Title: Go West, Young Man
Author: Cathy Miller (all chapters posted on my website www.cathyswestwing.com)
Rating: Mostly PG; will warn readers of any change
Disclaimer: Not even within driving distance of being mine
Feedback: Required in order to produce additional chapters
A/N: This is dedicated to Mary R, without whom this story wouldn't be nearly what it became.

"Sam, did you hear me?"

"I don't think so. Is this some kind of joke?" he replied.

"It's been my experience that the DNC isn't usually populated by people hoping to break into stand-up but-" Josh joked.

"Then why are they talking about me running for Governor in California?"

"They remember how you threw yourself on the grenade in the run for the 47th. You've remained active in California politics. They've watched as you've proven yourself as Deputy Communications Director and now Deputy Chief of Staff. You're a prot‚g‚ of Bartlet, Santos, and last but not least, yours truly. My wife insists you're handsome and charming, though I don't see that myself, and those qualities come across well during a campaign."

"Josh."

"You'd have to get through the primary first, but once you've run that gauntlet you'll have the full backing of the DNC and the White House."

"You've given this some thought."

"I have. In fact, I've been waiting for this to come up. It's time, Sam."

"What do you know about whether or not it's time for me to run?"

"I've put 2 men in the White House. Some might say I have good judgment about this."

"Ainsley is still on maternity leave for God's sake. I'm supposed to go home and tell her to pack for the campaign in California? I'll be sleeping on the street!"

"You have an infant at home, Sam, nobody's sleeping there. You'd get more rest on the street."

"Caitlin sleeps very well, I'll have you know."

"I bet she'd love the sound of the ocean. They say that it reminds babies of when they were in the womb. You should take her someplace where she can hear the ocean."

"Josh..."

"You know which of our great states has tons of oceanfront property?"

"Josh..."

"Go talk it out Sam; you and Ainsley and Caitlin. See what they have to say. See what you think."

"And what are you going to do for a Deputy around here if I go off on this wild goose chase?"

"We'll probably have to close the White House down once you're gone, but-"

"Would you be serious for a minute? We've got a lot going on around here right now."

"IF you decide to do this, you'll take a leave of absence and I'll appoint an interim DCOS. That shouldn't be your concern right now. Go home and talk it over with your family and get back to me with a 'yes'.."

"Right. Now I know how the President felt when you dropped this "how about you run for office' bombshell on his doorstep." Sam groused as he left.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

"Ains?" Sam called quietly for his wife when he got home. Something smelled good in the kitchen so he followed his nose. He found his wife dancing around the kitchen to whatever was playing on her Ipod as she finished dinner preparations. He tapped her on the shoulder and she jumped.

"God, Sam, don't DO that to me. My heart can't handle that kind of surprise." Just wait, he thought, until I tell you hear the next surprise.

"Caitlin sleeping?" he asked as he pulled his wife close to him for a hug and a kiss.

"Just. She should sleep for the next couple hours. We might have an uninterrupted dinner for a change."

"If we're going to have a couple uninterrupted hours, I have things I'd rather do than eat dinner." Sam's kisses turned more heated and Ainsley responded eagerly. Having a baby in the house had taught them to take advantage of the alone time they were afforded. It was nearly an hour later before they resumed conversation.

"I had an interesting meeting with Josh today."

"Yeah? What about?"

"A Governor's race that the DNC is all hot to get behind."

"I'm guessing that with President Santos' numbers so high, lots of states are going to be clamoring for him to campaign for the down ticket races."

"Yeah. It will be a repeat of the mid-terms only with more demands."

"I'm glad I'm not Helen Santos. All that campaigning has got to wear you down."

"Well, she's been campaigning on the National stage; that's a lot different than a State race." Sam hedged.

"Still, being on the road all the time, and with children too. What a zoo!" Ainsley went on about the tribulations of campaigning while her head rested on her husbands' chest.

"Sometimes I think the place to make a real difference is on the State level." Sam tried again.

"Maybe if you're an appointee. It doesn't matter I guess. I'm just glad that we're settled here. Routine is huge for children. It gives them a foundation."

"Uh-huh." Sam gave up.

"So which race is the DNC all hot about?"

"California." He replied.

"Oh, you know who would be good there?"

"No, who?"

"Oh! What is his name? He's a good friend of Josh's...used to live out there...Oh, what is it?" She broke off as Sam rolled her over and tickled her mercilessly.

"Ainsley Hayes-Seaborn, you were playing with me!" he accused.

"Donna thought it would help soften the ground if she talked to me first."

"I'll kill you both!" Sam threatened.

"That's going to make it harder to win the nomination, not to mention the Governor's seat." That comment stopped Sam in mid-tickle.

"You mean you're alright with this? We have a new baby, we just bought a condo, our jobs-"

"All of that is workable, if this is what you want." Ainsley told him seriously.

"What about what you want?"

"I want our family to be together. The rest is frosting on the cake."

"It's always food with you." Sam teased.

"It's a metaphor. I might have a few issues I'd like to bring to the forefront in a statewide debate."

"Ainsley..."

"Sam, we talked about this before. I knew this day would come. What does Josh say?"

"He said it's my time." Ainsley nodded in agreement.

"Then I think you should listen to your friend and political advisor." She told him. "And your wife, of course. Your wife is very wise."

"She is." Sam agreed and kissed her and then picked up the phone to dial a number he knew by heart.

"Let's go for it." He said when the phone was answered.

"Donna it's Sam. What time is it?" Josh asked.

"7:40. Why?" Sam asked puzzled.

"I bet Donna $50 you'd call before 8:00. Donna you owe me 50 bucks!" he shouted to his wife as Sam chuckled.

"Keep laughing buddy, because if I'm in this, you're in this too." Sam announced.

"Excuse me?" Josh replied, his voice squeaking.

"I want the same deal that you had with Santos; I'm in if you run the show. I don't trust anybody else." Sam explained. "Not with my campaign or my family."

"Uh...I'm going to have to get back to you on that one." Josh stalled.

"No problem; talk to your family and get back to me with a 'yes'." Sam enjoyed tossing Josh's words back at him.

********************************************

"I need to talk to you, Donna."

"I'm not paying you $50 bucks, Josh. I never shook on that bet." Donna called back to him.

"We can just set the bet aside." Josh offered and made Donna immediately suspicious.

"Sam is ready to file, but he had some concerns and a condition."

"Absolutely not."

"You haven't even heard what it is. You can't say no when you haven't even heard what his condition is! You think you can just divine the information that Sam just shared with me and unilaterally say 'no' to your imaginings?" Josh spouted.

"Sam wants you to run his campaign." Donna stated.

"Well, okay, you got that one right, but you still don't get to unilaterally-"

"You think you and Sam can abandon the President at the same time? You think we should just uproot our family and move out to California before Sam even files?" Donna pointed out.

"Those are two good points, but-"

"And I'm sure that you wouldn't agree to Sam's condition without speaking to me about it first, right?" Donna prodded. "I mean, running his campaign would either necessitate me quitting as the First Lady's Chief of Staff-"

"I'm certainly not asking you to-" Josh tried to get a word in.

"Or, I will be working as the Chief of Staff while being a single parent here while you are in California."

"Well...yeah." Josh agreed. "I told him I'd have to discuss it with you first, of course." Josh wasn't a complete idiot and he'd learned a few things in the years that they'd been married.

"So what are you saying here, Josh?"

"I guess it would be foolish to act on either option before the primary." Josh admitted.

"That's exactly what I was thinking." Donna rewarded him with a kiss. "I'm sure Sam will understand."

***********************************************

"Scott Holcomb is available." Josh offered after he sat down with Sam to discuss the situation.

"Oh, well, then I definitely don't need you." Sam replied.

"Everybody needs me, but you have to get through the primary before you get me." Josh quipped. Josh had reasoned that they couldn't both bail on President Santos at the same time, and Sam was uncomfortable asking Josh to uproot his family before they knew if he'd get through the primary. So they struck a compromise; Sam would get a California strategist to work with him through the primary and once he had the nomination (which Sam still thought was doubtful) Josh, Donna, and their son Ben would head west.

"Are you sure you can't talk Joey Lucas into helping me out?"

"She's a little busy with her own campaign, but I'm sure she'd be happy to coordinate some events with you." Joey Lucas was running for US Representative in California and was making good headway.

"So that leaves me where?" Sam sighed.

"I'd go with Jamison, but that's just me." Josh noted. "He has the most statewide experience."

"I don't know." Sam hedged. "Was I drunk when you talked me into this?"

"No, just sleep deprived from having a newborn in the house." Josh replied. "President Bartlet wants to come out to stump for you, but I'd hold off on that for a bit until you've reacquainted yourself with the California electorate."

"How's Bill doing?" Sam changed the subject to that of his successor as DCOS.

"He's still in shock." Josh laughed. "But he's going to be fine. It's Lou who's ready to set the building on fire."

"You told her she's next in line if you end up in California with me?" Sam asked, incredulously. "I thought we'd agreed not to say anything about that until we saw how things were going in California after I file?"

"Are there witnesses to this alleged agreement?" Josh asked just as his wife entered the office.

"Don't start with me. I'm a real lawyer and on this playing field, I can beat you." Sam claimed.

"Do you believe this blaspheming, Donnatella?" Josh asked his wife.

"Of course not, Joshua." Donna replied without even asking what the conflict was about. "You ready for filing day, Sam?"

"I haven't even picked a campaign manager yet, what do you think?" Sam snapped.

"He's a little snarky tonight, Donna. I wouldn't take it personally." Josh told her and handed her a beer from his frig.

"Shouldn't you be leaving to pick up Ben?" Sam asked them, but Josh shook his head 'no'.

"Donna's parents are in town visiting, so he's home with them this week." He explained.

"I don't know Jamison." Sam finally hit on the real reason for his grouchiness and Donna sat down next to him.

"It's only temporary." Donna assured him. "Just through the primary."

"I get why HE'S so sure I'll get the nomination; he's a raving egomaniac when it comes to politics." Sam said, jerking his thumb toward Josh. "But why are YOU so sure I'll get the nomination?" he asked Donna, completely ignoring Josh.

"Because Josh is sure." She answered simply. "And he's a raving egomaniac about politics, because unfortunately, he's almost always right."

"But when he's wrong it's usually a whopper." Sam pointed out.

"Fair point." Donna agreed and had Josh choking on his swallow of beer. "Still, I don't think he is about this. What are you really worried about, Sam?"

"That I'm going to get clobbered again like I did when I ran for the 47th and I will be finished in politics."

"This is different." Donna contradicted him. "That was a Hail Mary play then and everyone knew that. Plus, look what you've done since then. We all believe in you, Sam."

"Thanks, Donna." Sam said sincerely. "It's just once I file..."

"It will be fine, Sam." Josh promised. "You just concentrate on Taylor."

Taylor was the likely Republican nominee for Governor and a current State Senator.

"You don't think it's a little pre-mature to concentrate on a Republican opponent when there are 6 Democratic ones in the primary?"

"You're looking beyond the primary." Josh dictated. "It puts you above all the other Democratic infighting. Just concentrate on Taylor."

*******************************************

"It's just a filing." Sam told her again. "You really don't have to come."

"It's a photo op." Ainsley countered. "And it's the first impression a lot of people will get of you."

"I ran for office in California before you know." Sam pointed out.

"I really don't think you want to remind people of that, Sam." Ainsley winced. "See, this is the kind of thing I can help you with; avoiding PR disasters."

"The California 47th hasn't seen a Democratic victory in the last...100 years and I finished 8 points down after the President called the French poncy haridressers and threatened to shove a loaf of bread up their asses during one of my campaign events, and then my campaign manager was arrested for assault."

"Wow. That was impressive. Someone's been practicing." She teased.

"You know some reporter's going to bring it up." Sam noted.

"You can handle it." Ainsley assured him. "Caitlin and I will help."

"You and Caitlin will help how, exactly?" Sam asked skeptically.

"We'll distract them with our brains and beauty." Ainsley announced.

"Well, that could work, I guess." Sam admitted.

"You guess?" Ainsley repeated.

"Yeah, what I meant to say there, was that my concern is that no one will even pay attention to me with you and Caitlin there." He quickly amended.

"That's what I thought you meant." Ainsley nodded. "We'll go out, file, and spend a few days in the sun."

"Sure...what could go wrong with that plan?" Sam asked rhetorically.

Chapter 2

Todd Jamison knew California politics; he was `plugged in' as they say in the world of politics. He knew the players, he knew the landscape, both literally and metaphorically, and he had planned the filing day photo op to the last detail...almost.

Ainsley and 3 month old Caitlin stood picture perfect at Sam's side when he made his announcement and took questions from the assembled press.

"Do you anticipate that you'll have a serious challenge by any of the current Democratic rivals for the nomination?" A reporter asked.

"I expect that I'll have to earn the nomination by addressing the issues and proving myself here. I'm glad to see that there are so many serious contenders for the nomination; it makes us stronger for the general in the fall." Sam replied smiling.

"Is either former President Bartlet or President Santos going to come out and stump for you?" Another journalist asked.

"I'm sure they will both be stumping for whoever wins the nomination, but they won't be stumping for anyone until the nomination is won. I want to win on my own merits." Sam explained.

"How is your family adjusting to living in California?" Came another question.

"I've kept my residence here over the years and Ainsley and I have spent a lot of time here, but this is Caitlin's first trip. As you can see, she's incredibly impressed." Sam gestured to the sleeping baby in his wife's arms while reporters chuckled and photographers snapped pictures.

"Mrs. Seaborn, are you looking forward to pulling voting for your husband in the primary?" Came a question from the back.

Ainsley chomped down on the urge to correct the reporter; her legal name was Ainsley Hayes-Seaborn, but she didn't think this was the time to point that out. This was about Sam. "Yes, I'm looking forward to it very much." Ainsley noted.

"Our latest information is that you're a registered Republican. When are you going to be changing your party affiliation?"

"I don't need to change my party affiliation to vote for my husband." Ainsley replied and there was a murmur throughout the crowd.

"Your husband is running for the Democratic nomination for Governor."

"Yes." Ainsley answered. "And I'm a Republican."

"Mr. Seaborn, what does it say about your persuasive skills that you can't get your own wife to switch parties?"

"Mrs. Seaborn, have you ever voted for a Democrat before?"

Mrs. Seaborn, how do you expect to convince others to vote for the Democratic nominee when you won't even change your party affiliation?"

Ainsley felt the train running away from her and looked over at Sam, who in turn looked over at Todd Jamison.

"That's it for now. The Seaborns have an appointment. Thanks for coming out today." He ushered the Seaborn family into a waiting car, keeping his smile firmly in place until they drove away.

"You're not going to switch your party affiliation? Are you crazy? You're in California now." Jamison exploded.

"Todd, you know Ainsley is a Republican." Sam disputed.

"Yes, but I assumed she would switch her affiliation once you moved here." Todd shot back.

"You assumed wrong." Ainsley replied hotly, venting the pent up anger at being blind sided towards Jamison. He'd never brought that up when they had discussed the announcement.

"I don't think you understand the implications of that in this race." Jamison explained. "You have to reconsider. You have to switch parties."

"I have to what?" Ainsley repeated.

"Todd, I think this is a conversation that needs to be between Ainsley and me." Sam interrupted before his wife committed murder in the 2nd degree.

"Have it today. Now. It's a deal breaker for me." Todd noted before he got out of the car when they reached his office.

"I'm not switching parties, Sam." Ainsley said quietly.

"I know." He replied and had the pleasure of seeing her head whip around in surprise. "But Todd is right; it's going to be an issue. We need a response so that we're not re- hashing this issue continuously."

"You have something like that up your sleeve, do you?" Ainsley asked.

"No, but I know someone who does." Sam smiled and right on cue, his cell phone rang.

"Here's what it is." Josh laid it out once Sam had put him on speakerphone. "When asked why you haven't been able to persuade your wife to switch parties, you respond `Having an `in house' Republican point of view has helped me bridge the gap between parties when I worked in the White House and it will no doubt be invaluable to me as Governor'."

"You're pretty good at this." Sam told him. "You should think about going into politics."

"Nah, it's a filthy business." Josh replied. "How you doing over there Ainsley?"

"About now, I'm thinking about whose idea this whole thing was and planning appropriate retribution to the party responsible." Ainsley's sharp tone made Josh pale even though he was a continent away.

"You looked great on TV." Josh offered. "I can't believe Caitlin slept through the whole thing. You didn't drug her or anything did you? That kind of thing doesn't go over well with the electorate."

"Thanks for the tip. When are you coming out here? I only ask because I'm afraid that either Ainsley or Todd is going to end up in traction very soon." Sam noted.

"Excuse me?" Ainsley turned a look on Sam.

"I'm afraid Todd is going to end up in traction very soon." Sam corrected.

"He knows California politics better than anyone else on our list." Josh reminded him.

"But he doesn't know us." Sam added. "I think that might be a more important factor at this point. It doesn't feel like a good match."

Josh mulled this over for a bit. "I've got another name, but I didn't put it on the list because the guys a bit of a maverick."

"Who is it?" Sam asked.

"Peyton Forbes." Josh said quickly.

"Peyton Forbes?!" Sam repeated. "He's the one you called a California nut!"

"A successful nut." Josh pointed out.

"Successful at getting issues passed on referendums. Has he ever worked specifically for a candidate before?"

"He's unconventional, just like you and Ainsley. I'll have him come over and meet you. You can form your own opinion." Josh offered.

"Fine, but don't promise him anything, Josh." Sam insisted.

"No, of course not." Josh replied.

***********************************

"Hi, I'm Sam Seaborn." Sam offered his hand to the man standing outside his front door.

"Peyton Forbes. Pleased to meet you; really pleased. When I got a call from Josh Lyman asking me to work your campaign, I was beside myself. What an honor! What an opportunity!" Peyton shook Sam's hand enthusiastically even as Sam winced at Peyton's interpretation of Josh's call.

Peyton Forbes was what most people would call quintessential California. Dressed in business casual, a t-shirt under a summer weight suit jacket and dark jeans, sporting dark sunglasses and tousled hair with blond highlights, he sauntered into the Seaborn home and surveyed his surroundings.

"Great place you've got here." Peyton pronounced.

"Thanks. We like it." Sam replied as Ainsley came in to join them.

"Ah. The incomparable Ainsley Hayes-Seaborn." Peyton took her hand and kissed it. "I'm a big fan."

"Really?" Ainsley asked looking over Peyton's shoulder to meet Sam's eyes.

"I've watched your political commentary for years." He gushed.

"Given your choice of causes that you've championed I find it hard to believe you've agreed with anything I've said in terms of political commentary." Ainsley said suspiciously.

"Agreed with you? God, no; it's a load of right wing bullshit, but so cleverly delivered with such style and wit. It was always entertaining." Peyton continued and Ainsley's eyebrows shot up.

"Ummm..have a seat." Sam suggested and the three of them sat down. "I assume Josh filled you in on what we're looking for?"

"A bit, just a bit." Peyton hedged.

"We've been working with Todd Jamison, but we're not sure it's the best match for us." Sam leveled. "He seems to think that Ainsley's party affiliation is going to be a major stumbling block here."

"Look, the man knows how to get people elected in California, there's no doubt of that, but every candidate he works for...it's like they've all come out of the same cookie cutter, you know? It's as if he figured out a formula for winning here and he never strays from it. He's got no vision." Peyton explained.

"And you do, I suppose." Ainsley drawled.

"That I've got in spades. I've also learned how to mobilize Californians." Peyton bragged. "When the immigration referendum got on the ballot during the last cycle we used the internet, local radio and television, as well as grass roots door knocking to defeat it on a shoestring budget."

"Your issues work has been very successful." Sam acknowledged. "However, managing a single candidate is a whole different thing."

"Not so different. You find the arguments for and pro-actively counter the arguments against while getting out your message. It's just all about a person instead of a piece of legislation. I can do this. I WANT to do this." Peyton assured them.

"Why?" Sam asked curiously.

"I'm thinking that with the right person in the Governor's office, getting the issues addressed that I care about so much might get a little easier. You're that person. The two of you together? You could do incredible things for California." Peyton said sincerely just as Caitlin began to cry in her porta-crib.

Sam walked over to pick her up, buying a little time. He knew it wouldn't work with Jamison, but Peyton Forbes? Okay, so he didn't come across as flamboyant in person as he did on television, but he'd never run a candidate before. Sam picked up his tiny daughter and walked back to Peyton and Ainsley.

"If you were running this; how would you want to respond to the whole party affiliation issue?" Sam asked while he jiggled in place with Caitlin on his shoulder. Peyton stood up and walked closer to Sam and Caitlin.

"May I?" Peyton asked indicating the baby. Sam hesitated, then handed his daughter to Forbes. Peyton swayed back and forth cooing to the little girl until she settled. Then he looked over at Sam and Ainsley and spoke quietly to them. "I wouldn't handle it, or downplay it, I'd build on it. You have a smart, articulate wife, who has a mind of her own. She's going to bring independents to the table and maybe even some liberal Republicans. I'd want both these lovely ladies front and center."

"My daughter isn't a campaign tool." Sam clarified.

"No, but she is your daughter and seeing that she couldn't go wrong inheriting from either gene pool here, she's beautiful. When you're a parent, it gives you another perspective...or so I'm told. You have a personal reason to want to leave things better for the next generation. Taylor and his cardboard cut out wife don't have that going for them either."

"Don't you think we should concentrate on the primary contenders before we start looking at Taylor?" Sam asked.

"Nope. I think the only opponent you should reference is Taylor. It puts you above the fray." Peyton said simply, unknowingly echoing Josh's advice. Caitlin was quiet now, entranced by Peyton's voice and direct gaze.

"You understand that if by some miracle we win the nomination, Josh Lyman would take over the campaign at that point?" Sam wanted that much perfectly clear.

"I don't think I'd want to be solely responsible for the Democratic nominee for Governor. But Josh did say he'd make sure there was a spot for me on the staff as his Deputy when things got to that point." Forbes noted. "Look, you're not sure about this. I can understand that, but you've got some events planned this week and things aren't going well with Jamison. How about we give each other this week to try things out? If it's a bust, then we go our separate ways, if not, we put together an agreement."

Sam looked at Ainsley who nodded. "Okay. Tomorrow, we have-"

"A rally at 2 and a fundraiser at 7." Peyton finished. "Do you have a copy of your remarks?"

"Yeah." Sam said and with only a moment's hesitation, went to retrieve them.

"You're very good with her." Ainsley noted. "You must have had a lot of practice with babies."

"I'm an uncle many times over. I love kids." Peyton admitted.

"But you don't have any of your own?" Ainsley confirmed.

"No. I haven't even seen much of my nieces and nephews in the last few years. My decision to come out a few years ago was a source of embarrassment and disappointment to my upper-crust east coast family. I don't even get invited back for the holidays." Peyton admitted.

"I'm sorry. That must be hurtful." Ainsley wasn't sure what else to say.

"That's not even the worst of it." Peyton told her. "They're Republicans, too." He continued, tongue-in-cheek. Ainsley found herself laughing.

Sam came back into the room to find Peyton and his wife hip to hip on the couch playing with Caitlin. Peyton handed the baby back to Ainsley as he took the remarks from Sam. He paced while he read and made a few marks here and there. When he'd finished, he faced Sam.

"Damn, I'd forgotten how good you are with words." Peyton noted. "I made a few minor changes, but overall it's exactly what it needs to be; an introduction to the electorate and a fundamental statement of the things you stand for. Nicely done."

"Thanks." Sam smiled, too. "Do I have to run all my speeches by you?"

"Have to? No, but I think it would be wise until you get your sea legs around here." Peyton advised. "The rally is going to be for a host of Democratic candidates, and most of your competitors will be there. Don't comment on them, don't address them directly, and whatever you do, don't respond to Roger's baiting; he's notorious for getting some sucker to respond to bullshit and since you're new, he's going to train his sights on your beautiful blue eyes." Sam started to reply, but Peyton cut him off. "The fundraiser is going to be all you, so give it the full court press. You didn't leave a highly prestigious job in the White House to come in second in the primary."

"I didn't?" Sam was almost amused now.

"Absolutely not." Peyton played along. "You will most likely get questions about me, too. Tell them you hired me as a consultant for my keen fashion sense and laugh it off."

"Is that part of the services you offer?" Ainsley asked.

"Yes, but that's not the part you'll need." Peyton laughed. "Spend some time online tonight looking at proposition 12; we'll want to go over it before you hit the rally tomorrow."

"I have gone over it. I'm against it." Sam declared.

"Take another look, then. I don't think you want to go down that road." Peyton stated. "I'll say goodnight now. You've had an exhausting day already." Peyton leaned down to stroke Caitlin's cheek. "See you tomorrow, beautiful. Ainsley, Sam, goodnight."

Peyton was almost out the door when he popped his head back inside. "Oh and remind me to make sure the MC introduces you as Ainsley Hayes-Seaborne tomorrow. These people need to get used to the idea of a politician's wife who has opinions of her own. Might as well start as we mean to go on. Oh, and don't wear green tomorrow, My horoscope says that will only lead to trouble. Goodnight."

Sam waited a beat to be sure he was gone. "Well I don't honestly know whether to be relieved or alarmed, but it appears that we've hired a campaign director."

A/N: Okay, I've had enough requests to post the rest of this on the list. I hope that there's enough Josh/Donna to satisfy the moderators it's okay to post here.

A/N: I was terribly remiss in not singling out Mary R. for her help in researching for this fic and her inspired ideas!

 

Chapter 3

"How'd it go yesterday?" Josh asked when he got Sam on the phone.

"Fine, but then I wasn't wearing green either." He quipped.

"Is not wearing green an official part of your campaign? Don't you think you should have consulted with me before removing an entire color from your wardrobe?" Josh replied.

Sam leaned his head back against the car seat. "It was a long day."

"Get used to it. The rally made the national news. They called you a front runner." Josh noted.

"Thank God. You should see some of these people, Josh." Sam explained. "Eddie Ramirez in running on a single issue platform; opening the border to Mexico."

"That should make for some interesting debates." Josh laughed.

"There are a lot of interesting debates around here." Sam said ruefully. "Hey, what do you think about proposition 12?"

"The referendum on dedicating a portion of the state budget on..."

"Fuel alternatives, yes." Sam finished the sentence.

"I think it's a good idea for California." Josh hedged.

"As Governor, you don't think I'd have a responsibility to think more globally?"

"As Governor, it's your responsibility to take care of the people in California; many of whom have a two hour, one way commute. Business isn't going to step up to the plate. They're the ones making a fortune off fossil fuels and the products that use them. If the Government doesn't create incentives for alternatives, they're not going to get alternatives."

"Well, shit." Sam responded. "Tell me again why you thought this would be a good idea?"

"You're going to be an amazing Governor and do great things for the State of California." Josh said quietly.

Sam was momentarily overwhelmed.

"What do you think of Forbes?" Josh changed the subject.

"Doesn't matter what I think; Ainsley and Caitlin are crazy about him." Sam joked. "I like him personally; I just don't know if I trust him politically yet. He's still more issues oriented than candidate oriented."

"Give him a chance. I think he's going to be good for you." Josh maintained.

"I'm giving him a chance." Sam assured him. "Just bring your new deputy up to speed quickly, okay?"

"I'll do my best. Talk to you later, Sam." Josh hung up and went to find his wife and son. Ben, nearly 3, was sitting on the floor of the living room watching his Disney video, but Donna was nowhere to be found.

"Benjamin? Where's Mommy?" Ben pointed down the hall without looking up at his father.

"Donna?" Josh called and followed the direction Ben indicated.

She didn't answer but he could hear her in the bathroom.

"Donna? Are you okay?" he slowly pushed the door open to see his wife sitting on the floor, vomiting.

"I don't want to see you right now." Donna moaned. "This is all your fault."

"Half my fault maybe, but I distinctly recall you being an enthusiastic partner." Josh teased as he wet a washcloth and placed it on the back of Donna's neck.

"It's all lies." Donna moaned again. "I hate you."

"You know, last time you didn't hate me until you hit the delivery room." Josh noted and rubbed her back.

"That's because last time, I didn't have morning sickness like this." Donna replied.

"I told you it's a girl this time. Girls are always more trouble." Josh goaded her further.

Donna hit him with the wet washcloth. "I'm never doing this again; do you hear me?"

"My hearing is fine. Quit hitting me." Josh insisted. "Let me help you to bed. You can lie down and get some rest."

"I'll lie down on the couch. I want to stay with Ben." Donna explained. Josh helped her to the couch and tucked a blanket around her before sitting next to her and giving her a foot massage.

"Aren't you going into the office?" Donna asked puzzled.

"Nah. It's Sunday and we've got nothing pressing. The President will page me if he needs me." Josh replied and Donna melted a little.

"Maybe I don't totally hate you." She admitted.

Ben's head whipped up and over at his mother. "Mommy, don't say `hate'." He instructed.

Josh burst out laughing. "Yeah, Mommy." *****************************************

Peyton Forbes watched `his guy' work the crowd at Glide Memorial Church in San Francisco. There was no denying the man was attractive; the overwhelming number of young female volunteers at their campaign offices was a testament to that fact. He was comfortable with a crowd of people and was able to make them feel comfortable with him. He was personable, engaging, and idealistic. All of these factors played a part in the resulting bump Sam had in his numbers over the last 2 weeks, but Peyton liked to think his management played a role in that number bump as well.

The stop at Glide Memorial Church for instance, had been his idea. True, it leaned more left of center, but it's reputation and the amazing public service it provides made it a match made in heaven for Sam Seaborn.

"I read that your kitchen serves more than a million meals a year. How do you manage that kind of traffic?" Sam asked.

"We have 27 staff members, most of whom received some sort of services from Glide Memorial themselves, and they are supported by a dedicated crew of volunteers." The Director replied.

"And in addition, you provide housing, health care, child care, and employment training." Sam shook his head in wonder. "That's amazing. You should be very proud of the work you do here."

"Thank you, we are." The Director continued. "Unfortunately, the number of people who need our help seems to be ever increasing."

"What could we do at the State Government level to change that direction, in your opinion?"

"Honestly, sir, the biggest issues for most of our people here are health care and child care. None of our people can afford either. It's a catch 22. They can't get a job without affordable childcare, and they can't get health insurance without a job."

"It's a conundrum." Sam agreed. "The health plan that I'm proposing would be subsidized by State and Federal dollars and extend UCare to more families who don't qualify under the current plan. The Universal health plan for children under 6, that I helped President Santos enact helps, but we can't stop there either."

"No, but I like your idea of incorporating preventative health care into the day care centers." The Director noted.

"So many illnesses and medical conditions could be caught earlier and successfully treated for far less money if we made sure that all the children in California were receiving preventative care." Sam pointed out.

"Mr. Seaborn, this is Wayne Norton. He was a resident here at Glide Memorial after his wife's catastrophic illness wiped his family out financially. They've been able to work themselves back up again, but they still take the time to volunteer here twice a week."

"It's great that you're giving something back." Sam shook Wayne's hand. "How is your wife doing now, Mr. Norton?"

"She's in remission and doing very well right now, sir, thanks for asking." Wayne seemed nervous about meeting the former White House Deputy Chief of Staff. "We appreciate you taking the time to come see us today."

"It's been my pleasure. I'm hoping that as Governor, I can use this model to create more `Glide Memorial's' across the state." Sam told him.

"You've got my vote." Wayne promised.

"Thanks so much." Sam replied.

"No offense, but we were hoping to see your wife with you today." Wayne said.

"Our daughter came down with an ear infection, and Ainsley wanted to stay with her until she started feeling better." Sam smiled. Ainsley was fast becoming the big draw at these events. Her southern charm combined with her outspoken personality always made for an interesting event.

"I hope she feels better real soon." Wayne offered.

"Thanks." Sam said again and caught Peyton's high sign that it was time to move along. "I'm being waved off for my next appointment, but I truly appreciate the time you've taken to show me how you run things here. I'm extremely impressed. Please keep in touch." Sam shook the Director's hand and the hands of the people who'd gathered to hear him speak earlier. It was another 20 minutes before he was finally able to extract himself from the crowd and jump into the car with Peyton.

"Josh called while you were on your tour. He wants you to call him back ASAP." Peyton reported.

"Yeah, okay. Just give me a minute." Sam closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the car seat. "All those kids, Peyton. I kept seeing Caitlin there and it just broke my heart. We' ve got to do better than this."

This was the part Peyton worried about. Sam's idealism was inspirational, but it also wore Sam down when he got a cold dose of reality like he had today.

"There's a lot you can do from behind the Governor's desk." Peyton answered. "Call your wife and check on your daughter."

Sam smiled and did as he was told. After hearing that Caitlin was sleeping comfortably and Ainsley missed him, he felt his stomach unclench significantly. Peyton listened to the conversation with something close to envy. For all the political squabbling between those two, they obviously loved each other very much and were able to ground each other even while they went through this rigorous election process.

Once Sam hung up with Ainsley, Peyton got Josh on speaker.

"The President doesn't keep you busy enough over there?" Sam asked him once they got the Chief of Staff on the line. "You seriously have time to critique my campaign?"

"You should feel privileged that I put you on my call sheet." Josh replied. "How'd it play at Glide Memorial?"

"He did great." Peyton chimed in. "But they asked for Ainsley."

"Yeah, that's kind of what I'm calling about." Josh sighed. "An old friend of yours wrote an op/ed that's going to get picked up out there."

"An old friend?" Sam repeated.

"Kevin Kahn." Josh answered.

"Saying what?" Sam asked with trepidation.

"It's a rehash of all the Golden Oldies; Laurie, the California 47th, MS hearings, etc. There's nothing new except for the Ainsley component." Josh told him.

"The Ainsley...component?" Peyton questioned.

"He lists a number of items where he alleges that you and Ainsley disagree; policy-wise. I'm emailing you an advance copy I got from a contact on the paper. It's nothing you can't spin. The rumor is that he may be coming out there to work for Taylor." Josh added.

"What am I missing here?" Peyton asked.

"Kevin Kahn and I have a personal as well as professional history." Sam explained. "We faced off when he ran Ritchie against President Bartlet. It got...ugly."

"Sounds like fun." Peyton noted.

"The point is, Kahn knows Sam very well and he's got a serious axe to grind. You need to watch your back." Josh advised. "Take a look at the email and we'll talk later about how you want to respond. I've got to go."

"Thanks Josh." Peyton signed off and hung up the phone. "This Kevin Kahn, you know him just as well as he knows you, right?"

"Sure." Sam agreed.

"Then you'll have a good idea of how he'll act and react, too." Peyton remarked. "And don't forget that by targeting you, he's made you the presumptive nominee. That's actually good news for us."

"Yeah, I guess it is." Sam laughed. "Why is it again that you've never run a candidate before?"

"I think it had something to do with being an extremely liberal, gay, activist." Peyton decided.

"I guess that would do it." Sam noted and both men laughed together.

******************************

"What am I supposed to do with these?" Josh asked.

"Look them over. Help me pick a preschool for Ben." Donna called out to him from the kitchen.

"Donna, seriously, I think you're capable of making this decision on your own. And do we really need to enroll him in preschool if we're just talking about being there for a few months?"

"Four months and yes, we do." Donna replied. "He needs to have a routine and friends there."

"Why can't he just come with us?"

"Campaigning across the state with a 3 year old? Are you addled?"

"Sam says they take Caitlin everywhere with them."

"Caitlin is just a few months old and sleeps most of the time." Donna pointed out.

"Oh, yeah." Josh acknowledged. "That's different, I guess."

"Just a bit." Donna agreed. "How did Sam react to the op/ed?"

"He's mostly annoyed at this point. Kevin Kahn is making a mistake gunning for Sam. That's the problem when you let politics get personal."

"You always let politics get personal."

"Yeah, but that's me, not other people." Josh argued.

"Oh, okay." Donna rolled her eyes and rubbed her back. At nearly 4 months pregnant, the morning sickness had eased, but now the backaches and foot swelling had begun. Ah, the joys of pregnancy.

"Are you having second thoughts about going out there?"

"No. Not exactly. It's just that the timing isn't so great. I'm not sure I like the idea of the baby being born in California."

"We don't have to go." Josh said immediately. "Or we could go for a few weeks and come back home."

"We promised Sam." Donna reminded him.

"You think he wouldn't understand?" Josh chuckled.

"No, I know he would, but I want to do this too. This is just hormones. Will you just look over the note cards and help me pick a preschool for Ben?"

"I'll look at them, but I still think you don't need me for this."

"I want you for this." Donna corrected. "Parenting we do together."

"Right." Josh smiled. "And if I pick one you don't like?"

"Then I'll explain the error of your ways to you." Donna smiled back. "See how lucky you are to have me?"

"Yes. Yes, I do." Josh replied before he pulled her closer for a kiss to prove he knew exactly how lucky he was.

 

Chapter 4

"This is an exceedingly bad idea." Ainsley repeated.

"It'll be fine." Sam told her again.

"It'll be fine....Me in a room full of Democratic women and you think it'll be fine."

"Sure it will. Donna's a Democratic woman and she's one of your best friends. It's just a roomful of Donna's." Sam countered.

"It's really not." Ainsley argued. "There's got to be a better way to handle this than to have me addressing this group of women. I'm going to embarrass you, and myself, and the whole campaign."

"Peyton, will you tell her she's not going to embarrass anyone?" Sam requested.

"I'd love to, but I can't while she's wearing that hideous suit." Peyton shook his head.

"What's wrong with this suit?" Ainsley demanded.

"Nothing if you're going to court, but you're going to a cocktail dinner with all the important women in the Democratic party of California. Go put on something that will remind them all that you're Republican sex kitten."

Ainsley turned her anger toward Sam. "How could you tell him that story!" she shouted.

"It was a long drive back from Sacramento." Sam defended himself. "I was really tired and we just started telling each other stories to stay awake." Ainsley just continued to glare at her husband.

"You are SO going to pay for that later." She promised before turning back to Peyton. "And if you so much as think about that story in the presence of someone else, I'll take my daddy's hunting knife to those beautiful leather seats in your convertible." Peyton drew in a shocked breath.

"You would NOT." Peyton whispered.

"Try me." Ainsley batted her eyelashes and sauntered out of the room.

"You have to make her promise not to touch the convertible." Peyton implored Sam.

"Don't look at me. My head's already on the chopping block." Sam's worried gaze followed his wife as she went up the stairs.

"You couldn't just marry an empty headed beach bimbo like all the other politicians around here?" Peyton complained.

"Where would the fun be in that?" Sam smirked.

**************************************

Ainsley fiddled with the note cards in her pocket again. She felt like a Christian being led in to the lion's den. She was still learning her way around this type of mine field. True, that when they had both worked in the White House, she had attended her share of Democratic dinners, fundraisers, and strategy sessions, but this was different. She wasn't speaking as a White House counsel or an attorney. She was representing her husband while he was running for Governor. It was very different.

She was greeted at the door by a woman who had a name tag that read "Elisabeth".

"Goodevening, Mrs. Seaborn. We're so glad you could join us." Elisabeth commented.

"Ainsley, please." This part, Ainsley had learned to navigate. It was much simpler to instruct people to call her Ainsley than explain that she went by Ainsley Hayes-Seaborn. The hyphen ALWAYS started a conversation.

"I'm Elisabeth Holloway. I'm with the organizing committee. Come right this way. Elisabeth led Ainsley down a hallway. "We were so happy that you were able to accept the invitation to speak tonight. Your presence on the campaign trail has certainly stirred up a lot of conversation."

The comment was innocent enough but Ainsley caught the undertone. This was not one of her fans.

"Some people are easily titillated." Ainsley noted. "I was honored to be asked."

She made the rounds of the room with Elisabeth at her side and endured the endless chatter about clothes, children, and private schools that seemed to be the hallmark of the moneyed politicos on both sides of the aisle.

Her short speech went smoothly since she had insisted on rehearsing it several times, but the applause was tepid. They loved Sam around here, but she was still considered an outsider.

She was just calculating how much longer she would have to stay before she could make a gracious exit when she was approached by Barbara Neumann; the wife of Congressman Grant Neumann, another Democratic candidate for Governor.

"Ainsley Hayes-Seaborn. We finally get a chance to meet. What do you say we get out of here for a breath of fresh air?"

"Well, I was just-"

"Take pity on me, woman. I am dying for a cigarette and Grant will kill me if I light up in here." Barbara said in a serious undertone that only Ainsley could hear.

"Okay." Ainsley agreed hesitantly and followed Barbara out onto the balcony off the ballroom they were occupying. Barbara took a lot of heat in the press. She had a habit of letting her comments drop from her brain to her tongue without the benefit of any editing in between the two points. Some of the tabloids referred to her as `Malibu Barbie' due to her penchant for getting photographed in bathing suits.

"Thank God." Barbara blew out a nicotine filled breath. "I felt like I was suffocating in there. Want one?" she offered a cigarette to Ainsley.

"I don't smoke." Ainsley refused politely.

"A North Carolina girl who doesn't smoke?" Barbara questioned.

"Not everybody in North Carolina owns a tobacco farm." Ainsley replied, thinking it was odd that this woman knew where she was originally from.

"Sorry. I hear North Carolina and think tobacco. I guess that's pretty stereotypical, huh?"

"There's a reason it's a stereotype." Ainsley allowed. "You are being discouraged from smoking in front of the electorate?"

"Forbidden." Barbara corrected. "Grant's the one running. Who the hell cares what I do with my lungs, right?"

"In theory." Ainsley noted. "In practice, I'm finding it's a different story."

"For what it's worth, I thought it was awful that they gave you such a hard time about refusing to switch parties. Judging by these gatherings, I've got to believe that Republicans are a lot more fun." Barbara quipped.

Ainsley nearly spit out her drink. "Not really, no. In fact, I was just thinking that these `gatherings' look and feel the same on both sides of the aisle. You must be used to this by now though. This is Grant's 3rd term isn't it?"

"Yes, but I've only been through one Congressional campaign. Wife number 1 was with him through the rest." Barbara drawled.

"Ah." Ainsley didn't know how to respond to that so she remained quiet on that score. "Well, this is my first campaign, so I'm making all kinds of rookie mistakes."

"I don't know. Eddie Cruz seems pretty concerned about you." Barbara threw out. Eddie Cruz was serving as Grant's campaign manager. Ainsley blinked at her frank talk.

"He says you're dynamic and sharp witted. I think that's supposed to be a dig at me."

"I'm sure it's not, Barbara." Ainsley tried to assure her.

"It's Barb, and I'm equally sure it is. Eddie thinks I'm trying to tank the primary run. He's not exactly wrong; I prefer D.C. to Sacramento, but I'm not trying to tank it for Grant either."

"I'm not sure we should be talking about this." Ainsley offered.

"If we can't talk to each other, who can we talk to? Who else understands what it's like to be in this fishbowl?" Barb asked.

"I just don't know if you should be sharing the opinions of your husband's campaign manager."

"Speaking of which; what is the deal with Peyton Forbes? Grant nearly had apoplexy when he found out Forbes was running Sam's campaign." Barb asked as she lit her second cigarette.

"I like Peyton a lot." Ainsley told her.

"Yes, I mean he's a fabulous guy, and his convertible is to die for, but he's not exactly your traditional gubernatorial campaign manager." Barb pointed out.

"That works out well, since Sam isn't your traditional gubernatorial candidate."

"I guess that's true, too." Barb laughed. "Oh, shit. We're getting flagged back in by Elisabeth. I just want this to be over. 4 more weeks until the primary. You can do anything for 4 weeks, right?"

"Right." Ainsley agreed and followed Barb back inside.

"Oh, Mrs. Seaborn. This is Helen Andrews from the paper of record. She wanted a word with you about your husband's education reform." Elisabeth announced. Barb rolled her eyes behind Elisabeth's head causing Ainsley to choke on a laugh.

*************************************

"Ains?" Sam called out to his wife.

"I'm upstairs with Caitlin." She called back. "I've got Donna on speakerphone."

Sam found his wife and daughter lying on the nursery floor. Ainsley was chatting away with Donna.

"It's only a few blocks from here and it's fully furnished. Check out the website address and you can take a virtual tour."

"Perfect." Donna replied. "I appreciate you doing this for us, Ainsley. I'm up to my eyeballs over here packing up my office and the house."

"Hey, Donna." Sam chimed in. "How are you feeling?"

"Fat." Donna answered. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired. California is a big state." Sam noted.

"Yes, but you're two weeks out and 8 points up."

"You and I both know the real gauntlet will be in the general." Sam told her. "They're waiting until I get the nomination before they start lobbing grenades at me."

"Josh said Kevin Kahn is packing his bags too. He's coming on board as the media strategist for Taylor." Donna added.

"Josh told me." Sam sighed. "You'd think Bartlet vs. Ritchie would be pretty old news at this point, wouldn't you?"

"You pretty much decimated his candidate, Sam. Josh still remembers every one of his early campaign battles; especially the ones he lost." Donna replied. "He just mistakenly thinks this is payback time."

"I guess." Sam acknowledged. "Did I hear you two talking houses?"

"Ainsley thinks she found something for us nearby. You sure California is ready for the Lyman invasion?"

"Can't wait for it, in fact." Sam promised.

"Well, just remember that when Josh's surprise arrives tomorrow." Donna noted.

Sam winced. "This isn't something that's going to end up on a front page out here, is it?"

"You never know." Donna said cryptically. "I'll talk to you both later. Bye."

Donna hung up the phone and turned to her husband who was surveying her half packed office in the East Wing. There were boxes everywhere.

"You're not bringing all this home, are you?" Josh asked.

"Where else would I store it?" Donna answered his question with a question.

"We have a nuclear facility in Nevada..."

"Funny boy." Donna patted his cheek. "How is your packing coming along?"

"Oh, you know." Josh hedged.

"I know you're not stupid enough to leave it all to the last minute and then expect your pregnant wife to organize it." Donna continued her packing.

"No, I'm not that stupid." Josh agreed and then changed the subject, thinking he'd better get someone on his packing. "I just got off the phone with Toby. His flight will get into California around 4 tomorrow afternoon."

"You sure this is going to be a good surprise?" Donna asked.

"Peyton and I have been over and over this. They've got nobody Sam trusts with the speechwriting, and the stakes are about to go up dramatically."

"I agree he needs a speechwriter. I'm just wondering if you're sure Toby is the right one for this campaign. With Kevin Kahn running media for Taylor, having you and Sam and Toby together again is going to look like a Bartlet reunion. Won't that be like waving a red cape in front of a bull?"

"It will be fine." Josh brushed off her concern. "Kevin Kahn doesn't concern me."

"Sam seems concerned that they're waiting to drop a house on him until after the primary." Donna shared.

"That's usually how it works." Josh agreed. "He's had a pretty easy time of it so far. Neumann was the only one to give him any competition at all."

"How big a battle are we anticipating after the primary?" Donna asked.

"California is a hotly contested race; especially since the Governor and Lt. Governor are elected separately. The two top spots are almost always split up between the two parties. Taylor will be a formidable opponent; a moderate Republican who's got a family history in the state and tons of money behind him."

"So...pretty ugly." Donna surmised.

"Very ugly." Josh confirmed.

 

Chapter 5

Sam opened the door to his home and his jaw dropped to the floor.

"I know you like these sweeping statements, but without hard numbers to back them up you sound like another politician blowing smoke." Toby stated as he walked past Sam into his home.

"Toby?" Sam still stood holding the front door open. "What are you doing here?"

"I was hired by your campaign manager to write speeches."

"You're going to write my campaign speeches?"

"I've already started. I've got two for primary night; one is for if you win and one- "

"if I lose, right." Sam shut the door and walked over to his old friend and favorite author. "If you do this, it's going to bring a lot of your...troubles back on to the front page of newspapers. It's going to bring it back at a point where people have finally forgotten about it. Are you sure that's something you're comfortable with?"

"Are you worried about having a pardoned felon on your payroll?" Toby countered.

"No! That's not what- Things have been calm and quiet at Columbia for you and your family. I just want to be sure that you realize how jumping back into this pond is going to ripple into the rest of your life."

"Mr. Rose colored glasses is going to lecture me on big picture consequences?" Toby smirked.

"I'm not wearing rose colored-"

"Yes, you are. You always have, and that's been part of your appeal out here. Forbes has had you all over propositions and hot button issues, and that plays fine in the primary, but you've got a bigger picture now. You need a different narrative." Toby opined. "So let's get started on that."

Toby pulled his laptop out of his carry on bag and placed it on the living room coffee table. "Take a look at this for your thing tomorrow at the wharf."

Sam sat down next to Toby and began reading. They were still sitting there arguing heatedly an hour later when Ainsley and Peyton got back from her event.

"Hey, how'd it go?" Sam stopped arguing long enough to ask the new arrivals.

`Ummm...okay." Ainsley hedged.

"Okay?" Sam asked.

"We may need to do a bit of spin tonight." Peyton announced and dropped down into the nearest chair.

"What happened?" Sam probed.

"In all fairness, I would just like to point out that I told you this was a bad idea." Ainsley began.

"You say that about every event you go to." Peyton noted.

"I really meant it this time." Ainsley tossed back. "Sam, they started in as soon as I stepped out of the car."

"There was a counter-rally, organized by Taylor or the RNC. They were loud, they were obnoxious, and the media got plenty of film" Peyton added.

"Plenty of film showing what?" Toby asked.

"Picture posters of Ainsley stumping for Republicans. Quotes from Ainsley about Democrats being owned and operated by the teacher's unions. And lots of campaign literature outlining Sam's involvement in every Bartlet and Santos move that would send right wingers running to Taylor." Peyton summed up.

"So when you said things went `okay'..." Sam stood up and walked to his wife.

"I lied." Ainsley admitted. "It was awful, Sam. I couldn't even give the speech. The representatives from the teachers union spent more time talking to the media than with me."

"I guess they're not waiting for the primary to start lobbing grenades." Sam said and pulled Ainsley into his arms.

"This isn't the RNC." Toby stated. "That kind of display doesn't hit independent or liberal Republican voters; it agitates the Democratic base. The only one that would benefit from this is the person running second to you in the primary."

"Neumann." Ainsley concluded.

"Maybe this is my fault." Peyton suggested. "I've pushed Ainsley front and center a lot."

"Why wouldn't you?" Toby countered. "She's bright, articulate, attractive, and has years of Government service on her resume. That's an advantage no other candidate has; in either party."

"That's what I thought. But is this type of disadvantage worth exploiting for the advantage?" Peyton asked. "This is why I've always stuck to issue campaigns."

"You're looking at this all wrong." Toby insisted. "If they're targeting Ainsley, it's because they perceive her to be a threat they need to neutralize. It's a good sign for us and we can turn this around by breakfast." Toby picked up the phone and started dialing.

"Hey, Toby. Welcome to California." Ainsley told him and saw his lip twitch in acknowledgment.

***********************************

Josh Lyman was in full political operative mode. He had a cell phone at his ear while he responded to a text message from Peyton and was bellowing for the latest numbers in the key districts.

The primary was in a week, but Josh was looking ahead to November. Peyton was running the primary branch of the operation and Josh had learned to trust Peyton's instincts over the past few months. Donna and Ben weren't coming out until tomorrow when Josh's mom, Ruth, could fly out with them.

"Ted, it doesn't matter whether it's 4 points or 14; Sam Seaborn is going to be the Democratic nominee for Governor in 6 more days. The only question you have to ask yourself now, is whether you want to be celebrating with Sam or commiserating with Grant when that day comes."

"Josh, I have my own campaign to worry about. I served with Grant for years and our support is intertwined." Ted argued.

"You only think it is." Josh countered. "I've got a whole different set of numbers to show you. Once we get past this primary the whole electorate will be blown wide open. Sam's appeal reaches past our traditional base. You team with him now, before the primary and you're going to see support for your campaign you' ve never even heard from before."

"I need to...let me call you back, Josh." Ted responded.

"I'll look forward to it." Josh said as he hung up the phone. "Greg!"

"It's Craig, sir." The intern assigned to Josh replied.

"Right. These are yesterday's numbers. I need today's numbers. And where are the California and D.C. papers?" Josh shot out.

"We're ummmm...getting them, sir." Craig beat hasty retreat.

"And some coffee wouldn't be completely unwelcome either." Josh called after him.

"I see the Lyman reign of terror has begun." Sam commented as he passed Craig coming into Josh's office.

"Greg is worthless, Sam. Just so you know. Why aren't you on your way to the forum on immigration?"

"I've got some time. Listen, I know President Santos is making a swing out here in a few weeks to stump for down ticket races; that's fine. He's the sitting President and it's expected. I'm having second thoughts about having President Bartlet come."

Josh's eyebrows shot up in surprise. He set his blackberry down on his desk and leaned back in his chair. "Why?"

"Let's set aside the fact that President Bartlet has always...struggled in California. It feels like too many heavy hitters coming in to do something because I'm not a strong enough candidate myself."

"You've never held elected office, Sam. Having two men, popular Democrats, who have lends a lot of credibility to the campaign. I understood why you didn't want them here during the primary; too much inside baseball and it creates party division and bad feelings all around, but now-"

"It's not what I want, Josh." Sam said simply and Josh did a mental re- evaluation.

"It's going to look strange if he doesn't come out here for you Sam." Josh noted.

"Have him come. We can use him for Democratic fundraising and joint Democratic appearances with down ticket candidates. I just want to do this on my own...or you know, not."

"Ah-kay." Josh picked up his Blackberry and started making notes on a sheet of paper in front of him.

"That's it? No argument."

"I have plenty of arguments, Sam. I'm just not going to waste them over this. Plus, I think you might have a point." Josh paused. "It's your campaign and you have to feel comfortable with the direction it's going in or this whole thing is for nothing."

"Toby is messing with the speeches for primary night again." Sam reported.

"With Toby, you are on your own." Josh washed his hands of it.

"You hired him; without consulting me, I might add." Sam protested.

"And I can't believe you haven't thanked me for that yet." Josh teased.

"I'm about to." Sam explained. "We've been seeing an influx of resumes lately and you need an assistant. I think I've found the perfect man for the job. He'll be here to interview with you in an hour. Try not to fire him before I get back from the thing." Sam called over his shoulder as he left.

****************************************

"We'll be there when we get there, Joshua. I really can't do anything about a delayed flight." Donna explained.

"I know...I just miss you guys." Josh said quietly into his cell.

"We miss you too." Donna replied. "How are Sam and Ainsley doing?"

"They're doing fine. Caitlin has gotten so big, wait until you see her." The wonderment in Josh's voice made Donna smile. There was a time when Josh Lyman wouldn't even notice a baby while he was in campaign mode. He seemed to have learned some balance.

"Mr. Lyman? Your interview is here." Craig announced from the doorway and then came in to quickly drop a resume on his desk.

"Thanks, Greg. Give me a minute and then send him in." Josh said around the cell phone.

"Sure, but it's Craig, sir." Craig managed before he slunk back out the door causing Donna to laugh.

"I'll call you as soon as we land." Donna promised before she hung up the phone.

Josh quickly scanned the resume of the 20 something kid who'd just earned a master's in Government Studies. It was impressive, but Josh was the former White House Chief of Staff. It was fair to say that any number of impressive resumes had crossed his desk.

The young man walked in cautiously and shook the hand Josh held out for him.

"William?" Josh asked.

"Billy, I mean I go by Billy." He corrected Josh.

"Josh Lyman. Have a seat. Your resume was put on my desk by none other than Sam Seaborn. How do you suppose you rate that kind of attention?"

"I really couldn't say, sir. Maybe you should ask Mr. Seaborn."

"You've met Sam?"

"Yes, sir; a couple times. When we spoke last week, he asked if I'd come back today to interview with you." Billy noted.

"What are you looking for here?"

"Experience."

"It's an election year; the state is chalk full of campaigns. You can get experience on any one of them."

"Not with Josh Lyman." Billy replied without hesitation.

"Looking at your resume, I'm guessing you'll be looking for a permanent position in the Governor's office after the election?"

"Maybe." Billy answered.

"Maybe?" Josh laughed. "Maybe you'd be interested in the powerful Executive branch of the State Government?" Josh leaned back in his chair and put his feet on the desk.

"Actually, Mr. Lyman, isn't it true that the Framers made sure that the Executive Branch was the weakest of the three branches? Because we were breaking off from the royalist model that put absolute power in just one place. I mean, isn't that why they made the Legislative branch-or People's Branch-the most powerful?" Billy recited and Josh heard rather than felt his shoes fall off the end of his desk with a thud.

Josh's eye's narrowed on Billy before his gaze whipped back to the resume sitting innocuously on his desk...and there it was at the bottom.

*Winner of Presidential Classroom competition - Junior year

"Fred?" Josh asked in surprise, reassessing the man sitting in front of him.

"Yes, sir." Billy ducked his head at the nickname Josh had given him on that long ago tour.

"I'll be damned." Josh sat back in his chair again and just stared at Billy like he was trying to merge the image from long ago with the image in front of him now.

"Mr. Seaborn thought I might be able to give you the kind of assistance you'll be needing for the next few months." Billy said in a rush.

"I'm not so sure about that. It took me years to get rid of the last argumentative, know it all assistant I had." Josh pointed out.

"Mr. Seaborn said you married her." Billy grinned.

"You take your victories where you can, young man." Josh grinned back and looked up to see Ainsley in the doorway.

"You requested an audience?" Ainsley asked.

"Yes, Ma'am. Let me see the notes for your thing this afternoon." Josh replied.

Ainsley pulled her notes for the speech from her pocket and handed them to Josh.

"I thought you'd already gone over them?" she said puzzled.

"I did. And they bothered me all night before I finally figured out what's wrong with them." Josh explained as he rifled through his drawer. Ainsley handed him a pen, thinking that was what he was searching for, but Josh shook his head and kept digging. "It finally came to me this morning." Josh continued and smiled when he found the object he had been searching for; a lighter.

He promptly activated the lighter and set the notes on fire before tossing them into the wastebasket.

"Joshua! Sam worked for hours on that!" Ainsley protested.

"Then he should give that speech." Josh responded. "It's not you; it's not your voice, it's not your tone, and it's not your beliefs."

"What am I supposed to do for the speech I'm giving in two hours?" Ainsley asked, her voice rising in panic.

"Wing it." Josh smiled back at her.

"Excuse me?" Ainsley's voice dropped in pitch and intensity.

"The best moments you've had on this campaign have come when you've been extemporaneous. That's when you get a fire in your belly and your rhetoric gets sharp enough to slice glass. That's what I want this afternoon at the innovation conference."

"You really shouldn't be smoking crack during work hours, Joshua." Ainsley shot back and made both men sitting in the room laugh.

"See? That's what I'm talking about." Josh explained. "I'm taking you off the leash, Ainsley."

"I've been on a leash?" Ainsley clarified.

"Not on purpose." Josh allowed. "Peyton has put you front and center which is good, but he keeps putting the wrong words in your mouth. It's not his fault; he doesn't know how to communicate in Republican." Josh paused. "No, that's not entirely true. He can understand Republican, he just can't speak it very well."

"Let's go back to the leash comment." Ainsley insisted.

"Don't listen to my phrasing, listen to my meaning. You disagree with Sam on some things, you should feel free to say so, as long as you reiterate that it's Sam running for Governor. You have a different view on the role of Government and State's rights; you should say so. And when you stand in front of the business coalition for innovation today, you'll be in a unique position to chastise their lack of innovation up until now. Tell them what you think businesses responsibility is in this equation."

"Are you quite finished?" Ainsley asked.

"Uh-huh." Josh answered.

"I have never heard of such an off the wall, idiotic, excuse for a lack of a real campaign strategy in my life and I have worked on political campaigns since I was old enough to sit on my Grandpa's knee in North Carolina and take pot shots at any Yankee stupid enough to come up our path and try to shill for a Democrat!" She told them.

"Wow!" Billy responded.

"See?" Josh turned to Billy. "Tell her why she's the best thing to ever happen to Sam Seaborn's campaign."

"Because although the State of California has grown increasingly divisive among the base in each party, there has been an unprecedented number of voters who refuse to affiliate with either party; specifically citing rancor between the major parties as the reason for their refusal. In other words, they don't think the major parties work together enough to help the people they were elected to serve. All they care about it their side winning."

"Yeah, that's the civics answer. Translate it into this campaign." Josh prodded.

"Mr. Seaborn has had to, both professionally, in the White House, and personally, in his own house, learn to communicate with and work with people who have very different ideology than he does. By bringing those opposing viewpoints front and center, you're reminding voters, as least subconsciously, that Mr. Seaborn factors in the other sides' arguments every day and has learned how to find compromise. When Mrs. Hayes-Seaborn publicly states she disagrees on some issues, she's telling the electorate that although they don't agree on everything, she has faith in his abilities and leadership to do the right thing for the people of California; just like she trusted President's Bartlet and Santos enough to serve in their administrations even though they were Democrats."

"What he said." Josh tossed his head in Billy's direction.

"You are certifiably insane." Ainsley told him before she turned on her heel to go. "And you better put out the fire before the sprinklers go off!"

"Like a little basket fire is going to set off-" Josh broke off when the sprinklers turned on and the smoke detectors went off. He managed to rescue his blackberry before it got fried.

"Well, I think we're done for now." Josh declared when they'd both retreated from the rainshower in his office. "Come back tomorrow at 7 and we'll see if you can work your way off that list I put you on."

"I got the job?" Billy confirmed.

"Welcome aboard." Josh replied. "See you tomorrow, Fred. Hey,Greg? See if you can find some towels, will you? My office appears to have sprung a leak."

 

Chapter 6

"He's a little upset." Donna noted.

"He shouldn't concern himself with the details of the campaign." Josh countered.

"You set his wife's speech on fire, Joshua." Donna pointed out. "A speech he himself wrote."

"He should stop doing that too." Josh mentioned. "Hey, guess who I hired as my Deputy today?"

"Your mother." Donna deadpanned.

"Nope. Remember the kids from Presidential Classroom?"

"Excuse me?"

"It was during President Bartlet's first term and I was all upset about having to give the Presidential Classroom kids a tour. Then we went into a lockdown and spent a few hours with them in the mess?"

"Vaguely." Donna replied.

"There was this kid there...Billy Fernandez. He was...I could just see something in him, you know? He was bright, articulate, and socially inept."

"Recognize a few of those qualities do you?"

"I am NOT socially inept." Josh protested.

"Hello? Speech on fire?" Donna reminded him.

"I've seen Toby do that a hundred times." Josh noted.

"Another prime example of an individual without social skills." Donna snarked.

"Anyway," Josh continued, ignoring her interruption. "He came into headquarters looking for a job with me; he just got his Master's in Government Studies."

"So you hired him." Donna concluded.

"Well, yeah, I kind of buried the lead there didn't I?"

"Just a bit. He's got his Master's? Are we that old, Josh?"

"Just me, Donnatella." Josh grinned so big both dimples popped out.

"Somebody's sucking up."

"A certain candidate for Governor offered to watch Ben tonight so we could have an evening to ourselves." Josh told her.

"Yes, but that was before you set his wife's speech on fire. I wouldn't be surprised if that offer's been withdrawn."

"Then my mom could-"

"Your mother is exhausted. We spent 5 hours at the airport with a 3 year old because of the flight delay and that was before the 6 hours of flight time. After 11 hours, your mom has earned herself a drink and a bed. Don't even think about asking her to watch Ben tonight." Donna warned as she finished off Josh's pasta salad.

"Not that I didn't miss you this past week, but I think I should point out that for the last 6 days no one has stolen any of my food and that aspect of being alone was nice."

"I'm eating for two Joshua." Donna reminded him when she took his bag of chips to finish those as well.

"Are you sure you're not eating for 3?" he muttered before Donna hit him.

"Ow!" Josh cried in mock pain. "I thought we had a no hitting policy in our family?"

"Just for the children." Donna clarified. "So when does the wunderkind start?"

"Tomorrow morning."

"You didn't start him at work right away?"

"I was hoping to have plans tonight with my wife." Josh waggled his eyebrows at her just as the front door to their rented home burst open.

"Since when is fire considered an editing tool?" Sam asked while Donna shot an `I told you so' look at Josh.

"I wasn't editing so much as destroying." Josh replied and took another bite of the food his wife and yet to pilfer.

"Why?" Sam asked in an impatient tone.

"It wasn't right for her." Josh replied. "Want some dinner? I think there's a little bit that Donna and her alien baby haven't devoured yet. Ow!" he cried out again when she hit him in retaliation.

"No, I had dinner at the thing." Sam answered shaking his head. "You can't go around setting fire to speeches you don't like, Josh."

"I haven't been arrested for arson yet." Josh noted. "How about some dessert then? Donna puts all kinds of weird stuff on her ice cream though, I have to warn you. Ow! Cut it out!" Josh finally got up and moved away from his wife's killer swats.

"Josh..."Sam began wearily.

"Have a seat, Sam. You look beat." Josh instructed and got up to get some dessert for everyone. Sam collapsed on the couch and looked over at Donna.

"Alien baby?" Sam inquired.

"Josh humor." Donna replied.

"Sam!" Came a shout from the top of the stairs.

Sam's tired face broke out in a smile. "Benjamin Lyman, what are you doing in California?"

"'Lectin' you Gobernor!" Ben replied as he ran down the stairs and jumped on Sam.

"You going to vote for me, kiddo?"

"Course." Ben nodded. "We flewed on the airpane here so we can help. Like our new house? I got a big boy bed here. Wanna see it?"

"Slow down, tiger, Sam just got here." Donna took Ben's hand from Sam's where he was tugging on the candidate to get up. "Daddy's getting ice cream. Why don't you go help him carry it?"

"'Kay." Ben scrambled off Sam to run to the kitchen. "Daddy, I'm helping now!"

"Does that kid every walk?" Sam shook his head.

"He's just like his father. He has two settings; fast and fast asleep." Donna replied.

"You look like you could use some sleep. I hear you had flight delays?"

"It was a long day. Ruth is probably asleep already." Donna looked a little closer at Sam. "You could use some rest too."

"I promised Josh I'd watch Ben for you guys."

"Go home, Sam. I'm too tired to go anywhere tonight." Donna explained.

"I'm not leaving without my ice cream." Sam protested.

"Here, Sam. I brung yours." Ben handed the candidate a messy looking sundae before digging into his own.

"Thanks, Ben." Sam took a bite. "It's delicious."

"Turn on the news. Let's see if your wife got some face time." Josh ordered when he returned carrying sundae's for himself and Donna. Donna's appeared to have several different toppings.

"What exactly is all that?" Sam asked curiously.

"You don't want to know." Josh muttered.

"There she is!" Ben cried happily when he spotted Ainsley on the local broadcast.

"Sharp eyes, buddy." Josh complimented his son and turned up the volume.

"Ainsley Hayes-Seaborn, wife of Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Sam Seaborn, attended the Innovations in business conference today to see some of the ways local businesses are changing the way they operate." The newscaster relayed. "When asked her opinion about what she saw today, here's what she had to say."

"I love to see businesses taking the initiative to change their operations for the betterment of the state and the people who live here. Sam has spent his professional career protecting our air and water from dangerous pollutants. When business steps up to the plate to partner with Government rather than fight against it; everyone benefits." Ainsley was captured stating.

"The Seaborn's have been quite a draw across the state, Alan." The co-anchor mentioned. "Sam Seaborn is still maintaining his lead in the Democratic primary and is expected to capture the nomination 6 days from now."

"That's right, Jim. It looks like Seaborn will be facing off against State Senator Taylor in the general. It should be quite a match up." Todd replied. "Today, his media strategist Kevin Kahn had this to say."

"When the people of California learn exactly what Sam Seaborn has done while he worked for the past two liberal Presidents, they'll be running to vote for Senator Taylor." Kahn predicted with a cocky grin.

"It should be something to see." Alan noted. "We'll be right back with the weather."

Josh used the remote to shut off the TV. "She did great."

"Yeah, she did." Sam agreed. "Are we ready for this?"

"Of course." Josh beamed and Sam got to see father and son with matching dimples flashing. It was quite a sight.

"Okay, Benjamin. Show me this big boy bed of yours. Maybe we could read a story or two before I go home." Sam led his Godson upstairs.

******************************************

"Sit down for a bit, Donna." Ainsley set her friend in a chair.

"I'm okay. I just need to put my feet up for a bit. They've really been swollen this week."

"I remember it well." Ainsley commiserated. "What are they holed up in the conference room about?"

"Money matters." Donna explained. "That guy there, Allen Porter, is a number savant."

"Why aren't we in the money meeting?" Ainsley asked.

"We were at the luncheon." Donna answered. "Besides, I'm not sure we want to be in a room with Josh AND Allen. Look, you can see Sam's temples pounding from here."

"I think we should join them." Ainsley decided. "We could make a contribution to the conversation, so to speak."

"You know, maybe we should." Donna agreed

Ainsley and Donna walked into the conference room. "I hear there's some serious money talk happening in here."

"Uh....yeah. We're just going over the media buys." Sam replied.

"You must be Allen Porter. I'm Ainsley Hayes-Seaborn."

"Nice to meet you." Allen responded.

"Don't you need to get on the road for the ribbon cutting thing?" Josh asked.

"I've got plenty of time. Peyton, may I look on with you?" Ainsley indicated his copy of the media buy packet. Peyton grinned. Donna sat next to Josh and put her feet in his lap. He rolled his eyes, but wisely said nothing.

"Always happy to share." Peyton told her. "Sit right here."

Ainsley began paging through the report and tuned out the conversation around her while she did so. Now that they had the nomination from the Democratic party there seemed to be a lot more money in the coffers.

"...so if we look at the projections-" Allen was saying.

"Excuse me, Allen." Ainsley interrupted. "Are these projections for the rest of the campaign?"

"No, Ma'am. They're for the next 45 days." Allen told her and had her eyebrows winging up.

"We can afford this kind of spending?" Ainsley followed up.

"Yes, Ma'am. Both President Bartlet and President Santos will be doing fundraisers in the next month and we'll be able to replace what we've spent with no trouble at all." Allen assured her.

"That's an ungodly amount of money to spend on TV ads in 45 days." Ainsley muttered.

"Television ads are ungodly expensive in California." Josh piped up. "We'll tap into free media as much as we can, but we need to at least keep up with Taylor on the ad buys."

"Has there been a decision about the new ads?" Ainsley inquired. Since Sam captured the nomination a new series of ads had been designed.

"Our team selected 6 new ads and part of the purpose of today's meeting is to decide what plays where." Josh illuminated her.

"There are five major media markets; the Bay Area, Fresno, Los Angeles, Sacramento, and San Diego. There are 6 secondary markets in Bakersfield, Chico, Inland Empire, Monterey, Redding, and Santa Barbara." Allen added. "The breakdown on pages 9-18 give the demo's we're trying to hit and the percentages of each of those demo's in each media market."

"Wait a second; you've undersampled Fresno and San Diego." Josh chimed in.

"Josh, we talked about this." Allen said wearily.

"And I told you to use the `registered voter' stats." Josh was getting heated.

"That simply isn't an accurate barometer in California." Allen disputed. "The `likely voter' stats are far more accurate."

"In the past, maybe, but this is a different- Look, I don't want the debate. I want the figures I asked for." Josh and Allen engaged in a battle of wills for a moment, before Allen opened his lap top and began typing. An awkward silence descended on the group for the few minutes it took for Allen to reconfigure the data. Then he plugged something into his lap top and his screen was duplicated on the wall of the conference room.

"Here. Those are the stats for the registered voters, but-" Allen conceded.

"Thanks." Josh said sardonically. "Now with these numbers, you can see why it's more significant to spend our ad money in those two markets."

"Josh...you might as well buy ad time in Orange County." Sam quipped.

"We MAY buy ad time in Orange County, Sam." Josh replied. "But right now I want to concentrate on Fresno. It's Taylor's home district and it's ripe for the picking."

"The numbers do NOT support that, Josh." Allen interjected. "You've got a 54-44 favorable unfavorable for Taylor there and that's-"

"Not relevant to this discussion." Josh interrupted. "Look at the voter stats. 20% of that district isn't even going to the polls. You know why? Because no one has convinced them it's worth the bother."

"20% aren't voting, but that's not statistically significant when compared to the rest of the state." Allen argued. Billy shot his head back and forth between Allen and Josh like he was at Wimbledon and didn't want to miss a single swing.

"It's incredibly significant. Taylor is counting on that 20% staying home and we're going to confound those expectations. This is a different campaign from what Californian's are used to seeing. We're going to tap into the Fresno community, which Taylor has owned for some unknown reason. We're going to tap into women that make up the majority of the population here and an even greater majority of the people who actually show up at the polls. And Ainsley here is going to deliver Independents and Republicans like Domino's delivers pizza." Josh stated with utter conviction.

"Wait just a second. I'm delivering what? What am I supposedly delivering?" Ainsley asked.

"Independents and Republicans, apparently." Billy supplied helpfully.

"Apparently, Josh has not been watching the news around here." Ainsley countered. "I can deliver legal opinions. I can deliver bad news to friends with compassion and verbosity. I have even, ladies and gentlemen, delivered a baby in recent history, although I am not anxious to repeat that experience; sorry Donna. But I am in no position to deliver voters, particularly Independent and Republican voters to anyone."

"Yes, you are." Josh argued. "I'm going to help you; me and Fred here."

"I thought his name was Billy.." Ainsley noted.

"It is." Billy replied.

"Fred is his nickname." Josh explained. "Tell it to her, Fred."

"Two of the new ads are going to feature Ainsley Hayes-Seaborne." Billy took up the narrative. "A lifelong Republican touting the reasons she's supporting Sam Seaborn's campaign for Governor."

"You mean besides the fact that she's married to him?" Donna quipped.

"Uh, yeah, besides that." Billy confirmed.

"Isn't there any food at this meeting?" Ainsley interrupted. "Shouldn't we have some kind of food here?"

Donna passed a bowl of pretzels over to her friend. "Such as? The reasons?" Donna reminded Billy.

"Oh, right." Billy, transfixed by the sight of Ainsley stuffing her mouth with pretzels, recovered his speech. "She'll be an influential voice in the executive branch of California and that will give Independents and Republicans the political cover to vote for, what they perceive to be, a bi-partisan candidate."

"That still doesn't mean that we can count on those demographics for financial support or actual voting." Allen mentioned.

"Ye of little faith." Josh muttered. "Act as if ye have faith and faith shall be given to you." Josh quoted.

"This coming from my Jewish campaign director." Sam noted.

"We spend the next two days shooting the new ads and start playing them next week in conjunction with the visit from President Santos." Josh announced.

"Do you even want my input on where they should play?" Allen asked.

"Sure I do." Josh replied. "I want everyone's input. That doesn't mean I'm going to follow you blindly here."

"Due respect; maybe you should." Allen pointed out. "Anyone would have to be a fool to question your instincts on national politics, but this is statewide politics in California. We have some of the largest, most diverse populations in the country. This isn't your forte."

"No, California is your forte; yours and Peyton's." Josh acknowledged. "But I know Sam and Ainsley better than either of you and I know how to play it here well enough to fudge the rest with your help. Have I got that, Allen?"

"Yeah...you've got that." Allen agreed.

"Peyton?" Josh checked in with his Deputy.

"You know I'm game." Peyton responded.

"Ainsley?" Josh interrupted her pretzel spree.

"I'm just here for the food." Ainsley insisted.

"Good enough. Let's talk about the event I want to do in Modesto on Saturday." Josh began. Modesto was Taylor's home town and Josh was anxious to bring the fight to him. "Whatcha got for me Fred?"

"Modesto has some of the worst air pollution in the country; it sometimes surpasses Los Angeles. But my personal favorite is that Modesto is the car theft capitol of the country." Billy replied without a mention that his name was not Fred.

"So if we're going there Saturday, we should take the train?" Josh joked.

"Why would we be going there on Saturday?" Sam asked. "I mean besides wanting to piss off Taylor."

"That isn't enough?" Josh replied. "Seems to me that the air pollution issue should be addressed by our candidate. What better place to address it than in Modesto? And since about a quarter of Modesto residents are Hispanic-"

"25.58% are Hispanic." Allen threw out the figure easily.

"I stand corrected." Josh rolled his eyes. "It seems like the perfect opportunity for Sam to show off his Spanish skills."

"Ainsley, do you know any Spanish?" Allen asked.

"I grew up in North Carolina; no, I don't know any Spanish." Ainsley replied.

"You know a LITTLE Spanish." Sam prodded her with a teasing glint in his eyes.

"I don't know any Spanish I could use in front of a group...or outside a very personal conversation." Ainsley corrected and had Peyton laughing.

"Maybe we can build on that." Peyton noted. "Think of all the additional opportunities you'd have to order food in Spanish."

"Sounds like a starting point." Josh agreed. "I want a full schedule for Sam and Ainsley on Saturday, in Modesto, by dinner."

 

Many, many thanks to Mary!

Chapter 7

"I don't understand how after living in this community for 20 years and serving in the State assembly for two terms, State Senator Taylor could have failed to create any legislation that would improve the air that he and his family breathe." Sam pointed out. "As Governor, one of my first priorities will be to work for better air quality for all of California, starting with the communities of Modesto and Los Angeles whose air quality is among the worst in the nation."

"Senor Seaborn.." A woman began her question, but was unsure how to proceed.

"Haga su pregunta por favor." Sam encouraged her. Ainsley leaned closer to Peyton in a non-verbal request for a translation.

"He told her to `ask your question please'." Peyton whispered and paused while the woman continued in Spanish. "She's asking how Sam can help her family get health care for their children. She and her husband both work full time, but have no health benefits."

Sam gave the woman a rueful smile and proceeded to give what to Ainsley sounded like an impassioned answer in Spanish before translating the question and answer to English for the rest of the audience.

Josh stood on the sidelines grinning. They were amassing some great free media from this event. Fred was on the other side of the stage directing volunteers with campaign literature and answering questions from the growing number of press while Sam wrapped this Q & A up.

"Ainsley! Do you speak Spanish too?" Another woman called out from the audience.

Ainsley ducked her head and managed, "Apenas un poco (just a little). Sam has taught me a few phrases, but I'm still learning."

"What have you learned to say so far?" A reporter tossed out.

"The ones I hear from Sam the most are, `sea reservado' and `Te amo con todo mi corazon'." Ainsley confessed.

Sam managed to roll his eyes at her response before thanking the audience for coming and asking for their votes in November.

Sam and Ainsley walked off stage hand in hand with Peyton following behind them. The Seaborn's were quickly swallowed up by the crowd who wanted a handshake, a picture, or an autograph. Josh grabbed Peyton before he passed by.

"What did Ainsley say just then?" Josh inquired.

"She said the phrases she hears from Sam the most are, `be quiet' and "I love you with all my heart'." Josh laughed along with Peyton.

"That's perfect." Josh decided.

"I'm glad she didn't use the other phrase I taught her." Peyton said.

"What was that?" Josh asked.

"Tengo hambre...I'm hungry." Peyton confessed and had Josh laughing again.

"How much time do we have before we have to be at the next event?" Josh asked Billy when the younger man joined them.

"Technically, we have 35 minutes, but Donna just called and said the auditorium is already packed, so I'm thinking sooner is better." Billy offered.

"Don't think so much." Josh advised and smacked Billy on the forehead with his open palm. "If the auditorium is packed now, it will be overflowing when the Seaborn's arrive in 35 minutes with the press in tow. Can't you see that visual on the 6:00 news?"

"Okay, then." Billy took that in. "She also said to tell you that the Chief of police accepted our invitation to come to the auditorium to offer opinions on how to reduce crime in the community."

"My wife is a miracle worker, Fred." Josh bragged. "The Chief of Police has been a supporter of Taylor's for years, and yet she convinced the Chief to come to a Seaborn for Governor event. God, I love that woman!"

Billy chuckled at Josh's outspoken admiration of his wife. "She is amazing."

"I'm sure you mean that in a purely platonic, political operative way, right?" Josh's eyebrows rose in a strong suggestion of agreement.

"Absolutely." Billy was quick to comply.

"But you have to admit, she's a beautiful woman." Peyton remarked to Billy, teeing it up for Josh, who on cue looked over at Billy.

"Well, sure, she's a very beautiful woman." Billy agreed not wanting to offend his mentor in any way.

"A VERY beautiful woman?" Josh repeated.

"Well, yes, but not to me... I mean, she clearly only has eyes for you... Not that I'm watching her to see who she's watching...May I be excused please?" Billy practically begged, and after letting him dangle for a minute, Josh nodded his permission and Billy took off like a rocket.

"That was fun." Peyton remarked and saw the famous Lyman smirk.

"It really was. I'm going ahead to the auditorium. Make sure Sam and Ainsley make it there on time?" Josh confirmed.

"Will do." Peyton replied and moved closer to Sam and Ainsley as Josh moved away.

****************************************

"Thank you so much for taking the time to come here and discuss these issues with us tonight." Sam told the crowd in the auditorium. "And to those who took the added risk of driving their cars here and parking them in the car theft capital of the world; I admire your courage." Laughter and applause rolled through the room. "I'd especially like to thank Police Chief Rayburn for coming tonight to help us talk about potential solutions. He's a dedicated public servant and his presence here tonight serves as evidence of that fact."

"Sam is doing fantastic." Donna noted as she came up behind her husband.

"He is." Josh agreed. "You should have heard Ainsley today; bi-lingual humor. Hey, I thought you were going to sit down and put your feet up for awhile."

"There's not a seat to be found here." Donna explained.

"Then head home and put your feet up. I'll catch a ride with Sam." Josh suggested while he pulled Donna in front of him and rubbed her shoulders.

"I want to hear a little more of this first."

"Did I mention how incredible it was that you got Rayburn here for this?" Josh mentioned.

"Not yet..."

"It was...incredible. I can only imagine the verbal skills required to maneuver the Chief of Police into what is a tacit endorsement of Sam after years of supporting Taylor."

"I was quite impressive."

"Maybe later, when we get home, you can re-enact the conversation for me." Josh whispered in her ear and sent shivers down her spine.

"Do you think it's entirely healthy how turned on you get at the idea of verbal repartee?" Donna asked, turning to face her husband.

"It was the only way I could flirt with you for 8 years." Josh pointed out.

"Well now we have other options, is all I'm saying."

"Old habits die hard and for the record...everything you do and say turns me on." Josh leaned forward and kissed her.

"My, you are in a good mood." Donna noted.

"The campaign is about to get a 4 point bump; which will only increase when Sam and President Santos appear together on Wednesday, Ben is enjoying a day at Disneyland with Mom, and we're almost done for the day." Josh ticked off the reasons for his happiness. "Go home and put your feet up. They've been swollen all week."

"Fine." Donna reluctantly agreed and kissed Josh again. "I love you."

"I love you too." Josh replied.

"I'll see you later." Donna told him. "Goodnight, Billy." She called to her husband's Deputy as she left.

"Goodnight, Donna. How did she get Rayburn here?" Billy asked Josh.

"It's a mystery." Josh replied.

"There are two reporters who'd like a comment from you about the day in Modesto." Billy informed him.

"You can handle it." Josh responded.

"They want to talk to the campaign manager." Billy protested.

"But I'm busy listening to this; you can handle it."

"I really don't think-"

"What's our message today?" Josh interrupted him.

"Partnership with business to reduce air pollution and community support and action to reduce crime stats." Billy recited.

"You can handle it." Josh repeated. "But if you screw it up, you're back on my list."

"Donna says nothing happens on the list." Billy smirked in a fairly good imitation of his boss and went to meet with the reporters.

**********************************

"I beg of you, let's just go home." Sam said while his wife pouted.

"Tengo hambre..." Ainsley purred in his ear while Josh tried to concentrate on the schedule for next week that he was perusing.

"There's food at home." Sam countered.

"But I'm really hungry for French fries...and maybe a burger." Ainsley explained.

Josh's head popped up at the mention of a burger. "We could stop someplace. Grab something to go."

"You just think with Donna at home, you can get a burnt burger without the lecture." Sam argued.

"So?" Josh smiled at Ainsley. "I saw an IN-N-OUT Burger on our way to the thing."

"Sold." Ainsley replied and asked the driver to detour.

"It's like hanging out with two kids from my dorm." Sam groused.

"It will only take a minute." Ainsley assured him and looked down at Josh's papers. "Aren't we pretty locked in with the schedule? We go where President Santos goes, don't we?"

"Not entirely." Josh told her. "I'm thinking of mixing it up a bit. Sending you and President Santos in one direction and Sam and Helen Santos in another."

"Seriously?" Ainsley asked.

"It's a big state and we only have them here for 2 days." Josh mused.

"Will you share a chocolate shake with me?" Ainsley asked Sam.

"And by share you mean I get to hold it while you eat the burger and fries and then you drink it by yourself?" Sam clarified.

"I'm going to need to wash down the burger and fries with something." Ainsley justified.

"She learned that from Donna." Josh added.

"But Donna is pregnant and doesn't have to fit into unnaturally small dresses over the next few months." Ainsley shot back. "Which is why I want you to share a shake with me."

"Sure. Whatever." Sam decided it was easier to agree than to argue and turned to Josh. "Billy said you're running new numbers on Monday."

"I am." Josh admitted. "I want to see what this weekend did for us, and I want a baseline before the new ads start Tuesday."

"That's not a waste of resources?" Sam questioned.

"Got to know where we are to see where we're going." Josh noted. "Do you think they have any other flavor shakes?"

"They have strawberry and vanilla." Ainsley informed him.

"Excellent." Josh smiled.

"Tell me about the new poll on Monday." Sam requested.

"Don't worry about it." Josh responded. "I love strawberry."

"Tell me about the new poll on Monday or I call Donna on my cell so she can hear you order at the drive through." Sam threatened.

"I leave my entire life behind to come run this campaign for you and this is how you talk to me?" Josh complained.

"You brought most of your life with you and I want to know about this poll." Sam insisted. Josh grinned in acknowledgement of the truth in that statement.

"I'm running some numbers on President Bartlet and you. I want to know where it would be most advantageous to use him." Josh hedged.

"Yeah, but that's not it, is it?" Sam guessed.

When silence descended in the car, Ainsley looked back and forth between the two men.

"What is it, Josh?" Ainsley asked somberly.

"There's an op/ed that's coming out tomorrow that highlights your `radical left wing agenda'." Josh said simply.

"Kevin Kahn's behind this?" Sam asked.

"Yep." Josh confirmed. "It also accuses you of being the mastermind behind Bartlet's failure to disclose his MS; which really ticks me off since I usually get credit for that." Josh tried to joke. "The crux of it is Sam Seaborn; bringing Washington corruption to a theater near you."

"Right." Sam sighed.

"I need to know what, if any of that, is going to resonate out here; which issues I need to fight back on." Josh explained. "There are also some pointed references to Peyton and Toby, just so you know."

"I assume those will be 2 issues worthy of fighting back on." Ainsley spoke up.

"Damn straight." Josh confirmed. "But we don't want to be reactionary and overly defensive either. I want the polling data first."

"We don't need to poll on whether to-" Sam sputtered.

"Not whether or not to, Sam; how to. It's completely different. You're the nominee now. We're going to proceed with caution."

"Josh Lyman is advocating caution, Samuel. Should I be scared?" Ainsley teased.

"Checking the temperature in hell, certainly." Sam rejoined.

"Enough." Josh begged. "This is important and I don't want to do anything that will blow it for you."

"The man's helped elect 2 Presidents and it's this race he's worried about." Sam spoke directly to Ainsley.

"I think it's kind of sweet." Ainsley acknowledged. "It's different this time, because it's his friend."

"Hello...sitting right here...Oh, thank God...Yes, I'd like a hamburger, but I'd like it burnt...yes, burnt, with an order of fries and a strawberry shake. Ainsley?" Josh cued her to order while Sam shook his head laughing. Maybe this was a different ballgame for them, but Sam had full confidence in Josh; trusted him like no one else. Everything was going to be fine.

 

Chapter 8

"Billy, are the numbers in yet?" Sam asked first thing Tuesday morning.

"Uh...." Billy looked hesitantly over at Josh's office.

"Billy, I think we need to have a chat about the chain of command here. Josh is the campaign manager, but I am the actual candidate. Are the numbers here?"

"I just delivered them to Josh." Billy admitted and watched Sam go into Josh's office, slamming the door closed behind him.

"Morning, Billy." Donna greeted him. "Can you get those files for me?"

"Sure, Donna." Billy stood up and climbed up the step stool to reach the files she was pointing to. "What are all these for?"

"Research on Taylor." Donna told him. "I'm starting to work on debate prep."

"Even though we don't have any debates scheduled at this point?" Billy asked.

"Do you doubt that there will be a debate?" Donna laughed.

"No, but if it isn't imminent, why waste the time?"

"When someone has been in politics as long as Taylor has, he has quite a bit of documented history. The more familiar we are with it and his record, the better prepared Sam will be for the debates. We need plenty of time to comb through it all."

"Do you want some help?" Billy offered.

"Sure. Start with this file. It's from his first campaign as State Assemblymen. What you're looking for is any change in his policies. If you see any quotes that raise red flags, note those too. I use issue note cards, but that's just me. I know Josh keeps timelines and Peyton uses a different kind of outline that includes contributors and initiatives. Everyone has their own system. You'll have to figure out what works for you. Donna's head swung over to Josh's door when he and Sam could be heard shouting.

"The new polling data?" she questioned.

"That's what I'm guessing." Billy replied. "Josh didn't want me to show a copy to Sam. Why is that?"

"Josh...anticipated Sam might be upset about some of the questions and perhaps some of the results. I'm sure he just wanted to keep you out of the line of fire."

"I can handle some fire." Billy muttered.

"It's not about you, Billy. It's about Josh and Sam." Donna assured him. "This really isn't your typical campaign when you have two best friends serving as candidate and campaign manager, so you may have to adjust some of your expectations in that regard."

"So you're warning me that some of the things that may have normally crossed my desk will be bypassing my desk because of their close friendship?"

"Exactly." Donna smiled and looked longingly at the box of doughnuts on the conference table. Billy grabbed one as they spread their files across the table and then saw the expression on Donna's face. "I'm sorry, did you want this one?"

"No, I want all of them." Donna pouted. "But I've gained four pounds this week so I can't have any of them."

"But aren't you supposed to gain weight? I thought that was good in your...condition."

"In my condition?" Donna teased. Billy turned a light shade of red. "Yes, I'm supposed to be gaining some weight, but 4 pounds in one week is too much. It's supposed to be a slow and steady gain."

"Slow and steady isn't exactly the Lyman style is it?" Billy noted.

"No, it really isn't. I'll be sure to point that out to my new OB/GYN. Okay, let's get this started. If you have any questions, ask me. I don't want to miss anything here."

"Got it." Billy agreed and they set to work.

**************************************

"Is Peyton going with you to the breakfast, Ainsley?" Julie asked.

"Yes, he should be here any minute." Ainsley told her assistant.

"Good, because I have the press clipping from the weekend for him." Julie told her.

"I'll take those." Ainsley quickly grabbed them. "In fact, they should go through me first from now on."

"Peyton was pretty specific about-"

"Am I being less specific?" Ainsley snapped and immediately regretted it. "I'm sorry, Julie. It's just, have you gone through them?"

"No, they just got delivered to my desk." Julie replied.

"Some of them were pretty...negative about Peyton. He really doesn't need to see them, so I want the clippings to come to me first to avoid any...thing." she finished lamely. Ainsley tossed the clippings in her bag. She'd edit them later and pass the relevant ones on to Peyton.

The man himself sauntered in just minutes later.

"Ms. Hayes-Seaborn." He began. "Are you ready for breakfast with the Trial Lawyers?"

"As ready as I'll ever be." Ainsley replied. "Can you take another look at my remarks for me?"

"Sure." He said agreeably. "Let me just get the clippings from the weekend first. I want to review those on our way down."

"They're not ready yet." Ainsley improvised.

"Are you kidding me?" Peyton complained.

"Julie thought Rebecca was doing them and Rebecca thought Julie was doing them. I'm sure they'll pull it all together by the time we get back. Give me your keys; I'll drive while you look over the remarks."

"We've had this discussion before, Ains. Nobody drives the convertible but me." Peyton reiterated.

"Where is the trust?" Ainsley pretended to be offended.

"I don't trust any Republicans, no matter how smart or beautiful they are." Peyton held the door open for Ainsley before getting into the drivers side himself. "It's very unusual for Rebecca not to have the clippings ready for me. I'll have to speak to her about it."

"It was just a mistake in communication, Peyton. I'm sure it won't happen again." Ainsley assured him.

"Hmmm...maybe she was concerned about handing over some of the more negative clippings about me." Peyton mused aloud. "Probably not. It would be pretty ridiculous to think my skin wasn't thick enough to handle some negative press during a gubernatorial campaign."

Ainsley slid her eyes over to Peyton who was studiously watching the road in front of them. "Maybe she wasn't concerned about whether or not you could handle it. Maybe she just didn't want to see you hurt unnecessarily."

"Well that's very sweet and considerate of her, but it's important that I get all the clippings without them being edited. Otherwise I can't do my job." Peyton held his hand out toward Ainsley.

Ainsley reached into her bag and retrieved the clippings, then handed them to Peyton.

"You can't think there's anything new they could write about me." Peyton said quietly. "The propositions I worked on, my personal relationships, and even my family connections; it's all old news."

"It's wrong that they use your personal life to try to rally their base." Ainsley said unequivocally and if Peyton had been otherwise inclined, he would have fallen for her right there.

"It's wrong that they use your personal life and history against Sam, too. The best way to exact our revenge is to give them a serious pounding on Election Day." Peyton advised her. "Now read me your remarks." Ainsley took that in for a moment before launching into her remarks for the trial lawyers.

********************************

"From now on, I get a copy of all the poll questions before the fact." Sam was laying down the law.

"Yeah...no." Josh said as he highlighted his copy of the latest polls.

"What do you mean, no? This is my campaign." Sam shouted.

"And you chose me to run it." Josh pointed out.

"Not behind my back like this."

"It's not behind your back, Sam. It's technically over your head." Josh sighed. "This nuts and bolts campaign stuff shouldn't even be on your radar."

"You think this is all nuts and bolts campaign stuff? Asking personal questions about all of us? This is crap! What the hell do we care about-"

"Personally, we don't care at all, or we shouldn't care at all; although it pisses me off when I read some this trash. Professionally, we have to care; at least I do. You don't have to look at this stuff at all."

"I can see why you'd prefer that. I can at least understand you including Ainsley in these questions but my parents?"

"Your parents have been noticeably absent during your campaign even though they both live in the state."

"My in state parents are divorced, Josh. Am I supposed to pick one over the other or ask them to appear together even though they're not speaking to one another?"

"Family values voters are watching everything and everyone. Taylor has been married to the same woman for 32 years and has grandkids in every photo op." Josh pointed out.

"This is why you're focusing so many of the news ads on Ainsley and I personally, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is. You're still an unknown quantity to a lot of constituents here and they know Taylor like the back of their hand. I need to know what the barriers are for you and I can't find that out without asking these questions."

"Not without discussing it with me first." Sam insisted.

"Are you crazy?" Josh exploded. "Why would you want to wade into this shit? Look, either you trust me to handle this or you don't."

"This has nothing to do with me trusting you and everything to do with you trusting me." Sam shouted back. "I'm going to personally approve the poll questions and you're going to run the campaign ads through me too."

"No." Josh shook his head.

"Excuse me?" Sam exclaimed.

"No. It's a deal breaker, Sam. You want everything to be run through you then you have to start with a new campaign manager. You say the word and I'll resign." Josh said quietly.

"You and your ultimatums can go to hell, Josh." Sam stormed out of Josh's office and the outer room went so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Sam continued out the front door without a word to anyone.

Donna watched the exit and felt her heart speed up. This was not good. "Billy, I'll be right back."

She smiled reassuringly at the staffers outside Josh's office, knocked twice on Josh's door and let herself in, closing the door behind her.

"Hey." She began, trying to get her husband to look at her, but he kept his eyes focused on the page in front of him. "How do the numbers look?"

"We got the 4 point bump I predicted. That's $20 you owe me." he replied.

"We really need to look at gambler's anonymous for you." Donna noted while she took a seat on Josh's couch in order to put her feet up. Sometimes being pregnant really sucked. "If we hadn't found out the baby's sex from the amnio, you'd have bet on that too."

"You want to bet on whether or not we're heading back to D.C. this week?" Josh posed.

"Oh, Joshua. We're not going back to D.C." Donna told him. "Not until after November anyway."

"I wouldn't be too sure." Josh warned her. "The Democratic nominee isn't too happy with my management style."

"There's the Lyman ego again." Donna rolled her eyes. "This isn't about you, you moron."

"Did you hear him yelling a few minutes ago? It really is about me, Donna." Josh got up to pace around the office before picking up the Nerf basketball his wife had bought for him and shooting for 3 points.

"You were just collateral damage." Donna said. "Sam's feeling out of control in every facet of his life. Every mistake he's ever made is being plastered in the papers and on TV. His wife is being raked over the coals by Democrats who think she's a spy and Republicans who think she's a traitor. He has an infant daughter at home and you should remember well enough how that translates into lack of sleep. And his best friend is running his campaign but his best friend is keeping things from him and that feels like more of a betrayal than all the other betrayals put together."

"He can't be involved in every piece of campaign minutiae, and he shouldn't have to look at the crappy stuff that will only distract him." Josh took another shot at the basket.

"I get that, and so does Sam. Just give him a little bit of time to remember that." Donna suggested. "He wasn't with us when you ran President Santos. It's been awhile since he was this involved in any campaign and this one is his own."

Josh gave up on basketball since he'd missed every freaking shot and took a seat next to his wife. "He was pretty mad about the questions I included about Ainsley and President Bartlet."

"He'll get over it."

"Maybe this was a mistake." Josh admitted quietly. "Maybe I am too close to this in all the wrong ways."

"Give Sam a little time to cool off and think things through." Donna offered.

"I've got a meeting with Adams in half an hour."

"Then you had better get going; traffic's going to be hell." Donna hated the traffic in California. Josh nodded and kissed her before grabbing his backpack and heading out the door.

*********************************

"What we need to keep in mind is that as litigators, we have a reputation as bottom dwelling sharks." Ainsley noted. "Whatever we can to do negate that opinion, we should do. Sam not only took on pro bono work, but also used his skills to train and mentor attorneys that were new to the field and introduced them to the concept of pro bono work as an expectation."

"Will your husband support the repeal of caps on medical malpractice cases?" One of the members asked.

"Sam feels that putting an arbitrary cap on medical malpractice suits is unfair to the litigants." Ainsley replied.

"Is that your opinion?" Asked another guest. "I read that when you clerked for Dreifert you supported the caps."

"As a law clerk, you merely provide precedent and supporting documentation for the judge that you clerk for."

"But where do you stand on the issue?"

"I'm not running for Governor, sir."

"But you influence the man running for Governor. Do you support the cap?"

Ainsley sighed. "It seems to me that an increasing number of juries are coming back with decisions that are being overturned by the courts as excessive. One has to wonder about the average lay person's ability to accurately assess damages in highly complicated medical malpractice suits. Personally, I think incremental caps based on the type of malpractice would be the most effective way to deal with this issue."

"Is it hard to campaign for your husband when you disagree with him on so many issues?" A female attorney queried.

"Sometimes the way we approach an issue is different but the end result we're working towards is most often the same. The integrity and honor he has always displayed in his public service is something I could never have difficulty endorsing. Thank you for your invitation today, I hope that we can count on your vote this November."

"Nicely done." Peyton complimented her and led her back to his car but they were waylaid by some of the more voracious members of the press.

"Mrs. Seaborn, do have any qualms about the campaign staff your husband has assembled? It seems like every person working on your campaign has some checkered past."

"We have the utmost confidence in the team that's been put together." Ainsley touted the company line.

"A pardoned felon?"

"I believe the key word is pardoned." Ainsley shot back keeping a smile in place.

"Peyton, do you feel comfortable working day and night with a woman who has actively worked to limit the rights of homosexuals?"

"I'm not a single issue voter; I leave that kind of thing to the Republicans." Peyton replied.

"Do you have any comment on the quote your father gave to the Philadelphia paper?"

Peyton schooled his features to remain calm. "I'm flattered when my father acknowledges me in any way."

Peyton and Ainsley got into the car and drove off without another word. "I take it that's what you were trying to hide from me in the clippings?"

"He said you had a predilection for lost causes and unpopular opinions so it was no surprise that you were working for Sam." Ainsley summarized.

"Dad has never gotten the concept that any press is good press." Peyton told her. "This is his way of telling me that I'm making too many waves for his comfort. His country club friends are giving him grief about me."

"I'm sorry." Ainsley said sincerely.

"It's going to get us some more free media, so it's all good."

"Yeah, all good." Ainsley repeated half heartedly.

 

Chapter 9

"You improvised again." Toby complained.

"A paragraph or two; that's all." Sam pointed out.

"These are carefully crafted messages. You can't just improvise in the middle of the thing!"

"I actually think I can as evidenced by the fact that I did." Sam replied hotly and Toby took a long pause.

"Everything alright over there?" Toby was in the Southern California office while Sam and Josh were in the Northern California office.

"Yes...No." Sam coughed up the truthful answer. "I lost my temper with Josh and he offered his resignation."

"No shit?"

"No shit." Sam confirmed.

"I know Josh can be an annoying, egotistical jackass, but that's never bothered you before, so I have to assume this was something else entirely."

"He set up a new poll without discussing it with me and when I told him I wanted the polls cleared through me in the future, he refused." Sam was getting stirred up again just talking to Toby about it on his cell phone.

"You don't want a piece of that, Sam." Toby admonished him.

"Yeah, I really do. This is my campaign."

"And you chose Josh to run your campaign. In fact, he took a leave of absence and moved his family across country to do that very thing for you. Let him do his job." Toby advised.

"Even if I disagree with how he's doing it?" Sam questioned.

"Especially then." Toby confirmed. "You're a great candidate, but as a political operative...Look, Josh is going to have to say things and do things that you simply can't. Part of the campaign manager's job is to wallow in the mud so the candidate can stay clean. Let him do his job... and quit improvising during my masterpieces." Toby added for good measure and made Sam chuckle.

"The ego's I have on my staff are really quite extraordinary." Sam said.

"There are good reasons for that." Toby told him. "Go back and work it out with Josh. He'll blow it off. Did you see you got a four point bump after Modesto?"

"Josh is right again." Sam sighed and said goodbye before hanging up. He hated eating crow...

"Billy, where's Josh?" Sam asked when he returned to the office a couple hours later.

"He had a meeting. He should be back soon. Can I help with something?"

"No. No, thanks. Just tell him I'm looking for him, will you?"

"Sure." Billy watched Sam retreat from the conference room. He couldn't help but wonder if there was going to be a shake up around here. He'd like to bounce some ideas off Donna, but she'd gone home for the afternoon. He could email her; he knew she kept her laptop up and running, but he didn't want to bother her unless it was important.

When Josh got back, Billy moved to intercept him. "Josh? Sam is looking for you."

"Okay. Donna said you've started on debate prep?"

"Yeah, but if there's something else you want me working on..."

"No. Debate prep is fine. If Sam wants you on something else, he'll say so."

Billy didn't ask why Sam would be directing his work, but he got a bad feeling in his stomach.

"Come in." Sam called when Josh knocked.

"You wanted to see me?" Josh asked.

"Yeah. Can we have the room, please?" Sam asked the rest of the staff gathered in his office. "How'd the meeting go?"

"You're going to be getting an endorsement from the Sacramento Bee." Josh reported.

"That's...great; really great." Sam said sincerely. "I saw we got the 4 point bump you predicted too."

Josh looked closely at his friend, trying to determine if Sam was attempting a subtle apology or giving him a last compliment before he cut Josh loose.

"Yeah, and the voter registration drive in Modesto bumped up the number of Democrats and Independents registered in Taylor's district." Josh relayed.

Sam dipped his head and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry...about before."

"Feeling a little out of control?" Josh guessed and Sam blinked in surprise.

"As a matter of fact, yes."

"Donna clued me in." Josh admitted and Sam gave him a genuine laugh.

"That figures." Sam replied. "Where would we be without Donna and Ainsley?"

"I shudder to think." Josh said honestly. "You can't keep your fingers on everything, Sam. That state is too big and there's too much to do."

"Okay, but I don't want you sheltering me from stuff." Sam countered.

"That's my job; as your friend and as your campaign manager." Josh reminded him.

"I don't want to feel out of the loop." Sam explained and Josh nodded.

"I can keep you apprised of the decisions made, but you can't micromanage."

"Fair enough." Sam agreed.

"In the interest of full disclosure, I was contacted by Kevin Kahn about debates." Josh told him.

"Is that supposed to shake me up? Make me nervous?" Sam asked.

"I think it's meant to knock you off your game, yes. Will it?" Josh inquired.

"I don't make those kinds of decision. It's up to my campaign manager." Sam smiled.

"I'm thinking of letting Fred take debate negotiations." Josh mentioned.

"You mean...Billy?" Sam said pointedly.

"Whatever. You got a problem with that?"

"Not as long as you don't." Sam replied.

"Good." Josh got up to leave. "I've got the D triple C dinner thing, and I'll probably go straight home after that. If you need me for anything, call my cell.

"I'm hoping to make it an early night myself. I'll see you tomorrow.

*************************************

When he heard a key turn in the lock of the campaign office, Billy went out to the lobby to see who it was and was surprised to see Donna.

"What are you doing back here?" Billy asked.

"I forgot some stuff I'm going to need for tomorrow." Donna said rolling her eyes. "Another byproduct of pregnancy is memory problems. Aren't you glad you'll never have to go through this, Billy?"

"Hell, yes." Billy said fervently.

"What are you doing here so late?" Donna turned the question back on him.

"Josh is sending me to debate negotiations. I'm trying to get ready for it." Billy replied.

"Debate negotiations? You've hit the big time. Billy. Josh doesn't hand that off to just anybody." Donna smiled when Billy flushed.

"Which is why I'm here. I don't want to screw this up." Billy admitted. "I don't suppose you could take a quick look at what I've got so far?"

"A quick look. I've got a splitting headache."

"It can wait." Billy quickly amended.

"I'm here now, and it's quiet in here for a change." Donna noted. "Show me what you got."

Billy led her to the conference room, but paused when he noticed Donna stumble. "Are you okay?"

"Just a little dizzy. I think I need some food. My stomach's been bothering me."

"I'll grab some crackers from the kitchen." Billy offered.

"Thanks, would you grab a bottle of water too?"

"No problem." Billy went into the kitchen to retrieve the water and crackers wondering what he was doing taking care of a pregnant woman. He should send her home, but he was worried about her driving when she was feeling dizzy. Josh always told him to start with the end result you wanted and then work backwards so when he got back to the conference room, he had a plan worked out.

"Donna, why don't you let me drive you home?" He began. "I can show you what I've got there and hang out until Josh gets- Donna?"

Donna got violently ill into the conference room wastebasket before dropping to her knees. "Help..." she whispered before she threw up again. "Something's wrong."

"Jesus..." Billy called 911 from the conference phone and told the operator what was going on.

"Sir, we can send an ambulance, but from your location it would be faster if you could drive her to the hospital. Do you have a vehicle?"

"Yes, I'll take her right now." Billy promised.

"I'll have someone waiting for you at the emergency room entrance. Do you know how to get to the hospital?"

"Yes, we'll be right there." Billy repeated before hanging up. "Come on Donna. Nice and easy. I'm going to take you to the emergency room." He held Donna up with one hand and kept the wastebasket in front of her with the other hand. It took precious minutes to get her into the car, but once he had her safely strapped in, he took off like a bat out of hell. Once he was on the road, he tried Josh's cell, but got voice mail. Frustrated, he scrolled through his contacts for the next number he could try.

"Sam? It's Billy. I need some help. I'm taking Donna to the hospital..."

************************************

"Where is she?" Josh demanded.

"She's okay, Josh." Sam reassured him.

"Where is Donna?" Josh said a little louder.

"I'll take you to her." Sam promised. "Just calm down, okay? She doesn't need you busting in there and pumping up her blood pressure."

"I'll calm down as soon as I see my wife." Josh replied, getting more worked up as the seconds ticked past. Sam blew out an exasperated breath and took Josh by the arm to the room Donna was in.

Josh rushed in and took his first deep breath since he got the call telling him Donna had been brought in to the emergency room. Donna appeared to be sleeping peacefully. The monitor next to her bed beeped in a steady rhythm and he could see the gentle rise and fall of her chest as she breathed in and out. Josh reached out and gently stroked her hand.

"I want to talk to her Doctor." Josh said quietly to the nurse who had appeared at his side.

"She's on her way, Mr. Lyman." The nurse obviously knew who both the men who'd appeared on her ward were. "Dr. Bachman is our top OB/GYN. She's taking good care of both your girls."

Josh startled at the nurse's statement. He and Donna had only recently found out they were having a girl. How had the nurse known-

"Your wife told us you're expecting a baby girl." The nurse answered his unspoken question.

"She was conscious? When she was brought in she was talking?" Josh confirmed.

"I wasn't there when she was brought in, but when she was brought up here she was conscious and talking coherently." The nurse answered him and started to check Donna's vitals again.

"Donna?" Josh took her hand and sat next to her on the bed. "I'm here, baby. I got here as fast as I could; no stopping for red lights." Josh's voice choked and Sam had to look away from the intensity of the scene in front of him. Donna made no response in movement or sound. Josh let out another frustrated breath.

"Mr. Lyman? I'm Dr. Bachman." An older woman introduced herself to Josh.

"What's going on with Donna? What's wrong?" Josh demanded.

Dr. Bachman spared a glance and a smile for Sam. "Would you like to discuss this in private, Mr. Lyman?"

"Just tell us what's wrong!" Josh said, his desperation for answers very clear

"Your wife presented to the emergency room with abdominal pain, vomiting, dizziness, and severe headache. When we began taking vitals, we noted that her blood pressure was unusually high. Has that been a persistent problem during her pregnancy?"

"No, she had a lot more morning sickness this time, but otherwise she's been healthy." Josh recounted, pacing back and forth. "What does all that mean? Is the baby okay?"

"The baby is fine." The Doctor said quickly. "That monitor there is tracking the baby's heart rate and it's well within the normal range."

Josh nodded his head impatiently but gestured to Donna. "Then what's wrong with Donna?!"

"We ran a few tests and have been able to confirm a diagnosis of pre-eclampsia." Dr. Bachman explained and handed him a sheet of paper. "I've brought some information for you to read so you can familiarize yourself with the symptoms, but the most important items are that her blood pressure is too high and that this condition can sometimes prevent the placenta from getting enough blood. If the placenta isn't getting enough blood, the baby is getting decreased oxygen and food."

"That sounds bad." Josh got suddenly still.

"It can be. But it doesn't have to be." Dr. Bachman continued.

"How do we fix it?" Josh asked and handed the paper he'd been given to Sam.

"We deliver your baby."

"You can't. She's only 6 months pregnant." Josh practically shouted, then remembered where he was and brought his volume down. "6 months isn't enough time for the baby."

"Right now, it wouldn't be my first choice." Dr. Bachman admitted. "Delivering a baby at 24 weeks is problematic to say the least. Nonetheless, delivery is the only `cure' for preeclampsia."

"So you're saying I have to choose between Donna and the baby?" Josh asked incredulously and sat down heavily in the chair next to Donna.

"No, Mr. Lyman, not at all. I just want you to understand that this can be a dangerous condition and it will not be alleviated until after she gives birth. Her symptoms are serious enough to warrant complete bed rest at this point. She's going to require careful monitoring and frequent medical checks. Who is her regular OB/GYN?"

"We just recently moved out here. She was referred to a Doctor here but she hasn't seen him yet." Josh told her. "I can't remember his name. I'm sorry...Donna keeps track of all that stuff."

"Can you tell me who she used to see before you moved? It would be very helpful to have her recent medical records." Dr. Bachman said.

"Dr. Elton. He's in Georgetown with uh...Women's Health Partners. Wait!" Josh pulled out his wallet and flipped through the cards. With great relief he was able to locate the card for Donna's Doctor in Georgetown and give it to Dr. Bachman.

"Great. This will be a big help, Mr. Lyman."

"Big help...right." Josh muttered watching Donna again. "Why isn't she awake?"

"We gave her some medication to help with her blood pressure and relieve some pain, the side effect of which helps her sleep. She may be out for a bit, but that's probably for the best right now."

"How long will she need to stay in the hospital?" Sam asked.

"That depends on how she responds to the medication and the bed rest. Let's take it one step at a time. I'll be back to check on her in a few hours. We'll know more then. Is there anything else I can answer for you right now?"

Sam waited for Josh to answer but he just held Donna's hand and remained silent.

"I think that's it for now. Thank you Dr. Bachman." Sam replied. The Doctor shook Sam's hand and left them alone in Donna's room.

"Ben-" Josh began.

"Is fine with Ainsley. Don't worry about him right now. What can I do for you?" Sam asked as he placed a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Get Donna to wake up and yell at me about something."

"She's never needed me to motivate her for that." Sam smiled. "I'm looking at this information sheet, Josh, and preeclampsia is completely manageable.

"Great." Josh said unenthusiastically and pulled out his cell phone.

"Uh, I don't know if you should use that in here. It might interfere with all this stuff." Sam noted. Josh sighed and picked up the bedside phone, consulting his cell for the number. "Who are you calling?"

"Someone who can give me a primer in this." Josh told him. "Hello, I'd like to speak to Dr. Bartlet please. This is Josh Lyman calling."

 

Chapter 10

Donna had to work very hard to get her eyes to open; they were so heavy, and even when she got them open, her vision was a bit blurry. But even blurry, she recognized her husband's profile.

"Josh?" Her whispered voice made his head whip around to her.

"Hey! How are you feeling?" he asked urgently.

"A little fuzzy. Where am I?" she asked.

"You don't remember going to the hospital?" Josh asked.

"The hospital?" Donna replied and Josh could see the second that she remembered what happened and her hands flew to her stomach. "The baby?"

"The baby's fine. You're fine. Relax." The last thing Josh wanted was for stress to pump up her blood pressure again. Dr. Bachman thought it was under control at the moment.

"Then what happened?" she demanded. "Why did I get so sick?"

"You have something called preeclampsia." Josh told her. "With bed rest, you and the baby should be just fine."

"Preeclampsia?" Donna confirmed.

"Yeah, it's-"

"I know what it is. My sister had it." Donna continued. "They had to deliver the baby early by Cesarean. Adam was in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for weeks." Tears started to fall from her eyes and Josh hurried to wipe them away.

"Listen, that's not what they're talking about for you right now. The most important thing is for you to stay calm and keep your blood pressure down." Josh kissed her forehead. "Everything's going to be fine."

"You don't know that." Donna accused.

"Not from personal experience, no, but I talked to Dr. Bartlet and she's conferred with your doctor here and she says you're both going to be fine as long as you listen to me and follow my rules."

"Like that's going to happen." Donna groused and rubbed her hand over her stomach in a circular motion. Josh laughed for the first time in hours. "Where's Ben?"

"He's at home sleeping with Mom."

"I want to see him." Donna whined.

"Sam said he'd bring him and Mom down as soon as you were up to it."

"I'm up to it." Donna answered quickly and Josh laughed again.

"Okay, I'll call him now."

Josh had made arrangements with Sam by the time Dr. Bachman returned to check on her patient.

"I see our patient is awake. How are you feeling Mrs. Lyman?"

"Okay." Donna answered cautiously.

"Any dizziness, nausea, blurred vision or abdominal pain?"

"No...well my vision is a little blurry, but I'm pretty tired."

"Hmmm." Dr. Bachman checked Donna's pupils and picked up her chart.

"What does blurred vision mean?" Josh asked.

"It's a symptom of the preeclampsia." The doctor noted unhelpfully. "No other symptoms?"

"No. My sister had preeclampsia. I know what it is."

"Then you understand how important it is to take care of you and your baby right now."

"Yes."

"I've been able to go over your medical history and it doesn't look like you had any complications with your first pregnancy."

"No. Everything went like clockwork." Josh threw in.

"That's very encouraging. We're going to keep you here for a few days until we're confident that we have all your symptoms under control."

"What happens after that?" Donna asked.

"That depends on how the next few days go, but we're going to need to put you on some form of bed rest."

"Is this...is it because of the move and the flying we've been doing?" Josh asked hesitantly.

"No, Mr. Lyman. We're not sure of exactly what causes this condition but it isn't because of something either of you did or didn't do. That fact that your wife's sister also had the condition seems to indicate that there might be a family predisposition."

Josh squeezed Donna's hand.

"Everything's going to be fine, Donnatella." Josh promised. "It's okay for our son to come down to visit for a bit, isn't it?"

"A short visit would probably make everyone feel better." Dr. Bachman decided. "Get some rest and I'll be by later today to see how we're doing."

"Thank you, Doctor." Donna said sincerely.

Josh walked out with the doctor and was surprised to see Billy in the waiting room.

"Fred? What are you doing here?" Josh asked him.

"I wanted to see if everybody was okay." he said hesitantly.

"Donna's okay; the baby too." Josh told him and watched Billy let out a sigh of relief.

"That's good. That's...really good. It was pretty scary driving her over her." He admitted.

"You brought Donna to the emergency room?" Josh clarified.

"She was going to go over my notes for the debate negotiations when she started to get sick. I didn't know what to do, so I called 911 and they said to bring her right in." Billy explained shrugging.

"I didn't know that." Josh said quietly. "I just got a call that she'd been admitted to the emergency room. I didn't know how she got here." Josh waited until Billy met his eyes. "Thank you so much."

"I didn't do anything." Billy protested.

"You really did." Josh countered. "This preeclampsia that she has? If it's not treated right away, the mother and the baby could die from the complications. You did a lot."

"I just drove her here, that's all." Billy said. "I'm glad everybody's okay."

"Come back and see for yourself." Josh insisted and took Billy's arm.

"Oh, no. That's okay. I don't want to bother her."

"She'll want to thank you herself. I know she will." Josh told him and led him into Donna's room.

"Look who I found outside, Donnatella. It's Fred." Josh teased.

"Honestly, Joshua. You know his name isn't Fred." Donna chastised her husband before she turned her attention to the young man looking uncomfortable in her hospital room. "I don't know how to thank you. You got us here so fast. If I'd been alone..."

"But you weren't. And Josh said you're both okay, right?" Billy asked.

"It looks like I'm going to be on bed rest, but we're fine; or so they tell me." Donna assured him.

"We should probably name the baby after him or something, huh Donna?" Josh teased. "But then a baby girl named Fred might have a tough road in life."

"Billie would work though." Donna noted. "With an `ie' at the end like Billie Jean King."

Billy actually blushed with embarrassment. "You two make a guy regret he came back down here, you know?"

"Mommy!" Ben shouted from the doorway and started to run to his mom. Josh scooped him up right before Ben got to the bed and Ruth followed quickly behind her Grandson.

"Hold on, Benjamin. We can't jump on Mommy's bed." Josh explained, but lifted his son next to Donna's face so he could give her a kiss. Ruth Lyman followed closely behind her Grandson.

"I'll get going now. I'm glad you're both doing okay." Billy said as he backed into the doorway.

"I'll see you later, Fred." Josh said goodbye and Billy got one last glance at the reunited family before turning and running smack into the California Democratic nominee for Governor.

"Sorry, sir." Billy stammered out. "I wasn't paying attention to where I was going."

"Maybe not now, but you sure were earlier." Sam noted.

"I don't know why everyone is making such a big deal out of it. I did what anybody would have done."

"Maybe, but you did it quickly and safely, and none of us will forget that." Sam started to follow Ben and Ruth into Donna's room, but turned back to make one last comment to Billy. "You know, Josh would probably get you appointed Secretary of State right now if you asked him to."

Billy's jaw dropped and Sam chuckled. "I'm just saying, you could at least get him to call you Billy now."

"Honestly, I've kind of gotten used to Fred." Billy smiled and left.

***********************************

"We need it now." Josh reiterated to Toby via the speakerphone.

"I'm still polishing it." Toby replied.

"It's polished enough. Sam needs to see it now; Air Force One lands in 3 hours."

"He'll have it quicker if you stop bugging me. Why aren't you at the hospital?" Toby asked.

"Donna's resting and the leader of the free world is due to arrive in 3 hours. I have stuff to do." Josh explained.

"In other words she kicked you out?" Toby guessed.

"She had some crazy theory that I was making her anxious." Josh admitted. "I don't think she's quite herself right now."

"It's hard to believe." Toby deadpanned.

"The speech, Tobias!" Josh requested again.

"When it's ready, Joshua!" Toby responded and hung up.

"That went well." Josh muttered.

"Is it just me, or is Toby..." Billy trailed off uncertain how to continue.

"Yeah, Toby is. But he's also a master of political speeches. Did we coordinate the -"

"I know you like to work under pressure, but could I possibly get a copy of the speech I'm supposed to make in three hours?" Sam asked when he entered Josh's office.

"Of course, as soon as it's done." Josh answered.

"It's not done?" Sam repeated.

"Not so much, no." Josh replied tongue in cheek. "Billy has got the cards for the meet and greet with President and Mrs. Santos, though."

"Terrific." Sam looked over at Billy. "Can you excuse us a minute, Billy?"

"Yes, sir. I'm going to go check with the President's advance and make sure we're still on schedule." Billy closed the door behind him.

"What's up?" Josh flipped through several pieces of paper.

"Two things; first, you should be at the hospital with your wife."

"She kicked me out, Samuel. She has no appreciation for the kind of care and feeding I can provide."

"You make her sound like a poodle. You started lecturing didn't you?"

"Lecture? I don't lecture. I may have shared some valuable information I'd learned about preeclampsia and offered some advice on how to best care for herself and our baby, but I did not lecture." Josh argued.

Sam just gave him a pointed look and raised his eyebrows.

"Fine. I may have overdone it on the advice front. When her blood pressure started going up again, it was SUGGESTED that I take a break from the hospital and come into work for awhile." Josh amended.

"Are you doing alright?" Sam asked.

"I worry about her. The Doctor says Donna's doing better on bedrest, but I'll feel better once she's home. Ben doesn't like her being gone, either. He spent the night in my bed crying for Mommy."

"Maybe you should take some time off; spend it at home with Ben and Donna until everyone's nerves get settled." Sam offered but Josh shook his head.

"You need a campaign manager, I need a distraction, and Donna needs a break from my hovering. It works out for everybody."

"Okay, but if something changes, let me know." Sam requested.

"I promise. What's the second thing?" Josh prompted.

"It might be a thing." Sam warned him. "I invited my mom to the reception for the President and Mrs. Santos tonight, but she said she couldn't make it. So, I invited my dad who accepted the invitation. Only now, Mom called and said her plans fell through so she'll be able to come after all."

"So it's a Seaborn family reunion?" Josh teased.

"It looks that way." Sam nodded.

"It'll be fine." Josh assured him. "Don't worry about it. Being in the presence of the President tends to put everyone on their best behavior." The sound of the fax spitting out pages distracted them both and Josh saw with relief that it was Toby's speech for Sam. "Look this over, then we'll go greet the leader of the free world."

***********************************

President Santos was giving an impassioned plea about what the Democratic party has done for the people of California, when Billy's cell phone rang. Billy answered it quickly and once he did, he threw a strange look at Josh before he averted his eyes. Josh strolled over next to his deputy and leaned close to Billy's ear.

"Tell Donna to put the phone down and turn the television off." Billy looked startled.

"I think she just wanted to remind us-"

"Hang up the phone, Donna." Josh spoke directly into the speaker part of the phone. "I can really function for a few hours without you and you need to rest."

Billy listened for her reply, then shot another look at Josh. "No, I don't think I will tell him that." He told Donna.

"Donna..." Josh said in warning.

"She hung up." Billy reported.

"Is that the first call you've fielded from Donna today, Fred?" Josh fixed him with a stare.

"Uh...no." Billy visibly gulped.

"You drove Donna to the hospital, so I know that you know how serious her condition can be. She needs to reduce, if not completely eliminate, stress from her life right now. That stipulation pretty much removes any type of campaigning, don't you agree?"

"Uh-huh." Billy agreed. "She just wanted to check on-"

"No. No more checking, no more reminding. If she calls you or anyone else again, I want to know about it." Josh's tone gave no indication of compromise on this issue.

"Got it." Billy told his boss.

"So did you find a date for the thing tonight?" Josh changed the subject entirely.

"Yeah..." Billy's smile told Josh things that his verbal response couldn't convey. "You?"

"My date cancelled on me; gave me some crap about bed rest." Josh teased back.

"Maybe you can pick up someone at the thing. Presidential receptions bring out the women I'm told."

"When did you turn into such a wise ass?" Josh asked him.

"I've been working for you for awhile; I guess it rubbed off on me."

"Funny boy. Go talk to advance and tell them we're going to make a pit stop on the way to the reception tonight."

"Where?" Billy asked.

"Just a local Hospital." Josh grinned and clapped Billy on the shoulder.

 

Chapter 11

Donna was frustrated. Everyone on the campaign staff had been told not to take any more of her calls. Then to add insult to injury, one of the nurses came and removed her room phone so she `wouldn't be disturbed' when she was able to sleep. What a crock of shit!

She missed Ben. She missed Ruth. She missed Josh and she even missed the campaign crew. She was not meant to sit idly for hours. She just wasn't wired for that. Now she was going to miss the reception for Matt and Helen, after all the trouble she went to in finding a maternity gown. It simply sucked.

Donna was having a good pity cry when there was a knock on her door. She'd barely called out permission to come in, when two men in dark suits came in and surveyed the room. Donna had no trouble figuring out what that meant and she tried to wipe the tears off her face in an attempt to make herself a little more presentable when Matt and Helen Santos came in.

"Donna!" Helen greeted her warmly and carefully embraced her former Chief of Staff.

"Ma'am, Mr. President. I never expected a visit from you tonight." Donna told them.

"Well you should have." Helen chastised her. "I was so worried when Josh filled us in. I feel a little better seeing you with my own eyes."

"I'm sure I look quite a sight. I'm not even allowed to get up to shower right now." Donna burst into tears at that admission and Helen held her in her arms again.

"It's okay, Donna. Everything's going to be fine." Helen patted her back and exchanged a helpless glance with her husband.

"You're tough, chickenfighter." Matt told her. "You're going to get through this just fine."

"I'm...already bored...out of my mind..." Donna explained between sniffles. "How can I stay...on bed rest...for 3 more months?"

"We'll find some things for you to do." Helen promised. "Josh said nothing stressful, but I'm sure there are plenty of things we can find to keep you busy."

Donna nodded half-heartedly. "I guess...I wish I were going with you tonight."

"I wish you were too." Helen laughed. "I was counting on your presence to keep me sane. Now what am I going to do?"

"Stick with Ainsley." Donna advised. "She'll be anxious with all the hoopla tonight."

"Will do." Helen agreed. "How about we stop and see you again before we leave tomorrow night?"

"That would be wonderful, but I know how busy your schedule is going to be."

"That's the great thing about Air Force One; we never have to worry about missing our flight." Helen smiled.

"Take care of yourself and that little one so you can go home, Donna." President Santos advised as he kissed her forehead. "Josh is a wreck without you."

*****************************

Sam surveyed the ballroom and the wealth (literally and metaphorically) surrounding him. If you had told him 5 years ago that he would be standing here today in this capacity, he would never have believed it.

Suddenly, a hand covered his eyes. "Guess who?" Came a male voice that was distinctly ad odds with the female hand covering his eyes.

"Joey Lucas." Sam grinned in earnest and pulled the hand away to hug his friend and fellow office seeker.

"Sam Seaborn, you're looking as dashing as ever. I thought with a new baby at home you'd at least look tired like the rest of us mortals." Joey said through Kenny.

"I made a deal with Satan." Sam whispered conspiratorially.

"Not you." Joey disagreed. "I've been looking around for Josh and Donna. Have they ditched us here?"

Sam shook his head sadly. "Josh should be along shortly. He went home to check on Ben for a bit. Donna's been hospitalized with preeclampsia." Joey covered her mouth in shock.

"Is she alright? The baby?" Joey wanted to know.

"So far, the baby is fine. They have Donna under observation and on bed rest." Sam was quick to reassure her.

"When did this happen?" Joey asked.

"Last night." Sam filled her in on the details.

"Sir?" Billy interrupted them. "They'd like you and Ms. Lucas for pictures in the foyer with President and Mrs. Santos."

"We'll be right there." Sam told him and offered Joey his arm. He continued to scan the room while they walked to the foyer and he could see his father holding court by the bar and his mother sitting with another older woman at a nearby table. So far, they'd avoided each other like the plague, but Sam really couldn't complain about that since he'd avoided them both since he initially greeted them when they arrived.

Ainsley fell into step on Sam's other arm and greeted Joey. Ainsley and Joey had always gotten along well and in Donna's absence, Ainsley was happy to see another friendly face.

They all posed for pictures in the foyer and fielded the occasional question shouted their way. This was how Josh found them when he arrived fashionably late for the reception.

"How was Donna?" Josh wasted no time asking Helen when the pictures were done.

"Tired and sad." Helen reported. "I think the worst part for her is the boredom; she feels pretty useless. Isn't there something she could work on from her lap top?"

"Once the doctor clears it, sure. Right now they just want her to keep her blood pressure consistently lower." Josh acknowledged. "I'll stop and see her after the thing here."

"How's Ben doing?" Helen asked.

"He's pretty miserable without his mom. Luckily my mom is here and she's a pro at distraction."

"Thank God for Grandma's." Helen pronounced.

"You're not kidding." Josh agreed and turned to shake the hand of President Santos. "Good evening, sir."

"Josh. I'm hearing good things from California."

"We'll do our best to send you a Congressional majority."

"I'd appreciate it." The President quipped. "Just don't get so caught up in this stuff that you forget where your priorities are."

"No, sir, I won't." Josh promised. "Hey Ainsley!" Josh called out when she passed by. "Can I speak to you a minute? Excuse me sir, ma'am."

"What is it?" Ainsley asked when Josh led her to a quiet corner.

"How have the senior Seaborns been behaving?"

"They've stayed in neutral corners." Ainsley's frustration at the situation showed in her tone. "I understand why Elizabeth is bitter, but can't they play nice for one night for their son?"

"The man had a decades long affair. I don't think I could play nice under those circumstances." Josh admitted.

"At least he didn't bring the woman tonight." Ainsley sighed. "How much longer until we can cut out of here?"

"Just a couple more hours." Josh told her and rubbed her shoulders. "You look fabulous, by the way."

"Thanks." Ainsley smiled and leaned her head back on Josh's chest.

"Are you making moves on my wife just because your wife ditched you?" Sam accused from behind them.

"You can hardly blame me. She's very tempting." Josh smirked.

"Well, I'm stealing her for a dance, so you'll have to troll somewhere else for a dance partner. Joey Lucas was looking for you earlier." Sam took Ainsley's hand and led her to the dance floor.

"How are you holding up?" Sam asked his wife.

"Just fine, but it's nice to be in your arms for awhile." Ainsley smiled up at him.

"You do look incredible this evening." Sam told her.

"You look very handsome yourself." Ainsley returned the compliment. "You know, when you win this thing, we'll have a lot more of these things to go to."

"I think you mean IF I win this." Sam agreed.

"You're not doubting yourself are you Samuel Norman?"

"Just a bit." Sam leveled with her. "This is a huge undertaking and I'm really worried about the toll it's taking on all of us; especially Josh and Donna."

"It will be okay." Ainsley spotted Elizabeth Seaborn watching them from the sidelines. "Why don't you go steal a dance with your mom? It looks like she'd appreciate some time alone with you."

"You don't mind?" Sam double checked.

"No. I'll take my alone time with you a little later." Sam kissed her soundly and walked her to the table where Ainsley and Elizabeth changed places.

"Are you enjoying yourself, Mom?"

"It's lovely." Elizabeth said sincerely. "I'm so proud of you, Sam."

"Thanks, Mom."

"Not just because of all this." She indicated the fancy ballroom and the famous people in it. "You're a good man; a good husband and father too. You should be very proud of yourself."

"I don't know what to say to that." Sam admitted.

"You don't have to say anything. Just listen. When your father and I separated, I know how angry you were with him, and I imagine part of that anger came from self doubt. Were you like your father? Would you make the same mistakes?"

"Mom..."

"Please let me finish." Elizabeth insisted. "It took courage to take that personal risk, Sam, but look at the rewards. You have a wife who loves you dearly and a daughter that I'm sure already worships you. You're just as handsome and charming as your father was when I met and married him, but the resemblance stops there. I love you so much."

Sam was visibly moved by his mother's words. "I love you too, Mom. That really means a lot to me."

"Honestly, I'm just sucking up so I can steal my granddaughter away from you tomorrow." Elizabeth broke the tension with a joke and Sam chuckled.

"I bet that can be arranged." Sam smiled. When the dance ended he brought his mother over to a group of his staff and made the introductions. After making sure she was in good hands, he made the rounds of the room again. He found his footsteps slowing down as he approached his father, surrounded by a group of men who were listening with rapt attention to every word Norman Seaborn uttered. Once his father spotted him, he broke off mid-sentence.

"And I- There he is; the man of the hour. Gentlemen, this is my son, Sam Seaborn." Norman made introductions before excusing his son and himself from the group.

"Buy the old man a drink?" Norman asked hopefully.

"That should be easy enough considering there's an open bar tonight." Sam noted dryly.

Once the bartender handed them their drinks, Norman struggled to find a conversational foothold with his son.

"It looks like the campaign is going well."

"We're gaining on Taylor." Sam agreed. "But it's still an uphill battle."

"I'm proud of you, son." Norman told him and Sam wondered how the same words from his mother could choke him up with emotion, but coming from his father, they felt cold and dispassionate. "Thank you for the invitation tonight."

"No problem. I'm glad you were able to come." Sam forced the words out.

Norman chuckled. "Sure you are. I know things are still...awkward between us, but I still appreciate the effort you made to include me."

"You're welcome." Sam said more sincerely.

"There you are." Ainsley called when she found them in a corner talking. "You snuck off on me."

"Any man would have to be a fool to leave your side at all." Norman declared.

"Thank you, Norman." Ainsley said graciously. "I was glad to hear you would be here tonight. It's been too long."

"Yes. How's our little Caitlin?"

"Growing every day." Ainsley told him. "You should stop by and see her while you're in town."

"I'd love to." Norman replied. "I'll be here for the next couple days on business."

"Then we'll set something up." Ainsley promised. "Sam, Josh wants to introduce you to an old friend from home."

Sam smiled his appreciation to his wife. "Then lead on. I'll talk to you later, Dad."

They hadn't gotten 10 feet before Sam leaned in to whisper into his wife's ear. "You are a perceptive woman, Ainsley Hayes-Seaborn. I'm very impressed with your skill and subtlety."

"I got more where that came from." She teased.

***************************************

Ainsley was taking a much deserved breather outside when she spotted a familiar, friendly face.

"Barb?" Ainsley called to her and Barb quickly stomped out the cigarette in a panic.

"Oh, Ainsley, it's you!" Barb put her hand to her ample chest and breathed a sigh of relief. "I thought you were the dragon."

"The dragon?" Ainsley chuckled. Barb Neumann always provided some much needed comic relief.

"Jessica Gordon; my husband's new media consultant. She has been all over me. I swear to God Ainsley and I'm ready to lose my mind. `Don't wear that to meet the President, Barbara'. `You really MUST stop that deplorable habit, Barbara.' I thought once Grant lost the nomination, things would ease up, but then he went out and hired the dragon..."

"I'm sorry. There's a lot of pressure, I'm sure." Ainsley said sincerely.

"Don't you feel it?" Barb asked in return.

"I get more pressure about issues and my political beliefs. Nobody but Peyton seems to care what I wear." Ainsley watched bemused, as Barb lit up another cigarette. "Where is Grant? I don't think I've seen him here tonight."

"Unavoidably detained." Barb smiled wryly. "His new `assistant' called and said he'd be late."

"Election years are chaotic, Barb." Ainsley began.

"Sure they are." Barb agreed. "However, when I called his office, they told me he'd left an hour ago for this event."

"Maybe there's a logical explanation for it?" Ainsley offered.

"Ainsley, you can NOT be that naíve." Barb replied. "Don't worry about it. It's not the first time. I'm the man's 3rd wife for God's sake. I say we go get a glass of champagne and have a toast to the superiority of women."

"I know just the person to join us for that toast. Come with me." Ainsley took Barb by the arm and walked her inside until she caught sight of the First Lady.

"Mrs. Santos, I'd like you to meet Barb Neumann. Barb is a friend of mine." Ainsley introduced them.

"Mrs. Santos...I'm so honored to meet you." Barb nearly gushed and Helen smiled.

"It's nice to meet you, Barb." Helen returned and gratefully accepted the glass of champagne Ainsley snatched off the tray of a passing waiter. "Just what I was looking for."

"To all the women who know the pain of campaigning for their man!" Ainsley toasted.

"Here, here." Barb endorsed the toast heartily and downed the champagne in one gulp. Helen nearly choked on her more demure sip.

"Sorry, I guess that wasn't very ladylike." Barb said quietly. "Oh, shit, here comes the dragon...Guess that wasn't very ladylike either, was it?"

"Dragon?" Helen turned to Ainsley.

"Media consultant." Ainsley muttered right before the dragon in question reached them.

"Mrs. Santos, it's such a pleasure to meet. I'm Jessica Gordon, with Grant Neumann's Congressional campaign. I'm wondering if we might impose on you to stand for a picture or two with Mrs. Neumann?"

"I would, Ms. Gordon is it? But Barb and Ainsley and I are on a mission to replenish Barb's glass at the moment; maybe later. Ladies?" Helen turned to walk away with all the assurance in the world that Barb and Ainsley were following here. Barb turned to Ainsley as they continued in the wake of the First Lady.

"That was SO incredible! The dragon's mouth is still hanging open." Barb whispered to Ainsley.

"Mrs. Santos really doesn't care for media consultants." Ainsley tossed back the rest of her champagne and then grabbed an entire bottle for them on their way out.

They spent the next 30 minutes in relative peace from the mob of people at the event while Barb regaled them with humorous anecdotes and horrible gossip about every person that passed by.

"There you are, darling." Grant placed a hand on his wife's shoulder and Barb pointedly shook it off. "I'm sorry I'm late. It couldn't be avoided."

"It must have been an emergency that came up on your way here since your office had no idea where you were." Barb replied.

"Yes, it came up very suddenly. Mrs. Santos? I'm Grant Neumann. We're so pleased to be included this evening."

"I'm sure." Helen Santos gave a non-committal reply. The undercurrents were very apparent to the First Lady and she made no attempt to conceal the fact. Helen Santos knew there had been rumors about her husband, just as she knew they were unfounded, but this situation seemed to be something else entirely.

"Helen?" The President, along with his ever present entourage of Secret Service and hangers on entered the scene. "We should probably make our goodnights. We're going to be up and out early tomorrow."

"That sounds good to me; I'm exhausted." Helen answered and took her husband's hand. She gave it a squeeze in appreciation for the fact that he had never done to her what Grant Neumann appeared to be doing to his wife. Matt gave her a puzzled look, but she just smiled and kissed his cheek. "I'm ready to go."

***************************************

"Hey, Sleeping Beauty, wake up." Josh whispered.

"Joshua?" Donna figured she must be dreaming. "What time is it?"

"Almost midnight." Josh slipped onto the bed next to her. "I brought you some dessert from the thing."

Tears pooled up in Donna's eyes. "Hey, come on now. Don't do that." Josh hung his head. "You said you wanted me to go tonight."

"I did. I do." Donna sniffled. "I was so awful to you all day and you sent Matt and Helen here to cheer me up."

"That was Sam's idea." Josh tried.

"No, it wasn't." Donna continued to cry.

"No, it wasn't." Josh admitted and handed her the Kleenex. "You need to stop crying, Donna. You can't be getting upset. It's not good for you or the baby."

"I can't do this, Josh." Donna wiped her eyes. "I couldn't even go one day without stressing out. I'll never make it for 3 months."

"You don't have to. The doctor said you can do some work from home; just nothing that will raise the blood pressure."

"It's a gubernatorial campaign, Josh. What part of that doesn't have stress?" Donna challenged him.

"We'll find some things, I promise." Josh stroked her hair and pulled her head to his chest. "And you can do anything, Donnatella. If you can manage me, anything else is a walk in the park."

"You should go home and get some sleep. It's going to be a long day tomorrow." Donna said wearily.

"I brought a change of clothes with me. I thought if you'd let me use your shower in the morning, I could sleep right here with you and Ladonna." It was a testament to Josh's skill at misdirection that even the mention of the shower she wanted so badly didn't start his wife's tears again.

"We are not naming this child `Ladonna'." Donna answered without moving her head from Josh's chest.

"It's perfect!" Josh protested. "It's an elongated form of Donna and it's Italian. Your mother will love it."

"She would, but we're not naming our daughter Ladonna Lyman." Donna's protest was a little weaker, but Josh figured that was because of her exhaustion not because her dislike of the name had lessened. He kicked off his shoes and maneuvered until they were both lying, spoon style on the bed. He had read that it was better for her to lie on her left side, so that's how he positioned them. He hadn't lived with Donna all these years without learning a thing or two about research.

Truth be told, he didn't give a damn what name they picked, he just wanted them both healthy in his arms. The name debate did serve an important purpose, however. It kept Donna's focus on something other than bed rest and pregnancy complications. God help him he still loved to argue with her, and for the moment, that was a win/win for everybody.

 

Chapter 12

Peyton steered his colleague toward Josh Lyman. It took several minutes to get through the surrounding group of people, but Peyton finally got Josh's attention.

"Josh Lyman, this is Rosita Sanchez." Peyton introduced them. "Rose has worked several initiatives with me and has media contacts most of us only dream of."

"Nice to meet you, Ms. Sanchez." Josh shook her hand.

"Rose, please, and the pleasure is all mine. You're something of a legend in this business." Rose revealed.

Josh barked out a laugh. "I may ask you to sign a statement to that effect as proof for my wife."

"I'm sure she's aware of that already." Rose stated. "I asked Peyton to introduce us because I want to work for you on this campaign."

"You want to help Sam Seaborn get elected Governor?" Josh clarified.

Rose shrugged. "He seems like a decent man and a solid candidate. With your experience and my contacts we can put him in the Governor's office."

"Oh, WE can?" Josh smirked and looked over at Peyton who smiled wryly.

"Yes." Rose answered simply. Josh gave her a penetrating stare.

"I'm a little tied up today." He said pointedly looking over his shoulder at the President. "Talk to Fred about setting up an appointment tomorrow afternoon."

"Who's Fred?" Rose asked Peyton after Josh left them alone.

"His deputy." Peyton replied. "I told you he'd be a tough sell. Josh Lyman isn't exactly what you'd call a trusting soul."

"I told you; all I needed was the introduction. I can handle the sale." Rose guaranteed.

Peyton looked at his colleague at little more closely. Rosita was good at her job, there was no doubt about it, but he could never quite shake the feeling that her interest in issues and people was more self-serving than anything else.

*******************************************

"You handled that like a pro." Helen commented once she and Sam were back in their car.

"Practice, practice, practice." Sam replied.

"Tell me we're heading back to meet Ainsley and Matt now." The First Lady requested.

"We're headed back to meet Ainsley and Matt now." Sam dutifully answered. "But we have a long drive yet."

"I got to meet your father last night." Helen mentioned. "He seemed to be enjoying himself."

"He always does." Sam said snidely, then immediately regretted it. "My father and I...haven't been close for awhile. We're still working our way back from the precipice."

"You should talk to Matt sometime about black sheep relatives. His brother has caused more than his share of trouble for Matt and the rest of the family. And yet, when push comes to shove, Matt always invites him back for more."

"Do you disagree with that, Ma'am?" Sam asked.

"Not at all; or at least, not much. I tend to get angrier on Matt's behalf than Matt gets himself. In the end, he's Matt's brother and when it comes to family, we need to be a little more compassionate than we would be with anyone else. I think it's great that you're trying to make amends with your dad. Now that you have Caitlin, you understand how important that father/child bond is."

"You aren't kidding." Sam muttered. "Kids bring a lot of perspective with them, don't they? Look at Josh and Donna. Normally, nothing comes before a political campaign, but when it's Ben or the new baby, they'd drop everything."

"Do you disagree with that, Sam?" Helen asked.

"Josh has been one of my best friends for years. He's a brilliant politician who's had amazing experiences on his resume, but the one thing he never had was that personal stake in the game...until Donna joined the campaign. Now, I watch him with Donna and Ben...and I'm glad he's got more in his life than politics."

It was nearly 7 when they re-grouped with Matt, Ainsley, and Josh at the labor rally. They had an amazing turnout and the energy was at fever pitch. By 9, Peyton was attempting to move them toward an exit and Sam realized he hadn't seen Josh for awhile. The reason for his disappearance was made evident when they got in the limo. Josh was watching a tape and talking into his cell phone at the same time.

"When did it start airing?...I want a copy of their ad buys emailed to me immediately...No, nothing came up at the rally, but everyone there hadn't been near a TV for hours and there was no press inside...Right, bye." Josh hung up. "A local 527 bought airtime in the 6 major markets and they're running an ad featuring you and President Santos. Reportedly, they've got a follow up ad featuring you and President Bartlet."

"Saying what?" Sam asked point blank.

"I've got a copy." Josh replied and hit play.

"Sam Seaborn has had political history most men only dream of; White House Deputy Communications Director under President Bartlet and White House Deputy Chief of Staff under President Santos. Now he wants to bring his Washington `experience' to California; experience in catering to unions, experience in pushing left wing social agendas, and experience in corruption. Tell Sam Seaborn and the California Democrats that's the kind of experience we will do without." There was a photo of Sam and President Santos, arm and arm in the background and an overlay of statistics from the Santos administration in the foreground.

"Josh Lyman." Josh answered his phone. "Yeah, I'm showing him now. I'll call you back in 5." Josh closed his cell again. "That was Toby. He's drafting something now for you to look at."

"You want to issue an immediate response? Isn't that giving these wacko's a little too much credence?" Sam questioned.

"Who are theses people? The Progress for America Voter Fund?" Ainsley demanded quoting the sponsor of the ad mentioned at the end.

"They're a 527 that's closely tied to the Republican National Committee." Josh answered Ainsley first. "We have to answer it immediately. Ignoring it is what will give it credence."

"As much as it pains me to admit it, Josh is right." Santos joked. "You have to respond now. That way the rebuttal will be aired on free media when the news comes on at 10. The stories will run side by side and take the wind out of their sails."

"Okay, then what do we say?" Sam asked the group at large.

Josh got back on the phone and put Toby on speaker. "Whatcha got Tobias?"

Toby read them a pithy slap down statement that began with Sam's selfless Government service and ended with an unequivocal demand for a change in the regulations around 527 political groups.

"Sounds good." Josh determined. "Sam?"

"Yeah, okay." Sam shook his head. "We'd better have a response for the Bartlet add, too."

"Working on it." Toby called out right before he hung up.

"I just got the numbers from Fred on the ad buys." Josh announced while he read the email on his Blackberry. "They're going to be plastering the airwaves with them over the next 48 hours."

"Why so heavy on the next 2 days?" Helen asked.

"Strategically, I'm guessing they want to negate the free media we've been riding from the visit by the President and First Lady." Josh noted.

"You're getting painted with the Santos/Baker brush." The President chimed in. "If you need to take a giant step back at this point; then that's what you do now, Sam."

Sam took a minute to appreciate the symmetry in that President Bartlet once gave him the same advice when Sam left to run in the 47th.

"That's not the kind of campaign I'm interested in running, Mr. President." Sam said sincerely. "I believe in the things we did together in the White House and I have no problem saying so."

President Santos smiled wryly and nodded his head. "Then come out swinging and hit him hard."

They saw the President and First Lady off at the airport before Josh went back to the office. Billy Fernandez was hard at work even though it was after midnight.

"Fred. You've got tape for me on the 10 o'clock news?" Josh asked when he came in.

"It's cued up in your office. All the locals carried it and 2 cable channels picked it up, too." Billy reported.

"Thanks." Josh shut the door to his office and watched the tape Billy had edited together for him. It seemed to play well, but he'd have to wait for new polling to see if either side got any traction from this. He put his head down on his desk for a minute and cursed the fact that Donna wasn't there with him. He wasn't used to having to do this without her and he wasn't sure how he'd manage to get through this on his own. It was going to be a long 3 months.

 

Chapter 13

"You're looking better." Ainsley commented when she got to Donna's room just before lunch.

"20 hours straight of lower blood pressure. I'd celebrate, but it might pump my numbers back up." Donna drawled.

"Nah...if you weren't pregnant we'd be having cocktails to celebrate right now."

"If I weren't pregnant, I wouldn't be here in the first place."

"Fair point." Ainsley admitted. "They're still planning on springing you this afternoon?"

"I'll have one more check in with my doctors during rounds this afternoon and as long as my numbers hold, I'm out of here." Donna sighed. "Have you seen Josh today?"

"No, I haven't seen him since last night. I know he was planning on going back to the office after we left the airport, and he mentioned something about interviewing a media consultant after lunch today. That's all I know. Haven't you spoken to him today?"

"Yes, I talked to him twice, but it was quick and he sounded distracted." Donna replied.

"He's been working on the responses to the 527 ads, I know." Ainsley added.

"Yeah...I just feel out of the loop, you know?"

"Sure. How could you not? You're usually up to your eyeballs in all of this and suddenly the rug has been pulled out from under you and you're cut off from everyone and everything."

"Now I feel much better." Donna rolled her eyes.

"I didn't mean it like that." Ainsley rubbed Donna's arm. "You'll be back in your own bed by dinner and I don't have anything going on tonight or tomorrow, so I'll catch you up and we'll do some campaign strategizing of our own. Deal?"

"Deal." Donna smiled her appreciation of Ainsley's thoughtfulness.

***********************************

Josh skidded to a stop in front of Donna's door. "Hey, I'm here." He said out of breath.

"I was about to call a cab." Donna admitted getting out of bed.

"Sorry. I got caught up in an interview and it was hard to exit gracefully without appearing to be ducking the guys' questions." Josh explained. Donna reached down for her bag of personal items, but Josh intercepted her and took it himself.

"Can we please go home? Or at least go to our temporary home?" Donna asked wearily.

"That's what I'm here for." Josh smiled, trying to lighten the mood. "I thought we'd pick up some food on the way there, then you and I can have a family dinner with Ben and Mom."

"I'm not really hungry." Donna replied.

"There isn't any disgusting food you're craving?" Josh asked.

"No, I'm just craving a quiet place to escape medical personnel."

"That I can provide, but I'm still going to stop to get some food in case you get hungry later." Josh planted a quick kiss on her forehead. "I've missed you so much."

"You've been too busy to miss anybody." Donna responded. "Ruth said you never even went home last night."

"It was after 2 when Fred and I finished. It would have wasted time to drive all the way home only to turn around and drive back a few hours later, so I just crashed on my couch." Josh took her arm and led her out of the hospital room. "Besides, I don't like sharing our bed with Ben; he kicks."

Donna gave him the first genuine smile he'd seen since his arrival. "I've missed his kicks."

"Sorry, you'll have to forego them again tonight. Tonight, it's just you and me....and Ladonna, of course." Josh teased.

"Joshua..." Donna growled good naturedly at him.

******************************************

"She did. She said `Dada'!" Sam insisted.

"Unfortunately, she said it while she was playing with her doll." Ainsley pointed out.

"She was calling to me, to bring my attention to the doll." Sam corrected.

"Yeah...you have got the spin thing down pat." Ainsley laughed. "Caitlin, come see Mommy."

Caitlin expertly maneuvered herself from a sitting position to her stomach where she was able to army crawl to her mom. Sam's eyes bugged out.

"Hey! No fair!" Sam protested. "You've been practicing with her while I've been gone."

"You snooze, you lose, Samuel." Ainsley sing-songed. "Caitlin knows the difference between her doll and her dad."

"That's it. I'm staying right here until-" Sam broke off as he felt the ground move beneath him.

"Sam?" Ainsley held Caitlin tightly in her arms. Sam grabbed Ainsley and shoved them quickly under a desk next to an interior wall. The rumbling continued for a bit before Sam felt safe enough to move everyone back out. Sam grabbed the remote to turn on the TV. Reports were coming in about a major quake in the San Francisco area; registering 6.6 on the Richter scale. Emergency responses were already underway.

"The Bayfront Expressway and the Dumbarton Bridge...damn." Sam muttered as he read the breaking news ticker noting areas that had been damaged. He picked up the phone and called Josh.

"Everybody alright over there?" was Sam's first question.

"Fine." Josh reported. "Though we're seriously reconsidering our move out here."

"Hey, you can't move back until you've experienced the mudslides and wildfires." Sam replied, relieved his friend's family was safe. "The emergency response teams have already been mobilized. The news ticker is reporting damage to the Bayfront Expressway and the Dumbarton Bridge. San Francisco is reporting extensive structural damage."

"I'm looking at it." Josh told him. "It measured 6.6?"

"That's what I heard. Listen, I'm going to ride up to San Francisco; see what kind of help they need."

"Pick me up on your way out." Josh instructed before he hung up the phone to tell Donna about the change in plans.

*************************************

"I'll read it to you, Benjamin." Ruth tried to cajole her Grandson away from his mother, but he wasn't having any of it.

"Mommy weed it." He replied firmly. He hadn't moved from Donna's side since she got home from the hospital. Donna couldn't say she minded at all.

"He's fine, Ruth." Donna assured her mother in law. "I missed him so much. I missed all of you."

"We missed you too. I'm just relieved you and this baby girl are doing okay. I can't believe my son took off like that on your first day home."

"He and Sam will be able to help a lot with all their combined disaster response experience." Donna answered, although Ruth thought it sounded weak. "What book did you bring me, Ben?"

"Go, Dog, Go." Ben informed her. It was his favorite book and he had it memorized, but he still liked his mom to read it to him. He liked it best when his mom and dad both read it to him and they did the funny voices, but he was happy to settle for his mom.

Donna had decided to endure her `bed rest' on the living room couch so she could at least feel like she was involved in the activity going on around her. As she read the book to Ben she could hear the faint hum of the television in the kitchen and could pick out the occasional word or two from the breaking news reports.

She tried not to worry about Josh being in the thick of things in the city where there had been damage from the earthquake. Wisconsin didn't suffer from that particular act of God and she hadn't ever felt one personally before. While she knew they were a good distance from the epicenter, that shaking had been enough to scare her very well. Josh had insisted on taking her blood pressure before he left with Sam.

She had just finished the book when she heard Sam's voice through the television.

"Ruth? Can you turn that up please?" Donna requested and Ruth immediately complied.

"Daddy!" Ben shouted when he spotted his father on the screen behind Sam. They were directing Red Cross volunteers and helping to unload cases of water.

"Yes, there's Daddy." Donna confirmed.

"California's emergency response system is among the best in the country. Despite the tragic loss of life and structural damage we've endured today, we should be very proud of the volunteers and well executed emergency procedures. I've spoken to President Santos personally and he will be declaring a Federal disaster area and dispatching FEMA to help in the recovery process."

"Senator Taylor issued a statement about-"

"I'm not interested in Senator Taylor's statement." Sam interrupted. "We're here to help in the recovery effort today. There will be plenty of time to campaign for Governor once this work is done." Sam turned away from the camera and took a case of water from Josh's hands and walked it into the emergency shelter.

"You could have responded to Taylor's statement." Rose pointed out as she followed Sam inside.

"Who are you?" Sam asked.

"I'm your new media consultant."

"I thought I already had one of those. Josh?" Sam called to his campaign manager. "This woman says she's my new media consultant."

"Yeah, I hired her yesterday." Josh confirmed. "Rosita Sanchez, this is Sam Seaborn."

"Will you explain to Ms. Sanchez that I don't do politics at a disaster site?" Sam spoke to Josh but kept his gaze firmly locked on Ms. Sanchez.

"No, we wouldn't want ANYONE to think you have a commanding presence in the face of a Federal disaster." Rose said sarcastically. "I managed to get 3 affiliates here to cover your work in the relief and recovery effort. The least you could do is respond to their questions."

"Josh..." Sam's tone was getting into the danger area.

"Rose, back off." Josh directed her. "Sam, relax. She's just doing her job."

"Maybe I don't want someone working for me who looks at this scene and thinks about the political upside." Sam replied heatedly.

"Then it's a good thing I work for Josh Lyman and not for you, isn't it?" Rose snapped back.

"Enough!" Josh shouted. "Back to your neutral corners. Rose, we have serious work to do here. Do whatever you need to do, but you'll do it from a minimum of 50 feet away from Sam."

Rose huffed and turned on her heel to schmooze the press.

"I already have a media consultant and I know you know that because you're married to her." Sam whispered urgently. "So what the hell..."

"Donna can't do media consulting now, Sam. She can't do it. And if you think there's anyone more upset about that than me, you're dead wrong. Even at 100% Donna would have been out of her element here. She'd have pulled it together, but...She can't do it now. Rose Sanchez has the contacts and experience we need right now."

"I don't like her." Sam stated.

"You don't have to. She can do her job from a distance. Leave it to me." Josh walked away.

Sam thought about what Josh had said. There probably wouldn't be anyone Sam would approve of when it came to taking Donna's place on the campaign staff. But Josh was right. They needed someone to cover it and Josh, even with Billy's help couldn't do it. Sam let out a sigh of defeat. He'd have to make an effort to start over with Rose Sanchez. He looked around at the buzz of activity around him and gave himself a temporary reprieve. Rose Sanchez would have to wait until tomorrow.

******************************

"Sam?"

"Yeah, it's me." Sam said wearily. "What are you doing up?"

It was after 2 AM and his wife appeared to be wide awake. "Caitlin got up a little while ago. I just got her back down."

"Is she okay?" Sam's relaxed appearance immediately disappeared to be replaced by the countenance of a concerned father.

"I think she's teething again. She's fussy and out of sorts." Ainsley reported.

"Me too. You think I'm teething?" Sam grimaced.

"You're cutting your teeth on Statewide politics; it's roughly the same thing." Ainsley unbuttoned her husband's shirt. "How did things look in person in San Francisco?"

"Ugly." Sam's one word answer told Ainsley more about her husband's assessment of the damage than the news reports she'd been listening to all night.

"Why don't you take a hot shower and get a layer or two of dirt and grime off you?"

"That's probably a good idea." Sam agreed and walked slowly into the adjoining bathroom. He stripped in the bathroom, dropping his clothes on the floor in a heap. Then he stepped into the hot blast of the shower and leaned his head back and closed his eyes.

He yelped in surprise when the shower door opened and Ainsley stepped in.

"I thought you might need help washing your back." Ainsley drawled.

"Who can't use help with back washing?" Sam nodded. "God, you feel so good." He told her as his hands ran over her body. He tipped her chin back so he could kiss her lips while his hands continued to roam. "I love you so much."

"I love you, too." Ainsley told him between kisses. She was sure Sam expected her to wax on about the earthquake or the media coverage, but she stayed silent and let her body speak to him. After washing all the soap off them both, Sam reached back behind him and shut off the water. He wrapped a soft towel around Ainsley's body and dried himself off before carrying her to bed.

They made love slowly and although it relaxed Ainsley it seemed to energize Sam; like his batteries had been re-charged. So when their daughter woke again an hour later, it was Sam that responded to her call. Caitlin was sitting in her crib; tears running down her cheeks. Her face lit up when she spotted her father.

"Da, da, da, da..." She held her arms up for her dad and Sam smiled.

"You know the difference between Dad and doll, don't you, baby?" Sam picked her up while she continued to babble to him; telling him all about her day.

"I know." He consoled her. "Getting new teeth in just sucks, kiddo. I know just what you need." He half-walked, half -jiggled her down to the living room where he reached down to the bar and grabbed a bottle of whiskey one handed. "Now the drinking age here is 21, so this is going to have to be our little secret; got it?"

Caitlin just looked at him solemnly, so he decided to take that as a `yes'. He poured some whiskey in a shot glass and dipped his thumb in it before rubbing his thumb on his daughter's gums. She made an adorable face as her taste buds registered the whiskey, but after repeatedly rubbing her gums with the whiskey her whimpers stopped completely.

"See? Daddy knows things too." Sam explained.

"Does Daddy know he's aiding and abetting a minor?" Ainsley asked from behind him.

"Look Caitlin! Mommy's up." Sam twirled the baby around and made her giggle. "Look Mommy, my gums feel better!"

"Uh-huh." Ainsley grinned at the picture the two of them made together in the soft lamp light. "Since you were able to cure our daughter's teething, maybe you could get her back to sleep for your next trick."

"We're just starting to have fun." Sam complained.

"Hand over the child, Samuel." Ainsley held her arms out and Sam reluctantly placed his daughter in the arms of her mother.

Ainsley gave him a smile and a kiss before she turned to take the baby back to the nursery. She hadn't made it three steps, though, when her daughter began to cry again.

"Da, da, da, da!" Caitlin held her arms out for her dad and sobbed for him. Ainsley looked at her in surprise.

"Ummm...I think that's her "da,da" she's asking for." Sam pointed out, tongue in cheek.

"It would appear so." Ainsley handed Caitlin back to her father and her crying ceased instantly.

"There's my girl." Sam twirled her again.

"Excuse me?" Ainsley asked.

"Our girl. Caitlin is our girl, of course. She's just a little more mine at the moment." Sam hedged.

"She can be all yours for the moment. I'm going back to bed." Ainsley left them alone, dancing in the dark, while she went to catch up on all the sleep she'd lost.

 

Chapter 14

After a conference call with the Seaborn for Governor senior staff, a statement was issued asking all volunteers and paid staff to report to the emergency response teams in San Francisco. No campaigning would be happening for the next few days; and although Rose complained long and loud, no cameras would be following the candidate either.

Josh stayed close to home which thrilled his wife, mother, and son equally. He had started to put together some research and busy work for Donna to do so she'd feel more needed on the campaign front. He found the task depressed him, because the things he really wanted her doing, he couldn't assign to her.

The Lyman's also took Caitlin for the next few days so Ainsley and Sam could spend time on the recovery effort. Ruth loved having the baby around and used the opportunity to help Ben practice for the arrival of his little sister. The lessons were hit and miss.

"Look, Ben, Caitlin is reaching for your car. Can you share it with her?" Ruth prodded.

"No, her is too wittle to dwive." Donna laughed at the very Josh-like response.

"Maybe you could teach her." Donna suggested.

"No, giwls don't dwive good." Ben responded without looking up.

"Joshua!" Ruth bellowed. Apparently, the bellowing was an inherited trait. Josh came out of his study looking alarmed. When he noted the rest of his family was cozily ensconced in the family room. He gave his mom a `what the hell' look.

"Do you know what your son just said? He said `girls don't drive good'." Ruth responded before Josh could draw breath. "What are teaching this next generation of Lyman men?" Ruth demanded.

"Why do you assume that I taught him that?" Josh played devil's advocate.

"You're going to stand there and suggest Donna told him that girls don't drive well?"

"The kid is around tons of people every day. He could have heard that anywhere." Josh insisted.

"Benjamin Thomas Lyman, who told you girls don't drive good?" Ruth asked her grandson.

"Daddy." Ben replied without looking up from his cars. Ruth gave Josh a nasty glare.

"Ladies and gentlemen, my son; the sexist pig dog." Ruth waved a hand toward Josh like she was introducing him to an audience.

"Sexist pig dog." Ben chorused and made Donna laugh.

"I'll have you know that NO ONE worked harder in the White House to further women's issues than-" Josh broke off when he caught Donna's raised eyebrows. "Nobody in the WEST wing of the White House worked harder to further women's issues than-"

"Save it for you memoirs." Ruth interrupted. "Maybe your son could write the introduction since your daughter won't be able to drive to the publishers." Ruth picked up Caitlin. "Come with Grandma Ruth, sweetie. You shouldn't have to be subjected to this kind of sexist drivel."

"Great." Josh turned to go back to his office.

"Daddy, play wif me." Ben whined.

"Yeah, Daddy, play with us." Donna echoed.

"I can't right now. I've got a paper blizzard on my desk." Josh told them both and watched matching pouts appear. "Believe me, I'd rather play with you."

"Let me help you. Then you will get to playtime faster." Donna reasoned.

"No, you need to rest. You just got home from the hospital." Josh shot her plan down quickly. "Besides, I'm on a conference call with Rose in 20 minutes."

"Something come up?" Donna asked in concern.

"No, something has gone down. Taylor dropped another percentage point in the overnights; which is great, but with Sam refusing to campaign in the next few days we're scrambling to build on the momentum without the candidate."

"Hmmm...you could look at-"

"Don't worry about it, Donna. I didn't mention it to get you concerned. I'm just explaining why I can't `play' right now." Josh jumped in. "I'll come tuck you in at bedtime, okay?" he bargained with Ben, who nodded sadly.

Donna tried to push aside her knee jerk, hurt response to Josh's cutting her off. She knew he was concerned about her and the baby. Hell, she was worried about herself and the baby, but she and Josh had been doing this together for many years now, and she didn't like being kept out of the action. She recognized that she wasn't going to be able to go on the road, but surely she could still provide advice and input. Maybe Josh just needed to see her home and well for a few days before he relaxed this vigil of his. It had been a terrible scare after all. She'd just give it a few days...

*******************************************

"Was it just me or did it seem like the Mayor was spending more time trying to convince you of his excellent leadership than actually showing leadership?" Ainsley asked her husband on their way home. The home base they'd created in Monterrey wasn't far from San Francisco in miles, but it seemed a world apart after the damage they'd seen that day.

"I think he was only talking to me half of the time." Sam replied. "The other half he was scanning the area for camera crews."

"I don't think he believed you when you told him you weren't there campaigning." Ainsley chuckled. "I'm so tired. It's been a long time since I've done manual labor."

"We've gotten spoiled." Sam told her.

"Aversion to manual labor is why I went to law school. I know where my strengths lie." Ainsley laid her head on Sam's shoulder. "I heard from one of the Red Cross people that it could take as long as 14 months to rebuild some of the areas that were damaged from the earthquake. Why does it take so long?"

"Ms. `Government should be smaller', is advocating more Government interference?" Sam teased.

"Response to a Federal Disaster is different than-"

"It's different because it's personal to you. Admit it, Hayes. You think Government should do more to help these people we met today."

"I think the help could just as easily come from local business, community resources and individual volunteers." Ainsley shot back. "My question was, what takes so long in the rebuilding process?"

"Red tape." Sam answered.

"Red tape?" Ainsley repeated. "Are you kidding me? These people have lost their homes, some of them have lost family members, and the hold up on getting assistance in putting their lives back together is red tape?"

"That's not the ONLY thing, but it's the biggest part of it." Sam acknowledged. "Insurance claims have to be filed, investigators have to investigate, and there is a veritable maze to work through before people get the green light to hire someone to help rebuild or repair the damage that's been done. Then they've got to find someone who can do the work when there are tons of people needing work done."

"Red tape?" Ainsley repeated again.

"You should see the numbers on insurance fraud, Ainsley. As despicable as it is, there is an element of society that takes financial advantage of disasters like this. Wait until you see the debate in the State Assembly about who should be awarded the State contracts to repair the bridge and the Expressway. It will be ugly."

"Can't you politicians put what's best for your constituents first just once in every great while; say, when a devastating earthquake occurs? Why must your propensity to blame your opponent and claim political victory always and forever trump the needs of the people that you actually claim to serve in the first place?!"

"You politicians? Excuse me? Did you not spend years working for the Federal Government?"

"As White House Counsel; not as an elected official." Ainsley qualified.

"Oh, well then you had NOTHING to do with Government." Sam drawled.

"Why can't you admit that Government's first job is to insure it's own power and paycheck?" Ainsley asked.

"What?" Sam barked out a laugh. "How can you have worked where you have worked and say that with a straight face?"

"Because I saw first hand that whatever good President Bartlet or President Santos was able to bring about, it was achieved through a combination of threats and veritable bribes. Do you deny that?"

"Of course I deny that." Sam shot back. "And you don't believe it either or you would never have served President Bartlet to begin with. What are you trying to prove Ainsley Hayes-Seaborn?"

"I just like to get you all riled up." Ainsley admitted. "But I DO really believe there must be a better way to respond to these disasters that would eliminate red tape rather than help sell it."

"California has had more than it's share of practice responding to disasters. Just how would you improve the system?"

"I haven't quite figured that out yet, but I'm working on it." Ainsley replied.

"Okay...well, when you've finished that little cerebral exercise, you let me know what you've come up with and I'll be all over it." Sam promised.

"Is that a promise from a politician?" Ainsley teased.

"It's a promise from your husband." Sam said seriously.

"Oh. Well, him I trust unequivocally." Ainsley stated and kissed his cheek.

"Josh is asking about resuming the campaign schedule tomorrow afternoon. This new consultant is putting a lot of pressure on him, to put a lot of pressure on me."

"What do you think?" Ainsley asked simply.

"I think we need to wait at least another day." Sam said, frustration evident in his voice. "I can tell Josh is getting nervous about letting momentum slip through our fingers over this, but I don't want to be seen as capitalizing on the misfortune of the people hit by the earthquake."

"Then I think you should say that." Ainsley decided. "Make a personal statement yourself, not through a spokesperson, and explain what you're doing and why."

"You think that's the right course?"

"I think that's the right course for you." Ainsley hedged. "Sam, part of your appeal is the sincerity you're able to convey to the people you're speaking to. The reason you're able to convey it so well is because A) you have a gift with words and B) because the words you use are words you believe in with all your heart. Don't let Josh or this new woman speak for you on this. Let it come from you." Ainsley stated her case.

"Alright, counselor." Sam nodded and flipped open his cell. "Toby, it's Sam...How do I know if you have caller ID or not? Listen, I'm going to send a statement over for you to look at. Can you proof it without, you know, changing it fundamentally?... What do you mean, `what if it's bad writing?'. I wrote for the President too, Toby, in fact I wrote for two of them, I think I can manage to string together a few sentences on my own...No, I did NOT always have someone with me to balance out my rose colored idealism. Why do you always- Never mind, I'm sorry I bothered you. I'll just send it to Josh to look over...Oh? You think that's a bad idea? Then you'll promise not to change the statement, just proof it? Thanks so much. I'll get it over to you in a couple hours." Sam hung up the phone exasperated. "You'd think that none of these people actually work for me."

"I think they mentioned it was just an honorary thing." Ainsley replied, tongue in cheek.

"Very funny. `Love, honor, and cherish'? I'm not feeling any of that right now, just so you know." Sam groused.

"Then let's get you home to our baby girl. She seems to be in a worshipful state lately where you're concerned."

"You're just jealous because she's been coming to me instead of you." Sam noted.

"Sam, we're not going to get to Josh and Donna's until almost midnight, which means Caitlin will need to be awakened to get her home. That, in turn, will mean she will be wide awake and full of energy by the time we get her under our roof. Believe me when I tell you, that I'm thrilled she will be choosing you over me tonight."

"Well now I'm not feeling so good about that." Sam admitted.

"Really..." Ainsley grinned.

**********************************

"He has to get out there and he has to get out there today. Taylor is planning to hit 4 Congressional Districts today. He's not going to be complacent about Seaborn creeping up in the numbers, and we shouldn't be either." Rose argued her point forcefully with Josh. Unfortunately, she didn't notice the candidate himself walking up behind her. Since she hadn't exactly made friends and influenced people since she'd come on board, no one else in the room clued her in on the arrival either.

"I'm not being complacent, but I won't be pushed around by my staff either. I need a word with Josh. Let us have the room, please." Sam didn't even make eye contact with Rose and dismissed her by turning his back on her completely. Rose managed to hold her tongue long enough to leave the room. Josh couldn't possible believe he was lucky enough that the silence would last much longer than that.

"Get rid of her." Sam said simply.

"Sam, I need someone to-"

"I understand you're floundering without Donna. But because you're floundering without Donna, you're not in a good position to judge the mistake you're making keeping her on this team."

"Why is it a mistake?" Josh asked.

"First of all, I don't think she's even on `this team'. She's padding her resume. Secondly, I don't trust her." Sam laid it out. "Thirdly, you don't trust her either. You're keeping her at arms length. How can you effectively run a gubernatorial campaign when you don't trust the media consultant you hired?"

"We never trusted Mandy; we seemed to be able to get past that and work effectively together."

"This is different. You know it is."

"I know that I need someone with experience sitting in that chair right now. Are you ordering me to fire her, Sam?"

"You're the campaign manager, but it's my campaign. You explain that to her or I won't have to ask you to fire her; I'll do it myself." Sam kept eye contact with Josh and was able to communicate his resolve because Josh nodded. Sam tossed a piece of paper on Josh's desk.

"What's this?" Josh asked skimming it.

"It's the statement I'm going to give this morning. Tell our media consultant I'll make the statement and answer questions, but that's all I'm doing today."

**********************************

"This is a mistake." Rose complained.

"So you've said." Billy muttered.

"Did you say something?" Rose questioned.

"I merely mentioned that you've already pointed out the error of our ways, you know, several times, so either move on to another subject, or move on to another campaign." Billy shot back.

"I think you're going to want to watch your tone with me, Fred." Rose stated.

"My name is Billy Fernandez; don't call me Fred."

"Josh calls you Fred." Rose replied, confused.

"Josh can call me whatever he wants. You can call me Mr. Fernandez." Billy walked away.

"You okay, Billy?" Ainsley asked catching up with him.

"Sure. You need something?"

"Yeah, a good seat for the press conference. Sam's going to hit it out of the park." Ainsley smiled.

"Tell her." Billy nodded toward Rose. Ainsley's radar had already gone up over the new media consultant because of Sam's reaction to her. Seeing Billy's obvious dislike pushed her over into the anti-Rose column.

"I wouldn't worry about her." Ainsley advised him. "Something tells me she may not be around long."

"I don't get what he saw in her. Why did he hire her in the first pl-" Billy's head dropped as he re-thought the wisdom of complaining about Josh's judgment with Ainsley.

Ainsley read his expression perfectly. "Josh is very good at what he does, but he's not infallible. Although if you tell him I said that, I'll deny it." She wrapped an arm around Billy's shoulders. "Come on. You aren't going to want to miss this."

They found a good spot to watch from and waited until Sam took the podium.

"Good morning. There have been a number of inquiries as to when I'll be resuming our campaign schedule, so I wanted to take this opportunity to address this issue. In the world of politics, we sometimes lose sight of the bigger picture around us. California is still recovering from the devastation of the recent earthquake. There is much work to be done to help get all our neighbors back on their feet. We have suspended our usual campaign activities and asked all our staff and volunteers to instead spend their time and effort helping to rebuild the areas affected by this disaster."

"I am not interested in scoring political points or trashing the Republican response to this emergency. We have a host of valid points to raise, but they will be no less valid down the road. Rose Sanchez is distributing information on where people can go to give assistance and what supplies are needed at this time. I want to thank all the people who've given their time and their money to help friends, relatives, and strangers who are experiencing so much loss right now."

"Tomorrow night we will resume our campaign schedule beginning with the California College Democrats Dinner at 6. All proceeds from the dinner will go to the disaster relief fund. Questions?"

"Mr. Seaborn, how would you rate FEMA's response to the earthquake?"

"President Santos worked very hard to revamp FEMA over the last few years and I can see that effort paid off as I watched things mobilize here immediately after the earthquake hit. They've been a tremendous help."

"Where were you when the earthquake struck?"

"I was at home with my family. I've lived through a few of these, but my wife would be happy to have that experience be her first and her last. We had few things knocked off shelves, but that was the only damage at our house."

"Senator Taylor stated that he thought the damage could be repaired without requesting a tax increase. Do you share that opinion?"

"We don't even know what the final cost will be, so it's premature to make statements about what we can afford or what we might need an increase in revenue for." Sam sidestepped the question.

"Senator Taylor claims that he can guarantee no new taxes under his leadership. Will you?"

"Senator Taylor must have access to a crystal ball. How can anyone look into the future and know what our fiscal needs are going to be? What if there was another earthquake? Or a terrorist attack? Wildfires that devastate large portions of our state? All I can guarantee is that I will be fiscally responsible as Governor, just like I was fiscally responsible as the Deputy Chief of Staff in the White House."

"We understand a new media consultant has been hired by your campaign. Is that due to dissatisfaction with the direction you've been moving in?"

"We've been moving up in the polls. It's hard to be dissatisfied with that." Sam joked.

"Maybe you don't think you're moving up quickly enough. There's only 8 weeks left until the election."

"Really? Will someone make sure that gets on my calendar?" Sam turned to his staff in jest.

"Why the change in staff?"

"My previous media consultant has been put on bed rest due to pregnancy complications." Sam answered simply.

"Wasn't your previous media consultant Donna Lyman; wife of your campaign manager?"

"Yes, and she's doing fine, thanks for asking." Sam noted drolly.

"Is she expected to return to the campaign? Will this require a change in your campaign manager as well?"

"Donna Lyman will be on bed rest until she delivers her second child, which I hope won't be for a few more weeks. Josh will continue as my campaign manager."

"The Sacramento Bee's Editorial this morning was outlining why it would be nearly impossible for you to catch up to, let alone beat, Senator Taylor for the Governor's seat."

"I worked at the White House. We did 6 impossible things every day before lunch." Sam quipped quoting his favorite Sci-fi novel. "Thank you for your time." Sam walked away, ignoring the myriad questions thrown at him, took his wife's hand and walked back to the campaign office, a smug and smiling Billy Fernandez bringing up the rear. He tossed a quick look at Rose Fernandez who was following up with questions and interview requests. At least she knew what she was doing there.

************************************

"Josh, I've got two interview requests for you." Rose stated when she came into his office.

"We've been over this; I'm not the story here." Josh said tiredly.

"Yeah, but you kind of are the story here. You leave the White House, move your family out here when you're expecting your second child, go through a devastating earthquake, and a pregnancy scare; all to help your best friend win the Governor's seat. It's a great human interest piece."

"And that has what to do with Sam's campaign?"

"It brings a focus and a human face to Sam's campaign. It brings more media attention to Sam's campaign." Rose argued.

"Rose we're concentrating on serious issues here." Josh reiterated.

"And like it or not, this is one of them." Rose gauged the level of Josh's frustration and figured it wasn't going to get any lower anytime soon. "They'd also like to speak to your wife."

"Absolutely not." Josh snapped his head up to meet Rose's eyes.

"She said she's willing to do it." Rose explained thinking getting Donna's agreement was a good thing. Boy, was she wrong.

"You spoke to Donna about this without speaking to me first?" Josh nearly broke the glass in his office door with his shout.

"I called your wife to see if it was something she'd consider. She said she'd be glad to do it." Rose quickly followed up.

"You don't EVER contact Donna about ANYTHING without my permission again. Is that perfectly clear?"

"I only asked the question-"

"She almost lost the baby; she still could! If she doesn't keep her blood pressure under control she could have seizures and- NEVER do it again." Josh cut his explanation short and issued the directive.

"Then you have to do them. You're tying my hands here, Josh." Rose complained.

"Fine; set it up. Is that all?" Josh tried to conclude the meeting.

"I'm arranging a question and answer session at the College Democrats thing tomorrow. Press will be allowed to cover it. He comes off very well with that demographic. It makes him look young and vital, while Taylor is bouncing grandchildren on his knee."

"You cleared it with Sam?" Josh confirmed.

"He's fine with it." Rose agreed.

Josh nodded and Rose took it as dismissal. When she got back to her office, she found the candidate's wife waiting for her.

"I got a message you wanted to see me?" Ainsley asked.

"I've got some press requests I'd like to set up for you, but before I do I thought we should go over some potential questions." Rose began.

"You think I'm likely to get something new thrown at me at this point?"

"I do, yes." Rose replied. "This is going to continue to heat up and I think they're going to try to use you to turn up the heat."

"I think I can handle it." Ainsley said coolly.

"I think you can too, but it doesn't hurt to practice some questions and formulate the best possible response." Rose sat next to Ainsley. "I understand that Donna Lyman is a close friend, and that the circumstances that brought me here are less than ideal, but I can help this campaign. I hope you'll let me help you do that."

Ainsley looked into the sincere face of Rose Sanchez...and didn't buy it for a second.

"Of course I want to help Sam with this campaign. He's going to need you to focus your attention on him over the next two months, though. Go ahead and arrange the interviews." Ainsley stood up, concluding the conversation. "I see Donna every day. I'll have her run me through my paces."

 

A/N: Special thanks to Mary R. for her tireless editing this weekend. I tried to get as many pages in as I could before the strike.

Chapter 15

Sam enjoyed his time with the College Democrats of California. They were an energetic group that enjoyed the back and forth banter that Sam excelled at. So he was riding pretty high as they exited the venue and didn't see the trap set out for him until he'd already walked into it.

"Mr. Seaborn! What is your reaction to the new bill Senator Taylor and Senator Wilkins are co-sponsoring?"

"What are the dynamic duo up to now?" Sam asked in return.

"They just announced a bill that would increase the number of border patrol officers and fine property owners that rent property to illegal aliens."

"I haven't read the bill, obviously, but my first reaction would be to wonder why property owners are being drafted into the border security effort. If an undocumented worker presents a forged ID to an apartment manager, is the manager being held responsible for not being able to detect the forgery?"

"Senator Taylor said that without housing, illegal immigrants will be forced to return to Mexico."

"Sure, because they all have the money to travel once their choice of accommodations dries up. Are they serious? These people will end up in shelters, living with friends or relatives, or living on the street. These aren't people vacationing in California. In most cases these are terribly poor people who are trying to make a decent living to take care of their families."

"So you'd be against the bill?"

"Again, I haven't read the bill, but it seems to be if their intent is to dry up the opportunities Mexican citizens are risking their lives to get here in America; they should start with the businesses that hire undocumented workers, not property managers. Businesses have to document work status already and Mexicans are coming here for the jobs, not the luxury apartments."

"So you're in favor of fining businesses that hire illegal immigrants?"

"I didn't say that. I said that if Taylor and Wilkins want to dry up supply, they should focus on the businesses that hire these people, not the people who provide shelter. But they won't do that, because they're owned by big business."

"Are you accusing Senators Taylor and Wilkins of pandering to special interest?"

"I'm questioning their rational in authoring this bill."

"Sam, we're late. This way please." Rose interrupted and guided the candidate to the car.

"How did we not hear about this before now?" Sam questioned his media consultant.

"It was announced during your dinner. I got a copy emailed over but I had to get a wireless connection before I could-" Rose broke off. "Doesn't matter. It's on your laptop in the car."

"I'd like to have a chance to see or hear about this stuff from someone besides the press."

"I'm doing the best that I can, Sam. It's on your laptop now. Take a look at it and make some notes. We're conferencing with Josh and the communication team at 8:30. I've re-released the immigration policy language from your speech last week."

"Good...thanks." Sam managed.

"I heard back from the Bartlet's. They said they can't do the last week in September, but the first week or 3rd week in October is all yours." Rose passed on.

"What have we got on our agenda during those weeks?" Sam asked while he skimmed the proposed bill.

"I don't think it matters. We should reschedule whatever we have the first week in October to help build some steam." Rose opined.

"Run it by Josh. Whatever he signs off on is fine with me." Sam is distracted by the words he's read. "How is this enforceable? I mean, who is going to be enforcing this and what will it cost?"

"No one is going to care. What they're going to hear is that Taylor is cracking down on illegal immigrants and you're not." Rose replied.

"We can't just assume from my previous 5 to 10 thousand speeches that I'm against illegal behavior in general and illegal immigration in particular?" Sam shot back.

"For me personally, yes. If you're asking about the general electorate..."

"Yeah..." Sam sighed. "This xenophobia is getting out of hand. And make no mistake xenophobia is exactly what this is. We wouldn't be having this conversation if it was about Canadians sneaking across the border. We should call a spade a spade and speak about what this really is."

"We can do that." Rose contemplated the options. "Do you really want to go negative when we're between 4-6 points down and 8 weeks out from the election?"

"Why does it have to be going negative to point out the racial intolerance written in every line of this bill?" Sam asked.

"It's going to be interpreted that way; plus you'll take a hit for being light on immigration enforcement." Rose pondered. "Let's talk to the team about it and see if we can come up with a balanced response you like."

"I like the response I just gave you. It's your job to sell it." Sam ended the debate.

*********************************************

"Hi. I didn't expect you to be home for awhile." Donna said when Josh came through the door.

"It's after 8." Josh noted looking at the wall clock.

"I know what time it is. I just didn't expect you home this early. I figured it would be late nights all week." Donna explained. "If you've got a minute, I wanted to show you-"

"Can I see whatever it is later? I'm pressed for time right now."

"Sure." Donna plastered a smile on her face. "How did things go today?"

"We hit a little rough patch on Taylor's immigration bill today. I want to see if I can pull some things together before Sam does his breakfast thing tomorrow."

"You need stats? Where do you want me to start? Ben's already in bed, so-"

"No, I don't want you to start. This isn't a big thing. I can handle it. Fred is faxing over the stats I need and then we're conferencing at 8:30. We're fine. You just rest."

"I can work on a laptop without straining myself." Donna replied with a little more heat than she had intended.

"It's covered." Josh snapped back. "Rose has everything I need."

"Isn't that efficient of her?" Donna snarked.

"She's nothing if not efficient." Josh muttered, completely missing the subtext in his anxiousness to get on the immigration issue. "Do you need anything?"

Donna said "No." But she doubted it would have mattered if she'd answered in the affirmative since he continued on his trek to the office to get his precious fax.

**********************************************

"Josh?" Ruth asked from the doorway to his office. "It's after midnight. Why aren't you in bed?"

"We're trying to get a handle on some immigration reform language and I can't find half of what I need...Why? What's wrong?" Josh looked up in alarm.

"What's wrong is you're not getting any rest. Your wife and son are getting some sleep. You should do the same." His mother advised.

"Sam, Toby, and Rose are waiting for this." Josh replied and put his head down again.

"I saw Ms. Sanchez on the news this evening. She knows how to play to the media." Ruth commented.

"That's what a media consultant does, Mom."

"Her style is pretty different from Donna's though. Actually, she reminded me quite a bit of Mandy." Ruth sat down across from her son.

"I don't really have time to chat right now, Mom." Josh reached for a file under a nearby stack of paper and everything fell to the floor. "Damn it!"

"Let me help you, Joshua." Ruth used a calming tone as she handed him the needed file and gathered the rest of the papers. "Better yet, let Donna help you."

"You heard the doctor!" Josh exclaimed. "She's on strict bed rest. I don't want anything upsetting her."

"You're the one that's upsetting her; by shutting her out."

"I'm not shutting her out. I've been giving her work." Josh defended himself.

"Busy work. She's used to making a contribution. She's used to you needing her to make a contribution."

"Well this time she can't." Josh snapped. "God, Mom, what do you want from me? I'm doing everything I can to keep the stress out of her life. Look at this mess! Do you think it's easy for me without her?"

"No, I don't What you need to realize is that it's just as hard for her without you." Ruth left on that note. Josh leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes a moment. His heart had nearly stopped when he got the call from Sam that Donna had been admitted to the ER. His world would collapse without her in it. Then there was the baby. He already felt so connected to his daughter. He couldn't let anything happen to either of them. He would do the hated interviews if it would keep Donna from getting stressed about them or by them. He would work with Rose Sanchez for the good of the campaign. He would even forego sleep on a regular basis, but he would not let anything happen to either of his girls.

*******************************************

"Have some breakfast before you go." Donna insisted.

"I'm having breakfast at the thing." Josh replied.

"I thought you weren't going to the breakfast thing with Sam." Donna questioned him.

"I'm not. This is a different breakfast thing." He hedged.

"I didn't know you had a breakfast thing. What's this one about?"

"I'm not altogether clear on that." Josh finished putting on his tie. "Does this one look alright?" he tried to distract his wife.

"It's fine. How can you not know what the breakfast meeting you are going to shortly is about?"

"It's in Fresno. There will be plenty of time for Rose to prep me on the way." Josh assured her.

"Rose is going with you?" Donna prodded further. "Why isn't she handling Sam?"

"Fred's taking care of Sam today. It's okay, Donna, I promise." He paused to place a quick kiss on her forehead. "Please don't worry. Just take care of yourself and Ladonna."

Donna nodded but made no other reply while she watched her husband head out the door.

*******************************

"We should talk about illegal immigration. We should talk about it a lot and have vigorous debates about how best to address this issue and the other issues that arise from illegal immigration. What we should NOT do is prop up bills that sound tough but do nothing but further alienate us from one another instead of actually working to solve the problem." Sam concluded and earned a rousing ovation from the crowd gathered to hear his views.

When he was finally able to extricate himself from the crowd, he grabbed Billy.

"How are we for time?" he asked the Josh's deputy.

"We're only 30 minutes behind." Billy noted.

"That's practically ahead of schedule for us." Sam smirked.

"Yes, sir. Ms. Sanchez asked me to remind you we're supposed to be at the studio in 2 hours to tape the bumpers for the new ads."

"Ms. Sanchez?" Sam questioned the formality, but Billy made no other comment. "2 hours; TV studio. Got it. How is it that I lucked out and got you instead of Ms. Sanchez today?"

Billy hesitated, then answered. "Josh is doing some one on one's and Ms. Sanchez thought he might need help prepping for them."

"I'm sorry...I thought I just heard you say Josh was doing some one on one's." Sam laughed.

"I did." Billy nodded in confirmation.

"Josh doesn't do one on one's. His cardinal rule is that the staff is not the story. He didn't break that rule for President Bartlet or President Santos."

"Nonetheless, he's on his way to Fresno for 2 different one on one's that Ms. Sanchez set up." Billy explained.

Sam took in this information and sighed. "Oh, Joshua, I hope you know what the hell you're doing."

Billy was fairly certain the candidate wasn't directing his comment to him, so he kept his thoughts about the whole thing to himself.

************************************

"Ainsley! Come in and talk to me." Donna pleaded. If her tone seemed a little desperate, Ainsley was careful not to let it show.

"How are you feeling?" Ainsley asked.

"Like a beached whale; literally." Donna groaned. "I am bored out of my mind and Josh is being so overly protective that I'm not allowed to go anywhere or do anything while he's traveling the width and breadth of California with-!" Donna cut herself off.

"How's the blood pressure?" Ainsley asked carefully.

"It's fine. I'm fine. Can we PLEASE talk about something besides my medical condition?"

"What do you know about disaster response?" Ainsley changed the subject so quickly Donna nearly had whiplash.

"I'm sorry?"

"Federal disaster response; what do you know about it?" Ainsley repeated.

"Well, between what I picked up in the East Wing and what Josh shared from the West Wing; quite a bit. What do you want to know?"

"Talk me through the process. I want to figure out a way we can streamline the system and eliminate some of the red tape." Ainsley explained.

"Seriously?" Donna asked; excitement evident in her eyes.

"Very seriously. I have a commitment from the Democratic nominee for Governor, that if I can figure out a way to improve the disaster response system, he'll implement it when he's Governor. Will you help me?"

"I'd love to. Go into Josh's office and snag the laptop. I'll give you a primer and we'll brainstorm from there. We've got 2 hours before Ruth brings Ben home from preschool."

The women got down to work. Donna felt invigorated for the first time since she'd been admitted to the hospital. Ainsley was getting excited about their work too, but Ainsley was still Ainsley and after an hour or so, she was desperate for some food.

"Help yourself to something in the kitchen." Donna insisted and watched with amusement as Ainsley rifled through the frig. Donna could see her clearly from her perch on the couch via the pass through between the kitchen and the living room.

"Try the leftover Lo Mein." Donna suggested. "The sauce is fabulous."

"Sounds good to me." Ainsley readily agreed and placed the food on a plate in the microwave to heat it up.

"Ainsley?" Donna called.

"Yeah?"

"What is Josh doing with Rose in Fresno today?" Donna asked in her most casual voice.

Ainsley looked over at Donna in puzzlement. "I have no idea. I thought she was with Sam for his breakfast thing and the commercial shoot today." Donna nodded disappointedly. "I know she and Sam have butted heads a few times. Maybe Josh was just giving them a few hours apart?"

"That's probably what it is, then."

"She suggested that I might need help preparing for some upcoming interviews." Ainsley relayed, tongue in cheek.

"Did you explain that you used to filet the top political brains in Washington on a regular basis?" Donna asked.

"I didn't bother." Ainsley chuckled. "I don't think she's nearly as concerned about my performance as she is about how my performance might reflect on her."

Donna let out a very telling "hmph". "She seems to think this campaign is going to catapult her on to the national political stage; or that Josh will."

"Josh is too smart to be manipulated by someone so obviously self-involved." Ainsley pointed out.

"Media strategists tend to get past his defenses." Donna replied. "That area has never been his strength so he's too willing to defer to their judgment."

"Then it's lucky he has you to keep him on the straight and narrow."

"I guess." Donna muttered.

"You guess? We all know it. Donna, you know it, right?"

"Hey, I found something here. Come look."

Ainsley, and her lo mein, rejoined Donna in the living room to read over her shoulder, but made a mental note to broach the subject with Josh. They needed to get on the same page.

 

Chapter 16

"That appears to be your third." Toby pointed out.

"Thanks, cause I always had trouble with what comes after 2." Josh replied sarcastically.

"I'm just guessing here, but you probably shouldn't have three. You're supposed to be talking people out of their hard earned money."

"I'm doing my job. My pockets are filled with checks." Josh told him.

"Oh-kay." Since Toby couldn't talk him out of the third drink, he would at least stand by in case some trouble ensued as a result of the third drink. Toby noticed his friend was unusually tense this evening. At the moment, Josh seemed to be staring over his shoulder, so Toby turned to see what had his attention. Rose was glad handing the big dollar donors and getting more formal pictures taken by their staff photographer.

"I'm guessing she's getting a few checks too." Toby muttered.

"She seems to get what she's after." Josh replied. "What do you think of her?"

"She's a shark." Toby replied without any hesitation.

"Maybe this campaign needs a shark."

"Is she after you?" Toby asked and Josh spit out part of his drink.

"The hell?"

"You said she gets what she's after. She's spending an inordinate amount of time with you, so I asked if she's after you."

"That's insulting, Toby."

"To whom? You or her?" Toby asked rhetorically. "She's getting the job done."

"Is she?" Josh asked rhetorically. "Just which job are you referring to?"

Toby was about to reply when Billy walked quickly over to them. "Obi-wan, we might have a thing."

"What kind of a thing?"

"There's a rumor floating around..." He began.

"About what?!" Josh snapped and Toby's eyebrows winged up.

"Our media strategist." Billy coughed up. "She's been using her rather high profile here to market herself up a rung or two."

"With. Who?" Josh demanded.

"I'm pretty sure that should be with `whom'?" Toby corrected and Josh rolled his eyes at the speechwriter's editing.

"She's pedaling a political cable show. Hence all the on-air work she's been doing these past 2 weeks."

"Uh-huh." Toby commented.

"That's not all." Billy revealed. "She's promising an exclusive with former President Bartlet"

"How do you know this?" Josh inquired.

"People like me. They tell me things." Billy answered. "Apparently she believes working the campaign swing with President Bartlet and Sam will get her an all access pass."

"She will soon be disabused of that notion." Josh predicted and took two steps toward her, when Toby grabbed his arm.

"Not here. You don't want to put on that kind of a show here. It'll look like the campaign isn't being managed well and that'll be the story."

"It isn't being managed well. Maybe you should take over Fred." Josh muttered.

"I'm not ready for that kind of responsibility." Billy shook his head ruefully.

"I don't know; that idea about how to incorporate more military events into the campaign was brilliant." Josh looked at Billy closely and could see him squirm.

"About the military events..." Billy trailed off, not sure how to continue.

"Ah-hah!" Josh jumped all over it. "I knew it. SHE gave it to you, didn't she? And the debate negotiations? She prep you for that too?!"

"Rose?" Toby guessed.

"No, Donna." Both Josh and Billy chorused.

"Didn't you feel any guilt in taking credit for someone else's ideas?"

"I felt a lot of guilt, but Rose wasn't passing along Donna's ideas and Donna didn't want you to think she was working on stuff she wasn't supposed to or getting worked up." Billy justified.

"So you just lied to me?" Josh's voice got a little louder and raised an octave.

"I was trying to help!" Billy's voice rose too. "She's been miserable without you and it made her feel good to think she was helping you with this."

"Now you're going to lecture me about my wife?"

"Somebody better!" Billy shot back.

"See, the thing is, Josh has had three drinks; which is over his two drink limit." Toby explained and both men turned angry stares at him. "I'm just saying..."

"We'll discuss this later." Josh told Billy. "Not a word to anyone else for now."

"Yes, sir." Billy saluted then took the drink out of Josh's hand and replaced it with his own bottle of water before walking away.

"That kid..." Josh motioned toward Billy's retreating form with the water bottle.

"Reminds me of you." Toby decided. "He doesn't seem to have a problem speaking truth to power either." Toby noticed Josh was staring at Rose again.

"Donna told me that Rose was filtering out things between us and I accused her of being jealous."

"Yeah, you'll be paying for that for awhile." Toby concluded.

"I don't know how I screwed this up so badly, Toby. It's like I have the Midas touch in reverse. The woman I love most in the world thinks I don't need her anymore...Maybe it was partly fear of losing her or the baby." Josh shook his head, feeling all kinds of a failure. "I swear, I was trying so hard to keep all the balls in the air and I still ended up dropping all of them."

"It's because you don't have your balance."

"Excuse me?"

"Donna. She's your balance. Without her, you keep listing to starboard."

"Ah-kay." Josh decided it was simpler to agree, but exchanged his bottle of water for Toby's whiskey.

**************************************

"Are we almost done?" Ainsley asked between clenched teeth as the photographer took another photo.

"I'm sure we are." Sam replied. "How many digital pictures can one memory card hold? 15? 20? It's got to be almost over. Many of the guests have left."

"President and Dr. Bartlet arrive tomorrow. I was thinking it would be nice to get some sleep before they arrived and I made a fool out of myself in front of them again."

"You've never made a fool out of yourself in front of them!" Sam countered.

"Hello? The bossa nova? Dancing in my office? Peeing in Leo's closet? Does any of this ring a bell?"

"Well, okay, you've made a fool of yourself in front of the President, but Dr. Bartlet wasn't there for any of that." Sam assured her.

"Thanks, Sam, I feel immeasurably better." Ainsley shook her head. "I need 15 minutes with you before the Bartlet's arrive."

"Only 15 minutes? I feel so cheap." Sam quipped before Ainsley stepped on his foot with her sharp heels. "Owww!"

"We have a policy initiative we'd like to speak to you about."

"Who's we?" Sam asked.

"My team." Ainsley replied as Toby joined them.

"You're not going to want to miss this..." he said as he walked past them. Sam and Ainsley exchanged puzzled glances, but trusted that Toby was right and followed behind him. Billy hurried to catch up to the Seaborns.

"Wait for me." Billy whispered urgently as he caught up to them.

"What's going on?" Sam asked him.

"If I'm right, we're doing a little campaign re-structuring." Billy told them before clasping his hands together and looking skyward. "Please, God, let me be right." They walked quickly to the hallway. Josh was pacing back and forth and Rose was watching him with a foreboding expression.

"...so I thought we should make some changes for the Bartlet visit..." Josh was saying to Rose.

"They arrive tomorrow. What kind of changes are you suggesting? I mean, this whole thing has been very carefully orchestrated." Rose explained.

"Yes, perfectly orchestrated, which is why I want you to go to Los Angeles and start advancing that trip. Fred and I can handle the Bartlet visit."

"But-" Rose cut herself off and Josh watched as she struggled to find an argument for staying with the Bartlets. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why not?" Josh asked innocently. "We're all set to go, aren't we?"

"Of course. It's just that I've set up some media contacts along the way and they're expecting to meet with me personally. If I don't show up, they may feel snubbed."

"I'm sure they'll get over that once they meet the former President of the United States. President Bartlet has that effect on people." Josh pretended to turn away, then turned back to her again. "Oh, one other thing. We got a 3 point bump among military personnel over the last few weeks."

"Well then I guess I was wrong about those events on the bases." Rose shrugged.

"Yeah. It makes me wonder if we'd be up even more if you'd passed on Donna's ideas about the bases when she first emailed you." Rose looked visibly startled. "I knew it wasn't Sam's campaign that had you all fired up, but I did think it was in your best interest to make sure he succeeded so I let that go. You had contacts and you had experience, so I took a chance. It was obviously a mistake, but one I can rectify. You're fired."

"Wait!" Rose insisted. "I'm doing my job."

"But it's not your primary focus. Getting a political issues show on cable is your primary focus. Sam deserves better than that; from both of us. You've been using me and this campaign to bring the focus on you. That goes against my cardinal rule; we are not the story. I must have been distracted by something shiny, because I forgot that for awhile. Your biggest mistake though, has been running interference between me and my wife. Maybe you'd be better off on cable. You can spin media with the best of them, but your interpersonal skills suck. A campaign can only afford one person like that on staff and on this campaign, that's me. Good luck, Rose. I'll send you your last check." Josh turned without another word and left a slack jawed Rose staring after him. Then she noticed the small crowd gathered nearby.

"Sam, Josh is trying to fire me." Rose stated. "I can't believe you'd let him do that after all the hard work I've put into your campaign."

"Josh is the campaign manager; he makes all the hiring and firing decisions." Sam replied evenly. "Even though I wanted to, I didn't reverse his decision when he hired you, so I'm certainly not going to interfere with his decision to fire you now."

Rose's eyes bugged out.

"Good luck with the cable thing." Ainsley smiled coldly. "Having done quite a few of them myself, I can tell you I think you'd be perfect for that medium. Something along the lines of the Taylor Reid show, perhaps...Sam, let's go home."

******************************************

Donna wasn't sure what had awakened her, but she sat up a bit, disoriented. The room was very dark so it took her a minute to see Josh's silhouette sitting in the chair across from the bed.

"Josh? What time is it?"

"Just after 2." He replied quietly. "Go back to sleep."

She saw that he had her laptop open. "You had a burning desire to send an email?"

"I really did. I needed to let the rest of the campaign staff know that Rosita Sanchez is no longer working for us." Donna blinked. "Now that I see all that you were sending her that she was blowing off, it makes me want to find her and fire her again."

"What?"

"All these emails you sent. They're all here; sorted by issues. You're very organized, Donna. Then there's the internet history. It's quite illuminating too. You've been busy."

"I needed something to keep me busy and-" Donna broke off, unwilling to continue.

"And what, Donnatella?" he asked quietly and leaned forward in the chair.

"You wouldn't listen to me." Donna whispered. "I tried to tell you how I was feeling, and you wouldn't listen to me. You cut me off and it was always `Rose this' and `Rose that'. I felt useless; even worse, I felt like a burden to you. I've been an obligation."

"That's not true." Josh said sincerely. "I was scared, Donna. I don't think I've ever been so scared; not even in Gaza, because now there's you and the baby, and Ben too. I didn't want to say or do anything to upset you. It's bad enough I dragged you across the country, pregnant, to work on this campaign, now look what happened."

"Josh, the doctor told us one has nothing to do with the other." Donna reminded him.

"She doesn't know that for sure. Maybe if I'd stayed in D.C. Maybe if I'd cut back your schedule to begin with, things would have been different."

"So this is just an exercise in Lyman guilt?" Donna asked. "You punish yourself by cutting yourself off from us? First of all, it wasn't you that made those decisions, it was us; together." She paused and looked straight in his eyes. "I miss you Josh, I miss all of it; but I especially miss you. You hardly even touch me anymore."

"I'm afraid I'll hurt you or the baby." Josh admitted.

"Joshua..." Donna blew out a breath and held out her hand. He got up from the chair instantly and took her hand so she pulled him down on the bed next to her. "It hurt me so much that you could just pick up the pieces and do all this without me."

Josh let out a laugh. "I was just lamenting to Toby about how I was dropping all the balls I'd been trying to keep in the air, and he said the reason was because without you, I lost my balance. But it's worse than that. It's like...losing my eyesight. I can't see clearly. I can't function. You are such an integral part of who I am that without you, I'm a mess."

"I'm a mess without you too. I have felt so alone, Josh, even with Ruth and Ben here. I need you." Donna told him.

Josh carefully moved her so that she was tucked into his side. "I'm sorry. I really am. I thought I was taking care of you by keeping you out of the fray."

"You really fired her?"

"I should never have hired her. I wouldn't have if I'd discussed it with you first."

"What are you going to do about a media strategist?" Donna asked.

"I'm thinking a job share; someone I know and trust to formulate strategy, and someone I know and trust on the road wrangling press."

"And who are you considering for this job share?"

"I've already hired someone for the `on the road' portion of the job. I still need to interview for the formulating strategy portion. Know anyone who might be interested?"

"Maybe. I'd need some information about salary and benefits."

"The salary isn't anything to write home about, but the benefits are very impressive." Josh leered at her and made her smile.

"Do I need to submit a resume?"

"Nah, I know your work history. I should probably just familiarize you with the benefit package." Josh leaned closer and kissed her tenderly.

"I'm sold. When do I start?"

"A few weeks ago, I think." Josh noted and had Donna looking up at him in surprise. "The military bases? Debate negotiations?" Donna had the grace to blush a little.

"I was just giving a friend some advice." She maintained.

"Lucky for us your friend works for me." Josh kissed her again. "Go back to sleep now."

"You should set the alarm. What time do you need to be up?"

"I don't. I'm taking the morning off to be with my family. I'll join Sam and Ainsley when the Bartlet's arrive in the afternoon."

A genuine smile bloomed on Donna's face. She wrapped herself around him as well as a 7 months pregnant woman could and quickly fell asleep.

Ruth was well aware that her son hadn't made it home at night on several occasions, and she hadn't heard him come in last night either. So, as had become her habit, she quietly opened their bedroom door to check on Donna. She was delightfully surprised to see her son and daughter-in-law cuddled together in sleep. It was a sight she hadn't witnessed since Donna came home from the hospital and it made her heart lighter. She closed the door silently and went to see if her Grandson was up yet.

**********************************

"We have to go now." Sam called to his wife. She appeared at the top of the stairs.

"I don't know. Does this dress make me look fat?"

"There is no way I'm answering that. I will say that it is just as lovely as the other 4 outfits you've had on."

"You're no help at all. I need Peyton."

"Sorry. He won't be back until tomorrow and I'd like to think he has more important decisions to make than consulting on your wardrobe." Sam smiled. "You look great. Let's go."

"I'm not going to make a fool of myself today." Ainsley announced.

"That's great news, but is that actually a choice you get to make?"

"It can be...and I'm saying that I have made that choice. I'm using positive mental imagery to ensure that I don't make a fool of myself in front of President and Dr. Bartlet which might have ramifications that are both personally and politically embarrassing."

"Then we're all set." Sam laughed and tugged her hand toward the door, but she stopped short and grabbed her briefcase.

"You're going to work on the way to the airport?"

"We both are. You promised me 15 minutes to go over a policy initiative." Ainsley replied.

"What kind of policy initiative, Ains?" He asked as they got into the car.

"Disaster relief." She answered right before the car doors slammed shut on either side of them.

***********************************

"There he is! The next Governor of California..." Jed Bartlet pulled the candidate into his arms for a warm hug that was captured over and over by the gathered press while Ainsley received a similar hug from the former First Lady.

"It's so good of you to come out, sir." Sam told him.

"We wouldn't miss it for the world, would we Abby?" Jed proclaimed.

"Miss an opportunity for political speeches and rubber chicken? Not a chance." Abby agreed. "How are you holding up, Ainsley? I've always believed this process is a lot harder on the spouse than the candidate."

"I wish we were a little closer to November, but other than that..."

"Tell us about Donna." Jed requested.

"She's been depressed about the bed rest, but physically she's doing fine. Every day that brings her closer to the due date makes everyone happy." Sam relayed. "Josh has been a mess."

"I would think so." Jed added as they got into the waiting car that would take them to their first event. "I thought he was going to meet us here."

"He's going to meet us at the thing." Sam explained. "He's enjoying a little family time."

"Then we'll excuse him for now." Jed decided.

"Show them the policy initiative you want to introduce." Sam suggested to Ainsley once they were settled inside the limo.

"No, I want you to introduce it and I'm not sure I'm ready for this kind of audience." Ainsley hedged.

"I think it's a perfect audience. President Bartlet has had to declare his share of Federal Disaster areas and Dr. Bartlet knows a lot about medical responses to disasters." Sam argued.

"We have a long ride ahead of us and I've always admired how your sharp brain works. Show me what you've got." President Bartlet encouraged her.

"Actually, Donna and I have been working on this together. She's amazing with research and she did quite a few disaster area trips with Mrs. Santos." Ainsley admitted. "Then when Sam and I were helping in San Francisco, I saw some things that I thought could be improved." Ainsley pulled out the briefing book she and Donna had compiled and handed it to President Bartlet.

With Abby reading over his shoulder, they perused the document, occasionally asking a question or making a comment. Ainsley was as nervous as she'd been trying her first case in court. This was a hell of a first audience.

"This is a very interesting proposal Ainsley." The President said once they'd gone through everything. "I'm a little concerned though about the reduced role of the Federal response teams."

"The Federal arm is the most expensive and least effective part of disaster relief. President Santos made some effective changes to FEMA, but the red tape generated at the Federal level almost defeats the very purpose it was meant to serve. The last thing these people who live through catastrophic events need is `help' from overly bureaucratic Federal Government." Ainsley spoke faster and faster with increasing conviction until she caught Abby's smirk and Sam's attempt to turn a laugh into a cough. As she thought about the disparaging things she said about the Federal Government to the man who led the Federal Government for 8 years, she turned red and began to stammer. "I...I meant...Oh, my God, I did it again!"

"Yeah, but it took longer for you to get there this time." Sam consoled her.

"Shut. Up." Ainsley insisted while the Bartlet's laughed.

 

Chapter 17

Sam was giving his introductory speech for President Bartlet at the rally when Josh met up with them.

"Joshua!" President Bartlet embraced his former Deputy.

"It's good to see you sir, Dr. B." Josh turned to hug Abby too.

"How is Donna, Josh?" Abby asked.

"She's keeping her blood pressure down despite the fact she's living with me." Josh joked. "I can't thank you enough for all your help with the medical information. It meant a lot to me that you took the time to talk me through all of it; especially since she didn't have a doctor out here yet."

"I wish I could have done more." Abby shared. "It's hard when you're so far away."

"Tell me about it." Josh said ruefully.

"Problems, Josh?" President Bartlet smiled.

"A bit of a rough patch, sir." Josh acknowledged. "Turns out running a campaign for your best friend isn't as easy as you'd think it would be."

"No kidding." Jed drawled.

Josh chuckled thinking about the times President Bartlet had gone head to head with Leo; particularly in the first campaign.

"You know, Josh, it's a difficult adjustment becoming the candidate. You've had a lot more experience running campaigns, but ultimately it's Sam's name on the ballot. I remember thinking that Leo had it easy some days getting to stay in the background and play Monday morning quarterback, telling me what I should do or say differently. It came to the point were I had to be in charge of my own campaign. I still listened to Leo, of course, and valued his opinion, but I had to make the decisions that I knew I could live with whether I won or lost."

"Just when did it come to that point for you, sir?" Josh asked curiously.

"The night of the Illinois primary." Jed answered quietly watching Josh's eyes.

"So...what do I do then? How do I help him?" Josh prodded further.

"You become his sounding board. You make sure he's getting all the information he needs to make a sound decision. Give him someone to vent to when the pressure gets intense. You already did the most important part, Josh; you got a good man to run for office."

Josh smirked. "If I blow this, he'll never run again."

"You're not going to blow this. He's going to be the next Governor of California." Jed predicted.

"I can't close this last small gap in the numbers." Josh complained.

"No, you can't. Only Sam can do that. Once people see him head to head with Taylor, it will be a whole new ball game." President Bartlet assured him and turned to hear the end of Sam's introduction.

"He has been one of the finest President's to grace the Oval Office and it was my profound honor and pleasure to serve in his administration. Ladies and Gentlemen, President Josiah Bartlet." Sam motioned to the side of the stage where they were waiting.

"Show time." The President smiled before walking on stage and embracing his former speech writer.

"He looks really good, Dr. B." Josh addressed Abby.

"He has good days and bad." She replied. "He has been so excited to come out here and see all of you; to stump for Sam."

"We're really thrilled to have you both out here." Josh told her. "And we're going to have to find a way to get you both to Donna or I'll be sleeping on the couch until Election Day."

"We'd already thought of that and gave the Secret Service a heads up. We'll fit it in and if Jed has anything to say about it, it will be sooner rather than later. How's Ben adjusting to California?"

"He likes the beach. He and his Grandma have practically taken up residence there, but he keeps asking when we're going home."

"I would imagine he does. Kids at that age like routine and familiar environments, neither of which he's getting here."

"I've been wondering, given recent events, if this was the best choice for our family." Josh admitted.

Abby heard the unspoken guilt in his voice and used her hand to turn his face to meet hers.

"We don't know what causes preeclampsia. You said Donna's sister developed the same condition and she didn't move across the country. You're talking about 3-4 months here. That's not going to negatively affect Ben or Donna or your new daughter. Someday, Ben will tell stories about how you came out here and helped Sam become the new Governor of California. Put the guilt aside, Joshua, it doesn't benefit anybody; least of all yourself."

"Yes, Ma'am." Josh smirked and turned to concentrate on the President's speech. Now it was Abby's turn to smirk.

"Something else troubling you, Joshua?" she asked knowing full well what was bothering Josh.

"Uh...not exactly." Josh answered carefully. "It's just that I offered to look at the President's speech, and he refused to let me see it."

"Are you concerned that he's going to say something inappropriate?"

"No, more along the lines of embarrassing...to me; and to Sam too I guess."

"I've looked at the speech. It's fine." Abby assured him. "And he has a very funny story at the end about standing on the Truman balcony in his underwear because you and the Democratic nominee for Governor decided to start a fire in a fireplace that was welded shut years before."

"Yeah...that should be perfect." Josh sighed.

***************************************

Billy looked up from the canvassing instructions he was giving a group of volunteers when a tall woman with light brown hair burst into the conference room. She looked different from the last time he'd seen her in person, but he had no trouble recognizing her.

"Josh Lyman. Where is he?" She demanded from the room at large.

"He just got back from an event with President and Dr. Bartlet, Ms. Cregg. He's in his office. Would you like me to take you there?" Billy replied cautiously. C.J. Cregg looked supremely pissed.

"Yes, please, and if you have a weapon of some kind I'd like that too."

Billy made no response to that request. He had all kinds of respect for C.J. Cregg, but his first loyalty was to Josh.

He knocked perfunctorily and opened Josh's door to announce the new arrival. "Josh, Ms. Cregg-"

But he was cut off when C.J. knocked the door out of his hand and entered the room, storming right up to Josh.

"WHAT?!" she shouted. Josh stood up in an attempt to negate the power differential, but failed miserably.

"C.J.! You came! That's fantastic." He smiled happily. Billy watched the exchange from the doorway shamelessly eavesdropping on the whole thing

"Of course I came, you idiot!" she continued to shout. "You text me a message telling me there's an emergency with Donna and you need me here immediately, but when I reply by phone, fax, email, and text message, strangely I get no reply."

"Uh...I haven't quite caught up on all my emails yet. You know how I am with technology." Josh said self-deprecatingly.

"What is the emergency?!" she demanded.

"Donna had to be taken to the emergency room. She's developed a condition called preeclampsia." He began.

"Is she alright? The baby?" she asked in alarm.

"They're both okay, but Donna has to be on bed rest for the duration." Josh reassured her.

"Oh, that has to rough for her. How is she doing with it?"

"The first couple weeks were rough, but she's adjusting pretty well these days."

"The first couple weeks?" C.J. looked puzzled."When exactly did this occur?"

"About a month ago." Josh admitted sheepishly.

"A month ago? And you're just telling me now?" She picked up a file lying on Josh's desk and gave him a smack on the head for old time's sake. Billy visibly flinched. "Do you know where I was?"

"Yeah, London." Josh answered.

"In England, which in on the other side of the earth."

"I know. It took a long time to track you down there." Josh explained.

"We were on vacation!" C.J. swiped the remaining papers off his desk in anger and Billy flinched again, but like a motorist passing an accident, he found that he couldn't look away either.

"With Danny?" Josh guessed.

"Yes, with Danny! Don't married people usually vacation together?"

"Yes. Yes, they do." Josh agreed.

"And my son too!" C.J. ramped it up again.

"Isn't it great taking a kid on vacation?" Josh smiled.

"It is if you're not sent an emergency message and asked to come home immediately."

"That does kind of suck." Josh agreed again.

"Yes, it does." C.J. nodded. "So if this happened a month ago, why do you suddenly need me here now?"

"Well, see, here's the thing: Donna was working as our media strategist-"

"NO!" C.J. interrupted him. "I was the Chief of Staff to the President of the United States."

"Me too!" Josh exclaimed. "That job has a lot of late nights and a lot of stress. Being a media strategist will be much easier for you; a walk in the park."

"You did not trick me into cutting my family vacation in Europe short so I could be the substitute media strategist!"

"No! No, I didn't." Josh held his hands up in an appeasing gesture. "I cut your family vacation in Europe short so you could job share the position of media strategist with Donna."

C.J. searched the desk for something else to hit him with and when she came up empty, Billy handed her a file he was holding.

"Thank you." C.J. smiled at him while she again smacked Josh on the head. "You're an idiot."

"I know." Josh nodded. "But Donna really wants to be involved as much as she can and she needs you to help her with that since she's on bed rest."

All the anger immediately evaporated from C.J. She sighed and closed her eyes.

"Where is she?"

"At the home we're renting in Monterey. Here's the address." He scribbled on the back of one of his cards.

"I'll talk to her about it, but I'm not promising anything."

"Completely understandable." Josh smiled. "C.J.?"

"What?!"

"Thanks for coming." Josh said sincerely.

"Idiot!" she threw out as she left his office.

Billy looked back at the mess in Josh's office and raised his eyebrows in question at his mentor.

"She's totally on board." Josh assured him. "How's it going with the canvassing training?"

"There's good news and bad news." Billy told him. "The good news is that we have a record number of volunteers ready to hit the ground for the canvassing over the weekend. The bad news is that most of them have never done canvassing or literature drops so we're going to need to spend some additional time training."

"Let me guess. Most of them are college age females."

"Some high school age females too. They're all hoping for a personal Sam Seaborn sighting." Billy shared.

"I knew that man's pretty face was going to make things more difficult for me. Get back to it, young Jedi." Josh instructed as he tried to re organize the mess C.J. made in his office.

**********************************

"C.J.!" Ruth beamed when she opened the door. "I thought Josh said you were in London."

"I was." C.J. grimaced.

"Well I'm glad you're here now. Donna will be so delighted to see you. How is that young man of yours?"

"Tommy is doing great, thanks. How's Ben?" C.J. replied.

"He keeps us all hopping. He has a lot of his father in him."

"I'm so sorry to hear that." C.J. said wryly and made Ruth laugh.

C.J. saw the moment Donna noticed they had come in the room. Her face lit up like a Christmas tree. "C.J.! What a wonderful surprise! Come give me a hug. What are you doing here?" C.J. embraced her friend and felt the desperate way Donna held on to her. In that one moment, she made her decision.

"I heard you needed someone to work with you on media strategy and since this is my home turf, I thought that someone could be me."

"Seriously?" Donna asked hopefully.

"Seriously. Do you think you can bring me up to speed or do you have to rest now or something?"

"I don't need a nap." Donna laughed. "I just have to stay off my feet."

"You're really okay?"

"As okay as I can be cut off from real life and bored out of my mind." Donna drawled.

"Well all that is about to change, my friend." C.J. promised.

"Where are Danny and Tommy?" Donna asked.

"They went home to rest and recover from the jet lag." C.J. sidestepped the question just as she had done for many years as Press Secretary.

"But you didn't need to recover from jet lag?"

"I got the impression I was needed her sooner rather than later." C.J. answered, still not meeting Donna's eyes. Donna had no trouble putting two and two together.

"What did my husband do?" Donna said in a low, angry voice.

"Don't worry about it. I'm glad to help." C.J. assured her.

"I'm going to kill him." Donna threatened.

"Don't do that. Ruth says Ben is just like Josh was at this age. I think the better punishment is to keep him around to deal with the miniature version of himself."

"Yeah, that's good too." Donna considered. "But there will have to additional punishment."

"I'm sure between the two of us, we can come up with something suitable."

"The Sisterhood?" Donna suggested.

"You bet your ass." C.J. agreed.

*******************************

"You didn't like the speech Sam?" President Bartlet asked when they got to the car.

"The speech was great, as usual, sir." Sam replied automatically.

"But?" the President prodded.

"I'm just wondering if the fireplace story was absolutely necessary." Sam queried.

Ainsley and Abby shared a smile.

"Not necessary, perhaps, but it was fun and it was a nice personal story. It added a personal layer to your public persona." Jed theorized.

"Plus you got some payback for the time you had to stand on the Truman balcony in your underwear."

"Plus that." The President agreed. "We're going to stop and see Donna before the fundraiser tonight. Do you want to come with or should we drop you at home first?"

"You go ahead and have some alone time with Donna. We're going to go home and see Caitlin; make sure she still recognizes us." Sam replied.

"Plus you get a break from Presidential lectures that way?" President Bartlet turned his statement into a question.

"Yeah, plus that." Sam grinned. The Seaborn's bid a temporary goodbye to the Bartlet's and were warmly greeted by their daughter who did still remember them. Sam took great joy in removing his coat and tie and playing on the floor with his daughter while Ainsley changed clothes. They had 2 hours of precious family time before they had to leave for the fundraiser. Then they would be traveling en masse with the Bartlet's for a series of campaign stops around the state.

"Hey, Princess. I missed you so much today." He tumbled his daughter onto her back and made her laugh by blowing raspberries onto her belly. Caitlin reached up and tried to grab her daddy's glasses. Sam took them off himself before she became successful in her effort.

"No, no. Don't touch Daddy's glasses." He warned her, but she took no notice of his tone and tried to grab his shiny watch next. He was in the process of removing that temptation when Ainsley came down the stairs in a comfortable sweat suit.

"Are you undressing in our family room, Mr. Seaborn?" She chuckled.

"It's not so much me as it is our daughter who's undressing me." Sam told her. "She tries to rip off anything I'm wearing that's shiny. I think we might be raising a monkey."

"Don't talk about Miss Caitlin like that." Ainsley replied. "She is a very curious young lady. That will bode well for her when she grows up. Why don't you change into something more comfortable while I make us all some dinner?"

"Sounds good to me." Sam got off the floor and rolled his shoulders.

"When is your mom getting here?" Ainsley asked.

Sam went to look at his watch and laughed when he remembered he didn't have it on. "Around 6, I think."

"Then we better get rolling. Come help Mama make dinner, sweet Caitlin." Ainsley picked her up and placer her in her bouncy seat where she could watch all the activity.

When Sam came back down, Caitlin was babbling at Ainsley and Ainsley was almost finished cooking omelets.

"We're having breakfast for dinner?" He inquired.

"We're having omelets for dinner. We had all the ingredients and Caitlin can have them too; win/win."

"In other words you're too tired to make dinner." Sam guessed.

"Exactly. Have a seat candidate Seaborn." Ainsley instructed. "And bring your daughter over to the table too."

"Thanks." Said Sam when she placed a plate with an on omelet on it in front of him.

"Are you okay? You seem unusually quiet at the moment." Ainsley noted.

"I'm just wondering, if we pull off a miracle here and manage to win the election, are we going to have any more nights like tonight? Nights where it's just the three of us and we can relax and have family time?"

"I'm sure we will. Maybe not as many as before, but we'll still have them. And for the record? I don't think it will require divine intervention of any kind to get you elected Governor."

"I'm still four points down with only a few weeks to go. I haven't gotten a single point closer to Taylor in the last month."

"Well, I choose to believe that was because...(Ainsley covered Caitlin's ears) Rose the bitch was more interested in promoting herself than she was in promoting your candidacy." Caitlin gave a squawk of protest and Ainsley uncovered her ears.

"Well that's convenient for me, then." Sam chuckled at Ainsley's confidence in him. He realized it was a biased opinion but it still made him feel good.

When his mother arrived shortly after 6, President and Dr. Bartlet were right behind her. Abby was holding a large wrapped package which she set on the floor against the wall.

"Sam, why didn't you tell me C.J. was here working on the campaign?" President Bartlet complained.

"I'm sorry? C.J. is here?" Sam asked perplexed by this turn of events.

"She said something about a difference of opinion with your last media strategist and said she and Donna would be working on it together now."

"Well, that's just great." Sam replied. "Something that maybe a campaign manager might want to speak to me about, don't you think?"

"She said she just arrived and agreed to help out this afternoon. Maybe Josh just hasn't had a chance to tell you yet." Abby soothed.

"Yeah. I'm sure that's it. Will you excuse me for a minute?" Sam went into his office and made a call to Josh.

"Hey, I was waiting to call you until you were en route to the thing. I know you've had precious little family time lately." Josh answered his phone. "You will never guess who agreed to work with Donna on media strategist."

"You don't think I'll ever guess?" Sam said drolly.

"No way. I'll bet you $100 bucks you can't guess who it is. I'll even give you three guesses."

"A hundred dollars if I guess who it is?" Sam confirmed.

"Yep. Go ahead; take 3 guesses." Josh prodded him.

"C.J. Cregg-Concannon." Sam replied instantly.

Josh waited a beat before responding. "Well you sucked the fun right out of that one."

"Why didn't you tell me you were bringing C.J. in?"

"I didn't know she was coming...exactly. I kind of ..."

"Tricked her?" Sam filled in the silence.

"I was going to say masterfully manipulated her; but tricked her works too."

"She was in Europe Josh; on a family vacation." Sam said hotly. "And I really think you should have discussed this with me before you approached C.J."

"Look, I messed up hiring Sanchez. I just wanted to fix my own screw up. You're right. I should have spoken to you first."

"Wait! Did you just say I was right about this?" Sam asked.

"I did and you are." Josh admitted. "President Bartlet reminded me of a few things about running your best friend's campaign. At some point, you have to turn the reigns over to the man you had the good sense to recruit in the first place. I think we're there."

"Really?" Sam asked cautiously.

"I trust you, Sam. You're going to be an incredible Governor. Now get in the car and get to the fundraiser. Bat you're eyes at every woman there until they cough up a chunk of change that I can use in the final stretch."

"Bat my eyes?" Sam groaned.

"It's a tough job, but you've got to take this one for the team." Josh explained. "Hey, are you okay with C.J. staying on?"

"She's a great choice." Sam admitted. "Just don't go hiring any more senior staff without talking to me first, okay."

"Deal. Call me on your way back from the thing." Josh told him before hanging up.

Sam shook his head and wandered back into the living room. "Sorry to keep you waiting. I'm ready to go now."

"Not yet." President Bartlet pronounced. "Abby and I have brought you a house warming present."

"Not me." Abby responded. "This one was all Jed's idea."

Sam approached the large flat wrapped present carefully. Abby's tone made him a little leery. Before Sam could reach out and remove the paper, the President interrupted him.

"In 1851," President Bartlet began and elicited moans from everyone but Sam's mother; who didn't know any better. "In 1851, a writer named John Soule coined the phrase `Go west, young man `. He was referring to all the opportunities that came with the frontier. This is a new frontier for you, Sam; you and your family, but it's only the beginning of your journey into the new frontier of seeking elected office. So when I saw this painting, I immediately thought of you and your family's journey west." The President motioned for Sam to open it and Ainsley moved closer to see what it was. Once Sam ripped off the paper, he stepped back to take it all in and Ainsley placed her hand on his shoulder.

"It's beautiful, sir." Ainsley told the former President. "Just perfect for over our fireplace. We'll think of you whenever we look at it."

It was titled "Westward the Course of Empire Takes it Away" and it was painted to reflect the period of time when Americans were just beginning to settle in the western territory. Sam was literally speechless until Ainsley squeezed his arm.

Sam finally turned away from the painting to look into the eyes of the man he's served so many years ago.

"I don't know what to say, Mr. President. It's a beautiful gift and perfect for the occasion. I will treasure it always. Thank you very much." Sam embraced the man who was such a patient mentor and the heartfelt embrace brought tears to the eyes of all the women.

"That's enough now. Let's get this show on the road and raise some money for the next Governor of California." President Bartlet decreed. He opened the door for the women, but Sam took one last look at the painting before he was able to leave.

"You're cutting Josh a little slack now, right?" Jed asked him as they walked to the car. "He's working very hard to avoid letting you down."

"I don't think he ever could." Sam admitted. "I just have to feel like I'm steering my own ship, you know what I mean, don't you?"

"I certainly do. Just don't forget that Josh is the navigator for your ship. You need a good navigator to go anywhere." Jed reminded him as they got into the waiting car.

Link to the picture of the painting Bartlet gave Sam: http://www.progressiveart.com/smithsonian/leutze_westward.htm

 

A/N: Thanks to Mary for her editing, and to Mike for his patience while Mary edited.

A/N: To the Goddesses who bring so much laughter to my life even when I'm sick.

Chapter 18

Josh, along with his padawan apprentice, had planned every minute of the Bartlet visit down to the time of wheels up the night they left. He had talked endlessly with Donna and C.J. about campaign strategy in the final stretch. They had everything mapped out and Josh was ready for anything...except the phone call he got just hours before the Bartlet's left.

"What's up, Mom?" Josh asked when he answered the phone Billy had handed to him.

"Everything is fine, Joshua."

"This is how we start a conversation? Everything's fine, Joshua?"

"I just want you to know everything is fine before I tell you the next part." Ruth explained.

"What's the next part?" Josh asked sitting down as his stomach dropped down to his knees.

"I'm taking Donna to the hospital; contractions have started. Ben is with us. I need you to meet us there."

"It's too early." Josh said tonelessly.

"It's a LITTLE early." Ruth replied.

"5 WEEKS!" Josh exclaimed. "A couple days, maybe a week; that's a little early. 5 weeks is way too early!"

"Joshua, I understand your concern, but we're on our way to the hospital, so maybe you could spare me the pregnancy and childbirth lecture and just meet us there?" Ruth suggested in a low warning voice. "And when you get here, leave your hysteria at the door. Donna is worried enough already." Ruth whispered the last part into the phone.

"Right." Josh agreed readily. "I'll meet you there. Take care of her, Mom, until I get there, okay?"

"I promise. Now get moving. Your daughter is anxious to meet you." Josh hung up without another word and grabbed his coat and backpack.

"Fred!" Josh called out as he walked through the campaign office.

"Yes, sir. "Billy replied when he caught up to his boss, and fell in step with Josh without missing a beat.

"Mom is taking Donna to the hospital. I need to leave now." Josh explained.

"You want me to drive you?" Billy asked.

"No! I need you here to run things while I'm gone. Make sure the rest of the Bartlet trip goes off without a hitch. I won't be able to use my cell at the hospital but I'll call and check in when I can."

"Maybe you should call C.J.?" Billy suggested.

"I will, but you're in charge for however long this takes. Got it?" Josh asked.

"I don't know if I'm-"

"You are. I trust you, Billy." Josh stopped a minute to let Billy see the truth in his eyes. "When you're all done here you can come down and meet my daughter. Talk to you later!"

Josh hadn't driven so fast since the last time Donna had made the trip to the emergency room. He kept saying one mantra out loud to himself all the way to the hospital; "They're both okay. They're both okay." It was as if he could speak his prophecy into being by invoking those simple words.

He took the stairs after pressing the up elevator button several times failed to achieve the desired results. He rushed into the hospital room his mother had called him with just minutes ago. Ben was happily playing with the television remote while Ruth spoke in quiet calming words to Donna who looked like she was barely managing to hold back tears.

"Ah, there he is." Ruth announced. "Daddy's here Ben."

Ben jumped up from his chair and dropped the remote on the floor. "Daddy! We're gonna see my sister now."

"I heard, buddy. That's very exciting." Josh gave him a big hug, but kept his eyes on Donna.

"Ben, why don't we go downstairs? We can get a treat for you and a present for your sister."

"I think my sister wants a truck." Ben nodded sagely.

"Let's see what they have down there." Ruth avoided the fight with her Grandson neatly. She took his hand and led him out the door. Josh went immediately to Donna's side just as she let the first of her tears fall.

"Donnatella, it's going to be fine." He assured her. "Look at it this way, by tomorrow you will be officially off bed rest." That just made her cry harder. "Okay, by tomorrow you'll be holding Ladonna Lyman in your arms."

"We are NOT naming this child Ladonna, Joshua." Donna took a break from crying to shout at him.

"Then you have a better suggestion, right? Because I have to say that the clock is winding down on you here."

"I have a name picked out already. I made lists on cards." Donna told him and made him smile.

"Of course you do. So what's it going to be then?"

"I thought I'd have more time to think out a persuasive speech about it first; ease you into it."

"I'm afraid you're going to just have to jump in with both feet on this one. What is it?"

Donna mumbled something quietly. "What is it?" he asked again.

"Allison Joan." Donna said quietly but clearly. "Allison Joan Lyman."

Donna became more nervous when Josh didn't respond at all. "Josh?" she called his name and seemed to snap him out of his daze.

"It's perfect Donna; absolutely perfect." He assured her. "You need to get this show on the road so I can meet Joanie's namesake."

"I don't really have a choice. The contractions are too close together to try to stop the labor."

"It's going to be just fine; I promise."

"You can't promise that." Donna complained.

"Yes, I can. I promise, Donnatella. Trust me."

Donna looked into his eyes and nodded, then winced as another contraction hit. Josh followed the strength and the duration of it on the monitor.

"That one didn't look too bad." He noted right before Donna pulled on his ear.

"Owww!" Josh complained.

"That's just a tiny fraction of how much it hurts to have a baby. Don't ever say anything as stupid as that to me while I'm in labor. Do you understand me?"

"Absolutely. I was an idiot please forgive me." Josh knew this part of the drill. It was the time to abuse the father portion of the program. Donna let go of his ear, but continued to glare at him.

"I'm never doing this again, Josh." Donna told him as another contraction hit. Josh was careful to move out of her reach before he replied, "That's what you said during Ben's labor."

"I really mean it this time." Donna swore.

"Ah-kay, you don't ever have to do this again, but there's no getting out of this one." Josh told her. Donna just glared.

Dr. Bachmann chose that moment to make her entrance. "Well, my favorite patient is back. Just couldn't stay away, could you?"

"God knows I tried." Donna muttered.

"Well, let's take a look and see what's going on. Josh, would you mind stepping out for a minute?" Josh shot a look at Donna, and when she nodded he left.

"Your daughter's heart rate is good. All your vitals are fine and you're already 80% effaced and dilated to 7. We're going to be meeting this young lady soon, Donna."

"It's too soon." Donna whined a bit. Dr. Bachmann put her hand on Donna's shoulder.

"Lots of people deliver at this point. Would it be better if she had a little more of your patience and a little less of your husband's impatience? Yes, it would, but you're both doing fine and I see no reason to think things won't continue to be fine. You need to stay calm and do your breathing. Got it?"

"Got it." Donna replied and took a deep breath to prove it. "Can you send Josh back in? I know it seems counterintuitive, but having him in here actually calms me down."

"I'll send him right back. The nurses will call me as soon as you're ready to deliver. It shouldn't be more than an hour or two."

As good as her word, Dr. Bachmann barely passed through the door when Josh came back in. "The Doc says you both are doing fine."

"We are." Donna said with more confidence than she'd felt since they left for the hospital.

*********************************************

"Benjamin, what are you doing here so late?" President Bartlet asked his honorary Grandson.

"Grandpa Jed! I'm waitin for my sister." He answered as he hugged Jed and then Abby. "You wanna stay and meet her too?"

"That's what we're here for." Abby told the oldest Lyman child. "Sam and Ainsley are here too."

"Did they bring Baby Caitlin?" Ben asked.

"Yes, they did. She wants to meet your sister too." Jed sat next to the boy.

"It's takin soooo long." Ben whined.

"Why don't I tell you a story while we're waiting?" The former President suggested.

"Absolutely not." Abby interjected. "This child is tired and excited; telling him the history of the Federal Reserve will put him over the edge."

"We brought some books in our bag." Ruth offered it to the former President.

"I think I could come up with something suitable on my own, but okay." President Bartlet dug around in the bag until he found something he could live with. "Ah, here we go; Jack and the Beanstalk. A perfect example of what happens when Republicans try to trick you into spending your money on worthless DOD programs."

"No, Grandpa Jed, he's buys the beans." Ben corrected.

"Right." Jed agreed and shared a smile with Ruth and Abby.

When Sam, Ainsley and Caitlin arrived with Peyton is tow, they found Benjamin Thomas Lyman sitting on the lap of the former leader of the free world.

"Someone should take a picture of that." Peyton commented, smiling at the picture they made.

When Ben heard Peyton's voice he jumped off Jed's lap and ran straight into Peyton's arms.

"You're back! Guess what? We're waiting for my sister." Ben told him.

"Who is this man who has you leaving me over here?" Jed pretended to be insulted.

"It's Peyton!" Ben called back as if Grandpa Jed should know Peyton already.

"President Bartlet, I'm Peyton Forbes. It's an honor to meet you. Dr. Bartlet, you look even lovelier in person than you do on TV."

"Grandpa Jed's reading a story. Come on!" Ben pulled Peyton's arm until they were both seated next to the former leader of the free world while he read the fairy tale to them. About 20 minutes in, Jed noticed Benjamin had fallen asleep on Peyton's lap.

"He's a pretty special boy, isn't he?" Jed asked Peyton.

"This whole group is pretty special if you ask me, sir." Peyton replied as his gaze traveled around the assembled group. Danny and C.J. had just arrived with a tired and crabby Tommy. They were fighting over who got to hold Caitlin who was considerably lighter than their son. Sam and Ainsley were listening to their debate with amused grins on their faces. Dr. Bartlet was getting an update from one of the nurses while Ruth stood by her side. Then Billy Fernandez ran into the waiting room.

"Did I miss it?" Billy asked out of breath.

"Not yet, Billy, but it should be soon." Sam assured the young man.

"Everybody's okay?" Billy clarified.

"Everyone's fine." Ainsley added. "Come sit by us." She patted the bench next to them and Billy reluctantly sat down. It was Ruth Lyman though, who snapped a few pictures of the group for posterity.

Nearly 30 minutes later, Josh came around the corner carrying a tiny bundle in his arms. He stopped short when he saw all the people who had gathered while he had been watching his daughter come into the world.

"Who have you got there Joshua?" President Bartlet asked and everyone's head shot around to Josh. Ruth took a couple steps closer. Josh looked from the President to his mother. Now the President was the President of the United States of America, but his mother took precedence in this particular situation.

"Mom, I'd like to introduce you to your Granddaughter; Allison Joan Lyman." Ruth peered closer to see the swaddled infant.

"She's so beautiful, Josh." Ruth ran her finger delicately over Allison's cheek. "You named her after Joanie?"

"It was Donna's idea." Josh admitted quietly and watched his mother's eyes brim over with sentimental tears which he wiped away with his free hand.

"She's healthy even though she was early?" She asked worriedly.

"She's a peanut; weighed in at 5 pounds 8 ounces, but her lungs are working great and her apgar score was good. She won't even have to go to the NICU."

"How is Donna?" Ainsley asked.

"She's fine except for her right arm. I think it's probably pretty sore after breaking all the bones in my hand during the last hour." Josh joked. "She's tired, but she's fine. You can go in and see her in just a little bit. Where's Ben?" Josh searched the group for his son.

Peyton lightly shook Ben's shoulder and he struggled awake. When he saw his dad, he jumped up and staggered over to him. Josh hunkered down so the baby was at Ben's eye level.

"That's my sister?" he asked.

"Her name is Allison Joan." Josh told him.

"Alli- Alla-" Ben struggled with the long name at this late hour. "Ally."

"Yeah, this is Ally." Josh confirmed. "Want to hold her?" Ben nodded yes. Josh motioned for him to sit in one of the waiting room chairs before carefully placing the baby in her brother's arms.

"She's really little." He exclaimed and made everyone laugh. "Look, it's my sister Ally!" he called out and the group took turns getting a closer look at the newest member of the family. When Ben could no longer contain his yawns, Ruth talked him into going home with her after a short pit stop to see his mom.

When they got the all clear, the group moved into Donna's room and congratulated her on her beautiful new daughter.

"Wow." Billy said simply. He'd never seen a newborn baby before and the whole experience seemed to overwhelm him. Josh slung an arm over Billy's shoulder.

"Just wait until it's your turn. Wow doesn't even begin to cover it." Josh admitted.

"Donnatella, she's as beautiful as her mother." President Bartlet told her.

"Thank you, sir. I thought you and Dr. Bartlet would be long gone by now." Donna said wearily.

"And miss the arrival of our honorary granddaughter? Not a chance." Jed replied.

"It looks like you brought the fundraiser with you." Donna noted as she realized how many people were in her room.

"You have a lot of people who care about you." Ainsley chimed in. "Allison Joan is a lucky girl to have you for a mother."

"What about having me as a father?" Josh complained.

"I'm sure she'll be able to overcome that." Dr. Bartlet responded to the laughter of everyone in the room. "But right now, it looks like Donna could use some rest. Everybody out."

"I just need a minute with Sam. I'll be right back." Josh whispered to his wife and gave her a quick kiss. He caught up with the group and asked them to wait for a minute.

"Peyton, this is C.J. Cregg-Concannon. I'm going to need you to switch hats and work with her on media strategy." Josh announced.

"Why is it that we can't keep one person in that job?" Sam asked.

"No one can stand to work with Josh that long." C.J. offered. "I know Mr. Forbes by reputation. Your work on proposition 26 was particularly impressive."

"Thank you. It was an issue I was very passionate about." Peyton told her. "And it's Peyton, Ms. Cregg."

"C.J." Claudia Jean returned. "Think you can put up with me for the final push?"

"It would be my pleasure." Peyton answered.

"Excellent. We've blocked some time for debate prep in the next few days. That needs to be our number one priority." Josh told them and looked to Sam for confirmation and any additional ideas.

"Our number one priority, not yours." Sam added.

"What?" Josh questioned.

"You're on family leave for the next three days." Sam decreed. "Billy is up to speed on the debate prep and with Peyton and C.J. we'll be fine. We can call you if we need you, but we won't be accepting calls from you for the next three days." Sam looked around at the others to make sure he was understood by his staff and saw answering nods all around.

"I'm not allowed to work for the next 3 days?" Josh repeated.

"Nope." Sam said simply.

"Ah-kay." Josh replied.

"That's all you have to say on the subject?" Sam asked.

"No, I'd also like to say that since I'm officially off duty, I'm going to go take a nap with my wife and daughter." Josh smirked and walked away from the slack jawed group watching him.

Sam recovered first. "That was almost anticlimactic. Everyone home to bed, we're going to meet at 7:30 in the conference room."

The group broke up after giving the Bartlet's a farewell hug. Sam hung back though and peeked back in through Donna's door. He couldn't tell if Josh was already asleep, but his eyes were closed and he was lying down next to Donna with one arm around her shoulders and the other arm covering his daughter in a protective embrace. They all looked perfectly at peace and Sam hoped they could continue to hold onto that feeling for the next few days.

******************************************

"...so the result has been a huge economic upturn for big businesses, but the citizens living here are breathing the most polluted air in the country." Sam finished up.

"Change citizens to people." Peyton called out. "Citizens sounds too clinical."

"Reverse the order of the answer, too." C.J. suggested. "The people living here are breathing the most polluted air in the country while big businesses make record profits."

`Anything else? Am I standing correctly? Want me to change my tie?" Sam drawled.

"We'll get to the aesthetics after we get the content down." Peyton grinned as Sam rolled his eyes.

"I still don't like his answer on early childhood education funding; it's too convoluted." C.J. remarked.

"I like the passionate response. They can tell he really believes what he's saying." Peyton argued.

"Which would be great if people understood what he was saying." C.J. shot back.

"Do you need me for this?" Sam asked.

"No, you can take a break, Spanky." C.J. called over her shoulder to him.

"He needs to make it about economics." Billy opined.

"What?" C.J. asked. "Early childhood education is going to cost taxpayers more money, why would we want to highlight the economics?"

"Because there is study after study that shows that investing in early childhood education saves tax payers money down the road." Billy explained and he pulled out a sheet of paper from his prep file. "7 longitudinal studies show that for every dollar invested in early childhood education, the return cost savings to the community is between $3 and $17. That's 3-17 dollars that the community then has available to spend on other priorities. We need to focus on the program as an economic investment."

C.J. raised her eyebrows at Peyton.

"The kid's good." Peyton replied.

"Write it up in a 90 second response and we'll try it out when Sam gets back." C.J. directed Billy who immediately opened his laptop and began typing away.

Toby thundered into the room waving several pieces of paper in the air; Billy didn't even look up.

"You tell Sam to keep his fingers off of my work, you hear me C.J.?"

"I take it Sam made some adjustment?"

"He completely re-wrote the last two paragraphs." Toby shouted.

"It IS his speech." Peyton pointed out.

"Shut.Up." Toby replied and turned back to C.J. "You'll talk to him."

"Yes." C.J. promised and Toby stomped back out of the room. "It's really simpler to agree with him. Then we can all go about our business."

"Ah..." Peyton nodded. "How you coming there, wonderboy?"

"There is no better fiscal investment than early childhood education. One dollar invested in our children, all of our children, can generate a return of up to $17. That's $17 we can use to help pay for health care costs, disaster preparation, Department of Transportation costs... We can help our children, improve our community, and make money for other important issues all in one fell swoop. I have a daughter and I want her to have every opportunity that's available, but more importantly, I want all her peers to have those same opportunities regardless of where they live or how much their parents make. It's a moral decision for our children, it's an ethical decision for our families, and it's a fiscally responsible decision for California." Billy ended his answer.

"The kid's good." C.J. agreed and Billy beamed.

 

Chapter 19

"How come you have your tie on?" Ben asked his father. Having a tie on meant going to work and Ben had enjoyed having his dad home these past few days too much to be willing to let him go easily.

"I have to go to the office, kiddo." Josh replied as he packed his backpack up with the things he would need for the day.

"Why can't they just call you like yesterday?"

"I have work I need to do there."

"They can do it without you." Ben argued.

"Thanks, Benjamin you really know how to stroke the old man's ego." Josh muttered.

"Your ego doesn't need any stroking." Ruth Lyman called from the kitchen.

"Thanks Mom!" Josh called back sarcastically. "I really have to go back Ben. Tomorrow is the debate and we need everyone's help to make sure Sam's ready."

"Then I'll come with you." Ben offered.

"It's going to be pretty crazy around the office today, Ben."

"You said you need everyone's help. I can help." Josh looked into his son's hopeful face and felt his own form into a grin.

"You are always a big help. Go get dressed." Josh told him and Ben ran up the stairs to get his clothes.

"You're a sucker, you know." Ruth Lyman said from the doorway where she'd watched the whole interaction.

"Yeah, yeah. Thanks for all your support." Josh continued to pack his bag.

"Luckily, you're also a great father. Noah would be so proud of you, Josh." Her words stopped Josh in his tracks.

"Thanks." Josh squeaked out past the lump in his throat.

"I'll help Ben get dressed while you say goodbye to your girls."

Josh found Donna sitting up in bed feeding their daughter. The sight never failed to move him. He just stood there watching for a minute. Then Donna spoke without looking over at him.

"Are you just going to stand there or come over here and join us?"

Josh chuckled and sat on the other side of Donna so Ally was between them. He gently rubbed his daughter's hair which was as fair as her mother's.

"I'm taking Ben with me to the office. He wants to help." Josh told her and Donna laughed.

"Good luck with that." She replied.

"He'll be fine." Josh reasoned.

"I'm sure he will." Donna agreed still chuckling. "After I get Ally down, I'll get the rest of those numbers for you."

"Thanks. That would be great. C.J. and Peyton tell me Sam's in the groove. They're going to release the disaster plan you and Ainsley came up with tomorrow right before the debate."

"Ainsley must be pretty thrilled." Donna commented.

"I think once she got the Bartlet's approval, she was full speed ahead with it. We got the final tally from the fundraisers with the Bartlet's and I'm going to have a good sized war chest to play with."

"Good." Donna smiled but there was a tinge of sadness too.

"What's wrong?" Josh asked her.

"I'll miss you today. I've grown used to you being with us the last few days. I like it a lot." She admitted.

"After the election, we'll all take a few weeks off together. Unplug the phone and the television and just have family time."

"You won't make it 24 hours." Donna predicted.

"Maybe not, but I'll try, okay?"

"Okay. Take our son to work and teach him something about politics." Donna told him when Ben came running into the room.

"She's eating AGAIN." Ben shook his head in disbelief. "She's too little to eat that much. She's gonna get sick."

"I hear you're going to help Dad today."

"Yep. Daddy says everyone gots to help Sam get ready. I'm a big help."

"Yes, you are." Donna chuckled.

"Sam's gonna whip Taylor's butt, right Daddy?" Ben asked his father for confirmation.

"Is that right, Daddy?" Donna repeated.

"I'm going to have to stop speaking in front of this child." Josh muttered.

"Yeah..." Donna agreed. "I think Daddy meant Sam will win the election, Ben."

"I don't think so." Ben disagreed. "Cause he said-"

"Time to go, Ben." Josh prodded before kissing Donna and Ally goodbye.

***********************************

"What do you think, Ainsley?" C.J. asked.

"I think you should stop asking the token Republican how something is going to play to moderate Republicans and independents." Ainsley replied.

"Getting a little testy there, Ains." Peyton pointed out and rubbed her shoulders.

"Everyone is getting a little testy, Peyton." Ainsley shot back. "I wish Sam wasn't releasing the disaster plan today."

"It will be great. What you need is a little break from the tension." Peyton prescribed.

As if on cue, Benjamin Lyman burst through the front door of the office. "We're here to help!"

"Oh, my God it's miniature Josh." C.J. muttered and had Peyton laughing out loud.

"Batten down the hatches the Lyman men have arrived." Sam called out to the gathered staff. "How's everybody doing?"

"Wonderful." Josh practically beamed. "We have some work to do, I'm betting. Where do you want to start?"

"We came up with a few new answers yesterday. I'd like you to look over them and throw in your two cents."

"You got it." Josh took the papers from Sam who looked over at Ben.

"And we could sure use an intern to deliver some papers around the office."

"I can do it!" Ben volunteered.

"Excellent. Bring these over to Billy, okay?" Sam handed Ben a stack of mail which Ben ran off to deliver.

"Sorry, he really wanted to come help." Josh explained.

"Ben's always welcome." Sam chuckled.

"Toby didn't write these." Josh noted as he read the revised answers.

"No, it was Billy." Sam told him. "What do you think?"

"They're...really good." Josh said. He re-read the answers again as he walked to his office. He'd barely sat in his chair when he was bombarded by 6 different people wanting his approval on this or that. It was good to be back.

"Mail, Daddy!" Ben called as he tossed several envelopes to his dad and ran out again.

"Looks like you've decided to replace me." Billy noted watching Ben's exit.

"He's still got a few more months of grooming before he's ready for your job. Have a seat. I need the room people!" Josh shouted at the rest of the people in his office.

"Something wrong, Obiwan?" Billy tried to keep his tone light, but he looked nervous. Josh remembered the feeling well from when Leo would call him in for a private chat. God, he really missed Leo.

"Sam gave me the revised answers for the debate tomorrow." Josh began. "They're good; I mean really good."

"Then why do you look so serious?" Billy asked him.

"Because I have to wonder if you wouldn't be better off working with Toby on the writing. I know he's a surly son of a bitch, but you couldn't find a better teacher than Toby as far as political speechwriting is concerned."

Billy's jaw dropped. "Are you moving me out?"

"No, no, no." Josh hurriedly replied. "I'm asking if YOU want to work with Toby."

"No, sir. I'm right where I want to be." Billy's smirk matched the one that bloomed on Josh's face.

"You've been doing a great job here, Fred." Josh said honestly. "I'm very glad to have you on the team."

"Thanks." Billy replied, moved by the compliment.

"Let's get to work. Will you take a quick look outside and make sure my son hasn't destroyed any campaign property? Then pull the latest stories off the wire; highlight anything you think is relevant and write a question/response. We need to be on top of everything before Sam walks onto that stage tomorrow."

"I'm on it." Billy promises.

"Josh? I'm thinking I should respond to this statement from Taylor." Sam burst into the office barely five minutes later.

"Nope. Save it for tomorrow." Josh suggested. "By then, his statement will be old news and your response will make news. No more appearances for you until after the debate."

"But if I just-" Sam began.

"You can drive yourself crazy with this stuff or you can concentrate on something constructive like helping me get out of picking up Donna's parents at the airport."

"I think you can handle a trip to the airport, Josh."

"Her parents hate me Sam."

"No, it's really just her dad that hates you. Her mom loves you." Sam relaxed into this old argument with his friend.

"You want to know what the strange part is?" Josh asked.

"What?" Sam asked smiling.

"Now that I have a daughter, I can understand hating any man that took her away from me."

Sam shook his head amused at Josh's train of thought. "If only the members of Congress could see the pit bull now; felled by a 5 pound 8 ounce, helpless infant."

"You have a daughter. You understand."

"So then cut your father-in-law some slack." Sam suggested.

"But we have such a rich tradition of slugging it out! Plus, with the debate tomorrow, I don't think I'll be able to give our fighting the time and attention it deserves."

"I'm sure you'll manage."

"Have you seen Ben?" Josh asked.

"Billy assigned him to a volunteer and they're stuffing envelopes together." Sam replied.

"At least he's getting something accomplished." Josh drawled. "I hear Peyton and C.J. are lighting things up."

"It's like they were separated at birth. You'll see at the 2 o'clock meeting! They're going shopping this afternoon for the perfect shirt and tie for me to wear tomorrow."

"As long as you can keep it away from the Bartlet's, it should all be fine." Josh teased. "You're ready Sam. We'll do one more run through later today, then I don't want to see you until right before the debate. Take the day and relax with your family. Do something fun."

"I don't think I remember fun." Sam acknowledged.

"This hasn't been fun?" Josh joked. "You'll think of something. Now let me get ready for my conference call so I can negotiate in the proper frame of mind."

"Okay. Should I have Billy give you a reminder when it's time to pick up the Moss's?"

"Go. Away." Josh replied and buckled down to work.

**************************************

By 2, things in the office were at a fever pitch. There were over 20 people gathered at the table with Ben Lyman driving toy cars underneath it and making "vroom, vroom" noises.

"Alright people, listen up!" Josh hollered to get everyone's attention. Even Ben stopped momentarily. "We have our final run through at 4. I want everyone in that room to give feedback. Then the candidate is going home for some R & R while we continue to work our asses off. Tomorrow has to be flawless. We need to have control of the news cycle starting from the morning commute on. Run down the timeline for me."

"We've got the lovely C.J. Craig-Concannon doing two interviews on the Seaborn campaign and discussing the upcoming debate during morning drive time. I've already given interviews and photo's from two of our prep sessions for the California papers to run. The Sacramento Bee is running theirs under the headline, `Born to Run'." Peyton made quotation marks with his fingers and grinned.

"Nice." Josh commented.

"You're doing a one on one at a television studio over the noon hour in San Francisco." Peyton continued. "The evolution of Sam Seaborn."

"Wait a second." Josh tried to step in.

"Aren't you worried that the word `evolution' is going to bring out the worst in the Christian right?" C.J. teased.

"Hold on." Josh tried again.

"A little bit, yeah. But the `intelligent design' of Sam Seaborn makes him sound animatronic." Peyton shot back.

"Fair point." C.J. conceded and even Billy laughed before turning a sober face to his boss who was still trying to interrupt.

"I'd like Lucy or Ethel here to explain why I'm doing an on camera interview 6 hours before the debate." Josh finally got his whole sentence out.

"You said you wanted control of the news cycle all day. We just filled in the holes." Peyton explained without reacting to the Lucy and Ethel comment. C.J. couldn't let it slide though.

"I think I'm much taller than either Lucy or Ethel." C.J. remarked.

"No, no..." Josh protested.

"I am!" C.J. insisted.

"I don't think he was talking about your height there, C.J." Sam translated. "Look at it this way. It gets you away from your father-in-law for a few hours."

"There is that." Josh agreed ruefully. "How about radio spots?"

"We've got them advertising the debate between 1:30 and 5:30. After the debate, and tomorrow, we'll be hitting the airwaves with highlights from the debate. Sam makes a dramatic statement followed by thunderous applause; that kind of thing." Billy ran it down for them.

"Well...No pressure there." Sam said sarcastically.

"I wrote great lines for you. The kid wrote lines that were not all that bad." Toby jerked his head toward Billy. "All you have to do is look pretty and insert them in the right place."

"Do you hear this, Josh?" Sam gestured to Toby.

"Yeah, and I got to say Toby, you're way off the mark here. Sam doesn't look pretty anymore. He's matured since the old days. Now he's debonair, right Ainsley?" Josh replied.

"Or dashing. I like dashing a lot." Ainsley bit her bottom lip to keep from laughing at her husband's expression.

"Is it too late to quit?" Sam asked the room in general.

"Afraid so." Josh answered.

"Daddy?" Ben pulled on his father's arms.

"Just a second, kiddo." Josh requested. "Who's going to be doing post- debate spin?"

"C.J. and I will be on it as well as Assemblyman Bohn and Senator Ortega, but we'd like to make one more addition to the party." Peyton announced.

"Who?" Josh asked.

"Ainsley." C.J. answered.

"Excuse me?" Ainsley said with her mouth full of cheese and crackers that had been brought in for the meeting.

"Daddy!" Ben tried to get Josh's attention again. "What's my job now?"

"I like it." Josh nodded.

"I can't do that!" Ainsley exclaimed.

"Sure you can." Sam couldn't help piling on in response to her comments about him.

"Daddy, what's my next job?" Ben asked again. Josh turned to his son just as his cell started to ring. Josh glanced at his phone and saw from the caller ID that it was Donna.

"Here, buddy, take this call for me. Answer, "Josh Lyman's phone." Josh instructed.

"Josh Lyman's phone." Ben dutifully mimicked. "Hi, Mom! I'm doing work for Sam."

The gathering grinned at his phone etiquette.

"Ainsley, you did post-debate spin all the time." Josh reminded her.

"They'll turn this into a Democrat/Republican thing." She argued.

"Which you effectively countered each time you did it for President Bartlet and President Santos."

"But Sam is my husband!" Ainsley objected once more. "Isn't going to look incredibly biased?"

"I should certainly hope so." Sam added.

"No, he can't talk now. He's in a `portant' meeting." Ben told his mother. "No. I want to stay here..."

"You'll be great." Peyton assured her. "We'll go over some things beforehand."

"But Mommy, we all got to work our asses off today cause-" Ben was abruptly cut off when Josh pulled the phone away from him.

"Hi there, baby. Everything okay over there?" Josh asked with a nervous laugh. He listened for a moment then shot a disapproving look at his son. "I'm sure we'll get back to that later, I'm just in the middle of something right now...No, I've got their flight number and I'll be waiting for them at baggage claim... I'll call you when I'm done, baby, okay? Bye." Josh shut the phone. "Janet!" Josh called for one of the interns.

"You called?" Janet asked facetiously.

"Instead of working on that thing for me, will you take Ben into my office and work with him for a bit instead?"

"Believe me, between the two of you, I'd prefer to work with Ben." Janet said snidely. "Come on Ben, I need some help with the labels."

"Okay. See you later, Dad." Ben took Janet's hand willingly and went off to do more work.

"I am so misunderstood." Josh complained.

"Let's face it, mi amore. The only one that has ever understood you was Donna and I don't think she wants to talk to you right now." C.J. opined.

"I'm telling her Ben heard that from you." Josh threatened.

"Sisterhood." C.J. sang and `high fived' Ainsley.

"Shit." Josh replied succinctly.

"And he claims to have a 760 verbal." Sam told the group who responded with chuckles all around.

************************************

"Let it go, Sam." Ainsley pled with him. "We have the rest of the night and most of tomorrow off."

Sam was looking over his notes from the run through again.

"Sam?" Ainsley called to him with no response. She got up from his couch and stood behind him, rubbing his shoulders. "Your mom is keeping Caitlin until 10. That gives us 3 hours for a quiet dinner and couple time."

Sam's head shot up from the notes. "Couple time?"

"AFTER dinner." Ainsley bargained.

"We have stuff at home." Sam pointed out and rose to stand in front of his wife.

"Nah-uh." Ainsley shook her head. "I'm not cooking and I'm not eating frozen food."

"But eating at a sit down place could waste a great deal of our three hours." Sam noted.

"It's a waste of time to sit down and have dinner with me?"

"Of course not. I simply meant that eating at home would be more private. There wouldn't be any prying eyes watching our every move, or people asking for pictures and such."

"Nice save." Ainsley smiled.

"I think well on my feet." Sam explained and kissed her lingeringly.

"You do that pretty well too." Ainsley murmured when they came up for air.

"Isn't there a compromise here?" Sam asked while he continued his assault on Ainsley's mouth and neck.

"What did you have in mind?"

"Mmmmm...Take out." Sam responded. "No one cooks, no cardboard food, and we get privacy at home."

"You are the master, Samuel. Take out it is." Hearing Ainsley call him `the master' had the same effect on his body that it had the first time she'd called him that.

"Hey! Get out of here." Josh ordered when he unexpectedly opened Sam's door.

"Aren't you supposed to be at the airport?" Sam asked.

"I'm going. I'm going." Josh held his hands up in surrender. "I'm bringing Ben. They'll have to be nice to me in front of their Grandson."

"Plus then you don't have to bring him home first and get an earful from Donna." Ainsley deduced.

"There are several benefits to the plan, yes." Josh admitted. "Take the man home, Ainsley. See if you can't keep him away from the briefing books for a few hours."

"I'll do my best." Ainsley promised.

***************************************

"Look who came to meet us! It's my Benjamin!" Anna Moss exclaimed and Ben jumped into her arms. "Oh, you're getting so big!" She kissed her Grandson before passing him to her husband Tom. "Josh, thanks for meeting us."

"It's my pleasure Anna." Josh gave her a hug. "Did you have a good flight?"

"It was wonderful. The First Class tickets you got us were a great treat. Do you know we had champagne on the way out here?"

"Damn waste of money, if you ask me." Tom groused as he set Ben down.

"Now, Tom..." Anna warned.

"Welcome to California, sir." Josh held out his hand which Tom took reluctantly.

"Land of fruits and nuts." Tom replied. Josh's eyebrows rose as he tried to figure out how to respond to that.

"Uh...the car's right this way. Can I take that for you, Anna?" Josh took the handle of her suitcase from her.

"Thank you so much, Joshua." Anna sighed. "It was nice of you to make the trip to get us when you have to be busy getting ready for the debate tomorrow."

"Ben came by and helped today so we've got it under control." Josh winked at his son.

"I saw in the airport newsstand that your boy is still down 4 points." Tom mentioned.

"That gap will close after the debate tomorrow. Here's the car." Josh plastered a smile on his face while he loaded the trunk with their luggage; he briefly wondered if Tom would fit in there too, but quickly shook off the thought. When he got in the driver's seat, he almost moaned because Tom was seated next to him. Once Anna had Ben in his car seat, he slowly backed out and maneuvered out onto the highway.

"We're so excited about your trip to Wisconsin." Anna filled in the silence.

"I'm sorry?" Josh nearly crashed into the car in front of him.

"We talked to Donna when we landed. She told us about your plan to take a month off for family time after the election and that you're going to spend 2 weeks with us in Wisconsin. It will be so great to have Ben and Ally under our roof for two whole weeks."

"Ally can't do nothin yet." Ben decided to let his Grandmother down gently. Anna and Tom both laughed.

"Then I'll just hold her." Anna assured him. "Won't it be great Tom?"

"Great." Tom replied in a monotone.

"Really great." Josh echoed and he was once again reminded that he should never underestimate his wife. Donna had exacted her punishment in record time.

 

Chapter 20

"You look amazingly calm to me." Ainsley noted tying her husband's tie.

"I feel calm." He replied

"I don't know how you do it, Sam. Two hours is a long time to be the focus of attention by all of California."

"I'm ready, Ainsley. We've been preparing for this for weeks." Sam reminded her.

"I know, it's just that standing at a podium going head to head with your opponent for two hours, under hot lights and everyone's scrutiny-"

"Shouldn't you be off spinning someplace?" Sam asked impatiently.

"Josh said post debate spin only. Pre-debate, I'm doing the supportive wife thing."

"Not so much, really." Sam informed her.

"I'm just saying this is a new thing for you. It's new, and there's a lot riding on your performance, so it would only be natural for you to be anxious. And if you're feeling anxious, you should feel free to talk to me about it so I can reassure you that things will go beautifully and that there's no way you'll mess up on live TV, otherwise-"

"Ainsley?"

"Stop talking?"

"Yes, please." Sam begged. "I can only take so much support. Isn't there some kind of snack food around here you can devour until the debate starts?"

"I'll go look." Ainsley told him and left him alone for a bit.

Josh and Donna were next to disrupt his peace.

"Donna, you shouldn't have come out here tonight. You could have watched it on TV." Sam reprimanded her.

"I wouldn't miss this for the world. Game on, Sam Seaborn." She said sternly and then ruined the effect by kissing him on the cheek. "I'll go find our seats." She told Josh and left the two friends alone.

"She didn't look too pissed at you about Ben's language. You must have groveled sufficiently."

"Sam, I'm not required to grovel with my wife. You know why?"

"Why?"

"Because my wife is a devious and conniving woman who has much more painful ways to exact retribution than to simply give me the cold shoulder or make me sleep on the couch."

"What did she do then?"

"She talked to her parents and promised them we'd spend to weeks with them in Wisconsin after the election."

"Ouch."

"And not just two weeks in Wisconsin, Sam, two weeks at the Moss home in Wisconsin."

"Double ouch." Sam winced.

"Her dad keeps talking about taking me shooting while we're there. I'm a little concerned that it isn't small game he'll be shooting at."

"Josh!" Sam laughed.

"Do you know how many hunting accidents happen each year? And it will be just the two of us; he's made that very clear. He could tell people anything he wanted afterwards."

"Josh!"

"Why anyone would think that I, of all people, would be interested in handling a gun of any kind is beyond me."

"Yeah, that is a little much." Sam agreed. "Maybe he's just messing with you."

"He's always messing with me."

"It was nice of Donna to come."

"There wasn't even a discussion about it. She was coming to see you live and that was that." Josh explained. "Anything you want to touch base on before I join her?"

"I'm ready." Sam announced.

"I know you are. I'm proud of you, Sam." Josh gave him a hug. "I'll see you after."

Ainsley came back in as Josh was leaving. She was carrying a small tray of vegetables and dip. Josh laughed and winked at her. "I'm counting on you to bring the spin."

Ainsley nodded and continued over to her husband. "Rant some bejtables?" she asked with her mouth full of food.

"No. Promise me you won't eat in the spin room, Ains?" Sam smiled and brushed her cheek with the back of his hand.

"Mmmm-hmmmm." She swallowed. "I won't drink alcohol either. At least not until we're home celebrating."

"There's the supportive wife thing!" Sam exclaimed.

"I love you, Samuel Norman Seaborn." She lightly brushed his lips with hers. "You're going to make a phenomenal Governor."

Sam put his arms around her shoulder as they walked out toward the stage. "And just think; as First Lady of California you're sure to be invited to a record numbers of lunches and dinners.

"So there's more than one advantage in this arrangement?"

"Absolutely." Sam was concentrating on his wife so he didn't even notice the man in front of him until he came within inches of him.

"Sam."

"Kevin Kahn." Sam said snidely. "How nice of you to make the trip out of the gutter to come here tonight."

Kevin smirked. "This must be your lovely wife."

Sam ignored the subtle hint for an introduction. "What do you want Kevin?"

"Just to wish you good luck tonight. You're going to need it."

"I hope you've picked out some career alternatives for after the election." Sam replied. "We won't be filling many vacancies with Republicans."

"Except for me, right?" Ainsley confirmed.

"You are always the exception, Ains."

"Maybe he could look for something in the food service industry. It continues to be a growing demographic and they're always looking for someone with interpersonal skills." Ainsley suggested.

"Then that won't work for my friend Kevin here; unless he made the fries in back or something." Sam played right along.

"We'll see." Kevin refused to rise to the bait. "You and your friend Lyman have always been too cocky for your own good."

"Okay, that does sound a bit like Josh, but Sam? I don't think so." Ainsley defended her husband. "Now if you'll excuse us, we need to get Sam on stage so he can use his wit and charm to humiliate your boss on national television." Ainsley pulled Sam away from Kevin.

"Ainsley?" Sam whispered to her.

"What?"

"When you're in the spin room? Do it just like that." Sam instructed her. She gave him one last kiss and went to sit with Josh and Donna.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the California Gubernatorial debate...."

***************************************************

"Mr. Seaborn, do you really think you can stand here and lecture me about clean water? Doesn't it make you feel the least bit hypocritical?" Senator Taylor drawled.

"I have spent my career in politics trying to improve air and water quality." Sam replied.

"Maybe during your career in politics, but what about when you were $400,000 a year attorney for Gage Whitney? Did you not arrange for Kensington Oil to buy a ship that had steering and navigation problems; the Indio, which later ran aground off the coast of Delaware? Didn't the Indo spill 720,000 gallons of oil that covered over 100 square miles? The Attorney's General tried to sue for damages, but the liability shield YOU devised for Kensington Oil barred them from having to pay a thing. So how you can stand here and talk to me about pollution with that superior air of yours-"

"Hold on." Sam interrupted.

"Do you deny any of those facts?" Taylor pressed on and Sam shook his head and smirked. "Do you find something about the situation funny, Mr. Seaborn?"

There was a pause and everyone held their breath. Donna barely heard her husband's whispered comment, "He's got it."

"I'm smiling at how ironic this situation is, Mr. Taylor." Sam replied quietly.

"How ironic?" Taylor repeated.

"Ironic; involving a surprising or apparently contradictory fact." Sam defined the word slowly and with perfect articulation for Taylor like Taylor was illiterate and slow. "Mentioning this particular incident is ironic to me."

"Why is that, Mr. Seaborn?" The moderator asked.

"Because at that time I had serious misgivings about what I was doing. I was about to make partner in arguably the best law firm in New York because I was very good at my job; but it felt horribly wrong. As we were discussing Kensington's options, I mean literally as we sat in the board room arguing about what the right thing to do was, Josh Lyman shows up in the doorway. He had promised to come tell me if he found the `real thing'; a candidate who was authentic and cared more about doing what was right than doing what was popular. I walked out of that conference room and followed Josh Lyman that very second and never went back." Sam paused a few seconds. "Every candidate that runs for office has made mistakes. We're all human. What you as voters need to look at is how do those of us running for office handle those situations. I chose to leave a very lucrative job to serve one of the most honorable men I have ever known. We worked all eight years to improve air and water quality and continued to do so under President Santos. That's how I have the credibility to question your inability to clean up the air and water in California." Sam concluded.

"Senator Taylor?" the moderator gave him the opportunity to respond.

"Mr. Seaborn can dance around the facts, we all know what a talented speech writer he is, but the bottom line is that the Indio was in the ocean in the first place due to his efforts."

"I explained what happened in that situation. Why doesn't Mr. Taylor explain why pollution has increased in his district and throughout California?" Sam suggested.

"Senator Taylor?" The moderator offered him the floor again.

"Passing pollution legislation is a very complicated process. The needs of the community have to be weighed carefully against the needs of the businesses in the community. If standards are raised too high, businesses suffer economically and have to lay off workers. That doesn't help the community at all." Taylor reasoned.

"It's only complicated when you follow the traditional paradigm. When you expand your thinking to include creative solutions it becomes very simple. Under President Bartlet, I helped create a pollution reduction program that actually provided cash incentives for companies that reduced their pollution output. The air is cleaner, the companies get rewarded for reducing pollution and everyone is working collaboratively on a solution that benefits everyone." Sam pointed out.

"That's the Democratic party's solution to everything; spend more money."

"I hate to wreck an age old talking point with the facts, but the cash incentives didn't come from the Government. Under the Clean Air Rehabilitation Act there is a cap onthe volume of CO2 a company could emit in a year. If the company comes in lower than the cap, they can sell the balance of their emissions allowance to another company; which creates a cash incentive. Cleaning up our environment isn't complicated, it just takes bold leadership and creative thinking. I'm ready to do that as Governor of California." "Closing statements, gentlemen. Senator Taylor, by virtue of a coin toss, will go first." The moderator explained. "California is facing serious issues at this juncture. I have no reason to believe Sam Seaborn's motives aren't good. But he lacks the experience to guide us through these turbulent waters. I have had decades of experience in state politics and I know this state intimately. Mr. Seaborn hasn't even lived here for that long. He's been embroiled in D.C. politics and I don't want to see those values brought to Sacramento. I know the people of California. I know how to get things done here."

"You know me and my record. You know what I stand for. Mr. Seaborn has no record of his own to stand on. How do we know what he might do as Governor? We can't afford a Governor who will make rookie mistakes. California deserves a leader who can hit the ground running and I am that man."

"Mr. Seaborn?" the moderator gave Sam the floor.

"Experience. I agree it's very important, but the truth of the matter is Mr. Taylor hasn't had any experience in the executive branch; either in State or Federal Government. I learned how to run the executive branch of the Federal Government for nearly a decade. If you think running a State Government is complicated, try working with the President of the United States, which I was privileged to do. I learned the art of compromise and I learned how to handle tough situations when compromise wasn't an option."

"I haven't worked in California politics for awhile except during interactions with the White House, but that also means I'm not owned by big money contributors whose interests are the opposite of most of the citizens of California." Sam replied "Sometimes, when problems are looked at by a fresh pair of eyes, more innovative solutions occur. California's disaster response is among the best in the country, but fresh pairs of eyes provided by my wife Ainsley and Donna Lyman, came up with ways to improve the system."

"California needs fresh eyes and new ideas. California needs an executive that is looking out for the greater good of all the constituents here. California needs a change. I have the right combination of skills and experience to lead California into the next decade and I'm asking for your vote. Thank you."

The auditorium exploded with applause as wives of both the candidates made their way onto the stage and kissed their respective husbands for the cameras. Sam and Ainsley got offstage first since Ainsley had to make her way to the spin room, fast.

She and Sam separated once they reached it; Sam going back to his green room and Ainsley wading into the spin room. She was immediately engulfed by reporters hurling questions as her. She waited patiently until they realized she wasn't answering any of them before calling on them one at a time.

She could see Josh, Peyton and Billy working the room too. She assumed Donna went home and was glad to see her friend wasn't pushing herself too far. Ainsley had taken part in many campaigns and worked spin for many different candidates and causes, but being able to tout the incredible job her husband had done put her on an extreme high.

By the time they were being driven home, Ainsley had indulged in a few glasses of celebratory champagne and was feeling no pain. Sam, on a natural high, just amused himself watching his wife.

"Sam, sam, you know where I a-a-am." Ainsley sang off key.

"Oh. My. God. Ainsley Hayes Seaborn, are you singing an Olivia Newton John song? You are truly toasted. Come here so I can take advantage of you." He commanded and was surprised when she complied. She lay down across the back seat on her back with her head on Sam's legs.

"You have the most gorgeous eyes, Samuel. I think I fell for your eyes first."

"Was that before or after you pummeled me on Capitol Beat?" Sam laughed.

"Oh, before." Ainsley recalled. "Your soulful blue eyes kept me from pummeling you on Capitol Beat for several minutes. Then, I don't know, Republican instincts kicked in, but oh, those eyes." She crooned and brought his face closer to her for a kiss by firmly pulling on his tie.

Suddenly, she pushed him away from her. "Hey! You're not drunk. Why aren't you drunk?"

"Being drunk can lead to disappointing results in an activity I very much hope we'll be indulging in once we get home. I'm fine with water for now."

"You were SO amazing tonight." Ainsley gushed. "You made Taylor look like an antiquated cog in the political machine. You kicked ass!" Ainsley giggled.

"I'm glad you think so. Let's wait to see what the voters have to say tomorrow." Sam suggested and stroked her long blond hair away from her face.

"Josh says you're going to pass Taylor up by 4 points by the end of the week." Ainsley whispered that news like it was a secret.

"Josh has been wrong on occasion, you know." Sam pointed out.

"Not this time. Not about this. He's dead on; I can feel it."

"I'm surprised you can feel anything, Hayes." Sam chuckled.

"I can feel all sorts of things and when we get home...you will too." She promised and Sam's body reacted despite the contrary messages he was giving it. What a night!

*******************************************

The house was dark by the time Josh got home. He didn't turn on any lights in order not to disturb anybody but that kind of backfired when he tripped over several cars that Ben had left on the stairs. His sharp cry of "shit" rang through the hallway, and he froze right there waiting to see if he'd awakened anyone. When a minute passed by without anyone poking their heads out of their room, he resumed his course into the master bedroom. He found his wife sleeping, sitting up in the rocking chair. She looked exhausted. He knelt down next to her and gently shook her arm.

"Donna? Why are you sleeping in the chair? Come to bed." Josh coaxed her into sleepwalking to the bed.

"I put Ally back to bed and then I was too tired to walk to the bed so I just sat down." She explained without opening her eyes.

"Get some sleep lying down, okay?" Josh tucked her in just as his daughter started to wail. Donna immediately sat up; startled awake.

"No, no. Go back to sleep. I just got home. I'll get her." Josh promised.

"She must be hungry again. God, Ben is right. She eats too much."

Josh chuckled. "You've got milk in the frig. I'll feed her." Josh kissed her forehead and pulled the comforter up to her chin again. She was asleep before he left the room.

Josh hurried down the hall as Ally's cries became more strident. Ben was sleeping through the noise now, but he doubted his in-laws would be as oblivious.

"Hey, what's all this noise?" he asked his infant daughter. "Are you hungry again, Allison Joan? Come here, Princess. I've got just what you want downstairs." Josh put her on his shoulder and jiggled her to calm her while he went downstairs and warmed up the milk. Donna forbade him from using the microwave to warm up the milk so the whole process took longer, but he just kept talking to Ally.

"You should have seen Sam tonight, Princess. He kicked Taylor's ass." Josh paused while he reviewed his words. "Ummm... We don't have to mention that phrase to Mommy, okay? Anyway, Sam did great." Josh tested the milk on his forearm just like Donna had taught him when Ben first came home; still too cold. "No, no, no more crying. Supper's on the way...well, maybe not supper. Let's call it your post midnight snack."

Ally paused briefly then resumed her crying.

"I know! How about a song? What's the one Mommy's been singing to you? Ummm...Oh, I got it. You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy, when skies are grey..." Josh continued the song since it seemed to distract his daughter, but he honestly wasn't sure if it worked because it sounded reasonably like Donna's version or because he sang it so badly that it simply shocked her. Either way, it worked until the bottle was warm enough.

She drank greedily from it the moment he put it near her mouth. Josh chuckled at the grateful look she gave him for providing the food at last.

"Looks like you got saddled with your daddy's patience, kiddo. That can't be good for either of us, but we'll let it go for now. Did you have fun with Grandma and Grandpa tonight? You had them wrapped around your little finger the first time they laid eyes on you. Think you could teach me that trick?"

Ally made no comment, but continued to suck down the milk.

"In exchange, I will teach you to be a master politician. You could be this country's very first female President, Allison Joan. When you get a little older, I'll tell you all about your Aunt Joanie. She would've gone nuts over you. And you would've loved her too. She would have played piano for you and taught you to dance. She was my best friend even though we teased each other a lot. Brothers and sisters do that. I'm sure you and Ben will too. I really miss her at times like this, Ally." Josh shook off the melancholy. "Okay, kiddo, give it up a minute. You need to burp." Josh wrestled her for control of the bottle, her mouth holding on tight. Finally he removed it from her mouth and put her on his shoulder. He walked around the living room slowly while he patted her back. He stopped short when he saw a shadow at the edge of the room.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to startle you." Tom Moss admitted and stepped into the low light. "I heard the baby crying and thought I could help, but you beat me to her. Now I'm wide awake."

"Piercing cries will do that to you." Josh offered a conciliatory smile which brought Tom further into the room.

"She's so beautiful." Tom noted. "Looks just like Donna did at that age."

"Then I've got my work cut out for me, since Donna just keeps getting more beautiful every day. I may need to learn how to fire a gun after all." Josh teased.

"About that...My wife pointed out to me, in no uncertain terms, that it was extremely tactless of me to talk about hunting with you. I'm...uh...sorry about that."

"That's okay." Josh accepted the apology immediately. "I'm glad people can forget about the shooting. I wish I could."

"Donna told us, some time back about the PTSD business. Does that still... I don't know, affect you?"

Josh gave a half smile and continued to rub Ally's back. "Not as much as before, but once in awhile it crops up again; when there's extreme stress or when there's an unexpected loud noise. When Donna was first brought to the emergency room for the pre-eclampsia...I had trouble for several days. I really don't know how I functioned without her."

Tom Moss seemed to take that in. "You've had a pretty long day today."

"Tomorrow will be worse." Josh predicted.

"Then why don't you hand over my granddaughter and go get some sleep." Tom suggested and held out his arms, but Josh hesitated. "I've done this before you know; three times!"

Josh weighed the delight of holding his daughter against the thought of a few hours of uninterrupted sleep.

"That would be great. Thanks." Josh transferred Ally to her grandfather's arms.

Tom's face lit up. "Are you ready for more, Allison Joan?" Tom asked and took a seat to continue feeding her.

"Goodnight." Josh kissed his daughter's head and walked wearily toward the stairs.

"Josh...just for the record? Ally here isn't the only one who's got Anna Moss wrapped around their finger. My wife thinks you walk on water; has ever since Germany. As for me, well, now that you have a daughter of your own, you can probably understand better that no man could ever be good enough for your daughter. But I've been watching you all these years and I guess you come pretty damn close. You've done a good job with your family, and that impresses me more than any campaign

or job in the White House."

"Thank you, sir." Josh said quietly.

"It's Tom. Now go get some sleep before you fall where you're standing...and I don't think you should think about a singing career either." Tom joked.

"Uh...no." Josh agreed. "Goodnight Tom."

Tom Moss watched him take the stairs, then whispered to the baby in his arms, "We're still going to put him through his paces though, right Princess?" Ally gurgled happily and her grandfather went about rocking her back to sleep.

 

Chapter 21

"Read the statement again, Fred." Josh insisted.

"Senator Taylor will be unable to participate in the final debate due to a cold that's affecting his voice. If time allows, we will reschedule this event." Billy read off the fax.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me!" Josh exploded.

"Josh..." Peyton admonished him. "You're going to scare the children."

"Who are you referring to as `children'?" Billy asked.

"Can we set up an alternate date this late in the game?" Sam asked.

"The election is only 8 days away and our schedule is packed. I don't see how we can- Shit." Josh paced his office tossing a squishy ball from hand to hand.

"We're still up by 4." Billy reminded everyone.

"Yeah, but the plus/minus is 3 points." Peyton pointed out. "That means we're in a statistical tie. Taylor doesn't want to stand side by side with Sam. The last direct comparison hurt him. It doesn't matter if we reschedule, he won't be able to make it. I guarantee it."

Josh persisted in his pacing.

"We should go ahead with the debate." Billy laughed. "I could stand in for Taylor."

Josh stopped in his tracks. "Say that again!"

"We should go ahead-"

"No, the other part."

"I was just joking about standing in for Taylor. Sorry, I know this is serious." Billy apologized.

"That's exactly what we'll do!" Josh clapped Billy on the shoulder.

"You're not concerned about the fact that Billy looks nothing like Taylor?" Sam asked.

"Fred's much too handsome and smart to be mistaken for Taylor, right Jenny?" Josh tossed the question to the young woman who'd been working with Billy. Josh had noticed soulful glances and lingering touches between the two and took this opportunity to give his tacit permission and, of course, to give Billy a hard time.

Jenny turned red but nodded her head in agreement. Billy shook his head ruefully.

"Listen to me, young Jedi. You find a woman as smart and accomplished as our Jenny here, you'd do well to try and take her to dinner or something classy before it's too late and someone beats you to it."

"Excuse me, Dear Abby?" Toby broke in. "Could you get back to the debate and the brilliant brainstorm you had that you neglected to share with the rest of us."

"We'll get a substitute for Taylor in the debate." Josh smiled and looked around the room, but everyone was looking back at him blankly. "We can't get Taylor, so we'll use a substitute; in fact we'll use several. We start running ads, using local radio and newspapers, asking for Taylor supporters to come to the debate site and debate with Sam. They could even use Taylor's own words if they want to."

"And you think Taylor's camp is going to be okay with this?" Peyton asked.

"They're going to HATE it." Josh's dimples popped out. "Fortunately for me, Taylor is unable to speak due to his delicate medical condition. It's not his fault. As people get older, their bodies have more difficulty fighting off infections. But meanwhile, we're ready for a debate, we've got the auditorium rented; why not use it?"

"TV isn't going to cover it." Toby mentioned.

"Not the whole thing, no. But you can bet your ass they'll be playing highlights. In fact, I'll put a hundred down that the national media will cover it, which they weren't going to do before now." Josh offered. There was silence for a good minute.

"I'll get in touch with the media to place the ads." Billy announced.

"We're going to need to change your style for this. Debating average citizens requires a different tone than debating a seasoned politician. Do we have anything on the schedule we can scratch to make room for another run through?" C.J. asked.

"We're pretty strapped." Peyton looked over the schedule. "If we travel with him to the event tonight, we'll have an hour each way to work."

"Let's do it." C.J. decided. "Josh, you get to call Danny and tell him he's on his own with Tommy tonight. He'll be delighted, I'm sure."

"Why am I being punished?" Josh called out to her.

"Sometimes, it's just fun for me to watch." C.J. explained and went out the door.

"This just isn't fair." Josh muttered.

"I could make the call for you." Jenny offered shyly. Josh looked over at her and smiled.

"That would be great. Thanks, Jenny."

"No...thank you." She answered cheekily and winked at him before going to make `the call'.

********************************************

"I'm saying, that he's going to have to give short answers so it doesn't feel like he's filibustering the other speakers." Donna reiterated.

"Yeah, C.J. and Peyton are on it. They're going to practice a more relaxed style with him tonight. How are the kids?" Josh asked.

"You saw them just a few hours ago. You're trying to distract me." Donna accused him.

"Didn't work, huh?" Josh teased. "I have better luck distracting you in person."

"Well, sure. Then you can use all your considerable...skills." Donna purred in to the phone. "What Dad?...It's on the top shelf."

"Donna...tell me your father isn't standing right next to you while we're talking about sex."

"We have two children, Joshua. In fact, Dad's holding one of them right now. I'm pretty sure he's figured out we've had sex." Donna laughed.

"Donna!...Please, God, will you stop? I mean I just got on a decent footing with your father and now you're...just stop!" Josh begged, but Donna kept laughing.

"Dad, you know I have sex with my husband, right?" Donna asked.

"Please, Donna. No Father wants to hear that." Tom Moss replied.

"See?!!" Josh felt vindicated.

"Donna, stop teasing your father." Anna Moss instructed.

"Actually, I was teasing Josh, Mom."

"Well, that's different then. Go ahead." Anna gave her approval.

"Hey! I thought your mom liked me!" Josh protested.

"She does. But there's this thing called `The Sisterhood-"

"Sisterhood." Josh said at the same time. "I'm switching topics now. What do you think of having some graphics on the big screen showing where each candidate stands on key issues during the debate?"

"We'll need to pull them from a neutral site." Donna replied.

"Why? If Taylor wants neutral, he should show up."

"Josh...Let me look up the League of Women Voters stats. Nobody can complain about bias if we pull them directly from there and note the source on the screen."

"Fine. Have it your way."

"I usually do." Donna noted. "I'll put it together. Are you vetting any of these volunteers for the debate?"

"Fred's running it, but just for basic information, to make sure they are who they say they are."

"When he gets the info, have him forward it to me. We can put that info up on the screen too, so people can see who these people are. I'm thinking maybe we should change the stage set up too. Podiums are awfully intimidating for the average Joe. Maybe have a Meet the Press type set with a round table kind of feel. Have you found someone to moderate it yet?"

"We don't really need a moderator anymore, do we?"

"Josh!" Donna shouted into the phone. "Of course you do! Who is going to introduce each participant and give at least the appearance of impartiality?"

"Well, Bob Barker retired so..."

"Honestly. I'll get on this. It's tomorrow at 7, Joshua!"

"I'm so lucky to have you, Donnatella."

"That bit of misdirection isn't going to work either. Tell BILLY to send me the data."

"I love you, Donna." Josh threw in before she hung up.

"I love you too, idiot."

*****************************************

"You're the campaign manager. Why don't you know who is moderating the debate?" Sam asked.

"I delegated." Josh smiled. "Donna's on it Sam. Has Donna EVER let us down?"

"No, but we're already flying by the seat of our pants on this one and I'd just like to know who-"

"There she is now." Josh beamed at the sight of his wife with their baby girl in her arms. He was so enthralled by the image that he didn't even notice who she was talking to right away.

"Ummm...Josh? Isn't that Bill Maher?" Sam asked.

"Holy shit. It is Bill Maher." Josh's smile grew wider. "I love that guy, even though he gives equal time to Republicans. Let's go say `hi'." Josh climbed down from the stage and walked directly to his wife in order to steal his daughter. She was wide awake and looking all around her.

"Hey, Princess. Did you come to see Daddy?" Josh crooned.

"This is the pit bull?" Bill asked Donna in disbelief.

"No, this is the doting Father. The pit bull comes out later." Donna assured him. "Bill Maher this is my husband Josh Lyman."

The men shook hands. "I'm a big fan." Josh admitted.

"Then why couldn't my producers ever get you on my show?" Bill asked.

"Until very recently I've been employed by the President. It's hard to do the President's business and do guest shots on entertainment shows, even the good ones that are centered around politics and social commentary."

"Does that mean you'd be open to come on now?" Bill asked pointedly.

"Call me after the election. I'd be happy to do your show." Josh promised. "This is Sam Seaborn."

"You've really been shaking things up around here." Bill said as he shook Sam's hand.

"Is that good or bad?" Sam responded.

"I think it's good, but then it's my vocation in life to shake things up."

"I've noticed." Sam answered. "It's an unexpected surprise to have you here. I'm assuming, that Donna being her ever efficient self, gave you a run down on the change in our plans here?"

"She did. Who do you think is advising Taylor to dodge the debate?" Maher inquired.

"Somebody who's going to have a tough time finding a job after this." Josh noted. "The change in the format and the obvious absence of the Republican nominee is generating far more press than it would if he'd just shown up like he'd promised. CNN is covering part of the debate live tonight. The rest they're going to post on their website. So far, the only response from the Taylor contingent has been that they are trying to work out a date and time to reschedule."

"They also noted that this debate was a sham and a publicity stunt." Sam noted.

"Okay, so walk me through where you want me." Bill requested and Donna led him on stage pointing out where he would be seated and showing him where the various participants would be coming onstage to join him and Sam.

Sam plucked Allison Joan out of Josh's arms. "You forget how small they start out. Hey, Ally. Do want to come up on stage with me? The cameras would love you!"

Josh took her back. "No cameras for this one." Josh accepted that he and Donna were part of the public domain, but they both went to great lengths not to include the children in that environment. Virginia White Pride might be waning in influence, but there were plenty of other crackpots to take their place. The more anonymous his kids were, the happier he was. "Get up there and run through a few things with Bill and the other participants.

Sam obeyed and moved onstage. Several of the people who would be debating with him had arrived nervous about this event. Josh watched Sam do his magic and easily relax them with his comfortable conversational style. By the time he was done with them, they looked far more in awe of Bill Maher than Sam Seaborn.

Donna came back to him and stroked Ally's arm. "Thanks for bringing her with you. I've only seen her asleep in the last couple days."

"I know. Just one more week and we'll be off the Merry Go Round for awhile." Donna told him. "What should we do with our free time once we're done here?"

"I was under the impression that 2 weeks of our free time would be spent in Wisconsin." Josh muttered.

"About that....I was thinking that my parents hardly ever get alone time with Ben. Maybe he could stay with them while we have some alone time..somewhere else? We'd have to keep Ally with us, since I'm still nursing, but-"

"I like the way you think, Donnatella." Josh gave his wife a lingering kiss.

"If you can tear yourself away from your beautiful women for minute, we have a question for you!" Sam shouted.

Donna could feel Josh's lips form a smile against hers, but continued kissing her.

"Josh?!" Sam called again.

Josh finally broke off the kiss. "There are more important things than elections, Samuel." But he vaulted onstage without use of the stairs. "Now, what do you need?"

**********************************

"...I just don't get why you Democrats are always cutting off our military at the knees." Steve from Sacramento said emphatically from his chair across from Sam and next to Bill Maher.

"On the contrary, Steve, we most certainly see the value in a well trained military force that is given the best materials to work with. Where we typically diverge from the Republican platform is in our urgency to send our military force off like Rambo."

"But Sam you have to concede that the military seems to lose power and funding under Democratic leadership as opposed to your Republican counterparts." Bill intervened as he had all evening when he felt the issue needed more discussion.

"I will concede that Democratic leaders prefer to find other ways to handle our disputes other than by military force. But that doesn't mean when push comes to shove we don't want a well armed, well trained military to step in. Steve, I've had the privilege of meeting many of the brave men and women who work on the bases all over California. What concerns me most is that many of them joined the military in a last ditch effort to get an education that they otherwise couldn't access."

"But that's good." Steve argued. "This way they can get an education and serve their country."

"In theory, yes. But what happens when we find that the military is made up of a disproportionate number of our country's impoverished citizens? Why is it that the people who have no other options end up being sent far from home to make sacrifices for the part of the population who make the decisions to send the military? In other words, Congress and the President, largely made up of white, upper class, men send the children of our nations' poorest families to fight. I don't think that's fair."

"Does that answer your question, Steve?" Bill confirmed.

"Yeah, but I don't know how we'd do things any different." Steve admitted. "It's worked for us so far."

"But that doesn't mean there isn't a better way. Boats got us across the Pacific, but I'd much prefer to take a plane, wouldn't you?" Sam replied and Steve laughed.

"I guess so. Thanks for your time, Mr. Seaborn." Steve shook Sam's hand and the last participant was introduced.

"Sam, this is Alex, she's a junior studying biology, and this is her fist vote in a Gubernatorial election. She told us she hasn't made a decision about who she's going to vote for yet, but her family all lean Republican."

"Hi, Alex. It's nice to meet you. You don't happen to live in Orange County, do you?" Sam quipped, but Alex looked lost by the reference. "Never mind. What are you and I debating about?"

"I've never voted for Governor before, but I may not vote at all because I don't know what the difference is between the candidates. A lot of my peers feel the same way. So the issue I'd like to debate with you is whether or not young adults should vote or not."

"Okay. Let me ask you this; what issues are you concerned about, what gets your blood pressure boiling or makes you want to participate in the system?"

"I don't know. I mean, I guess there isn't any one thing. And from what I see it doesn't really matter who sits in the Governor's seat. Politicians make promises when they're running but nothing really changes."

"If nothing really changes, it's because citizens don't hold politicians accountable. Elected officials can only get away with what we let them get away with." Sam opined.

"Are you saying that the President's you worked for always kept their campaign promises?" Alex asked.

"I can't say that, Alex, but I can say they did their best to keep those promises and if they failed they told the people why. These are very difficult jobs, if you do them right. There were days I left the White House walking on clouds because we'd gotten something important done. Other days, I wanted to crawl into bed and never got back to the White House again. But you know what? I did. You need to find a leader who will persevere even against unbelievable odds."

"Even if we did get involved in the system, nobody listens to college students." Alex complained.

"That's because statistically, your age group is the least likely to vote or protest about any issue. You said it yourself; you don't know what issues are really important to you. Until you do, my free advice is not to vote." Sam concluded.

"You're telling this young woman to stay away from the voting booth?" Bill laughed. "Ladies and Gentlemen, Democracy in action."

"No, I'm telling her not to vote until she knows what issues are important to her and which candidate best reflects those views. People who listen to debates and research the candidates, don't deserve to have their vote cancelled out because someone else cast a vote based on who their family members are voting for, or who the best looking candidate is. The election process takes time and effort, but more than anything it needs the respect of the participants."

"So I shouldn't vote this time?" Alex asked.

"You've still got a week to make some choices. The list of issues and candidates positions on those issues that have been displayed on our screen off and on all night, have also been printed out on hard copies. They are at every exit of this auditorium and posted on the League of Women Voters website; which is a non-partisan group. Read through the information and check off the positions you agree with. Put a little thought into it and debate the issues with friends and family. When you feel you know why you're voting for the candidate, then you should go vote." Sam advised.

"But don't you want to try to convince me to vote for you?" Alex laughed. "I thought that was the point of this thing tonight."

"No, the point of `this thing' tonight was to give people a chance to talk about issues that are important to them and hear where I stand on those issues. I can't, and shouldn't, change my views in order to get more votes. If you vote for me for Governor, you get what you see here."

"That's a strange sales pitch." Bill noted.

"Democracy only works when people show up and make informed decisions. I want to be Governor. I know I'd do a good job for the State of California. But Alex, and her friends, need to decide that for themselves."

"Thanks Alex." Bill Maher dismissed the college student. "That wraps it up for us at this most unusual debate. I hope you've learned some valuable information on issues that are important to you and got a clearer picture of where each candidate stands. You heard the man. There's one week left until the election. Get informed and then go vote. Good night."

Josh clapped along with the rest of the audience. They'd gone over the time allotted but since they didn't have to contend with television coverage timelines, it really didn't matter. Sam had been disarming, charming, and eloquent. CNN had covered the first 1_2 hour live as promised, and then they devoted the next hour to a round table discussion of this unusual event and the Governor's race in California. Taylor had to be suffering a coronary by now. His name had hardly been mentioned.

He had received several calls from Kevin Kahn before and during the debate, but had sent them all to voice mail. Billy had brought a phone to him that supposedly had Kevin on the other end, but Josh simply mouthed, `you can't find me right now' and Billy passed that message along. Now it was time to return the call.

"Fred? Get Kevin Kahn for me will you?" Josh asked. Josh was perfectly able to make a phone call on his own, but one thing he'd learned from Leo was that you were only as important as you appeared to be. Important, powerful men rarely placed their own calls, especially to people they considered to be unworthy of their effort; Kevin surely fit in that category.

When Billy brought him the phone, he took it from him with a wink.

"Josh Lyman." He answered with a characteristic smirk.

"What the hell do you think you're doing over there Lyman? Why didn't you return any of the 6 calls I made to you?" Kevin demanded.

"Six calls? That's a lot. My assistant must be falling down on the job. Although I'm not sure it's really her fault either. We've been so busy with adapting the debate tonight. Anyway, what's the problem Kevin?" Josh asked affably, while Billy had trouble holding the laughter in. Josh put the phone on speaker so Billy could share in the fun.

"You know damn well what the problem is. CNN covered 30 minutes of that circus you produced over there. That's an equal time issue. We're going to court and file a grievance."

"Sounds like you might have a grievance against CNN, but we had nothing to do with their decision to air part of the debate. How's Taylor's throat? I've got some great lozenges over here. I could messenger them over to you."

"Screw you, Lyman. This publicity stunt has your fingerprints all over it." Kevin sneered/

"And faking an illness to get out of debating an opponent has your fingerprints all over it. Looks like that little piece of advice backfired on you buddy." Josh shot back. "You should see the press gathered here tonight. Oh, wait, one of the cameras has MSNBC on it. I bet if you turn on your TV you can get a live shot."

"Sam is going to be hit with campaign law violations. I am personally going to take him out. It's ethics all the way with the Bartlet boys, isn't it." Kevin stated.

"You can't even spell ethics, Kahn. And while we're being up front with one another, if you threaten the Democratic candidate for Governor again, you'll be sitting in a holding cell while you wait for bail. Jesus, did you think I've never run a campaign before? We're well within the limits of campaign law."

"We offered to reschedule!" Kevin ignored most of Josh's statement.

"And that was very sweet, but we don't have time in our schedule anywhere else. It was a very interesting debate. You should log onto our website and watch the whole thing. Some of the Taylor supporters were more articulate than their standard bearer."

"We're not done with this." Kevin threatened.

"Not yet, no, but there's only a few more days and our lead is growing." Josh noted. Billy raised his eyebrows at that statement, wondering if it was true or not. Josh shrugged his shoulders as if to say `it could be...who knows?'. Billy shook his head at Josh's bravado.

"Good luck with that court thing, Kevin. And let me know if you change your mind about the lozenges." Josh flipped the phone shut.

"That man is wigging out." Billy shared his expert opinion.

"That's bad for him, right?" Josh asked as he draped his arm over Billy's shoulder. "I'm too old to keep track of the latest lingo. We're just about done here. It looks like Jenny is hungry. You should probably feed that woman before she faints."

"What is with you and the matchmaking lately?" Billy demanded.

"I'm feeling all powerful, Fred. I've got the Midas touch right now. Everything I touch turns to gold."

"Ah-kay." Billy replied.

"Didn't my idea for the debate tonight reap huge rewards?" Josh asked.

"Actually, I think it was my idea originally." Billy corrected smiling.

"Don't ever correct your boss, Fred; bad career move." Josh said in a low tone. "The kernel of the idea may have been yours, due to the extensive time you've been spending at my side, but the final product and the execution were all mine....Look at this scene, Fred; nothing but sweet victory. I drink from the keg of glory. Bring me the finest muffins and bagels in all the land." "For God's sakes, Joshua, leave the poor boy alone. Run Billy. Run far and fast." Donna advised and Billy obligingly slipped out from under Josh's arm and made a beeline for Jenny.

"The finest muffins and bagels in all the land?" Donna questioned.

"It was an homage to the old days. I thought you'd appreciate it." Josh pulled her into his arms.

"The old days weren't that golden and glorious to me." Donna replied.

"They were too." Josh disputed. "I looked forward to coming into work every day, well most every day, just to see your smiling face."

"You are SO full of shit." Donna laughed.

"Way to talk in front of our daughter, Donna. Wait! Where IS our daughter?" Josh looked around.

"The shoe drops." Donna deadpanned. "Ainsley has her."

"Well make her give Ally back. She has her own baby daughter." Josh sounded like a petulant child. "Hey Ainsley, bring that child back here." He shouted but Ainsley just smiled and turned away from him.

"She's ignoring me."

"That's almost hard to believe." Donna drawled. "So what victory were you celebrating with Billy?"

"Just a little conversation with Kevin Kahn. He is SO pissed, Donna. He's filing grievances in court, and starting a media frenzy, yadda, yadda, yadda. He was quite rude."

"Honestly." Donna shook her head.

"I know! And that was after I offered to messenger over some lozenges." Josh agreed.

"What? No German nurse?"

"No German nurse. Neither Taylor nor Kahn deserve one." Josh decreed.

"Did he really think he could intimidate you into calling off the debate?"

"I think he did. So when I didn't return his call until after the debate, he was quite vexed."

"It went really well tonight. It was a brilliant idea." Donna told him.

"Does this mean you'll bring me muffins and bagels?" Josh asked.

"Have I ever done that before?"

"No, much to my disappointment."

"Then I wouldn't expect anything to change now." Donna advised him. "Go get our daughter so we can go home."

Josh hurried to comply and after a short tussle, got Ally back from Ainsley.

"Hey Donna, the powerpoint you made for tonight was fabulous." Peyton complimented her.

"Thanks. You and C.J. had Sam looking relaxed and in control. He's going to get another bump from this and that will seal the deal." Donna predicted.

"You can feel it too, can't you?" Peyton asked quietly. "The gathering momentum?"

Donna didn't answer verbally but simply nodded her head while she watched the next Governor of California tickle her daughter. "He's come a long way, our Sam."

 

Chapter 22

"Are you sure that's not her?" Josh asked again.

"Yes, I'm sure." Donna replied AGAIN. "Try to get some sleep."

"I can't. I'm too wired." Josh sat up and turned on the TV. "She wakes up every night around this time. Why doesn't she wake up on the one night I actually want her to?"

"Well, you could go in and wake her." Donna suggested while trying to block the light from the TV with a pillow.

There was a slight pause, then she felt the bed shift. "Joshua Lyman, don't you dare wake that child."

"Fine. I'm going downstairs to get a snack." He announced.

Josh rummaged around in the kitchen, but nothing looked particularly appetizing. He ended up getting a beer and some chips while he paced around the kitchen.

"My God, Joshua, are you always this distraught on the night before an election?" Ruth asked from the doorway. "It's a wonder Donna hasn't smothered you with a pillow."

Josh gave a short laugh. "She's exceedingly tolerant of me." He popped a couple more chips in his mouth.

"I'm in the mood for some eggs." Ruth decided and got some ingredients out. "Would you like some?"

"Sure, why not?" Josh replied easily but kept pacing.

"Then get me some eggs out of the frig and I'll make you some."

Josh's eyebrow quirked but he got the eggs out and handed them to his mother.

"Tom and Anna sure enjoyed the time here." Ruth began.

"I know. It meant a lot to Donna that they came too." Josh replied.

Ruth started stirring everything together in her bowl. "You never answered me before. Are you like this the night before every election you work on?"

"Usually I'm much worse." Josh admitted. "If you'd seen me on the first Santos campaign you'd have had me committed. It was a razor tight race. At least this time, I'm spared that type of stress."

"Okay, then what are you stressed about?"

"Sam is about to make me an offer I'll have to refuse." Josh explained rubbing his hand across his face.

"You think he'll want you on staff here."

"I know he does."

"And you'll have to refuse that offer?" Ruth confirmed.

"Yeah...."

"Because..."

"Well, first and foremost, California isn't the place for our family. We all miss home and life in D.C. We've been here for months. It's time to go home."

"What's the other reason?" Ruth asked while she scrambled the eggs.

"These are new waters that Sam is wading into. We've always done the political stuff together. He doesn't think there's any other way. I can't give him the kind of help he's going to need as Governor. He needs a California native who knows the players and the territory. And most of all, he needs to know he can do this without me. His political career isn't going to end as Governor of California."

"Why haven't you told him that?" Ruth prodded as she scooped half the eggs onto a plate and handed it to her son.

"Because he'd freak, and he doesn't need to freak going into Election Day." Josh explained. "We'll talk once all this is through. Mmmm...these are good, Mom."

Ruth got her plate and indicated he should sit down at the table with her. He rolled his eyes but sat down nonetheless.

"Then what's the great Joshua Lyman plan once you return to D.C?"

"We're going to just take some down time for awhile. Stay home and play with the kids. I really don't have a desire to go back to the Chief of Staff position."

Ruth looked at him pointedly. "Then what's after that? You always have a next step planned."

"I honestly don't know, Mom." Josh admitted. "I've had offers to write a book, teach political science, and run for office. None of them feel right."

"You've been a very busy man for a lot of years, Josh. I think things will be clearer to you when you and your family are back where you belong." Ruth told him. "As for me, I'm going to take a vacation too. My friends from Synagogue, Kitty and Frances, are taking a cruise and have asked me along."

"Just when did you decide this?" Josh asked sullenly.

"A few weeks ago."

"Why didn't you tell me then?"

"Because you'd freak out and you don't need to be freaking out before Election Day." Ruth shot his own words back at him.

"I hate it when you do that." Josh said with his famous smirk. "There's no way we can tell you how much we appreciate all your help, Mom. You should have fun with your friends and have time on your own. You'll still visit right?"

"Visit? Are you kicking me out, Joshua?"

"No, of course not, I just thought-"

"You think too much." Ruth admonished him. "I'm going to take some time with my friends, while you take some time with your beautiful family. Then I'll come back and you'll have decided what's next."

"It's that simple?" Josh asked and his mother nodded. "Okay, but just so you know, if you ever get to the point where it's too much-"

"I'll tell you." Ruth promised. "I feel so very lucky to be part of your lives. For so long it was just you and I and we hardly ever saw each other. Now you've given me a new daughter and two darling grandchildren. I can't imagine circumstances where I wouldn't want to be part of this next generation on a daily basis...Finish your eggs and go get some sleep."

***********************************

"Did you get any sleep last night?" Donna asked.

"Not much." Josh answered.

"There's nothing to feel guilty about Joshua." As usual, Donna could read his thoughts as easily as if he'd spoken out loud. "You promised Sam you'd help him ith his campaign. That was it."

"Then why does it feel like this?"

"Josh, do you want to stay in California?"

"Hell, no!...Wait, do you?"

"I want to go home." Donna said simply.

"Me too." Josh agreed. "Now I've just got to tell Sam."

"It will be fine." Donna assured him. "Get into the office and get your friend elected.

*********************************************************

"Good job at the polling place, Samuel." Josh called out when Sam entered HQ with Ainsley.

"Thanks, it was my first time voting, so that means a lot to me." Sam rolled his eyes.

"You charmed all the polling volunteers and a whole swarm of coeds showed up hoping to touch your...hand." C.J. batted her eyes at him.

"When will we get the first exits?" Sam asked.

"We should have the first numbers in around 10, which is the same time I've been telling you since yesterday." Josh replied.

"FOX Noise wants to know if we're going to respond to the papers filed in court by the Taylor campaign." Billy shouted across the room to Josh.

Josh gestured with his hand over to Sam. "Ask the candidate."

"No, we're not going to....wait! Here it is: We are confident that when the litigation has been concluded there will be no doubt that this process was fair and aboveboard." Sam walked and talked while Billy scribbled the statement down furiously. "That sound okay to you?" Sam asked Josh who just shrugged.

"If it works for you, it works for me." Josh replied. Sam gave him a quizzical glance but said nothing out loud.

"Spanky, Tobus wants you to look at both speeches again before lunch. He's been tweaking." C.J. drawled.

"Can we work on you not calling me that in public? Or, you know, anywhere else?" Sam asked.

"Sure." C.J. consulted her watch. "It's 9 o'clock now, I figure they're going to call this sucker by 10...11 at the latest. Once that happens, if your title has changed, I will no longer call you Spanky; at least not in front of people."

"You're too good to me." Sam drawled.

"Don't I know it." She replied. "Plus, this campaign owes me 3 round trip tickets to Europe."

"I don't think the campaign can legally buy your family tickets to Europe, Ceej." Josh interrupted.

"See? It's illegal! Sorry, C.J." Sam quipped.

"Yeah, campaigns can't finance things like that." Josh confirmed. "Sam will have to cut you a personal check for that."

"Josh!" Sam protested.

"Sam!" Josh whined back. "You owe her."

"I owe her? I didn't even know she was coming back here. That was all your doing." Sam argued.

"That's right it was....My bad." Josh grinned and hastily retreated to his office.

The first round of exits were promising; not landslide promising, but certainly a very positive sign. Still, Josh remained in his office on the phone with Billy scurrying back and forth between Josh's office and the designated area for reviewing media coverage of the election.

"Hey, Billy, is he hibernating in there or something?" Sam asked.

"He's on the phone. Do you need him?"

"No, I'm fine. It's just that usually he's everywhere on Election Day." Sam mused.

"Maybe he's mellowing in his old age?' Billy suggested.

"I am SO telling him you said that." Peyton added as he joined them. "Sam, have you decided who you'd like to introduce you tonight after results come in?"

"I'm not sure. Let me go ask Josh." Sam requested, but Peyton stopped him by grabbing his arm.

"Josh told me to ask you." Peyton told him and Sam's eyebrows drew close together in a suspicious face.

"Billy, Josh IS in his office, right? He didn't skip out for a few hours at Disney?"

"No, Sam, Josh is in his office. I think he's talking to one of the local radio stations right now." Billy replied.

"Peyton, I'd like you to do the introduction. Are you okay with that?" Sam asked.

"I'd be honored." Peyton responded.

"Sam, it's Donna." Ainsley said as she held out the phone to him.

"Will you tell her I'll call her back shortly? I need to check with Josh about something." Sam requested and Ainsley reluctantly nodded and made his excuses.

Sam knocked twice quickly and opened Josh's door. His old friend looked up as Sam entered but continued with his phone interview.

"...we've seen a lot of movement in the last week, especially in the 25-35 year old demographics....Well, yes, his numbers among women are very...encouraging. I'm sure they're very impressed with his policy initiatives... We remain cautiously optimistic about the results today...No, usually my arrogance will make wide, sweeping predictions of victory in an election, but we have several superstitious staff members that would hang me out the 20th story window and watch me fall if I did that today. So you see, it's really just self preservation on my part...Your welcome, thanks for having me. Remind your listeners to get to the polls and vote...Thank you." Josh hung up and looked over at Sam.

"What do you need, my friend?" Josh asked.

"Nothing, really, I just haven't seen you for awhile." Sam noted.

"Didja miss me?" Josh teased.

"A little bit, yeah." Sam replied honestly. "You've been holed up in here and people are throwing questions at me."

"You can handle it, Sam."

"So you keep saying." Sam scoffed. "According to your numbers, I'm about to become the Governor of California."

"Go outside, turn around 3 times, spit and curse." Josh teased again.

Sam just rolled his eyes and sat down across from Josh. "Why are you distancing yourself from me today?"

Josh regarded his friend for a minute. He really didn't want to have this conversation; but it needed to be said now, today. It was the reason Josh had made himself conspicuously absent so much of the day so far.

"You don't need me for this stuff today." Josh countered.

"It's Election Day. We spend Election Day together. It's tradition."

"Yeah, when we're running someone else's campaign. This is your campaign." Josh pointed out. "People need to stop looking at me for answers and directions. They need to take their cues from you."

`They are!" Sam protested.

"They're beginning to and you've stepped into the role very well. It's part of the reason I know you're going to be so good at this." Josh smiled, but it had more than a tinge of sadness to it.

"Why we'll be so good at this." Sam corrected him.

Josh shook his head but kept his eyes on Sam. "I can't do this with you, Sam. Part of me really wishes I could, but you don't need me. Deep down I think you already knew that. It's the reason why you haven't mentioned a word about transition or staffing to me."

"It's bad luck to talk about it before it's called." Sam insisted and made Josh chuckle. "Fine, let's talk about it then. Where should I start?"

"With a Chief of Staff." Josh answered simply.

"I already have the person I want in that job." Sam held his eyes.

"It can't be me. You know it can't. I don't know the players here well enough, and I don't belong in California. There's too much...sun and air around here."

"It's mostly filled with smog though." Sam countered.

"You'll fix that." Josh assured him. "We've been on the same path for a long time. It will be different after tonight, but it will be better in some ways too."

"I highly doubt that." Sam muttered. "I feel like I'm being dumped. You plant this idea in my head. You leave your job at the White House to get me here, and then you just pack your bags and leave?"

"Samuel, you know I love you, but you knew from the start we'd only have these short, few months together. I belong to another." Josh went into melodrama mode. Sam rolled his eyes and laid his head back against the chair.

"What is wrong with you?" Sam asked rhetorically.

"I don't think they have an official diagnosis." Josh got up from behind his desk and sat down in the chair next to Sam. "I know you're ready for this, the team knows you're ready for this, and the California electorate knows you're ready for this. The only one left to convince is you. It's been great watching you through this campaign. I can't wait to see you do your magic as Governor. But I'll be watching it from D.C."

Sam considered what his friend was saying. "Ben and Ally would really love to live here is all I'm saying. There's the ocean, the Disney resorts, and when Ben gets a little older, there are the bikini clad women everywhere." Sam offered.

"We'll be out to visit...often, I promise." Josh told him.

"Then you have to help me with one last thing. Help me find a Chief of Staff." Sam requested. Josh smiled and stood up. He walked to his door, opened it wide, and shouted.

"PEYTON!" Josh cocked his head waiting for the reply.

"Keep your pants on, Josh! I'm doing real work out here, not slacking in my office like some I could name." Peyton shot back.

"He really has spent too much time with Donna and Ainsley." Josh shook his head and made Sam laugh.

*******************************************

"Next round of exits are in." Donna called from Josh's doorway.

"Bring them to me." Josh replied.

"Excuse me?"

"Donna, it's Election Day. Cut me a little slack."

Donna just stood in the doorway with her arms crossed waiting. The papers Josh desperately wanted to look at in her hand. Josh got up from his desk and walked over to his wife. Her face was very stern, but her eyes were twinkling.

"Let me just take this opportunity to say how glad I am that you're here with me today." He kissed her forehead, then continued to bestow kisses across her face. When he reached her mouth, her face was tilted up towards his and her eyes were closed. His hands started massaging her shoulders then moved to stroke her arms while continuing to plunder her mouth. Josh pulled back a few inches to see her face then pulled her back into a tight embrace and rested his head on her shoulder.

"That was very nice." Donna whispered into his ear.

"No way is Taylor even with us in Marin County. FRED!" Donna looked over her shoulder to see that while her husband was making moves on her he had surreptitiously removed the exit numbers from her hand and was looking at them over her shoulder. Her mouth dropped in mock shock and anger. She started punching him in the gut and pummeling his shoulders.

"Cut it out!" Josh laughed while trying to capture her hands.

"You bellowed, Obiwan?" Billy asked from the doorway while he perused his own copy of the exits.

"Hold on, Billy. I'm going to kill Obiwan, and then we can go out for lunch, you and me." Donna told him while continuing to alternately punch and tickle her husband.

"Sounds good." Billy replied without looking up. "Hey, something's wonky in Marin County."

"This is what I'm saying." Josh called to him. "Get on it will you?"

"Sure."

"And don't use the word wonky around me again. It's just wrong." Josh instructed when he was finally able to restrain Donna's hands. He maneuvered her backwards until her legs hit the couch then gave her a final push so she ended up lying on the couch. Josh lay right on top of her and continued what he'd started earlier, just kicking it up a notch.

He heard her moan and he felt his body react to her. God, he loved this woman so much. He was so engrossed in his task that he didn't hear the door open again.

"Oh, for God's sake." Toby whined. "Don't be doin that stuff in here!"

"It's my office, Toby and you didn't knock. Now go away so I can ravish my wife." Josh returned his mouth to Donna's.

"I've got both speeches for you to look at." Toby persisted.

"Show them to Sam." Donna suggested as enjoyed Josh kissing her neck.

"This is how one of the country's best political operatives works?" Toby tried appealing to Josh's professionalism. He might as well have saved his breath.

"It's how I work best." Josh returned. "Stick around and you can see all my techniques."

Toby immediately locked the door and shut it behind him when he left.

"Poor Toby." Donna chuckled.

"Let's just concentrate on poor Josh for right now, okay?" Josh requested. "Poor Josh who hasn't had made love with his wife for months."

"Poor Josh who isn't going to get to make love with his wife today, either. I haven't had my six week check yet."

Josh dropped his forehead onto Donna's. "Is that REALLY necessary?"

"I'm afraid so." Donna said, but Josh noted she didn't look very sorry.

"I got precinct by precinct numbers for Marin County." Billy called and rattled the doorknob. "Open the damn door."

"Don't go in there son, you're much too young to see what's going on in there." They heard Toby tell Billy.

"I'll open the door, but you might want to take a seat BEHIND your desk first." Donna whispered.

***************************

Sam was on the floor playing with Caitlin while CNN, muted, played in the background.

"Come on Miss Caitlin; time for your lunch." Ainsley told her daughter. Sam picked her up, even though she was crawling all over the place these days, and brought her to the kitchen where he deposited her in her highchair.

"Sure you don't want anything, Sam?" Ainsley asked yet again.

"I'm fine; stop hovering. If I change my mind I am perfectly capable of fixing food for myself."

"I'm just saying that you didn't really eat much lunch and you've still got a long evening ahead of you."

"Yes, Mom."

Ainsley raised an eyebrow in a silent question. "It seems to me, that you may have, more on your mind than just the election, Samuel." He shrugged in reply but Ainsley just handed him Caitlin's food and waited for him to elaborate.

"I haven't heard a word from either of my parents. Not an email, not a phone call, nothing."

"Maybe they're waiting for the election to be called?" Ainsley suggested.

Sam smirked. "Their only child is running for Governor and they don't think to call and say `good luck' or `you've done well'?"

Ainsley sat in his lap while he fed Caitlin. "You have done well and you don't need luck for this. I'm so proud of you and how you've handled this campaign. If I could do something to fix this for you I would, but it's not something either of us can fix."

"Yeah."

"You've been broody since lunch. It's not just your parents." Ainsley guessed.

"Josh told me they're not staying if we win." Sam confessed.

"Of course they're not." Ainsley chided him. "That was never the plan. Why would you expect that had changed?"

"Because it was a long shot before. Now that it could actually happen, I thought they might-"

"Sam..."

"They could have changed their minds. They found a great home, they'd both be employed..."

"Sam..." Ainsley got a little more exasperated. "They left their jobs at the White House and came out here to run your campaign. Donna was pregnant and still they came. Don't turn this into a test of your friendship because your parents are too immature to think of their son before themselves."

"Is that what I'm doing?" Sam asked honestly.

"I strongly believe it is. Donna, Josh, Ben, and Ally are our family. They'll still be our family when they're in D.C. Plus now we've adopted Peyton and Billy."

"I don't know that I'm comfortable with that analogy." Sam drawled. Caitlin squealed her protest since her father had stopped feeding her to talk to her mother.

"I hear you." Sam laughed and got another mouthful of food on his spoon for her.

"She CAN do that herself you know." Ainsley teased.

"I know. But I like doing it and she's still letting me so..." He deposited his spoon in her mouth. "We'll finish lunch, take a nice long nap, and then head over to the hotel."

"Are you sure you want to bring her to the hotel? It's going to be a long night with lots of people and noise."

"She is absolutely going with us to the hotel. This is a big night and our daughter is going to be included." Sam was firm on that score, so Ainsley let it go.

"Once you two are done destroying the kitchen and you get this one down for a nap, come find me and I'll nap with you."

"That's a deal." Sam promised.

************************************************

The suite was buzzing with energy. The adults were gathered in one room and the adjoining bedroom was filled with children and their sitters. It was hard to determine which group was having more fun.

There was an air of expectation that you could feel the minute you stepped inside. Sam seemed to be relaxed and enjoying the gathering of friends and staff. Billy, Josh, Peyton, and C.J. were still running back and forth giving information to the media and getting the latest numbers. The polls were closing in 30 minutes and Sam was leading by 4 points according to the exits.

Donna was nursing Ally in the kid's room when Ainsley caught up with her.

"You look gorgeous, Ains." Donna complimented her.

"I think I got dressed to early. I'll be wilted by the time we go out there." Ainsley stroked A.J.'s head. "You must be looking forward to getting this precious one home."

"I am, but we'll miss the Seaborn family a lot." Donna smiled wanly.

"Likewise." Ainsley replied. "Sam was having a bit of a nutty about trying to convince Josh to stay."

"Josh was having a bit of a nutty thinking about how to tell his best friend `no'." Donna shot back. "Are you ready for this?"

"You know? I really am. This is going to open up all kinds of opportunities and I'm ready to do something with that." Ainsley smiled. "Sacramento ain't gonna know what hit `em." She drawled.

"Go Ainsley." Donna put Ally on her shoulder to burp her as Josh came in.

"Come on, Donna. It's my turn to hold her." Josh whined.

"I just finished feeding her, Josh." Donna scolded him. "Where is Ben?"

"Ben?" Josh looked wide eyed and innocent as he tried to remember where and with whom he'd left Ben.

"Yes, your son; your first born child." Donna reminded him.

"He's around..." Josh waved vaguely into the other room.

"Oh, Joshua..." Donna sighed.

"I was asked for a quote and Ben was squirming..."

"Yes...?" Donna prompted.

"I'm sure he's in the suite somewhere. Here, hand me Ally and we'll go find him." He held his arms out for his daughter.

"No way, I'm not giving you another child to lose until you retrieve the last one I gave you." Donna held Ally away from him. "The fact that I'm sure he's in the suite too, is the only thing that's saving your hide right now." Donna told him. Josh turned away calling for his son. Sam offered to help search.

"What a pair we married." Ainsley noted.

"Yeah. We really are pretty lucky." Donna smiled.

"I found him!" Josh called triumphantly right before re-entering the room with a giggling Ben being carried over his father's shoulder like a sack of potato's. "I'll trade you."

"Sold." Donna announced and passed Ally to Ainsley while she took Ben from Josh. After the exchange was navigated Sam joined them to show off how his very talented daughter was walking around. Billy watched from the doorway with mixed emotions. These people helped get two President's elected. C.J., Toby, and Danny could be heard arguing about something behind him. He was surrounded by this living history and yet he knew better than anyone these people he regarded as heroes were all too human.

After weeks of wondering, Sam had finally brought up the subject Billy had been waiting for. Sam had offered Billy a job in his administration. It was what Billy had dreamed of. It was what he'd worked for. It was what he was turned down; and he had a hard time believing that himself. Sam hadn't seemed too shocked by his refusal, but had only reiterated that it was a standing offer.

Josh hadn't said where he was going or what he'd be doing next. Billy doubted Josh had made up his mind at this point. But, wherever and whatever was next for Josh Lyman was next for Billy Fernandez. At least that was what Billy hoped.

***************************************

The polls had been closed for 2 hours before various networks were calling the election for Sam, but there was no word from Taylor. Sam had thought he was getting the call a few minutes earlier, but it had been President Bartlet and his wife who had been calling to offer their congratulations.

"That was the last local station. They're all calling the race. Why hasn't Taylor conceded yet?" Billy asked.

"Because he's a pompous windbag who doesn't want to admit defeat. He wants to stay in control just a little bit longer." Josh shook his head. "Asshole."

"Think you can work that into your speech, Tobus?" C.J. asked him.

"Nah. It lacks poetry." Toby answered before taking another sip of his drink.

"So we just have to wait?" Billy sounded annoyed and Josh slung an arm around his shoulder.

"Yep. We wait. And the waiting only makes Taylor look bad. Plus guess what?"

"What?" Billy asked on queue.

"Sam Seaborn is the Governor elect of California. Taylor can postpone it, but he can't prevent it." Josh proclaimed.

"To Governor elect Sam Seaborn." Josh called out. Everyone present raised their glasses and drank to the toast. Sam felt the last bit of resentment and bitterness about his parents leave him as he looked around this circle of friends. Ainsley was right; what were the odds? His family was here, in these people. That's what mattered most to him.

It was another hour before Taylor finally deigned to make his concession call. Sam went directly to the ballroom to greet the people who had worked so hard to help him get elected. He was holding Caitlin in one arm, and Ainsley with the other. Toby trailed behind him shouting out last minute instructions about the victory speech to which Sam would occasionally call out an `uh-huh' or `sure' just to give Toby the illusion he was being paid attention to.

When the Seaborn family walked out on stage, the place erupted in cheers and applause. Sam and Ainsley waved and smiled for the cameras for a few minutes, before Sam passed Caitlin to Ainsley and took the podium. Toby was standing behind him and Sam turned his head toward Toby but had to yell to be heard over the crowd.

"I'm sorry, Batman." He shouted and turned back to the podium.

Toby looked puzzled. "Sorry? What the hell is he sorry for?' he muttered. Josh shrugged but couldn't hold in the grin. "No. He is NOT going off the speech." Toby started to move forward but Josh held him back.

"Too late." Josh told him.

"Thank you so much!" Sam acknowledged their applause. "I just received a call from Senator Taylor." Someone shouted `It's about time!' from the crowd making Sam chuckle. "He has conceded the race." He paused while cheers went up again. "Everyone here, and many, many others across the state played important roles in bringing us to this point tonight."

"I am honored that the people of California have put their trust in my leadership. I am energized by the grass roots support that made this all possible. Together we are going to make California better, stronger, and safer. We will celebrate the tremendous diversity we enjoy while we ensure the security of everyone who lives here." He had to pause again for applause and wait for the noise to die down.

"I have lived a charmed life. I was raised by two parents who had the economic ability to feed me, clothe me, and send me to the best schools. I had health insurance so I got preventative care, stitches when I needed them, and an operation to remove my appendix. All these factors helped me get me to a point where I was hired by the President of the United States. I can't begin to tell you what I learned from President Bartlet and President Santos about what leadership is, I can only hope to demonstrate by example the things those fine men taught me."

"The people standing here with me; they've become my family. I owe them a debt of gratitude I can never repay. They have put their lives on hold, worked through many sleepless nights, and traveled the length and breadth of this state for no other reason than their belief in me. Thank you all so very much." Sam turned and clapped for all of them and exchanged a few hugs.

"We are going to take tonight and celebrate, but tomorrow...tomorrow we begin. We begin the challenging work ahead of us. We begin to bring all Californians together to accomplish tasks way too difficult for any one of us to achieve on our own. We begin to clean our air and water. We begin to show the nation that once again `Go West' means to be on the cutting edge of discovery; the cutting edge of technology, the cutting edge of alternative energy and the cutting edge of inclusive education. We begin tomorrow and we begin together!"

Josh turned raised eyebrows to Toby who shrugged. "He didn't exactly tank." Josh laughed and put one arm around Toby who was actually grinning. His other arm was around Donna whose eyes were suspiciously wet.

Ainsley and Caitlin were being pulled along with Sam as he walked through the ballroom shaking hands. The security detail that had started with the nomination was in full swing now and Josh imagined they would be having a word or two with the Governor elect about his choice of exits before long.

The rest of the people on stage walked slowly back towards the suite except for Billy. Josh told Donna he'd meet her upstairs and went to stand by the young man.

"How ya' doing?" Josh asked bumping shoulders with Billy.

"This is incredible." Billy said simply. "No wonder your ego is the size of Texas. You just go pick people and make them Governor, President, whatever. How do you do that?" Billy turned to look Josh in the eye. "I mean, I've watched you for years from a distance, and for months up close and I still don't know how you do it." Billy seemed frustrated by his inability to figure out this magic formula.

"You find someone who knows more than you do, who has more experience than you do and you watch and listen and soak up as much as you can. Then, one day, when they tell you you're ready, you go out and find someone you believe in and you work like a dog and if you're extremely lucky...you help a good candidate get elected so they can make a difference." Josh answered without a trace of his usual cockiness.

"What are you going to do now?" Billy asked him.

"I don't know. You?" Josh countered.

"When you know then I'll know." Billy smiled.

"I'm taking a few weeks off, maybe a few months. You should take the job Sam's going to offer you." Josh advised him.

"Already turned it down." Billy shrugged. "I'll take a break too. Then I'll head over to D.C. and cut your grass or sort your mail until you figure it out."

"You would get so much experience working for Sam. You should reconsider."

"I won't." Billy stated firmly.

"Why not?" Josh threw the question at him.

"After the crash was lifted, during our Presidential classroom visit? You started to say something to me, but then you stopped yourself. What were you going to say?" Billy asked instead of answering Josh's question.

Josh leaned back against the side of the stage and pondered on that moment. "What if I don't remember?"

Billy scoffed. "What if I'm a Republican?"

Josh rolled his eyes dramatically. "What I was going to say, was that the next few years might be...challenging, but the end result would be worth the work. The kids that make fun of you for always studying and working on local campaigns will be paying $1,000 a plate to sit at a table with you and the President one day. I was just going to tell you...to keep doing what you were doing."

Billy nodded. "That's why I'm not reconsidering Sam's offer. Now, however, I am taking the rest of the night off. I promised Jennifer a celebratory drink." Billy winked and started walking away from Josh backwards. "And figure out what's next, will you?"

Josh laughed and looked out over the crowd engulfing Sam and his family. He paused a minute thinking about all he had said to Billy. He let out a deep breath and whispered, "Thanks, Boss" before walking upstairs to join his family for the celebration.

Epilogue to follow...

 

A/N: Thanks to Mary for her patient editing. To all of you who've enjoyed Billy so much in the story, that was a little brainstorm of Mary and Mike.

Epilogue

1 year and 2 months after the election; early January

Donna and Josh approached the executive assistant's desk outside Sam's office and waited until she got off the phone.

"Hi!" Emily greeted them warmly once she was off the line. She adored the Lyman's and looked forward to their visits. "He's on the phone with President Bartlet, but I'm to send you in anyway. How was your flight?"

"Great." Donna replied. "It's so much more peaceful traveling without the kids."

"I'm sure it is, but then I don't get to see them." Emily protested. "Although I did get your email with the pictures from the holidays."

The Lyman's passed through the door Emily held open for them. "He should be off soon. Truthfully, I think he was hoping your arrival would get him off the phone a little easier. President Bartlet can be...expansive" she said with a twinkle in her eye.

"We are intimately familiar with his expansiveness." Josh drawled.

Each of the Lyman's took a seat in a visitor chair and waited for Sam to complete his call. His eyes met theirs and he rolled his eyes.

"Yes, sir...Well, I hadn't looked at it that way, but I can see how from an economic prespective...Yes, sir....and I appreciate you taking the time to look at those numbers for me...Uh-huh, well you're going to need to explain that to my budget advisors because you lost me on page 2....Yes, sir...I'm sorry to cut this short, sir, but Josh and Donna just stepped into my office....Yes, sir, I'll be sure to tell them. Thanks for the call." Sam hung up with an exaggerated sigh before coming around to the other side of the desk and giving each of his friends a hug.

"Good to see you! Ainsley was bummed you didn't bring the kids." Donna and Josh exchanged a look and Donna shook her head `no' and Josh shrugged. "Your timing couldn't have been better for me, though."

"How's the President?" Josh asked. "We haven't talked to him since Christmas."

"Full of advice on budget cuts." Sam drawled. "Hey, where's Billy?"

"He's right behind us. He wanted to stop and say `hi' to a couple people downstairs." Donna explained. Some of the people who had worked the campaign now worked in the Governor's office and Billy wanted to catch up with them; particularly, a young woman named Jenny.

"You know, one of these days, one of us is going to lose a staff member to the other." Josh remarked to his friend.

"As long as they stay in the family." Sam shrugged. Personally, he was amazed Jenny hadn't followed Billy out east months ago, but she had family here, so moving across the country for a relatively new relationship probably wasn't too likely right away.

"We're still on for dinner at 8?" Donna asked.

"Barring an emergency." Sam confirmed. "And I've cleared the rest of the weekend so we can just relax and enjoy a few days."

"Sounds good. We'll go check in at our hotel, shower and change and meet you and Ainsley there." Josh determined.

"I still don't understand why you won't stay with us. Billy accepted our invitation, but my closest friends say no?"

"Billy isn't on a weekend vacation without his kids." Josh pointed out.

"Ah." Sam nodded. "Okay then."

Billy knocked twice and walked in. "Governor." Sam enveloped the younger man in a hug.

"Jenny happy to see you?" Sam teased, but Billy shrugged not commenting. Sam changed the subject since he was unable to interpret the gesture. "I hear you're making the call on who to work with for the Congressional seat in New York."

"It's Davis." Billy told him.

"It's not." Josh countered. "Not until you can tell me why."

Billy rolled his eyes. "He has an incredible record as District Attorney."

"Then he's eminently qualified to be District Attorney." Josh countered.

"I thought you said I could make this call." Billy protested.

"I did, as long as you can tell me why you're choosing the particular candidate. If you can't verbalize it, then how can you run his campaign?"

"He's been doing this to me for the last few weeks." Billy complained to Sam.

"I haven't done anything TO you, Fred." Josh shot back.

"Enough." Donna stopped the debate. She'd heard way too much of it on the flight out.

"Come on, Billy. You can tell me all about it on the way to the house. If they're lucky, we'll meet the Lyman's for dinner later." Sam cajoled the younger man out of his office. "You should invite Jenny to come with us."

"I did. She said she had to check her schedule." Billy noted.

"Ouch." Sam winced.

**************************************

"This is a lovely hotel. Tell me why we didn't stay here during the election?" Donna asked.

"Because it's $800 a night?" Josh guessed.

"Yeah, that would have added up a bit wouldn't it?" Donna agreed.

"Just a bit." Josh figured.

"Then instead of dwelling on the fact that we weren't here before, how about we focus on the fact that we're here now; without work, without children, without interruptions."

"I could focus on that." Josh told her.

"Focus on this." Donna suggested and unbuttoned his shirt while she kissed him with enough heat to make his toes curl.

"I forgot about this part." Josh whispered while he walked her backwards towards the bed.

"What part?" Donna asked.

"The part of your pregnancy, before morning sickness hits, that makes you extremely...amorous." Josh smiled.

"It works for me too." Donna told him. "Make love with me, Joshua."

"If you insist." Josh sighed dramatically and Donna pushed him back on the bed with quite a bit of force. He literally bounced on the mattress. Within seconds, she was straddled over him and pulling her sweater over her head. "Jesus, Donna, are you trying to kill me here?"

"Think about it. Would it be that bad a way to go?" she teased as she unbuckled his belt.

"It just might be worth it." Josh agreed.

"Might?" Donna slid her bra off her body and twirled it once before tossing it away.

"Yeah, okay. It would definitely be worth it." Josh feasted on her body and rolled them so he was on top. "I love you so much, Donnatella."

His sincere words stopped her cold. "I know. I love you too, and there isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about how lucky I am."

Josh's hand moved gently over her still flat stomach.

"I'm okay and so is the baby." She assured him, kissing his neck.

"I don't want to go through another scare like last time."

"Nobody does. We're watching my blood pressure and doing more frequent checkups. Joshua, look at me." She waited until he complied.

"We're fine. Kiss me." Josh kissed her gently and reverently until she started kicking it up on the heat scale and she felt him grin. She could tell the exact moment he forgot about his concerns and completely focused on her again. He knew all the right places to touch her and kiss her. This man knew her so intimately and so well that no words had to be spoken between them. They moved with all the grace of a well choreographed ballet until exhaustion overtook them and they fell asleep tangled together.

********************************

"Should I call them?" Sam asked Ainsley.

"No." she told him yet again and continued to look at the menu.

"They're very late." Sam pointed out yet again.

"They're running late to a dinner with friends while they're on vacation, away from their kids, at a fabulous hotel....go figure." Peyton drawled to his partner Adam and caused Billy to laugh. Jenny nudged him in the ribs.

"Peyton said it, not me." Billy protested.

"You laughed." Jenny countered.

"Oh. Well then obviously I was in the wrong." Billy said sarcastically and took another sip of his drink. Jenny leaned in closer to him.

"I said I would think about it. Don't get all pissy with me." She said in a loud whisper.

"Yeah, and I'm really grateful that you're thinking about it. Lots of women would have just said `no' right away and put me out of my misery, but you care about me enough to give me the illusion of hope before you squash me like a bug, just like before."

Jenny rolled her eyes. "What is everybody ordering? I've never been here before."

Peyton and Ainsley began arguing over which dish as best when the Lyman's arrived.

"Sorry we're late. We lost track of the time." Donna explained.

"Don't worry. We haven't been waiting long, and I got appetizers in the meantime." Ainsley gestured to the plate in the middle of the table.

"You're looking radiant, Mrs. Hayes-Seaborn." Josh kissed her cheek.

"I'm looking like a beached whale." Ainsley corrected and rubbed her 8 month pregnant tummy.

"That's when women look most beautiful, right Sam?" Josh cued him.

"That's been my experience, yes." Sam replied.

Dinner was a lively event with bantering and debating among the friends.

"...and they keep asking if the Governor is going to seek another term or make a run for the White House. He's one year in, and they want to start pushing a new story already." Peyton complained.

"Sam can't run for President yet; he still looks to youthful and pretty." Josh explained. "He's going to need another term as Governor to season him a little more."

"He needs a few grey hairs first." Ainsley agreed.

"Do I have a say in this at all?" Sam asked.

"Not really, no." Donna told him. "Once Josh thinks you're ready, it's all systems go. `Seaborn for America'?" she suggested to her husband.

"Too much of a throwback to President Bartlet. But we'll come up with something." Josh assured the group.

"Speaking of running candidates," Peyton interrupted before things got heated. "Who's going to be running for Congress under the careful administration of the Lyman Consulting Group?"

"Davis." Billy answered quickly.

"I don't know..." Josh answered right after him. "Fred here hasn't come up with a compelling argument for him yet."

"His record as District Attorney-"

"Not enough." Josh cut him off.

"He's articulate and popular." Billy ranted.

"Good for him." Josh replied.

"You said I could make this decision."

"With my approval. You haven't convinced me yet." Josh took another bite of steak.

"He's got a great background; military service, solid family-"

"So he's automatically qualified for Congress?" Josh argued.

"See what you started, Peyton?" Donna scolded. "It wasn't enough that I had to sit between these two on the plane and listen to this for hours?"

"Sorry, Donna. I thought I was steering away from trouble." Peyton looked wide eyed and innocent.

"Like hell you did." Adam teased. "Peyton seems to enjoy agitating people and then stepping back to watch the fireworks."

"We've noticed." Ainsley admitted. "I'm glad he hasn't been able to pull the wool over your eyes, Adam."

"That was my best innocent look, too." Peyton whined.

"How's Barb doing?" Donna asked Ainsley.

"Pretty good actually. When she moved out, her husband seemed to catch a clue. He's told her he's not running for re-election and they're `dating' at the moment." Ainsley filled her in.

"That's great. I hope things work out for them." Donna said sincerely. "Is she still a non-smoker?"

"She is." Ainsley replied. "She said if she was going to make sweeping life changes, she should make them all at once."

"Good for her." Josh chimed in.

"He's also testified before Congress and has developed relationships with all the party players in the state." Billy continued his argument.

"Then he'll have a great Christmas card collection." Josh replied. "Anybody hungry for dessert?"

"I'm in." Ainsley raised her hand.

"Me too." Donna chimed in. A great debate ensued as to the choice of dessert and in the interest of peace at the table, Sam ordered several for everyone to share.

"He's persuasive and intelligent." Billy went back to Davis again.

"So am I." Josh replied. "Mmmm the créme brulee is fantastic." He announced and held a bite to Donna's lips.

Billy sat back in his seat, frustrated, and tossed down the rest of his drink. Jenny, sensing his distress made a move toward distraction.

"Come dance with me, Billy." Jenny suggested and stood up next to him. He hesitated a moment, then stood up, giving Josh a nasty look.

After the youngest members of the group left, Donna turned on him. "Do you have to do that here?"

"He brought it up." Josh gestured to Peyton. "And I've dropped it each time. Billy is the one who keeps fighting about it."

"You sound like you're 10 Joshua." Donna noted.

"He's the one who's acting like-"

"Never mind. Just say no more about it. Promise me." Donna insisted.

"Fine. I promise." Josh assured her and sealed it with a quick kiss before turning to Adam. "Peyton told me you work for one of the top marketing firms in the state."

"I design print media." Adam explained and Josh nodded.

"But he also paints these incredible landscapes." Peyton interjected. "Very Monet-like."

"Monet is the only painter Peyton is familiar with. Everything is either very Monet-like or completely different than Monet." Adam teased.

"That's simply untrue." Peyton countered. "Monet is just my favorite."

"Uh-oh." Donna murmurs and everyone turns to see what she's looking at. Billy and Jenny have given up all pretense of dancing and while the table couldn't hear the words, the body language told the tale.

"What do you want from me, Jen? This is the third time I've asked you to move out East with me. You said you needed time; that our relationship was still too new. I understood that; I've been coming out here every two months. I thought things were going great!"

"They have been." She confirmed. "I just don't know why you want me to leave my home, my friends, my job and my family. Tell me why!"

"God, you should be working for Josh. Why? Why? Explain your thinking to me!" Billy mimicked and threw up his hands. "I give up. You stay in California. Josh can pick whoever the hell he wants for the Congressional seat. I'm done." He left her on the dance floor and made his way back to the table where he picked up the rest of Josh's drink and swallowed it in one gulp before handing it back. Jenny had just caught up to him.

"Billy, wait a second." She implored.

"Forget Davis." He told an astonished Josh Lyman. "Pick whoever you want for New York; hell, draw a name from a hat. You know why? Because there is no rational explanation for why one person is it and another is not. You just feel it in your soul. You know it with every cell in your body." Then Billy turned to Jenny who was ready to cry. "You feel it with every cell in your body." He repeated. "And if you don't feel it with me, you shouldn't move out east with me. You shouldn't keep inviting me out here either."

An uneasy silence followed Billy's emphatic statements. Then Josh piped up.

"Davis it is." Josh replied simply. "Waitress? Can I have another?" he indicated his now empty glass.

"What?!" Billy shouted.

"I need another drink. You finished all of mine." Josh smirked.

"I've been trying to convince you for weeks and NOW you say Davis?"

"I've been waiting for the reason; you just gave it to me."

Billy looked perplexed as he replayed his speech back in his head.

"When you've found the real thing, you feel it in every cell of your body." Sam helped him out.

"That's what it took to convince you? My feelings?" Billy couldn't believe it.

"Worked for me." Josh explained. "I can't speak for Jennifer, though."

Billy turned back to the woman he fell in love with a year ago. "I love you, Jen. I want us to be together. I don't want to push you, but I don't know how else to show you that I know, in my heart, that you're the one for me." Jenny was openly crying now, along with Ainsley and Donna.

"I didn't need you to show me, you idiot, I needed you to tell me. What person would fly hours to see someone but then not say the words?"

"Josh did." Donna piped up and got a nasty glare from her husband. "You did. You flew all the way to Germany, with only the contents of you backpack, but then you chickened out and never said the words!"

"I didn't `chicken out' Donna, you were clearly involved with Heathcliff at the time despite the fact you'd only been away from me for 6 days." Josh disputed her version of history.

"I wouldn't have been with COLIN if you'd EVER told me how you felt about me." Donna shot back.

"SHUT UP!" Billy shouted. "Jenny, I love you and I want you to move east with me so we can start planning the rest of our lives together; starting with a wedding if you'll say yes."

Everyone held their collective breath. "There's nothing I'd like to do more." She kissed him soundly as the table clapped and hooted.

"Ma'am? Could you bring us a couple bottles of champagne? It looks like we're turning this into a celebration of a different sort." Sam explained. Hugs and best wishes were exchanged all around until the champagne was distributed among the guests.

"To Jennifer and Fred-" Josh began.

"Billy." Donna corrected.

"I don't think that has the same ring to it, but alright. To Jenny and Billy, may you be fortunate enough to know the joy that having a wonderful spouse brings to every day of your life."

"Here, here." Sam seconded, but as they went to drink he noticed his friend pull Donna's glass out of her hand and a whispered fight ensued.

"You're cutting Donna off, Josh? That's a switch." He joked.

"I can have a sip of champagne to toast to our friends." Donna insisted.

"It's not good for the baby. We're not taking any chances. I don't want to relive the emergency room trip." Silence descended on the table once more.

"See what you've done? You promised we wouldn't make an announcement this trip."

"I'm sorry, it slipped out." Josh explained but his eyes twinkled and he kissed her in apology. It took 3 kisses before she relented. When they looked back up the whole table was smiling at them.

"When are you due?" Jenny asked.

"The beginning of July." Donna told her.

"We're shooting for July 4th." Josh chimed in. "It'll give President Bartlet a new story to tell."

"Anyone else have a life changing event they'd like to announce?" Peyton teased.

"I think we're all up to date now." Sam commented. "I think we should change our toast though; `To new beginnings'."

It didn't take long for Jenny and Billy to once again take to the dance floor; this time without the tension. They looked exactly like they should; a newly engaged couple. Peyton and Adam excused themselves for the evening and that left the Seaborns and the Lymans alone at the table. All eyes were on the younger couple on the floor.

Donna leaned back until her head rested on Josh's shoulder. "Do you remember that feeling?" she asked him.

"Uh-huh." Josh replied.

"Really? When did you feel like that?" she quizzed him.

He looked at his watch. "About 4 hours ago." He answered and received a kiss for his reply.

"But the beginning of it all; that seems like decades ago." Sam noted while he rubbed Ainsley's shoulders.

"I think y'all are looking at it from the wrong perspective." Ainsley opined. "We should be looking forward instead of looking back. We have new children to add to our families. We have new jobs taking us in new directions."

"And very old friends to enjoy the journey with." Josh added with a grin. "It's your turn to come out our way next; after the baby's born?"

"We'll be there." Sam promised. "Who knows? There might be a wedding in the itinerary."

"That would be great." Ainsley perked up.

"I doubt it. Fred's going to be a little busy running Davis." Josh noted.

"Oh, I don't know. We found a week for ourselves during a Presidential transition." Donna pointed out.

"But it took almost a decade for you to get to that point." Sam added.

"It only took Billy a year to pop the question." Donna pointed out. "I have higher expectations for him and Jenny isn't nearly as patient and understanding as I was."

"True." Josh agreed. "I just plain lucked out."

"We all did." Ainsley stated. "I would have never dreamed I'd find love in a Democratic White House."

"Or that you'll be returning there in an entirely different capacity in a few years." Josh pointed out.

"Cut that out!" Sam begged. "I'm just concentrating on my current position, which has enough challenges to keep me very busy."

"That's fine. You keep concentrating on being Governor. I'll let you know when it's time to start thinking about another job...one that maybe comes with a Boeing 747." Josh's dimples popped out at the prospect.

"I really miss riding on Air Force One." Donna said wistfully.

"Oh, and the food they'd serve; fabulous!" Ainsley threw in and Sam gave her a betrayed look.

"You're jumping on the bandwagon, now?" Sam asked his wife.

"Not now...just as an option for later." She hedged.

"I wonder if President Bartlet has a portrait that embodies going east." Josh pondered.

"At the moment, I'm just happy that we decided to go west." Sam had the final word.

The End.

Site Name: Crossroad Awards
Owner: Devin
Design: Standard Lines
Online Since: 08/01/08
Season: Two
Stage: Nominations

March 28, 2009
Nominations Start

April 30, 2009
Final List of Nominees Announced

May 01, 2009
Voting Begins

May 16, 2009
Winners Announced

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