| TITLE: My Three Sons AUTHOR: Kasey RATING: PG, little language, little Sam/Mal (but they aren’t actually going out or anything in this story, it’s just that the President says Sam has a thing for Mal.) SUMMARY: The President reflects. SPOILERS: Many episodes, but mostly minor ones, except for major ones about “The Fall’s Gonna Kill You” WARNINGS: None. DISCLAIMERS: They don’t belong to me – I don’t take nearly enough drugs to be considered Sorkin! ::grins:: THANKS: My betas. So even though I technically have only daughters, I really also have three sons. Two of whom may end up being my sons-in-law in the future. Okay, so only one of them. I keep forgetting Mallory’s not really my daughter – she spent enough time at my house and with my daughters when the girls were little…she’s my goddaughter…so sure, we can count that. So Sam’s thing for her could make him my almost-son-in-law someday. And while we’re on the subject of almost-children, Noah’s probably laughing at how close his son is to being him right about now. He and Leo were cards of the same suit, and now there’s Josh who’s practically “Leo Jr.”…It’s pretty funny, really. And that’s another kid who was around the Manchester Farm when he was little – okay, so when he was more like 10 or 12, ‘cause Noah had him young. But he and Karen were so in love…and the marriage lasted, so who can complain? And you couldn’t ask for a better son, really – loyal, intuitive, bright…that boy’s got a great head on his shoulders. And a good heart to boot. Then there’s Charlie, who truly may end up being my son one of these days soon. He doesn’t talk about Zoey at work, which is probably for the best, and despite my reluctance to let him go out with her…he treats her good. Not like some guys that age who’d use her for…unpure things I don’t want to think about…then dump her and break her little heart. It’s been a year and a half now they’ve been going out, and sure they’ve had ups and downs – the shooting being just one of many things that have gone wrong for them – but so far, so good. He always defends her, doesn’t let anyone say anything bad about her…I think back to when I was dating Abby back in college, and how pissed I’d get when someone would say anything even remotely bad about her…He’s a good kid. And I shouldn’t have been pissed at Zoey for telling him about my MS in the first place – the idea was right, and Abby probably was in on it, too. I shouldn’t have told Sam last, either. Now, Toby knowing first was unfortunate, because we ALL know he doesn’t react well to having been excluded from anything for any amount of time. So Toby knew first (of Senior Staff, excluding Leo). Then Josh, which made sense. I still think I should’ve won the fight about that – I wanted to tell Sam and Josh together. They have a calming influence on each other. Not that either of them needed a calming influence. They each sat there, trying to comprehend it, asked if I was okay, and then said “Okay – what do we do now?”. I shouldn’t have expected anything different from them. I think the remaining calm in the face of new and massive facts is something they teach you at law school. I think what surprised me most about telling Josh was the fact that he was almost in tears. Which was something I’d never seen from him – not even when I went to the airport to see him off for his father’s funeral. So was Sam, actually. Which made me feel about two inches tall. I hear tell that Sam left my office and went directly to Toby’s office and started cursing him out for being left out of the loop. Which is mostly Toby’s fault, so I don’t feel so bad about that. I wanted to tell everyone within like two days of talking to Babbish, but Toby and Leo held me back…so I could just blame Leo like I usually do. But what good would that do? It wouldn’t change the facts. I have MS. I didn’t disclose it. And I didn’t tell Sam until last. I think that’s what crushed him the most. He’s been left out of the loop a helluva lot this year – the Drop-in, the thing with his father, sending Ainsley to do the job he was supposed to do, now this…A lot of that’s been Toby’s fault, but I still feel bad. And Toby keeps insisting “it’s not political camp, it’s not important everyone touches the ball, it’s important the job gets done”…but we wouldn’t have Sam on Senior Staff if I didn’t think he was capable…if Leo didn’t agree with me…He’s a damn good writer. And no one would ever consider keeping Josh out of the loop. Now, given that Josh has more political experience than Sam, and he’s a few years older…but that shouldn’t mean that Sam, because he’s the youngest of the Senior Staff, should be left out of everything. He was hired as Deputy Communications Director for a REASON…And not just because he looks good on TV. Which he does, but that’s not the point. What is the point? How the hell should I know? I’m just the president. |