Ladies and Gentlemen of the Press
Disclaimer: They're not mine to take, but that never stopped me before…
Thank you, thank you, thank you to my beta, Jen, who put up with me sending three drafts and chunks of this via email, bothering her on aim about it, and probably infiltrating her dreams about it. She's actually planning a companion piece that'd be the Donna and Josh side, so look for it!
A/N: Okay, this is going to be long. The AN and the fic! This story was the brain child of too much CJ/Danny fluff, and reading fanfic for like, four or five hours a day for a week straight. I came across several CJ/Danny pregnancy fics, which made me sad, because I'd had the idea floating around and thought "I can't do it as well as they did." But of course that didn't stop me, and the idea grew and grew in my head until finally, I just started writing it, and the writing didn't stop. It's not as much CJ and Danny as you might expect…I tried to involve a lot of other characters. There's also the side story of Donna and Josh. Hopefully I got a good balance, though CJ and Danny are the focus.
I wrote this fic in segments, but it doesn't divide into chapters well, so bear with that whole mess. I tried to end at places where CJ flashes back or when it advances a few months.
The most important thing you need to know about this fic is that it's quasi-AU. This means, it has basis in the show, and it has things I made up or ignored. For one, CJ and Danny had a relationship from the end of Season 1 area up until "present day" which in this fic is right after re-election. Major events like Rosslyn and Toby's twins happened, but I don't specify a lot of stuff. I kept with the people I know (if you've been following my fics, I've only seen season one and a few season four and five…I got season 2 dvds tho!) And Mandy makes a brief appearance, then disappears to Mandyville just like on the actual show. (hah!)
Basically, don't read too much history into this fic. There's some there, but mostly it's my own thing. I really hope everyone likes it.
"Two Briefings and Two Hundred Questions"
Briefing #1
"Ladies and gentleman of the press," CJ took a deep breath. "One last thing before you go..."
CJ looked around the pressroom, purposefully avoiding one pair of eyes in the room.
"I've submitted my resignation to the President," she paused for the reaction to die down a minute, then continued. "However, he would not accept it on grounds that he felt I didn't really want to leave." They were confused and hanging on her every word to find out what in God's name she was leading up to. "The truth is: I don't want to leave, but I felt it would be easier under the circumstances. The President of the United States felt otherwise, so if you have a problem with what I'm about to say, he suggested that you take it up with him." She couldn't stall any longer. "Ladies and gentlemen of the press," she finished smugly, "I'm pregnant. That's a full lid."
The pressroom went wild as she turned to exit the stage, ignoring their cries of "CJ! CJ!"
"Carol," she complained, "Burn it down…I mean it this time."
"Sure," Carol said, rushing after CJ. "But I thought they took it kind of … well," she grimaced at the sound of the press, knowing that they were being forcibly retained. Well, all except one.
"Nice briefing," Danny said, chasing CJ down the hall. "Hi, Carol!"
Carol smiled at him right before he disappeared into CJ's office. "Hi, Danny." She rolled her eyes, used to his shenanigans after all these years.
CJ slammed the door shut. "Do you have any idea how stupid it is for you to be back here right now?" She yelled, a little louder than she intended.
"Sure, but rabid reporters and hormonal press secretaries couldn't keep me away," he grinned, but CJ wasn't amused.
"Danny, what are you doing here?" She asked softly. She didn't want him mad at her, and she was tired of always sounding mad at him. "You know that if people see us there will be rumors."
"What's the harm if they're true?" Danny asked, always the Devil's advocate. "Besides, I figured you could use the support after that."
CJ eyed him. "I have the president's support. Isn't that enough?"
President Bartlet had pledged her immediate support, actually, ignoring glances and silent suggestions from Leo that accepting CJ's resignation might be for the best. The President was delighted that there would be another Cregg in the world, and he seemed equally happy to hear it'd be half Concannon.
"Does the President hold you? And kiss you? And tell you he loves you?" Danny asked, moving closer to her.
CJ decided to tease him. "Well, actually…it was supposed to be a secret, but yeah."
Danny dissolved into laughter as his arms circled around her. "Come'mere," he laughed, hugging her and kissing her neck. "And tell the President," -kiss, "with all due respect," -kiss, "to keep his hands to himself."
"Danny," CJ began, moving away from him. "Not here…"
"I know…it's just that you were great out there, and we're gonna get through all of this."
"I know," CJ smiled, calmly.
"Okay…'cuz, I just wanted to say it again."
CJ kissed him lightly on the lips. "Good bye, Danny."
"See you at the next briefing," he called as he left.
Briefing #2
"CJ, who's the father?" Came the cries of a few less prominent members of her pressroom.
"I have told you once, in fact, I've told you many times, but I'll say it again because I so enjoy the sound of my own voice. I am NOT here to entertain questions about my personal life. I'm the Press Secretary for the White House, and you're all professional reporters, I think. So please, somebody come up a single question that's worth my attention!" CJ's mood had gone from bad to worse after listening to the gaggle the following day.
"Ms. Cregg, do you think it is in any way appropriate or acceptable for a woman in your position to appear as a single mother in front of the American people? What kind of example are you setting for our children?"
CJ pursed her lips, angered even more by the question she knew was coming. "Well actually that's two questions," she began, eliciting a glare from the reporter who questioned her. "I think that if the President of the United States feels I can adequately perform my job, than I can. I don't make it a policy of questioning his judgment. Apparently there's no danger to me or the baby if I continue to report the White House news." Some of the older members chuckled, familiar with her dry sense of humor.
The reporter who'd asked her, clearly a Right-Winger who could find no end to moral troubles in the Bartlet administration opened her mouth, but was cut off by CJ.
"Furthermore, as to my being a conduit for all the youth of America into moral decay and corruption, I'd just like to remind you that I decided to keep this baby rather than have an abortion. So maybe instead of judging me on one moral ground, you could applaud me on another."
The woman snapped her mouth shut, knowing that if she said more she'd be branded a hypocrite and laughed out of the democratic White House.
"CJ," a voice perked up from the back of the room. "Just tell us who the father is!"
CJ Cregg gripped the podium with a little more force than she should have and glared down at the reporters in front of her. "Okay, I'm going to give you the rules of the game, since obviously, none of you comprehended them the first twelve times around. There will be no more questions about my personal life, there will be no more questions about the effect of my personal life on this administration, and if even one of you breathes those words again, I'm ending this briefing and you can all report to your readers about why you have no news of actual substance!" She was pissed, and her voice was losing its cool exterior. "Now, does anyone have an actual question?"
She purposefully ignored Danny's hand, and breathed a sigh of relief when Steve's shot up in the air.
"What's the president plan to do about the situation overseas…?"
CJ smiled. "Steve gets extra points for not only asking a question that doesn't concern my personal life, but the fact that he brings up a very important issue…"
CJ stalked out of the pressroom and glared at Carol. "I mean it, Carol. I really do."
"I know," her assistant sighed, handing her a folder that Toby had passed off on her.
Danny was close at her heels. "So that one was a lot more fun," he goaded.
CJ glared, already being in a terrible mood. "What do you want?"
Danny ignored her hostility. "Why didn't you call on me when my hand was up? It was up a long time before Steve's."
CJ sighed, pulling him into her office once again and regretting it. "I didn't think it'd be the best idea given the circumstances, and if you keep following me around like a puppy dog, I'm never going to get my pressroom back and they're going to hound you even worse. At least I have secret service protection."
Danny looked at her, and she plopped the folder on her desk, leaving him in her office as she headed to Leo's. She had to figure out how much damage she'd done during the briefing.
Leo's Office
"How was the briefing? I didn't go too hard on that one…" she gritted her teeth. "reporter…did I?" She was a still angry, but her nerves crept up on her as well. Of all the members of the Senior Staff, Leo had taken the news hardest, as she knew he would. He was worried about public opinion and the radical right, which she could understand after the briefing. She thanked God that this didn't happen until after reelection.
"CJ, it was fine, just be careful about delving into abortion territory," Leo warned. "You handled that reporter well, and you got her to shut up." He smiled, trying to get her to relax.
CJ pursed her lips instead. "Right."
"CJ," Leo began, looking as though he couldn't find the words for what he wanted to say. "I know I wasn't too happy when you told everyone about your pregnancy…and as Chief of Staff, it doesn't make my job any easier." She bit her lip. "But as your friend, I gotta say…congratulations, kid." His smile said it all. Through his rough, political exterior, Leo really was glad that she was following through with something that made her happy.
CJ couldn't hide her smile. She was so glad to have his approval.
"Danny's a lucky man," Leo told her sincerely.
"Yes, sir. Thank you," she replied, taking that as her cue to leave.
Walking back to her office, she thought back to the day when she'd told her peers that she was expecting. She waited until she was practically three months before saying a word, and lived almost every day in fear that someone would find out when she wasn't prepared…
The morning sickness was the worst, and though most women claimed it was not only a morning sickness, hers was. She would get sick when she woke up, and if she wasn't careful, again when she got into the office, but it usually subsided shortly after, with nobody the wiser.
She went to Leo and the President before anyone, and whether or not they accepted her resignation, she planned on telling the rest at the staff meeting, which was only an hour later. CJ laughed to herself, hearing her own words echoing in her head. "Sir, I'd like to offer my resignation."
President Bartlet looked at her with a mix of curiosity and concern. "What the hell for, CJ? You didn't get a better job offer, did you?"
She forced herself to say the words she'd dreaded for three months. "No, sir. I choose to resign rather than cause embarrassment and attach scandal to this administration."
The President lost the humor in his eyes, and looked at her gravely, with Leo appearing concerned as well. "CJ, what happened?"
He was a fair man, she knew this, and that helped her to speak. In the past five years she'd worked very closely with the entire administration, and the President had taken his staff under his wing, almost as if they were more of his children. She was afraid of disappointing him.
"Sir," she exhaled, steadying her voice. "I recently learned that I'm going to have a baby." She winced when he blinked. It was only a blink, but she could feel the thoughts running through his mind. He'd want to know who the father was, for sure. Leo had a look on his face that terrified her. He was shaking his head as if to say: "you're through."
"I know the problems I could cause, being such a public figure, and getting pregnant without a husband." She hated saying that. She didn't believe the whole marriage system worked anyway.
Jed Bartlet studied the woman standing, so boldly in front of them. He wasn't sure exactly what to tell her. "CJ-" he began, but stopped. "It's not going to be good, but this doesn't warrant your resignation. Nowhere in the constitution does it say that the Press Secretary shall be unfit for duty upon finding out she'll be a single mother."
CJ swallowed. "Yes, sir, I just assumed…"
Leo was about to speak, but the President waved his hand to silence him. "CJ, you know we'll back you, but I need to know how deep you're in. Who's the father?" He asked, already knowing the answer. It had been there under all of their noses the last five years.
CJ closed her eyes and said quietly, "Danny Concannon."
Leo blew his lid the moment he heard the name. After a few loud expletives that were accented by him stomping and slamming the desk, he looked at the President.
"We can't, sir. It'll never fly. I told her from the start that getting involved with him would be bad for the White House and bad for her career. If she didn't listen that's bad enough, but this? She might as well drown the entire administration. We'll never live it down! The Republicans will have a field day for the rest of our term."
CJ felt like crawling inside of herself and dying. Leo's words stung, but she'd made her decision, and she intended to stick by it. "If you don't want me to continue working for you, I understand."
President Bartlet looked at his best friend with an expression that covered the words he couldn't say in front of CJ. You were too harsh.
"CJ," he began, trying to sort out how they could handle this thing. "When you found out, did you consider…I mean…I know how you feel about certain things."
She swallowed tightly. "I know, sir. I thought about it too, briefly, but I couldn't. If it were anybody else, I would have considered it, but not his…" She trailed off.
Leo sighed. "It figures. At least if it were someone else's we'd only be fighting the unwed mother problem, but you and a reporter?"
Bartlet silenced him again. "Do you want to leave your job, CJ?"
She was taken aback., and paused, looking at him, searching his face for something that could tell her why he was asking such a thing. All she saw was the same genuine look that was always there. "No sir," she replied. "I just thought it would be best for everyone." Subconsciously she glanced at Leo as she spoke.
"Does being a Press Secretary affect your pregnancy?" He asked, regaining the humor in his voice. "I mean, I'll accept your resignation if this job endangers your well being or the baby's."
CJ was awed. She knew what he was going to tell her. "No, sir, it doesn't affect pregnancy."
"Well good, because being pregnant doesn't affect being a Press Secretary, and this I know." Bartlet looked at Leo's condescending glare. "Sure, it might make things a little nasty around here for awhile-"
"Six months," Leo muttered, silencing himself before the President had to.
"But if you'd like to keep your job, I don't see any reason why you shouldn't."
"Yes, sir," she said, hardly believing what she was hearing.
"Have you told the others?" He asked her.
"No, I was planning on doing that at the staff meeting this afternoon," CJ told him, her voice taking a softer tone that it usually held at bay. "I was going to tell them that along with the fact that I'm resigning."
"Well, now you'll only have good news for them," the President assured her. "Because I won't let you resign. We'll figure it all out this afternoon…what to tell the press and how to deal with some of the…more difficult people in the world."
She blinked, it was all too good to be true. CJ got the vague feeling she was dreaming, but shrugged it off. None of the staff ever acted like themselves in her dreams anyway.
"If that's all, I'll see you for the meeting in an hour."
"Yes, sir," she said, excusing herself from the room. She felt as if those were the only two words she'd spoken the entire time. She also thought about what Leo could be saying at this very moment, about how she should have been fired, and they should publicly declare her a liability. She'd kept her job however…
To be continued…
I was going to make the first chapter shorter, but I figured since it was the first dose, it might as well be a good length. Much more to come, most likely a chapter a day as I sort through them and edit and all. Thanks for reading!