A/N: I hoped you guys finished watching season 3 because it's based off the season finale. Instead of Isabel, Emily is pregnant with Aaron's child and he doesn't knock until years later. I hope you guys enjoyed and let me know what y'all think. Thanks!

A month after Kirkman won reelection, Emily gave him her resignation because she had a secret that would greatly impact his administration. That secret was Alexandra Carrie Rhodes, (Alex for short). She was named after the late First Lady, who had always made Emily feel like she was a part of their family and her mother, who had recently passed away. It had been almost four years since she left and she never looked back. Since their night of "crisis and alcohol-fuel mistake" with Aaron and the positive pregnancy test, she knew that being pregnant with the Vice President's child would have brought unproportionable scandals and rumors that would have ruined the image of the White House. So Emily did the only thing she could do to protect both herself and her kid. She quit and moved back down to Florida, where she could live a relatively normal life. If she had stayed, then everyone would have noticed the growing belly in four months, and certain people would have put the pieces together, namely Aaron. She wanted to tell him, but he was vice president now. He was always being watched and getting a girl pregnant would have ruined him and his status. As far as she knew, Aaron was still with Isabel.

Emily still kept in touch with Seth from time to time, him filling her in with what's been happening in the White House after she left. He was the only one who knew the truth as to why she left, including the fact that Aaron was the father. He had implored her to tell Aaron before, but she refused. Eventually, he respected her wishes in not telling Aaron. Seth flew down to see Emily and Alex once, about two years ago. He could see that Alex had Aaron's curly hair and Emily's smile. She was honestly adorable. Since then, they've video called almost every week. Alex was getting so big for a two-years-old. She was learning new words everyday and running around full of excitement. Motherhood suited Emily in ways that she did not expect.

"Why don't you fly up to DC for a couple of days? It'll be like a vacation," Seth said. He wanted to see Emily and Alex again but he didn't have the time to fly down to Florida.

"Trust me, it's not a vacation when you're traveling with a two-year-old who loves tantrums and whining," she said trying to feed Alex a jar of mashed peaches. The little girl was trying to avoid the spoon aiming for her mouth. Instead she tried to push her mother's hand away. "Come on, Alex. You've gotta eat."

"Come on, she misses her Uncle Seth. You guys can come stay with me and we'll hang out and you know... do stuff," he joked. She smiled.

"I'll think about it," she said.

She did miss DC in some ways. However, she didn't know if it was a good idea to bring Alex up there as well. She couldn't handle the possibility of seeing Aaron. It would just be too much. But it would be good to see the Capitol again and all...

After she finished up feeding Alex and putting her down for her nap, Emily went on her laptop to look up any upcoming flights to DC. After booking the first flight for Friday morning, she decided to go prepare for her flight in two days. She immediately texted Seth that she was coming to which he responded with a smiling emoji.

She bought the next two days, buying the essentials at Target, hoping that she wouldn't forget anything else for Alex. It took her an hour on Friday morning to get out of the house and to the airport on time. Alex was not used to waking up early for any reason so she was out of sorts. The plane ride consisted of burst of cries, resulting in Emily receiving some glares from nearby passengers. She couldn't do anything to soothe Alex, which further aggravated her cries. Thank goodness the flight was only two and a half hours long. Any longer and she would have been done for.

Seth picked them off at the airport, both hugging each other before Seth noticed the little girl in the stroller.

"Hi, Alex. It's your Uncle Seth. Welcome to Washington, D.C.," he said Alex, giving her a little wave. "How was the flight?"

"Torture because someone here was a bit more fussy than usual," she said.

"Well let's go grab some breakfast before I head into work. Then I'll give you my keys to my apartment," he said.

"Alright," she said walking the stroller to his car.

They sat down at a small café nearby the White House, enjoying their breakfast pastries while Alex had a nice bowl of small individual pieces of fruit. She loved playing with food in her hand, especially crushing them and smearing it all over her shirt. Emily always remembered to bring a bib and an extra outfit for situations just like this.

"Alex, no no. You're gonna ruin your outfit," Emily said wiping her daughter's hands. She looked over to Seth. "So what's been going on with work?"

"Same old, same old. Same bullshit questions from the same bullshit journalists. Whatever happened to real journalism? All anybody cares about these days is gossip," he ranted while sipping his coffee.

"That's what happens when America cares too much our VP and his newly engaged fiancé," she said. "Speaking of which... how is he?"

"He's, um..., good," Seth simply said, not knowing if Emily wanted details or not.

"And...?"

"What do you want me to say, Em? The place hasn't been the same since you left so it's off. He's off. There have been times where he's spinning around and has no idea what he's doing. Please come back here. You can bring the White House back to what it was before."

"I can't. And you know why."

"So? He doesn't have to know. Just say you had a personal crisis and now you're good. I know you miss it here. The job, the excitement..."

"Even if I did come back, what about Alex? How am I supposed to explain to her that she would be living next to her father two miles away?"

"She's two years old. She's not gonna care."

"You know what I mean. Plus, I would have to go find a place, meaning that I would have to fly back and forth."

"You could come stay with me," he offered. "Just think about it. You belong here." He looked at his watched and realized that he was late. "Let's finish this conversation later, okay? I've gotta go."

He handed her his keys and said his goodbye to Alex. Emily wondered if Seth was right, that maybe she really did miss the job more than she cared to admit. But if she was going to ask to President to hire her again, then she would have to tell him the truth. The truth that would probably hurt him as well.

After they finished their breakfast, Emily and Alex went to Seth's apartment to drop off some of her stuff there and also putting Alex down for her nap. She didn't want to disrupt her daughter's routine especially after waking her up so early. After Alex was out, Emily turned on the TV to see Aaron on the news, shaking hands with the French prime minister. You couldn't notice it, but he had lost weight and the heavy bags under his eyes showed his sleepless nights. Standing next to him was Isabel, who was smiling at the camera, hooking her arm into his. Emily thought that Isabel was the type who wanted to do more, not be some arm candy for someone, even if that someone was the Vice President of the United States of America. She heard that Isabel turned down the Deputy Chief of Staff position that Harper offered her and instead wanted to show support by attending certain events or charity dinners.

After Alex woke up from her one-hour nap, Emily took her daughter out to the park across the street from the White House. She watched Alex play on the slides and then moving on to the swings. These were the moments that Emily enjoyed as a mother. Alex's playfulness reminded her a little bit of Aaron, finding the joy in the little things.

After some much careful thinking, Emily decided to take Alex to visit the White House. It wasn't to see Aaron or anything like that. It was more of wanting to see the President and pay her respects to him. If she was going to ask him for a job back at the White House, she should do it now before it's too late. So she sent Seth a text to issue her a pass and that she'll be there in ten minutes.

She breathed in the White House air, remembering what it felt like before. It felt invigorating. Seth brought them back to his new office, receiving a "promotion" that really had no benefits except having a slightly larger office with more decorative posters.

"Does the President know I'm here?"

"Yes, he does. He said he wanted to have dinner with you tonight."

"Did you tell him about...?" she glanced over at Alex, who conked out after exhausting herself out at the playground.

"Yes..." he winced in fear.

"Seth!"

"I'm sorry, but he wanted to know why his former Chief of Staff wanted to see him after all these years. And it seemed like he looked hurt. Plus, everyone already saw you walking in with her. It was gonna get back to him anyways."

"I guess you saved me the work of telling him. Wait, does he know who the father is...?"

"No, that one's on you."

"Okay, good."

"Are you gonna tell him?"

"I might as well, right? If I'm going to ask him for a job?"

"It's up to you, but I think he would just be glad that you're back."

"You just said that he looked hurt!"

"But come on, you're the Kirkman whisperer. He needs you."

"We'll see..."

Once it was 7pm, Emily, Alex, and Seth headed over to the private residence to have dinner with Kirkman. When she walked into the room, she saw the president standing in front of her with a glass of scotch in his hand.

"Mr. President," she said.

"Emily. It's been too long," he walked towards her and hugged her. "Well, who is this?" he said saying hi to the little girl in her arms.

"This is my daughter, Alex," she said, looking up at Kirkman who seemed in awe of her daughter.

"Alex... Thank you, Emily."

"I couldn't think of a better name, sir."

After the three of them reminisced about old times for an hour, Emily glanced over at Seth, who knew it was his cue for her and the President to talk privately. He took Alex out for a walk, promising to get her some ice cream.

"My god, Emily. She is amazing," Kirkman said.

"Thank you, sir."

"I've forgotten how good it was to have you here," he said sipping his scotch. "What do you think about coming back?"

"Well, that's what I wanted to talk to you about. I was wondering if I even could come back especially since it's been so long..."

"Emily, I would love nothing more. But you know, your old position is taken. How about the one before that? What do you say? Be my special advisor again?"

"I would say I serve at the pleasure of the president," she said earning a smile from him. After a pause, she decided to bring up the elephant in the room. "I'm sure you have questions about Alex."

"I don't want to pressure you into saying anything you're not comfortable with."

"No, it's okay. You and I have always been close so I feel like I owe you this."

"Alright. I guess the first one is who is the father?"

"Aaron or I guess Vice President Shore..."

"Jesus, Em! You've gotta be kidding. Do you know what would happen if the press found out about it?" his anger level rising.

"I know, trust me. It was just a drunken mistake, but it is what it is. We're here now."

"Does he know...?"

"No, he doesn't."

"Emily..." he said at a loss of words.

"If I told him, what good would it have done? He's with Isabel now and I wasn't going to complicate his life like that and force to have to secretly spend time with his daughter like that. I didn't want her to grow up like that. To always have to wonder why her dad isn't always with her."

"You know you're going to have to tell him if you are going to start working here again."

"I know... But how would I even start? 'Hey, you have a two-year-old daughter from our one night stand'?"

"Just start with the truth and go from there."

"Thank you, sir."

After they finished up their conversation, Emily met up with Seth and Alex and they went back to Seth's apartment. She gave Alex a bath and put her to sleep before walking into the living room. She grabbed a beer from the coffee table and sat next to Seth on the couch. She had told him what happened with Kirkman and he was glad that she got her job back. They then talked about her living situation, Seth letting her and Alex to keep staying in his guest bedroom until she can find a place. He then headed off to bed, giving Emily a chance to decompress from the day's events. Afterwards she went to throw her beer in the garbage and was about to go to bed when she heard the knock on the door. She opened the door to see Secret Service agents asking to look through the premises. Standing in front of her was someone she didn't expect to see so soon.

"Aaron?"