Frank Impressions

CJ/Danny; mentions of Josh, Donna, Ginger

Rating Adult –

Spoilers through end of series

Not mine, never were, never will be, but they consume my soul

September 25, 2014; 8:15 AM PDT; Santa Monica, CA

Frank Muñoz had just walked out of his bathroom and into his bedroom when the doorbell rang.

"Honey," he heard his wife call out, "could you get that? Maggie and I are dealing with a wardrobe issue."

So Frank dropped the towel that was wrapped around his waist, grabbed a pair of jeans, and managed to get them zipped up and snapped by the time he reached the door.

"Hey, Frank, welcome back."

"Hey, Danny, thanks."

Two hours ago, Frank had returned from a three week assignment in Italy at Aviano.

"Hi, Uncle Frank! We're going on a field trip today!"

"I know," Frank smiled at Paddy and ruffled the little boy's hair. Then he looked back to Danny.

"How's CJ doing?"

"OK." Danny glanced at Paddy and then at Caitlin, who had her arms around Danny's neck, with Danny's left forearm supporting her little butt; Frank sensed that Danny didn't want to talk in front of his children. "And we are both so-o sorry about all this."

Yes, it had been three weeks since he had been with his wife, Frank thought, but he and Diana had endured separations like these twice a year, spring and fall, for almost twenty years. Frank had come to know this man who had been neighbor for seven years and friend for almost that long. Frank was sure that Danny was having a harder time dealing with CJ's unavailability for the past ten days than Frank was with being apart from Diana for twenty.

For some reason, over the past twenty years, every time Frank returned home from one of his extended absences with the Air Force, it was around 6:00 AM. For most of those years, there had been a preschooler in the house and for most of those years, Diana was teaching; this was to have been the first time in sixteen years that Frank and Diana would not have to wait an additional fifteen hours before their intimate reunion.

But at the beginning of the week, when it became apparent that CJ would not be able to fulfill her duties on the kindergarten field trip today, when Danny began frantically calling other class parents (Danny had an "imperative rescript" from USC's Board of Trustees to attend today's meeting), Diana told Danny that she would fill in for his ailing wife.

In its own way, the long wait for nightfall and the kids' bedtime was an incredible aphrodisiac. Over the years, Frank and Diana had developed little signals, in the manner of all married couples, about what he or she might be feeling at the moment. For example, whenever anyone mentioned something about doing laundry, all Frank had to do was look at Diana and he knew that she was feeling that certain tug from breast to groin; and, of course, when he knew that she was feeling it, he would begin to react, so they had learned to not look at each other if the subject arose when they were in the company of others.

When a still technically virginal Diana was a freshman at UCLA and admitted to her roommate that she "wasn't sure if she ever had one", Sally told her about washing machines. Diana told Frank about it, a few weeks after their engagement and the erasure of the "technicality" in a small motel room down by Laguna Beach("until you used your mouth on me, it was the only way I ever could"); he insisted that they try it together in the privacy of his parents' basement. Sitting on the appliance, Diana was at just the right height and the feeling of the vibration of the spin cycle as it moved through her body to him – the results were very satisfying, especially since Diana was still sometimes having problems "getting there" (problems which amazingly disappeared approximately five hours after her Franciscan cousin Carlos, in front of God, friends, and family, declared them joined in Holy Matrimony.)

Last spring, when he had returned from his three week stint in Izmir on a weekend, Carmen, trying to be helpful, said, "Daddy, why don't I take care of your laundry"? Frank sputtered his mouth full of coffee across the breakfast table, quickly excused himself and left the room.

Many times, relatives or neighbors would volunteer to take the kids "until tomorrow", but the children missed their father tremendously when he was gone, and Frank missed them as much as he missed Diana.

Had they wanted to, there were often several times during the day, especially when the kid or kids at home were young enough for naps, when they could have managed a "quickie", but neither of them would have been satisfied with that.

Of course, as soon as the kids were safely down for the night, it was only a matter of seconds before hard hammering heat met warm welcoming wetness, his fingers between them to make sure that Diana wasn't left behind, and only a minute or so before the first bed rattling, body shattering explosion. Then they would begin the kissing, the touching, the mutual mouthing, the massages, and the murmurings, some in English, some in Spanish, that would end in a much quieter but no less intense, no less welcomed joining.

When Frank was younger, and newly married, he sometimes found himself unable to last the three weeks, and resorted to self-release. However, as a young lieutenant, privacy for such actions was a rare commodity. As he advanced in rank, his accommodations were more accommodating, but Frank had also come to realize that such actions merely relieved aching and pressure, doing nothing for his psyche; now he sublimated and waited.

As for what Diana did or didn't do, she never volunteered and he never asked. If she couldn't wait for him, it meant that he was an extremely skilled lover; if she could and did wait, it meant that she needed his soul as much as his body. Frank figured he couldn't lose either way.

So, when Danny apologized, Frank just smiled and shrugged his shoulders, a gesture almost more Gallic than Hispanic.

"I've survived this long, my friend; I can survive a few more hours. And I must thank you for taking Jesse's place with Mike for the scouting campout. Too many people getting sick around here. Maybe Jimmy or Timmy should test the water."

"I loved doing it and I had a blast. There's something about a hotdog cooked on a stick, followed by a s'more, that exudes total fun. The only problem was that this little rug rat here" Danny smiled at his son "threw a hissy fit about wanting to go along."

Just then, Diana and Maggie came into the room.

"Hi, Maggie!" Paddy greeted the little girl. Then, noticing the traces of tears of her cheeks, "What's wrong?"

"I really wanted to wear my jumper, it's such a pretty plaid, but Mommy says we have to wear shorts for the field trip."

Maggie and Paddy were both in navy blue shorts with navy and green striped polo shirts. White socks and tennis shoes completed the uniform du jour for St. Monica's kindergarten class.

"Ah, niña," Frank said, as he lifted Maggie and kissed her, "if you are anything like your sister, by the time you graduate from eighth grade, you will be totally sick of that plaid, first the jumper and then the skirt when you reach middle school."

"Maggie, you look pretty no matter what you wear," Paddy told his friend. He grabbed hold of the little girl's hand.

"I train 'em right," Danny said with a laugh.

"Come on, kids, we need to get to school! The bus for the field trip leaves in a half hour!" Diana hustled Paddy and Maggie toward the door.

Frank reached over to stroke her cheek. "Take care, querida," he murmured against her ear.

The two men watched as Diana took off with the children.

"You know," Frank said, "maybe we all should plan on taking the boys with us next month. Make it a father-son thing."

The men of the block were planning to go up to Big Sur for a long weekend at the end of October.

"How about the girls? I mean, I know that the older ones, Carmen, Cindy, Heather, and Audra, would turn up their noses at it, and, of course, Caitlin, Pammy, and Dafna are too young, but Mei-ling and Maggie? Would they feel left out?"

"I don't know about Mei-ling, but, as you noticed, apparently Maggie has picked up this little feminine kick in the past week, so it probably won't be an issue. Anyway, let's talk about it with the others.

"Now, about CJ. Do you need me to be with her this afternoon? What about Caitlin?" Frank looked at the yawning toddler.

"Aren't you about dead on your feet? Isn't Italy five hours ahead of us? Don't you need to rest up for, well, later? Aviva will take Caitlin and Steve said he would check in on CJ when I have to go do my dog and pony show. Hopefully, it won't take too long."

"Danny, I can sit in your house and wait for nightfall just as easily as I can over here," the man laughed easily. "And I flew the first leg and slept some on the plane. It will be no problem. Please, let me do it. What time do you want me there?"

"If you're sure? Showtime for me is 1:00 PM. How about 11:00?"

Frank could see the relief in Danny's posture. Both men knew that Steve would conscientiously check on CJ at least once an hour, but the CPA did have work to do and a three-year old to occupy his time.

"See you then," Frank agreed as Danny turned toward the door.

Mid-afternoon

Frank returned to the Concannon family room and checked the score on the game he was watching. (Top of the fifth, Padres ahead by two.) It was a nice day and normally, he would have preferred being on the deck or in the courtyard, but he also wanted to be able to hear if CJ needed him and, after all, he did get to spend some time outdoors near Florence during his off-hours at Aviano.

Fifteen minutes ago, he had heard sounds of stirring from the bedroom and entered to see a pale, mussy-haired CJ struggling to sit up in the bed. Following Danny's (and Scott's) orders, he took her temperature (98.8) and made her take a few pills before fetching glasses of ginger ale for the both of them. They talked for a little bit about Italy, how the kids were doing with kindergarten, once again laughed off the apologies for delaying his and Diana's reunion. Then Frank helped her to the bathroom and back into bed. She was asleep by the time he finished pulling up the covers over her body.

Seven years ago, when the residents of the block first found out that the old Canfield cottage had been bought, and by whom, everyone was naturally curious. CJ and Danny's story, part fairytale and part gossip, had been grist for many mills, from the Enquirer to the Times, from "Entertainment Tonight" to "Meet the Press".

Zelda Canfield had lived well into her nineties, and had managed to stay healthy and aware until the last three months of her life. She and Max had been the first family to move onto the block, some sixty years ago, and never saw the need to do much more than modernize the kitchen, the bath, and the wiring of their little two bedroom cottage. Everyone wondered what the new residents would do with the property.

CJ, sometimes with Danny and sometimes not, had come around several times with architects and builders before their marriage. The DC transplants were unfailingly polite when Clara, the Robbins', the Jenkins', and the others came over to introduce themselves and to welcome the new couple to the block. When CJ and Danny returned from their honeymoon and moved into the cottage, Frank and Diana threw a "welcome party" and CJ shared the blueprints of what she had envisioned. By Thanksgiving and the Feldman feast, CJ and Danny were becoming part of the group and by Christmas and the announcement about the twins, Danny was going to games and to bars with the guys, CJ was dishing dirt with the women, and "Miss CJ" and "Mister Danny" were helping kids cross the street, scolding them for leaving bikes and skates on the curb, providing drinks of water, and checking cuts and scratches for seriousness.

One evening in early April of '08, Wally and Aviva were sitting on the porch with Frank and Diana, and Frank commented how much joy he got from watching CJ and Danny experience what they had so nearly missed due to the circumstances of their lives, what the rest of them had and often took for granted. Frank especially found amazement in the way CJ and Danny dealt with her pregnancy. In so many ways, they were exactly like he and Diana were when they were awaiting Carmen; in so many ways, CJ and Danny appreciated every moment so much more than Frank and Diana could have imagined doing some seventeen years ago.

"It is amazing that I can be so glad for them, in their lives, and yet so grateful that ours has taken a different, more predictable, more sedate path."

Then, when the twins died at birth, everyone showed what made their little neighborhood so special. CJ and Danny's Washington friends and the former First Lady were in the forefront, but the neighbors came by with food to eat, ears to listen, and shoulders on which to cry, and continued to do so when the others had to go back East. The tragedy welded CJ and Danny permanently into the ethos of the block.

CJ's second pregnancy, coming so soon after sadness, and coming a month after Diana and he conceived Maggie, bonded the two couples into a relationship that was special even within the special atmosphere of the rest of the block.

Frank could not imagine NOT being so closely involved with CJ, Danny, Paddy, and Caitlin. Danny was older in years, but Frank was older in experience with being husband, father, and head of household; both men fed off each other. Frank felt closer to Danny than he did to his brother Tonio. When Frank and Diana were weighing the pros and cons of Frank's aiming for another star, it was Danny who Frank used as a sounding board, who helped Frank to see that remaining Brigadier, perhaps taking an administrative assignment with flight school at El Segundo, or even one at Colorado Springs ("but I'd miss the hell out of you, Frank"), if that was the best for the six of them, was not an "easy out".

Over the years, Frank had come to admire and respect Danny even more. It takes a very special man to love and marry a powerful and important woman and Danny was able to let CJ be CJ without ever letting her forget that she was also Claudia Cregg Concannon, beloved wife and adored mother of two. Through "Road to a Better World", the Nobel, and now stay at home mom, Danny loved, admired, respected, worshipped, protected, and managed his wife without making himself seem dominated or domineering.

Again, back in '07, Frank and the other men wondered about the new man who would be living in their midst. None of them considered themselves chauvinists and of the eight married couples, only Aviva Hammash and Angela Jenkins were total "stay at home, no work from home" women. However, only Sally Rogers, a sales vice-president for a regional insurance company, and Yan Wei, a research professor at UCLA, had professions that had more "street cred" than those of their husbands. The guys wondered if the "new guy" would be "Mr. CJ Cregg". However, the block soon learned that Mr. CJ Cregg did not exist. Every time a contractor, a solicitor, or a salesrep referred to "Ms. Cregg", CJ quietly but firmly corrected the person. "It's Concannon, Mrs. Concannon." The signatures on the contracts, on the estimates, on the checks read "Claudia Cregg Concannon". The idea of "Mr. CJ Cregg" seemed to annoy CJ much more than it annoyed her husband, and Danny's lack of visible discontent only enhanced his image as a man secure in his masculinity.

It wasn't just the way Danny dealt with the issues of CJ's renown that drew respect from Frank. Frank knew, without being told, that Paul Reeves had played an extremely important part, emotionally and physically, in CJ's early years, and admired the way that Danny accepted the minister back into their lives. Had there been anyone before him in Diana's life, Frank knew that his love for her would have made that fact unimportant, but he could not imagine being friends with his predecessor the way Danny was with Paul.

Now, after seven years, it was hard to remember those early days when he, Diana, and the others wondered about the "celebrities" moving into their midst. Yes, there was the notoriety over the Nobel and over Danny's awards. Yes, there was the excitement when the Bartlets, the Seaborns, the Hollis', et alia came to visit. But just as CJ and Danny had embraced this new phase of their lives, the other residents of the block had adjusted to being known, by first name, by presidents, governors, and other powerful people.

Frank heard the glass door from the courtyard slide open, saw Danny wave toward him, and saw Danny slip into the master bedroom. A few minutes later, Danny went from the bedroom to the kitchen, returning with a beer for himself and a fresh Diet Coke for Frank. (Frank may have slept from England to El Segundo, but he wasn't an idiot; he did not need anything remotely resembling a sedative substance today.) The two of them watched the game for a few minutes (bottom of the eighth, Pirates up by four).

"So, how is she, really?"

"This latest round of antibiotics seems to have done the trick, but Scott and the experts he pulled in say she'll be in bed for at least two more weeks, and won't be back to full strength until right before Christmas."

A few days after the Concannons had returned from Cape May, CJ began to feel sick. She put up a good front for her son's first day of kindergarten, going with her husband and Frank and Diana to the school, sitting through the opening Mass, and then wiping away a tear as Paddy pulled away from her hug and ran to join the other kids in a circle around Miss Miranda in the courtyard outside the classroom building. But by the next morning, she was hacking and wheezing, discharging an ugly brown mucus, alternating between bone rattling chills and sheet drenching fever.

Scott Winkler prescribed a course of penicillin; when that didn't work, he tried something stronger. By that time, reports from the East indicated that this was something that she and several others had picked up when the Bartlet Bunch was gathered at the shore and that it was not your run of the mill virus. Scott arranged for someone else to check out CJ's cultures, and the woman put CJ in the hospital for two nights, where round the clock monitoring and IV medicines finally defeated the nasty infection. But CJ was still sleeping nineteen or twenty hours out of twenty-four, still taking in only liquids, scrambled eggs, Jell-O ®, and maybe a baked potato. She couldn't take care of herself, much less the kids. It was the start of the academic year and Danny needed to not miss any class time. He needed to set the theme for the rest of the semester. Maristella was still up in Lee Vining, with Liz, Zach, and their baby John. Lupé was about to visit her cousin Beth, who was also an "eldery, first time pregnancy". Scott had given Danny the names of several other home nurses who might be able to help; so far, he had had no luck finding one who could spend the time needed with his wife.

But, as usual, everyone on the block was pitching in to help and Frank would be no exception.

"And the others?"

"Graciella is still hospitalized, in ICU. Mrs. Vinick went back to Jersey to be with her. She and Cal have been with the family for almost thirty years. She was worsening, but now she's holding her own – happened right after they anointed her. And, believe me, hearing that they were doing that, even though they no longer call it Last Rites, it was all I could do not to lose it in front of CJ and the kids," Danny's voice broke slightly, then he recovered. "According to Ginger, Cal hasn't left her side, except to wash up, for the duration. Rick says he doesn't know how Cal would ever deal with losing his wife.

"For Carol, it really wasn't much more than a very bad cold with bronchitis. She should be back to work in two weeks. Leo Lyman is out of PICU, but they're keeping him in the hospital for another week. Josh says it's more for his and Donna's sake, with the other kids and all. When Josh called last night, the relief in his voice was so, so – "

"Much like the relief in yours, my friend," Frank said.

At that point, Danny did break down.

"Frank, it never seems to get better. I mean, first, when we lost the boys, and I didn't know what was happening, if it meant something wrong with her as well as the boys. Then, the scare with her breasts. Things were a bit rough between us right before the bombing at Camden Yards, and if she had gone to that with the tension between us and if – I ," Danny couldn't finish the thought. "Two years ago, with Caitlin, when I found out afterward what she kept from me, it was like with the kids, wanting to hug and spank at the same time. Not that I've EVER," Danny added quickly.

Frank threw him a look that said, "Of course you've never hit your wife. Neither have I hit mine. We aren't my older brother."

Then Frank stretched his arm across the space between the two of them and the two men locked fingers around each other's wrist.

"It won't ever get better. As the years go by and love grows stronger, so does the fear when something happens. In all seriousness, Danny, would you want it to matter less to you as time goes by? And, by the way, it's the same with the kids. If my folks are any indication, you will be worrying about Paddy when he's thirty-five and he and Maggie are giving the four of us grandchildren."

Both men laughed a bit as was the custom when the Concannons and the Muñoz' talked about the totally age appropriate but extremely intense relationship between their kids.

Frank's cell rang. The tone was the one he had assigned to his older daughter.

"Daddy? Mike, Steve, and I are here."

(Because the field trip would keep Paddy, Maggie, and Diana away longer than the normal school day, Carmen had been entrusted with not only driving herself to St. Monica's High, but also with transporting her brothers to the grade school. She was calling, not only because the three of them wanted to see their father, but also because she wanted to reinforce in her parents the fact that she could be trusted with such a responsibility. After all, she was sixteen, and being driven to school in a car pool with little kids was so-o-o lame.)

"My kids are home," Frank told Danny, and got up to leave. Danny walked with the other man across the courtyard and to the front door.

"You know that Jessica's throwing a welcome back party for you Saturday night," Danny mentioned.

Frank nodded in assent.

"Thanks again for everything," Danny said.

Frank reached out and grabbed the other man in a one-armed hug. Words were not needed.

9:45 PM

Frank swished the mouthwash, spit, and then rang his fingers through his hair. As he turned to the master bathroom door, he heard the door from the hall to the bedroom open and close.

"Maggie and the boys are down; Carmen is reading "Hamlet" in bed," Diana said and smiled at him.

He was rock hard and ready to burst; he extended his hand to his wife and she was in his arms. Mouth devoured mouth as hands shoved down underwear. (His also lifted a T-shirt and opened a bra.)

Ten minutes later, they were down from their high and were beginning the climb a second time. Words and kisses came from his mouth - "Querida". "Beloved." "My woman." "So sweet". But words also came to his ears. "Fill me." "I love you." "Mi corazon." And then, the sweetest sound of all – "Oh, God, Fran-keeeeEE!

His long wait over, Frank Muñoz said a prayer for his friend Danny, that his wait would also soon be a thing of the past.