He smiled through his tears at the photo. So many good memories. "I'm in love, baby," he whispered. "I'm in love with the sweetest, kindest, cutest man ever. You would've loved him. I know you would. And I'm ready to start my life with him, but I promise I'll always love you. You're in my heart, baby, and you always will be. I miss you so much. Thank you for the wonderful life I had with you, for all the memories. You were loved. You were so loved."
With a last look at the picture, he closed his phone, and when he glanced up, Rhett stood there waiting for him, watching him with eyes full of love. Calix didn't wipe away his tears as he walked toward him but fell into Rhett's open arms and hugged him tight. They stood like that for a long time, neither of them speaking, but Rhett's easy acceptance of his sadness and his grief meant more to Calix than any words.
"I miss him," he said finally, stepping back.
Rhett wiped his tears away with his thumbs. "I know."
No empty words. No clichés. Just understanding and space for his emotions. Calix leaned in and brushed a kiss over his lips. "I love you."
How amazing he could say both things and mean them. He missed Matthew, and he loved Rhett. And that was okay.
"I love you too."
Calix took a deep breath. "Let's go to dinner."
Hand in hand, they strolled through the White House, then up the stairs to the residence, where voices drifted in from the living room. The president had personally invited his guests, an eclectic group of people with one thing in common: they were the inner circle. By choice, by association, by merit, it didn't matter. Del had made his choice, and they were it.
When they walked in, Rogue greeted them, barking happily. That dog had one hell of a life as the first dog. Calix and Rhett were the last ones to arrive. Levar and Henley stood in the corner, talking to Sarah. Milan was joking around with Kenn, Seth watching them with an amused expression, and Coulson was having a heated debate with Del on the merits of the Yankees versus the Red Sox, god help him.
As soon as Sarah spotted them, she hurried over and kissed Calix on his cheek. "So glad you're here."
"Thank you for inviting me all those years."
She just smiled at him with nothing but love and acceptance, then turned to Rhett. Before Rhett could react, she'd kissed him on his cheek as well. "Thank you for coming, honey."
"I'm… You're…" he stammered.
Calix took pity on him. "Give him a moment to adjust, would you, darling? He's a little starstruck, still."
She laughed. "Del will announce it in a few minutes, but in here, we're family, honey. Not the president and first lady."
Calix quirked an eyebrow. "That's new."
"He'll explain it."
Okay, then. Apparently, every now and then, Del made decisions Calix wasn't involved in. Good to know.
"I see everyone is here, so if I can have everyone's attention…" Del said, raising his voice. All conversations died down instantly. He held out his hand to Sarah, who stepped up next to him. "Sarah, Kenn, and I are grateful you could all make it tonight to spend Christmas Eve with us. This year has been…difficult on many levels and has affected each of us. The events of the last week have shown us the danger hasn't passed yet."
Calix frowned. Del was being awfully open, considering one of the guests was Henley, the only person who didn't have clearance…and who was a reporter. A trustworthy one, yes, but still a member of the press.
"For that reason, I've decided on this inner circle. Exclusive as it may sound, we all need a safe place to talk freely and to vent…and this is it. This is my group of confidants, the people I can trust completely to not only have my back but to be honest with me as well. But…two things were needed to make that happen. The first was the practical problem of having a very savvy reporter among us. I've always admired Henley's talent and tenacity, but in this case, it was a liability."
Where was he going with this? He hadn't discussed any of this with Calix.
"So Henley and I had a long conversation yesterday, where I asked him to make a difficult decision for the good of his relationship…and honestly, for the good of the country."
Henley took a deep breath. "I quit my job with Time Magazine, and for the foreseeable future, I'll only be working for the university, which means no more possible conflict of interest."
Rhett gasped, and no wonder. Calix was stunned.
"In the end, the decision was easy. I felt bad for quitting so soon after starting my job there, but when the president explained to me that my job was an obstacle and that quitting would serve the greater good, I realized what I had to do," Henley said with a firm voice and a loving look at Levar. "I believe in this presidency and in the things it can accomplish, so this seemed like a small price to pay."
"The papers for his security clearance are on your desk, Cal," Del said. "The second problem was a more complicated one Milan brought up. Sarah, Milan, and I had a lot of conversations over the last few days about how we could facilitate this."
Milan nodded. "Del said he wanted people in his inner circle who would be honest with him, even when they disagreed with him. I told him that was damn hard when he's the president, so he came up with a solution."
Del kissed Sarah's hand. "In this part of the building, we're Del and Sarah. Outside the residence, we're the president and the first lady. We realize this is unconventional and that you may slip up at times, but we feel this is the best solution to separate the two."
Oh, Calix liked that idea. That was smart thinking. "We did something similar." He pointed at Levar and Henley. "Professionally, I'm Levar's boss, but when we're off the clock, I'm Rhett's boyfriend and thus a friend. We haven't had a lot of practice with it yet, but I think it will work once we're used to it."
Del rolled his eyes at him. "Where do you think I got the idea? As soon as you told me that, I knew we had the answer. Anyway, I hope you can all agree to this."
"So…" Levar looked uncertain. "You want us to call you by your first name here…sir?"
"Yes. No 'sir' and 'Mr. President.' Just Del, please."
Total silence in the room. For Milan and himself, this would be easy, but Calix figured the others might have a little learning curve.
"That solves your problem." Rhett bumped Calix him with his shoulder. "You could never remember to call him Mr. President anyway."
Calix's mouth dropped open at the unexpected joke, but then he burst out laughing, joined by everyone else. Even Rogue barked a few times. Rhett just grinned in that shy way of his, clearly pleased with himself.
"He's not wrong," Del said. "You never did quite get the hang of the whole 'thank you, Mr. President thing.'"
"How about 'fuck you, Mr. President'?" Calix fired back, and boy, that felt good to say that.
"Make that 'fuck you, Del,'" Milan said. "Since he wants to be colloquial and all."
Laughter exploded again, and Sarah shook her head. "I'm surrounded by idiots."
Del wrapped his arm around her and kissed the top of her head. "Good thing you love us."