Stumbling Towards Contentment 9/14
By Ginny K.
See part one for notes and stuff.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next morning they took the boys out to breakfast and told them the plans.
Being 6 and 7 the thing they were most excited about was the possibility of
visiting the White House and maybe even getting to fly on Air Force One.
Josh spent the afternoon with President Hoynes at the White House going over
details. He made it clear that he would not be accepting a job after the
election. Hoynes understood perfectly and didn't press the issue.
At Donna's insistence he also talked to his doctor. He thanked her profusely
for taking time out for him on a Saturday. She gave her blessing and
basically told him he'd better not forget rule #3, the one about taking care
of himself.
Josh and Donna went out to dinner with friends on Saturday night to celebrate
his job. Margaret took the boys for pizza and bowling. Sunday found the
boys doing homework, Josh locked away in his study getting things ready and
Donna standing in the walk in closet in her room sorting through Josh's
clothes. She tossed things out left and right, deciding that Josh really
needed to go shopping.
Josh wandered down the hall reading from the legal pad in his hand. He
dropped into the chair by the window and continued reading. Two seconds
later a pile of oxford shirts landed on his head.
"Ow. Donna, I'm out here." he whined as she pulled the shirts off of his
head and tossed them aside.
"Sorry," she said as she poked her head out of the closet. "You really need
to go shopping Josh."
"God, not shopping." he whined.
"Yes, shopping. You haven't had to wear a shirt and a tie everyday for a
long, long time. You need some new clothes."
"OK, next weekend." he agreed distractedly as he turned his attention back to
the pad in his lap.
"How's it going?" asked Donna as she balanced on the arm of the chair and
tried to read over Josh's shoulder.
"OK, I guess." he said with a tired sigh.
"You're going to bed early tonight Josh." said Donna as she slid off the arm
of the chair and sat in his lap.
"Oh really?" said Josh with a leer.
"To sleep, Joshua." she said as she leaned over to kiss him. He wound his
fingers through her hair and pulled her closer to deepen the kiss. Neither
one of them heard the door to the bedroom open.
"Ewww gross." moaned Jake from the doorway.
Josh and Donna quickly broke apart but when Donna tried to stand up Josh's
hand went around her waist to keep her there. By that time Jessie had
wandered into the room too. Jessie, always the cuddler, climbed into Donna's
lap and put one arm around his Mom and the other around his Dad. With a sigh
Jake decided he should really join the rest of them so he perched on the arm
of the chair. Josh put his arm around his shoulders and kissed the top of
his blond head. Jake managed to stick around for about 2 minutes before the
whole familial bonding thing got to be annoying. Donna got up too, to finish
in the closet. Jessie stayed in the chair with Josh and they talked.
Donna couldn't hear there whole conversation from the closet but managed to
get the general idea. Jessie was telling Josh how much he was going to miss
him and in the same breath looking forward to spending more time with Ben.
Donna smiled at the two of them, so much alike it was truly frightening.
Jessie kissed Josh and scooted off the chair to go find his brother. "Jake."
he bellowed down the hall.
At the sound of his bellow Donna just looked at Josh, "Wonder where he gets
that from?" she smirked.
"No idea." said Josh, feigning innocence.
Ben returned from his parents that night. Josh had already talked to him
over the phone and explained the changes that were happening. Ben was fine
with the fact that he would be doing more for the boys and less for Josh as a
driver had been arranged for Josh.
They ate an early dinner together and then Ben took the boys to the store to
pick up a few things. Josh packed his backpack for the fourth time while
Donna cleaned up in the kitchen.
After the kids were in bed Donna settled down on the couch to do some
reading. A bundle of nervous energy, Josh wandered aimlessly around the
house until Donna was on the verge of screaming.
"Josh, please, find something to do." she said as he took another lap around
the living room.
"I'm too wired." he said, as if that explanation was really necessary.
"Take a bath, I'll make some tea."
Josh contemplated the suggestion for a minute before finally agreeing to it.
He grabbed a notepad and a pen before heading into the bathroom.
"Leave the paper and pen Josh." called Donna.
"Fine." he muttered as Donna just smiled and shook her head. As scared as
she was about his taking the job she was also very proud of him. It was nice
to see him excited about something for a change.
With a mug of tea and a sleeping pill in her hand Donna went into the
bathroom. She laughed at the sight of President Hoynes' newest advisor who
was currently covered in bubbles and singing off key with his eyes closed.
She watched him unnoticed for a minute until she couldn't hold in her
laughter any longer.
"What, don't I look like a political mastermind?" smirked Josh.
"Not hardly. Here take this." she said handing him the tea and the pill. He
eyed it warily. "I know you don't like to take it, but Josh, be realistic,
if you don't take it you'll be up all night."
"Suppose you're right."
He took the pill with the tea and settled back down under the water. Donna
wandered in and out of the room, getting her own things ready for the
morning.
When the water turned cool Josh climbed out, dried off and threw on his
pajamas. He wandered back into the bedroom to find Donna wearing one of the
oxford shirts she had taken out of the closet. Her hair was pulled off her
face and her glasses were perched on her nose as she sat in the chair making
notes in her planner. Completing her outfit was a pair of fuzzy blue
slippers on her feet.
"And you were making fun of me?" teased Josh from the doorway. "That's some
fetching outfit there, Donnatella."
"Why, thank you Joshua." she said with a smile.
Josh sat down on the edge of the bed. Donna put aside her planner and
shuffled in her blue slippers to stand in front of him, between his knees.
Taking the towel out of his hands she dried his hair and then combed through
it with her fingers while they chatted about a few things. She could tell
the sleeping pill was starting to take effect. His words were starting to
slur together a little and his eyelids were getting heavy.
"Come on, crawl under the covers." said Donna as she helped him stand long
enough to pull back the comforter.
She got him settled under the blankets. Turning off the light and kicking
off her slippers she crawled into bed next to him.
Thanks to the sleeping pill Josh got almost 7 hours worth of sleep.
Unfortunately that would probably be the longest he would sleep at one time
for the next 10 months. He got up a little before six. Donna was already in
the shower. Padding into the kitchen he grabbed the coffee out of the
freezer and started up the coffee maker. He poured himself a glass of juice
and took his pills. Pulling his robe tightly around him he stepped out onto
the front porch to grab the newspaper.
By the time Donna was done in the bathroom he had finished a cup of coffee, a
bowl of cereal and the front section of the paper. While Donna got the kids
up he took a quick shower. He stepped back into the bedroom to find an
outfit laid out on the bed for him. On top was a note, "Don't expect this
kind of service everyday. Love, Donna".
With a huge smile on his face he got dressed. As he sat down on the chair to
tie his shoes he glanced out the window to see Nick his assistant/driver pull
up. He yelled to Donna to invite him in and offer him some coffee.
Five minutes later he stood in front of the mirror over Donna's dresser
trying to get his tie straight. Both hands were shaking and the fingers on
his right hand were giving him problems, as they did every once in a while.
"Donna." he whined towards the kitchen.
She came in with her coffee to see what the problem was. She motioned for
him to sit on the edge of the bed and with sure and steady fingers she
straightened out the tie.
She tipped up his chin to get a good look at him. He was more nervous than
she had ever seen him.
"Josh, take a deep breath for me." she said as she put her hands on his
shoulders. He did as requested but still didn't look any calmer. "Try it
again." she suggested.
A few deep breaths later he looked and felt a little better.
"OK, I'm ready. Where's my backpack?"
"By the front door. The boys are eating breakfast, don't forget to say
goodbye to them. I need to get dressed." she said as she motioned towards
her closet. Josh took that as a sign she wasn't up to a big goodbye scene at
the front door.
"OK. Well, I guess this is it. I'll call you later." he said as he took a
step towards he and hugged her. "I love you." he whispered in her ear before
giving her one last kiss.
"I love you too. Do good today." she whispered.
Josh smiled at her comment. It was one she had made many, many times during
their 4 years in the White House. He used to tease her that it was
grammatically incorrect but she always came back with some comment about
being impervious.
"Bye." he whispered as he left quickly before Donna got overly emotional,
something he was not ready to handle.
Ben, the boys and Nick were all having a good laugh in the kitchen about
something Jessie had said.
"I see you've been introduced to the boys." Josh said to Nick.
"Yes sir. You ready Mr. Lyman?" replied Nick as he drained his coffee cup
and put it in the sink.
"Nick, please don't call me that. Josh is fine. And drop the sir too."
"OK. I'll just go start the car. Nice to meet you." he said in the
direction of Ben, Jake and Jessie. "Do you need me to take anything out to
the car?"
"No, I'm fine thanks."
Josh said his goodbyes to Ben and the boys and went to grab his backpack. As
he hoisted it up onto his shoulder he took another deep breath and reached
out to open the front door. He walked out into the crisp January morning,
ready to start this next phase of his life.
In the bedroom Donna was peering out the window as he walked down the front
steps. With a slight swagger he walked to the car, tossed his backpack on
the back seat and climbed in. As if he knew she would be watching, he waved
towards the window and smiled.
TBC
By Ginny K.
See part one for notes and stuff.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next morning they took the boys out to breakfast and told them the plans.
Being 6 and 7 the thing they were most excited about was the possibility of
visiting the White House and maybe even getting to fly on Air Force One.
Josh spent the afternoon with President Hoynes at the White House going over
details. He made it clear that he would not be accepting a job after the
election. Hoynes understood perfectly and didn't press the issue.
At Donna's insistence he also talked to his doctor. He thanked her profusely
for taking time out for him on a Saturday. She gave her blessing and
basically told him he'd better not forget rule #3, the one about taking care
of himself.
Josh and Donna went out to dinner with friends on Saturday night to celebrate
his job. Margaret took the boys for pizza and bowling. Sunday found the
boys doing homework, Josh locked away in his study getting things ready and
Donna standing in the walk in closet in her room sorting through Josh's
clothes. She tossed things out left and right, deciding that Josh really
needed to go shopping.
Josh wandered down the hall reading from the legal pad in his hand. He
dropped into the chair by the window and continued reading. Two seconds
later a pile of oxford shirts landed on his head.
"Ow. Donna, I'm out here." he whined as she pulled the shirts off of his
head and tossed them aside.
"Sorry," she said as she poked her head out of the closet. "You really need
to go shopping Josh."
"God, not shopping." he whined.
"Yes, shopping. You haven't had to wear a shirt and a tie everyday for a
long, long time. You need some new clothes."
"OK, next weekend." he agreed distractedly as he turned his attention back to
the pad in his lap.
"How's it going?" asked Donna as she balanced on the arm of the chair and
tried to read over Josh's shoulder.
"OK, I guess." he said with a tired sigh.
"You're going to bed early tonight Josh." said Donna as she slid off the arm
of the chair and sat in his lap.
"Oh really?" said Josh with a leer.
"To sleep, Joshua." she said as she leaned over to kiss him. He wound his
fingers through her hair and pulled her closer to deepen the kiss. Neither
one of them heard the door to the bedroom open.
"Ewww gross." moaned Jake from the doorway.
Josh and Donna quickly broke apart but when Donna tried to stand up Josh's
hand went around her waist to keep her there. By that time Jessie had
wandered into the room too. Jessie, always the cuddler, climbed into Donna's
lap and put one arm around his Mom and the other around his Dad. With a sigh
Jake decided he should really join the rest of them so he perched on the arm
of the chair. Josh put his arm around his shoulders and kissed the top of
his blond head. Jake managed to stick around for about 2 minutes before the
whole familial bonding thing got to be annoying. Donna got up too, to finish
in the closet. Jessie stayed in the chair with Josh and they talked.
Donna couldn't hear there whole conversation from the closet but managed to
get the general idea. Jessie was telling Josh how much he was going to miss
him and in the same breath looking forward to spending more time with Ben.
Donna smiled at the two of them, so much alike it was truly frightening.
Jessie kissed Josh and scooted off the chair to go find his brother. "Jake."
he bellowed down the hall.
At the sound of his bellow Donna just looked at Josh, "Wonder where he gets
that from?" she smirked.
"No idea." said Josh, feigning innocence.
Ben returned from his parents that night. Josh had already talked to him
over the phone and explained the changes that were happening. Ben was fine
with the fact that he would be doing more for the boys and less for Josh as a
driver had been arranged for Josh.
They ate an early dinner together and then Ben took the boys to the store to
pick up a few things. Josh packed his backpack for the fourth time while
Donna cleaned up in the kitchen.
After the kids were in bed Donna settled down on the couch to do some
reading. A bundle of nervous energy, Josh wandered aimlessly around the
house until Donna was on the verge of screaming.
"Josh, please, find something to do." she said as he took another lap around
the living room.
"I'm too wired." he said, as if that explanation was really necessary.
"Take a bath, I'll make some tea."
Josh contemplated the suggestion for a minute before finally agreeing to it.
He grabbed a notepad and a pen before heading into the bathroom.
"Leave the paper and pen Josh." called Donna.
"Fine." he muttered as Donna just smiled and shook her head. As scared as
she was about his taking the job she was also very proud of him. It was nice
to see him excited about something for a change.
With a mug of tea and a sleeping pill in her hand Donna went into the
bathroom. She laughed at the sight of President Hoynes' newest advisor who
was currently covered in bubbles and singing off key with his eyes closed.
She watched him unnoticed for a minute until she couldn't hold in her
laughter any longer.
"What, don't I look like a political mastermind?" smirked Josh.
"Not hardly. Here take this." she said handing him the tea and the pill. He
eyed it warily. "I know you don't like to take it, but Josh, be realistic,
if you don't take it you'll be up all night."
"Suppose you're right."
He took the pill with the tea and settled back down under the water. Donna
wandered in and out of the room, getting her own things ready for the
morning.
When the water turned cool Josh climbed out, dried off and threw on his
pajamas. He wandered back into the bedroom to find Donna wearing one of the
oxford shirts she had taken out of the closet. Her hair was pulled off her
face and her glasses were perched on her nose as she sat in the chair making
notes in her planner. Completing her outfit was a pair of fuzzy blue
slippers on her feet.
"And you were making fun of me?" teased Josh from the doorway. "That's some
fetching outfit there, Donnatella."
"Why, thank you Joshua." she said with a smile.
Josh sat down on the edge of the bed. Donna put aside her planner and
shuffled in her blue slippers to stand in front of him, between his knees.
Taking the towel out of his hands she dried his hair and then combed through
it with her fingers while they chatted about a few things. She could tell
the sleeping pill was starting to take effect. His words were starting to
slur together a little and his eyelids were getting heavy.
"Come on, crawl under the covers." said Donna as she helped him stand long
enough to pull back the comforter.
She got him settled under the blankets. Turning off the light and kicking
off her slippers she crawled into bed next to him.
Thanks to the sleeping pill Josh got almost 7 hours worth of sleep.
Unfortunately that would probably be the longest he would sleep at one time
for the next 10 months. He got up a little before six. Donna was already in
the shower. Padding into the kitchen he grabbed the coffee out of the
freezer and started up the coffee maker. He poured himself a glass of juice
and took his pills. Pulling his robe tightly around him he stepped out onto
the front porch to grab the newspaper.
By the time Donna was done in the bathroom he had finished a cup of coffee, a
bowl of cereal and the front section of the paper. While Donna got the kids
up he took a quick shower. He stepped back into the bedroom to find an
outfit laid out on the bed for him. On top was a note, "Don't expect this
kind of service everyday. Love, Donna".
With a huge smile on his face he got dressed. As he sat down on the chair to
tie his shoes he glanced out the window to see Nick his assistant/driver pull
up. He yelled to Donna to invite him in and offer him some coffee.
Five minutes later he stood in front of the mirror over Donna's dresser
trying to get his tie straight. Both hands were shaking and the fingers on
his right hand were giving him problems, as they did every once in a while.
"Donna." he whined towards the kitchen.
She came in with her coffee to see what the problem was. She motioned for
him to sit on the edge of the bed and with sure and steady fingers she
straightened out the tie.
She tipped up his chin to get a good look at him. He was more nervous than
she had ever seen him.
"Josh, take a deep breath for me." she said as she put her hands on his
shoulders. He did as requested but still didn't look any calmer. "Try it
again." she suggested.
A few deep breaths later he looked and felt a little better.
"OK, I'm ready. Where's my backpack?"
"By the front door. The boys are eating breakfast, don't forget to say
goodbye to them. I need to get dressed." she said as she motioned towards
her closet. Josh took that as a sign she wasn't up to a big goodbye scene at
the front door.
"OK. Well, I guess this is it. I'll call you later." he said as he took a
step towards he and hugged her. "I love you." he whispered in her ear before
giving her one last kiss.
"I love you too. Do good today." she whispered.
Josh smiled at her comment. It was one she had made many, many times during
their 4 years in the White House. He used to tease her that it was
grammatically incorrect but she always came back with some comment about
being impervious.
"Bye." he whispered as he left quickly before Donna got overly emotional,
something he was not ready to handle.
Ben, the boys and Nick were all having a good laugh in the kitchen about
something Jessie had said.
"I see you've been introduced to the boys." Josh said to Nick.
"Yes sir. You ready Mr. Lyman?" replied Nick as he drained his coffee cup
and put it in the sink.
"Nick, please don't call me that. Josh is fine. And drop the sir too."
"OK. I'll just go start the car. Nice to meet you." he said in the
direction of Ben, Jake and Jessie. "Do you need me to take anything out to
the car?"
"No, I'm fine thanks."
Josh said his goodbyes to Ben and the boys and went to grab his backpack. As
he hoisted it up onto his shoulder he took another deep breath and reached
out to open the front door. He walked out into the crisp January morning,
ready to start this next phase of his life.
In the bedroom Donna was peering out the window as he walked down the front
steps. With a slight swagger he walked to the car, tossed his backpack on
the back seat and climbed in. As if he knew she would be watching, he waved
towards the window and smiled.
TBC