"Hi, Uncle Josh," Billy greeted him as Josh opened the door the next day. Standing next to him looking as nervous as he'd ever seen her was his youngest daughter.

"Come in, guys" Josh told them as he urged them inside out of the early summer heat. "Your mom's fixing us a salad for dinner," he told his daughter as he gave her a hug. "Have you eaten?"

They both told him they hadn't as Josh lead the way into the kitchen where Donna was busily tearing lettuce for a salad.

"Josh, peel the carrots," she ordered as she wiped her hands on a towel before she too gave both Sara and Billy a hug. "Billy you can get the dressings and stuff out of the fridge."

"I'll cut up the tomatoes and cucumbers," Sara offered as she sat on a stool at the counter and pulled the cutting board and vegetables to her. "When are Matt and Jodi bringing the baby by?"

"In a few minutes," Josh replied as he clumsily cut carrots.

Sara made quick work of the tomatoes and cucumbers before taking the knife from her father. "Give me that before you hurt yourself, Dad" she ordered.

Donna snickered, but continued to tear lettuce.

"Mom, Dad?" they heard Jodi call from the front of the brownstone.

"We're in the kitchen, Jodi!" Donna called as she wiped her hands on a kitchen towel. As soon as Jodi and Matt appeared in the doorway to the kitchen, she took baby Jed's carrier away from them and set it on the table. Within moments, Jed was tucked in his grandma's arms. "Go get the camera, Josh," she ordered.

Josh almost snickered, but thought better of it at the last moment, knowing he was no better when it came to their first grandchild. Instead he headed off to their study to get the camera. They hadn't sent Abbey any new pictures of her great-grandson in two days after all.

When Josh returned he snapped pictures of Matt and Jodi in their evening attire holding little Jed before they left then pictures of each of them holding him, and finally pictures of the baby by himself. By the time Donna was satisfied they had enough pictures of the baby, Jed fell quickly asleep tired from all the attention he'd been shown. Donna continued to hold him though as they ate their meal.

After their dinner was over, they got down to the real business of the evening. Josh pulled a bottle of wine from the fridge and opened it while Sara brought four glasses to the table. Donna continued to hold the baby, but none of them suggested she put him down in his carrier.

"What do you remember about that night?" Sara asked to start the interview. She planned to get the two of them to recount the night her father was shot before she began asking the tougher questions. Hopefully they'd all be slightly relaxed from the wine before the really hard questions had to be asked.

Josh rested his arm across the back of Donna's chair as she took the lead in describing her memories of that night. He occasionally threw in a comment or two, but for the most part he let Donna speak for both of them as he caressed the back of her neck soothingly. His attention strayed for a moment though as he noticed that Billy's hand was making a similar motion at the small of Sara's back. Josh looked up into the other man's eyes, and Donna's voice faded as he looked at the younger man. Josh knew at that moment why it was said the eyes are the windows to the soul because he saw deeply into Billy's soul in that single instant and knew without a doubt that Billy saw just as deeply into his. A silent communication passed between the two. A trust was extended and responsibility was taken all without a word being spoken. Josh acknowledged with that look that he was no longer first in his baby's heart. That place belonged to Billy now. Billy in his turn acknowledged the pain that realization cost Josh. The depth of his piercing blue eyes, so like his father's, silently promised that he would never hurt Sara's heart. It was a promise Josh knew he couldn't keep. He would hurt her and she him many times, but as long as they remembered the love and joy more than the pain and hurt they would be alright. It was something that all of the 'Bartlet' parents tried to teach their children. Something they had learned by example from Jed and Abbey.

Josh forced himself to break eye contact with Billy and return his attention to what Donna was saying. "I've always wondered," Josh said interrupting Donna's description of her race to GW that night so long ago. "After that night when you told me you wouldn't stop for red lights, if you were talking about that night. I could never bring myself to ask though."

"I was talking about that night," Donna assured him as she leaned into him.

He draped an arm across her shoulder as she told Sara and Billy about what had transpired while he was in surgery. It seemed strange now to realize that he'd never heard any of this before. Until this moment he had no idea what Donna had gone through while he was in surgery. He had made a few attempts to ask her over the years, but she'd never been able to talk about it. So he had stopped asking.

"You watched?!" he gasped staring at her as if she'd suddenly grown a third eye in the middle of her forehead.

"I...I needed to see you," she explained. "I needed to be there. Abbey arranged it. I stood in the observation room above the theater. She stayed with me for a while. So did Mrs. L. I think I remember Toby there for a while. And Sam."

"The guys whimped out didn't they?" he smirked.

Surprisingly the answer to his question came from Sara. "Yeah, they couldn't handle the blood," she said. "They both mentioned it when I interviewed them. Of course...."

"What?" Josh prompted when she stopped.

"They'd already been covered in your blood that night," she told her father. "When they found you. They tried to stop the bleeding..."

"I remember..." Josh whispered. His eyes went distant and vacant as the long distant scene played out like a movie on a screen only he could see. "I remember Toby finding me and screaming for help. And CJ and Sam coming. So much screaming...and the sirens from the ambulance and police. I remember Toby yelling at me, and the pain in my chest. I wanted to yell at him," Josh said. "He was leaning on my chest, and it hurt so much I wanted him to stop."

"Take a drink, Josh" Donna ordered him. "Then take a deep breath."

"I'm okay," he told her, but he followed her instructions and took a sip from the glass on the table in front of him.

"What's the first thing you remember after the surgery, Dad?" Sara asked.

"Sara, I was doped out of my mind. I don't have a clear memory for the first week or so," Josh told her. "I remember your mother sitting with me. I remember faces above me, but I couldn't understand what they were saying. I was told your grandpas were the first people I spoke to after I woke up, but I don't remember it."

"Grandma Abbey says you asked grandpa Jed 'what's next?'" Sara said. "Do you have any idea why you asked him that?"

"It was a thing he used to do," Josh explained. "He'd always clap his hands together and ask 'What's next?' He did it mostly when he was nervous I think."

Sara jumped in quickly before they got completely off track. "I have to ask," she said. "Were you together then? There's always been speculation, but..."

"Were we together then? Yes," Donna answered. "Did we have a clue we were together then? No."

"I don't get what you're saying," Sara admitted.

Josh explained, "People took one look at us and knew we'd spend our lives together. We had no clue though. I sabotaged her dates, and she'd throw me at other women. Neither of us dated anyone seriously for over four years, and we were clueless."

"What finally woke you up to each other?" Sara asked out of personal curiosity more than professional need.

"Your mother passed out one day at work before Jed's second election," Josh told her. "The air conditioning in the West Wing fritzed out and your mom had been working really hard."

"Translation: your father hadn't let me go home in over forty-eight hours," Donna interrupted. "I got de-hydrated and fainted."

"I thought my heart had stopped when I found her just lying there," he told them.

"It was two in the morning and he called directly into the Residence and dragged your grandma Abbey, who you must remember was the First Lady of the United States at the time, out of bed," Donna said describing what had happened. "I'd never been more embarrassed in my life."

"Payback's a bitch," Josh snickered. "How many times had you done something similar to me."

"I'd never dragged the First Lady out of bed to come see you," Donna protested.

"No you just called her and the Surgeon General to brow beat me when you felt I wasn't taking care of myself properly," Josh reminded her.

"Whatever works," Donna said with a shrug as she gave Josh a knowing look. "I couldn't very well punish you the way I do now."

"TMI!" Sara said quickly as he held up her hands in a gesture of warding. "Ok, new ground rule for this interview. I do not want to know anything about your sex lives."

Donna shrugged before throwing a mischievous grin toward Josh.

"Anyway," Josh said taking them back to the story. "I knew right then that I wanted to be with your mother for the rest of our lives."

"You did not!" Donna exclaimed. "We didn't even start dating until after the election. It was months before you proposed."

"I called my mother that night and told her I was going to marry you within a year," Josh argued. "She asked me what the hell took me so long."

"I don't believe you," Donna scoffed.

"Billy go into our study. On the top shelf of the bookcase there's a small wooden box. Get it for me," Josh commanded. A minute later Billy returned with the box filling his arms and placed it on the table. Josh opened the box and quickly found what he was looking for. "Mom's diary," he explained as he flipped through the pages. "Here. Read that, Donnatella."

Donna took the diary from him and began to read, "August 7, Josh called very early this morning. He was pretty upset. Donna collapsed last night at the White House while they were working. It's apparently nothing but de-hydration.. It scared him though, he said, but it also made him realize just how important to him she is. He told me he's going to have his ring on her finger within the year. Finally! I knew after he was shot that they'd be together eventually, but I never thought it would take this long. They're both so stubborn. I was starting to fear I wouldn't get grandchildren until Jed Bartlet left office!"

Sara traded a grin with Billy and her father at the stunned look on her mother's face.

"I can't believe you Joshua," she huffed but she pulled the book closer to her, and Joshua knew she was savoring the words his mother had written on that page.

The interview continued for hours and by the end of it, all four of them were emotionally drained. Sara had asked her hard questioned, but in between those hard points were moments of levity and happiness. Sara was truly a gifted interviewer. She knew exactly when to back off and let her subjects regroup emotionally before pressing forward again. Normally, an interview wouldn't be so draining for her, but ripping open her own parents wounds took its toll on her as well. Sara gathered her tape recorder and notes from the table as she absently wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Okay, here's what we're going to do," Josh announced. "You guys can stay in the guest room or you can take a cab home. Neither of you are in any condition to drive though."

"I think we'll take that cab, sir" Billy answered for them knowing Sara would want privacy to gather her thoughts and write her article. Sara made no objection so Josh nodded and went to call the cab.

Before he could though, Matt and Jodi pushed open the front door and quietly stepped inside.

"Your mom's changing him in the guest room," Josh said indulgently. He remembered what it had been like leaving Jodi those first few months.

Matt and Jodi didn't have to be told twice. They both headed down the hall towards their son.

"Hold up on the cab, Dad. We'll see if Matt and Jodi can take us home," Sara said in a voice that was slightly scratchy from crying and the amount of talking they'd done.

Josh nodded as he began to clear the glasses and empty wine bottles from the table. Fifteen minutes later, he and Donna stood in the foyer of their home watching the four younger people leave.

"It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be," Donna admitted.

"She's very good," Josh said with more than a small amount of pride in his voice.

Donna laughed recognizing the sound of Josh's ego ballooning out of proportion.

"Yes, she is," Donna agreed. "She must get that from me."

Josh laughed as he gently steered her towards their bedroom. "Come on, Senator Lyman. Let's get some sleep. I have to be at the airport by noon," he told her.

"He agreed to see you?" she asked as she changed for bed.

"Yeah, I've got an hour of his time tomorrow at six," Josh told her as he climbed into their bed.