Madam President (41 page)

Lauren joined Dev on the sofa and patted her knee. "I'm sorry." She looked down at the present that was thrust into her hands. "Wow, it is my birthday again. I swear they come quicker every year." She shook the package, trying to guess what was inside as she folded one leg beneath her. "Can I have a hint?"

Dev didn't answer. Instead, she jumped up and grabbed Lauren's glasses off the nightstand.

Lauren reached out and took them, wordlessly wrapping the wire frames around each ear. She stared down at the gift, trying to remember the last time she'd gotten a birthday gift. Her parents always sent a card. But they stopped giving presents when Lauren turned eighteen and became too old for such foolishness. Judd always gave her a gift on her birthday, but he was the only one. Ever. The writer pushed aside the bittersweet memories and held the box up to her ear, giving it another gentle shake. "Do you want me to open it now?"

"Please." Dev sat back down. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to go lie down before the barbecue tonight, so we won't get a lot of time together until then. I wanted a quiet moment to give it to you. I hope you like it."

"Okay, if you insist." But Lauren was eagerly ripping open the paper and box even as she said the words. Out of the box she pulled three small, brown, leather-bound novels. "‘A Tale of Two Cities'. ‘Oliver Twist'. ‘Great Expectations'! That's one of my..." Lauren paused and studied the books more closely, flipping open the first few pages. "My God, are these first editions?" she whispered reverently. Dev released a very tense breath. "Yeah, they are. Do you like them?" she asked hopefully.

Lauren looked up at her with teary eyes. "I..." She had to stop for a moment. "I love them." She smiled, and her chin quivered a little. "Thank you."

"Hey!" Dev reached out and caught a tear just as it fell from the corner of Lauren's eye. "My gift wasn't supposed to make you cry. No crying allowed!" She grinned. "Wait until you see what I ordered for you for tonight."

Lauren sniffed, only mildly embarrassed. She gave Dev a watery smile. "Will it make me cry too?"

"Gee, I hope not. You'll just have to wait and see." Dev suddenly felt an unexpected, stabbing pain at the base of her skull. "I just can't win. I've got a headache like you wouldn't believe. I'm going to go grab a couple of aspirin, call for a massage, and try to get some sleep." Suddenly she sat up straight. "It's Sunday, isn't it?"

"It sure is, Madam President." Lauren's expression sobered. "You work too hard sometimes, Devlyn. And you get headaches way too often. You need more sleep."

Dev grunted her agreement. "When I took the job, I knew what it meant." She sighed. "I guess sleep is out of the question. The kids will be up soon. Maybe I have time for a massage."

Lauren carefully set down her books on the coffee table. "Umm. Devlyn, you know, I could give you a massage." She slid around behind the couch and began digging her hands into Dev's tense shoulder muscles, kneading them firmly. "Or, I could call someone for you?" she offered innocently, nearly laughing at Dev's deep moan of pleasure.

"Yeeeeesssss." Dev's head dropped forward, giving Lauren more room to work her tired, aching muscles. "I'll give you an hour to stop that. Okay, two hours. But that's my final offer."

Lauren chuckled and continued, feeling Dev relax even more. Abused muscles began to loosen, and before long the President's head fell to the side, and she began snoring softly. Lauren enjoyed touching Dev for a few more moments before she began to slowly cease her massage. She gently helped the exhausted woman to lie down, easing her onto the cushions and allowing her to stretch out. Lauren retrieved a blanket and tucked Dev in. She leaned over and kissed her on the cheek, absently wiping the faint lipstick smudge away with her thumb. "Sleep well, darlin'. Grem and I will be with the munchkins."

The biographer had just stepped out of her room when Emma met her in the hall. "If you're looking for Devlyn, she's in there taking a nap on the sofa. She was-"

"Up all night. I know." Emma shook her head and smiled. "I'm glad she's getting a little rest. Here," she thrust a heavy package into Lauren's hands, "this came in Dev's personal mail this morning, but it's addressed to you. Looks like an early birthday gift to me."

Lauren examined the brown paper wrapping. The return address just said ‘home', but there was a Columbus, Ohio postmark. "Must be from Dev's folks."

Emma nodded. "I'm sure that's Janet's handwriting. But the only way to know for sure is to open it and see."

Lauren chuckled and tore into the paper. "Exactly." It was a book, and when she finally pulled away the last of the brown wrapper both she and Emma turned as red as lobsters. "Oh, my God," Lauren whispered, feeling the heat in her cheeks.

Emma began laughing so hard that she had to step away from Lauren's door for fear she'd wake up Dev. "Oh, yes," she laughed. "That is most definitely from Janet Marlowe. Only she would do that, God bless her liberal soul. Dev certainly took after her traditional father, but you'll see a little of Janet peek out in her every now and then." Emma poked the white cover, tilting her head and seeing the darker pages at the end of the text. "At least she got you the paper and not the electronic version. I just don't think the illustrations would be the same on screen. Do you?"

"How would I know?" Lauren squeaked.

Emma rolled her eyes. "That's why she sent you the book, Lauren."

"Oh, yeah." Lauren shook her head and cracked open the cover. There was an inscription.

Lauren closed the book.
What kind of mother sends the woman her daughter is seeing a copy of ‘The Joy of Lesbian Sex'?!
A smirk overtook her face.
A pretty damned good one.

*
 
*
 
*

Dev rolled up the sleeves on her denim shirt so they stopped just below the elbow. Tucking her shirt into her jeans, she looked around the room for her sneakers. She happened to be on her hands and knees looking under the bed when Lauren entered the room.

"Devlyn, the kids and I, well, that's an interesting view." She chuckled, crossing her arms, taking the time to appreciate the denim-clad backside. In her hand was her camera, and Lauren smirked as she clicked off a few photographs. Dev reached under the bed for her sneaker, grabbing it and banging her head on the way out. ‘Ouch! Damn!" She sat on the floor rubbing the back of her head. "Hey! America does not need a close-up of my butt!"

"America might not" Lauren wriggled her eyebrows, her eyes sparkling with mischief. "But these are going in my personal collection."

"Pervert."

Lauren only laughed.

"Okay, what is it you and the kids want?" Dev winked at the trio as they marched into the room together.

"We're wondering if we have time for a movie with you before the barbecue?"

"Don't see why not." She continued to rub her head. "That hurt," she whimpered, hoping to get a little sympathetic TLC from the writer.

Lauren had to give Dev an ‘A' for effort. She was being treated to puppy dog eyes and Dev's most pitiful, pouty lower lip. The shorter woman laughed and gently stroked the back of Dev's head. "Poor, wittle baby," she teased.

"Oh, okay I see. That's how it is" Dev huffed playfully, pulling on her shoes. "You'd think I'd get more sympathy than that but noooooo"

"I can call in some staff members to coo over you, if you'd like." Lauren winked at Ashley, and the little girl laughed.

"No, no, that's all right. I'll just sit here and be unloved," she paused for a melodramatic sniff. Then she started singing a song Ash recognized immediately "Nobody loves me. Everybody hates me. Going in the garden and eat worms"

Lauren and Ash burst out laughing at Dev's little song. Ashley walked over and planted herself in her mother's lap, kissing her nose. "I love ya', worm breath." She hugged her mother tight around the neck and received a tight squeeze in return.

"I love you too, Moppet. Now, why don't you go back into the living room with your brothers and pick out a movie for us to watch? Lauren and I will be in in a minute or two."

"‘Kay!" Ashley jumped up and ran back into the living room. "Mom said I get to pick the movie!"

"I did not!" Dev contradicted as she got to her feet. She turned to Lauren and opened her arms for a hug. "What about you? Can you love someone with worm breath?"

Lauren wrapped her arms around Dev and squeezed gently. She took the opportunity to nuzzle Dev's throat and sniff. "Ash is right. Definitely worms. "
And I think I could easily fall in love with someone exactly like you
. Lauren exhaled loudly when Dev squeezed her hard for her comment. "Okay, okay. Lucky for you I like worms," she choked out.

"Guess it's just my lucky day then." Dev wrapped her arm around Lauren's shoulder, wincing slightly at the movement. She'd recently been taken down from three physical therapy sessions to two, because of the progress she'd made with her shoulder and arm. The pain, however, seemed to be a constant she was going to have to live with for some time to come. Then the sounds of children most definitely
not
behaving themselves drifted into the room. Dev closed her eyes as she propped her chin on Lauren's head. "Can I go back to bed?"

Lauren bit her lip to keep from saying ‘Only if I can join you!'. She couldn't, however, stop the light blush that colored her cheeks from the mere thought. "Umm maybe we should make sure the kids don't kill each other." The writer grabbed Dev's hand and tugged her towards the family room. "Can I ask you something?"

"You know you can. My life is an open book to you. No pun intended."

"Like I've never heard that before." She made a face. "Even Cardinal O'Roarke hit on that joke in the first six months." Lauren pinched Dev on the butt as they walked.

"Hey!" Dev protested, knowing full well that she was loving every minute of the teasing and banter.

"What I wanted to ask you was how you got to be so good with kids? Your kids, I guess. I know you don't have any brothers or sisters." They made their way to the sofa, casually stepping over Christopher and Aaron who were sprawled out on the floor, wrestling each other. "Half the time they terrify me, and the other half I'm worried for them. And they're not even mine."

"Hold that thought." Dev clapped her hands together, and the children's squeals came to an abrupt halt. "Why are we fussing?"

"Ashley is a stupid head!" Christopher offered, glaring at his sister, who had teamed up with Aaron against him.

"Am not!" Ash shouted back.

"Knock it off, or I know three midget humans who will not be attending the barbecue tonight."

"Mom!" the kids moaned together. "The fireworks!"

"I mean it." Dev's tone was firm. "Now, find a movie and agree on it, and we'll watch it together as a family. Otherwise, you can all go to your rooms and stay there for the rest of the day."

"Yes, ma'am," they grumbled with varying degrees of sincerity. Aaron led the way to the cabinet to claim his favorite disc and begin making his case to his brother and sister.

"You were asking?" Dev said wryly.

Lauren shook her head. "You solved the problem." She pointed to the kids. "No more fighting."