I can finally breathe again after the stress of last week. For a while there, I thought that we were going to have to cancel our travel plans. Some days, I miss being the deputy Chief of Staff and not being brought into the room quite so early in the process. Getting briefed on chatter about planned terror attacks the week before holiday travel will really do a number to the blood pressure.
But we got a sleeper cell. We stopped their plans, and we have even better intel for the future. And my wife and daughter are standing here with me watching the President pardon a turkey, none-the-wiser.
It's not that I don't trust Donna with the information, it's that I don't want to take away any more of her innocence than is already gone. And since Matt decided not to tell Helen, I didn't need to tell Donna.
Sam catches my eyes as he pulls Ainsley in a little closer. I'm sure he's feeling the same way about being on the inside right now. Sometimes I feel bad for sucking him back into this life, but most of the time, I'm incredibly glad he's the one doing this with me.
"Gobble, Gobble. Daddy. Gobble, gobble." Lulu pulls me out of my morose thoughts, patting my face and pointing to the turkey.
"Gobble, gobble." I repeat back to her under my breath shifting her to my other hip. Just a couple more hours here and we can get going. I'm ready to try to relax and I find that much easier when we are with our family who understands what our jobs are like.
Bram steps to the podium and starts singing "We gather together." I'm happy to join in. The irony of how many hymns I've learned is not lost on me. But I am thankful to be standing here. Thankful for another day with my family. Thankful for the ability to make a difference in the world.
Once the song is over, Lulu claps her hands in delight. She does love music. In a few years, I'll buy her a piano.
President Santos waves to the crowd as he leaves the Rose Garden to go back to the Oval Office. I hand Lulu off to Donna. "We'll be up in a bit." I place a kiss on her cheek as she starts to follow Helen, Peter and Miranda toward the Residence.
The White House Press Corps doesn't even blink at our affection anymore. At first we were a bit of a human interest story, but we've grown boring, which is perfectly fine with me.
Instead of taking his chair behind the desk, Matt sits down in an arm chair. I take my customary place across from him. As the Senior staff filters back inside, they join us in various seats.
"Nice job, Bram." Matt offers him with a smiles.
"Thank you, sir. Those years of glee club have really paid off."
"I'm sure your Mom is very proud."
"You know it. I'm sure they taped it off c-span and everyone will be forced to watch it again after dinner tomorrow."
"Speaking of tomorrow." I chime in with a serious tone and everyone groans. Ha. Got them. "We are done for the day. I wish all of you a very happy Thanksgiving. Enjoy your time with family and friends."
Matt grins at me and stands up. Everyone follows suit, then wishes the President a happy thanksgiving and heads out the door. I know my staff. They'll all go back to their desk and finish up any last minute things. I also know that most of them don't have anything to work on, so I hope they'll go home.
When it's just Matt, Sam and I left, I give them an update.
"The agency has continued to monitor all chatter. They have believable intelligence that this attack has been completely thwarted. They are confident that simply raising the terror alert level to what is normal for holiday travel is sufficient."
"So Josh, are YOU confident in this decision?"
"Yes, Mr. President. They arrested the sleepers on Sunday. They got all of them and they got all the devices and plans. There is nothing from the chatter either before or after to give any indication that there is anything else in the works for this weekend. I'm confident enough to fly through Logan myself, and take my family."
"I gotta tell you," Sam confesses, "I don't mind being the one that is staying in town this time. I'm a little surprised you are getting on a plane tonight. Honestly, man. I sort of expected that you'd be wrapping Donna and Lulu up in bubble wrap and staying home this weekend."
"We have to trust our intelligence and we have to live our lives, Sam. It is hard, but we can't live in fear. We have to lead."
"Well said, Josh." Matt gives me his half smile and nod that let's me know I've impressed him. "Besides, Sam, the real reason you didn't want to travel is that you didn't want to have to visit your in-laws. You're just happy to have your wife to yourself this weekend."
"Well, yes, that is true."
"How is Ainsley feeling?"
"Hungry. All the time."
"And how is that any different?"
"It's not. It's just the combination of things that she eats! I guess I'm not surprised that she got the weird craving thing going on."
"So what are you guys doing for dinner tomorrow?"
"We ordered a pre-cooked turkey. Bram is actually staying in town too. He's stopping by and he's bringing someone with him."
"Anyone we know?" Matt asks. He's just as much a yenta as Jed Bartlet was.
"As a matter of fact, nice young lady name Karen. Works outside your wife's office."
"Really! I wonder if Donna knows." This could be good. I can drive her crazy dangling a juicy bit of gossip over her head.
"All right you two, speaking of wives. I promised ours we wouldn't linger any longer than necessary after the ceremony. See you Monday, Sam."
Matt heads toward the door. "I'll catch up with you in a minute." I tell him as I turn towards Sam.
"Alright, buddy. Thanks for manning the fort. I'm only a phone call away if you need me."
"I won't let you down."
"You never do."
I give Sam one last grin and hussle out the door after Matt. He's walking fairly slowly to allow me to catch up. I appreciate it.
"Sam's set for this weekend. He'll call me if something happens. But hopefully all will be quiet."
"It'll be fine, Josh. Try to relax this weekend."
"Says the man who's never vacationed with Jed Bartlet." I chuckle.
"He's not one for relaxing?" Matt looks confused.
"His version of relaxing is a recitation of some inane trivia. And Donna encourages him! At some point, I'll probably hear all about the history of the yam. In Latin."
Matt chuckles then. He thinks I'm kidding. I'm not, but the truth is, now that his lectures don't come in the middle of the night and the middle of the oval office, I don't mind them so much. And I love watching him holding Lulu while explaining the purposes of rotational planting half way through singing Old MacDonald had a Farm.
When we arrive on the second floor, we find the girls in the living room drinking coffee without any kids around.
"Where's Lulu?"
"Miranda's room. They are playing tea party."
I'm not so sure about a seven and a half year old watching a one year old. Donna notices my discomfort and smiles gently at me. "Peter's in there too."
Ah. Okay. That's better. He's a good kid, he'll make sure Lulu doesn't put anything in her mouth that she's not supposed to.
I catch Helen throwing a conspiratorial wink at Donna while I walk over to the coffee cart and pour myself a cup. Sometimes I swear the two of them spend their days figuring out how to push my boundaries. They probably have a bet going on how long it will take me to go check up on Lulu.
Well, hell. I don't care.
"I'm just going to go check on her." I throw over my shoulder as I head out the door.
I'm barely in the hallway when I hear Helen announce. "Two minutes." I don't even think they are trying to hold back their laughter.
Miranda gives me a bright smile as I enter the room. "Tio Josh!"
Then Lulu turns and grins at me too. "Da-dee!" She quickly crawls to my leg. "Up." She demands.
"Hold on, baby girl. I've got coffee here."
"I'll hold it." Peter offers, holding out his hand.
"Thanks, man."
Once I hand him the cup, I pick Lulu up and give her a hug and a kiss.
"Will you finish the tea party with us, Tio Josh?" Miranda begs in a sweet voice.
"Sure, sweetie." I plop Lulu back into the little chair, then sit down on the floor next to her.
Miranda pretends to pour me a cup of tea, then places a small plate with a fake cupcake in front of me. While I am, enjoying my imaginary drink, Peter takes a drink of my coffee and makes a face.
"Dude. You might want to wait a few years to start that habit."
"Yeah, I guess."
"Nobody else in your class drinks coffee, do they?" I guess maybe they do? I know Anna was hitting me up for Starbucks runs last summer, but she's in high school.
"I don't know." Peter scowls and takes another drink. I'm no expert on child behavior but even I can tell that his attitude completely changed when I mentioned school. Matt told me that things aren't going so well this year. I wonder if I can get him to open up.
"Hey. Everything okay?" While I get up and join him on the bed, Lulu looks at me with big eyes. "You're fine. I'm not going anywhere." I tell her as I settle back against the wall.
Peter hands me my coffee and I take a long drink, while I wait him out for a response. But he remains stubbornly silent.
"You can talk to me, Pete. What's going on?"
"Nothing. I just can't wait to get out of here and go home."
"This isn't home?"
"No. Houston is home. I hate it here. I hate my school. I don't have any friends. At least I'm about to get to go spend some time with my cousins."
Donna appears in the door before I can respond to Peter. "Josh, we'd better get going."
Peter looks back down at his book. He obviously thinks our conversation is over. But I don't want to leave it like that. I need to know if it's more that just general teenage unhappiness.
"Peter. Is someone harassing you at school?"
"No. It's fine. I gotta go finish packing." He slides off the bed. "See you later."
"Bye, Peter. Have a nice thanksgiving." Donna brushes her hand over his head as he walks by and looks at me with worried eyes. I wonder if she knows anything more about the situation than I do.
As I scoop Lulu up into my arms, Miranda makes a little pouty face. "Say goodbye to Miranda," I tell Lulu.
"Bye Bye" Lulu offers with a wave. Miranda smiles and waves back.
"Bye Lulu. Happy Thanksgiving."
Donna gives Miranda a hug, and I place a kiss on the top of her head.
"Be good this weekend. We'll see you Monday."
"Bye Tio Josh. Bye Tia Donna." Miranda calls out as we leave her room.'
. . . .
While we are in the VIP lounge waiting to board, I take Lulu's hands in mine and walk her around the room trying to burn off a little energy. Donna spreads a blanket out and dumps some toys on it, so we eventually sit down and play a little.
Before too long, Kevin puts his hand to his ear piece for a minute. "They're ready for you to board."
"Oh good." Donna scoops everything up into the diaper bag, while I pick Lulu up. "We're ready too." She informs Kevin.
He puts his wrist to his mouth. "Copy that. Backpack, Bulldog and Bean in transit."
He leads us out the door, and Susan follows. Once we reach the gate, the airline agent smiles and waves at Lulu as we walk by. Lulu smiles back at her but snuggles deeper into my shoulder. This isn't really a good time for her to nap, but it will be nice if she's this snuggly for the whole flight.
Kevin stands in the aisle as Donna takes her seat. As I'm handing Lulu to her, I hear the unmistakeably snarky sound of what Donna likes to call a "capitol wife."
"Oh great! A baby in first class. There goes our quiet flight."
I lean around Kevin to get a better look and lock eyes with Mr. Jackson, Massachusetts 5th. I give him my best "Don't mess with me stare" and his eyes start to pop out of his head.
As I'm taking my seat, I hear his rather loud whisper. "Shut up, dear! Do you have any idea who that is?!
I have to grin a little at Donna as I sit down. It's nice to know I still have the ability to quell congressmen with a single glance. It's kind of my super-power. That and I'm also the reigning champ at speed diaper changes.
Donna just rolls her eyes, while Lulu reaches out to me. As I settle her on my lap, Donna pulls out the baby flight vest and puts it on Lulu, then hooks the seat belt into mine. I wasn't really sure about this but Donna has convinced me that it will be just as good as a car seat in the case of turbulence.
Next Donna pulls out a pacifier and hands it to Lulu. I don't know why Donna does this every time we fly. Lulu doesn't really use them, and I don't think we really want her to start now.
Lulu puts it in her mouth gives it a couple of sucks, then pulls it out and looks it all over in confusion. I hold out my hand and she gives it to me, so I stick it in my pocket. If she starts fussing, I guess I might offer it to her again, but I doubt it.
Finally, as we start the take off, Donna hands Lulu a sippy cup with some water in it. Hopefully drinking that will help her ears pop.
Lulu's eyes get as big as saucers as the engines rev and we take off down the runaway. Even though she's probably already flown at least 10 times, she's still startled by it. She whimpers a little and I hold her close. "Drink your water, Lulu, it's okay, Daddy's got you."
Once we are to cruising altitude, she settles down against me. "Ohs, Mama?"
Donna produces a container of snacks and a couple of books from the diaper bag. After the first book, Lulu is already squirming.
"Mama" she whines holding out her arms. Donna unbuckles the belt and transfers Lulu over to her lap. "Ohs?"
I give Lulu a few more ohs, while Donna reads her another book. As soon as it's done, Lulu is reaching back to me. "Da-dee. Da-dee."
"No, Lulu. Stay here." Donna tells her, causing Lulu's lip to pop out. She's not a fan of "no."
"Da-dee?" She whimpers a little, breaking my heart. I look to Donna. I want to take Lulu, but I don't want to undermine what Donna just said.
"Read another story with Mama, first Lulu." I hand her "Barnyard Dance" which Donna reads "hoe-down style," causing Lulu to giggle. But again, as soon as the book is done, Lulu is reaching for me.
Donna juggles her back over to my lap with a sigh. Man, it's going to be a long flight.