Hello again
Thank you all for the positive feedback, it feeds my soul immensely!
I only got diagnosed with ADHD only 2 years ago, at the age of 30, and well it's safe to say that I'm still getting to terms with it.
I do see a lot of the characteristics of ADHD in Elizabeth and this is me trying to make some sense of (all) of it. I hope I'm not betraying your idea of this character that we all love so much.
--
"Goodnight guys." - Elizabeth entered their Georgetown house already fighting the coat off her body. "Anybody home?"
"Kitchen!" Henry was sitting on the countertop chipping away at an ice-cream tub, fork in hand as always.
She settled between his legs reaching for a kiss and getting a fork of ice cream instead. "Mmm chocolate chip, nice. But I still wanna kiss"
He gave her the spoon that was waiting for her next to him on the counter, already predicting her appetite if she got home as he was eating. "How was your day?"
Elizabeth started digging at the tub thinking about that question. "I told Blake today" She said silently not meeting Henry's eyes, getting a shoulder up nonchalantly. Henry saw straight through the weak wall. He could read her like no one could and right now she was downplaying the situation hiding emotionally especially from herself.
"I'm proud of you" he rubbed her arms up and down trying to bring some comfort to her. "Do you wanna talk about it?" He took another bite of the ice cream, letting the question hang between them for her to decide.
"It was weird. He was cool with it?!" She said still not believing how easy it was to talk to Blake about it.
"That's good right?" Henry was trying to assess how she felt about the whole situation
"Yeah, I guess. I'm very glad that we got to bring him with us to State" she assured him, smiling.
"Soooo, I was right?!" She knew the teasing would come sooner or later.
Elizabeth just rolled her eyes at Henry, taking a big bite of ice cream into her mouth "yes-youwereright"
"Told ya!" Henry chuckled
"Yeah yeah, you're lucky I love you."
He smirked and stole a kiss from her, ice cream forgotten already. - "Come on! Let's go to bed so you can show me how much you love me"
--
Henry heard the landline ring as he was finishing filling up Elizabeth's coffee mug.
"Yeah?"
"Good morning Dr. McCord, we just wanted to let the Secretary know that the motorcade is ready to roll and we already got Mr. Moran so we're ready to go directly to the White House as scheduled ".
"Morning Frank. Thanks, I'll let her know. Uh Frank, can you please ask Blake to come in for a minute?"
"Of course sir"
"Babe car's here!" Henry yelled up the stairs before moving towards the foyer. He deposited the coffee mug on the entryway console next to the briefcase, not to be forgotten, and opened the door.
Blake entered the townhouse feeling a little unsure. He only had been inside a few times. As he got in Henry extended his hand for a shake, wearing a smile.
"Blake, good morning. Come on in"
"Good morning Dr. McCord."
They only met face to face a few times so the exchange was still a little shy on both ends.
"Elizabeth is just finishing up upstairs, she'll be down soon."
"That's ok, we still have a few minutes" Blake responded checking his watch.
He looked up the stairs behind him almost to visually confirm that Elizabeth had not come down yet. "Listen, I would like to give you a word. Can we talk for a second?"
"Yes of course. What's up?" Blake was curious where this conversation was going.
"Look, I know we are still getting settled into this new routine but I wanted to thank you for looking after Elizabeth. It gives me a-whole lot of peace of mind knowing that she has someone like you with her everyday."
"You're welcome. It is my pleasure really."
"How are you enjoying the job up until now?" Henry asked, trying to get him to open up a bit.
"I love it, I'm learning so much. It's demanding, of course but it's worth it, no doubt!" Blake finished with an excited smile.
Henry got a sense of his real age for the first time. Blake was close to Stevie's age but he seemed much older most of the time.
"Yeah I get that" Henry said with a chuckle.
"Elizabeth told me about your talk yesterday. Thank you for listening to her." Henry said, rubbing his morning stubble.
"Yeah, no problem" Henry sensed his sincerity in the simple reply.
"Look Blake I wanted to let you know that you can count on me for anything you need ok? You have my number so just call me anytime. A change of clothes, questions, anything ok? I bet that the next few years will be challenging on all of us." Henry finished with a smile.
"Thank you Dr. McCord, I will take you up on that." Blake answered openly.
"No, thank you. Your support means a lot to Elizabeth and to me too. And since I have you here, any chance you can squeeze me for a lunch date with my wife any day this week?" Asking doesn't hurt, Henry thought
Blake chuckled, he had a feeling that this type of request would be a constant during his time on the job.
"I'll see what I can do. Maybe we can make it a regular occurrence once a week?"
He was as much asking Henry as he was asking himself, already going through the Secretary's schedule for the next few days.
"That would be perfect" Henry had a feeling that this alliance between the two of them would be a good one.
Soon enough they were hearing the click-clack of high heels coming from the kitchen.
"Hey Henry?"
"Yeah babe, in here"
"Jace is mostly awake and Ally will be down soon. Have you seen my coffee mu-. Hi Blake!"
Elizabeth followed the voice still buttoning up her shirt, surprised to see Blake when she joined them and looked up.
"Good morning Mam" Blake gave her a warm smile.
"I didn't know you were already here. Do you wanna come in for a cup of coffee?" Suddenly she was frowning, still battling against her blouse, trying to will it inside her skirt.
"No thanks Mam, I'm ok."
"Oh come on, I'm sure the coffee here is better than the White House"
"Actually we should be going Mam if we wanna beat the morning traffic"
"Yeah, you're right"
Henry was already going for her trench coat, opening it up for her to put on. "Don't let Jason fall asleep again, he'll be late."
She got a kiss in before turning again, moving to get her briefcase and coffee mug - only to notice they were already in Blake's hands.
"Yeah, don't worry I'll check on him with a nice cup of cold water" Henry chuckled, earning a pointed look from his wife. Despite that she knew he was only joking.
Trying to remember where she put her purse the night before, Elizabeth made a semicircle around herself tracing internally her steps from the night before trying to decide where to look for it, finally spotting it on the floor by the hanger.
Blake and Henry shared an amused look between them. Finally getting the purse she huffed her hair out of her face.
"Shall we?"
Blake opened the door as a way of responding.
"See you tonight"
"Go get them tiger"
They kissed briefly and Elizabeth joined Blake out the door still blushing, not used yet to her staff privy to their displays of affection.
"Morning guys"
"Morning Mam, ETA 20min"
As they entered the car, Blake reached for a paper bag giving it to her - "PJ bagel Mam."
A knowing smile played in Elizabeth's face as she took the first bite. Yeah, getting Blake to come on this adventure with her was perhaps the best decision she made since agreeing to do the job.