* * *

  Nick held her close to him as their bodies cooled and calmed after slow and sultry resulted in epic orgasms for both of them. He couldn’t recall being this relaxed since he took the oath of office. His days were frantic and busy and stressful with decisions that impacted the lives of so many people coming at him one after another, but he had put all that aside to enjoy this stolen interlude with his beloved in the middle of a workday.

  He needed the connection after she’d been injured yet again on the job. She rolled with each disaster, but every one of them shaved years off his life as he pondered what could’ve happened.

  “I’ve got a secret,” he said after a long period of contented silence.

  “Do tell.”

  “How bad do you want to know?”

  “Bad.”

  His Samantha was impatient, impertinent, nosy, mouthy and perfectly imperfect. He wouldn’t have her any other way. “Harry asked if we’d mind if he proposes to Lilia at some point on Christmas Eve.”

  “Oh my God! That’s huge! I can’t believe you waited this long to tell me!”

  “You conked out early last night.”

  “You should’ve woken me up for this.”

  “Not when you needed the rest.”

  “We need to get her people here and surprise her with them after the engagement. I’ll coordinate it with Harry.”

  “That’s a good idea.”

  “Everyone wants the Lincoln Bedroom.”

  “I know. How are we going to decide who gets it?”

  “I’ve got a plan.”

  “I can’t wait to hear all about it.

  * * *

  The next morning, they departed from the White House on Marine One, which transported them to Joint Base Andrews, where Air Force One waited on the tarmac for their arrival. Nick had requested minimal press coverage of their trip to Des Moines and had only five reporters and one cameraman making the trip, along with Terry, Derek and Harry, who, as Nick’s personal physician, went anywhere he did.

  Also along for the ride was Gretchen Henderson, who was taking her first trip as the vice presidential nominee.

  She was already on board when Sam and Nick arrived, and Nick once again introduced the two women.

  “It’s lovely to see you again,” Gretchen said to Sam, who shook her hand.

  Sam was determined to give her a chance, even if she had the same inexplicably negative reaction to her that she’d had the first time they met. Why? She couldn’t say, but she’d be keeping an eye on the woman going forward. “Likewise. Congratulations on your nomination. I’m sorry I was unable to be there the other night.”

  “No problem at all. I understand you were detained at work.”

  Was detained another word for shot? “Yes, I was.”

  “I so admire what you’re doing as a first lady with a job outside of the White House. It sets such a lovely example for women and girls everywhere.”

  “Thank you, but I’m not trying to be any kind of example. I’m just doing what I do.”

  “It means a lot to women.”

  Before Sam could reply, they were asked to take their seats for takeoff, after which they were provided with a delicious hot breakfast consisting of eggs, bacon, potatoes and Danishes as well as coffee. Nick was in his onboard office for his morning security briefing. When that was completed, Gretchen was invited to join him and his team for a policy meeting.

  Sam tried not to seethe as the stunning woman got up to join Sam’s sexy husband and his aides in a closed-door meeting. “You’re being a fool,” she muttered to herself.

  “Did you say something?” Lilia asked from across the aisle, where she was seated with Andrea, Sam’s current communications director.

  “Nope.” Sam couldn’t very well admit to being enraged by the idea of her gorgeous husband working hand in hand with a woman who looked like Gretchen Henderson. Not that she had a single reason to be jealous. She knew she didn’t. It wasn’t that. It was that Gretchen put her on edge for reasons she couldn’t explain, and that made her uncomfortable. “Thanks for coming today, ladies.”

  “We wanted to be here to support you both,” Lilia said.

  “This will be your last trip, Andrea,” Sam said, trying to make conversation to keep her mind from wandering to places it had no business going. It wasn’t like they were alone in there or anything, and even if they were, that wouldn’t matter. If there was one thing in her life Sam was completely sure of it was that her husband would never want anyone but her. Her angst where Gretchen was concerned wasn’t romantic in nature. That she even had angst about a woman she’d spent all of an hour with was maddening, but her gut had guided her well throughout her life, and she’d learned to trust it.

  She realized Andrea had been telling her about her upcoming wedding and the plan to move to Boston with her new husband, who had taken a job at a think tank associated with MIT.

  “It sounds like an exciting new adventure,” Sam said. “Congratulations to both of you.”

  “Thank you so much. We’re looking forward to it, but I’m afraid that no future adventure will surpass the adventure of working at the White House.”

  “We’ve received a request for you to keynote a conference on learning challenges next summer,” Lilia said to Sam. “Is that something that might interest you?”

  “Potentially.” Although speaking to large groups would never come naturally to her, after dealing with dyslexia her entire life, Sam wanted to use her platform to shed light on that and other issues of concern to her. “Send me the details.”

  “Already in your FLOTUS email.”

  “Which I need to check at some point.”

  “I keep an eye on it,” Lilia said. “Don’t worry.”

  “Thank goodness for you.”

  An hour later, Nick emerged from the office, having shed his suit coat and rolled up his sleeves. He gestured for Sam to join him.

  “Excuse me, ladies.” As she got up to walk toward him, the plane hit a bump that made her stumble.

  He was right there to take her elbow and guide her into their personal cabin.

  “Have I mentioned that I hate flying, even on Air Force One?” she asked him after he’d closed the door.

  “I seem to recall hearing that once or twice before.” He took her hand and led her to an easy chair, where he sat, bringing her down on his lap. “Are you feeling okay?”

  “My arm still hurts, but not like it did yesterday. My stomach aches thinking about where we’re going and why.”

  “I know. Mine, too, but I have a bit of good news.”

  “What’s that?”

  “A judge has agreed to hear an emergency request for relief in the custody matter on Monday.”

  “What does that mean? An emergency request for relief?”

  “Andy has asked them to dismiss the case in light of the airtight custody clause in Cleo and Jameson’s will. Their estate attorney is willing to testify that they never considered anyone but Elijah to be the twins’ legal guardian, and as such, he has the right to set up any arrangement for them that he sees fit, provided they’re in a safe and stable home.”

  “Our home is stable, but the argument could be made that it’s not safe.”

  “It’s safer than any home that doesn’t have round-the-clock Secret Service protection. Andy really believes it’s going to be fine.”

  “I won’t breathe easily until it goes away entirely.”

  “Me either,” he said with a sigh that revealed his true feelings on the matter.

  “Are we going to be able to get their financial situation into it somehow? You know this is all about the billions that come with those two angels.”

  “Andy’s working that angle.”

  Sam rested her head on his shoulder. “How will we ever get through the weekend with this hanging over our heads?”

  “We’ll focus on the kids and getting ready for Christmas, and it’ll be Monday before we know it.”

  “I hope so.”

  “We have to believe that the wishes of their parents will take primary precedence,” Nick said.

  Before Sam could reply to that, the pilot announced their initial approach into Des Moines, and just that quickly, her stomach began to ache even harder. She wished she hadn’t eaten so much for breakfast. “Stay close to me down there, will you, please?”

  “You got it, babe.”

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Sam had spent her entire adult life working with victims of violent crime, but nothing could’ve prepared her to meet with the grieving families of those killed in Des Moines. The children who died had ranged in age from six months to ten years, and the adults were twenty to eighty. They’d included parents, grandparents and volunteers who’d left their homes that morning to help bring the magic of Christmas to local schoolchildren and their younger siblings.

  In an elementary school gymnasium, they hugged devastated parents and siblings, listened to them talk about the children they’d lost and offered all the compassion and empathy they possibly could, knowing it would never be enough to soothe shattered hearts.

  “Thank you so much for coming,” a tearful mother named Cath said. She’d lost her six-year-old daughter and four-year-old son. “The kids were so excited for Christmas. What are we supposed to do now?” She looked at Sam for answers she simply didn’t have.

  “What were their names?” Sam asked, dabbing at tears that refused to quit. She’d stopped trying to contain them when it quickly became clear that nothing could stop them.

  “Julia and Mason,” Cath said. “Julia was in first grade and Mason in preschool. He was so excited to come to Sissy’s school to meet Santa.”

  “Do you have pictures?” she asked, even though she’d seen pictures of all the victims.

  Cath produced photos of her blond, blue-eyed children.

  Sam studied them, wondering how their mother would possibly survive losing them. How did anyone survive such a thing? “They’re beautiful.”

  “It makes me feel better to know they’re together wherever they are now. They were inseparable when they were here.”

  Sam held the woman’s hand. “I’m so, so sorry for your loss. I wish there was something else I could say.”

  “There isn’t anything anyone can say. I just wish we lived in a country where things like this didn’t happen.”

  “I wish that, too.”

  “I hope people won’t forget about what happened here. I hope something will change.”

  The other family members echoed that comment over and over, and by the time they were back on the plane, heading home after three excruciating hours on the ground, Nick was on fire with determination to try to do something, anything to make it stop. “After the holidays, we’re going to give this issue some time and attention,” he said. “We’re going to try to do something. I don’t want to ever again have to do what we did today.”

  While Sam wholeheartedly supported his desire to fix an issue that had vexed previous administrations and Congresses, she understood better than most how difficult that challenge would be. But if anyone was up for it, Nick was, especially if he stuck to his determination not to run in the next election. Having nothing to lose might make him the perfect president to find a way to bring about real change on the emotionally charged issue.

  During the flight, he asked her to go with him to speak briefly to the small group of media traveling with them.

  Sam’s inclination was to avoid the media, but she went with him because she sensed he needed the extra support after the grueling day.

  The reporters in the back of the plane sat up straighter when they walked into their part of the cabin.

  “I wanted to just say that Sam and I were deeply moved by the families we met today. Their grief is overwhelming, and our hearts are broken for them. Part of my job as president is to be the comforter-in-chief, and that’s a role I willingly embrace, but at times like this, when it’s something that shouldn’t have happened, I’m also angry. I’m angry as a father, as a man, as a human being and as the president. I can’t believe there isn’t a way to find a path to common sense gun legislation that zeroes in on the people who simply shouldn’t be in possession of a weapon that can do what was done in Des Moines. We face an uphill battle, but it’s one I’m willing to undertake if it means Sam and I never again have to do what we did today. After the holidays, my administration will be addressing this issue on every possible front. While I’m well aware we may not succeed, doing nothing simply isn’t an option. That’s all I wanted to say.”

  They threw questions at him, and Nick answered every one with patience and thoughtfulness and the empathy that made her love him so fiercely. He spoke from his heart, and she had to believe that sincerity would connect with the American people when they saw the footage and read his comments.

  Marine One landed on the White House lawn at just after five o’clock, which got them home in time to eat dinner with their own children, for whom they were ever more thankful after the dreadful day they’d spent with grieving families.

  “Was it awful?” Scotty asked after they’d had dinner as a family, watched a movie with the twins and gotten them off to bed with four stories.

  Skippy was curled up in Scotty’s lap as he petted her.

  “Yeah, it was,” Nick said. “I’m glad we decided it would be better for you to sit this one out.”

  “I wouldn’t know what to say to people after something like that,” Scotty said.

  “All you can do is listen and let them know you care,” Sam said. “That’s what we tried to do.”

  “I’m sure it meant a lot to them that you went there,” Scotty said.

  “We hope so,” Nick said.

  “I saw what you said on the plane,” Scotty said. “You’re trending on Twitter. People are tired of this crap. They want something done about it.”

  “Not everyone would agree,” Nick said, “but I’m determined to put together the best possible group to home in on mental health considerations, criminal background checks and other sensible things that can be done. I want responsible gun owners to be able to carry on with no interference. They aren’t the ones we’re concerned about.”

  “I think as long as you keep saying that, you may actually get somewhere,” Scotty said.

  They spent the weekend with the kids and Elijah, who returned home from Princeton for a monthlong break from college. On Saturday morning, they had Sam’s nieces and nephews as well as Shelby and Noah to the White House to decorate ornaments and make Christmas cookies. Having a pastry chef on staff came in handy when Florence taught the kids how to apply fondant and decorations that made their cookies into works of art.

  Sunday afternoon, they entertained the families of the White House staff and then played multiple competitive games in the bowling alley with the kids before settling in to watch Elf together in the theater.

  By Monday morning, Sam felt rested and ready to do battle to keep the Littles with them where they belonged.

  Celia stayed with the kids while Sam, Nick and Elijah went to court. A custody battle that involved the president and first lady of the United States was bound to draw some attention, but they weren’t prepared for the massive media presence outside the courthouse.

  Apparently, the Secret Service had expected it. They got the three of them inside and delivered to the appropriate courtroom with a minimal amount of fuss.

  “Sometimes, having Secret Service protection doesn’t suck,” Sam said to Nick when they were inside the courtroom, where Andy and two of his associates greeted them with handshakes.

  “No matter what happens, just stay calm and remember the law is on our side,” Andy said before Sam, Nick and Elijah took a seat in the front row behind their attorneys.

  The courtroom was soon called to order with the judge hearing from the attorneys on both sides, each making a case for why the Armstrong twins would be better off with their clients.

  “The Cappuano family has provided a loving home for the children since the night of their parents’ murder. Their older brother, Elijah, who was appointed by his father and stepmother to be the twins’ guardian in the event of their deaths, is in daily contact with the twins and their custodial guardians. In addition, due to their proximity to President and Mrs. Cappuano, the twins are afforded world-class security through the Secret Service. I’d go so far as to say that the twins are among the safest children in the world—and they’re among the most loved.

  “As a longtime friend of both President and Mrs. Cappuano, I can assure the court these are two people who’ve never been happier than since their son, Scotty, the twins and Elijah have come into their lives. It’s important to note that prior to the apprehension of their parents’ killer, Mrs. Cappuano, in her capacity as the lieutenant of the MPD Homicide division, had contact with Mrs. Dennis as well as her daughter, Monique Lawson.

  “During the course of their conversations, neither the twins’ grandmother nor their aunt asked about them or how they were coping after losing their parents in a violent home invasion that Alden Armstrong witnessed in part. They didn’t ask where they were or who was caring for them. They only expressed interest in the twins after their parents’ killers had been arrested. We’ve furnished the court with financial records that indicate that Mr. and Mrs. Dennis are deeply in debt and on the verge of losing their business due to a lawsuit that isn’t expected to go their way. In addition, Monique Lawson and her husband declared bankruptcy last year. We find the timing of this petition interesting, since it’s no secret that the Armstrong twins and their brother came into an immense fortune upon the deaths of their parents. We ask the court to honor the provisions of the Armstrongs’ will and to keep the twins where their brother wants them to be. His father and stepmother trusted him to do what was best for the children, and that’s exactly what he has done by asking the Cappuanos to care for them while he’s away at college. Thank you for your consideration of our request for an immediate dismissal of this matter.”