They’ll barely know her.
Hell, I’ll be pushing sixty by then.
I’m going to have my hands full making her take family time, and don’t think I don’t know that. She did, however, promise me that she would take off four to six years after her second term, before running for the Senate. By then, the boys will be close to heading to college.
Like I could really tell her no.
If she does decide to do that, to run for the Senate, then I’ll be her campaign manager and Owen her chief of staff, which is only fair. It’ll give us a chance to not need to make excuses being around each other all the time on the campaign trail, or why Owen spends time alone with her, or travels with her. Once she’s elected, I’ll handle comms, while Owen can be COS.
If he wants to.
If not, once she’s elected, the two of us will focus on supporting her on the home front and staying out of her way.
All this was for her benefit, because Owendamnsure didn’t want it. Not really. He wanted it becauseshewanted it for us. There’s an irony there, too, that she’s the cut-throat politician, and Owen’s happy teaching the boys how to make dolmades and moussaka from scratch, in between helping them learn theirABCs and how to swim.
The loving childhood he didn’t have, with doting parents he was denied.
And then there’s me, the pivot between the two. Owen wants her to be happy, and so do I. We make her happy by supporting her. I want to make Owen happy. Making them happy makes me happy.
Lather, rinse, repeat.
“Fuck, yeah!” Dray yells, high-fiving Susa, Ethan, and Gregory as more results roll in.
I loudly clear my throat, and he turns, realizing what he said as he catches sight of the boys with Owen. “Whoops.” He grins. “Sorry, Dad.”
But I glance over to where Owen and the boys are curled up together on the couch. He’s not wearing his jacket, and he’s loosened his tie. He’s got the boys in his lap, holding his iPad as they play some sort of educational game together that’s probably teaching them numbers, or Esperanto, or kid physics, or…something.
Owen spends every spare minute he has—and a few that he doesn’t—doing everything he can with the boys. Sometimes I wonder if I should tell him to tone it back a little, until I realize he’s being a good dad.
I can’t bear to deny a second of that to him.
Owen’s counting down the days until he can kick back and enjoy life again. I’ve already told him he’s to take the next six months off, and I’ve cleared his calendar as much as possible.
On the other hand, Susa’s counting down the minutes until she knows her future for certain.
A future she desperately wants, and I’m feeling…ambivalent about.
As her husband, I want her to be happy, even if all I wish is for the three of us to be able to relax and enjoy life out of the spotlight, enjoy this time in the boys’ childhoods.
Be a family, where we don’t have to worry about people popping out of doors with cameras, or spying on us if we want to walk down the street and browse through shops.
I want to be able to lean over and kiss my wife…and my husband.
And I want them to be able to kiss each other in public, with or without me there.
I want to return to our house in Brandon, be able to sell one of the townhouses in Tallahassee, and cherry-pick the work we do. Let Owen handle environmental cases when he wants to. Maybe I’d do a little campaign consulting. Susa can write her book or throw her opinion in where she wants to as a TV network’s political expert.
The love in Owen’s eyes when he watches us can’t be measured. The joy that’s filled his life since we’ve become parents can’t be bought or sold.
In many ways, absolutely, he’sfinallygetting the childhood he was denied, even as he’s a dad.
Downstairs, there’s a stage awaiting us, win or lose. There is a room full of people who started assembling there hours ago, and who are probably starting to get pretty damn loud now that the polls have closed and exit polling numbers are swinging heavily our way in even greater numbers than Owen enjoyed.
There are a couple of FHP officers and several Hillsborough County deputies on duty in the hallway outside the suite. Whether they’re going to be guarding one or two governors by the end of the evening remains to be seen.
I have my suspicions it’ll be two.
Tomorrow, I already have a full morning slate of interviews booked for Susa, just in case. Some want her win or lose, some contingent upon her winning tonight. That fucking Kevin Markos wants first crack at her, regardless. I decided to tell Dray to book him first for a sit-down and get him out of the way. Any hits Markos scores on her, she can swing back during the later interviews and make him look like an ass. Either way, tomorrow morning’s going to be busy.
