All of Me

Monogamy was not a Kennedy trait. Not within the men, not within the women – they all had someone on the side, something that kept them occupied whenever they were bored or just felt like having something different. That was the way it had always been, they had quite the appetite on the Emerald Isle and they damn well brought that over with them.

At first, they got away with it because they were attractive and charming. There’s a lot that you can do when you’re handsome and beautiful, the rules don’t apply the same way that they do to the average looking members of society. Then after awhile, it wasn’t just their looks, it was their money. They were wealthy, attractive, well connected, and powerful in their own right. The Kennedy’s had a lot to offer and to have access to that, people would gladly swallow their pride.

Now sometimes it wasn’t just the connections and the money that created that loyalty, sometimes there was love mixed in with all of it. Jackie and Ethel stayed despite the indiscretions because they genuinely loved their husbands. Ethel worshipped her Bobby, there was nothing that he did that she couldn’t make right. Even after he died she refused to let anyone speak ill of him in her presence, because regardless of everything that had happened, he was hers. Bobby had been her joy, her sorrow, her laughter, her life. He had been everything to her and it was that same kind of love that Paulina had felt for Francis. She made excuses for his cheating, she was so good at it that she had even managed to convince herself that there was nothing inherently wrong with it.

He didn’t love those women.

He didn’t care for them.

They simply provided a distraction from his stressful hours in Washington, which was something that she couldn’t do. She couldn’t take his mind off things, not fully. They could only shut off their political sides for so long when they were together, but it wasn’t their fault. Not really. They were political animals who take pleasure in the sport of national politics, and to have someone that they could actually have immersive and intelligent conversations with – well, they could hardly waste their time speaking of the trivial things of life for too long, that would’ve been a waste.

So she didn’t provide him an escape, but those women did and for a long time she was content to make the excuses for him. It would all be okay, they each played their part, and whenever they were together there was absolutely no one else that they wanted to be with, and that was enough for her because as fucked up as it was for her to admit, she felt undeserving of better. He gave her enough love, monogamy would’ve been great, but not necessary for her, because she couldn’t dedicate him the amount of time that he needed, she couldn’t be the charming little wife that politicians need. She was a bitch with an agenda, and after everything she had been through, she was okay with having a differently structured love.

The problem, however, was the fact that he had vowed to be monogamous. He wasn’t going to fuck around anymore, it was only going to be them from there on out, but two months in and Francis was becoming a confrontational little shit who found himself constantly snapping. He wasn’t used to waiting to have sex. As childish as it was, he had voracious appetite, and the fact that Paulina often had to work late, didn’t help the situation. She also enjoyed sex, but sometimes the only thing you want to do after a 14hr day is knock the fuck out in your bed and not be touched. She wanted him, she loved him, she desired him, but he wasn’t going to be having sex every single day with her, it was going to be 3-4 days out of the week if he was lucky, and he never felt lucky about that.

“For fuck’s sake!” he snapped at her. “It’s been a week.”

“It hasn’t been a week!” she shot back. “We fucked after the gala.”

“That was last Friday!”

“Well,” she pursed her lips together tight, trying to figure out how to deescalate the fight. “It’s been a busy week, Francisco.”

“Don’t give me that.”

“What? It has been?”

“It’s always a busy week.” He shook his head. “When have we had a slow week since we got to Washington? When have we been able to breathe and actually relax? But we’ve made it work all this time. Now I don’t know why you’re being such a –”

“Such a what?” she asked through gritted teeth.

“Nothing.”

“Obviously not nothing,” she pressed. To hell with deescalating the fight, they were gonna have at it. “What am I being, Francis?”

“Don’t call me that.”

“That’s your name.”

“It’s not my name.”

“Francis Patrick Kennedy is your name.” She spoke slowly. “So what am I being, Mr. Kennedy?”

“Unreasonable!”

“Because I haven’t fucked you this week?” she threw her hands in the air. “I’ve been prepping to go to Afghanistan all week, and that’s on top of my responsibilities as a Senator. I’m sorry if I haven’t been here, but I haven’t had a choice, Francis.”

“You could’ve told them no.”

“How was I supposed to tell the President that I didn’t want to go to Afghanistan?”

“You could’ve just told him. Fucking Congress takes up all your damn time, you’re allowed a few uninterrupted days with your family.”

“And I want them!” she cried. “Don’t you think I want to be with you? I’m exhausted. These last few months have been absolute shit, and you know this! You know how hard it’s been so I don’t get why you’re on my ass so much about it.”

“It’s only hard because you had to go off fucking gallivanting to London.”

“There it is!”

“What?”

“The real reason you’re fighting.” She rubbed her tired eyes. “How many times do we have to go through this? The President requested my presence.”

“You keep saying that, but why would he fuck you over like that? Why would he have created all this fucking drama for you?”

“Because he thought I was the best fit for the congressional delegation.” She had lost track of how many times she’d used that line. “I had history with the family, Francisco. That’s why he sent me. And you know what? I loved Prince Charles. I did. He was always so nice to me, he opened up his home and his heart to me, so it wouldn’t have been right for me to have missed it. I see that now.”

“You’re only saying that, because you got to see your little prince.”

“That’s not fair.”

“But it’s the truth.”

“What’s your fucking problem?” She stepped closer to him. “I fucked up. I know that I fucked up. I kissed him, but you know what? I came home.” She had hoped his face softened, it didn’t. “I told him that I didn’t want him, because I love you. And I do, I love you so fucking much, but I’m over this.”

“You’re over me?”

“Not you, you fool!” she rubbed her tired eyes. “I’m done arguing with you about the same damn thing. Did I kiss him? Yes, I did. I fucking kissed him, but I came home to you, I decided to make a life with you and you’re not giving me any credit for that. I have never slept with anyone else, I’ve never fucked around on you, but you did.”

“You said I could!”

“Because it was the only way to keep you happy. And maybe – maybe that’s why you’re so confrontational all the time now. We took away your ability to mess around and now you’re mad that I can’t fulfill your needs. But guess what? I can’t leave my office to mess around with you in the middle of the day.”

“You can’t do a lot of things.”

“Well then leave!” she snapped. “If I’m so fucking awful then why don’t you leave?”

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” He got in her face. “You want me to leave so that you can get back with that inbred fucker.”

“Francis!”

“If you want him so badly then have the fucking ovaries to say it!”

“I want you, you stupid fuck, but you know what? I don’t want you right now so get the fuck out of my room.”

“Your room? This is our room! And I’m not fucking going anywhere.”

“Fine then!” she grabbed her pajamas off the bed. “I’ll sleep in the guest room then. Go fucking nuts in here. Watch your fucking porn and have a nice little tug.”

“Aurelia!” he shouted as he followed her into the hallway. “Don’t you dare!”

“I can’t do a lot of things, so tonight I can’t sleep next to you.”

And with that she ran into the guest room and locked it behind her.

This was not how things were supposed to be going.