Title: Fried
Author: Cathy Miller
Timeline: First Santos term
Rating: I’m sure it’s fine for everyone.
Disclaimer: They’re not mine…yadda, yadda, yadda…but I do have a birthday coming up.
Summary: Josh is suffering a bit. If only we could personally help him through this…
Josh’s POV:
“Josh!”
I startle and bring my eyes back into focus. “Yes!”
“Yes, what?” Sam asks in amusement and I resist the urge to hit him or, you know, throw
something at him…but only because I’m too damn tired to follow through with it.
“You need to go home. Seriously, buddy, you need some sleep.” He says quietly.
“I can’t yet.” I protest weakly. “I’m waiting for the Chairman to give me an all clear on Columbia.”
“Ummm…Josh?”
“What?”
“He called with the ‘all clear’ about 30 minutes ago.” Sam reminds me gently.
“He did?” I confirm; Sam has been known to tease.
“He really did.” He replies and his face looks sincere so I decide to go with that answer.
“Okay.” I look around my office trying to remember what I was going to do next.
“Josh…you need to get some sleep.” He cues me. Sleep! That sounds wonderful. I lay my
head down on my desk and fall immediately into sleep.
Sam’s POV:
Josh is seriously fried. A new baby at home is enough to send any parent into sleep
deprivation, but on top of the arrival of the first born Lyman child, we’ve been dealing with a
volatile situation in South America so Josh has been in and out of the sit room constantly over
the last 46 hours.
“Josh, do you have-“ President Santos cuts himself off when he sees his Chief of Staff sound
asleep on his desk. “I was afraid of this.”
“Can I help you, sir?” I offer.
“Thanks, Sam, but it can wait until morning.” President Santos smiles. It’s the first genuine one
I’ve seen from him since the Columbian situation came onto our radar. He needs to go home
and sleep.” The President indicated Josh’s sleeping form.
“And I’d take him there myself, sir, but I’m not sure he’d get any rest there right now.” I point
out and President Santos chuckles.
“I remember those days. I think Helen and I were both zombies for the first 3 months after we
brought Peter home from the hospital. Your whole life gets turned upside down, you have this
totally dependent, loud, baby demanding all your time and attention. You get little sleep, and
you’re constantly scared you’re going to screw up.”
“Sounds tough.” I surmise never having lived through that particular experience myself.
“They were some of the best days of my life.” President Santos corrects me.
“Well…that makes absolutely no sense at all.” I note.
“And it won’t; not until you’ve been there yourself.” The President assures me. “Should we
wake him?”
“At least to get him horizontal on the couch.” I decide.
“Josh…let’s move over to the couch, okay?” I jostle his arm a bit.
“I don’t have a couch. Donna says there’s no room.” He mutters.
“That was your old office. Now you have a very nice comfortable couch to catch some sleep
on…unless you’d rather go home?” I turn it into a question.
“Home…I haven’t been home in…I’m not sure how long. What time is it?” he asks.
“Almost 3 am.” I tell him. “I can drive you.”
“Can’t. I’ve got a meeting with the leadership in 4 hours.” He mumbles.
“I can take it.” I offer.
“Can’t. Speaker will take it as an insult if I’m not there. He already hates me.”
“Then at least lie down on the couch and catch some sleep horizontally.” The President
recommends and Josh stumbles to his feet when he realizes the President is in his office.
“Sorry, sir, I didn’t realize you were here.” Josh manages as he sways on his feet.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Josh. Get some sleep. That’s what I’m about to do. Ronna cancelled my
first two meetings in the morning. You should get Carol to do the same for you.”
“Sir, I really can’t or I’d be happy to take your advice.” Josh slurs.
“Then at least get some sleep here; maybe a shower? We’ll debrief in the morning.” President
Santos orders as he leaves and Josh starts to slide back into his chair again.
“Whoa. Not so fast. We’re moving to the couch, remember?” I remind him.
“A shower would be great. Water is so calming and relaxing. It would be almost as good as
sleep.” He tells me.
I pull him to his feet again and maneuver him to the couch where he promptly passes out in
exhaustion. Carol comes in and grabs a pillow and blanket from the closet; placing the former
under his head and the latter across his body before removing his shoes and setting them
neatly beside the couch.
“Thanks Carol.” I tell her. “Go home. I’ll have a temp cover his morning schedule; you’ve been
here for days too.”
“That would be wonderful! Thanks, Sam.” Carol smiles her thanks at me and quickly grabs her
purse and leaves before I can change my mind. After making the necessary arrangements, I
go to Lou’s office to sleep on her couch.
Josh’s POV:
“Mr. Lyman?” There’s a quiet voice calling my name over and over like a fly buzzing around my
head. I try to swat it away and it squeals. Wait. Flies don’t squeal. I swat again and it squeals
again. Something is not right.
“Mr. Seaborn, thank God. I’ve been trying to wake him, but he keeps trying to hit me.” The
voice complains.
“It’s okay, Beth, I’ll take it from here. He’s just had a rough few days and he’s a little…fried. Will
you tell the Speaker Josh will be there shortly? And don’t say anything about him being…”
“Unconscious?” she adds.
“Tired.” Sam corrects her and I silently thank him for that ‘spin’ right there. “Josh? Either you
have to get up, or I’m going to have to take the meeting with leadership.” Shit.
I sit up slowly, blinking my eyes like crazy in an attempt to clear the sleep from them but it
doesn’t help. “This sucks.” I tell my Deputy. “How the hell did Leo do this? He was a hell of a lot
older than me.”
“Leo didn’t have a new wife and even newer baby at home either.” Sam points out.
“Oh….yeah…I do have those things, don’t I?” I sway a bit as I get to my feet. “At least I did last
time I was home. The Ben may have grown up and moved out by now. Donna’s probably not
even speaking to me anymore.” I slip on my shoes and roll my head around by my shoulders.
“Ben’s not even ready to drive yet and Donna knows what’s going on here, so I think you’re
clear.” Sam smiles and he looks nearly as tired as I feel. “Why don’t you change clothes
before you head in?”
“Nah…” I shake my head. “The visual will help me prove my point…it may even get me
sympathy points.”
“I doubt that. It didn’t get you much sympathy with Beth.” Sam looks skeptical, but he doesn’t
have my political experience.
“Who’s Beth?”
“Your temp assistant today. Carol is home getting some rest today.” He informs me. When I
sway on my feet again he sighs.“Let me take the meeting, man.”
“I’m fine.” I assure him and reach twice before I’m able to snag the door knob and open the
door. I straighten my posture and walk determinedly down the hall.
“Josh?” he calls back to me.
“Uh-huh?”
“The Roosevelt room is the other way.”
“I know that.” I reply and even I can hear the whiny tone in my voice. “I was just going to take a
lap to wake up.” I lie smoothly.
“Okay, but you might want to take this file with you.” He catches up to me and hands me a file.
“What is it?” I look at it in puzzlement. I can see some letters, but without my reading glasses…
“It’s the file on mid-terms.” He tells me.
“Why do I need that?” I ask.
“Because the meeting is on mid-term elections.” He sighs. “Let me take the meeting.”
“No, no. I’ve got it now. Now that I actually know what it’s about, I’m sure it’ll be fine.” I clasp his
shoulder. “You’re a big help, Samuel Norman. You’re a good Deputy.” I pull him into a hug to
show my appreciation for him and my head rests on his shoulder for just a moment.
“Josh…you’re falling asleep again.” I can feel him shake his head at me. This day is going to
suck. If only we had a relaxing pool of water here. It would be so rejuvenating.
***********************************************
“I don’t feel like I have your complete attention, Josh.” The speaker says to me. I can see his
mouth moving and I hear words too, but they don’t make much sense. It’s almost like he’s
talking under water. That would be so cool! We should have these meetings under water.
Wait. We don’t have anyplace underwater to hold them. The White House swimming pool! We
can have them there. Wait. C.J. will get pissed if we move the press corps….Wait! I just
remembered. C.J. isn’t here anymore. YES! Now I have the power to move the press corps
and hold meetings under water….taking notes might be a little difficult though. I should talk to
Donna about it. She always has a solution for me. Donna…God, I miss Donna. And I’ve hardly
seen Ben this week. He won’t even remember me at this rate. Maybe if I called them…
“Josh!” Whoa, that was loud. The Speaker looks pissed too. What’s that about? Do you think
he can’t swim and that’s why he doesn’t want to do the underwater meetings?
“Yeah?” I answer and I’ll admit that perhaps my tone is a little peevish.
“These mid-terms are extremely important if you want to retain any kind of majority in the
house.” He says all garbled-ish.
I laughed. I really couldn’t help it…much. “Like that did us much good this last session.”
Geez…I didn’t realize the Speaker could turn his face that color. I wonder how that would look
under water…
“We got the ed reform bill through didn’t we? And the health care initiative?”
“Yeah…that was AMAZING…I only had to herd a few DOZEN Republican votes to get it done.”
I scoff.
“I warned you that it was too liberal to get the whole democratic caucus on board.” The
speaker’s voice got really tight and his teeth clenched. Yeah…being underwater would
definitely relax those jaw muscles.
“Whatever.” I put my hands up in surrender just as Sam walks in. “I’m just saying…it doesn’t
make that much difference to us what happens in the mid-terms. We get screwed equally by
both parties, it seems.”
“Josh!” Sam calls out loudly. “I’m sorry, Mr. Speaker, the President needs Josh for…something
that’s come up. Will you excuse him?”
“Certainly.” The Speaker agrees immediately.
Sam leads me into the hallway and I start to walk toward the Oval. “Wait a second! The
President isn’t in the Oval. Ronna cancelled his stuff.”
“Oh, sure. You remember that just fine.” Sam mutters. “Do you also remember how we don’t
want to offend the Speaker and we want to get a larger majority in the House?”
That does sound vaguely familiar, but…
“He doesn’t seem to understand the plan.” I tell Sam who rolls his eyes.
“It was kind of a secret plan; just the President and the senior staff.”
Oh, that’s right! I remember now. The Speaker doesn’t like the President very much cause the
President wanted his friend from Texas to be Speaker so we have to have secret plans
sometimes. I’m very good at secret plans. I never tell. Hell, this time I didn’t even remember the
plan to tell anyone about it.
“Ahhhhh…Got it. I’ve got it now.” I start to turn back to the Roosevelt room.
“NO! No, no, no.” Sam holds on to my arm. “I’m going to finish up here. You take my meeting
with Lou about leaking some of the Columbian situation to the press.”
“Columbian situation. Got it.” I nod. “What’s happening with that, anyway?”
“Josh…go home…” Sam begs. He sure is crabby today. And he thinks I need sleep!
“Hey, I can handle a meeting with Lou. Relax.” I shake my head again and start walking to Lou’
s office.
“Josh? It’s the other direction!” he nearly yells. Yelling would be much more muffled under
water; another point in favor of underwater meetings.
*********************************************
“So we give it to the Post?” Lou asked me.
“Sure…the Post is good. Call Danny in here.” I suggest.
“Danny doesn’t work for the post anymore, Joshua.” Lou says very slowly. “Are you sure you’
re okay?”
“Hell, yeah. I just haven’t eaten in awhile…or slept either, really.” I pause and think about it. “I
did have a short nap. If we get Danny in here and leak this thing, then I could get some food
or, maybe sleep.”
“Danny doesn’t-“ Lou growls. Growling would sound really cool under water. “I think I’ll handle
this one on my own. Maybe you should have Carol get you something to eat from the mess?”
“That’s an excellent idea! Carol?!” I shout, then I remember that Carol is home sleeping;
traitor. I know. “Donna?!”
Lou’s eyes bug out. They would look huge under water cause water magnifies everything.
“Donna is home on maternity leave, Josh.” She reminds me.
“I know she’s on maternity leave, Lou, I was there when she matern…alized.” People are really
slow around here today. “Let’s get this leaked so I can go see her and my child before he
leaves for college.”
“Right.” Lou calls some 13 year old in her office and closes the door for privacy. “Jason, we
have some information to share with the paper of record.”
“Columbia?” he guesses. He’s a pretty good guesser for a teenager.
“Yeah.” Lou confirms. Lou is really good at her job; above or below water…I’m guessing. “You
can’t quote us directly, but you can use senior White House officials.”
“See, the thing about Columbo-“ I begin.
“ColumBIA” Lou interjects.
“What?”
“Not Columbo.” She says.
“No shit. What does some fictional television detective have to do with-“
“Josh. Just tell Jason what you need him to write about.” Lou advises me.
“Right…Jason, what would you think…” I trail off when a thought hits me. “What would you
think about moving the press corps to the OEOB so we can use the swimming pool?”
“What?” Jason asks.
“WHAT?!” Lou shrieks.
I point to her. “This is what I’m talking about. That wouldn’t be NEARLY so loud if we were
under water.” I explain while Lou does this really funny impression of a fish.
“Of course, if you were on top of the water, the sound would carry even more and it would be
louder still.” Jason points out. This kid is VERY smart. No wonder the Post hired him out of
highschool.
“Yeah, we’d have to be under water for sure.” I nod.
“Josh? You’re needed in the Oval.” Lou says quietly.
“My pager didn’t go off.” I note and reach for my pager only to discover I don’t have my pager
with me. “Shit. I don’t have my pager.”
“That explains it then.” Lou reasons and turns to the kid. “He hasn’t had much sleep in the last
few days.”
“Three little hours; that’s all!” I add.
“Right. So off you go to the Oval. I’ll take care of things here.”
“Thanks Lou. You’re the best.” I hold out my arms for a hug and she gives me this disgusting
look.
“Not. On. Your. Life... Please go.” She opens the door for me though which is nice. I get almost
to the Oval when I realize the President isn’t in the Oval this morning. My staff is very nice, but
they’re a little confused sometimes. So, I decide to get into a pick up meeting and find just
what I’m looking for in the East wing.
“Annabeth! Do you know how to swim?” I ask her.
“Ummm…yeah.” She answers carefully.
“Excellent!” I clap my hands together and seat myself at her conference table.
“Josh? Is everything okay?” Annabeth asks.
“Fine, fine.” I assure her. “What are you working on over here?”
“Ummm…the First Lady’s schedule for her trip to Minnesota next month.” Annabeth informs me.
“Hey! They have tons of water there. It’s the land of 10,000 lakes.”
“Yes. Yes, it is.” Annabeth agreed. “We’re going to be promoting the clean water program they’
ve got there to help push the national program in Congress.”
“That’s a great idea.”
“It…was…yours.” She tells me.
“Great! Donna is going to love going to Minnesota cause it’s right next to Wisconsin!” I
mention. Geography has always been my strong suit…well, American geography…
“Josh? Donna’s not going to Minnesota. She’ll still be on maternity leave.” Annabeth is looking
at me strangely now.
“She could still go…if she wanted to…we could all go and bring the baby too. Babies love
water. Sometimes, women give birth in water, did you know that?” I ask.
“I didn’t really.” Annabeth admits. “Josh, this is Jeff Price from the Minnesota Governor’s office.
He’s helping us coordinate our trip. Jeff this is Josh Lyman the White House Chief of Staff.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir.” Jeff says all impressed with my title. It IS an impressive title.
“I’m sure it is.” I agree.
“Did you need something Josh?” Annabeth asks.
“No, no. I just came over to see if I could…” what was it I was going to do? “Help! That was it.
With Donna gone I thought you might need some help and since I’ve been here for days…”
“Days?” Jeff repeats.
“Yes, DAYS.” I emphasize the word. What’s the matter with this guy? Has all the water clogged
his ears?
“This is Annabeth.” Annabeth says as she answers her very loud phone. “Yes, as a matter of
act I have seen Josh. He’s right here…helping.” Annabeth smiles as she talks on the phone.
She has a very nice smile. Not as nice as Donna’s but still… “I’ll tell him, thanks.”
“You have a very nice smile, Annabeth. It would look very nice underwater.”
“You sure like water a lot, huh Mr. Lyman?” Jeff asks. “You must be quite an outdoorsman.”
“No, no, no.” I shake my head vigorously. “There’s too much sun and, you know, air, outdoors.
But water is nice…in a pool or a shower…a bath can be good sometimes too, but there can’t
be any bubbles.”
“Good to know.” Annabeth jumps in. “Josh, you have someone looking for you. In fact you
have two someone’s looking for you. You’re supposed to meet them in Donna’s office.”
“I have my own office, I don’t need to use Donna’s.” But then I think about how far away my
office is and it makes me very tired just imagining walking that far. “I guess it would be okay
just this once, though.”
“I’m sure it would.” Annabeth agreed. “Josh is a new father, Jeff, he and his wife brought home
their first child 2 weeks ago.”
“Congratulations, sir. That’s wonderful.”
“It would be if I ever got to see him.” I mutter and wander out toward Donna’s office. When I
open the door I see the most wonderful sight; Donna and our son rocking in the corner of the
room. The morning sun is streaming through the window and painting them both with a kind of
halo. If you added water it would make a rainbow. “Hey…”
“Hey.” Donna turns to look at me. “I hear you’re having a tough morning.”
“Not me. I mean I’m a little…”
“Fried.” She suggests.
“Sluggish.” I correct. “But my staff needs me here today, so I’ll tough it out until 3 or so.”
“Josh…” She raises her eyebrows at me as I walk closer and stroke our child’s head while he
gets a morning snack from his mother.
“What?”
“Your staff doesn’t need you. That’s why you’re in the East wing looking for a pick up meeting.”
She tells me. Does she know me or what?
“My staff does too need me.”
“They do need you, just not right now, and not when you’re crazed from lack of sleep.” She
gently removed Ben from her breast and placed him on her shoulder to burp him. His eyes
were barely open but they locked on me and I swear to God he smiled.
“Crazed? I am NOT crazed. In fact, I had a meeting with Haffley on mid-terms-“
“Haffley isn’t the Speaker anymore Josh, remember? Also, I’m to remind you that Danny
Concannon is no longer with the Post and C.J. will still find a way to make you pay if you try to
move the press corps to the OEOB.” Donna smiled with this pity on her face. “You have been
on duty here for over forty hours and that’s on top of the exhaustion you were already
suffering from having a new infant at home. You’re fried.”
“I can make it a few more-“
“Ben needs a nap too and I need to look over some things on my desk.” She explained. “I can’t
lay him on the couch by himself. He could roll off. It would really help me out if you’d lay down
with him on the couch while I clean a few things up.” Donna pouts and I’m lost. The only thing
that holds more power over me than Donna’s pout, is Donna’s naked body, but I don’t have
that kind of energy right now.
“Fine.” I hold out my hands for our child and Donna’s places him in my arms. He’s so warm and
cuddly. His head tucks perfectly under my chin and I sit down on the couch. I decide we might
as well be comfortable while we wait for Donna, so I stretch out.
“Hey. How come you’re not exhausted anymore?” I ask on a yawn.
“Mom arrived yesterday. Except for feedings, she’s been taking care of Ben and I’ve been
sleeping.” Donna informs me.
“How come I didn’t know that?” I look over at her while stroking Ben’s back.
“You did. You just forgot because you’re fried.”
“I’m not fried!” I protest but Donna shushes me because my voice got kind of loud there and I’
m holding the baby.
“Moving the press for swimming pool access?” she mocks me. The woman mocks her
husband, the father of her child, and indirectly…her boss.
“It would be very beneficial for the whole staff. Water is very relaxing and soothing,
Donnatella.” I explain.
“I’m sure it is.” She agrees with me, but I can tell from her tone that she’s still mocking me.
“It is! Like a baby in the womb.” I expound and think about that a minute. “It must be so quiet
and safe in there. Maybe that’s why Ben cries so much. He didn’t like being evicted.”
“Ben doesn’t ‘cry so much’, Joshua. He cries the normal amount.” She counters.
“How do you know? He’s our first one!”
“I’ve taken care of other babies, Josh. My sisters have children. This is all completely normal.”
“Says you.” I scoff at her reasoning. “Ben is a guy and us guys understand each other. He
preferred his previous environment.”
“Whatever you say, but that was becoming untenable for both us.”
“Babies love water, Donna. Some women give birth in water, you know.”
“I do know that yes.”
“Why didn’t we do that again?” I ask on another yawn.
“Well…I objected because it required natural childbirth without the assistance of any pain
medication and you objected because you claimed it was disgusting and gross.” She tells me.
“All birth is disgusting and gross.” I explain and burrow deeper into the cushions on Donna’s
couch. I can feel Ben’s breath on my neck and it’s very soothing. I wouldn’t be able to feel that
under water. Okay, there’s one strike against it.
Everything is quiet for a few minutes and then I feel the cushions dip down and smell Donna’s
shampoo. I open my eyes a slit and see her snuggle up next to us both.
“I thought you had work you wanted to look at?” I mutter.
“Turns out that I’m fried too. I put a note on both doors, so we should be able to rest
undisturbed for awhile.” That sounds perfect, but I’m too tired to tell her so. I manage to move
my other arm around her and stroke her hair. I wouldn’t be able to do that underwater either.
Well, I would, but it wouldn’t feel the same. Another strike. You know what they say; two strikes
and you’re out…okay, maybe that’s not exactly it, but have I mentioned I’m completely fried?
Helen Santos POV:
“You are not disturbing them Matthew!” I stand in front of Donna’s office door blocking the
leader of the free world from entering.
“I’m not going to disturb them Helen. I just want to see the baby. Annabeth said Donna brought
the baby in with her.” He wheedles.
“You can see the baby when they all get up.” I reason. “You told me yourself how badly Josh
needed some sleep.”
“And again, I note that I have no interest in seeing or disturbing MY Chief of Staff. I can be
stealthy. I’ll just peak for a minute.”
“While I’d never disparage your stealth capability, the problem isn’t your peaking; it’s that once
you peak then you have to touch and hold the baby.”
“I can just peak!”
“No, you really can’t.” I remind him. “You’re a sucker for babies…all babies, but when you add
in the fact that this one is especially adorable and you’ve got a personal connection with him-“
“He was almost born in the White House, Helen.”
“I know. I remember, as I’m sure Josh and Donna do too. I’m just saying that now isn’t-“
“I’ve got a budget meeting in 20 minutes and I won’t get through with that for hours! They
could go home by then I’ll miss him completely.” He pouts. Can you believe it? The President
of the United States is pouting to get his way with me.
“Are they up yet? Can we see the baby, now?” Miranda appears next to her father. She’s been
chomping at the bit to get in to see Ben. Donna mistakenly mentioned once that Miranda
would be a good babysitter and Miranda took that as a solemn vow and now she’s a little
peeved that the baby has been here two weeks and she hasn’t gotten her babysitting gig yet.
“I’d like to, kiddo, but Mom says we can’t even peak.” Matt shrugs like he’s helpless to do
anything about the situation and that I’m the sole barrier between them and the baby. They
both look at me like I’m Cruella DeVille.
“They’ve only been sleeping a couple hours.” I say in exasperation.
“Just a peak…please?” Miranda whines.
“Please?” Matt echoes and I try to keep a straight face.
“If either of you so much as-“
“We’ll be good, right Miranda?” Matt jumps in.
“Right.” She nods enthusiastically.
I reluctantly open the door with my finger covering my mouth in the age old symbol for quiet.
The scene in front of us makes my heart skip a beat. The Lyman family is cuddled together on
the couch sleeping. Well, the Lyman parents are sleeping. Young Ben is lying on his father’s
chest, fingers playing with Josh’s shirt buttons and his blue eyes trying to focus on the world
around him.
“He’s awake!” Miranda exclaims, immediately forgetting her promise to be quiet and it stirs
Donna who wakes enough to realize they have company. She sits up slowly and carefully and
takes Ben out of Josh’s arms before walking over to us.
“Let me see the youngest member of my staff.” Matt insists and takes the child from his mother’
s arms. “He’s grown so much already.”
“My turn Daddy!” Miranda insists.
“First, sit down in the big chair.” Donna tells her and my daughter hurries to comply. Once the
baby is settled in her arms a look of awe comes over her face.
“I’m holding him all by myself, Mom!” She proclaims, forgetting to be quiet again and wakes the
baby’s father. He startles when he doesn’t find his son where he’d been when they fell asleep
and his whole body relaxes once he spots us across from him, his precious son getting lots of
attention from the Santos family.
“Josh you’re late for our briefing.” Matt teases him and the horrified look on Josh’s face even
gets sympathy from me; and I’ve never been his biggest fan.
“He’s messing with you Josh.” I tell him quickly. “You need to take your family home so you can
all get some rest. I’m sure Matt can muddle through the rest of the day without you, right Matt?”
“Sure, sure.” He agrees. “You could even leave Ben with us. We could babysit.”
“No way. I’ve haven’t seen him in days.” Josh hunkers down in front of Miranda and Ben.
“He’s so beautiful.” Miranda says softly.
“He gets it from his mother.” Josh agrees. “You’re doing a good job with him, Miranda. When
we are ready for the sitter, you’ll be the first one we call.” Miranda beams at the compliment
and his comment has me doing a double take. Why didn’t I ever see this side of him when we
were campaigning? Oh, that’s right. Donna wasn’t there.
“Take this tired man and his son home, Donna.” I tell her.
“Will do.” She promises. “Let’s go Joshua.” He follows her out of the office, once she has Ben
securely back in her arms, like he’s a child himself. They’re almost out the door when I hear
him make a final request while he yawns.
“Donna? Do you think you could drive home? I’m kind of fried.”
Author: Cathy Miller
Timeline: First Santos term
Rating: I’m sure it’s fine for everyone.
Disclaimer: They’re not mine…yadda, yadda, yadda…but I do have a birthday coming up.
Summary: Josh is suffering a bit. If only we could personally help him through this…
Josh’s POV:
“Josh!”
I startle and bring my eyes back into focus. “Yes!”
“Yes, what?” Sam asks in amusement and I resist the urge to hit him or, you know, throw
something at him…but only because I’m too damn tired to follow through with it.
“You need to go home. Seriously, buddy, you need some sleep.” He says quietly.
“I can’t yet.” I protest weakly. “I’m waiting for the Chairman to give me an all clear on Columbia.”
“Ummm…Josh?”
“What?”
“He called with the ‘all clear’ about 30 minutes ago.” Sam reminds me gently.
“He did?” I confirm; Sam has been known to tease.
“He really did.” He replies and his face looks sincere so I decide to go with that answer.
“Okay.” I look around my office trying to remember what I was going to do next.
“Josh…you need to get some sleep.” He cues me. Sleep! That sounds wonderful. I lay my
head down on my desk and fall immediately into sleep.
Sam’s POV:
Josh is seriously fried. A new baby at home is enough to send any parent into sleep
deprivation, but on top of the arrival of the first born Lyman child, we’ve been dealing with a
volatile situation in South America so Josh has been in and out of the sit room constantly over
the last 46 hours.
“Josh, do you have-“ President Santos cuts himself off when he sees his Chief of Staff sound
asleep on his desk. “I was afraid of this.”
“Can I help you, sir?” I offer.
“Thanks, Sam, but it can wait until morning.” President Santos smiles. It’s the first genuine one
I’ve seen from him since the Columbian situation came onto our radar. He needs to go home
and sleep.” The President indicated Josh’s sleeping form.
“And I’d take him there myself, sir, but I’m not sure he’d get any rest there right now.” I point
out and President Santos chuckles.
“I remember those days. I think Helen and I were both zombies for the first 3 months after we
brought Peter home from the hospital. Your whole life gets turned upside down, you have this
totally dependent, loud, baby demanding all your time and attention. You get little sleep, and
you’re constantly scared you’re going to screw up.”
“Sounds tough.” I surmise never having lived through that particular experience myself.
“They were some of the best days of my life.” President Santos corrects me.
“Well…that makes absolutely no sense at all.” I note.
“And it won’t; not until you’ve been there yourself.” The President assures me. “Should we
wake him?”
“At least to get him horizontal on the couch.” I decide.
“Josh…let’s move over to the couch, okay?” I jostle his arm a bit.
“I don’t have a couch. Donna says there’s no room.” He mutters.
“That was your old office. Now you have a very nice comfortable couch to catch some sleep
on…unless you’d rather go home?” I turn it into a question.
“Home…I haven’t been home in…I’m not sure how long. What time is it?” he asks.
“Almost 3 am.” I tell him. “I can drive you.”
“Can’t. I’ve got a meeting with the leadership in 4 hours.” He mumbles.
“I can take it.” I offer.
“Can’t. Speaker will take it as an insult if I’m not there. He already hates me.”
“Then at least lie down on the couch and catch some sleep horizontally.” The President
recommends and Josh stumbles to his feet when he realizes the President is in his office.
“Sorry, sir, I didn’t realize you were here.” Josh manages as he sways on his feet.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Josh. Get some sleep. That’s what I’m about to do. Ronna cancelled my
first two meetings in the morning. You should get Carol to do the same for you.”
“Sir, I really can’t or I’d be happy to take your advice.” Josh slurs.
“Then at least get some sleep here; maybe a shower? We’ll debrief in the morning.” President
Santos orders as he leaves and Josh starts to slide back into his chair again.
“Whoa. Not so fast. We’re moving to the couch, remember?” I remind him.
“A shower would be great. Water is so calming and relaxing. It would be almost as good as
sleep.” He tells me.
I pull him to his feet again and maneuver him to the couch where he promptly passes out in
exhaustion. Carol comes in and grabs a pillow and blanket from the closet; placing the former
under his head and the latter across his body before removing his shoes and setting them
neatly beside the couch.
“Thanks Carol.” I tell her. “Go home. I’ll have a temp cover his morning schedule; you’ve been
here for days too.”
“That would be wonderful! Thanks, Sam.” Carol smiles her thanks at me and quickly grabs her
purse and leaves before I can change my mind. After making the necessary arrangements, I
go to Lou’s office to sleep on her couch.
Josh’s POV:
“Mr. Lyman?” There’s a quiet voice calling my name over and over like a fly buzzing around my
head. I try to swat it away and it squeals. Wait. Flies don’t squeal. I swat again and it squeals
again. Something is not right.
“Mr. Seaborn, thank God. I’ve been trying to wake him, but he keeps trying to hit me.” The
voice complains.
“It’s okay, Beth, I’ll take it from here. He’s just had a rough few days and he’s a little…fried. Will
you tell the Speaker Josh will be there shortly? And don’t say anything about him being…”
“Unconscious?” she adds.
“Tired.” Sam corrects her and I silently thank him for that ‘spin’ right there. “Josh? Either you
have to get up, or I’m going to have to take the meeting with leadership.” Shit.
I sit up slowly, blinking my eyes like crazy in an attempt to clear the sleep from them but it
doesn’t help. “This sucks.” I tell my Deputy. “How the hell did Leo do this? He was a hell of a lot
older than me.”
“Leo didn’t have a new wife and even newer baby at home either.” Sam points out.
“Oh….yeah…I do have those things, don’t I?” I sway a bit as I get to my feet. “At least I did last
time I was home. The Ben may have grown up and moved out by now. Donna’s probably not
even speaking to me anymore.” I slip on my shoes and roll my head around by my shoulders.
“Ben’s not even ready to drive yet and Donna knows what’s going on here, so I think you’re
clear.” Sam smiles and he looks nearly as tired as I feel. “Why don’t you change clothes
before you head in?”
“Nah…” I shake my head. “The visual will help me prove my point…it may even get me
sympathy points.”
“I doubt that. It didn’t get you much sympathy with Beth.” Sam looks skeptical, but he doesn’t
have my political experience.
“Who’s Beth?”
“Your temp assistant today. Carol is home getting some rest today.” He informs me. When I
sway on my feet again he sighs.“Let me take the meeting, man.”
“I’m fine.” I assure him and reach twice before I’m able to snag the door knob and open the
door. I straighten my posture and walk determinedly down the hall.
“Josh?” he calls back to me.
“Uh-huh?”
“The Roosevelt room is the other way.”
“I know that.” I reply and even I can hear the whiny tone in my voice. “I was just going to take a
lap to wake up.” I lie smoothly.
“Okay, but you might want to take this file with you.” He catches up to me and hands me a file.
“What is it?” I look at it in puzzlement. I can see some letters, but without my reading glasses…
“It’s the file on mid-terms.” He tells me.
“Why do I need that?” I ask.
“Because the meeting is on mid-term elections.” He sighs. “Let me take the meeting.”
“No, no. I’ve got it now. Now that I actually know what it’s about, I’m sure it’ll be fine.” I clasp his
shoulder. “You’re a big help, Samuel Norman. You’re a good Deputy.” I pull him into a hug to
show my appreciation for him and my head rests on his shoulder for just a moment.
“Josh…you’re falling asleep again.” I can feel him shake his head at me. This day is going to
suck. If only we had a relaxing pool of water here. It would be so rejuvenating.
***********************************************
“I don’t feel like I have your complete attention, Josh.” The speaker says to me. I can see his
mouth moving and I hear words too, but they don’t make much sense. It’s almost like he’s
talking under water. That would be so cool! We should have these meetings under water.
Wait. We don’t have anyplace underwater to hold them. The White House swimming pool! We
can have them there. Wait. C.J. will get pissed if we move the press corps….Wait! I just
remembered. C.J. isn’t here anymore. YES! Now I have the power to move the press corps
and hold meetings under water….taking notes might be a little difficult though. I should talk to
Donna about it. She always has a solution for me. Donna…God, I miss Donna. And I’ve hardly
seen Ben this week. He won’t even remember me at this rate. Maybe if I called them…
“Josh!” Whoa, that was loud. The Speaker looks pissed too. What’s that about? Do you think
he can’t swim and that’s why he doesn’t want to do the underwater meetings?
“Yeah?” I answer and I’ll admit that perhaps my tone is a little peevish.
“These mid-terms are extremely important if you want to retain any kind of majority in the
house.” He says all garbled-ish.
I laughed. I really couldn’t help it…much. “Like that did us much good this last session.”
Geez…I didn’t realize the Speaker could turn his face that color. I wonder how that would look
under water…
“We got the ed reform bill through didn’t we? And the health care initiative?”
“Yeah…that was AMAZING…I only had to herd a few DOZEN Republican votes to get it done.”
I scoff.
“I warned you that it was too liberal to get the whole democratic caucus on board.” The
speaker’s voice got really tight and his teeth clenched. Yeah…being underwater would
definitely relax those jaw muscles.
“Whatever.” I put my hands up in surrender just as Sam walks in. “I’m just saying…it doesn’t
make that much difference to us what happens in the mid-terms. We get screwed equally by
both parties, it seems.”
“Josh!” Sam calls out loudly. “I’m sorry, Mr. Speaker, the President needs Josh for…something
that’s come up. Will you excuse him?”
“Certainly.” The Speaker agrees immediately.
Sam leads me into the hallway and I start to walk toward the Oval. “Wait a second! The
President isn’t in the Oval. Ronna cancelled his stuff.”
“Oh, sure. You remember that just fine.” Sam mutters. “Do you also remember how we don’t
want to offend the Speaker and we want to get a larger majority in the House?”
That does sound vaguely familiar, but…
“He doesn’t seem to understand the plan.” I tell Sam who rolls his eyes.
“It was kind of a secret plan; just the President and the senior staff.”
Oh, that’s right! I remember now. The Speaker doesn’t like the President very much cause the
President wanted his friend from Texas to be Speaker so we have to have secret plans
sometimes. I’m very good at secret plans. I never tell. Hell, this time I didn’t even remember the
plan to tell anyone about it.
“Ahhhhh…Got it. I’ve got it now.” I start to turn back to the Roosevelt room.
“NO! No, no, no.” Sam holds on to my arm. “I’m going to finish up here. You take my meeting
with Lou about leaking some of the Columbian situation to the press.”
“Columbian situation. Got it.” I nod. “What’s happening with that, anyway?”
“Josh…go home…” Sam begs. He sure is crabby today. And he thinks I need sleep!
“Hey, I can handle a meeting with Lou. Relax.” I shake my head again and start walking to Lou’
s office.
“Josh? It’s the other direction!” he nearly yells. Yelling would be much more muffled under
water; another point in favor of underwater meetings.
*********************************************
“So we give it to the Post?” Lou asked me.
“Sure…the Post is good. Call Danny in here.” I suggest.
“Danny doesn’t work for the post anymore, Joshua.” Lou says very slowly. “Are you sure you’
re okay?”
“Hell, yeah. I just haven’t eaten in awhile…or slept either, really.” I pause and think about it. “I
did have a short nap. If we get Danny in here and leak this thing, then I could get some food
or, maybe sleep.”
“Danny doesn’t-“ Lou growls. Growling would sound really cool under water. “I think I’ll handle
this one on my own. Maybe you should have Carol get you something to eat from the mess?”
“That’s an excellent idea! Carol?!” I shout, then I remember that Carol is home sleeping;
traitor. I know. “Donna?!”
Lou’s eyes bug out. They would look huge under water cause water magnifies everything.
“Donna is home on maternity leave, Josh.” She reminds me.
“I know she’s on maternity leave, Lou, I was there when she matern…alized.” People are really
slow around here today. “Let’s get this leaked so I can go see her and my child before he
leaves for college.”
“Right.” Lou calls some 13 year old in her office and closes the door for privacy. “Jason, we
have some information to share with the paper of record.”
“Columbia?” he guesses. He’s a pretty good guesser for a teenager.
“Yeah.” Lou confirms. Lou is really good at her job; above or below water…I’m guessing. “You
can’t quote us directly, but you can use senior White House officials.”
“See, the thing about Columbo-“ I begin.
“ColumBIA” Lou interjects.
“What?”
“Not Columbo.” She says.
“No shit. What does some fictional television detective have to do with-“
“Josh. Just tell Jason what you need him to write about.” Lou advises me.
“Right…Jason, what would you think…” I trail off when a thought hits me. “What would you
think about moving the press corps to the OEOB so we can use the swimming pool?”
“What?” Jason asks.
“WHAT?!” Lou shrieks.
I point to her. “This is what I’m talking about. That wouldn’t be NEARLY so loud if we were
under water.” I explain while Lou does this really funny impression of a fish.
“Of course, if you were on top of the water, the sound would carry even more and it would be
louder still.” Jason points out. This kid is VERY smart. No wonder the Post hired him out of
highschool.
“Yeah, we’d have to be under water for sure.” I nod.
“Josh? You’re needed in the Oval.” Lou says quietly.
“My pager didn’t go off.” I note and reach for my pager only to discover I don’t have my pager
with me. “Shit. I don’t have my pager.”
“That explains it then.” Lou reasons and turns to the kid. “He hasn’t had much sleep in the last
few days.”
“Three little hours; that’s all!” I add.
“Right. So off you go to the Oval. I’ll take care of things here.”
“Thanks Lou. You’re the best.” I hold out my arms for a hug and she gives me this disgusting
look.
“Not. On. Your. Life... Please go.” She opens the door for me though which is nice. I get almost
to the Oval when I realize the President isn’t in the Oval this morning. My staff is very nice, but
they’re a little confused sometimes. So, I decide to get into a pick up meeting and find just
what I’m looking for in the East wing.
“Annabeth! Do you know how to swim?” I ask her.
“Ummm…yeah.” She answers carefully.
“Excellent!” I clap my hands together and seat myself at her conference table.
“Josh? Is everything okay?” Annabeth asks.
“Fine, fine.” I assure her. “What are you working on over here?”
“Ummm…the First Lady’s schedule for her trip to Minnesota next month.” Annabeth informs me.
“Hey! They have tons of water there. It’s the land of 10,000 lakes.”
“Yes. Yes, it is.” Annabeth agreed. “We’re going to be promoting the clean water program they’
ve got there to help push the national program in Congress.”
“That’s a great idea.”
“It…was…yours.” She tells me.
“Great! Donna is going to love going to Minnesota cause it’s right next to Wisconsin!” I
mention. Geography has always been my strong suit…well, American geography…
“Josh? Donna’s not going to Minnesota. She’ll still be on maternity leave.” Annabeth is looking
at me strangely now.
“She could still go…if she wanted to…we could all go and bring the baby too. Babies love
water. Sometimes, women give birth in water, did you know that?” I ask.
“I didn’t really.” Annabeth admits. “Josh, this is Jeff Price from the Minnesota Governor’s office.
He’s helping us coordinate our trip. Jeff this is Josh Lyman the White House Chief of Staff.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir.” Jeff says all impressed with my title. It IS an impressive title.
“I’m sure it is.” I agree.
“Did you need something Josh?” Annabeth asks.
“No, no. I just came over to see if I could…” what was it I was going to do? “Help! That was it.
With Donna gone I thought you might need some help and since I’ve been here for days…”
“Days?” Jeff repeats.
“Yes, DAYS.” I emphasize the word. What’s the matter with this guy? Has all the water clogged
his ears?
“This is Annabeth.” Annabeth says as she answers her very loud phone. “Yes, as a matter of
act I have seen Josh. He’s right here…helping.” Annabeth smiles as she talks on the phone.
She has a very nice smile. Not as nice as Donna’s but still… “I’ll tell him, thanks.”
“You have a very nice smile, Annabeth. It would look very nice underwater.”
“You sure like water a lot, huh Mr. Lyman?” Jeff asks. “You must be quite an outdoorsman.”
“No, no, no.” I shake my head vigorously. “There’s too much sun and, you know, air, outdoors.
But water is nice…in a pool or a shower…a bath can be good sometimes too, but there can’t
be any bubbles.”
“Good to know.” Annabeth jumps in. “Josh, you have someone looking for you. In fact you
have two someone’s looking for you. You’re supposed to meet them in Donna’s office.”
“I have my own office, I don’t need to use Donna’s.” But then I think about how far away my
office is and it makes me very tired just imagining walking that far. “I guess it would be okay
just this once, though.”
“I’m sure it would.” Annabeth agreed. “Josh is a new father, Jeff, he and his wife brought home
their first child 2 weeks ago.”
“Congratulations, sir. That’s wonderful.”
“It would be if I ever got to see him.” I mutter and wander out toward Donna’s office. When I
open the door I see the most wonderful sight; Donna and our son rocking in the corner of the
room. The morning sun is streaming through the window and painting them both with a kind of
halo. If you added water it would make a rainbow. “Hey…”
“Hey.” Donna turns to look at me. “I hear you’re having a tough morning.”
“Not me. I mean I’m a little…”
“Fried.” She suggests.
“Sluggish.” I correct. “But my staff needs me here today, so I’ll tough it out until 3 or so.”
“Josh…” She raises her eyebrows at me as I walk closer and stroke our child’s head while he
gets a morning snack from his mother.
“What?”
“Your staff doesn’t need you. That’s why you’re in the East wing looking for a pick up meeting.”
She tells me. Does she know me or what?
“My staff does too need me.”
“They do need you, just not right now, and not when you’re crazed from lack of sleep.” She
gently removed Ben from her breast and placed him on her shoulder to burp him. His eyes
were barely open but they locked on me and I swear to God he smiled.
“Crazed? I am NOT crazed. In fact, I had a meeting with Haffley on mid-terms-“
“Haffley isn’t the Speaker anymore Josh, remember? Also, I’m to remind you that Danny
Concannon is no longer with the Post and C.J. will still find a way to make you pay if you try to
move the press corps to the OEOB.” Donna smiled with this pity on her face. “You have been
on duty here for over forty hours and that’s on top of the exhaustion you were already
suffering from having a new infant at home. You’re fried.”
“I can make it a few more-“
“Ben needs a nap too and I need to look over some things on my desk.” She explained. “I can’t
lay him on the couch by himself. He could roll off. It would really help me out if you’d lay down
with him on the couch while I clean a few things up.” Donna pouts and I’m lost. The only thing
that holds more power over me than Donna’s pout, is Donna’s naked body, but I don’t have
that kind of energy right now.
“Fine.” I hold out my hands for our child and Donna’s places him in my arms. He’s so warm and
cuddly. His head tucks perfectly under my chin and I sit down on the couch. I decide we might
as well be comfortable while we wait for Donna, so I stretch out.
“Hey. How come you’re not exhausted anymore?” I ask on a yawn.
“Mom arrived yesterday. Except for feedings, she’s been taking care of Ben and I’ve been
sleeping.” Donna informs me.
“How come I didn’t know that?” I look over at her while stroking Ben’s back.
“You did. You just forgot because you’re fried.”
“I’m not fried!” I protest but Donna shushes me because my voice got kind of loud there and I’
m holding the baby.
“Moving the press for swimming pool access?” she mocks me. The woman mocks her
husband, the father of her child, and indirectly…her boss.
“It would be very beneficial for the whole staff. Water is very relaxing and soothing,
Donnatella.” I explain.
“I’m sure it is.” She agrees with me, but I can tell from her tone that she’s still mocking me.
“It is! Like a baby in the womb.” I expound and think about that a minute. “It must be so quiet
and safe in there. Maybe that’s why Ben cries so much. He didn’t like being evicted.”
“Ben doesn’t ‘cry so much’, Joshua. He cries the normal amount.” She counters.
“How do you know? He’s our first one!”
“I’ve taken care of other babies, Josh. My sisters have children. This is all completely normal.”
“Says you.” I scoff at her reasoning. “Ben is a guy and us guys understand each other. He
preferred his previous environment.”
“Whatever you say, but that was becoming untenable for both us.”
“Babies love water, Donna. Some women give birth in water, you know.”
“I do know that yes.”
“Why didn’t we do that again?” I ask on another yawn.
“Well…I objected because it required natural childbirth without the assistance of any pain
medication and you objected because you claimed it was disgusting and gross.” She tells me.
“All birth is disgusting and gross.” I explain and burrow deeper into the cushions on Donna’s
couch. I can feel Ben’s breath on my neck and it’s very soothing. I wouldn’t be able to feel that
under water. Okay, there’s one strike against it.
Everything is quiet for a few minutes and then I feel the cushions dip down and smell Donna’s
shampoo. I open my eyes a slit and see her snuggle up next to us both.
“I thought you had work you wanted to look at?” I mutter.
“Turns out that I’m fried too. I put a note on both doors, so we should be able to rest
undisturbed for awhile.” That sounds perfect, but I’m too tired to tell her so. I manage to move
my other arm around her and stroke her hair. I wouldn’t be able to do that underwater either.
Well, I would, but it wouldn’t feel the same. Another strike. You know what they say; two strikes
and you’re out…okay, maybe that’s not exactly it, but have I mentioned I’m completely fried?
Helen Santos POV:
“You are not disturbing them Matthew!” I stand in front of Donna’s office door blocking the
leader of the free world from entering.
“I’m not going to disturb them Helen. I just want to see the baby. Annabeth said Donna brought
the baby in with her.” He wheedles.
“You can see the baby when they all get up.” I reason. “You told me yourself how badly Josh
needed some sleep.”
“And again, I note that I have no interest in seeing or disturbing MY Chief of Staff. I can be
stealthy. I’ll just peak for a minute.”
“While I’d never disparage your stealth capability, the problem isn’t your peaking; it’s that once
you peak then you have to touch and hold the baby.”
“I can just peak!”
“No, you really can’t.” I remind him. “You’re a sucker for babies…all babies, but when you add
in the fact that this one is especially adorable and you’ve got a personal connection with him-“
“He was almost born in the White House, Helen.”
“I know. I remember, as I’m sure Josh and Donna do too. I’m just saying that now isn’t-“
“I’ve got a budget meeting in 20 minutes and I won’t get through with that for hours! They
could go home by then I’ll miss him completely.” He pouts. Can you believe it? The President
of the United States is pouting to get his way with me.
“Are they up yet? Can we see the baby, now?” Miranda appears next to her father. She’s been
chomping at the bit to get in to see Ben. Donna mistakenly mentioned once that Miranda
would be a good babysitter and Miranda took that as a solemn vow and now she’s a little
peeved that the baby has been here two weeks and she hasn’t gotten her babysitting gig yet.
“I’d like to, kiddo, but Mom says we can’t even peak.” Matt shrugs like he’s helpless to do
anything about the situation and that I’m the sole barrier between them and the baby. They
both look at me like I’m Cruella DeVille.
“They’ve only been sleeping a couple hours.” I say in exasperation.
“Just a peak…please?” Miranda whines.
“Please?” Matt echoes and I try to keep a straight face.
“If either of you so much as-“
“We’ll be good, right Miranda?” Matt jumps in.
“Right.” She nods enthusiastically.
I reluctantly open the door with my finger covering my mouth in the age old symbol for quiet.
The scene in front of us makes my heart skip a beat. The Lyman family is cuddled together on
the couch sleeping. Well, the Lyman parents are sleeping. Young Ben is lying on his father’s
chest, fingers playing with Josh’s shirt buttons and his blue eyes trying to focus on the world
around him.
“He’s awake!” Miranda exclaims, immediately forgetting her promise to be quiet and it stirs
Donna who wakes enough to realize they have company. She sits up slowly and carefully and
takes Ben out of Josh’s arms before walking over to us.
“Let me see the youngest member of my staff.” Matt insists and takes the child from his mother’
s arms. “He’s grown so much already.”
“My turn Daddy!” Miranda insists.
“First, sit down in the big chair.” Donna tells her and my daughter hurries to comply. Once the
baby is settled in her arms a look of awe comes over her face.
“I’m holding him all by myself, Mom!” She proclaims, forgetting to be quiet again and wakes the
baby’s father. He startles when he doesn’t find his son where he’d been when they fell asleep
and his whole body relaxes once he spots us across from him, his precious son getting lots of
attention from the Santos family.
“Josh you’re late for our briefing.” Matt teases him and the horrified look on Josh’s face even
gets sympathy from me; and I’ve never been his biggest fan.
“He’s messing with you Josh.” I tell him quickly. “You need to take your family home so you can
all get some rest. I’m sure Matt can muddle through the rest of the day without you, right Matt?”
“Sure, sure.” He agrees. “You could even leave Ben with us. We could babysit.”
“No way. I’ve haven’t seen him in days.” Josh hunkers down in front of Miranda and Ben.
“He’s so beautiful.” Miranda says softly.
“He gets it from his mother.” Josh agrees. “You’re doing a good job with him, Miranda. When
we are ready for the sitter, you’ll be the first one we call.” Miranda beams at the compliment
and his comment has me doing a double take. Why didn’t I ever see this side of him when we
were campaigning? Oh, that’s right. Donna wasn’t there.
“Take this tired man and his son home, Donna.” I tell her.
“Will do.” She promises. “Let’s go Joshua.” He follows her out of the office, once she has Ben
securely back in her arms, like he’s a child himself. They’re almost out the door when I hear
him make a final request while he yawns.
“Donna? Do you think you could drive home? I’m kind of fried.”
