"What about this one?" Donna asked, holding up the black cashmere sweater for her companion's approval.
Nicole scrunched up her nose in distaste. "Going to a funeral much?" she asked disdainfully, putting the garment back on the rack.
"What's wrong with it?"
"It's black," Nicole replied as if that explained everything, perusing through another rack of clothes.
"Yes, I noticed that when I picked it," Donna said sarcastically, following her while pushing a dozing Natalie in her stroller. "In fact, its color was largely the basis of my selection."
"Well, my dear sister, black does not become you, it never has really. It completely washes you out."
"Says who?"
"Says the one of us who actually knows how to work a color wheel. How about this one?" She held up a long, orange sundress up to Donna's figure.
Donna stared at her sister quizzically. "Nic, I'm Donna Lyman. Have we met before?"
"What?" she asked incredulously.
"I loathe orange, you know that. It makes me feel like a giant walking carrot." She tossed the dress back onto the rack and moved on with Nicole trailing behind her.
"You know, it was your idea to go shopping," Nicole reminded her. "So if you're just going to act like the little brat that you are, it's your own fault."
"You offered to take me shopping," Donna challenged her defensively.
"I did no such thing," she disagreed as they kept walking. "I said I'd take the day off work and bring you somewhere for your birthday, anywhere that you wanted, so we could have girl time together; If I had my way, we'd be all alone on the Concord right now downing bubbly and eating caviar and crackers at fifty bucks a pop, not schlepping through a mall on Friday afternoon with a two year-old while I carry all the bags."
"Well, you sprung this on me this morning so I couldn't get a sitter and I wanted to go shopping so suck it up and deal with it."
"We can shop here anytime we want to, Donna," Nicole said, motioning around the mall with her hands. "It's your birthday and you're my little sister, I wanted to take you somewhere nice."
"And I don't want you to waste your money on me."
"Hey, it's my money that I made from my company that bears my name and I'll waste it any damn way I please."
"Okay, you want the truth?" Donna stopped walking to ask her. "Because we never do this anymore, that's why. We never get to just shop and argue over what to buy and try on clothes we would never wear in public and just be sisters, you know? I mean, I'm thirty-one years old today and we haven't hung out like this since…forever. Since before you moved out here, before I had Natalie, before I got married, before I worked in the White House, hell before you started your business." She shrugged, ducking her head in embarrassment. "I don't know, I think we're both always so busy with ourselves and our own lives that we forget to act like sisters sometimes."
"Oh sweetie," Nicole chuckled, wrapping her bag-laden arms around her sister. Donna hugged her back and the two just stood there for a couple of minutes, blissfully ignorant of the stares they were receiving. "You are always such a total sap on your birthday," Nicole commented as they parted and started walking again.
"I know," Donna grimaced miserably, leafing through some business suits. "I just hate the thought that every year I'm getting a little bit older and that it's starting to become noticeable."
"Noticeable?" Nicole repeated skeptically.
"I'm getting wrinkles," Donna told her, clearly horrified at the thought.
"Oh, I don't believe that for a second, Donnatella."
"Really? I'll show you." She grabbed her sister's hand and dragged her to the nearest ladies room. She put the brakes on the stroller, checking to make sure Natalie was still sleeping before she stood up close to the mirror with Nicole in the empty restroom, pointing to the outside lids of her eyes. "There? See, crow's feet."
"Those are not crow's feet," Nicole said, rolling her eyes in annoyance.
"Yes they are!"
"No, they are not! These," she said, moving a little closer to the glass and pulling at her eyes, "on the other hand, are. And when I raise my eyebrows, my face is starting to resemble that of a bulldog's," she complained, demonstrating.
"Well look at this flab I've got hanging off by my ears. It's unsightly." Donna tilted her head back and pulled at the offending skin of her neck.
"I swear if my breasts keep sagging the way they are, they'll be down to my stomach by Easter," Nicole grumbled, pushing her cleavage up.
"My butt has virtually no muscle left in it whatsoever, it's just a blob of fatty tissue," Donna bemoaned, turning to get a look at it.
Nicole dropped her hands to her side and sighed dejectedly. "We're getting older," she stated gloomily. "We're not in our twenties anymore."
"We are, in fact, in our thirties," Donna lamented.
"We're no longer cute with flat stomachs and apple-shaped bosoms."
"We're sophisticated, with diets and Wonder Bras."
"We don't make-out with random frat boys at mixers."
"We're in committed relationships with two older men, both of whom have receding hairlines."
"I drive a Buick."
"I drive a minivan."
"I have a company that's responsible for fifty people and their livelihoods."
"I have two children that call me 'Mommy'."
"Do you know what we're going to be soon?"
She nodded gravely. "Middle-aged women."
They turned to look at each other and then back in the mirror. "Oh God," they moaned in unison.
"That's it, I've changed my mind," Donna said, unlocking the stroller and pushing it towards the door. "You're taking me to the nearest plastic surgeon and we're getting the full work up. That's your birthday present to me, the Fountain of Youth."
"Can't," Nicole replied distractedly, still fussing over herself.
"Why not?"
"We have to be out of here by…" Nicole stopped herself as she realized that she'd slipped up.
"Ah ha! I knew it, he's planning something," Donna said as she realized what her sister's faux pas meant. She leaned into her sister with a prosecutorial glare. "What's Josh planning, Nicole?"
"That, I am not telling you," Nicole answered as she tried to dodge past her sister to get back to the store.
"But you have to tell me!"
"Why?"
"Because Josh is your brother-in-law and I'm your sister," Donna explained as they arrived at the shoe department and Nicole began looking at a pair of Manolo Blaniks. "Blood relations trump legal ones all the time in these situations."
"Is that so?" she replied, not paying attention as she sat down to try on the heels.
"Nic, I hate surprises. You know that, and it's my birthday and having things done to me that I hate should not happen on this day!"
"Excuse me," Nicole asked a nearby salesperson, "do you have these in a size 7?"
"Nicolette," Donna said in a strained tone as she kneeled beside her, "I'm begging here and you do realize how desperately I must want this information if I'm resorting to pleading with you, so please help me out with this miniscule thing I'm asking you for."
Nicole looked at Donna thoughtfully, at the beseeching expression on her face and her hands pressed together in a prayerful fashion, much like Emma looked whenever she wanted something. She felt a smattering of guilt for putting her sister through this but she had promised Josh, after all. "No," she simply said as the salesperson returned with her request. "Sorry, can't help you out there, although the getting down on your knees was a nice touch."
"I hate you with the force of ten thousand volcanic eruptions," Donna growled as she got up from the floor.
"Oh don't be such a baby," she told her as she went to go ring up her purchase. "It's not a bad surprise, I promise."
"Than why can't you just tell me what it is?" Donna whined. "I know how to act surprised, he'll never know you told me."
"Because you will love this more and treasure it more if it's a surprise," Nicole assured her as she handed over her much-used credit card. "Besides, Josh has been planning this for months and he'll be really mad at me if I tell you."
"Since when do you care if he's mad at you?"
"Well right now I could care less but I figure it'll matter to me more later on when he's," she paused to glance around and make sure no one was really paying attention to them before she started whistling "Hail to the Chief".
"You're really not going to tell me anything about this, are you?" Donna asked disbelievingly.
"All I can tell you," Nicole offered as she collected her purchase, "is that your daughters are spending the night at my place tonight."
"Really? So he's taking me someplace?" she tried to guess as they continued browsing through the mall. "I wonder where we could go for one ni--"
Nicole put a finger to her little sister's lip to halt any further inquires. "Uh-uh," she shook her head firmly. "You've gotten your one tasty morsel of information and that's all you're gonna get."
"This is just so unfair."
"Yeah, your husband took time out of his busy schedule of being an elected official to be absurdly romantic to you on your birthday. My God, how do you find the will to make it through the day?"
"Shut up and feed us, please. I'm famished."
"As you wish," she replied and the two sisters left the store to head to a nearby café. Indian Summer was still in bloom so they sat waiting to order at an outside table. As they were looking through their menus, Natalie woke up and began fussing.
"Well welcome back, Sleeping Beauty," Donna said as she lifted the toddler onto her lap. Natalie just squirmed around in her mother's arms and looked to be on the verge of what could be a very embarrassing tantrum when Donna looked to Nicole and asked, "Do you have it?"
She bit back a chuckle as she reached for her tote bag and dug around, searching for the desired object. "You are delusional, Donna," Nicole said as she handed it over to Natalie, who immediately started to quiet down.
"Josh would blow an aneurysm if he saw her with this," she defended herself, caressing her daughter's fine brown hair as she gnawed on the toy.
"Donna, it's a small stuffed elephant that your daughter takes joy out of having with her," she laughed at her sister, picking the menu back up. "You really think he'd have a problem with it because it happens to be the symbol of his opposing party?"
"If you tell him she likes it, I'll tell Toby you carry it around in your purse," Donna threatened.
"What's good here?" Nicole asked, swiftly changing the subject. "I feel like having a good Rueben sandwich right now. Do you know what you want?"
"Maybe an egg salad sandwich, that sounds delicious right about now."
"Egg salad?" Nicole glanced up at her skeptically. "Since when do you like eggs?"
"I like eggs just fine," Donna rebutted.
"Sure, except that you've hated eggs ever since you were Natalie's age."
"Well now at age thirty-one, I want an egg salad sandwich."
"I've never even seen you order an egg before for yourself. How can you--?"
"Damn it Nicole, I want to eat one lousy egg salad sandwich!" she hissed angrily. "On my birthday, I want a stupid egg salad sandwich! When did that become a crime against God and humanity?"
"Mommy's pissed!" Natalie cheerfully interrupted.
The two women instantly forgot what they were arguing about and stared blankly at the child. While Donna looked like she wanted to melt slowly into a puddle of liquefied goo, Nicole was barely able to conceal her utter glee.
"Natalie, where did you hear that word?" Donna gently demanded to know, turning Natalie to face her.
"Lily," she beamed at her mother, reaching over to smush Donna's cheeks together.
"Why am I not surprised by this?" she asked out loud, her words mumbled by her child's antics.
"Good afternoon, ladies," the waiter asked, stopping at their table. "Are you ready to order?"
"Yes, I'll have a turkey club on whole wheat and the lady who's being assaulted by her daughter will have," Nicole paused to shake her head in confusion, "an egg salad sandwich."
"Nic, can you get Natalie's food out of her bag?" Donna asked when the waiter had left and she managed to get her daughter's hands off her mouth by tickling her ribs, causing the baby to squeal with delight.
"I still don't get this obsession you have with feeding the girls health food all the time when they're this young," Nicole said as she took out the Rubbermaid container. "Kids eat junk food, it doesn't kill them."
"Because this is better for them, that's why," Donna explained, opening the container and handing Natalie some cut up celery. Vegetables and fruit are the best sources of vitamins for kids; they help boost their immune systems and studies have shown that children who eat healthy when they're young do better in school. Besides, Josh loads them up on sugar when I'm not around so it balances out nicely."
"Where'd you hear all this?"
"There's a pediatric dietician in my Mommy & Me group."
"So you finally gave in to Ellie's badgering and joined one of those things."
"Yes I did and to be honest, it's been good for Natalie. She's made a lot of new friends and she doesn't have to be subjected to a daycare."
"And how is it for Mommy?"
She snorted in annoyance. "I'm looking at it as an opportunity to acclimate myself for dealings with future diplomatic relations."
"I told you it would be bad," Nicole said. "I told you it would be a room full of snotty, fruity upper-class snob wives of politicians and Fortune 500 executives."
"Oh God, they're horrible," Donna groaned. "All they talk about is this charity dinner their hosting for literacy programs for women in the Middle East or a ball to save five hundred acres of land for historical purposes when it could have been used for housing. It makes me want to rip my hair out one strand at time listening to them. But it gets even worse."
"How could it?"
"The other day, we were at a play date with a few others at the house of one Millie Caulfield. We were all on the deck while the kids were playing in the yard and these women are once again droning on and on about how polite and charitable they all are while I'm in danger of breaking the china from gripping it so hard in frustration. Anyways, after a few minutes we hear this shrill little scream from the yard and we look up to see Millie's daughter running up to us, clutching her arm and howling in pain. She wasn't hurt that badly, just a scrap, but she runs up the steps, into the house, and makes a beeline for her nanny, not Millie."
"Ouch, poor Millie."
"Oh no, not poor Millie," she corrected her sister. "As soon as her screaming child runs past her, our gracious hostess picks right up where she left off in the conversation, didn't even glance inside to check on her daughter." She shivered in disgust. "Can you imagine that, men and women who let their children run to nannies when they're hurt?"
"Well at least those kids have someone to run to," Nicole interjected.
Donna turned her daughter to her and hugged her tightly. "You're never gonna run to a nanny, right sweetie?" she cooed.
"Nope," Natalie replied, munching on a carrot.
"You'll never forget that I'm your Mommy?"
"No."
"You'll stay a virgin until your married?" Nicole added.
"No."
"Nicole!" Donna reprimanded as she put her daughter back in the stroller.
"I'm merely proving a point to you, Donna," she explained, giggling. "The child says no to almost every question you ask her, her opinion is irrelevant." She reached over and patted her sister's hand. "Mine, on the other hand, is not and I can say with absolute certainty that this little girl will always run to her Mommy, even when she's not so little anymore."
"I know that I'm paranoid, clingy, and smothering with them sometimes, especially Natalie," Donna chastised herself, "but I can't help it. I just want to keep them close to me for as long as I possibly can. Does that make me crazy?"
"No, it makes you a mom," she told her with a smile. "And a pretty damn good one too."
"Thank you," she replied gratefully as their orders arrived. Without preamble, Donna lifted one of the sandwich halves to her mouth and nearly devoured the entire piece in one bite.
'Wow,' Nicole thought to herself as she watched her sister, part fascinated and part repulsed as Donna continued to consume her meal at a rapid pace. "Uh Donna," she said slowly.
"Mmph?" she muttered, still going to town on her food.
"Medical experts have suggested that there's some merit to actually chewing your food before you digest it," she suggested sarcastically.
Donna just made a face at her before she finally swallowed. "I can't help it," she replied. "I'm starving, I feel like I haven't eaten all day."
"Did you have breakfast?"
"Yeah, after Josh and Emma left I had bagel with grape jelly," she listed as she thought back to that morning. "After that, I had some corn flakes, then toast with a side of hash, then I felt like having some bacon, and then I got the weirdest urge to have cranberry pancakes--"
"My God, Donna," Nicole looked at her in awe. "Most third world countries don't eat in a year what you just had this morning. Are you feeling all right? Maybe you should see a doctor."
Donna considered this. "I don't know," she finally said, rubbing her forehead. "I don't feel sick, just…tired and rundown. Most days my energy feels zapped before Emma even gets home. And I seem to be eating anything edible that's in my line of vision."
"Anything else?"
She hesitated before she answered. "The other day I felt really lightheaded and dizzy," she admitted begrudgingly. "But it went away after a minute or two, I promise."
"And…" Nicole prompted, knowing that Donna was leaving something out.
"I've had some mild nausea the last couple of days, but just in the morning," she confessed after a minute.
"Have you ever felt like this before?" Nicole asked, now genuinely concerned, her own meal forgotten. "Could you be relapsing?"
"No I had my yearly check-up more than two months ago; everything was normal, red and white blood cells, platelet count, the whole works. I'm fine in that regard, no relapsing or anything like that," Donna assured her.
"Well how can you be so sure? Maybe something didn't turn up and the symptoms you're having now--"
"Nicole, these doctors know this disease. They've studied and treated it for years and if they say I'm okay in terms of the anemia, I believe them," she replied curtly, before taking a big bite out of her sandwich. "Besides, I've had these 'symptoms' checked out before and they're not related to the disease."
"When were you feeling like this before?"
"A couple of years ago, right before Josh and I got married. I went to see Dr. Flynn, he checked me out, and said the dizziness and the lightheadedness weren't related to the anemia."
"So what was wrong with you that you kept getting dizzy?" Nicole continued to question relentlessly.
"Nothing was wrong!" she exclaimed impatiently. "It wasn't like I was actually sick; I was--" She stopped short as she ran through the words in her head. The impact of it went straight to her gut, causing the blood to drain from her face and her voracious appetite to subside for the time being.
"What? What is it?" Nicole asked hurriedly.
'Oh my God,' Donna thought, bringing one hand up to her mouth while the other unconsciously drifted down to her abdomen. "I was pregnant," she said shakily behind her hand.
"I can't hear you, Donna, what did you just say?"
"I said I was pregnant," she repeated, taking her hand off her mouth, getting up from the table robotically and pushing the stroller out of the restaurant.
"Oh my God," Nicole whispered to herself as she realized what could very well be happening. She quickly through a series of bills on the table, grabbed her purchases, and ran out onto the street. "Donna!" she cried out, looking for her sister.
"Over here," she heard from behind her. She turned to see her sister sitting on a bench, Natalie quiet in her lap. Donna didn't look at her, didn't look at the baby, didn't look at anyone; she just gazed out ahead of her, without focusing on anything but what had obviously been a fairly mind-blowing realization. "Hey."
"Hi," Nicole said, dropping down beside her. She smiled down at her niece, as she hugged her mother contently. Donna showered the top of the girl's head with kisses, holding her close to her heart. "So…you think that you're…?"
"Yeah."
"Wow," she replied dumbly, not sure exactly what she was supposed to say. She knew that Josh and Donna had been trying to conceive for a few months now but the look that Donna had on her face at the moment gave her pause. She didn't look happy but she didn't look disappointed either. "Hey, aren't you happy about this?"
"Honestly, I'm afraid to be," she disclosed. "I mean it could just end up being another false alarm. I just don't want to get my hopes up again." She drew in a shaky breath. "I mean we've been trying for months now and we've already had a couple of disappointments. We keep saying it'll happen when it happens but every time it doesn't happen…"
"All right," Nicole said. "Let's look at this logically: you're tired, you have a seemingly insatiable appetite, you've had dizzy spells, and you're sick but only in the mornings." She clucked her tongue knowingly. "Yeah this is a real tough one to figure out." She nudged her sister playfully and gave her a wicked grin. "How's you're sex drive been lately?"
"Shut up."
"Are you late?"
"Late for what?" she asked impatiently. Nicole just raised her eyebrows until Donna realized what she meant. "Oh that. Here, take her." She handed Natalie to her and then reached for her purse, pulling out her date book.
After she'd stared at the page for a good five minutes or so, Nicole felt compelled to ask, "Are you not…?"
"Twelve days," she finally said, closing the book and shoving it back in her purse. "Okay, we're going to a drug store right now."
"Right," Nicole said, putting Natalie back in the stroller. "Wait, what time is it?"
"It's almost four o'clock."
"Oh shit!" Nicole sighed before catching Donna's death glare. She glanced into the stroller. "Sorry Nat, I meant shoot."
"You say shit!" she laughed merrily.
"I didn't mean it and no one should say bad words like that."
"Shit, shit, shit!" Natalie sang, waving her hands like she was conducting an orchestra.
"That's gonna take a week to get out of her system," Donna nagged Nicole as they headed down the street, Natalie quietly continuing her little symphony. "And why did you say it in the first place?"
She looked at Donna apologetically. "Because we don't have time to stop at the drug store or anywhere, for that matter. We have to head on out and get ready for tonight."
"Are you kidding me?" Donna declared, disbelievingly. "I may be pregnant and you're not going to let me buy a pregnancy test to help ease my anxious mind? What kind of sister are you?"
"The kind whose fifteen minutes behind schedule. Besides, if you really are pregnant, you still will be tomorrow when you take the stupid test."
"I don't believe you!"
"Donna, look I'm sorry," she tried to apologize. "I understand that you really need to know and you have every right to be angry with me right now but trust me when I tell you that after tonight, you will be thanking me for rushing you like am I now."
Deliberating her choices internally, she was torn. On the one hand, she knew that she absolutely had to take the test if her suspicions were right but on the other hand, Josh had gone to an awful lot of trouble to keep whatever was going on for her birthday a surprise, and she knew how hard it was for him to keep secrets from her. She could always take a test tomorrow or even get an appointment with her gynecologist, but tonight, whatever it was, was going to be special, she could feel it in her bones. "This had better be the mother of all birthdays for me, Nicolette," she informed her sister warningly. "This had best be the birthday to which all future birthdays will be measured up against."
"Oh it will be, I guarantee it," Nicole vowed as she steered them towards her parked car, across the street where they proceeded to unload both the bags and the baby into the vehicle. When the bags and stroller were in the trunk and Natalie was secure in her car seat, Nicole reached into her purse and pulled out a long black scarf before she raised her eyebrows at Donna and held it out to her.
"What the hell are you…" she began before realization dawned on her. She stared at her sister in shock. "Okay, you really are kidding me this time, right?" Shaking her head, Nicole stepped behind Donna and started to wrap the garment over Donna's eyes before she even had time to protest. The darkness was immediate and all consuming. 'This better be one humdinger of a present, Josh, because if it isn't, you had better invest in a pull-out couch,' she thought bitterly to herself as she felt the scarf being tied into a secure knot. Feeling around and conscious of how ridiculous she must look to an onlooker, she grasped her sister's hand tightly in her own.
"Josh insisted, even though I told him you'd hate this aspect of the adventure," she explained, leading Donna around to the passenger seat. Opening the door and gently lowering her onto the seat, she patted the top of her hand compassionately. "Don't worry, you'll love this."
"Don't bet the house on it," she argued half-heartedly, just for the sake of arguing. She was confused and nervous and apprehensive about what was going to happen but some part of her knew all this hassle would be worth it. She fumbled around with her seatbelt until she locked it in as Nicole plopped into her seat and started the car. At once, the sound of Neil Diamond blared out of the speakers.
"Hello, my friend, hello," Nicole began to sing, horribly off-key as Donna felt and heard the car enter traffic. Knowing from experience there was nothing she could do to stop her sister once she started listening to The Diamond, she rested her head back against the seat and tried to focus on clearing her mind to get ready for whatever was waiting for her at the end of this ride. But the only thing she could concentrate on was what might possibly be going on inside her body at that moment. Cells could be replicating at an astonishing rate; organs, bones, and tissues might be forming; it was even possible her baby was hearing or feeling her heartbeat right now. It overwhelmed her to think that a life could very well be growing inside her, protected and nurtured by her womb.
'Oh God, if you're out there and I do believe you are,' she prayed silently, blocking out everything else but the sound of her prayer in her mind, 'please let this be for real. I know I probably don't deserve this after all I've done but I want this baby so much and so does Josh. Please let us have this.' She folded her hands across her stomach, almost as if she could will their child inside of her. "Please," she whispered mutely, her last thought before she drifted off to sleep, lulled by the car and her own never-ending cycle of thought. All of a sudden, she realized that the car had stopped and she could hear the sound of a car door opening. "We're here already?" she asked but received no answer. She jolted with surprise when her own door opened without warning. "Nic, where are we?"
"You're at your destination and it's not your evil sister but rather your best friend, Birthday Girl," Lily proclaimed as she reached inside to help Donna out.
"Lily, what the hell are you doing here?" she asked, awkwardly hugging her friend, as she was still blindfolded. "And where is here anyway?"
"Here is the Watergate Hotel," Lily said, taking Donna's hands and leading her inside. "And I'm here because it's your birthday and I love you and I wanted to be here. And your husband said he'd make me an Ambassador about thirteen years from now if I could get away for the day."
"Whoa, wait a minute! Natalie's in--"
"Your sister's arms and they are both waiting for us upstairs, along with everyone else," she assured Donna as they got to the elevators. Lily pressed the Up button and they waited for the car to arrive.
"Who's everyone else?"
"You shall see. Or rather, you shall hear because that thing isn't coming off for a while, Luv."
"So I gather you're not going to be giving up any information to me either," Donna guessed as she heard the familiar ping of an elevator door opening.
"Step inside," Lily instructed, pulling her in. "And all I can tell you is that you will see in due time that all this aggravation will be most worth it."
"Did he make everyone involved memorize that or…?"
"Pretty much, yeah." They stood together in silence until they arrived at their floor and Lily once again led Donna to their appointed destination. She heard a door open, with the sounds of people moving around all over the place and what were noticeably only female voices, before she was once again pulled forward. She was dragged for what felt like twelve feet before she was stopped, turned, and seemingly left alone. "All right people, let's move. We've only got two hours to make this happen," she heard Lily say loudly, though it sounded like she was further away. But before she could comprehend that, she felt a pair of hands reach over to start unbuttoning her blouse.
"Hey!" she shouted, swatting vaguely around. "What the hell do you think--?"
"Donna, relax its Ellie," she heard her sister-in-law's gentle voice calm her. "I'm not gonna hurt you, no one is. We're just trying to get you changed."
"Changed into what?" she asked as she felt another pair of hands reach for the button of her pants. "Who is that?"
"Its Zoey, Donna," the young woman replied, not stopping her task. "And don't worry, I know it all seems strange but believe me when I say that after tonight--"
"I'll understand everything and treasure the moment to my grave," Donna finished for her as she stepped out of her shoes and pants and removed her blouse, self-consciously realizing she was partially nude in front of what appeared to be numerous women whom all had voices she recognized. "Let's just hurry this along so I can get this blindfold off and see what the hell I've been forced into."
"You got it," the two sisters told her as they lifted her now-bare arms into the air. Almost at once, Donna felt the smoothness of silk glide down her arms.
'Feels like a slip or negligee,' she observed silently as she was instructed to lift one leg up for it to be encased in nylons. 'Okay a slip and nylons; call me crazy but I think a dress is next.' And sure enough, her arms were raised again and she felt another layer of fabric slide over her body. Her shoulders felt bare and she could feel the back closing as buttons were being fastened. As soon as she felt the last button close, she was immediately led forward a few more steps before she was pushed down gently to a comfortable seat. "So there's a dress and now what is there?" she mumbled to herself.
"Hair and make up," the voice of Helen Harrington informed her as Donna felt her hair be released from its clip to cascade down her back.
"Well that makes sense," she commented as a brush began to run through it. "So who else is here involved in this little covert operation?"
"Just your relatives and closet friends and they are all here because they love you and want to see you're face when you realize what your birthday present is," Helen teased her as she continued on her job.
"And me too!" a very excited Emma Lyman exclaimed from her mother's side, surprising her.
"Hi baby," Donna gushed and reached over to hug her child, rubbing her back lovingly. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm just stopping in real quick. Daddy wanted to see how much everyone got done so far."
"Ah, so you're your father's little agent of espionage," Donna joked as she pulled Emma on her lap not wanting to let go of her daughter just yet. Suddenly, an idea popped into her head. "Say Emma," she whispered innocently in her daughter's ear. "If I gave you five dollars, will you tell me what's going on?"
"Sorry Mommy but Daddy already gave me ten to keep it a secret," she explained, laying her head on Donna's shoulder.
"I'll give you fifteen dollars," Donna bargained
hopefully.
"Daddy said any offer you made he'd trump it by five dollars," Emma
grinned.
"I see," Donna said, temporarily admitting defeat. "Did you
save it in your bank or did you spend it?"
"Mommy, I'm a Democrat: What do you think I did?"
"I think you blew it all on refined sugar products and crayons for yourself."
"And stickers for Natty," Emma added a little defensively.
"Well that was very sweet of you," Donna told her, kissing her forehead.
"Emma, sweetie, we need to do your mother's make up know," Helen said to the two of them.
"I'll see you later, Mommy," Emma hugged her one last time. "Happy birthday."
"Thank you, baby," Donna replied as they released. "Are you going back to Daddy now?"
"Yeah but then I have to come back and get ready," Emma threw out as she left.
"Ready for what?" she wondered out loud, getting increasingly more confused as this exercise or whatever it was went on. "So you're doing my make up," she addressed Helen.
"Yep."
"So that means my blindfold has to come off for my eyes," Donna gloated. "And I can find out what you're all doing to me at Josh's request."
"But you already put on eye make up this morning," said Donna's grandmother, Mena Falansio, placing a hand on her shoulder. "And according to your sister, it's perfectly suitable for tonight."
"Okay, now you're here and I give up," Donna declared, reaching up and squeezing her grandmother's hand. "I have absolutely no clue what the hell is going on anymore."
"Which is exactly how Josh wanted you to feel," she replied, going to sit in front of her. "Now no more talking from you, young lady, because this must look perfect." And so, for what felt like an eternity, Donna remained quiet yet observant. She did as she was instructed whenever she was told to do something, but listened intently to the smatterings of conversation she could hear around her. Judging from the voices in the room with her, Mena, Helen, Nicole, Zoey, Ellie, Lily, both her daughters, and a small group of her friends from the magazine and DC were all there and all appeared to be in constant motion.
'This is so annoying, being this out of control,' Donna thought to herself. 'Everyone is doing something for me except me, and they all know what's going to happen but I don't and I'm the one it will apparently affect the most.' Thoughts like that, and that of her possible pregnancy kept her distracted enough that she was able to remain seated and calm throughout the process of being made up.
Finally, she felt someone edge her out of the chair. Her sister told her to hold up one foot at a time to slip a pair of heels on her feet before she stepped away. Donna became acutely aware of the fact that for the first time since she'd arrived in what she guessed was a hotel room, no one was hovering over her or doing something to her or even standing near her. She was alone for the first time and it unnerved her.
"Guys," she said nervously, playing with her hands. "Is it over or--"
"I'm taking the blindfold off now, Bella," Mena said as she approached her. "It's going to be bright but you'll adjust in a second." With that, the darkness vanished to be replaced by a brightness that almost hurt. Blinking furiously for a minute, she was able to at last focus on the group before her.
All the females in her life that she loved were in front of her and smiling radiantly back at her, smiling like they all knew something she didn't, which they all did. Her daughters, dressed in matching dark blue velvet party dresses with white sashes, looked particularly glowing with happiness. Some of the women had tears in their eyes, others ready with cameras but all looking at her with that same expression of joy.
"Bella, my precious Bella," Mena crooned, stroking her cheek. The tears were blatantly obvious in her grandmother's eyes as was the care.
"Mena, what's going on…?"
"Turn around," she simply said, tugging Donna shoulder to one side. Turning slowly, Donna found herself facing a three-way mirror and as soon as she saw herself, she knew both that everyone had been right and why some of them we're crying since she herself was about to burst into tears. Everyone was silent as the watched Donna understand what her husband had done for her today.
"Oh my God," she said in awe for the second time that day, tears constricting her voice as she brought a hand up to her face. The vision before her was becoming blurry as the salty liquid sprang forth from her eyelids and she felt a tightness in her chest as her love for her husband closed over her. 'I adore you, Joshua Lyman,' she thought as she struggled to maintain her composure. 'You are amazing, although I'd never be stupid enough to say it to your face. But my God, you truly are.'
"Excuse me, ladies," a male voice interrupted as it arrived in the female domicile. Glancing into the mirror, Donna saw an elderly man in a judge's robe enter what she could now see was their hotel suite. Catching her gaze, he smiled gently at her. "I take it you're Donna," he directed at her reflection.
"Yeah," she said dumbly, not able to take her eyes off herself.
"Well happy birthday to you," he smiled at her before addressing everyone else. "And if you're all ready here, the groom is waiting."