[War] US: And the children shall lead

[pentaj2 at Scranton.edu]

"And the children shall lead"
8 October 2006
Pres. John Williams
First Lady Mrs. Kayleigh Williams (written by Kay)
USA
=======
As the First Couple walked out of Mass at St. Matthew's Cathedral, 
John had to smile. Despite the insanity in Saudi Arabia (which NSC
determined was unlikely to change anytime soon), life in DC went on as
normal. Including a 7-year-old who looked at him with big eyes as he
walked out of the church with, presumably, his mom and dad. There were 
always one or two, but this time there were five or six.

Kayleigh leans over to whisper softly in John's ear with a smile.

"I don't think that little boy's eyes could get much bigger, but why
don't you see?" 

She pulls away, but keeps her hand grasping John's, fingers interwoven
in his as she smiles at each of the children. A quick headcount
reveals about seven children--one little girl has appeared from behind
her parents' legs--ranging in age from 3 to 11 years old. The
headcount habit comes from her teaching experience; even with rowdy
preteens and adolescents, they had a tendency to disappear, though at
that point it was more of a concious choice and less of "oooh, puppy!" 
wandering offs.

John beams at his wife, then, and walks over, kneeling before the
little boy to look him in the eyes at his eye level.

"Hi. I'm John. What's your name?" he asks, a smile on his face. 

Now his *parents* had big eyes, too.
 
"A-anthony B-burston," The little boy replies, unable to hide a 
stutter that's occuring because he's completely nervous and thrilled 
at the same time.
 
Kayleigh lets out a soft chuckle as she watches her husband. 
Occasionally, her gaze wanders, and she takes this time to smile at 
some of the other wide-eyed children and parents. Gradually the group 
seems to grow, but those without children seem to understand to stay 
back, while those with let their children surround the First Couple, 
standing a few feet back from John and Anthony in shy awe.  

John keeps smiling, and extends a hand. "Hi, Anthony. How are you 
doing in school?" He asks, his voice soft and soothing.

His looks out amongst the other kids with only the briefest glance 
before looking back at Anthony, his hazel eyes steady but gentle. He 
notes that Anthony's dad wears Marine Class Bs, and has on his uniform 
the ribbon indicating an Iraq tour.

Which explains Anthony's response.

"O-Okay." He pauses, as if to gather his courage, before speaking 
softly. "M-Mister President, why does Daddy have to go to Iraq?"

John looks at Tony's dad, who's wincing, and gives him a thumbs up, as 
if to say 'It's fine.' Then, he looks to Tony again, his voice loud 
enough for everybody else to hear, after 'reading' Dad's uniform with 
a glance.

"Because the people your daddy serves with need his help. They work as 
a team, just like your soccer team at home, and if your daddy didn't 
go, their team would be weaker, and that means they wouldn't do as 
good a job," he replies.

At that point, Tony grins, looking satisfied. However, a 10-year-old 
girl with brown hair walks forward.

"My name's Sarah. Why are we still in Iraq, though?" The girl asks. 
Her parents, her big brother, and her big sister all look embarrassed, 
but John just smiles.

"Because, when we went into Iraq, we made a promise, that we would 
help clean up what it caused," he replies. "We have to at least try to 
keep that promise."

"But how long are we going to keep trying?" That from a parent, 
holding a 2-year-old in her arms. "The Iraqis don't seem to be doing 
anything."

John grinned. Some reporters walked over, clearly sensing a story. The 
Secret Service detail looked nervous as hell, but John raised a hand 
to keep them still. "It's OK," he reassured the detail, then grinning 
at one of the reporters. "Hey, Joe. Waiting for me to put my foot in 
my mouth again?"

Then, he looked at the mom. "A good question. I won't deny that the 
situation as it stands is frustrating to a lot of people, myself 
included. Right now, I'm still trying to determine what options we 
really have in regards to Iraq; It's not simple, but every day, I 
learn more, I form my ideas a bit more," he replies. "I won't promise 
that this will be quick, but I'm not aiming to be quick about making a 
decision; It takes time to get the best advice from the military, from 
the diplomatic corps, from the intelligence community. If I don't make 
a final decision very quickly, OK. It's better I get it right."

That got a nod from the mom. "But you will make a decision?"

"Yes, Ma'am. In a few weeks, at least."

"Thank you, Mr. President."

At that, everybody started moving off, POTUS apparently no longer of 
interest even to the reporters, so he rejoined his wife, kissing her 
on the cheek as he slipped a hand in hers. "Well, I've fed the beast 
for today," he quipped as they walked off.
---
Actions:
1. Just some minor character development.
2. POTUS indicates he's evaluating the options with regard to Iraq, 
will be making a definitive decision in a few weeks; better to get it 
right than to be fast about it, in this case.