Josh waits a few hours to talk to CJ. When they are wrapping up for the night, he pulls her aside. Anticipating that there could be a lot of yelling, he waits until everyone else has left the room.

"I need to talk to you."

"What's up mi compadre? We're supposed to head over to Sam's cabin. Team Toby."

"Well, here's the thing. First I need you to come to my room for Team Josh and Donna."

"WHAT?"

It comes out as a screech, and he doesn't like her tone. It annoys him a little that she seems pretty eager to help Toby, but against the idea of him and Donna. But all he can do is lay out the facts and hope to bring her around.

"Donna and I have been dating for two months. We decided we'd keep it quiet until after the re-election, but something's come up and we could use some advice."

CJ's next words surprise him.

"Well! It's about time. Although I do applaud you for keeping it quiet. We're going to have enough on our hands with this Toby/Andy thing."

Okay, the good new is that CJ isn't opposed to him and Donna. The bad news is that the keeping it quiet plan has a time limit.

"Well, that's the thing. . . . It turns out that Toby and I are more alike than I knew."

CJ's eye narrow. "What do you mean?"

"Well, it turns out that I manned up and got that nice girl pregnant too."

He tries for a bit of humor, but CJ isn't buying it.

"I assume you mean Donna." CJ says coldly.

"Yes, of course!"

"You got your assistant pregnant?!" She says it with just a hint of disbelief, enough to clearly convey that she didn't think he was really that stupid.

But nothing is going to spoil his mood. This may not be exactly how he envisioned starting a family, but within the last 3 years he has imagined having kids, and they are always blonde.

"No, I got my girlfriend, who by the way is now my fiancée, pregnant. She's in my room researching elopment options because we want to get married right away. I'd like you to come over and talk us through how we can do this as quietly as possible. We'd like to avoid doing any harm to the campaign. But CJ, I gotta tell you, if you are going to upset her, or if you are going to try to talk her out of marrying me as soon as possible, then you aren't welcome. I'd love your congratulations as a friend, but I don't need your approval as a Press Secretary. If you can't give me either, then Donna and I will figure out what to do and we'll let Leo know our plans, and he'll decide if there are any professional ramifications, but I don't answer to you."

CJ closes her eyes and sighs deeply. When she opens them, she smiles at Josh.

"Okay. I put the Press Secretary away for a minute. As your friend, I'm really happy for both of you. It's really been kind of obvious for a while that the two of you are something special, but you both seemed determined to ignore it, so who was I to say anything. I'm not going to try to talk her out of marrying you. What exactly do you need me for?"

"Well, whether we should try to keep the wedding a secret. Should we get married in DC or should we go somewhere else? Should we tell the President in advance or give him plausible deniability? That kind of thing."

"Okay. I'll be there in a few minutes. Oh, and Josh, Congratulations."

When he gets back to the room, he's happy to see a tray with some empty plates. Donna's sitting at the desk scribbling on a notebook. The laptop is open to a website for St. Thomas.

"Planning the honeymoon?" He asks with a grin.

"Not exactly. But this is an option. We could fly to St. Thomas next weekend and get married there. If we take separate flights, no body will even know."

He doesn't hate the idea of laying on a beach with Donna in a very tiny bikini but this isn't really the best time to take a long weekend. And he knows that one day will not satisfy him.

"Put a pin in that one for a minute. Do we have other options?"

"There's really no waiting period in DC. We could run over to the courthouse and get a license on our lunch break one day next week. We could make an appointment with a judge and be married in an hour. But there's usually press around the courthouse so I don't know if it'll stay a secret."

"Let's not worry too much about secrecy right now. I'd like to hear all the options then we can decide which is best for us."

"Is CJ coming?"

"Yeah. She'll be here in a few minutes."

"Is she angry?"

"Not really. As our friend she's very happy for us. As the Press Secretary she's going to give us some advice. Just remember, we don't have to take it. She's not the boss of us."

Donna grins at him. He sounded a little bit like a petulant child at the end there.

The knocking on the door signals CJ's arrival, so Josh opens it to let her in. He's greatly relieved when the first thing she does is run to Donna and give her a hug.

"Congratulations! How are you feeling?"

"I was a little queasy earlier but I'm good now."

"And you want to marry this big oaf?"

"HEY!" Josh protests.

But Donna giggles. "Yes. I do. Can you help us?"

"Of course I can!"

"Okay. Well, we'd like to get married right away. But not make a big announcement. With any luck we can keep it quiet until after the re-election. I've started doing some research. There's really no waiting period in DC, but I'm a little worried about reporters hanging around the courthouse getting wind of it. Or we could go somewhere, maybe the Caribbean or Vegas. There'd be less of a chance of getting caught, but we'd be gone for a weekend."

"What do you think?" Josh asks. He really does value CJ's advice on the logistics.

"Well first of all, as the Press Secretary, I do appreciate that you are keeping it quiet. Although you know that the President would tell you not to worry about small-minded people, I do worry about them. How far along is your pregnancy?"

"8 weeks."

"So really, you might not be showing at all prior to the election. As Press Secretary, I should tell you that doing nothing is the safest bet to avoiding detection."

"CJ," Josh practically growls.

"Relax, Pal O'mine. I'm not trying to talk her out of marrying you. I'm just giving the two of you all the information. The truth is it's best for the campaign if this pregnancy doesn't come out. But doing nothing has it's risks. I presume you've been to the doctor, Donna?"

"Yes."

"Well then, there are records. The pregnancy could come out. And frankly, if it does Mary Marsh and her crew are going to immediately speculate that Josh is the baby daddy anyway. They don't need proof, and since we can't and won't deny it, the speculation will be enough."

Donna pales and CJ gives her hand a squeeze and goes on.

"I'd rather a wedding make the news. And since you WANT to get married, that makes it much easier on me."

Josh grins at her. Now she's getting somewhere.

"Okay, so when it comes to a wedding, you've got a couple choices. Get married and spin it. Make sure the news media has all the details of your love story, play on people's romantic heart strings, and ignore the speculation that he knocked you up. Most people won't care, and you won't be showing until after the election."

"But Mary Marsh and crew will still be slinging mud, won't they?" Josh asks darkly.

"Yes, but with a ring on her finger, they have less mud to sling. And I really don't think much of it will stick to the President. It just might be uncomfortable for the two of you for a while."

"What are our other options?"

"Well, the one you started with. Elope quietly and hope the media doesn't get wind of it. My standard line will be "the White House doesn't comment on the lives of staffers. You may be able to keep it quiet, but if it does come out you can always revert to spin."

"So what option do you think has the best chance of working?" Donna wants to know.

"Well. Honestly I think they have the same chance of working. It's really just a matter of which you prefer. We could put together a small Rose Garden ceremony with the President presiding and spin like crazy. Me personally, I'd love to be there. But if you don't like that idea, I think going away to elope is better than getting married in DC. I do think it will be hard to keep it under wraps if you get a marriage license here."

"Thanks, CJ. Donna and I are going to talk about what we want to do and we'll let you know once we make a decision."

"Okay. Congratulations you two. Now I've got to go join Team Toby."

"Hey CJ, right now the only people that know about this are in this room. Goes without saying, that we'd like to keep it that way, right?"

"Goes without saying"

"Thanks CJ." Donna gives her a hug and smiles gratefully at her.

As soon as the door closes, she turns back to Josh. "Well?" She starts to ask, but a dramatic yawn cuts off her question. He smiles at her.

"Well. I think you could use some rest."

She yawns again. "That's not what I mean and you know it."

"How about we talk while you put your pajamas on."

"Okay."

She heads back through the adjoining door to "her" room. He follows her and flops onto her bed. She pulls off the sweater and yoga pants and folds them up, placing them back into the suitcase.

"Start talking, Mister." She instructs, but the sight of her in just her bra and panties has him speechless.

"C'mere."

She grins at him and joins him on the bed. He starts placing gentle kisses all over her still flat stomach.

"Hello, baby. I'm going to marry your Mommy in one week."

"One week, huh?"

"Yep. Next weekend. I'm ready to shout it from the roof tops, so the Rose Garden is fine with me. But you name the place and time and I'll be there. If you want to go somewhere, I'm good with that too. I'd love to have you on a beach in a little bikini. Or if you'd rather go to Wisconsin so your family can be there, I'm willing to do that."

He shudders at the thought of surprising her conservative, mid-west parents with a shot-gun wedding. He'd rather elope and explain himself later than take the chance of someone objecting, but if that's what she wants, he'll do it.

"I like the idea of a White House wedding. That place has so much significance in our life. We can vacation in the tropics some day when we have more time. And I'd rather just tell my parents after it's already a done deal."

"Okay then we're set? Rose Garden Wedding next weekend." He starts pulling her bra straps off her shoulders, placing little kisses along her collar bone.

"Well, not quite." He stops with a little sigh, but looks her in the eyes and waits for her to continue.

"I still don't want to advertise this wedding. I'm afraid the Rose Garden is a little too conspicuous. So I have an idea."

**** one week later *****

"So, any idea why we're having Senior Staff on a Sunday afternoon?" Sam asks Toby as they head toward the Oval Office.

"No. I asked Josh yesterday after Leo told us to be here. Josh said it's need to know and we'd find out today."

"Okay."

"Is he ready for us?" Sam asks Margaret as they arrive outside Leo's closed door.

"Not quite. He said to send you around the other way. Charlie will let you in if the President is ready."

Toby shrugs and they head toward the other door. It's closed too.

"Just a minute." Charlie tells them, getting up from his desk. He opens the door a crack.

"Ready for Sam and Toby?"

"Okay, you can go in."

Josh is standing in front of the President's desk. His cheeks are a little flushed. And Toby wonders briefly if he just got a lecture. He has that look about him.

Toby starts to join Josh, with Sam following right behind. But President Bartlet waves them off. "You guys can have a seat over there. We'll be just a few more minutes."

So Toby and Sam take a seat on the couch. But neither the President nor Josh says anything else.

Toby looks more closely at Josh and realizes he's wearing a suit. His nicest one.

"Why are you wearing a suit?"

"I have something to do later." Josh says without further elaboration. But a little smile plays around his lips.

A few moments later Charlie and Mrs. Bartlet enter the room and take seats across from them. A White House Photographer enters behind them and stands over to the side.

Toby and Sam exchange confused looks. Mrs. Bartlet just smiles at them. Josh is bouncing on the balls of his feet.

Another minute goes by and Sam looks likes he's about to ask a question, but Toby silences him with a look and a low "Need to know, Sam."

Then Leo's door opens. CJ makes her way to a chair, while Margaret announces "They're ready if you are."

President Bartlet looks to Josh, who nods enthusiastically.

"Okay." Margaret calls back through the door. Then she joins the room, standing in the back. Neither Toby or Sam notice when she presses a button, so they are both a little surprised when soft music starts to play.

The door opens and Leo walks through it with Donna on his arm. Mrs. Bartlet stands up and everyone else follows.

Donna is wearing a white lace summer dress. It's not the kind of thing you'd think twice about unless the person wearing it is carrying a small bouquet and walking on the arm of a man who's like a second father to her. But Donna is, so it hits Sam and Toby at the same time that they are about to witness the wedding of two dear friends.

And if there was any doubt, it's erased the minute they look at Josh's face and see him beaming at Donna with the slightest sheen of tears in his eyes.

They both break into grins and it's all they can do to hold back their shouts of joy as President Bartlet begins.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to witness the marriage of Joshua Lyman and Donnatella Moss."