Later in the afternoon, Laura sweeps Aurora into her arms as she comes running out of the school. She squeezes her close and kisses her head as she holds her.

"Hi my darling," Laura murmurs, "Did you have a good day?"

"I did! Everyone was really nice, and we learned a lot of stuff. And I got a new book."

"You did? What's it about?"

"It's about a queen who ruled an entire country thousands of years ago," Aurora smiles as she looks up at her mother. Laura smiles back and tucks a couple loose strands of hair behind her ear.

"That sounds fascinating, we'll have to read some of it tonight before bed," Laura tells her, "I missed you today."

"I missed you too," Aurora says, her eyes sparkling.

"Your brother's are in the car and Mrs. Bartlet was thinking that maybe we could do a little site seeing before we headed home, maybe get some ice cream?"

"Yeah!"

"Good," Laura smiles, walking Aurora to the car and thanking the agent that opens the door for them. Zoey and Aurora climb in before Laura and Abbey get in.

"How about ice cream first?" Abbey suggests, "Zoey's favorite place is right next to the mall and that's the perfect place to start our tour."

"Yeah!" The boys yell. Aurora and Zoey nod eagerly as well, echoing the same sentiment.

"I think ice cream first it is," Laura smiles. The boys press their faces to the glass of the limo, watching the city pass as they navigate through the streets. Laura reaches over and runs her fingers over Aurora's back as she turns her head to look out the window. The little girl turns to look at her mother, arching her eyebrow in question.

"How were your eyes today?" Laura asks quietly.

"They were okay," Aurora shrugs and smiles, "Most of the stuff we did today was up on the chalkboard, so I didn't have to concentrate as hard."

"That's good," Laura smiles, letting Aurora turn back around and turn her attention out the window.

"She needs glasses?"

"Probably," Laura replies as she looks away from the kids and across the back seat to Abbey, "Not a huge surprise considering both Bill and I wear glasses. She said things have been getting fuzzy when she's reading over the last month or so."

"I have a great optometrist that we can get her into," Abbey tells her, "Zoey loves him. I'm sure he could squeeze her in tomorrow for a quick exam."

"That would be great," Laura smiles, warmly. Soon the motorcade stops outside of a block of store fronts and the back door opens. Abbey steps out and Laura herds the kids out before slipping out herself. She shivers as a strong breeze sweeps by and wraps her coat a little tighter around herself as they make their way into the ice cream parlor. The servers behind the counter greet Abbey and Zoey by name, all ready to serve them. The kids all stand on their toes to look into the case, peering at all of the flavors beneath the glass.

"What sounds good you guys?" Abbey asks. Zoey tips her head up to look at her mother and smiles.

"I want Strawberry," She declares.

"Okay, Aurora what about you?"

"What's an...Orr...Oreo?" Aurora asks, pointing to the flavor directly in front of her.

"It's a chocolate cookie sandwich with vanilla cream in the middle."

"Ohhh..." Aurora says looking back at the flavors, "I think I want that one."

"Do you want to try a sample first?" Laura suggests. Aurora nods, her eyes still scanning over the flavors. One of the servers dips a small spoon into the large bucket of ice cream before handing it over to Laura. Aurora takes the small spoon and pops it into her mouth, letting the flavor melt over her tongue.

"Mmmm yeah that one."

"What about you two monsters?" Laura asks as she squats down next to the boys.

"I don't know..." Alex says.

"We can try something."

"Blue," Liam requests pointing to the bucket of blue cotton candy ice cream. Laura hands him the procured sample before looking at Alex.

"How about that one?" Alex says, pointing to one with multi colored specks in it.

"Sure," Laura nods and smiles, handing him a sample after a moment. She looks over at Liam, "You want more of that one?"

"Mmhm!" Liam nods, "It's got yummy fluffy things in it."

"It does?" Laura says, feigning surprise. She takes the spoon from Liam and discards it before Alex hands his over, "Was yours good?"

"Yeah, it's good," Alex smiles.

"Alright, so it sounds like we've got Strawberry, Oreo, Cotton Candy, and Fruity Pebbles," Abbey orders. The two servers load all of their orders on to cones before handing them over. Laura hands the boys their cones, warning them to be careful as she grabs a couple extra napkins, knowing they would make a mess. Abbey takes care of their bill before they head out of the restaurant, "How about we get a little exercise in and take a stroll?"

"Sounds great to me," Laura smiles.

"Zo do you want to lead us to...the National Gallery, hmm?" Abbey suggests. Zoey nods as she continues to lick at her ice cream, looking around a moment before starting to walk. Aurora and the boys follow her and Laura and Abbey bring up the rear as they walk.

"Hopefully my husband wasn't too hard on you today?" Abbey asks as they walk.

"No," Laura shakes her head, "He wasn't. He's been great, very helpful. It's just a lot, reliving the last four years, thinking about all of it again…"

"I'm sure," Abbey sympathizes, "He has a plan? I mean I know he has a plan, but…"

"He does. Apparently there were contingencies in place. I'd expect things should be mostly settled in a month at the most."

"Do you know what you want to do after?"

"Rest," Laura smiles, "I just want to get the kids into a good school and find a quiet place to lay our heads at night."

"Sounds like a good plan," Abbey smiles, looking both ways before they cross the street to the National Mall and make their way towards the gallery. The six of them spend the afternoon going through a couple museums on the Mall before wandering the outside, Abbey and Zoey pointing out some of the monuments.

"There's so much history here," Laura says as they walk to meet the motorcade.

"It is quite the place," Abbey smiles.

"You've done a lot with a few thousand years," Laura jokes. Abbey laughs and nods, thanking the agent that opens the limo door for them. The kids pile in before the two women, yawning as they settle into the back seat, tuckered out from a day of walking. When they get back to the White House they meet Bill at the front door, having just gotten back himself.

"Daddy!" Aurora says, running across the lobby and launching herself into her father's arms.

"Hi, butterfly," Bill says as he sweeps her into his arms, stumbling a bit as the boys latch onto his legs. Laura smiles as she watches them, making her way over to Bill and pressing a soft kiss to his lips.

"Hi, honey."

"Hey," Bill smiles, setting Aurora down before giving the boys each a hug, "How was your day?"

"Good," Laura nods, "Yours?"

"Good," Bill nods, "You wanna talk?"

"We probably should. Do you want to get the others?" Laura says, running her fingers through Liam's hair as he stands between them.

"Yeah I can call them. Can you find us a room?"

"Mmhm," Laura nods, pressing a kiss to his cheek before turning to Abbey, "There wouldn't be a conference room or something that we could use for a little while?"

"Yeah of course," Abbey nods, looking at her watch, "The Roosevelt Room should be open. I can take you guys over there."

"Thank you," Laura says, following Abbey through the hallways, watching quietly as people stand as she passes. Aurora holds onto Bill's arm as they walk, telling him excitedly about her day at school and the book that she had gotten.

"It sounds like you had a great day," Bill smiles, wrapping his arm around his daughter's shoulders.

"I did. I like it here."

"I'm glad," Bill says, squeezing her before their directed into a room with a large table in the middle, chairs spread out around the edges, "This is perfect, thank you."

"No problem," Abbey smiles, "Anything else you need?"

"I don't think so," Laura says, hanging up her coat, "Thank you, Abbey."

"Yell if you need anything," Abbey says before guiding Zoey out of the room. Bill picks up the phone and asks to be connected with Lee, before telling his son where to meet them.

"What did you find out today?" Bill asks as he hangs up the phone.

"There's going to be a press conference tomorrow," Laura says, "A prime minister is coming in a couple days, there's going to be a dinner this weekend and there's a council meeting to help us get settled. I assume Fitzwallace talked to you today about getting people on the surface?"

"Yeah," Bill nods, taking a seat at the table and undoing the top button on his tunic.

"You have a plan?"

"I think so, let's go over it with the kids and see where we're at. When do you want to bring in the Quorum?"

"Let's talk for a little while and then we can go out to the base…radio back to Galactica," Laura suggests.

"Sounds like a plan," Bill says, looking over as one of the doors open and Lee, Kara, and Zak filter in. Kara and Zak both salute before taking seats at the table after greeting their siblings.

"Let's figure out our next steps."

[TBC]