"Is there enough for another bowl, sir?" Ethan asked to the amazement of the Senior staff.
Noticing the disbelieving looks Bri explained, "He's from Texas."
"Texas?" Bartlet asked. "So do you think I've been forgiven yet for that comment I made during the first campaign?" he asked the younger man as he refilled Ethan's bowl.
"I don't know, sir" Ethan replied with a slight grin. "We Texan's are awfully attached to our hats."
"So I've been told," the President sighed with a mock glare for his Senior staff. "Deena, have you decided what President you'll be doing your project on, 'cause you know...."
"Don't go there Jed" Abby warned him.
"Yeah," Leo agreed. "She should do her project on..."
"Andrew Jackson who kept a..." CJ interrupted.
"...two ton block of cheese in the front hall of the White House," the rest of the Senior staff joined her in reciting.
"Both of you," Donna commanded. "Leave her alone. It's Deena's project not yours. Besides, don't you have something more important than a high school history project to spend your time on. Like...oh I don't know...running the country."
Donna's fellow students stilled as she reprimanded the commander in chief, but everyone else in the room including the commander in chief himself just laughed. They didn't realize that unofficially part of Donna's job was to bring the President back to reality when he went off on one of his lectures. It was something that Mrs. Landingham had done for more than thirty years and was the main reason why no assistant until Donna had lasted more than a few weeks. The President needed someone who could push back at him when needed, and none of the others had been able to do that.
"Yes, mother" Leo rumbled at her with an ironic smile as he rose from the table.
"Josh, Donna" Charlie said to get their attention as everyone moved into the sitting room from the dining room. "Deena, Zoey, and I have something we want to give you guys together."
"Since we're not letting the guys be part of your shower, Donna, we thought tonight would be a good night," Zoey explained as she got up and left the room with fiancé and Deena.
"My shower?" Donna asked clearly intrigued.
"Yeah...keep December 30th open," Abby told her. "We're going to have it here in the Residence."
The conversation was halted then as Charlie and Zoey returned carrying a beautiful cradle between them. Deena followed carrying a large gift-wrapped box. They placed both in front of Josh and Donna.
"Oh," Donna gasped as she traced her hand across the intricately carved "L" on the cradle. "It's gorgeous!"
"You shouldn't have spent so much..." Josh protested.
"We didn't," Charlie assured him. "You remember Mrs. Landingham left everything to Deena and me. This was in the attic of her house in Manchester," he explained. It had been a shock to Charlie and Deena to find that Mrs. Landingham had left everything to them. They had even tried to refuse it saying that it should rightfully go to the Bartlet's daughters. Zoey had quickly disabused them of that notion on her sister's behalf. Mrs. Landingham had wanted to help them. She and her sisters didn't need it, but Charlie and Deena could use her gift to help them through college. A week later, Charlie had been glad he'd been bullied into accepting her legacy. The money had gone to the lawyers he'd needed during the hearings, but they had managed to hold onto the house and its contents. The rent from the house paid Charlie's tuition and would soon help pay for Deena's. "I cleaned it up, and Zoey and Deena made...well just open the box."
Donna didn't have to be told twice. She made quick work of tearing through the wrapping of the box Deena had carried in. Lifting the lid she discovered bedding for the cradle.
"We had the mattress made, but it wasn't a standard size, so we made that for it," Deena explained.
"You won't be able to keep the baby in it for long," Abby told them. "But it will be good for the first few weeks. You'll be able to keep her with you in your room, and when she outgrows it, it will look wonderful in the nursery filled with her stuffed animals and toys."
"She left this for you," Donna protested. "We can't..."
"No," Charlie denied. "She would want you to have it."
"But," Donna tried again gesturing to the rest of the Senior staff.
"When they went up to get the cradle we went with them," Sam told her. "We each took something to remind us of her. Including the assistants."
"Are you sure?" Josh asked Charlie and Deena as he ran his hands over the lovingly restored wood of the cradle.
"Yes," Deena told them.