Head of Household
CJ/Danny; ensemble – everyone's invited to Nancy's wedding
Rating Adult –
Spoilers through end of series
Introducing Destiny Concannon, female Canine-American of the yellow Labrador retriever variety
"Green Eggs and Ham" written by T. S. Geisel
Not mine, never were, never will be, but they consume my soul
September 18, 2013; Santa Monica, CA
CJ woke in the darkness and looked up at the ceiling. The time projected on the ceiling was 5:15. Turning back on her side, she snuggled her butt back into her husband's groin. Danny's warm breath caressed the back of her neck and his arm moved in sleep, draping over her hip.
She pressed her legs together in awareness of the satisfied fullness between them, reliving the previous night, when her husband had made very thorough and very expert love to her, with "to" being the operative word. Whenever she reached for him, he gently but insistently removed her hands from his body ("It's my treat."), finally grasping both of her hands in his left and holding them over her head while he used his right to drive her crazy.
The sex had always been very good between them (well, except for those few weeks the July after Paddy was born), but the past three or four months, it had reached a new dimension. She couldn't say what was different, only that it was better. It was as if some sort of sexual MSG, something that heightened every sensation, had been sprinkled on their marriage.
If CJ didn't know exactly what, she was fairly sure she knew why. The change came when Danny started his full-time employment with USC and she left "Road to a Better World". The change came when Danny assumed total financial responsibility for the four of them.
Of course, it wasn't as simple as it sounded.
First of all, it wasn't as if Danny had gone from flipping burgers to upper level management in four months. By the time Paddy was born, his syndicated column and his book royalties would have been enough to keep them comfortable. (They were lucky in that the sale of their places in DC plus the sale of CJ's old LA place were enough to pay for the Santa Monica property – before the remodeling, of course). The sticking point, as it was for so many families, was health insurance for the family. CJ knew that Aviva freely admitted that after all the expenses associated with working, her job added something like $550 to the Hammash annual income, but it did provide health insurance for the family. Wally was able to provide employee coverage for the restaurant personnel, but the cost of insuring spouses and children was out of reach for a small business such as his. Of course, Danny could have taken a full-time position as a reporter for the LA Times, but Danny didn't want to be a reporter. The Hollis Foundation provided excellent benefits for employee and for a very generous definition of family. However, USC had benefits that were just as good, at least for the traditional "family", so there was no problem with CJ leaving "Road to a Better World". There would be some minor changes in their lifestyle, such as fewer first-class fares when traveling to the East coast or to Ireland, but CJ knew that the Concannons were better off than the majority of families in America.
Second, Danny didn't push her to leave her job and assume an idealized role as wife, mother, and homemaker. Of course, they discussed their options, making sure that there were no dangerous assumptions, weighing how to make everything work for them, the way Danny said he wanted on that wintry night six Januaries ago, but the initial idea was CJ's and the final decision was also hers. Danny told her that he would do whatever it took to make it happen for her; he also asked the questions that clarified in both their minds that she wasn't running from "Road" but that she wanted the positive aspects of spending more time with Paddy and Caitlin. Just as CJ enjoyed her stints at Press Secretary and Chief of Staff but knew when it was time to leave those careers behind, she had found satisfaction in "Road" but walked away from it with no regrets and had embraced her new life with enthusiasm.
Third, CJ did not become a housewife. Narcisia still came to do housework every other week and Maristella came once a week to help with the children. Between Danny's Tuesday and Thursday mornings at home and Maristella on Wednesdays, she had time to help with Paddy's preschool, to spend time with Diana and the other women of the block, or to indulge herself with spa treatments (or time in bed with bonbons and a book). Danny and she still shared the other household duties. Danny had no problem cooking meals (or picking up roasted chicken, steamed shellfish, or barbequed ribs and take-out salad at Ralph's), doing laundry, or caring for the kids. And CJ still handled the family finances.
Last, and most important, Danny had no idea that the fact that he took so much joy in being, in this one respect, a traditional male hunter/gatherer type. Were he to realize it, CJ was sure that he would be embarrassed and apologetic. CJ was sure that Danny attributed his happiness to the fact that he was once again doing something he really enjoyed, something that he knew was important. The academic year had only been in session for about a month and he was already gaining a reputation among the students for being a good teacher (but not an "easy A"). His fellow faculty members liked him and he had already been asked to join one committee. Several others talked of nominating him for the Faculty Senate next spring. Danny was completely and utterly happy, and it showed.
It wasn't just in bed. Danny was a more patient, more relaxed father with Paddy, which resulted in his being a more effective parent. For example, Paddy still showed some signs of rebelling against CJ – protesting when told to go to bed or to pick up toys. Rather than give the child a lecture about obeying his mother, Danny merely gave him the choice of immediately apologizing and doing what she asked or being accompanied to his room by his father and suffering a time out the next day.
Danny was also a more patient, more relaxed husband. He still had his somewhat Neanderthal ideas about her traveling alone and using the Mustang, but he was much more low-key about voicing them. And, if she were honest with herself, the result was that she found herself deferring to his wishes, not because he was turning macho and insisting on "being the boss", but because she found herself agreeing with his opinions, following his lead. It reminded her of those two years with Paul, when she was a starry-eyed young woman in the throes of first love.
The baby monitor cackled; Caitlin was whimpering.
CJ quickly got out of bed and reached for her robe.
One of the things on which Danny had gently insisted over the past few months was that they stay unclothed after making love. He loved the feel of her snuggled up against him, he told her. He loved the idea of access.
When CJ voiced concern about Paddy, who had already walked in on them once during an importune moment ("Daddy, why is Mama kissing your wee-wee?"), Danny reminded her that when he spoke with their son about "good touches" and "bad touches", he also gave Paddy his first elementary lesson about sex.
Danny told Paddy that when grownup people really, really loved each other "like Mama and Daddy love each other", they would give each other good touches. Sometimes, these good touches would be on special places, the places where bad people might want to give bad touches. Those times were special times and were just between Mama and Daddy. Therefore, Paddy was never, ever to come into Mama and Daddy's bedroom unless they told him it was okay. And, no, even if Maggie said it was okay, the two of them weren't allowed to touch each other in those special places. It was something only grownups were allowed to do.
CJ entered the nursery. Caitlin was still making her little mewling sounds but she didn't seem as if she was about to burst into full-blown crying.
CJ thanked God for small favors. For the past two months, Caitlin would periodically go into crying jags that lasted for hours on end. She would cry and scream as if unheard of horrors were happening to her, until she exhausted herself and fell asleep. Even then, she seemed to be distressed; CJ and Danny wondered what nightmares were behind those tiny fitful eyelids.
Linda Tallchief could find nothing wrong; nor could the specialists at UCLA.
Sometimes, Caitlin did better with CJ; at others, with Danny. One time two weeks ago, she started her crying and screaming during the day, when Maristella was at the house. For some reason, Caitlin quieted as soon as the African-American woman picked up the child and started to rock her. There hadn't been an incident since then.
Caitlin giggled when CJ lifted her from the crib. A quick check revealed a diaper that was both wet and full.
CJ turned down the baby monitor and exchanged cooing and giggling sounds with her daughter as she changed the child. CJ lifted her from the changing table and Caitlin moved her mouth toward her mother's breast.
CJ sat in the rocker, loosened her robe, and fed her child. Caitlin had two little teeth, but they did not bother CJ that much as yet. There was no reason that she couldn't fulfill her desire to nurse Caitlin through her first birthday. After that, she would wean her daughter.
CJ glanced down. Caitlin's red hair against her skin reminded her again of sex with Danny. Danny's hair had long ago faded from the bright red of his youth, and there was more grey mixed in, but the sight was enough to remind her of another reason to stop breast feeding. It would be nice to have Danny no longer being oh, so very careful when he kissed her there.
Caitlin fell away from the nipple, softly snoring, so CJ returned her to the crib and pumped out the excess.
When she returned to the bedroom, she noted that it was now 6:05. She had another forty minutes before the alarm and spending them next to her still sleeping husband sounded like a good idea.
CJ must have dozed, because the next thing she knew, Danny's lips were lightly grazing her eyes while his hand played through her curls toward her core. She first felt, then saw, further evidence of his intentions.
"Do you need me or the bathroom?" she joked.
"I've already been to the bathroom."
Danny kissed her mouth and worked his fingers knowingly. Forty seconds later, she shrieked into his beard and Danny came over and into her.
Afterward, he was quieting her when the alarm sounded. She yawned and started to get up, but Danny gently pushed her back into the mattress.
"You go back to sleep. I'll get Paddy up and ready."
Paddy and Maggie were in pre-school at church three mornings a week. It was a compromise between not wanting to rob the children of their childhood and making sure that they were not at a disadvantage when they would be in kindergarten next year.
Again, she must have dozed because she awakened to the smell of coffee and the feel of warm and cold wetness on her forearm.
She opened her eyes and found herself staring into a pair of soulful dark brown ones. One more reason why her husband was completely and utterly happy.
"Good morning, Destiny." She ran her hand over the head of the four-year old yellow lab that had been part of their family since early June. The dog reached further; the cold nose and warm tongue now lavished love on CJ's face.
As CJ had told Donna back in May, she and Danny agreed to get a dog "for Paddy's fourth birthday" and Danny did go to the shelter to pick out the animal.
Destiny had been adopted out of the shelter when she was about 8 months old, having given birth to a litter, by an older widower on the east side of town. The gentleman had died in mid-May and his daughter-in-law wouldn't let the man's son keep Destiny "because she's yellow and our carpet is dark teal", so the dog was returned to the shelter. ("CJ, the folks at the shelter say that she's the sweetest thing they've ever seen, totally laid back and mellow, completely housebroken, knows all the basic commands. But most folks want puppies, not adult dogs. I know this means that Paddy and Caitlin will be dealing with the inevitable a bit earlier in their lives, but I really think she's perfect for us, and we're perfect for her.")
CJ told Danny what she had told him before – that she deferred to his judgment.
Theoretically, Destiny was Paddy's dog. She slept at the foot of his bed. Paddy was responsible for picking up the toys and for using the pooper-scooper in the fenced-in area between the pool and the edge of their property.
But apparently, Destiny never met a two-legged creature that she didn't like. You could find her curled up next to Danny in his den, resting at CJ's feet in the courtyard, or guarding Caitlin from whatever demons periodically tormented the baby as often as she acted as a pillow under Paddy's head in the family room while the boy watched television. Destiny was also fascinated by the little family of goldfish (Dagwood, Blondie, Alexander, and Cookie) that Danny had brought home to CJ about three weeks after Gail died and they found out about Brianna and Hugh, but she never got any closer to them than putting her nose up against the glass and watching them swim.
And Danny loved being greeted by the dog at the end of his day almost as much as he loved being greeted by his wife and his children. He and Paddy went walking with Destiny at least once a day; they were regulars at the off-leash dog park.
CJ told Diana that she felt a bit guilty, worried that Danny had not been completely open with her in the past when he told her that it was okay to wait before adding a "furkid" to their household.
When they went up to Albion, things were a bit trickier, as there was no fenced area for Destiny, but she seemed to take it in stride. When walking off leash in the woods, she would run ahead and would chase critters, but always came back to her people as soon as she was called.
"Okay, girl, down."
CJ looked past Destiny and saw Danny holding two steaming mugs in one hand and a plate of bagels in the other. The clock showed 8:15.
The dog obeyed Danny and sat at his feet, staring toward the nursery. Danny set down the dishes, walked to the door between their room and Caitlin's, and opened it.
"Okay."
The dog ran into the nursery, plopped herself down on the floor beside the crib, and stared at the sleeping baby.
Danny told CJ that Diana had taken the kids to preschool; he reminded CJ that she was to pick up Paddy and Maggie at noon because Diana was helping with the field trip for Mike's third grade class. Sixth grader Steve would need to be picked up at 3:00 because Diana and Mike wouldn't be back until 5:00. Diana told Danny to tell CJ thanks again for watching the kids for her. (Carmen had soccer practice at St. Monica's high. Diana would be back in time to get her older daughter.) Danny told CJ that Melanie from the Teen Club called to confirm that they would need someone to take care of the children on the 27th and on the 28th, when most of the Bartlet bunch would be gathering for Nancy's wedding to Jesse Muñoz. CJ told Danny that she would be taking his good charcoal grey suit to the cleaners on Monday and to plan his wardrobe for the rest of this week and all of next week accordingly.
"Well, I'd best be on my way, love, if I'm going to make my 11:00 class," Danny kissed CJ and got up from the bed. Danny also had a 1:00 class on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, as well as one class on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. "I should be home by 5:00 this afternoon. I've got a committee meeting at 2:30. Now let me say good-bye to my other girl." He went into the nursery, spent a minute with his daughter, and came out as CJ was walking to the bathroom.
4:30 PM PDT
Danny parked the car in the garage, picked up his briefcase and the flowers he had stopped to buy on a whim for CJ and headed toward the door to the courtyard. Hopefully, in five minutes, he would be in the hot tub with a glass of Angus MacDonald's whiskey. If the gods were truly kind, Caitlin would be napping, Paddy and Maggie would be engaged in a cutthroat game of Candyland®, Destiny would be watching over the two of them, Steve Muñoz would be working on his homework, and CJ would be free to take care of his headache and the tension in his shoulders.
The best thing that could be said about his meeting this afternoon is that it lasted for only an hour and fifteen minutes. He had been honored when the department chair asked him to sit on the committee. ("Danny, I know you're brand spanking new, but I really need someone down to earth to represent us."), but now he wondered if the woman had snookered him. Thank God for small favors, he was in his car and on the way home by 3:55. Traffic was backed up on South Vermont, but it gave him a chance to buy the flowers from a street vendor as he sat through two light sequences at West Adams. Once he got on the Rosa Parks, it was smooth sailing.
Danny opened the door and stopped. The courtyard was filled with children. Aaron and Audra Feldman were sitting at the table by the dining room with Steve, apparently doing homework. Paddy and Maggie were indeed playing a game, but it was Hungry Hungry Hippos ® and they were playing, very loudly playing, with Manny Hammash and Ricky Feldman.
"I do not like them here or there.
I do not like them anywhere.
I do not like green eggs and ham.
I do not like them, Sam-I-am."
Danny looked over to the seating area by the bedroom wing. CJ held Caitlin in one arm. On one side, Hank and Steve's Pamela was pointing to pictures in the book. On CJ's other side, 18 month old Dafna Hammash was sleeping.
"Honey, you decided to go back to work as a day-care provider?"
"Thank God you're home. Hank's Volvo blew a gasket, or something, and Steve had to go pick him up at the shop. Just a minute, sweetie," CJ crooned to Caitlin, who was clawing at her mother's breast. "Then Ary Hammash was horsing around and fell out of the tree. Aviva was beside herself, so Hannah took the two of them to the hospital. Laura's out with a client, Jessica's up in San Luis Obispo with Nancy, everyone else is still at work."
The doorbell rang. It was Cindy.
"Um, I was supposed to stay with Steve until my mom got back later tonight, but he's not home?"
Danny told her to come in and find a place at the "homework table"
Danny sighed to himself. So much for his plans. Not that he was expecting afternoon sex with his wife, but a back rub while in the hot tub and perhaps a nap with his head in her lap would have been nice.
"What should I do first?"
CJ said she needed to change and feed Caitlin, so if he could take over the two little girls. And maybe a snack for everyone.
Cindy told Danny that she had two study halls this afternoon only had some history to read; she could take care of the toddlers. After asking Cindy if she was sure, Danny accepted her offer.
Danny put together some fruit, some cheese, and some crackers on a tray. He got a bottle of juice, a pitcher of water, and some glasses and took everything out to the children. Little Dafna was still sleeping, so he carried her into the nursery. CJ was just finishing up with Caitlin, so they set the two of them at opposite ends of the crib.
"So if you hadn't had all those ideas about Press Secretaries and reporters and we had gotten together back in '99, you could have handled five or six?" Danny asked her as they held each other for a few moments.
"I handled Josh, Sam, Toby, Ed, Larry, and Charlie, didn't I?"
They went back into the courtyard.
Pammy started crying for her daddies, so CJ took her into the family room. Danny settled a squabble in the Hungry Hungry Hippos game by making the kids switch to Go Fish, then made sure that the older kids were doing okay with their homework, pointing out a double negative and a case of subject-verb disagreement in Audra's essay.
Hannah called from the hospital. Wally was waiting for his assistant manager to come to the restaurant to take over, so she had called Joel to let him know what was happening. If it wasn't too much trouble, Joel wanted to come to the hospital to sit with her until Wally could get there.
Hank and Steve got back from the car dealership. Wally had called them and told them to stop by the restaurant to pick up some shish kebab and rice to make things easier on everyone. They took Pammy and Cindy home with them. Hank offered to come back and help with the kids, but just then Diana, Mike, and Carmen pulled up, so Steve and Maggie could go home. CJ and Danny said that they would have no problem with Manny, Dafna, Aaron, Audra, and Ricky.
Joel came by at 6:45 to "get his kids out of hock" and left with the three of them plus shish kebab and rice for Hannah and himself.
At 8:00, Wally Hammash stopped by to tell them that the hospital was keeping Ary overnight because he might have a concussion. Aviva was staying with their son. Dafna was sound asleep and Manny was nodding off, so Danny volunteered to help him get the children home.
As they walked up the street, he noticed the limousine that was bringing Jessica home from the city's general aviation field. Danny also saw Jesse Muñoz walking from Clara's old house, where he was now living, over to Frank and Diana's. Frank was on a one-week duty stint in Alaska, so Jesse was staying the nights with his aunt and his cousins.
On the way home, Danny saw Hank leaving Jessica's. The designer apparently escorted Jessica and Cindy home and made sure that the house was secure. Danny and Hank talked a bit, discussing the upcoming wedding. CJ and Danny would be spending the weekend at the Malibu Beach Inn, where the reception would take place and where the Bartlet bunch would be staying. Rick and Ginger didn't hold a reunion this summer because everyone would be traveling to the West coast to celebrate Nancy and Jesse's nuptials. The other neighbors would be staying at home, but they had leased a super stretch limo to take everyone to the church, then to the reception, and finally back to Santa Monica.
When Danny returned home, CJ was in the hot tub sipping a glass of wine. There was a tumbler filled with an amber-colored liquid on the ledge next to the steps.
"I think we deserve this," CJ said.
Danny didn't need any more encouragement; he stripped and stepped into the hot tub, picking up his glass of whiskey as he eased into the bubbling warmth.
"Oh, Lord, I've needed this," Danny sighed as the water worked its magic on his shoulders, Please keep Caitlin calm tonight, he prayed to himself. Tomorrow was an easy day for him, just the class from 1:00 until 2:15. After running Paddy and Maggie to daycare, he could come home and, if Caitlin cooperated, spend the rest of the morning doing with his wife what he had no energy left to do tonight.
Which was somewhat of a shame. CJ had pinned up her hair but several strands were falling down around her face. The lights around the courtyard caught on the droplets of water on her face, neck, and shoulders, causing her to glisten in the soft glow of the late summer night. CJ yawned slightly and as she yawned, she arched her body so that her breasts just peeped over the bubbling water.
In spite of his weariness, Danny found himself stirring at the sight of her.
He must have sighed, because CJ looked over at him and then down into the water. She smiled and came across his body, kneeling with one knee on either side of him, and kissed him deeply.
Danny returned her kiss, then reluctantly pulled his mouth from hers. "Oh, darling, I wish I had the strength - ." It was said with all the regret in the world.
But CJ smiled and stood up. "On the ledge. Sit," she ordered.
"CJ?"
"Danny. Ledge. Now."
Danny complied.
CJ knelt down again and took him in her mouth. As she worked on him, one hand holding him, one hand resting on the ledge beside his hip, he released her hair from its clip and ran his hands through the tresses. Then, as the pressure grew, he put those hands in brace position, to keep himself from falling down on the tiled surface of the courtyard.
Danny's scream let CJ know it was time to let go, to hold him in both hands as he spewed forth his release.
After a minute, he lowered himself into the water. CJ collapsed on the seat beside him, resting her head against his shoulder.
When his breathing returned to normal, he stood up and pulled on her hands.
"Your turn."
He sat on the next to last step into the hot tub and had her kneel on the next higher step.
It put the juncture of her thighs at just the right height. Danny grasped her fanny and went to work. At first, she braced herself on her hands, then held onto the railings. Finally, as she reached fulfillment, she arched up and then lowered her head onto his shoulder.
After a while, they left the whirlpool. Danny picked up the clothing and handed it to CJ.
"I'll lock up," he told her.
When he entered the bedroom, she was already under the covers.
"Kids okay?" he asked.
"Sleeping like little innocents," she replied with a yawn.
Danny climbed into the bed behind her and adjusted the fit of their bodies.
"Goodnight, honey," CJ said.
"Sleep safe," he replied.
September 27; Malibu Beach Inn, Malibu, CA
"Well, after tomorrow, Abbey and I just have Kate and Ainsley to worry about," Jed told the group. "I want to see all my women married off."
"What about Cathy, what about Rina, what about Debbie?" CJ asked Donna. "Is the President beginning to forget things?"
CJ was concerned about her former boss. She had already dealt with a father slipping into dementia; she didn't need to see a father figure follow the same road.
"Cathy and her husband have reconciled and Rina is engaged to one of Helen Santos' agents. Debbie snuck off three months ago and got married without telling anyone."
CJ, Danny, and the children had arrived at the hotel on Thursday afternoon, after dropping off Destiny at the kennel. ("Believe me, Paddy, she'll be much happier staying there with all the other dogs then being locked up in our room."). Josh and Donna, and Carol and David had flown in with Rick and Ginger on the family jet late that night. The Bartlets and the Youngs came on the same plane from Boston on Friday morning. Ed, Larry, and their wives were taking a cross-country tour together and had driven in on the northern route. Kate had come down from Oregon with Will. Sam and Morgan would be flying in from Sacramento in an hour.
Margaret and John Hoynes would be arriving early tomorrow, well in advance of the late afternoon nuptial Mass, as would Ainsley Hayes and Glen Walken, who had just sent out "Save the date" cards for next April. ("I still can't see that," Josh said. "I can," Donna answered.)
On Friday afternoon, the women joined Nancy, her bridal party, and other female friends and relatives in a spa bachelorette party while some of the men joined Jesse's golf outing. (Danny, Josh, and Rick took the kids to a water park).
Carol told CJ that Clara was adjusting well to being a minister's wife and that the congregation was happy that Paul had found someone with whom to share his life.
Ginger and Rick were hosting the party for the group that evening. Nancy and Jesse said they would try to stop by later, but weren't making any promises. (Jesse's parents were holding the rehearsal dinner at Casa Emilio, the restaurant owned by Nancy's brother.)
Tomorrow morning, the women would take turns watching the kids and keeping appointments for hair and makeup while the men watched the college football feeds from the eastern and central time zones.
September 28; Our Lady of Malibu Catholic Church, Malibu, CA
"I, Jésus Ignaçio, take you, Nancy Renée, to be my wife. I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will love you and honor you all the days of my life."
CJ smiled as Danny lifted her right hand to his lips and softly kissed it. She knew that it was his way of telling her that he was remembering back some six years, when he and she had said the same words, made the same vows, to each other.
CJ looked at Nancy; she was wearing a simple strapless sheath. The fabric was antiqued ivory satin and it almost matched the delicate full-length lace mantilla that had been worn by ten generations of Muñoz women and women marrying into the Muñoz family.
CJ heard a sniff on her left side and turned to see Donna dabbing her eyes with a tissue. Beyond Donna and Josh, Ginger was also wiping her eyes.
Last spring, when Nancy apologized to the West Wing women for not having any of them in her wedding party ("I really don't want a crowd and I'm expected to have my cousins or the family will disown me.") she was told she had nothing for which to apologize. "We're all getting a bit long in the tooth," Donna joked, and CJ and Margaret agreed. Bonnie, Ginger, Carol, and Zoey all smiled and said they had no problems with not being asked. Now that the four of them were seven months' pregnant, CJ understood the reason for smiles. Looking at the altar, CJ was glad to be sitting in a pew. The amethyst gowns worn by Nancy's cousins and by Carmen Muñoz were lovely, but the color was not one that looked good on her.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Nancy and Jesse Muñoz!"
After a prolonged round of applause, the Mass continued. CJ glanced up several rows where Frank and Diana sat, proud of Carmen and flower girl Maggie. She saw Diana wink at her girls as she approached the altar to take her place as an extraordinary minister of Communion.
Later that evening; Malibu Beach Inn
"The kids are pretty much all dead to the world."
CJ came up to the table where Danny was sitting with Hank, Steve, Bonnie, Jean-Luc, and the Hollis'. She had been upstairs where the pre-teen children were being watched by members of St. Monica's High Club.
The reception guests were mixing together very nicely. The assigned dinner tables of eight were mixed among the various groups – the Estevez family and friends, the Muñoz family and friends, Jesse's friends and work colleagues, Nancy's West Wing colleagues, her colleagues from the Hollis Foundation and "Road to a Better World", and, of course, the neighbors on the block where Nancy and Jesse would begin their life together.
"And I just talked with Aviva," Hank said. "It's the same back home for the little ones." The neighbors had hired some college women to sit with the kids down the road in Santa Monica. Pamela, Will Rogers, Ary, Manny, and Dafna Hammash, and Aaron, Audra, and Ricky Feldman were all in the Wei house. "The teens are watching DVDs."
"Carmen, Jessica," Steve called out. "Ladies, don't you think you're being a bit premature? Why don't you leave this to those who, if they win, are old enough to act on their good fortune?"
Somewhat reluctantly, the two teen-aged girls left the group of women who were waiting for Nancy to toss her bouquet. (Timmy Jenkins had already claimed the garter.)
"Wait, Nancy! We've got one more!"
Carol and Margaret tugged a protesting Kate into the group that stood at the bottom of the staircase where the bride was waiting somewhat impatiently. As soon as this ritual was done, she and Jesse could finally leave for the little bed and breakfast just up the road. Nancy remembered what happened to CJ and Danny at their wedding; she told Jesse she didn't want to stay in the same hotel as their guests. So Jesse made reservations for their wedding night at the Malibu Country Inn and for a limousine driver who would be able to keep a secret.
"Okay, one, two, three!" Nancy tossed her flowers behind her.
Everyone laughed as the bouquet headed toward Kate, who batted them away as if they were a volleyball.
"Oh!"
No one was more surprised than Andy to find the flowers coming at her. She instinctively held up her hands to protect her face and ended up holding onto them.
The band started playing and everyone watched as Andy and Timmy performed the traditional dance. Nancy and Jesse took advantage of the festivities to sneak away from the reception.
The party began to wind down. The Santa Monica neighbors piled into their limos for their twenty-something mile trip south. The Bartlet Bunch rescued their children from the suite were they had been being watched. Danny told the babysitters, who were staying the night in the hotel, to be sure to set the deadbolts and intruder blockers on their doors.
Abbey pulled Donna aside; they had some last minute plans to discuss. Tomorrow, during the picnic at the beach, there would be a surprise baby shower for Ellie, Zoey, Carol, Bonnie, and Ginger.
"Where's Paddy?" CJ was just finishing diapering Caitlin when Danny walked into the bedroom of their suite.
"On the couch in the other room," Danny answered as he began to roll the port-a-crib in that direction. He turned back to her and smiled. "Look in the side pouch of my bag."
CJ opened the zipper and found that Danny had packed the midnight blue gown that Abbey had given her some six and a half years ago.
The past two nights, they had made love cautiously and quietly, lying back to front on their sides, without removing their nightwear. It would be nice to be less restrained, although CJ had to admit that when Danny pushed up her sleep shirt and slipped his arousal through the slit in his pajama bottoms, the feel of silk against her backside while being filled by him and touched by his fingers was extremely erotic.
Danny came back into the room; CJ noticed that he had changed into a fresh pair of pajama bottoms.
"Change," he softly ordered.
"I hear and obey."
Danny laughed. "Oh?"
"Or I will as soon as you undo my dress." She turned her back to him.
Danny undid her zipper, kissed her back, and gave her a gentle push toward the bathroom.
When CJ returned, Danny had darkened the lights and opened the drapes to the moonlight reflecting off the ocean.
He held out his hand; she walked up to him.
"We renewed our wedding vows; now let's renew our wedding night."