A/N: Here is a longer chapter for you guys. Sorry my criminal justice summer class is kicking my butt and my work schedule had changed for a while. This chapter was original written as a Rated M Verizon but I cut out the love scene. If anyone wants to read that version let me know and I will post it after this chapter with a BIG M on it. I hope you guys enjoy it. Reviews are always welcome.

Chapter Eight ~ Back to Business

It was finally Friday morning. Elizabeth was hoping that this week would never end. She was secretly stressing about Henry's family coming to visit. She tried her best to not let Henry see her stressing. She took extra-long baths to calm herself down any time she thought about the fights that were going to happen with Maureen. The hope to get through this weekend without much pain was going to be an understatement.

She slowly stirred from her sleep feeling like she was the only one in bed. She rolled over towards Henry and nestled herself into him body. She had just pulled out of some creepy dream where she was the only one on earth but the bad guys and she had to take over the presidency. She was going to have to raise their baby and run a country all on her own. Desperately looking for Henry and contact with him, with her eyes closed she draped herself over his sleeping figure. His body heat made her settle back into a light sleep.

A couple hours later Henry slowly opened his eyes to the sight of his beautiful wife wrapped around him. He draped his arms around his peaceful wife and kissed her lightly on her hair. She was absolutely gorgeous and glowing and for once at peace. He didn't want to disturb her. She moved her head to bury her nose under his chin. She wasn't ready to wake up and start the day.

"Good morning love." She whispered pushing her body as close to his as possible. She took in a deep breath.

"Morning babe." He said sweetly, slowly massaging her back.

She let out a soft moan. Her husband had magical hands. She propped up on her elbow and looked down at Henry. God he was so hot lying there. She leaned down and captured his lips. She wrapped her leg around him in a stabling position. She broke the kiss and looked down at him smiling widely.

"What's this about?" Henry asked a little surprise at her actions. They rarely ever made love in the morning anymore. They always had to get up and make breakfast for the kids and then run off to work. Now with all the hormones running though Elizabeth, he was just going to have to go with the flow.

"I desperately want you." Elizabeth whispered with desire in her voice. "You're just so hot right now." She slowly rolled her hips over him.

He groaned as he placed his hands on her cheeks and pulled her down to capture her lips. Their lips laid lightly as if the world had stopped. After a second his tongue demanded entrance. As always she allowed him to take control. She spent every day running an office and this was one place she was happy to let someone else take control. Plus, Henry always knew everything she needed when she needed it.

He laid next to her not wanting to put his body weight on her. She nestled into him completely spent and at peace.

"I love you." She said as she let her eyes close dwelling in their afterglow.

"I love you too babe." Henry said kissing her hair and letting his own eye close.


Elizabeth was making decaf coffee in the kitchen when the doorbell rang. She was already depressed about hanging to change coffee and now she was going to have to survive an entire weekend with Henry's sister. She watched the coffee pot brew as she listened in on the kids in the entryway greeting their Grandfather and Aunt. She heard Maureen's voice and gripped her coffee cup a little tighter than usual.

Henry came half way down the stairs and stopped as he saw his wife tensing up. As beautiful as she was in her 'after sex' hair, he frowned seeing her shoulders scrunched up to her ears. He knew there were going to be things he wasn't going to be able to shield her from. He walked down the rest of the stairs and over behind her. He draped his hands around her waist and pulled her in tightly.

"Can I just make regular coffee this morning?" She pleaded with him putting her cup down on the counter. Even though they had promised each other to switch to decaf coffee while she was pregnant, she was regretting that choice.

"No baby, I am right here for you. Remember deep breaths." He kissed her on the back of her head. "If you feel like a panic attack coming on either take my hand or go up to our bedroom. And remember, I love you." He kissed her once more and then grabbed her hand to walk into the family room.

She stopped him really quick and poured herself a cup of coffee. After putting a dollup of milk in the cup she took a sip. She then put the cup down and followed Henry into the family room.

She plastered a fake smile on her lips as she went over to great her father and sister-in-law.

"Man Elizabeth…did you gain weight?" Maureen asked sizing her sister-in-law up and down.

Elizabeth had decided to wear one of Henry's Marine sweatshirts hoping to hide her now somewhat noticeable baby bump. "Nice to see you too Maureen." She responded after greeting her and walking back over to Henry's side.

"Maureen, seriously? We are starting already?" Henry asked his voice with a little anger in it already. His sister hadn't even been in the house long enough to have already started taking shots at his wife. He never understood why she couldn't get along with Elizabeth. When he brought her home the first time, Erin and Elizabeth clicked right away but Maureen never wanted to get to know her.

"What?" Maureen asked not sure what she did.

"Guys…do you mind going to your rooms while your mom and I talk to your Grandfather and Aunt." Henry asked his kids. He knew that if he got the news about the baby out of the way then maybe it would make the weekend easier.

After the kids left the room Henry gestured his father and sister to have a seat. He took Elizabeth's hand and showed her to the couch. After she sat down he sat next to her with his arms wrapped around her. He wanted to make sure she knew he was right there. He looked over at her and nodded lightly to let her know to start.

"Um well…as you probably heard in the news, I survived from my trip to Iran." She said not sure exactly where to start or what to actual say.

"Glad you're okay." Pat responded.

"Well I went to see my doctor and we found out that I am pregnant." Right as the worlds came out of her mouth she grabbed Henry's hand and squeezed.

"WHAT THE HELL?" Maureen asked rather loudly. "Your pregnant?"

"Yes Maureen, she is pregnant." Henry said.

"Queen Elizabeth is pregnant. Why would you…" Maureen huffed.

"MAUREEN! That is totally uncalled for." Henry said scooting to the edge of the couch.

"How is she planning on growing a bun in the oven while traveling all the time and make peace between countries? And at her age. Come on she's not young anymore." Maureen said looking at Pat as he just sat back and let the kids argue it out.

Elizabeth was now really hurt. First called fat, then old and now being told that she couldn't be pregnant and do her job. She felt the tears slowly dare to roll down her cheeks. She wasn't going to let all of them see her cry. She quickly got up and walked up the stairs. She wanted to as far away from Maureen as possible right now. She desperately wanted out of the house now.

She finally reached her bedroom and slammed her door shut. She shed her close off and hopped in the shower before her tears started falling down her cheeks.

"Maureen that was totally uncalled for. What the hell is your problem? And Dad you're just going to sit there and allow this?"

"Hey, don't bring me into this. This is between you and your sister." Pat said just watching things unfold.

"Come on Henry. Another baby at your age. You almost have a second child in college and as much as she works. How long do you think she will have this job? A hormonal pregnant women trying to make peace deals with other countries. Ha that's a good one." Maureen said walking around the family room. She wasn't sure what the hell her brother was thinking.

After twenty minutes of Henry and Maureen arguing Elizabeth walked down the stairs dressed in business cloths. She needed to get away from Maureen and the house. She could feel the anxiety slowly rising and she wasn't going to let anyone see that Maureen's comments had gotten to her.

Henry stopped arguing when he saw Elizabeth dressed for the office. "No way." He whispered not really wanting everyone to hear. There was no way his wife was going to the office. She hadn't been there in a week and now was not the time to go back. He walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her. "You can't go to the office." He whispered into her ear.

"Henry, please don't start." She whispered back not in the mood to deal with any more of the drama going on in her house now. "I won't be long. I promise." She kissed him lightly on the lips and then walked out the door.

Henry turned towards Maureen and shock his head. His sister wasn't in town for even an hour and already his strong wife was running to work. He knew she needed space but this was not how she was supposed to get it. She was not ready to go back to work.


Elizabeth walked off the elevator and into the loud office. People were talking at the same time trying to work with each other to fix the problems of the world. It was weird to walk into the office and not be bombarded with news or problems from her staff. But then again no one knew she was coming in. Walking down the center of the office all her employees looked up and welcomed her back to work. She finally landed at Blake's desk as he quickly got up from his chair to greet her.

"Good morning Ma'am." He greeting her surprised to actual see her. "Welcome back."

"Thanks Blake. I was getting restless at home. Can you get the staff together?" She asked walking past him and into her office.

"Yes Ma'am." She heard him say just before she shut the door to her personal office. She leaned back against the door and let out a deep breath. She was actual happy to be away from her house and in her office. Work had become a second home for her and she was desperate to get back to it. She wasn't going to allow this pregnancy to stop her from doing her job or anyone to think that she wouldn't be able to do it. She walked over to her desk and put her coat on the back of her chair with her bag in the chair. Looking at the stack of papers on her desk, she let out another deep breath. Grabbing her calendar/notebook, she walked into the conference room that was adjacent to her office.

Every male stood up as she walked into the conference room and greeted her. She grabbed her coffee cup from Blake as if she was a robot and walked over to her chair in the center of the table. This routine was now programed into her like she never did anything else. She sat down in her chair and took a sip of coffee and quickly spit it out. Everyone looked at her a little confused.

"Blake I need decaf coffee please." She said handing him the cup as he stood behind her. "Sorry guys. There are a couple things that we are going to have to change."

Everyone readjusted themselves in their seats as they listened to their boss for the new changes that were going to take place. They all looked a little worried and didn't know why she hadn't been in the office for a while.

"You can relax guys." She said seeing the worry on some of their faces. She knew that some of her staff knew about her pregnancy but it was time for her entire staff to know. "I am pregnant."

"Congratulations." Her entire staff said in unison. Blake placed a new cup of coffee in front of her.

"Thank you guys. Now this doesn't mean we are going to slow down our work load or anything. I might take a few more breaks and I will try to keep my hormones in check." She said giggling to herself. This was a weird speech that she had to give to her staff. But at least she now knew what she was going to somewhat say to the entire country. "Now let's get down to business."

"Ma'am? It's your husband on the phone." Blake said from his desk over in the corner of the conference room.

She let out a grunt and got up from her chair. "I will take it in my office." She responded walking past her staff and into her office. She sat down in her chair and picked up the line that was on hold for her.

"Hi honey!" She said into the receiver trying to sound perky.

"Babe are you alright?" Henry sound really concerned.

"I am fine. I just can't deal with your sister right now." She said leaning back in her chair.

"Will you please come home." Henry pleaded over the phone.

"Babe I can't come home right now. I need some time away from all the drama there. I won't work too hard but I need my life to get back to normal." She placed her free hand on her slightly rounded belly and smiled to herself. She was going to make everyone understand that even though she was forty-sex and pregnant she was still able to do everything she was doing before.

"Okay but please don't stay more than a couple hours. I don't want anything more upsetting you. I love you babe!" Henry wasn't going to fight about her being back at work over the phone.

"I love you too!" Elizabeth made kissing noise and then hung up the phone.

She walked back into the conference room and resumed her seat in the center of the table. She was happy to the reaction of her pregnancy from her staff and it was time to tell the rest of the world.

"Alright guys. I need to set up a press conference. I think it's time for the rest of the country to know about this pregnancy and then get back to work. Daisy, I need you to get the press together in the next hour. Nadine, I need you to inform the president and Russell. I would like to get this out in the next two hours. Thanks guys." She stated and got up from the table. Her staff raised from the table and watched her walk into her personal office.

She sat down at her desk and started on the pile of papers. A lot of them just needed her signature of approval. She then pulled out the paper on her what was supposed to be upcoming Face the Nation interview with Bob Schieffer. She took a couple deep breaths as she tried not to flash back to Iran. She was not going to allow this right now. Her morning had already gone super hard and she wasn't going to add a panic attack on top of everything else. She got up and walked out into the main office space to Blake's desk.

"Blake, I need you to set this up. I want to get this over with and move on from Iran." She instructed handing him the paper about the interview.

"I can schedule it for next week Ma'am." Blake responded looking up at his boss.

"Great. Now is the press ready yet?"

"Almost. We are waiting for a few more reporters. They should be ready in about twenty minutes." Blake said as he looked at her schedule for next week.

"Once I am done with the press I want my motorcade ready. I am going home." She told Blake as she walked back into her office. She grabbed her bag and went through the rest of the papers on her desk. She gathered a couple that needed to be looked over soon and placed them in her bag. She sat down and sent Russell an email to schedule an appointment for next week to talk over everything that was going on.

There was a knock on the door, "Come in."

Blake popped his head in, "The press is ready for you Ma'am."

"Great. Thanks Blake." Elizabeth responded gathering the rest of her things and her coat and walking out into the main office. She placed her things on a chair next to the pressroom and walked in when she heard Daisy introduce her.

"Good morning guys! I know I have been gone for a week and I am going to tell you what is going on. I, however will not be taking any questions." She stopped as she heard the chatter start up in the room. "Guys listen up! I am only going to say this once. I did not have a heart attack and I am fine from Iran. I will be doing Face the Nation next week. I appreciate my staff for trying to protect me after all the craziness from Iran. I did find out though that I am eight weeks almost nine weeks pregnant."

With that news everyone in the room gasped. That was news they were not expecting. The reporters just started shooting questions and some were just congratulating her.

"Guys please!" Elizabeth yelled over everyone. "Thank you for the people who congratulated me. Now as for the pregnancy, this will not change how I will run this office or the workload I have. I am capable of doing my job still. Just like every other woman that works while pregnant. Alright let's get back to work." Elizabeth stated as she moved away from the podium and into the main office. She grabbed her things and walked out of the office.