Chapter Four
February 11, 2006; Benefit Dinner-Dance, Notre Dame Club of Washington, DC
"My funny valentine, sweet comic valentine"
Danny Concannon guided CJ Reeves around the dance floor. He held her right hand in his left, close to his heart. CJ shifted her head and Danny pulled the hand to his lips. CJ smiled and moved her head closer to Danny's neck. And Danny smiled.
In the three months since CJ had resigned from the Hoynes administration, Danny and CJ had become much closer with each other.
They were seen together in public several times a week. Often, they were by themselves, but often they were joined by the Vice-president and Dr. Bartlet. Also, they were often joined by Ria, Dick, and Steve Reeves. A picture of the five of them at a Hoyas game, captioned "A New Daddy?", made the tabloids.
John Hoynes was smart enough not to raise the issue of CJ and the children living with the Bartlets, but at least one Republican thought it wise to raise it. The Vice-president responded as soon as his Press Secretary could call a conference.
"I find it very interesting and very telling that the leader of the party that claims to be the party of family values, the party of Christian values, wants me to cast out into the cold of December an unemployed widow and her three young children."
The rest of the Republican party couldn't back peddle from Haffley fast enough. Max Lobell announced that he took Jed Bartlet at his word that "any marginal expenses caused by the presence of Mrs. Reeves and her children are paid from Bartlet personal funds".
The religious community, for the most part, followed suit. (Although one ultra-right wing preacher, skilled at parsing scripture to support anything he wanted to say, used the Bible to opine that the Bartlets should leave CJ and the children to the care of Paul's brother.)
All in all, the issue was viewed as a plus for Jed Bartlet's attempt to succeed John Hoynes as President.
Still, CJ felt as if she should look for a place for herself and the children. The house in Berkeley was paid for, thanks to Paul insisting that they both carry term life policies specifically for that purpose, so the rent checks she received every month were income free and clear. (She was starting to think that when the current lease was up, at the end of the academic year, she should sell the house.) Jed and Abbey argued with her, and convinced her to wait until spring, using the argument that possibly uprooting the children in the middle of the school year, on top of everything else they had been through, would be a big mistake.
Inevitably, there were rumors about why CJ resigned so precipitously. They ranged from something approaching the truth to CJ making a pass at the President and threatening him with exposure. There was even one theory that Hoynes caught CJ and his wife Suzanne in bed together. After several weeks of "no comments" by all involved, the rumors died down.
The White House did put some pressure on the Post and Danny was moved to the editorial board. His Op-Ed piece was published once a week. When offered for syndication, it was picked up by forty-five other papers. Right before Christmas, Danny did sign a contract to work with Percy Fitzwallace.
The Political Science department at Georgetown offered CJ a full professorship for the 2006-07 academic year, when a current faculty member would be retiring. Between staying with the Bartlets, the survivor benefits and the income from the house in California, she could cover most of their expenses. Only the cost of the health insurance policy she would need until September would have to come from savings.
Dick, Steve, and Danny built up an easy relationship rather quickly. Ria was polite and respectful to Danny, but remained distant. When a bewildered and somewhat hurt Danny expressed his feelings to CJ, she told him in confidence of her daughter's background. ("It took Paul almost three years to win her trust.)
Danny called over to Ireland, to his sister Erin and asked if she, Robin, and their two teenaged daughters could come for a visit over Christmas. It was only natural that the MacDonalds spend some time with the Reeves. After seeing the way that Danny acted with Fiona and Aisling, and how the girls loved, played, and respected their uncle, Ria began to realize that maybe Dick and Steve's father was the exception rather than the norm.
The Bartlets had of course invited CJ and the children to come to the farm in New Hampshire for the holidays, but CJ decided that she would rather have a nuclear family Christmas. (Martin and Nicole had come back East for a few days after Christmas; by staying in Palo Alto for Christmas itself, they avoided, for this year, deciding whose family got the benefit of their presence for the holiday.)
The night before the young couple was due to go up to New Haven, Martin came to his mother's bedroom door.
"Dad would be happy for you."
"Martin, you're reading too much into - ".
"Mom."
CJ remembered the many times Paul had said "Sweetheart" or "CJ" (and the three times he had said "Claudia Jean") in that same tone, with the same smile.
"I don't know," she said in a whisper. "I just don't know if I - ".
"Trust in God and follow your heart."
Martin kissed his mother and went back to his wife.
CJ sat for a while, remembering how Paul had talked to her about being open to another love in her life. ("If it happens, sweetheart, go to him completely. Remember me, love me, but do not bring me into your relationship with him. It would dishonor me as much as it would dishonor him.")
So CJ reached into her dresser and pulled out the Ziploc™ bag that held the last of Paul's T-shirts. Unzipping it, she raised it to her face and took in the aroma of her departed husband.
Then she looked down at her left hand. No matter how many times Paul had asked, she had never wanted a larger diamond to replace the little ring he had given her the night before they found out she was carrying Martin or the plain band he had put on her finger several weeks later. Except for the last days of her pregnancy, and to clean the diamond, the rings had never been off her hand since then. With a little bit of effort, she pulled on the two bands and dropped them into the bag with the shirt.
So, on this Saturday before Valentine's Day, CJ followed her son's advice and when Danny Concannon kissed her fingers, she followed her heart and kissed his.
The band finished with "Good Night Ladies". Danny collected their coats and helped CJ across the icy parking lot. After he started the car, Danny turned to the woman sitting beside him.
"Come home with me tonight," he softly asked.
"Okay," she softly answered.
Once inside his townhouse, he took her coat.
"I need to call Abbey, let her know." She pulled her cell from her purse.
After the phone call, CJ turned to Danny and smiled slightly.
Danny put a hand to either side of her face and gently kissed her lips, sucking them into his mouth. Then he kissed her eyes and her nose before returning again to her mouth.
Danny took CJ's right hand in his left. He looked toward the bedroom and then back at her.
"Okay?"
"Yes."
When they reached the bedroom, Danny stopped to put the package of condoms on the nightstand. Earlier, when he stopped at the convenient store and told her he would "be back in a minute", she at first didn't understand what was so important at this time of night. When Danny returned to the car, she blushed when she saw the writing on the box inside the bag.
"CJ," Danny murmured into her hair as he took her in his arms again. Over and over and over, he whispered her name as his hand caressed her face and neck.
Later, after the first time, she lay in Danny's bed, thinking of the turn her life had taken. Almost absently, she reflected that it seemed odd that the skin tone of the arm that draped across her midriff matched the skin tone of said midriff. Then she remembered what Paul had told her. The best way, the only way, to honor both her husband and the new man in her life was to keep Paul out of Danny's bed. She looked over at the man lying beside her and smiled.
Late March, 2006
"Mommy, how come Danny didn't come to my party?" Steve asked.
"He had to take a trip to California for his book, honey. But wasn't it nice of him to get you a football signed by Jerome Bettis?"
At the same time, Palo Alto, CA
Danny took a sip of his wine and then looked directly at Martin Reeves.
"I spin words into magic for a living, but I'm not sure how to say this other than simply and plainly. I love your mother very much and I intend to ask her to marry me. I will take care of her, your sister, and your brothers. I have no wish to replace your father or erase his memory, but I do want to give her and them the security he gave them and would have continued to give them had God not take him from all of you.
"I know that you are a man in your own right and that your father has raised you well. I hope that if your mother says yes, you will give us your blessing."
Martin smiled and extended his hands to Danny.
"Thank you. For myself, and for my father." Then Martin laughed. "Do you intend to ask all four of us first?"
"I'll ask them, after, right after," Danny laughed in return.
March 25, 2006; mid-afternoon
"More coffee, Monsieur?"
Danny looked at CJ, who nodded yes.
"Yes, please, for both the lady and me."
After the waiter left them, Danny looked around the small enclosed porch. Although there other patrons in the other rooms of the old townhouse turned French restaurant, the two of them were alone in this particular alcove.
Danny coughed, cleared his throat, and coughed again.
"CJ?"
"Yes, Danny?" She wondered at his nervousness. It was so out of character for him.
But then the whole day was a bit out of the ordinary. When Danny asked her for the afternoon and evening, he surprised her by saying that he wanted to take her to lunch but spend the evening with the children ("and the Bartlets, if they're at home") just hanging out, watching videos and snacking.
"I love you, CJ. I love your children. I had come to doubt that I would ever love anyone the way I love you, but now you have brought joy, contentment, and peace to my life."
He opened his right hand, and she saw the emerald-cut diamond, flanked by baguettes, set in platinum.
"Will you marry me?"
And once again, CJ opened her heart to God and said yes.
They went back to Danny's townhouse to seal their commitment to each other before returning to the Observatory.
That evening, they told the children. The boys cheered and high-fived their future stepfather. Ria was more circumspect but told CJ and Danny that she hoped that they would be truly happy together.
Danny held the sixteen-year old by her shoulders and lightly kissed her forehead.
"I'm not trying to take your father's place, either of your fathers' places, in your heart. But I promise to be here for you and to try to help you the way they would have done had they lived. I hope to prove to you that you can trust me that way you trusted them."
May 27, 2006; Dahlgren Chapel of the Sacred Heart, Georgetown University, Washington, DC
"I, Claudia Jean, take you, Daniel Michael, to be my husband. I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will love you and honor you all the days of my life."
Thirty minutes earlier, CJ, surrounded by her children and her daughter-in-law, had walked down the aisle of the chapel to the altar where Danny stood, with Erin, Robin, Fiona, Aisling, and Tim.
The wedding was small and somewhat low-key, given their ages and the fact that CJ had been married before. However, she did wear a creamy ivory tea-length dress covered in lace and the women and girls wore mid-calf dresses in spring shades of pink, green, violet, blue, and yellow. The men and boys were in inky black tuxes. And, of course, the service was a full nuptial Mass.
Only the fact that her children could not take Communion marred the perfection of the day for CJ. Tim would have been perfectly fine with it ("This is the archdiocese of Washington, not the diocese of Arlington") but since Jed and Abbey were in attendance, CJ did not want to cause any controversy that might affect Jed's chances in November.
After much searching, CJ and Danny finally had a perfect house for the five of them. They wanted a place with some land ("not too much, I'm not a big fan of mowing"), but they wanted to avoid northern Virginia and its extremely conservative bishop. The house they found, between the Georgetown campus and the river, had five bedrooms and three baths. The main floor had a small formal parlor, a small den, a living room, a dining room, and a large kitchen with a sun porch. The full-sized attic could be used as a playroom. There was a lawn in the rear of the property – big enough for the dog that Danny wanted – and a small patch of grass between the house and the sidewalk. There were front and back staircases, which thoroughly amazed the boys. Danny's savings covered almost 35 percent of the cost and they signed a mortgage with no pre-payment penalties for the balance. CJ notified her tenants in Berkeley that the house would be sold after the current lease expired. (Danny wanted the money to be set aside for the children's college funds; CJ wanted to use the proceeds to pay off the mortgage. They compromised on a fifty-fifty split. They calculated that they could pay the balance of the mortgage in five years.)
So after two weeks in Scotland at a small cottage owned by Robin MacDonald's extended family ("a 'wee castle', as my great-aunt Sorcha would say"), CJ and Danny returned to Washington to begin their lives together.
Late October, 2006
Ria Reeves slipped her key into the front door and carefully opened it. She eased the door back into place and carefully set the dead bolt. Then she softly walked down the hall toward the kitchen and the back stairs, carrying her shoes in her hand.
As she passed the dining room, the light snapped on.
"It's one-thirty in the morning, Ria. What are you doing sneaking out on a school night?"
Ria turned around to face her mother and her step-father.
Danny watched as CJ and Ria sparred back and forth with questions and incomplete answers. In the past five months, he had gradually assumed a more independent parental role in the lives of Dick and Steve, having discussions and handing out groundings and suspension of privileges when (rather infrequently) necessary. However, with Ria, he had so far held back and let CJ handle the issues that were beginning to increase in frequency, while making sure that the girl understood that his intent to win her trust did not mean that she could play him against her mother.
With the move to a new neighborhood and a new school, Ria was having a hard time adjusting had succumbed to some peer pressure by a group of girls with too much time and too much money on their hands. Her grades were still good, but her attitude was slipping from normal teenage feeling one's independence to the edge of disrespect.
"Look, Ria, it's late, I'm tired, I'm feeling off kilter. I really don't need you adding to my concerns."
"Well, you idiot cunt, then stop being concerned and let me be."
CJ gasped and raised her hand to her mouth. Danny counted to ten.
"Ria, go into the den and wait for me."
By this time, the girl's face had begun to show signs of remorse and shame. The iciness in Danny's voice caused fear to be added to her visage.
"Mommy, I'm sorry."
"She hasn't called me 'Mommy' in over three years," CJ said softly, as if to herself.
"Ria, the den."
Five minutes later, after Danny had wiped away CJ's tears and assured her that he would be able to deal with Ria, he entered the den to find the girl pacing the floor.
"I really am sorry, Danny," she whispered.
"I'm sure you are."
He sat on the love seat and gestured to the chair across from him.
"Do you realize how horrible it was for you to use that word to your mother? Even when used to denote the part of the body it denotes, it's a horrible, ugly, evil word. When you use that word to denote your mother, to denote any woman, you reduce her to a means of sexual activity.
"Your mother has told me about the horrible things that were done to you when you were a little girl, and, Ria sweetheart, I am so sorry that you had to suffer those things.
"But I know that your mother and your father, by their lives together, presented a perfect example of what love between a husband and a wife should be. I know that your birth mother and your birth father loved each other in that way and that their sexual relationship gave you life. I hope that as the years go by, that your mother and I would also be an example of all the aspects of love that exist in a marriage. I hope that, when you are old enough, you will find a man with whom you can have that love in all its complexity.
"Do you understand how much you have defiled both your mothers, both your fathers, by using that word?"
Ria nodded her head up and down.
"I can't hear you."
"Yes, sir."
"So, how much money do you have?"
"I'm not - ".
"Ria."
"Maybe forty-five dollars," Ria said.
"I'll pick you up after school tomorrow. We'll go out to Tyson's Seven Corners and find something." CJ had told Danny about Paul's policy about using tort law concepts for disciplinary purposes.
"Okay," Ria smiled.
"Now," Danny said, "about the punitive part. I'm new at this. How many weeks would your father have given you?"
"I don't - ," again Ria hesitated.
"Ria!" This time, there was exasperation in Danny's voice.
"I'm not trying to snow you, Danny," Ria said. She looked down at her hands, then got up and walked around, as if she were struggling with something. Then she straightened her shoulders and turned to face her stepfather.
"I may have crossed the line."
"Crossed the line?"
"When Dick was five, he tore up our neighbor's flower garden. Mrs. Green had told my father about Dick throwing a firecracker at a cat. When Daddy asked about the flowers, Dick denied it twice before admitting to it. Then Daddy told Martin to take Steve and me to the park.
"When we got to the park, Martin told us that Daddy was probably going to spank Steve. Martin told us that lying about something was just about the only thing that Daddy would spank us for, and that no matter how bad we thought something we did was, we should never lie about doing it., that Mother and Daddy would love us, no matter what we did.
"So Steve says 'So he never spanked you for anything else?' and Martin said that he was spanked one other time, for calling our mother a bitch. 'Dad told me that I had crossed the line,' Martin said. Martin said that there might be other things that crossed the line, but that they would have to be very, very bad things.
"I think I crossed the line," Ria finished. She walked up to Danny and stood by his left thigh.
Oh my God, Danny thought. She's waiting for me to tell her to kneel down beside me. Everything – her age, the tenuous newness of his relationship with her, her childhood experiences, his personal childhood experiences – said no. Only the fact that Paul would have done it said yes.
"Ria, I would never criticize your father, but he and I are two different people. For the next three weeks, you are restricted from watching television, other than for news, from using your computer, other than for school work, from using your phone, other than for emergencies, and from being with your friends, other than at school. I am going to talk with your mother, and we are going to find something worthwhile for you to do on the next three Saturdays – a soup kitchen, a nursing home, that kind of thing.
"I also think that you should find some extra-curricular activity, something where you might meet some better friends, to occupy your time."
"Okay. Thank you, Danny." She reached down and hugged him.
It only felt natural for Danny to pull her onto his lap and hug her back.
A week later, Danny was in his study working on his column when there was a knock. He looked up to see Ria in the doorway.
"I've signed up for the school paper."
Mid-November
"Mix in a little A-1 ™ Sauce; it gives it some juiciness and hides the blandness of the ground turkey your mother insists we use."
Danny was showing Steve how to make meatloaf. Dick was peeling potatoes. Ria was upstairs working on an article for the student paper.
The back door opened.
"Hi there, babe, how did it - " Danny stopped in mid-sentence as he caught the distressed look on CJ's face before she quickly smiled and greeted everyone with a cheery "I'm home!"
"Guys, why don't you take Brendan for a walk before dinner?" (The black newfie puppy jumped up at the word "walk".)
"Honey, what is it?" Danny said as CJ plopped down on the chair beside him. She had been out of sorts, physically, for a month now and had seen her doctor this afternoon.
"I'm pregnant."
"Oh, wow! A baby, honey, that's – not something you want?" Danny's voice went from joy to confusion as he watched her face.
"Oh, Danny, I would want it so much! But, my history. I lost three babies by the fourth month, after Martin. If I had any idea that I could still conceive, I would have – I'm so afraid!"
Danny grabbed her hands. "Are you saying you would rather kill it now than lose it later?"
"No, never! I'm just saying that I'm so scared."
"That was more than ten years ago. Things may have changed. Let's call Abbey. We'll do this together, as much as possible," Danny laughed when CJ gave him what he had come to know as "the look". "So, when?"
"With God's grace, I'll be giving you the mother of all first anniversary presents."
They went to the specialist Abbey recommended. The woman said that she could find no reason why CJ hadn't been able to carry her other children to term.
"We'll just watch you very, very carefully."
Epilog
Mid-June, 2007
Once again, they were gathered in Dahlgren Chapel of the Sacred Heart. Fiona and Aisling MacDonald each held a redheaded, blue eyed infant, clothed only in a diaper. Martin Reeves, serving as godfather for both twins, stood between the two Irish sisters.
Tim Giancomo reached for the child in Fiona's arms and lowered him into the warm waters of the font.
"Padraic Talmadge, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."
Fee wrapped the namesake of two grandfathers in a towel as Tim took the other child from Ash.
"Paula Kathleen, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."
CJ Cregg Reeves Concannon looked up at the sunlight that streamed through the stain-glassed window and sent a prayer heavenward.
"Darling, for you and for him, eros, philia, and agape always."