Madam President (69 page)

Lauren's stomach twisted at the thought of causing Dev pain. "That's not what I meant. At least not completely. I was trying to tell you that when you lied, it made me feel like I felt when Judd did it, which was lousy."

The writer studied their linked hands.
Time to open up a little yourself, Lauri. It's your turn.
"By the time Judd had started having an affair, for all intents and purposes, our marriage was over. I couldn't muster enough concern over our relationship to even begrudge his looking for happiness... or sex, I guess, elsewhere. But even though we weren't lovers anymore, I still considered him a dear friend." Lauren's voice was soft, but Dev could hear the frustration leaking into her words. "When I asked him outright if he was seeing someone else, he denied it. And he did it over and over again." Lauren shook her head, not quite understanding it herself. "I know it sounds funny, but in my mind that, and not the affair itself, was the real betrayal."

Lauren felt Dev squeezing her hand, and she returned the comforting pressure. Her face took on a slightly lost expression. "God, Devlyn, the thought of our drifting apart like that and not even caring... and..." She stopped and swallowed around the solid lump that was forming in her throat.

"That's not going to happen to us, and you know why?" There was a fierceness in Dev's eyes that Lauren found oddly comforting. "Because we can do this after we argue. We can sit down and talk about it and make it better." Devlyn caressed Lauren's cheek with her thumb and smiled. "Let me tell you this. What I'm working on now is absolutely the most important thing I have ever done. The moment I can talk about it, you will be the first to know."

Lauren smiled a broad, genuine smile for the first time all day. "Fair enough." She leaned forward and brushed her lips against Dev's, pulling away only a hairsbreadth. "Thank you for inviting me to dinner," she whispered, kissing Dev again. "I love you. All of a sudden I've decided that I'm incredibly hungry."

A soft moan was Dev's reply.

Saturday, November 13
^th

It was beginning to look and feel like the holidays at the White House. Everyday Dev was amazed to see more and more early Christmas decorations - some antique, some new - going up. It was kind of like going to Disney World as a kid. She started, realizing that soon all her children would be old enough for that particular family trip.
Maybe next August, before school starts.

Right now, however, she needed to have a chat with Lauren about one of the most cherished Marlowe family traditions. Dev prayed that her plans regarding Lauren's inclusion would be well received. She shifted the box she was holding under her arm and knocked on Lauren's door.

The door opened, and an arm shot out, nearly pulling her off her feet as she was yanked inside by her collar. Then there was the kiss that followed.
Wow!
Devlyn grinned when the writer finally let her go. "Hi."

"Hi. I missed you today." Lauren smiled at the slightly flushed look on Dev's face, feeling the heat in her own.

"Me too." Dev reached around behind her and shut the door. "How was your day?"

Lauren tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and took off her glasses. "It was okay. I got a lot done." She gave Dev a little smirk. "Found a couple of your high school yearbooks."

Dev's smile disappeared and was replaced by a petulant frown.

Lauren reached out and tugged on the protruding lower lip, keeping it up until Dev laughed and slapped her hands away. "Jane also came by and brought over a couple of boxes of her own personal mementos." The blonde woman winked. "I guarantee you don't know some of the stuff she's got in there. I had no idea she's known you since you were in college. And she's got photos to prove it."

Dev covered her eyes. "Oh, God. This is what my secretary does on her day off?" The President groaned as she took a seat on Lauren's couch, giving it a pat so the younger woman would join her. "The new bio is going to have a more extensive picture section, isn't it?"

"You know it." Lauren smirked, dropping down on the sofa next to Dev. "Your mom has already donated baby pictures. Wayne is just wild about the picture of naked baby Devlyn on the bearskin rug, by the way."

Dev's head dropped, but Lauren could see her shoulders shaking with silent laughter. "I'm gonna kill my mother."

"Wayne offered me an extra 5% on royalties if I could produce a current photo in the same pose for a ‘now and then' comparison."

"In his dreams," Dev growled.

"And mine." Lauren wriggled her eyebrows. "Okay, what's up? I didn't expect to see you until tonight."

Dev sobered. "We need to have a little talk. You have a minute?"

Lauren's brows knitted together. She didn't like the suddenly serious look on Dev's face. "I came to the door, didn't I? Shoot."

"Okay. Every year at Thanksgiving the Marlowes set up candles that burn through the holidays, for our family and friends. White candles for those who are with us. Blue ones for those who aren't. We put them on the mantel." Dev glanced at Lauren, who was listening interestedly. "There are two reasons I'm telling you this. First, there is a set of candles for Samantha and her parents." Dev's gaze softened. "If they make you uncomfortable, I won't put them up."

Lauren laid her hand on Dev's knee and gave it a gentle squeeze. She smiled softly at her friend. Her feelings about Samantha were so mixed up. Part of her admired Devlyn's wife. By every indication she had been a strong, funny, interesting woman in her own right. A wonderful, loving partner to the young, ambitious politician, Devlyn Marlowe. Another part of Lauren felt helpless and angry. There was no competing with the memory of Dev's first love and the woman who gave birth to Christopher and Aaron. But Lauren realized these were her own insecurities, and they existed despite the fact that Dev had never done a thing to encourage them.

The blonde woman swallowed. "Devlyn, darlin', that's not necessary." Lauren mustered a smile. "Samantha doesn't disappear just because I'm in your life now. Not for you, or the kids. Don't get me wrong," she snorted a little, ready to admit her own shortcomings. "I'm not above petty jealously. But this is a beautiful tradition that must be important to you and the children. I don't see a reason to change it."

Dev's posture instantly relaxed. "Thank you." She leaned over and gently kissed Lauren on the lips, allowing the contact to linger and then deepen. Dev didn't pull back until she felt the rise and fall of Lauren's chest begin to grow uneven, and her own breathing was ragged.

Lauren groaned softly when the lips against hers disappeared. "Have I ever told you what a great kisser you are?"

Dev smiled roguishly. "No. But feel free to do so. In great detail. You are a writer after all."

Lauren's eyebrows crawled up her forehead and disappeared behind pale bangs. "No, thanks. I was just checking."

"Brat." Dev stuck out her tongue.

Lauren chuckled, then poked the box. "So what do we have here? Something for me?" she hinted.

Dev repositioned the box on her lap. "Well, actually, with your permission, I was planning on making an addition to the family tradition, which is the second thing I needed to ask you about. Here, this is for you." Dev handed the box to her lover. "It's sort of an unofficial welcome to the family."

"Whoa." Lauren jaw dropped open in surprise at the weight of the box. "You didn't have to..." She stopped when she lifted off the lid and released the rich aroma of vanilla into the air. Inside the box were two white candles and one blue, each about four inches in diameter and ten inches long. Carefully, Lauren moved aside the candles to find the source of the weight: three sturdy, silver candleholders. "They're beautiful," she whispered, picking up one of the candleholders. ‘Anna Gallager Strayer' was engraved in bold letters across its front. She sucked in a surprised breath, feeling tears spring into her eyes so quickly that she was helpless to stop them.

Dev reached out slowly and pulled Lauren close to her. "I love you. I want to put those up with the rest of my family. Is that all right with you?"

Lauren sank into Dev's embrace. "I love you too," she breathed softly, then sniffed. The writer pulled away and cupped Dev's cheek, tenderly brushing a prominent cheekbone. "Are you sure, honey?" she whispered emotionally. "I'm not really-"

The President placed her finger over Lauren's lips to quiet her protests. "No, this is a tradition to celebrate the lives of the people who have touched us. The people who love us. And the people we want to remember. You belong there now. You belong there just as much as David and Beth do, or Emma, or Amy. We're adding one for Liza this year, too."

A blonde head nodded once. "Thank you," she whispered when Dev's finger dropped from her lips. Lauren smiled affectionately at Dev, wishing she could put into words how special it made her feel to belong to Dev's clan, whom she loved more than she would have believed possible. She sniffed again. "I... I don't know what to say."

Dev hugged her close and scooted down to get comfortable and make it clear she intended to stay there for a while and hold her lover. "You could tell me that you'll get that baby picture back from Wayne," she teased, placing a kiss on soft, fair tresses.

Lauren laughed and pinched Dev's belly. "Nuh uh. It's too cute not to share. Suffer, Madam President."

Monday, November 22
^nd

"Good morning, Madam President. Good morning, Lauren." Liza handed Dev a file and her mug of coffee. They were in the Oval Office, Dev sitting behind her massive wooden desk, with Lauren sitting several paces away in a high-backed, leather, upholstered chair. They were together, but lost in their own work, as Lauren prepared questions she had for an interview later that afternoon, and Dev mentally went over a short speech she was giving that morning about the new healthcare reforms she intended to officially propose in January 2022.

"It's a light day today, Madam President," Liza continued. "First, you have to pardon a turkey."

Dev looked up from her folder, and Lauren snickered, taking a quick shot of the surprised look on the President's face. "Excuse me?" Dev suddenly began paying closer attention. "Did I hear you say that I was pardoning a turkey?"

A soft click and muffled chuckle indicated that Lauren had just captured the surprised look on Dev's face on film again.

Liza grinned, but refrained from asking Dev if she had ever bothered watching anything any of the past Presidents did. She didn't think it would be a wise career move. "Yes, ma'am, it's a Thanksgiving tradition," Liza explained patiently, somehow looking at and speaking to Dev while entering something into her hand-held organizer. "The President always pardons a turkey; then it's sent to live at the zoo."

Dev tossed her pencil down and retrieved a pen, opening the file Liza had given her. "Liza, if I pardon the turkey, what will I be having for Thanksgiving dinner?"

"Turkey, of course; just not the one you pardon." Liza struggled for words, not sure how to explain this rather bizarre ritual. She finally settled on saying, "It's just a tradition. Vegetarians and children love it."

"Not my kids," Dev snorted. "They're carnivores and not ashamed to admit it."

"Especially Aaron," Lauren chimed in. "That boy could eat an entire turkey himself. I swear he's going to be a sumo wrestler when he grows up."

Dev sighed and took a sip of her coffee as she read through the rest of her agenda. "So, basically, it's become tradition for the President to give the country the bird on Thanksgiving?"

Liza and Lauren both rolled their eyes, but still burst out laughing at Dev's lame joke, as the President searched her desk for something.

Dev's assistant recovered first and glanced at Lauren, who just shrugged. "I guess you could say that."