Ainsley’s eyes drifted to the man sitting beside her, barely a shadow of his former self. He’d been pretty much silent since they’d boarded the plane in Florida, his only words on the flight to ask if she was okay. Now they sat side by side in the cab on the way to her apartment, but for all the closeness she felt, they might as well have been on other sides of the ocean.

“Leo, are you coming up?” she asked softly.

Leo drew himself away from staring aimlessly out of the window to look at her. “I’m sorry, what was that?”

Ainsley smiled back at him, her hand lightly stroking his thigh. She so badly wanted to be there for him, to be the person to help him quash his demons, but now that they were home, he had erected walls around himself and she wasn’t sure how to break through them. “I asked, rather than presuming that you would, in fact, want to - if you were coming up, to my apartment that is.”

“I should really stop by the hotel, check my messages and pick up a suit,” he replied, turning back to the tree-lined streets.

“There’s a suit in my closet, you can phone for your messages and I can wash your underwear, or, as would be preferable, you could go smokeless,” Ainsley grinned.

“Okay.”

She waited, knowing that it would take him a few seconds to clock on to what she had said. Then it happened, he turned round, a broad smile on his face, “Did you just suggest meeting with the President without my underwear?”

She shrugged, her grin broadening, “Like he’s gonna know.”

“Ainsley!”

“We’re here,” the cab driver announced, glancing in his mirror at the couple in the back of his cab. The woman, he thought he recognized from some TV show, the blonde hair and southern accent seemed familiar. The man with her he definitely knew. The guy’s picture had been on the front page of the tabloids for days, an alcoholic in charge of national security or something.

“Thank you so much,” Ainsley drawled, handing over two twenties. She climbed out on to the sidewalk and began to remove the luggage from the trunk.

“I’ll do that,” Leo chided. “You unlock the door.” He caught himself checking the street, searching for journalists waiting in the wings to jump out at them. So far Ainsley had been kept out of the whole sordid mess, and that was the way he wanted to keep it.

Of course, they were now back in D.C. and the odds of his return staying quiet for too long were close to zero. Sighing, he picked the cases off the cobbles and followed her up the stairs into her apartment building. Doubts once more began to rear their ugly heads - what if he wasn’t strong enough to get through this, what if Mallory had changed her mind, what would he do if he couldn’t mend his relationship with the President.

“Leo!” her voice carried down the stairs as she unlocked her apartment door.

“Coming.”

“Not yet, but we can work on that when you get up here,” she giggled.

“Leigh!!”

“Oh for pity’s sake, Leo. We are consenting adults,” she called, as her head appeared over the banister. “And in the spirit of our trip, I’m going to take a shower, and if you wish, and I’d consider your decision carefully, you are most welcome to join me.”

The blonde hair disappeared again and Leo was left to trudge up the stairs. Entering the apartment, he was surprised to find her still fully dressed, perched on the edge of the couch.

“Leigh?”

Her failure to look at him was enough to have his stomach twisted in knots. “Leigh?” he tried again gently, crossing to the couch and tilting her face to look at him.

Ainsley closed her eyes but not before he caught sight of the red watery whites.

His eyes turned to the answer machine, bleeping incessantly.

“Leo, don’t,” she cried as his finger pressed rewind and the messages began to play.

The first two were from her parents asking where she was, the third from her doctor, but it was the three from her friends that caused him to clench his fists in anger.

“Honey, oh God, I’m so sorry, you don’t deserve this,” he whispered, crouching down beside her with a grimace.

“They are supposedly my friends, people I can call in a crisis, in moments of despair, but they do this,” she choked, opening her eyes and lightly brushing his hand.

“I don’t know what to say, except this is my fault. If I wasn’t in your life, you wouldn’t have to go through this and they wouldn’t be saying those things,” he commented seriously, as Margaret’s voice drifted from the machine.

Ainsley straightened her back and covered his hand with her own. “I would, in fact, rather have you in my life, than them, at any time.” The confidence in her voice did nothing to detract from the obvious pain at their bitter recriminations.

“I don’t deserve you.”

“I don’t deserve you. You should maybe sit on the couch, where your back will not be under strain,” she chided at his continuing grimacing. “That is for the ten minutes Margaret has allowed for you to rest before you need to shower and the car arrives.”

“Margaret?”

“Yeah, the last message was from your assistant to say the President is expecting you. I think also, it would be good of you to see her, and therefore put her mind at rest, because as you know she has a tendency to worry about you.”

“Margaret worries if the sun’s gonna come up,” Leo grumbled, stretching his aching limbs.

Ainsley shook her head, “You underestimate how much she cares about you.”

He shook his head, and picked up his case. “I’m going to take a shower, then we need to get going.”

“Leo?”

“You’re not coming with me?” he asked, coming to a sudden halt and glancing back over his shoulder.

“It would be wise under the circumstances, for you to do this alone, and for me to wait here. I have work to catch up on, and your underwear to wash,” she added, giving him a small smile.

“I’ll come straight here when we’re done.”

“I’ll be waiting.”

Leo smiled to himself as he walked into the bathroom and turned on the faucet. The spray turned from icy to scolding in the time it took him to shed his shirt and pants. Once his clothes lay in a pile at his feet, Leo stepped under the spray and closed his eyes.

The trepidation returned as his thoughts wandered to the meeting he was shortly to have. Jed’s understanding would be too much. He needed his anger or at least his hurt to be able to endure what was to come. There was so much to tell his friend, to get him to understand why Leo had taken that first drink and why he had disappeared so easily.

Other thoughts drifted in and out of the haze as the water hit his back and shoulders. The ease with which he’d been able to go to ground, Josh’s words in the Oval Office, his ex-wife’s lack of remorse for hurting him and more importantly the look on Mallory’s face as he’d put her in the taxi that evening. Grabbing Ainsley’s gel from the rack, Leo began to lather his body in bubbles.

“Do you need help in there?” came a soft cry from beyond the bathroom door.

“Nah,” he replied flatly, needing her to give him this modicum of space.

“Okay.”

He waited until he heard the light tapping move off down the hallway before he ducked his head back under the spray. In dealing with his own pain, he’d hurt the three people he loved the most, not to mention let them down - Jed, Mallory and Ainsley. Somehow he had to get them to understand why, to apologize for the fall-out from his good intentions and to make plans for the future that they could all be part of.

His thoughts were cut short.

“Don’t want to hurry you, but unfortunately I must, as your car is here,” Ainsley called, rapping softly on the door. “I left some clothes on the bed.”

Grabbing a towel, Leo climbed out of the shower and began to towel himself off.

******

The car pulled into the driveway and came to a halt outside the main entrance to the White House.

Leo rubbed his hands together as his eyes scanned the facade of the building with a visitor’s perspective. It was impressive as the last sun of the day bounced off the white walls and the lights flickered on all over the building. It had once been everything he dreamed about, how quickly things could change, he thought.

His driver opened the door and waited until Leo was standing on the steps before closing the door and climbing back into the limo.

“Mr. McGarry, if you would like to come with me.” The owner of the voice appeared at his side and offered him a visitor’s pass. “The President is waiting in the residence.”

Leo glanced once more at the building and followed the agent inside. His eyes moved from left to right as he held his breath, hoping against all hope that he wouldn’t come face to face with the others. He wasn’t ready for them just yet, not that he was entirely sure he was ready for the President either. As the elevator door closed behind him he breathed deeply.

The first person he saw when he stepped out onto the plush red carpet was Abbey. She stood before him in jeans and a sweater, her hair clipped back off her face as her eyes appraised him carefully.

“Hey Abbey,” Leo said.

“Are you okay?” she asked, taking a step towards him and pulling him into a warm embrace.

The smell of her perfume mixed with the tightness of her hug brought him back to how important their friendship was, and only served to remind him that he had let her down as much as anyone.

“I can’t answer that,” he mumbled against her shoulder, his arms squeezing her briefly before moving away.

“How’s Ainsley bearing up?”

The tenderness in his eyes was more than enough to tell her that he had a lifeline.

“Her friends are not exactly supportive.”

“I’ll call her and remind her that she has friends on this side of the fence too,” Abbey smiled, lightly brushing his arm. “Jed is waiting in the study.”

The walk took barely seconds, not nearly enough time to configure his thoughts, as his feet followed the well-worn runner to the President’s study. Leo paused outside the solid oak door, glancing at the two agents positioned on either side before lightly rapping.

What he hadn’t expected was for the door to fly open and his oldest friend to be stood on the threshold, hands wringing and eyes worried.

“Leo,” Jed said quietly, his hands fidgeting nervously.

“Mr. President.”

Jed flinched noticeably. This moment transcended President and Chief of Staff, it was about two old friends, whose friendship had survived stormier waters than this, but who, this time, had let their relationship fall by the wayside. A mistake Jed wasn’t going to repeat. “Come in. I had the chef make that special coffee you like.”

“Hazelnut?” Leo asked, shuffling his way to the leather armchair, that reminded him of the farm and of the late night discussions they shared before the madness began. And hopefully would again in the future.

“Nutty, yes.” Jed dropped into the chair he had vacated moments before and took a deep breath. “So, you did a stupid dumb ass thing?”

“I couldn’t let Josh steal all the thunder, Sir,” Leo mumbled rubbing his eyes. “I don’t know where to start.”

Jed leaned forward in his chair, clasping his hands tightly, “Have you had a drink since that night?” For him, it was as simple as that. His friend was an alcoholic, but that didn’t matter, Leo was and always would be his friend.

Leo shook his head, “No, Mr. . .”

“Jed, Leo,” he interrupted firmly. “I’m not the President, damn it, I’m your friend.”

“Jed, I. . .,” his voice faltered. There was so much to say, to explain but now that they were here his fears and insecurities were threatening to overwhelm him again.

“Nothing you say, nothing you do, will ever change the simple fact that we love you, Leo and we’ll always be here,” Jed said softly, his eyes burning into Leo.

The opening was there. No national emergencies, no Josh induced crises and no constraints. Leo cleared his throat as he closed his eyes briefly, the image of Ainsley at the door telling him she would be waiting, dancing behind his eyes. “Mallory came to me in the middle of the night.”

A look of fatherly concern flickered across Jed’s face but he held his tongue.

“It seems that. . .,” he stumbled. “. . . she isn’t my little girl. Actually that’s not right. Mallory isn’t biologically my daughter. My wife had an affair just after we were married.” He couldn’t say her name, the image of her made him want to reach for the bottle and he certainly never wanted to be in the same room with her ever again.

“My God, Leo.”

“I hadn’t planned to go to the bar, you need to know that, I hadn’t planned on taking a drink. It happened, the chink of ice as it dropped into the glass, the amber liquid pouring over it. One was never going to be enough which is why I was never going to have one. I was going to sit and stare at it until the urge went away. Jed, I don’t get drunk in bars.”

“Why didn’t you come to me?” The wounded tone caused Leo to look away. “I’m your first call. Parking lots are my speciality.”

Leo shrugged, his eyes trained on the photo on the desk. It was ten years old, taken on the farm in New Hampshire with the girls all smiling at the camera. The Bartlets had been, and still were, the perfect family. Something Leo no longer had.

“You never even said goodbye. I thought you were coming to talk to me. Next thing I know you’ve disappeared and Margaret is threatening death and dismemberment to everyone in the vicinity,” Jed grinned at the memory of Margaret, stapler in hand, chasing Josh from her office.

Leo thought back to that day, remembering Josh’s insistence that Leo resign. “This administration couldn’t take another scandal, my resignation was the right thing to do.“

“So you could run off?”

“I had press beating down my door, my face was on every newspaper, I had no job. What was the point of sticking around?”

“You left me with Josh, Leo. You left Josh to run your White House,” Jed complained.

“With all due respect, it’s your White House and Josh is very good at his job,” Leo corrected.

“Yeah, well come talk to me again when Margaret’s gotten her hands on you. When are you coming back?”

The question hung in the air like the sound of a Studengard pitcher smashing. Leo faced Jed for the first time in minutes and his eyes widened. His fingers automatically moved to his eyes, rubbing them and trying to block out the look of understanding in Jed’s eyes.

“I’m not. . .coming back, Jed.”

“Well, obviously, we don’t expect you back immediately. You’ll want some time to. . . “

“Jed, I’m never coming back,” Leo explained, his voice barely audible as his throat suddenly went dry. “This was one thing too many. Josh will make a good Chief of Staff. It’s time for me to retire and do all those things I always promised I would.”

“And they were?” Jed joked but the humor didn’t really reach his voice.

“Fly fishing, cycling.”

“You don’t have a bike.”

“Yeah, that’s because someone rode it into a tree, Jed,” Leo groaned.

Jed shook his head, “Are you ever gonna let that one slide?”

“Probably not.”

“You realize that we’re all going to try and talk you out of this,” Jed sighed, draining his glass and rising to his feet. “Josh and Toby have been up on the hill arguing your corner for days. Not too mention CJ and her tough love with the press.”

Leo raised an eyebrow as he sipped his coffee. His surprise was evident in his eyes. The very people he’d spent days thinking had turned their backs were fighting for him. “Do I even want to know?”

“Probably not,” Jed admitted. “Although they assure me it’s all legal.”

“Yeah,” Leo groaned, smiling faintly.

Jed poured himself another drink and motioned for Leo to have more coffee. The subject was closed for the moment but he reserved the right to raise it again at another time. Later they would talk about Leo’s predicament with Mallory, but for a few brief minutes he was happy to enjoy his oldest friend’s company again.

******

“Daddy,” came the cry as Mallory engulfed him in a hug.

“Hey baby,” he whispered softly, holding on tightly in the fear she might at any second disappear.

“I was so worried when I saw the papers and I couldn’t get hold of you.” Her voice was anguished and her eyes as she released him begged for answers he wasn’t sure he had.

“I’m sorry.” Leo couldn’t help but think he’d said that a lot lately. So much so, that half the time he wasn’t exactly sure which misdemeanour he was apologizing for. “Are you okay?”

She nodded and stepped back to allow him to enter the apartment. “Have you spoken to Margaret?”

“Yea.”

“That’s good. Do you want coffee, or juice, or something?” Mallory asked, her fingers gripping his arm a fraction too hard, making him grimace.

Gently, Leo pried her off and took her hand in his instead, “I’m fine. But I want to talk to you.”

Her false smile dropped as they settled themselves on the couch, “Okay.”

“A lot’s happened since I saw you last,” he began, his heart racing. “I spoke to your mother and I guess she’s sat down with you too.”

The closing of Mallory’s lids told him she wasn’t happy with the explanation either.

“I’m sorry you had to read the papers first. I should have talked to you but things were happening so fast and I wasn’t thinking straight.”

“You fell off the wagon,” Mallory said dryly. “The Press weren’t lying about that?”

“No. There’s no excuse for it.”

Her free hand moved to cover his, “Finding out mom had an affair and conceived a baby seems a fair excuse.”

Leo shook his head, “You don’t need to be so understanding, y’know. Your whole childhood I was a drunk and now I go and do it again.”

Mallory’s sharp intake of breath came as a surprise, as did the way she lay back against the cushions. “Have you had a drink since? Apart from disappearing to God know’s where without a word, have you done a single dumbass thing?”

“No.”

“Then fine,” she said, her voice indicating it was anything but fine. “Go to your meetings or whatever else it is you’re suppose to do and move on. Abbey says you resigned.”

“Yeah.”

“Are you going back?”

“No.” If there was one thing he was sure of, going back wasn’t an option. “None of this matters, baby. Not the job, not the drinking, not even what’s happened.” He stroked her knuckles gently. “What about us?”

“What about us?” Her eyes clouded over as they moved to the one thing that had turned both their worlds on their axis.

Leo gazed up into her eyes and felt a stabbing pain at the knowledge that she wasn’t his little girl, this beautiful, talented woman wasn’t his to protect anymore. “I already knew it, but it took me a while to admit it. I still want to be in your life. It doesn’t matter that I’m not part of your DNA make up or that you have a father out there somewhere, I want to be your father.”

“You are my father,” she choked. “Nothing will ever change that.”

“What I’m trying to say, is that, nothing that has happened in the last week changes my relationship with you, unless you want it to.”

Mallory lowered her gaze as the first tear fell on her cheek. “Daddy, I love you. And I want you to walk me up the aisle when the time comes and be over-protecting and. . .,” her voice trailed off as he pulled her head to his shoulder and listened to the sobbing.

“I love you too, baby.” Leo rocked her gently as he lightly kissed her hair and let his own tears fall unchecked. She was his little girl, even now, and nobody could take that away from him.

******

Ainsley was still at work when he returned to her apartment. The bed was still unmade and the breakfast things sat on the drainer. If this ever became a permanent arrangement, the first thing they needed to do was buy a dishwasher or hire a cleaner. Neither of them were much in the way of domestics, hence the various take-out menus on the wall, but it wasn’t how he wanted to live the rest of his life.

Sighing, Leo filled the sink with warm soapy water and began to rinse the plates. He was just putting away the last mug when the door slammed and he heard the clicking of her heels on the wooden floor boards.

Drying his hands, Leo retraced his steps to the living room and met her as she dropped her coat over the chair. “Hey.”

Her smile lit up the room as she launched herself at him.

Leo wrapped his arms around her back, pulling her against him and kissing her hair. He counted to eight before she pulled away and studied his face.

“Did you do as you planned, and go to see Mallory? Was she mad? Have the two of you, upon discussion, reached an agreement whereby things can return to normal?” Ainsley continued to fire questions at him, barely pausing for breath.

Rubbing her back in small circles, Leo smiled. If anyone asked why he’d fallen in love with her, this was it. The constant banter. Despite her slender frame, Ainsley managed to fill a room, and he no longer felt lonely or abandoned. Of course, there was also the fact that she was, as Sam put it, a sex kitten. And for a man of his age, he certainly made her purr. Shaking his head, he did the one thing he knew that would shut her up. He kissed her hard on the mouth.

Ainsley’s arms tightened around his neck as she deepened the kiss, her tongue darting out to tangle with his.

His body began to respond to hers just as she broke the kiss and groaned, “Leo!” He shrugged and slid his hand from her waist to clasp her left hand. “Yes, I went to see Mal,” he began, gently guiding her to the couch. Once he was settled, Leo pulled her across his lap. “I told her that as far as I was concerned she was my daughter, and nothing in the past week had changed that.”

“And?” Ainsley asked, shifting position until her back was resting against the arm of the couch.

“When I left she called me dad,” he said quietly, swallowing the lump that was forming in his throat. “Things aren’t perfect but we’re getting there.”

“Does this mean, that you will reconsider your decision and return to your prestigious position?”

“No.” Somewhere in the last week he had realized there was no going back, that his future held something entirely different in store for him. No amount of begging or blackmail was going to change his mind.

Ainsley pulled a face.

“What?”

She looked at him blankly.

Leo raised a hand to her chin and tilted her face until he could gaze into her eyes. “Leigh, something’s been worrying you for days, what is it?”

“I. . . ,” she stammered, trying unsuccessfully to look away. “I was looking for an appropriate time, but as so often is the case, there doesn’t appear to ever be one, and I held off because I didn’t want to add to your difficulties unnecessarily.” She paused for breath and closed her eyes. “And I wasn’t sure, and in light of recent events, this is probably the wrong time to tell you this, if you would be happy or mad, so I waited.”

“Honey. Maybe if you just told me,” Leo offered gently, a strange fluttering starting in his stomach.

“I’m pregnant,” she whispered, reaching blindly for his hand and clutching it.

“Pregnant?” he repeated, eyes widening.

She nodded mutely, her nose wrinkling as she fought to keep the tears at bay.

Leo released her chin and moved her off his lap. His head was thumping and he didn’t know what to say. Less than a week ago he’d had his only child snatched away from him, turning his world upside down and no sooner had he come to terms with it, than he found out he was going to become a father. Ainsley was carrying his child, or at least he hoped that was what she was telling him. “Is it mine?”

Her eyes widened for a second before she closed them. “Yes.” Her voice was so tiny he had to strain to hear it, and then he caught the disbelief behind the single word.

“Okay,” he mumbled, standing and walking the length of her tiny apartment. “Okay.”

Ainsley leaned back against the couch, tucking her feet under her. “Leo, I know this has come as a shock to you and you need some time to think about it, but please say something, anything but okay,” she pleaded, watching as he moved around her.

He stopped pacing and stared at her. “That’s just the thing, I don’t know what to say.”

“Oh.”

“You’ve been there for me this last week. You know everything there is to know. I’m an alcoholic, Leigh. I always will be.”

She slowly got to her feet and crossed to where he was standing. “You’re also a caring, loving and generous man, who achieved the impossible, you got a good man elected President. And that’s the man I want in my life, the man who’s going to be an amazing father to my, our, child.”

“What if something happens and I drink again?” Leo asked, sticking his hands in his pockets.

“Then we’ll get help,” she said quietly, pulling his hand from his pocket and entwining her fingers with his. “We could spend our whole lives wondering about what-ifs and forgetting that we have been given this chance.”

“There’s so much to think about, to discuss.”

“So let’s order Chinese and talk about it. Now that I am eating for two, which is an obvious advantage to being pregnant, I can eat what I like and I would like to eat now,” Ainsley grinned. “I’ll have Kung Po chicken, special fried rice, some chop suey.”

“That all?” Leo teased, bringing her hand to his lips.

“Some soup and maybe some seaweed would be welcome.”

Leo shook his head and tugged her gently towards the phone. They had a lot to discuss but being with Ainsley had taught him one thing, to get his priorities straight, and with Ainsley that meant food.

*****

He’d left while she was still sleeping, her blonde hair fanned over the pillow, her knees tucked tightly against her chest. Pulling the sheet up over her body, Leo’d kissed her lightly on the forehead and slipped out of the apartment.

The sun was barely up in the sky as he walked through Georgetown, the shops still closed and curtains still drawn. After what seemed like hours of random thoughts flashing through his head, the canal had appeared before him.

There was something about the rhythmic motion of water that cleared his thoughts, giving him clarity. Leo remained oblivious to the signs around him, the district going about its day as he left the canal and headed towards the Potomac, no set destination in mind. In the Keys it had been the ocean, here it was the river that made the decision for him.

Ainsley was the best thing that had ever happened to him, she had been his rock when the rest of his world seemed to falling apart. Bruce’s Op-Ed piece had been by far the most scathing and Ainsley had taken her friend’s recriminations to heart. For Leo, it was expected. The Republicans were not stupid enough to ignore point scoring. Of course with his resignation they would have to resort to political maneuvering again.

Leo still had reservations about the future, the prospect of another failed relationship, making the same mistakes as a father, alcoholism rearing its ugly head and the whole prospect of becoming a father at sixty years of age. But if the last week had taught him anything, it was that Ainsley was worth it, and he didn‘t want to spend his life without her.

His walk took him towards the Korean War Memorial and he lingered, his fingers tracing the pictures on the wall, remembering the civilians he killed in his own war, the urge to drink absent from his thoughts.

It was sometime later, with a lighter heart that he pulled away and started across the Constitutional Gardens towards the White House.

Leo approached the guard gate and dug in his wallet for his driving licence.

“Good morning, Mr. McGarry,” the guard smiled. “How are you?”

“Good, thanks.”

“I’m sorry but your name’s not on the list. I’ll need to check with someone.”

In a split second it became apparent that he was no longer an insider, he was now just another Democrat and that didn‘t upset him, as much as he‘d anticipated. “Check with Josh Lyman.”

The guard nodded and picked up the phone. A few minutes later he was handing Leo a visitor’s pass and waving him through.

Leo clipped the pass to his jacket and walked down the path to the North West Entrance and the next check point.

Donna stood at the desk, her hands at her side as she smiled weakly at him. “Leo.” The hug was brief but warm. “Josh would like to see you.”

He was about to head to his old office when Donna stopped him and tugged him gently through the double doors and into the Bullpen.

Josh was leaning in his doorway, one hand running through his hair as the other swung from the wooden frame. “Hey Leo.”

“Josh.”

“Come in, will ya?” Josh said, stepping back and motioning into his office.

Leo hovered at the door, his eyes surveying the neatly stacked piles of folders and the sea of yellow post it notes and grinning. “Margaret’s been busy.”

“Yeah,” Josh sunk into his chair and pushed the nearest pile out of his way. “How was the trip? How’s Ainsley? Feeling refreshed?”

“You’re wasting your time,” Leo muttered, leaning on the back of a chair. “The President has already tried and the answer’s no.”

“What’s the question?”

“Coy doesn’t suit you. I’m not coming back to work. The office is yours.”

“So, you want to take some more vacation time, that’s fine, I can hold the reins,” Josh declared, picking up a pen and twirling it nervously.

Leo shuffled around the desk and leaned against the paper covered surface, his back to the door. “This isn’t what I want anymore. I got a good man elected, I’ve shaped the country I love and I’ve even built a team of talented and well-intentioned people, that’s a big enough legacy for anyone.” He paused and smiled at Josh. “There are other things I want to do.”

“Fly fishing?”

“Maybe, but I also want to spend more time with my family, my other family that is.”

“Is there anything I can do?” Josh asked, sensing the battle was over and he’d lost without even suiting up.

“To change my mind or to help?” Leo patted his shoulder gently. “You’re gonna do a good job, so don’t screw up at the first hurdle.”

“I probably shouldn’t call the Editor of the Dallas Morning News and call him a dick then,” Josh smirked.

“Nah, leave it to Toby, he has more finesse,” Leo said, his eyebrows raising in mock annoyance. “And don’t upset Margaret.”

“Oh, I’ve learnt my lesson on that one.”

Leo rose to his feet and started for the door, “Glad to hear she’s breaking you in gently.”

“Leo?” Josh called, waiting for Leo to turn. “Maybe this isn’t the right time, but if you’re ever in a hole. . . “

“I’ll make sure I have my own spade.” He took two more steps. “I mean it, Josh, you’ll do a good job,” he muttered before opening the door and leaving.

He nodded to Carol as he hurried through the West Wing, not wanting to offend anyone but not wanting to get into lengthy discussions with anyone either. People did second takes at the alcoholic ex-Chief of Staff so clearly focused, so intent on some unexplained purpose.

The days of her office in the basement had long gone and now her office overlooked the ellipse, sunlight filtering through her window, making her wistful for the beach. That, and the piles of papers that had mounted up in her absence. Scanning the latest brief from the Communications office, Ainsley picked at the boysenberry Danish at her side. She’d really craved a cupcake but Carol had snagged the last one, and the poor girl looked like she needed it more. Instead Ainsley had picked up two Danishes and a apple, just to tide her over until lunch.

The knock at the door caused her to jump and her head shot up. Slowly, her lips quirked into a smile and she dropped the pastry back onto the crumb stained papers. “Leo? This is a surprise.”

“Thought I would just drop by,” Leo grinned, shrugging as he stood on the threshold, glancing around the room and waiting for her to say something else.

Rising to her feet, Ainsley circled the desk. “When I awoke to find the bed empty - and thank you by-the-way for tucking me in - and the apartment silent, I feared the worst. If you are, as I thought you might, having second thoughts, please tell me now.” She stopped inches from him and smoothed down her grey cotton pants.

“I needed time to put things in perspective,” he admitted, lifting his arms from his sides and holding them out to her.

“And?” She didn’t budge, merely cocked her head to one side and watched his face.

“The apartment will have to go, as will the hotel room. I thought maybe we could find something out of the district, maybe up by the zoo.”

Her face scrunched up in confusion as she continued to stare at him. “Er?”

“Well, we’ll need something with a garden, and more than one bedroom. And parks nearby for me to walk in,” Leo’s grin widened. “Ainsley, I’m suggesting we get a house together. Maybe that should be, I’m asking if you want to move in with me.”

“Live together? Permanently?” She took a step closer. “Are you sure?”

He nodded, certain of something for the first time in days. “You, me and baby McGarry. Of course the other thing I’ll need to get used to is coming here to pick you up everyday. Maybe I should take cooking lessons while you’re pregnant. Can’t have you living on take-out.“

“Leo?” she said softly as her hand reached up to cup his cheek. “Shut up.” Her lips brushed his as he pulled her into his arms.

Leo slid one hand up her back to prevent her escaping his grasp while the other slid up over her hips to rest on the gentle swell of her stomach. Breaking the kiss briefly, he asked, “Is that a yes, then?”

Ainsley swatted him gently as she recaptured his lips and closed the door on the rest of the world.

The End