White House: Commander In Chief Part 1

Commander in Chief.

Katy Evans.

PLAYLIST.

Gravity - Alex & Sierra.

Better in Time - Leona Lewis Love Me Harder by Ariana Grande.

Reckless Love - Bleachers.

Be Here Now - Robert s.h.i.+rey Kelly Real Love - Clean Bandit If I Didn't Have You - Thompson Square.

You and Me - Lifehouse Holy War - Alicia Keys.

The Ocean - Mike Perry (featuring Shy Martin).

Dangerously in Love - Beyonce.

Better Love - Hozier.

"I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Const.i.tution of the United States.".

1.

OATH.

Matt.

Present Day.

I suit up in black. Knot my tie. Add my cuff links. And step out to the living room of Blair House to greet the senior officer from White House Military, who's here to hand over the top-secret codes in case of a nuclear strike. With him is an aide with the nuclear football that will be pa.s.sed on to me-as of noon, the man who carries it will be my shadow for the next four years.

"A true pleasure, Mr. President-Elect," the shadow tells me.

"Likewise." I shake his hand, then the senior officer's hand as the nuclear codes are handed to me, and they leave.

Customarily, the departing president holds a brunch for the incoming president on Inaugural Day. Not the case with Jacobs and me. I grab my long black coat and slip my arms into the sleeves, nodding at Wilson at the door.

It seemed fitting that I pay a visit to my father today. The day I become the forty-sixth president of the United States.

My father is buried at Arlington National Cemetery, one of three presidents there.

The wind is freezing, flapping my gabardine at my calves. As I walk up to my father's grave, I know the silence will soon be broken by the twenty-one rifle shots from the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

I kneel before his grave, scanning the name-Lawrence "Law" Hamilton, President, husband, father, son-on his tombstone.

He died a long time ago, tragically, in the kind of way that stays with you forever. Branding you.

"I take the oath today." My chest feels heavy when I think of how much he'd love to have seen this. "I want to promise you, Dad, that I'm going to fight for truth and justice, freedom and opportunity for us all. Including finding who did this to you."

The day is fresh in my mind: my father's lifeless eyes, Wilson cowering over me, and me, fighting to pull free so I could run to him. The last thing he'd said to me was that I was too stubborn. He'd been wanting me to go into politics; I'd insisted that I wanted to carve my own path.

It took a decade for me to feel the need to do what my father had always hoped for me.

I'm proud, today, to come visit with the sort of news that would make him as pleased as any father could be.

It seems at times that I talk more to my father here than I did those last few years we were in the White House.

"Mother's well. She misses you. She's never been the same since that day. She's haunted by what happened-and by whoever did this to you still being out there. I think she mourns the years she wanted to build back your marriage. She'd always hoped once we left there that she'd get her husband back. Yeah, we both know how that went."

I shake my head mournfully and spot the frozen flowers resting at the foot of the grave.

"I see she came to see you."

I once again feel the protective instinct of a son wanting to prevent his mother from hurting.

I think of how my father would tell me you're meant for greatness; don't cheat the world of you. And today, out of every day since he's been gone, I miss him the most.

"I have met the most wonderful girl. Do you remember I told you about her on my last visit? I let her go. I let the woman I love go because I didn't want her to go through what Mom went through. And I've realized that I can't do this without her. That I need her. That she makes me stronger. I don't want to hurt her if it's my turn to end up here-I don't want her to cry every night like Mother does because I'm no longer here with her. Or cry because I'm across the country and she needs me and turns around to find out I'm gone. But I can't give her up. I'm f.u.c.king selfish, but I can't give her up."

Frustration simmers in me and I finally admit, "I'm going out there to take my oath, and I'll devote my every waking breath to this country. I'll do what you couldn't and a thousand other things that need to be done. And I'm going to win her back. I'll make you proud."

I rap my knuckles on the headstone as I stand, my eyes locking with Wilson's as he nods to the rest of my detail.

We head back to the cars, and I stop to level a look at Wilson before I board.

"Hey, I checked up on her, like you asked," Wilson says.

I inhale the cold air, shaking my head and shoving my hands into the pockets of my black gabardine.

She is the one relentless, constant thought in my head and tug in my d.a.m.n chest. The only she that has ever existed in my life.

She left for Europe after Election Day. I know because I went to see her when the voting results became official. I kissed her. She kissed me. I told her I wanted her in the White House. She told me she was leaving for a few months in Europe with her best friend, Kayla. "It's better this way," she said. "I'm not going to keep my cell number. I think-we need to do this."

It cost me everything not to go after her. To stay away. She changed her number. I found it. Tried not to call. Barely succeeded. I couldn't keep from having my staff check up on when she'd be returning to the States.

She wants to be done with you, Hamilton. Do the good thing here.

I know that, but I can't give her up. Two months without her is two months too long.

And I've had enough.

"What did you find out?"

"She's back from her trip and she RSVPed to one of the b.a.l.l.s tonight, Mr. President-Elect."

She's back from Europe just in time for my inauguration.

My chest tightens. I've stayed away and every inch of me wants to see her. I'll have the keys to the world, but turned my back on the key to the woman I love's heart. How can I be proud of that? She shed one tear that day. Just one. And it was for me.

"Good. You'll be taking me there tonight."

I climb into the back of the car, the Secret Service hot on our tail, and I drum my fingers restlessly on my thigh-my blood simmering at the prospect of seeing her tonight, already envisioning the red hair and blue eyes of my woman as she greets her new president.

Charlotte It's a historic day.

Matthew Hamilton, the youngest president of the United States of America.

I'm amidst a crowd of hundreds of thousands gathered at the U.S. Capitol. I was sent a seated invitation, along with a plus-one. So I brought Kayla. I sit tightly in my seat. One where Matt will be so much closer than he will be to the crowd below.

They opened up the National Mall to the citizen spectators, something that had never been done until his father won-and now. The country is simply too invested in this outcome, too eager to celebrate him, to stay away.

A chorus of children have been singing "America the Beautiful," and I sit on a bag of nerves, excitement, and feelings as the song ends and the U.S. Marine Band picks up with a wildly happy, patriotic tune.

Trumpets start blaring.

Through the speakers, we hear the presenter introduce the departing president, along with his wife and other members of our political engine. Claps erupt across the crowd as people file into place, taking their seats. And then, to the crowd's mounting excitement, after a trail of high-profile names are announced, the presenter finally announces, "Ladies and gentlemen, the President-elect of the United States, MATTHEW HAMILTON!"

Okay, breathe.

BREATHE, CHARLOTTE!.

But it feels like some invisible rope is wound tightly around my windpipe as Matt walks down a blue carpet to the platform, the people chanting at the top of their lungs: "HAMILTON! HAMILTON! HAMILTON!"

He's greeting all the cabinet members as well as his mother, shaking their hands. His mother is seated to the left of the microphone, and after greeting the crowd with a huge smile and a sweep of his hand, Matt settles his big body next to hers.

I'm wringing my cold fingers, my eyes so starved for him they hurt.

He looks imposing in his seat as Vice-President-elect Louis Frederickson from New York takes his oath.

He looks just like I remember. His hair a little longer, maybe. His expression calm and sober. I watch him duck his head to listen to something his mother tells him-and a frown creases his forehead, but then a smile tips his lips and he nods.

b.u.t.terflies.

Mean, evil little b.u.t.terflies are flapping in the very core of me.

I inhale and stare at my lap, at my reddened, freezing fingers.

It's bone-chillingly cold outside, but when Matt is called up, and his baritone voice comes on suddenly over the microphone, it warms me like a bowl of my favorite soup. Like liquid fire in my veins. Like a blanket around my heart.

I lift my head. He's standing on the platform. Calm and towering in a black gabardine and a perfect suit and red tie, his sable hair blowing in the wind, his expression somber as he places his hand on the Bible, the other hand raised.

"I, Matthew Hamilton, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Const.i.tution of the United States."

"Congratulations, Mr. President," the presenter says.

My head spins.

Holy.

f.u.c.k.

Matt is now president of the United States.

The cheers erupt like a wave cras.h.i.+ng upon us. People stand. Everyone claps and revels in the euphoria, the country welcoming their new commander in chief.

My body jerks from the sound of the twenty-one guns exploding-one after the other.

Trumpets blare.

The crowd waves small U.S. flags side to side.

People are crying.

The music of the orchestra plays, louder and louder across the U.S. Capitol and National Mall.

All while Matt salutes his crowd. His smile the most dazzling thing I've ever seen. His gaze sweeping across the hundreds of thousands of people here. People who've loved him for decades, since he was their president's son. And now he's simply their president.

The youngest, hottest president in the world.

The people in the crowd below keep waving their small flags.

Once the gun salute is over, the presenter leans in to say, "It is my deep pleasure to present the forty-sixth president of the United States, Matthew Hamilton."

He steps up to the microphone. Hands braced on the stand, he leans into the mic, and his voice rings out, powerful and deep. Just the sound of it affects me intensely. Causing both a pang of nostalgia and a surge of excitement in me.

"Thank you. Fellow citizens . . . Vice President Frederickson," he greets. "I stand with you today, humbled and in awe of the true change we can set forth in this country when we as a collective contribute to putting it in motion." Claps interrupt him and he pauses. "Citizens, I am thankful for the opportunity." He nods somberly, glancing one way, then the other, his powerful shoulders straining the fabric of his gabardine.

"In our country, we fight for truth and justice." Pause. "We fight for freedom, for what's right." Pause. "We fight for it, and we die for it-and if we're lucky, we die having those on our side . . ." Pause.

"These aren't times to stand back and hope for the best. These are the times where we make it the best. Giving back to our country. Putting the best pieces of ourselves out there. America was formed on the principle of freedom, has embraced the promise of unity, peace, justice, and truth. It is only by preserving and honoring who we are that we can do justice to the very core of what we stand for. And what we will continue to stand for. A beacon to other countries across the globe. The land of the free. The home of the brave. Let's fulfill our full potential, and ensure our enjoyment of that which our ancestors have so fiercely fought for, not just for ourselves, but for our generations to come. You wanted a leader to take you into this new era with courage. With conviction. And with an eye for getting things done. Citizens." Pause. "I will NOT. LET YOU DOWN."

A roar goes out across the crowd. HAMILTON is the name they call. HAMILTON is the man of the hour. The year. Their lifetime. He smiles at that warm welcome, and he closes with a deep, gruff, "G.o.d bless you. And G.o.d bless the United States of America."

A warm glow flows through me and a ball full of spikes sort of gets stuck in the middle of my throat.

They play the national anthem, and as the chorus of the singing citizens rings across the U.S. Capitol and households around the world, I'm placing my hand on my heart and attempting to get the words of the anthem out-but that doesn't help to ease this deep, unaccustomed pain in my chest. This is simply such a monumental day for me. Not only as a citizen; as a person this day is directly proportionate to the depth of my feelings for the new president. And the depth is endless, fathomless, eternal.