Josh winced as he rose from his seat on the plane. He was glad that he'd given in to Donna's nagging and brought his cane with him on the plane. The pain in his side throbbed after such a long time sitting in a confined space. He made his way into the terminal of the airport not really paying attention to anyone.

"Mr. Lyman!" a voice called from the somewhere to his right.

Josh pasted a smile on his face with difficulty as he turned to see who was calling him. He was expecting to see some television reporter with cameraman in tow waiting to do a story on why the ex-Secretary of State was in Austin. Instead he saw the solemn expression of a Texas Ranger with hat in hand. "Is there something I can do for you, Ranger?" he asked.

"My name's Tom Keegan, Mr. Lyman. The Governor asked me to escort you to the mansion for your meeting," he explained. "I'll take that bag for you, sir."

"It's much appreciated, Ranger Keegan," Josh told him as he happily relinquished his carry on to the younger man. "How long will it take us to get there?"

"About half an hour, sir. Do you have any other luggage?" the ranger asked.

"No, I'm just down here for a couple days," Josh told him as he followed the man out to where a large SUV waited in the drop off zone. 'RHIP' thought Josh as he settled into the front seat next to the ranger. No sooner had he buckled his seatbelt than they were moving.

Josh and Ranger Keegan talked amiably about the state of professional baseball the entire thirty minute trip. The ranger showed his badge at the security gate at the entrance to the Texas governor's mansion and was immediately waved through. He pulled directly up to the front door and parked. Keegan ushered Josh into the mansion where they were met by the First Lady of Texas who to Josh's eye hadn't changed much in the thirty years he'd known her.

"Well look at you, Josh" Bri said as she gave him a hug. "How's retirement treating you?" she asked with a knowing look.

"Since this is only my fourth day of 'retirement', I don't think I can answer that yet," Josh replied with a wink.

"I got an email from Donna an hour ago on the care and feeding of Joshua Lyman. You can have no more than two drinks tonight," she informed him primly though she made no effort to hide the laughter in her eyes. "Do you want one now or should we wait until after dinner?" she teased.

"Just a soda," Josh answered with a sigh as he fished a small bottle out of the pocket of his pants. "I need to take one of these damn painkillers, and I can't take them with alcohol."

"Your side?" she asked with concern as she linked her arm with his letting him lean on her slightly as well as his cane as they made their way into the formal living room.

Josh nodded as he sank gratefully into the sofa stretching his aching muscles carefully. "Sitting so long on the flight," he explained. "I hate being old."

"You've aged well, Josh" a voice behind him said.

Josh turned to see the governor of Texas entering the room trailed by several aides and his security detail. The agents stationed themselves at the door while the aides hovered behind the governor. Josh started to rise in greeting, but sank back down as Ethan waved him back to his seat. "You haven't aged that badly yourself, Governor" Josh replied with a smile.

"Thank you," Ethan told the aides. "That's going to be it for the evening, folks. Have a nice night."

A few of the braver souls in the group came forward to offer their hand to Josh. With a smile Josh shook hands with each of them in turn. A few minutes later after the last of the staffers had gotten their chance to shake hands with Josh, the detail withdrew from the room closing the doors behind them.

"So what are you really down here for, Josh?" Ethan asked as he sat down next to his wife. "This lecture tomorrow is a bullshit excuse."

"But I'm going to make a lot of money doing it," Josh told them. "Donna's sent me headhunting."

"Headhunting?" Bri questioned. Her eyes narrowed with suspicion as she asked, "Just whose head are you hunting?"

"Yours," Josh told them. "I've got this urge to be the first at something before I die."

Now it was Ethan's turn to look at Josh with suspicion. "Tom Buckley's retiring isn't he?" he asked.

"Yep," Josh confirmed with a grin.

"So that first you want to be before you die," Ethan said. "That wouldn't happen to be First Husband would it?"

"Bri, have I ever told you what a smart man you married?"

"God, Josh!" she exclaimed. "Really?"

"Really," he confirmed.

"So what do you want me for?" Ethan asked cautiously.

"Vice President," Josh responded immediately.

Ethan ran a hand across his face as he eyed Josh. "Who else do you have?"

"You two are the first ones outside the family we've told," Josh admitted.

"The whole family knows?" Bri asked. "Sam and Ainsley..."

"Yeah," Josh confirmed.

"Why not Sam then?" Ethan asked. "He's..."

"...older than Donna," Josh interrupted. "In eight years, he'll be too old to run. Charlie's not interested in it. He's got other windmills to tilt at."

"Zoey then..." Ethan said.

"Two women on the ticket?" Josh snorted. "Besides Zoey doesn't have the same experience you do."

"She's got a recognizable name," Ethan argued.

"So do you, Ethan. You're a national leader in immigration reform, border security, farm and ranch subsidies, and NAFTA. The whole father-daughter thing would only go so far, Ethan. You know that," Josh said bluntly. "And then it's going to be issues and experience. Besides we need someone from the South."

"Why are you asking me now?" Ethan asked.

"Because we want a team, Ethan" Josh said. "We don't want to have to deal with the kind of crap Hoynes put Jed through. So we're going to plan ahead. When we go out campaigning, we're going to start out with a VP candidate right by our side."

"Why?" Ethan asked. It was obvious from the expression on his face he could think of more than a few reasons, but he wanted to know what Josh's thinking was.

"Because we're going to have a VP already chosen, so why pretend otherwise?" Josh asked. "Plus then we have two candidates to work with instead of one. We're going to have a female candidate for the President of the United States of America. It can't be a standard campaign. There's no way we'd win if we did that. Can you honestly see me speaking at ladies' auxiliary meetings? Donna and I want to have the key positions already chosen. At least those that don't have to be confirmed. I'm going to do my thing for the DNC, but while I'm at it..."

"You're going to be looking for people to fill positions in the administration," Bri finished for him.

"Yeah, you have any suggestions?" he asked only half seriously.

"A few," she told him, but her reply was considerably more serious than his question. "If Ethan and I are going to join the team, Josh. We're going to want more than a token say," she warned.

"Bri, if the two of you do this you'll have much more than a token say," Josh promised. "Especially since I think a lot of the duties that would normally fall to the First Lady will end up on your shoulders. Yours and maybe Jodi's. The public's not ready to make that leap yet. I'm not good at the whole goodwill ambassador thing anyway," he admitted.

Ethan snorted. "That's no secret, Josh. Has God been indicted for tax fraud again lately?" he asked with a wink. "Chief of Staff?"

"Yeah," Josh confirmed even as he laughed at Ethan's joke. "That's the plan, anyway. Jodi as one of my deputies. Maybe name her as a roving ambassador or to the communications staff." Josh was keenly aware that one of the biggest hurdles faced by any female Presidential candidate would be her husband. The role the First Lady normally played was one that the American public had a problem seeing a First Husband playing, and so Josh knew that one of the greatest challenges that would be faced by this campaign would be re-defining the role of the First Spouse. It didn't help that he was so well known in politics as well. At best, Josh could hope to present them as a 'two for one' deal for the voters, but it would be a fine line to walk. If they weren't careful Donna would be seen as nothing more than Josh's puppet. By defining his role in Donna's administration before the election and presenting the voters with a suitable substitute or two for the role the First Lady would normally play, he hoped to remove or at least lower the bar on that hurdle before they were even faced with it.

"Bri and I need to talk about this, Josh" he said solemnly. "This isn't something we can just decide."

"I understand," Josh said. "Take as much time as you need."

A knock at the door interrupted anything else that he might have said. The man who entered announced that dinner was ready so they stood and Josh walked with the couple into the dining room. The conversation for the rest of the evening centered around politics, but nothing more was said of what they'd spoken about before.