Christmas Without You

by: AdoreLeo

Characters: Leo, Margaret
Pairing: Leo/Margaret
Category: Romance
Rating: TEEN
Disclaimer: The characters are from the NBC, WB, TV show The West Wing; they do not belong to me.
Summary: Its Christmas time at the White House and once again something is not right.
Spoiler: Anything up to and including Abu El Banat
Feedback: I would love to hear your opinion!
Author's Note:Beta By: Lynn, who went above and beyond the call... THANKS!!!!
Additional Ideas By: Katie, who always came through whenever I got stuck. THANKS!!!

Dec 25, 2003

Residence:

6:00 pm

Leo and Margaret leave his office and head for the entrance to the Residence. Margaret lets go of Leo’s hand the second they hit the hallway next to his office. She walks next to Leo, but at what she considers, to be an appropriate distance from him. Leo can’t help but grin at her precautions. They make their way to the elevator that will take them to the Residence. Margaret seems to be less nervous now than she was at the hotel.

They step into the elevator and Leo presses the proper button. As soon as the elevator doors close, Leo reaches over and gives Margaret’s arm a soothing rub. He lets his fingers trail done her arm, until they reach her hand. He takes her hand, raises it to her mouth and gives it a tender kiss. He would love to do more than just kiss her hand right now, but he’s aware that they are being watched by the Secret Service via the hidden camera in the elevator.  He knows that Margaret isn’t aware of this fact, but someday, she might find out. There would be hell to pay, if he mauled her in front of the Secret Service.

Leo assumes that the Secret Service already knows about them since, his life is under a constant, security microscope. Plus, there’s the fact that he saw an unmarked, black government Suburban SUV parked outside Margaret’s bedroom window last night. He had noticed it while they were enjoying themselves on her bay window seat. This little detail is something that he plans on thoroughly debating with Jed. Leo’s certain that the President sent an agent to watch over him, after he left his office yesterday to go to Margaret’s apartment. He shouldn’t  be surprised to find out that Jed had him followed. Leo understands and appreciates why his best friend felt he needed to protect him, but this still doesn’t mean he can’t enjoy watching Jed squirm, while he deliberates this issue with him.

Just as the elevator starts to slow, Leo gets a pang of nervousness. He’s only been to the Residence once, since Abbey’s return from the farm and she hadn’t seemed too happy with him interrupting, their family’s pre-Christmas dinner. He has only seen her a hand full of times since her return. Whenever possible, he makes himself scarce when she’s in the West Wing. The first time he saw her since he interrupted their dinner, was yesterday when, out of the blue, she dropped by his office to discuss his feelings for Margaret. She seemed warmer towards him that afternoon.  Then, later in the day when he had passed out, she seemed genuinely concerned about him. But, he still can’t help but feel uneasiness about seeing her again, especially here in the Residence, the place, that she had told him that he was no longer welcome.

The elevator doors open to reveal Secret Service Agent Cooper standing in the hallway.  He’s the same agent that Leo saw peering out a half opened window of the Suburban, late last night. Leo feels a slight blush rise on his face and he can’t help but grin.

"Mr. McGarry, Miss McGuire, the President is waiting for you both in the private Living Room." Coop says, as he motions for them to continue on down the hall.

"Thanks, Coop." Leo places a hand in the small of Margaret’s back and guides her towards the room.

They enter the living room and find the President standing by the large window with, his back to them.

"Mr. President." Leo says, to get his attention.

Jed spins around and walks towards them. "Margaret, Leo, Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, Sir." Leo and Margaret say, in unison.

Jed shakes Leo’s hand and places his other hand on Margaret’s arm. "It’s so nice that you could join us this evening. If I’m not mistaken, Margaret, this is your first time in the Residence."

"Yes, Sir, it is." Margaret softly replies.

"Margaret, please try and relax, it’s just a place to sleep and eat. Although, I’m really not to sure about the sleeping part."

"Yes, Sir, I’ll try."

"Did you know that the bed in the Residence was hand carved and made from the rarest of woods and was a gift..."

Leo’s groan at the start of the inane trivia, stops Jed from continuing. "Sir."

"Leo, unlike you, I’m sure that Margaret is very interested in the history of the Residence." Jed smirks. "Aren’t you Margaret?"

Before she can answer, Leo speaks up. "Yeah, having not heard Residence trivia a hundred times before, I’m sure she is, Sir." Leo says, sarcastically.

Margaret is standing there, nodding her head yes.

"Well then, Margaret, how about a tour and some more interesting facts?"

"That would be nice, Sir," Margaret says, in a little bit more relaxed voice. She’s enjoying watching Leo and the President pick on each other. This is something that she’s usually not privy to.

"Leo, since you seem intent on spoiling my history lesson on the Residence, I believe Abbey wants you to join her in the Sitting Room, for some coffee." Jed’s face turns ever so slightly serious, for a second. Then he smiles at Margaret. "Margaret, let’s get this show on the road." He places a hand in the small of her back to get her moving towards the door.

As Margaret is leaving with the President, she glances back at Leo. She doesn’t like what she sees. Leo’s face has turned somewhat ashen and his stance appears enervated.  She gives him a concerned look.

Leo tries to put on a believable smile for her. "You’re in good hands, Margaret. I’ll see you in a bit." He says, in a voice that is trying to convince her that he’s all right.

Leo watches as Margaret and Jed leave the room. ‘Oh God help me, the Sitting Room, I haven’t been there since the meeting with Abbey, on the Fourth of July’, he thinks to himself. A shiver runs down his spine at the thought of what transpired, during that meeting. He notices, that his hands have become shaky, in the last few seconds and he feels slightly lightheaded. His body is reacting to all the stress he has experienced these past few months or maybe even years. He’s suddenly very tired, almost exhausted, as he stands there for a few seconds, collecting himself. He adjusts his tie, straightens his shoulders and heads towards to door. His customary rolling gait is somewhat impaired by his emerging limp, an unremitting painful reminder of a time and place that he would like to forgot, that often occurs when he’s overly tired or stressed.

Leo enters the Sitting Room and finds Abbey perched on the couch that faces away from the door. He stops dead in his tracks. He can’t stop the feeling of panic that starts creeping through his body. His heart starts beating faster and he begins to perspire. He tells himself ‘Come on McGarry, calm down! You fought in a war damnit!’ as he makes his journey over to the chair that sits adjacent to the couch. He hovers behind the chair.

"Abbey." His voice cracks, as he says her name.

Abbey turns towards his voice and takes in his appearance. She’s immediately concerned by his stance. "Leo." She motions for him to sit in the chair in front of him.

He shuffles around to the front of the chair and starts to undo the buttons on his suit coat. After several seconds of trying, he finally gets the buttons unfastened on his double-breasted coat. He hesitates for a few seconds in front of the chair and then finally, sits down.

Abbey is studying Leo while he’s preparing to sit down. She can’t help but notice, the shaky hands that are desperately trying to unbutton his coat. Now that he has moved closer to her, she can see that there is moisture on his brow. She reaches out and lays a hand on his leg. "Leo?"

Leo flinches at the touch of her hand and whips his head towards hers. "Yeah?"

"What wrong?" Abbey’s voice is full of concern.

"Um.. Nothing." He says, in the best voice that he can manage.

"Leo?"

"I’m fine." He states, using one of his patented Leo McGarry lines.

"No, you’re not Leo McGarry! You’re shaking like a leaf and sweating like a... I don’t know what!"

Then it hits her. ‘How could she be so insensitive? How could she have forgotten? This is the room that she had gone ballistic on him. He’s sitting in the same chair he was that day she told him she didn’t want him in the Residence. She had accused him of leaving her and her daughters out there and unknowing of existing trouble. She told him, not to ask her to trust him, again’. He’s obviously having a severe anxiety attack, at least she hopes that’s all it is. She gets up and rests a hand on his shoulder and reaches down and grabs his hand.

"Oh, Leo, I’m so sorry.  I don’t know what I was thinking. I never even gave it a second thought about meeting with you, in here." She pulls on his hand. "Come over here and sit with me on the couch." She practically hauls him over onto the couch. "Leo, listen to me, you’re having an anxiety attack. You need to slow your breathing down and breath more deeply!" She puts a hand to the side of his face and she tries to reassure him, that he’s ok. "Sweetie, you’re shaky because of the adrenaline. Please just try and calm down. " She says, as she loosens his tie and unbuttons, the top button of, his shirt.

Leo looks at her with a confused look on his face and tear filled eyes. His whole body is trembling now. His breath is coming in pants and his chest is aching. He’s starting to think that he’s having a heart attack. He grasps at his shirt and tries to pull it away from his chest. He feels the need to get up and run out of the room, but his legs don’t seem to have any strength left in them. The tears start to make their way down his face and fall freely onto his shirt. His thoughts turn to Margaret. He needs his Margaret. "Margaret..." He pants out, while his teary eyes plead with Abbey. "I need her... please!"

Abbey reaches for the phone on the coffee table. "Find my husband and have him bring Margaret the Sitting Room now!" She turns back to Leo. "Leo, Margaret will be here soon. Come on Leo, you need to slow down your breathing. Take some big deep breaths." She starts taking big deep breaths with him in an effort to help Leo. "Come on Sweetie, breathe with me."

Abbey is still in the process of trying to get Leo to take deep breaths, when Jed and Margaret appear at the doorway. Margaret takes one look at Leo and runs to his side. She’s appalled at the shape he’s in. She looks at Abbey. "What the hell did you do to him?"

Abbey is shocked at Margaret’s outburst. "He’s having an anxiety attack. He needs to..."

Margaret interrupts her before she can finish. "I’ll take care of him, you’ve done enough already."

Abbey gets up and rushes to Jed’s waiting arms.

"Abbey, is he going to be ok?" Jed asks, his wife.

"He’s having an anxiety attack, but he should be ok, if we can get him to calm down, soon." Abbey says, as she looks into her husband’s eyes, pleading for his understanding. "Oh Jed, I wasn’t thinking, by having our discussion in here. This room is where I told him that I didn’t trust him and that he was no longer welcome in the Residence." Abbey starts sobbing and lays her head on her husband’s shoulder.

Jed is taken back by what she has just confessed to him. No wonder Leo is like a cat on a hot tin roof, whenever Abbey is near. But he knows his wife; Abbey would never purposely try and hurt him today, by meeting with him, in this room. She had told him that she was going to fix whatever was wrong between Leo and her.  He starts stroking her hair. "Shhh, Abbey, I know and we’ll explain it to Margaret when she calms down. She’s just scared right now. Shhh, it’s going to be ok."

Margaret is sitting next to Leo. She has one hand on his leg and the other one is rubbing small circles on his back, trying to calm him down. "Leo, it’s ok, I’m here. Please Honey, you need to try and calm yourself down and control your breathing."

Leo looks into her eyes and sees love and concern in them. He nods his head in agreement and starts to try and control his breathing. After a couple of minutes of slow deep breathing, his heart is no longer racing, as fast as it was, before she showed up. The pain in his chest is now receding. He reaches out with his hand and grabs her hand that is resting on his leg. He’s finally able to speak.

"I’m fine." He says, with a wry grin.

"Leo McGarry, you most certainly are not." Margaret snorts back at him.

Leo continues to graze into her eyes.  He has lost that ‘flight to fear’ feeling and is really starting to feel a lot better. "I’m fine." He repeats, as he sighs deeply.

This time, Margaret realizes that he’s feeling better. "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Oh Leo, you scared me." She puts her arms around him and pulls him close. "Leo, I love you," she whispers in his ear.

Leo pulls from her arms and gazes into her brilliant eyes. "I love you, too." He turns for the first time towards Jed and Abbey and then looks back at Margaret. "Baby, Abbey did nothing too me. I started to panic the second Jed told me that she wanted to talk to me, in this room. She didn’t realize how being in here again, would affect me." He reaches up and places a hand on her face.

It suddenly, all sinks in with Margaret. She yelled at the First Lady, not once but twice! She immediately turns red and jumps up, off the couch. She faces Abbey. Margaret is wringing her hands. "Oh, Mrs. Bartlett, I’m so sorry I yelled at you, I... it’s... Oh, I’m so sorry." She lowers he head and starts to cry. Leo grabs her hand and pulls her down next to him. She leans her head against his shoulder and sobs in embarrassment.

Abbey immediately speaks up. "Margaret, I’m the one who’s sorry. I’ve made things worse and all I wanted, to do, was to tell Leo that I was wrong to accuse him of the things that I did. I was upset and lashed out to whomever I could hurt. I knew by hurting Leo, I would also hurt Jed. I’m sorry, I was just so distraught over Zoey’s kidnapping." She turns to face Leo. " Leo, can you ever... please, forgive me? I didn’t even think of how this room might hold such bad memories for you. I ..."

Leo slowly gets up off the couch and starts towards Abbey. Abbey pulls from her husband’s arms and goes to Leo. Leo hugs Abbey. "Abbey it’s ok, I understand. I would have been out of my head if it had been Mallory." He plants a chaste kiss on her cheek. "Don’t worry about it. You had no way of knowing that I’ve been have anxiety attacks for a while now." Leo didn’t mean for this last bit of information to leave his mouth. He releases Abbey and heads for the safety of the other side of the room where Jed is standing. Because he knows that all hell is about to break loose.

"Leo!" Margaret says, as she gets up from the couch. "How long has this been going on?" Margaret is back in full-blown mother hen mode.

Abbey joins in on the assault, as well. "Yes, Mr. McGarry just how long have you been covering up this problem?"

Jed looks at his friend. "Leo, it looks like it’s time to fess up and take your medicine." Jed’s just glad that he, for a change, is not on the receiving end of Dr. Bartlet’s attention.

"I’ve been having them since... um since, the night Zoey was rescued." Leo awaits the onslaught.

"Leo!" Both women yell in unison and then they simultaneously cross their arms against their chests.

Leo shakes his head at the sight of these two determined woman standing in front of him. One of which he had known for almost forty years and he loves like a sister. The other one has; covered for him, protected him, cared for him and worked for him for over 12 years now. Somewhere along the line, she has fallen in love with him and she has stolen his heart, too. He couldn’t be happier, except he’d like to escape this situation with his skin intact. So he decides that the best defense is a good offense. He turns to Jed and as naively as he can manage, says. "Jed, did Margaret tell you that we’re getting married?"

The look on Jed’s face is priceless. "Really?" Jed squeals.

"Yeah." Leo looks at Margaret, who is blushing now and has dropped her arms to her side. He looks over at Abbey, who has also dropped her arms and she’s sweetly smiling at them.

Jed steps up to Leo with his hand extended. "Congratulations, you, old man.  You couldn’t find a better suited person for you than Margaret."

Leo shakes the offered hand. "Yeah, I’m very lucky."

Jed walks over to Margaret and gives her a hug. "Margaret, I’m so happy for you. I know he really loves you and I know you love him, too!"

"Yes, Sir."  Margaret says, shyly.

Abbey turns to Margaret. "Oh Margaret. Congratulations! You’re going to have your hands full taking care of him, but then again, you’ve taken care of him for years!"

Abbey walks over to Leo, gives him a hug and then whispers in his ear. "Leo if you screw this up, I’m gonna personally kick your ass." She leans back from his ear and in a louder voice she says, "Leo you are a lucky man to find this kind of love, take care of her. She’s the best thing that has happened to you, in a long time!"

All Leo can do is nod his head in agreement. He’s afraid if he speaks that his voice will betray his emotions and that the tears will leave his eyes. He thinks that there have been enough tears spilled, these past few days.

Margaret walks over to Leo, drapes her arms around his neck and kisses the area above his left eyebrow. The same brow that droops whenever he’s overtired, overtaxed, overworked, overwrought or overextended. So, it’s almost a permanent fixture on his face, these past few months. She slides her right hand down his back and rubs the small of his back. Her other hand searches out his hand and clasps it tightly. She whispers in his ear that she loves him. Then she squares her shoulders and continues down the path of questioning his health.

"A, for effort Leo, but I still want to know about these anxiety attacks you’ve been having."

"Margaret!" He really thought that he might have derailed her from the subject. He should know better, that when it comes to him, she’s relentless.

"Leo!" She mimics back.

Leo fixes his eyes on Margaret. He really doesn’t want to expose her to his newest weakness, she’s already aware of so many. He really thought that he could control it or that it would just go away, on it’s own. He’s been down this road before with his addictions, so he should have realized that it doesn’t work this way. Lately his attacks have augmented in frequency and intensity. He hates feeling vulnerable, he hates asking for help and he knows that the first thing Margaret’s going to say is, that he needs to get some help. She’ll probably insist on calling Dr. Stanley Keyworth, who’s almost become a permanent member of the White House Staff.

Leo slowly turns his gaze towards Jed and Abbey. He has already caused them so much heartache. They were there during his darkest days of his addictions. They put up with so much from him, during that time. Then, there are all the issues surrounding Jed being the President. Leo’s the one who convinced him to run. He’s the one who got him into this mess and look how that’s turned out. Jed was shot and his MS was revealed to the world. Abbey has given up her medical license and her identity. Their marriage has been pushed to it’s limits several times. The biggest blow they have suffered was almost losing their youngest child. Leo works so hard to protect and shield his friend from any unnecessary turmoil, but he has been unsuccessful at sheltering him from so many things and now he feels he’s about to fail him, again.

"Leo, why do you always try to go through everything by yourself?" His best friend asks. "Let us help you."

Margaret takes him by the hand and leads him over to one of the couches. Jed and Abbey follow and sit down on the opposite couch. Leo is sitting with his hands clasped, his forearms resting on his legs and with his head down, staring at his shoes. He raises his face and glances at his friends and then to Margaret.

"I received the news of Zoey’s rescue while down in the Sit Room. The second I took the call, my heart started racing and there was a pounding in my ears. At first, we didn’t have a lot of details, so I wasn’t sure what to expect once we arrived at the site. The helicopter ride there, was difficult for me. I felt that I shouldn’t even be on board, since I was the one who... was responsible for Zoey’s kid..." Leo stops. Even after all these months, he still can’t bring himself to say that word out loud. "But, I had to see her with my own two eyes. I had to see that she was, ok. The site was crazy, lights flashing everywhere, noise from the helicopters overhead, people yelling in my ear, and all I wanted to do was see Zoey’s face. I never even got within 30 feet of her, I couldn’t. How could I look her in the eye, after what I had done to her? Since the copter was taking Zoey to the hospital, I used that as an excuse to get a ride back to White House." Leo pauses and tries to collect his thoughts.

"I went straight to my office, but as soon as I walked in the door, I felt like it the room was closing in on me. I had a sudden and unexplained urge to run from the room. My heart was racing, my chest was aching and I was feeling lightheaded. I started for my couch, but when I got beside the table, I had to stop and grab a hold of it’s edge. I felt like I was going to pass out, my knees started to buckle. Just then, Fitz walked into my office. He had come to see how Zoey was doing. He rushed to my side and steadied me, then helped me to the couch. He wanted to call the medic on duty, but I convinced him that I was ok, that it was just a burst of adrenaline from all the excitement. We sat for a while discussing how something similar had happened to each of us, during the war." Leo stops and stares at his hands.

"Leo, that was a reasonable reaction to what happened that day. But, you’ve had other attacks, besides the one today, haven’t you?"  Abbey ponders.

Leo nods his head yes, but doesn’t raise his head.

Margaret just stares at Leo. She’s flabbergasted that he has been able to hide these attacks from her. "Did you have anymore at work?"

Once again, Leo nods his head, yes. He gradually turns his head towards Margaret. He can’t tell if the look on her face is one of trepidation, or one of slight infuriation, since he successfully hid something from her, at work. He decides, that it’s probably a little of both.

"Have you been having these attacks on a regular basis?" Abbey’s sure she knows part of the reason why he has them, but she needs more details.

"Not really. I had maybe... um... three or four since the first one." He’s doesn’t want to tell Abbey that one of his worst attacks occurred in this very room, after she had told him that she didn’t want him, in the Residence. It took all of his fiber to conceal his attack from her. After she left, he sat in that chair for a long time trying to regain control. He had a small one when he retrieved the President from the Residence Dinning Room during the family pre-Christmas dinner. But, the attack that bothers him the most occurred because of a phone call he had to make to her. It was during the Government Shutdown. He had run out of ideas on how to deal with the President, so he did the only thing he could do. He called the one person who knew how to handle Jed, better anybody else, Abbey. Leo had started to lose control the second he touched the phone. The man who is described by many as world-class political operative, panicked over a fucking phone call! There had been several others one too, but Leo doesn’t want them to know about all of them. If they knew, he was sure that he would be getting a visit from Dr. Keyworth.

"Do those numbers reflect the ones you had yesterday and today?"

"No." Leo murmurs. He decides to stop postponing the inevitable and just give Abbey most of the details, at least about the attacks that he was willing to admit to having. "I had one at my hotel a couple of nights ago and a slight one yesterday afternoon. You already know about the one I had after I received Margaret’s resignation letter. That was the only time I actually passed out."

Margaret starts to shed tears when he mentions the letter. She feels terrible to have caused Leo, the man she’s protected for a good portion of her adult life, so much pain. "Leo, I’m so sorry I caused you so much suffering yesterday."

"Don’t worry about it. It doesn’t matter, since I have you now. Are you done being mad that I was able to hide something from you at work?"

"Yeah." She nodded, and turned grateful eyes to him.

"Ok." He places a weary hand on her leg. "Anything else Abbey?"

"Leo, how much sleep are you getting each night." Abbey is now in full-blown doctor mode.

"Enough." Leo flatly states.

"Yeah, right!" Margaret snorts.

"Margaret!" Leo snaps.

"What?" Her mood quickly changes. Leo’s lack of sleep has always been a sore spot with her. He has sacrificed far too much for this administration.

"Baby, Please stop." Leo requests.

"No, I don’t think I will." Margaret rarely goes against Leo’s wishes. But she wants the President and Abbey to know of Leo’s self-sacrificing acts. "Did you know that during the whole time that Zoey was being held; he never left the White House, other than one late night meeting? He only took a couple of naps, which he was forced to take. He survived on coffee and a few bites of food, which practically had to be shoved, down his throat! He bounced from meeting to meeting between President Bartlet and President Walken. He tried to look after his country’s best interests and the best interests of his friend. It nearly tore him in two!"

Jed glances at his wife and they exchange a knowing look. They both know who was forcing Leo to sleep and eat. It was the same person who has taken care of him for over twelve years, Margaret.

"Margaret stop!" Leo says, in a voice that is starting to show his famous temper.

"No, they have the right to know what you’ve been going through. I won’t stand by anymore and watch you kill yourself, little by little."

Leo jumps up off the couch. "You won’t? Does that mean you going to leave me? Just like you said you were going to yesterday, in your letter of resignation." The look on Leo’s face has gone from anger to fear. His father abandoned him. He lost several friends in the war. He drove Jenny away, Abbey had rejected his friendship, and Margaret had tried to resign. Was she now going to leave him, too? Would Jed be next? Leo heads for the door. He can’t take anymore of this.

"Leo! Sit back down." Jed says using his best presidential voice.

Leo reluctantly stops and turns to face his friend.

"Leo, you will not be mad at Margaret, she loves you and is only trying to help you. You need to stop thinking that you can handle everything by yourself." Jed says, in a very firm voice.

Leo slowly glances at Margaret. She has gotten off the couch and is heading his way.

"Leo, I’m not going to leave you, I only meant that I wouldn’t let work destroy you. I won’t leave you. I promise."

"I’m sorry, I yelled I’m... sorry for what I said, about you leaving me. It’s just..." Leo doesn’t want to tell her that he’s afraid that he will end up all alone, someday.

"Leo, I’m sorry, I just can’t stand to see you suffer so much." Margaret’s voice is softened with tears.

Seeing her cry, for him, is Leo’s undoing. "Margaret, I’m the one who’s sorry, I love you, please forgive me." Margaret bobs her head up and down and Leo takes her in his arms.

Abbey gives them a few seconds to gather themselves. They have gone back to the couch and are sitting down. She then asks her next question. "Leo, is there anything that usually triggers these attacks?"

Leo nods his head yes.

"What triggers them?"

Leo faintly whispers, "You and... Margaret." He refuses to look either one of them in the eye.

"Me?" Margaret says, in disbelief.

"I suspected that I was one of them, after today’s attack." Abbey is saddened by this fact. "Leo, I can’t tell you how sorry I am for what happened between us. I hope you can forgive me."

"Abbey, I already have." Leo whispers and his raises his head and looks at her. "I’m sure it won’t be an issue with me again."

"I think you’re right, Leo. Are you nervous around me right now?"

"No."

"Good. Leo, why do you think Margaret makes you have them?" Asks Abbey.

"It’s not Margaret’s presence that causes them, it’s... when she’s not around." Leo turns and looks into Margaret’s eyes. "When you weren’t at work this week, I started having them more often. You keep me grounded, Margaret. It was not seeing you that had an affect on me."

"Oh Leo, that’s probably the sweetest thing anybody has ever said to me." Margaret is still worried about Leo.

Leo can tell by Margaret’s face, what she’s thinking. "Baby, You don’t need to worry. I’m sure things are better now. It’s just that this week, I thought I was going to lose you and it was just making the current situation worse."

"Yeah?"  Margaret asks.

"Yeah."  Leo answers.

"Ok." She states.

"Ok." Leo replies. It feels good to be doing their normal banter back and forth again.

Leo turns back to Abbey. "I know that things are better between us now, but that still doesn’t help with my guilt."

"Leo, What guilt?" Jed asks.

"Jed, I’m the one who convinced you that we should kill Shareef. You said there were moral absolutes, but I kept pushing and pushing you. It’s my fault that Zoey was..."

"No." Zoey gasps. All four heads whip towards the direction of the interruption. Unbeknownst to the room’s occupants, she has been standing there in the doorway, with Charlie, since her father asked Leo about his guilt. Zoey walks into the room and sits down next to Leo. She takes his hand and holds it between hers.

"Oh Uncle Leo, it was not your fault that I was kidnapped. It’s not Dad’s fault, it’s not Charlie’s fault, it’s not the Secret Service’s fault and it’s not my fault." Her eyes have been circling the room, searching out each individual and pleading with them as she makes her point. "It was an act of terrorists, you can’t control them or predict what they might do. Shareef was a bad man. Dad and Leo did want the country needed them to do." Zoey stands and continues her declaration. "It happened, we can’t change that. I’m learning how to deal with it and I need you to start dealing with it too. It’s time to ‘Move On’." She smiles and gazes at her honorary uncle, who has a proud grin on his face. Leo's grin is twofold: First, he's so proud of how Zoey is handling the whole situation. Second, her use of his most often used pet phrase, 'Move on Mr. President!', that he verbalizes to her father, on almost a daily basis.

Jed and Abbey get up from the couch and go to their daughter. They engulf her in a huge joint hug. They stand there quietly for a couple of minutes, just enjoying the silence and each other’s arms.

"Zoey, I’m so proud of you and I love you." Her father breaks the silence.

"Baby, I love you. You bring us such joy." Abbey says, while stroking Zoey’s hair."

Leo and Margaret are holding hands and watching this tender scene. Margaret lays her head on his shoulder. "Oh Leo, I think things are going to be ok."

"Yeah." Leo whispers back to his fiancée. He gives her a gentle kiss on her cheek. Margaret returns his kiss on his cheek and then presses her lips on his. They forget where they’re at and the kisses start to turn more passionate.

"Hey you two, just because you’re getting married, doesn’t give you the right to make out in front of my daughter." Jed’s figures it’s time to start tormenting his best friend.

"What!" Zoey ask. "Are you two getting married?"

"Yeah!" Leo and Margaret both reply at the same time. Margaret’s face has a slight flush to it and Leo’s face is covered with his boyish impish grin.

"Congratulations." Zoey says, as she goes over to them.

Leo and Margaret stand and trade hugs with Zoey. "Thanks." They reply.

"Hey, isn’t there suppose to be a dinner here tonight?" Jed asks, as he turns to the young man in the doorway. "Charlie, you’re planning on joining us, aren’t you?"

Charlie looks at Zoey, for approval. "Yes, he is. I’m not going to be the only one stuck here listening to inane Christmas Trivia!" Zoey softly laughs.

Charlie nods his head and sarcastically says, "Yes, Sir, You know I just can’t get enough of your trivial."

"Charlie, I’m sure you meant to say the word trivia instead of trivial. Right?" Jed states to his body man.

"I’m not sure Sir. Which one describes the key particulars, important facts, vital information and critical details that you so graciously provide us, on a daily basis?" Charlie asks.

"Trivia." Jed says, with a smile on his face. He knew that Charlie would be on his side and wouldn’t let him down.

"Ok, then I meant the other one, Sir." Charlie smirks.

Leo is the first to burst out laughing and everyone else quickly follows his lead. Even the President laughs.

Jed is the first to regain control. "Let’s go see if dinner is ready." He offers his arm to Abbey and she takes it and they lead the way out of the room. Leo offers his arm to Margaret and they trail the other couple. Charlie shyly walks up to Zoey and extends his arm; she gladly takes it as they too, make their way out of the room.

Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12

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