A few days later, Mac and Rebecca still weren't speaking. Rod kept pressing for Mac to tell him what had gone down between the two of them, but she refused to talk about it. She didn't want to go through all of it again. She was having a hard enough time trying not to think about it, and she wasn't ready to live it again when she told Rod.
Becca, of course, was her usual mopey self. She cringed at any remark of Cait, and she avoided her mother altogether. Whenever her father tried to bring it up, she quickly hastened out of the room. She ignored all the questions Amy posed about their sister, and whenever Horace tried to talk some sense into her, she went off on him and slammed her bedroom door in his face. She even refused to talk to her grandmother, and she spent most of her time locked in her room with the music blasting.
Three days after they had told the kids, Mac decided that it was time for the family to meet Cait. Whether or not Rebecca was happy with the idea, Cait was still a part of that family, and she was still going to be a part of that family. Mac couldn't fit any time to go over to Cait's in her schedule, so Rod offered to go instead.
Rod hopped into one of the black cars with a few secret servicemen, and, thankfully, no escort. The ride to Cait's house was shorter than it usually was, and he guessed it was because he didn't know what he was going to say to her. He knew that he was glad this was happening, but he couldn't help but be worried. What if Becca was absolutely horrible to her? What if the press tore her to pieces? What if...he stopped himself before his thoughts turned ugly. But he couldn't help the last thought that went through his mind. What if she decided that it was more trouble than it was worth, and went back to her simple life with her grandparents?
When he got there, her grandparents ushered him in, and Cait hurried down the stairs with her best friend in tow. It seemed that the two were inseperable, he noted with a smile. She greeted him warmly, with a hug and a big smile. They sat down on the couches in the living room, and made small talk until he finally got up the courage to approach the subject.
"Cait, how would you feel about having dinner at the whitehouse tonight?" He asked.
He watched as her eyes grew wide and her mouth spread into a wide smile. "That would be wonderful." She said.
"Good." He said with a huge smile. "The rest of the family is all very eager to meet you." He said.
Her eyes shined at the thought, and he felt a momentary flash of guilt. Not all the family was eager to meet her. He pushed aside the thought. It wasn't as if there was anything he could do about it. He could make Rebecca behave and treat Cait with respect, but he couldn't make her want Cait in the family.
"So we'll have a car come and pick you up at say...sixish, and then you can come over to meet the family. It'll be a private dinner in the residence, of course, nothing big, just a family dinner." Rod said.
"That sounds great." She said. She had to admit that she had been worried when she hadn't seen them in three days, and she was worried that even though they were her parents, maybe they didn't want her to be a part of their family. But if they wanted her to come for dinner and meet the family, that must mean that they wanted her to be a part of the family. Right?
She couldn't be sure, but she was hopeful. Very hopeful. And not just because Mac was the president. That wasn't it at all, though she could see why someone might think that that would be it. It wasn't. All of her life, the only thing Cait had ever really wanted was a mother. She loved her grandmother, but it wasn't the same.
Even when Cait's mother had been around, she hadn't been very much of a mother. She had been good at making Cait feel worthless, and Cait had always wanted a mother for the simple things that mothers did. So when she found out about Mac, though she was a tad nervous that she was the president, she was delighted that she might have a chance to have a real mother for once in her life.
Rod smiled at Cait's obvious glee. He had been a little worried that she would think it was all going too fast, and he was glad to see that she wanted to be a part of this family.
They chatted for a few more moments, and then Rod excused himself and told Cait that he would see her at dinner. She gave him another big hug and he hurried back to the car, the agents right behind him. It was time for them to tell senior staff members. They would defenitely need help getting her into the whitehouse without anyone knowing.
They didn't want to sneak around, but they didn't want the press to know just yet. They wanted the element of surprise, and they would need the help of the staff to know how to go about the situation. But, as the car sped through the streets of DC, Rod was sure of one thing. He would do whatever it took to make that girl a part of his family.
.~.
Mac was doing paperwork, as usual, when the senior staff members started filing in. Rod was sitting on a chair close to her, Cait's file in his lap. He wasn't looking at the file, however. Instead he was going through a stack of pictures that Cait's grandparents had given him of her. Each one made him sadder and happier at the same time. Sad because he had missed out on so much of her childhood, but happy because he was finally getting his chance to make up for that.
When they were all assembled, Jim Gardner eyed Rod warily, though he supposed he should get used to the fact that Mac had made him a part of the senior staff. He knew that she had mostly done it to help her husband's ego. But still, even though Jim wanted Rod to feel important, he couldn't help but feel a little threatened. Rod was a good chief of staff, and Jim didn't want to lose his job. Jim had been hesitant when Mac had first asked him to be her chief of staff, and with good reason. Jim would always be loyal to Teddy Bridges, and he loved the man like a brother. But he was starting to love Mac too. She was calm under pressure, a thinker, and she didn't have to worry about a party, so she did what was right. It was refreshing to see someone like her in Washington politics, and he truly respected her.
Kelly Ludlow waited for them to start the meeting in nail-biting anticipation. She knew the Calloway-Allen family well, and she could sense that something big had been going on behind closed doors. This must be what the meeting was about, because there was nothing big going on in the country that would need a sudden senior staff meeting right now.
Vince Taylor too was anticipating the start of the meeting, though technically he wasn't senior staff. But he was still a big part of this administration, and Mac and Rod thought that he deserved to know what was going on as much as the senior staff did. Besides, one extra brainstormer defenitely wouldn't hurt. Vince, like Kelly, also sensed that something big was happening. He'd been with Mac for years, and he knew that she had been tense about something. Something big.
Mac finally finished with her paperwork and looked at Rod, who nodded. She looked to them with a smile and stood up. "We have some big news to tell you." She said.
Dickie McDonald stood up. "You're not pregnant, are you?" He asked, cutting right to the chase.
Every eye in the room grew wide, with the exception of Mac and Rod, who just looked amused. They all looked at each other, then back at their president. It would make sense. Lately she had gone from happy to sad at the drop of a hat, and they all knew that this was a big announcement.
"Not quite." Mac said. The room let out an audible sigh of relief, and Mac smiled. "At least, I've already given birth to this child." If it was possible for someone to take back a sigh of relief, that would have been the sound filling the room.
"What do you mean?" Jim spoke up, voicing the question on everyone's mind.
Mac looked at Rod. It was his turn to explain the long, long story. She was going to have to do it to the press soon enough. As he launched into their tale, she sat back down in her chair. She leaned against the seat and watched as her staff took in the news. When Rod was finished explaining the story, she stood up and walked around her desk, and then leaned against the front of it, waiting for someone to speak.
"We'll need to go about it the right way to tell the press." Kelly finally ventured.
"We should play up the fact that she was taken from you, and that you were heartbroken when the child you thought was your own died." Dickie said, lost in thought. "It'll help give you sympathy points."
Mac resisted the urge to strangle him. She knew that this kind of thinking was his job, but sometimes it sure as hell got on her nerves. She took a deep breath and looked at Jim. "What do you think?"
"I think it's great." Jim said. "She is your daughter, and you'll be respected for doing your duty as a parent. The country will think it's great that you can manage family drama and a presidency."
"Yeah." Vince agreed. "And, on a personal note, we'll be delighted to welcome another member to this little whitehouse family of ours."
The staff smiled and agreed. Mac smiled gratefully at all of them. "I don't know if you could really call it little, but it touches my heart all the same." She said.
"I'm just glad you're not pregnant." Dickie mumbled loud enough for the entire room to hear. "Wouldn't that be cause for a drop in numbers."
Mac closed her eyes to stop herself from rolling them. Sometimes he could be quite the ass.
.~.
"Catie, it's 5:30." Morgan said. She was sitting on Catie's bed, watching her friend throw outfit after outfit out of her closet and onto the floor. "You're going to have to choose something soon so that I can do your makeup."
"I know." Catie said, throwing yet another thing onto the floor. "I just don't know what I should wear. I want to look my best when I meet my new family. And anyway, it's not like they told me what the dress code would be. I don't know if I should wear a dress, or jeans, or pants, or what."
"You're rambling, my dear." Morgan said with a giggle.
"I tend to do that when I'm nervous, if you haven't already figured out." Catie said.
Morgan giggled again. "Trust me, I've known for quite a while." She teased.
Catie finally settled on a light blue long sleeved turtleneck and a white and blue scarf matched with a gray pencil skirt. Then she moved onto shoes, taking out pair after pair and trying them all on. Morgan sighed and leaned against the wall, picking up the book sitting on the nightstand. "Since when are you interested in the Tudors?" Morgan asked, flipping through Phillipa Gregory's newest tale.
"I don't know." Catie said, distracted. "It seemed like a good topic."
"Henry the 8th, huh? Wasn't he the one who, like, beheaded all of his wives or something?"
"Or something." Catie said with a smile. "He actually only beheaded two. He divorced two, one died, and the last was a widow."
"I never would have been stupid enough to marry him if he beheaded two of his wives." Morgan said scornfully.
Catie smirked. "As if they could say no to the King of England." She said. "Which pair? The black heels or the blue flats?"
"Go with the blue flats, but only if they're the right color." Morgan ordered. Catie held up the flats to her sweater, and Morgan thought for a moment. "Yeah." She finally said, nodding. "Blue flats."
"Blue flats it is." Catie said, slipping them on her feet. She looked at the digital clock, which read 5:45. "Alright, 15 minutes. Ready to do my makeup?"
Morgan set the book aside and hopped off the bed. "I thought we'd never get to it." She said.
15 minutes later Catie made her way gracefully down the stairs. Her hair fell straight to her shoulders, and her makeup looked perfect. The turtleneck and pencil skirt brought out the shine in her brown eyes, and the scarf tied it all together beautifully.
To Catie's surprise, when the car pulled up, Mac stepped out. She hurried up to the door with a few men at her side, and her face lit up when she saw Catie. "Wow." She said. "You look gorgeous."
"I'm not overdressed, right?" Catie asked, suddenly nervous.
"Nope." Mac said. "You're perfect."
And she meant it, in every sense of the word. Catie said goodbye to her friend and grandparents, and headed down the drive with her mother.
