Summer has sailed by and fall is back upon us. I always breathe a bit easier when we get past August, even after all this time. Jamie thinks I'm crazy. He prefers the slower pace of summer, when Congress is on recess, but not me. I like being busy. I like it when there is a lot to accomplish.
"Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh." Lulu is banging her sippy cup on the tray calling for her snack. I drop a handful of cereal in front of her and she gives me a grin. Then I take a seat across from her.
"Say Thank You Mama." I tell her. It's never too early to work on manners.
"Mama." Close enough.
"Your welcome."
"'come."
She's such a little parrot. While Josh hasn't completely convinced me that her speech develpoment is ahead of schedule, I will concede that she's at the upper end of the range.
Mobility is definitely not ahead. She's only been crawling for about a month, and actually it's more like she scoots around while she's sitting. She likes to stand if someone holds her under the arms, but she isn't showing any signs of walking yet. I'm actually glad. I'm perfectly happy with her being my baby a while longer.
Dr. Francis says not to worry, she's still in the correct range for that too. Josh on the other hand considers it his personal mission to teach Lulu how to walk.
While Lulu is eating her snack, take a few minutes to re-read my notes on AVAWA, Helen wants to include this in her fall agenda. She wants to use the full weight of her office to get this passed before the midterms.
I've barely gotten any further into my reading when Nicole pops out of the bathroom. Lulu grins at her. "NeeNee."
"Hey, you look great! Big plans tonight?"
She's wearing a slinky black dress. She teased her hair and twisted it into an updo. And she's wearing lipstick. I'm no rocket scientist, but this outfit has date written all over it. Plus there's the fact that she stuck around after work and changed here. I can add two and two together. I'm just wondering which of the guys finally manned up and asked her out.
"Yeah, Ryan and I are going out as soon as he gets off."
"Shhhh! For God's sake, make sure Josh doesn't hear you or he'll never let Ryan out of here."
I look around reflexively, half expecting Josh to pop out of the closet or something.
"He wouldn't sabatoge my date. . . . Would he?"
That naive question has me chuckling. "Hell, yes! He would."
"But why?"
"Well, you're blonde, 24, and you remind him of someone."
She cocks her head and studies me for a second. "You?!"
"Yes, you could practically be my little sister. Josh has started thinking of you as family. And he's very protective of his family."
"But he knows Ryan!"
"Yes, but that's not going to actually help you in this case. He's known Ryan since he was a cocky little intern. And while Josh may be taking Ryan a lot more seriously at work now that he's matured, that doesn't mean he's going to think Ryan is good enough for you." Truth be told, I'm not 100% sure Ryan is good enough for her either. The old Ryan definitely wasn't, but he has gotten a lot better in the last few years. I'll give him a chance. But I'll break his knees if he hurts her.
"What should I do?"
"Seriously, what time are you supposed to meet him?"
"He was going to come up here and get me as soon as he's done. We just figured that would be more convenient."
"Oh no, no, no, no." I pause for a minute. "Here's what you are going to do. You're going to get out of here before Josh comes up here. You can wait in my office. Have Ryan text you when he's ready, but don't leave the White House together. Have him get a cab, then meet him outside of the South Gate."
"Donna, am I doing something wrong? Is there a policy against me dating someone who works here? I don't you guys to be mad at me. And I definitely don't want to get Ryan fired."
"No! You're not doing anything wrong. Josh won't fire him. We're just giving you and Ryan a fighting chance, before your newly self-appointed big brother ruins things in a very sweet, over-protective way."
"Okay, thanks. Are you good here? I know you've got a lot of stuff you're working on. If you need me, I can stay up here and take my chances."
"Thanks, but I'm okay. I'm just working ahead on some legislation that Mrs. Santos wants to support. When Lulu is done with her snack, I'll put this memo away and then we'll see if we can't find Josh and drag him out of his meeting with Ryan so you can go have some fun."
"Thanks Donna. Bye, Bye Lulu." Nicole leans down and plants a kiss on the top of her head.
"Bye, Bye." Lulu parrots back with a wave.
When Nicole leaves, I put the memo away anyway. It's too depressing to read with Lulu in the room. I'd rather talk to her while she has her snack.
As soon as Lulu is done, I gather our things and head towards the West Wing. I feel a little like a pack mule. I've got her diaper bag on my back, my briefcase in one hand and I'm balancing Lulu on my hip. It's a good thing that its warm enough that we don't need jackets. I probably just should have waited for Josh to come find us, but I'm ready to go home. If he's going to be too much longer we might go on our own.
"Hi!" Lulu chirps as she sees Uncle Sam coming down the hall.
"Hi Lulu!" He stops and gives her a kiss on the forehead.
"Hey Sam. You heading home?" He must have just left Josh's office. That bodes well for us getting out of here.
"Yeah, Ainsley's in her office. She's pretty tired. I need to get her out of here."
"Us. Too. You guys wanna come over this weekend? Saturday?"
"Yeah, that sounds good, but it's up to Ainsley. I'll have her text you, okay?"
"Sounds good."
When I get to Margaret's office I discover Josh with his backpack over one shoulder, ready to go. He's just going over some last minute scheduling.
"Hey Margaret."
"Hey Donna. . . Hey Lulu, you want some puffs?"
"She just had some cheerios. She's fine."
"Can I have some puffs?" Josh asks.
"No!" Margaret and I both rebuke him at the same time. It's weird how much he likes those things.
"Okay, Okay." He grumbles, reaching for Lulu. "You'd share with me, wouldn't you?"
"Da-dee!"
"Okay, let's go." Josh slips his hand on the small of my back, just below Lulu's diaper bag, and ushers me out the door.
"I know something that you don't know." Josh sings to me as soon as we get in the car.
"I highly doubt that."
"I do. I know a secret that no one else knows."
"You do not."
"I do, and since you don't believe me, I'm not going to tell you what it is!"
"I bet I can guess."
"I bet you can't."
'You wanna put your money where your mouth is?"
Josh gives me a leer. "I wanna put something else where my mouth is."
Oh. Well. Let the foreplay begin. Bantering always turns both of us on, especially when he's this blatant about it. I just need to signal that I'm up for it. "This could be quite the bet, couldn't it. . . . Name your terms."
"If you don't guess correctly, you have to spend the rest of the night naked." His voice drops an octave. "And I will put my mouth, where ever I please."
"Well, that's hardly a penalty for me, is it?"
"We'll see. What are your terms?"
"If I guess correctly, you have to ask Margaret about the book she's been reading for her book club."
His voice gets high and squeaky. "Dooonnnnaaa, that's too harsh. If I win I made it something you'd like!"
"Well, you're nicer than I am. But okay, I'll give you another option. If I win you have to give up the puffs."
"Permanently?"
"3 days."
"O.k. deal. But you only get one shot. This is all or nothing."
"Okay, the big secret is . . ."
"WAIT!"
"Why?"
"I don't want you to get naked before we get into the house."
"Pretty confident, are you?"
"Yep." He smirks at me and reaches into the diaper bag and pulls out the container of puffs and shakes some into his hand. Lulu reaches out for her share and he grins at her.
I smirk right back at him. "Better enjoy those while you can." He is so going down.
As soon as we are in the house and the door is closed, he grins at me. "Okay. Go ahead." He's bouncing on the balls of his feet. I almost hate to burst his bubble. Almost.
So I take my time, putting down my briefcase, taking off the diaper bag, and then taking Lulu from him so he can lose his gear too. With every minute I delay, he's looking more and more cocky. Poor delusional man. When will he learn? I know everything. Finally, I turn and look him right in the eye.
"Ainsley's pregnant."
His face falls. It's almost comical.
"How did you know that? Sam said nobody knows. They haven't told anyone!"
"Well. I know everything."
"Yeah," he says glumly. "I should have known better. Seriously. How'd you find out?"
"Ainsley can't look at food without running to the bathroom. I know morning sickness when I see it. I left her a box of those preggie pops on her desk last week with a note that said, let me know when you're ready."
"Ah, ha! So you didn't really KNOW, you just assumed. Whereas I actually KNOW. So I think I win the bet."
"Think again, Mister."
"Seriously Donna, I even know the due date, do you know the due date?"
Okay, so I don't literally know everything. I almost hate to confess this. "Um, no. I don't."
"I rest my case."
"You're not a real lawyer." I volley back with a grin.
"But I know how to negotiate, baby." He wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me close so we are having a little family hug. Then he whispers in my ear. "How about a compromise? I'll give up puffs for 3 days and after Lulu goes to bed, you'll spend the rest of the night naked."
I pretend to think it over for a few minutes, before agreeing. "Deal."
Josh lets me go and pumps his fist in the air. "YES!"
"YES!" Lulu agrees.
And I have to say, I don't really mind how this worked out either. I smirk to myself as I head to the kitchen to get dinner out of the crock-pot and on to the table.
"So, how did you find out?" I ask Josh, while I'm mashing some potatoes for Lulu.
"Sam slipped. I had been harassing Ryan all night because he was trying to get out of the office. He has a date or something. So I told him that it was going to be a late night, we'd be there until at least midnight or 1. I tell ya, Donna, he looked like he was going to cry. So I said don't be such a baby. Then Sam said, I'm having a baby. Then he looked mortified. It totally just slipped out."
Josh follows me out to the dining room and puts Lulu in her high chair while I put our plates on the table.
"Great, so Ryan knows too?" I call back over my shoulder as I head into the kitchen for glasses of water. When I come back, he's already feeding Lulu the mashed carrots. He likes to make sure she gets at least a few bites in her before he let's her go at it with her own spoon.
"Yep, Ryan knows. But I swore him to secrecy and let him leave." He raises an eyebrow at me. "Where'd you hide Nicole? I expected to see her waiting for him."
Damn. He knows. I'd better play it cool. "My office. It's a good thing you didn't see her. She looked smokin' hot." I try for a teasing tone, but he's looking kind of serious about this.
"I don't know about this, Donna. It seems like a bad idea. Office place romances don't end well."
I just look at him for a minute. "Are you freakin' kidding me? What about us? What about Sam and Ainsley? What about Charlie and Zoey?!"
"Well, none of us actually dated while we worked together."
"Nicole and Ryan don't really work together. They barely work in the same building. If nothing becomes of it, they'll easily be able to avoid each other. You're worrying about nothing."
And I don't think it's your real concern.
"I'm still not sure he's good enough for her." There it is.
"She's old enough to make up her own mind. And he's matured A LOT since he was your intern. Give them a chance."
"Okay, Okay."
"Ahkay. Ahkay." Lulu babbles, smiling at Josh. He smiles back at her, instantly out of his brooding.
I add some diced carrots to Lulu's tray. Chasing them with her spoon will keep her entertained for most of dinner time.
"Okay, tell me the rest. What did Sam say and when's Ainsley due?"
Josh grins at me, then takes a big bite of his roast beef and chews it slowly. He likes being in the know and he's going to make me wait.
"Oh, real mature. Are you having a little power trip right now?" I tease him. "Paying me back for helping Nicole avoid your over-protective big brother routine?"
He narrows his eyes a little at the reminder that I helped them avoid detection. I feel a thrill as I sense what he's about to say.
"No. This isn't payback for that. I'll wait until I have you naked for payback time."
His voice shoots straight to my parts. Well. Tonight should be fun.
"Josh, please." I beg. His eyebrows shoot up and he gets an adorable smirk on his face. He likes it when I beg. And I like watching the reaction it has on him. "Please, tell me when Ainsley's due date is." I let my voice get husky. "I'll make it worth your while."
I hope Lulu goes to bed easy tonight, because Mommy and Daddy really need some alone time.
Josh grins at me and drops the banter. I think we're both about at our limit while the baby is still awake.
"April 15th. A tax baby. And as you obviously know, Ainsley's been pretty sick. Sam had a lot of questions about that too."
"Well, they were probably going to wait until the 12 week mark but now that the cat's out of the bag, I hope she officially tells me soon. By the way I invited them over for dinner this weekend. Maybe they'll tell us then. I'll make something that's easy on her stomach."
"Okay, that's a good idea. OH! I promised Sam we'd act surprised when they told us."
"Ha! Ainsley probably already knows that he blew the secret."
"Wanna bet?"