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Francis trudged through their front door, aware that he'd broken another promise of nightly bedtime stories to his daughter. He'd tried to come home earlier. He fought so hard to get things wrapped up so he could be back before James had to go to bed, but this bill the President was trying to fix by the end of the month was wrecking havoc on him and his whole team. He was becoming less and less civilized the more days he went without at least getting a hug from his daughter. And while he hated saying goodnight to his upset daughter over the phone, tonight was the first night no tears were shed. Instead, she sounded resigned to his not coming home. It was becoming a norm for her, and somehow that felt worse to him.

Setting his briefcase and keys down, he gave a tired smile to Claire as she walked down the hallway in her robe towards him. "You're up late."

"I was working on some details for the gala in a few weeks." Claire breathed as she welcomed his embrace. She pressed a kiss to his cheek, wanting to give him more, because he clearly needed it, but knowing there still wasn't time. "You think you'll make it to bed tonight?"

"I don't know." Francis shook his head, pulling off his jacket. "I doubt it."

Claire frowned, cupping his face in her hands. "Francis, if you don't take care of yourself, working this bill is going to kill you." For the first time, Francis didn't argue with her about how it was his job or how it wasn't that bad. It had been a week since he'd spent any proper time with her or James, and it was wearing on him. "Why don't you check on James? Just watch her for a couple minutes. I'll get a pot of coffee going for you."

Francis reached up and took her wrist into his hand before kissing her palm. "Thank you."

James rubbed her eyes as sleep left her and her dry throat cried out for water. Groaning softly, she slipped out of her bed and wrapped a blanket around herself before heading downstairs for the kitchen. She padded quietly over to the sink, frowning when she saw the coffee pot missing from the dish rack and nearly empty in the coffee maker. She quickly downed a glass of water before walking around the island and finding the basement light on, confirming her suspicions that her father was home but still working. Despite that, she headed down the stairs anyway.

It was rather quiet. No humming from her father or even the TV turned to the news was on. All the lights were on though, and that was the reason she continued forward. "Daddy?"

Francis's ears perked hearing her voice in person instead of through a phone. "James, darling, what are you doing down here?"

James walked around the corner, finally seeing her father after six days of nothing. She smiled softly as she rubbed her eyes and approached him. "I was thirsty, and I saw the light on. " She walked to his side of the desk, happy when he didn't hesitate to pick her up and bring her against his chest. She snuggled into him, closing her eyes as she tucked her face into his neck. "I've missed you, Daddy."

"I've missed you too." Francis breathed, stroking her back over the blanket and giving himself a break from the papers littering his desk. "I promise, darlin'. We'll have more time together when this is all over."

James hummed softly, already feeling herself slip back into slumber. "What are you doing?"

"Well, I'm trying to get through this bill so we can get a vote on it, but the people who decide whether or not it gets to that point aren't really cooperating." Francis tried to explain, knowing that sometimes his job felt overcomplicated to explain to his daughter. "They want things changed, so I'm one of the people going over this to try and find loopholes to get the people who wrote it to agree with it too."

"Can't you write it?" James murmured.

Francis shrugged, knowing he was about to lose his daughter's attention due to it being the middle of the night still. "I suppose I could. It would take a bit of time, but I could negotiate on the spot instead of being the middle man. I would need to bring some people on since the bill is about tax reform."

"That sounds boring." James stated plainly.

Francis chuckled, kissing her head. "You're not wrong." He smiled when James mumbled something he couldn't understand, signaling she'd fallen back asleep. While it was only a couple minutes he spent with her in person while they were both awake, he could already tell he felt better. He needed it. His daughter was still a girl who loved to snuggle up to him or Claire, but it was still rare considering their schedules. Plus, his daughter was getting bigger and older, and it startled him how aware he was that his days of holding his daughter like this while she was asleep were winding down.

So instead of getting back to his bill, he spent a few moments savoring just the peace and quiet with his little sleeping girl.

Claire frowned when she stepped into James's room the next morning and found that her seven year old was no where to be found. She didn't hear cartoons playing on the TV downstairs or even wrappers opening from her daughter's favorite breakfast treat. Descending the stairs, she did a quick sweep of the main floor before heading for the basement. "Francis." She called out, striding straight for his office. She stopped in her tracks though when she saw both Francis and James asleep in his office chair. Feeling relief at the heartwarming sight, she smiled softly as she tiptoed into the office and around to Francis to gently stroke her fingers through his hair. "Francis."

"Yeah," Francis muttered as he stirred the slightest. His arms around James didn't budge, still aware of who they were holding, even as he yawned and squinted against the light of his office. "Morning. It's morning, right?"

Claire giggled softly with a nod. "Yes, the sun is up." She continued to stroke his hair as his body eased itself into full awareness. "Looks like you maybe got some sleep. When did James come down?"

Francis glanced down at his daughter, confirming she was still asleep. "Around one, I think. Somewhere around that time. She got thirsty but was still exhausted. She barely made it two minutes on my chest before she was out like a light." He returned a lazy smile to Claire. "Nevertheless, it was worth it."

Claire grinned, always happy to see Francis have his moments as a father. He was a great father to their daughter, always spent as much time with her as he could when he was home, but the moments where he soaked in how much he loved it were some of her favorites. It always reminded her of the day James was born, how he was with her in the hospital. "You could've put her back in bed after a little while. I'm sure your back is sore and your arms are going to be jelly the rest of the day if the lack of sleep didn't make them that way already."

"I hadn't seen her in a week other than to kiss her goodnight when she was already asleep. It'll be another week of that before I have even a chance to spend some time at home without worrying about this." Francis breathed with a shake of his head. "I was going to soak this up for all it was worth, even if I have to pay for it the rest of today. But, I should probably get going back to the office. I don't even have time to stop at Freddie's this morning."

"Let me see what I can do. In the meantime," Claire winked as she gently eased James out of Francis's arms and into her own, "do what you need to do."

"James?"

James looked up from her desk when she heard her teacher call out her name, seeing the phone pressed to her ear.

"It looks like you're needed down at the office. Get your things together and head down. Sounds like someone is here to pick you up."

James frowned but did as the teacher said. Typically if she was going to leave school for something, her parents told her. So, she was wary of who she was going to find in the main office who claimed they were there to pick her up. As she slung her bag onto her shoulders and started down the hallway, she smiled when she saw Claire talking to her principal. "Mommy!"

"Hello, sweetheart," Claire grinned, "how was your morning?"

"Good," James smiled as she hugged Claire hello. She gazed up at her after a moment. "What are you doing here?"

The principal winked at her. "You're breaking out of here for the weekend a little early."

"You and I are on a mission this afternoon." Claire stated before waving to the principal as she led her daughter out by the hand. Once they were outside and away from prying ears, she continued. "I know this week has been hard for your father. You know he loves to spend time with us, and he hasn't really gotten to do that. So, I figured we could go surprise him by bringing him and his staff some lunch from Freddie's."

James beamed as she slightly bounced. "We get to go see Daddy?"

"We do, but remember it's a surprise. So when we get there, we have to be kind of quiet so your father doesn't know we're there until we get to his office." Claire explained. When they reached the car, she helped James inside and get settled with the bags of takeout. "Hopefully, we can eat lunch with him, but he may be busy."

"I'll be good." James promised, barely containing her excitement.

Claire chuckled watching James walk ahead of her with takeout bags on each arm. She had several of her own and even had to text Nancy to come down and help, but the grin on James's face was worth the extra work and she knew Nancy got a kick out of James. They entered the main hub for his office and handed out takeout containers to the staffers with Nancy's help before approaching the closed door to Francis's office.

Nancy glanced down at James. "You ready?" When James nodded, she knocked on the office door and stepped inside, keeping Claire and James hidden for the moment.

"What is it, Nancy?" Francis asked, his voice clearly reflecting his exhaustion.

"Seems we had an unexpected delivery. Did you order anything to the office?" Nancy asked, furrowing her eyebrows.

Francis frowned himself. "A delivery? I haven't ordered anything. What is it?"

"Well," Nancy couldn't help but smile as she opened the door wider and allowed him to see Claire and James, "I haven't done an inspection myself, but it smells good."

"Daddy!" James grinned before running towards him.

Francis belly laughed as James charged for him, holding nothing back as she ran into his arms. "Darlin'!" He turned back to the door as Claire stepped inside and closed the office door when Nancy left. "What on Earth are you two doing here? It's Friday, isn't it? You should be in school."

"Figured this was more important." Claire chuckled as she sat down across from him and set down the last of the takeout. "Besides, Freddie was worried his best customer had found some place else."

"Well, I see now. This is a very nice surprise. Thank you." Francis hummed with a soft smile to Claire before returning his gaze to his daughter. "My darlin', how have you been? I'll tell you. When this is all done, you're going to get a concert. I think I'm going crazy without singing with you in the car and around the house."

James giggled with a shake of her head. "You're silly, Daddy."

Francis laughed with a nod. "With the lack of sleep, you bet. I swear, I've had Bye, Bye Baby stuck in my head all day." When James frowned, he realized he probably hadn't sung that to her. "Very old song. From a movie with Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell."

"Gentlemen Prefer Blondes." Claire smirked with a cocked eyebrow.

"That's it." Francis nodded before breaking out into song. "Bye, bye baby. Remember you're my baby when they give you the eye. Although I know that you care won't you write and declare that though on the loose you are still on the square."

Claire smiled seeing Francis clearly enjoying himself and James confused by some of the words. "If you sing her Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend, we'll be raising a showgirl." She pulled out one of the takeout boxes and slid it across the desk. "James, why don't you take that to Doug and come back so we can have lunch with your father?"

"Yes, Mommy." James grinned before sliding off Francis's lap and taking the box to the next room.

Francis sighed happily as he relaxed back in his chair and gazed over at Claire. "Thank you, again. I needed this."

"Apparently," Claire started setting out the other boxes. "Couldn't even get ribs in here without thinking you were going to call security."

"For you, no," Francis smirked, "I'd be more inclined to pat you down myself."

Claire blushed as she rolled her eyes, but the smile didn't leave her face. "You are disgusting."

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