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“Congresswoman-”
“Look, Angela, I understand your point, but we planned this on purpose. I got tested four days ago, I was confirmed negative two days later and I haven’t left my apartment since I was tested. The same goes for my wife. The same goes for my friends. We specifically planned this so we could go over to each other’s houses when the results come in.”
“Listen, Congresswoman, I understand that, but for your specific election-”
“First of all, call me Alex, and second of all I already gave my victory speech, congratulated my opponent, thanked the people, donated to advocacy organizations, urged the counting of all votes, said that as a former prosecutor I am fully aware of how ridiculous Trump’s legal claims are, and congratulated Joe Biden. What possibly could be left for me to do?”
“You make a fair point.”
“There’s a reason that I was re-elected.”
“A Democrat could be elected in this district as long as they have a pulse.”
“Thank you, Angela. As my Chief of Staff, I’ve come to expect such ringing endorsements from you.”
“Hey, I just read the numbers.”
“You’re very good at it. Now, can I please go visit my friends?”
“Fine.”
“Thank you. Talk to you tomorrow.” Alex pauses. “Angela?”
“Yes?”
“We did it. Congratulations.”
“Thank you, Alex.” Alex exits the Zoom call. With a smile, she goes off in search of Olivia. She finds her sitting on the couch, a wide smile on her face and tears in her eyes.
“Mommy?” Alex hears from behind her, and she turns around to see Noah. “Why is Mama crying? I thought something good happened.”
“Sweetheart,” Alex says with a warm smile. “Something very good happened. Mama is just emotional right now.”
“She’s happy?”
“Very happy.”
“Then why is she crying?”
“Because sometimes when people are very happy, they start crying.”
“Okay.”
“Noah? Would you be okay with going to Uncle Rafa and Uncle Sonny’s house tonight to celebrate?”
“Okay! Can Uncle Sonny make pasta?”
“I’m sure Uncle Sonny can make a lot of pasta.”
“Yay!”
“Noah, why don’t you go play with your iPad? I need to talk to Mama.”
“Awesome!” As Noah scampers off, Alex joins Olivia on the couch.
“Hey, you okay?” she asks. Olivia rests her head on Alex’s shoulder and lets out a long sigh.
“Four years. Four years of a serial rapist in the White House. It’s over now.”
“Yeah.” Alex puts a hand on Olivia’s back and starts rubbing gently.
“I didn’t think I would cry,” Olivia says, taking a deep breath and wiping her eyes.
“You’re allowed.”
“You didn’t cry.”
“I’m so wired on adrenaline and caffeine I don’t think any emotions are really hitting me right now. I don’t think it’s fully sunk in that I don’t have to serve in a Congress that has to send bills to that nightmare. I don’t think any of it feels real yet.”
“It is real.”
“I feel like we should check CNN again. Or AP. Or something. Just to check.”
“Al, that’s the anxiety talking. We did it. We won. You can breathe.”
“I’ll breathe when that monstrosity is out of the White House.”
“Alex, you did it. You’re going to go back to Washington to serve in a Congress that is led by Democrats with a Democratic President. We did it. It’s over.”
“It’s not over. I don’t know why people think that President Biden is going to be able to fix everything. He’s always been a moderate, and what we need right now-” Alex continues.
“You can deal with that next week. We both know that we’ll fight to make sure that no one accepts mediocrity. I know that you still need to write legislation and I need to think about if I’m staying in the NYPD, but this week we can celebrate. Or at least, I’m going to celebrate.”
“You’re okay with going over to Rafael and Sonny’s tonight, right?”
“Of course.” Olivia takes Alex’s hand and squeezes. “You know I’m proud of you, right? Congresswoman Cabot, about to go back to Washington to serve a second term. And I know I was a liability, what with all the awful things the NYPD did-”
“You were a liability for all of ten seconds before I explained to my constituents what you actually did for a living,” Alex assures her. “Besides, you know that if I had to choose between Congress or you, I would pick you. Every day and in a heartbeat. I love you, Liv. Always.” Olivia pulls her in for a kiss, her hand firmly on the back of Alex’s neck. Alex brings her hands up to cradle Olivia’s face and when they pull back Alex smiles widely. “I really do love you.”
“I love you, too. Now, for Rafael and Sonny’s tonight, what do we bring?”
“I’m pretty sure just wine, I think Sonny will be offended if we try to bring anything else.”
“Hey, Raf, you’re okay if Alex and Olivia come over tonight, right?” Sonny calls. “I already bought some ingredients yesterday, since, you know, they should have called it yesterday, and saved everyone a buncha angst. But, they clearly didn’t, so now I’m gonna cook today. I texted Olivia, and I told her she could bring wine if she wanted, but I was gonna cook the food, so hopefully they’re just gonna bring that. I figure later today but before they show up we could kinda do a drive through the neighborhood, you know? Participate in the joy…” Sonny realizes that Rafael isn’t responding. “Raf?” Nothing. “Rafi? Is everything okay?” Sonny hears a noise from the bedroom and quickly walks over. He sees Rafael sitting on the bed, slowly stroking their cat, Ruth.
“After Florida I thought we were dead,” Rafael says quietly, his eyes fixed on the cat, who is purring loudly, her head pushing against Rafael’s hand as he scratches her ears. “I refused to let myself believe this could happen.”
“It happened.”
“It just hit me, all at once. I don’t even know what emotion I’m feeling right now other than a ‘good emotion,’ if that makes sense. My colleagues and I at the ACLU, we used to talk about how much easier our lives would be if this happened, but I always managed to convince myself it was wishful thinking, because the America that I’ve come to know could never do anything good. But we did do something good.”
“We really did,” Sonny says with a smile. “I’m gonna gloat so hard to my cousin Dave, you have no idea.”
“No you won’t, you’re too nice for that,” Rafael objects, smiling as Sonny wraps an arm around his shoulder.
“You’re right, I’ll just give you the phone and let you make the text.”
“That sounds more like it. How about ‘you sent my Cuban fiancé an obnoxious text thanking Cubans for delivering Florida and therefore the election, so now I’m texting to inform you that you can fuck off, just like America just told your racist, COVID-infested, wanna-be dictator, overly-inflated balloon of xenophobia of a President to do.’”
“Sounds perfect,” Sonny laughs. “Except that I kinda texted him that he could fuck off after the text he sent you.”
“Trump supporters sometimes have difficulty absorbing information, as I assume we’re about to find out. Send it again.”
“‘Course. You doin’ okay, Raf? I was talkin' to you in the other room and you didn’t respond.”
“I haven’t slept in days-”
“-I know. You woke me up talkin’ about Michigan with Alex at 4:00 in the morning.”
“Are you going to let me finish? I haven’t slept in days and now I’m feeling a lot of emotion. I guess… I kind of just shut down. But in a good way, for once. I feel like I can breathe.”
“As someone who wants to spend the rest of his life with you, I’m in favor of you breathin’.” Rafael swats him lightly but smiles.
“You know what I just thought about?”
“What?”
“One of the first cases I handled doing pro-bono work was legal challenges against one of the border camps. There are still over 500 children separated from their parents, kept in inhumane conditions. Not to mention all the adults without access to basic human rights. That’s controlled by the executive branch. We can stop that now. We can get those people help and reunite those families.”
“That’s awesome.”
“I felt so defeated during that case, because I couldn’t even see who I was supposed to be defending because no one would let me inside the camps. But now… now we can actually change that.”
“No more Supreme Court Justices are gonna be appointed that will try to overturn our right to get married,” Sonny adds. “There’s an actual chance the Equality Act will be signed. Transgender people will be able to serve openly in the military again.”
“We’ll actually be able to fight COVID…”
“The DOJ will prosecute people who hurt the public instead of tryin’ to take away health insurance…”
“Something good happened, Sonny,” Rafael says, like he still can’t believe it. “I mean, something unequivocally good happened.” Sonny laughs and kisses Rafael’s head.
“Sure did, Rafi. It sure did.” Sonny pauses. “You know what we should do?”
“What?”
“Participate in the joyful screamin’ that’s going on outside.”
“Of course you want to participate in the screaming.”
“The screamin’ is an expression of patriotism, Raf, come on. Everyone’s bein’ happy together.”
“I get that, I do. I just… I want to be happy with you and Ruth for a little bit. We’ll be happy with other people when Liv and Alex and Noah show up. For now, I want to savor this moment with my fiancé and my cat.” Sonny’s heart swells and he hugs Rafael tighter.
“I can do that. You know I can do that. I want to savor this moment with you, too.”
“You’ll clamp down the Staten Island instinct to start running around and being loud?”
“Only for you, Rafi. Only for you.”
“We’re here!” Alex announces as Rafael answers the door. “Tell Sonny we only brought wine.”
“And grape juice!” Noah adds.
“And grape juice,” Alex agrees. Rafael beckons them in with a smile.
“So, how are you and yours doing?” he asks.
“I’m pretty sure someone made the sun brighter and the sky more blue today. Everything just seems better. Olivia is pretty emotional, and Noah grasps that good has triumphed over evil.”
“Uncle Rafa, we won!” Noah exclaims.
“We did win, Noah, we absolutely did.”
“You and Uncle Sonny are on our team, right?”
“Of course we are, Noah.”
“Oh, good. Mommy says that most people are on our team.” Rafael raises an eyebrow at Alex.
“You explained the concept of the popular vote to your eight year old?”
“In my defense, the popular vote is a lot easier to understand than the electoral college.”
“That is true.”
“Uncle Sonny!” Noah calls, running up to Sonny.
“Hey, buddy!”
“We won!”
“Yes we did!”
“Thank you for inviting us,” Olivia says graciously, setting down the wine and grape juice on the table.
“No problem. You know me, I like to have people to cook for.”
“Speaking of, what did you make us?” Alex asks.
“I figured nothin' says ‘party’ like a vat of spaghetti,” Sonny says, grabbing plates out of a cupboard.
“Are we finally eating?” Rafael asks.
“It’s 6:00,” Alex laughs.
“You haven’t had to smell the cooking pasta and sauce and the baking of the cake,” Rafael grumbles. “Besides, I’ve subsisted on coffee and potato chips for the past week, so now it is time for a feast.”
“Yes, we’re eatin' now, Rafi. Get the champagne.”
“Thank you, Sonny, this looks delicious,” Olivia says as the pasta is doled out. Noah eagerly accepts his plate and heads to the table. “Noah, what do you say to Uncle Sonny for the pasta?”
“Thank you!”
“You’re welcome, now why don’t we all sit down?”
“I’d just like to point out,” Rafael says, “that we are dining with a sitting Congresswoman who was just re-elected with over 60% of the vote.”
“It’s a Democrat district,” Alex responds with a shrug. “My Chief of Staff told me that any Democrat with a pulse could win, and she’s right.”
“Yes, but you are the Democrat with a pulse who won,” Rafael insists. “I remember when you were just a lowly ADA.”
“Hey!” Sonny protests, and Olivia laughs.
“I didn’t mean it in a bad way,” Rafael assures him. Sonny rolls his eyes. “You have to admit that spending over half your year working at the Capitol building is slightly more glamorous than 1 Hogan Place.”
“Yeah, because that’s why I ran, Rafi, for the glamor,” Alex jokes. “Anyway, glamorous or not, I know that we’re not really here to celebrate my victory.” She raises her glass of wine. “To President Joe Biden, may he lead us from a nightmare to a normal-caliber stress dream.”
“To breathing,” Olivia adds. “May we now only not be able to do it because of our jobs.”
“To Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona, and Georgia,” Sonny continues. “You did not fuck up like you did four years ago.”
“To Vice President Kamala Harris,” Rafael toasts. “We really should have had a female Vice President before now.”
“Noah, would you like to make a toast?” Alex asks, indicating Noah’s glass of grape juice.
“What’s a toast?”
“It’s when you say something you want to pay special attention to,” Rafael explains. In this case, something good.”
“Okay! Uh… to… to the good guys winning! We did it!”
“Here here,” Olivia says, nodding and clinking her glass against the others. Sonny’s phone rings.
“It’s Cousin Dave,” Sonny announces. He picks up the phone and stands up. “Hi Dave, how are you doin’?... Aw, that’s a real shame. I’m cryin’ Dave, really I’m cryin’… No, I will not be nice… Why not Dave? Why not? Because you voted for a guy who broke a lot of laws, killed even more people, and hurt even more people than that… Rafael didn’t tell me to say that, but he agrees… Good to know the family still believes the conspiracy theories about him… Uh huh… Fuck you too, Dave… I’m hanging up now, I’m with my family. Send my love to Aunt Bettie.” Sonny returns to the table. “Sorry about that.”
“This the same Cousin Dave who congratulated Rafael on Cubans voting for Trump in Florida?” Alex asks. Sonny nods.
“He was mean to Uncle Rafa?” Noah asks.
“He was very mean to Uncle Rafa,” Olivia confirms. “He was mean and he didn’t say he was sorry and now he wants Uncle Sonny and Uncle Rafa to be nice to him even though he was really mean.”
“But you don’t have to hang out with people who are mean unless they are really, really sorry,” Noah says. “So Uncle Sonny told him ‘fuck you!’” Alex facepalms.
“Noah, that is a bad word.”
“But Uncle Sonny said it!”
“Sorry,” Sonny mutters.
“Uncle Sonny gets to say it because Uncle Sonny is a grown up,” Rafael explains. “You need to listen to your mommy and not say it.”
“Okay,” Noah grumbles. “That’s not fair.”
“Well, despite what today would indicate, life isn’t fair,” Rafael retorts. Noah sighs.
“Mama, I finished my pasta, can I go play with Ruth until cake?”
“That sounds like a great idea,” Olivia agrees.
“Sorry about that,” Sonny apologizes again once Noah has left the table. “But the dude was an asshole and he deserved it.”
“No one thinks you’re wrong,” Alex assures him. “I would have told him the same thing if it wouldn’t get reporters called.”
“You’re really headed back to DC,” Rafael remarks. “We’re going to miss you, again.”
“Well, legally I still have to spend most of my time in my district, so you won’t have to miss me that much.”
“Still, you couldn't just find a nice private sector job that keeps you in New York?” Rafael asks.
“Let me know when you want to attend a quote-unquote ‘abhorrent political fundraiser’ and I’ll get you on the guest list. You can talk to me there if you have $250 to cash in.”
“Raf’s just worried ‘cause he knows all our gatherings will be mostly made up of cops now,” Sonny explains, ignoring Rafael’s glare.
“Well, I’m sure you both know there’s probably jobs for you at the new White House counsel’s office, not to mention that I wouldn’t be surprised if your name was on some federal judge shortlists, Rafael.”
“You really think so?”
“Of course.”
“Is it odd that when you said that my first thought was relief that federal judge nominees won’t be 50s-era conservatives?” Rafael asks.
“I think that’s sweet,” Olivia says with a smile. Rafael rolls his eyes.
“Thanks Alex, but I don’t think we’d want to leave New York,” Rafael says. “Your company does not make DC less of a miserable swamp town.”
“Fair enough.”
“Did you guys get a chance to participate in any of the joyous screaming?” Olivia asks. “Al and I went around in our car a little while ago. It was great.”
“Really? I wouldn’t know,” Sonny grumbles playfully.
“I’m sure there will be plenty of joyous screaming tomorrow,” Rafael sighs. “We can participate then.”
“I’m pretty sure there will be joyous screaming for at least another week,” Alex says with a grin.
“And then back to work,” Olivia reminds them. “Biden’s election in itself doesn’t fix all of our problems.”
“Absolutely,” Rafael agrees. “But this week we can celebrate.”
“This week we celebrate,” Alex confirms.