff. That's important."

"Plumbing and politics are both important. And oddly similar."

"I guess we both have to deal with shit sometimes."

"You got that right. And we probably make about the same doing it."

Russell, smitten with his daughter, came home for lunch when his schedule allowed. Elena had fixed him something healthy so he took it upstairs to talk with Stevie while Ivy nursed. She was sleepy afterward. Stevie left her to nap and went downstairs with Russell to say goodbye.

"I had an appointment with my GYN this morning. We can have sex again."

"You tell me this on my way out the door?"

"Something to look forward to."

Russell was home by six. Stevie met him at the door.

"Ivy is fed and sleeping, for the moment. I thought we could have dinner and go to bed early."

"Bed early sounds good. Let's reverse the agenda and eat later."

"Are you home early because you're horny?"

"What did you expect? I had the least productive afternoon ever."

They started up the stairs.

"What did you have to pretend interest in?" Stevie asked.

"I don't know. I was in the oval with POTUS and your mother at one point. She was happy when we left so I must have agreed to something I'll regret tomorrow."

"I'm going to make this so worthwhile for you."

"I know. I may not even try to walk back that meeting."

Later …

"I missed you, Russell. That felt really good."

"Probably because the last thing in there was Ivy. I fit better."

"How was it for you? Am I loose and disgusting?"

"Tight as ever. You've practically turned your vagina into a chastity belt with those kegels."

"I made you come with those kegels our first time together."

"I made you come first. Then I was getting close and you squeezed. Good thing you were on top or I would have collapsed on you."

"You did collapse on me the next morning."

"You made me come that time, too."

"I didn't squeeze. I didn't have time."

"You had one leg wrapped around my waist with your foot between my legs. Your heel bumped my balls and it was all over."

"No wonder you wouldn't let me shower with you."

"I could break a hip if I fell."

"I'm going to start weaning Ivy at six to eight months."

"I thought you were breastfeeding a full year."

"Is it selfish of me to want my boobs available for recreational purposes? For that I need your mouth instead of Ivy's."

"Happy to be of service."

At the McCord house Henry offered to fix Elizabeth dinner but she grazed from various leftovers instead.

"Marriage has mellowed Russell," she announced.

"He was married to Carol without mellowing."

"Then it must be marriage to Stevie. Or maybe it's Ivy. We didn't know Russell when his boys were small. Is it possible he likes children?"

"He loves his own and he cares about the welfare of children in general but I'm not sure he likes all children in person."

"Well, something has made him agreeable. We were in the oval this afternoon and I expected pushback but when Conrad asked his thoughts Russell said he trusted my instincts."

"He's agreed with you before."

"But not before presenting a differing viewpoint so Conrad will know the pros and cons. Now that I think about it I'm not even sure he was listening."

"I think I know what it is. I had lunch with Stevie yesterday and she mentioned she had a doctor appointment today. Ivy is six weeks old. You know what that means."

"Henry, no, we weren't ever going to think about them having sex."

"I thought that was just the first few months until we got used to the idea. It's not like I'm thinking of it often but I bet it's happening right now."

Elizabeth dropped her fork in the sink and put the container she was eating out of in the fridge. "Let's go back to your lunch with Stevie. At their house?"

"Yeah."

"So you're sneaking in extra time with our granddaughter. Without me."

"I saw her, sure, but I also saw our daughter."

"For lunch. Did Ivy join you?"

"Mm-hm."

"Did you eat with one hand while holding her?"

"Babe, it's not a contest. I had some free time."

"This is so unfair. You have more free time than I do."

"The next time we babysit you can hold Ivy all evening. I gift you with my turn."

Elizabeth kissed him. "Thank you. Let's go upstairs and pretend we had a baby six weeks ago."

"It feels like our last time was six weeks ago."

Several years before, in an attempt to lower his blood pressure, Russell had resumed his boyhood hobby of assembling model airplanes. He had put three of them together.

"Why did you stop?" Stevie asked. "There are dozens more you could do."

"Same reason I stopped using the desk treadmill. Got tired of it and it was in the way, sitting there mocking me for not using it."

"That was at work. Models are for home."

"I have to set aside a certain amount of time. It's not something you can do for a few minutes."

"That's the point, to set aside time and relax."

"I'm relaxed. My blood pressure is okay. All my numbers are pretty good. Maybe I'll read something for fun instead of homework."

"Great idea."

Twenty minutes later Russell was bored. The novel was well-written and the plot had sounded interesting but nothing seemed to hold his attention like real world affairs. Stevie was nowhere in sight. Russell laid the book aside, went upstairs and found her in the guest room. A table was set up in the corner with a jigsaw puzzle spread across it. The pieces were right side up and she had separated out the edges and was constructing the frame.

"Book not good?"

"I started skimming."

"You should probably stick to nonfiction."

"Mm." Russell picked up a piece and added it to the frame. He studied the table for a minute and placed two more pieces.

"You can pull up a chair if you like."

"Might as well. I don't feel like trying to find another book."

An hour later, with a sizable portion of the puzzle completed, Ivy cried out from across the hall. Russell brought her to the guest room, handed off to Stevie, and went back to the puzzle.

Stevie smiled as Ivy nursed. "I think you have a new hobby."

"Why didn't you suggest this years ago instead of yoga or meditation?"

"Jigsaw puzzles seemed too mundane for you."

"Maybe I'll get tired of it eventually but I'll stick with it for awhile. How did you get started?"

"Mom and Dad like them. They don't do them very often now but in Virginia we always had one going from the time we kids were old enough not to choke on the pieces."

Russell paled. "We have to lock this room before Ivy can crawl."

Stevie and Russell stayed in with Ivy on their first anniversary. She was ten weeks old. They had been out several times since she was born. Elizabeth and Henry insisted on being the first call for babysitting but if they weren't available, Elena was eager to fill in. This evening, with Ivy fed, changed and in her crib, Russell made dinner and Stevie provided entertainment afterward. She had discovered that I Love You More Today Than Yesterday had been another favorite of Russell's mother. Stevie liked the lyrics so she borrowed her father's guitar, practiced the chords and sang to Russell.

Afterward she played the original by Spiral Starecase on her phone. Ivy woke up while they were dancing. Stevie held her and Russell held Stevie as they finished their dance in the nursery. Ivy was asleep again before the music stopped.