Allies: Home Front

Chapter 4

"Liza?" P called, striding down the steps in her Palm Beach estate.

There was a faint reply from the first floor, and P quickly found her chief of staff in the formal dining room, her files splayed over the table. P noticed that Liza often found her way to the most formal room of the place she was in to do her work.

"Liza, I want you to cancel all of my engagements in DC. I plan on staying here until I have the baby."

Liza didn't look up from her paper, but sighed deeply. "Mrs. Conoroy, that is basically two months from now."

"I know that. I think that it would be good for me to get away for awhile. It's not like I've been going out a lot in DC anyway. They won't miss me."

Liza looked up at P and pursed her lips. "Mrs. Conoroy, we've been working so hard to get you back out there. I know that after- that after everything that has happened your family has been very sad, but it's important that you lead the country. I think every american was just as shocked and as saddened as you are."

P felt her lip tremble a bit. "Liza, I want to spend time with my children and my sister in law and my nieces and nephews." She realized she left out Bobby. "And my husband."

"Why don't we spend an extra week here and push back the Senate Wives' Luncheon? We worked very hard on the menu," Liza added.

P sat on one of the plush dining chairs, glancing out a window to the back yard. Mannon and Ben were squealing as they were chased by their agents, their hair wind swept and their faces tan. Palm Beach was the perfect get away from DC, but P slowly had a realization of her duty to her country.

"Remember during the funeral, how America looked up to you. Had you gone into hysterics, or hiding, the county wouldn't have survived. Jan and President Conoroy were far from as strong as you. Just remember that."

P nodded and stood up. "Okay, Liza. We'll go back when Jan is ready. I'm not leaving her down here."

"Thanks, Mrs. Conoroy."

P left her chief of staff in the dining room and went outside into the warm sun. She was positive Liza had only said those things so that she didn't have to cancel all of P's engagements in DC. But Liza was right, while P's first priority was her family, she also needed to take care of her country.

Ben was now splashing around in the shallow end of the pool with the kids' nanny, Rachel, his agent watching closely from the side. Mannon had strewn herself on a lounge chair, and was talking on a cellphone.

"Who is she talking to?" P asked with a laugh.

Mannon's agent, Mr. Daniels, smiled. "The President. He called."

"Isn't he here?" P asked.

Mr. Daniels shrugged. P sat down next to Mannon and patted her knee absentmindedly.

"Daddy, Mommy's here. Want to talk to her?"

There was muffled talking on the other end of the line. Mannon held the phone out to P. "He says yes."

P took the phone from Mannon with a smile and walked quickly to the other end of the pool, away from the others.

"Hello?"

"P," Bobby said simply.

"Where are you?"

"I just went out with Steve, we took my dad's yacht for a trip down to Miami."

P chewed on her lip. "I wish you would have told me, maybe the kids and I could have come along."

"No, it's not much of a kids trip."