Chapter Text
Moiraine has always seen herself as a decent wife. An even better mother too. She didn't cook, she hated it, always had and would clean only if absolutely necessary, which thankfully it wasn't very common due to her status as First Lady of The United States of America.
She would always be there for homework time, have quality time with their children who adored her the same amount they feared her. As for her husband, well she tried giving him the same attention, but between motherhood and First Lady business, it was hard most of the time.
Overall, Moiraine was decent. And the public agreed that she gave her best, they looked up to her. The men wanted her, the women needed to be her. Which was why it came as a shock to America when President Thom Merrilin was caught with his pants down at a fancy hotel midtown, with a known escort called Elaida.
Of course, to those who were close to them, this was no surprise at all. Their marriage ended long ago, even before four children, it was all just politics and optics. Moiraine worked hard to be there, gave up everything for the White House, and she wasn't gonna let Thom’s reckless behavior ruin that.
*
Siuan was watching the morning news, something she rarely did these days, when she heard the news. “Idiots”- she thought to herself. She knew the First family all too well, secretly hoping she would never need to step foot around them again, when she felt her phone buzzing. Incoming call from Alanna Mosvani. The White House Press Secretary and her business partner.
“Alanna.”- She sighs deeply, knowing exactly what's to come and what this call will be about.
“Siuan! Oh thank God, I didn't know who else to call…”
“No.”
“I didn't even say anything!”
“The answer is no Alanna, I'm not getting caught up in Moiraine Damodred and Thom Merrilin drama again. They can figure their own shit out this time.” - There was anger in her voice, but also regret and hurt and Alanna knew it, but she was out of options.
“I wouldn't be asking if I knew another way out of this…Siuan, please, this is not about just them anymore.”- Alanna wasn't one to beg, not outside of the bedroom anyway.
There's a big sigh on the phone, and loud thud, meaning Siuan most likely hit something before agreeing to meet with her team along with the First family in two hours at the White House.
*
Moiraine couldn't believe Alanna when Thom said Siuan was coming and wanted to see all of them. It would probably be the second time, maybe third, they saw each other in seven years. And everything was still fresh in her mind as if their falling out had happened earlier that morning.
She was pacing back and forth, annoying everyone in the room with them. Leanne, Alanna, Garreth, members of Siuan's team at White Tower Gladiators, the firm she founded, were dragged down to that meeting, while Thom stared silently at his wife walking around anxiously, knowing part of it was his fault for not being careful.
There's a knock on the door before Siuan enters the Conference room, and Moiraine stops in place. Siuan had a white suit on, with beige pants, her hair was tied in a messy bun which only made her more effortlessly beautiful and her heels tied everything together. Her firm posture indicated she was just as tense about all of this as Moiraine.
The large room stood in silence observing the unspoken words between the two women, who stared at each other. The big windows with a high ceiling made the sunlight illuminate the whole room, making it even warmer because of the summer.
Siuan is first to break the silence. “Alright. Thom, I need to know everything, and so does your wife for god's sake, you know you can't hide anything from me so you might as well avoid half truths. Alanna, get me every single security camera of that hotel you can find. Leanne, find Elaida, I want to speak to her. Garreth, you know what you need to do.”
Everyone on Siuan's team nods, leaving to do as told and therefore leaving Thom, Moiraine and Siuan alone, which if you look up in the dictionary you'll see it's the recipe for disaster, especially after their shared past and history.
“I don't know what to tell you, Siuan. I was reckless this time”- He sighs as Moiraine gets up, furiously.
“This time? I thought we agreed we would at least try Thom. That we would wait until the kids were older. You just-”
“And how's that working for you, Moiraine? Are you happy? Because I sure as hell am not, and I can see in your eyes that you aren't either. You spent more time with Lan than with me, which I would honestly have suspected if you weren't les…”
“Don't you dare finish that sentence, Thom Merrilin”- Moiraine is blushing now, she doesn't know if it's anger or embarrassment.
“Now is not the time to be pointing fingers tho, is it? The damage is done, and we need to work our way through this. How long have you been seeing Elaida, Thom?” - Siuan tries to sound calm and focus on the real issue, but secretly she can't wait for this to be over.
“A year.”- Thom says with his head down, knowing Moiraine will hate the answer.
“A YEAR, THOM? Jesus Fucking Christ”- Moiraine goes back to pacing around - “How are you going to fix this, Siuan? A year…if…if you had told me, Thom, we could have worked with it.”- Admitting defeat was never her strong suit but Thom was right. Things weren't okay between them for a while.
“Okay…Moiraine you need to be resilient now, you'll do a press conference, saying you two talked this through, and you forgive him. Thom, you need to look like you're sorry, you fell in love and it's over now, and you deeply regret hurting your wife. I need you two to save whatever bullshit of the past you have behind, if you wanna be reelected, this marriage needs to look as strong as ever. Take a trip together, just the two of you…to reconnect, yeah this sounds good. The public will eat that shit right up, the women will forgive Thom for falling in love, the men will want their wives as forgiving as Moiraine''
They both nod. There was no one better at this than Siuan, so doing as told and not fighting back has always worked well. They spend a while deciding on the speech, outfits they would wear, travel destinations. They needed to have everything ready until the press conference later. After they're finished, Thom agrees he should break things off with her lover, at least until dust settles and leaves to call her, leaving just Moiraine and Siuan.
Moiraine sat down, staring at the view of the outside garden as her children played with their nanny. Siuan watches her, quietly, she wants to leave, not have to talk to Moiraine at all, but the sad look on her face makes her muscles paralyze. Seven years ago Siuan left, quit as Moiraine’s Chief of Staff, they agreed it would be better if she left after the way they ended their affair.
“I don't regret it. If that's what you're wondering, staring at me like that, I don't regret it.”- Moiraine's eyes are focused on her younger daughter, Egwene. A beautiful little girl, only three years old. She sees Moiraine through the glass and waves and Moiraine does the same.
“I didn't ask and wasn't wondering, you made your decision, it's up to you to live with them.”- Siuan's lack of patience and Moiraine's ability to enrage her made her face twitch.
Moiraine scoffs.
“Oh, I live with them, and they’re the best thing that ever happened to me, my children are what keeps me going, and they need me to be strong right now. I hope your life is everything you dreamed of when you left.”- Without waiting for a response, Moiraine gets up and leaves to the garden, where she’s welcomed with o
pen arms by her children, leaving Siuan alone with her thoughts.