Title: Drinking Buddies 2/?
Author: Amber (Ambino1111@prodigy.net)
Info in Part One
Two Weeks Later
"DON-NA!"
"Josh, I am standing right here."
"Yes, but screaming helps me vent my frustration."
"It also helps me lose my hearing."
"That matters less to me."
Donna glared at him. "What do you want, Joshua?"
"I can't find the thing."
"What thing?"
"The thing about the insurance stuff."
"I find it hard to believe that you got a 760 verbal on the SAT."
"I can't find that HMO file -"
"It's on your desk."
"No, it's not. I spent the last five minutes looking-"
In one swift motion, Donna crossed the office, plucked the file from his desk, and placed it in his hands.
"Should I schedule an eye exam?" She asked with a satisfied smirk.
"OUT!"
"Or maybe-"
"OUT!"
Donna left the office, shutting the door behind her. She was so busy reveling in her small victory that she didn't notice the man standing in front of her desk. A cough attracted her attention.
"Oh, hello. I'm sorry - I didn't see you there, sir. Can I help you?"
The man smiled and glanced down at his feet.
"Are you Donna?"
"Yes," she eyed him suspiciously. "Can I-"
"Is Josh Lyman in?"
"Yes. He's busy right now but I'm sure if you set up-"
"Don-NA!" Josh yelled, stepping into the bullpen. "Part of this file is - Mulder! Hey, how are you?"
Josh rushed over to the man, who glanced at his feet before cheerfully shaking Josh's hand.
"What are you doing here?"
"We were in the neighborhood and decided to visit."
"How'd you get past security?"
Donna leaned back in her seat, silently watching the scene unfolding in front of her.
"I may be out of the Bureau, but I still have connections."
Josh glanced down at Mulder's feet.
"Hey, is that who I think it is?"
"Yes," Mulder bent down and lifted a bundle of blankets. "I'd like you to meet William."
Donna watched in amazement as Josh accepted the infant with bright eyes and a smile.
"Hey there, William. My drinking buddy tells me you're a special guy."
Donna furrowed her brows at that revelation, but couldn't help smiling at the way Josh handled the baby. He lifted up the boy's shirt and blew on his belly. Little William squealed in delight, attracting the attention of the bullpen.
Josh felt the eyes on them and motioned with his head to his office. "C'mon inside, Mulder. Donna, can you schedule some free time?"
"Consider it done," Donna replied, watching Mulder wheel the stroller into the office behind Josh. She shook her head in wonder.
Donnatella swiveled in her seat and set to work, rearranging a few meetings to give Josh a free hour. She sat back and stared into space, chewing on her pencil thoughtfully.
"Hey, Donna. Penny for your thoughts?"
Sam's voice startled her out of her reverie.
"Oh, hey, Sam. Make that a dollar and you've got a deal."
"Nah, it's not worth that much. Does Josh have a minute? I have a meeting on the Hill tomorrow and I wanted to go over something beforehand."
"No, he's kind-of busy right now."
The wail of a baby sounded from Josh's office. Sam stared at the door in confusion.
"Was that a-"
"Do you want me to get him?" Donna interrupted, wondering what was going on in there.
"Well, it can wait," he paused. "Are you sure that wasn't a-"
Suddenly, the door swung open and Josh popped his head out.
"Donna?" he asked sweetly. She sighed.
"What now, Joshua?" She could hear the crying crescendo behind him.
"Could you watch him for a little bit? Mulder and I are trying to-"
Donna was already at the door. "Sure thing."
The men sighed in relief and Mulder handed over the infant, along with the stroller and baby bag packed underneath.
Donna returned to her desk, gently bouncing the baby up and down. After a few seconds his screams diminished to a whimper.
Sam stared at her in comic disbelief as she settled back into her chair and dug a small toy out of the bag.
"Who - what - who?"
"Sam, take a deep breath," Donna instructed with a laugh.
He did as he was told. "Who is that?"
"This is William... William, meet Sam Seaborn."
Sam scratched his head, then smiled at the cooing baby, who was occupying himself with a light blue stuffed elephant.
"He's not a Republican, is he?" Sam asked in mock horror.
"Sam - "
"Kidding, Donna. I'm kidding. Who's in there with Josh?"
"Some guy named Mulder."
"Mulder?"
"He said something about them being drinking buddies."
Sam looked slightly hurt at the idea. "I thought I was his drinking buddy."
"Don't you start crying, too, Sam. I might have to open a nursery."
Sam shot her a look.
"Tell Josh to come see me when he's done," he grumbled before scurrying off to find Toby.
Donna sighed, eying the infant. "Looks like it's just you and me now, kid."
William stared back at her, elephant in mouth.
"So, what do you want to do? Wanna take a walk?"
Donna took William's continued staring as a yes and strapped him in his stroller.
"Let's go on a trip to the mess and get Donna a salad," She groaned inwardly at what she said. Why was she talking in babytalk to someone who couldn't even understand her?
"I'll give you a tour," she announced to the boy, who was busily chewing one of the elephant's big cloth ears. "This here is Sam's office. Wave 'hi' to Sam. He's in there sulking because your daddy is friends with Josh. Next to Sam here is Toby's office. Hey, Toby's not in there right now, but-"
William started fussing, holding out a balled fist. Donna was confused, then caught sight of the two rubber stress balls on the corner of Toby's desk.
"Uh, no, William. As much as you want to play with those, I don't think it's right - really, I don't want to go in Toby's office and play with his balls." Donna blushed at the way that sounded. "I mean, we're not going in there."
She started to push the stroller away but the baby began bawling. She rolled her eyes in defeat and steered into Toby's office.
"Fine, fine. Just be quiet. I don't want us to get murdered, okay?" Donna whispered, handing one of the bouncy balls to William. "Now, don't slobber all over this. Toby will know, and he'll get mad. Enraged. Homicidal."
"Donna!"
She hoped she detected more surprise than anger in the voice of the Communications Director. She spun around guiltily.
"Yes?"
Toby glared at her, then at the baby with the ball in his mouth. No such luck.
"What is going on here?"
"Toby, please, don't yell. If you yell, he'll start crying and then -"
"Donna! My patience is wearing thin!"
"Well, we were walking by and William here saw the balls and started crying, and you weren't in here so I thought maybe-"
"Donna, what is a baby doing in the White House in the first place?" Toby asked evenly.
Donna chuckled nervously. "It's all Josh's fault, really."
"Isn't it always?"
She almost detected a hint of a smile. "You see -"
"Donna!" Margaret, ever the lifesaver, appeared behind Toby in the doorway.
"Yes?"
"I need to check something with you about Leo and Josh's meeting this afternoon with Representative Warden," She glanced at Toby. "Is that okay?"
Donna was out the door before Toby could respond. He rubbed his forehead in confusion. Somehow he ended up alone in his office with a baby.
Toby stood there for a moment, staring at the child uncomfortably.
"Give me that," he said quietly, prying the wet ball from the baby's grasp. William's lower lip started quivering.
"Oh, don't do that," Toby said, taking a seat next to the stroller and relinquishing the ball. "Here, you can have it. You already slobbered all over the thing."
The baby cooed in response, and Toby cracked a smile.
"What stress could you possibly have? All you do is eat, sleep, and dirty your diaper," he sniffed the air. "The latter of which, I assume, you have just finished."
William only stared at him in response.
"Let's go try and find Donna. She'll take care of that."
Toby stood and pushed the stroller out into the hallway, scanning the bullpen for Donna's blonde hair.
"No luck," he mumbled to the baby. "Maybe they're in Leo's office."
Toby started heading for the Chief of Staff, but caught sight of CJ's open door. A devious gleam flickered in his eyes.
"Let's go visit Aunt CJ instead, huh?"
*****
"So, how're your meetings going with the Grand Jury?" Mulder asked politely as Josh shut the door behind them.
"Oh, they're going great... so far. Please, have a seat."
Mulder nodded and sat down across from Josh's desk. Josh motioned toward his mini-refrigerator.
"You want something to drink, Mulder?"
"Nah, not right now."
Josh leaned back against his desk. "How are things with Scully and the kid?"
"We're doing fairly well. I think having me around her constantly is starting to drive her nuts," he grinned. "She went from having no children to having two in a very short time span."
Josh half-smiled and studied the carpet.
"Listen, the reason I never called -"
"That doesn't matter. I mean, I'm just some spooky, angst-ridden guy you met at a bar. I didn't expect a call the next morning."
Josh laughed a little, looking up. "If anyone else heard this conversation-"
Mulder shook his head. "You never told her, did you?"
"What?!?" Josh asked, trying to sound offended. "I am a man of my word-"
"You're a politician," Mulder interrupted. Josh ignored him.
"I am a man of my word, and I definitely went up to her door and..." Josh trailed off, searching for the right word. "...chickened out."
Mulder sat back, a satisfied look on his face.
"I knew you didn't. That's why you didn't call - you didn't want me to know. You figured you could just ignore the crazy ex-fibbie and move on with your life."
Josh shrugged sheepishly.
"It's been working for a week or so."
"Has it?" Mulder asked cryptically. Josh narrowed his eyes at him.
"What do you mean by that?"
"C'mon, Mr. Lyman. Are you honestly telling me that everything is the same? Can you look me in the eye and tell me that something I said didn't change you, that you didn't see something you'd never let yourself see before?"
Josh chuckled weakly. "Again, if somebody heard this-"
"Ah, comedy- the best defense mechanism."
"Now you sound like a shrink, Mulder," Josh remarked, growing a little angry.
"That's good then, because I am a shrink."
The Deputy Chief of Staff glared at him.
"Am I going to need my checkbook?" he asked, his voice biting.
"Josh, I'm here as a friend. I thought we... well, I thought we bonded over our beers. I mean, I felt some sort of connection to you, and I thought we were going to be friends."
Josh started feeling guilty. "If that's how you felt, then why didn't you call me?"
"Well, believe it or not, I've been very busy. I actually proposed to Scully, and we've started planning our wedding. I still find it hard to imagine Scully and I having a conventional wedding, but we just might. Then Scully's mom came to visit, and she's staying with us in Scully's crowded apartment. She's very excited about the wedding, and she's been looking for houses for us to move into, too. Plus, we're experiencing the joys of three AM feedings right now, so calling you to discuss the little meeting we had was something that got put on the back burner for a while."
Josh nodded, still feeling guilty.
"I'd be willing to be friends, if you'd forgive me for being... well, me."
"That's what friends are for," Mulder said with a grin. He clasped his hands together. "So, tell me what's been going on with you and Donna."
Josh stood up and headed to his mini-refrigerator. "Want a beer?"
"Sure thing, Drinking Buddy."
Josh grabbed two bottles and handed one to Mulder before plopping on his couch. Mulder spun in the chair to face him.
Josh took a deep breath. "Where do I start?"
"Start the night you almost knocked on her door," Mulder instructed.
*****
CJ Cregg was bent over her desk, skimming through a file. Life had been more trying than usual lately, and as Press Secretary, she had been receiving the brunt of the MS backlash. If she didn't love her job, and have total faith in the First Family and senior staff, CJ would have quit long, long ago.
A knock interrupted her file-reading. Thank goodness for distractions. She tossed the folder on top of the huge stack on her desk and called, "Come in."
The door opened partially, and Toby tentatively stuck his head in. CJ had never seen Toby be tentative about anything, ever.
"What's wrong, Toby?"
"CJ?" he said. She swore she could see a hidden smirk. "I have a problem."
The Press Secretary groaned loudly.
"What kind of problem?"
"Eh... one of a personal nature."
Another groan. "You didn't sleep with a call girl, did you?"
"No, ma'am," Toby smirked.
"Am I the first person you've come to?"
He nodded enthusiastically, wishing he had a camera.
"Well, why don't you come in all the way, shut the door behind you, and tell me what's wrong before I break your neck?"
It took all of Toby's self-control to not laugh. It was fun to torment CJ.
"One sec," he said, closing the door slightly. He turned to grab the stroller and froze.
It was gone.
Dear Lord, it was gone. Someone had stolen the baby!
Now, Toby was not one to panic unnecessarily, but he had never lost a baby before and was unsure how to act. He scanned the room quickly, searching for the stroller, but it was nowhere in sight. He swung open CJ's door.
"CJ, I have a problem."
CJ sighed, irritated. "I think we've established that much already."
"No, really. I've lost a baby."
"What?!? A baby?"
"Yeah. Donna's baby."
*****
tbc
