Madam President

Chapter Twenty-Six

"This is me showing you. And I'm hoping for a yes. I...fuck. I bought it a while ago. I just knew. I knew like I've never known anything before in my life."

Rebecca stared at the ring silently. It was lovely. 

Understated. 

A simple white gold band with a single diamond in it. Rebecca loved it.

"You don't have to marry me, Rebecca. But you can wear it. You can let it mean whatever you want it to mean. And I can still be close. I can still keep you safe. Because I don't know how to live in a world that you aren't a part of, anymore, and I don't want to."

"Freen, stop talking," Rebecca whispered, visibly overwhelmed. Freen hadn't even realized just how badly Rebecca's hands were trembling, she'd been so busy rambling.

She had to bite back an apology as Rebecca drew in a slow breath to steady herself.

"I'll wear it. Of course, I'll wear it. But...but I do want to marry you. I'd only thought that was some far-off fantasy I'd been entertaining. I had no idea you felt this way."

"I've told you how I feel," Freen argued gently, and Rebecca sighed in defeat. "I know you have, darling. But I just have a hard time believing."

Freen looked into Rebecca's eyes for a moment before she pulled the ring from the velvet lining of its box and slipped it gently onto Rebecca's ring finger.

Rebecca didn't even bother to try and work out how Freen knew her ring size.

"Please believe this," Freen said as she brushed her thumb against the ring now that it was settled into place.

Rebecca leaned forward into Freen then to spend a few minutes wrapped in her arms.

Arms that held her gladly and without question.

Arms that she felt safe in, always.

"From Secret Service Agent to First Lady..." Rebecca remarked, sounding both dazed and emotional over the whole thing.

"We don't have to do this during your terms," Freen offered, and Rebecca scoffed quietly.

"You really think I won't have the entire country see us dance at the next inaugural ball if I win?" Rebecca asked incredulously.

Freen made a soft, amused sound in the back of her throat and pulled back just enough to press a soft kiss to Rebecca's lips.

"I'm not going anywhere," Freen murmured into the kiss. "Not ever. You have me. All of me. I promise."

"I'll try to start feeling like that's something I deserve, then," Rebecca said as Freen settled further into the corner of the sofa and Rebecca shifted right along with her.

Freen smiled when Rebecca's head came to rest against her chest. This all felt so inevitable. So much like fate, which she'd never put a whole lot of stake in.

"I'm patient," Freen said as she ran her fingertips slowly along Rebecca's cheek and down the side of her neck. "You know, there's no way we're going to be left alone much longer."

"That's fine," Rebecca murmured. "You aren't a government employee. You're...well. My fiancé, I guess."

Freen had been so caught up in it all that she hadn't even noticed Nam walk through the door.

She certainly noticed the sound of a stack of papers falling to the floor, though, and she looked up at Nam's wide eyes and slack jaw with a breathy, amused sound.

"Hey," Rebecca said casually from her place against Freen's chest. "Uh...hey. Came to see how you're doing."

"My brother is in prison and they're going to charge him with treason, Freen resigned, and I'm engaged. To Freen, obviously. How are you doing?"