A/N: Here's the final chapter! Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed this story. Hope you enjoy this last installment, please read and review!

Chapter 8: Life Goes On

"Stanley Keyworth."

"Stanley. This is...um...it's Josh."

"Josh." The professionalism in Stanley's voice seemed to grow stronger when he heard Josh's voice. "It's been a while."

Josh had to laugh. "Yeah, it has." Josh took the opportunity to close himself in his study. He knew no one would bother him.

"I gotta say, I was wondering when I was going to hear from you."

"You-you were?"

"Well, considering I've heard from quite a few people in your life that are concerned about you, I wondered why I wasn't hearing from the man himself."

"Who have you heard from?" Josh asked, genuinely curious. This was the first he had heard of anyone outside of Donna considering calling Stanley to be a first step.

"Oh, Donna, your friend Sam, President Bartlet, Dr. Bartlet, the President-"

"Wait. President Santos called you?"

"Yes. We had a very nice chat. I can't say I ever thought I would be able to say that I've had two sitting Presidents call me."

"Well, I don't know what they've told you, but-"

"They've told me that you've been-well, a little off. Sam even said that it was reminding him of the Christmas after Rosslyn."

That was news to Josh. "It was?"

"Yes. And that scared him and Donna to no end." There was a pause. "I'll tell you another reason why I was waiting for you to call."

"Why?"

"Something to do with what happened last month."

"A lot of things happened last month."

"I think you know what I'm talking about."

Josh was silent. "There was a shooting."

"That's right, Josh." Stanley paused. "What happened on February 21st?"

"We were trying to find a candidate to endorse for President."

"Pardon?"

"You asked me what was going on that day. One of the things was that we were trying to find a new candidate to endorse for the Presidency."

"Because Santos is leaving office?"

"Yeah."

"Handling your job and being a father, that must be pretty difficult to balance."

"Not really. President Santos is a family man himself, so he always makes sure we're out the door early. Unless there's a Sit Room emergency."

"And how many times does that happen, on average?"

"I don't really know."

"Just a ballpark estimate."

"Two, sometimes three days a week."

"So, you try to spend time with your children when you can?"

"Yeah, of course."

"You know, I don't know if you've told me how many children you have."

"I have three. Twin girls and a boy."

"So, hectic job, three children-you must feel like you're not able to spend that much time with them."

"Like I said, President Santos lets us have a pretty flexible-"

"I didn't ask what President Santos does to make your lives easier. I asked if you feel like you get to spend enough time with your kids."

Josh froze on his end of the phone. The truth was, he didn't sometimes. Donna always said she understood, but there was a difference between saying she understood and actually understanding. Maybe that was where his guilt was coming from.

"Josh?"

"I'm the White House Chief of Staff, Stanley. Of course I don't get to spend enough time with my kids."

"Does that make you feel guilty?"

"Sometimes." He admitted.

"Have you ever thought about quitting?"

Josh sighed. There was no beating around the bush now. "I almost did."

"I know. That's why President Santos called me."

"Really?"

"He said, 'Josh must be in a really bad way if he thinks the only way out of this hole is by leaving his job.' So, I thought I'd better call you. But you beat me to it."

"He wouldn't accept my resignation."

"Why would you offer to resign in the first place?"

"Because-"

"Because why?"

"Because it's my fault." he muttered.

"I couldn't quite hear you."

"Because it's my fault!"

"What's your fault?" Josh was quiet. "What was your fault, Josh?"

"I-I-"

"You called me, remember, Josh? You had something you needed to talk about. I can't help you unless you talk about it." Stanley's words were met by silence. "So, are we just going to sit here on the phone like this?"

"She was shot."

"Who was shot, Josh?"

"My daughter." It was the first time he had spoken those words aloud. "My daughter was shot."

"That's right, Josh. Your daughter was shot."

"I'm cursed."

"What makes you say that?"

"Everyone I love gets hurt. Joanie, Dad, Donna, Abby, Anna-"

"Who's Joanie?"

"My sister." he said. "She died in a house fire when I was 7. I ran out of the house."

"And how was that your fault?"

Josh leaned his head back against the chair he was in. "I didn't go back for her. I couldn't-I couldn't protect her."

"We're not talking about your sister, are we, Josh?"

"I couldn't protect her."

"Josh-"

"I couldn't protect-"

"Josh!" Josh went silent again. "You really think things would've been any different if you had been there?"

"No." The answer came off the tip of Josh's tongue so automatically he briefly wondered if it was his subconscious talking.

"Just like you couldn't have stopped Donna from getting into a car that was blown up by a bomb."

"Yeah."

"You're not cursed. Your family may have a bad penchant for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, but...you're not cursed. You're human."

"It was my job. It was my job that made people angry."

"Was it you? Was it your kids that made the gunman angry?"

"No. It was a bill."

"A bill. So why didn't he go after the people that wrote the bill?"

"Because he blamed the White House. Normal people don't understand Congress. They just know that the President's the one that signs the bill."

"People get angry, Josh. People get angry, and they look for people to blame. It wasn't your job, and it certainly wasn't you."

"It wasn't me?"

"It wasn't you. That gunman didn't understand something that you and I do."

"What's that?"

"Things just happen. We lose our jobs, people are hurt...they just happen. And there's no easy answer why."

Josh just sat there, taking it all in. "My daughter has PTSD, you know. She saw it all happen."

"Is she in therapy?"

"Yes."

"And she's doing better?"

"Yeah, she is." He smiled, remembering her news from earlier.

"We do get better, Josh."

"Thanks, Stanley. I really think this helped."

"Just remember, call if you need me, okay?"

"I will."

"Goodbye, Josh."

"'Bye, Stanley."

…

The next four months passed in a blur of therapy appointments, celebrations, and other milestones.

Josh continued his recovery, never fully letting go of his guilt but letting it go enough to be able to enjoy life and his work again. He went back to the White House, and did his job to the best of his ability. One major change he made, however, was to spend more time at home with his wife and his family. Luckily, President Santos supported his wish to spend more time at home, even though Sit Room interruptions continued to come. The time spent with his daughters reminded him that they would all get better every day.

Donna's nightmares grew lesser after a period of time. Her talk with Katrina Murphy had helped tremendously with her guilt, but like Josh, it never completely went away. It did lessen over time, however, and it was a great boost to her spirits to see how well her children were doing in their recovery.

Abby worked hard in PT, and it began to show. Soon she was out of her wheelchair and up on crutches, mastering the crutches after only a few short days. By July of that year, she was down to one forearm crutch and getting stronger every day.

Anna's recovery was taking a bit longer. After her initial breakthrough in March, she began to slowly recover. She still had nightmares, but they were far less often, and she was finally growing back into the outgoing personality she had had before the shooting. She had also been able to return to school in April, after she had learned from Dr. Addison how to deal with her separation anxiety. Her teacher had returned the next month, and it seemed that her entire class was also beginning to heal from what had happened.

There was now a beautiful plaque dedicated to Tyler just outside the school. It made Donna smile every time she walked past it to pick her girls up. Knowing that the little boy would be remembered made the tragedy of that day seem just a bit more bearable. Tyler's death also meant the loss of a Congressman-Ted Jeanson had announced in May that he would not seek re-election. Donna didn't blame the parents for wanting to get out of the city that took the life of their son, and she wished them well.

Matty never really knew the full extent of what had gone on, but he, too, had affected. He became more attached to Abby than he had before the shooting, and more attached to his parents. It took many reassurances, but he was able to get over his anxiety.

Now, it was July 5, and for the first time since their birth, their birthday fell on a Saturday. Donna had decided to go all out for their party, given that...well, Donna chose not to dwell on the fact that if it hadn't been for the very-well-timed intervention of the Secret Service agent, the girls' birthday might have looked very different this year.

The party was themed after the girls' favorite movie, Toy Story. It was one of the few movies they watched over and over again, and all three movies had provided hours of entertainment for Abby when she was laid up in the hospital.

Donna was in the kitchen, putting the finishing touches on their cakes. Rather than just one cake, they had decided to give each girl their own cake this year. Abby's was a Buzz Lightyear-themed cake, while Anna had asked for Jessie the Cowgirl for hers. Donna had left most of the decorating up to Helen, who wanted to do something for the girls.

She felt a pair of arms slither around her and looked over her shoulder to see Josh.

"Hey. Sam got the kids under control?"

"Are you kidding? Eight screaming kids? He's got it handled."

Donna laughed. "Sure, he does."

"So, how are you feeling?" Josh's hands came to rest on her slightly expanded stomach. Their emotional recovery had received a boost in May of that year when they learned the unexpected, but much welcome, news of Donna's third pregnancy. The girls and Matty were thrilled to be getting a new baby sibling.

"Pretty good, actually. Ready to carry these in?"

"Yeah, I think we've tortured the girls long enough." Josh stopped for a second as he noticed the wistful expression on Donna's face. "Hey, what's up?"

"I just-" Donna cut herself off, then continued. "I just can't help but think of what things might've been like if things had ended differently."

Josh smiled, cupping her cheek. "Donna, we have three-well, soon to be four-beautiful, healthy children. And I am so grateful for them each and every day. Do I think about the what-ifs? Of course I do. But then, I just remember that they are here, and they're better."

Donna nodded, wiping away the tears that had begun to trickle down her cheek. "Yeah, you're right." She and Josh kissed quickly. "Now, let's go celebrate our daughters' birthday."

"Let's do it." Josh said. Each taking a cake, they carried them into the waiting party. The girls gasped in delight at their beautifully-decorated birthday cakes.

After lighting the candles (six on each), four-year-old Matty led the singing.

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you! Happy birthday, Abby and Anna, happy birthday to you!

As the girls eagerly blew out their candles, Josh and Donna watched in awe.

They were better, they were all better. It had been a long road, and there was still more that lay ahead, but they had made it.

A/N: And there's the story! I hope you enjoyed it, even though the subject matter was a bit dark. Next story I write will be happier, I promise. Please let me know what you thought!