A/N: I don't own what you recognize. I really appreciate any and all reviews and follows.

January 2007

"You two met, in what, October of 2000?" Matt Santos asked. "And if Nora is almost five, she was born in early 2002, right?"

Ainsley blushed slightly. "We went through the early stages our relationship rather quickly."

"We started dating in January of 2001, and we found out that we were expecting Nora that June," Sam explained.

"So you had a shotgun wedding?" Helen teased.

"I prefer to say that Nora hastened the inevitable for us," Sam replied.

Ainsley rested a hand on her pregnant belly. "Unlike this little girl and her brother, Nora wasn't exactly planned. But she was very welcome."

May 2001

Then came the night when the President told Sam about his MS. It was the second time in a few short months that a man he looked up to as a father revealed a secret that he'd been keeping from Sam. After his conversation with Jed, Sam had gone back to Toby's office and talked to him for a while.

"Ainsley's still in her office," Toby said at one point.

"Pardon?"

"Ainsley Hayes, she's still in her office. I asked her to stay late. I told her that you were going to stay late tonight but you'd eventually need her before you went home."

Sam smiled. "Why'd you do that?"

"She's your girlfriend, Sam. I thought you'd want your girlfriend tonight. And don't worry. She knows about this. Babish already told her."

"How did you know that I'm dating Ainsley?"

"You told me so."

"When?"

"Remember back in February when you were having a rough week so Josh and I took you out to get drunk?"

"Yeah."

"Ainsley was there when we got back, and you were quite eager to tell me that you were dating her."

"I don't remember that."

"I didn't think that you would."

"We've been trying to lay low."

"Don't worry," Toby said wryly. "Josh doesn't know."

"Really?"

"Do you think that I would tell Josh that you're dating a Republican?"

"I mean, I figured that you two would want to sit and laugh about it together."

Toby laughed. "We'll do that eventually. But not right now; you need privacy right now."

Sam remembered to thank Toby before going down to the Steam Pipe Trunk Distribution Venue.

Their daughter was conceived that night. There was no way to prove that, but Sam firmly believed that Eleanor Claire Seaborn was conceived that night. Her due date was nine months later, and while it wasn't the only night that week he and Ainsley spent together, there was something unique about that night.

But that didn't all come together immediately. It was five weeks after that fateful night that Ainsley told Sam that she was pregnant. "Pregnant," he repeated rising from her sofa. "As in, you're going to have a baby?"

She nodded. "Yes, Sam, I'm going to have a baby."

"We're having a baby."

"Well, I'm the one giving birth to the baby, Samuel, but it will be your baby. So yes, we're going to become parents."

"When are you due?"

"The beginning of February."

"How are you feeling?" he asked as he sat down next to her again.

"Okay but not great," she replied. "I've been feeling a little nauseous the past few days, which is why I took the test in the first place."

"How are you feeling emotionally?"

She shrugged as she fidgeted with the blanket on the back of the couch. "I don't know, Sam. I've always wanted kids, and I'm glad that you're the father, and I do want to be with you. But I didn't see myself getting pregnant out of wedlock with a Democrat White House staffer's baby."

He took her fidgeting fingers in his own hands. "You probably didn't see yourself in a relationship with a Democrat, period."

She smiled. "True, but I've come around to the idea of having a family with you. I haven't come around to the idea of having any baby-yours or not-out of wedlock yet."

He sat up straighter. "Ainsley, what if you, no; what if we didn't have the baby out of wedlock? What if we got married before the baby came?"

"Sam, are you ready to do that?"

"Ainsley, I decided that I was going to marry you back in February. All that I needed was to be sure that you were ready to marry me."

"So you want to get married before the baby comes?"

"Why not?"

"Because we work in the White House, Sam, and things are a little crazy around here," she replied as she pulled her hands away from him and stood up. "When would we get married? Where? When would we find the time to plan the wedding? I don't want to look like a whale at my wedding."

Sam stood up and took her hands in his. "You will never look like a whale, dear."

She sighed. "Sam, you're just being cute. My point is that planning weddings is hard and neither of us really has any time to plan a wedding."

"We could elope."

"Elope?" she repeated. "My father-my parents would object to that."

"Then we'll have them there too. My parents can come if they are able. Toby and CJ would probably kill us if we left them out."

"And when are we going to do this?"

"Soon, probably in the next few weeks," he replied.

"Okay," she sighed. "We can elope."

He went to kiss her, but she put her finger on his lips. He looked at her. "What?"

"You have to propose properly, Samuel."

"Do I need to ask your father's permission to do that first?"

Ainsley giggled. "Normally, I'd say yes, but given the circumstances, I think that we're going to do a lot better if I call them and say that we're getting married and having a baby. I'll also emphasize how happy we are about it all."

"Ainsley," he began.

"Propose, Samuel."

"Now?"

She shrugged. "You can wait five minutes if you like."

"I don't have a ring yet."

"Do you need it to propose?"

He smiled. "I don't if you don't."

She blushed and shook her head. "We can get one later."

Sam slowly got down on one knee and looked up at his girlfriend. "Ainsley, I love you, and I want to marry you. I know this feels like I'm just doing this because of the baby, but really, I'm not. This baby is only expediting what I already wanted to happen. Ains, will you marry me?"

"Of course."

"Who do we need to talk to first?" Ainsley asked as they sat in bed after having talked to each of their families.

"CJ and Leo to start with," Sam replied. "You should probably tell Babish."

"You don't want to come with me?"

"Did Tribbey leave his cricket bat behind?"

She smiled. "I'm pretty sure that the Secret Service made sure that the bat was gone."

"I suppose that I could go with you to tell Babish if you really want."

"He'll yell at both of us if you come. It's probably better if I go alone."

"We don't have to tell him right away, do we?"

"What do you mean?"

"I get telling CJ and Leo right away, and maybe we should tell Babish about the wedding, but we don't have to tell him about the baby yet, right?"

Ainsley looked down at his hand on her flat stomach. "I suppose not, but he will figure it out eventually."

"Figure out what?"

She put her hand on top of his. "That we eloped because of this little one."

"It's crazy to think that there's a baby in there."

"Give it a few months, and it'll be more than believable."

Sam and Ainsley began their morning in CJ's office. She sighed when they walked in. "What did you two do now? And don't worry, Ainsley; I'm already blaming Sam for whatever it is."

"You might not want to stick with that once you hear our news," Ainsley replied as she sat down.

"Oh goodie," CJ said dryly. "What's up?"

"I'm pregnant, and we're getting married."

"Say that again."

"I'm pregnant, and we're getting married."

"Did one of you lose a bet? Is this some kind of a joke? Did Toby put you up to this?"

"No, it's real. I'm pregnant, and we're going to elope soon."

"Elope?"

"We want it to be small and simple," Sam explained. "We don't want to make a big fuss."

"Good," CJ answered him. "Keep it that way."

"Pardon?"

"Sam, I love you both. I'm thrilled that you're getting married and having a baby. Personally, I couldn't care less whether you two had this kid in wedlock or out of it, but politically, I'm thrilled that you're doing it the old-fashioned way. Certain people will like that more. But I need this wedding to be as low-key as possible. I want it to be something quick and quiet that I can slip casually into a press briefing, and then I'll slide the pregnancy into another briefing once Ainsley's in her second trimester."

"You don't want to draw attention to it."

She shook her head. "I want to be able to announce both your marriage and the pregnancy as if they are just commonplace happy occurrences in the lives of two delightful individuals who happen to work in the White House."

January 2007

"Why do I feel like Josh was probably the most upset by the whole thing?" Matt interjected.

Sam shook his head. "He was livid at first."

"He came around in the end," Ainsley added. "But he wasn't very supportive a the beginning. Toby, Leo, the President-they were all thrilled. But Josh was just mad."

Later in the morning, Sam somehow managed to corral both Toby and Josh into his office and shut the door before the sentence that had been consuming his every waking thought for the past fourteen hours exploded out of his mouth. "Ainsley's pregnant, and I'm the father."

Josh responded first. "You knocked up a Republican?"

Then came Toby, "Well it's not exactly a surprise considering the way you two have been going at it like rabbits ever since the State of the Union."

"What did you say when she told you?" Josh asked. "You didn't say anything stupid like…"

Sam interrupted him. "I asked her to marry me."

"Like that."

"What did she say?" Toby asked.

"She said yes."

"That's not a surprise," Toby said dryly.

Josh on the other hand was not quite as calm. "You knocked up a Republican and then you asked her to marry you. What the hell, Sam, what the hell?"

Sam sighed. "I love a woman who happens to be a Republican, she is carrying my child, and we're going to get married."

"You're crazy."

"If you'd prefer me to be your best man instead of this lunatic, I'm your man," Toby offered.

Sam grinned. "I'll keep you guys posted. But I'm expecting both of you to be at my wedding."

"I'll be there," Toby said.

"And I'll try to be there if I don't have anything else that I need to do," Josh quipped. "Donna might decide she wants me to organize my desk that day."

"He'll be there," Toby said, clapping a hand down on Josh's shoulder. "I'll make sure of it."

The Hayes-Seaborn wedding ultimately consisted of the bride and groom "eloping" in their living room with a pastor Ainsley knew and Sam trusted as the officiant and Josh, Toby, CJ, and Donna as the only witnesses. Donna had been more or less an accidental addition. The day before, she'd overheard Josh and Sam bickering about the wedding, and she invited herself along. "The wedding was simple but meaningful," CJ told the press corps on Monday. "And we're all thrilled for Sam and Ainsley."

The announcement of the impending Seaborn baby came in September. "The baby is due in February," CJ explained. "The parents are thrilled, and all of us at the White House are thrilled for them. The President and Mrs. Bartlet have expressed their congratulations to the couple personally."

A/N: Please review!