Dear, Mr. President
by: Rhiannon
Disclaimer: I own nothing but my poor broken down computer, Stevie, & the idea...
Stevie sat on her bed staring out the window. She had had a terrible time
trying to sleep the night before, so many things were racing through her
head. The biggest of which was, she was sleeping down the hall from the
President and First Lady of the United States.
The day before the Bartlet's had taken her for a tour which had lasted for
hours. They'd showed her all the famous and important rooms in the White
House. They'd even let her lay on the bed in the Lincoln bedroom.
The kitchen staff made pizza that night and Stevie ate with the Bartlets and
had even gone a few rounds with the President in trivia.
And now, many hours later, Stevie was reveling in the fun she was having. She
looked up as a knock sounded from the door, "Come in please."
The door opened and Abbey Bartlet walked in. Stevie immediately jumped off
the bed and stood up at the Abbey's entrance. Abbey waved her hand, "Sit back
down. You don't have to get up for me. After all, you're my guest."
Stevie blushed as she sat back down on the bed, making room for Mrs. Bartlet,
"Goodmorning, Mrs. Bartlet."
"Goodmorning to you too Stevie, and please don't call me Mrs. Bartlet." Abbey
said, sitting next to her. "Call me Abbey."
"Yes, ma'am, Mrs. Bart-... I mean, Abbey." Stevie stammered.
"Good girl," Abbey laughed. "Did you sleep well?"
"Kinda... I couldn't really get to sleep at first. I guess I was really wound
up."
"I can imagine so." Abbey replied. "Actually, I wanted to talk to you about
today. Jed and I were talking last night and I decided to take the day off.
You're going to go with me today, if that's all right with you. Jed's going
to arrange for you to speed the day with him tomorrow and do a few other
surprises. What do you think?"
"I think that's be great! Thanks!" Stevie exclaimed.
"Good," Abbey smiled. "Now, if you're ready, I've got a car waiting
downstairs and a list of things to do today. Let's go."
Abbey took Stevie's hand and led her out the bedroom door.
~~~~
Later that morning, Jed sat in the Oval Office with his senior staff. He
waited until the end of the meeting to broach a certain subject with them,
"As you all know, a young lady by the name of Stephanie Blake is staying with
the First Lady and I for a while. She is our guest. We want to make this trip
a special one for her, she has the opportunity to learn a great deal from us.
And we have the chance to learn a great deal from her. She's bringing a point
of view and a voice that we haven't heard or, for that matter, listened to
before. I would like all of your cooperation."
Toby looked up, "What, exactly, do you have in mind Mr. President?"
"I want Stevie to spend time with each of you." Jed said. "I want her to
experience life in the White House and I want you to get her perspective on
the White House as well. Toby, I'd like for her to sit in with you while you
draft a speech. Answer her questions, listen to her thoughts. CJ, what if she
sat in on a press conference, or even helped to prepare one. What a memory
for her to make, not to mention that learning experience she'd get... The
same goes for you, Sam. And you, Josh. I think this would be a valuable
experience for us."
Leo glanced over at his friend and smiled faintly. He had known when he gave
Stevie's letter to Jed that he'd take this to the maximum. That little girl
and this staff are in for an amazing time, he thought to himself. He looked
over at the staff when Jed was through speaking, "Mrs. Landingham or Margaret
will come by later and let you know when Stevie will be joining you. Be
thinking ahead, people."
Jed dismissed the staff and looked over at Leo, "She's a kick Leo."
"I can imagine." Leo replied. "Did Abbey really take the day off and take
Stevie out?"
"Yep! Abbey decided to take over Stevie's trip last night..." Jed said.
"Which reminds me, Abbey wants Stevie to attend the state dinner."
"Okay."
"I don't want a lot of hype about it." Jed made a face. "I'd like to have
none at all, but I know that's probably not possible. I thought maybe if we
gave the story to Danny Concannon, maybe he could keep it low-key. I don't
want to turn Stevie or her trip into a media frenzy."
Leo nodded, "I'll talk to CJ."
"Good," Jed nodded as he sat at his desk. "Now, I've got to get some work
done because either Mrs. Landingham or someone on my staff is going to walk
in here in a few hours to bother me."
Leo chuckled as he walked out of the Oval Office and into his own.