Page 55 of State of Alert

“Mr. President,” the principal, Mrs. Montrose, said into another microphone, “we’re delighted to welcome you to Cecil Elementary. On behalf of the mayor, superintendent and school committee, as well as the entire staff and student body, we’re honored to have you as our guest. Brayden and Brock are so excited to have their brother the president visit our school. They’ve requested questions from other students over the last week and they will be our moderators today. I turn it over to them.”

The audience gave the principal a warm round of applause.

“Nick,” Brock said, “thank you for coming to our school today. We’re so excited to have you here.”

“Thank you for inviting me.”

“We have a bunch of questions that were submitted to us, so is it okay if we start asking them?” Brayden said.

“Ask away.”

“The first one is from Henry, who’s in fourth grade. He wants to know if it’s fun to be president.”

Nick wanted to laugh out loud and say,No, it sucks balls,but of course he couldn’t say that. “Where’s Henry?”

The boy stood and waved, grinning from ear to ear.

“Hey, Henry. Thanks for the question. It’s a lot of fun in some ways. I get to ride on theMarine Onehelicopter andAir Force One, which is the president’s own airplane, and in the limousine we call The Beast. My family and I get to live in the White House, where the amazing staff take very good care of us. There’s a pool and bowling alley in the White House that my kids love, so yes, it can be fun. But it’s also a lot of responsibility to keep our country safe and everything working the way it should be.”

“Teegan, a first grader, wants to know if Skippy the dog likes the White House,” Brock said.

“Where’s Teegan? Hi, Teegan. Skippy loves the White House. She thinks she owns the place.”

Lots of giggling followed that statement.

“She’s made friends with the staff, and they keep her in dog treats. My son, Scotty, is supposed to keep track of her, but she doesn’t like being supervised. She likes to visit the kitchen, where there’s always something for her to snack on, and the flower shop. And did you know she has five million followers on Instagram? How many of you have seen her pictures there?”

Lots of hands went up.

“Kevin, a third grader, had another question about Skippy. Has she gotten into trouble or bitten anyone?”

“Where’s Kevin? Hi there. Well, thankfully, Skippy hasn’t bitten anyone except for us when we’re playing with her, and the only trouble she gets into is wandering around the White House like she’s the president.”

He loved the sound of children laughing.

“Cali, a second grader, wants to know if it’s hard being president.”

“Hi, Cali.” By now, the kids were standing up to wave at him when their names were mentioned. “Some days, it’s hard beingpresident. You have to make decisions that affect other people’s lives, and sometimes, the best decision for the country makes people mad at the president. But I’ve learned that I’ll never make everyone happy, so I have to do what I think is best for most of us.”

For another hour, he answered questions about the White House, the Oval Office and what it was like to live in the most famous house in the world.

“We’re going to have to wrap it up,” Mrs. Montrose said. “The president has other commitments today, but what do we say to him for coming to see us today?”

A roar of applause and “thank yous” came from the children as Nick stood to hug his brothers and wave to the other kids. “Thank you for having me and for all the great questions.”

In the back of the room, several of the parents gave him a thumbs-down as he made his way off the stage, which shouldn’t have surprised him but did anyway. At least they hadn’t made a scene in front of their kids. He’d learned to be thankful for small favors.

After posing for pictures with each class, he received hugs from his dad and Stacy.

“That was amazing,” Leo Cappuano said. He was an older version of Nick, with gray hair at his temples. “The boys couldn’t have been more excited.”

“I don’t think either of them slept last night,” Stacy added.

“They looked so cute in their suits.”

“Thank you for making the time,” Stacy said. “They’ll never forget this.”

“Neither will I. It’s the most fun I’ve had since the big promotion.”

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