Hi There! I decided that it was time I start publishing this little story I'm creating. Here are a few notes about this AU. It begins with Josh starting his three years at Yale Law School and Donna is an undergrad, recently having transferred from the University of Wisconsin. In the show, I always thought Josh was born around 1962 and Donna in 1974. In this story, Josh was born in 1968 and Donna in 1970. Amy Gardner is also a student at Yale Law in this AU. These characters are not mine, I am just borrowing them :)

I hope you enjoy the story!

Chapter One: Three Years and Counting

Westport, Connecticut

Monday August 26th, 1991

Josh Lyman awoke up the steady buzzing of his alarm. It's the beginning of his second week at Yale Law School and he's already exhausted. The rumors were true, the first year really is a ton of reading. He had been told by his father that if you can make it through the demands of year one, then you can easily handle the second and third year. Noah Lyman had continued to tell his son that the second and third year of law school were by no means easy, so Josh knew he had a long three years ahead of him.

He had spent the summer as a File Clerk at Debevoise and Plimpton, working for one of the firm's partners. His dad was a partner there, had been for many years. The two had travelled to work every day on the commuter rail from Westport, sometimes staying in the city to catch a Mets game. Although living at home for the summer had taken some getting used to, Josh enjoyed the amount of time he was able to spend with his dad. During his time at Harvard for undergrad, he had picked up an internship every summer working for Congressman Atkins in the Massachusetts 5th so he stayed in Cambridge and never moved back home. His visits with his parents were for the most part holidays, and random weekends here and there when they would visit Harvard or he would come home.

After getting dressed and shoving textbooks and papers into his black Jansport backpack, he schlepped downstairs and sunk down into a chair at the breakfast table.

"Eat, Joshua, and tame that unruly head of hair you have. You can't go to class like that," Miriam Lyman ordered as she placed a stack of pancakes and turkey bacon in front of him. "I made you a nice breakfast because you were a good son and came home for the night because I missed you."

"Ugg, too tired for food," Josh complained as he let his head fall to the table.

"Joshua . . ." came a warning tone from his mother. In the Lyman household, you eat what's in front of you. Food doesn't go to waste and you don't complain about the menu. His dad's side of the family had lost too many family members in the Holocaust. His grandfather, Jacob Lyman, was liberated from Birkenau at the end of the war. His family had known hunger and suffering. His parents had taught him that you don't take what you have for granted, even if it's just a plate of pancakes.

"Yes mom, sorry," he took a rather too large bite of his breakfast.

"Thank you, b'NEE" (my son), she said with a smile causing Josh to give her a dimpled smile in return. He loved his parents, and loved seeing his mom smile. There had been a time in his past where he hardly saw her smile. He blamed himself. Why didn't he get Joanie before he ran out of the burning house? After eighteen years, the choice he made that night continues to haunt him.

Tossing his plate in the sink, he kissed his mother goodbye, said a quick "See ya later," to Buster, the Lymans yellow lab, and hopped in his 1985 blue Volvo 740 and headed north on 95 to New Haven while listening to NPR. A former Senatorial Campaign Manager was being interviewed and talking about the day to day life of managing a campaign. Josh was ready to be out there- move to DC and work on the hill or for a national campaign, make it to the White House and make a difference. Unfortunately, if he wanted to be a power player, he knew he really needed a J.D. or PhD. He had to show that he had some form of specialty in something. Almost everyone that you wanted to get a meeting with in DC had one or both of those distinctions. Hell he wasn't even sure he was going to take the bar exam in three years. He just wanted to get his law degree and move into professional politics. He should have worked for a campaign this summer, he missed it. He loved the intensity of it all, the thrill of getting polling numbers, the feel of victory. But when his Dad suggested he work at the firm, he just couldn't say no. His parents were so excited to have him home for the summer and they had given him so much, he felt like he owed them. He didn't hate the job, he just didn't particularly love it either. If anything, his summer spent in a law firm reinforced his determination to make it in professional politics. He had his dad to thank for that, because he introduced him to his long time friend, Leo McGarry.