Chapter 22: Epilogue

Alex was feeling like crap all morning, she had found some really important news yesterday but she didn't have time to talk to Tom at all, hopefully she'll catch up on him later, she hates keeping secrets from him especially something as important. Walking to the dining room she sees Tom sitting there, his glasses slipping low on his nose, deeply distracted by the news paper. She walks to him and wraps her arms around his shoulders leaning down and kissing his cheek "Anything fun there?" she asks him, she can see his smile forming "Nah, just boring" he tells her turning to face her. She missed seeing him smile like that, but these days it feels like she found the man he used to be before the bombing again. She gives him another kiss, this time on the lips, before walking to the chair to his right, her hand was itching to get to the coffee but she had promised to cut down on and so reluctantly she reached for the orange juice. They ate breakfast in relative silence, Alex was just trying to gather the courage to tell him the news but couldn't. When she sees him getting his briefcase ready she almost panics.

"You have a fundraiser today right?" he asks and she realizes that she needs to tell him now, "Yes, I want to tell you something." Tom offers her an apologetic look, "Is it important? I'm already late for a meeting with Forstell."Alex bites her lip, this wasn't that important of course it could wait, "No, it can wait." She tells him, "I'll wait." She smiles at him, trying to hide the disappointment with herself, she should have talked to him sooner, "Great. Love you." He tells her before kissing her in a hurry again and almost running out the door.

"I love too." Alex murmurs to the closing door.

Tom walks in the office, John already waiting for him there, "Thank you for seeing me so fast sir," he tells him shaking his hand, Tom leaves the briefcase on the desk and leads John to the couch where he waves him to take a seat.

"No problem John, just tell me what's wrong, and I'm sorry if I was late but I overslept today." John smiles, "Not a problem sir." He says. He reaches in his briefcase and removes a quite thick folder passing it on to Tom "The real problem is Pax Americana."

"They're dead aren't they? I mean they lost their leadership." Tom says putting on his glasses and opening the folder, he was sure that with Lloyd's death Pax American must have been dead.

"I'm afraid they are not. They are looking for a leader and I'm pretty sure they are uniting under Senator Bowman since his campaign has showed a strong connection with the alt right. We already received some threats against you and Congressman Young which have been forwarded to the secret service" Tom feels his blood freezing, if these madmen have threatened him and Charlie then Alex and Zoey have received threats too, not to mention their kids. "Thank you, about," he starts but John cuts him off fast, "We didn't get any specific threats about the first lady." Tom breathes out in relief, "Thank you, you'll keep your eye open though right?"He asks John who smiles understandable and reassures him, "Of course."

"I'll have a talk with Senator Bowman inform him of the danger." Tom tells John who nods and stands up, "That would be good."

"Thank you director." Tom shakes John's hand after the man picked his things up.

"Have a good day sir."

Alex was walking to the car when she started feeling lightheaded, she guessed that this was about to happen at one point, she's surprised it took so long to be honest. She grips Daisy's arm, her new head of security and tells her, "Daisy, don't get worried, but um," Daisy looks at her worried, but Alex can't really speak for a moment "I am," she takes another break and leans forward to steady herself on the car. "I'm going to collapse." Daisy's grip strengths and Tony, the other agent opens the door.

"Ma'am, are you alright?" Daisy asks her as soon as she's in the car. Alex leans back with her eyes closed, "Um, yeah it's normal." She opens her eyes and smiles a bit to her agent, her puzzled face slowly lights up with the realization, "Ma'am are you?" Alex nods and closes her eyes again, "We need to rush to the hospital!" Daisy yells at the driver.

Life was good at the moment, after everything he went through, after everything they went through their lives were finally in order, at least as much in order as their lives could be in the middle of the elections. Tom knew he would face an uphill battle when he decided to run as an independent but he doesn't regret it, Alex once asked him "Who are we without our principals Tom?" and now he knew the answer, they were nothing, absolutely nothing without their principals. Even if those principals make life harder for all of them.

Alex had left for a fundraiser she was hosting; she would have to be back at any moment now. Bored he turned on the TV mindlessly scrolling through the channels; the breaking news graphic caught his eye while on CNN and stopped to see what that would be. He rolled his eyes at Wolf Blitzer, he was sure the news that they reached a deal to raise the debt limit would have broke sooner but apparently not. Still those are not breaking news. He chuckles and settles back into his chair comfortably when Emily barges through his door, a disheveled look on her face, worry in her eyes.

"Emily what's going on?" he asks her, the look in her eyes is worrying him so badly. "Sir, Agent Burrows called, the first lady… Alex wasn't feeling well and they are driving her to George Washington." Tom feels the blood in his veins freezing, this can't be happening again, his brain shut down and he felt his whole body paralyzing.

"Why? Emily is she alright?" he asks as soon as he finds his voice again. "She said that she was fine and fighting her detail but she collapsed getting in her car and they weren't taking any chances." He feels the breath he was holding leaving his lungs, if Alex was fighting the secret service agents then she was alright.

"I have to go to her now!"

The ride to the hospital was short; the motorcade speeded through the streets which were cleared for them. The car barely stops at the hospital and Tom was already out of it not waiting for Mike to check the area and open the door for him. He can barely listen to his dear friend calling his name as he speeded towards the emergency room where she probably was.

"Where is she?" he looks around the room, there's a nurse few feet away in a room, a glass window between them but doesn't answer him, he feels his head spinning, why no one tells him where Alex was? "WHERE IS MY WIFE?" the tone of his voice takes the nurse by surprise he just realizes that the glass must be thicker than it looks. He walks outside of the room his voice steady, he slowly and gently takes his arm, "Sir, Mrs. Kirkman is this way" he tells him and leads him towards the trauma room in the back of the ER; it's the most secluded one, the most private. He leaves him alone; Tom is almost too confused, the adrenaline slowly draining from his veins. He barely manages to thank the man before pushing the door open. Alex was standing next to a bed, a nurse was standing in the back, he could hear her tiding things up but didn't really care to look for her. His eyes were focused on Alex. She was buttoning her crimson shirt, already wearing her pants, the paper hospital gown discarded on the unmade bed.

"Tom!" he takes her extended hand in his, it's warm, soft, calming. He walks the last few steps closer to her, close enough to wrap his free hand around her waist. "Can we have the room please?" the nurse in the back is hesitant Tom finally turns and sees her, she's an older woman, around sixty, her brown hair graying slowly, her blue eyes piercing as she studies them both. "I'm fine" Alex reassures her and she turns, closing the door behind her she secludes them again into their own private world.

"Hey" he can't stop himself wrapping his arms tightly around her, one arm tightly around her waist, the other finding itself tangled in her hair.

"Hey" his voice is muffled, his face hidden between her neck and her shoulder he knows she can feel his rapid heartbeat, he knows she can feel the few tears escaping his eyes.

"I'm alright Tom." She tells him, he wants to believe her he really does but Emily's words are ringing in his brain, "Emily said you weren't feeling well, she said you fainted." Alex chuckles, "Oh please I felt a little light headed and lost my step it was nothing." She protests.

"Alex it wasn't nothing, they wouldn't bring you to the hospital for nothing!" her indifference to the fact that she was brought in the emergency room baffled him.

"Tom it was nothing, it's actually absolutely normal in my condition." The last word, 'condition' made him freeze, what could she mean? "Condition? Alex please tell me you'll alright."

Alex can't help herself but roll her eyes, her husband really was as observing as a brick wall, "I am Tom." She tells him, "Then why are you here?" she bites her lip, this is now or never she thinks, obviously this wasn't how she wanted to tell him but it will do.

"Well it has something to do with what I wanted to tell you this morning." She looks at his face, all twisted with worry and takes pity on him "I am pregnant Tom."

There's a silence for a few moments, Tom almost too shocked to react, she's worried until he starts rumbling, "You… you are…" he stops taking a few breaths, it's like his brain can't comprehend what he heard. "Really?" he asks, Alex nods, a smile on her face that recently almost became permanent, "Oh my god, we're having another baby." His exited almost scream made her laugh, "We are!" she confirms to him. she barely managed to finish her sentence when Tom just wrapped his arms tightly around her, she doesn't mind, instead she buried her face on his shoulder, maybe this wasn't the way she had planned the announcement to go but she realizes now that it was just perfect anyway.

He pulls back the tears in his eyes for the first time in a long while filled with happiness "I love you both so much." He tells her kissing her again and again.

Alex laughs when she sees him dropping on his knees, his ear on her still flat stomach as he starts talking to their baby, "Hey baby, this is your dad, I love you so much." She starts running her hand through his hair and he looks up, "Please don't give your mom too much trouble will you?"

THE END

A/N: We made it! Here's the very last chapter of "Faithfully Yours". Now there will be a sequel later on but until then I hope you guys will enjoy the rest of my stories. Thank you for sticking along.

Till next time, have fun!