A/N: Okay, so I don't really know what I'm going to do with this, I have written the first and the final chapter but I have plenty to fill the in-between. I hope you'll enjoy it. Sometimes it will be sweet, sometimes it will be sad... Anyway, here it is.

A Future Worth Livign For

Josh entered the ante-room of his office with a coffee cup in his hand. With the coffee cup that held the drink that he still had to get himself. He grumbled about being the second powerful man in the country and still not getting coffee from his assistant. Ginger looked up and let out a groan.

"Oh, Josh, get over it," she said and then turned back to her computer.

"Tell me the truth, Donna incited you to refuse to bring me coffee," Josh demanded to know.

"I might have just been fed up with fetching coffee for Will," Ginger said. "And I know you are capable of getting your own coffee, I have seen you doing it for seven years."

"You'll bring me coffee if I don't have the time to get it myself?" Josh asked her.

"Yes. And you'll bring me coffee if you have the time and you are getting yourself a cup?" Ginger asked back.

"Sure," Josh answered with a smirk and then stepped into his office. "And Ginger?" he shouted.

"Yes, boss?" Ginger shouted back.

"I really would like to know if there was someone in my office waiting for me," Josh said in a mockingly polite tone.

"Yeah, Annabeth wanted to talk to you. You have ten minutes until your next briefing. I really wanted to tell you, Josh, but…"

"I know, I distracted you with the coffee-talk," Josh said. "It's okay."

"It won't happen again," Ginger promised, and Josh closed the door.

"What can I do for you on this lovely morning, Annabeth?" Josh asked jovially.

"You have ten minutes for me, so I won't beat around the bush. I'm pregnant and I need your help."

"Oh," Josh said, sitting down behind his desk but then he stood up again and sat down next to Annabeth on his couch. "How far are you?"

"Around thirteen weeks," Annabeth said.

"Okay, so it's safe to assume that you got pregnant while on the campaign trail," Josh said, doing the math quickly in his head.

"Yeah," Annabeth said with a nod. "It happened on November 1st."

"They can pinpoint it that precisely?" Josh asked perplexed.

"Well, not that I know of. I just know when it happened because it was a one time thing."

"You had sex without contraceptives with a one night stand?" Josh asked back, sounding a bit harsher than he intended to.

"Well, for starters I didn't have sex without contraceptives, I was on the pill and we were both clean. I just threw up the night before, and the pill didn't work. And it was a one time thing, Josh, but it definitely wasn't a one night stand," Annabeth said coolly.

"I don't understand," Josh said then, shaking his head.

"Well, we had a romantic relationship but he died five days later," Annabeth said in a whisper, a tear sliding down her face.

"Leo?" Josh shrieked but then came to his senses. "You are pregnant with Leo's baby?" he asked then in a whisper.

"Why do you think did I come to you and not to Donna?" Annabeth asked.

"I didn't know that you and Leo were…"

"That we were involved?" Annabeth asked him.

"Yeah, I didn't know that," Josh admitted.

"It's okay, we weren't stealthy or secretive or something, but we didn't exactly broadcast it. There were actually a few people who knew," Annabeth said.

"Really? Who exactly?"

"Donna, Mrs. Santos and I think Lou too," Annabeth listed the names.

"You said you needed my help?" Josh asked, after taking several deep breaths to calm down.

"Yeah, I would like to talk to Mallory about it, and…"

"I don't think that's a good idea," Josh interrupted her.

"Josh, they'll notice that I'm pregnant. They will add two and two together; I don't want Mallory to learn it from the rags. I would like you to set up a meeting with her. I know it might be too much to ask, but you and her go way back, and I really need to talk to her about the baby," Annabeth implored.

"Okay, I'll see what I can do, but I can't promise anything, Annabeth," Josh said honestly.

"That's enough for me," the Press Secretary said and then stood to leave his office. "I'll talk to Donna this afternoon, so you are free to talk to her about it."

"I…"

"Josh, you need someone to share the burden with, plus she can give you a fresh perspective. It's not just about me; it's about other stuff too. I don't want to suggest you talk about matters of national security to her, but the everyday fights and wins; you should share that with her."

Josh got home a little earlier than he planned due to the fact that the First Lady 'kidnapped' the President by simply saying: "Matthew, we need to talk about Peter." Josh was witness of how that one sentence turned President Santos, leader of the free world into Matt Santos, father extraordinaire. He told Josh to postpone the last meeting with Sam and practically ordered both Josh and Sam to go home.

All the way home in his town-car Josh was thinking about how kids altered someone's life. He was just on the verge of picturing himself with kids when the car arrived at his flat. Donna was already home but Josh already knew that, courtesy of a Secret Service detail. He entered his apartment, his mind still on Annabeth and her baby. He took off his coat, toed off his shoes and went straight into his study where he disposed his backpack. He was tempted to sit down and think the 'kids-thoughts' to end but then decided against it. He needed to find Donna. He needed her so much. He actually held back his breath until he found her, sitting in the bedroom, covered up up to her chin, nursing a cup of hot liquid (probably tea), her cheeks rosy, her eyes glistening (probably with fever).

"Hey, are you okay?" he asked her, hurrying to her, pressing his palm against her forehead. She leaned into his touch and it felt nice, however he couldn't help but notice that she felt like she was burning. "Did you see a doctor?"

"I didn't feel this crappy until I got home," she said with an apologetic smile.

"Okay, do you think you are up to a visit?" Josh asked her. "We should get you dressed, and then I'll drive you to the hospital."

"No, Josh, it's really not that bad," Donna said.

"Yeah, believe it or not, it's bad. You are burning there, Donatella, and I think you should see a doctor. Or rather a doctor should see you."

"I could take some pills and…" Donna hedged.

"Okay, don't go anywhere, I should be back in a few minutes," Josh said. "I'll just…" he continued but then stopped. Yeah, he had a detail now, there was no 'just hopping in a car, driving to the local pharmacy or CVS-store'; no, they wouldn't let him to do that.

"Yeah, they probably won't let you, but maybe you could ask someone…" Donna said, reading his expression.

"Okay, I'll ask Mark, stay here," Josh said, and then rushed out of the bedroom.

He asked Mark if he could go to the pharmacy but the agent said that he really shouldn't. But he offered to help him, and fifteen minutes later, Donna had several pills to choose from. She took something that promised to bring down the fever. Josh was watching her carefully as she was sipping at her chamomile tea.

"You know, I won't go and perform a spontaneous human combustion or something like that," she quipped, but her voice sounded tired.

"Yeah, I do know that. You have to forgive me for worrying about you," Josh said, his light-hearted tone not entirely being able to conceal his hurt.

"I'm sorry. It's just a cold, Josh, nothing to worry about," Donna tried to reason with him, but he didn't want to listen.

"Okay, you pretend it's nothing, but could you humor me and let me take care of you?" Josh said, looking into her eyes, putting all his feelings into his gaze, trying to convey his feelings.

"Josh," Donna sighed but then nodded. "Okay, take care of me."

"Do you need something?" he asked eagerly.

"Well, it seems that I used up all my Kleenex so…"

Half an hour later, Josh was trying to sneak out of the bedroom without waking Donna. He went into the kitchen to find something to eat. He pulled out one of Donna's candles and lit it, then sat down at the kitchen table to eat his turkey sandwich. He contemplated to return to his study but then wasn't able to actually stand up and make the fifteen steps that separated the kitchen and the home office. He was just sitting there, gazing into the dancing flame of the single candle, finally able to finish his thoughts on kids.

He came to the conclusion that it must be nice to have a kid or two around. Not that he had a great many experience with kids. His contact with the 'short people'–as Toby used to call them before he became father–was limited to brief encounters with Huck and Molly and Peter and Miranda. Actually, the girls liked them. Both Miranda and Molly thought that he was funny, and Josh liked being with them. But he always felt a certain uneasiness around the boys. He didn't know why and he had never really thought about it before. Perhaps because he never made a conscious effort to befriend them, he mused. He just relied on his charm when he interacted with the girls, knowing well that he could win them over with a dimpled grin and silly jokes. Peter and Huck were not that easily impressible.

He shook his head to clear his mind. There was something he had to ask before he really started to think about having kids on his own. And that question involved a ring. He pulled out his Blackberry and sent Ginger an e-mail, instructing her to clear an hour on his schedule, preferably in the next couple of days. Then he just felt tired and decided to screw the files in his backpack, he just crawled into bed. Pulling Donna close to him, he fell asleep pretty fast.

TBC