A/N: Here's the next chapter! This talks about a very typical part of chemo treatment, and I hope I've done it justice. Hope you enjoy, please read and review!

Chapter 11: You're Still Our Mom

It was now week 3 of Donna's treatment, and she had reached the end of round 2 of 8. Overall, weathering the difficult side effects of the treatment hadn't been as hard as she had anticipated. Over the last few weeks, she had met several other patients and nurses who had given her very helpful advice. She now ate several small meals a day rather than 3 big ones, and she had managed her fatigue by staying active-something that her busy job made very easy for her to do.

It was a Tuesday, and Donna was in a committee meeting with her House colleagues. Because she had gone public with her disease, many of them embraced her or asked what they could do. Luckily, because her treatments were on Fridays, they didn't impact her ability to do her job in the following week. Matt Skinner was leading the session.

"So, we probably want to strike this paragraph." He was saying. "I don't think we need to provide funding for Head Start when that should be the state's responsibility." He may be a moderate Republican, but he was a Republican nonetheless, one who believed the language wasn't necessary for this particular bill.

"All due respect, Congressman," said one Democratic Representative from Florida, "Head Start is part of our long-term funding plan. We don't get this, we don't get the other funding we've got coming our way."

"How do you mean?"

"School nutrition, family and medical leave, advancements in testing…"

"Strike the language," Donna spoke up quietly.

Skinner looked up. "Donna?"

"I agree with Chairman Skinner." She said, finding it within herself to speak up, though she was only a freshman. "Head Start will only stonewall the bill and make it harder to get it through to the floor."

Congressman Phil Fischer found himself nodding. "She's right. This is a bill that could make public and private schools accessible to all children going into kindergarten. We need this bill. And tacking on $30 billion for Head Start is a sure way to get it killed."

"Okay," Skinner said. "All those in favor of striking the language?"

"A majority of the committee raised their hands.

"Consider it stricken. Meeting adjourned."

Everyone stood up and began to leave the room. Skinner approached Donna. "Hey, how are you doing?"

"Better, thank you for asking." Donna could answer truthfully. Her first weeks of treatment had been a living nightmare, but things were slowly getting better.

"How many more rounds of chemo?"

"Five."

"Seems manageable." He laughed. "That was stupid. Easy for me to say, I'm not the one going through it."

"No, it's fine," Donna said, smiling shyly. "I really am handling it better. The first couple of days are usually the hardest, that's why I go for chemo on Fridays."

"That's smart. You have the weekend to recover before you go into work on Mondays."

"Yeah."

"Well, stay strong. Tell Josh I said hi, will you?"

"I will, Matt. Thank you."

But the next morning, Donna's good feelings about her treatment were slammed into reverse gear.

…

Just like her diagnosis, Donna was in the shower when it happened.

She was shampooing her hair, trying to be as cautious as possible, when she felt something come off in her hand. She pulled her hand back, and that's when she saw it.

A clump of soft, wet blonde hair.

Donna took a shuddering breath, tears springing to her eyes. This had been the one part of chemo she was absolutely dreading. She knew that with the particular drugs she was on, hair loss was an extremely likely possibility. Still, she had hoped it wouldn't happen.

Hopping out of the shower, she didn't even bother to brush or blow-dry her hair. What was the point when it was all gonna fall out anyway?

But as she was dressing, she noted that another few hairs had fallen onto the sink, and onto the bedspread. This was going to happen quicker rather than slower.

She decided to put a game face on as she went downstairs to the kitchen. Hopefully, the kids wouldn't even notice she was upset.

She was greeted by a heartwarming sight: Leo and Matty at the table, eating breakfast; Abby at the breakfast bar finishing a book, and Anna at the counter fixing her own breakfast while rubbing her belly. Occasionally, she would giggle as the baby kicked her ribs.

"Morning, Mom," Leo said as he looked up and noticed his mother.

"Morning, kids." Donna greeted as she went to make herself a piece of toast. She passed Anna and paused. "He kicking up a storm?"

Anna looked surprised. "Yeah. How did you know?"

"Because you four all did the same thing."

"You wanna feel?"

"Sure," Donna said softly, placing a hand on her daughter's abdomen. Her smile melted into a grin as her grandson kicked her hand.

Just then, the sadness that had engulfed her in the bathroom returned.

"You OK, Mom?" Anna asked carefully. While she was privately struggling with the reality of her mom's diagnosis, she was determined to not let it show on the outside.

Donna nodded. "Yeah, honey. I'm fine." She ran her hair through Anna's thick wavy locks before pressing a kiss to her forehead.

"Morning, everyone," Josh said from behind her as he entered the kitchen.

Donna smiled at him briefly, before turning back to the sink. She felt Josh wrap his arms around her waist and kiss her on the cheek.

"How are you feeling?" He asked her softly.

"Okay." She replied. It wasn't a total lie. "I'm gonna go and get ready for work."

Josh was a bit concerned about Donna's distant behavior. Not concerned that something was wrong, just worried for her. He heard her brushing her teeth and decided to change clothes while he was waiting for her. He reached around the bed for his Apple watch, and a glint caught his eye. He looked at Donna's pillow, and his eyes widened.

Several strands of blonde hair covered the pillowcase.

Suddenly, Donna's actions at breakfast made sense. She was probably scared, upset, embarrassed, probably a little of all three.

"It started this morning." He heard Donna say quietly. He jumped slightly and turned to see her standing in the doorway of their bathroom. "I didn't want to say anything, because I didn't want you to get upset. Or me."

"Honey, why would I get upset?" Josh said to her, walking up to her and taking her hands in his.

"Because I'm gonna look different."

Josh's heart broke at her words. But he knew he had to get her out of that mindset. They sat down on the bed.

"Donna, I want you to get that thought out of your head right now. I would never get upset because you look different. Because you are still the same beautiful person on the inside. I didn't fall in love with your hair, I fell in love with you. I love you so, so much. And this is really important, I want you to remember this."

Donna nodded in anticipation.

"You are still you. You're still my wife. You're still Donna."

Donna smiled, tears welling up in her eyes as she embraced Josh.

"Thank you." She whispered into his ear.

"You're welcome," Josh replied. He awkwardly gestured to her head. "So, how do you want to deal with this? You want to just shave it off now?"

"Well, maybe not now," Donna told him. "But...maybe tonight?"

"Okay." Josh agreed. "Do you want a wig?"

"You know, I think I do," Donna answered honestly. "When I'm at work...I want people to be able to focus on me, not my illness. And I know that if I don't have any hair, I'm gonna look sick, and that's gonna be what people focus on. And when I'm home or just out and about, I can wear a scarf or a hat. I don't want to hide from people, I just-"

"Wanna be able to focus on work at work?"

"Yes."

"That sounds completely fair." Josh hugged her tightly. "We're gonna get through this."

"I love you," Donna said into his shoulder.

"I love you, too."

That night, once they had explained to their kids what was gonna happen, Josh and Donna went to a wig shop and found a wig or two for her to wear that were similar enough to her hair that it would barely look different. And after they got home, Josh helped her clip and shave off what was remaining of her hair.

Donna looked at herself in the mirror. Even though her head was completely bare, she could see that she was still the same person she always was.

Just then, Abby knocked on her bathroom door. "Can I come in?"

"Sure, sweetie," Donna called back.

At first, she was a little worried about how her kids would look at her. But Abby came in with a bag and sat down without even commenting on her mother's lack of hair.

"I bought these for you a while back," Abby explained. "I wanted to do something, and I knew that hair loss was really common, so I was hoping these might look good on you and make you feel a little better."

Donna emptied the bag and found several pre-tied headscarves, each prettier than the last. Once again, she felt tears of gratitude welling up that she had such a loving daughter.

She picked out a lilac-colored one and slipped it on. "How does it look?" She asked nervously.

Josh and Abby both broke into grins.

"It looks great on you," Josh said immediately. "It brings out your eyes."

"Yeah?" Donna said, her face breaking out into a genuine grin for the first time that day.

"It really does, Mom," Abby said sincerely. She threw her arms around her mother and said the four words she needed to hear most in the world.

"You're still our mom."

…

The next day, Josh was sitting on the couch. Donna was at work, then taking Anna to her 24-week checkup. The rest of the kids were at school. He was trying to work on something he wanted to bring to Sam- a setup that could introduce his successor in 2026, as well as define the Seaborns' next step as a family. But right now, something else was on his mind.

He couldn't stop thinking about the previous night. How Abby had given her mother the self-confidence booster she so desperately needed. Though she had been initially terrified at the idea of losing her hair, Josh had helped her feel comfortable with the idea. It was one more storm they had weathered.

But speaking of storms…

Josh felt like there was a storm brewing inside him. Yesterday, and over the last several weeks, he had seen Donna at her lowest points. This diagnosis had tested their marriage like no other crisis in the 27 years they had known one another. And Josh felt helpless.

He had felt helpless when Donna sat on the couch when the doctor called, shattered to her core. He had felt helpless when she was throwing up buckets after her first chemo treatments. And he felt helpless yesterday when Donna faced the one thing she had hoped and prayed wouldn't happen to her.

He could give Donna all the love and support in the world, but he couldn't do the one thing that would help her most-take away her pain and her suffering. It was because of these thoughts that he felt feelings of guilt that he just couldn't shake.

Josh decided he wanted to get some air. Pushing himself off the couch, he walked outside to the backyard. This had been the site of many family barbeques and summer activities over the last 5 years they had owned this house.

Leaning against the railing, he began to talk out loud. He didn't know if he was talking to God or what, but he said some things he needed to get off his chest.

"Why?" He asked out loud. "Things are finally normal around here, and we just needed another challenge? We haven't suffered enough? Rosslyn, Gaza...almost getting killed was just a warm-up, huh? Why her? She's never hurt anyone. What'd she ever do to the world?"

He took a shuddering breath, tears pricking at his eyes. "I don't know what to do. She's hurting. And I feel like she's not pushing me away, but at the same time, I feel like we're handling this alone. And our kids? They're struggling too, even though they say they're not."

"Just help us." He said plaintively. "Don't take her from us. And let us get through this unscathed."

As he was finishing his conversation, his phone rang.

He picked it up. "Josh Lyman."

"Mr. Lyman? Are you Leo's father?"

"Yeah, I'm Leo Lyman's dad. What's going on?"

"This is April Karp, Leo's special education coordinator."

"Yes, Mrs. Karp. What can I do for you?"

"Well, first, Mr. Lyman, let me say that I am fully aware of your wife's condition, and our thoughts and prayers are with you all. That being said, Leo...well, he's usually very sweet, but lately, he's been challenging. Mrs. Benton says he hasn't been cooperating in class, and he's been picking fights with other students. I've been noticing the same thing during group session."

"Picking fights? That doesn't sound like Leo."

"Well…I will say that it's a perfectly normal reaction to what he's going through. But I think it might be wise for us to meet to discuss how best to help Leo."

"Okay. Um…how about tomorrow at 4?"

"That works fine for us. Will your wife be joining us?"

Josh mulled it over for a second. Much as he wanted to keep this off his wife's plate, he also knew she would kill him if she found out he had kept this from her.

"Yeah," He finally said. "She will."

A/N: Next up, Josh tries to deal with Leo, while Donna learns that Matty is having a harder time dealing than she thought. Hope you liked this chapter, let me know what you thought!