"Josh?"
"JOSH?!"
The man in question jerked his head up quickly from his desk.
"Yeah," he muttered.
"Josh, you don't look so good," Margaret said.
As usual, she was right. Josh's eyes were red rimmed, as was his nose. There was a decent amount of stubble on his cheeks that contrasted sharply against his pale pallor. His hair was even more disheveled than usual and there was a slight flush on his cheeks.
He grunted in reply to Margaret and leaned back in his chair, rubbing his hands across his face. Margaret paused.
"The party is still on tonight right?" she asked, concern filtering into her voice. Josh had tuned out again.
"Josh!" Margaret clapped this time to get his attention. "Is the party still happening tonight?"
Josh took a second to register what she asked and nodded before wincing at the pain in his head that this caused. Donna and he were throwing a dinner party tonight with many of the Bartlet Administrations staff. Toby was coming with the twins, C.J. and Danny were coming with their baby, Charlie, Zoey, Sam, Ainsley, and Margaret would all be there. Carol had flown back into town. Donna had been working for months to get everyone together.
"Has Donna seen how sick you are?"
"M'not sick," he replied back defiantly.
"Are you telling me not sick Josh takes naps at his desk in the middle of the day?"
Josh just glared at her and started trying to organize the papers on his desk that he was reading before.
"I'm calling Donna," Margaret began, turning away.
"Don't!" Josh stood up quickly with an arm out stretched towards her. "Ah god," he muttered, putting his hand to his head again and crashing back down into his chair.
"Josh, you need to go home," Margaret said as clearly as possible.
"Don't tell Donna."
"Why?"
"She'll fret about if we should cancel dinner and she's on the hill today and I don't want to distract her with anything," Josh explained, his head was buried in his hands again, being propped up by his elbows on his desk.
"Josh, she's going to notice."
"Yeah, well. Don't tell her."
"And what if she gets mad at me for not telling her," Margaret asked shortly.
"What?"
Margaret didn't reply.
"Does she always have you reporting on me?"
"No, just on things she knows you're too stubborn to admit."
"Like what?"
"Like this."
Josh rolled his eyes.
"Don't tell Donna and I'm not going home."
Margaret looked like she wanted to debate the issue further, but after a moment she said simply, "Your meeting with the President starts in 5."
Josh let out a groan when he heard the door click shut. Admittedly he did feel like crap. He'd felt like crap this morning before he and Donna left for the day, but it'd been easier to hide then. He'd gone down hill fast. His head pounded with every heartbeat, his nose was blocked, his throat seared every time he swallowed, he was freezing cold and didn't have the energy to find an extra layer to put on. He pushed himself up on the desk and slowly trudged over and pulled open a cabinet door that had a mirror stuck on the inside of it.
He pulled a face when he took in his reflection. Margaret wasn't wrong about how bad he looked. He haphazardly attempted to fix his hair, making minimal progress. He grabbed a water bottle from his desk and poured a tiny bit on his hands before rubbing it over his face. The water couldn't restore the color to his face, nor did the redness streaked across his cheeks lessen. He sighed at the final product, only marginally better than before. The sighing then induced a coughing fit and Josh grimaced at the pain in his chest. His injury from all those years ago didn't tend to bother him much now, but whenever he contracted a cold of any kind, Josh was faintly reminded of those three months where his breathing capacity was reduced to that of a small child's and his lungs burned with every breath.
Still coughing, he grabbed his binder from the desk and knocked on the door conjoining his office and the Oval.
"Come in," came the call from the other side.
"Good afternoon, sir" Josh said, trying his hardest to pronounce every syllable as perfectly as possible, his stuffed up sinuses were causing him to add a 'd' sound to the end of a lot of his words. He failed as a few more coughs escaped his chest.
Matt looked up from the folder he was flipping through at Josh.
"Josh," he began. "You don't look so good."
"You know, I never get sick of hearing that," Josh replied, attempting to smile. He sat down on one of the sofas with a grunt.
"I'm not so sure I should come over there," Matt stated, standing his ground behind the desk and crossing his arms.
"I'm fine, sir," Josh replied as earnestly as possibly.
"You do know you just put a 'd' at the end of 'fine', don't you?" Josh looked up, exasperated.
"Don't you have that dinner tonight with all of the Bartlet staffers?"
Josh sniffed and nodded.
"Yeah."
"Josh, you should go home and get some rest." Matt started to walk around the desk, daring to get a little closer.
"We have a meeting."
"No kidding."
"Sir-"
Josh's head jerked up as he suddenly felt a hand across his forehead. He looked up at the President in disbelief.
"I'm not eight, Mr. President."
"And yet I have to treat you like I treat one of my own kids who is actually eight and doesn't believe they have a fever."
"I have work to do here, sir,"
"Go home, you've clearly got a fever and you look like you could use some sleep. There's nothing pressing enough to keep you here tonight."
"The energy secretary-"
"Will just have to wait until Monday," Matt interrupted. "Come on, Josh."
There was a knock on the door and Margaret quietly came in, walking over to Josh.
"Margaret, don't you think Josh looks sick as a dog?" Matt asked.
"Yes, sir, I do," she nodded eagerly. "And if Josh had just taken that Emergen-C like I told him to yesterday, maybe we wouldn't-"
"All right, Margaret," Josh cut her off. Taking the note out of her hand with a snatch.
"Thanks Margaret," Matt smiled sympathetically as she excused herself from the room.
Josh groaned aloud as he read the note. Matt leaned against his desk and crossed his arms.
"Energy secretary?"
"Noah," Josh replied. "His daycare called, he's sick and needs to be picked up."
"Ah," Matt nodded. "Perfect chance for you to get out of here, huh?"
"Sir-"
"Josh I swear, do I have to sign an executive order just to get you to go home? Get your agent to swing by the daycare, pick up Noah, and go home."
Josh didn't respond.
"The country will, believe it or not, survive in your absence."
"I swear I'm-"
"Go," Matt said sternly, pointing at the door.
"Fine. Thank you, sir."
"Feel better, Josh and enjoy tonight if, you know, you can stay awake and all."
Josh tried not to groan as he pushed his way off the couch; Matt hovered nearby watching him closely.
"Make sure you-" Josh turned to say, Matt cut him off.
"I'll be fine, Josh."
"Josh?" Donna called as soon as she opened the door to their townhouse. She'd gotten back to her office to the news that Josh had been sick enough to actually go home and he'd picked up a sick Noah from daycare. She heard no answer and walked further into their home, dropping her keys and bag on the side table situated near the door.
She quickly found Josh and Noah amongst a large pile of tissues on the sofa. Josh was asleep and had a leg hitched up over one of the back cushions. Thick striped socks decorated his feet. Noah was passed out on his chest dressed in just a tiny 'Reelect Santos' t-shirt and diaper, sounding congested even as he slept. A discarded toy lion sat on the floor underneath Noah's hand.
Donna sighed and stood over them, unsure if she should wake them up. She got closer and put a hand on each of their foreheads. They both felt hot. Gently pulling away Josh's arm that was protectively laid across their one-year-old's back, Donna lifted Noah carefully into her arms. He didn't stir. She started walking to the kitchen when Josh sleepily rebelled against someone taking Noah.
"Give him back," he slurred as he tried to push himself into a position where he could turn to look at Donna. He was failing quite miserably. Eventually he settled on lying on his stomach. He rested his chin on folded arms that rested on the arm of the sofa. He sat watching Donna walk with Noah to the kitchen.
"Donna."
She continued to ignore him as she started to run a washcloth under the tap. After waiting for it to reach the right temperature, she laid it across Noah's forehead gently and walked back to the living room where Josh was still lying on his stomach, watching.
"How ya feeling?" Donna asked. Josh pouted.
"Hurts," he muttered, pushing himself back onto his back, rubbing his chest.
"Your chest?" Donna asked knowingly.
"And everything else," Josh replied.
"We should cancel tonight," Donna stated simply.
"Nooo," Josh whined. "Donna, you've worked for months trying to get everyone together."
"Josh, look at you. You're in no shape to host a dinner party," Donna began, absent-mindedly rubbing comforting circles onto Noah's back now.
"Donna let's be honest, the party only needs you to host it. I'll take care of Noah upstairs and make an appearance every now and then." He was hit by a coughing fit.
"I don't want to leave you on your own while you're sick. While the both of you are sick," Donna frowned.
"Donna come on, Toby already took the train down, C.J. and Danny flew in from god knows where." Josh was coughing again, but tried to soldier on.
"We- never- get- to see" he stopped as the coughing became too much and Donna put her hands over Noah's ears.
"Sorry," Josh finished miserably.
"Is he still out?" Josh pointed at Noah.
Donna nodded.
"Well, that's a miracle," Josh muttered.
"Have you taken anything yet?"
"Please don't cancel the party," Josh continued. Donna got up again and situated Noah in the crook of Josh's arm so the washcloth didn't fall of his forehead.
"Where are you going?"
"To get you some medicine," Donna called back from the kitchen.
"Do we have any of that-"
"No, we don't have any of the industrial stuff, Josh."
Josh groaned petulantly.
"The party is going to be loud," Donna called out from the kitchen.
"Yeah,"
"Little Jack won't get to play with Noah this time."
"Yeah," Josh called back again, his voice a little weaker this time.
"And Charlie won't be able to spin Noah around til he pukes again," Donna said, a little happier at this proclamation. She was measuring out the pale pink medicine in the plastic measuring cup that came with the bottle.
"Yeah," Josh said again, this time not loud enough for his voice to travel through to the kitchen. He wasn't sure if Donna heard him or not.
A few minutes later, Donna walked out into the living room and smiled softly when she saw Josh was out cold again, Noah snuggled into his side.
She poured the medicine back into the bottle and set it down on the side table and stared at them for a moment. She debated with herself, wondering if she should pick up the phone and cancel. It really was so hard to get everyone together at the same time. She nodded slightly and then made her way upstairs to get ready.
Donna was just putting on her earrings when she heard the doorbell ring. She glanced at the clock, startled.
"Shit," she muttered. She checked her makeup one more time in the mirror and then made her way down the stairs to the door.
She passed by Josh and Noah still passed out on the couch and swore again. She had meant to wake them and move them upstairs. There was another, more impatient knock at the door. Donna blew out a frustrated breath and pulled the door open to reveal Sam and Ainsley.
"Oh good, it's just you two," Donna greeted, relieved. Sam and Ainsley looked at each other.
"I mean," Donna paused and put a hand to her forehead. "Hi."
"Hi," Sam repeated.
"You okay, Donna?" Ainsley asked as they stepped over the threshold into the house.
"I lost track of time."
From the sofa, they heard Josh cough and all three of them turned to look towards the living room.
"I heard Josh was sent home sick," Sam said.
"Sent home?" Ainsley laughed. "You make it sound like he's a kid in school who misbehaved."
Sam and Donna exchanged knowing looks.
"I meant to move them upstairs but forgot," Donna muttered. "They've been passed out for the last hour or so."
"They?"
"Noah seems to have whatever Josh has," Donna explained. "And both of them seem pretty miserable."
"Poor Noah," Ainsley said sympathetically as the three of them moved towards the living room.
Donna spotted Josh and Noah on the sofa exactly the way she left them. Noah was still tucked into the crook of Josh's arm, his back up against the back of the sofa except now, one of Noah's arms was flung out across Josh's face.
Sam snorted out a laugh at the sight of them. Before Donna could reply, there was another knock at the door and she looked up at Sam and Ainsley helplessly.
"We'll wake up Josh and get them upstairs."
"Thank you," Donna breathed out a sigh of relief and went to answer the door.
Sam sat on the edge of the coffee table and gently shook Josh's shoulder.
"Hey."
No response.
"Josh." He shook a little harder, but still got no response.
"Josh, three Republicans have hopped off the health care bill even after promising to work with us," Sam said calmly. Immediately, Josh began to stir.
"Whas goin on?" he muttered sleepily, rubbing a hand across his face. He jumped when his hand met Noah's, confusion spread across his features. Sam and Ainsley shared an indulgent smile at his expense.
"You have to get upstairs, Josh," Sam started. "Party's starting."
"I'm comfortable here," Josh replied, moving Noah's hand from his face.
"Donna doesn't want the rest of the party exposed to your germs," Sam said sympathetically.
Josh just grunted and turned away from Sam, burying his face in the sofa more fully while adjusting Noah in his arms.
"Josh, come on. I don't want Donna to yell at me for not moving you!" Sam looked up at the entrance of the living room; worried Donna would walk in at any minute.
"Josh, I hate to break it to you, but you don't want the party to see you this way," Ainsley supplied. Josh was currently dressed in a pair of shorts, Donna's favorite striped socks, and a Harvard long sleeved t-shirt that might be considered a touch too small for him these days. His hair had hit a new level of disheveled.
"Why is there a Republican in my house?" Josh muttered into the pillow.
"Come on, Josh," Sam stood up now and started to reach for Noah. Josh turned and slapped his hand away.
"No."
Sam looked up worriedly to the entrance of the room again.
"Josh, please? Donna asked me to move you."
Josh grumbled again.
"Josh, stop being a baby and just go?" Ainsley said, exasperated. "Stop your bellyaching and get upstairs."
Josh turned to look at her and glared.
"Seriously, who let you in?" he asked, but he was slowly moving to sit up. He sneezed. Noah whined lightly in his sleep. Josh looked down quickly at him.
"I'm surprised you two haven't already woken him up," Josh muttered in an annoyed voice.
"Uh huh, it's us who might wake him up," Sam replied skeptically, watching as Josh carefully moved Noah around to his chest so the baby's head was now resting on Josh's shoulder. Josh stood up carefully and swayed on the spot.
Sam reached out both arms to steady him.
"You okay?"
"Yeah," Josh said before coughing.
"Give me Noah." Sam reached for him again.
"No," Josh smacked Sam's hands away again.
"I'll take him," Ainsley insisted.
"No!" Josh insisted more firmly. "You'll get all your Republicaness on him."
Ainsley rolled her eyes. Her and Sam had been together about two years now and Josh's Republican jokes had mostly come to an end, but it seems his miserable mood had brought them back with abundance.
"Noah loves me and you know it," Ainsley called back, crossing her arms. "So much he might even become a Republican one day."
Josh practically growled at her.
"Get out of my house."
Ainsley smiled sweetly back at him.
"Make me."
"DONN-" Josh started to call out, but he was quickly cut off by another coughing fit. This time he did pass Noah over to Ainsley.
Sam was always impressed with how good Ainsley was with Noah, she easily took him into her arms and settled him against her shoulder, but the noise had now woken him up and Sam saw his face start to crunch up in tears.
"Josh," he complained. Josh had fallen back to the sofa, still coughing.
Noah started fully crying at the noise now and Ainsley started lightly bouncing him up and down, trying to calm him down.
Donna quickly bustled into the room, C.J. not far behind. Danny had hung back by the front door with Jack, wanting to avoid exposing their 14-month-old to the noise and commotion. C.J. took in the scene in front of her; Josh was on the sofa coughing up a lung, Noah was crying in Ainsley's arms, and Sam was looking panicked between the both of them, not sure what to do. The chaos somehow felt right and she indulged in a reminiscent smile.
"I leave you guys alone for two minutes," Donna fumed as she walked up to them, quickly taking Noah from Ainsley with a smile of thanks. Sam's face lit up as he spotted C.J.
"Hey!"
"Hey, Sailor," C.J. called back happily, trying to be heard over the noise of Noah's wailing. "Seems like you've got things under control in here."
Sam rolled his eyes and moved to hug her.
Now in his mother's arms and with Josh's coughing fit finally subsiding, Noah started to calm down.
"You sound healthy over there, Joshua," C.J. called from behind the sofa. Josh let his head fall back against the sofa with a grimace, hugging his arms close to his chest. His head turned to the side and he looked at C.J.
"Hey."
"Hey yourself."
Josh looked too miserable to continue the conversation further. The doorbell rang again and Donna sighed before depositing Noah back on Josh's lap.
"You need to go upstairs, Josh. I don't want you infecting the whole party."
Josh frowned at her but nodded and watched as Donna went to answer the door again. Josh stood with Noah and looked much steadier this time. He locked eyes with C.J.
"I'd hug you, but y'know."
"Please keep your distance," C.J. replied with both hands up. "I don't want Jack to get anything."
"Where is Jack?" Josh asked as C.J. fell into step behind him.
"In the foyer with Danny, avoiding all your germs and coughing."
"Kay." The group filed out of the living room and now found Toby in the foyer with Danny, Jack, Donna, and the twins. Toby's eyebrows rose as he took in the sorry state of Josh.
"Glad to see you really dressed up for the occasion."
Josh simply glared at Toby and kept walking.
"Noah!" Molly called happily, reaching out for the baby.
"He's a 18-pound ball of germs, Molly. I wouldn't touch him," Toby warned. Molly frowned and pulled her hands back. Donna fell into step with Josh, a hand on his shoulder.
"Hey Danny," Josh greeted lightly as he walked past and turned to step up onto the stairs.
"Hey Josh."
Noah was pouting heavily, his chin resting on Josh's shoulder and hands wrapped around Josh's neck.
Spotting Noah from Danny's arms, Jack called out "Noey!"
Noah waved out a tired hand like his parents had taught him when someone called his name, but otherwise didn't reply.
"Unfortunately Josh and Noah aren't feeling up to the party today so they'll be upstairs," Donna explained to the group at large as she walked up the stairs with the two.
Once they reached the master bedroom Josh immediately deposited Noah on the bed and crashed down next to him. Donna reached out a hand to feel Noah's head.
"He's not so bad now," Donna said. She pulled Josh into a sitting position and reached a hand to feel Josh's forehead.
"You're still a mess," Donna sighed after a moment.
"In more ways than one," Josh smirked. He shivered and pulled a blanket from the edge of the bed around his shoulders. Donna moved closer, cupping the sides of Josh's face with a sympathetic look. Josh's head fell forward to rest lightly against her stomach.
"Come down later if you feel better, okay?" Donna said. Josh leaned back to look at her and nodded.
"Kay."
"Maybe read Noah a story or something?" Noah was preoccupied with playing with the TV remote that was sitting on top of the bedspread.
Josh nodded again.
"Go enjoy the party," he encouraged. "We're gonna get you sick if you spend too much time with us."
Donna pulled out a pocket size bottle of hand sanitizer.
"Not if I can help it."
"You're insane," Josh laughed.
"I'm prepared," Donna replied easily. She returned to the party downstairs. Josh waited til he heard the stairs stop creaking and scooped up Noah, taking the remote out of his hands. Noah let out a noise of displeasure, but Josh ignored him and switched on CNN. He grabbed the box of tissues on Donna's side table and cleaned up Noah's face a little bit. He was looking considerably better than when Josh picked him up from daycare.
"How about some CNN, huh, bud?" Josh situated himself, sitting with his back against the headboard. He settled Noah into his lap and turned up the volume slightly. Not loud enough for Donna to be able to pick it up downstairs. They settled back and Josh proceeded to explain to Noah why all the Republicans on their screen were morons.
Downstairs the party was in full flow now. The rest of the guests had arrived. Charlie and Zoey were catching up with Sam and Ainsley in the living, all of them spread out across the sofas. Molly and Huck were by the fireplace talking C.J.'s ear off about school while Toby watched on with a fond smile. Margaret and Carol were both huddled around Danny and Jack, cooing over the baby and peppering Danny with a million questions. "Is he walking yet?" "Yes." "Is he talking yet?" "A little."
Sam was in the middle of explaining a health care initiative the Santos Administration was currently trying to push through Congress when his eyes fell on a stuffed lion near Charlie's feet.
"Sam?" Zoey asked at Sam's sudden silence.
"Sorry," Sam said snapping his eyes back up from the floor. He reached down to grab the lion.
"Noah's favorite toy, I think I'm going to go take it up to him and Josh."
He heard Ainsley on his way out of the room, "he's still worried Noah doesn't like him."
Rolling his eyes, Sam climbed the stairs at a brisk pace and knocked twice on the Josh's door. Without waiting for a reply, Sam pushed open the door and was immediately greeted by the sight of Josh fumbling for the remote.
"We weren't watch-" he was saying quickly. He stopped when he saw it was Sam who had walked in. "Oh, it's just you." Sam looked at the TV and rolled his eyes.
"Why are you making Noah watch CNN?" Sam asked.
"He likes it," Josh replied simply.
"Sure, Josh," Sam said skeptically.
"Noah look," Josh said, pointing to the screen. Noah and Sam looked to see Jeff Haffley on the screen. "What do we say about Haffley, Noah?"
Noah blew a loud raspberry and Josh smiled happily.
"Josh," Sam laughed. "Shouldn't you be teaching Noah about shapes and colors rather than Republicans?"
"He needs to know," Josh replied primly.
Sam reached out a hand holding the toy lion. "Noah left this downstairs."
"Leoooo," Noah said happily. He took the toy from Sam's outstretched hand and hugged it close.
"Thanks, Sam," Josh said.
"No problem. Donna will kill you if she catches you watching CNN instead of reading to Noah, you know."
"Looking down at a book makes my head hurt right now," Josh muttered. Sam saw a flush still spread across Josh's cheeks.
"How are you feeling?"
Josh shrugged.
"Noah looks better," Sam commented.
"Yeah," Josh smiled, tickling Noah under his chin. Noah giggled and squirmed away.
"Alright I'm heading back to the party. I won't be warning you if Donna is coming by the way."
"Some deputy you are," Josh called after him.
Back downstairs, Donna entered the living room where everyone was gathered and called them in for dinner.
They settled around the table, Jack being settled in a highchair and Sam coming in late from visiting Josh and Noah upstairs. The dining room was soon filled with the sound of scraping plates and silverware as plates of food were passed between everyone and then soon conversation was flowing easily. They talked about everything from old memories, to Leo, to Carol's new job at a non-profit. They laughed when Margaret told everyone how the President himself had sent Josh home today and then their discussion turned to the health care initiative the Santos Administration was currently trying to push through Congress and debate broke out amongst everyone.
"They seem to have a good thing going now, Josh and President Santos" Zoey commented. "I know they had some bumps in the beginning, but the way they've gone about this initiative has really highlighted how well they work together now."
"Yeah, they're really struck up a bond now," Sam agreed. "It was only natural it would take a while. They were hardly as close as President Bartlet and Leo."
"I saw a picture of President Santos playing with Noah on the floor of the Oval while he talked on the phone," Charlie said with a smile, turning to look at Donna.
"The First Lady is worried about the effect Noah is having on the President," Donna laughed.
"Hard to imagine babies crawling around the office during the Bartlet Administration," Danny said.
"We had Zoey walkin' around, didn't we?" They all turned as Josh walked into the room slowly, Noah on his hip. He'd managed to put a pair of jeans on and put a pair of sweatpants on Noah. His hair was still a mess.
"Ha ha," Zoey said sarcastically.
"We were just discussing how you were messing up this health care initiative," C.J. said happily.
"Great," Josh replied, still sounding stuffed up.
"We're not messing it up!" Sam defended.
"Look who decided to show up to his own party," Toby commented, ignoring Sam and C.J. Josh just glared.
"Noey!" Jack cried out again. Noah made babbling noises back at Jack as his words weren't quite at the level of Jack's yet.
Donna smiled at Josh. "You feeling better?"
"Sure," Josh replied, he squeezed her shoulders as he passed. He pulled a highchair from the corner of the room and settle Noah down next to him as he took the empty place next to Donna. This also put him next to Toby, who scooted his chair away from Josh loudly as Josh sat down.
"I swear to god, Toby, I'm going to cough on your food on purpose."
"You don't look so good," Huck said bluntly from next to Toby.
"Thank you," Josh replied easily.
"So what are you doing on the latest health care initiative?" Toby asked as Josh started to pull food onto his and Noah's plates. The room immediately exploded into life again as questions from all across the table were shot at Josh and arguments and debate broke out amongst the group of friends. Donna sat back and smiled, reaching to hold Josh's hand under the table and watched happily as the spirited debate broke out amongst her friends.