Chapter 36

Monday, February 2, 1998. Ground Hog Day. President Kathleen Lehrer woke to a colorful dawn as the sun began its ascent. She felt more rested than she had since she had become President, having slept a full seven hours without any interruptions. She reached over with her left hand and turned on the radio to hear the news and found that Puxtatawney Phil had seen his shadow, which meant another six weeks of winter.

Her left leg and right arm were aching from the wounds she had received in the assassination attempt at the National Cathedral. She took a mild pain reliever and reached for her crutches so she could hobble to the bathroom. Her headaches had disappeared the day after she had been discharged from the hospital, and the bruises on her chest were now beginning to fade. Her doctors had told her that it would be at least another six to eight weeks before she would be able to have the casts removed from her arm and leg, although they hoped to have her in a walking cast within the next week.

After washing herself, taking care not to get her casts wet, the President managed with some difficulty to dress herself. She was determined that she would do as much as she could for herself without assistance, and after her first day back at the White House had insisted that she would wash and dress herself. After dressing herself, the President decided that she would ride in the wheel chair that had been provided for her, hanging the crutches onto the back of the wheel chair. She then wheeled herself out into the hall, where one of the Secret Service agents went behind her and pushed her to the family dining room where she could join Steve for breakfast. He then left the room, leaving the two of them to eat in private.

"Good morning. You look well rested this morning," greeted the young doctor.

"Good morning, dear," replied the President. "I feel like a million bucks! I've had the best rest I've had since I've been here and I'm raring to get on with the world's problems."

"Great! I think your speech last night went over pretty well. Most of the analyses of the speech are saying that you grabbed the bull by the horns and have put forward a plan that should begin to address some of our long term economic problems. They seem to believe that this program should stop the panic and begin to restore confidence in the economy."

"Now all we have to do is implement it."

"Well, I think you have good people in position to do it as quickly as possible with the least disruptions to the whole system as you can."

"Yes, I'm hoping we can get the whole thing underway by Wednesday, so that we can reopen the banks and the markets. That will be our big test."

They were just finishing their breakfast when the phone in the dining room rang and Steve got up to answer it.

"Yes, she's right here. Hold on for a moment and I'll get her."

"Kath, it's the hospital," Steve said as he handed her the phone.

"Hello, this is the President."

The President listened for several minutes, a smile growing on her face as she listened. "Thank you for calling, Doctor. That is really great news."

She hung up the phone and looked at Steve. "Both Marty and Sara have improved. They've upgraded Marty from critical to serious condition and have moved him out of I.C.U. and Sara has been upgraded from serious to fair condition. The doctors feel that both of them are pretty much out of danger as long as infection doesn't set in."

"That's great!" exclaimed Steve as he moved over to the President and gave her a hug. He stood there holding her as she sat in her wheel chair, when she stood with her good leg and hugged him back with her left arm. He then leaned down and kissed her gently on the lips. "I love you," he said.

"I love you, too," quietly replied Kathy. "You don't know how much your strength has helped me this last week. Just being here has been reassuring to me."

"Will you consider marrying me?" asked Steve.

"I would be proud to be your wife. Are you sure you can handle having the most powerful person in the world as your wife?"

"I think so. The only thing is, what will they call me? The Presidents' wives have always been called the First Lady. Will I be called the First Man?"

"How about my Main Man?" she laughed. "Or maybe my Main Squeeze? Or First Spouse?"

"Well, we'll let the press figure out what to call me."

"I'm sure they'll come up with something."

"We'll have to make preparations."

"How about a Rose Garden wedding sometime in the spring? By that time, Marty and Sara should be pretty well recovered. I'd like to have Marty give me away."

"That's fine with me. We'll have to get the rings and make the announcement."

"I want to let Marty and Sara know first. We'll go over to visit them after my National Security briefing this morning and then we'll stop at a jewelry store on the way back."

"Sounds good to me."

"Speaking of my briefing, I've got to get going."

"I'll wheel you over to the Oval Office."

"O.K., dear. I'll clear my schedule from 10:30 til 1:30 so we can go over to the hospital and tell Marty and Sara the news. I love you."

"I love you too."

By 10:30 the President had finished her morning meetings. Steve was waiting outside the Oval Office for the last meeting to break up when the door opened and the President's economic advisers walked out, followed by the President in her wheel chair.

Steve had both of their coats with him and went to get behind the wheel chair when the President rose and gave him a kiss. "Are you ready?" she whispered to him.

"Yes. Are you?"

"I think so. I wonder what their reactions will be."

"So do I. After all, I'm only seven years older than Marty and ten years older than Sara. I think they think of me more as an older brother than as a potential stepfather."

"I think they'll accept it. They know I'm very fond of you and I think they suspect that we are lovers, although they've never come out and asked me."

By this time, they had approached the limousine that would take them to the hospital. Steve helped his fiancé out of the wheel chair and into the limo, moved the wheel chair back out of the way where it was then taken by an aide and put into the trunk of one of the escort vehicles. Steve then went around to the other side of the limo and got into the back with the President.

Their trip to the hospital was uneventful. As they went through Georgetown, Steve spotted a jewelry store and suggested they stop there on the way back to the White House. Kathy told the driver their plan to stop there on the way back, and he called it into his Secret Service supervisor who dispatched a team of agents to the location to make sure that it was secure.

They were met at Georgetown Hospital by a full security contingent and a nurse who brought a wheel chair to the limo for the President to use. She got out of the limo and into the wheel chair while Steve got out through the other door. The nurse began wheeling the President inside while Steve walked beside her. They were accompanied by their security team to a private elevator that took them to the floor where Marty and Sara were recuperating. They stopped by Sara's room first, and found that she wasn't there. The Secret Service agent there told them that the doctors had her out of bed and walking around for the first time, and that she had walked down the hall to see her brother.

They arrived at Marty's room to find Sara and Sheila visiting the President's son. Sara was sitting in a chair with an I.V. pole next to her and an I.V. drip going into her wrist. Sheila rose as the President and Steve entered, saying, "We're getting a little crowded in here. How about if I run down to the cafeteria to grab a bite to eat and let you have a nice little family get together. Marty, I'll be back in a little bit."

She then leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek and left.

After Sheila left, the President then turned to her son and said, "She's a real nice woman. I like her a lot. She cares for you and she's worried about you."

"Now Mom, don't go reading more into this than is there. We're friends and that is all."

"Well, I just want you to know that if something develops between you two, I won't be upset."

"Aw, Mom!" blushed Marty.

"Now Steve and I have some news for the two of you," continued Kathy. "Steve has proposed to me and I have accepted."

Her children were speechless for a moment. "I don't know what to say," said Sara. "Congratulations, I guess."

Marty then reached over to Steve and said, "congratulations, Pop."

"Sara, you don't sound too sure," said Kathy.

"Well, Mom, I'm not," she replied. "After all. Steve is so much younger than you, he's not that much older than Marty or me, he hasn't even finished his residency, he doesn't have a job, and you have the most important job in the world. I just think that a stepfather would be closer to my mother's age and maturity. I see Steve more as an older brother than as a stepfather."

"You two know how much I care for Steve and how much I've cared for him for a long time. He gave me the strength to carry on in this ball busting job when I hit bottom, right after my two children, you two, were shot and were in critical condition, and I didn't know if you were going to live or die, just because some nut was trying to get me. I blamed myself for putting you two in danger. If it wasn't for Steve, I would have been very tempted to just say the hell with it and withdraw into my own troubles and worries. Then where would we have been? I'll tell you - up shit's creek without a paddle."

Steve was silent as first Sara then Marty looked at him. Sara broke the silence.

"What did you do to snap her out of it?"

"I just reminded her of her responsibilities and told her that although President Abraham Lincoln was devastated by the death of his son Willie while he was in office, he had to carry on and not feel sorry for himself because he had to save the Union. I told your Mother that if she just sat around feeling sorry for herself because of what happened to you two, that she would be letting down the American people who were depending on her."

"I realize," Steve continued, "that what I said to your Mother may sound callous and unfeeling to you. Nothing could be further from the truth. I care a great deal for the two of you, and I love your Mother very much. It is because of the way I feel about her and about you that I said what I did. If I had failed to say something, and your Mother had withdrawn into a shell because of self-pity, she would not have been emotionally able to take the steps that she has had to take to try to save this country. You two don't know how close we are to complete collapse. We're not out of the woods yet, but at least your Mother has shown us the path. If I had not said what I did to her, and she had withdrawn, I would be blaming myself, and you would probably be blaming me as well, for the rest of my life. I did what I felt I had to do."

"So you see," added Kathy, "I love and need Steve as much as he loves and needs me. We draw upon each other's strength when we need it. Yes, there is a large difference in our ages. So What? Steve is much more mature than most people his age. What difference does that make if we really love each other? Steve keeps me feeling younger than my age. He has had a lot of experiences that I never had, and I can learn from his wisdom and his insights."

Sara and Marty were thoughtful.

"Steve," asked Sara, "Will you promise us that you will take care of our Mother and love her for the rest of your life?"

"You know I would. I would lay down my life to save your Mother. That's how much I love her," he answered.

"Boy," said Marty, "it's going to be weird having a step-father."

"That's for sure," added Sara. "What can we do to help in the wedding preparations?"

"First," answered Kathy, "get better so you can get out of this hospital. Marty, I would like you to give me away, and Sara, I would like you to be my Maid of Honor."

"I would be honored," replied Marty. "Where is the wedding going to be held?"

"Well, answered the President, "I was thinking a nice Rose Garden ceremony in the late Spring would be real pretty."

"Wow, Maid of Honor for the President of the United States! I keep forgetting you're President, Mom."

"At times I would like to forget that too," replied Kathy. "But I have the opportunity to accomplish something that will make things better for a large number of people. You remember how I would sometimes bitch about some of the stupid things the politicians were doing in Washington? Well, I've been given the chance to do something about it. Very few people ever have that chance, so I plan to take advantage of it."

Marty lay back on his bed. "I'm feeling really tired. Mom, Steve, congratulations. I wish you both the best of luck and all the happiness in the world."

Steve turned to Sara. "Could we walk you down to your room?"

"Sure, Pop. Boy, that sounds weird! It's going to take some getting used to."

"Well, you two can still call me Steve. After all, I won't replace your real Father. I will just be married to your Mother."

"By the way Mom, are you going to change your name?"

"To tell you the truth, I really haven't thought about it. What do you think, Steve?"

"It's up to you. After all, a lot of professional women go by their maiden names nowadays, so if you want to just go by Kathy Lehrer, it's all right with me. If you want to hyphenate it and go by Lehrer-Stone, that's ok too. It's up to you."

"Well, Sara, I have to think about it."

Kathy and Sara kissed Marty, "We'll see you later. Get some rest and get better real soon. I want you strong enough so you'll be able to walk me down the aisle," said his Mother.

Steve then shook Marty's hand. "Take care, Dude. We'll see you later."

The three of them then left Marty's room, and were picked up by their Secret Service escort as they came into the hallway for the short journey to Sara's room.

Steve helped Sara into her bed, then leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. "I want you to take care of yourself and get better real soon too. Your Mother and I will be a lot happier once you and Marty will be out of here and back at the White House with us. Make sure you get plenty of rest."

"Yes, Doctor," replied the First Daughter sarcastically.

"You listen to what your future stepfather says," said the President. "I want you home soon, too. So you listen to him. After all, we're soon going to have a doctor in the family."

"Yes, Mom. I'll see you later. I'm a bit tired, too, so I think I will take a nap. I need my beauty sleep if I'm going to be Maid of Honor for the President."

"Well, we still have some time for that, but I do want you to get better real soon. We'll see you later."

Steve then moved behind his fiancee's wheel chair and pushed her into the hallway and toward the private elevator. Accompanied by their Secret Service escort, the newly engaged couple went down to the hospital entrance and got into the limo. They then headed to the jeweler that Steve had spotted on their way to the hospital.

As they approached, they saw that the street had been blocked by police barricades and that pedestrians and others were being kept behind barriers nearly a block away from the jeweler.

"I keep forgetting all of the security measures they have to take whenever I have to go anywhere," said the President. "I was hoping to hold off the announcement of our engagement for a little while, but I guess we won't be able to now. I'm sure the press is going to be going around asking questions until they find out. I don't know if I'll ever get used to living in a glass bowl."

"Well, dear, I guess it's something we'll just have to get used to."

"Oh, if only all this security wasn't necessary," she sighed.

"Yes, but unfortunately it is. With all the violence that has afflicted our society over the past thirty years, we have to be prepared for any contingency."

"But I feel like a God Damn prisoner!"

"And you will as long as you are President."

"What a pleasant thing to look forward to. Are you sure you want to go through with this? If you want to change your mind or put it off until after January 20, 2001, I will understand. We can always have a real long engagement."

"No, I don't want to put it off. I love you. Besides how many guys get the chance to have a Rose Garden wedding with a sitting President? Are you sure you want to go through with this? After all, people are going to raise questions, especially with me being so much younger than you. They're going to say that you're robbing the cradle and that I'm just marrying you for the prestige of being married to the President. After all, they'll probably try to track down some of my old gang members in Philly and try to get some dirt on me which is going to hurt you. The tabloids are going to have a field day with this, you know. They'll speculate that my past experiences are what is responsible for your new drug policy, and they'll try to claim that I'm pushing you to grant pardons to some of my old gang members. Can you handle all of that?"

"I am sure I can handle all of that! If they don't like it, then fuck them! I am doing what is best for me and what I feel is best for you. If they can't handle that, then the hell with them! I didn't ask for this God damned job, but I am going to do it to the best of my ability and I'll be damned if a bunch of tabloids are going to dictate to me how to run my life! As long as it won't adversely affect the way I run this government, I don't think it's any of their God damned business what I do with my personal life!"

"Ok, dear. Calm down. I'm just trying to raise some of the questions that are going to be asked and some of the rumors and innuendo that will be raised. I don't want to hurt your ability to govern, especially right now. That has to be the primary thing in your life right now. I want you to understand that I realize that and I don't want to do anything that will hurt your ability to govern. That is the last thing I want to do."

"I know that, and if I felt that marrying you would hurt my ability to govern, I would not have accepted your proposal this morning. I meant everything that I said to Marty and Sara earlier today. I depend on your strength. I need you. I love you. And knowing that you are there to give me the moral support I need when I'm down will help me do a better job as President. Anyway, we're at the jeweler's, so we may as well go in and pick out a ring."

"Yes, dear."

As the limo pulled up right outside the jewelry store, Secret Service agents and police officers formed a small corridor through which they could pass between the car and the store. An agent opened the rear door of the limo, placed the President's wheel chair beside the door, helped the President into the wheel chair, and pushed her inside the store. Steve then followed Kathy out of the door and into the store.

As they entered, they were met by the owner, whose response was, "Oh my God! It is the President! I thought someone was trying to play some sort of joke on me when they told me about two hours ago that you were going to stop here today. Mme. President, it is definitely an honor to have you here. What can I do for you?"

Steve answered, "First I would like to ask you that you keep any details of our transaction confidential. It is no one's business but our's what we buy from you here today."

"Oh, definitely, sir. It is my policy to honor my customers' requests for confidentiality and to provide them with the best service possible. What can I help you with?"

"Well," answered Steve, "We would like to buy an engagement ring and two wedding rings."