Author's Note:

Callbacks to Tomorrow, The Two Bartlets, and Celestial Navigation.

Chief of Staff's office at the White House
Saturday, July 18th 2009 11am

Josh leaned back against his chair, massaging a temple as he tossed his cell phone onto the desk.

Don't worry about it. There will be other times, had been CJ's response to the text he'd sent by way of apology for Donna's arrival on her doorstep without him.

God, he missed Donna. She'd been gone just over thirty-six hours but it might as well have been a month. She'd made a valiant attempt to disguise her disappointment when he'd told her, a few hours before departure, that he couldn't make the trip out to California. He'd seen through it, and part of him had hoped she'd call the trip off until he could make it - but she hadn't.

He rooted absently in a drawer for a bottle of something to stave off an impending headache, but his fingers curled around a well handled post-it note instead.

"You ever stop thinking of this as Leo's office?"

"No. Oh .. hey .. I've got something for you."

"WWLD?"

"What would Leo do?"

As he stared at the note, another memory came flooding back.

This one a little more jarring.

"We were supposed to… this is ridiculous but .. we were supposed to go away."

"Where?"

"It doesn't matter. We've been having trouble getting .. day after tomorrow?"

"Go."

"I can't."

"Go."

"I need to be here for this."

"No, you don't."

"Don't worry about it."

"My wife lives in my house, I live in a hotel. And this is why."

"Yeah, okay." Leo was walking away when Josh called after him, "well, I'm glad it's taken care of. I'm glad we got the meeting."

"Okay."

Josh closed his eyes as he reflected on that day. He'd pushed back hard on the handling of the Vieques situation, but there had been no mistaking what Leo had communicated to him in that hallway. How many times had it been made clear through words and actions that the job came first? Leo had put the job ahead of his marriage, ahead of a fledgling relationship with Jordon, even ahead of friendships at times - and it had taken his life in more ways than one.

A ringtone pulled him from his thoughts.

"Hi .."

Donna's voice washed over him like a balm.

"Hey! It's kinda early out there, isn't it?" he asked as he looked at his watch and did the math on the time zone difference.

"Margaret and Carol are coming soon. We're going to work for a few hours, and then the four of us girls are going out on a boat somewhere before heading out for drinks and dinner."

"And Danny?"

"Josh wants to know why you aren't coming out with us tonight, Danny .." he heard her call out with a laugh.

"Tell him I wouldn't be caught dead in the company of four tipsy women!"

The sound of CJ laughing heartily in the background drifted along the phone line at Josh, making him smile.

"I'll bet .." he said with a snort. "So he's staying home with the baby?"

"Yes. Everything okay over there?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. I'll call you later, breakfast's ready. Love you .."

"Love you, too."

He located the bottle of ibuprofen and tipped two capsules into his hand as soon as Donna had hung up - and as he washed them down with a glass of water, another memory came calling.

"Josh," came a muffled voice from the doorway.

"What the hell happened?"

"I had woot canaw."

"What happened to your cheeks?"

"I had woot canaw."

"Why are you talking like that?"

"I had woot canaw!" she said, her voice rising.

"Yeah, I heard you the first time. I was just amusing myself."

"I can suggest some othew things you can do wiff yourseff."

"Are you in pain?"

"I had woot canaw!" she shouted, before grabbing the side of her face, looking stricken.

"You're gonna need to stop saying that, 'cause you just look and sound so ridiculous."

"I have to cancew the bwiefing," CJ said as she followed him out into the bullpen.

"You can't cancel the briefing."

"Wook at me."

"You'll be great."

"I can't do the bwiefing."

"Why not?"

"I can't even say bwiefing."

"You can't cancel the briefing, C.J. You got to wrap up O'Leary, you got to move them back to the bill signing."

"Yoshua!"

"Sorry, did... did you just say my name?"

"You weally think I can do it?"

"Don't be insane, C.J. You're not going to a press briefing looking like Bullwinkle."

" Oh, so once again you'we just hawing a wittle fun!"

"Yeah."

"Ha ha ha ha ha."

"When can you take the cotton out?" he asked they headed back into his office.

"Two houws. I'w have Cawow cancew the bwiefing."

"No, we're still doing it."

"Who?"

"Me."

"No way!"

"C.J.?"

"You get howstiwe."

"I get .. hot stuff?

"Howstiwe. Howstiwe. You get howstiwe!"

"I don't get hostile! I don't get randomly hostile, I get hostile when hostility's called for."

"Wet Sam do it."

"Sam went to Foggy Bottom."

"What's he doing in Fwoggy Bowtew?"

"I just wanted to see if I could make you say Foggy Bottom," Josh said with a laugh.

The memory, riding on the sound of laughter that he hadn't heard from CJ in far too long, made him miss her with a fierceness that came out of left field. And the thought of Donna, CJ, and Danny together in California without him tugged at his heartstrings in ways he wasn't expecting, either.

His eyes dropped to the post-it note.

WWLD?

Probably not what he was about to, he thought as his fingers started to fly over the keyboard in front of him. The crisis which had prevented him from boarding the plane with Donna on Thursday night had resolved itself by Friday afternoon. There was no real reason he couldn't catch an early afternoon flight out of DC, spend time with Danny, and surprise both Donna and CJ when they got home.

CJ and Danny's house in Santa Monica, California
6pm

Any doubts Josh might have had during the flight out west were swept away by the smile on Danny's face when the front door opened.

"Nice digs," he said as he followed him into the kitchen

"Thanks. I'll give you the grand tour later," his host said as he opened the fridge. He was handing Josh a cold beer when a cry erupted from the baby monitor on a nearby counter. "Guess the grand tour begins now .."

"Really nice digs .." Josh said as they climbed the stairs to the second floor.

"Look what the cat dragged in .." Danny said as he lifted Imogen from her crib and angled her outwards. "It's your uncle Josh."

Josh had seen plenty of photos of Imogen, but wasn't prepared for his first sight of her.

"Holy .. she's beautiful," was all he could think of to say. "Even if she does look like you."

"I'm sure there's some parenting folklore out there which says babies look like their fathers early on," Danny said as he did a sniff test and moved over to the changing station nearby. "Something about confirming paternity."

"Huh."

"Do you know how to change a diaper?"

"Uh .. no."

"You can thank me later," Danny said as he handed over a box.

"Is it as easy as it looks?" Josh asked, dispensing wipes as needed.

"It isn't rocket science." Josh hazarded a closer look and his expression was such a combination of fascination and disgust that Danny couldn't resist adding, "the first time you put your hand in it instead of around it at two o'clock in the morning, it's a nasty surprise. But you're a quick study, you'll cop on fast. Pass me a onesie from the pile over there, will ya?"

Josh obliged, and his eyebrows shot up into his hairline a moment later when a rolled up diaper was placed into his hand.

"Diaper pail's right behind you," Danny said with a smile as he picked Imogen up and cuddled her. "Now she'll get a feed and we'll be right back here in about forty minutes. I hope you brought something other than the suit you're wearing. I'd hate for you to get spit-up on your fancy duds."

The Potting Shed Fig Santa Monica
8pm

Unsurprisingly, CJ was the first in the party to tap out.

"There's another thing you can look forward to," she huffed to Donna. "Becoming a lightweight."

Carol looked around the room in awe.

"I can't believe you rented out the whole room on a Saturday night."

"This was all Danny," CJ said with a slight yawn. "He wanted us to have a really nice night out."

"Or he knew you'd get silly after a few drinks and wanted to preserve your dignity. Either way, it must have cost a small fortune."

CJ cast her a mock glare. "Probably, and I have no idea what he had to do to get it. Do you know, Margaret?"

Margaret stopped mid-sip.

"He got them a thousand dollars' worth of advertising somewhere."

"Whatever he had to do to get it .." Donna said as she raised her glass, "to Danny!"

"How did it go this morning?" CJ asked after a while.

"It was more .. emotional than we were expecting, I think," Carol said as she placed a hand over Margaret's.

"Danny said the same thing when he got back from the farm last week."

"Mrs. Landingham?" Donna asked.

"Yes."

"Do you remember the time she found all of us together outside Leo's office discussing the rehab leak?"

Margaret gave a slight shiver as she said "yes."

Donna rubbed her friend's shoulder and raised her glass again.

"To absent friends .."

"To absent friends," the others echoed.

CJ and Danny's House
8.30pm

A couple of beers in and Josh could feel his muscles relaxing. He peered over Danny's shoulder as the freezer door swung open.

"Holy mother of - what have you got in there, a dairy farm?"

Danny laughed as he pulled out a packet of breast milk and set about thawing it.

"So this is what passes for normal these days, huh.."

"Pretty much."

"How does it work with the pumping and the, you know, feeding?"

"CJ pumps enough to keep a stock in the freezer for when she's at work or needs to work late. Or occasions like tonight where she might have a drink or two."

They headed back upstairs when the bottle had been prepped.

"Ever miss the DC circuit?" Josh asked as Danny settled into the rocking chair with Imogen.

"Not really."

"What about CJ?"

Danny pondered the question - trying to decide whether Josh was looking for an opening to a bigger conversation.

"I think she was ready for a change," he said carefully. "I think she needed the change."

He waited for the next question, but before another one could be asked a phone rang somewhere downstairs.

Danny looked at his watch and swore under his breath as he stood up. "That's my agent. Training's over, you're up."

He placed the baby in Josh's arms and transferred the piece of cloth on his shoulder to the other man's. "Hold her up against you and rub her back until she burps, don't bounce her up and down because she'll throw up all over you, and make sure you're supporting her head at all times."

"What do I if she cries?" There was just the slightest hint of panic in Josh's voice.

Danny paused in the doorway. "Talk to her, sing to her .."

"Sing!?!"

It came out as a forceful whisper which startled Imogen.

"Sing .. hum .. tell her a story about her mother. It's way past her bedtime, she'll be out like a light. I gotta take this call .."

And with that he was gone.

Josh looked down at the baby at his arms, trying desperately to think of every movie he'd ever watched which featured an adult holding a baby.

"Hi," he said quietly.

Imogen wriggled, clearly aware that she was being held by a stranger and looking as though she might start wailing at any moment. Josh settled her gently against his shoulder and started to pace as he rubbed her back.

The first burp took him by surprise.

"Atta girl, " he said, heartened by its loudness and feeling quite proud of their combined accomplishment.

Danny had been right, and it wasn't too long before she passed out. But as Josh lowered her carefully into the crib he was struck by another moment of panic. He was sure he wasn't supposed to lay her on her tummy, but was he supposed to put her down on her side or on her back? He wasn't supposed to leave her alone either, he imagined. Patting down his jeans made him realize that he'd left his phone in his suit. He cast one look at the door and another one at the sleeping baby and pushed all thoughts of work forcibly aside. How long could Danny's phone call possibly last anyway?

He trailed a finger along a row of children's books in the corner of the room - eventually picking one he remembered from his own childhood and leaning against the wall as he leafed through it. Ten minutes or so later a whiny, fussy noise alerted him that Imogen was awake. By the time he got to her, the noise had become a shriek and he practically dove into the crib.

"Hey there .." he said gently as he brought her up to his face.

He looked around for the bottle, but it stood empty and he didn't think it could be hunger. He conducted a sniff test, feeling very proud of his instincts, and determined that a diaper change was not in order.

Maybe trapped air?

He walked around a little bit more - to no avail. The cries continued to escalate.

Sing or hum, Danny had said.

He started to hum some variation of The Brady Bunch theme song, but Imogen wasn't having any of that. He tried the theme from The Bullwinkle Show. She wasn't having any of that, either. He looked at the door, hoping Danny would sail through and save him. He didn't appear and finally - almost at his wits' end - Josh considered the rocker. He had nothing but time at this point, so he sat down and tried to read to her. It was a lot more awkward than he was expecting, and he was so afraid of dropping her as he navigated turning the pages, that he abandoned the idea fairly quickly.

He settled on rocking back and forth; cradling her against his neck and articulating memories of her mother, as Danny had suggested.

"She's crazy, you know," he whispered. "She gave me pajamas three sizes too big one time. But she's also loyal and loving and kinda like a fifties movie star. That's how President Bartlet described her in the early days. You don't know him yet, but you will. And then there was this one time when she .. "

With every story he became more and more aware that he was holding a little part of CJ in his arms, and his chest constricted with emotion. Sadness over the rift that had grown between them came up against the warmth of happy memories; coalescing into a strong desire to do his part to make things right. He held Imogen a little closer and, eventually, the smell of lavender lotion coupled with the contented low pitched sounds and sighs coming from her as she settled, conspired to make him drowsy.

The Potting Shed Fig Santa Monica
9pm

Donna's cell phone dinged in the middle of dessert.

Sorry to ruin the surprise but I thought you might want to see this as it was unfolding. Maybe keep it a surprise for CJ?

Her hand flew to her mouth as a photo popped up on her screen.

Josh, fast asleep with Imogen in his arms, a hint of drool running down the side of his mouth.

"Everything okay?" Carol asked.

"Yes," Donna said with a smile as she put away her phone. "Everything is just perfect."