Epilogue

"Welcome home, Madame President!" Steve Hastings' smile was ear-to-ear as he embraced his daughter in the foyer of his home.

"Madame Former President, if you please," Stephanie rejoined, hugging her father as tightly as he did her. "It's been a hell of a ride, Dad, but I'm glad I did it."

"Frankly, baby," Hastings replied, holding her at arm's length so he could look into her eyes, "I'm glad you did too. How the hell you managed to get rid of such a crushing deficit in just eight years, I don't know, not to mention restoring the country's reputation with most of the rest of the world, and taking the wind out of the sails of the terrorists."

"None of it was easy, dad," his daughter said. "I mean, most of the solutions were common sense, but getting Congress to act in the best interests of the country was a really hard sell."

"It must have gotten a bit easier after you twisted arms and got that Campaign Finance Reform bill passed."

"A little, but getting that passed without too many loopholes was a bitch."

"I'm still not sure how you got them to insert that 'full disclosure' clause into the rules in both houses. That must have taken some wheeling and dealing."

"Not really. I had to threaten to veto some legislation that I really wanted passed to convince some of them, and for others I had to agree to some distasteful stuff, but it was pretty low fat pork, at least. I think many of them were relieved. It wasn't good for them in the polls to come up looking like fools for having voted for something they didn't even know was in the bills that came out of committee."

Steve nodded, "I'm especially glad you stopped the idiocy of allowing them to change the congressional record. That and tying the publication of voting records to the CFR bill makes it a hell of a lot easier for us voters to know who we're really voting for."

"I won't say I'm not proud of my accomplishments, Dad, but I'm glad it's over and I can wear jeans again for a while."

"I don't think anyone else could have done it, sweetheart, especially with even the CIA working against the White House."

"It wasn't the CIA, dad, just the DCIS, and most of your enemies. Thanks, by the way, for defusing that CNOOCO situation before it became a matter for us to handle."

"Don't mention it, baby. It was the least I could do. So, now that you're no longer President, what are you going to do?"

"Well, I'm sure as hell not going to Disneyland! I thought I'd chill here for a little while, if that's all right with you, before sorting through all the offers of speaking opportunities and so forth that are already piling up. I'd like to get reacquainted with mom and the aunts and Darren, and get to know my knight in shining armor a bit better..." Stephanie's gaze turned softly to Liam, still assigned as her Secret Service detail, who blushed, but did not look away.

"You take as much time as you want sweetheart. By the way, I think you'll want to meet Mei's girlfriend, if you haven't already. According to Bob, she's a real firecracker."

"I've only met her through the others, but already I know I'm going to like her. Anybody that can make Aunt Mei that happy is okay in my book."

I'm so glad you feel that way, niece, Mei sent to her mind. We'll be back in California tomorrow. We need to move our main operation back there, now that you won't be spending so much time in Washington, and there are still some details to take care of, so you and Liam have each other to yourselves tonight.

Oh, don't worry, auntie, we're going to be very busy tonight!

I'll see you folks tomorrow, if I survive, Liam inserted. I forgot to ask the Secret Service if I get hazardous duty pay for this...

The other's laughter was more dutiful than spontaneous, but it got him a whack on the deltoid by the former President.

If you kept up with your conditioning, sailor, Stephanie 'told' him, you wouldn't be in any danger. Now take me upstairs and make a slut out of me.

The obvious rejoinders were, with effort, withheld as Stephanie made a half-hearted apology and bade her father goodnight, then went off to find her room, the Secret Service man in tow.

Steve, smiling, watched her go, a father's pride written plainly on his expression. Judy Hastings entered the foyer as Stephanie and Liam, arms around each other, mounted the stairs. She slid an arm around her husband's waist and asked, "Oh, did I miss her?"

"Don't worry, dear," Steve smiled. "You'll get plenty of time to get reacquainted after she wears him out."

"Stephen Hastings! What a way to talk about your own daughter!"

"Hey, I love my daughter very much, partly because we don't have secrets from each other. After eight years of playing footsie with those stuffed shirts in Washington, wouldn't you want to let your hair down a little?"

"Actually, sweetheart, if you can wrest your gaze from the lusty couple, you might notice that my hair is down, and since it appears that we're not going to be needed as hosts for a while..."

Steve turned and swept her up in his arms, kissing her passionately.

"Message received, wench!" he laughed as they broke the kiss.

"You know," Judy purred, snuggling her head under his chin as he carried her up the stairs, "I used to be jealous of the time you spent in training with the Gemini girls, but it's kinda nice to have a guy who can still sweep me off my feet."

"Why don't Jun and I fly this thing back to California?" Darren said, entering the jet's cockpit without waiting for a reply. "You four can just relax for a few hours 'til we get back to California."

"You sure you don't mind?" Mei asked, but images of activities other than relaxation were running through her mind.

"Not at all, Mei," Jun said with a smile, joining Darren on the flight deck. "Of course, you don't have to relax..."

"How would you like to join the 'Mile High Club?'" Mei asked her lover as they buckled their seat belts, settling luxuriously into the plush seats of the Gemini/Winchell corporate jet.

"What about Sun and Wei?" Stella whispered back, red-faced.

"That was my next question, baby," Mei smiled. "You see, we have always had to be careful with sex partners to avoid compromising our clients' security, and, well, that means we kind of keep it 'in the family.'"

"So..." Stella began mulling over her lover's words, "You're asking if I would mind them joining us for sex?"

Mei only nodded, her eyes never wavering from Stella's.

"Are they, you know, like you?"

"In the way you mean, most definitely. In other ways, not so much. Sun, especially, and Jun are cloned from different 'parents' though their engineering is the same as mine and Wei's, so there are some genetic differences."

Stella waved a hand, dismissing those 'minor' differences. "Mei, I'm no saint, but I've never been with more than one lover at a time. On the other hand, the prospect of making love with three of you excites me more than you can imagine. Would you think me too much of a slut if I said I didn't mind?"

"I would think you are truly the adventurous young woman I thought you to be," Mei smiled, then settled back into her seat as the plane accelerated for takeoff.

"Are you going to invite them to join us?"

"They know."

"But how... ?"

"That is the thing you have noticed about us, Stella," Mei's eyes bored into hers, "but have not been able to identify. The four of us, " her nod clearly indicated the other G-girls, "Darren, Liam, and Stephanie share our thoughts through a bond that even we don't understand. We seven always know what the others are thinking, and do not have to talk about it."