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chapter fifty

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i need a place where i can make my bed
a lover's lap where i can lay my head
'cause now the room is spinning
the day's beginning
-Keane, "Atlantic"

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December 23, 2003
6:30 pm

Martin settled back into his chair, reaching underneath the table to clasp Sam's hand in his. Outside the restaurant window the rest of 36th Street fell dark and cold, but inside, Martin felt warm and content. Sam arrived in Washington earlier that afternoon, along with Caro, Tim and the girls. Rebecca and her husband Scott would not get into town until the following morning, but Martin's parents had wanted to take them out to dinner and Maeve, who had been both nanny and housekeeper for the Fitzgerald's for as long as Martin could remember, had volunteered to watch Kelsey and Bridget for the evening.

Sam turned to smile at him and her thumb caressed the back of his hand. He was glad they decided to come here: this was a quiet, intimate restaurant tucked away in a mainly residential neighborhood, but it also happened to be a restaurant that was frequented by many politicians and important members of Capital Hill society. His presence was, therefore, nothing out of the ordinary, and Martin saw how much it eased Sam's comfort level immensely that they did not have to go through the entire dinner feeling every restaurant patron's eyes glued to them.

Even in spite of the fact that he was more used to the attention, he had to admit that it was a relief to be able to have a relatively quiet, uninterrupted meal out with his family and his girlfriend. Although he was glad that he and Sam were being more open now, having disclosed their relationship to the public, there was still a large part of him that wanted to keep this aspect of his life as private as possible. After announcing his intent to run for the open Senate seat just two years prior, he had not dated seriously. He had the occasional date to an obligatory social function as his campaign managers deemed it inappropriate for him to appear at said functions stag; it would cast him in a negative light if he did not at least seem interested in settling down with a family at some point. But with Sam everything was different, particularly after getting the chance to meet her mother; at times when he would get insecure about how Sam saw their future differently than he did, he recalled her mother's reminder to wait patiently for her to realize what she really wants for the future.

Sam squeezed his hand affectionately before returning her attention across the table as his father finished relating a story from the previous week at work, when he had been called into an investigation of the Atlanta office where a few higher level agents had been embezzling money from government funds. He wondered, as he often did, what the significance of his father's long-winded tale was until he heard Sam begin to laugh under her breath.

"Wait," she said, her eyes sparkling with her laughter. His father looked up, puzzled, and made eye contact with her. She smirked, "When you say Talbot Morrison, you don't mean Old Man Morrison who used to teach at the Academy, do you?"

"Old Man Morrison?" Victor narrowed his eyes as he repeated himself. "Well, he did used to teach at Quantico up until a few years ago. Did you have him?"

Sam nodded, still chuckling. "Yeah, I did. He must be pushing 75 by now; I'm just surprised he's not senile." Sam paused and glanced up as though to gage his reaction, then remarked, "I don't remember much about his class though. I had him first after our 6:00 AM drills, so my mind was usually still back in bed."

Martin glanced bemusedly back between Sam and his father as Victor chuckled. "It's good to know things haven't changed that much since my days at Quantico," Victor replied.

At this Martin tilted his head to look at his older sister who was, in turn, grinning back at him. Caroline winked, and he shrugged his shoulders. For years now, his parents had been suggesting women it would be suitable for him to date that he had always assumed that when he found someone he cared enough about to introduce to them, they would balk at the idea of him dating someone who had not been pre-approved. On the contrary, it seemed they had fallen for Samantha just as easily as he had, and it had been just a week previously when his mother had made sense of this for him.

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Martin glanced up from the editorial he was reading on stem cell research as he heard his front doorbell ring. Shifting off of the sofa, he shuffled over to the door and glanced to the screen from the security cameras his mother insisted he have installed. Seeing none other than his mother in the doorway, he quickly turned the bolt and opened the door to let her in.

"Hi, Mom," he stepped back as cold air rushed inside.

She quickly entered the foyer and shut the door behind her. "Hi, Martin," she offered him a small smile. "I'm sorry to stop by so late, but your father had to go out of town suddenly. He called me from Dulles on his way to Atlanta."

Martin nodded and put a hand on his mother's shoulder as they made their way back into his living room. Especially now that he, Caroline, and Becca were grown and gone, he knew how lonely his mother could get when his father was out of town on business for the Bureau. "Do you want me to get you anything?" he motioned toward the kitchen. "Coffee? Tea? Water?"

"I'm fine, thank you," she answered with a nod of her head. "When does Samantha get in next week?"

"She's actually flying in with Caro, Tim and the girls," he replied. He smiled; it had been over a month since he had last been able to see her, and the next week could not come soon enough.

"Perfect." She said, "Your father and I wanted to take you all out to dinner. Maeve agreed to stay with Kelsey and Bridget for the night."

"Uh, sure," he breathed. "I'll have to let Sam know, but I think that should be fine."

Lydia smiled at her son. "Great. You know, Martin, both your father and I are really glad that she will be joining us for Christmas." Lydia glanced up, but Martin remained silent. "It's good that you have someone in your life now." Martin frowned. "Martin?" she asked, cocking her eyebrows. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Really?" Lydia raised one eyebrow sarcastically. "Because the way I see it, I think you're holding something back from me because you're afraid your father and I will judge her." Martin lowered his eyes, and his mother took that as confirmation as she prompted, "Look at me, Martin."

He shrugged. "You and dad always had so much to say about who I should or shouldn't be taking to this even or that event... I just figured that you wouldn't want me to 'expose myself to the scandal of dating someone so below me.'" He rolled his eyes, his tone soft but mocking.

"Give us a little credit, son," she answered. "We may not have always been the parents that you ... want us to be," Lydia leaned across the table to tilt her son's head back in her direction, gently forcing eye contact. "But I need you to know that your father and I always wanted the best of everything in this world for you and your sisters. Samantha is a good woman, and she makes you happy. That is more than enough for me."

Martin exhaled softly. "Thank you," he replied. "I really did need to hear that."

Lydia smiled warmly. "I think your father is secretly pleased that he can talk shop with Samantha. You may want to warn her to refresh her memory on whatever the latest Bureau policy updates are," she teased.

"I'll keep that in mind," he laughed, folding his hands across his lap.

"Really, though," Lydia added. "You should thank your older sister. She talked sense into your father when he fought her tooth and nail about the Peace Corps, and he really learned his lesson after that."

Martin laughed quietly, but he still shuddered inwardly at the memory of his middle sister Rebecca's stubbornness against his father's iron will. He was four years Rebecca's junior and had been a senior in high school when Rebecca was a senior in college. He could still remember how loud and heated the arguments got when Rebecca came home for winter break announcing that she was going to see her doctor to have preliminary physical done for her Peace Corps application. Martin shook his head quickly and remarked, "That didn't turn out all bad, though, did it? After all, she met Scott there."

Lydia smiled back. Rebecca and Scott had been close friends during their time in the Peace Corps, but after they returned to the US, they went their separate ways. Rebecca was a free spirit and far more interested in saving the world than settling down, but after running into Scott again by chance in Chicago five years later, he admitted that he always liked her and that was it. Just ten months later they were married.

"Speaking of Rebecca and Scott," Lydia remarked. "I wonder what their 'big surprise' is. I don't suppose you know, do you...?"

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Martin did, in fact, know exactly what Rebecca and Scott's 'big surprise' was, but he had explicit instructions not to tell his parents and held his tongue. Almost a year ago, Rebecca confided in him that she and Scott were looking into international adoption. Rebecca chose to keep this information from their parents for fear of their reaction, instead deciding that it would be much easier to sell the idea to Victor and Lydia Fitzgerald once the children were actually legally their grandchildren. Martin knew how narrow and restrictive his parents' worldviews often came across, but at the same time, he knew the second they laid eyes on their new grandchildren, all harsh or disapproving thoughts would immediately dissolve.

That same day his mother stopped by unexpectedly was the day he got a message from Rebecca announcing their return home after a three week stay in Russia. He was now the proud uncle of seven month old twins, Alex and Natalie, and he could not wait to see them in person when they arrived in town tomorrow. Rebecca had sent pictures of course, and he had been silently thrilled that she included Sam's email along with his and Caroline's.

Underneath the table, he felt Sam's hand run along his thigh. She tilted her head to one side and gave him a deep, penetrating look, her eyes silently questioning what was on his mind.

He mouthed 'later' as he squeezed her hand affectionately; she smiled.

He beamed back and relaxed in his seat, taking a sip from his wine glass. He felt completely content in the knowledge that tomorrow night he would have his entire family back in one place again.

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