Chapter 3: The birth of…

A month later-January…

In early January, the snow was even thicker on the ground than it had been the month previously. By now, all 6 of the friends were back in Washington and most of them were back at work. Josh, Sam and CJ had gone back to work, but the schools had not come back from the holiday, so Donna and Mallory were not back at work. Charlie, meanwhile, had auditioned for a role in an advertisement and had got the job and he started filming when the schools resumed, which was in about a weak.

Ruth, Josh's mum, was out of hospital, but Noah, Leo and Josh were still keeping a careful eye on her.

Lisa was due to give birth any day, which meant that Sam was constantly on edge; she or Bradley promised to call him when she went into labour. The plan was then that Donna would call their parents and Lisa's parents.

Early on a Monday morning, Josh, Sam and Naomi walked into Donna and Mallory's flat to see Rick sitting on the sofa, wearing nothing but his boxer shorts, eating Cornflakes.

Sam called frantically for his sister and she came out of her room and was as shocked as her brother and her best friend. "Hello, Rick," she smiled, "would you like some coffee?"

Looking up from his bowl, Rick nodded and replied, "Yes, please, Donna. I just need to go to the loo."

When the door of the toilet was closed, Naomi turned to her dad and asked, "Why was he here so early in the morning, Daddy?"

Josh looked at Donna, who replied, "He was here to visit your Auntie Mallory, sweetie." She managed to say that before looking at Josh and bursting into fists of laughter.

Sam rolled his eyes and grumpily walked over to the sofa and sat down.

When Mallory came out of her bedroom, Rick walked up to her and kissed her and she kissed him back at full force. Both Josh and Sam felt as if they were going to be sick at witnessing this sight. Donna punched Josh, then turning to her roommate, asked, "Can I see you for a moment?"

The two young women walked in Donna's bedroom and sat on her bed. "Mallory, next time you have…a guest over, can you tell me about it?"

Slightly offended, Mallory replied, in a slightly stark tone, "I didn't think that I needed your permission. When you have your boyfriend over, do you ask me first?"

"I never have my boyfriend over seen as I don't have one," Donna remarked, gently, smiling. "Look, next time, with the risk of making Josh, me and Sam uncomfortable, just give me a heads up. "

Mallory shook her head and stood up. "No, I won't. It's my life and you're not my mother."

Standing up too, Donna sighed and replied, in a harsh voice which her friend had never heard before, "I wasn't going to bring this up unless I had to, but this is my flat. I bought it and you stay here, as friend. When you first moved in, you stayed here for free, which was fine, because you were Josh's family, you couldn't stay with him and Naomi and that was fine. So, please, Mallory, tell me next time."

Mallory was shocked by Donna's reply, but she nodded. "Alright, Donna. I'm sorry." Before talking out, she turned back and commented, "I understand why you and Josh would be uncomfortable, but why would Sam be?"

Her friend froze, as she knew that Mallory was evaluating her every move when it came to questions about Sam. "Well, you know, he's a man and you're a woman." She laughed. "I don't know. Maybe you should I ask him." She added, with a slight smile; she wanted her brother and Mallory to be together, as did their other friends, but she also knew that Sam needed to make a move and make his feelings for Mallory clear, which he had not done in the 9 years he had known her.

They went back into the kitchen. Rick had gone, as Mallory knew he would, much to Sam's relief. CJ was in the kitchen as well, with Naomi on her knee.

Unable to resist, Sam asked, "Where's Ron gone, Mallory?"

Josh and Donna avoided making eye contact, as they knew that if they did, they would burst into fits of laughter. CJ sniggered and hid her face in Naomi's hair so that Mallory and Sam wouldn't see that she was finding their conversation funny.

Rolling her eyes and sitting down at the kitchen, Mallory replied, "Well, first of all his name is Rick-not Ron, and he had to leave early because he's doing some totouring for kids who struggle with History. He's such a nice guy, so caring; he would be great with kids!"

Once again, Josh and Sam thought that they were going to throw up.

"You-er-do you want to have kids?" Sam asked, trying to keep his voice level.

Mallory walked over to the kettle and poured herself some coffee. "Yeah, I want to have kids, but I want to be with someone I love. Do you have a problem with that?"

The room was full of an awkward silence apart from Naomi who was playing with C.J's hair.

Just then, much to Josh's reliefe, his mobile phone started going off. It was Leo and he wanted Josh and Sam at the office. They grabbed some toast, said good-bye to Naomi and the others, then quitted the flat.

When they arrived, they signed in and went to Leo's office. Their boss was sitting at his desk, reading something on the computer screen. He held up his hand to them. Once he had finished, he closed the screen and looked up.

"Hey, guys. Sam, how's Lisa?"

Confused, his Deputy Chief of Staff replied, "She's due any day. She and Bradley know the sex, but I don't want to." He sighed; he hated the fact that Bradley knew and he didn't. He was also dreading what Lisa and Bradley would call the baby.

Leo told Sam to read over a piece of legislation which they had been told to read over a weak ago. Sam agreed and went to his office.

Josh sat down opposite Leo and asked, "What's up?"

Reading something on his desk, Leo answered, "There has been some trouble from womens' groups about a piece of legislation which has been passed recently. When's Charlie and Zoe's wedding?"

"In a couple of weaks. What does that have to do with anything to do with a feminist group?" Josh had a faint sick feeling in his stomach, as if a part of him knew that Leo was going to say and the look on his face confirmed that.

"Josh, one of the newly-appointed leaders of one of these groups is Amelia Ziegler, a former political advisor to a senator. I want you to meet with her, please."

Biting his lip, Josh asked, "Is there any chance that this Amelia Ziegler isn't the same Amy as my ex-girlfriend?" He sighed, thinking about how he was going to handle this. "When do I have to meet with her?"

Giving him an apoigetic look, Leo replied, "At Zoe and Charlie's wedding-I want it to be seen as something sociable, not something which we've orchestrated."

"Can't you get Sam to do it?"

Leo shook his head. "No, I'm sorry. I know this is going to be difficult for you-"

Josh cut in, annoyed. "It won't be hard at all. I dated her 8 years ago. We'll be fine, don't worry."

His boss didn't look convinced, then he added, "Oh, yeah, C.J's here to see you about this meeting with Amy- make it very clear that you're going to be meeting in a social setting." Josh sighed, then stood up and left Leo's office to find CJ in his office.

"Hey, C.J," he smiled, as he sat down behind his desk, "do you want anything to drink?"

C.J smiled back and replied, "No, I'm fine, thanks. I was here to talk you about your meating with Amelia Zielger, in an official capacity." She paused, then asked, "This Amelia, I've seen a photo of her and I feel as if I've seen her before. Have I met her before?"

Turning on his computer, Josh sighed and ran his hands through his hair. "Yeah, Amelia's Amy-Naomi's mum, my ex-girlfriend."

His friend was quiet for a while, then she confirmed, "The person you're meating with at Charlie and Zoe's wedding is your ex-girlfriend, as in Naomi's mother?"

Josh nodded. "Yeah. It's complicated. We were together for a year when we were 19, we broke up and then we found out that Amy was pregnant with Naomi. She had her and we lived together until graduation, raising Naomi together- as friends, though. Nothing else."

"Why?"

"Why, what?"

Pursing her lips together, C.J asked, "Why didn't you and Amy get back together after Naomi was born? You had a child together, so why did you not get back together?" She could see that Josh was uncomfortable, but it was something which she had always wondered.

Josh hit his computer monitor, as it was not turning on and snapped, "C.J, I really don't want to and can't talk about this right now. What do you want?"

Understanding that this was something which Josh did not discuss, C.J asked, "I asked Naomi about Rebekah and she said she'd never met her. Why is that?"

Sighing, Josh glared at C.J; he really did not want to talk about his relationship with Amy or with his surviving sister. He had not even told Donna about it, so there was no way that he was going to tell C.J.

"My elder brothers annoy me, but I wouldn't be without either of them," CJ went on, "when we were kids, they always used to tease me and then we'd resale. They annoy me, but I love them."

When Josh made no reply, CJ stood up and left the office, feeling as if she were invading his personal space.

Later that day, she went to Donna and Mallory's flat and asked if she could talk to them for a minute. The three women sat down and C.J began, "Well, I asked Josh about his relationship with Amy and he flipped out and then I asked him about Rebekah and he flipped out."

Donna and Mallory exchanged a look, as if they were trying to work out what the other knew and CJ felt as if she were being kept out of the loop on something.

After C.J left their flat, Mallory turned to Donna and asked, "How much has Josh told you?"

Very confused, Donna frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I meant what's he told you about his life." Mallory sighed. "Has he told you about his sister?"

Donna bit her lip. "He's told me about Joanie's death, if that's what you mean and that he and Rebekah aren't very close anymore. What else is there?"

Mallory looked at her hands. "It doesn't matter." Donna gave her a pleading look, so she replied, "I can't tell you too much, but there was a reason why Josh and Amy separated and that reason started when he was about 15. I can't tell you anything more. I'm sorry."

"Were you close to Joanie?"

At that question, her friend froze and Donna had the feeling that she had asked something which made her roommate very uncomfortable. "What do you mean?" Mallory asked, in a tight voice. She stood up and walked across to where Naomi was playing. She walked back. "We were close: she Josh, Rebekah, Kate and I always played together-we were all very close to age-Becky was the eldest."

Sipping her coffee, Donna inquired, "Who's Kate?"

"Kate Harper, my cousin-Dad's elder sister's daughter. She's Josh's age." Mallory sat back down, facing Donna. "Joanie and I were close. When we were 16-the year she died-we embarked on a relationship." She paused. "Yes, I'm bi. We fell in love and she died. Josh was the only one who knew and he promised to keep it a secret. I only told Dad and Mum a couple of years ago and I still think that Ruth and Noah still don't know, as Josh would never want to betray Joanie." She whipped the tears which had formed in her eyes and fallen down her face.

Donna passed her a tissue and whispered, "Mallory, I'm so sorry."

Her friend forced a smile, then remarked, in a slightly bitter voice, "After she died, like Becky, I blamed Josh; I thought that if he hadn't leaft without her, then maybe, she would have lived. It wasn't his fault, but at the time, I thought it was. Josh-after her death, he struggled and he still does. Don't tell him I told you this, but when he was 15, he was diagnosed with depression and he still suffers from it. He finds it hard to talk about Joanie. He loved her so much and she would have been so proud of him and loved Naomi so much."

She and Donna hugged, parted and held hands, in silence for a couple of minuetes. Donna knew that Mallory loved Josh like a brother now, but after Joanie's death, she obviously had not. She wondered if Josh knew that. She also wondered why Josh had never told her that he suffered from depression. But then, she reflected, she had not told him everything about her life, so what right did she have to expect the same thing from him?

At Leo's office, Leo walked into Josh's office and sat down, waiting for Josh to finish what he was working on. "Did CJ talk to you?"

"Yeah, she did." His Chief of Staff replied, in a sharp tone and Leo knew that there was something wrong with the young man whom he loved as a son.

He sighed and asked, "Josh, what's wrong?"

Looking up from his computer and at Leo, Josh answered, "C.J asked me about my relationship with Amy and…my relationship with Becky. I snapped at her; I'm just not used to talking about it."

"She doesn't know about the drugs, then?" Leo asked, carefully, watching him carefully. "Does Donna know?"

Josh shook his head. "I could hardly tell Donna-my best friend-that I had a drug addiction from the age of 15 to 19, can I? Besides, I'd have to go into the reasons and I can't do that."

"She knows about Joanie, though, doesn't she? Does Sam?"

"Only Donna knows-of cource, Mal knows, but no-one else. Naomi's too young to understand, but she does know that I had a sister who died. She's never met Becky." He added in a defeated tone. "Her only aunt and she hasn't met her because Becky still blames me."

Leo bit his lip and remarked, "Yeah, but you blame yourself."

Avoiding Leo's eyes, Josh replied, "That's different." A shadow appeared across his face, then he said, in an even voice, "I have to get this work done."

Sighing, Leo stood up and left Josh's office. After all of these years, he could not understand why Josh blamed himself for Joanie's death and he knew that Noah and Ruth did not blame him-they never had and they never would-they were just grateful that he had lived.

That evening, when Josh arrived in Donna and Mallory's flat, he could not find them and then he received a text from Donna which said:

'Lisa's gone into labour. Naomi's with us. Meet us at G.W and lock up. '

Josh grabbed his coat and locked the door as he left.

Donna, Mallory, CJ, Charlie, Zoe and Naomi were in the waiting room. Sam was in the labour room with Lisa and Bradley, waiting for the baby to arrive. Naomi was sitting on Donna's knee and she was very excited for the baby to arrive. She had never seen a newly-born baby before and she was very excited. She was also waiting for the daddy to arrive, so that she could sit on his knee.

Just as Josh arrived at G.W and he went to sit with Donna and his daughter, Zoe's mobile phone started to ring. Knowing that it should not have been on in the first place, Zoe stood up, took hold of her handbag and took her mobile call outside of the hospital.

Ten minutes later, she returned to the waiting room, looking a little pale. She crossed the room to her finace and asked, "Er-Charlie, can I talk to you?"

Charlie nodded, glancing at Josh, who shrugged and followed Zoe outside. There was still snow on the ground, but it was a great deal warmer than it had been in the past months.

The couple sat down and Zoe began. "That was my agent. She-she has a job for me, the one for which I auditioned and I got it."

"Zoe, that's great! Congratulations!" When Zoe didn't look so happy, he asked, "So, this is the break you've been waiting for, what's the problem?"

Zoe looked Charlie in the eyes. "It's in Paris for about ten months, which means that we'd have to push back our wedding and I don't want to do that, Charlie. I love you and I-I want to be with you." Both she and Charlie blushed, as they both knew to what she was referring.

Taking hold of her hand, Charlie replied, "Zoe, we're gonna be fine. Go to Paris-Hell, I'll go with you and when we come back, with you as a famous film star-we'll get married and you'll be Zoe Brummer-Young and we'll make loads of little Brummer-Youngs, so our parents can be grandparents and our sisters aunts."

Zoe smiled at the idea of her and Charlie having children. They hugged and kissed. When they parted, with their faces close together, Zoe whispered, "Thankyou, Charlie. I don't know that I've done in my life to deserve you."

"By being yourself." replied her fiancé, in a similar tone, holding her close to him. They stayed in that position, tangled in each other, then stood up and went back into the hospital, both thinking about how they would be feeling when it was their baby who would be coming into the world.

Leo was sitting in his office, trying to focus on a report which has very boring, when his assistant, Margret, knocked on his door and announced, "Leo, there's someone here to see you."

Grateful of the distraction, Leo looked up and asked, "Who is it?"

"Well, her name is Catherine-Françoise Harper. Does that name ring a bell?"

Her boss burst out into fits of laugher, before telling her: "That's my sister, Josephine's daughter, Kate. She's an NSC Advisor to the President. Send her in." Margrette left the office and Leo sat back in his chair. He knew that his niece had suffered a hard time recently, after her husband's death, but he did wonder why she had come to see him in her holiday, as opposed to going to see her mother and brothers, all of whom lived in Boston.

The door opened and Kate, who was Josh and Donna's age, entered the room, in a suit, with her hair tied back into a ponytail. Leo smiled as he saw how much she looked like her mother.

"Hey, baby." He stood up and embraced his niece, whom he loved like a daughter. "How are you?"

Undoing her jacket, Kate smiled warmly. "I'm good, thanks, Uncle Leo. How are you?"

"Can't complain. I'm a Senator of the United States of America." He paused and added, "I was sorry to hear about Will, Kate. I can't even imagine how you're feeling."

Kate sat in a chair and looked down at her hands. "Thankyou, sir. He died doing what he loved. I only hope that when I go, people can say the same thing about me." She smiled briefly, thinking about her late husband, to whom she had been married since she had been 20 years old. "So, how's Mallory?" She and Mallory spoke almost every weak, but she always liked to ask.

Leo smiled. "She's great, thanks. I cannot believe that you're NSC Advisor to the President. I told Josh and he couldn't believe it!"

Inhaling, Kate frowned. "Josh? Josh Lyman? He lives in Washington?"

"Yeah. He lives here with his daughter. He's my Chef of Staff."

His niece smiled slightly, then asked, "How-how is he? Erm-I only ask because I haven't seen him since Joanie's funeral?" She looked down again at the mention of her former best friend; she and Joanie had been very close friends and, unknown to Mallory and Joanie, she had known of Mallory and Joanie's relationship. She and Josh had been close friends as well.

Leo smiled at his niece's obvious loyalty to a man whom she had not seen since she had been 12-years-old. "He's great, Kate. He has an 8-year-old daughter."

"He has a daughter. Is he married?"

Shaking his head, Leo looked back at his monitor and answered, "Er-no. He and his ex had their daughter when they were 19 and Josh has custody. She's a lovely girl. I love her so much!"

Kate smiled to herself; the idea of Josh as a father made her happy. Leo knew that, as a 12year-old, she had fancied her best friend's younger brother, but he assumed that those feelings were long gone.

He was wrong, although Kate did not relise it herself, yet.

At G.W Hospital, Josh, Donna, Mallory, Charlie, Zoe, CJ and Naomi were still waiting for the baby to be born. Meanwhile, Sam was in the room with Lisa and Bradley and trying to prevent himself from killing his ex-wife's partner.

Donna's mobile phone rang. She went outside to answer it and Josh followed her, leaving his daughter with Mallory, as he wanted to ensure that Donna was alright, as he expected that it was her mum or dad.

"Madre, don't worry. The baby hasn't come with," Donna was saying into the mobile phone, in an almost pleading voice. Her face fell when her mother said something and her best friend could tell that she was close to tears. "What do you mean this might be your only chance? I'm only twenty-five, I'm not even thinking about having babies yet, ok?"

Just then, a mother with two babies passed and tears fell down Donna's face. Josh slipped the mobile out of her hand and turned it off. Donna whimpered, desperately trying not to cry. Josh put his arm around her and held her in a tight hug, as she nuzzled her face into his neck.

When they parted, Donna sat down on the bench and Josh sat next to her, putting an arm around her, in order to try to comfort her. "I really do want to have children, I'm sure you've guessed," Donna stated, in a forcibly even voice, "I've-I've always wanted them and, for some reason, my parents are convinced that I'll never get married and have kids." She laughed, bitterly. "I don't know why. I mean, granted, I've only ever had one boyfriend and that ended in disaster, but I-I've always sought out serious relationships, probably because of my wanting to have children."

Josh smiled slightly at what she was saying and looked her in the eye. "I tell you what: if neither of us are married by the time we're 30, which, let's be honest, with my dating record is very possible, how about you and I get together and have a baby?"

Donna burst into fits of laughter. "I'm sorry, it's a lovely suggestion. It's just-it's you. You're my best friend and you're not boyfriend material!"

Laughing himself, more out of embarrassment than anything else, her friend inquired, "What do you mean by that?"

"I-I just mean that you're Josh, the guy who annoys the Hell out of me and the guy I go to when I'm feeling down and.." Donna stopped, as she remembered that was what she had said regarding her ex-fiancé, before they had been together. She forced a smile and Josh did the same, but there was something nagging in the back of his mind.

"You're a great friend, Donnatella." He whispered, looking at her with sincerity in his eyes.

They hugged and Donna whispered, "Thankyou."

They parted, but the two friends stayed outside for a while, just enjoying the company and assurance the other gave them.

Lisa woke up and looked around the room. "Where's Bradley?"

Sam walked over to her and answered, "He's going be back soon. The good news is the baby's nearly ready to come out."

"But I don't want you to be here-I want Brad to be here!" Lisa snapped. She bit her lip, as she knew that there was a part of her that did not believe that.

Her ex-husband sat down next to her and made no reply to what she had said.

The doctor came in and told them that the baby was coming and that Lisa should start to push. Lisa grabbed Sam's hand and started to push.

Five minutes later, they heard the sound of a baby cried. The nurse wrapped it out and then passed it to Lisa, who held her baby in her arms.

Sam sat back down in the chair, breathless, unable to believe that he was a father. "It's a girl. She's beautiful." He whispered and Lisa looked up at him.

Acting on instinct, he leaned in and kissed her and she kissed him back. Their lips parted and they stared at each other for a while, then Sam stood up and said that he was going to tell the others.

He in fact was going go and find Josh and his sister, ignoring his other friends as they called his name, wondering what was going on, but he couldn't find Josh and Donna, so he went back to the others and told them that the baby had been born.

Upon returning to the room, he heard Lisa saying: "Bradley, he and I have a baby together. Don't you think we should try to make that work?"

"Fine, but know this: when he lets you down and you give up, I'll be here, for you and the baby."

Sam felt a surge of range at Bradley's implication that he couldn't look after his own family, but a part of him wondered if he was right and that was what worried him.

An hour later, the others were in the room and Donna was holding her newly-born niece in her arms. She and the others had picked up on the tension in the room, but they had decided to ignore it.

"What are you going to call her?" inquired Josh, who was holding Naomi in his arms, as she was very tired.

There was silence, then Bradley suggested, "How about Deni? Deni Seaborn?"

Lisa turned to him and asked, "Are you sure about the surname?"

Glancing at Sam, Bradley answered. "Yes. Whilst, in the future, I may love her as if she's my own, the truth is, she isn't and she never will be." He looked directly into Sam's eyes and there was an understanding between the two men, once which Sam's sister and friends noticed.

Sam took his daughter into his arms and smiled down at her. "Hey, Deni. Yes, that's you. You're Deni Seaborn."