Friday - 9:00 P.M.

I'm finally back from the hill and I'm so tired all I can think about is how much I want to go home, grab a quick bite to eat and get some sleep. I'm relieved to see that Donna's cubicle is empty. I hope it means she's gone home for some much-needed rest. She's been spending way too many late nights here and she needs a break.

I start to enter my office, but stop in my tracks when I see Donna sitting in the chair, holding one baby, another sleeping in a carrier on the floor. She's so intent on smiling down at the baby, stroking its face and talking soothingly to it that she doesn't hear me. I stand and watch her for a minute. She looks so Madonna like, so angelic and maternal, as if holding a baby were something she did every day.

Finally I speak. "Hey."

She looks up and me and smiles. "Hi."

I nod toward the babies. "Toby and Andi's?"

"Yea. Toby's in with Leo, and Andi had to take care of something. She'll be back in a few minutes."

She looks down again, all of her attention back on the baby. I'm content to watch her, but soon I'm rocked by a vision so strong I have to put my hand on the door frame to steady myself. Something explodes in my chest, in the very center of my being and I see the future so clearly before me. I see Donna, looking more beautiful that ever, in a wedding dress, Donna pregnant, Donna in a hospital bed, smiling down at the baby she holds, Donna in a chair, the same baby at her breast. I shake my head a few times, but the image doesn't fade. It dances before me. It taunts me.

I finally regain my composure, and I walk over to her and kneel down to look at the baby in her lap. I caress his cheek for a minute and glance at the baby in the carrier. "They're sweet. Poor kids though, having Toby for a father."

"Josh! Is that nice? I'm sure Toby is a wonderful father. He sure seems proud."

I nod. "I know. Just kidding." I stand up and go back to stand in the doorway so I can continue watching her. "I'm sensing you've done this before?"

"What? Hold a baby? Sure. There was always a baby to hold when I was living at home. Friends, family members. I love babies, especially at this age when they're so helpless and they need us so much."

"You'll be a good mother, Donna."

"I want to have three. What about you?"

"Three. Um...three is a good number."

"All girls?"

"Girls are good. Very good. I hope they all look like you." I hesitate for a minute and my voice cracks a little. "We're going to have the most beautiful kids, Donnatella."

She blinks her eyes a few times before she looks up at me, her eyes flashing on mine. I see confusion first, and then realization and her eyes fill with tears as she smiles. She whispers my name, and something turns over in my chest.

Before I can speak again, Toby appears in the doorway beside me. "What do you think, Josh?"

"You did good, Toby. Real good." I smile and pat him on the back.

"Thanks. I think so, too. This might just be the one thing in my life I got right."

Andi appears next, having heard Toby's words. "I couldn't agree more. Thanks so much Donna for watching them for us."

"I loved it. Please, bring them back anytime."

Toby and Andi gather the babies and leave us alone. Donna comes over to me and we look at each other for a minute.

"Josh, did you mean...?"

"Yea, I did..." As I pull her into an embrace, we both know that no words are necessary and that our lives have been forever altered.