Part 6 of 8
**
The photo Donna was laughing at was of Josh sitting on his couch, with Donna's niece, Emily, next to him. Both of them were sound asleep. The photo had been taken the month before, in March, when Josh and Donna had been dating for five months.
*Flashback*
"Donna?" Josh called from his position standing in his open doorway. "You got a sec?" Donna rose from her chair, stunned that Josh was actually asking her nicely, rather than bellowing for her as usual. She walked past him into his office and he closed the door behind her.
"Yes, Josh? What file do you need me to find for you now?" she asked casually, fully expecting him to have lost something yet-again.
"Hey!" He tried to look wounded. "Actually, I was just going to ask what plans you had for tonight."
Donna gave him a pointed look. "Oh no, Josh, I am not working late tonight. You promised me I could leave early tonight, I haven't had an early finish on a Friday since my parents visited." She was pouting at him.
"Calm down," he replied. "I might have just been asking 'cos I was going to invite you out for dinner you know." He dipped his head to avoid her gaze.
She snorted at him. "Yeah right, I'm so gonna believe that."
He looked back up at her again and grinned sheepishly. "Well, it was worth a try. You were right though; I do need you to work a little bit late tonight. I have to go up to the Hill at 6 for a meeting and I need you to be here when I get back to type up any notes. I'll probably need to give them to Leo first thing tomorrow morning." He sounded apologetic and Donna couldn't hold her grudge against him; it wasn't really his fault and he was going to be working late as well.
"Okay, but it had better not be too late," she replied.
"It shouldn't be," he replied, and then added hesitantly, "you didn't have plans for tonight, did you?" She shook her head.
"Only things that involve you," she said, "so, you'll be missing out as well as me."
Josh pouted, but then grinned at her. "Okay, we definitely won't be working that late."
*
"Josh Lyman's office," Donna said, answering the phone on her desk at the
second ring.
"Hey, it's me," Josh said. Donna smiled as soon as she heard his voice, however, when she glanced at the clock and saw it was nearly 8 her smile fell.
"Where are you?" she asked, sounding crestfallen. "You're not still at the Hill, are you?" She had hoped he would have been back already so that they could still get home at a decent hour.
"No, I'm actually on my way home," he admitted guiltily, waiting for her to start yelling at him.
"You're WHAT?" She stared at the phone incredulously.
"Calm down, I've only just left. The meeting went better than expected, I don't need you to type up notes tonight, you can do it tomorrow morning and I'll just tell Leo the results verbally at our meeting."
"So, you're not coming back to the office?" she asked, her tone huffy.
"No, I figured it would make more sense just to go straight home. If you leave now you'll probably get there about the same time as me," he replied.
"Alright, I still think you should have called me earlier though, instead of making me wait in the office all night," she grumbled.
"It wasn't all night, besides, I'm sure you had plenty of work to keep you occupied and, if not, that's something I'll rectify from now on." He was laughing at her a little and Donna let out a long sigh to show she wasn't amused. "I'm sorry I didn't call earlier," he continued, "but I figured it was easier to let the meeting progress and finish more quickly, than interrupt it to call you. I'll make it up to you," he promised.
"Okay, I'll hold you to that," she replied, and he could hear her grin down the phone. "I'm leaving now, I'll meet you there."
"Yeah, see you at home," he said, ending the call.
*
"Josh, I'm here," Donna called as she unlocked the door to Josh's apartment and entered. He immediately appeared in front of her.
"Hey," he said, kissing her quickly. "I've got a surprise for you," he said excitedly.
Donna gave him a quizzical look. "Really? What is it?" She looked around the living room, but didn't see anything unusual. He looked towards the couch and she followed his gaze, still not seeing anything.
"Hey, Em?" Josh said. A blonde head appeared over the back of the couch and Donna's face took on a look of utter surprise and delight.
"Emily!" she squealed, rushing over to give her niece a hug. "What are you doing here?"
"Hi, Aunt Donna," Emily replied, allowing herself to be enveloped by Donna's arms. "We came to see you for the weekend."
"We?" Donna asked, looking around the living room again and appearing confused. A moment later her sister, Isabella and her husband, Phil, emerged from the guest room.
"Hi, Donna," they said in unison.
"Izzy!" Donna was squealing with delight again and ran to hug her sister and brother-in-law. When they broke apart she turned to look at Josh. "What's going on, Josh?" He grinned at her, delighted to see her looking so happy.
"Well, Izzy called your desk a couple of weeks ago while you were dropping some files off to Leo's office for me. I was collecting mail, so I answered the phone and Izzy said that they were planning to come down and visit for a weekend. Anyway, we decided to organize it between us and surprise you." He shrugged his shoulders as if to say 'it was nothing' but Donna gave him a warm smile and mouthed 'thank you'.
"So, how long are you here for?" Donna asked her sister once they had all sat down. Phil and Josh were each sitting in armchairs and Donna and Izzy were sitting on the couch with Emily in between them.
"Only two nights I'm afraid, we're flying back on Sunday evening as Phil and I are working on Monday and Emily has school."
Donna turned to look at Josh, who was sitting in the chair nearest to her. "Since you organized all this, did you also organize some time off for me to spend with them?" she asked hopefully.
Josh smiled smugly. "Actually, I did; I'm even taking the weekend off myself." Donna looked shocked. "I still have a few things to read over, but I can do that here."
"Don't you have a meeting with Leo tomorrow, to give him the results of your meeting on the Hill tonight?" she asked.
Josh looked sheepish. "Um, I didn't actually have a meeting tonight," he admitted. Donna looked confused. "I just said that to you so I could go and pick up Izzy, Phil & Emily from the airport and bring them back here without you knowing. I was already back here when I called you." Donna smiled at him and he breathed a sigh of relief.
"So, you can spend all day with us tomorrow and Sunday, barring any emergencies?" she asked happily.
He nodded slowly. "Well…yes and no." Donna looked confused again. "I do have to call Leo in the morning to go over some stuff and I'll need to read up for it first, but after that I'm all yours." Donna beamed at him.
"Um, actually, Donna, it won't be all of us tomorrow," Izzy said. Donna looked at her quizzically. "Phil has planned to meet up with one of his college friends while we're here. He'll only be a couple of hours. Josh told me he would have to work for a bit anyway, so I thought that you, Emily and I could go out somewhere and then meet up with Josh and Phil later. Does that sound okay?"
"Yeah, that sounds good," Donna replied. "By the way, where is everyone sleeping tonight? There's only one bed in the guest room."
"Emily's sleeping on the couch," Josh informed her.
"What?" Donna looked at Emily, giving her an apologetic look.
"It's okay, Aunt Donna," Emily said. "The couch is comfy. Josh says he's slept on it a lot."
"Yes, he has," Donna replied, "but only when he'd passed out there." She grinned at Josh who mock-glared at her.
*
Donna walked into the kitchen the next morning after showering and dressing to find Josh and Emily already sitting down and eating breakfast. She smiled to herself as she saw the two of them talking animatedly and tucking into cereal, then she realized what they were eating.
"Lucky Charms, Josh?"
He looked up at her and shrugged his shoulders innocently. "Emily requested them," he stated. Donna looked to Emily, who nodded her head in agreement.
"While that may be true, Joshua, where did the box come from in the first place? I don't remember buying it the last time we went to the store."
"Um, well, I took the opportunity to stock up on my way home on Thursday night, when you were staying at your own place," he admitted. "I figured I should get some stuff in since we have guests."
"In other words, you took advantage of me not being there to buy junk food," she stated, giving him a pointed look.
"It's not junk food," he defended. "Cereal is good for you, breakfast is the most important meal of the day."
"Most cereals are good for you, yes. However, this particular one is extremely high in sugar content; you shouldn't be eating it, Josh and you know it."
"I eat this stuff all the time though, Aunt Donna," Emily said. "Mom always lets me get it." Josh grinned and raised his eyebrows at Donna, challenging her to come up with an answer.
"That may be so, Emily, but you are a great deal younger than Josh, you can burn it off much easier." She smirked at Josh who was now glowering at her. He continued to eat the cereal, making a big show of putting each spoonful into his mouth and Donna just rolled her eyes at him. "You," she said, pointing at Josh, "are not to go near a grocery store without me again, understand?" He smirked at her but remained silent.
Josh was saved from having to form a reasonable argument by the arrival of Isabella.
"Morning, everyone," Izzy said, taking a seat at the table.
"Hi," replied Donna, "did you sleep alright?"
"Yeah, we were fine thanks. Phil's just gone into the shower, we assumed everyone else was up and about already."
"Yes, it appears that Josh and Emily have been bonding over sugary cereal," Donna replied.
"Don't forget the cartoons," Josh smirked. Donna looked at him questioningly. "I woke up early and didn't want to disturb you. Emily was already awake, so we sat and watched some Saturday morning cartoons."
"Emily, do me a favor, don't encourage Josh anymore, he's a big enough kid already," Donna quipped and Josh stuck his tongue out at her. "Joshua," she warned. "Be nice."
"So, what are you ladies going to do with yourselves this morning while Phil and I are busy?" Josh asked as Donna and Izzy helped themselves to cornflakes and coffee.
"I thought we could go shopping," replied Izzy. "What do you think, Donna? I'd like to look around some of the boutiques."
Donna nodded. "Yeah, that sounds good. I need to get a dress for another White House function that's coming up anyway. It'll give me a chance to look."
"Ugh." They all turned to look at Emily curiously, wondering why she'd emitted such a disgruntled sound.
"What's wrong with you?" her mother asked.
"I don't want to go shopping, mom. You know I hate it," Emily replied.
"Emily, stop complaining, it'll be fun. You'll get a chance to spend time with Aunt Donna, which is what you've been wanting to do for ages." Donna beamed at Izzy's words, glad her niece wanted to spend time with her.
"Yeah, but do we have to go shopping?" she asked.
"Well, do you have any better ideas?" Izzy questioned, beginning to get exasperated.
"Anything but shopping! Can't I just stay here with Josh?" she asked. They all looked at her again.
"What? Why would you want to do that?" asked her mother. "Oh, no offence, Josh," she added as she noticed the slightly hurt look on his face. "It's just, well, Emily, I thought you wanted to spend time with your Aunt, and besides, Josh has work to do, he won't want you under his feet."
"I do want to spend time with Aunt Donna," Emily replied, "but I also want to get to know Josh." Izzy looked unsure and looked warily from Emily to Josh.
"Look, if Emily really wants to stay here with me, it's not a problem," Josh said, smiling at Emily and then taking Donna's hand in his own, noticing the worried look on her face.
"Don't you have work to do though, Josh?" Donna asked.
"Yeah, but it shouldn't take too long. It'll be fine." Donna and Izzy finally agreed, albeit warily, and Josh and Emily grinned at each other.
"Just remember, I'll have my cellphone ,so call if you need anything," Donna said and Josh just rolled his eyes at her.
"We'll be fine, Donna," he replied. Donna grinned slightly as the thought 'famous last words' popped into her head.
*
"So, you don't like shopping, huh?" Josh asked Emily once everyone else had left the apartment.
Emily shook her head. "No, much to my mom's horror. She can't believe that I've just turned 13 and still hate shopping. She was hoping I'd grow to like it."
"Well, it's fine with me," Josh laughed, "I think you and I are going to get along just fine."
Josh left Emily to watch Saturday morning TV while he read some briefing notes. Before long, he could tell she was getting bored - she kept flicking through the TV channels.
"Emily, you can put a movie on if you want," Josh said, passing through the living room on his way back to the kitchen, where he'd been working.
She looked up at him and grinned. "I already looked through your collection, if you can call it that. All your movies suck."
"Hey! Firstly, I don't think your mom would appreciate you talking like that, and secondly, my movies are good." She gave him a 'yeah, right' look and started flicking through the TV channels again. Josh sat down beside her on the couch, but remained silent. After a few moments, she stopped playing with the TV remote and looked at him.
"I thought you had work to do?" she asked seriously. "Am I making too much noise? I can turn it down." She sounded a little scared and Josh smiled at her.
"No, it's okay. I do have work to do but it's nothing much, as long as I call my boss before noon it'll be alright." He looked at her intently. "Are you okay? I know I don't know you very well, but you look as though you have something on your mind."
She dipped her head for a moment, but then looked back up at him. "I…you really like my Aunt Donna, don't you?"
Josh was a bit taken aback by her direct question. "Uh, yeah, you could say that," he replied. "What brought that on?"
She dipped her head again. "I just, well, I was wondering…how do you know when you like someone, like that?" Josh started to get a little worried, wondering how to answer the question and why she was asking it in the first place.
"I don't really know," he admitted honestly. "It's just a feeling you get. Why are you asking?" He wondered if he was getting a little out of his depth, but he had a feeling that Emily was worried about something.
"Well…someone asked me out and I don't know whether to say yes or not," she replied with her head still dipped.
Josh was stunned into silence for a moment, but quickly recovered. "Um…okay, well, first off, I thought you already had a boyfriend?" Emily gave him a look that expressed her confusion. "Donna told me about him, what was his name…Robbie?"
Emily smiled a little. "Robbie and I broke up ages ago," she informed him.
"So, what's all this about then?" Josh asked, by now thoroughly confused. Emily looked at him as if he was dumb.
"Well, someone else asked me out, but I don't know if I want to go out with him or not. What do you think?"
"I think I'm probably not the best person to be asking about this," he replied.
"Why not? I mean, you're a guy aren't you, surely you can tell me whether Jason sounds alright or not."
"Yes, I'm a guy but…well, personally, I think you're too young to be dating anyone."
Emily scrunched up her face at him. "I'm not too young, I'm 13," she responded defiantly.
"I know you're 13 and I think that's too young to be going out on dates," he replied, keeping his tone gentle. He didn't want to upset her; in fact, he was desperately trying to find a way to end the conversation.
"How old were you when you started dating?" she asked.
"16."
"How old was Aunt Donna?"
"14."
"Well, see, Aunt Donna wasn't much older than me. Anyway, my mom and dad don't mind me dating," her tone was determined and Josh decided to try another direction.
"If your parents don't mind you dating, how come you aren't talking about this Jason with them?" he asked gently.
Emily dipped her head again. "He only asked me on Wednesday, he wanted me to go out with him today, but I couldn't since I was coming here."
"And?" Josh prodded; knowing there was more to it than that.
"I don't know," she replied solemnly, "I guess I was kinda hoping to spend some time alone with Aunt Donna, she usually gives me good advice. I don't want to mention it to mom and dad yet, I don't know why though."
"Well, I can probably make sure that you get to spend some time with Donna," he offered.
Emily shrugged her shoulders. "It's okay, it doesn't really matter." She sounded a little disheartened and Josh felt guilty; it wasn't really his place to tell her she was too young to date, especially when her parents were okay with it.
"Look, I know I'm not your Aunt Donna, and I know I told you I don't think you should be dating, but how about you tell me about this Jason anyway. Maybe talking about him will help you make up your mind."
Emily seemed to ponder his suggestion for a minute but then smiled at him. "Okay, thanks. Well, he's a couple of grades above me in school --"
Before she could continue, Josh interrupted her. "Whoa, wait a minute. Exactly how old is he?"
"15," Emily replied.
Josh got a stern look on his face. "Emily, I really think you should talk this over with your parents before you make any decisions. I don't think they'd be too happy with you dating a 15 year old, I know I wouldn't be if I was them."
"Why not?" she asked, a little puzzled.
Josh let out a long sigh, trying to think of a way to phrase his answer. "Well, Robbie was in the same grade as you, right?" Emily nodded. "Okay, well, let's just say that guys of 15 are a lot different to guys of 13."
"What do you mean?" Emily asked. Josh got the feeling that she knew exactly what he was trying to say. He was beginning to wonder if she was too much like Donna for her own good; able to mess with his head too easily.
"I really don't think I should be discussing this with you Em," he replied. "How about I get your Aunt Donna to talk to you?" he offered, letting out a sigh of relief when Emily nodded her head in agreement. "Okay, well, in the meantime, are you sure there's nothing in my extensive video and dvd collection that you want to watch?"
"Actually, there is," she replied.
Josh gave her a surprised look. "I thought you said my movies sucked?"
"They do," she grinned. "I don't want to watch a movie though. I want to watch your 'History of the Mets' tape."
Josh beamed at her. "Really? You're a Mets fan? Donna never told me that."
"We're not supposed to talk about it," she admitted. Josh furrowed his brow and Emily explained, "My dad's a Yankees fan."
"Ah, well, you're in good company here, my young friend. The Mets it is." He rose from the couch and retrieved the tape from his bookcase, popping it into the VCR.
Emily settled down to watch the video and Josh went back through to the kitchen to finish reading over the briefing notes. He then re-entered the living room to pick up the phone to call Leo. Since the Mets video was getting to a good part that he really wanted to watch, he moved to the back of the living room, where he could still see the TV but was also able to talk on the phone.
He passed on the information that Leo required fairly quickly, answering all the questions that were asked. Leo, however, could tell that Josh was a little distracted.
"Josh, what's that noise in the background? I thought you were at home."
"I am, it's 'The History of the Mets' video," he replied.
"Why are you watching 'The History of the Mets' on video, Josh? Don't tell me it helps you to concentrate," Leo said in a droll tone.
"Actually, I'm looking after Donna's niece at the moment, while everyone else is out, and she wanted to watch it," Josh replied smugly. He heard Leo relay his reply to someone and was just about to ask who was there when Leo spoke to him again.
"Toby wants to know how old Donna's niece is."
"She's 13," Josh replied, wondering why Toby would be interested. He heard Leo relay this message as well and then heard laughter down the phone.
"Toby said to tell you not to worry, it's probably just some teenage phase she's going through and soon she'll become a Yankees fan, like everyone should be," Leo said through his laughter.
Josh rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, very funny. Do you need me for anything else? I'd kinda like to watch the tape as well."
"No, that's everything at the moment. I'll call you if I need anything else. You're taking tomorrow off as well?"
"Yeah, I intend to anyway. Is that still okay?"
"It's fine. Barring any emergencies, I'll see you on Monday." Leo hung up the phone and Josh replaced his phone in its cradle and sat down again next to Emily on the couch.
After a few minutes of sitting in silence watching the video, Emily turned to Josh.
"What's it like working for the President?" she asked seriously. Josh gave her a curious look.
"Um, it's great. He's a fantastic man and does fantastic work. Why do you ask?"
"Well, my favorite class in school is American History, and I especially like all the stuff about the government. I told my teacher I was coming here for the weekend and she said she'd give me extra credit if I wrote a report about some of the things the people working for the President do."
"I'm glad you like history, it's important. As for the government side, you're reminding me more of your Aunt Donna every minute. Have you asked her what it's like to work for the President?"
Emily
nodded her head. "Yeah, I asked her
last year, when we first started the government topic in class."
"Did you write a report on what she said for extra credit?" he asked, smirking
a little. "With all the trivia she
knows you could probably write a book."
Emily laughed. "No, I told my teacher who she is though. I took a photo in from 'Time Magazine' that you and Aunt Donna were in, along with the President. Everyone remembers her anyway, the school paper puts her photo in it all the time as one of the 'famous alumni'."
Josh grinned at that information. "Really? I'll need to remember to ask her about that."
Emily gave him a confused look. "What? You don't think they should talk about her? I mean, everyone at home is really proud of her."
"As they should be," Josh replied. "I'm glad they talk about her, I just meant I can tease her about it. So anyway, what sort of stuff do you need to know for your report?"
"Well, I don't know. Is there anything you can tell me about the White House that people might not know about from the Internet or the papers?"
Josh furrowed his brow. "What do you mean?"
"Well, how big is it really? You can never tell from photos."
Josh became even more confused. "Surely you know that already though. You've been to the White House before, haven't you?"
Emily shook her head. "No, I've never even been to D.C. before," she replied.
"Really? But, I remember your Aunt Donna showing your mom round the office a few years ago, weren't you with her? I thought that's where I'd met you before."
"No, mom and Grandma were on that trip, I stayed home with dad. They came to see Aunt Donna once she was settled in D.C. I remember meeting you before, but it was in Madison. Something about an overnight stopover on the way somewhere?"
Josh thought for a moment and then nodded his head in agreement. "Well, since you've never been to D.C. before and you're actually interested in learning about the government, which too few people your age are, I think the least I can do is give you a personal tour of the White House."
Emily's eyes lit up and she had a big smile on her face when she looked at Josh. "Really? I mean, it'll be allowed?"
"Of course it'll be allowed. I need to check a few things for security, but if need be I'll just take you to the places that the regular tour visits."
"Thanks, that'd be really great, Josh. Then I can write a report about my visit, it'll be really cool."
"Yeah. I'd better check that your mom or Aunt Donna don't have other plans for you tomorrow though."
Emily grinned. "Doesn't matter if they do," she replied. Josh looked at her quizzically. "Mom keeps saying my education comes first, so they can cancel any other plans they've made." They grinned at each other and then returned their attention to the video. Since they'd both woken early that morning, it wasn't long before they fell asleep, side-by-side on the couch. This was how Donna and Izzy found them when they returned. They had entered the apartment quietly, not wanting to disturb Josh when he was working. When Donna spotted him and Emily asleep on the couch, she took her digital camera out of her bag and snapped a candid photo of them before finally waking them up.
*
"Do you know who's working today?" Donna asked as she, Josh, Emily, Phil and Izzy entered the White House through one of the security gates.
"Well, when I called Leo yesterday to set this up he said he'd be around. I think CJ might be working as well, but I'm not sure. There probably won't be many people in; most people are taking the opportunity of time off while the President is in Manchester for the weekend. Why?"
"No reason really, I just thought it might be good for Emily to get the perspectives of a few different people. You know, how their jobs are all different, but they're all working towards the same goal?" Josh nodded in understanding and continued leading the way towards the West Wing.
Emily had been awestruck since they had first entered the White House grounds. Josh had led them all through the 'tourist' areas first, giving them an idea of the grandeur that most members of the public saw. Although Izzy had been to the White House before, Phil was like his daughter; he'd never even been to D.C. They had all spent the previous afternoon visiting some of the other tourist attractions, such as the Washington Monument and the Air & Space Museum, but it was obvious that the White House visit was going to be the highlight of Emily's trip.
"Well, that's my office," Josh said, pointing to his closed office door as they reached the operations area. "That's your Aunt Donna's desk." He pointed to Donna's cubicle and Emily followed his gaze. "As you can see, she keeps it kind of messy." Donna swatted him on the arm and he grinned at her.
Emily was still looking around, her eyes moving from one desk to the next, trying to figure out what everyone did and how they contributed to running the country.
"Where does the President work?" Emily asked quietly, looking around the corridors and then settling her gaze on Josh.
"Don't tell me they haven't taught you that in school?" Josh asked, slightly shocked. "If they haven't, we really need to speed up our education initiative." Emily gave him a strange look, not quite following what he was meaning. "The President works in the Oval Office, Emily," he added more gently.
She looked at him like he was crazy. "I know that, I meant where is the Oval Office, in relation to here?" Donna laughed out loud as Josh realized he'd just been cut down to size by a 13 year old. Izzy and Phil looked a little shocked and ashamed of the way Emily had just spoken to Josh. They relaxed, however, when Josh carried on as normal.
"It's not that far, I'll take you along that corridor later, if you want," he offered. Emily nodded eagerly and Donna sent Josh a silent 'thank you' smile.
Donna quickly checked her desk for any messages and found one from Margaret, asking Josh to check in with Leo when he arrived. She handed the note to Josh who silently read it and nodded, glancing at Emily.
"Hey, Emily," Donna said. Her niece turned to look at her. "Why don't I take you to the press room, let you look around a little bit? That's the room most of your class will have seen on TV, so you can tell them what it's like to see it in person." Emily nodded her head rapidly and Donna glanced at Josh.
"Okay, well while you guys do that I'm gonna go check in with Leo. I'll catch up to you," Josh said. Donna nodded at him and led Emily, Izzy and Phil towards the press room.
*
"CJ?"
The sound of Donna's voice surprised CJ and she looked up sharply. "What are you doing here?" she asked Donna.
"Well, we brought my niece in to look round. I was gonna take her into the press room and I noticed you were here, so I thought I'd better check if it's okay with you," Donna replied, indicating her companions who were just visible behind her.
CJ stood up from behind her desk and walked to her doorway. "Of course it's okay, in fact, how about I do the tour?" she offered. Donna nodded and introduced CJ to Emily, Izzy and Phil. Once the introductions were over, CJ led them all into the press room, informing Emily of what the Press Secretary's job consisted of, usually.
*
"Leo, you wanted to see me?" Josh said as soon as he arrived in Leo's office.
"Yeah, I just wanted to see where you're intending on taking Donna's family," Leo replied.
Josh
furrowed his brow. "What do you mean?"
"Well, where in the White House are you taking them?"
"Oh, well, I've already taken them to most of the stops on the 'tourist trail' and they've seen where Donna and I work. Right now, Donna is taking them to the press room, so that Emily can tell her classmates that she's been in it. Why are you asking? It's still okay for them to be here, isn't it?" Josh asked, wondering if something had happened that he didn't know about.
"Yes, it's okay. It was just that you mentioned Donna's niece, Emily, is it?" Josh nodded. "Well, you said she was going to write a school report about her visit. I figured you might want to take her into the Oval Office." Josh gave him a questioning look, but remained silent. "It's okay, Josh, I'll authorize you to take her in there, although, I'd like to be there too, make sure you give her the right information. I sometimes wonder if you have entirely grasped what decisions get made in there." Leo was grinning and Josh grinned back, while trying to think of a comeback.
"That's where you and the President decide what should be on the menu in the Mess every day, isn't it?" Josh retorted, his grin widening as Leo rolled his eyes. "Seriously though, thanks, Leo, that'd be great. Emily will love it and Donna and I would really appreciate it." Leo nodded and Josh continued, "Well, I'll go get them from the press room and bring them back here, if you have time right now that is?"
"That's fine. I'll see you in a few minutes." Josh nodded and left the office, heading for the press room.
*
Josh arrived in the press room to find CJ telling Emily about the White House press corps, and how tough they could sometimes be to handle.
"If you want any stories about the problems the press corps can cause, just ask
Josh about his attempt at standing in for me," CJ told Emily while grinning
widely at Josh as soon as she saw him enter the room. He shot her a glare while he was walking over to join Donna, who
was laughing heartily at CJ's comment.
Josh pinched her waist to stop her laughing, which just made her worse.
"What do you mean?" asked Emily, looking from CJ to Josh. Donna interrupted before Josh could respond,
"I'll tell you later, Em," she said, smiling at her niece and then turning to give Josh an evil grin. "Josh doesn't like to talk about it." CJ laughed and then decided to change the subject before Josh started getting defensive, loudly defensive – she could almost see the wheels turning in his head.
"Emily, would you like to stand behind the podium?" CJ asked. "You'll maybe get a feel of what it's like up there?" Emily's eyes grew wide and she looked to from CJ to Josh, silently asking his permission. CJ noticed this and wondered whether Josh had been telling Emily that he had authority over the whole White House, and had neglected to tell her he was banned from being in the press room without supervision. Josh nodded his head and smiled at Emily, encouraging her to go up onto the dais.
Emily was fairly tall for her age, and therefore did not look out of place behind the podium. She looked out at the faces of her parents, Donna, CJ and Josh, who had now all taken seats, and then rolled her shoulders back, making sure she was standing up straight. While Emily was getting herself comfortable behind the podium, Donna reached into her bag to retrieve her digital camera. She used it to take a couple of photos of Emily standing behind the podium and Josh smiled when he realized what she was doing.
"Can I get a copy of one of those?" he asked Donna, leaning in to speak to her and keeping his voice low. Donna beamed at him, happy that he was taking such an interest in her niece.
"Of course you can." CJ overheard the exchange between Josh and Donna and she grinned a little, realizing she had just been given more 'teasing material' against Josh. She was surprised that Josh was taking such an interest in someone he hardly knew.
*
"And here we have the office of Leo, McGarry, White House Chief of Staff," Josh said, bringing everyone to a halt outside Leo's office. Josh looked in and Leo nodded for him to bring everyone inside. Leo stood up and walked out from behind his desk. He outstretched his hand, first greeting Phil, then Izzy and finally Emily, with Josh doing the introductions.
"So, you're Josh's boss?" Emily asked Leo, her voice a little quiet. Josh had explained the positions of all the Senior Staff to her, but she was still trying to make sense of it all.
"That I am," Leo replied, smiling at her. "I hired him, and your Aunt Donna makes sure that he manages to keep his job." Donna and Leo both grinned and Josh narrowed his eyes, as if to say 'funny'.
"So, you work most closely with the President?" Emily asked.
"Yes, I do. Speaking of which, would you like to see the Oval Office?" Leo smiled as he saw Emily's eyes light up and Josh and Donna both gave him 'thank you' looks.
"Can I? I mean, Josh said the President is out of town, so is it allowed?"
Leo nodded his head. "Yes, I can take you inside. In fact, it's right through this door, follow me." He walked towards the door connecting his office to the Oval Office and opened it, leading them all just inside the Oval Office.
Emily, Phil and Izzy looked around them in wonder and awe, taking in all the details of the office.
"Feel free to walk around, Emily," Leo said, "just don't sit in the President's chair, he might think you're trying to kick him out of a job." Emily grinned at him before taking a few tentative steps forward. Everyone else hung back, watching her face as she looked around. She walked very slowly and was obviously nervous and intimidated by her surroundings. After a few moments, she looked back at everyone and her right hand moved out a little, silently asking for some support. Donna started to move forward but Josh stopped her, moving forward himself and slipping his left hand into Emily's right. He led her around the office, pointing out some of the artwork and telling her a little about some of the decisions that the President could be asked to make on a daily basis.
Leo watched Josh leading Emily around and smiled to himself. He had never really pictured Josh as the fatherly type before, mainly due to the fact that he didn't think anything would be able to drag Josh away from politics. However, he was now seeing another side to Josh, and had been ever since he and Donna had started dating. Josh was obviously happier, and that was evident in his work as well as in his demeanor. Watching him interact with Emily, Leo could tell that Josh was changing. He was still a man to be feared politically, but he was beginning to put his personal life, or rather Donna, first, something that Leo was glad about; he did not want Josh to end up like he had, losing his wife due to his dedication to his job.
*
Josh and Donna drove Phil, Emily and Izzy to the airport on the Sunday afternoon to catch their 4pm flight. They stood in the airport waiting for the flight to be called, so that they could spend as much time together as possible.
"Oh, Josh, I nearly forgot," Izzy said, starting to rummage around in her hand luggage. "My mom asked me to pass this onto you." She handed Josh a photo album and he immediately grinned, knowing what was in the album without even opening it.
"Tell your mom I said thank you very much, this is gonna be great." He opened the album, looked at the first photo and burst out laughing. Donna was trying to see what was inside but Josh kept moving it away from her every time she tried to look. Finally, he let her see the first page and she rolled her eyes.
"I can't believe my mom sent you my baby photos," she whined. Josh grinned at her.
"I did tell you I would ask her for them," he replied. Before Donna could comment further, the flight was called and they all hugged and kissed each other goodbye. Josh wrapped an arm around Donna's shoulders as they watched them go to the gate and then kissed her cheek when she started to sniffle a little. She smiled warmly at him and allowed him to lead her to his car.
*End of Flashback*
"Emily keeps asking about you, you know," Donna commented.
Josh grinned at her. "Maybe she has a little crush on me, just like her Aunt."
Donna rolled her eyes at him. "She's lucky though," she said, grinning as Josh gave her a confused look. "She's young enough to grow out of it."
Josh gave her a mock-offended look but then laughed, pulling her into a hug. "I hope so for her sake, I don't want her pining away; she doesn't stand a chance with me against her Aunt Donna," he said tenderly. Donna kissed him quickly and turned her attention back to the scrapbook, turning to the next page.
"Josh," she whined, "I can't believe you put this in here."
"What?" Josh shrugged his shoulders and tried to act innocent.
**
TBC
