After his mother’s surgery, Jake started counting down the days until he caught a red eye out to Washington D.C. He helped where he could while his parents were away, but his wife and sister in law both ran him off every time he tried to help clean. They know exactly how his mother wanted the house and they would make sure it was done.
The women had even set up a schedule. When Delilah and Mandy would clean, Jordan and Maddie would cook. Everyone else was responsible for their individual rooms. Jake and Malachai were responsible for the kids. The day that Jake was supposed to leave him and Malachai took the kids to the hospital to sneak their parents some food. “Jake, what the problem with the women doing all the work?” Malachai asked as he drove to the hospital.
“I’m not used to not having something to do. I’m always doing something and not working or helping around the house. With you and Jordan home, I have nothing to do but sit on my ass other than when I’m feeding or playing with Miri.”
“I’m seen you working with your laptop doing something in PowerPoint.”
“I’m working on a presentation for my meeting tomorrow.”
“When do you leave for that?”
“This evening. Good thing I packed last night.”
“Yeah, or you’d be doing it right now”, Malachai looked for a parking space. He spotted reporters at the front entrance. “SHIT!” he said, cursing out loud. “Did you see what I just saw, Jake?”
“Paparazzi? Yeah, I saw them.”
“CHRIST!”
“You sound like Uncle Matt.”
“So be it”, he said with a laugh. He found a place to hide the truck close to the east entrance. “Good thing Mom’s room is in the east wing, huh?”
“For sure.” Jake grabbed his daughter out of her car seat and the dishes out of the floor board. He looked at Malachai who was wrestling with his three children. “You ready to run for the door?”
Malachai looked at his oldest children. “Grab hands and get ready to run.” To his youngest, he said, “Eli, on Daddy’s back.” He squatted down so that he boy could climb on his back. “Ok, Jake, ready when you are.”
Jake nodded and took off running with his brother right behind him. They got in the building and to the elevator without being noticed.
As they rode up to the third floor, everyone but Miri and Eli caught their breath. “I haven’t run like that in a while”, Malachai laughed.
“When I’m in my lab and something happens on the floor I leap up the stairs two to three at a time. I’ get my cardio”, Jake laughed in return.
“I need to get back on stage man. I’m glad that Jordan’s put becoming a mother on the back burner for the time being. I’m starting to get fat.”
“Are you guys writing again?”
“Yeah, we’re getting ready to go back into the studio.”
“Does Dad know?”
“Dad’s got enough to deal with right now. We’ve told Uncle Dan, but Dad’s going through a lot dealing with Mom.”
The elevator reached their floor and they headed to their mother’s room. They checked the nurses’ station and saw that all of the nurses were gathered and gossiping. They bolted past the station and knocked softly on the door. “Come in”, their father called.
They walked in with looks of confusion on their faces. “Where’s Mom?” Malachai asked.
David looked toward the closed door behind them. “Where do you think?” He looked at Jake. “Jake, give me that baby now.” Jake set little Miri on the floor and let her toddle over to her Grampa while she held on to his fingers. He smiled. “Holy shit, she’s already trying to walk?”
Jake nodded. “She decided that crawling wasn’t fast enough for her.”
Brie came out of the bathroom as her husband picked up little Miriam. “Was she walking, baby?” she asked as she tried to make her way back to her bed.
As David opened his mouth to respond, he saw his three oldest grand children bum rush their Gramma. His eyes widened in horror as he watched them nearly knock her down. Thankfully, she took a step back and braced for impact. “HI GRAMMA!” they all said.
“Hey there, you guys”, she said with a forced smile. There wasn’t a man in the room that couldn’t’ see the pain in her eyes.
Malachai was quick to jump into action. “You three know that Gramma’s hurt. If I see you guys do that BS again, I promise each of you that you’ll be in SO MUCH TROUBLE when we get home. Do I make myself perfectly clear?”
The three children pouted. “Yes, sir.”
Jake helped Brie back to bed. “Are you ok, Mom?” he asked after helping her settle back in.
Her voice was strained as she responded. “Having to brace like I did smarted a little and you might wanna check the staples to make sure that nothing’s popped out, but I’m fine other than that, Jake. I’ll have the nurses bring me some pain medication after you all leave and I eat a little something.” She looked at the dishes that he’d set on the tray. “What delicious delicacy are we eating this afternoon?” she asked.
“Delilah found your Kugel recipe and decided to try her hand at it. She seems bound and determined to learn to cook for the Jewish diabetic.” Jake couldn’t help but laugh.
His parents exchanged a look as they opened the dishes their sons had brought them. They sniffed the still steaming hot food and dared to take a bite. After swallowing, his father spoke first. “I was skeptical, I’m not going to lie. But, that was really good.”
Brie nodded. “Mine’s better, but it’s a really good replication. She came close.”
Jake smiled. “She’ll be happy to hear it. Now, Dad, if you don’t mind, I’m going to take Miri and we’re going to go. I’ve got to get ready to fly out this evening for that stupid hearing tomorrow morning.”
“That’s already come up?” David said. “I thought it wasn’t supposed to be until next week.”
“It was rescheduled at the request of the President.”
“Well, you guys had all get on out of here then. Good luck, Jacob”, Brie said.
“Yeah, Jake, good luck”, David said as he surrendered Miri to her father so that they could leave. Before handing her off, he gave her a kiss. “Bye, Miri. Grampa and Gramma will be home in a few days.” The little girl giggled as her daddy took her and handed her to Gramma who did the same as Grampa. After Malachai’s kids said good bye to their grandparents, everyone that didn’t belong in the room left.
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Malachai took his younger brother to the airport that evening. Jake wasn’t even allowed to walk out of the door without a promise to his wife and daughter that he’d call as soon as he got to the hotel. After checking his suitcase, he went through airport security and went to his gate to wait on his flight. It would be long before he was getting ready to board the plane. As he watched a movie on his laptop, someone came and tapped him on the shoulder. “Are you Dr. Draiman?” the young woman asked after he pulled an earbud out of his ear.
“Yes.”
“I need you to pick up your things and follow me, please, sir.” Jake packed his things and followed the young woman. As they walked he observed that the was dressed like a flight attendant. It was rather odd to him, but he didn’t complain. When they reached the gate that they were looking for, she turned to him and smiled. “Enjoy your flight aboard Air Force One.”
Jake looked at the window at the plane. He walked to the boarding ramp and got on the plane. When he walked into the cabin, he was shocked. “Mr. President?” he said.
“Dr. Draiman, it’s nice to finally meet you”, President McAllister said with a smile as he extended his hand. He had a southern drawl to his voice that was rather noticeable.
Jake took the man’s hand and shook. “And I you, sir. Why did you bring your personal air plane to come get me?”
“Because, I think you and I need to talk, Doctor. I don’t think that you understand what’s REALLY going on in my cabinet and I think you should have to WHOLE story before you go into this hearing tomorrow. Now, Doctor, why don’t we have a seat and share a drink?”
“I’ll just have a soda or water, if you don’t mind Mr. President. I don’t really drink.”
“The wife got that ole’ ball in chain attached to your foot, Dr. Draiman?”
Jake chuckled. “I’m afraid that I’ve been dragging this particular ball and chain around a lot longer than I’ve known my wife, sir.”
“Oh? And what might it be?”
“I’m a Type I diabetic. Alcohol reeks hell on my blood sugar.”
He nodded. “Then, would you like a diet soda?”
Jake grimaced. “No. I can drink a normal soda and not have a problem. My mother’s taught me well how to keep my sugar regulated.”
The President sat down and Jake followed suit. Once the drinks were served the pilot was informed that they were ready for takeoff. And once they were in the air, the President of the United States gave Dr. Draiman the run down on what was happening in the cabinet.
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Jake sat and listened to everything the President had to say as they flew from Denver to Washington D.C. There was a plot afoot that that he had no idea about, but he was certain that he was going to put a stop to it. No one conspired against him and survived the experience with their dignity intact. He sat on the plane and stared out the window; his mind spinning out of control. Everything that President McAllister said was running through his mind. All of the infighting going on within the chamber and it spilling over into Congress. Kill the head and the body shall die, was came to mind. Kill the arguing in the Cabinet and the arguing in Congress will end. And I plan to do just that. The Secretary of Defense will hate me by the time it’s all over, but I really don’t care. Let him hate me.
When the plane landed, his put his coat on and grabbed his suitcase from under the plane. “Thank you for the information, Mr. President. I really appreciate it, sir.”
“Not a problem Dr. Draiman. I look forward to hearing what you have to say to the members of my Cabinet tomorrow. I’m sure you’ll give them an earful.”
“I hope you’ll forgive the lack of decorum, Mr. President, but I plan to let them know that messing with me is a LOT like masturbation. It seems like a REALLY good idea until you get done and realize that you just screwed yourself.”
McAllister laughed as he got into his limo to head back to the White House. “I like that, Dr. Draiman. May I use that at some point?”
“I don’t own it, so I don’t really care.”
“Where did you hear it?”
“My younger brother heard it from someone, who heard it from their dad. I don’t know, Mr. President.”
“Well, I’ll have to find a good opportunity to use that. It’s kinda funny.” The door to the limo closed and the window came down. “Go call your wife and let her know that you arrived in Washington safely, then get a little rest. The limo behind you is for you.”
Jake smiled. “Who am I to argue with the President of the United States?”
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Once he checked into the hotel, Jake called Delilah and Miri to tell his girls that he was safe as she changed his clothes. Delilah picked up the phone as he hung his business trench on one of the hangers in the room. “Hello?” she said.
“Hey baby. I’m at the hotel and I’m safe.”
“Good, that’s a load off of my shoulders. Have you eaten recently?”
“Yes, and you’ll never believe who I broke bread with on the flight here.”
“Who, Jakey?”
“The President. He personally came to pick me up in Denver aboard Air Force One.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Nope.” He pulled the garment bag that contained the suit he’d wear for the meeting in the morning out of the suitcase and hung it next. “We had an interesting conversation.”
“About?”
“Classified. Doesn’t THAT suck?”
“It DOES! Tell the President your wife’s not his biggest fan at the moment.”
“I’ll be sure to tell him”, Jake laughed, then sighed. “How is our little girl?”
“Mad at Mommy for making her go to sleep before hearing from Daddy. She wanted to hear Daddy’s voice before going to sleep because she’s a spoiled little shit.”
He laughed. “I can’t help that.”
“I know.” It was her turn to sigh. “I miss you so much, my Jakey.”
“I miss you too, my Lilah. Sleeping without you next to me is going to SUCK!”
“I know. When should you be back?”
“I don’t know. I’m going to have to talk to President about going home. I don’t know if my return ticket is any good because I flew up here on Air Force One.”
“I’m sure it should be. It’s two separate tickets, right?”
“Yeah. And they’re open ended. I could probably leave tomorrow right after the meeting out of Reagan.”
“Do what you have to, love, just come home to me as soon as you can.”
He smiled. “I will, Lilah, my love. Don’t worry. They’re never gonna take me.”
“I know, just thought I’d remind you. Don’t forget to iron your suit in the morning.”
“I won’t. I’m going to look my best tomorrow. My parents didn’t raise a slouch when it comes to dressing.”
“I know, baby. I’ve seen the way your parents dress. Alright. You need to get to sleep and I’m hunting through your mother’s cook books to find some things to cook tomorrow.”
“Don’t try so hard. But, when I get back, I want tacos.”
“You got it. Now, get to sleep, Micah. I love you.”
“I love you too, Cheyenne.” And they hung up.
