Chapter Thirty-Three #2
Nick turned to Graham, smoothed his hands over the older man’s lapels and straightened a tie that didn’t need straightening. “Thanks again.”
“Anything for you, kid.”
When Nick and Sam walked into the room with the O’Connors, a ripple of chatter went through the reporters and staffers who’d gathered for the announcement.
With Sam, Graham and Laine standing to his right, Nick read the prepared statement off the teleprompter.
“Twenty years ago, when John O’Connor first brought me home to his family’s farm in Leesburg, Virginia, I had no idea what to expect there.
Me, the son of teenagers raised by a grandmother, spending time at the home of a United States Senator and his family.
What would I talk to them about? Turns out, we talked about everything.
Every. Single. Thing. Sitting around their dining room table during that first visit, I found something I’d needed more than I realized: a family.
Since then, Graham, Laine, Terry, Lizbeth and our beloved John have been part of every era of my life, and it seemed only fitting, when I needed a new vice president, that I extend my hand to the man whose belief in me led to me holding this office in the first place.
I’m delighted to announce that I’ve asked retired Senator Graham O’Connor to be the next vice president of the United States, and he has accepted my offer.
More importantly, the magnificent Laine O’Connor has agreed to serve as second lady for the remainder of my term. ”
Smiling, Nick glanced at the couple who’d been the closest thing to parents he’d ever had until his dad had later taken a more active role in his life. “It is the honor of my lifetime to have you both by my side on this journey, and I can’t wait to work with you on behalf of the American people.”
He led a round of applause for Graham and Laine and then offered the microphone to Graham to say a few words.
“Mr. President, Sam… Laine and I are humbled by your faith in us, and we pledge to support you both in any way we can in the years ahead. Coming out of retirement to be your vice president and second lady is the honor of our lifetimes. We couldn’t be prouder of you both and of our son Terry, your chief of staff. ”
Nick noticed that Scotty had slipped into the back of the room, giving Nick a thumbs-up and a grin. “We’ll take a few questions.”
“Mr. President, what do you have to say about your former vice president and any potential charges she might face?”
“I have nothing to say about that. You can address those questions to the Justice Department.”
“Can you understand that people are unsettled after what we’ve learned about your administration this week?”
“What you’ve learned concerns one member of my administration who has been removed from her position and is now under investigation by DOJ. As soon as we learned of the issue, we addressed it.”
“What do you say to people who think you should’ve known about this long before you did?”
“I agree with them, but the parties involved went to enormous lengths to avoid detection, and their efforts worked. Until they didn’t.”
“Senator O’Connor is eighty years old. Is that too old to serve as president should the need arise?”
“Senator O’Connor does more before noon every day than many of us do in a week. I have every confidence that he could easily step up to the presidency, should the need arise. Thank you so much for your time.”
As always, they continued to shout questions at him as he waved to Scotty to join them and guided Sam and the O’Connors off the dais.
“I wish we could invite you to stay for dinner, but I’m leaving for Greenland,” Nick said to the older couple, each of whom hugged Scotty.
“We’ll have lots of time for dinner going forward,” Graham said as he hugged Nick, Sam and Terry. “I couldn’t be more excited for the next steps, Mr. President.”
“We’ll be in touch early next week and get this moving in the Senate. In the meantime, you’ll need to go up to the Hill and shake some hands.”
“I’ll take care of that while you’re away.”
“Excellent.” To Laine, Nick simply said, “Thank you.”
“My pleasure.”
“No, it isn’t, but I appreciate it anyway.”
Nick and Sam left them laughing with Terry as they walked away, hand in hand, accompanied as always by Brant. Nick held out his other hand to Scotty.
“That was well done, Pops.”
“Thanks for coming.”
“It’s fun to watch history being made by my own parents.”
“Glad you think it’s fun.”
“I also wanted to say good luck in Greenland. We’ll miss you around here, but I’ll take care of everyone while you’re gone.”
Smiling, Nick said, “Thanks, pal. I appreciate that. Mom can’t handle it on her own.”
“Hey!” Sam said, sputtering.
They both laughed at her reaction.
“We’re ready for transport, Mr. President.”
“Thank you, Brant.”
They hugged Scotty.
“I’ll be home shortly,” Sam said.
“I’ll check on the Littles.”
“Thank you.”
“Love you, Dad. Be safe.”
“Love you, too.”
Scotty took off running toward the residence.
“Next stop Inova before Andrews?” Sam asked with the sinking feeling she got any time Nick traveled for more than a few hours.
“I know you’d rather I didn’t.”
“I want you to do whatever you think is right.”
“Hard to tell when she’s involved, but I don’t want to have a guilty conscience, so here we are.”
“It’s okay. I understand.”
“Do you?”
“Well, no, I can’t, but that makes me lucky because I never had a parent like her. You’re in charge of this situation. I’ll always follow your lead.”
“Thanks, babe.”
“But I’m coming with you.”
“You don’t need to get back to work?”
“Not tonight, but even if I did? I’d still be going with you, because there’s no way in hell you’re dealing with her on your own.”
He dropped her hand to put his arm around her. “In case I haven’t mentioned it today, you’re the best wife I’ve ever had.”
“Haha, very funny.”
“No, I’m being serious.”
Sam laughed, thankful he could joke and tease when she knew how he hurt on the inside whenever his mother reappeared.
When they reached the lobby, they paused for a moment to wait for the Secret Service’s signal to proceed.
“Have a safe and successful trip, Mr. President.”
“Thank you, Harold. Hold down the fort while I’m gone.”
“We will, sir.”
“I want to wail in protest,” Sam said as she rested her head on Nick’s chest.
He tightened his arm around her. “Wait until we get in the car to start the wailing.”
“I’ll try.”
“Do you want your coat, ma’am?” Harold asked.
“Yes, please. Thank you, Harold.”
“My pleasure, ma’am.”
When he handed her the coat, she draped it over her arm since they were getting in a car where the temperature was always set for comfort.
Brant gave the signal, and they were escorted out the door and into The Beast with the usual efficiency provided by the Secret Service.
Once they were settled, Sam slid across the bench seat and into Nick’s waiting arms.
“Want to make out?”
“Yes, please.”
Sam laughed at his lusty expression as he swooped in to kiss her. “How silly are we, acting like Romeo and Juliet because we’re going to be apart for a couple of days?”
“We’re so silly, and I hope we never stop hating being apart for any reason.”
They were locked in a heated kiss as they crossed the 14th Street Bridge into Northern Virginia and were still cuddled up to each other when the car came to a stop outside the main doors to Inova Fairfax Hospital.
“Ugh, why do they get us there so fast when we have more kissing to do?” Sam asked as she sat up to straighten her hair and make herself presentable with new lipstick. She glanced at him and laughed when she saw he was wearing some of her last application.
With a tissue from a box in the console, she wiped it off his lips and used her fingers to straighten his hair.
“Do we look presidential?”
“Not at all, but we’re all they’ve got.”
Brant opened the door and stood at full alert as Sam and Nick disembarked and headed into the building, holding hands.
Before the stunned people in the lobby could process that the president and first lady had arrived, other agents were there to escort them directly to the elevator, where they were the only occupants.
“Their efficiency is impressive,” Sam said.
“It sure is. They get it done.”
“You ready for this?”
“Never, but I’ll be fine. I promise. I’ve been saying that a lot today.”
“Harry and Derek… They showed up when they heard she beckoned you?”
“They saw the INOVA stop on the schedule and got the details from Brant. It helped to have a few minutes of normalcy with them. We’re planning a bachelor party weekend for Harry at Camp David.”
“That’ll be fun.”
“Yeah, something to look forward to. It’s been a minute since I had time with the boys.”
“You need to schedule it more often.” Sam made a mental note to make sure that happened, because he would get swept up in the punishing schedule that ran his life and let it slide.
They emerged from the elevator to more agents waiting for them on the ICU floor and were whisked directly into Nicoletta’s room.