“For sure, although they might not have chosen for them to grow up in the White House village.”
“But what a cool and unique childhood it’ll be for them.They’ll tell stories about it for the rest of their lives.”
“Yeah, probably.”
“Speaking of cool and unique, I received an invitation to meet the king and queen of England at Buckingham Palace.”
Sam sat up so she could see him.“Shut.Right.Up.”
“I wondered if you might like to come with me.”
“Duh.”
Chuckling, he said, “I thought we might also swing a trip to Paris to see the French president, since we’ll be in the neighborhood.”
“London and Paris?Am I dreaming?When?”
“June.”
“It’s later in June, so we might get lucky and have the new babies before we go.”
“That’d be good.Can we bring the kids, since they’ll be out of school?”
“Absolutely.”
“I want to do high tea with Aubrey.”
“We’ll do it all, babe.”
“Do you think the Littles will like that kind of trip?”
“They’re usually up for whatever we want to do, especially if Eli and Scotty are there and excited about it.”
“That’s true.They tend to follow their lead.Wow, this just gets more interesting all the time.London and Paris!Sign me up!”
“I’m glad you’re excited about it.”
“It’s even better if we bring the kids and don’t have to miss them.”
“What’ll we do with the terrorist puppy?”
“I’m sure my mom would take her.She loves Miss Skippy.”
“That’d be great.Scotty would feel good leaving Skippy with Nana.”
When they took the turn onto Ninth Street, Sam ran her fingers through her hair.As the car stopped in front of their home, the first thing Sam noticed was the ramp was gone, and the concrete stairs had been rebuilt.For a second, all she could do was stare at the vastly different landscape outside their former home.Then Brant opened the door for them, and Nick took her hand to lead her out of the car.
“That was fast,” she said when they were on the sidewalk.She couldn’t stop staring at the spot where the ramp had once been.
“Craig was able to fit it in yesterday.I should’ve told you that.”
“No, it’s fine.I knew it was imminent.”She glanced to her right to see the one in front of her dad’s home was gone, too.“Everything is different now.”
Nick put his arm around her.“Not everything.Some things are exactly the same, including his overwhelming love for you and the rest of us.He’s so much a part of us, Sam.He always will be.”
Moved by his sweet words, she nodded and went with him up the stairs and into the house they used to call home.
The place was completely empty.
