Chapter 26
"I'm not saying that." The Congressman insists as he tosses
the speech on the table and leaves.
I resist the urge to bang my head against the table. Sam has constructed
a great speech for New Hampshire; a beautiful, reasoned, relatively
innocuous speech and the Congressman has gone off text at every single
opportunity. I try to remind myself that his integrity and willingness
to say what he truly believes, damn the consequences, was a big part of
why I encouraged him to run. I pick up the phone and call the one person
who will understand what I'm feeling right now.
"Leo McGarry."
"Hey Boss."
"Nice sound bite, Josh; longer school year and eliminating teacher
tenure? Can't you put a muzzle on your guy?" he's laughing
at me.
"It was a choice between putting it on him or Helen. I chose Helen,
and why are you laughing?"
"Do you remember a certain speech in Nashua where Governor Bartlet
was asked about the New England Dairy Farming Compact?"
"I seem to have a vague recollection…"
"Every single one of his advisors, well besides Toby, advised him to
alter his answer on the subject. He listened, nodded, took it all in and
then did what he wanted to in a room crowded with voters and
reporters."
"Gave you a bit of a migraine, did he?"
"Yeah, but we did gain a valuable member of our eventually winning
campaign staff, who in turn brought another valuable member of the team
to the table. We also got a couple decent editorials if I recall
correctly."
"So the lesson is: don't try to change the man you recruited for
his principles in the first place?"
"Very good, young grasshopper. How's Abigail Joan? I haven't
gotten my weekly email update from Donna yet."
"Great. She loves campaigning."
"Look at her parentage. How could she be otherwise? Relax, Josh,
Santos is going to rise or fall on what he believes. That's how it
should be. You've put together a great team and you're giving
him good advice."
"I don't suppose the President would like to stop my and visit
our New Hampshire headquarters on the way to his farm would he?"
"He's determined to stay neutral until a nominee is picked."
"That's what I thought. Thanks for the advice, boss. I'll
send you some more pictures from the trail." I hang up as Mandy
walks in.
"Everything set for Mrs. Santos' thing?" I ask her.
"I told you I had it covered, Josh. When are you going to learn to
trust me?"
"It's not that I don't trust you, Mandy. I don't trust
anybody."
"Donna's on it too." She reminds me and I wince.
"That's just different. Remind them that we don't have to
hit anyone over the head with pro-choice rhetoric here. Mrs. Santos
simply needs to connect with the voters and turn on that charm of
hers." I have learned that Helen Santos is a formidable weapon when
given the right opportunity. Donna seems to find plenty of `right
opportunities' for her and combined with Mandy's eye for
pageantry, Helen Santos looks a lot more like the First Lady than anyone
else out there. Not that she's all formal and unapproachable; just
the opposite. Mandy interrupts my train of thought.
"We added a couple stops to the schedule… Thought we'd try
to grab a little free media and stir things up a bit."
"Excuse me?"
"Richard needs more money for media buys if we're going to make
a decent showing here, Josh. Fundraising has slowed to a trickle. We
just need a little jump start."
"Mandy…"
"She just left the new childbirth center at St. Joseph Hospital
about 20 minutes ago. That went very well according to Donna. Although
she did mention I should give you a heads up about A.J."
"What about A.J. Mandy?" My heart stops for a second, but then I
realize that if there was anything wrong, Donna would have called me
herself, and Mandy's attitude was way too relaxed to be imparting
serious news about my daughter.
"She's fine Josh." Mandy assure me, correctly reading my
body language. "There was a really cute photo op, that's
all."
"A photo op with my daughter?"
"Donna was there. Helen was talking about the importance of
neo-natal health care and she mentioned the excellent care that was
available to A.J. stating that the level of care A.J. received should be
available to every baby born in the U.S. regardless of where they live
or how much their parents make." I drop my head to the table again.
"You and Donna didn't think I should get a heads up about this
beforehand?"
"Donna said it was just a small detail and we didn't need to
bother you with it." I just groan.
"Do we need to go back to the decision tree, Mandy? Make a flow
chart of some kind for you two?"
"Maybe. I mean Donna's title is senior advisor to the Santos
campaign, so it's hard to delineate exactly. And can I just ask why
it's always me you yell at and never her? Tell me it's only
because you don't want to lose sexual favors with your wife."
"Of course I don't want to lose sexual favors with my wife.
They're very good sexual favors Mandy and with the campaign going
on, they're not favors I get very often to begin with these
days!" Congressman Santos coughs from behind me. "Why does every
female in this campaign take such delight in baiting me?" I ask no
one in particular.
"It's called the Sisterhood, Josh. You should know better than
to mess with it." Mandy answers as Santos laughs. "But if
you're going to be such a stickler for getting every piece of
information beforehand, you should know that Helen Santos should have
arrived at the Planned Parenthood Center by now and is taking
questions." She flips on the T.V. searching for her beloved
`free media' as I rapidly hit Donna on speed dial. It goes to
voice mail.
There is a brief sound bite of Helen answering a question about what her
husband would do as President about abortion, which she sidesteps
neatly. thank you Donna, before there is a disruption of some kind. I
recognize Secret Service and start to dial Donna again, but then I see
the smiling face of Abigail Bartlet on the screen.
She doesn't interrupt Helen, but walks right up to Donna and A.J.,
taking the baby from Donna and smiling at the people around them. I
watch with Mandy and Matt as more and more attention starts to shift to
the First Lady…and my daughter. Finally a question gets fired at
Helen about Abby.
"Is the First Lady campaigning with you today, Mrs. Santos?"
"No, absolutely not. My understanding is that Dr. Bartlet can't
pass up an opportunity to see her namesake; Abigail Lyman." The
cameras pan over to where Dr. Bartlet is indeed cuddling with our
daughter and a reporter shouts a question directly to her.
"Does the President know you're out here with Mrs. Santos,
Ma'am?"
"If the President knew I was coming to see little A.J. he would have
barged in by now and taken her away from me. We're both pretty
smitten with her." She deflects with the practiced ease of a long
time politician's wife.
"Does this mean the President is pulling for Santos?" another
asks.
"The President is staying neutral until a nominee is chosen. I am
glad to see that Helen Santos is bringing attention to the very
important issues that effect women in this country, however. She and her
husband make a formidable team." Donna smiles and leads Dr. B.
inside the building and Helen answers a couple more questions before
joining them. Richard comes careening into the room.
"Are you watching- Did you see- Holy Shit! The phones are going to
be ringing off the hook. I'm getting clips for issues ads right
away." He wheezes out. Mandy is already on the phone bringing in
more volunteers to man the phones.
"Congressmen, let's get you out there." I stand up and pull
on my jacket.
"Out where? I don't have another appearance until 4." I
start pulling him out of the room with me.
"Doesn't matter. As soon as you step outside the press is going
to swarm you about Dr. Bartlet. Sidestep as much as you can, she's
already going to catch hell from the President. Bring it around to the
bill you co-sponsored with Chris Wick and the Universal immunizations
and well care checks. You have always known the importance of the issues
the First Lady was speaking about, and have worked diligently to protect
the health and welfare of all Americans." He nods and as we walk out
into the afternoon sunshine, the reporters and camera crews appear just
as I predicted.
"Congressmen, are you aware you've been unofficially endorsed by the
First Lady?"
"I wouldn't say that. The First Lady's visit was obviously a
private matter between her and Abigail Lyman, what she did say about
women's issues was correct, though. I have always worked diligently
in Congress to protect the health and welfare of all Americans." He
takes off on the bullet points he has stamped on his brain by now and my
cell phone rings. Donna of course.
"Hey, my phone showed I missed your call. Everything okay over
there?" she asks all sweetness and light.
"Just great. How about you? How's your day going?" I volley
back.
"Fine. No problems. Helen is doing outstanding." She returns
neatly.
"That's good to hear. So is the Congressman. Say, I was
wondering if you wanted to have Anna bring A.J. back to the hotel for
nap? If, you know, she doesn't have any other press appearance
scheduled for the day." One beat, then two, before she answers.
"She's kind of busy at the moment, but as soon as she's free
I'll send her back with Anna." She offers. Weak, Donna, very
weak.
"Donnatella, please retrieve our daughter from the First Lady of the
United States and get her out of there. Stuff happens at Planned
Parenthood Clinics you know."
"The Secret Service has cleared it Joshua. Do you think I would take
our daughter anywhere that wasn't safe?"
"Of course not, not intentionally, but the area outside the Newseum
was cleared by the Secret Servcice, too, Donna."
"That's a terrible thing to say Joshua Lyman!" she hisses at
me over the phone.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. Can we just not do
these campaign surprises anymore? Especially not ones that include our
daughter?"
"Yes…she is a natural though. I've almost got her saying
`Santos'."
I laugh. "So help me Donna, if she says Santos before Mom or Dad,
we're going to have issues, you and I."
"This is a campaign for the Presidency, and there's nothing I take
more seriously" she quotes me back to me.
"If you don't know that my priorities have changed since
then…"
"I do. I was teasing you. See you at the thing at
4?"
"Yeah…hey Donna, that was something else you did with
the First Lady over there."
"The sisterhood, Joshua. It was the sisterhood."
Chapter 27
A/N: First, big thanks to Rick, who helped me work out some of the
technical issues for this chapter. Second, I just want to preface this
by saying NO WAY would Toby sell out the President! Lastly, thanks for
sticking with me on this story. It went way longer than I had
anticipated when I started out.
No, I don't own these charaters, but I am having fun writing for them. I
am a little nervous about how this chapter evolved, so please let me
know what you think.
Three days before the convention and Russell is too close for comfort.
Hoynes won't drop out. The ego of that man; and they say I'm an
egomaniac.
I am curled up in bed with my wife who is mostly naked from activities
earlier in the evening. Her idea of getting a two room suite and putting
Anna and A.J. in the other room while we travel was brilliant. I need to
get some sleep, but I can't turn my brain off. I've got to get
Hoynes to throw us his delegates after the second ballot. My cell phone
rings and I try to grab it before it wakes Donna, so I don't even
check caller ID, but I can see the clock and it's 3 AM here. Shit.
"Josh Lyman." I answer groggily.
"I need to know what you say to him, when he's making a mistake
and he won't listen to anyone else." Toby demands.
"Toby?" I am really confused. Toby and I haven't spoken in
months. I tried to fix things, I really did. Even ask Donna; but the man
is so stubborn! Then when his brother died, killed himself, two months
ago, I called, wrote, and sent smoke signals. He sent one of those
generic notes to Donna thanking her for the card and flowers, but
nothing to me. So I quit trying. Now he's calling at 3AM and ranting
about something serious. What the hell?
"He won't listen to CJ. Leo's up to his eyeballs at the
convention site; I don't think he even knows about it and
they're going to die Josh, they are going to die!"
"Toby, slow down and back up." I instruct as I get out of bed
and put on my boxers. I take the phone out into the living room to
continue the conversation. "What are you talking about?"
"There's been an explosion on the space station. They got
pummeled by some kind of meteor- it doesn't matter. It crippled the
space station and they're losing oxygen as we speak." I'm
starting to wake up and put things together. Toby's brother was an
astronaut. This had to be hitting him extremely hard given recent
events.
"The Soyuz capsule…" I start to say.
"Inoperable. It was too badly damaged and it would take another 2
days to dock another capsule with the station and they don't have
two days! Do you understand what I'm telling you, Josh?"
"Yeah." I get it. The Soyuz capsule is an independent part of
the space station that is kept there for the express purpose of an
emergency exit for station personnel in just such an event as this one.
The Russians replace it every few months so they've always got
another one ready to go up. Unfortunately, while it only takes 3 and
½ hours to bring it down, it takes just over 2 days to get one up and
docked with the station. "How many people are up there?" Not
that it matters, I guess. I'm just buying time.
"Three. Two Americans and 1 Russian, which is why they won't
launch the other-"
"Shut up, Toby!" I interrupt him. "Shut up now! I'm on
my cell, Damn it!"
"Josh, you have to talk to him. He'll listen to you. Come now.
They don't have that much time. They are going to die!"
"CJ needs to-"
"CJ tried. She's as frustrated as I am. How can he even
consider-"
"I don't even know if he'll see me, Toby." I'm
trying to manage expectations here. The President and I haven't been
talking much lately. He doesn't want to appear partial while Russell
and Santos are still fighting it out. "The convention is in three
days and-"
"You said if I needed you to do anything, ANYTHING, I should only
call and ask. I'm calling, I'm asking. I need you to do this,
Josh. I need you to come and talk to him. I need you to try. It's
wrong, what he's doing."
"Okay, okay. I'm on my way. You better get me an appointment
pass, I don't think Debbie's going to do it for me."
"Done. Just get here." He hangs up and I rifle through the
clothes in my closet as quietly as possible. I needn't have
bothered.
"What is it?" Donna asks sitting up halfway, eyes nearly closed.
"An emergency at the White House. Toby called." I've got my
clothes on and I sit on the bed next to her while I slip on my shoes.
"I've got to go there for a bit. You and Mandy hold the fort
this morning if I'm not back for the thing. I'll call you later
with an update. I love you." I kiss her and I think she falls
immediately back to sleep. With a quick detour to kiss A.J. goodbye, I
grab my backpack and head out the door to catch a cab.
Luckily for me, there are planes that leave almost every hour between
Boston, where we are bunkered down getting ready for the convention,
and
D.C. The flight is only 1 ½ hours, and again, I don't have any
checked luggage, so I get to the White House by 6:30. Toby is waiting
for me and quickly ushers me to Debbie. Yeah, she looks pissed. Toby
whispers `thanks' and leaves as quickly as he came in.
"He shouldn't have brought you in here." She grimaces at me.
"I don't have my briefing memo either." I confess and her
lips twitch.
"Yeah, you were always the funny one. She disappears into the Oval
and comes back a couple minutes later. "The President will see you
now."
I walk into the Oval and I swear it's like I never left. The
President is sitting just where he was the day I left, except this
morning he looks very tired and haggard. CJ said he's had more days
like this since China. I notice the cane propped against his desk.
"Good morning Mr. President."
"I see Toby didn't waste any time calling in
re-enforcements."
"What makes you think it wasn't CJ, sir?"
"She didn't get you your appointment pass."
"No, sir. How are you feeling?"
"Tired, Joshua. I am feeling extremely tired. Aren't you here to
plead Toby's case? You should get on with it, the clock is
ticking."
"Yes, sir it is, but I didn't come to plead anyone's case. I
came because a friend called and ask me to."
"It's not as simple as he makes it sound you know."
"No, sir, it never is. That's why you get paid the big bucks,
and I left to write a book." He chuckles at that.
"You're writing a new one it seems. Santos everything you
thought he'd be?"
"And more. Sometimes I call Leo up just for someone to commiserate
with me."
"If anyone understands fighting with the candidate to get the
candidate elected it would be Leo."
"Yes, sir." He motions for me to sit on the couch before picking
up his cane and slowly walking over to join me. "I'm actually
trying to butter him up." I admit.
"Sorry, Josh, he loves you like a son, but there's no way
you're getting preferential treatment at the convention just because
Leo is running it."
"We don't need preferential treatment. We're going to get
the nomination, sir. I'm talking about after that. We're going
to need a strong Vice-President."
The President quickly connects the dots and laughs out loud.
"Can I be there when you ask him?" he asks still laughing.
"Wouldn't have it any other way, sir…Is there anything I can
do to help in the current situation, Mr. President?"
"They've got about 12 hours of air left. They're still
trying to make repairs themselves."
"But that's not going to work."
"No, it's not. It's not that there is one major hole,
it's that there are a dozen little ones, that by some nightmare of a
statistical anomaly have hit just the right places to make repairs
futile." He runs out of steam. "We can't disclose the
asset." He says simply. "You know what seven levels of hell that
would start with our allies, never mind the Iranians and….we
can't disclose the asset. There's a Russian on board and the
cosmonauts are all military. It would be a disaster."
"Due respect, sir, so would three dead bodies on the space station.
Aside from the tragic human loss, NASA will be finished. When news of
the DOD's shuttle leaks out, and I have no doubt that under these
circumstances, someone is going to leak it; DOD is going to have some
uncomfortable Congressional hearings to sit through. You yourself, sir,
will be asked why you let those brave men die when you could have easily
saved them."
"Thinking about the Presidential election, Josh?"
"Yes, sir, and so should you. The Democratic nominee will be toast
and your legacy, sir…forget MS. You'll be remembered for letting
astronauts die to protect a military asset that's going to be
disclosed eventually anyway."
"That's pretty brutal language, son, when you're talking to
the President."
"One of the benefits of no longer working here sir." I stop and
lean forward. "Mr. President, you've always struggled with the
military end of this job. Not in the execution of it, sir." I
continue before he can interrupt me. "In your head. I think
there's always been a part of you that felt you can't contradict
the military because you didn't serve, and Leo always acted as your
go-between. It worked for you both, but now Leo isn't next door
anymore and you don't trust CJ's instincts on the military any
further than your own so you're stuck."
"How do I get unstuck, then, Josh."
"Follow your gut. You already know what you want to do; what you
have to do if you're going to be able to face yourself in the mirror
tomorrow. That's all."
"The DOD is going to tell me the asset is only valuable if-"
"Screw the DOD, sir. You're the Commander in Chief. What do YOU
want to do?"
He lays his head back against the couch and sighs.
"Do you think you could do anything up on the Hill to get election
day moved up? I'm ready to be done."
"I could, sir, but it wouldn't be in my best interest, Santos is
still down 14 points from Vinick. I need the time to sway a few million
more voters."
"Debbie!" he shouts and she comes in with her hand on her hip.
"Would it kill you to use the intercom, sir?"
"Get the team assembled in the sit room…10 minutes."
"Ten minutes, sir?"
"Ten minutes. The clock is ticking, right Josh?"
"Yes sir. I'll let you get back to work. Hey, if you get things
straightened out around here today, maybe you could drop by our office
and say hi to Congressman Santos." I jest…kind of.
"I think you've had enough Bartlet support with Abby and Zoey
visiting Abigail Joan, haven't you?"
"She's a hard kid to resist. Takes after her Mother." I tell
him.
"And her Father, Josh; and her Father." We shake hands and I
walk towards Toby's office. He's waiting for me, smoking a cigar
on his couch. Tension is radiating from him. He looks me over for a
minute and lets out his breath.
"Thanks." He tells me as I plop down next to him on the couch.
"Those things are gonna kill you, you know." I motion to the
cigar.
"You've got to die from something." He pauses a moment.
"You need to get your guy to back off from the teachers."
"Easier said than done. Want to come with me and try to convince
him?" I don't think he'll take me up on it, but I make the
offer anyway.
"I'm pretty busy here." He responds. "I wouldn't
mind if you wiped the floor with that weasel Will Bailey though."
And he gives me the first genuine smile I've seen in months.
"I'll do my best." I get up to leave. "I've got to
get back. We have a lot of work to do in the next few days. Get some
sleep Toby, you look like you're a zombie."
"I could give Ernie Gambelli a call if you want." He offers as
I'm half out the door.
"The head of the teachers union in New York?" I clarify.
"I couldn't do anything official, you understand, but I know him
pretty well. I could give him my personal opinion of Santos…and
Russell." He won't even look at me as he says this.
"That…that would be great. A personal conversation would be
terrific. Thanks."
"Have a safe flight back." He tells me and I walk out of the
White House whistling.
I know I should have paid more attention in Hebrew school, but I do
recall learning about Mitzvah's. A lot of it has to do with Jewish
law, but the part I remember most, was my Mom's explanation that it
really referred to any act of human kindness. She promised me that if I
went out of my way to perform a Miztvah, I would see great things happen
as a result.
Going to the White House at the request of a distraught friend at 3 AM
this morning was a Mitzvah. I didn't know if seeing the President
would have any effect on his decision about the astronauts and part of
me believes he would have come to the same conclusion with or without
my
interference. But simply going there in response to Toby's request
was indeed a Mitzvah and once again my Mother was right. Wonderful
things happened.
Ernie Gambelli, persuaded by the personal belief of Toby Ziegler that
Russell could never beat Hoynes in the fall, came around to our camp and
brought all his beautiful New York delegates with him. Hoynes, finally
smelling the coffee, decided to play Kingmaker and released his
delegates to put us over the top.
President Bartlet finally got to enter our offices: to visit A.J. and
watch Leo's face as Santos offered him the Vice-Presidential slot.
The closing night of the convention was electric. Congressman Santos had
us all on the stage with him and as I looked out over the convention
with my hand in Donna's while I held our daughter (who is, as Donna
predicted, saying Santos now) I couldn't imagine life getting any
better than this.
Chapter 28
I've searched our hotel suite, the conference room and the
restaurant. No Donna. Where the hell could she be and why didn't she
take her cell phone. We have rules about this sort of thing. We
don't go ANYWHERE without our cell phones and hers was sitting on
the desk showing each one of my missed calls. Finally, I call Mandy who
tells me Donna is in their suite working out some details for the
Southern swing Helen Santos is going to be making the following week.
By the time I go up two flights of stairs and get to Mandy and
Richard's suite, Donna has the door open waiting for me.
"Hey, you're back early!" she stops short as she recognizes
the look in my eyes. "Josh…is something wrong with A.J.?"
"No, Donna, A.J.'s fine. Anna's bringing her over now."
Anna and A.J. had spent their morning in the suite with the Santos
children. "Donna, your Dad just called. Your Mom was in car accident
this morning." Donna sits down and Mandy stands up and puts a hand
on Donna's shoulder. "They don't think she's going to be
able to hang on much longer and she's asking for you. Anna's
going to pack up some things for us and the baby, then we're
catching the first flight to Madison." She just nods and this
concerns me, but this is not the time, so I turn to Mandy.
"You get to step up to the plate, Mandy. Co-ordinate with Lou on the
new ad buys and I'll be in touch by cell." Lou Thornton joined
our team after the convention and I swear the woman creates as many
problems as she solves but everyone else loves her, including the
Congressman so for now I am out of luck on that one.
I usher Donna back to our suite in silence. We get there to find A.J.
standing up in her portable crib and Anna throwing things into bags.
She's gotten quite adept at packing in a hurry, our Anna. When she
sees Donna she stops and runs over to hug her.
"I'm so sorry, Donna. What can I do?" Anna asks crying now.
"Just get A.J. ready to go will you, Anna." I tell her when
Donna doesn't respond. Anna goes back to packing up and Donna picks
A.J. up from the crib. I start packing up some things for the two of us
when Donna walks in and stands in the doorway holding the baby.
"I want to call her." She says but she's not looking at me,
she's looking at A.J.
"Sure. Let's call your Dad's cell phone. See if we can get
through." I grab my phone and hit redial. It goes through to voice
mail. Donna is bouncing A.J. but her face is still blank. I dial
information and ask for the number for Meriter Hospital in Madison
Wisconsin. It takes a couple minutes to connect, then another couple
minutes to locate her Mom's room and establish that it's
Elena's daughter calling to speak with her. Finally, Patrick comes
on the line. He tells me Elena can't talk right now; and I offer the
phone to Donna.
"Daddy?...Yes, we're coming now…what happened?...." I
continue to pack our things and Anna, having completed her task waits in
the doorway listening. "But why didn't she say anything to
anybody?...I know, I know…just tell her I'm coming will you?
Tell her we're coming? Bye, Daddy." She hangs up and the tears
start coming. I take her hand.
Let's go. Ready Anna?" she nods and we head out for Madison
Wisconsin.
Donna continues with the silence throughout the trip. A.J. falls asleep
on the flight, being a very seasoned flier, and although Anna and I both
offer, Donna won't relinquish her to either of us. Anna looks
helplessly at me and I wink at her. She's a good kid. We're
lucky to have her with us and it hasn't escaped my considerable
powers of cognition that this is her Aunt as well as Donna's Mom.
"You doing okay, kid?" I ask her.
"I guess. Mom says she'll meet us at the hospital and help with
A.J. if we need it." Donna's Mom and Anna's Dad are brother
and sister. I just nod again.
The news when we get to the hospital is grim. All of Elena's vitals
are falling. Patrick catches me up on the details as Donna and A.J. go
in to Elena's room followed by Anna and her Dad. Donna's older
sister Brianna is already there since she lives in Madison. When I get
inside, Donna is holding her Mother's hand and trying to talk to
her.
"Mom, we're here. We're all here. Abigail's getting so
big, Mom, and she said two new words this week. Josh says it's
because I talk all the time and some of it's bound to sink in. Mom,
I love you so much, please open your eyes." And my heart just
breaks. I lift A.J. off Donna's lap and put my hand on Donna's
shoulder, but Elena doesn't respond.
Family members come and go and I lose track of how many times poor
Patrick has to repeat the story. Elena had been having blood pressure
problems for months and wasn't real good about taking her
medication. She took the car to run to the store, blacked out as her
blood pressure sky rocketed and had an accident. The car went off the
road and hit a brick building. Elena's internal injuries were too
severe to repair. Everything is shutting down now.
We've been here for five hours and while everyone has been wonderful
with A.J. she is getting tired, hungry and cranky. Anna and her Mother
volunteer to take her to their home for the night. I kiss her goodbye
and go back to Donna who is pacing the length of the room.
"Can I get you anything?" I ask her as I stop her motion.
"No thanks. What do you hear from Mandy and Lou?"
"They say everything's fine. The Congressman however, is
complaining about the lack of testosterone in the room."
"I bet. If you need to go.."
"Don't be stupid. Why don't I go and get something for you
to eat? You haven't eaten all day. I would try to get you to lay
down to rest for awhile, but even my powers of persuasion aren't
great enough in this case." She leans her head on my shoulder and
then we hear it.
"Patrick…" Elena is conscious. Donna rushes to her side and
Brie offers to get their Dad.
"Mom. I'm here. Brie's getting Dad. What can I do for
you?"
"Donna, I love you so much honey." The effort it's taking
for her to talk right now is exhausting.
"I know Mom. I know. Here, take a sip." She offers Elena some
water, but she shakes her head no.
"Donna, I am so proud of you, and all that you've done with your
life. Not just the work; your marriage and your precious A.J."
"Mom, please…"
"Elena." Patrick and Brie are back.
"Don't be mad at me Pat. I just forgot the pills, that's
all."
"I'm not mad. I swear I'm not."
"Mom, is there anything…"
"Brie, you and your sister take care of your Dad, okay? He
doesn't eat right on his own."
"Mom?"
"I love you all so much." She closes her eyes again and Donna
folds herself into my arms. We stay at the hospital all night and it
isn't until nearly 8 AM the next morning that her strong heart gives
out.
This ordeal I'm all too familiar with. The grieving. Everyone
gathers at Pat and Elena's home mid-morning to start making
`arrangements'. I hate that term. I bring lunch back for
everyone and A.J. provides one of the few laughs of the day when I cue
her to say "dada" and it comes out "Santos". Brie's
girls happily play with ours while I go check on Donna who has retreated
to her old room.
She's lying on her bed, and she might be able to fool some people
into thinking she's sleeping, but I am intimately familiar with
Donna Moss. I know her sleeping breathing and her fake sleeping
breathing. I lay down next to her and stroke her hair.
"Mom is coming out tomorrow to help with whatever it is they need
help with." I tell her.
"A.J. will be happy to see her." Mom has hit the road with us a
couple times during the campaign, but I know she's not getting
enough of her Granddaughter. How do I know? Because she tells
me…repeatedly; in person, through voicemail, and email. Funny, but
I'm not finding that as annoying after the last 24 hours as I have
in the past.
"What do you want to do now Donna?"
"Let's make another baby." She says without opening her
eyes.
"Okay, but that's going to take nine months, and I should
probably lock the door first." What the hell?
"I mean it Josh. I want to have another baby."
"This minute?" I squeak and Donna sits up to face me.
"I want to go back to school too." She tells me. "Can we do
that? Have another baby and finish school?"
"I'd say that's more up to you than me, babe, but yes, if
that's what you want it's completely doable." I stroke her
cheek. "You, Donnatella Moss-Lyman can do anything you set your mind
to doing."
"I got that from her you know." She tells me as the tears come
again. "She's the one who told me to leave Dr. Freeride and make
a life for myself. She helped me back my car to go to New Hampshire.
She's the one who flew to Germany even though she's scared to
death of planes. Now she's gone and A.J.'s never going to learn
that from her." I pull her to me and just hold her.
"Yes, she will. She'll learn it from you. It's a mother to
daughter, pass it on thing. You're going to tell her all about her
amazing Grandmother and so will I. It's going to get better,
Donnatella, I promise. It will get better."
"Okay. I'm okay." She sniffles. "Is A.J. doing alright
with her cousins?"
"Sure, she just humiliated me in front of your entire family,
that's all. You just had to teach her to say Santos, didn't
you?"
"Relax Joshua. I'm sure she'll humiliate both of us plenty
as she grows up. Maybe she'll even vote Republican someday."
"Don't even kid about that Donna. Republicans run in your
family." I kiss her. "I could go lock the door now, if
you're serious about that baby thing."
"I am serious about the baby thing, but I think we can wait until
we're out of my parents' house."
"You should start looking at schools; do some research. You're
going to be unemployed come November so that would probably be a
good
time to start classes."
"You're sure you're okay with that?"
"Given the option, I'd prefer to practice making a baby, but
yes, I'm more than okay with it. I can even help you study."
"Josh…"
"You could probably swing a letter of recommendation from President
Bartlet."
"Josh…"
"Not to mention the next President and First Lady. Hey, I could ask
the Secretary of Education to write you one, he's still scared of
me."
"Joshua…"
"He is!" I insist and coax a smile from her.
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"For putting us first, for dropping a Presidential campaign and
staying with me through all this, for being such a great father to our
daughter. You're a pretty good deal, Lyman."
"And people said you'd regret it before you were off the drugs
in Germany."
"I have, many times; but never for long I swear."
"Very funny, Donnatella, very funny."
Chapter 29
September 28th – 40 days until the election
"You're wrong."
"Congressman."
"No, Josh, you're wrong."
"Congressman." I try again.
"Tell him he's wrong, Sam." Matt orders.
"Can we get back to the thing?" Sam asks from where he's
collapsed on the couch.
"Sure, after you tell Josh his Met's are going down when they
play Houston tomorrow."
"Aren't we supposed to be making decisions about debate prep
right now?" Mandy asks.
"Yes! This is what I'm talking about!" exclaims Sam.
"All week it's been Met's pins stuck on Astro's hats.
Bets about who's going to win, and by how much. Who has the best
record? I can't take it anymore. We have a Presidential election in
40 days and you two idiots can't talk about anything besides
baseball!" Sam shouts. "Is this what I quit a very lucrative job
in law for?"
"$50 says Sam has a total meltdown before dinner." I offer.
"I think he just did." Replies Santos. Sam screams and throws
his papers in the air before covering his face with the cushion from the
couch. Mandy never even looks up.
"Is that normal?" Santos asks pointing to Sam.
"Oh yeah." I tell him. "Happens every election cycle." I
assure him.
"How about the weekend of October 16th? We can bunker down for a
couple of days of debate prep in…say… Tahiti?" Mandy asks.
"No. No to Tahiti, and no to the weekend of the 16th." I answer.
"You've already got us scheduled out for that weekend?" Matt
asks.
"No, I'm already scheduled out for that weekend. I'm taking
it off, remember?" I remind Matt.
"Oh, yeah. Pick another weekend Mandy." He tells her.
"Wait a second." She demands. "Josh Lyman is taking a
weekend off 2 weeks before a Presidential election in which he's
working as the Democratic nominee's campaign director? Are you
addled?"
"No, I'm married and a father. The 18th of October, is Abigail
Joan Lyman's very first Birthday. I will not be spending it doing
debate prep. Besides, I'd like it earlier in the month. Look at the
week before that."
"Yes, sir," Mandy drawls. The door bursts open as the
Lyman/Santos wives and children sprint inside. Donna drops A.J. into my
lap. Miranda takes delight in placing her Houston's Astro's cap
in my line of sight. Peter unbuttons his denim shirt to reveal the
Astro's t-shirt underneath.
"Houston is so gonna trounce your Met's." Peter sing-songs
to me. I make a grab for him as he dances out of my reach.
"You can't even spell trounce, kid."
"Yes, I can. T-r-o-u-n-c-e." he replies.
"It's good you can spell. You'll have a skill to fall back
on when your baseball team let's you down." I retort.
"Joshua, are you six now?" Donna asks me as she hand A.J. a
cracker.
"If I have to be. Where's Anna?"
"She went to a movie with Mike from advance." She tells me and I
try to place which gomer Mike is. Nice girls who choose gomers for dates
seem to be a Moss family trait.
"He's not a gomer, Josh, so stop making that face." I
immediately try to smooth my brow.
"How do you do that?" I demand.
"What's a gomer?" Miranda asks.
"Nobody you will ever have to deal with." I tell her.
"Unless you choose to date an Astro's player." I look
pointedly at Peter.
"Dad, are you going to let him talk like that?"
"Talk is cheap Peter. When he has to pay up on the bets he made with
us and wear an Astro's cap all week, then we'll see what he has
to say." Matt tells him.
"For the love of God. Can we plan debate prep now?" Mandy
complains.
"Oh, we've got the perfect spot for that," Donna announces
and smiles at Helen.
"We're not going to a spa, Donnatella." I inform her while
enticing A.J. to take a few steps as she clings to the couch. She's
been a little behind in her motor skills, but her pediatrician assures
us that's not unusual in preemies and we should be adjusting her age
by two months if we're looking at milestone charts. I say my
daughter is an overachiever and she will be walking by her first
Birthday just like it says in the damn book.
"Spoilsport." Donna replies as she watches me with A.J.
"What's wrong with Sam?"
"Pre-election meltdown." I answer as I get A.J. to take a
shuffling step.
"Isn't it a little early for that?"
"We're forty days out. Plus we don't have a date nailed down
for the debate yet." I respond.
"Which is good since we haven't set up debate prep!" Sam
mumbles from under the cushion. This makes A.J. laugh and grab Sam's
leg.
"I swear to God, Lyman, that better be your daughter touching my
leg." Sam threatens as he pulls the cushion away from his face to
glare at me. A.J., thinking he's playing peek-a-boo with her, covers
her own face and promptly drops to the floor when her hands leave the
security of the couch.
Leo enters next along with Lou and Annabeth. He's clutching a fax
sheet in his hand and he's looking excited.
"What's up boss?" I ask, my curiosity aroused by the sparkle
in Lou's eyes.
"The debate commission came back with their recommendations. 2
debates, one Presidential, one Vice-Presidential. Aside from the 2nd
Presidential debate we asked for, we got everything we wanted." Leo
hands me the sheet and a crowd gathers around me as we read it
together.
"We got one moderator, podiums, and a 60 second rebuttal time limit
instead of 30!" Lou is dancing, literally. "Oh and the debate is
NOT gong to be held in California or Texas, but they did choose the
campus at Florida State which will be just as good for us."
"Way to go, Amanda." I give Mandy a high five as we finish
reading the document. I put her in charge of debate negotiations and
she, together with the devious minded Lou, ran with it. What a team.
"We really need to plan debate prep now." Leo states and Donna
open up her ever present scheduling book.
"North Carolina?" she asks.
"Brought us good luck last time." I wink at her.
"North Carolina. Monday October 12- Wednesday October 14th.
Everybody write it down, it is now written in pen in the scheduling
book." Donna announces.
"Wait a minute. I've been asking for that one piece of
information all afternoon, but Leo asks for it once and it's
done?" Sam complains.
"We just like to watch you melt down." I tell him. "Donna
has some good news for you. Tell him, Donna."
"We decided we need some additional input for debate prep this time
around. Vinick is a more moderate Republican than we've run against
before so we thought we should bring in a more moderate voice to help us
with prep…"
"No…" Sam shakes his head for emphasis.
"Someone who speaks Republican…
"Uh-uh…"
"Someone who can give us a Southern point of view…"
"You can't possibly be suggesting…" I think Sam has run out
of ways to respond negatively so I jump in.
"Ainsley Hayes has agreed to join our team and take part in debate
prep." Sam drop back onto the couch and A.J. laughs.
Sam gets back up and scoops A.J. up with him.
"Come on Abigail, you and I are going for a long walk where we can
practice taking steps, and we will speak not a word about baseball or
politics. Deal?" he asks her.
"Santos!" she replies.
"Traitor.' He grouses, but kisses her cheek and leaves us all
laughing.
MWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMW
Why didn't I remember how cold it gets in North Carolina? This was a
bad idea. Even Donna's spa is looking good right now. We just got
through our first full day of prep and everybody is on edge. Some of us
are playing a little basketball after dinner to work off some physical
energy. The Congressman tried to get everyone to play football, but I
decided a full contact sport with the Democratic nominee for President
was a little too risky. Plus, I don't like football too much.
"We need to call her Josh." Sam tells me for like the 12th time.
"Why do you keep saying `we need to call her JOSH'?" I
ask him.
"We need help on-"
"We have a whole camp full of help right here, and if we really do
need `her' help, why does it have to be me that calls her?"
"You're the one who has a relationship with her." Sam is
enjoying this way too much. This is payback for bringing Ainsley on
board, I know it.
"I DO NOT have a relationship with that woman." I have stopped
playing now to get in his face.
"Yeah, that doesn't sound defensive." He laughs.
"Besides the obvious point that we don't need her help; Donna
will have several farm animals if she finds out that woman's number
has even been dialed from my cell phone." I state the obvious.
"Why? She doesn't have a problem working with Mandy. Didn't
you used to date her too?" Santos interjects. "What? I hear
things."
"It's different." I reply.
"Why?" Sam asks.
"I don't know WHY. Donna just tells me it's different and
that's good enough for me. I am not calling Amy Gardner.
Period."
We resume our game until Ainsley and Lou appear with another answer to
our question on vouchers.
"He can't agree to vouchers, Ainsley, we've been over
this." Sam stops playing to emphasis his point.
"And as I said, he doesn't need to agree to vouchers, he just
needs to agree to study vouchers. We've already alienated a lot of
people with your education plan. We can extend this olive branch and it
costs us nothing."
"Only our principles, and it's your education plan now too, or
did you not read that in the fine print when you signed on?" Sam
replies heatedly. "Look…"
Their conversation dies away as the two of them walk off to fight in
private.
"Those two gonna make it through debate camp alive? Matt asks.
"I've got a $20 on one of them lying in a pool of their own
blood before we leave Wednesday." Lou interjects with a smile. The
woman is bloodthirsty I tell you. I love that about her.
"I'll take that bet." I smile back. "And double it that
they're engaged before Election Day."
"You're on crack." Lou answers smartly.
"Put your money where your mouth is, woman. I am a political
mastermind. I see all, I know all." I boast as she shakes on our
bet.
"Then why don't you tell me how we're going to make up the
three points Vinick is up on me right now, mastermind?" Santos
challenges me.
"The debate next week is going to bring you up even with him, maybe
even up a point or two with the margin. Then we pull out the big guns
for the final push." I shoot for a three pointer, and miracle of
miracles, I make it.
"What are the big guns?" Lou asks me and ruins my moment.
"I haven't decided yet." I shoot for another 3 pointer and
miss.
"Right; that just inspires me with confidence, Josh." The
Congressman tells me sarcastically.
"I haven't steered you wrong yet, have I? Didn't the whole
reserves drill turn out just like I said it would?" he nods.
"Didn't I tell you we'd be sitting 3 points down at this
point?" again he nods. "So how about a little faith here,
Congressman?"
"Okay, Josh, but I want a piece of that 20 on Seaborn." He
smiles and I shake his hand too. "Done. You're both suckers.
Remember how our other bets have turned out, sir? Does that Met's
hat still fit you, or should I get you another one?" I tease as I
see Donna coming down the path with A.J. Donna's holding A.J.'s
hands in her own as our daughter works on mastering her steps.
"You're just lucky, Josh. That's all." He responds.
"Sometimes, sir. Sometimes I am very lucky." I toss the ball
over my shoulder and hold out my arms for my daughter. She tries, but
ends up on her butt again. "Time for bed, angel? Let's go tuck
you in."
Chapter 30 (A)
Donna shakes me awake 11 days before the election. I am so tired I could
cry.
"Please, just a few more minutes." I am not ashamed to beg here.
"Josh wake up." She insists as she turns on the TV.
"There's been a nuclear accident in San Andreo, California. The
President has ordered an evacuation of the area."
There's stock camera footage of the nuclear plant, and live shots of
people packed on the highways trying to evacuate. That was awfully fast.
Wait a minute.
"When did this happen?"
"About an hour and a half ago."
"Why didn't anyone call me?" I reach over to the nightstand
to grab my cell.
"I turned it off." She says seconds before I see that for
myself.
"Donna!"
"You needed sleep, Josh. I've been keeping in touch with Mandy
and the Congressman. They'll be here in 20 minutes."
"What's the reaction been so far?"
"Panic mostly. The President called the Congressman a few minutes
ago to tell him he was bringing Vinick with him to survey the damage as
soon as it's deemed safe enough. It's his home state and-"
"God damnit! Once he gets on the plane with the President it's
going to be game over; the President and his successor ordering the
troops into action. Has Mandy issued a statement?"
"Of course not. She wouldn't do that without consulting with
you. We're staying silent for now. "
"We're going to need a statement reaffirming the
Congressman's position that nuclear power is dangerous and that
Vinick is all for it. Let's get clips of Vinick's pro-nuclear
statement from the debate. That should be playing on every channel all
day long."
"I'm on it. Take a quick shower. Food and coffee are on the way
up."
When I walk into the living room, our whole team is assembled there. Sam
reads me the statement he drafted for immediate release. The man is a
genius with words, I swear. I also notice Anisley's hand on his arm
as he reads it. That $40 bucks is in my pocket already. The Congressman
nods his approval of the statement and Sam gives it to Donna who is
going to feed it to the press parked outside our suite.
When she returns, we are all somberly watching the reports as they come
in. Within the first hour, clips of Vinick espousing the complete safety
of nuclear power during the debate are everywhere. Good, at least
something is going right.
Donna, who has been working furiously at her laptop, gasps.
"Josh, you've got to see this!" she commands and passes her
laptop to me.
"What is it?" asks Mandy.
"According to my brilliant researcher, it was none other than Arnold
Vinick who lobbied for the plant in San Andreo. He pushed hard for it.
They have a copy of the letter he wrote to the nuclear regulation board.
Holy shit. He even moved the timetable for opening it forward."
"We've got to leak that right now." Mandy exclaims.
"It can't come from us." Sam argues.
"It can't come from anywhere in the same hemisphere as us."
I agree. "We can't be seen as taking political advantage of a
national tragedy.
"But don't the voters have a right to know he pushed for
this?" Mandy continues.
"Not from us, Mandy. We go dark starting now."
"We've got events scheduled all day. How do we avoid commenting
on it?" Lou asks. "Even I can't spin that much."
"Cancel them. Cancel everything. Tomorrow too." I order.
"But the election is 11 days away. Can we really afford to cancel
everything?" Helen sputters.
"We can't afford not to." I reply.
"What do we do all day then?" this comes from Mandy. This is
going to kill her almost as much as it's killing me. Neither of us
likes to sit still very much…or at all.
"Follow the coverage and pray the press is as good at researching as
Donna. That story HAS to break before Vinick gets on the plane with the
President."
MWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMW
"Phone for you Joshua." Donna calls for me.
"No calls right now, Donna, we're dark." I remind her.
"It's Bob." She tells me. When Toby first started calling
with suggestions and advice, Mandy asked me who the hell I was getting
my information from and I told her it was a secret agent from the White
House named `Bob'. Donna liked it and the name stuck.
"You really think it's a good idea to cancel all your events
today?" Toby questions me.
"You know a way to keep our schedule without commenting on San
Andreo?" I shoot back.
"You could..well Sam could write..Okay, maybe not. But it's 11
days to the election."
"What is it with all you people. Do you honestly think I don't
know how many days until the election? How many hours? If we bat our
eyes in the direction of California, Bruno Gianelli will have us for
lunch."
"I can't believe that guy is working for Vinick. I always
thought there was something…" he trails off.
"Morally reprehensible?" I offer
"Yeah, morally reprehensible about him. Remember when he wanted us
to use soft money for attack ads? How's Robin?" he asks casually
about Sam, but I know he really wants to know, without appearing to
really want to know.
"Looks like you're going to have to make room in the bat cave
for bat girl." I tell him as I watch Sam and Ainsley typing side by
side at the conference table, exchanging the occasional word and looking
at each other's copy.
"No, shit? I was afraid of that when I heard she was defecting."
"She didn't defect, she moved to the forward guard. Defecting is
working for Vinick. How's the President holding up with all
this?"
"Steady as a rock. I swear, every time I think he's down on the
mat he jumps up again and sucker punches me in the gut. I hope Santos is
ready to fill these shoes."
"He'll grow into them." I look over at the candidate as he
continues to cross out lines he doesn't like in the speech. "He
certainly has a mind of his own. How about CJ?"
"She's grown into her shoes too. You should have seen her swat
down a couple of guys in the cabinet this morning. I could have sold
tickets. You going to stay dark tomorrow too?"
"Looks like it. This thing can spin itself." I hesitate a
moment, thinking about leaking the nuclear plant stuff to him. He could
send it out in 4 different directions and they might pin it to the White
House, but not the campaign. He would do it for me too.
"Uh, Josh? You might want to flip on CNBC." He tells me and I
shout for Otto to change the damn channel to CNBC. Donna glares at me
as
Otto hurries to get the remote. What?
"We interrupt our current coverage of the crisis in San Andreo to
bring you this update from correspondet Julie Price."
"Thank you David. CNBC has just obtained a copy of a letter written
by Senator Arnold Vinick urging the nuclear regulatory agency to push
forward the approval for the San Andreo nuclear facility when they were
considering a new site. Senator Vinick, as you know, is in the battle of
his political life for the White House. Recent polls show him in
virtual dead heat with Democratic candidate Congressman Matthew Santos
after their only debate. One can only assume that news of the Nuclear
accident coming so soon on the heels of Senator Vinicks endorsement of
nuclear power as a safe energy alternative during the debate is going to
adversely effect his campaign."
"Damn right." I add and my eyes meet the Congressman's. This
is the ball game ladies and gentlemen.
MWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWM
The first National tracking poll since the nuclear accident is due out
any minute and I'm a bit anxious. Alright, a lot anxious. I think I
overheard Lou offer Donna $50 to take me out of the room
and…distract me. I was more than a little disappointed that she
didn't.
There are only 7 days until the election. Time is no longer our friend.
If we don't get a bump, and I mean a significant bump in these
polling numbers…I got nothing left up my sleeve. Yes, the nuclear
thing was bad for Vinick, but he played it about as well as anyone could
and we went completely dark for 2 days. Now I have to hope the
Congressman's faith in my decision was not a mistake.
"I got it!" Annabeth calls out. "In the first national
tracking poll since the accident at San Andreo, CNN/Newsweek reports
that Matthew Santos has overtaken Arnold Vinick for the first time since
the campaign began. In a poll of likely voters, the electorate preferred
Santos by 6% nationwide. The poll has a margin of error of +/- 2%."
She looks up and smiles. "Then they have a breakdown of state by
states."
"Print it out." I tell her. "Multiple copies, Annabeth."
Donna stops me midway across the room and takes my face in her hands.
"I am so proud of you!" she tells me as she cries a few tears.
"It was a team effort there, Donnatella." I try for modesty as I
wipe away her tears, but she shakes her head.
"You assembled the team and you saw the potential in a man who was
never going to run for office again. That's amazing, Joshua. Look
around you, look what you've done."
"I guess I am pretty spectacularly amazing." I tease.
"Don't get too egomaniacal, there's still a week left. You
could still screw things up."
"Not the important things." I kiss her and it quickly becomes
heated.
"Get a room." Comes a chorus from around us.
"Great idea." I tell them and begin pulling Donna toward the
bedroom.
"Behave yourself, Josh. There are like 30 people in our suite."
"Not in our bedroom, though." I retort. Just as I think I may be
able to persuade her to fool around with me the food arrives and Donna
does not miss out on food, ever.
We start making plans for the final week of campaigning. A.J. gets up
from her nap and is entertained by all the antics in the room, not to
mention the abundance of food; she is her mother's daughter.
Halfway through dinner, Mandy and I agree we need to do a re-write on
the stump for the final days. I turn to Sam for his magic words, but
he's not there. Otto fills in for the time being, and the kid has
potential, but he's no Sam Seaborn.
The Congressman is really pumped, well I guess we all are, but
there's something different about him tonight; like he really
believes he might be the next President. He and Leo are in the corner
talking about transition. I'd make them turn around three times and
spit, but I don't want to interrupt them.
I see Sam walk in and call out to him. "Where the hell have you
been, buddy? We're hard at work in here and you take off?"
"I'm here now, Mom. What can I do for you?"
"I'm just saying we've got a Presidential campaign going on
here and-"
"And there's nothing you take more seriously. Yes, Josh,
we've all heard the speech. Could I write you something new? You
know, just for the hell of it?"
"You don't have to get all pissy about it." I chuckle
because he's all worked up.
"Pissy." A.J. says clear as a bell. So much for getting lucky
with Donna later. She picks up A.J. from where she'd been perched on
my lap and gives me a dirty look.
"See now, you got me in trouble with Donna, and my kid's never
going to get into a decent school with a mouth like that."
"Then maybe you should lay off the adults in the room when they need
a few minutes of privacy." Sam snaps.
"Privacy? We're all one big family here, Samuel. What do you
need privacy for?"
"Maybe I didn't want to propose to Ainsley in front of our one
big family. Is that okay with you, Dad?" The room goes from 60
decibels to 0 in 2.5 seconds; even A.J. is silent.
"Look what you made me do! I was supposed to wait until Ainsley gets
here and now it's all ruined!" Sam's pissed now.
"Did she say yes?" I ask for clarification sake.
"Of course she said yes. What do you mean `did she say
yes'?" Now he's insulted; great. "I've been engaged
like five minutes and I've already broken the first promise I made
to her. I promised to wait for her to get here before I told anybody.
This is all your fault, Josh."
"I can fix it." I tell him.
"How can you possibly fix it? Everybody knows now, genius."
"I am a genius and I'm going to overlook your sarcasm right now
because you've just proposed and I know what that does to a guy.
Also, you just helped me win some serious money from the Presidential
FRONT RUNNER."
"What?!" he yelps and looks at Santos.
"I need everyone's attention. When Ainsley comes in, everybody
needs to be busy with work. Sam will then make his surprise
announcement
very quickly and we will all be shocked and surprised. Anyone who is not
suitably shocked and surprised will not have any possibility of
employment in any big White House we may or may not be working in after
the New Year. Do I make myself perfectly clear?" Everyone nods or
answers affirmatively. "See, all fixed. Congratulations, Sam." I
clap him on the back and just step away when Ainsley enters. Heads go
down and voices go up. I start yelling at Sam.
"I need you here working on the modified stump, not off gallivanting
around." I wink for good measure.
"Don't yell at Sam, Josh. He was doing something important."
"What's more important than the campaign?" I cue it up.
"Asking Ainsley to marry me." Sam fills in perfectly. Everyone
looks up and reacts as if they're hearing the news for the first
time. Donna envelopes Ainsley in a hug, and there are cheers in the
room.
"I can't believe it!" says Otto. "I'm just so
shocked and surprised!"
I turn a look on him to let him know he's laying it on too thick and
he slinks away.
"Leading in the polls and a newly engaged couple on our team. I
think this calls for some champagne, don't you Josh?" Santos
inquires.
"I do indeed. Lou, you're in charge of ordering champagne for
our family." Lou is an expert on the alcoholic beverage choices.
"And dessert!" Donna adds and I look at her strangely. "I
want dessert."
"Fine, dessert too. It's on me tonight."
Within 20 minutes we are pouring champagne and toasting the happy
couple
as we scarf down pie and cookies. Donna corners me and steals a bite of
my pie.
"Get your own pie, woman!" I tell her as I pull my plate away.
"I already did. I just wanted to have one more bite. It was SO
good." She leans over to try to steal another bite.
"Here have a sip of this instead." I give her my glass of
champagne. See she can't wield the fork effectively if she's
holding my glass. I am so brilliant.
"I can't, it's bad for the baby." She tells me matter of
factly and I bobble the plate and the pie. Both end up on the floor.
She looks down. "That is so sad. Is there anymore on the
buffet?" She looks over and starts to walk in that direction.
"Hold on a second. Did you just say it's bad for the baby?"
she nods.
"You have been working with me for how long? And you just bury the
lead of the statement like that? What's wrong with you?"
"Well, I am pregnant." She grins.
"I guess that's a pretty good excuse." I grin back and kiss
her.
Chapter 30 B
Election night…1:30 AM
I find Congressman Matt Santos out on the balcony of our hotel suite in
Houston. It makes me a little nervous, quite frankly, but if the Secret
Service if fine with it, then I guess I have to be too. I pause for a
minute and realize this is one of those moments when you're going to
take one big breath and then someone's life is going to change
forever. Like when I asked Donna to marry me, or when she told me she
was pregnant; both times. It's a life changing event and should be
treated as such.
"Hey, Matt!" I call out and have the pleasure of seeing shock on
his face. I never call him Matt. I never let anyone besides Helen call
him Matt. Matt is a guy you have a beer with and shoot hoops with, not
someone you elect to the highest office of the land. "You might want
to come in now, Matt."
"Why are you breaking your own rule, Josh? I thought it was strictly
Congressman or sir.?"
"I thought I would make an exception now, since I won't get
another opportunity for at least 4 more years." His eyebrows go up
in a silent question. "They're about to announce that you're
the next President of the United States. Can't be calling that guy
Matt. There are strict rules of protocol about that."
He laughs and hugs me with a quiet `thanks'. When he goes inside
and the announcement is made, pandemonium breaks out. Soon, Donna
joins
me on the balcony.
"Congratulations. You did it."
"We did it." I kiss her and we eventually have to `get a
room'. A.J. is spending the night with my Mom in a neighboring hotel
room so Anna can celebrate with us, and Mike; who may not be a complete
gomer, but I'm keeping my eye on him still.
It isn't until a late breakfast the next day that President-elect
Santos talks to me about the Chief of Staff position. I find myself
hesitating.
"I thought that was what you wanted, Josh. I need you in that
office."
"I've been in that office, sir. It's a big commitment."
Donna and I have not told a soul about the new baby, but I figure I can
trust the President-elect to keep out secret, so I tell him our news.
"That's great, Josh. It really is, but you can still be Chief of
Staff and be a father. If I can be President and be a father, you can do
it as Chief of Staff. Look, I've heard you and Sam and Leo talking
about how it was in the Bartlet White House and don't get me wrong,
I have great respect for the man, but things are going to be different
with me. I have different priorities. Maybe that's good and maybe
it's not, but it is me, so we're all going to have to learn to
live with it."
Priorities. He just said the magic word. "Do me a favor, sir. Let me
think about it for a day, talk to Donna."
"Talk and think all you like, just come back with a
`yes'." And with that he leaves me at the table. After
breakfast I ask Donna to go for a walk with me. Once we get outside, I
broach the topic.
"So, the President-elect offered me Chief of Staff." Very
smooth, Lyman.
"Uh-huh." Comes my wife's eloquent reply.
"That's all you've got to say? Uh-huh?"
"It can't come as a surprise Josh. You knew he would."
"Yeah, but I thought it would be a no brainer. Thanks, but no
thanks. Been there, done that."
"So the surprise isn't the offer it's the temptation to
accept it?"
"I guess. What do you think?"
"I think you can do whatever you set your mind to doing." She
quotes me back to me. I hate it when she does that…sort of.
"That's really not an answer, you know."
"Josh, what do you want to do?"
"I want to help build a Santos administration, I want to be there
for more of A.J.'s firsts, and this one's firsts too." I
cover her stomach with my hand. "I want to travel with you and take
family vacations. I want to stick it to the Republicans now that we have
a majority in Congress. I'm all over the map here, Donna. Help me
out."
"I don't see any reason why you can't do all of that,
Joshua. If you want to serve as Chief of Staff it can be on your terms.
You set your priorities and you keep them. Will it be hard? Yes. Are you
going to have to delegate a lot? Sure. But if that's acceptable to
the President-elect, it should be acceptable to you too."
"Leo always-"
"Josh, I love Leo. You know I do. But Leo ended up divorced and had
a massive coronary; not to mention having a strained relationship with
his daughter for a long time. Is he really the model you want to use for
that office?"
"Not when you put it that way." I roll my eyes.
"The President-elect will have Leo, too. Between the two of you, and
the rest of the staff you put together, President Santos will be well
served."
"So you think I should take it?" there must be a catch here
somewhere.
"I think you'll kick yourself if you don't. And if
you're unhappy, then A.J. is unhappy and then I'm unhappy.
We're a team."
"Yeah, but like the Met's right? Not the stupid
Astro's."
"Never like the Astro's." she assures me. "You know
where your priorities lie, and so do I."
"What about you going back to school?" I want to make sure
we've covered every angle.
"Well, I was thinking about that…" she confesses and starts
telling me her plans to have Anna stay with us after inauguration so she
can start taking some classes. Then we're going to see how it
goes…or so she tells me. First, I'm told, I need to go tell the
President-elect he has a Chief of Staff.
MWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWM
"Come on A.J. Time to go!" I order but no child comes running to
me. I get a lot more respect at work than I do at home. I do a cursory
search of the upstairs, but no A.J. On the main floor I find Anna
holding our son; both of whom are waiting patiently for me it seems.
Noah is quite the dapper gentlemen in his little suit and is the
antithesis of his big sister. Where she came early, he was two weeks
overdue. Where she is light haired and fair skinned, he has dark hair
and a deeper complexion. I would accuse Donna of an affair with the milk
man, but when he smiles he has serious dimples.
"Anna, I can't find A.J. Have you seen her?"
"She went into the backyard awhile ago. She was still pouting about
having to wear a frilly dress." Anna smirks as she relays this bit
of information.
"I told her it's just for a couple hours." I head out the
back door calling for my 3 year old daughter. The yard is fenced in,
it's not like it isn't safe; particularly with Secret Service
keeping a watchful eye over us, but still. She was supposed to stay
inside.
"Abigail Joan?" I call out and see her careen around the side of
the house. She is covered in dirt from head to toe. "A.J. what the-
I told you to stay inside until it's time to go. Now you're a
mess."
"I was bored and the dumb dress is itchy." She complains as she
pushes her glasses back up on her nose. The vision trouble is the only
long lasting effect of her prematurity and the glasses do look adorable
on her. Best of all, they in no way hinder her ability to play baseball
which we do faithfully every weekend.
"Let's see if we can clean you up quick. We have to leave soon,
or we'll be late for Mommy's special day. She'll be looking
for us." Not that we'll be hard to spot with our Secret Service
contingent.
"Did you have a good meeting?" she asks me.
"Pretty good." I tell her as I wipe dirt from her face with a
dish towel. I know, Donna will yell later, but this is an emergency.
"Did you make the `publicans pay the money?" she continues
questioning me.
"Of course I did. I always make the Republicans pay the money."
"Cuz our guys are in charge and they're scared of you and
Prezdent Santos, right."
"Right, but we can just keep that under out hats, okay A.J.?"
"We're not wearing any hats, Daddy."
"Right." The child is very literally minded. She gets that from
her mother. "Anyway, I had to make the Republicans pay fast today,
because we have Mom's thing, so I'm a little stressed."
"What is stressed? Is it a `publican thing?"
"Most definitely. We have to get going, kiddo. Anna, we're
ready. Let's get in the car before something else happens."
There's quite a crowd, of course, and we are now fashionably late.
No, it had nothing to do with my crappy watch. Luckily, the Secret
Service scoped out and reserved our seats so it doesn't matter.
We wait, mostly impatiently, during the boring parts until we hear:
"Please welcome, class valedictorian, Donna Moss-Lyman." We
cheer, mostly appropriately and A.J. stands on my lap to get a better
view of her mother.
"Thank you." She begins and takes a moment to wave at A.J. who
cries out `Hi Mommy' to the delight of the crowd. "I am very
pleased and proud to be here today. This graduation represents the
culmination of years of study and sacrifice for those of us on this
stage. For me personally, it was a winding circuitous journey to get
here. I am hardly what anyone would call a traditional student."
"I did have one great advantage, though, as I worked toward my
degree and tried to balance family, study, and work. With the help of my
husband, I was always able to keep my priorities straight."
Fine.