Leo is walking around the stadium, getting a feel for the place. It's a nice space, really, very sunny and open. The band's not so loud from the stage or up here in the stands, the music tolerable talent-wise. Leo likes the red-white-and-blue decorations. It's just the right amount of patriotic flair, he feels, not so over-whelming that you feel like you just walked into a redneck Fourth of July. He's been to a few of those kind of campaign stops. They're not the kind the President enjoys very much.
As Leo ambles through the stadium stands, he sees a pair of small feet kicking a few rows up. Suspicion leads him up to find Cerulean sitting by herself, watching him walk up. Leo's not really sure what to do; he doesn't see much of the girl and while he knows she likes the Staff, he's not sure how she feels about him.
"Hi, Mr. Leo," Cerulean says. "Whatcha doin?"
"Just walking around," Leo answers. "You up here by yourself?"
"I got lost," Cerulean says with a shrug. "I was supposed to find Aunt Donna but I got lost and then I was tired."
"You still lost?" Leo asks. Cerulean shakes her head.
"Uncle Toby and Aunt C.J. are over there by the stage." She points and Leo, whose far vision is starting to go, takes her word for it. "And Daddy's with Mr. Bruno by the band and Uncle Josh is somewhere on this side too." Leo nods.
"But no Aunt Donna yet?" The phrase is strange in his mouth, but Cerulean doesn't seem to notice.
"I think she's in the school."
"Probably. Mind if I sit with you for a minute?" Leo says. Cerulean shrugs again.
"Okay." Leo takes the seat next to hers. He looks at the field below, full of chairs and people, and realizes they're halfway up. How Cerulean got lost and ended up here was beyond him, but it was a nice view. Mallory wouldn't have stayed up here long; his daughter had suffered from a fear of heights when she was little, and it never really went away. Jed hadn't exactly helped, with his encouragement that he was still afraid of heights and he was a perfectly normal individual. Leo usually replied that was stretching the definition of normal.
"Mr. Leo?" His reminiscing is cut off by Cerulean's voice. He looks at her and for a moment her face is Mallory's. Leo blinks and Cerulean's face is her own again.
"Yeah, Cerulean?"
"What is all this for?" Cerulean asks.
"The President is running for re-election. You know what re-election is?" Leo says. Cerulean nods.
"He wants to stay President."
"Yeah. So we're telling everybody he's running again." Which we shouldn't have to, Leo thinks, but thanks to Jed's damn stupidity and his morals, we do.
"Does he hafta run far?"
"What?"
"Mr. President. You said he's running," Cerulean says. "Does he have to run far?" Leo chuckles.
"It's not that kind of race, kid," he says.
"What kinda race is it then? Is it a bicycle race?"
"No, it's not a bicycle race either." The day I let that man near a bicycle again is the day I resign. "Do you know what a metaphor is? I'll bet your dad's said plenty about metaphors the past few days."
"It's when a thing is taking the place of another thing," Cerulean says. "Like when you say the cat's out of the bag, there's not actually a cat. It just means that everybody knows something."
"Right. In this case, running doesn't mean the President is actually running anywhere. It means he's trying to get people to vote for him," Leo says. And it's not going to be easy this time around. "If he gets the most votes, he gets to be President again."
"What if he doesn't?" Cerulean says. Leo sighs.
"Then we lose. Someone else gets to be President and we all go job-hunting," he answers.
"Does that mean everybody leaves the White House?" Leo nods.
"We'll probably stay in D.C., most of us. The President will probably come back to New Hampshire and some people will go off in different directions. It happens," he says. "Your dad will probably get a job that lets him spend more time with you. That'll be nice, won't it?"
"I guess," Cerulean says. "But then I won't see everybody else as much, right? Like Uncle Toby and Aunt C.J. and Uncle Josh and Aunt Donna and you and Mr. President?" Leo's surprised she counted him in there. Maybe they're on better standing than he thought.
"That's definitely a possibility," he says. Cerulean nods and turns to look at the field below them again. Leo follows her gaze. He'll admit that this fanfare is a bit annoying, since they should have the home-field advantage, but if it wins them the election, he really doesn't care.
"Mr. Leo?" This time Cerulean tugs on his sleeve insistently. Leo faces her again and her expression is very serious. It's sort of adorable to see such a grave look on this six-year-old.
"Yes, Cerulean?" Leo says, trying not to smile.
"You gotta win, okay? Everybody has to stay together, so you gotta win the race," Cerulean says in a solemn voice. It takes everything he has in him to not laugh.
"That's what we're trying to do," Leo says. "I promise, we're gonna do everything we can to win."
"Pinky promise?" Cerulean holds up her tiny hand, little finger outstretched. Leo puts out his own pinky.
"Pinky promise." Their fingers lock for a second. Well, now we really have to win, Leo thinks.
"Cerulean! There you are!" Josh comes up the stairs of the stands. "Geez, kiddo, why'd you go all the way up here?"
"Felt like it," Cerulean replies. Leo smirks. Toby's right, she is a little smartass in training. No one would be all that surprised.
"Yeah, well, your dad's not gonna be happy you climbed all these stairs. You know you're not supposed to be overexerting yourself," Josh says.
"I didn't go to the top. I stopped when I got tired."
"Are you still tired?"
"Maybe…" Josh sighs. He looks at Leo.
"Was Mallory like this? Or is this another wonderful trait that's all Cerulean?"
"They all go through a phase like this at some point," Leo answers. "Wait til the teen rebellion and angst kicks in. That's fun to watch."
"Yeah, watch. Not live through," Josh says with a wince. "Look, Cerulean, it's almost time to go. I'll carry you down to Daddy, all right?"
"I'm tired of being carried. I wanna walk," Cerulean says.
"You can't," Josh says.
"Yes, I can. I walked up, I can walk down."
"And then you go to the hospital because you can't walk anymore. Do you want to go back to the hospital?" Josh asks. Cerulean scowls and crosses her arms.
"Not going to the hospital again, Uncle Josh. I'm not."
"Listen, Cerulean," Leo says, sensing disaster. "I know you're tired of being carried, but what if you tried something new?"
"New?" Josh and Cerulean say in unison. It's hard to tell which one is more suspicious.
"Does Uncle Josh normally give you a piggy back ride?" Leo asks. Cerulean shakes her head. "Why not try it? It could be fun." Cerulean thinks it over for a second.
"Mmm…okay. We can try that." Josh sighs in relief. Leo stands up and moves aside so Josh can reach Cerulean. His deputy bends down to let Cerulean scramble onto his back. She puts her arms around his neck and Josh hooks his arms under her legs.
"All set, kiddo?"
"Yeah." Josh stands and Cerulean squeals in delight. Leo smiles as Josh turns back to him.
"Thanks."
"No problem. I've been here, remember?" Leo says.
"Yeah. You comin with or will I see you back at the house?" Josh asks.
"I'll see you at the house. I wanna make sure Bruno's got everything set up."
"All right. Cerulean, you ready?" Josh says, looking out of the corner of his eye at Cerulean. The little girl nods. "Hold on tight, here we go!" He starts down there stairs, Cerulean giggling as she bounces. Leo watches them go, remembering when he was convinced Sam adopting Cerulean was a terrible idea. It's a good thing Sam didn't listen.