“That’s the best word I can think of to describe it,” he said. “Absolute paradise.”
“Nothing makes me happier than to walk in that door and see you watching over our three kids and obviously enjoying every second of it.”
“I do enjoy every second of it.” He poured her a glass of wine and sat with her while she ate a burger and fries while picking at a side salad.
As always, the burger and fries were far more interesting to her than the salad would ever be. “This is good. Thanks for cooking.”
“No problem. It’s funny you mentioned what that guy said about me running for president, because I’ve kind of made a decision about that over the last few weeks.”
Sam glanced at him, noting his unusually serious demeanor. Usually, he was at his most relaxed when it was just the two of them. “Am I going to like this?”
“I think so. I’m not going to run.”
While she wanted to stand up and cheer, she forced herself to consider him first. “Are you sure that’s what you want?”
“I’m sure that I want to be here—all the time—and I can’t do that if I’m on the road campaigning for months on end.”
“Is it okay to say phew?”
“Yeah,” he said, laughing. “It’s okay.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“There’s not much to say other than it came down to you and the kids and how I don’t want to be away from you guys for more than a year to campaign for a job I don’t really want. You know how much I always wished for a family of my own. Now I have it, and the last thing in the world I want is to miss anything.”
Sam reached over to put her hand on top of his. “I think you’re doing the right thing and not just because I’m a selfish cow who doesn’t want you anywhere but right here with me and the kids. It’s also because of the scrutiny and the nastiness and the vitriol and the haters. The thought of even more of that aimed at you and us makes me queasy to think about, let alone live with.”
“That’s part of it too. If my insomnia is as bad as it is now, I can’t fathom what it would be like with that job.”
“It’d be unbearable. Have you talked to Graham yet?” Retired Senator Graham O’Connor had been a father figure and mentor to Nick since he befriended Graham’s late son John as a freshman at Harvard. Graham and John had played critical roles in Nick’s career, and no one wanted Nick to be president more than Graham did.
“Not yet. He’s going to be bummed. I hate to disappoint him or anyone, but this feels like the best decision for our family right now. I was already leaning toward not running when the Littles came into our lives. Now I know for sure it’s the right thing to be here for them.”
“It might upset people, but I have to say I’m thrilled. No one wants to see you succeed more than I do, but there’re so many other things you can do besides that. Remember how you said you wanted to go to law school?”
“Because that’d be no big deal with three kids underfoot.”
“You could do it. Whatever you want.”
“I might want to teach, actually.”
“Really? You’ve never said that.”
“It’s something I think about.”
“College?”
“High school.”
“Get out of here. Are you serious?”
“I might be. I love the time I spend with kids when I visit schools. I think I could do some good there, get them excited about public service. That’s my thought, anyway.”
“You’d be amazing at it.”
“You really think so?”
“Hell yes.”
“We’d have to take a bit of a pay cut.”
Sam shrugged. “We have what we need.”
“I’d probably have to go back to school to get certified.”
“You and Scotty can do your homework together.”
He laughed. “I’d trade him help with algebra if he writes my papers for me.”
“I bet he’d jump all over that offer.”
“You really think this is a good idea?”
“I think it’s a great idea. You know what it’s like to meet someone like Graham, who opened your eyes to all the possibilities at a critical time in your life when you could’ve gone in any direction. You could do for your students what he did for you.”
“That’s kinda the idea.”
“I truly love this, and I think you will too.”
Nick’s phone chimed with a text. “From Scotty. The Littles are fading fast if we want to say good night.”
“Let’s go.”
They went upstairs to tuck in the twins, who were cuddled up to each other in the big bed they shared. There would come a time when they wouldn’t want to sleep together anymore. Until then, Sam and Nick supported whatever gave them comfort in their grief after losing their parents to murder. And they drew tremendous comfort from each other.
She kissed them both, and then Nick did the same. “Have sweet dreams,” she whispered on the way out of the room. In the hallway, she said to Nick, “Could I borrow your laptop? I need to do some reading about what my vic was charged with.”
“Sure. I’ll run downstairs and grab it for you.”
While he did that, she knocked on Scotty’s door.
“Come in.”
He had homework spread out on his bed. “You saved it all for the last minute again, huh?”
“Why should I ruin the rest of the weekend?”
“True.” She sat on the edge of his mattress. “I did the same thing when I was in school. Always the last minute for everything. It drove everyone crazy.”
“And look at you now. Two degrees and a gold shield.”
“That’s right, but with hindsight, I can see I made things harder on myself than they would’ve been if I’d chipped away a little at a time rather than trying to write an entire paper the night before it’s due.”
“I can sorta see that, but I can’t bring myself to actually do it.”
“You should try it for the next big thing. Do thirty minutes a day for two weeks before it’s due, and see what you think.”
“I’ll take that under advisement.”
“That’s my line, and you’re not allowed to use it.”
“The last time you used that line, we were talking about the dog this family needs. What’s the status of that?”
“Still under advisement.”
“How long does advisement take, anyway?”
“Depends on the issue. Taking on another living, breathing thing that would be dependent on us to feed and care for it requires some time.”
“You took on five-year-old twins without even five minutes of so-called advisement.”
A snort from behind her let her know Nick was listening.
“Am I right?” Scotty asked him.
“When you’re right, you’re right.”
“Whose idea was it to send him to school so he could outsmart us?” Sam asked Nick over her shoulder.
“It was most definitely not my idea,” Scotty said. “I want to be homeschooled. That sounds like fun.”