This story is a little back story to the AU I have created in the drabbles for Hannah's challenges.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except Zander, that little man is all mine.

Thank you Jesse who beta'ed this for me.

Old Friends

By: Sasha

Josh walked toward his office in Senator Hoynes' office suite when he heard someone call his name.

"Josh!"

Josh turned around and saw an old friend of his father's.

"Mr. Secretary!" he called back.

"Hey, Josh. I hope you don't mind that I didn't make an appointment, but I'm trying to fly under the radar," Leo McGarry said.

"Of course, I don't mind, but the Senator's not here."

"That's ok Josh, I came to talk to you. Can you take a walk with me?"

"Sure." Josh grabbed his bag from his office and they walked outside. "What's going on, Mr. Secretary?" Josh asked, as they stopped at a bench.

"Please Josh, I'm not Secretary anymore. Call me Leo."

"Ok Leo, what's up?" Josh smiled.

"First of all," Leo replied, "I heard your dad was in the hospital again."

"Yeah, they said they got it all this time."

"Is he taking it easy?"

"Of course not . . . he's dad."

They both laughed at that.

"Josh, I'd like you to come to Nashua, New Hampshire Thursday night to hear Jed Bartlet speak."

"I work for Senator Hoynes, Leo."

"Yeah."

"There's another reason I can't go."

"I already know, Josh."

Josh stared at him with wide eyes. "You know?"

"Of course, and I don't care. Hell, he's a lawyer right?"

"Yeah," Josh said, with a confused look on his face.

"Well, bring him along," Leo said.

"Wait. How much do you know?" Josh asked, a little worried.

"Well, I know his name is Sam and that he used to work at Gage Whitney."

"Yeah."

"I know that he left there to move here with you 2 years ago. And I know that you met while in college 6 years ago, and have been together since."

"Is that all dad told you?"

"First of all, your father didn't tell me this . . . your mom did, and second, yes, that's all she said the last time I talked to her a year-and-a-half ago."

"Oh, so you don't know about Zander." Josh smiled as he thought of the small boy who already had his heart after only a year.

"Who?" asked Leo. "Did you and Sam break up? Because your mom seemed to really like him."

"No Leo, we're still together," Josh assured him.

"Good, then who is Zander?"

"Zander is our son."

Leo's eyes opened wide. "Son?"

Josh's smile got bigger and his dimples showed even more as he thought about his little family. "Yeah, we adopted him a year ago when he was six months old."

Leo smiled as he looked at his friend's son. "Good for you, Josh. I'll bet he's a sweet kid."

"Yeah, he is. You want to meet him? I'm supposed to meet them for lunch in a few minutes at the Lincoln Memorial."

"Sure, let's go"

As they walked, they talked about Governor Bartlet.

"Josh, you really need to come hear him speak," Leo insisted.

"I still work for Senator Hoynes."

"Do this as a favor to me."

"Why?"

"Because that's what sons do for old friends of their father's."

"I'll talk to Sam and see what he wants to do," Josh promised.

"Good."

As they reached the Memorial they heard a small voice yell out.

"PAPA!"

Josh bent down as a very small boy ran toward him. "Hey Zan man," Josh said, as he scooped up the young boy.

Leo smiled as he watched Josh with his son. "You know, Josh, I remember when you were that small and were picked up by your own father."

Leo watched as the smile he thought couldn't get any bigger did, and another man joined them.

"Hey love," Sam said, as he gave Josh a quick peck on the lips over their son.

"Papa, who dat?" Zander asked, as he pointed to Leo.

"Zander, don't point," Sam said.

"Hi, I'm Sam." He held out his hand to Leo.

"Hey, I'm Leo McGarry, an old friend of Noah." He took Sam's hand in a hearty handshake. "It's good to meet you, Sam. I've heard a lot about you from Josh's mom."

Sam got a worried look on his face. "Really, what did she say?"

Josh laughed and took his partner's hand. "Relax Sam, mom loves you."

"Yeah, da gam love you," Zander said from his perch in Josh's arms.

"Thank you buddy," Sam said, as he kissed the small boy.

Leo watched this little family and smiled even more. "Well Josh, I'd better go. I hope to see you in Nashua on Thursday."

Josh put Zander down. "It was good to see you, Leo, and I'll talk to Sam."

Leo bent down to Zander's level and held out his hand. "It was nice to meet you, Zander."

Zander gave Leo a hug. "Love you, Leo."

Josh and Sam smiled as they watched their son.

"It was nice to meet you, Leo," Sam said as the older man stood up.

"You too, Sam," Leo said, as he shook Sam's hand again and left the small family to their lunch.

Later that night Sam and Josh talked in their room after they put Zander to bed.

"It must have been good to see your father's old friend again," Sam said, as they got ready for bed. "What was he in town for?"

"Well, he came to ask me to go see Jed Bartlet speak."

"Oh, are you going to go?" Sam asked.

"I said I would talk to you first."

"Well, do you want to go?"

"I don't know," Josh shrugged. "I mean, I work for Hoynes."

"Yeah, but Josh, is he the real thing?"

"The thing about Hoynes is . . ."

"Yeah, you never finish that sentence."

"Do you think I should go?"

"Yes, go and them come home and if this guy's the real thing, Zander and I will go with you."

"Good, now come to bed babe."

The next day Josh drove to Nashua to see Jed Bartlet.

When Josh got home it was pouring rain, but he didn't care because he just saw the real thing.

He ran up the stairs, looked in the window, and saw Sam and Zander playing in the living room. As he entered he heard Zander yell, "PAPA! DA PAPA HOME!"

Sam looked at his partner's face, got a big smile on his, and said, "Yeah, he is buddy and it looks like he found what he was looking for."

Josh's smile got bigger as the little family hugged each other before setting out on a big life-changing trip to help the real thing.