February
Mike stood in the Oval Office while Ben was scribbling down things on files he was sent to look over. He was assigned to specifically be with the President all day, but Mike didn't mind. He would prefer to spend some more time with April and Conner, especially with what was happening between the three of them.
Suddenly the door opened, April and Conner rushed in, thinking no one else was in there, alerting both Mike and Ben. Once they saw Mike, they immediately stopped what they were doing, getting smiles on their faces. "What are you two doing?" Ben asked, looking at each of his children individually.
Conner looked to April, that devilish look on his face, matching hers. Mike just looked back at forth at the two, smiling and shaking his head. "Nothing." Conner finally spoke before the two began giggling, making their way out of the room.
Mike shook his head at the two, following them to the door. "Cheaters." He spoke, causing them to giggle until they made it out of the room.
April stuck her head back into the room while she and Conner were already outside. "You have a home field advantage."
He looked to her, April smiling bright right back at him. He then pulled out his watch, measuring how much longer he would be with Ben before going out there, continuing what he had started with the kids. "You've got a ten minute head start."
April didn't waste any more time, hurrying out of the room and running down the hallway with her brother. Mike could hear the giggles outside the door making him shake his head. It had only been a few weeks since they had moved in, but Mike was already so attached to these kids. When he was put on their detail, all they did was play. And April, she was fun to be around.
"I see they're taking a liking to you." Ben spoke through a laugh, still looking down at those papers.
"Yes sir." Mike spoke with a nod before turning back to him.
"Especially April." Ben spoke, looking up and Mike quickly before looking back down at his papers. He wanted to see his reaction.
"Yeah." Mike spoke with a shrug. "She's a good kid."
Ben looked up at him, wondering if there was any tick in his remark. He knew his daughter better than anyone, and he knew when she liked someone before she even did. And she definitely liked Mike. This was starting to become a widely discussed topic between Ben and Margret. Ben couldn't tell if Mike had a reaction or not since he hardly showed any emotions. He was hoping there was something there. Sure, there was an age gap, but he had never seen April look at someone the way she looked at Mike. If anything were to happen between the two, he would most definitely support it.
Ben smiled again, looking at Mike, getting an idea. "Why don't you go ahead and win that prank war you three have got going on?"
Mike looked to Ben, shaking his head, becoming serious again. "No sir, this is my station right now."
"Don't be ridiculous." Ben spoke, looking past him to the shut door. "Hey, Forbes!"
Agent Forbes immediately walked in after that, ready to do whatever the President asked. "Yes, sir?"
"Take over for Mike here." Ben spoke with the wave of the pen at Mike. Mike just looked at the President incredulously, surprised that he would actually do that.
Forbes looked over at Mike, giving him a bit of a smile, knowing exactly what the President was doing. "Yes, sir." Mike's attraction to April was also one of the most talked about subject with the secret service agents.
Mike looked back and forth between the two, both of them just having huge smiles on their faces. "Whatever." Mike finally spoke while moving to walk out of the room as Ben and Forbes just continued to laugh at what they had caused. When Mike got out of the Oval Office, he looked down the hallway, smiling slightly at what they were doing for him before hurrying off down where he knew April and Conner would be.
He went down the hallway leading to the Lincoln Bedroom, going inside and opening up the secret passage way that laid inside the walls. Once he got in, he realized how quiet it was. Almost too quiet. That's when he was doused with water. He stood there for a moment, taking in what had happened to him. "Hey, stiff!"
He immediately looked up, seeing April and Conner tucked into the upper part of the walls, looking down on him. "Oh," he spoke, looking back between the two, Conner still laughing at April catching his attention. "You're both dead."
"But your job is to protect us." Conner laughed out.
April turned to look at him, a fake thought obviously passing through her head. "Good point, little brother." She turned back to look at the fuming Mike. "What do you think, buddy?"
"Okay," he spoke, pointing at April. "You're dying first."
She laughed while reaching behind her, throwing him a dry set of clothes. "We weren't going to totally screw you out of your job."
Conner was laughing, causing April to turn to him with an excited smile. "See you soon, Mike." He called before the two disappeared back into the walls, hurrying so Mike wouldn't try to kill them.
Mike looked up at where they had retreated, a smile still on his face before shaking his head from how wet his hair got. His wheels were already turning on how to get back at them, and most likely, they weren't going to like it.
April woke up that morning in her nice, warm bed with a glint of sunlight peeking through the windows. It was taking a lot of getting used to waking up in the White House, but it was slowly starting to become something normal to her.
She sat up in her bed, stretching out, getting ready to get out of bed and fill her already growling tummy. The second she put her foot on the floor, though, she could feel vegetable oil on her bare feet. That's when she looked around, noticing it was covering every inch of her wood floor. As she looked around, she could only think of one culprit. "Mike!" She yelled out.
That's when Forbes came rushing in at the sound of her yelling, trying to make sure everything was okay, but once he saw the oil in her room, he began laughing. "Nice one, Mikey." He whispered as he inspected the floor. It didn't look like he had missed one spot.
"Go get something I can walk on to get out of here." She demanded.
With that, he turned around, hurrying out of the room to find something, causing her to look around at her room again. She shrugged at the thought of Mike's amount of planning and determination to pull this one off. "It was a nice one."
When April had finally gotten down to the kitchen and the maids were working on cleaning up her room, Mike couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of her. "How are you doing this morning, April?" He asked in an overly polite voice, getting her to do a dry laugh back at him.
Conner was also giggling, letting her know that her revenge had to work for them both. She quickly grabbed a mug filled with hot water and a tea bag, dunking it in the water, thinking about how she was going to get back at them.
When Conner woke up that morning, he felt something tickling his face. At first, he just jerked his head back, thinking it was just a piece of hair in his way. But it continued. He rolled over, hoping it had to deal with the way he was lying down, but it just kept tickling his nose. When he finally put his hand to his face to stop it, he felt a squash. His eyes immediately opened after that, hearing his bedroom door open and close. He sighed, knowing what was on his face was shaving cream and knowing this was one of his big sister's pranks.
Both Mike and Conner walked up to April as she sat in the parlor, reading a book. They each looked to each other, knowing this was going to be a tough conversation. "Hello, April." Mike spoke to start it off.
She glanced up from the book, looking at each of them before looking right back down at the book. "Mike," She acknowledged. "Traitor-I-used-to-call-my-brother," Conner rolled his eyes at how she acknowledged him before looking back to her. "How can I assist you?"
Mike nudged Conner, knowing he had to be the one who brought peace about all of this. "April, we're here to call a truce."
Her eyes drifted to her brother, quickly marking her place in the book before shutting it with one hand. "How interesting."
"So," Mike spoke, while looking back and forth at the two children. "What do you think?"
"What would this truce include?" She asked, her eyes drifting to Mike this time.
He was giving her that pleading face, wanting her to take this truce as much as Conner did. "It would mean a stop to the prank war."
She looked back and forth at each of them, thinking of what to tell them. She stood up, giving herself some time to think as she put the book back on its shelf. "I think that with all that has been revealed today, I will hold out on the truce."
"Why?" Conner asked as Mike shut his eyes, groaning out her name.
She shrugged as she turned to look back to them. "Because I'm bored and you both pissed me off."
Mike looked her up and down, thinking of how scary she looked in that moment. "So what would you do if you were the President?" He was starting to get really happy about the fact that her father had one and not her. She would probably plunge the country into war over this.
"So," She spoke, moving close to them, taking time looking back and forth. "I would keep your guard up, boys."
Conner gulped, terrified of his sister in that moment, but Mike was going to play it cool. He wasn't going to let her know that he was scared of her for as long as she stood in front of him. "My guard is always up."
She smiled to Mike, moving even closer to him, knowing he was the one who started all of this. "We'll see." She whispered to him almost seductively. Mike just stared at her, not sure what to think until she lunged at him, making both Conner and Mike flinch back.
She laughed as she made her way out of the parlor, leaving the two to think about what had just happened and what kind of threats were going to stand in their way when Mike turned to Conner. He punched him in the arm, slightly, making Conner grab his now aching arm. "Ow!" He yelled at him, giving him an annoyed look.
Mike just pointed at him. "That's for not telling me your sister is crazy."
"She's crazy." Conner spoke in a bland tone, making Mike mock him, causing Conner to roll his eyes and begin to walk off.
Mike looked back to where she was standing in front of him just a second ago, letting a shiver run down his spine. She was actually really scary when she wanted to be. That's what scared Mike the most about her. She didn't even need secret service around her, she could take care of herself. He was just scared for how she was going to take care of herself by getting revenge on him and Conner.
Mike spent the rest of that day walking around the White House with much precautions. Not just for himself, but for his entire staff. April had become relentless with this pranking war. He knew she was just bored and needed something to do, but wow, she was taking this really far. Mike looked around the corner, on high "April watch". Things around the place had gotten quiet. Too quiet. "This girl needs to start school already." He spoke while shaking his head at the fact that this is what she had chosen to do with her free time.
That's when he saw April come out of her room, walking down the hallway so casually like nothing had ever happened. Mike watched her, expecting something, but she just kept walking. She smiled once she noticed him. "Hey, Mike."
Once she walked past him, it drove him crazy, he spun around quick, finding it hard to believe that was it. "Are you kidding me right now?" He spoke loud, making her stop and turn around.
Her eyebrows knitted together in confusion as she moved back to him, confused with what he was bringing up. "What are you talking about?"
He blinked a couple times at her. Did she forget everything she promised would happen to him a few hours ago? "You're kidding, right?"
She shook her head at him like she had no idea what he was talking about. "I'm not kidding, I don't know what you're talking about."
Mike opened his mouth, about to protest with her when he realized what she was doing. "You're trying to do psychological warfare now. Trying to get inside my head, that's all."
She sighed before shaking her head at him. "Yeah, sure, that's what I'm trying to do, so, can I go now I have to do some stuff."
Mike laughed as he shook his head at her. "I'm sure you do."
She sighed again, adding an eye roll this time. "Bye, Mike."
He just continued to watch her as she continued her walk down the hallway. "She's going to kill me." He whispered. When he turned around, though, he saw all the artwork from the wall was gone, nowhere in sight. He looked back to where she had walked off, seeing no sight of her or the art. "APRIL!"
April got a big smile, letting out a little laugh, picking up her pace slightly at the sound of her newest prank working perfectly.
They were all at the breakfast table the next morning and when April reached for the syrup, Conner jumped, thinking back on her threat. She gave him an annoyed look at his fear before throwing some syrup on her pancakes. Maggie was looking back and forth at the two with a confused face. "What's going on with you two?"
"Nothing." April answered while Conner said, "Everything."
She turned to look at Conner, giving him a death stare at the thought of how her mother would act if she found out about how far their prank war had gotten. "What is going on?" Maggie asked in a more forceful voice, hoping to get the truth out of that one. Neither of them said anything, just looking down at their breakfast in silence. "Is it this prank war?" She finally concluded.
They both looked up, April shaking her head as Conner nodded. "Look," she spoke, her voice even more forceful than before. "You two need to stop this thing before it gets out of hand." April and Conner looked to each other, knowing she was right, but neither of them were going to back down first and they both knew Mike wouldn't.
After breakfast, Conner met Mike in the walls, the both of them looking over their prank plan they had developed last night. Mike let out a loud yawn, causing Conner to look to him with a confused face. He was never tired. "Sorry." He spoke while shaking his head, thinking back on why he was so tried. "I was up all night trying to find those paintings your sister took. She's an expert hider."
"Okay," Conner spoke as he looked back to plan, not really caring about what Mike had to say in that moment. This was all about getting April back from everything she did to them. "We're going to infiltrate her when she's her most vulnerable."
"Which is?" Mike asked.
"When she's putting her makeup on in the morning." His head went from side to side, seeing how that was her most vulnerable before looking back to Conner for the rest of the plan. "If we mess up her face, it will end it all."
"Or she'll go on an even bigger rampage." Mike spoke in a kind of monotone, thinking of the worst case scenario here.
"Don't hate the plan." Conner told him immediately, looking him right in the eye.
"I'm not." He spoke as he moved his hand to the drawn out plan to point at something. "I just think – "
He was immediately cut off by Conner slapping his hand away from it. "Don't touch the plan." All Mike could do was look at the kid. Damn, they were both brave as hell.
The morning of the prank that would end it all was here, and there April was putting on her makeup in the tall mirror. She was just sitting in front of it on the carpet, studying her face with her entire arsenal of eyeliners, lipsticks and eyeshadows surrounded her. She leaned in close, putting all of her concentration on making her eyeliner as straight as possible when there was a loud knock on her door. "April!" Conner called from outside her door.
She jumped slightly, and once she made sure the jump hadn't messed up her liner, she looked to the door with an annoyed stare at what it could have caused. "What?!"
"Mom wants you in the kitchen!" He called.
She sighed, looking to the door for a moment before deciding to go back to her eyeliner. The pencil was close to her face when there was another loud knock on her door, making her jump again. "Conner!" She called as she stood up from where she was, hurrying to the door. "I swear to god – "
She was cut off the second she opened the door because a pie was thrown in her face. She stood there for a moment in full shock. And then when the pan fell off of her face, she caught sight of Conner through the whipped cream. "I am," She spoke as slowly as possible. "Going to kill you!"
She chased after him, all the way into the kitchen where she found multiple pies around. April picked one up as soon as he turned around, throwing it, letting it hit his back, sending him to the ground. "Hey!" He yelled.
That's when Mike came out of what seemed like nowhere and threw another pie into April's face, holding her up by her back so she wouldn't fall over from the impact. Right when Mike pulled the pie pan off of her face, she look at all the pies surrounding the kitchen, picking up the closest one, about to throw it in Mike's face, but they were all stopped when they heard Maggie yell, "What is going on in here?!"
Fear froze all of their bodies as their blood ran cold. All they could do was stand there because they each knew they were going to get in so much trouble. "April," Maggie spoke like it was obvious. "If you're going to really throw it in his face then you need to bring your right foot back and slam it in his face."
Conner and April began to laugh as they both looked to Mike, April following her mother's instructions. April looked to Mike, shrugging as he did. "Just hurry up and get it over with." He spoke, cringing slightly, waiting for it.
"You know what," April spoke as she brought the pie down, Mike and Conner both looking to her shocked, this was honestly the last thing they expected. "I'm a mature lady and I don't need to throw this pie in your face to get even with you."
"Really?" He asked.
Without missing a beat, she threw the pie in his face as forcefully as she could, letting the pan fall to the ground itself. She brushed off her hands as Maggie and Conner both laughed at what had just happened. "No." She spoke, looking down to look right into his face as he tried to get whipped cream out of his eyes. "Not really."
"You're dead." Mike spoke.
"Oh," April spoke, getting closer to him. "What was that? I couldn't hear you through all the whipped cream."
That's when another pie entered her face by her mother. They all stood there for a moment, realizing what was about to happen. They were all going to have a full fledged food fight. Then, in the next second, pies were flying across the room, hitting every inch of the kitchen and every part of their bodies. April began slipping on the floor from all the whipped cream as Mike grabbed her by the waist, making her laugh while they both eased each other to the ground.
Through all the laughter and commotion, they couldn't even hear Ben walk into the room, barely missing a pie to the face from an off throw. "What the hell is going on in here?!"
They all stopped with the same fear on their faces as earlier. He wasn't going to be as soft as Maggie was about the situation, making each of them even more nervous than before. "Prank war." Conner spoke slowly as they all smiled back, hoping he would go easy on them.
He didn't go easy on them. They had to clean the entire kitchen spotless, but it was easier since there were four of them working together to get it done. By the time night had fallen, everyone was showered, all the whipped cream was finally out of everyone's hair.
Mike had decided on walking April to her room for the night, the two of them continuing to laugh at the events that unfolded the past few days. They were both glad they could actually talk again instead of being at war. April was wearing her fuzzy star robe with a tank top and pajama shorts underneath, still slightly wet from her shower earlier. It was rare that people got to see her like this, but she was so comfortable around Mike, it didn't even phase her.
"So, is the truce still up for grabs?" She asked, bumping into Mike softly as they walked.
He laughed with a nod. "Conner and I would love it if our kingdoms could be at peace again."
The two of them stopped in front of her bedroom door, just looking at each other for a moment, those smiles still on their faces. "You know, even if we spent hours cleaning up the kitchen because of all of this, I have to say the prank war was very fun."
"And you've learned all the hiding spots and learned how to clean an entire kitchen from floor to ceiling."
April laughed slightly before looking to her bedroom door. "I'm really tired."
"I bet you are from that swing you took on my face."
She nodded, impressed with herself, thinking of it all over again. It was probably the highlight of her week. "It was a really good swing."
Mike shook his head at her, finding himself looking into her eyes again. "Goodnight, April."
She nodded, putting her hand on his forearm, giving him a goodnight squeeze. "Goodnight, Mike."
With that, she went into her room while Mike spent the night patrolling the halls. And while he was patrolling the halls, he noticed that back up was the one painting he couldn't find. He couldn't help but wonder where the hell April had hidden it so well that even he couldn't find it.
Mrs. HappyAnarchy: Thanks for being my first review and follower! I'm glad you like April and yes, bleh, pink. I hope you like this chapter. It showed a lot more of April's goofy side besides her sassy side we saw in the last chapter.
Everyone else, I hope you liked the chapter as well. And I want to apologize for the last chapter being so short. I was just trying to set up a basis for Mike and April. I made sure to make this one longer for you guys. Thank you guys so much for reading and clicking the "follow" button. Remember to review your thoughts with what you liked and what you want to see more of. Requests are always open for what you want to see! Have a great day!