Chapter Twenty-Six
The day unfolded with military precision.
Sam, Nick and Scotty joined the Nelson family for services at St. John’s Episcopal Church, the so-called “Church of the Presidents” where Sam and Nick had been married last March.
The Nelsons greeted them with hugs and a warm welcome that had filled Nick with scorn.
He’d never thought David Nelson to be a fake until recently when he’d clearly used Nick to boost his own ratings and then relegated his popular vice president to the cheap seats of his administration. Nick planned to do something about that as soon as they got through today.
“How do you know this stuff?” Scotty asked.
“I’d like to know the same thing,” Sam said.
“I read up on it. This day becomes a lot more involved when one president is turning over power to another, which is what’ll transpire in four years.”
“When Nelson turns things over to you,” Scotty said.
“Getting ahead of yourself, much?” Nick asked his son.
“I read the paper every day, and I read every word they say about you online. Everyone thinks it’s all yours in four years. It’s not just me.”
Sam squeezed Nick’s hand and shared a smile with him.
He had put her in charge of the O’Connor family Bible, which she held on her lap along with his hand.
She was stunning in the red dress and the sexy black Louboutin heels he’d bought her for Christmas.
He’d never forget the way she’d thanked him for the shoes, but he couldn’t think about that now or he’d risk an embarrassing situation.
“While I appreciate your vote of confidence as well as your research,” he said to Scotty, “a lot can happen in four years.”
“Care to make it interesting?” Scotty asked as Sam hooted with laughter.
He eyed his son with interest. “What’ve you got in mind?”
“I’ll bet you a hundred bucks right here and now that four years from today, we’ll be on our way to the Capitol for you to be sworn in as president.”
“So if I take this bet of yours, I’m basically betting against myself, is that right?”
Scotty mulled that over for a second or two. “All right how about this then… If I’m right, you have to pay me a hundred bucks.”
“What if you’re wrong?”
“Since you won’t bet against yourself, I don’t have to pay you anything.”
“He’s scamming me, isn’t he?” Nick asked Sam.
“Sounds like a fair deal to me,” she said, earning a big smile from Scotty.
“Shake on it,” Scotty said.
Nick reached out to shake his son’s outstretched hand. “You’ve got yourself a bet.”
“Easiest hundred bucks I’ll ever make in my life,” Scotty declared.
“We’ll see.”
“Mom is our witness.”
“I’ll make sure he pays you,” Sam said.
“So you think I’m right, too!”
“I’m Switzerland.”
“What does that mean?” Scotty asked.
“Switzerland is known for being neutral,” Nick said. “They don’t take sides.”
“I think I’d like to live in Switzerland.”
“It’s a very peaceful nation,” Nick said, “and the skiing is great.”
“We’ll have to check that out after you get done being president, but I suppose by then I won’t be living with you anymore.”
“You can live with us for as long as you want to,” Nick said. “The lease has no expiration date.”
“Good to know cuz if you’re living in the White House, I’m not moving out,” Scotty said, making them laugh. “So why is Inauguration Day on a Tuesday? That’s so random.”
“For a big part of the country’s history, Inauguration Day was March 4th, which was also the last day of the congressional session. It was changed to January 20th by the 20th amendment to the Constitution. So it’s not always on a Tuesday.”
“They had to amend the Constitution to change the date?” Scotty asked.
“Yep.”
“That seems like a lot of hassle for a date change.”
“Well, they were changing what was outlined in the original Constitution, so it required an amendment.”
“Oh. I see.”
“I picture your dad teaching government classes at Harvard someday,” Sam said.
“After he’s done being president maybe.”
Nick loved how certain Scotty was about his future.
If only his son knew what they’d have to endure to make it so.
The thought of the fundraising, not to mention a national campaign, exhausted him, and it was years in the future—if it happened at all.
That he was even in a position to be having that conversation with his son or anyone was still amazing to Nick.
At the Capitol, they were whisked inside and escorted out to the west front terrace, which had been transformed for the inauguration with red, white and blue bunting, seats for hundreds of VIPs, including Sam and Nick’s family and friends who were off to the left while the Nelson contingent took the right.
Accompanied by music from the Navy orchestra, Nick, Sam and Scotty made their way down the stairs to the front row.
Nick waved to friends from the Senate, accepted handshakes from the Joint Chiefs as well as several Supreme Court justices.
Beyond the Capitol, as far as the eye could see, was an absolute sea of people.
He’d never seen more people in one place in his life.
His belly fluttered with butterflies at the thought of what he was about to do.
He accepted hugs from his dad, Leo, and Stacy, the stepmother who was only a few years older than him, as well as Graham and Laine O’Connor who sat next to Skip and Celia Holland.
Nick took only a moment to wonder if Nicoletta was out there somewhere watching the son she’d ignored accept the second most powerful position in the world.
He hoped she was watching. He hoped she was also wishing she’d been a better person and mother so she might’ve shared the stage with the other people he loved.
And then he was standing before Chief Justice Byron Riley, his hand on the O’Connor family Bible with Samantha and Scotty by his side.
“Mr. Vice President, please repeat after me,” Riley said.
“I, Nicholas Domenic Cappuano, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion. I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office of which I am about to enter so help me God.”
A deafening roar came from the crowd gathered on the mall as they waved to the people in what had to be the most surreal moment of Nick’s life to date.
The applause went on and on and on. It went on for so long that Nick began to feel sort of uncomfortable.
He could almost feel Nelson’s eyes boring into his back, as he waited for his moment in the spotlight.
Nick waved one more time and then guided Sam and Scotty to their seats to make way for the president to be sworn in.
After the oath of office was administered to President Nelson, he received decidedly less enthusiastic applause than Nick had gotten.
He didn’t do much to help his popularity with an hour-long address that seemed to go on forever.
Sitting next to him, Sam shivered in the cold so Nick removed his overcoat and put it over her lap. She was too cold to object.
During the speech, Nelson repeatedly referred to his vice president as if they were the best of friends.
Let him continue to believe that. The first time Nelson called on him to represent the administration at some far-flung event, Nick would put his cards on the table with the president and demand a seat at the table within the administration.
He was looking forward to that.
Nelson finally wrapped things up, clearing the way for the Inaugural Luncheon put on by the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies.
The food featured selections from the home states of the president—bison from South Dakota—and vice president—lobster and New England clam chowder from Massachusetts.
More than two thousand people attended the luncheon, held in the Capitol’s Statuary Hall.
Speeches were made, gifts presented and toasts to the new administration made by members of the JCCIC.
Halfway through the luncheon, Nick saw Sam smother a yawn, which had him holding back a laugh.
Yes, it was boring, but it was also tradition.
He reached for her hand under the table and gave it a squeeze, reminding her that even in a room full of the most powerful people on earth, they were still them.
She smiled at him. Message received.
Scotty and the rest of the family seemed to love all the pomp and ceremony.
Skip Holland’s smile was wider than Nick had seen it in months, since well before the surgery he’d had to remove the bullet that had been lodged in his spine for nearly three years.
It was good to see him back to smiling again after a difficult recuperation.
Leo Cappuano was equally excited, and Nick’s four-year-old twin half-brothers bounced in their seats, trying so hard to behave on their brother’s big day.
From his spot at the head table, Nick could see Sam’s niece Brooke sitting next to her mother, Sam’s sister Tracy, their heads bent together as they whispered to each other.
He was glad to see Brooke looking so well and getting along with her mother after the terrible ordeal they had been through before Thanksgiving.
Everything had fallen into place for their families in recent months.
The only thing Nick wanted that he didn’t have was the baby he knew Sam wished for, despite her assurances that their family was perfect the way it was.
He agreed—it was perfect, but it would be even more perfect if they could have a baby to love, too.
Scotty would be an awesome big brother, especially to a baby sister.
Sam leaned in close to him. “What’re you thinking about?”
“You, as usual. And Brooke—so nice to have her here and looking so well.” He would never tell her how often he thought about the baby he wanted so badly for her.
“Yes, it is.”