It wasn't until she was in the car on her way to her parent's home that Sara realized the significance of Danny's 48 hour deadline for this interview. Almost a month had passed since her father's press conference on the court house steps. Three days from now would be the anniversary of the assassination attempt at Rosslyn.
She parked her car on the street outside her parent's brownstone home and was surprised to find the door already unlocked.
"Donnatella?" her father called. Sara followed the sound of his voice back towards the kitchen. The sight that greeted her made her wish for a camera. Her father was cooking dinner or attempting to at least.
"No, it's me," Sara told him as she tried valiantly to contain the laughter straining to break free. "What...are you...doing, Dad?" she asked as she lost the battle and her laughter spilled forth.
"I'm trying to cook dinner for your mother," he admitted.
"If you say so," Sara agreed as she took a bowl of what she thought was bread dough from her father and set it on the table. "Call Fast Fong's," she advised her father.
Josh sighed. "Tomorrow is the reception in my honor at the White House, and then this weekend we promised to sit with Jed so Jodi and Matt could go to the dinner at the British Embassy," he explained. "And Monday I leave for Texas. So tonight..."
"Stop right there!" Sara said. "I really don't want to know about my parent's love life, Dad. If it's all the same to you."
"M'kay," Josh happily agreed. "Fast Fong's?" he asked. Sara nodded solemnly and waited while he placed an order to be delivered in two hours.
"Dad, I hate to interrupt the night you've planned," Sara said.
"But?" he asked.
"Danny gave me an assignment," she told him hesitantly. "I need to interview you and Mom about the Thing."
"When's your deadline?" Josh asked clearly frustrated at the prospect of giving up his romantic plans for the night even to his youngest child.
"Danny gave me forty-eight hours," she told him.
"Come over tomorrow night when we're babysitting Jed," Josh requested. "Bring Billy with you. He can watch Jed while you interview your mom and I."
"Thanks, Dad" Sara said visibly relieved that he'd agreed to the interview so easily. "Now lets get this cleaned up before Mom gets home."
An hour and a half later Sara slipped from her parents home after having helped her father clean up the mess he'd made of the kitchen. By the time Donna arrived home thirty minutes later, he'd arranged candles throughout the house and put some of their favorite music on the sound system.
"What's the occasion?" she asked as she hung her coat in the closet in the entry hall.
"The occasion is that tonight is the last night we'll have all to ourselves for at least two weeks," he explained as he settled his hands on her hips to pull her into his embrace.
"Mmm," Donna purred as their lips parted some minutes later. "A night all to ourselves."
"Yeah," Josh whispered in her ear. Unwilling to separate from her yet, he wrapped one arm around her waist and led her towards the table where their dinner waited for them. "You just missed Sara," he told her.
"She stop by for something particular?" Donna asked as her hand wandered up and down Josh's back.
"Yeah, Danny's given her an assignment," Josh said with a grimace.
"Why do I think I'm not going to be happy about this?" Donna asked with no small amount of trepidation.
"She needs to interview us about...about the Thing. I called Danny after she left," he admitted. "Sara's written a book about it. Danny says it's really good, but to finish it she needs to interview us. Danny gave her the assignment to push her into doing it."
"And because the anniversary is in three days, and it will be good for the Post," Donna added.
"Yeah," Josh agreed. "We can do this Donna. It's time."
Donna nodded. "I would rather it be Sara than anyone else, except maybe Danny or Matt," she said. "What do you think she'll ask?"
"The hard questions," Josh replied. "She's gonna want to know about everything."
"Your PTSD," Donna mumbled.
"Yeah, and everything else," he agreed. "You think Sara will let us read it?"
"The interview?" Donna asked absently. Her mind was still occupied with all the things Sara could ask of them. She knew Sara had seen the ugliness of life as a reporter. She wasn't even ignorant of the bullet wound in her daughter's kevlar vest, though she let Sara think she was. This was different though. Her mind shied away from the thought of reliving the Thing for the readers of the Washington Post.
"Donnatella," Josh asked as he placed his hand on her forearm. "What is it, sweetheart?"
"I don't want to relive it again," she admitted. "I don't want to bring it back. I don't want to see it again on the news. I don't want reporters calling here asking for interviews. I just want..."
"You know it's never going to go away," Josh murmured as he held her now weeping form in his arms. "Especially with you running. Better we face it on our own terms. It's part of us now, and has been for a long time. It's part of our kids too. Look at what Noah said to Toby, and Sara's book. Jodi has her obsession with gun responsibility."
Donna nodded as she wiped the tears from her eyes. "When are we doing it?" she asked.
"I told her to come by tomorrow night while we're watching Jed. I told her to bring Billy to take care of Jed while we talk," her husband told her.
"And to take care of her when it's over," Donna said knowing the twists and turns of her husband's mind.
