Chapter Twenty-Two
Christina arrived at the Ninth Street house just as Tommy was tipping the movers and sending them on their way.
“Hey, babe.” He smiled when he spotted her. “I didn’t expect to see you for a while after I got the news alert about the VP.”
Noting the strange absence of the ramp that used to be there so Skip Holland could visit his daughter’s family, she walked up the new stairs and into Tommy’s warm embrace. “It’s been one hell of a day, and it’s not over yet.”
“So how’d you get out of there?”
“Nick sent me home because he remembered we were moving today.”
“How in the hell does he remember things like that with everything he’s got going on?”
“He may be the POTUS, but he’s still our friend and wanted me here with you.”
“Welcome home.”
“Pinch me. Is this really our home now?”
“Sure is, and the first thing I did was set up the beds so we can sleep here tonight.”
“My hero. Where’s our son?”
“With Angela for dinner, and I’ll go pick him up when she texts me that they’re done eating.” He rested a hand on her pregnant belly. “How’s our little person holding up?”
“She’s as tired as her mommy is.”
“Would you like to lie down in your new bedroom?”
“I’d like that very much.”
He surprised her when he scooped her up and took her back outside to carry her across the threshold. “Traditions must be observed in our new home.”
Christina curled her arms around his neck and brought him in for a kiss. “You should put me down before you throw your back out.”
“Are you questioning my ability to transport my own wife?”
“I am. Your wife is ungainly lately and could cause a disk to rupture, which is the last thing we need.”
“Please,” he said with a scowl. “The day I can’t carry you around is the day you put me in a nursing home.”
“Don’t make me laugh. I have to pee.”
“Thanks for the warning.”
“You can be on alert for that every second of every day. She’s using my bladder as a pillow and is making herself very comfortable there.”
“I can’t wait to meet her.”
“Me, too. I can’t wait to see you with a baby girl. She’ll turn you into a pile of goo.”
“For sure.”
“Look at this house where we live now! I can’t believe this is real!
” Boxes were stacked everywhere she looked, but who cared about that when they had so much space to call their own—at the same price they’d paid for an apartment that was a tenth the size of the first floor alone.
Their friends had cut them one heck of a deal.
“We need more furniture.”
“We’ll get there. For now, Alex can ride his tricycle in the house.”
“Oh, he’ll love that.”
Tommy set her gently on the bed, which hadn’t yet been made but felt like heaven to her aching back. The bedroom was full of boxes, too.
“I might stay right here until the morning.”
“That can be arranged.”
“Come snuggle me.”
He crawled onto the bed and fell into her outstretched arms.
“Mmmm, that’s what I’ve been needing since I saw you last. I never even asked how you are after what happened at HQ today.”
“Rattled but okay. Four people killed and the chief is injured. Jeannie was trapped for a time and went into early labor. She had her baby—Ava Joy McBride Wilkinson—six weeks early. Thankfully, they’re both okay.”
“Oh my God! Poor Jeannie—and Michael. They must’ve been terrified.”
“I’m sure they were.”
“Wow. Did you know the people who were killed?”
“Just to say hi to. I haven’t had much contact with Processing and Records in a while. Patrol usually handles processing, but I knew June, the librarian.”
“I’m sorry for the senseless loss of your colleagues and the reporter who died, too.”
“Thank you. I am, too.”
“What are you hearing about the chief?”
“He has a concussion and a broken wrist, but otherwise, he’s okay and apparently already jonesing to get back to work.”
“He needs to be with his people after something like this.”
“We think the Russians were behind the bombing.”
Christina sighed. “They were, and it’s all related to the murder of Sergei Ivanov.”
“Yes, that, too.”
“What a mess Henderson has created for Nick and the rest of us.”
“What’s the tea on that?”
“Apparently, Ivanov is an old friend of hers from Oxford and had been spending nights at the Naval Observatory in recent weeks.”
“Whoa. And she never said anything about it at work?”
“Nope. She said she didn’t see what the big deal was. He’s an old friend.”
“Who was working feverishly to topple the Russian president. She never mentioned that she was hanging out with a Russian?”
“Nope, which makes it a huge problem for Nick and the rest of us.”
“Unbelievable.”
“It really is. I can’t imagine what she was thinking.”
“She wasn’t, which makes me wonder if their friendship was more than that, like the kind of thing that makes smart people stupid.”
“That’s an interesting theory.”
“Enough about all that,” he said as he nuzzled her neck. “Let’s talk about you and me and our new home and this gorgeous new bedroom.”
“Where our bosses used to get busy.”
“Stop!” He choked out a laugh. “Don’t put that image in my head!”
“Well, it’s true.”
“Enough. Let’s make our own memories here, so we won’t be thinking about the former residents.”
“What do you have in mind?”
He cupped her face and kissed her softly. “Let’s start with this and see what happens.”
Christina sighed with the kind of pleasure she’d found only with him and with relief that the move was done and they could get busy settling into their new home before their little girl joined their family.
The run around the perimeter of the White House grounds helped to reset Nick’s nervous system, as did seeing his kids at the dinner table, talking about the goings-on at school, oblivious to the turmoil their parents had dealt with that day.
As always, the joyful banter of the kids helped him forget his own troubles.
For the time being, anyway. The troubles were always waiting to be dealt with later.
Having Celia, Shelby, Noah and Maisie there made it even better. Avery was still at work, leading the FBI’s response to the bombing investigation. The media coverage of the bombing had been feverish, and Trevor was dealing with the inquiries coming in from reporters around the world.
“Did you guys know there’s a dance to celebrate the end of eighth grade?” Scotty asked with a scowl that indicated his feelings on the matter.
“I’ve heard that rumor,” Sam said. “They sent an email.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I figured you knew. It’s your life, my friend.”
“Well, I didn’t, and today, two different girls asked me to go with them.”
“Ohhhh,” Sam said.
Celia covered her mouth as if she was trying not to laugh.
“Do you have a girlfriend?” Alden asked.
“Absolutely not. Why can’t they do a hockey game or dodgeball tournament or something fun to celebrate the end of eighth grade?”
Nick glanced at Sam in time to see her bite her bottom lip to keep from laughing as Shelby and Celia rocked with silent laughter.
“I’m not sure the girls would enjoy dodgeball as much as you guys would,” Nick said.
“What’s not fun about throwing a big rubber ball at someone’s head?” Scotty asked.
“I love dodgeball,” Alden said. “It’s my favorite thing to do in gym class.”
“It’s awful,” Aubrey said, wrinkling her nose. “My friend got hit right in the face with the ball, and her whole head swelled up.”
“Didn’t dodgeball get outlawed at some point?” Sam asked.
“It should be!” Aubrey said. “It’s the worst game.”
“I love it,” Scotty said, earning a high five from Alden.
“Please don’t outlaw dodgeball, Dad,” Alden said in a pleading tone.
Nick felt the bottom drop out of his stomach when Alden called him Dad for the first time. His throat closed around the biggest lump ever as he tried to manage the emotional wallop. After clearing his throat, Nick said, “I’ll see what I can do to keep it legal.”
“Boo,” Aubrey said.
“That’s the trouble with politics,” Scotty said. “You can never make everyone happy.”
“You said it,” Nick said as he glanced at Sam to find her dabbing at her eyes.
“Can we have ice cream after dinner?” Aubrey asked.
“Only if you’re in the Clean Plate Club,” Nick said. “I see some green beans still on your plate.”
She made a face to express her dislike of that rule, but she started eating the beans.
“I’d like to go back to Scotty being asked to the eighth-grade dance by two girls,” Nick said. “What did you say to them?”
“I said, ‘No, thank you.’ What else could I say?”
“How about, ‘Yes, that would be fun’?” Sam asked, smiling.
Nick could tell she was still trying not to explode with laughter.
“It wouldn’t be. I’d have to hang out with her instead of my friends, and that would stink. Plus, I barely know either of them, and are they asking me because they like me or because I’m your kid?”
Nick was pained by the question and the enormous weight his loved ones carried due to his role as president. “They asked because they like you and probably think you’re cute.”
“Ew, what guy wants to be considered cute?”
“It beats ugly,” Alden said, sparking hilarious laughter.
“You have a point there, brother,” Scotty said, smiling.
Shelby giggled madly. “This family needs its own TV show.”
“I was just thinking the same thing,” Celia said.
“No, thank you,” Sam and Nick said together.
Sam mopped tears of laughter from her face while Nick got up to dole out ice cream to the Clean Plate Club.
If there was anything better than this family he and Sam had stumbled into together, he hadn’t yet experienced it.
To see Scotty in the role of big brother—and little brother to Elijah—was also thrilling.
After the kids took their ice cream upstairs to watch TV with Celia and Shelby took Noah and Maisie home for baths and bedtime, Nick approached Sam, who was loading the dishwasher and wiping the countertop.
He slid an arm around her from behind and kissed her neck. “Two girls asked him to the dance.”
Smiling, she turned and rested her hands on his chest. “I can’t even.”
“I hate that he wondered if it was because of us.”