Title: Coming Home For Christmas

Pairing: Jed/CJ

Rating: PG

Spoilers: Anything up to Liftoff

Author’s Notes: Was planning to write this pre Christmas but I ended up enjoying a white Christmas. This is the last Jed/CJ for a while until I get the rest of the new series.

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Normally CJ tried for decorum, to be reserved, around the agents that followed Jed everywhere. Tonight she couldn’t contain herself. It had been five long days of late night conversations and guarded words of love. Finally he was home.

Jed climbed out of the car and within seconds of his feet touching the ground he caught sight of her heading towards him. Her smile lit up her face and he couldn’t help but take a step towards her. In his youth he would have opened his arms and let her jump into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist. He was too old for that now and he would have to settle for her arms around his neck and her lips pressing themselves against his. It was a hard life he had to admit.

CJ came to a halt, and brushed hair from her face. “Hey.”

“Claudia.” It was almost breathless but then he hadn’t expected her to appear at the door in her nightgown.

“God, I missed you,” she whispered before her hand cupped his cheek and she kissed him. In truth she hadn’t been able to sleep knowing that he was coming home, the nightgown a homecoming treat.

The agent suppressed a smile. This was a side to his charge that the Press rarely got to witness, which was probably a good thing considering where the President’s hands were straying. He cleared his throat discreetly.

Jed continued to allow his hands to roam her body, his body reacting to her obvious nakedness beneath her gown.

The guard turned away and coughed again.

CJ took a step back, her hands still clasped behind his neck. “Maybe we should. . .”

Jed kissed her neck, his fingers still exploring beneath her top. “I love you.”

“I love you too but it’s minus twenty five and I’m freezing,” she mumbled, her hand covering his and tugging it away from her hardening nipple. Cheekily she grinned at the agent. “Plus which Henry is enjoying the show.”

Grabbing her hand he shot Henry a warning glare and led his wife inside.

When they were safely ensconced in the privacy of their living room, Jed pulled her down onto the couch and kissed her thoroughly. For the next hour he held firmly on his lap, kissing her and allowing his hands to explore the soft skin below her top, their only words terms of endearment.

He loved the feel of her in his arms and the look of adoration in her eyes, when he paused briefly to study her face. At moments like these he wished he didn’t have to travel quite so often, but in truth their constant separations only strengthened their relationship. He loved CJ and he knew she loved him but they both liked space and time to pursue their own interests. When they were together he enjoyed some of the most romantic moments of his life.

There was a knock at the door and Jed sighed at the interruption. “Come.”

An agent appeared in the doorway, averting his gaze discreetly. “I’m sorry Mr. President, but you wanted to know if it started snowing again.”

CJ moved off the sofa and walked to the window. The landscape beyond was a blur shrouded in soft white snowflakes. Living as far from civilisation as they did there were no other houses in distance and it was as close to a perfect Christmas as she could imagine. She felt his arms circle her waist and she covered his hands with her own.

“See, not only do I make it home for Christmas but I bring snow too.”

“I don’t think that was actually your doing,” she replied, turning in his arms as his lips trailed wet kisses up her neck. “Mm. I like it when you come home.” She also enjoyed their time alone. Come six am their two year old was going to be awake. The minute Lily saw the presents beneath the tree and the white landscape she was going to be uncontrollable. Much like her father at that particular moment. “Jed.”

He muttered something unintelligible against her cheek and his hands stilled reluctantly. “How has our daughter been?”

“She’s finally asleep. Josh and Toby have been over winding her up,” CJ whispered, laying her head on his shoulder. “You should go say goodnight.”

As much as he loved CJ, and all the things he wanted to do to her, Lily was the apple of his eye, and he had missed her, and the daily adventures that were her growing up.

“I’ll be right back.”

CJ lay down beside the fire, letting the warmth replace the sudden loss of her husband’s body heat. She wasn’t quite sure when it happened, or when she became aware of it, only that he was now the last thing she thought of at night and the first thing she thought of each morning. It was kind of pathetic for a grown woman to act the way she did but it was all out of her control.

The President had been her boss, and their relationship had been innocent enough while she was his Press Secretary, moving into the connecting office had changed everything.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Margaret, when was this put on the schedule?” CJ called through the open doorway.

“When was what put on the schedule?” Margaret asked, appearing in the office and wondering not for the first time when Leo was coming back to work.

“The visit to NATO.”

“The Secretary of State thought in light of recent events, it wouldn’t be a bad idea.“

“Recent events being that I’ve invaded the boys club?“ CJ scoffed.

“I think it had more to do with depleted uranium in Iran, and the Middle East peace deal, but you know you may have been a factor,“ Margaret gave her a wry smile.

CJ tossed the notes across the desk. “And no one checks with me first?“

Margaret inwardly cringed. It wasn’t unusual for the cabinet to try and bypass Leo but he had been adept at cutting them off at the pass, or at least Margaret had been good at forewarning him. This time she hadn’t been quite so quick but then they were still all adjusting to CJ‘s new job.

“And the week before Christmas. It couldn’t wait? Abbey is going to blame me,“ CJ groaned, wondering if there was any way of taking a long vacation and avoiding bearing the blame for yet another argument in the First Family‘s marriage.

Margaret, not one to get involved in the complexities of others relationships, shifted position and stared at her note book.

“I guess I should go talk to him,” CJ sighed, wondering why it always had to be her, although usually she looked for any excuse to talk to him. “Is he free now?“ In truth she had been reluctant at first to use the connecting door but once Charlie had forced her, she found it was easier to talk to him when he wasn’t expecting her. Catching him asleep on his couch on more than one occasion had made her see him in a new light. Somewhere between covering him with an Air Force One blanket and arguing parental control she had began to realize that she wanted to spend more time with him, hovering in her office in case he needed her and making up appointments to talk to him. It had gotten so bad recently that her friends had accused her of swooning.

CJ knocked on the connecting door and walked into the room. “So you’re going to Brussels?”

“Yes.”

“How long for?”

“Providing Josh and Toby can keep their mouths shut and we don’t end up declaring war on Canada or something, I’ll be back for Christmas,” Jed reassured optimistically. The idea of not being near the people he cared about for Christmas dismayed him, not least because he wasn’t sure how many more Christmases he would get to enjoy.

“If they kill each other will you come back sooner?” She asked, straight faced.

“I have you to prevent that,” he smiled.

“You sure you don’t want to take either of them?”

Jed shrugged. “I have half the DOD, NSA, and Hutchinson for company, I think that’s plenty to bring on my stress.”

“Do you need me to come?” She half hoped he’d say yes, knowing that Leo would have been the first on the trip.

“Would I like you to come, of course, but I need you here, keeping things going and getting the agenda on track,” Jed said, pulling his jacket over his head. “Besides I wouldn’t want to deprive DC of you in cocktail dresses. . .” even if I don’t get to see it, he added under his breath.

“You’re leaving me here to swan around in cocktail dresses?” she asked incredulously.

“No, to make sure Toby and Josh don’t start a war with congress over canapés and chardonnay,” Jed appeased, gazing into her face, and debating the wisdom of leaving her behind. That and the wisdom of taking her along. The former seemed less likely to cause problems at home and with his defense secretary

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“How’s DC?” Jed asked, toeing out of his shoes and laying back on the bed. It was still raining outside, which was all it had seemed to do since he arrived in Belgium, and CJ had made him promise not to go out in the storm. He ventured it had more to do with the chaos he had caused last time he got caught in a storm than his health.

CJ moved to the window of her office and stared out into the darkness. “White. We’ve had four inches of snow in the last twenty four hours. More to come they say.” She waited for him to give her a lecture on climatic changes.

“Has the Potomac frozen over yet?” he asked quietly. He hadn’t truly realized how much he enjoyed the festivities until he was missing them, though he thought maybe some of it was the enjoyment of hearing the antics from CJ‘s point of view.

“Yes, Sir. Is everything ok?” The conversation was strained, she had to admit, a sense of loneliness drifting down the phone line.

“Sure.” He waited a beat. “Are you still going to visit your father for Christmas?”

CJ felt her eyes fill with tears. “He’s in the hospital again. My step mother is with him.”

“You should go be with him,” Jed said softly. “Take a few extra days.”

There was so much she kept to herself, and didn’t share with anyone, even Toby, and the person she cared about most was now asking her to open up. “He doesn’t recognise me. He goes off at tangents and I feel like I’ve lost him.”

“Oh, CJ.” It wasn’t the most articulate thing he had ever said to her but he wasn’t the right person to help her. Abbey would definitely be better prepared. And it was hard talking to her when he knew that one day his symptoms would manifest themselves in the same way. “What can I do for you?”

“Nothing, Sir.” Which was the truth. No one could do anything for her, and there was nobody to hold her while she cried herself to sleep at night.

“If you need to talk. . .” Not that he could give her the comfort she needed.

“Thank you.” She tried to regain her composure. “So are you still going to the farm for Christmas?”

“Nah, Abbey has this crazy idea about Christmas in the White House. Apparently it’s easier for the girls and Leo, and pretty much every relative we know.”

CJ allowed herself a small smile. “There’s nothing like being surrounded by family.”

The President didn’t sound so convinced. “So what are you going to be doing?”

“Lunch with the boys.”

“I wanted you to relax,” he chided gently. “Not spend New Year in jail for murder.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“I know it’s none of my business. . . “

“It’s not that.” And the fact of the matter was that it was his business as her friend and her boss, and the truth was that she was staying in DC to be there if he needed anything. “When are you coming home?”

Jed moved the phone to his other ear. “Christmas Eve. Although we’re stopping off in Paris en route.”

CJ allowed herself a small smile. “Need to buy a few late presents, Sir?”

“Damn, I hadn’t thought of that,” he teased. “Any requests?”

She was about to tell him he didn’t need to buy her anything when she heard his chuckle. “Something expensive.”

“I’ll see what I can do. Now go home, and I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” He returned the phone to it’s case and settled himself on the bed, his mind struggling to come up with the perfect gift.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CJ could barely contain herself as she stamped her feet on the portico. It had snowed another few inches over the past twenty four hours and the temperature had continued to drop. The President was running late as usual and the others had left the building, already celebrating their short vacation. She had promised to catch up with them later.

Her face broke out into a smile as the motorcade entered the gate and she saw the black limousine for the first time.

Jed climbed out of the car and she almost hugged him. It had been four days but there hadn’t been a single one of them that she hadn’t missed him.

“Hey, Claudia.”

“Mr. President.”

He motioned for them to go inside, one hand lightly resting on her back as she shivered, the other tucked behind his back.

“How was the trip, Boss?” CJ asked quietly as they walked through the corridors to the Oval office.

“It wasn’t the same without you.” He gave her a cheeky grin. “I had no one to torture on the plane home.”

She rolled her eyes in despair. “What did you give away?”

“Nothing. Well almost nothing. At least nothing that can’t wait until after the holiday,” he corrected.

“Oh god, you gave them Texas.” Her face was expressionless as she folded her arms across her chest.

“Only if they take Hoynes with it.”

CJ rolled her eyes. “I wouldn’t say that outside of this room. Although without his Presidential campaign we might have a little more success at controlling the news cycle.”

“Nancy has the notes from the meetings. You can read them after the break and chastise me later.”

“Is there anything else you need from me?” CJ asked, half wanting to join the others in the bar, the other half of her hoping he needed her for something urgent. Of course she was also fully aware that Abbey was waiting upstairs for him and he wasn‘t about to keep his family waiting.

Jed shook his head. “Nah. Go enjoy the break and I’ll see you Monday.”

“Thank you, Mr President.”

“Merry Christmas, Claudia Jean.” He waited until she was almost out the door before he called after her. “CJ?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Have a good Christmas.” He offered over the gift wrapped box that he had been hiding behind his back since he’d entered the room. “For you.”

Her face broke out into a smile and his heart skipped a beat.

“Chanel?“

“Vintage. I hope it’s ok.“

Without a second’s thought she moved towards him and kissed him on the cheek, her heart hammering in her chest.

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That had been five years ago, and she still had the gift, wrapped in tissue paper.

It had been another two years and the loss of his wife before Jed had finally reciprocated her feelings and they had been married in a quiet ceremony on Christmas Eve. They hadn’t known it then but she had already been pregnant with their miracle baby.

“Lily’s sound sleep,” Jed announced softly not wanting to startle her, kicking off his shoes and lowering himself to the ground behind her. His hand instinctively found it’s way to her stomach. “She looks so peaceful.“

“Until she wakes up and realizes you’re home.“

“Then maybe we should get some sleep,“ he offered, his voice unmistakably telling her something entirely different.

CJ rolled over and gazed up at him. “Yeah?“

“Well, we could go to bed.“

“And?“ She couldn’t help herself when he was undressing her with his eyes. She fluttered her eyelids and wrapped a leg around him.

“We could further discuss how much you missed me.“ He wasn’t in the best of health but it didn’t mean he lacked the urge to do things to her and over the years they had acquired a few tricks of their own. Tonight he hoped she would be up to lavishing a few of hers on him.

She smiled at him and shook her head. “I really, really missed you.”

Looking into her eyes was like coming home, he always thought, and coming home to CJ was the only way he had ever liked it. “Or we could stay here,” he mumbled, kissing her firmly on the mouth.

“Merry Christmas,” she whispered as the clock in the hall chimed and she rolled on top of him. They’d both regret it in the morning but in that moment it didn’t matter, he was home and they were together for the holidays.

The End