Life's a Beach
CJ/Danny, Josh/Donna, Hogan, Carol, Ginger, mentions of others
Maybe teen-rated; some sex but nothing super explicit
Spoilers – though end of series
Not mine, never were, never will be, but they consume my soul
Feedback and criticism always welcomed
By a two vote margin, you've recommended that I continue with "Holding Hands" rather than start a sequel. Thanks for all your input.
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Bartlet farm near Manchester NH, early August 2009 about 8:30 AM.
"Riders up!" Danny Concannon summoned his passengers. Everything was packed in the SUV and he was anxious to get on the road.
Aisling came out first, carrying his son. Then came Donna and CJ on either side of Abbey Bartlet, her arms around each of them. Jed brought up the rear.
There were final hugs and kisses all around.
"Thank you again for your hospitality, Mr. President, Dr. Bartlet," Aisling told the couple. "I enjoyed myself very much."
"My dear, you are delightful," Abbey answered. "It was a joy having you in our home."
"Everyone go potty?" the former president asked.
"My God, Jed, they're all grown women," his wife reproved him.
"Maybe I should go one more time?" Donna seemed hesitant. "I don't want to be any trouble."
"Donna, you went two minutes ago," CJ said, climbing into the third row where the infant car seat was already strapped. Aisling handed Paddy to her and she fastened her son into the carrier.
Danny helped Donna into the second row with its shorter seat and assisted her with the seat belt. "We can stop whenever you need to," he told her. "Just ask. We have all day. We called Hogan and we called Mark's sister last night; Jane knows to expect Hogan sometime this afternoon but that we won't be there until tomorrow."
The original plan, when both Josh and Donna were to be driving down the coast with them, was for Otto to meet them just outside Wilmington to take Josh and Donna to Washington while CJ, Danny, Aisling, and Paddy would continue down the Delaware coast to Rehoboth Beach, picking up Hogan from a military shuttle at Dover Air Force base. Now that Josh was already in the capitol to deal with the untimely death of 15 governors in Singapore, they would be driving Donna to the townhouse she and Josh owned, spending the night, and then driving over to the beach tomorrow morning. Hogan said she should be able to find a ride at the base "somehow or another" (CJ decided that Danny didn't need to hear that last phrase).
Aisling strapped herself into the front passenger seat as Danny checked his mirrors. "Impulse speed, Mr. Sulu," she told him. "Warp drive at your discretion."
"I thought I appointed you navigator, Ms. Uhura. You don't have the Com," he replied.
"Well, consider this a mutiny."
"Better be careful. You're wearing a red shirt."
"With this hair?" Aisling's locks were the color Danny had when he was twenty. "Look again, it's peach."
As soon as they got on I-93, Danny started them on "99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall". That managed to kill about 20 minutes, but it got them all in a silly mood and they began singing other field trip and camp songs, like "John Jacob Jingleheimer Smith", "On Top of Spaghetti", and "Do Your Ears Hang Low?". Donna taught them one none of the others had ever heard.
"When you see a cow of a certain color, you start to sing, using that color, for example:
'You can get good milk from a brown-skinned cow
The color of her skin doesn't matter no how
Yo ho ho, no sirree,
The color of her skin doesn't matter to me'".
About an hour into the trip, near Worchester, Donna spoke up. "Danny, would you mind if we stopped?"
CJ took advantage of the break to change Paddy and they took off again.
When they had to stop again just outside of Hartford, it became apparent that little Lyman-to-be was going to make them take a break every hour. As soon as they passed New Rochelle, Danny decided to stop for lunch; he wanted to make it through the city and south of Newark without having to get off and on the Interstate.
As they were leaving the restaurant after lunch, someone asked Danny about the makeup of their group, wondering to whom, if any, he was married.
Before he could open his mouth, Donna started in with a perfectly straight face.
"We're all his women." Pointing at CJ, she said, "She popped about two months ago and I'm ready to go any second. And the little one," a glance at Aisling, "we just found out yesterday that she'll be birthing next March."
Seeing the shock on the faces, CJ decided to play along. "Man's got a lot of strength. Most nights, he makes all three of us really happy, one right after the other."
Aisling chimed in. "And it sure helps, only having to do a third of the housework. Even though he's my mom's first cousin, I'm glad he was willing to take me on. I'm so happy I'm finally gonna have a baby – he's been trying to get me in a family way since I was eleven."
Danny took pity on the flabbergasted couple; also, he couldn't keep a straight face. "Wife and son, wife of close friend, niece," he pointed to each of them in turn. "For the older two, I'm assuming their hormones are running roughshod over their maturity; the young one is just a smart aleck." Looking at the male half of the couple, he added. "As I'm sure you know, one is often more than enough."
CJ and Donna were still giggling as they headed to the SUV. He told them that the next food break would be drive through at the fast food place of his choosing unless they apologized for corrupting the morals of his innocent niece.
"I'm a smart girl, Uncle Danny; I know how to corrupt myself."
He reached over and took a swat at her. "You aren't too big for a spanking, young lady."
Aisling turned around to look at CJ and Donna. "Does he like that sort of thing? I know some women do. Fee does."
At which point, Danny flushed deep red and Donna announced that they had beaten the joke to death.("Interesting choice of words, there, Ms. Moss-Lyman.")
CJ, Paddy, and Donna slept during the leg through New York City and Aisling proved to be a good navigator ("Just stay on I-95 all the way"). The trip down through New Jersey took them east of Philadelphia, across the Delaware River to Maryland, through Baltimore Harbor and finally to DC, arriving a little after 8:00 pm. Not bad, considering a lunch break, a snack break, and seven additional "potty breaks". Donna broke in a chorus of
"Three cheers for the bus driver, the bus driver, the bus driver
Three cheers for the bus driver who's with us today
God bless him
HE NEEDS IT!
God bless him
HE NEEDS IT!
Three cheers for the bus diver who's with us today!"
Carol had sent Josh home with a carryout meal for all of them from the White House mess and he proved perfectly capable of working a microwave.
After they ate, Josh told them the latest details about the assassinations in Singapore. The President and Vice-president Baker would be trying to get to all the funerals. Matt was also drafting Jed and Glenallen Walken as official mourners. The bodies would arrive at Dover tonight. He had spoken with Sam earlier this afternoon.
In addition to dealing with becoming governor, Sam's wife had suffered a miscarriage two months into pregnancy. CJ and Donna both gasped, Donna putting a hand protectively over her stomach. They called Sam and Morgan to offer prayers and sympathy.
Hogan called CJ; she had arrived at the beach house later than expected as she had been flying standby into Dover and then had to wait for a ride to the beach. She met Mark's sister and now was waiting for the pizza guy. Danny took the phone and reminded her to be sure to lock up carefully when she went to sleep that night. Maybe there was an empty couch on the second floor with Mark's sister's family? Hogan said she would be extra careful but reminded Danny that she was a trained naval officer with, among other things, kickboxing in her repertoire.
Donna offered CJ the use of her nursery but CJ demurred; little Lyman-to-be should be the first one to use it.
Josh was long gone before they woke up the next morning but Donna was on leave and they had a leisurely breakfast with her before heading toward Annapolis, the Bay Bridge, and the beach.
They would be stopping in DC for a three or four nights after their time at the beach; by that time, little Lyman would, God willing, be a reality.
After the three-hour trip, Danny pulled into the driveway behind the old yellow clapboard house at the head of the street.
"This is Mark's?" CJ asked.
"Well, it belongs to his family. His great-grandparents built it at the beginning of the last century. Mark's parents fixed it so it could be two separate apartments by putting in the extra kitchen upstairs and extra bathrooms, plus they updated the wiring in order to handle the window air conditioners and the new appliances. When I first met him, I had just turned thirty; there were always all sorts of folks here every weekend. I spent many a night on a cot on the screen porch with four or five other guys."
"Only guys?" Aisling asked him.
"The girls stayed upstairs. Mark's grandparents lived here year-round and you needed to show ID and prove you were married to get a room together. "
The back hallway had a door that opened into a big kitchen, a staircase going upstairs, a huge hot water tank, and a washer-dryer combo. There were four bikes in the hallway, one with a milk crate-sized basket on the back, as well as a couple of beach umbrellas and about a dozen beach chairs in varying styles. The kitchen opened to a living room in the front of the house that opened onto the screen porch. The larger bedroom, which had its own bath, was next to the living room. Behind it was another bath and then a smaller bedroom with two twin beds.
Danny and Aisling brought in their things. Then Danny decided to take a short nap while the others unpacked.
CJ called Hogan's cell. "I'm on the beach just outside, Aunt CJ. Just walk out to the porch. I'll wave." CJ walked outside to the porch and saw her niece. There was a screen door with five steps that led down to a 10-foot strip of sand dune, which fronted the boardwalk. Hogan was on a blanket about two-thirds of the way to the waterline, about twenty-five feet to the left of the lifeguard's chair. "We'll be down in about 30 minutes." CJ told her niece. "I need to feed Paddy first."
After she fed the baby, she walked outside on the porch again. On the southern side of the house was a staircase leading down from the second floor screen porch. Under the staircase was a sand shower. There was a clothesline that held beach towels drying in the sun.
When she went back inside, she could hear Danny playing with Paddy; she went into the bedroom and changed into a bathing suit. Danny made appreciative comments, got out of bed and put on his suit. They spread sunscreen on each other. She put Paddy into a cool cotton onesie with matching hat and gathered up his and their beach things while her husband went to get an umbrella and some chairs.
Danny opened the refrigerator and grabbed a Coke. Hogan did some shopping this morning so they had some basics. She told them she thought that with the delay in their plans, they wouldn't want to waste time with the nagging little details of setting up a beach house. She also made the beds.
"Danny, could you come into the girls' room for a minute?" Walking into the room that Hogan and Aisling were using, he saw his wife and his niece standing by one of the beds. There were five bathing suits spread out on the bed.
"Let's get this settled now," CJ said. "These are your niece's bathing suits". She pointed to the brown and cream print maillot, two tankinis, one in a green that matched Aisling's eyes, the other in white, and two two-pieces, one a halter-top with a medium-rise bikini bottom in purple, and the other a keyhole top with a medium-rise bikini bottom in turquoise.
He took a sip from the can. "No problem, no problem, no problem, no way, no way."
CJ held up the cell phone she had been holding at her side, out of Danny's sight. "Erin, he reacted as I predicted." She handed the phone to her husband.
"Danny," Erin laughed. "I picked out one of the two-pieces myself. If you can tell which one I bought here and which one she bought in Concord, then she won't wear either of them. If not, then she wears both of them."
Danny knew when he was defeated. "But you're wearing a T-shirt when you go up to the boardwalk," he told his niece. "One that covers your backside." Then they left to let Aisling change into one of the suits. (She picked the green tankini.)
They spent the rest of the afternoon on the beach. CJ draped mosquito netting over Paddy's cradle carrier. Tomorrow, they would bring down the little popup tent that would allow her to nurse in privacy on the beach but they didn't feel like bothering with it right now.
Hogan offered to sit with Paddy so the three of them could go into the surf.
They had already arranged for a babysitter for that evening, so the four of them walked up to Rehoboth Ave and, looking at the menus in the windows of the various restaurants, picked a place that appealed to the four of them.
CJ could tell that several of the restaurant patrons recognized her and she could only guess at the conversations. Aisling definitely resembled her uncle, especially in her coloring, and she and Hogan shared the Cregg eyes and chin. It hit her that had she and Danny met, fallen in love, and married in their early twenties, they could very well have two daughters aged 24 and almost 16. She mentioned it to Danny when the girls went to the rest room.
"Me, maybe," Danny said, "and they might think you're Ash's mom, but no way do you look old enough to be Hogan's mom. Look at you." He took in her sun-streaked hair, her tan. She was wearing a natural linen dress with a peasant style top and a full skirt with sandals on her feet. "Unless you're my child bride, married at 15."
"Flattery will get you everywhere," she joked, kissing him quickly as the girls came back and the waiter brought their meals.
They were just finishing their meals when CJ heard a familiar voice. "Well, I heard that the two of you had married, but I didn't know about kids! Danny, what did you do to deserve three beautiful women?" Will Sawyer reached out a hand to Danny, bent down to kiss CJ's cheek.
Danny introduced "our nieces" to the reporter and asked the couple at the next table if they could use one of the unoccupied chairs. Then he pulled out his ever-present mini-album of baby pictures (as well as the sepia-toned photo of CJ from their wedding) to show the man. Will had recently returned from Africa. They discussed the situation in Singapore; it was still a shock, especially with Jed Bartlet's recent success in Jakarta. When Will found out that they were staying in Mark's family's place, that brought about more talk about some of the wild weekends and weeks spent there about 15 years ago.
The maitre d' came to tell Will that his date had arrived and the rest of them left the restaurant, stopping for ice cream cones on the boardwalk on the way back to their beach house.
The days took on a certain sameness. If they had the energy, some of them would ride bikes on the boardwalk (before 10 AM) or on the town streets. One of them would take the bike with the basket and do the grocery shopping needed for the next day or two. By 9:00 am, their space on the beach would be staked out with a blanket, an umbrella, and some chairs.
If it got too hot, someone would take Paddy up to the house during midday, but most of the time, he was happy to be in his cradle carrier under the umbrella and the mosquito net, or in the little pop up tent they sometimes used. Hogan and CJ enjoyed taking their beach chairs down to the water line, letting the surf come up over their legs (and sometimes higher) while they read paperbacks that Hogan bought at a used book store. They also spent some time riding the waves, which was Danny's and Aisling's preferred activity. CJ and Danny also spent time napping under the umbrella or in the tent, as she was still nursing six or seven times a day and they varied the timing of the bottle feedings. Even the dolphins seemed to come by on a regular basis.
On the third morning, about 6:30, she had just finished feeding and changing her son when she turned to the bed to see her husband's smoldering eyes devouring her. Smiling, she put Paddy in the bassinet, and pulling her nightgown over her head, she crawled onto the mattress. Twenty minutes later, completely forgetting the occupants on the other side of the wall, she screamed his name in release as he went rigid over her, then collapsed, pulling her to her right side next to him. After catching their collective breath, they looked at each other; they covered each other's mouths with their hands as they laughed uncontrollably. Later, when they left their bedroom, there was a note on the kitchen table.
"Ash and I are going clamming. We'll see you at the umbrella. Call if you need us. Have fun (big winking smiley face)"
Later that afternoon, while Hogan and Danny were in the waves, Aisling approached her with one of the younger lifeguards in tow; he had been one of the two young men manning the station at the head of their street and she had noticed the glances and the way too casual conversation between their niece and the kid. Aisling introduced him as Mike, who would be entering Notre Dame in the fall on a swimming scholarship. "Do you think Uncle Danny would let me go to Funland some evening?"
CJ advised the young man to come to the house tonight and sit on the porch with Aisling, let her husband get to know him. Then ask him for tomorrow or the next night. "One thing for sure, you'll have to come to the house to fetch her, don't ask her to meet you there." The young man assured her that he had been brought up properly. Then he excused himself; his break was over and he needed to get back up on the chair.
One of Hogan's classmates (male) from Annapolis who was stationed at Patuxent Naval Air Station had a two-day pass and was taking her to dinner that evening. Danny, CJ, and Aisling would have chicken skewers on the grill and then play Scrabble on the porch.
They had just finished the first game at 8:30. Aisling was changing Paddy after his feeding while CJ was in the bathroom. The bell next to the door on the screen porch sounded and Danny went to answer it.
"Yes?" he said to the young man in the "Dover Catholic Swimming" T-shirt, the pressed khaki shorts, and topsiders.
"Good evening, sir. I'm Mike Paulson, one of the lifeguards. May I visit with Aisling for an hour or so?"
He opened the door to the boy. "Ash, you have a caller." Then to the young man, "Do you play Scrabble?"
Aisling came into the living room, placed Paddy in the cradle carrier, and then came onto the porch. CJ came out with a tray of lemonade and cookies. Danny took in the four glasses.
Mike stepped up to her. "Let me take that, Mrs. Concannon. Where would you like it?"
"Good evening, Mike, nice to see you again." CJ caught Danny's eyes. He knew exactly what was happening.
As they played the board game, they learned that the young man was planning to study Biology at Notre Dame as a pre-veterinary student. Had he not qualified for the athletic scholarship, he would have qualified for an academic one. This was his first year as a regular lifeguard at the beach, but he had been in the junior lifeguard program since he was fourteen. His father was a civilian employee at Dover Air Force base and his mother was a legal secretary.
"Why does the Beach Patrol make everyone get out of the water at 5:00 when you leave?" CJ asked the young man. The first day, she and Danny had been bobbing up and down in the swells just out beyond where the waves were breaking when they were whistled in to the shore.
"We want to make sure that no one is in any danger when we leave for the day," the young man answered. "After we leave, it's 'swim at your own risk', and, obviously, many people do, but we have an excellent safety record and we don't want to spoil it." He described the various physical tests and the training he had to undergo before being accepted into the Patrol. As a first year lifeguard, he was always on duty with a more experienced veteran. As a rule, there were only two stations with only one lifeguard on duty, and never on the weekends or holidays.
After the game, CJ asked Danny to help her with something in the kitchen. Danny put his arms loosely around CJ's neck. "So how long has this been planned?"
"Well, the flirting has been going on since the first afternoon, but they asked me this afternoon," she admitted. "He's a nice boy, Danny."
"Yes, he is, but he's starting college, and she's 15."
"He's not yet 18 and she's almost 16. And she asked. If it were Fiona, she would have walked out of the house without saying anything, let alone asking."
They went back to the porch. The two youngsters were sitting on the glider. Mike stood up as they approached.
"I'd best be leaving now." It was just before 10:00. "Thank you very much." Then he looked at Danny. "May I take Aisling for something to eat and then to Funland tomorrow evening?"
"I don't see any problem with that," Danny answered. "I'm assuming you would like that, sweetheart?" He looked at his niece.
She smiled shyly. "I would."
"I'll be on duty at the first-aid station tomorrow," the young man told her. "I'll pick you up at 7:00?"
"That would be fine."
They waited a minute. When it became obvious that Danny did not intend to leave them alone this evening, Mike offered the older man his hand, nodded his head to CJ, smiled at Aisling, and left.
Aisling hugged her uncle. "Thank you." Then she skipped off to the room she was sharing with Hogan. "What am I going to wear?"
CJ turned out the lights and pulled her husband out to the porch. They watched the moon play on the waves, listened to the sounds of the surf breaking and the conversations of people walking on the beach, and engaged in some necking.
They were about to get more serious and were considering taking it to the bedroom ("but quietly this time", CJ said) when Hogan and her date came in through the kitchen door. The four of them shared a bottle of Bailey's. If they could line up a babysitter, Roy would like to take the all of them to a restaurant on the waterfront in Lewes. They would try, CJ told them, but let them know that in any event, Aisling would have other plans. Then CJ pulled Danny to his feet, told Hogan to be sure to lock up when Roy left (with just a little stress on "when"), and led Danny into the bedroom. After nursing her son, she once again approached the bed. This time, they were very quiet, but there were smiles on their faces as they spooned into sleep about thirty minutes later.
About 3:00, Danny woke up about two seconds before Paddy began to whimper. Quickly grabbing his son and the diaper bag, Danny went into the kitchen. "Let's let Mama sleep this time," he spoke softly to his son. He figured he could sleep on the beach later in the day. He set a pan of water on the stove to warm, reached in the refrigerator for the bottle he knew was there and set it in the pan. Then he changed he baby on the kitchen table. He tested the bottle, never taking his eyes from the infant on the table and, grabbing a quilt from the sofa as he walked through the living room, he wrapped himself and his son in it as he sat on the porch, giving Paddy the nourishment he needed.
"I'm gonna have a lot to teach you in 15 years or so, about how to find the right girls and how to treat them like they deserve" he told the boy, "and if Mama and I manage to get a little sister for you, you and I are going to have to make a pact that she gets only the best, okay? Ya know, I had no idea what I was getting into when we decided to try for you, but I wouldn't miss this for the world, Paddy, not for all the Pulitzers, not for all the exclusives in the world. Between Mama and you, I'm the luckiest man in the world." When the baby had drained the bottle, Danny burped his son and carried him back to the bedroom.
CJ stirred. "Go back to sleep," he kissed her neck as he came into bed behind her, careful to keep his growing arousal from brushing against her. However, she pushed back against him and shifted her upper leg. "I want, too," she murmured.
"In that case," he softly growled into her ear as he slipped into her, his upper hand sliding down to help her along and his lower arm slipping under her neck. She gripped his hand and bit it, cried into it when her time came, then kissed it as he let go.
The next morning they had just arranged for a sitter when her cell rang. It was Carol; Noah Leo Lyman had been born by Caesarian section just after sunrise. Donna was doing as well as could be expected for someone with a lateral incision in her pelvic region and Josh was overwhelmed by the whole experience. CJ sent flowers in their name. They called later from the beach and spoke with both Donna (tired but happy) and Josh (totally incoherent.)
After much consultation with Hogan and CJ, Aisling decided on a multi-colored print pair of capri's with matching short-sleeved blouse. "If you spill anything, the stains will just blend in." Hogan told her. "And make sure you don't get anything with onions," she said with a wink.
"Eat all the onions you want," her uncle said, but his eyes belied the gruffness in his voice.
CJ gave the young girl her cell phone "just in case you need us. And if anyone calls for me, give them your uncle's number."
When Mike came to pick up Aisling, the baby-sitter was already there; they were awaiting the arrival of Hogan's date.
Once again, the young man looked directly at Danny. "When should I have her home, sir?"
"Ten-thirty," Danny answered, giving the time on which he and CJ had compromised. He glanced at the babysitter, a woman in her early thirties, then looked at his niece. "We may not be back by then; we're trusting you."
"I know," she answered, giving him a hug.
After the teens left, CJ went to the bedroom to pump and dress while Danny went over some specifics with the babysitter.
The meal was as Roy promised it would be – nothing ultra fancy, just an extremely wide choice of fresh fish and seafood excellently prepared and served on sparkling white linen, simple bone china, and simple stemware, with an excellent view of the lighthouse and the shoreline. The menu was simply typed sheets inside plastic covers, like the little places they had visited on the northern California coast.
They returned to the house a little before 10:00. The babysitter told them she had no problem with Paddy; he took the 8:30 bottle right on schedule and went back to sleep. She would be more than willing to sit with him again, she told Danny as he saw her to her car, making sure the vehicle started okay. As he returned, CJ looked out at the beach shimmering silver in the moonlight and sighed.
"Why don't the two of you go for a walk? We'll wait for the kids," Hogan told them.
So they grabbed a flashlight, ditched their shoes, rolled up their pants legs, and set out across the beach. Just as they reached the hard, wet sand at the water line, they heard Aisling's distinctive laugh, looked up, and saw the young man reach in to kiss her cheek before starting up the path from the boardwalk to the house.
"Pay attention to your own girl," she laughed, putting both her arms around his waist.
He looped one arm around her shoulders, let himself be pulled northward.
They walked up to the beach, stopped to watch some of the volleyball taking place at the lighted courts near the intersection of Rehoboth Ave and the boardwalk. They continued up a few blocks more, then climbed to the boardwalk. They went in the Five and Ten and bought themselves flip-flops. They got frozen custard cones and walked down the boardwalk.
He pulled her into Funland, where they rode the carousel, played in the bumper cars, and made out in the tunnel of horrors. Then they played Whack-a-Mole.
"Why couldn't we have had one of these in the West Wing?" she moaned, hitting the one she had named "Haffley".
Danny pounded the one he had labelled "Conflict of Interest" and asked, "Should we offer to buy this as a baby present for Josh?"
Time got away from them. It was 12:30 when they returned to the house; her breasts were aching and she went to pump. Hogan told them that the baby had awakened right on schedule but was happy with the bottle they heated for him. Aisling had just gone to bed.
"Thank you for this evening," Danny told her. "It was generous of you to give up whatever plans you might have had?"
"Roy is just a friend, Danny," she assured him. "There's a submariner that's kind of special, but he's somewhere in the Indian Ocean, and I've never really been the 'Love the one you're with' type; I want what you and Aunt CJ have."
"And this submariner?" he asked.
"Maybe. Just maybe," she smiled.
He yawned as he got up and then reached down to give her a hug. "I'm glad you're here with us, that you were willing to spend so much of your leave time with us."
"Well, I need to get on my godson's good side; if I don't get married and have kids of my own, I expect him to look after me in my old age."
"I don't see that happening. Now let me lock up."
On the fifth day, Aisling came out in a new blue, purple, and green paisley print suit with a skirted bottom, the waist of which came just below her navel and a halter top that resembled something in a World War II pin-up picture. It had a matching sarong-style coverup. When pressed about it, she said that while the American boys were much nicer and less vocal about their reaction to her bikinis than those in Ireland, she was totally shocked at the reaction of the older men ("some even older than you, Uncle Danny") and they made her uncomfortable. "So last night, I saw this and decided to buy it. Mike helped me pick it out," she looked down and blushed.
That afternoon, Mike had a half-day off and he spent the time with them. He and Aisling built an elaborate sand castle. They fetched drinks and food whenever anyone expressed the least need for sustenance. They rode in the waves but they also volunteered to spend time with the baby so the others could enjoy the water. He had to undergo some advanced EMT training that evening, but if her uncle permitted, could he take her to the sock hop at the bandshell tomorrow?
Mark's sister had invited them up for steamed crab that evening. She and her family would be leaving the next day; Mark and a couple of his friends would be in the day after tomorrow.
On the sixth morning, CJ and Danny set his phone alarm so they could sit on the screen porch and watch the sunrise come out of the ocean. They talked about how different the beach experience here was from what they were used to in Santa Monica. It was more than the orientation of the coast. Here, there was always the sense that the experience was temporary, that the season would end and fall and winter set in. In California, it seemed as if they saw the same people on the beach and on the piers every day, whereas here they were aware of the ever-changing mix of visitors to the shore.
"Sometime, we'll find a place with a private beach and make love in the dawn, at noon, at night," he whispered into her hair. "We'll leave Paddy with his Aunt Donna and Uncle Josh."
"Ginger tells me her in-laws have a huge place just outside of Cape May in addition to the one in Newport. She's thinking about having a big reunion next summer," she giggled. "Knowing our group, we'll probably have to schedule sex like they do tennis courts."
That morning, they were walking the boardwalk with Paddy in his stroller when they saw the lifeguards go through their morning ritual. The young men (and some young women) went through some calisthenics, then did a group swim out into the ocean beyond the breakers before dispersing to their assignments. Mike took off up the coast; his assignment rotated to another station today.
Hogan volunteered to stay with Paddy that evening so CJ and Danny could have the evening out. After Mike came for Aisling, the two of them walked up to town. They started to go into Grotto's for pizza, but quickly changed their minds when they saw Mike and Aisling sitting in a booth toward the back. They ended up in a seafood place a block off the avenue and had the best crabcakes they had ever remembered eating with some excellent coleslaw. They saved room for a big bucket of Thrasher's fries, which they were enjoying when the sock hop started.
CJ looked at Danny and he looked at her. They looked for the kids, found them in the crowd and headed for the opposite corner of the plaza, and danced for about 45 minutes before heading for the house.
CJ and Hogan were on the porch when the kids returned; Danny was in the shower. CJ decided to divert her husband and joined him in the bathroom while Hogan suddenly realized that she needed a Coke.
Mike and Aisling were standing by the screen porch door.
"I had a really nice time, Mike. Thank you."
"So did I." He reached in and kissed her lips very lightly. "Good night."
"Sleep tight," she replied, reaching up and kissing him back.
Danny and CJ walked out of the shower into the darkened bedroom. Luckily, he only saw the third kiss, another chaste one from him to her. "I'll see you tomorrow; it's my full day off," he said as he walked away from the house.
CJ put her arms around her husband. "I'll talk to her tomorrow; make sure she understands it's just a summer thing."
"No, I'll do it."
"You'll be able to stay calm, not get super-protective?"
"I think so. Everyone's right, she's got a level head on her shoulders."
(Day 7)
It rained the next day, and Aisling woke up with cramps and an early period. She had some medicine which pretty much knocked her out for the day.
Right after the 11:30 feeding, CJ and Hogan took the SUV to the Outlet mall (Hogan was used to driving one). Just after they pulled away, there was a knock on the door. Mike wondered if Aisling could go to the arcade with him.
Danny explained the facts to him and was pleased to see that the boy was not so worldly that he didn't blush a bit.
"Tell her I hope she feels better soon," he said, walking toward the door. Then the young man turned around. "The day after tomorrow is my last day here. My folks want me back home for a week or so before I have to go to South Bend. I'd like to take her to dinner," he mentioned the name of a restaurant that caused Danny to raise his eyebrows slightly. The total bill there could easily reach $100 for two, even without alcoholic beverages, "and then to the concert at the bandstand?"
Danny thought quickly; this was a good kid. "I'm sure she'll like it very much." Then Danny realized that there might be more than one young heart in possible danger of hurting here. "Mike, you do know that Aisling will be going back to Ireland when we leave here and I don't think her parents are going to let her go to Indiana for football weekends or things like that. Summer romances can be particularly poignant."
"I know that, sir, but she is a special girl. I've never met anyone quite like her. We've already exchanged email addresses – if you think your sister and brother-in-law will be okay with that?" They talked for a bit more before Mike left, discussing Notre Dame. They exchanged email addresses, with Danny promising to get in touch if he and CJ returned to South Bend this coming fall for a football weekend.
Paddy woke up, needing changing and feeding, and Danny handled the situation, watching a game from Wrigley field. He called Josh and spent some time with the man, dispensing advice to the new father.
CJ and Hogan returned, each with several bags. ("Danny, I found some nice shirts for you, and wait till you see what I found for little Noah!")
Hogan retired to the porch with the long-awaited Jean Auel release and a big Whitman's Sampler box. CJ checked on Aisling, who was sleeping peacefully and announced her intention to nap as well.
"Would you like some company?" Danny whispered in her ear and she blushed her assent.
CJ and Danny lay in the bed, both of them looking very happy, very relaxed, very satisfied. They could no longer hear the rain through the open window, but the wind coming around the shade still carried the scent of drizzle.
Paddy began to whimper and CJ made a move to get up.
"You stay; I'll bring him to you." Danny kissed her ear and went to fetch his son. He checked the diaper, found it still dry. "Here's your mama, kid," he crooned, putting the child in her arms and getting back into bed beside her. He put his arm around her; he could never get enough of watching her nurse his son.
"Do you suppose he'll get a complex, all the sex we've been having with him in the room?" she giggled.
"Nah. It's good for him. Subliminal learning, he'll know what to do in 15 years."
"More like 20, I hope." She lifted the covers, looked pointedly at her husband's groin. "And he'll probably have an inferiority complex."
He tried to hide his self-satisfied grin. "I think Erin has a nudie shot of me at 30 months with which she used to threaten blackmail; I'll show him there's a lot of growth ahead of him."
By the time Paddy was full, so was his diaper and Danny took care of that also. CJ was nodding off, so he told her to sleep, he would shower and go fetch dinner.
Hogan suggested rotisserie chicken, salad, French bread, and something for dessert. She asked if she could come along; Aisling needed some "supplies" and his niece would probably prefer that she or CJ buy them. They checked the refrigerator, made a list. He went to ascertain the diaper and baby wipe supply.
By the time they returned, the drizzle had stopped and there was some clearing to the south and west. Tomorrow promised to be another wonderful beach day.
After dinner, they watched a video but the sleepiness of the day sent them all to bed by 10:30. Close to midnight, they heard the sounds of Mark and his guests arriving. Mark was reminding the other men to move quietly, as it was obvious that the downstairs residents were already in bed.
(Day 8)
It was a beautiful morning. The air felt fresh and clean after yesterday's rain and it gave all the promise of being another perfect "beach day". The high was predicted to be in the low nineties and it was already 76 degrees at 8:30 in the morning.
Aisling was feeling much better and CJ asked her go fetch in the wet towels that were hanging on the line by the sand shower; she was going to wash a load of clothes.
CJ was heading toward the kitchen when she heard a vaguely familiar male voice addressing Aisling.
"Well, Mark told me there was interesting scenery at the beach, but he certainly didn't say it was this interesting, darlin'. You look familiar. Maybe you'd like to ride the waves with me?"
CJ hurried outside to see Aisling holding the towels in front of her green tankini, not quite looking at the man on the steps coming down from the second floor of the house.
"Tad." She greeted the man.
His glance raked down and up her body, taking in her cut-off shorts and her halter-top. "Not exactly Press Room attire but I'm not complaining. Always knew there was a wild woman under that cool, touch-me-not attitude. Even when we were together, I knew you were holding back. All that talk about no favors and you and Concannon were rolling around in the hay."
She couldn't believe what he was saying to her, let alone in front of a child. She glanced over at Aisling, trying to get her to go inside. He followed her glance, putting together her coloring and the occupants of the house's first level. "Oops, don't want ruin daddy's little girl's dreams or give her any ideas about step-mommy. He really kept that under covers. When did he tell you?"
"This is our niece. Aisling, this uh, gentleman is Mr. Whitney". Giving Tad an icy look, she let him know exactly how little truth lay behind her use of the term. "Ash, why don't you get those in the washer and start it?"
As Aisling ran into the house, CJ turned back to her old nemesis. "So, Tad, are you still with the State Department," she asked casually, already knowing the answer but hoping for some more information.
"Boy, you are out of touch! No, I finally got my foot in the door in the West Wing. Ms. Louise," his tone indicated what he thought of the lady "still has me as an errand boy, but I'm hoping to make her see the light, give me something better to do."
The screen door banged again. She felt Danny come up behind her and she stepped back against him, grateful for the hands that came to rest on her shoulders but a little apprehensive. She knew he was in primal male protective mode and hoped that things stayed in the ugly stare stage . "Honey, you remember Tad Whitney from the State Department?"
She could feel Danny's nod against her hair. "Tad." The upstairs screen door opened. "Hi, Mark. Steve. Phil." The presence of the other men seemed to defuse the situation somewhat. Then Danny turned her around to face him. "I took him in the shower with me and he's dressed but now my son needs that only his mother can give him." She felt as if an imaginary "Private property of Daniel Concannon. Keep off" sign had been posted on her, front and back. He smiled, turned her toward the door, giving her a light shove on the small of her back.
Hogan came bicycling down the boardwalk, a box of doughnuts in the front basket. Tad's eyes were drawn to her.
"Another niece. You may remember Hogan from the Navy lacrosse team two years ago, the one that won the NCAA's? She tells me that all that practice with a bayonet really honed their skills with the crosse. Now, if you gentlemen will excuse me, time and doughnuts wait for no man."
When he walked into the kitchen, the three of them were at the table. CJ was multi-tasking, Paddy in one arm, a lemon-filled Bismarck in the other hand. "I don't want any of you in the house alone," he told them quietly.
CJ put down her doughnut, reached for her orange juice. "I – "
"CJ, I mean it."
"I know, Danny," she said quietly, "and I agree. I was just going to say that I don't think he'll be here long." She smiled. "Anyway, it's a gorgeous day, let's not waste it. Aisling, put the wash in the dryer. Hogan, get into your bathing suit. Last one on the beach is a rotten egg!"
It was a perfect beach day. At varying times, they surfed the waves, bobbed along in the swells, built sand castles, read at the water line, slept in the sun or the shade, or people-watched.
When the dolphins ("Porpoises, actually." Danny was channeling Jed Bartlet) came by, several of them did flips in the air, including one that did a double. They had white pizza from Grotto's and piping hot fries from Thrasher's for lunch.
Mark came by to apologize for Tad Whitney. "He invited himself. I was so flabbergasted, I didn't know how to say 'No'. Maybe he'll find someone to hook up with; it's strictly male upstairs, so he'd have to go to her place."
CJ told him that she thought that it would work out okay. Mark told them that if they wanted to stay another week, it was no problem; his family wouldn't be back until Labor Day weekend. They told him they would think about it. Hogan's leave was up in 6 days and they were counting on having her on the plane with them so they would have two rows in first class. Also, Aisling did have to get back to Ireland for school about the same time. But they assured him that they were having a truly wonderful time. Then he, Danny, Steve, and Phil got involved in a cutthroat game of touch football up by the boardwalk, away from the sunbathers.
Mike came jogging down the beach from his station up by the First Aid house on his lunch break. He was glad that Aisling was feeling better. His lifeguard buddies were taking him out this evening since he was leaving, but he did formally ask Aisling to dinner and the band concert for the next evening. Hogan wondered aloud about some ice cream "from that place near the bandstand" and Aisling volunteered to fetch it, so she accompanied Mike back to his post.
CJ looked at Hogan. "You are getting to be as devious as my old assistant, Carol."
"I can't help it, they're just too cute."
CJ's cell rang. "Thanks. We owe you big time."
After they ate the ice cream that Aisling brought back and after CJ fed her son in the tent, Hogan and CJ went to bob in the swells.
Aisling remained with the baby. They had picked up a small battery-operated fan and she set it up to create a breeze around the sleeping infant. Danny plopped down beside her. The other guys had gone up to the boardwalk in search of beer and pizza, but he needed to talk with his niece.
"Ash, honey, Mike is a very nice boy but you do realize that this is what it is – a summer romance? After tomorrow, he's going to go home and then in a few weeks, he'll be at Notre Dame and he is going to experience so many new things, meet so many new people, so many new girls; he may have all the best intentions in the world of keeping in touch with you, but things can happen. I just don't want you hurt or to think badly about him if you don't keep in touch. He's not going to be the only boy to kiss you."
"I know that. Mike is very nice; his kisses are very nice, better than any I've had so far." Was Erin aware that her daughter had already been kissed? "But I'm waiting for the guy who will make me feel the way Aunt CJ feels when you kiss her."
Damn; outside of that one morning, he thought they had been discreet. "I hope you find it, too, sweetheart."
"Oh, I know I'll find it, I just don't see when or who." She looked at him directly. "I sense things, more than you, more than Mom. Aunt Sorcha says I get it from both the Concannons and the MacDonalds."
Things got very still, very quiet. It was as if someone had dropped layers and layers of cheesecloth over the umbrella; the world was fuzzy, hazy. He sensed that his niece's green eyes were turning darker and yet clearer; then he didn't sense anything at all.
"In a few years, you're going to have a daughter, Uncle Danny. She's going to be special, but you and she are going to have some heartache because she's special. There will be so much love and yet some pain between the two of you. I can help the two of you. Let me be her godmother. Now, I know you and Aunt CJ want to be surprised, so you won't remember this now, but when she's born, ask me to be her godmother." Then her eyes returned to their normal shade of green, and her almost-16 persona returned.
He shook his head; he must have had a sugar imbalance or something.
"I'm sorry, Ash. What were you saying?"
"Just that I'm going to wait for the right guy, Uncle Danny."
They talked some more. She mentioned that she thought it was funny that Mike thought she looked nicer in the maillot, the tankinis, and the new suit she bought than she did in the bikinis. He told her that many guys didn't like other men ogling at their girl friends. It was something she should keep in mind for when she was older ("much older") and had a really serious relationship ("like being engaged"); there were some things a guy wanted to be for his eyes alone.
Later that afternoon, as he was hanging towels outside by the sand shower, he saw Mark driving off with Tad Whitney. Phil and Steve asked him up to their porch to have a beer with them. He asked about Mark and Tad.
"Oh, Tad got called back to DC by Lou Thornton," Phil said. "Something about working on a memorial for the guys killed in Singapore. Some days, the gods smile on us. Mark is driving him to the airport in Salisbury; he should be back in 90 minutes or so."
He and CJ had arranged for the babysitter that night. The four of them planned to eat at the old Chinese restaurant and since, with Chinese, the more the merrier, he asked Phil and Steve if they thought Mark would be amenable to the seven of them eating together.
"I've got his number," Steve said, and plans were made.
He walked into their bedroom.
"I understand that Whitney got called back to the West Wing."
"Hmm. Really?" she said, trying to hide a smile.
"Carol?" he asked.
"I went to the top. Margaret."
The seven of them walked up to the center of town and sat at the big round table with the lazy susan in the center. They drank exotic drinks with rum, juice, cherries, fruit slices, and paper umbrellas served in hollowed out coconuts (except for Aisling, of course) and ordered way too much food and had a wonderful time.
Between Mark's assurances that it was safe and CJ's willingness to stay on her phone the entire time, Danny let her and the girls walk the six or seven blocks to the house by themselves so he could have some time with the guys. He stayed with them for an hour or so, but when they decided to move on to a singles bar, he left them to their bachelor fun.
As he was walking the final steps, he heard the three of them on the porch. CJ and Hogan were giving Aisling advice for the next night.
"Never, never, order the most expensive thing on the menu," Hogan said. "Mike seems like a really nice guy, but you never know. There used to be plenty of old sit-coms where the girl's friends tell her 'Of course he expected you to put out; you ordered the lobster!' But don't get the cheapest thing either, unless it's something you really like and have mentioned it before to him. You don't want him to think you think he's a cheapskate or can't afford the prices. They get sensitive that way."
"My senior year at Berkeley," CJ chimed in, "this guy took me to a really fancy place in the city. The menu they gave me didn't have any prices on it! It wasn't like now, where you can go out to websites ahead of time, either."
"What if this place is like that?" Aisling asked. "What did you do?"
"Well, I don't think many places still do that, but in that case, you ask him what sounds good to him. That will give you an idea of what he can afford. In fact, unless there's something you can't stand to eat on the menu, you can always ask him to order for you. That really stokes their ego."
Hogan added, "and if there is something that you don't like, say something like 'Other than the braised monkey brain, it all looks so good! Why don't you pick something for me?' That way, you'll find out if he's the type that likes to share. Sharing can be fun, especially dessert."
"There are certain things you want to avoid even if he does suggest them, things that are messy, things that can spurt, like the whole lobster."
"Chicken Kiev."
"Beef Wellington, unless it comes already sliced."
"Cherry tomatoes."
"Spinach."
"Onions."
"If you want pasta, make sure it's something like farfalle or penne, not fettuccine or linguine that you have to twirl or cut."
"If you pick yourself, let him know what you would like. Give him the chance to give your order to the waitperson. He may not know about that, but just in case, don't start ordering yourself."
Poor Mike, Danny thought, didn't stand a chance. Hell, most guys were in the same boat. He came up the walk. "You do realize that the Brotherhood of the Y-Chromosome requires that I repeat this conversation verbatim to said young man."
(Day 9)
The next day, with Mark, Phil, and Steve willing to take an occasional turn under the umbrella with Paddy, CJ suggested to Hogan and Aisling that they might want to go up to another lifeguard station and "leave the grownups to themselves."
When Aisling and Hogan returned, they brought along two women who had been classmates of Hogan's at Annapolis. They were staying in a condo on the other side of the highway and Hogan ran into them at the gyros stand.
A few minutes before 7:00, Aisling walked into the living room. Hogan had done her hair and her makeup, lent her some jewelry. She was wearing the dark green linen dress that CJ had worn for the library dedication.
"The dress?" Danny whispered to CJ.
"She wanted something dark in case she had an accident; she's still, um, 'indisposed' and is a little nervous about it," she whispered back.
Mike was right on time. He looked very nice in a navy blue linen blazer, red polo shirt, and white slacks. ("He's gonna spill gravy, I know it," Danny whispered to CJ). He was carrying a bunch of gerberas.
Hogan helped her fasten two of them over her right ear and they put the rest in a vase.
"The band concert is supposed to go until 11:00," CJ murmured into her husband's ear.
Danny thought quickly. He was a good kid; she was a good kid. It was their last night together and, in any event, word on the street was that she was still "out of commission". He looked Mike in the eye. "Midnight."
"Thank you, sir." Mike held out his hand.
Aisling kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you, Uncle Danny," she whispered.
Hogan and the guys from upstairs left to meet Hogan's friends to play miniature golf and then do the arcades on the boardwalk.
CJ turned to Danny and said, "Just us married folk. Do you feel as old as I suddenly do?"
"You wanna put the kid in the carriage, go up for something in one of the places with outdoor seating?" He looped his arms about her waist.
"Nope. I'm kinda tired and it's going to be a long night; I don't have any bottles left. I'm perfectly happy with being inside with my men and leftover Chinese."
So they dumped Chinese food, one carton at a time, onto paper plates for nuking and ate from the same plate. By the time they got to the second carton, they were feeding each other with the chopsticks. There was only one pancake left for the moo shu pork, and they took turns taking bites of it. He took the all hot and sour soup and she took all the wonton. There was one eggroll and they each started from an end and met in the middle.
They lost track of time; it was almost 9:00 when Paddy's crying reminded them of his needs.
When she came out to the screen porch with the baby, he was sitting in the dark on a chaise lounge; he had taken off his shirt. She sat down on the lounge facing him, handed Paddy to him, and began to open her blouse and undo one side of her nursing bra.
"Sweetheart, take them off," he softly ordered.
She looked around.
"It's dark, CJ, the moon isn't out yet; no one will see us."
When she had complied with his wishes, he handed the child to her, then turned her around and pulled her back up against his chest. With one hand on her stomach and the other on the arm holding his son, he rained little kisses on her neck, shoulders, and upper back. Then he leaned back in the chaise, pulling her with with, and ran his knuckles along her jaw line. They heard the sounds of the orchestra warming up for the band concert, then the sounds of the program beginning.
While he periodically planted more kisses on her hair, she finished feeding Paddy and burped him. Then, still holding him in her arms, she turned on her side against him and reached up to kiss him.
"Do you want to take this inside?" she asked.
"Not just yet," he answered. They sat there for about 30 minutes, his arms holding the two of them. He could tell she was nodding off, so he managed to take the baby, stand up, help her to her feet and lead her into the bedroom. He put Paddy in his bassinet and got her to lie down on the bed, managed to take off her shorts. Sleepily, she reached for him.
"Later," he told her. "You need some sleep."
"But you're –" she ran her hand lightly over his aroused state.
"It'll be sweeter for the waiting."
He got her under the covers, changed his son's diaper, checked the back door lock (for which Hogan had a key) and went back to the porch. He put on his shirt, put the lock on the screen door in case he fell asleep, and sat down to wait for the kids.
He woke to the sound of the bell by the door. It was Aisling and Mike. He glanced quickly at his watch -- 11:55. He let them in and asked about the evening while casually assessing the two of them. Both heads of hair were a bit mussed and her lip-gloss was gone, but that could be the result of dinner. Most important, nothing looked out of place, clothing wise.
Taking a deep breath, he kissed his niece. "Make sure you put the lock on the screen door and set the deadbolt on this one," hand on the door from the porch to the living room, "when Mike leaves." He gave the young man his best Jed Bartlet stare. "Good night." Then he went to lie down beside his wife, shutting the bedroom door.
He was just nodding off when Paddy started crying. Stifling his groan (he had the easy part), he brought the baby over to CJ, who pushed herself up into a sitting position and leaned into his shoulder as Paddy began to nurse.
When he was done, Danny took the baby from her and began to burp him. She pushed herself off the bed and headed for the door.
"CJ?"
"I need to pump; I want to have a bottle for tomorrow. I've gotten used to 6 hours' sleep."
"Honey, you might want to put on a robe."
She didn't ask why, just did as he suggested.
When she returned, she went to check on the baby.
"I changed him," he yawned and stretched.
"Honey, Ash and Mike were sitting on the porch?"
"Yeah, I kinda let that happen. Is he still here?"
"No, he left when I came through. You were really okay with that?"
"You might want to call Carol tomorrow, ask her to have someone check the leopards at the zoo for their spots." He laughed at himself.
"After this week, you still want to try for a little girl?" She lay down next to him.
He turned to face her. "Call me crazy, but, yeah, I do. Assuming you'll still want to deal with all of this again."
"Call me crazy, too. I may not be sure about myself, but you are going to be a great father. You did good this week," she yawned and snuggled into his chest.
"Well, I'm sure about you. You're as good at this as you were at briefing."
(Day10)
Between Paddy's feedings, CJ and Danny slept in the next day until noon (well, they did do something else between 11:30 and 12:00). By that time, she had managed to get a full bottle as backup.
They were somewhat surprised, when they walked down to join the girls, to see Mike standing by the umbrella with an older couple.
"I wanted my parents to meet Aisling," he explained, making the introductions between the Paulsons and CJ and Danny. As she shifted Paddy to her left arm, see could see the light of recognition in Mike's parents' eyes. They made small talk for a few minutes before the Paulsons left.
Then it was time for Aisling to repeat for CJ and Danny everything (well, not quite everything) she had told Hogan about her evening with Mike. Mike did ask her for her choices and did do the ordering for both of them. They decided to be adventurous and split an order of escargot. "They were so spiced up with butter, nutmeg, onion, and garlic, it could have been mushroom caps, for all I knew." She had chilled cream of cucumber soup and he had Rhode Island clam chowder. They shared a Caesar salad. "The waiter made the dressing right in front of us!" They decided to share steak au poiuvrè and coquilles St. Jacques. "The waiter put our sparkling water in champagne flutes!". They shared a dessert soufflé that has half chocolate, half Grand Marnier. "I guess it's okay to eat alcohol, just not drink it. Just about everything had wine or spirits in it." After the concert, they got carryout coffee walked down the beach barefoot. "When we got back to the boardwalk, we went to sit at a bench and he out my shoes on for me like I was Cinderella and he was the prince!"
When Aisling slipped away to buy their lunchtime pizza, Hogan confided that she had called the restaurant earlier yesterday and asked them to pay special attention to the kids.
Later that afternoon, Matt Skinner, his partner, and his partner's twin sons came walking by and stopped to talk for a few minutes. CJ laughed to herself when she noticed the death stare that the lifeguard on duty gave the two young men who engaged in casual conversation with Aisling.
That evening, Hogan was out with her girlfriends again, so they put Paddy in his carriage and they went up the boardwalk to eat in the open-air casual restaurant attached to one of the big boardwalk luxury hotels. Without Hogan, CJ realized that they did very much look like a family with a later in life "pleasant surprise" or one with a second wife who got along well with her stepdaughter. When Becky Rieseman, who was staying at the hotel, stopped their table, they found out that they had been spotted by other shore visitors from inside the Beltway and that there was all sorts of speculation and gossip about Danny's teen-aged daughter. However, she was sure that Carol and Margaret were setting the rumor mills aright; if not, she would take care of it herself. CJ decided that she didn't give a tinker's dam. These past days with Ash and Hogan felt good, felt right; God and all Her saints forbid, if anything happened to Erin and Robin and they had to assume guardianship of Aisling for a few years, all three of them would do fine.
Becky volunteered the use of her room to CJ, so Danny and Aisling went to watch the volleyball games while she fed and changed her son. Then the three of them went to the arcades, played a round of miniature golf, and went to Funland. They took Paddy with them on the carousel and in the tunnel of horrors, but took turns on the Ferris wheel and the bumper cars.
Shortly before midnight, they stumbled into the house; Hogan was already home, her right foot up on a chair with an ice pack on her ankle. No, she didn't need to go the ER, a nice third-year resident at Penn who did his MD work with Ellie Faison at Hopkins was in the club when she sprained it and he checked out the situation, went with them to the all-night pharmacy to help pick out the bandages, and wrapped it for her. He would stop by tomorrow morning to check on her again. Did she mention that the guy was a nice, single third-year resident at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital?
They had originally planned to leave the next day but with losing a day due to the deaths of the governors and with Mark's invitation, CJ and Danny decided to stay for two more nights.
The next two days passed relatively uneventfully. They bought salt-water taffy and other souvenirs for their neighbors, for the Lymans, for Carol and Margaret. The guy from Penn came by quite often to check on and spend time with Hogan. Matt Skinner's partner's kids kept coming by to see Hogan, recreating in Danny's words "the scene in 'Gone with the Wind' with Scarlett and the Tarleton twins". Ash was polite, but it was obvious that she wasn't about to get involved in another summer romance, much to the delight of the lifeguards who felt the need to protect what they perceived as Mike's girl.
Danny made reservations for himself and CJ for their last evening at the same restaurant to which Mike took Aisling. Robin had flown a scheduled trip over to Dulles earlier that day, had hopped a commuter flight to Salisbury, and rented a car. He would take the girls to dinner and to a movie.
They had a 9:00 reservation and she waited until the last minute to feed her son. While she was doing so, she looked out the bedroom door to see Danny with the baby-sitter. He looked so nice in a green linen blazer, a pale yellow open-collared shirt, white dress jeans and camel sandals.
When she came into the living room, he whistled and asked the baby-sitter to take a picture of them. When CJ and Hogan had gone to the Outlet Mall, she found a spaghetti strap sundress in turquoise. At the Hanes/Bali outlet, she bought a molded strapless bra that she could line with nursing pads. One of the shops on Rehoboth Ave sold southwestern jewelry and she purchased silver earrings, a necklace, and bracelets set with inlays of carnelian, malachite, and lapis lazuli. She loosely pulled her hair back with a silver barrette. Off-white huarache sandals completed the outfit.
Looking at the menu, she could see that Aisling had taken the advice that CJ and Hogan had given her to heart. The items she had chosen weren't the least expensive, but they were definitely on the lower third of the menu, price wise. She decided that she was in one of her relatively rare red meat moods and they chose rack of lamb, with mussels, the cold cucumber soup, and a mesclun salad to start, and pinot noir to drink.
They were having coffee and cognac, waiting for their white chocolate soufflé with raspberry coulis when Greg Brock came to their table with a woman he introduced as one of the restaurant critics for the Baltimore Sun.
Like Tad Whitney, Greg commented on how different she looked than when she was in the Press Room, but his tone was completely respectful. He congratulated them on their marriage, asked about the baby and Danny promptly pulled out his picture folio. After another minute, the maitre d' let the couple know that their table was ready. Greg shook Danny's hand and reached down to kiss CJ's cheek. "None of the rest of us ever had a chance, did we? Happiness always," he whispered.
She watched Danny watch the other man walk away and she knew he would never ask. She picked up his hand, kissed the palm. "Nothing, never."
"I wasn't asking."
"I know; you never would." She told him what he said. "And he was right. Somewhere deep in my mind I always knew that you had me caught, that you were just waiting for me to let myself be reeled in."
They lingered over their coffee, dessert, and cognac, then walked back via the beach. The wind picked up and Danny put his jacket around CJ's shoulders.
They weren't the youngest couple walking down the beach in the moonlight, but neither were they the oldest. Every 30 or 40 feet, a couple stood kissing. At times, they caught the eye of another couple walking in the opposite direction and smiled slightly.
About a block from the house, they returned to the boardwalk and sat on a bench facing the ocean. She held his hand to her lips and his lips were against the side of her head. They could have stayed there for hours but nature in the form of increasingly full breasts called.
The next morning, they packed, and then followed Robin to the Salisbury airport so he could turn in his rental. As they were leaving, Danny looked down at the mileage and realized that in the past twelve days, they had only put sixty-eight miles on the vehicle. They had walked or biked just about everywhere.
At one point on the drive back to Washington, Danny noticed that the three women were all sleeping, so he quietly let Robin know about Mike and how he had handled the issues. He hoped he had done what Robin would have done, had not overstepped any bounds, especially the advice about kissing and the curfews he had set. His brother-in-law reinforced what his sister had said, that they were much more concerned about Fiona, especially now that she would be at Trinity in Dublin this year. She had wanted to go to Scotland, to St. Andrew's, but they insisted she stay in the country. "My crazy aunt Sorcha says she'll eventually settle down when the right man comes along, that she won't do any serious damage to herself, but we still worry." He told Danny that he secretly agreed with him about the bathing suits, and was amused that the young man had steered his daughter to a more modest suit even though "they weren't at the stage where he wanted to keep certain things for himself, thank God."
They dropped Hogan at the Navy Yard, where she would get a bed and visit with some classmates until they would leave for California the day after tomorrow, then checked into a hotel near Josh and Donna's.
Robin took his daughter sightseeing (the Concannons had arranged with Margaret for passes and a tour of the White House) while CJ and Danny, having called beforehand, went to see Donna and little Noah.
Donna reminded Danny of CJ during her first few weeks of motherhood; she looked totally exhausted but was also totally glowing. Josh's mother had been with them since Donna came home and would be there for a few more days. Donna's parents would be there for two weeks and then Mrs. Lyman would come back for another month.
Ginger was in town when CJ and Danny called, Donna asked Ginger to come by at the same time. Danny took pictures of the three mothers with their babies.
The three new mothers talked for a while. Donna told them that she had been frightened when her doctor decided to do the C-section but that Josh had been wonderful, had actually been in the operating room and had been perfectly wonderful about everything. She was totally in love with her son.
Margaret had tried to take as much off Josh's plate as possible, but things were still tense over the assassinations and he was unable to get away that evening. He phoned and asked them to stop by the White House tomorrow so they could see him, Margaret and Carol.
Knowing how tiring the first few days could be, CJ, Danny, and Ginger kept their visit short. As they were leaving, Ginger invited CJ, Danny, Aisling, and Robin to dinner that evening. "The kids' nanny can care of Paddy while we eat and visit."
"You really want to go to all that fuss, with so little notice? " CJ aksed.
"I won't be fussing, the cook and the housekeeper will," Ginger reminded them.
Robin was scheduled for an early flight the next morning, so he declined, and Aisling decided to stay with her father. They said their good-byes before leaving for Ginger's. Both CJ and Danny thanked her for all her help. CJ gave her the green dress she had borrowed for her dinner with Mike ("It looks so nice on you, it matches your eyes") and Danny gave her some delicate emerald lever back earrings.
The next morning, they took Paddy to the offices of the Post and Danny once more was in his element as proud husband and father, beaming as he showed off his wife and his son to his former editors and colleagues. Taking note of CJ's face reflected in the baby's someone teasingly asked Danny if he was sure the boy was his. Someone else immediately pointed out that Paddy's hands were already going into the same "at rest" state that Danny's did. CJ and Danny just laughed. No one else needed to know about the "cute little mole" that graced the left buttock of both father and son.
At the White House, they asked for Carol but for some reason, she wouldn't be coming in until after noon. Rina escorted them to Josh's office, where they congratulated the new father. Margaret was now officially Deputy Chief of Staff and as they were walking to her office, they ran into the First Lady, who made the appropriate oohs and aahs over Paddy.
Rina knocked on Margaret's door and opened it. They saw John Hoynes quickly pull away from Margaret's side and CJ and Danny exchanged glances, remembering several occasions when they had been caught in a similar situation themselves.
For old time's sake, they stood in the back of the Press Room during one of the briefings and were warmly welcomed by the Corps. Some of the guys invited Danny to have a beer with them and CJ told him to go, reminding him of their dinner plans with Chris and her new husband. She would see Carol and then catch a cab back to the hotel.
She returned to Josh's (and her old) office to see that Carol was back, surrounded by Margaret, Ronna, Rina, and Helen Santos. When the group broke apart for her, she could see the delicate marquise diamond in a platinum Tiffany setting that graced Carol's left hand. Apparently, the question had been popped last night and the ring selected this morning.
CJ handed her son to Margaret and hugged Carol, squeeing in happiness for her former assistant. Carol whispered in her ear "Would you be my matron of honor? We're looking at the third weekend in May." CJ told her she would be glad to do so.
The wedding would be here in DC. Carol's father had died two years ago; there was just her mom and some second cousins as far as family went. Her friends were her family.
Carol asked where Danny was, seemed a little disappointed that he wasn't there.
They were getting ready for dinner when the phone rang in their room.
"Hey, Carol." Pause. "Yes, early dinner and then an early night." Pause. "Sure thing." She put her hand over the receiver. "Danny, Carol wants to speak with you."
He took the phone. "Hey, doll face. I understand best wishes are in order. You make sure he knows that he's the lucky one and that you have a bunch of us that will make sure he treats you right." Pause. "If it's within my power, you've got it. What can I do for you?" Pause. Then, with a slight catch in his voice, "Carol, it would be my honor and my privilege." Pause. "You, too. Stay happy."
He hung up the phone and turned to CJ. She could see a glimmer of tears in his eyes.
"Next spring, when she and State Department guy get married, she asked me to escort her down the aisle. Did you know she was going to?"
CJ hugged her husband. "No, I didn't. She's always been on your side; she knew you were right for me probably before I did. She did ask me to be her matron of honor, but she said nothing about asking you. She has good taste and good judgment."
The next day, they got to Dulles early to get Hogan on the military stand-by list for their flight. They had cashed in all their miles to upgrade their seats to first-class and, checking with Robin's and Erin's friends in the industry, had made their reservations on a flight that historically was only half-full. With any luck, they would have the bulkhead row and the one behind it on the north facing side of the plane to themselves.
They had two hours to wait and were seated in a restaurant eating breakfast; CJ was walking back from the restroom. She had just reached the table when someone called out "CJ? CJ Cregg?"
She turned around and Danny looked up to see her hugging a tall handsome black man with iron-grey hair. When she broke away to face him at the table, he could see the clerical collar and the pin in the shape of a chalice emblazoned with the skewed red cross that denoted the Disciples of Christ denomination.
"Wow! CJ Cregg, after all these years!" Then, noticing her rings, Danny, and the baby, "or now?"
"Concannon. My husband, Danny. Our son, Paddy," she took the baby from the carrier, showed him to the man, "my niece Lt. Hogan Cregg. (Hogan was in uniform since she was flying on military stand-by). Paul Reeves, I guess I should say Reverend Paul Reeves."
Then she looked directly at Danny, who had stood up when she began the introductions. "This is Paul."
With those three words, Danny knew exactly who the man was and the minister knew that Danny knew exactly who he was. He was the then first-year law student who, during CJ's sophomore year at Cal, lovingly, gently, with as little pain as possible, took her to womanhood; who, for the rest of that year and the next, taught her so much of what Danny enjoyed with her now. Then Paul had a change in calling and transferred to Yale Divinity School.
The two men looked directly into each other's eyes, shaking hands, saying so many words with their stares.
"I can tell you've made her happy; you're deserving of her."
"Thank you for being so good to her, good for her, back then."
Paul looked again at Danny. "You were the reporter that was always playing with her at the briefings." Of course, he watched the briefings; he was sure that many of her friends from those days did, she was the local girl made good. "I've been in south-east Asia building houses and hospitals since September of 2006, hadn't heard anything, seen any alumni news. I know you managed Bartlet's White House, but tell me how you and Danny became you and Danny."
The two of them caught up on each other's lives. He had married right out of Div. School, had twins, a boy and a girl. His son was at Oberlin, his daughter at Miami of Ohio. They were with his sister-in-law in Columbus for the summer. He had lost his wife to ovarian cancer three years ago (which was part of why he went into missionary work), he missed her every day, was sure he would never marry again. He had a picture of the four of them, taken on a once-in-a-lifetime cruise to Alaska right after she had been diagnosed.
He asked about the Jerusalem cross about her neck and seemed pleased that she had found a way to bring religion into her adult life. He mentioned that before he had embarked on his missionary work, he had taught at his denomination's theological seminary in Lexington, KY, and had met many fine Catholic religious leaders (the diocese had contracted with the school for advanced theological training) with whom he still remained close. She asked about his current work and he explained that he found true peace and contentment in the building process.
"As is attributed to your St. Francis, 'Always preach the gospel; use words only if absolutely necessary.' It's the best way to do what He would want."
She told him about "Road to a Better World" and his eyes lit up. "You're doing God's work, too, CJ, in your own way."
Danny watched them, a smile on his face. Except to show Paul the picture of CJ from their wedding, he pretty much stayed out of the conversation. He thought about the two young freshmen women he had initiated (one when he was a junior, one when he was a senior) and hoped that he had done as well for them as this man had done for his Jeanie. Both of them had married Domers (men in their own classes) and he always looked for word of them in the alumni magazine. For a while, he had exchanged Christmas cards with one of them, but eventually lost touch. It wasn't surprising that he had never run into them at South Bend, since there was no Homecoming Weekend as such, and their classes weren't on the same five-year reunion cycle.
Hogan watched Danny watching CJ and Paul. She could sense that there was something special between the minister and her aunt; she could also sense that her uncle by marriage had no problem with that special bond. She excused herself and went to the restroom.
Paul needed to get to his gate for his flight to Columbus; he was on his way to visit his kids before returning to Jakarta. She took out one of her cards, scribbled their home phone and home email address on the back. He found a scrap of paper and gave her his email. They hugged again, kissed each other's cheeks, and he took off down the concourse.
CJ looked at her husband, quickly checking to see that everything was okay. Danny smiled at her. "He seems like a great guy; I'm glad he was there for you."
Hogan returned and they went to their gate. They had no problem getting Hogan on the flight in first class, nor did they have any problem with getting the two rows to themselves.
Their flight to Los Angeles was uneventful. Paddy only cried once, and feeding him took care of that. Frank Muñoz met them at the airport with his son Mike in tow.
As they were driving back to Santa Monica, the boy turned around to face them.
"I'm glad you're back, Miss CJ, Mr. Danny. Did you miss being here at the beach?" He didn't understand why they were laughing.