You guys are so lovely! The reviews are much appreciated. This was a difficult chapter to write, but I managed to pull through. Tell me what you think?
Fitz's adoration, when it came to Evie, came in short, powerful bursts. Sporadic and inconsistent, but more potent than anything.
When she was seven, she performed in her schools talent show. The other kids played piano, or cello, something fitting of private school. But Evie had heart set on singing James Morrison's, "If You Don't Wanna Love Me" It was the night of the talent show, and she knew that her mother couldn't make it. Teddy had a little league game that night, and that was where her parents were. She peaked out from behind the stage and saw Karen and Jerry sitting in the front row. All was a buzz backstage, and she was so nervous.
When she stepped out onto the stage, before the music started, Evie was fidgety. She looked in the front row and saw her brother, her sister, and. . . her Dad. He made it. Suddenly, her nerves dissolved. When the music started, she was ready.
The show ended. The house lights came back on, and she ran out to greet her patiently waiting family. Her father, of course had already been ambushed by a hoard of people. They were flashing pictures, smiling, shaking hands. Secret service watched within close proximity.
"Great job up there!" They all said.
When the crowd cleared, Fitz looked down to her, beaming. And in a rare, precious moment of praise, Fitzgerald said these exact words, "Congratulations, Evie! You did so good up there, sweetheart." he pulled out a little bouquet of flowers that matched the violet dress Mellie had picked out for her.
A snapshot of this moment, click. Lifetime memory made for a little girl who wanted a Daddy and got a President instead.
Evelyn glowed from head to toe. Taking advantage of the moment, Evie wrapped her arms around her father's waist. "Thank you, Daddy."
They rode home together in silence that night, the good kind.
Mellie and Fitz officially adopted Evie when she was only a month old. That was all her mother had disclosed to her. She rarely asked anything more about how she came to be in their lives. Around Mellie, it was never a concern. Around her father, whom she loved and feared in a Machiavellian way, the question of her origins always floated into her mind, grazed at her subconscious.
Evie was everybody's dream come true. With her sweet cherub face and childish charm, the media fell instantly for the former President Fitzgerald Grant's adopted daughter. Evelyn was adopted right at the end of her father's first term. He never ran for re-election. The media begged to know why, but the Grants told the papers that he wanted to "focus on his family." Langston won the next term, with Fitz's full support.
Once out of office, there was the question of what to do next, both personally and professionally. The Grants, all six of them, headed back for Santa Barbara where the kids would hope to see some normalcy. Teddy and Evie could start elementary school. Karen and Jerry could finish out their last couple of years in private school. It seemed fitting. With the children coming and going, Mellie and Fitz would be forced to spend even less time together than before, which was ideal. Fitz and Mellie's marriage behind closed doors was always cold, dead. But he had an obligation to his family, so even as a former Commander-in-Chief, divorce was still out of the question.
Still, everyone waited anxiously to see what Fitz's follow up would be. A dramatic stage left departure from his family? A tailspin into madness or despair? In light of recent events such behavior almost seemed appropriate. Almost.
Recent Events. That's what they called it when something calamitous happens, something earth-shattering.
It's August of 2012.
"Due to recent events, your father has decided not to run in the next election."
"Is this about Evie?" Jerry asked.
A pregnant pause found its way into the room. Mellie's head jerked over to Fitz who was sitting in a chair separate from the rest of them, head hung, silent. He gave no response, except a subtle flinch when the infant's name was mentioned. The wound was still too fresh. It would stay too fresh for as long as she lived.
"No." Mellie lied, looking to her husband sympathetically.
/
Trapped, drowning, spinning, his life was in free fall. Chaos stirred within him. Turmoil made him weak. On the surface he was fine. He had to be. He was going through the motions. He had done it all before, but this was much more severe.
Death freezes the living eternally. No amount of new life- no matter how precious or innocent- can ever revocate that pain. Sometimes, it makes it worse.
Mellie understood. Mellie saw. He never did give her enough credit. Despite whatever hang ups they might have had with each other, Mellie had always known what her husband needed. She knew the pain he was in, but she also knew that there was nothing she could do to stop it. She had had a hand in his anguish. She did. No use in denying it. Little Evie was her chance to be better because she loved her. She loved her even when she had no business loving someone else's child. That was who Evie was, that's what she did. She enchanted people.
/
It's June 11, 2012 and new life is being ripped from her mother's insides. She's bloody, screaming and blue. Welcome to the world, little girl. Her mother's gone, but she won't know the difference.
/
It's June 11, 2012 and Cyrus is running down the hallways of the White House. He's panting and beet red, veins pop out of his neck. He skips the formalities when he bursts into the Oval Office where a meeting is being held. "Fitz- Mr. Mr. President, sir- please, it's urgent." he says.
Fitz sighs and shakes his head. "I'm sorry, this meeting is adjourned everyone." he said, standing up. He looked to Cyrus after everyone had filed out, "I don't think I can stand much more bad news, Cy." the President remarks, half-joking. He has no idea of what transpired, what transpires in that very moment.
It's 2019 Evie looks to her father, the President, who chose tonight to make her feel loved. He came to her show, gave her flowers and told her these exact words, "Congratulations, Evie! You did so good up there, sweetheart."
She thinks of saying something to him, but doesn't.
"Your mother would be so proud." he stutters. He can barely get the words out. In the limo, is face looks somber and dark.
Evie thinks he means Mellie. He doesn't.