Red, White, And Royal TWO

Chapter 9

The organizer put her next to me again on purpose. I know it. Alex thinks Henry sits to his left and Nancy Pelosi sits to his right. Goddamn bastards. Thankfully, Nancy only bothers Alex to tell him how proud she is of him for being unapologetic in his love for Henry. There are the obligatory speeches from Congressional colleagues of his mom's, and then a mediocre at best performance of "God Bless America," by Justin Bieber (?) before Nora's granddad is sworn in for a second term as Vice President. Then, Chief Justice Roberts of the Supreme Court walks up to the platform and swears in President Claremont for a second term.

Now comes the interesting part. Alex's mom walks over to the podium, smiles, takes a deep breath, and begins.

"Exactly four years ago today, down to the minute, I first stood right here at the steps of the US Capitol, and thanked you for your support in electing me. I explained to you how this was one of the proudest moments of my life, in a close tie with the birth of my children. One of which, my daughter June, actually had a hand in writing this speech. In fact, she's the only other person who wrote this speech, and that is something I am proud of almost beyond comparison. In that speech, I highlighted the fact that people who didn't want me to be in this country at all, let alone living in the White House, had been sworn in on these very steps. I told you then that progress, huge progress, had been made in our nation's history, and I stand before you to say the same of my first four years. We made progress in advancing our healthcare, in our relations with nations across the globe, and in improving the life of millions of Americans. And you, the people, trusted me in guiding our country through the next four years, and it will be the honor of my lifetime to continue the work of the last four years. You have left a beautiful and long lasting impact on me, my family, and my Administration, and we intend to do the same for you. We intend to keep healthcare affordable and accessible for the next four years and beyond, no matter who lives in the White House. We intend to continue advancing the civil liberties of marginalized people across the country for the next four years and beyond, and we intend to conserve the integrity of the American people and the American government in doing so. Thank you for this incredible honor and opportunity to serve you, and God Bless America!"

She receives thunderous applause from the people in the stands, and Alex can't help but notice the Secretary of Education's enthusiastic clapping and cheering. She even jumps a little bit, reminding Alex of Friday night's events. He's watching her from across the front row, as his mother thanks the crowd, and he swears she looks right at him, raising a sly eyebrow. He quickly looks away and turns to Henry, who is beaming with pride, staring right at the President. Alex pulls Henry into a paparazzi-friendly embrace and kisses him on the lips right there, for all the photographers and writers of future history books to capture.

Henry nudges Alex and points at the photographers who were taking photos of their kiss instead of the just-sworn-in-for-a-second-term President. "History, huh?" Henry asks, referencing their slogan.

"Indeed." Alex responds.

After exchanging obligatory pleasantries with Congresspeople and Senators from both sides of the aisle, the Cabinet, the First and Second Family, and Henry head back to the White House for a drink and to create good press relationships for Term 2. Unfortunately for Alex, that means Karla goes, too.

Watching Henry sneak dirty looks at Karla from across the room is quite something. He's not even doing a very good job at hiding it. It's freaking Alex out so much that he even avoids being on the same side of the room as Karla, and he watches Henry like a hawk the whole night. Why is he being like this? He seemed so uninterested when I told him. Alex should have been given a medal for how good he was at avoiding Karla the whole night. After all, the press did seem pretty interested in a Karla-Alex friendship after she posted pictures on Instagram. But, unfortunately, the inevitable happens. He has to talk to Karla in front of the cameras.

"Hey! When's our next gala date!?" Karla says enthusiastically in front of the cameras as she embraces Alex in a hug. Alex hates it.

"What the fuck?" is all Alex can muster as a quiet response in Karla's ear.

She giggles for the cameras as Alex pulls out of the embrace.

"I don't know! I heard about one for the American Heart Association next Thursday, but I should probably bring Secretary Rosen from Health and Human Services, right? That's more his area of expertise, isn't it." Alex jokes for the press. They eat it up like candy.

"Haha yes, it would be, I suppose. Unless there happen to be school nurses attending!"

"Perhaps, indeed!" Alex replies, charming as ever. They play off each other well.

Later that night, after the reporters have left and it's just the First Family in the Residence, Alex and Henry lay in bed, with Blondie playing in the background, and Alex singing along to it shamelessly.

"Turn that shit off!" Henry snaps, pulling the pillow out from under Alex's head and smacking him with it.

"What is your fucking problem?! You've been a dick all night, and not a very discreet one at that! I thought you didn't care about the kiss!" Alex snaps back, tossing the pillow back at him.

"I didn't care that you were kissed! I do care that she kissed you! She knows we're together. The entire developed world knows we're together! She's the one with a fucking problem, and you played it off like nothing was wrong when you were talking to her!"

"Henry, you very well know that we had to play nice for the cameras! We had to play nice for the cameras before we were blowing each other, for God's sake!" Alex says, gesturing to the two of them by wagging his finger between their bodies.

"So what, you're gonna start fucking the Secretary of Education on the DL now!?"

"How is that at all what I just said!?"

"Oh my God! How stupid are you!?" Henry snaps back.

ALex thinks for a moment, and then realizes the implication of what he said. "Oh."

With that, Henry storms out of the room with a huff and down the hall to the bedroom right next to June's. He slams the door behind him.