January 8th:
“Put that down, Donna.”
“I can carry some clothes.” Donna insisted as her husband took them out of her hands.
“Of course you CAN; you’re just not going to. That’s why we hired movers. Will you please sit down
somewhere and put your feet up?”
“I need something to do, Josh. I don’t do well with nothing to do.”
“This I know. You should’ve stayed with Nate and Ainsley.”
“And left you to handle this by yourself? We’d be lucky to find the dishes.”
“Hey! You need to be nicer to me. I’m currently unemployed, you know.”
“By your own choice.” She reminded him. “Besides, someone has to keep you on your toes so
you’re ready for those Senatorial debates.”
“Yeah, I don’t think you can actually see your toes right now, can you?” he no sooner finished the
sentence than Donna smacked him with her clipboard. The clipboard held the key to what was in all
the boxes and where each box should go. Josh tried to tell her that these movers did this for a
living, but it made her feel better to have her lists and her clipboard, so that was that.
“Ouch. I thought we believed in no violence around here?” Josh asked rubbing his arm.
“That’s only in regards to the children.” Donna informed him.
“Children.” Josh smiled. “We’re going to have children soon, Donna.”
“Very soon, if how I’m feeling these days is any indication.” She complained.
Josh rubbed her lower back and eased her down onto the couch next to him.
“Will you do me a favor? Toby took another pass at the announcement speech and I’m having a
hard time being objective about it. Will you take a look?” Josh might not be able to get his wife to
stay out of the moving madness, but he did know how to distract her.
“Sure. Give me a copy.”
Josh pulled a folded copy out of his pocket and handed it to her, smiling. Donna leaned back and
started reading; making illegible notes in the margins.
By eleven that evening, the furniture was all placed and Nate was asleep in his new toddler bed.
Josh, Sam, and Toby were sharing a beer, while Donna slept on her husband’s shoulder.
“I’ve got a couple notes on the speech.” Josh told Toby as he handed him the marked up copy.
“Why must you mess with perfection?” Toby asked.
“Not me; Donna, though I think she had a couple valid points.”
“You are so whipped, my friend.” Toby shook his head. Josh just laughed and shared a look with
Sam before he got back to the speech.
“I don’t want to talk about Rosslyn. Neither of us do.” Josh reiterated. “That doesn’t have to be part
of the story.”
“But it IS part of the story; so is Gaza. The sooner you come to Jesus on those points, the better.”
Sam argued. Since being promoted to Chief of Staff, this was one of his rare evenings off and he
really didn’t want to spend it talking about politics of any kind, so he changed the subject. “Ainsley’s
pregnant.”
“That’s terrific, Sam. Congratulations. How’s Ainsley doing?” Josh asked.
“She hasn’t been sick or anything, just eating like crazy.”
“And that’s different from usual how?” Toby asked.
“Fair point.” Sam conceded. “But since we’ve had medical confirmation, I’m not giving her grief
about it anymore.”
“Good plan.” Josh agreed. “Speaking of indulging pregnant spouses, I’d better get this one up to
bed. Thanks for all your help, especially with watching Nate.”
“It’s good practice.” Sam leaned over and kissed Donna’s forehead. “’Night Sleeping Beauty.”
“Better not let Ainsley hear you say that.” Mumbled a sleepy Donna.
“Better not indeed. We’ll see you soon. Take care of yourself.” Toby told her as he too, kissed her
goodnight. Josh walked them out and then helped Donna up from the couch.
“I don’t think you should be kissing other men goodnight right in front of me like that.” Josh teased
her. “My self-esteem is pretty fragile right now.”
“Then come to bed and I can make it up to you.” Donna purred and Josh’s eyebrows shot up into
his hairline. “We haven’t made love in our new house yet.”
“We can’t have that now, can we?” Josh let her pull him into their new bedroom.
*********************************************
Chapter 5
“I’m thinking of mentioning the Yale Bulldogs.” Josh mentioned as Donna straightened his tie.
“Yes, because reminding the people of Connecticut that you’re part of the Ivy League elite is really
how you want to start off here.” Donna deadpanned.
“I’m very proud of where I went to school, Donna.”
“I heard you had a 760 verbal on the SAT’s. Maybe you could work that in too.”
“I think that will be self-evident by my oratory skills.”
“Of course.” Donna agreed. “But since Toby wrote most of the speech, won’t it be Toby’s oratory
skills they’ll be admiring?”
“I wrote plenty, plus Toby wrote off of my ideas.”
“There, you’re all set.” Donna fixed his jacket lapels then moved her hand to her lower back.
“Go sit down. I can walk out by myself.”
“No, together.” Donna corrected. “We ‘re doing this together.” They listened quietly as Governor
Jim Owens introduced them.
“…the next Senator from the great State of Connecticut, our very own Joshua Lyman.”
Josh paused a moment and Donna squeezed his hand. “You’re going to do great.”
Hand in hand they walked to the podium and Donna stood by his side as he announced his
candidacy for the US Senate. His delivery was passionate and the editorials the next day would
remark on how down to earth and connected the Lyman’s were with the crowd; but the headlines
were banner and remarked on something else entirely.
“Lyman’s Deliver in Connecticut”
Within hours of his formal announcement, Donna Moss-Lyman who had begun back labor early that
morning delivered their second child. The front page of every newspaper in Connecticut, and most
of the national ones, heralded the arrival. Toby accused them of grandstanding, but in the
excitement of the delivery forgot to rail on Josh for his ad lib in the ‘B’ section.
Caitlin Moss Lyman was a media sensation from the moment she was born and there was no
mistaking the fact that she enjoyed all the attention; Donna maintained that she took after her
father. It wasn’t until a few weeks after they’d brought her home that the other shoe dropped.
It started off innocently enough, recounting the harrowing events at Rosslyn and Josh’s narrow
escape from death. Within a few days, though, stories started to surface from unnamed White
House sources about troubled days in the White House the Christmas after the shooting; erratic
behavior and violent outbursts. Next came the stories that asked experts about the long terms
effects the shooting had on Josh Lyman. Finally, came the Republican hatchet men who out and
out accused Josh Lyman of being unfit for public office.
“It’s time for you to hit back.” Joey told him through her interpreter Kenny. “You need to give one in
depth interview and it will be old news.”
Josh and Donna reluctantly agreed and sat down in their living room with Chris Matthews of Hard
Ball just 4 weeks after they brought their new daughter home. Josh had wanted to do the interview
alone, but Donna overruled him.
“I promise to keep my mouth shut if that’s what you want, but I’ll be sitting next to you through the
whole thing.” She stated unequivocally.
“Josh, why is it that you’ve never gone on the record about the events in Rosslyn before now.”
Chris asked him.
“I would prefer not to talk about them now either.” Josh told him honestly. “But since my Republican
opponent is using this issue to cast doubt on my abilities to serve as Senator I feel I have no choice
but to speak about them.”
“What do you remember about that night?”
“Blessedly, not much. I remember the President had an awesome town hall meeting and we’d just
gotten some great news about the Space shuttle and a pilot that had gone down in the no fly zone,
so we were all feeling pretty good as we left that night. I stayed behind a minute to make a call, so I
ended up separated from the rest of the Presidential party.” Josh paused and took a drink of water.
“I vaguely remember a terrible pain in my side and trying to call for help, but I couldn’t get any
sound out. Toby Ziegler found me and that’s the last thing I remember before I woke up in the
recovery room.”
“According to C.J. Cregg’s briefings you were in surgery for over 14 hours. What was the recovery
process like for you?”
“It was pretty hellish. The physical therapy alone nearly killed me. I missed my work and my friends
and felt pretty cut off from the world for the months following the shooting.”
“So you get back to the White House after being more or less confined to your apartment for three
months. How did you pick up your professional life after that?”
“When I first got back, everyone took great pains to help me adjust and bring me up to speed.
I didn’t like being coddled though, so I dove right in and in retrospect that might have been a
mistake. I had been through some pretty traumatic events and I hadn’t taken the time to work
through any of it.”
“There’s been a lot of speculation about what went on with you that Christmas. Can you end the
speculation tonight?”
“A few weeks before Christmas, I began experiencing symptoms that worried the people I was
working with; anxiety, short temper, and a variety of physical pains. Luckily for me, the people I work
with saw the symptoms for what they were; signs of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and arranged
for me to meet with a Doctor who specializes in treating people who suffer from that disorder. That
Christmas Eve when I met with Dr. Keyworth was a pivotal time for me. We spent almost eight hours
talking. I began to feel like I wasn’t as broken as I had been feeling. Turns out that people who have
PTSD have certain things that can trigger an episode. For me, it was music. Whenever I heard
music, my mind equated the music with the sirens from that night in Rosslyn and I would relive the
entire event.”
“And I imagine Christmas at the White House is replete with music.” Mattthews commented.
“Congressman LeVoy’s staff has dug up an emergency room record from that night, denoting a cut
hand and the need for stitches. How were you injured?”
Donna started to speak, but Josh squeezed her hand. This was going to be the tough part to get
through.
“I cut my hand when I broke a window in my apartment. I had just gotten home from the
Congressional Christmas party where we had heard Yo-Yo Ma play. The music had triggered a
pretty severe episode and I couldn’t make the sirens in my head stop. In my frustration and pain I hit
the window with my hand and it broke. The next day I saw Stanley Keyworth.”
“What is the long term prognosis for your Post Traumatic Stress Disorder?” Chris asked further.
“Do the people of Connecticut have reason to be concerned about your mental health? Are you fit
to serve as Senator?”
This time Donna piped up before Josh could.
“As someone who lives every day with Josh, I can assure you that he while he might drive other
people crazy, he is more than fit to serve as Senator. This rubbish that his opponent is spewing out
is just that…rubbish. Even right after his diagnosis, he continued to serve as Deputy Chief of Staff
for President Bartlet, then as Chief of Staff under President Santos. Like many other Americans, he
manages his PTSD without it affecting his daily life or professional abilities” Donna’s assessment
and determination coaxed a smile from Chris Matthews and he turned to her.
“I imagine living through the bombing of the American CODEL in Gaza gives you some keen insight
into what your husband went through.”
“Yes.” Donna answered simply and said not another word. Josh looked at her in surprise and then
started to smile.
“My wife and I have spent a great many years in service to our Government and paid no small price,
individually and as a family, but I can speak for both of us when I say we don’t regret a single day.
When we look in our son’s eyes, and now our daughter’s, we know that we have made this country
a better place for them to live and grow in.” Josh took his wife’s hand. “That’s what we hope to
continue to do if the people of Connecticut decide to send me to the Senate.”
“Conventional wisdom doesn’t foresee you having any trouble with your Democratic contenders in
the primary here, but polls out today show a tight race between you and Congressman LeVoy if the
election were held today. Do you think it’s going to stay tight for the next 8 months?”
“I’m not taking anything for granted, Chris. The other Democrats seeking the nomination are good
men and women and I have no doubt that the upcoming debates will keep us sharp for the general
in the fall. As for Congressman LeVoy, I’ve had to do battle with him when I worked in the White
House and I would be the last one to underestimate him.” His statement was offset, however, by the
eye roll his wife gave the camera.
“Do you have a different opinion, Donna?” Chris baited her.
“Just a bit. My husband, with the help of his colleagues to be sure, took a little known New
Hampshire Governor and catapulted him into the White House. Then, when that administration was
coming to a close, he went out on his own and found another relatively obscure candidate and took
him to the White House. He may be new to being the candidate himself, but the one thing that he
has always done in politics is stay true to what he believes and the people of Connecticut will
recognize that and respond to that as they get to know him.”
“Josh and Donna Lyman, thanks for taking the time to talk with me tonight.” The segment producer
yelled ‘we’re out’ and Josh pulled off his mic.
“Way to lower expectations there, Donnatella.” Josh teased her.
“We don’t need to lower expectations, Joshua, we need to raise them.” At that point, Josh’s Mom
came in with Caitlin who was wide awake and looking for supper.
“Here, Mom, I’ll take her.” Donna scooped up her daughter from her adoring Grandmother and went
in search of some privacy to nurse her child.
“Good luck with the Senate race, Josh.” Chris shook his hand as the camera crew packed up their
equipment. “I’m looking forward to the debates.”
Lou Thornton joined the candidate once the crew had left. “You did pretty good out there, Joshua.
We’ll follow up with the statements from Dr. Keyworth and Presidents Bartlet and Santos. It will be a
non-story by the weekend.” Lou had agreed to run Josh’s campaign over Josh’s strenuous
objections. He still didn’t know how they were going to get through the primary let alone the general
election without killing one another.
“Yeah, okay.” Josh rubbed his hand over his face. Between getting ready for this interview and
taking care of his infant daughter, he was exhausted.
“I’ll let myself out. Goodnight, Mrs. Lyman.” Lou called.
“Honey, you need to get some sleep.” Ruth Lyman told him. “The catatonic look isn’t going to
reassure voters. Go on, I’ll help Donna get Caitlin to sleep when she’s done.”
“Thanks Mom.” Josh kissed her cheek. “Have I told you how grateful we are that you’ve come out to
help us?”
“A couple dozen times since I arrived last week. For awhile there I was afraid I’d never have
Grandchildren to spoil and now I have two…so far.”
“Please don’t start talking like that in front of Donna. She still hasn’t recovered from this one yet.”
Josh told her and walked up to bed. He was already asleep by the time his wife joined him, but that
didn’t stop him from pulling her to him and cuddling with her in his sleep.
*************************************************
It was the second and final debate among the Democratic rivals for the nomination, and Josh had a
significant lead, but Lou was constantly reminding him to take nothing for granted. Be confident, but
not cocky, concise but not flippant, and by all means do not get sarcastic with anyone. This was not
just about the primary, she told him, the general electorate was watching and forming opinions
about him during these debates. Josh’s head was reeling from all the last minute advice Lou had
tried to pump into him.
Donna could see his head start to spin and pulled him away from the podium where the debate was
about to start.
“Do I need to cut your tie off there Joshua?” Donna asked him as she leaned in to give him a kiss.
Josh instantly relaxed in the arms of his wife as he recalled President Bartlet’s last Presidential
debate when the First Lady had cut off the President’s tie just a minute before the debate began.
“Maybe we’ll save that trick for the debate with LeVoy.” Josh laughed.
“I’m proud of you Joshua.” She told him quietly. “You won’t need any tricks to hand LeVoy his ass in
November.”
“This seems a little personal to you, Donnatella.” He smirked.
“You are very personal to me. Knock ‘em all down.” She gave him one last kiss before taking her
seat.
****************************************************
Chapter 6
“What do you say we grab the kids and head to Yorkside pizza?” Josh suggested.
“Sounds good to me.” Donna agreed. “Think we can leave all these people in our house while we’re
gone?”
“Hell, no, they’re all Democrats. They’ll give all our stuff away to the poor before they finish our
pizza crust.”
“Yeah, and your Mets memorabilia alone…”
“Hey, do not mock the Mets collector items.”
“How you can seriously call a bobble head doll a collector’s item-“
“Do not EVER refer to anything in my collection as a ‘doll’. I have a son who looks up to me…at
least so far.”
“Speak of the devil.” Donna murmured as their son ran head long into his Father’s legs.
“Daddy help!” Nate cried out giggling. “Sam!”
Josh scooped up his son just as the White House Chief of Staff careened around the corner in
search of his prey.
“Nathaniel Lyman, give me back my keys.” He said trying to keep a straight face.
“My keys!” Nate insisted and buried his head in his Dad’s neck.
“Unless you can produce the mortgage note that’s attached to the house that belongs to those
keys…” Sam began.
“Honey, let’s not get into a debate with a two year old, okay?” Ainsley suggested to her husband as
she waddled into view. As primary nights went, this one was virtually without stress and the food was
great. Ainsley was in heaven, even if she was 6 months pregnant.
“He’s a thief! He stole my keys while we were playing hide-n-seek and now he won’t give them
back!” Sam argued.
“My keys!” Nate asserted.
“See?!” Sam faced his wife.
“Nate, give me the keys, love.” Ainsley cooed and Nate immediately handed them to her. She gave
him a kiss on the cheek. “Good boy.”
“Well, yeah, I’d give you the keys for a kiss too, but that doesn’t excuse the fact that he stole them
in the first place.” Sam countered as Josh and Donna laughed. “Fine, laugh now, but you’ll see how
hard it is to hang on to a Senate seat when your son is doing time for a felony.”
“We were just weighing the wisdom of heading to Yorkside Pizza and blowing off this crowd.” Donna
told the Seaborn’s.
“Hey, isn’t that the place where you and Jennifer…” Sam trailed off as he remembered his audience.
“Jennifer?” Donna repeated.
“I don’t honestly recall sharing pizza there with anyone but you.” Josh insisted.
“A born politician, ladies and gentlemen.” Donna quipped.
“Joshua!” called Lou from the other room.
“I’m being summoned.” Josh sighed and led the group into the living room. He expected to see
election results on the television, but instead the scroll across the screen announced ‘breaking
news’.
“What the hell?” Josh asked as he came up alongside Lou.
“Whatever it is, it’s national.” Lou explained.
“So…not my primary win.” Josh opined.
“Highly unlikely.” Lou agreed.
“We interrupt this regularly scheduled program to bring you this breaking news story.” The news
anchor announced just as Sam’s pager went off. He took one look at it and sent Josh a look of
apology.
“Go. Ainsley can crash here tonight.” Josh assured him. Sam gave his wife a kiss and headed out
the door with his detail. Josh put his arm around Ainsley as they watched the news unfolding on
television.
“We have confirmed a report of multiple explosions originating from the Port of Eastport in Maine.
Emergency services have been dispatched to the scene and there are unconfirmed reports of
casualties and injuries at the site. The Port of Eastport is 6 hours from Boston, 30 minutes from
Canada, and is the closest port to Europe.”
“Holy…” Josh broke off mindful of his son squirming in his arms. “Lou?”
“I’m on it.” Lou was already on her cell phone to her contacts trying to get more detailed information.
“We should prepare a statement…” Toby muttered as he sipped his drink.
“Saying what exactly?” Josh asked him.
“We send our thoughts and prayers to the people of the Port of Eastport and our gratitude to the
brave men and women who are rushing to the aid of those injured in this horrible tragedy. We await
further details along with the rest of the country…” Toby improvised.
“Okay, write it up and run it past Lou, but we do NOT release it unless or until we are asked for a
comment.”
“Got it.” Toby went to Josh’s office to use his computer and print out a statement.
There were pictures now…fire and emergency vehicles filled the screen. Josh set his son down and
he ran into the other room blissfully ignorant of the pandemonium his parents were witnessing.
“Oh my God, Josh.” Donna whispered.
*************************************************
They kept a vigil all night waiting for news and information which was easier for the Lyman’s than
some of the others that had gathered in their home to watch and celebrate the primary returns
because their baby daughter still wasn’t sleeping through the night and they were accustomed to all
nighters.
The news as it came in was bleak. Death and destruction littered the Port and because of the large
area of destruction, investigators were having difficulty identifying the source of the explosions.
According to CNN, they had narrowed it down to three possible ships that had entered the port that
afternoon, but that was the extent of the information that they could confirm. Josh got precious little
more than that from his ‘source’ at the White House. So Josh assured his source that Ainsley was
sleeping soundly and hung up.
“What do they know?” Donna asked him.
“They THINK it’s an isolated incident and they THINK it was detonated from a ship that originated
from Canada.”
“So they know nothing?”
“That’s about it.” Josh confirmed. Toby had stopped drinking several hours ago, although he
wished he hadn’t.
“Santos knows what he’s doing over there, right?” Toby asked Josh.
“President Santos had a lot more military experience going into the Oval office than President
Bartlet had going out and-“ Josh had started to raise his voice and Donna placed a hand over his
mouth.
“Toby’s just messing with you. Tell him you’re just messing with him, Toby.” Donna implored him.
“I’m just messing with you. I actually feel much better about this whole thing knowing you’re sitting
here with me, and Robin is in the sit room with PRESIDENT Santos.” Toby said.
“Thanks, Tobias, that’s a big help. Have you talked to Andi?” Donna tried for a subject change.
“Several hours ago. She said to tell you congratulations, by the way.” Toby added.
“Yeah, it was a real stressful night for me.” Josh said sarcastically.
“Josh…” Donna chided.
“I’m just saying.” Josh took a deep breath and blew it out as his daughter started crying through the
baby monitor.
“I’ll get her.” Donna told them and took the stairs slowly but surely up to their daughter’s room. She
picked Caitlin up and took her to the rocker in the corner of the room. Donna talked to her as she
unbuttoned her blouse to feed her daughter and then simply enjoyed the silence.
Donna felt him there before she turned her head to smile at him.
“I never get tired of watching you two like this.” Josh told her as he leaned against the doorway.
Donna was shocked by the wistfulness in her husband’s voice and she threw an anxious glance at
the baby monitor.
“I turned it off downstairs.” He told her as he joined them in the corner. He hunkered down in front of
them and stroked his daughter’s hair while she fed from her mother. He was full of many emotions;
anxiety about what had happened in Maine, helplessness that he wasn’t in the sit room dealing with
it, and anger that human beings continued to do unspeakable things to other human beings, but
above it all he felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude for his family.
As much as he believed politics consumed his world in the past, he now acknowledged it was a
distant second to the people he shared this home with, to his family.
Donna seemed to read his mind as easily as ever while all these thoughts played through his mind
because when he looked back up into her face she covered his cheek with her hand and said, “I
love you too.”
*****************************************************
Chapter 7
The morning brought lots of speculation, but little information. Poor Lester was getting pounded in
the morning briefing and Toby felt a moment of empathy as he remembered some of his own hellish
moments at the podium.
“Did you get any sleep last night Toby?’ Donna asked him.
“A bit. You?” he returned.
“A bit.” She replied. “Josh finally fell asleep around 4. I say let him sleep, but Lou says wake him up.”
“Since when do you listen to Lou when it comes to taking care of Josh?” Toby asked.
“Good point. I’m just trying to be respectful since she did leave the White House to run Josh’s
campaign.”
“Lou was thrilled to leave the White House to run Josh’s campaign, are you kidding me?” Toby
laughed. “She gets to boss Josh Lyman around and kick LeVoy’s ass around the block. It’s a dream
job for Lou Thornton.”
“She and LeVoy have a history?” Donna hadn’t heard about that.
“They go way back.” Toby confirmed. “LeVoy’s first Congressional campaign went head to head
against Lou’s Democratic contender…uh…Bishop; his name was Bishop. Anyway, LeVoy is 6 points
down going into the final two weeks of the election and suddenly there is a flurry of allegations
against Bishop. They throw everything at him but the kitchen sink; accepting bribes, committing
adultery, you name it and someone came up with an unnamed source accusing him of it. Bishop, at
Lou’s urging, hits every show and newspaper that will have him to dispute the allegations, but all
they end up talking about is the abundance of accusations against him. When Election Day rolls
around Bishop takes it in the teeth to the tune of 8 points.” Toby finished the story and took a bagel
from the plate Donna has arranged on the counter. “Good breakfast.”
“Thanks.” Donna smiled. “I’m gifted like that. You’re warning me that this could get ugly?”
“I’m warning you that it WILL get ugly.” Toby corrected. “The PTSD stuff was a shot across the bow.
They were waiting for him to be Democratic nominee and then they’ll drop the house on him when
it’s closer to the general.”
“What does this house look like Toby?”
“Looking at the opposition research, I’d say the house is tall, blond, and currently living with him.”
Toby waited for that to sink in. “You know there have been rumors about you guys for like, forever,
right?”
“Nothing happened while we were in the White House Toby and the very fact that I have to tell YOU
that, scares the hell out of me.”
“Of course something happened while you were in the White House. You fell in love with each other
in the White House. The fact that you never physically acted on those feelings, doesn’t take away
from the fact that you had them and everyone knew it on one level or another.” Toby argued.
“Why are you saying this Toby?” Donna asked him.
“This race isn’t going to be just about Josh. You’re going to get pulled in too, and not necessarily in
a good way, but you can have some control over that.”
“I’m going to check on Nate.” Donna said and left Toby with his breakfast.
************************************************
“What the hell did you say to Donna?” Josh demanded when he found Toby smoking a cigar
outside.
“We were just talking about campaigns.” Toby answered.
“You don’t just TALK about campaigns. You talked to the President about campaigns and he went
into therapy. What did you say to Donna?”
“I told her about the opposition research.”
“Damn it Toby! You had no right to go there.” Josh shouted.
“You should have gone there before now. She has a right to know what’s coming down the pike.
She should have heard it from you!”
There was nothing Josh could say to that, so he simply hit his hand against the wall and walked
away.
Toby gave him a minute and a football field of distance before he followed him, Eventually, Josh
slowed down and then stopped. Toby caught up to him but still kept plenty of physical space
between them.
“Do you want me to leave?” Toby inquired.
“I want you to stay out of my marriage.” Josh said hotly.
“I wasn’t in your marriage. I was in your campaign which is where you asked me to be. Don’t think
they’re not going to hit you with that, too.”
“I can handle whatever they throw at me, Toby.”
“Can Donna?”
“Donna is the strongest person I know.”
“I agree, if she’s prepared. She can’t be going into this blind. She needs to be aware of what’s
behind every question she’s going to be asked in the next few months, and she needs to know how
dirty LeVoy plays.”
“She’s not a neophyte, Toby. She’s worked national campaigns.”
“She wasn’t in love with Bartlet, Russell, or Santos. This is different, Josh.”
“I know it is.”
“Help her know it is. I am convinced that there’s nothing that the two of you together can’t
accomplish.” Josh finally looked Toby in the face.
“She’s going to need you to prep her. She won’t take it from me or Lou.”
“Given the choice between you and Donna, I think my record is clear on the fact that I prefer
Donna.” Toby cracked.
“CNN is reporting that the ship carrying the explosives, while having come directly from Canada,
actually originated in the king Abdulaziz Port Dammam in…Saudi Arabia.”
“Well, now we have ourselves a ballgame.” Toby replied.
*******************************************
“Josh…telephone!” Donna called.
Josh came into the kitchen and took the phone from her. He paused before he answered it though,
and gave her a kiss first. Recognizing it for the unspoken apology it was, Donna smiled at him.
“Josh Lyman.”
“Please hold for the President of the United States.” Came the voice of a White House operator.
Josh waited for the minute or two it took to be connected to President Santos.
“Well if it isn’t the Democratic Senatorial Nominee from the great State of Connecticut.”
“Good morning, sir. I’m surprised you can get your mouth around that after the night you must have
had.” Josh replied.
“I’ve got you on speaker here, Josh. Sam is here with me.” President Santos informed him. “I wanted
to bring you up to date on what’s happening with the investigation and tell you that you should do
whatever you need to do to stay competitive there. Do you understand me?”
“I understand you, sir, but I can assure you I won’t be staying competitive by running away from the
Santos administration. What can you tell me that CNN hasn’t got yet?”
“Not much over the phone, but Saudi Arabia is denying any involvement in the horrific events of the
last 12 hours. That’s a direct quote, by the way.”
“Of course it is. Will someone please remind me what the advantage is for us to be allied with Saudi
Arabia?” Josh said harshly.
“I believe that would have something to do with being addicted to crude oil.” Sam added.
“Right.” Josh affirmed. “We really should do something about that, sir.”
“I’m working on it, but you know how difficult these members of Congress can be. Tell you what, you
send me up the bill when you get here next January, and I’ll sign it.” Santos promised.
“Are the Saudi’s at least co-operating with the investigation?” Josh inquired.
“Oh, we have their full co-operation; provided that we don’t trample on any area of Saudi
Sovereignty.” Sam replied.
“That would be…?”
“Lists of Saudi citizens who work at the port and serviced the ship in question, the owner/operator of
the ship in question, the date the ship left the port…’ Sam trailed off.
“Jesus Christ.” Josh murmured.
“The CIA is working things from their angle, but even if we can identify the individuals responsible,
the Saudi’s aren’t going to be handing their sovereign citizens over to us.” President Santos
continued. “I wanted to let you know that we’re closing our ports to vessels from Saudi Arabia
effective immediately.”
“That’s a good first step, but it’s a Band-Aid, sir. When you address the nation you need to put
pressure on Congress to increase the funding that you’ve been asking for in regards to port and
airport inspections.” Josh suggested.
“Already in the speech.” Santos confirmed. “I’m also going to be putting pressure on the Saudi
Government in terms of co-operating with the investigation itself. They may hit back with higher oil
prices.”
“That may be just what we need to shake off the blasé attitude of Americans regarding oil
dependence, sir.”
“True, but it’s certain to get ugly first. You’re going to feel the pinch in your race, too.”
“We’re all in this together, sir. Sam, you hanging in there?” Josh asked.
“Yeah. I’d like to have my wife back though.” Sam said.
“I can put her on a plane today, if you’d like.”
“It would probably be better if she stayed with you another night. I’ll be living here, for the next 24
hours, anyway.”
“We’ll take good care of her. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.” Josh offered.
“Actually, I’d appreciate it if you’d touch base with Mike Casper for me. Find out what he’s hearing
under the radar…” Santos told him.
“He’d come to the White House, sir.”
“I’d rather not make that direct contact right now.”
“Hadley giving you difficulties?”
“The Director and I are not seeing eye to eye at the moment.”
“Understood. I’ll call Sam after I get in touch with him.” Josh promised. “Good luck, Mr. President.”
“Thanks, Josh. We’ll talk to you soon.” President Santos responded.
*****************************************************
Chapter 8
“Mr. Lyman, are you consulting with the President about the port security issue?” A reporter called
out. 2 days after the explosions in Maine, reporters were coming out of the woodwork outside the
Lyman home in New Haven.
“The President has plenty of experienced advisors with more relevant information than I have at this
point.”
“Do you see this as a failure by the Santos administration to keep our ports secure?”
“President Santos, and before him, President Bartlet, each requested more funds for airport and
seaport cargo searches. Each time, the Republicans in Congress beat it back, preferring to pull my
mother out of the check in line at the airport rather than beef up real security.” Josh responded. “It
is a security failure, to be sure, but no rational person would be able to place it on the doorstep of
President Santos.”
“How’s the baby?” called another reporter.
“Beautiful. Fortunately for me, she takes after her mother.” Josh replied smiling.
“Is she sleeping through the night yet?”
Josh shook his head ‘no’. “Up every morning at 3:30 like clockwork, screaming at the top of her
lungs. Unfortunately for Donna, she takes after me too.” He joked.
“That’s all for now. Thank you.” Lou ushered Josh into the house. “We’re getting a lot of press
requests.”
“Set ‘em up. Let’s do it away from here, though.” Josh instructed.
“Some of them are for Donna…does she want to…?”
“Check in with Toby on that.” Josh told her. “Did Sam call in while I was gone?”
“Not that I know of.” Lou pulled Josh’s cell phone out of her pocket. She didn’t let him carry it
anymore while they were out meeting voters. One time he got into a debate on the cell with Toby
over a thing, and the next thing he knew, she was insisting on ‘holding’ the phone for him. “No
missed calls.”
“Okay, thanks. I need to make some calls from my office.” He said as he went through the house
before closing and locking his office door. He picked up his landline, and dialed a number by
memory. “Hey, what do you know?”
************************************************
When Donna tried the door and found it locked, she was more amused than alarmed. She called
out to Josh and after asking her to ‘hang on a second’ he unlocked the door and let her in.
“You hiding another woman in here, Joshua?”
“Among my many transgressions, I swear that infidelity has never and will never be one of them.”
Josh sighed heavily. “What’s up?”
“Your son.” Donna looked at him carefully as she continued. “He’s looking for you and I promised
him he could have you after his nap.”
“Traded for a 2 hour nap?” Josh teased. “I feel so cheap.”
“Wait until the Political Action Committees get their hooks in you, then you’ll really feel valuable.”
Donna took his chin in her hand and brought his face up to meet hers. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah…just making a call for the President.” He didn’t give any further information and knew Donna
wouldn’t ask for any. He’d been playing intermediary between Mike and the President since the
explosions and it was wearing on him; not playing intermediary so much as the obvious rift between
the President and the FBI Director Tom Hadley. This was NOT the time to be fighting White House
turf wars.
“Okay, then do you want to tell me why you’re sending Toby to do your dirty work?” Josh had
arranged for Toby to approach Donna this morning about preparing some answers for the
oppositional research questions. Josh winced at the look she gave him.
“Baby, it’s just that I love being married to you so much, and I’m afraid if you and I try to do that
together, one of us will end up lying in a pool of blood…and I’m pretty certain it would be me.”
“You got that right.” Donna agreed.
“I…regret that it was Toby that told you about the opposition research, but maybe it was better that
way; coming from him. You two work well together and no one is more politically savvy answering
right wing mud slinging than Toby.”
“I don’t look so good in mud, Joshua.”
“You look good in anything.” He cajoled. “I trust Toby and I know you do too. Let him walk you
through this. He’s right; together the two of us can handle whatever comes our way.”
“We can, yes, but we have children now. I don’t want them reading…whatever garbage is going to
be spewing at us by November.”
“Well I think it’s clear our children are brilliant, Donna, but neither of them are reading yet.”
“Don’t joke about this Josh. This will all be public record for our kids and our grandkids to read.”
“All the more reason to get out in front of it; frame the debate the way we want to.”
“Toby told me about the clash of the titans with Bishop and LeVoy.”
“Clash of the- Oh, Lou and the LeVoy camp. That’s one of the reasons I wanted her on this. No one
knows how LeVoy operates better then Lou.”
“So…on our terms then?”
“Starting right out of the gate. Lou and Toby are going to co-ordinate some sit downs for you and
we’ll go from there.” Josh assured her.
*******************************************
“Between you and me, Josh, Hadley is withholding information from the President. He doesn’t think
the President has given the FBI enough free reign over the last 3 years, and he’s willing to upstage
the President on this to make his point.”
“This isn’t the issue to get into a power play over, Mike. One hundred and twelve people died in
Maine, and it was sheer luck that the explosives detonated at night when the port had fewer people
there than during the day when it was supposed to have gone off.”
“You’re preaching to the choir, Josh. The President has to get rid of Hadley and he has to do it now
before he grows more dissention within the bureau.”
“Would you be willing to go to the President with this directly, Mike?” Josh knew what he was asking,
and knew that such a move could cost Mike further advancement and possibly worse if Mike took it
to President Santos and Santos didn’t replace Hadley.
“Like you said, it’s not the issue to get into a power play over. I can go to the White House if that’s
what it takes.” Mike said resolutely.
“Thanks Mike. The President and I appreciate the assistance you’ve given in all this.” Josh told him
honestly. “I’ll be in touch after I talk to Sam.” They hang up simultaneously and Josh goes through
the process of getting in touch with the White House Chief of Staff.
*************************************************
“Tell me about the beginning of your relationship with Josh Lyman.”
“I met Josh when I drove to New Hampshire to volunteer for Bartlet for America at the start of that
campaign. I assigned myself to the messiest, most disorganized staff office and that turned out to
be the office of Josh Lyman. I worked as his assistant through President Bartlet’s first term and most
his second term, but our personal relationship began while we were working together to elect Matt
Santos.”
“Nahhhh!” Toby made a buzzer noise.
“What? That’s the truth!” Donna insisted.
“True, but not accurate. You tell people that your personal relationship began when you were
working for Santos and they will parade witness after witness to dispute it.”
“Dispute it how?”
"They’ll talk about: you standing in the operating theater observation room for 6 hours, you moving
in with Josh after he was discharged from the hospital-“
“That was completely innocent!”
“Completely?” Toby asked and Donna frowned.
“They’ll talk about how inseparable you were and how Josh would sabotage your dates from his
office in the White House. Then, as the piece de resistance, they’ll tell about a White House Deputy
Chief of Staff who flew to Germany with only the clothes on his back during a military crisis to be at
your side.”
“Well, that just sounds very bad.” Donna admitted. “So how do I answer that then?”
“Donna, when did you fall in love with Josh?”
“I’m not sure exactly when-“
“Donna, when did you fall in love with Josh?” he repeated and she took a moment to think about the
honest answer to that question.
“I started to fall in love with him the first day we met in New Hampshire when he took a chance on a
college drop-out who wanted to start over and prove she could be valuable. I fell the rest of the way
that night in GW when I realized how empty my life would be without him in it.”
“That’s how you answer the question.”
“But what about-“
“The second part of the answer goes like this: Although we had a special connection from the very
first day we met, neither of us could conceive of doing anything that would dishonor President
Bartlet or the White House, so we never took a step beyond friendship until years later when we
worked together on the Santos campaign.”
“That’s the truth, too.” Donna noted.
“I love it when that happens.” Toby gave her a killer grin. Let’s move on…”
**************************************************
“What was your reaction then, when you woke up at a military hospital in Germany and Josh Lyman
was sitting next to you?” asked Katie Couric.
“Confusion. I had no memory of the recent events and didn’t even know where I was. I did know how
relieved I was to see his face, though. Once I saw him there, I knew everything was going to be
alright. Josh is ferocious about taking care of the people he cares about, and I was lucky enough to
be in that group. That’s part of what is going to make him such a wonderful Senator; his passion to
fight for the people and things he believes in.” Donna answered.
“Nice.” Lou commented from where she was watching the interview with Toby and Josh. “Honest and
personal answer, and then she pivots it to the Senate seat. She has the entire audience picturing
you in that seat already.”
“She’s something.” Josh agreed.
“What is it like campaigning across the State of Connecticut with two small children?” Katie
continued.
“It’s a challenge.” Donna laughs. “It helps that they’re young enough to believe that all the crowds of
people are there to see them and not their father.”
“Caitlin is just an infant, but Nate is 2 ½ now, right?” Donna nodded. “Does he have any idea of the
exalted company his family travels in? Current and past Presidents, foreign Heads of State,
Religious leaders, they’ve all been guests in your home and part of your lives since he was born.”
“No, to Nate, President Bartlet is simply Grandpa Jed. We have been so fortunate to have met and
learned from leaders all over the world and someday Nate will be able to appreciate all of it. For
now, though, we’re teaching him to be respectful of everyone who comes into our lives, regardless
of what their title is.”
“Tell us about your husband’s reaction to the events in Maine two weeks ago.”
“It affected all of us very deeply. He has worked diligently with two Presidents to create peaceful
solutions to disagreements with people who hold different beliefs. He was an integral part of the
peace accord that President Bartlet was able to develop after the bombing in Gaza. He never
wanted to see another catastrophe like that. As Senator, he’ll work tirelessly to enact legislation that
would require more thorough cargo inspections.”
“Speaking of Presidents; many times politicians use the position of US Senator as a stepping stone
to the White House. Do you think you may be speaking to me as the First Lady of the United States
one day?”
“I can’t even conceive of such a thing.”
“But you won’t rule it out?”
“This is Joshua Lyman we’re talking about; I’ve learned to never rule anything out when it comes to
my husband.”
“And that’s the final word from Donnatella Moss-Lyman. Thanks for being here.”
“My pleasure.” Donna smiled as the segment ended.
*******************************************
“We got a nice bump from Donna’s interview with Katie.” Lou began the meeting with the good
news. Donna and Toby high fived each other as Josh laughed. “With twelve weeks until the
election, we are up 5 points with a margin of error of 3 points.”
“Josh?” Liz, Josh’s newly appointed personal assistant, called from the doorway. “You have a call in
your office…it’s urgent.” There were only 3 people that Liz was to interrupt Josh for; Donna was with
him in the office, he’d just spoken to Sam before the meeting started…so that left Mike.
Josh hurried to his campaign office to take the call.
“Mike?”
“We’ve got a credible threat, Josh. The Director is waiting to tell the President and he shouldn’t. I
can’t believe the man is playing politics like this! You have to get me in to see the President.”
“Where are you, Mike?”
“I’m walking down Pennsylvania Avenue. Can you get me in? I mean now?” Josh caught the panic in
Mike’s voice, and Mike wasn’t one to panic.
“Stay on the line, Mike, and keep walking toward the White House. I’m going to get Sam on the
other line.” Josh rushed to connect with Sam and explained what was going on. President Santos
had tried diplomacy and tact to keep his Director in place during this tumultuous time, fearing that a
shake up would spell disaster; but it looked like disaster was coming despite keeping Hadley in
place. Sam promised to waive Mike in and bring him directly to the Oval office. Josh hung up feeling
a little more relieved that something concrete was going to be done now. Hadley would have to go.
A distracted Josh returned to the strategic meeting and wasn’t there 20 minutes before he was
pulled out again.
“The President is going live in 10 minutes to explain his decision to evacuate the Port of Houston
and 2 miles of the surrounding area based on a credible threat that has been brought to his
attention by the FBI.”
“God…” Josh sat down. “Not the Director?”
“He claims he was waiting for additional verification before alerting the President.”
“Bullshit.”
“Yeah. Have I thanked you for leaving so I could experience all the joys of the sit room and working
directly with that horses’ ass?”
“He can’t resign, Sam.”
“What?”
“The President needs to fire him and I mean now. He can NOT accept Hadley’s resignation.”
“I understand.” Sam answered quietly. “He can appoint the Assistant Director as interim Director
and include that in the statement.”
“You do not want to blow this statement for a host of reasons, the very least of which is re-election.”
Josh insisted.
“I understand!” Sam shouted. The pressure was getting to him, thought Josh. Between all the stress
at work and his first born child being due soon, it was a wonder he man hadn’t had a cardiac
episode already.
“Take a breath, Sam. You’ve got this under control, no problem.” Josh instructed quietly. “You’re
going to get Hadley into the Oval so the President can fire him and while he’s doing that, you’re
going to get Williams in to accept the Interim Director spot. Then the President will do his thing on
air and it will all be downhill from there.”
“Yeah.” Sam acknowledged. “Then I’m going to fly down there and pummel your ass with a baseball
bat.”
“Yeah.” Josh agreed as his friend hung up to put things into motion. Josh went back to the meeting
and after waiting to get everyone’s attention, filled them in on what was going on. Strategy was
scrapped for the rest of the day as they watched the proceedings on CNN. When President Santos
went live to explain the developments in the Port of Houston, Josh could honestly say he’d never
been more proud of any professional accomplishment in his life than he was about going to recruit
Matt Santos for the Presidency.