I glance at my watch as we pull up by the East door. Ugh! I hate running late. I don't think I'm going to have time to run up to my office before we leave for New York. I probably should have discouraged Josh from getting in the shower with me, but I really can't resist him when he gives me that look with the dimples.

Still at least I'm not actually late. We aren't scheduled to leave for another ten minutes, and Matt isn't usually early. I have enough time to walk through the building to the West Wing and be in the lobby before they arrive. It would have been nice if Scott could have just dropped me off there, but the motorcade is already lined up and waiting.

I arrive in the lobby just before Matt and Helen sweep through with their entourage. Helen doesn't invite me to ride with them so I head toward one of the SUVs a couple cars back and slide in.

Amy looks up in surprise.

"I, ah, . . . ." I'm not really sure what to say. We haven't really talked since this whole thing started.

"You can't avoid me forever." Amy snarks.

"Yeah?" I answer sliding the rest of the way into the car. The truth is, I haven't been avoiding her, but I haven't gone out of my way to talk to her either. "Funny. I don't recall ever telling my assistant not to put your calls through. So . . ."

"Yeah. Same." Amy agrees, and we stare at each other awkwardly for a few minutes. Exactly whose job is it to make the first move when the Tabloids manufacture a lie like this?

"Josh said-"

"Is everything-"

We both break the silence at the same time, and that seems to break the ice, both of us laughing a little and gesturing for the other person to go first.

"Please, go ahead." I practically beg.

"Josh said you don't believe the tabloids. He said you guys are fine?" She sounds bit nervous.

"I didn't believe them. Not for one minute." I tell her in the strongest voice possible and I see a flash of something in her eyes. Anger? She purses her lips together, and then it hits me. I guess it's a little insulting to her. Technically she had Josh first. She's annoyed that I'm so confident that he'd be faithful now. I'm not so sure how to address it. But I guess I should give it a try.

"Amy, Josh and I have something really special. We waited a long time and overcame a lot of hurdles to get to this point. I'm sorry if my complete faith in his fidelity seems like an insult to you, but really it has nothing to do with you and everything to do with Josh."

"You get him." She spits out.

"Yeah. I do, and I won't apologize for that."

"And I guess I was one of the hurdles?"

"I didn't look at it like that then. You're part of our history, part of what made Josh who he is today. I'm not going to lie and say it wasn't painful to watch at the time, but it's not like I didn't cause him some pain along the way too."

"Oh, believe me, I know. I was so sick and tired of hearing about your gomer of the week. It wasn't even funny."

I give her a little shrug. I don't have much else to say about this. I really don't want to spend much time discussing Josh & my relationship with Amy. I don't hold a grudge against her, and I don't believe the rumors, but she's just not my favorite person in the world. Still, it feels like she's one of the victims here too, and I should at least acknowledge that.

"So, are you and Landon okay? Was he angry?"

"No, he wasn't angry. He's happy all the time. I used to find that annoying." The look on her face when she says the last part makes me think that maybe she's finding it annoying again.

"Yeah, I can see that. Josh was PISSED. And so was I. I mean, how dare they publish a blatant lie? And to use Lulu's picture?" My voice rises as I finish my rant. I'm not really over this. I think I'll always be angry at Tabloid Journalism.

"See, that's what I mean." Amy admits. "It would have been nice to see a little bit of that from him. Anger at the tabloids, hell, even anger at me. He's so damn calm about it, it makes me wonder if he even cares at all."

"Oh, Amy, I'm sure he does." I try to reassure her. "I've seen how he looks at you. He loves you. I'm sure he's just got faith in you, and he's way more chill than the rest of us."

"Yeah, you're probably right. He's not like anyone I've ever dated before. He doesn't have an agenda. He's just who he is. And for some reason, he seems to love me."

"I'm glad you found him."

Amy's eyes narrow a bit and I realize that once again my comment sounds a little condescending. But again, I'm not going to apologize. Amy is wired to view things as a competition. Nothing I can say will change the fact that I won. And she might deny it until she's blue in the face, but we both know it's true.

"Me too." She eventually agrees softly. And I'm relieved that this seems to be behind us.

. . . . .

"For God's sake, smile!" Amy instructs through gritted teeth as we exit the car in front of the venue. My eyes practically roll back in my head involuntarily. Like I don't know this? Like I wouldn't smile, even if we weren't about to walk into a press event. Like I don't know that not every "reporter" outside this car isn't friendly.

Still, she has a point. The tabloid story about her alleged affair with my husband has almost completely died, though it was a slower death than I'd have preferred. This is the first time that Amy and I have been together in public since then, and the last thing we need to give them is a photo where either of us looks unhappy.

So I plaster a grin on my face as I follow her out of the car.

. . . . .

I can't say I'm unhappy when on the way back from Baltimore, Matt and Helen invite me to ride with them in the Limo. Without Amy.

"Are you excited to see your folks?" Matt asks unassumingly. Helen shoots me an apologetic look. Obviously she must not have told him that things have been kind of rocky with them lately.

"Um. . ." I'm trying to tread lightly. I don't want to bad mouth my parents to the President. But I don't want to lie either.

"Be sure to bring them by," he continues with a little glint in his eye, "I want to impress upon them how incredibly valuable you are and how lucky the whole country is to have you as part of this administration. I want to make sure they know that your talents are not being wasted and that no one is being neglected."

Ah. So if Helen didn't talk to him, Josh did. Unless I intervene, my parents are going to get a bit of a Presidential dressing down.

Matt's staring at me, one eyebrow raised, clearly expecting a response. So I give him the only one that's acceptable.

"Yes, Mr. President."

Helen gives me a little smirk, and I'm back to thinking she's the one who talked to Matt. That really does seem more likely. But I'll ask Josh tonight. If it wasn't him, he needs to know.

I hope that the pick up went well. I imagine it would. Something that Josh has in common with my parents, especially my Mother, is the ability to ignore the elephant in the room and play nice when the situation calls for it. Plus Lulu being there will be enough of a buffer. Everyone will put on a good show in front of her. Even though my Mom gets under my skin she really does love my daughter.

"So Donna, are you having dinner with them tonight?"

"Yes. Josh is getting them from the airport and getting them settled into their hotel. Then we'll have dinner there. The kids will probably stay with us tonight. Then tomorrow Josh is taking my Dad and Conor golfing in the morning before the baseball game. Mom, Carly, Lulu and I are going to the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in the morning. Do you and Miranda want to join us?"

"Sure." Helen readily agrees.

"What about me?" Matt asks a little sullenly. "I haven't been golfing in three years!"

"You wanted to be President." Helen smirks.

"It's Josh's fault. He had a 9 point plan." Matt banters back with a smile.

"And you have been golfing." Helen continues. "Up at Camp David."

"That's not really the same." Matt grumbles a little.

"I'm not sure the Secret Service would like the idea of doing this at the last minute, but I'm sure we can get you a T-time. The course will have to bump people though." I inform him, making a mental note to talk to Josh about making sure Matt gets to play. They really haven't taken many vacations in the last three years. Just a few trips up to Camp David and a few home to Houston. Maybe that's something we need to talk about as their Chiefs of Staff.

Matt holds up a hand. "No, no. Don't do that. We definitely don't want to inconvenience anyone just so I can play. But I really wouldn't mind having a chance to have a little chat with your Dad."

Now I'm feeling a bit nervous. I thought he was just trying to make me feel better when he mentioned it before. But now I'm thinking he really does plan to call my folks out. Being the leader of the free world really does make a person feel like they can do that I guess. President Bartlet has contemplated calling my parents more than once himself, but I've nixed him every time.

"You really don't have to do that. They're perfectly nice people."

"I know." He insists. "I've met them before. But they aren't perfectly nice to you, Donna. Family has a way of being like that sometimes. And a little reminder wouldn't be out of line."

"No offense, sir. But I just don't think it would go over that well with them. And I'm not completely convinced that it wouldn't do more harm than good in the long run. Josh and I will just wait it out. Eventually this will all blow over."

"I hope so." Matt offers as we arrive back at the White House. "But you've got my number if you need me."

. . . .

I'm still thinking about Matt's offer later as I head upstairs to get Lulu. I really don't want Presidential interference, but it does make me feel good to know that he cares about me enough to offer.

Really, just another example of how right I was to go to Manchester all those years ago. And it's part of the reason I've stayed at the White House all these years. I know CJ thought it was just a wild crush on Josh, but it wasn't just that. It was being part of something greater, but it was also the bond that I forged with everyone who was doing it with me. We all really did care about each other. We became a family. And like a family we didn't get along perfectly, but I knew that CJ, Toby, Sam, Leo and the Bartlets really did care about me. They made me feel good about myself. Even when I joined Will on the Russell campaign, I still felt like I was a part of it all. Sure Josh was a little hurt and a bit angry, but everyone else understood. And in hindsight, deep down, Josh understood too.

The Santos Team doesn't have exactly the same vibe, but we're still a strong team. We work well together and we do care about each other. And now there's really no doubt that Josh and I are changing the world together. I wouldn't give this up for anything. Hopefully someday my family will understand. But if they don't, I can live it with.

"Aunt Donna!" Carly cries out, getting up and running toward me as I walk through the door.

"Hi Mama, Hi!" Lulu greets me, following after her cousin. Miranda stops playing with the dollhouse and looks up and smiles at me.

"Hey Sweetie! I didn't know you were going to be here!" I wrap Carly up in a big hug. See, there are people in my family who love me.

"Miranda invited me to come over." Carly immediately informs me. "She wants to have a sleepover tonight! Can we?"

"Did you talk to your Mom about it yet, Miranda?" I ask as Lulu reaches me and I scoop her up into my arms. I'm pretty sure that she hasn't or I'd have already heard about it. In fact, I'm surprised I didn't hear that Carly was in the White House, it makes me think that the girls may have pulled one over on Uncle Josh. That wouldn't surprise me at all. Bartlet's Bulldog is just a big softie at heart.

"No, but she won't care." Miranda assures me.

Hah. That's the standard line of kids everywhere trying to manipulate adults. But still, Miranda doesn't have a lot of friends. And Carly really does enjoy spending time with her, even though she's a little younger. And they don't see each other very often, even though I know they do communicate regularly. Technology is pretty amazing.

"Okay. Well, I'll talk to your Mom, and then I'll have to clear it with Grandma Moss."

"She won't care!" Carly insists, making me laugh a bit to myself.

"We'll see. How about you guys clean up in here and I'll go see what I can do." I set Lulu down. "Lulu, go help Carly and Miranda put the toys away. I'll be back in a minute."

"Ahkay, Mama." She agrees, happy to be included with the big girls. Miranda is pretty good with her, and she really loves Carly.

"Is your Mom in the kitchen, Pete?"

He looks up from his homework and smiles at me. "Yes, I think she's making enchiladas for dinner. I hope Carly can stay."

The way he says Carly's name sets my spidey-senses tingling. I wasn't surprised to see him in the daycare room. In fact, watching Lulu from 5 until Josh or I pick her up is his after-school job, so that Nicole can work 10 hour days instead of 12 hour days. But now I'm thinking that today might have been a little bonus for him. He and Carly are the same age, and they hit it off right away, but given the long distance it didn't really occur to me that something could be brewing there. I wonder if I should tell Josh?

"Hey, that smells good." I tell Helen as I walk into the kitchen.

"Thanks, it's almost done."

"Did you know Carly was coming over today?"

Helen laughs. "No. I found out about that when we got back to the Residence and Miranda was sitting on pins and needles waiting for her to arrive. Seems like my daughter convinced your husband without telling the rest of us."

"Sorry about that, Miranda's got him wrapped around his little finger. Carly too."

"It's fine. Actually it was kind of nice. It reminded me of the good old days when the kids could have friends over at the spur of the moment."

"Speaking of which, I was just lobbied for a sleepover."

"Hah!" Helen laughs. "I've been expecting them to ask me. But Miranda knows you're a pretty easy mark too. So I'm not surprised they waited for you."

"Are you okay with it?"

"Yeah, it's fine. They want to watch a movie tonight. As long as you're okay with it, so am I."

"I suppose I should check with my Mom to make sure she's okay with it too. But really she sees Carly all the time. As long as I bring Lulu to dinner, she won't care."