by Janae Keyes
Kayla
THE FLASHING OF the camera continued to go off. I did my best to hold my pose, but my jaw was starting to hurt holding this smile. I was used to smiling a lot though. Being First Lady meant a lot of photos and a lot of smiling even when I didn’t want to smile, but today I didn’t mind smiling.
“Ok First Lady stay where you are. Mr. President can you place your hand on the First Lady’s belly and have the little one do the same.” The photographer said. I looked slightly over to Matthew who gave me a smile. We were taking our official White House Christmas card photos.
I then felt a much smaller hand on my belly and looked down at my beautiful daughter. She was smiling at the camera looking like an angel in her pretty white lace dress. She was the most beautiful little girl I’d ever seen with her beige skin and bouncy brown curls.
“There a baby.” My little girl said taking a poke at my belly.
“Be careful Ava you might poke your sister in the eye.” Matthew said to our daughter. I shot him a look, but I couldn’t help, but laugh. I felt a small kick from within.
Matthew and I had a beautiful end of July wedding. It was over the top and overly expensive, but the American people had what they’ve always wanted, their very own royal wedding. Our wedding was advertised like it was the top sporting event of the season. There was actual merchandise that sold like crazy and billions around the world tuned in to see Matthew and I marry in the Capitol Rotunda. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the hype and how big the wedding was, but at the end of the day I was happy because I was marrying the man of my dreams. I was going to spend the rest of my life with the man I loved.
I’d stopped my birth control that Spring after we discussed having children right away and right before our wedding I learned I was pregnant with Ava. Ava graced us with her presence the next March. Looking down at my daughter I couldn’t believe that Matthew and I had made her and now we had another little girl on the way.
I don’t know if it was my hormones, the magic of the season, or just my happiness, but I was suddenly filled with emotions. I did my best to sniff back my tears as I looked down at the two hands on my belly.
“I need a tissue.” I sniffed knowing that once my tears started to fall my make-up would be ruined.
“Here you are First Lady.” An intern said to me as she thrust a box of tissues at me. I then took a couple from the box.
“Thank you.” I said sweetly to her as I quickly dabbed at my eyes and took a breath.
“I think I got everything.” The photographer said as he put his camera down, but there were more cameras on me. I was giving an exclusive interview tonight and the cameras wanted some behind the scenes footage.
A make-up artist rushed to me and started to fix my make-up for the interview. As much as I could say I was used to this life I wasn’t and we now had another four years here in the White House as Matthew had just won re-election.
“Come on Ava you can play for a bit and then it will be bathtime.” The nanny said to my little girl. I bent down to Ava and gave her a hug.
“Mommy will be up before bed to read you a book.” I said to my sweet girl.
“Promise?” She said in her small little voice.
“I promise.” I said giving her a kiss on the cheek.
“And Daddy?” she questioned pointing to Matthew who was in the corner talking to Nora who was now his Chief of Staff.
“Maybe, but Mommy for sure.” I said to her. She gave me a smile and then ran off to the nanny who had her hand out waiting for Ava who took her hand.
Having a nanny was strange to me, but as First Lady I was always on the go doing something and making speeches. I wanted to do it all and I wanted to raise Ava myself, but one day I’d burnt myself out. I was on the bathroom floor crying and Matthew convinced me that hiring a nanny would be a help and it had been.
I walked over to Matthew who was in an intense conversation with Nora. He looked at me with a frown and I knew it wasn’t good at all. I’d gotten so used to the ups and downs of the White House at this point.
“I’ve got to head out. There’s an emergency.” He said to me.
“Ok. Do you what you need to do.” I simply said to him. He gave me a small smile and pressed his lips to mine. My stomach did a flip. I was so happy that after the last four years with him his kisses still made my stomach flip.
Matthew then left the room with Nora right behind him. I let out a sigh before I turned around to the camera crew and the interviewer who was waiting for me in a small sitting area that was setup just for the interview.
I walked over and sat down on the chair opposite the interviewer who gave me a smile. I was pretty excited to be interviewed by Yolanda Martinez who was the newest anchor of the News At Night and a fantastic journalist.
“And Three…Two…One…Action.” The director said.
“First Lady Von Hansen thank you for joining us today.” Yolanda said to me with a kind smile.
“No problem and of course you can call me Kayla.” I said.
“So Kayla we were just given the opportunity to watch you, the President, and your adorable daughter Ava take your Christmas card photos and there was a moment that you seemed to get emotional. Can you tell me what that was about?” Yolanda asked me. I simply smiled thinking of that moment.
“I was thinking of how blessed I am. I have a wonderful husband, a beautiful daughter, and another one on the way. We don’t even have to be here in this White House and I would still be so blessed and honored to have them in my life.” I answered truthfully. Matthew didn’t have to be the President. He could be working in a fast food joint for all I cared, but he would still be the love of my life no doubt about it.
“That’s beautiful. So the White House announced that you would be having another girl. I know President Von Hansen had been very vocal about wanting a boy. Was he disappointed?” she asked me.
I could remember the ultrasound. Matthew kept saying it was going to be a boy, but I knew all along from day one we were having another girl. Then the ultrasound tech said it was a girl I remember how long Matthew’s face had become, but boy or girl he was an amazing father.
“He was a little disappointed, but is still happy. He does want to try one more time for a boy. Right now we are just happy to have a healthy baby.” I said thinking of how Matthew practically begged me that after our next baby was born to try again for his Von Hansen boy. “We are also thankful for how the American people and people around the world have supported us through this pregnancy especially after the loss of our last.” I thought about the miscarriage we’d suffered before I became pregnant again. It had been hard on us as a family and it was a difficult decision to be open about it with the public, but it was the best decision we could have made. I received so many words of kindness from women around the nation who’d also been through similar experiences and in the moments where I felt alone I simply knew I wasn’t.
“Switching gears a bit. Your relationship would seem to be a rocky one with the President as a conservative republican and you a very outspoken liberal. How do you manage that?” she asked.
“We manage. We piss each other off sometimes, but we have rules. I still write Broken Politics and I may say things he doesn’t like and he may pass legislation that I am totally against, but our main rule is no hitting below the belt. We fight fair. Also we try and keep political talk on a daily basis to a minimum. On Sunday nights after we put Ava to bed we have one hour to duke it out and talk about everything political. Once that hour is over we close it up and wait until the next Sunday. It keeps things civil. Plus we love each other. Our love seems to get us past it.” I explained. I know I was pretty excited about this upcoming Sunday because Matthew said something in a speech the day before that really ticked me off and I was awaiting my go at him. The best part about Sundays that I didn’t dare say out loud was after it was all done we had the most amazing sex. I’m pretty sure our current baby was made on a Sunday evening.
&nb
sp; “That’s a good system.” She said. “This reelection seemed to be rough on the two of you and your family. Matthew’s opponents seemed to really go in. How did you survive?”
“Truthfully we almost didn’t. There was a time I wanted him to throw in the towel and give up. I was over it all. Matthew and I were both attacked, but what I couldn’t handle was when they attacked my toddler and unborn child.” I thought about the election. People were seriously wild animals who didn’t care who they hurt. I was called every derogatory name in the book and a few names were thrown at my children. The election was so hard. I was so pleased when it was all over and having the knowledge that we didn’t have to do it again was calming to me.
“That’s tough. Even people from the President’s own party seemed to take nice jabs at your family.” I simply nodded. I didn’t want to think about that time anymore. I wanted to see the beautiful future that we had ahead of us.
WHEN THE INTERVIEW was over I’d gone straight up to Ava’s room to read her a book and tuck her in bed. When I got into my own room it was dark. Matthew was still away on his emergency. I let out a sigh and changed into my nightgown before slipping into my bed. I grabbed my iPad and looked through social media a little bit. I saw Simone has posted photos of she and Joey’s honeymoon, we’d sent them away to Anguilla at Matthew’s parent’s place.
Simone and Joey hit it off right away. I was beyond happy for my best friend. She’d found someone who made her happy the way that Matthew made me happy. I looked through the photos and turned off my iPad. I was so tired from our busy day.
I thought about my little family that was growing everyday. Pretty soon we would have another little girl joining us. I couldn’t believe how lucky I was. I thought back to that first day I walked into the Oval Office and my eyes met Matthew’s for the first time. Who would have known that we would be where we are today.
Matthew
WALKING INTO THE residence I was exhausted. It had been such a long day and now night. Being President was a non-stop job. I took my tie off and threw it over a chair in the sitting room. I walked over to a door and peeked in to see my little Ava fast asleep in her bed. Quietly I closed the door before walking towards my own room.
I tip-toed into the bedroom where I saw Kayla fast asleep. She’d done that interview after the photoshoot and I knew that interviews seemed to exhaust her especially now with the baby on the way.
I went into the bathroom and changed into my pajama pants before heading back into the room. I slipped into bed and I heard Kayla stir. She let out a small groan and I felt her hand reach towards my side of the bed looking for me.
“Baby?” She whispered in the dark.
“Yeah I just got in.” I whispered to her looking at the clock. It was just past two o’clock in the morning.
“Is everything ok?” she asked with concern in her voice.
“A black hawk helicopter went down during a training exercise and everyone on board died. I had to get briefed on everything and work on the statement the White House will be releasing. I’m going to call all the families tomorrow morning to give my condolences.” I explained to her. I felt her scoot towards me and put her head on my chest.
“That’s very nice of you.” She said placing a kiss on my chest. I reached down and put my hand on her belly. I could feel a little bit of movement. We were having another little girl. I loved my kids with everything I could love them with and then I had Kayla who just completed my life in every way.
“Get some sleep. We can talk more in the morning.” I whispered as I placed a kiss on her forehead.
“Ok. I love you.” She said. I closed my eyes for a moment and took a deep breath breathing in her sweet lavender scent.
“I love you Kayla Von Hansen. More than you will ever know.” I said as I held onto her tightly. I was going to keep her close always. She was my always and my everything. She made everything make sense even when my mind was cloudy. There was nothing better than this life. “I love you…more than you will ever know.”
THE END
About the Author
Janae Keyes has been writing for as long as she can remember. Janae works part-time and spends her days chasing her toddler around when she isn’t working on improving her craft. Though originally from the California Bay Area, Janae currently lives in a suburb of Brussels, Belgium with her husband and daughter.
There is so much more from Janae coming in the near future.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I want to thank my amazing husband Olivier for standing behind me. You are so great for letting me run with what I am passionate about. You let me read passages out loud and bounce my random ideas off you. I know some nights you were not happy that I came to bed late because I was stuck at my computer writing away. I love you and thank you so much for standing behind me through this process.
To my sweet little Gabrielle, my daughter, thank you for taking really long naps some days and letting me crank some words out. I can only hope that one day that you find something you are this passionate about. I will be right behind you cheering you on.
To my mom, Christine Fox-Fayyad, thank you for allowing me to be creative growing up. Thank you for working hard and letting me be who I wanted to be. I would be nothing without you. You didn’t have an easy job raising me alone and I thank you always. You always reminded me to never give up on my passions.
To my bestie, Amber Milton-Sandifer!!! Moe I did it! You’ve been my writing buddy for as long as I can remember. We’ve been working hard at this for so long just being the creative kids we’ve always been. You’ve always had my back and always went with my ideas even with I would send you facebook messages at random hours with my crazy new story ideas. It’s been a long road, but it feels good to be here Moe & Joe… Slim Fast Bandits 4 Eva!
To Mrs. Joanna Chocooj, Thank you for being the teacher who pushed me to write. I kept my writing folders from my year in your 3rd grade class. Without that year in your class I don’t think I would have found my voice in writing. Thank you so very much.
Thank you so much to Courtney Cannon for designing the cover that I imagined in my mind. I was so amazed that you were able to take my words and make something so amazing.
A HUGE thanks to those who helped edit: Tiffany Cordes, Courtney Cannon, Sarah Roemmich, Amber Sandifer and Tessa Thompson. I don’t think I would have noticed half the mistakes without you ladies. Thank you a million times over.
I want to then give myself a pat on the back. This is the second full novel that I’ve written. I’m still tweaking my first, but it will be out sooner rather than later. This is only the beginning.
With All My Love,
Janae