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MY GUESTBOOK
�Because we�re travelling with the First Family In Waiting,� I said. It sounded good. Matt, Helen, Miranda, and Peter Santos were the First Family In Waiting. In January they would be the First Family. Other than the scary thought of what the Residence would look like with two children under ten living in it, the picture was pretty great all around.
I was thinking about the kids fighting over bedrooms and the crayon drawings they would leave on the walls when a thought struck me and suddenly all I could think about was how Miranda and Peter had taken the news of Leo�s death. He had become a cool uncle to them�Leo hadn�t liked the thought of having surrogate grandchildren that were the kids ages, apparently he had a tough enough time dealing with the fact that Mallory was a mother�since he joined the ticket. Peter liked hearing Leo�s stories from when he was flying and Miranda always wanted Uncle Leo to read her a bedtime story when they were in the same city at her bedtime. Leo, for his part, had been more than happy to oblige. I think it might have had something to do with his guilt over not really being there for Mal when she was growing up.
�I guess I should go get my stuff packed,� Josh said, drawing me out of my thoughts about how the kids were taking all the changes that had happened to their lives in the last twenty-four hours. Matt and Helen were going to have huge, sweeping changes to adjust to, but they at least have some understanding of what�s going on. Miranda and Peter are just kids and suddenly they�ve got people with guns following them everywhere and the press are trying to get their pictures and they don�t have a context for what is happening. It was tough enough for Liz and Ellie and Zoey, and they are all old enough to understand what being the President�s children means. At least the Secret Service wouldn�t have to worry about the kids going to night clubs, though. The biggest party risks they would have to worry about would be glow bowling parties and slumber parties in the Residence. �Thank you for being here last night,� Josh whispered, resting his forehead against mine.
�Hey, like it or not you�re stuck with me,� I said with a soft smile. �Stay here while I pack and then I�ll help you with your room,� I offered.
I really don�t want to leave Josh alone. He got a lot of stuff off his chest last night but we�ve barely begun to graze the tip of the ice berg of his emotional turmoil and I don�t want him to be alone until I�m sure he�s not going to start thinking dangerous thoughts that lead to a complete emotional breakdown. It�s times like these that I really miss Sam. He and I could tag-team Josh so that he�s watched twenty-four-seven and he�d probably never even notice. But Sam is in California being a lawyer and, though I�m sure Josh will eventually try to get him to join the Administration, he�s not doing me any good right now. If I wasn�t so sure that Otto would cave under the pressure of Josh�because, honestly, there are, like, ten people in the world who don�t�I would enlist him to watch out for Josh�s mental and emotional well-being. I will find someone to help me on that front, though, because I stopped living my life for Josh Lyman when I quit my job at the White House and, as much as I love him, I refuse to become the simpering lapdog that I once was.
�Mind if I steal your shower while you pack?� Josh asked.