~that evening~

Sam was waiting anxiously. Nervously, he fidgeted about. Although he
tried to remain inconspicuous, he knew he was failing badly. Only a small
number were expected to watch the inauguration, since in the West Wing, the
Russian project hadn't been very extensive. There had been a couple of
meetings, and of course the dinner, but nothing that eliciting a large
celebration. Nonetheless, Sam felt strangely excited.

When the door opened, Sam perked up, looking hopefully. He relaxed
disappointedly when he saw it was only Josh. "Hey," Josh said, sitting down
next to Sam. "Have you seen Joey yet?"

"No, is she coming?"

"I invited her."

"That was nice."

"Yeah, but you haven't seen her yet?" Josh asked, looking around anxiously.

"No. I've been waiting for Caelan."

"Oh, I haven't seen her."

"That's because she's not here yet."

Josh thought to say something, but thankfully the door opened, and both of
them turned around to see who it was. Sam's face lit up as Caelan walked
in. Dejectedly, Josh slouched in his chair as Sam went to greet Caelan. He
was on the verge of moping, when he noticed someone standing in front of
him. He looked up to find Joey Lucas standing, looking expectantly at him.

"Hi," she said.

"Joey, Kenny, hi," Josh said, standing up. "You made it."

"I said I would," Joey signed.

"Yeah, yeah, you did," Josh said.

"Should we sit down?" Kenny asked as Joey moved her hands.

"Yes," Josh said quickly. "Yes, we can sit down. We're just going to be
watching the TV set. Over there. It'll have satellite to Russia. The news
station that is."

"That's what I figured."

Josh laughed stupidly. Then as they settled in to watch, he mentally
slapped himself for acting so incredibly idiotic.

****************

Feeling slightly disoriented, Becca wandered through the halls of the West
Wing. She was looking for an office. Unfortunately, as she was quickly
remembering, there were many offices in the West Wing, and looking for one
without the vaguest notion of where it was, was like looking for a needle in
a haystack. However, somehow she got lucky, and nearly ran into CJ, whose
office she was looking for.

"CJ!" Becca exclaimed, shocked to see her. CJ had been about the only
person Becca had gotten to know during the campaign. In general, Becca had
lived her life, completely separate from her father's campaign efforts, but
there were times when she would join him on the trail, to offer him support.

In those times, she had been alone, since Eric had been unable to get time
off of work. Immediately, Becca had bonded with the older woman. Though CJ
stood half a foot taller than Becca, and was a whole lot smarter, the two
had become friends.

"Becca?!" CJ asked. "I didn't know you were here yet!"

"Yeah, I got in this morning," Becca said.

"It's so good to see you," CJ said, enthusiastically.

"Yeah, you too," Becca replied. "How are things here?"

"Oh you know, busy as usual. What about you? How are you and the girls?"

"They're growing up so fast. I can't believe that Christie's in school
this year."

"She's in school?!"

"Yeah, it seems inconceivable."

"Yeah," CJ agreed. "So how are you?"

"Same old, same old."

"No, really, Becca, how are you? Are you okay with the move to DC? And…."

"And without Eric?" Becca finished for her.

CJ gave an apologetic look. Becca smile to assure her that all was fine.
"It's not easy, CJ. Sometimes I feel like I'm going to fall apart. I see
Maddie and Christie and wonder how I'm ever going to raise them on my own.
But then there are days when I don't think of what I'm missing. I loved
Eric with everything I had inside of me, but he's gone. I can't bring him
back. I just wonder if my conscience will ever let me move on."

"Becca, moving on doesn't destroy the love that you shared with Eric.
You'll always have that. I never knew him very well, but I'm sure if he
loved you half as much as you loved him, then he'd want you to move on. He
wouldn't want you mourning all your life."

Becca felt tears sting the back of her eyes, but she fought their
onslaught. "I know, CJ. I know. I guess that's why I'm here, right?"

"Well, why ever you're here, I'm glad that you're here. It means that we
can stay in touch a lot easier."

"And have those girls night out with Donna like we used to," Becca said
mischievously.

"What will you do with the girls?"

"I know my parents would love to watch them."

Grinning, CJ said, "I can hardly wait."

**********

The inauguration was proceeding as expected. It wasn't exactly exciting,
but the small group was very jovial while watching the lengthy action, of
which most of them understood next to nothing except what was being
translated for them on the screen. Sam was feeling relaxed, comfortable in
his chair next to Caelan, and near Josh and Joey, who was intently watching
Kenny was he translated the translations into sign language. But when he
saw Mallory come in the door, his heart stopped.

There was a point, many months ago, that Sam had felt a strong connection
to his boss's daughter. But in the aftermath of the publishing of his
picture with Laurie and the fallout of the incident at the Newseum, Sam had
received a very cold shoulder. In fact, it was so cold, one might say, it
was nonexistent. Mallory O'Brien had shut him out completely. He hadn't
even seen her in five months.

When she saw him looking her way, she smiled. Stumbling out of his chair,
Sam got up to greet her. "Mallory… hi," he said.

"Hello," she replied.

"What are you doing here?"

"Looking for my father actually."

"Well…," Sam said, glancing around. "He's not here."

"No, I guess not," Mallory agreed. "What are you guys doing?"

Sam stuttered. "We're watching the… inauguration of a new… Russian
Vice-President."

"Ooh, it sounds exciting," Mallory joked. "Mind if I stick around?"

"No," Sam said uncomfortably gesturing to a vacant chair.
In response to Sam's gracious gesture, Mallory sat down. When Mallory sat
down, Caelan glanced her way, smiling warmly. "Hi," she said quietly, not
to disturb the others in the room.

"Hi," Mallory said, extending her hand. "I'm Mallory O'Brien."

"Caelan Reed," Caelan replied, shaking Mallory's hand. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise. I haven't seen you around, do you work here?"

"No-" Caelan began, but Sam sensed that he didn't really want Mallory and
Caelan becoming close friends and cut her off by sitting down between them.

"Look, they're shaking hands," Sam said, pointing at the TV.

Both of the women turned their attention to the TV in time to see the
ending of the inauguration. While it meant little to Mallory, Caelan was
immediately engrossed, beaming at the TV.

"Sam, we did it!" she exclaimed, punching him gently in the shoulder.

"Oh yes," Sam agreed, the dread building in his stomach. He knew both
Caelan and Mallory, and he knew that there was no way he could keep those
two from talking. "We sure did."

TBC