Extra Credit Chapters 6-10
Chapter 6
C.J. stopped by Josh's door and had to call his name twice before he
looked up.
"What has got you so engrossed there, Joshua?" she asked.
"Did you know that there are 6.8 MILLION children receiving special
ed services in this country? And not only that, but this projection
report estimates that there are another 3 million who SHOULD be
receiving services, but haven't been identified or referred. 3
million kids who need help but aren't getting it. What do you think
the odds are that they'll even finish junior high? This is
staggering!" Josh exclaimed.
"Do we have something coming up on special ed? I haven't heard
anything in the press room."
"No, but we should. Set aside the educational imperatives, there is a
fundamental economic principle at work here. Children, who do not
graduate high school, are far more likely to be involved in gambling,
drinking, drugs and theft. Instead of becoming productive members of
society who contribute to the tax base, they drain money through the
prison system, welfare, and health issues. Why haven't we fixed this?
Do you think the President is aware of these statistics?" he finally
looked up at her.
"Did you want me to answer any of those questions or are you
practicing for a filibuster? What's lit a fire under you about this?"
"Someone brought it to my attention and I think we should be studying
a way to improve these stats." Josh replied vehemently as Sam
entered.
"What stats? Is Harrison giving us grief over the appropriations
bill?" Sam asked
"No, Josh has his knickers in a twist over early childhood special ed
stats for reasons passing understanding." CJ replied.
"Are you still on that? Donna gave you that stuff 3 days ago." said
Sam.
"Who's Donna?" asked CJ.
"Donna is a grad student at Georgetown who seems to have the ability
to flummox our Deputy Chief of Staff."
"Do tell…"
"She is tall, blonde, beautiful, and has a tongue that can lash Josh
at fifty paces." Sam continued.
"I'm sitting right here, you know." Josh groused.
"The President invited her to an advisory meeting on Monday. You
could stop by and take a peek for yourself." Sam ignored him
completely.
"What time and where?"
"Do you need me for this conversation? Would you like me to step out?
Oh, right, this is my office. You two can take your little hen party
somewhere else. I have a briefing memo to put together for the
President on funding for early childhood education." Josh turned his
attention back to his report as Sam and CJ smiled at each other and
walked out.
Chapter 7
Donna was hurriedly stuffing items in Jacob's backpack on Monday
morning. She did not want to be late for her appointment at the White
House, but Jake was not aware of how important this meeting was and
didn't seem to be in a cooperative frame of mind. She tapped him on
the shoulder, again, and waited for him to look at her.
"We have to go NOW." Jake reluctantly put down is trucks and followed
her to the car. She got him to her sister's house without further
incident, kissed him goodbye, and hurried to the White House. Imagine
her surprise, though, when it wasn't Josh who met her at the
entrance, but the White House Press Secretary CJ Cregg.
"Ms. Moss? Hi I'm CJ Cregg."
"Yes, Ms. Cregg, I know who you are. Is everything alright? I was
expecting to see Josh."
"Everything's fine. I just wanted a chance to meet you without Joshua
hogging all your attention. You're meeting in the Roosevelt room this
morning. I'll walk you over"
"That's very nice of you, but I'm sure you're very busy. I can just
wait for Josh." Donna was unwilling to admit it but she was quite
anxious to see Josh again. He had called several times since their
meeting the previous Wednesday. Sometimes to just chat about his day, other times
with a question about special ed programs. Those were the funniest calls. He would
rattle off 2 or 3 quick questions, and hang up without even saying goodbye. Although
he had a reputation for being a world class political operative, he had a lot of work to
do
in the area of social skills.
"Josh will meet us there I promise. So I hear you're almost finished
with your Masters in government studies. What are your plans when you finish?" CJ
asked.
"Ideally, I'd like to work in the Department of Health and Human
Services." Donna answered as she followed CJ to the Roosevelt room.
It was packed with people, including Josh Lyman, who kept glancing at
his pager. When he finally noticed her, he excused himself and
hurried to the door.
"Hey, Rebecca was supposed to page me when you got here." Josh
complained.
"Ms. Cregg was kind enough to escort me back. "
"I bet she was. Thanks so much CJ." He said sardonically. "I got it
from here."
"I thought I'd stay and listen awhile." She said innocently.
"I think we're pretty packed in here already. I'll brief you on the
highlights later." Josh insisted.
CJ acquiesced, but watched the proceedings from outside the glass
doors. She was fascinated by the body language between these two.
From what Sam told her, they had only met a week ago, but the non-
verbal language seemed much more comfortable, intimate even, than a
new casual relationship would suggest.
Josh kept touching her; to get her attention, hand her a pen, whisper
some comment or question into her ear. They leaned into each other
even when their attention was focused on someone else. Very
interesting. She went in search of Toby and Sam to share her
observations.
Meanwhile in the Roosevelt room, the meeting was winding down. Donna was
fascinated by the varied personalities and agenda present for this meeting. Once in
a while, Josh would whisper some background
information on the person speaking or asking her opinion about a
comment offered. It was an amazing experience. Suddenly there was a
commotion at the door. Security was motioning for Donna to come
outside. Puzzled, but not yet alarmed, Donna exited the room quietly
as Josh watched carefully from his seat.
"We're sorry to bother you Ms. Moss, but there is a woman outside
with a small child who says she's your sister and claims she needs to
speak to you immediately."
Donna rushed to the entrance with the
officers, oblivious to the fact that Josh made his excuses and
followed behind her only moments later.
"Molly, what's wrong? Is Jake okay?" Donna asked even as she scanned
her son's figure for any sign of illness or injury.
"No, Donna, he's fine. I'm sorry for scaring you. The school called
and Tommy has been taken to the emergency room, they think it's
appendicitis. Patrick is with him already, but I want to get there as
soon as possible and didn't know what else to do with Jake." Donna
nodded her understanding. Tommy was Molly's youngest child, and
Patrick, her husband, would want her at the hospital with him.
"Go, go. Call me as soon as you know anything." Donna replied.
"I will if you turn on your cell. I've been trying to reach you for
the last 30 minutes."
"I'm so sorry. I wasn't thinking. Go ahead." She waved her sister off
and gathered her son to her in a hug. "Hey tiger. You had a little
excitement today at Aunt Molly's, huh?"
"Donna?" Josh's voice interrupted Donna's reunion with Jake. She
looked up to see Josh watching her with a puzzled look on her
face. "Is everything okay? Who is this?" he asked.
"This is Jake. He's my son, Josh." Josh recovered quickly from the
shock and spoke to the boy whose back was still facing him. "Hi,
buddy. I'm Josh." He offered a hand to the child, but he did not turn
around. There was a moment where no one moved or spoke. Then Donna began
signing to the child.
"Jake, this is my friend Josh. He's the friend who is helping Mommy
with her homework. Can you say `hi' to him?" Donna explained.
Jacob turned around to face Josh and studied him for a moment before
simultaneously signing and saying `hi'" He had curly blonde hair and
bright blue eyes that waited for a response from Josh. He hesitated
before looking back to Donna.
"I don't know how to sign. How do I say `hi' back?" he asked with his
eyes back on Jake.
"You just did. Jake is beginning to read lips, but signing is still
faster and more accurate for him." Donna watched Josh as he watched
Jacob and realized this would change their relationship. It always
did. Once a man found out that she not only had a child, but a child
with a disability, they usually couldn't make tracks to the door fast
enough. She didn't even get her hopes up when she met someone new
anymore. She wasn't sure how Josh slipped through her defenses, but
he had, which made the impending crash even more painful.
"We'd better go. My sister was watching him for me, but she's had a
family emergency so I'm just going to take Jake home now." He handed
her the purse she had left in the Roosevelt room still not saying a
word to her, just staring at Jake. "Thank you so much for the
opportunity to sit in on the meeting today, Josh. I learned a lot and
it meant more than you know. Bye."
"Bye Donna" then he bent lower to meet the eyes of the child, and
waved, "Bye Jake"
Chapter 8
When the doorbell rang, Donna was puzzled. Molly had called hours
earlier to relay the information that Tommy's surgery had gone fine,
and she couldn't think of anyone else who would stop by without
calling…until she looked through the peep hole. Josh?! What was he
doing here? For a split second, she considered playing possum and
ignoring the doorbell. Then Jake began banging on the window next to
the door and waving to Josh.
Thanks a lot, kiddo, she thought. Donna took a quick look in the
mirror beside the door, shrugged and opened it to a smiling Josh
Lyman.
"I called your work, and they said you were off today, so I took a
chance and brought over some dinner." Josh, she could see wasn't
nearly as confident as he appeared, which strangely made her feel
more confident.
"I thought if I brought food, you'd have to let me in." he handed her
the take out bags, "Hi Jake, are you hungry?" and to Donna's
astonishment he signed as he spoke. Jake nodded and grabbed the kids meal
leading the way to the kitchen.
"Josh," Donna said quietly, "What are you doing here?"
"I hope I'm having dinner with you and Jake." He answered looking
into her eyes. "Am I?"
"Come on in. I imagine Jake has saved a place for you at the table."
Dinner with a small child was a much different experience than the
dinners Josh usually had with a beautiful woman he was attracted to.
For one thing, the fare itself was different. There was no steak with
a glass of wine, but instead there were cheeseburgers and fries.
Josh's burger wasn't even burnt as he preferred it, but he ate the
whole thing with a smile on his face. Donna refused to take an order
of fries for herself, claiming they were full of fat and salt, but
Josh had caught her 3 times stealing a couple of his. When Jake
noticed this interaction, he laughed. Not just a little giggle, but a
full out belly laugh that Josh found to be infectious.
"Oh you think that's funny do you?" Josh teased as leaned over and
tickled Jake before taking one of Jake's fries and eating it.
Jake looked up at him with shining eyes and solemnly offered Josh
another French fry. Josh took it and ate it before signing "thank
you". Donna's heart skipped a beat. What was going on here? Jake
asked to be excused and ran out of the room.
"I'm sorry I left today without talking to you about Jake. Whenever
Jake enters the picture, the guy I'm with tends to exit the picture.
I guess I just wasn't ready for you to exit yet."
"I'll be honest with you Donna, I was too surprised to talk right
then. Will you tell me about him now?"
"His Father and I lived together while I was putting him through med
school. We planned to get married `down the road'. It was
always `down the road' with Peter. I broke up with him when I found
out he was cheating on me with another med student he worked with. A
few weeks after I moved out, I found out I was pregnant with Jake."
Donna stopped and took a deep breath.
"I knew the situation wasn't ideal, but with a baby in the picture, I
wanted to try to make it work, so that Jake would have a Mom and a
Dad. I moved back in with Peter, although he made it very clear that
it would be much simpler if I just had an abortion."
She took another breath before she continued, "A week after I moved
back in I got sick. Nothing serious, I thought, until a rash started
to spread across my body. When I went in to have it checked out, the
doctor told me I had contracted Rubella. Apparently there was an
outbreak at the hospital where Peter was working and he spread it to
me. Unfortunately, since it was during the first 20 weeks of my
pregnancy, there was a 25% chance that Jake would be deaf. "
"That was it for Peter. He used it as an excuse that this was not
meant to be. He insisted I get an abortion or move out…it took me all
of 15 minutes to pack. My parents weren't interested in having their
unmarried, pregnant daughter move back in with them, so I went to
live with my sister Molly and her family.I did daycare for her and
Patrick while I started taking college courses to get my degree. Jake
was born a healthy 7 pounds, had all 10 fingers and 10 toes, but he
couldn't seem to hear or respond to my voice…He has profound hearing loss, but he
works with a speech pathologist on reading lips and producing sounds."
"Raising a child on your own has got to be tough enough. When you add in a
hearing loss…how did you deal with it? Does Dr. Freeride have any contact with
him? Help in any way?" Josh asked.
"Dr. Freeride? That's good (Donna chuckled). No, I haven't seen or
heard from him since the day I left him. Molly has been a tremendous
help. Jake and I lived with her family until his first Birthday and
she watches him for me when I am at work or school. Finding a
babysitter can be a challenge because they don't sign which is his
primary way to communicate. He'll be four in August and he's becoming
more and more independent every day."
"I did a little checking after you left. It seems that when Governor
Bartlett did the town hall in Arlington, the major topic was
universal healthcare." Josh prompted.
"Yeah, I originally went along with Molly to hear him speak because
she wanted company and her husband Patrick hates politics.Then when he started
talking about the need for universal health care and taking care of
the least among us, our children, he got me. I had to do something to
help him get elected. I had no money, and little time with a special
needs toddler, but I had to do something. I had been so disillusioned
in so many ways, but after I heard Governor Bartlett speak I started
to feel hope." Donna looked at Josh and saw understanding in his
eyes. A tension filled the air and Josh was about to break it when
Jake came barreling into the room signing furiously to Josh. Donna
touched Jake's arm to get his attention.
"No, honey, Josh doesn't want to play Candyland right now. He's a
very busy man and he's been here a long time already." Donna signed
back as she spoke to her son.
"Wait a minute. Do I get a say in this?" Josh asked Donna while Jake
watched the interplay between Josh and his Mother.
"Joshua Lyman, do you even know what Candyland is?" Donna turned a
skeptical glance his way.
"Not exactly, but I'm betting it's a kid's game and as a graduate of
Harvard and Yale, surely I can handle a simple kid's game." Josh
responded. Wait a minute; Josh thought to himself, am I fighting for
the chance to play a game with a 3 year old? I put in 15 hours at
work today. Why am I not at home having a beer and watching a ball
game? Then he looked over to where identical blue eyes were watching
him.
"I know how to sign `I want', but how do I sign `to play'?" Josh
asked and Donna's eyes lit up as she showed him. He repeated the
signs for Jake, and Jake smiled before running to get the game.
"How is it that you didn't know how to sign `hi' this morning, and by
this evening you can sign sentences?"
"I might have had Rebecca do a little research on sign for me…"
"You had your assistant do what?" Donna asked, her eyebrows raised.
"I asked very nicely… in person… at her desk… no shouting…plus I
brought lunch back for her." Josh argued. Donna relented.
"Josh, we've only known each other for a week. I wouldn't blame you
if you walked out of here right now and never looked back." Donna
looked at her hands in her lap afraid to look in Josh's eyes and let
him see the hope she had there.
Josh put his hand under her chin and lifted until she looked at him.
"I know this seems fast. I don't understand everything that's
happening here, but I do know I am not at all interested in walking
out the door right now. Can we just start with that and see where it goes
from there?"
"Yeah, I think I can handle that." Donna smiled as Jake dumped the
Candyland box in Josh's lap. He signed something and Donna
interpreted for Josh. "He says you're going down."
"Tell him it'll be a cold day in…Candyland when Joshua Lyman loses a
board game."
Donna laughed and translated for Jake as he set up the game.
Chapter 9
A/N: Here's where the fun begins. Didn't you always wish we could've
met Noah Lyman?
"I'm sorry little brother, could you repeat that?" Joanie was having
a hard time keeping her pop from coming out of her nose as she
laughed. "Did you just accuse a 3 year old child of cheating at
Candyland?"
"All I'm saying is the kid is really smart and it would be easy to
stack the deck of cards in his favor, particularly when I am
unfamiliar with the game." Joanie's laughter exploded again.
"Josh, you take being a sore loser to a whole new level."
"I'm going to teach the kid to play Chess. Now that's a real game. No
gumdrop whatevers or lollipop thingamajigs." Josh groused.
"I think he may be a little young for Chess, Joshua. Maybe you could
start with checkers." She teased. "Was it hard playing the game when
you don't know how to sign?"
"I know a few signs, just not the ones for `stop cheating' and now I
know all the color words too. I wonder if there are special signs for
baseball. I should have Rebecca look into it." Josh wondered out
loud.
"You seem to have a lot invested in a relationship that's only a week
old. What happened to what's her name from legislative affairs?"
"I don't know. I haven't talked to her since I had to break our date
to come lecture to your class." Joanie digested that information
while she segued into her next opportunity to tease her
brother. "Yeah, how did you think it went last week? I got some
interesting information on the comment cards after the speech."
"While I may have gotten off to a bit of a rocky start due to the
fact that I….
"Forgot the lecture topic?"
"…expanded on the original lecture topic, it all came out okay." Josh
finished confidently.
"That was a nice bit of spin you did there Joshua. Was that like the
spin you did for my class before Donna smacked you down?"
"I don't know where you got your information, but I would have
characterized it as more of a lively debate than any kind of smack
down. Your students must have misinterpreted the situation."
"Sam Seaborne said she smacked you down repeatedly." Joanie just
smiled at Josh's vexed expression.
"He was just mad because she called his speech `canned material'"
"You mean, your speech, right?"
"Yeah, my speech. I meant my speech, he just helped me polish it a
little on the way over."
"Uh-huh. Well can I assume that you are a little more prepared for
tonight's class?"
"I am all set. It will be smooth as glass and all your students will
be very impressed."
"How can you be so sure?"
"I ran it by Donna, and she thought it was very good."
"I see…well hurry up and finish the burnt burger you talked me into
buying for you and let's go experience this great lecture."
"You're coming tonight? You didn't come last week!" Josh noted.
"Yes, and look at all the fun I missed." Joanie thought it best not
too mention their Father was also coming to hear Josh speak. It will
make a pleasant surprise, she reasoned.
Chapter 10
A/N:I'm a little apprehensive about introducing Noah Lyman to this
mix. He was obviously so well loved by his son and the people who
knew him. I imagine that we all have an idea in our heads as to what
he might've been like and I don't want to mess with that, but I
couldn't resist the temptation to put him and Donna together. Keep an
open mind and let me know if my image of Noah matches your at all.
Thanks!
Donna arrived early for class this time, but still chose a seat in
the back row. She thought it would be easier to objective if she
observed Josh from a distance. The minute he took the podium, though,
that theory was shot to hell. He radiated…something…that made it
difficult for her to tear her gaze away from him. So it was no
surprise that she took no notice of the gentleman who took a seat
next to her as Josh began his lecture.
After a few minutes, the man turned to her and inquired "He's pretty
good, don't you think?" Donna turned to face the man who was speaking
to her. He was in his late 50's to early 60's, dressed in a business
casual suit. He had expressive brown eyes, but his face had a white
pallor to it as though he had been sick recently. Donna took him for
a faculty member who was sitting in on an interesting guest speaker
lecture.
"Yes, he is, although probably not as good as he thinks he is. He has
a bit of an ego when it comes to his work. Anyway, it's a great
improvement from last week."
"What happened last week?" the man looked concerned.
"He forgot the topic of the lecture and had a little trouble staying
on topic." Donna chuckled. "It's great to have guest speakers who
have experience in Government, but they still need to prepare, right?"
"Oh absolutely." The man agreed. He smiled at Donna and then settled
back into his seat.
Josh moved swiftly though his prepared speech and Donna found herself
fascinated on both a personal and a professional level. He actively
engaged the students by asking thought provoking questions and asked for their
input on his comments. When the 2 hours were up, Donna joined the other students
standing to applaud Joshua in thanks for his presentation.
As people got up to leave, she found it curious that the man next to
her hadn't moved. She must have been staring at him because he
immediately started to get up.
"I'm sorry did you need to get through here?" he asked.
"No, please sit. I was just going to wait for Mr. Lyman to walk back
so I could tell him how much I enjoyed his speech. Though looking at
the female fan club that has him surrounded down there, it might be
quite a wait."
"It's the Lyman charm. Women have a hard time resisting it." The man
smiled again.
"I'm sorry?" Donna had a sinking feeling in her stomach.
"My wife says it's the Lyman charm that she couldn't resist. I figure
it's the same for Josh." The man is question had broken away from his
fan club in search of Donna. When he reached her, she seemed a little
pale. He was about to ask her if she was okay, when he noticed his
Dad sitting next to her.
"Dad?! What are you doing here?" Josh asked as he pulled his Father
into a bear hug. Donna would have found his open affection with his
Father endearing if she hadn't been dying of embarrassment. What
exactly had she said about Josh? She struggled to replay the
conversation in her head, but that only made her more embarrassed.
Lord, first the President and now Josh's Father. Someone really
should super glue her mouth shut!
"Well I was trying to pick up this beautiful young lady, but for some
illogical reason she seems to have eyes for you." Noah teased both of
them. "Although I should point out that her assessment of your ego is
perfectly accurate." Donna wanted to sink into the floor.
"Just what have you been saying about my ego?" Josh joined in on the
teasing.
"Not too much." Noah interjected, "She was too busy telling me about
what an ass you made out of yourself last week."
"Mr. Lyman, I never said anything like that!" Donna protested.
"What have your Mother and I always told you about being prepared.
Your wit and charm can only carry you so far, young man. You have to
be willing to put work and sweat into it too, you know."
"Dad, I am the Deputy Chief of Staff to the President of the United
States of America. I think I've proved I know how to work and sweat
AND prepare."
"Can I just point out that I never said anything about Josh being an
ass?" Donna tried to interrupt again.
"Oh, please you would never be in that position if I hadn't steered
Leo McGarry in your direction and asked him to take pity on my poor,
misguided son. John Hoynes, please! He was and always will be a two
faced, womanizing-"
"Dad, you are speaking about the Vice-President of the United States,
will you kindly keep your voice down?" Josh sounded weary; he had
heard this speech before.
"You know what? I'm just going to say goodnight. You two obviously
have a lot to talk about." Donna started to back away from the Lyman
men.
"Donna, wait!" implored Josh. "You didn't tell me what you thought of
the speech."
"She said you were almost as good as you thought you were." Noah
turned back to Donna. "I got that quote right, didn't I?"
"Yes…." Donna gave up and sat back down in her seat. "Is there any
chance I can be excused from this conversation?"
"No." both men said in unison.
"I was going to ask Donna to have some dessert with Joanie and me.
Why don't you join us? We could go to that diner you like down the
street."
"I think I would like that very much. I'll meet you there." Noah went
down to speak to Joanie.
"Joshua?" Donna called his name from where she was sitting in her
chair, head thrown back, and eyes closed. "Do you know what you
forgot about just then?"
"The part where I ask if you want to join us?" he guessed.
"The part where you ask me if I want to join you." She affirmed.
"But see that was part of my plan." Josh reached down to take her
hands and pulled her up until she was standing next to him and she
opened her eyes. " Having already cleverly discovered that you're not
working tonight-"
"You mean when I told you yesterday that I didn't have to work
tonight?"
"It sounds a lot less clever when you put it that way, but yes,
having determined that you do not need to go straight to work, nor do
you need to rush to Molly's to pick up Jake, I decided to take charge
of the plans for the evening." Josh concluded.
"Which would be all well and good except for two things; 1) You
didn't ask me and 2) I just made a complete ass out of myself in
front of your Father."
"My Father doesn't bother to tease people he doesn't like. And
the `not asking part" is actually the most clever part of my plan. If
I don't ask you, you can't say no. See how that works? I learned that
working in politics." Josh started pulling her towards the door, but
she held her ground and they came to a stop.
"Joshua…"
"I need to ask you." He stated simply.
"You need to ask me." She replied.
"Donna, would you consider joining me and some of my crazy family
members for dessert this evening?"
"Will you protect me from your Father's teasing?"
"Come on, Donna, be reasonable. I can't even protect myself from my
Father's teasing."
"Will you try?" Donna insisted.
"Yeah, I'll try. Will you come?"
"Yeah, I'll come." They walked out of the lecture hall hand in hand;
a gesture that was not lost on Joanie or Noah from where they stood
watching the entire interchange.