As Josh leads Peter and Carly to a quiet corner, I look towards Matt uncertain if I should stay or join them. He gives me a little head tilt in the direction of their backs, so I follow the three of them.
"Alright." Josh begins a little sternly, "Let's just make sure we're all on the same page here. Am I incorrect in my assumption that you two plan for Carly to join the family on stage in, oh," he glances at his watch, "approximately 23 minutes?"
The twin blushes on their cheeks pretty much answers the question but they look at each other guiltily, silently determining whether or not to confess. If I wasn't stressed about their answer, I'd find their attempt at telepathic communication adorable.
"Look," I jump in, "we love you both. And we are thrilled that you enjoy each other's company. But this is not the time or place to make any sort of grandiose announcement to the rest of the world."
"But I love her!" Peter declares passionately while Carly beams at him. "I want everyone to know!"
Josh actually groans out loud while Carly bursts out "And I love him too, Aunt Donna!"
Josh's eyes look like they are going to pop out of their sockets as his head whips around to see if Matt just overheard the kids, but the applause from the convention floor have kept their proclamations concealed.
:That's very sweet, really." I tell them sincerely. I'm not at all immune to the romance of young love, but I'm also a professional here. And their plan is simply not going to come to fruition. Not on my watch.
"Okay, I'm going to treat the two of you like the mature young adults that I know you are, okay?"
Both kids nod enthusiastically, thinking they've found a willing accomplice. They are in for a shock.
"Here's the thing." I look directly at Carly. "If you go out on that stage, the family picture is going to be in tomorrow's paper. Front page. You with your hand in Peter's. Maybe his arm wrapped around you. You'll both be smiling and feeling good. It'll probably have your name in the caption. And that sounds absolutely lovely, doesn't it?"
Again, they both nod eagerly.
"But then, day after tomorrow, at least one, but more likely four or five tabloids are going to have your picture on the cover. They're going to comb through your social media or your friends social media, and they're going to find the worst pictures. You with your mouth full of food, or having a bad hair day, or making a grumpy face at one of your brothers. And they're going to make up stories about who you are, and how you met, and exactly what's been happening when you've slept over at the White House."
"I don't care." Carly says defiantly, so I turn to Peter.
"You know what that's like. When there are fake stories about you. Doesn't feel good, does it?"
He shakes his head no.
"Do you want her to go through that?"
"No." He answers softly.
"And worse than that. What if some sicko decides she's not good enough for you and decides to remove her from the picture? And you both know I don't mean figuratively. If she ends up in the spotlight, her life could literally be in danger. Do you guys remember what happened with Lulu?"
I glance back over at Carly, who has turned a little pale.
"And even if there aren't any threats, how do you think your Dad is going to react if your picture is in the tabloids? You think he's going to keep letting you make these trips to see Peter?"
Carly shakes her head no. The realization that this is a bad idea finally setting in.
"That's right. He won't. I don't like being the bad guy, but I love the two of you too much to let you go out there together, okay?"
"Okay, Aunt Donna." Carly agrees, pouting just a little.
"Okay, why don't you guys go listen to the rest of the speech."
Peter wraps his arm around Carly and they rejoin Matt and Miranda in front of a monitor. Matt ruffles Peter's hair, then Carly quickly fixes it for him.
"Wow." Josh breathes out. "You are so good at that! You're like a political Wonder Woman and Super Mom all rolled into one."
I give him a little smirk. "You want to jump me right now, don't you."
"When don't I?" he quips back, giving my ass a light pinch.
"Hey!"
He just grins at me unapologetically.
When the speech is over, Carly stands back stage with us watching the excitement a little dejectedly. I really hope that she's not confusing her feelings about the excitement of the campaign with her feelings for how much she likes Peter. She's young, and the chance of this lasting very long is pretty slim, especially under these circumstances, but I'd really hate to see either of them get hurt.
"I know you're right Aunt Donna." She says after a few minutes. "And I wish I could be out there, but I don't want to risk my Dad not letting me see Peter anymore. He's a really special guy. He's not like any of the boys that go to my school. And I do whatever it takes to be able to keep seeing him, even if it means we can only be friends until we're older."
Well, maybe there's some hope for them. Once again Carly impresses me. I know what it's like to be the youngest that no one takes seriously. I don't want to treat her like she's not smart enough and capable enough to handle some big stuff.
"It won't be like this forever. In a few years you'll be older and Peter dating won't draw quite as much attention, and your parents will be more prepared for it."
Carly gives me a little smile and nods.
"And when they come off stage we'll make sure that you get some pictures with the family and Peter, as long as you promise me that you won't post them on social media or send them to any of your friends. These are just for you to keep in your room."
"Okay." she agrees happily, the sparkle back in her eyes.
. . . . . . .
There is a tapping on the door precisely at noon. I skip to the door, excited to see my friends. As soon as I open it CJ grabs me in a hug.
"Donna! It's so good to see you."
"CJ! I"m so glad you're here!"
She lets go of me and moves toward Josh.
"Hi Kate."
"Hey Donna."
We give each other a quick hug. Kate isn't as demonstrative as CJ but I'm glad to see her.
As we move into the parlor we discover Josh bear hugging CJ. I think he misses her even more than I do. She's practically his big sister and he's never fully gotten over not seeing her every day.
Lulu is dancing around them chanting, "me too! Me too!"
CJ laughs, reaches down and scoops her up for a quick hug and twirl. When she's done, Lulu looks around the room, then back at CJ.
"Where's baby Hope?" She demands.
"Sorry sweetheart. Hope's home with Daddy. This is a solo trip for Auntie CJ."
"Hope's not here?" Lulu confirms with a pout, causing CJ to laugh again.
"Oh my god, Donna, she may look just like Josh, but she's your mini-me!"
"That's what I keep saying." Josh quickly agrees but I just shake my head.
"Oh no! She's all him!"
Kate laughs at the whole exchange. "Hey Josh." She greets him with a little head nod, which he quickly returns.
"Hey." He scoops Lulu back up into his arms. "We'll leave you ladies to your lunch. It's naptime for this one."
"Storytime, Daddy." Lulu insists, resisting her afternoon rest period as she's taken to doing lately.
"Yes, baby, we'll read some stories first."
He brings her to me for a few butterfly kisses before he takes her into the bedroom. I have no doubt he'll get her to sleep. He's the nap master. It's also entirely likely that he'll catch 40 winks himself while he's at it. He might not admit it to anyone else, but he's discovered the value of a little downtime in the afternoon.
When the door to the bedroom shuts, I usher CJ and Kate over the conference table, where I already have lunch laid out.
"I hope you don't mind, I pre-ordered lunch so that Josh and Lulu and our parents could eat too. They've taken it to their room. We've got a salad bar and stuff for sandwiches."
"This is great, Donna." CJ assures me. "You know what I like."
"Can't go wrong with salad." Kate agrees. "This is a really nice suite."
"Thanks. It's a long way from sharing a room with Maragret during the first Bartlet campaign!"
"I'll bet." She agrees, "but you must have some good stories from that!"
"She does but it doesn't start there, does it, Donna?" CJ chimes in wagging a finger at me.
"It's been twelve years CJ! Aren't I ever going to live this down?"
"What?" Kate asks curiously.
"Have you ever been on a National Campaign before?" CJ questions, then when Kate shakes her head no, CJ launches into the story.
"They can be chaotic. People everywhere. Every place you stop there are new volunteers. It stops registering for a while. And at the end of the day, you're exhausted beyond belief. At some point someone presses a hotel key into your hand, you grab your suitcase, and you go collapse. There's just not a lot of thought to it. You fall on the nearest bed and get as much sleep as you can before you start again the next day."
"Yeah, I can see that." Kate agrees. "At least campaigning for Congress keeps you close to home base."
I find it interesting that Kate refers to Oregon as home base, but not home. I wonder what that means. She really is a mystery.
"Right." CJ continues, "I think it was about a week or so before it dawned on me that this one had been around a while, always right beside Josh. She was like a stray puppy that he had decided to keep!" CJ offers with a laugh before continuing.
"But she had credentials, and she was always put together, so I assumed that she was being taken care of."
Kate looks at me confused, but I just shrug at her.
"So imagine my surprise when one night at 2 am, I go back to the bus looking for a memo, only the trip over our stray little puppy, shivering in the aisle under a pitifully small pile of blankets."
I feel the need to defend myself- "Believe it or not it was better than the floor in Margaret's room. She's a sleepwalker!"
"Anyway, turns out that Josh hadn't thought any farther than putting his credentials around her neck. He hadn't told Advance to make sure she had a place to sleep. And his assistant," she gives me a pointed look, "hadn't taken care of it either."
"Hey. I was trying not to give anyone a reason to send me home."
"Well, by then we'd figured out how useful you were, so there was literally no danger of that. And we were all fond enough of you to want to make sure, you know, you didn't freeze to death." She laughs, and after all these years I can join in. It'nice to hear that I wasn't making a nuisance of myself and that they all wanted to keep me.
"And in Josh's defense, I had told him I was willing to sleep on the floor when I convinced him to let me join the trip."
"That may be," CJ informs me smugly, "But you're still lucky that I didn't tell him! He'd have had a conniption fit."
"You told the Governor! I had to endure a lengthy lecture about the stupidity of sleeping on an unheated, unlocked bus! At one point I really thought he was going to make me stand with my nose in the corner for a half hour."
CJ smirks at me, still not a bit sorry. But I can't be too mad at her and she knows it. I never felt more like I belonged than in that moment.
"Anyway, after that I was assigned a room every night. And I figured out that spraying some lavender on Margaret's pillow knocks her right out."
CJ laughs. "There are days I wanted to spritz her in the face like a cat! That lavender tip would have been handy."
"Oh come on," I chastise CJ a bit, "she might be a bit quirky, but you have to admit, you wouldn't want to run the White House without her, would you?"
"Absolutely not." CJ quickly agrees.
"So how is work? Do you have a new Margaret?"
CJ sighs. "No, she's one of a kind. I have a team of Carols though, they research opportunities and help me figure out what to do next. I wish I could get Carol to come join me, but she's pretty happy at that Nonprofit promoting Veteran's Courts."
"She sure is! We had lunch last week. She's doing some remarkable things." Kate agrees.
"So how are Danny and Hope?" I ask, trying to move us away from work topics. We get so little time together. I want to hear about their lives.
"They are great. She's starting to talk more. Not up to Lulu's speed but she's getting there. I think Josh has been giving Danny some book suggestions to increase her vocabulary."
"Probably. He's really invested in the Santos Education for the 21 century plan. He'll have all our kids passing advanced placement tests in kindergarten!"
CJ laughs at my obvious joke, but Kate's brow is wrinkled. I feel guilty. A kid conversation doesn't really include her. Maybe work is a safer subject?
"What about you Kate, are you excited about the convention?"
"Not really." She admits, "but you, know, Will."
CJ and I exchange a glance. I mean, we know Will, but nobody really knows what Will and Kate are. It's not uncommon for them to appear together at events but Kate's not really the type to dish. Still, CJ sensing an opportunity, makes a bit of an effort.
"Why yes, I do believe I know him. Younger fella, glasses? How do you know him?"
Kate laughs, but doesn't say anything.
"Oh come on, Kate! What good is girl time if you won't give us anything? What's the deal with you and Will? You're the last of the group without a ring." CJ's always been willing to jump to the point. And she gets a response.
"What's to say? Technically he lives in Oregon and I live in DC. We're still seeing each other in a very non-committed yet monogamous way."
"Are you okay with that?" I ask. I feel like I sort of know what she means and I didn't really like it when Josh and I were dancing around each other after Germany.
"I've been married a couple times already. I'm not all that interested in trying it again any time soon. Will's in DC enough, and I spent some time out there writing before I came back to the District. This is working."
"Well, okay then. Whatever works!" CJ agrees clinking her glass with Kate's and letting her off the hook.
. . . . . .
The mood in the Bartlet suite is festive as we watch Gabe Tillman give the second night's opening speech. There's really no doubt that Will wrote it, even though he's denied it several times now.
Gov. Tillman looks straight into the camera to deliver the final lines, "America is built on the promise of a people always reaching for something greater, never resting on the past, never satisfied. A people willing to work to make tomorrow better than today. A people who will embrace the future for all it's potential. That's why we're here tonight. This is only the beginning!"
Will turns a lovely shade of pink as the room bursts into applause.
From his chair, kitty corner from the couch where Will, Josh and Charlie sit, Jed proclaims, "well done, young man, well done!"
"I told you. . ." Will begins his denial again, but Jed shushes him with a hand wave.
"No one in this room will believe you if you deny it, and no one will repeat it outside of here if you admit it. And from a man who has had the immeasurable pleasure of speaking your words, I want you to take the congratulations that you are due."
Will closes his mouth and gives the slightest acknowledging nod to Jed's words, but it satisfies his former commander in chief who leads another round of applause.
Will is thoroughly embarrassed as Josh pounds him on the back, genuinely proud of him. He's one of us. When the applause finally subsides, Will gets up and makes his way to the small kitchen for a drink, his face still flushed but his eyes shining.
I plop down in his vacant seat and Josh wraps his arm around me. He leans close and speaks softly, so only I can hear.
"You know, I absolutely didn't appreciate it at the time, but I'm glad Will hired you for Russell's campaign. It gave you a chance to prove yourself away from me. And even though Ididn't need convincing, others probably did. But I still wish you'd been with me. It would have made everything better. I'm so glad we are doing this together this time. It's the way it should be."