Extra Credit Chapters 26-29
Chapter 26
Saturday dawned bright and sunny and Noah declared it to be a
perfect fishing day. So the men took off, leaving Donna and Ruth to
spend some time alone together. Donna adored Ruth; she was warm
and welcoming and made Donna feel like she was part of their family.
Even more importantly, Ruth accepted Jake and treated him just like
her own grandchild. It made Donna's heart swell.
"How are you holding up, Ruth? You look more tired than last time we
saw you."
"I'm feeling old Donna. My energy isn't what it used to be, and it's
harder to watch Noah fight the cancer this time. He doesn't have the
fight in that he used to."
"I'm sorry. Maybe we shouldn't have come. We don't have to stay all
week."
"Oh Donna, no, I didn't mean it like that. He gets a spark in his
eyes when you all come. He is so proud of Josh and to see him so
happy with you and Jake has brought him great joy. Please don't even
THINK about leaving early. He'd be crushed."
"Okay, then. What can I do to help around here?" Donna asked.
"You know what I'd like? I'd like to go to lunch; just us girls,
maybe do some shopping and have fun. Are you up for that?"
"Am I up for shopping? Only for you Ruth, only for you." Donna
laughed as they gathered their purses for their trip.
When they returned late that afternoon, Jake came running to the car
to tell them all about their fishing adventure. Jake caught 3 fish,
Noah caught 1, and Joshua caught none at all. Donna suspected it
was more about Josh trying to avoid having to clean fish than anything
else. After giving his summary, Jake ran back to where Noah was
cleaning their catch. Josh met them coming up the sidewalk and
convinced Donna to walk around the lake with him.
"It's beautiful here. Why did you ever leave?"
"I tried to get them to move the Federal Government to Connecticut,
but I've had no luck so far." Josh responded.
"It sounds like Jake enjoyed the fishing trip. It was so nice of Noah
to take him."
"Hey! What about me? I took him too." Josh argued.
"And I'm sure it was a supreme sacrifice, but it was your Dad's idea
and he got Jake the pole."
"So I get no credit here? I spend half the day outside, on the water,
in a small boat, and I get no credit?"
"Not for that, no. But you get extra credit for taking me on a
romantic walk around the lake." Donna offered.
"Well, that's alright then…You and Mom were gone quite awhile. We
got back a couple hours ahead of you."
"Poor Joshua. Were you bored without us here to entertain you?"
"A little bit, but then I booted up the computer."
"I thought you weren't going to work while we were here."
"It wasn't work…I was doing research. I've gotten better with
research since you came into my life and I discovered some pretty
interesting things today."
"Good for you, Josh. What did you find out?"
"Lots of things. For instance did you know there are over 50 Inn's
within a 45 minute drive of here?"
"I can't say that I did, but then since we're staying with your
parents, I didn't give it much thought."
"Well how about this: Did you know that the State of Connecticut has
no waiting period for getting marriage licenses?"
Once the sentence registered in Donna's head, she stopped dead in
her tracks.
"You don't say." Donna sputtered out trying to read Josh's expression
which was deceptively casual.
"It's true. So if somebody decided they wanted to get married, say,
this Friday, there would be no legal obstacles whatsoever." Josh
risked a look at Donna's face and saw her eyes filled with hope. It
was the only cue he needed.
"My Dad said something to me last night about not wasting a single
moment and the more I thought about it, the more I realized I didn't
want to waste another moment without having you as my wife…
Donnatella, will you marry me?"
"I would be honored to marry you, Joshua Lyman."
"Friday?"
"Any day."
Josh caught her up in a kiss that told her how happy he was with her
answer. Suddenly he pulled away.
"Wait! I forgot…Damn I knew I'd screw this up somehow…This was my
Grandmother's ring. I'd like you to wear it if you like it."
"Like it? I would be proud to wear it." Josh kissed her again.
"Let's go tell Jake." Josh announced.
"And your parents, too. We're going to need their help if we're going
to get this done by Friday."
Chapter 27
By Thursday, they had accomplished almost everything on their to-do
list. Josh had found a romantic Inn nearby for their wedding night.
Donna and Ruth had found a beautiful dress for Donna to wear and a
darling suit for Jacob. Noah had enlisted the help of a friend of his
who was a judge to perform the ceremony, and Ruth was in charge of
making the Wedding cake.
Despite the fact that everything seemed under control, Josh and
Donna were both unaccountably nervous. At least, it was
unaccountable to everyone else. Josh and Donna each, privately,
had very good reasons to be nervous. Jake was thrilled with the news
that Josh was going to stay with them always and that Noah and Ruth
were now Grandma and Grandpa. He was also given the very
important job of holding the rings, so he felt like he was part of the
ceremony.
Friday morning, Donna sought Josh out and asked him to come sit
with her in the backyard. The ceremony wasn't scheduled to begin
until 3, so they had plenty of time to get ready. Ruth and Donna had
an appointment in a couple hours to have their hair and nails done,
but for now, they were all casual and relaxed. Well, at least they were
trying to be.
"Josh, I wanted to give you something special on our Wedding day, but
I really can't give you anything you don't already have or couldn't
get for yourself. There is one thing I thought of, though, that might
be able to express to you how much I love and trust you, so I had
some papers faxed here yesterday." She nervously handed them to
Josh.
Puzzled, he looked down at the papers and began to sift through
them.
"Donna, these are adoption papers."
"I know. I contacted Peter on Tuesday and after I explained the
situation, he agreed to give up his parental rights to Jacob. If you
want to, you can adopt Jacob and make him your son legally. He's
already yours in my heart and his."
"Donna, this is the most amazing gift... Of course
I want to adopt Jake. Thank you for doing this. I know it couldn't
have been easy to contact Dr. Freeride. "
"It was easier than you think." Donna smiled.
"I was going to ask you if it was okay for him to call me Dad after
we're married."
"I imagine you could get him on board with that idea."
"I love you so much, Donnatella."
"I love you too."
When Donna and Ruth returned from the hair salon, there was a
strange car in the drive. Donna assumed it was the judge arriving
early to catch up with Noah. So nothing could have stunned her more
than to discover her parents seated at the kitchen table with Noah,
Josh and Jake.
"Donna?... I brought your parents here for the Wedding. You gave me
a family and I wanted to give you yours….Donna?" Josh's words
barelyregistered with Donna.
Her gaze was transfixed on the two people who were now standing in
front of her.
"Mom?" Donna was openly crying now and Jake was getting alarmed.
Josh moved to him to explain and reassure him that his Mom was
okay. Josh hoped he was telling him the truth. Had he made a
mistake? Overstepped his bounds?
"Oh, Donna…You look so beautiful. Josh has been telling us all about
what you've been doing; your work, your Masters, and this precious
boy of course." Her Mother began. "We'd like to stay for the Wedding,
but we'll understand if you don't want us here."
"We've made mistakes, Donna. We were trying to do the right thing.
We thought Peter was the right thing, but obviously we were wrong.
After you moved in with Molly our pride got in the way and we let
things go too long….Your Mother and I would like to try to start again if
you'll forgive us." Her Dad looked unsure of himself. Donna couldn't
ever remember a time when Timothy Moss has ever looked unsure of
himself.
Not trusting her voice, Donna merely nodded and launched herself
into their arms. Josh let out a breath of relief. Things were going to be
fine.
Just then the doorbell rang and Ruth went to admit Judge Feinstein
and his wife Gloria into the house. Introductions were made all
around and while the parents of the bride and groom got to know one
another, Donna walked to Josh's side.
"You are an amazing man, Joshua Lyman. That is the sweetest thing
anyone has ever done for me."
"Okay, but don't go spreading stuff like that around when we get back
to D.C. I have a reputation to uphold and there's no way I'm going to
be able to strong arm Republicans if my wife is going around telling
everyone how sweet I am."
"Your wife? I like the sound of that. Don't worry. Your secret is
safe with me." Donna kissed him soundly until the Judge cleared his
throat.
"I think it's time we get these two married." He declared.
Donna went upstairs to change and put Jake into his new suit. When
he was ready, she sent him down to the Grandparents while she
finished fastening her dress. She'd just finished when there was a
knock on the door. She opened it to find Noah on the other side.
"My son's eyes are going to pop out of his head, spitfire." he
assured her. "I have some things for you." He handed her several
items. "The old is the garter your Mother wore at her Wedding, the
new is the necklace from Josh and Jake, the blue is the blue bow Ruth
made to put on your dress, and the borrowed…." He handed her the
last item; the silk handkerchief Noah had used on several occasions
to dry her tears. Donna tucked it inside her sleeve and kissed his
cheek.
"I have something for you too." Donna went into her drawer and pulled
out a thick document. It was her completed thesis. "I wanted you to
be the first one to read it since you gave me so much help on it over
the last few months…I couldn't have done it without you, Noah."
"Sure you could. You can do anything you set your mind to,
Donnatella. Thank you for making my son so happy, and keeping his
ego in check."
"The latter is more difficult than the former." Donna joked.
"I'll go get you Father and tell him you're ready for your walk down
the aisle."
The ceremony went without a hitch and Donna found out Noah had
picked this Judge for a very special reason; his wife Gloria knew sign
language and signed everything that was said so Jake was included in
every moment. He looked so proud as he handed the rings to Josh
and Donna and he positively beamed when the Judge declared them
to be a family.
They enjoyed a relaxing dinner and Ruth's delicious cake together
before Josh whisked Donna away for their Honeymoon. Donna's
parents accepted the Lyman's invitation to stay at their home for the
weekend in order for them to spend more time with Jake.
When Donna and Josh returned on Sunday, Donna feared that Jake
would have a rude awakening after having had the undivided
attention of 4 Grandparents for 3 days. Thankfully, he was so excited
to go back home with his Mom and Dad, that their departure was
painless.
What wasn't painless was getting Josh up for work Monday morning.
He was more than content to cuddle with his wife now that they were
finally sharing a bed. When reminding him of the time didn't help.
Donna got out of bed and made coffee. When the aroma of coffee
didn't work, she went for the big guns and sent Jake in to wake his
Dad. Jake decided the best way to accomplish this task was to jump
on his Dad's unsuspecting back. Laughter and wrestling ensued, but
Josh still didn't get out of bed. Donna watched from the doorway and
hated to break up the fun, but it was time.
"Joshua Lyman, don't make me call Leo McGarry your first day back in
the office."
"I'm going, I'm going, but you and Jake will meet for lunch at 1,
right?" he asked as he turned the water on in the shower.
"I will pick up Jake from pre-school and meet you at 1 for lunch.
That should give us plenty of time before your P.T. appointment at
3." She tried to slip that one by him, but she should have known
better.
"Donna, I don't need P.T. anymore, I am in great shape!" Josh argued.
"And if you want to stay in great shape you need to keep doing your
physical therapy. You haven't had any the whole week we were gone.
Do I need to get the rules out to refresh your memory?"
"Please God, no. I'll go for now, but if the doctor says I can cut
down or quit, that's what I'm going to do."
"I can live with that. And if you do a good job in therapy today,
you'll earn extra credit."
"Just what, exactly, can I redeem all this extra credit for?"
"I'll show you when we get home." Donna kissed him before going to
get Jake ready for pre-school.
Chapter 28
Josh Lyman swaggered back into the West Wing like he owned it.
Rebecca met him at the door with a cup of decaf coffee and a bright
smile.
"You look great, boss. Welcome back!"
"Thanks Rebecca, it feels good to be back. What have you got for me
today?"
"You have a full schedule until 1 and then physical therapy at 3.
Senior staff starts in 10 minutes."
Rebecca continued to brief him on his appointments while Josh looked
around the building to see what had changed. Not much, he surmised.
Life appeared to go on just fine without his presence. He wasn't sure
if he was glad or disappointed about that. Then he ran into Sam.
"Hey, man. You're back!" he engaged him in a male back slapping
type hug. "How was Connecticut?"
"Amazing. I'll tell you about it later. What's up for senior staff?"
"Brady's going to re-introduce health care. Toby thinks we can get on
board with it with a few adjustments, but you know him better than
anyone else so we need to get your input. I put a draft of the
Presidents remarks to the AMA on your desk, you probably won't have
time to get to it today, but CJ wants you to look at it and make sure
the policy implications aren't going go get legislative affairs hot
under the collar. See you in staff in a couple minutes, okay?"
"Okay." Josh chuckled. So much for not feeling needed.
"Rebecca, what's next?"
********************************************************************
"We need to get Layton on board. Once we get her, Brady will be
more willing to let us tweak the bill, but we need to have a concrete list
of the changes we want because we won't get another bite at the
apple." Josh explained.
"Once it gets introduced on the floor, we want to be behind it or
have a very good reason why we're against improving health care
initiatives." Bartlet interjected.
"That's right, sir." Josh agreed.
"Then you better get Layton on board." The President commented.
"Yes, sir. I'll have Rebecca set something up right away." Josh
started to rise, believing senior staff was being dismissed.
"I read a fascinating book over the weekend…" the President began
as groans were heard around the room. "CJ, did you know that in
ancient times wedding rings were made from hemp or vine and
replaced when they became worn?"
`Oh, so busted' thought Josh. CJ just shook her head no, confused by
the topic change.
"Yes, it wasn't until the Roman times that wedding rings were made
from steel to symbolize the strength of marriage." The President
continued. "And the cake, Sam, was originally included in the
ceremony because grain was a symbol of fertility."
"Okay, well that's good to know I guess, sir." Sam was looking at him
strangely. This was a very odd segue, even for the President.
"Seeing a lamb, spider, frog, or a rainbow before the wedding is
considered good luck. Did you see any of those things on Friday,
Joshua?" Bartlet asked with a twinkle in his eyes.
"No, sir, I didn't" Josh smiled back.
Toby was the first to put it together and look at Josh's left hand.
"You got married on Friday?" Toby exclaimed.
"Yeah, we did." Josh admitted.
"You got Donna to marry you? What did you do, drug her?" CJ teased.
"Yeah, and I have some left over if you wanted to try it out on a
reporter of some kind." Josh teased back.
"Congratulations, mi amore." CJ hugged him. Congratulations and
good wishes were bouncing around the room. When Josh got to the
President he paused.
"Let me guess…my Mother?" Josh asked.
"She called Leo on Wednesday. She said it was to give us a heads up
in case it hit the media somehow."
"Right, because that was likely to happen." Josh replied.
"Don't give your Mother a hard time, son. You've made her wait long
enough for this day." Leo put in his two cents. "Now get back to
work."
"Yes, boss." Everyone scattered to their offices.
By noon, Josh found himself checking the clock every few minutes,
anxious to see his family. By 12:45 he gave up all pretense of work
and stopped by Rebecca's desk to tell her he was going to the lobby
to wait for Donna and Jake when she took the wind out of his sails.
"Sorry, boss. Leo needs you in the mural room. He just called."
"But- Yeah, okay, I'm on my way." This was not going to be a problem
he assured himself. 15 minutes was plenty of time to take care of
whatever Leo needed and still be on time for lunch with Donna and
Jake. He practically ran to the mural room and only gave a
perfunctory knock before opening the door.
"Surprise!" came from all over the room as he entered. Wedding
shower decorations were everywhere and as Josh looked around the
room, he saw friends, colleagues, members of Congress, and his
family seated right in the center of it all.
He smiled his appreciation and began to walk toward Donna. A hand
grabbing his arm stopped him and turned him around.
"Congratulations, little brother." Joanie told him.
"Hey, you're back!" Josh exclaimed as he hugged his sister.
"You couldn't wait until I got back to get married?"
"It's not my fault you decided to go to a conference in London when I
finally got the nerve to get married." Josh replied.
"You're lucky I'm too happy for you to be pissed at you. Besides, now
you're going to owe me for the rest of your life." Joanie told him.
"How do you figure that?"
"You would never have even met Donna if it wasn't for me."
"Then I owe you more than I can ever repay." He replied honestly.
"Go circulate, Joshua. Your bride is waiting patiently for you."
"You knew about this?" Josh accused as he met Donna and kissed
her to the delight of the crowd.
"Margaret called me on my cell Thursday morning." She confessed.
Calls were made for a speech and Josh reluctantly obliged.
"I'm sure Donna would want me to thank all of you for your thoughtful
surprise, but since I know you better than she does, I know there is
an ulterior motive here. You just want a chance to tell her
embarrassing stories about me."
"We don't have that kind of time, Josh." Toby quipped.
"Thanks pal. However, seeing as there are many voting members of
Congress present, I was thinking I could take this opportunity to
address the reasons you should vote for HR 352…"
There were cat calls and boo's throughout the room.
"Okay, okay. Seriously, thank you for this party, thanks for covering
for me while I was gone, and most of all, thanks for your friendship
and support throughout this ordeal. We are very lucky to have such
wonderful friends." Josh said sincerely.
"Kiss her already!" Sam called.
"I second the motion." Leo joined in.
"Without objection." Josh replied. He pulled Donna up next to him and
kissed her like they were alone in their room. Everyone applauded,
led by Jake who was watching while sitting on the First Lady's lap.
Chapter 29
Thanksgiving Day
Manchester Farm
8 years later
Jed and Abby Bartlet were waiting for the Lymans on their porch when
they drove up. Jake was the first one out of the car and rushed up to
greet the Bartlets. He was followed by his 6 year old sister Sarah
who was holding the leash attached to their dog Madison. Joshua
grabbed a couple of their bags while Donna got 2 year old Noah out of
his car seat.
It had been very hard on all of them losing Josh's Dad the previous
year, but Josh was grateful that his Dad had fought long enough to
meet his namesake. There was some consolation in that his Dad had
a chance to see him happily settled with a family of his own. That was
just one thing he was grateful for on this Thanksgiving Day.
"Are we the first ones here?" Josh asked the President.
"Mallory, Sam and Leo are inside while Laura is taking a nap. Danny,
CJ and their brood won't fly in for another hour. Toby, Andi, and the
twins are driving up tomorrow. MY girls have abandoned me for their
respective in-laws. Come on in and get settled." Jed led them
inside. "The kids are getting so big."
"Yeah, Jake is in junior high. He's going to hit you up for help in
his social studies class, so be prepared. They're studying the middle
east peace conference." Josh replied.
"I think I may be able to handle that." Jed chuckled. "Have you been
doing your homework?"
"Let's save that until the rest of the gang arrives." Josh hedged.
By Friday evening, pandemonium reigned at the Bartlet farm. After all
the games they played and sugar they ingested, it took a long time to
settle the kids down to bed. Once they had accomplished that, the
adults gathered in the family room to share some wine and catch up.
At the first lull in the conversation, Joshua brought up the subject
Jed had alluded to earlier.
"I got confirmation from Jorgenson before we left home. He is NOT
going to seek re-election in the Senate." Everyone turned to look at
Sam for his reaction.
"Guys, I've only been in Congress for 6 years. I'm not sure it's-"
"It's time Sam." Josh interrupted.
"It's time Samuel." CJ confirmed. There was a long pause.
"You're unusually silent, Toby." Sam noticed.
"Don't try to write your speeches yourself, Robin. If you want a
hand, I could take a leave of absence from Columbia for a year."
"Okay, first of all, would you lose the Batman references? And
secondly, this is it? This is all the debate we're going to have
about what amounts to a huge move in my political career?" Sam
asked incredulously.
"You're the only one who seems to need convincing." Mallory
responded. When Josh had initially talked to her about the idea she
was a little hesitant. Not because she thought her husband might not
be ready, but because she thought she might not be ready. It was
thoughtful of Josh to come to her first; unusually thoughtful, which
made her suspect Donna was behind it. Regardless, she was ready
now.
"This is what we talked about, Sam." Bartlet added. Sam looked at his
former boss and mentor in the eye.
"And if I do this, you're all in with me?' he asked the group at
large.
"Every last one of us." Donna promised.
Sam looked around the room again, taking in the faces of his friends
and colleagues. They had been through so much together, and yet
their hardships had only cemented their relationships further. Maybe
they were right, maybe it was time to reach for the next level.
Whatever the future held, he couldn't possibly have assembled a
better dream team than the one sitting around him right now.
"I may regret this…but okay, let's file for the Senate seat." Sam
announced.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, a toast to Senator Seaborn." Jed proclaimed.
Everyone toasted and immediately broke into strategy conversations.
"You ready for this?" Josh asked Donna. Running Sam's campaign for
Senate was going to impact their lives dramatically too.
"I think it's perfect, and paving the way the Mallory first was
particularly inspired."
"That wasn't my idea. That was yours." Josh corrected her.
"That's right, it was… I think I should get extra credit for that."
"You know, I do too." Josh smiled and kissed her.
The End.