"So do I need to bring you coffee?" Donna asked her husband as he returned to their brownstone home after his command performance meeting with the President. The people gathered in their living room laughed at the comment remembering the first time she'd brought him coffee. Their friends had gathered for a dinner to celebrate the 'uneventful' press conference the previous day. They'd already celebrated quite a bit last night, but the focus of that celebration had been Joe and Dee's wedding.
"You're a bit late," Josh admitted as he dropped his suit jacket onto the back of the sofa. He came around and pulled Donna from her seat. Sinking into the chair he'd just pulled her out of, Josh gently tugged Donna back down until she was seated in his lap.
"What happened?" CJ asked.
"He didn't feel it was appropriate for a senior official in the administration to be seen taking a stance on such a hot topic," Josh replied tiredly as he rubbed Donna's back.
"Which really means he doesn't want attention drawn away from himself," Sam quipped. No one in the room had been thrilled with the candidate they'd been forced to back in the previous election, but he'd been the lesser of 'who cares' as their mentor had once said. "What did you say to that?"
"I told him he'd have my resignation tomorrow morning and that I'd give him a month to find a replacement," Josh replied. "To be fair, they've hired a lawyer and are threatening to sue me and the federal government for slander."
"Josh!" Margaret gasped. "What are you going to do?"
"First, I thought I'd hire a good attorney," Josh said. "You available, Ainsley?"
"It'll get tossed out, Josh" Sam said. "You didn't specifically say anything about the WVWP killing the Generao's."
"I know you guys tease me about not being a real lawyer, but even I know that," Josh admonished Sam. "I'll still need someone to represent me though, and Ainsley's not an attorney of record on the Genero suit. Soo...."
"Give me a dollar, Josh" Ainsley ordered him. Taking the dollar from his hand, she said, "You've got yourself a lawyer. Don't talk to the press, and Danny...."
"Off the record," Danny assured her. "Tonight's for family not work."
"Speaking of work," Toby began. "What are you going to do for work, Josh?"
"I thought I'd..." he said looking at Donna, but he got no further as Donna interrupted him.
"Oh, no!" she said. "You're not coming to work for me in the Senate."
"But..."
"No, but's Joshua," Donna told him. "It wouldn't look good. Not now and certainly now when I start campaigning. You're going to split your time between the DNC and giving lectures."
"Why the hell would you want me to do that?" Josh demanded angrily. "I'd be on the road all the time. We'd never see each other. That's why I agreed to be Sec. State for that weasel in the first place. So I could get off the road and spend more time at home."
"You should have thought of that before. Now that you're not going to be busy in the administration, I've got work for you," Donna said.
"How is Josh giving lectures working for you?" CJ asked as she sipped from her glass of wine.
"It was Josh's idea for me to try for the White House," Donna reminded them as she got up to grab Josh his own drink and check on the food baking in the oven.
"Yeah, and?" Margaret called after her still not seeing the connection.
"So?" Danny said not seeing it either.
"We're going to need a staff," Josh murmured seeing where Donna's thoughts lay. "People that we can work with..."
"Yep," Donna agreed as she returned carrying several bottles of beer and another bottle of wine which she handed to Josh to open. "I'm sending Josh headhunting."
"Well," Sam said looking at Ainsley. When he saw her nod he continued, "I'm term limited. I'll be out of a job by next year."
"I'm in too," Ainsley told them. "It'll be good to get back to D.C." Ainsley had lost her second election to Congress by a narrow margin over twenty-five years before, but she hadn't been too disappointed nor surprised. She'd been pregnant with Billy during the campaign and had given birth just a month before the election. Her opponents, both Democrat and Republican, had used her new motherhood against her in the campaign, and the strategy had worked.
She and Sam had decided to settle permanently in South Carolina because unlike Sam, Ainsley was close with her family. It would have been harder for her to live in California than for Sam to adjust to South Carolina. Sam had immediately been approached by the Democratic Party in South Carolina much to Ainsley's disgust. They had just opened their own law firm, and Ainsley had been looking forward to spending more time with her husband without the stress of their different political views a constant distraction. He'd resisted for four years before being drawn back into politics. Ainsley had supported him as willingly as he'd supported her. Sam had come to dominate the Democratic party in South Carolina as he'd won first mayoral elections then several state senatorial elections and finally two gubernatorial elections.
CJ and Toby shared a look. "Donna, Josh," Toby began cautiously.
"Relax, Toby" Donna said. "I don't expect you guys to drop everything to go on the campaign with us. Or be part of the administration if I win. You do good things at the SPLC, Toby. You shouldn't leave it, and CJ, I know you love working with Penny and your other clients."
"Yeah," CJ admitted. "You know we'll help as much as we can..."
Josh reached out and squeezed her hand. "It's ok, CJ."
"Besides," Donna smirked. "I want a younger staff."
"Oh!!" CJ laughed. "That cuts deep, Donna."
"Seriously, I think it's time we passed on what Jed and Leo taught us," Donna said. "Don't you? Mary Marsh has got her successors all picked out," Donna reminded them with a grimace. "Ann Stark's passed her torch as well."
"So where do we start, Candidate Lyman?" Josh asked as he twirled a strand of her hair around his finger.
"I'm thinking you need to have a quiet word with the governor of Texas, Josh" Donna replied.
