Catie stepped out of the car and looked up at the Whitehouse, the look on her face one of awe. Growing up in DC, she had seen the Whitehouse countless times, but she had never been this close, and besides, no matter how much she saw it, she always seemed to get the same awestruck feeling. It was the Whitehouse, after all.
Mac got out of the car behind her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Are you ready to see the Whitehouse?" She asked with a smile. Catie nodded, and Mac ushered her up the walkway. She led her to the residence, and Catie took in everything with wide eyes.
Mac walked slowly, enjoying her daughter's appreciation. She hadn't broached the subject of Catie living with them yet, and she didn't think that the Jones' had either. Mac wanted Catie to feel welcome before they moved things along. She certainly didn't want to crowd her and scare her off.
Mac stopped at the door to the living room, where the family was waiting. "Are you ready to meet your family?" She asked softly.
Catie took a deep breath and nodded. Mac opened the door and led her in. Rod, Horace, Rebecca, Amy, and Mrs. Allen were all seated on the couches, watching something on television. Catie noted with relief that they all too seemed to be a bit dressy. Amy was wearing a dress, and Rebecca and Mrs. Allen were wearing skirts. The boys were wearing black pants and nice shirts, so Catie didn't feel overdressed. Or underdressed, either.
Rod stood up and gave Catie a quick hug, and Mac introduced her to everyone. Amy ran over to give Catie a hug, Horace shook her hand, and Mrs. Allen gave her a kiss on the cheek. Mac looked pointedly at Rebecca, who just looked at her.
"It's nice to meet you, Becca." Catie said.
"My name's Rebecca, thank you." Rebecca said harshly.
"Oh. Sorry. It's nice to meet you, Rebecca." Catie said, holding out her hand.
Rebecca just looked at her. Catie's hand fell to her side. "Rebecca." Rod hissed.
"What?" She asked indignantly. "You just want me to pretend that this is all fine and dandy? That we're happy that she's just randomly showing up in our lives? Well, I'm not gonna lie. I think this is stupid and dumb, and it's going to cost you reelection. Although, I guess I should be thanking her for that."
The room was silent, and Catie looked as if she was about to cry. Rebecca just smirked. "I'll be the one to warn you, since everyone is set on pretending that this is the greatest thing in the world. Being the president's daughter sucks. You never get privacy, your mother cares more about the country than you, your every move is watched. If I were you I wouldn't be so eager to join this family. Besides, it's not like all of us want you anyway." She stormed out of the room, and everyone watched her go.
.~.
Over the course of the evening, the dining room was filled with chatter and laughter. When the evening ended, seemingly too soon, Mac walked Catie back outside. The car would take Catie back to her house alone, because Rod and Mac wanted to talk to the kids together. As they stood outside and looked up at the Whitehouse, Mac once again noted that Catie seemed awestruck by the giant building in front of her.
"I had a lot of fun tonight." Catie said, coming back down from the clouds. "I felt really welcomed."
"Good." Mac said. "You're always welcome here. You're a part of our family." She stopped herself from going on, knowing that she and Rod had agreed not to talk to her about moving in until they'd talked to the rest of the kids first.
"I'm really glad to hear that." Catie said. They stood there for a moment, smiling at each other, until a secret serviceman approached them.
"Ma'am, the car's ready." He said.
Mac nodded and smiled at Catie. "Ready to go?"
"Yeah." Catie said. "Morgan'll be waiting to hear all about my dinner at the Whitehouse."
Mac smiled and hugged her daughter. "I'm really glad you're my daughter." She whispered.
"So am I." Catie said, hugging her back. Catie pulled away and got in the car, and Mac waved until the car was out of sight. She headed back up to residence, walking quickly. Tonight was the night that they would decide whether Catie would move into the residence with them, and Mac felt like she had never wanted anything so badly in her life.
.~.
No more than twenty minutes later, the entire family was again seated in the living room. Mac and Rod sat down across from the couch, where Mrs. Allen and the three kids were seated.
"So..." Mrs. Allen said.
"We want Cait to move into the residence with us." Mac said, cutting to the chase. "We've told the senior staff about her, and we're coming up with a plan to tell the press about her. After they're informed, we hope that she'll be able to move in and become a true member of this family. But we want to know what you guys want. You're all a part of this family, and you all have a say in what goes on."
"So if we were to say that we didn't want her here, would you keep her away?" Becca asked quietly.
Horace looked at his twin sister and rolled his eyes. "Don't say we, Rebecca." He said angrily. "Say I. Because you're the only one who feels that way." He turned back to his parents. "I like her." He said. "She's nice, she's sweet, she's funny. And she looks just like you, Mom. I want her to be a part of this family. I want her to live here. With us."
"So do I." Amy said. "I like her. She makes me laugh."
Mrs. Allen nodded. "She's just like you, Mac." She said. "I think she belongs here."
Rod smiled, and everyone looked expectantly at Rebecca. She sighed. "Look, it doesn't even matter what I think." She said. "Everyone else wants her here, so it looks like she's going to be here. No matter what I say. So let's just pretend that this is all going to work out. I promise I'll be dutiful."
Mac shook her head and bit back her response. She hated it when Becca said she'd be dutiful. It just made her sound condescending and irritated the hell out of everyone in the room.
"You know what, Rebbeca? I'm done. I don't care what you think anymore. All I care is that you treat your little sister with respect when she moves into this house. Because she is moving in. She's a part of this family, and we're going to tell the press. I don't understand why you don't like her, but frankly, it doesn't matter. She's your sister. That's all that's important. We don't turn our back on our family."
.~.
Horace knocked on Rebecca's door. "Go away!" She yelled. He ignored her and opened the door. She was seated on her bed with her spanish book in her lap. "What do you want, Horace?"
He sat down on the edge of her bed and searched her face. "How can you not like her, Becca? She's a total sweetheart."
"Is she really? Or is that just how she acts?" Becca asked harshly.
"Becca, she seems really genuine." Horace said. "I really like her, and I can't see how you don't."
"Maybe it's not her, okay Horace?" Becca said, a hint of desperation in her voice. "Maybe it's the fact that our mother seems to like spending time with her so much more than she likes spending time with us."
"Becca, you're not being fair." Horace argued. "Mom doesn't love us any less. And in her defense, she's spent years with us. We've been with her our entire lives. She's been able to watch us grow, to raise us, to be with us all the time. She didn't get that with Cait. Instead she was informed that she has a 15 year old daughter that she thought was dead. And now she wants the chance to be the mother that she should have been to her this entire time. It's not fair that we should stop her from being a mother to her child. To do so would just be..." He trailed off.
"What, Horace?" Becca asked. "What would it be?"
"Selfish." Horace said. "It would be selfish. And Mom and Dad didn't raise us to be selfish. So you're going to have to put your jealousy aside and be a sister to this girl. She deserves that much."
"I don't owe her anything!" Becca yelled.
"Yes, you do." Horace said. "You owe her your love and respect."
"Why? Why do I owe her anything?" Becca asked.
"Because you've got to spend your entire life being loved by our mother. So have I, and so has Amy. But she hasn't. She's spent her entire life thinking that her mother was a mean drunk who hated her and wished she had never been born, when the truth was that her real mother would have given anything for her to be here with us. We've been able to cuddle with Mom on the couch, and she's been able to ground us when we've done something wrong, but Cait has never had that. And we owe it to her to show her that she still can have that." Horace said.
Becca stayed quiet, refusing to answer, and Horace sighed. "Fine, don't listen to me. But listen to your conscience, Bec. Do what you know is right."
.~.
The next morning, Catie and Morgan were in Catie's room, giggling at something on Catie's laptop screen. "Charlie bit me." They mimicked. "Hahahahahaha."
"Cait, you have someone here to see you." Ruth said, knocking on the door and opening it. "Go on in, dear."
Catie and Morgan looked up as Rebecca entered the room. Catie's jaw dropped. "What are you doing here?" She asked.
Morgan looked from her friend to Rebecca, question in her gaze. Catie looked at her friend. "This is Rebecca." She said. "Rebecca, this is Morgan."
Recognition flashed in Morgan's eyes, telling Rebecca that Catie had told her what happened. Morgan climbed off the bed. "I'll give you two some privacy." She said, following Ruth out of the room. She closed the door behind her.
Rebecca stood there awkwardly, not quite sure how to say what she had come to say. She hadn't told anyone where she was going, but her detail had been glad to take her here. "Caitlyn, listen..." Rebecca started.
"I am." Catie assured her.
"I'm sorry about what I said. I had no right to treat you so horribly."
"So why did you?"
Rebecca sighed. "I'm scared." She admitted. "I'm scared that having another sibling is going to take her even more away from me." Catie opened her mouth to speak, but Rebecca held up her hand to stop her. "No, please. Just listen. I love my mom...our mom, so much. She's my hero, but don't you dare ever tell her that. I wasn't lying last night. It's hard being a president's daughter. All that stuff is true. But I didn't tell you what's great about being Mackenzie Allen's daughter. She's funny, she's sweet, she's protective. If someone hurts you, she'll take care of it. She's supportive. If you ever have a problem, she'll be there to listen and help you in a heartbeat. She's amazing, and she would do anything for us. And it's not that I don't want you in our family. I do. I think having another sister would be great. It's just that sharing my mother with anyone else isn't so great."
"Rebecca, I'm not trying to steal your mother away from you." Catie said. "I hope you know that."
"Of course I do." Rebecca said. "And I wasn't being fair. I know now how wrong I was to treat you that way, and I want to start over again. I want to be a sister to you. Can we do that?"
"Sure." Catie said.
"Okay." Rebecca said with a smile. "Hello, my name's Rebecca. But you can call be Becca. Most everyone does anyway."
Catie giggled and held out her hand. "It's nice to meet you Becca. My name's Caitlyn, but everyone calls me either Catie or Cait. Whichever you prefer is fine. But I'm not the biggest fan of Caitlyn."
Rebecca smiled. "Catie it is."
They shook hands, somethign that seemed to signal the start of their new relationship. Of their sisterhood. They just both hoped that it would last.
