Title: Stay Anyway 32/32

Author: Amber (Ambino1111@prodigy.net)

Disclaimers & Other Notes in Part 1

Wow. This is it. Please stay tuned for some Author's Notes at the end.

*****

"You could give me a hundred good reasons to leave, and I can't give you one good reason to stay… stay anyway." - Benjamin "Hawkeye" Pierce, M*A*S*H

*****

"Hi, Dave!" I greet my favorite security guard at the front desk with a cheerful smile. He returns it, waving to Alex.

"Hello, Ms. Prescott. I hear you're having dinner with the President and Mrs. Bartlet."

"Yes, I am. And we're both very excited about it," I smile as I push Alex in his stroller through the metal detector. Dave waves the wand over us and hands me my badge.

"Have fun tonight. And congratulations!"

He smiles at me and I smile back, eyebrows furrowed, as I start the trek to the Communications Bullpen. What did he mean by that? Is the President going to test my knowledge about various subjects and humiliate me? It's possible. Sam did admit to me that the senior staffers lovingly refer to their leader as a "nerd."

Still, that doesn't sound like President Bartlet's style.

I tuck my concerns in the back of my mind and continue down the hallway, not looking at the Briefing Room as we pass it. I know the whole "Father Fiasco" is over, but still… I think it will be a long time before I find that room any less intimidating.

The entire White House seems odd, but it takes me a while to figure it out. The hallways are eerily void of people. I check my watch - it's only seven forty-two. Maybe there was a light workload today? Nah, Sam told me they've been busy.

I enter the double doors into the Communications Bullpen, which is also eerily empty and rather dark. The only person I see in the dim light is Sam, who is approaching me from the direction of his office.

"Hi, Sam," I say as his lips briefly meet mine.

"Hello, there," He has a goofy grin on his face. I can feel my face scrunch up in confusion.

"Where is everybody? The whole White House seems so… empty. It's creepy."

"Oh, they're around," He answers vaguely, making an encompassing gesture with one arm.

"Sam, what's going on?" I demand. Even I can hear the tremble in my voice.

I watch in utter astonishment as my beloved Sam slowly gets down on one knee, facing me and Alex. He pulls a small black box from his pants pocket and flips it open.

I feel the tears welling up in my eyes as I realize what he's doing.

"Sam-" I falter and let him talk.

"Lisa," He says solemnly, holding up the box first so Alex, and then I can see. "Lisa, I'm a speech writer. I've been working on this particular speech for almost two weeks now, but no matter how many times I wrote it, it always ended up sounding corny and way too sappy. So here's the truth - totally unrehearsed. I love you. When I decided to leave you before, it was the biggest mistake of my life. Not a day has gone by where I didn't regret walking out that door. And now… now I have a second chance. It's unbelievable. I know you have no reason to trust me this time, I know I can't prove to you how much I love you, but I hope… My job is important to me, Lisa, but - and it's taken me three years to realize this - it's not the only thing that's important to me. I love you more than I could ever love this job, and Alex, I love him even more than that. So, I guess what it all boils down to is this: Lisa, I know I've asked you this before, but will you do me the honor of being my wife?"

I can't see straight. Tears have been flowing at a constant rate since he pulled out the little box. I wipe at my eyes and sniff, watching as he removes the gold band with the glittering diamond from the box.

"Oh, Sam," I croak, trying to swallow the lump in my throat. "Yes, Sam. Of course I will marry you."

With that, he slips the ring on my finger and jumps to his feet, lifting me up in the air and swirling me around in a circle. I lean my head in to kiss him softly. The room suddenly erupts in loud cheers. I see from the corner of my eye a large crowd of people stream into the room from all sides, shouting and clapping.

Sam leans down and unclasps Alex's seat belt, lifting him up and hugging the two of us to him.

Suddenly, the stream of people parts and the President walks in.

"I'm sorry I can't stay here very long, but I wanted to say "Congratulations" to both of you and wish you all the luck in the world."

"Thank you, sir," Sam says, beaming.

"Yes. Thank you, Mr. President," I choke out, smiling broadly.

With the President's departure, the excitement seems to die down. Josh takes this opportunity to climb up on a nearby desk.

"Okay, everyone. Just a reminder - there's cake in the mess! And we covered both bases, so we have a 'Congratulations' cake and a 'Sorry, Sam' cake to eat!"

Everyone laughs, including Sam and me. The crowd disperses and Josh and Donna walk over to us, grinning happily and discreetly holding hands.

"Congratulations, you two," Josh proclaims, clapping a hand on Sam's shoulder. Alex turns around to look at Josh, surprised. Josh waves at him, smiling shyly.

Meanwhile, Donna is hugging me. "I'm so happy for you, Lisa. I'm glad both of you finally found happiness."

I lean forward to whisper to her. "I doubt I'll be the only one in a wedding dress in the near future."

She blushes and grins. "I don't know about that."

I wink at her reassuringly. "I do," I insist softly.

She nods slightly and, clasping Josh's hand in her own, ruffles Alex's hair and turns to leave.

"Are you two coming?" Josh and Donna both stop on their way down the hallway and look back at us expectantly. "It's good cake," Josh guarantees.

"We'll be down in a second," Sam tells him, waving a dismissive hand at the couple. A few moments later the three of us are alone in the Communications Bullpen.

"All this was certainly unexpected," I comment as he places Alex back into the stroller and hands him the toy sailboat to play with.

"Mmm hmm," He murmurs, engrossed in the task of buckling his son into his seat. "I'd say it's well overdue, too."

We lapse into silence as he wraps his arms around me. I haven't felt this peaceful in a long, long time.

I turn around in his embrace and lean up to kiss him. It's short but filled with love. When we break it off, Sam leans his forehead against mine and stares into my eyes.

I am suddenly astounded by all I had forgotten, and I had forgotten a lot of things. I had forgotten how blue his eyes were, how romantic he could be, how his face used to light up when he'd walk in the door after work, how I used to fall asleep to the steady rhythm of his breathing, how my world used to revolve around him, whether he believed it or not.

I had gotten used to not having him in my life, and now… now I don't have to worry about that. What did I do to deserve all this? When had my luck changed?

"I missed you," I admit quietly.

"I missed you, too."

He smiles at me, a full-blown smile that actually makes my knees weak and butterflies dance in my stomach.

"Dammit, Sam," I say, tears welling up in my eyes again. "You were supposed to be in China."

He looks at me, and I can see the smile in his eyes. "Luckily for me, I wasn't."

The End

Author's Notes: Whew! ::wipes sweat off forehead and washes sap from her hands:: I can't believe it's over! I'm so sad. It's been a wild ride. At the beginning, I honestly didn't think this story would wind up being so long, but … what can I say? I wasn't in charge of it - the characters were.

And, except for one or two times where I posted on a Monday morning, I'm proud of the fact that I kept my initial promise of posting a new chapter every Sunday. I've never been that disciplined before. I'll have to try that method in the future.

As for Sam being Alex's father - I can honestly say that at the beginning of the story, I wasn't even leaning towards that possibility. I thought it would be tougher, if they even got together, for Sam to love someone else's son as his own. But, somehow, the paternity test came back and - it was Sam. And I was torn up inside about the whole Ainsley situation - I like her and Sam together. But, darnit, I grew so close to Lisa that I just had to give her some happiness at the end.

I just want to say a GIGANTIC "Thank You" to everyone who sent me feedback, via email or a review on fanfiction.net. It was your kind words that encouraged me and helped me through writer's block.

I know Josh and Donna didn't play as large a part as I had planned, but that was how it ended up. I also have been contemplating writing a story from their perspectives during this same time frame. Perhaps if I have some inspiration someday…

I've grown so attached to Lisa and little Alex that I'm not sure I can let go. So I'm considering a sequel. Maybe even a series. Please let me know if you think it'd be worth it.

Thank you and good night.

Love,

Amber