AN: I had not realised how long this chapter was until I went to edit it this morning but it just felt like the natural length so enjoy!

"Mom, I will have someone meet you at your hotel and bring you to the convention centre" Donna repeated for what seemed like the hundredth time rolling her eyes at the poor intern delivering papers to her office. Donna grabbed the first of the stack and started making notes in the margins

"But how come you can't meet us" her mother badgered

"because you are leaving the hotel at 10 am, by that point in the day I will have been at work for a number of hours" Donna's voice was struggling to hide her exasperation

"But why can't you leave work, surely they won't miss you for an hour. What do they have you doing there anyway, carrying papers and answering phones"

Donna pulled the phone away from her as she growled, startling Josh as he walked into the office "Mom" Donna mouthed to him

"I am going to be advising the Congressman, I can't just leave them for an hour to drive you over here" Donna argued as Josh reached out for the phone

"Ms Moss, this is lead congressional campaign manager Josh Lyman, I am very sorry Donna will not be able to meet you at the hotel, as one of my lead advisors I will need her with me throughout the time, in particular as our White House expert," Josh spoke with the same tone he used on reluctant senators.

Donna couldn't hear the other side of the conversation but by the time Josh handed her phone back over all her mother had to say was a quiet concession and a quick farewell.

"If you wanted to be the go between me and my mother the whole time I would not say no" Donna grinned looking up at Josh

"Surely it can't be that bad"

"Worse" Donna's face portrayed stone as she bit the words out "she wanted me to be the traditional midwestern housewife - live in the same town I was born, marry a man of good standing, 2 and a half kids, the dog and the picket fence. She never could understand why I left Mike when he was on his way to becoming a doctor and god, the fight we had when I decided to join the campaign, she said I was throwing my life away to fetch coffee. We didn't speak for a year after that" Donna looked resigned

"You never got me coffee" Josh murmured placing a hand against her cheek "that's why?" Josh connected the dots in his head as Donna nodded softly "and on the plane, when we returned to the campaign that if you went back to being an assistant you could never show your face back home"

"Mom never thought I could be anything more than an assistant, still doesn't think. If I returned home being an assistant she would have been so smug, I couldn't handle" Donna paused "couldn't handle going back home"

"Donna, you don't need to worry. You are here advising a lead democratic candidate, the President of the United States sings your praise, you are best friends with his Chief of Staff and you are one of the kindest, strongest, most admirable people I have ever met. So next week you are going to show your mother all of that". Josh spoke quietly moving his hand down to grab Donna's hand as he crouched beside her. "Now let's get to work so we can win this campaign. Donna smiled shakily at the sweet words, watching Josh walk back out of the room.

"Let's do this" Donna whispered.

The next week went by in a blur of cities. Every possible person out to the public, pushing their main agenda. They ran their last major ad buy and Donna had returned to her spokeswoman status as she spent hours a day in front of cameras answering question after question about the campaign. In the few minutes she had between interviews, she was keeping in touch with the White House and advising Josh in frantic phone calls. The two had hardly seen each other as the campaign got closer to the finish date and saw their respective beds even less as all the senior staff ran on too hot coffee and too stale doughnuts, naps were taken in breaks for just long enough to keep them going until the next break. But slowly the final gap between Russell and Santos began to decrease. Santos and, with some convincing from Donna, Josh had given them the night before the convention off, with nothing more that could be done and so night found Josh, Donna, Sam and Lou lounging in Donna's room, Lou having fit in immediately with the trio and immediately taking them in her stride. Soon one by one they drifted off to their respective rooms leaving only Josh.

Donna watched Josh as he stood with his back to her, ramrod straight as he played with his hands a sure sign of the anxiety he was feeling about this race. Donna's heart twisted with worry, the last thing anybody needed now was for Josh to break down and Donna knew she couldn't bear to see Josh spiral again the pain of the last two times still too fresh "Josh, you have done all you can" Donna murmured as she walked up behind him, placing a soft hand on his back "you have to rest now, we have a long few days ahead of us and I know you are already running on nothing"

"what if he doesn't win" Josh turned suddenly to look at Donna "I knew he was a dark horse candidate when he started but now, to get so close. I want him to win so badly. I want to make a guy president" Donna saw the fire burn in his eyes even as his hands won't stop worrying at each other

"And I believe 100 per cent that we will, all of us because Santos is as real as it gets after Bartlet and the American people know that. But right now sitting in this hotel room the chips are down, yes tomorrow we will have plenty to do and plenty of people to convince but that's tomorrow and this is today and you have to be at your best so please Josh, sleep" Donna begged looking up at him with bright eyes

"I can't sleep" Josh admits "I wake in fits thinking I have forgotten something or I wake thinking I have failed Leo and I can never get back to sleep so I don't even try" Josh looks away from Donna, red colouring his cheeks

"Josh being so invested in something is never something to be ashamed of" Donna hesitates, catching her lip gently between her teeth "Come on why don't you stay with me tonight,"

Josh looks startled "Donna I couldn't, we can't" he starts

"We won't" she looks back earnestly "I just think a bit of comfort and a full night sleep will do you some good. Just like it did in Washington"

Josh looks conflicted for a moment more before sighing "Comfort" he smiles "I think we can do that"

Donna broke into a wide grin and Josh's heart filled at seeing the joy appear on her face.

The two quickly went through their evening routines, muttering quietly about all things non-campaign related before both sliding into the cool bed, turning to face each other

"you nervous about seeing your family?" Josh asks softly,

"Yeah" Donna answers just as softly "I certainly think it's going to be an interesting few days' the pair both give an exhausted chuckle before falling silent

"We should get some sleep" Donna leaned over and turns off the last light illuminating the room.

Both lay stiffly in the now dark room, staring up at the ceiling.

Finally, Josh breaks "You know for a situation that's supposed to be comfortable neither of us seems comfortable" Josh whispers hoping that Donna hadn't fallen asleep while they were quiet

"Oh thank god" she bursts out "I was hoping you would say something"

Both Josh and Donna let out a sigh of relief as Donna twisted her body until she was lying diagonally across the bed with her head on Josh's chest and Josh's arm curled around her back holding her close against him. It was not the first time they had found themselves in this position, after Rosslyn Donna had found herself often overly intertwined with Josh, often far surprising the assistant/boss boundary but Donna knew holding someone close helped Josh and frankly although Donna wouldn't admit it, being able to hear his heartbeat under her ear would often calm her from her own nightmares

"Goodnight Josh" Donna sighed as she got comfortable "Sleep and if you wake up I will be here" Donna's word trailed off as her breathing evened out and Josh followed suit close behind.

Both had the best night sleep in months, stirring slowly when Donna's wake up call came in at 6 am. Donna had to resort to shaking Josh awake before she sat slowly on her bed, stretching out the tight muscles that came from running around all day. Josh was trying to desperately avoid watching the way Donna's singlet broke away from the band of her pants showing a smooth pale strip of skin. Donna looked over her shoulder "Good morning sleepy head, you should probably head back to your room, the bus to the centre is leaving in half an hour"

"Yeah" Josh agreed absently still watching Donna

"Josh the convention" Donna prompted

Josh bit his lip slightly "I know" but Josh still didn't make any move to get off the bed

Donna laughed slightly as she leant over to shove him "off you go, I'll see you in a bit" finally Josh admitted defeat, rising from the bed and headed for the door

"let's do this" Josh finished with a final grin back towards Donna "let's get the nomination"

Donna quickly got herself ready once Josh had left, knowing that she was going to be on display all day, for senators, TV reporters and delegates and so she chose to wear a dark red dress that she had brought last time she went shopping with C.J and paired it with some shoes that cost far too much for footwear. But by the time she had finished her make up Donna looked and felt like she could take on the world and right now that was what she needed to get her through the next few days.

Donna met the rest of the team downstairs, all nursing coffee and cell phones waiting for the briefing from Josh and Sam about how the next few days were going to proceed. Sam and Josh were quietly talking off to the side but both waved her over as she appeared

"Morning" Donna and Sam greeted each other while Josh not so subtly admired Donna's outfit

"What's the plan fellas" Donna pulled Josh's attention back up to her eyes

"Well, we are gonna go over everyone's roles and what to expect as well as what's expected from them. We are going to go Bartlet style rules of course. We were hoping once we were done you could take all the assistants aside and brief them because you have the best experience being an assistant in these scenarios" Sam explained

"Are you sure you want me to brief them" Donna worried a little

"Of course, there is literally no one more experienced than you for the assistants" Josh reassured helping Donna to relax the tension built up in her shoulders

"Right, listen up everybody" Sam yelled once he had Donna's acceptance. Sam quickly and efficiently went through the senior staff and their role, then assigned them each a team and covered the do's and don'ts of a convention "and finally can all of the assistants including Ronna meet with Donna. She is gonna brief you on what it is like for an assistant at a convention"

Donna was suddenly swarmed with the youngest of the campaign staff with Ronna coming and standing beside her "You all good if I brief them. I don't want to overstep." Donna asked hesitantly but was calmed by Ronna's reassuring wave

"Ok assistants. The next 48 hours is going to be hard for everybody and it is your job to make it a little easier. People will snap at you, they are stressed and while you don't deserve it, don't take it to heart and if it is really bad you talk to Ronna and if Josh is the one snapping come talk to me and I will whip him into shape ok?" She managed to get a small chuckle out of the nervous staff. "Right most of you will have been assigned to a specific senior staff member, they are gonna ask you to do some weird stuff so just remember it is all in order to get a great man the nomination. As a general rule of thumb, you guys are invisible, you stay quiet but stay close. If you find yourself without a job find Ronna as I am sure she will have plenty and finally because the race is so tight we may find ourselves going late into that night at that point you sleep in shifts and make sure the main senior staff always have an assistant with them. By main senior staff I mean Lou, Josh, Sam and Edie"

"And Donna" Ronna interjects with a smile "you are just as much senior staff as them" causing Donna to blush slightly

"Ok that's it, let's get through this hell and show the world what the Santos campaign is made of" Donna smiled at them all before dismissing them back to their assigned groups.

Donna walked into the still quiet convention centre, studying the room and memorising the different areas she was going to need over the next few days "Feels like old times" Josh snuck up behind Donna

"Yeah, it feels so long ago we were doing this for the first time and now look at us, somehow we are now the seasoned pros"

"Speaking of seasoned pro's, when are the White House crew getting in" Josh segued between the topics

"C.J is sending our three favourite assistants over to prep for the President today but they can't be seen as giving us any preferential assistance so I am not sure how much we will see them and then C.J, Toby, Ed, Larry, Margaret and the President are coming tomorrow, about mid-morning"

"C.J is sending Carol, Ginger and Bonnie ahead?" Josh questioned knowing the three women commonly stayed behind at the White House and most certainly didn't travel ahead of the crew, but one look at Donna's guilty eyes answered the question for him "you convinced C.J to send your friends ahead, that has to be a blatant breach of power", but the laughing tone of his voice was enough to assuage Donna's guilt.

"Come on, let's go find our headquarters and we should probably sit down with Leo and see what the plan was for the next few days."

The day went by in a flash with Donna spending the day on the phone to Washington, fighting to get just a few more endorsements from more resistant senators and when she wasn't fighting through the various politics she found herself working as a coordinator as staff once Josh had done enough to scare most of the staff and so with help from Ronna, Lou and once Carol but that one was kept quiet she made sure all the staff were using the time the most efficiently despite the lack of experience. Donna had managed to find a small amount of time to drag Carol, Bonnie and Ginger aside to hug and quickly gossip between jobs, but that might have been the only time she had a relaxed conversation for the entire day.

Most of the staff were dead on their feet by the time the Congressman and Donna had convinced Josh that they were finished for the night and he finally allowed them the bring the staff back to their base to plan for tomorrow. Josh and Sam tackled the plan as good cop bad cop with Sam praising them and Josh forgetting that they were all trying their best. They were almost finished when Donna remembered a key part of tomorrow.

"One last thing" Donna quickly interjected "Tomorrow the President and his staff will be here" the volunteers whispered excitedly between themselves at the news that had been kept quiet to avoid idle gossip "and while that is very exciting please remember your protocols when it comes to dealing with important figures. Because Josh and Sam are both prominent members of President Bartlet's former senior staff and are still very close within that circle there will be a chance that some of his staff or the President will take some time to catch up with this campaign. Do not interrupt a conversation with the President and if he ends up talking to you please don't let him get sidetracked because lord knows C.J will never get him to where he needs to be once he starts" Both Josh and Sam snickered at Donna's comment before finally dismissing the team.

The next day Donna managed to find herself even busier than the first day with the sudden influx of senators and influential Washington Democrats and so Donna had spent most of the early morning at Santos's side as she briefed him about the people he was going to meet and the deals she had been working with them and so Donna was startled when a young assistant grabbed her attention as she hung up the phone. "Excuse me, Ms Moss, you asked me to come find you at 10?"

Donna looked at her watch in surprise "Oh yes" Donna shook her head as though she was shaking away extra thoughts "Marissa can you please take a cab to this hotel and pick up my family. You will need to pick up passes which will give them access to the common areas, the Santos areas and areas 4, 6 and 7. Basically what the assistants have. Once you get back here if you could please bring them straight to me that would be wonderful. You will be picking up 3 women, Sylvia Moss, Andrea Moss and Rachel Arva. They should be able to meet you in the foyer" Donna quickly spoke handing over some money"

"Of course Ms Moss" The dutiful assistant nodded even as she hurriedly wrote everything down. "I will be back soon"

"Thank You Marissa" Donna tried to flash a kind smile even as she had moved on to other tasks.

"Can somebody please tell me when the damn motorcade will get here" Donna heard Josh yell across the room and quickly moved over to him

"20 minutes and I want Santos at the door ready to greet him, we are the only people with exact information about when they are going to get here and it is going to look fantastic that Santos and his senior staff can take the time to greet the President." Donna quickly briefed Josh who looked as though he was ready to ask a question "already cleared with Toby, he said given I was the only one who thought to ask we get the scoop and C.J assured there would be press waiting for us"

"Donnatella Moss, I could kiss you right now" Josh's excited phrase was enough to pause the both of them as they both remembered a kiss on a warm night in Washington that had yet to be repeated

"Yeah" Donna whispered softly her heart skipping a beat before remembering herself "I'll go talk to the Congressmen and come find you in 10 minutes"

"Ok," Josh tried and ultimately failed to keep the emotion out of his voice, however, Donna quickly found herself swept back up by the pull of the convention and didn't have time to contemplate on the interaction.

Exactly 19 minutes later Donna found herself standing at the side entrance to the centre with Josh on one side and Lou and Sam on the other watching the flashing lights of the motorcade creep down the "I can't believe you arranged this" Lou broke the silence shaking her head in awe "This is proper cool"

"Don't tell me this is your first time" Josh leant around Donna to get a better look at Lou in surprise

"Now tell me, Josh, when would I have met the President of the United States? Buying bagels on a corner store in Washington?" Lou fought back even as she couldn't keep her eyes off the impending motorcade

"Ignore him Lou, he forgets the obvious" Donna and Sam laughed as Josh straightened back up, missing the grimace that crossed his face.

Finally, the motorcade slowed to a stop in front of the steps and the tall graceful figure of the Chief of Staff exited the centre car and smiled at her friends before leaning back down and offering her arm to the smaller but no less imposing presence of the President. The rest of the staff exited the remaining cars as the press started to flash their lights capturing the photos of Santos and the President warmly shaking hands and sharing a quick laugh with one another "We just got New Hampshire" Josh muttered, just loud enough for Donna and Lou to hear who exchanged quick smiles as the President moved on to meet with Josh, greeting him with a firm clasp on the back and a soft couple of words before he moved on to see Donna

"Donnatella" the President greeted as Donna smiled grasping his hand, "It's good to see you again, how is the campaign treating you"

"It's wonderful sir." Donna grinned before turning to Lou "Mr President this is the Communications Director for the Santos Campaign, Louise Thornton"

"Well any friend of Donna and Josh's holds great standing in my books, it is a pleasure to meet you Louise" The President shook Lou's hand, his charm shining through as he warmly greeted the star-struck woman.

"Sam Seaborn" The President exclaimed moving down the line "I heard you had joined this rag-tag team"

"You heard correctly sir, after my trip to Washington Josh managed to convince me it would be worth coming back to the campaign so here I am"

"Well I am sure the Santos campaign is benefiting from mine and California's loss" Sam smiled fondly at his comment.

C.J quickly appeared after that ushering Bartlet the rest of the way inside and the Santos team quickly dispersed back to the jobs they had abandoned in order to meet the President.

It took Donna's phone hardly any time to interrupt her once she started

"Donna Moss" Donna was brisk in her greeting once she saw the number of a particularly difficult Senator pop up on her screen. Within no time she was firmly engaged in a debate with the reluctant senator trying to convince him that Santos was worth the endorsement

"Josh" she yelled as she caught a glimpse of him out the corner of her eye as she still bustled around directing other people "Please hold on moment" Donna hurriedly spoke on the phone before muting her end of the conversation "I'm on with Senator Ashbrum now and I swear to god he is going to make me sell him my first born before endorsing us - I'm out of options" Donna briefed quickly as they continued to walk through the hectic convention centre

Josh thought for a moment before turning to her "tell him that if he wants any of the hispanic vote which he desperately needs to win the next election he better endorse Santos yesterday because once he is President Santos will very much control that demographic"

"The race card" Donna raised her eye brows as Josh nodded "I thought we weren't gonna play"

"Now we are" Josh's grin was predatory "and there, problem solved who's da man?" Josh couldn't help question causing Donna to shake her head even as she couldn't help the grin playing on her own face

"You are good sir, you are" Donna laughed, enjoying the moment of relaxed banter that the conventions so rarely afforded.

Donna quickly relayed the message back to the Senator who's stuttered response of certainty was enough to convince Donna the endorsement was not far away. Josh had wandered off during the conversation but caught Donna's eye across the room after she hung up and Donna quickly gave him a thumbs up "Who's the man" Josh yelled across the room trying to goad a response out of Donna once more

"Go do some work" was all Donna yelled back raising an eyebrow at him to which Josh could only reply with a pout as he spun back to the number of people circulating him

"Donnatella you really shouldn't yell across the room like that, it is not becoming of a young lady and I am certain you shouldn't be yelling at someone of such high standing" came the prim voice from behind her. Donna grimaced slightly before smoothing out her face and spinning around "Mom, it's lovely to see you" Donna greeted, softly kissing her mother on the cheek "Andrea, Rachel I am so glad you two could come" Donna's greeting was warmer as she turned to her sister and friend wrapped them each up in a hug.

"Welcome to my office" Donna grinned gesturing around to the central floor of the conversation "While I obviously will have a lot to do I thought maybe I could show you what I do and maybe if there was anybody you wanted to meet I could introduce you, then I could you a tour?" Donna suggested, trying to be heard over the din of the various delegates on the floor

"And who do you know to introduce us to" Sylvia sniffed, looking at the crowded room

"Well the Congressmen from Wisconsin should be here by now, I know you voted for him. Would you like to meet him?" Donna suggested and while her mother looked incredulous she still nodded and accepted the offer. "Marissa," Donna turned around to find her assistant organising some papers Donna had handed her "Can you go see find Congressmen Kasha from Wisconsin and tell him Donna Moss was wondering if he could spare a minute" Marissa dropped her head in a dutiful nod and scurried off to complete the job.

"What's her job" her mother watched the assistant walk off, the sneer evident in her voice

"She's my assistant she does all the things an assistant would do, normally she helps with the day to day things I do for the campaign"

"So what exactly does your job entail?" Rachel saving her from her mother with a kind smile

"Well, normally I'll read all the releases for Washington and then talk to Toby Ziegler regarding anything the White House is about to release and combine that with any gossip I have and then brief Santos and or Josh on how we should proceed. I also advise on most major decisions for the campaign" Donna quickly explained before smiling as she walked ahead leaving the group dumbfounded in her wake.

The morning went by quickly with Donna introducing the group to the higher ranking Washington power players who were at the convention, all of whom knew Donna through her work with Josh and then on the campaigns and were more than happy to take a moment to greet her and shake hands.

At one point C.J walked past talking rapidly into her phone, despite the focused look in her eyes C.J quickly grinned at Donna as she walked past, prompting Sylvia to gasp slightly "That was the C.J Cregg" she exclaimed almost excitedly, "oh that woman is truly an inspiration she has done so much for the country and that administration. Oh, can you imagine meeting her? Donna did you ever get to meet her"

Donna laughed slightly not bothering to correct her mother "ah yeah, I met her" Donna made a mental note to make sure she introduced C.J next time they passed each other.

Donna was just wrapping up the morning and was ready to send the 3 women off to lunch when she heard an attention-grabbing cough from behind her "Donna Moss, I heard you had some guests here with you" a familiar voice spoke behind her "I do hope you were planning on introducing them" Donna felt her guests freeze as they recognised who the voice belonged to and Donna quickly spun around to greet the President

"Sir" Donna gently leant down to place a soft kiss on his cheek as she had seen C.J do many times before, trying to ignore her mothers gasp "This is my mother Sylvia, my sister Andrea and my friend, Rachel they live nearby and decided to come visit"

The President greeted all three with a firm handshake "It's nice to meet you all. Donna was an important part of much of my administration and I know she is doing a truly excellent job for the campaign. It is an honour to meet the people she holds in high regard" The President complimented

"Thank you Sir, although I do hope C.J knows you are down here" Donna pretends to scold "We were all there when you walked off to the kitchen during the state dinner last year, she thought you were going to cause World War 3 before desert"

"Well that woman has little faith in me" Bartlet complained "I am able to do most things by myself"

"Yes like ride a bicycle" Donna took a risk in teasing the President about an event that happened so many years before

"Oh you cheeky woman" Bartlet swiped at her arm playfully

"Yes Josh taught me everything I know," Donna held the conversation for a few more moments before remembering the C.J probably needed to know where he was "well you should probably go find C.J or she is going to be on blood pressure medication before you leave office,"

"Yes I suppose you are right But I'll tell you what, bring your family up to the party tonight. I am sure everyone would love to meet them and beside I might have a surprise for you" the President's eyes twinkled.

Donna turned back to the group, "would you like to come have dinner with us tonight" she offered as the three of them just gapped back at her "I'll take that as a yes then" Donna grinned,

"Well I'm going to find that Chief of Staff of mine but I will see you up with the team tonight after the speeches and make sure Josh and Sam get brought up as well as that lovely Louise you introduced me to. Bring your family as well- I am sure Abbey will want to meet everyone"

Donna raised her eyebrows, surprised "The First Lady is here? I thought she was flying back from Germany?"

"The plane got in early so she decided she would come in and you know as well as I do that she would throw something at you if you called her that"

"Yes, of course Sir, well we will leave you to get back to your duties and we will see you tonight - should I ring Margaret to make sure the secret service have everyone"

"Yes they obviously will already have you on it but if she could just add your party"

"Of course sir - thank you for coming and saying hi"

"My pleasure, it was nice to meet everyone" Bartlet had a final smile as he met everyone's eyes

"Thank you, sir" Rachel managed to recover enough to thank the president as he wandered off

"What was that" her mother scolded as soon as they were out of earshot

"What" Donna protested still smug from the chance encounter

"He was telling you off for addressing the First Lady wrong"

Donna couldn't help scoffing at the comment "no he wasn't telling me off he just knows Abbey doesn't like being referred to by her title by her friends"

"You're not friends with the First Lady" Rachel gasped excitedly

"Well I am closer with Zoey but I guess you could say I am friends with Abbey" Donna gave a small but confident grin

"Wow. I can't believe my childhood best friend is friends with the first family, this is amazing"

"But how?" Andrea butted in, a familiar jealousy clouding her voice as her younger sister, couldn't help talk about the first family

"Well I went through the campaign with them, I saw them all practically every day and Zoey had a small crush on Josh at first so she was hanging around a lot. Besides all of the senior staff were very close with the Bartlets by the end of the campaign and Josh always invited me along so we were all a tight-knit group and that bond really only grew once we made it to the White House." Donna explained as she walked the group purposely towards where she knew that the White House lot had found themselves, waiting for her family to make the connection.

"If you were close with the senior staff that would have meant you were close with the likes of Sam Seaborne, Toby Ziegler and Ms Cregg," her mother asked incredulously "what on earth could they have talked about with you?" Donna couldn't help the slight flinch at her mother's words

"Well I don't know Mother, why don't you ask them" Donna raised an eyebrow before turning and seeing Toby working away in the corner "Toby" she called out, just loud enough for him to hear her and gestured for him to walk over

"Donna, did you just summon me?" Toby raised his eyebrows but followed her instructions

"well I thought you were just looking a little too relaxed over there"

"Oh ha ha" Toby replied with a sarcastic laugh "The president decided to change the focus of the speech again so I am rewriting once again"

"And you were surprised by this?" Donna grinned

"No, mostly just exasperated but I'm still relishing in the fact that I don't work for Josh" Toby jabbed

"You have a point there," Donna nodded

"So do you need me for a reason because I am sure you are certainly busy enough without idle chatter"

"Oh Toby asking questions like that is why you can't get a date"

"I can get a date I just choose not to" Toby argued to Donna's laugh

"I am pretty certain that C.J, Ginger and myself are the only woman you have talked to this month"

"I'm leaving now" Toby grumbled but there was a lightness in his eyes that had been missing when he walked over

"No! Toby please meet my mother, my sister and my best friend" Toby held curt greetings with all of them "They are visiting today"

"Well it is a pleasure to meet all of you, Donna is a saint both for the White House and the campaign, I certainly don't think Josh could have survived without her." Toby gave Donna an earnest smile

"Ms Moss" an aid interrupted holding a phone out for her

"who is it" Donna sighed

"Lou, she says its urgent"

"Ok, I need to take that. Toby could you just" Donna gestured to the group

"of course, go fix a crisis"

Donna scurried to a quiet corner as she pressed the phone to her ear listening to Lou's fast explanation of the new addition of Baker to the ballot as Donna's mind started to run through various options to help them through this situation.

Rushing back to her family Donna was quick to make her excuses "I am very sorry but we are going to have to cut this short, we have run into a rather major issue and the Congressman wants me running point on this with Josh. However, if you come back here around 7 I will be about ready to head up the President and the rest of the team then. Toby, just a heads up, by the way, Baker is gunning for a write-in position" Toby's eyes widened as he took in the words Donna said before muttering his own goodbyes and quickly walking off

"Is everything ok?" Andrea asked her own eyes wide and confused as she watched the mood in the room change as others got the same phone call, even Donna was starting to make calls as they talked her mind evidently on a new topic.

"Not really but I'm sure Josh, Sam and I can work it out eventually" Donna nodded resolutely

"I will see you tonight, please don't dress up or anything it is just a friendly dinner, you will look out of place" Donna quickly said before sending them off with a loitering assistant and Donna ran in the other direction her mind firing on all cylinders.