"Hi, Leo," Sam chirped.
"What's with you?" Leo asked as he straightened his tie.
"Nothing," he squeaked.
"I thought Mallory was coming with you."
"She'll be here in a minute," Sam replied making sure that there was always a good distance between him and Leo.
"Do you know why C.J. and Danny moved up the wedding?"
"I do in fact know why."
"Well? Why?"
Sam fidgeted anxiously. "Why what?"
Leo just rolled his eyes. "Seriously, man, what is with you?"
"Nothing."
"Daddy, you look wonderful." Mallory's voice made Sam jump.
"Hi, sweetheart." Leo beamed and kissed his daughter on the cheek. "Mal, do you know what's wrong with Sam?"
"I do. He's scared of you right now."
Leo's eyebrows furrowed. "Why?"
"He's afraid you're going to hurt him when you find out that I'm pregnant and it's his."
"Why would he be afraid of me...you're what? It's whose?" Leo snarled.
"Daddy, calm down!" Mallory interjected, "Sam and I have been dating for a while now and I'm pregnant," Mallory said calmly.
Leo just sat there and fumed for a minute. "How pregnant are you?"
"Two months and one week."
"Have you two talked about what you're going to do?" Leo asked while he glared at Sam.
"Not exactly. We haven't had time to actually do that. Once C.J. found out I was pregnant and a couple of other things happened she decided that it was best to move up the wedding, that's why it's happening today and Sam and I have been doing everything we can to help with the wedding, so no we haven't talked about everything yet."
"Leo..." Sam trailed off when he saw Leo glare at him again. "Mr. McGarry, I love Mallory, and even though I haven't had a chance to tell her that, I do, and I plan on being there for whatever decision she wants to make. Eventually I'm going to ask her to marry me, but I didn't want her to think that it was because she was pregnant that that was why I was asking. I would want to marry her child or not. So, please, sir, don't kill me!" Sam pleaded.
"Go away from me right now!" Leo snarled.
Sam quickly dissipated out of the room. He ran into Danny in the church.
"How'd it go?" Danny asked.
"The good news is that he didn't kill me, the bad news is that I'm pretty sure he's going to later."
"I look good," Josh said while studying himself in the mirror.
"You think?" asked Donna.
"I definitely have to say that this is one of the better tuxes I've worn. I look damn good. The groomsmen are going to look good, but I look great."
"Well in the honor of tradition I look like an idiot," she huffed.
Josh turned around and looked at Donna who was wearing a light blue dress that seemed to be made of tool mostly. He smirked, "Donna, you look beautiful."
"You said that last night when I was covered in pasta that you spilled on me."
"You looked all cute and noodley."
"Let's just get going, Joshua!"
They headed to the church.
"I can't believe C.J. is getting married." Donna said as she stared at the numerous photographers.
"I can't believe she gave out press credentials."
"What do you care? You look great! I on the other hand look like Little Bo Peep. C.J. has great taste and this is a great dress but I look awful in it."
"I think you're over exaggerating."
"How so?"
"Little Bo Peep wears white doesn't she? And clearly you have no sheep."
"Josh! You aren't helping."
He smirked. "You look great, Donnatella. Just smile and cry and giggle like women do at these things and tell me how good I look."
Donna just glared at him.
They pulled up in front of the church. Donna got out and was greeted by Mallory and Andi. "Donna, come quick!" They grabbed her. Donna gave Josh a quick wave before she was pulled into the church.
"What's going on?" Donna asked.
Andi started, "C.J.'s, what's the word..."
"Flipping out?" Mallory interjected.
"Having a difficult time adjusting to her wedding day," Andi finished.
"That doesn't sound good." Donna replied. "We need morale. We need you. You'll be able to talk her down," Mallory suggested.
They entered a small room in the back of the church where C.J. was sitting calmly in her lingerie, stockings and heels and nothing more. Donna had to give her props, Danny was going to have a hard time talking tonight, she looked amazing.
"C.J.?" Donna felt like she was approaching a wild animal.
"Hi, Donna," C.J. said forcefully.
"What's going on?"
"I'm not sure I can do this."
"Get married?"
"Yes, but more importantly, I don't know if I can be a wife. I've never done it before. I could be bad at it."
Donna smiled. "C.J., I've never seen you do badly at anything you've ever tried. You're the White House Press Secretary for crying out loud. You can do anything and marrying Danny is going to be the easiest thing to do in this life. I promise."
"Really? Then why do I feel like I'm about to make a mistake?"
"Because you're scared. Because getting married is a big deal and a big commitment and in this time and place not a lot of marriages survive."
"So it's fine?"
Donna nodded her head.
"You're sure?" C.J. looked at Donna with worried eyes. "I don't know if I can take this kind of pressure."
"C.J., you heard the part where I said that you were the White House Press Secretary right? You had to give a press conference when you were shot at, you had to give a press conference when the President announced he had MS and you had a camera following you around all day during a very high stressed situation, and you think you can't handle pressure? You're wrong."
C.J. looked at her friend for a long moment. "It's fine."
"Oh, yeah. Once you put on the dress you'll feel like a million bucks and then you'll see Danny standing at the end of the isle and it'll be the best moment of your life until the preacher pronounces you man and wife."
C.J. looked like she was about to cry.
"Now get dressed, before you ruin your make-up," Donna instructed.
She nodded and stood up and headed over to the pile of white lace, tool and silk.
"Why are you sitting out here?" Josh asked as he approached Sam.
"I'm not allowed in Leo's line of vision until the actual wedding and then I'm not allowed in his vision again until he Okays it."
"Told him about Mal?"
"Yeah," Sam muttered.
Josh sat down next to his best friend. "How'd it go?"
"He doesn't want me in his line of sight, Josh."
"You're still standing."
"Excellent point."
"Where's Donna?"
"She's with the women. I came here to be with the men," Josh grunted.
"The men are inside." He pointed to the closed door behind him.
"Have you and Mal talked about..."
"Don't go there right now. She's a little mad at me too right now, because I told her father that I loved her and that I wanted to marry her before I told her, so she's not speaking to me either."
"It's just not your day is it?" Josh couldn't help but smirk a little.
"Not so much."
"Let me get this straight, you're pregnant too?" Andi asked.
"Yep."
"And that's why you moved the wedding up?"
"Yep," C.J. replied.
"That's also why you were flipping out about getting married, because you were freaking out about being a mother too?"
"Yep."
"C.J., are you okay?" asked Donna.
"Not so much. I'm the White House Press Secretary, where am I going to find the time to be a mother, a wife and you know a mother!"
"It's hard, but you'll manage," Andi replied.
"What did Danny say?"
"He's ecstatic."
"That's promising," Donna murmured.
"When are you due?" Andi continued.
"I'm just a little over three months. I wanted to get married while I was still fitting in the very expensive dress that I bought and then when Mallory said she was pregnant it just seemed even more logical because I wanted her to fit in the dress too."
"Gotcha!"
The women sat in silence for a moment. Donna spoke first, "Have you and Sam talked about what you're..."
"I'm not even talking to Sam right now!" Mallory snapped.
"Why not?" C.J. questioned.
"He told my father that he loved me and he told my father that he wanted to marry me before he even discussed any of it with me."
"He loves you?" Andi inquired.
"And he wants to marry you?" Donna squeaked.
"Well that's what he told my father, who is now furious with Sam. He won't even look at me in the eye."
"I thought for sure he would be thrilled that it was Sam. Leo loves Sam like a son." Donna replied.
"True, but not as much as he loves me as his only daughter. I know he'll come around, but all of this just feels really messed up right now."
"What isn't messed up right now?" C.J. muttered.
Andi chuckled, "She's right." Andi glanced around the room. "C.J.'s getting married in about a half hour, she's three months pregnant, Mallory is two in a half months pregnant and the father tells her father before he tells her that he loves her and wants to marry her, Donna over here is finally engaged to the man that she's been in love with forever, it took reporters, a shooting, a car bomb, and some help from their friends to get their sorry butts together and then there's me who has twins that belongs to Toby and he's finally starting to come around and be a father to them but I can't decide if I want to take another chance with him or not."
"Who wants a drink?" C.J. countered.
"Okay, see the thing is, there wasn't supposed to be a guy good enough for Mallory."
Sam peered up at Leo who was looming over him with a very intimidating glare. "Yes, sir."
"I know that you care about Mallory, but don't expect me to be thrilled at the idea of you getting her pregnant at least not without being married. I'm a liberal guy but she's my daughter."
"I understand, sir."
"You promise to take care of her?"
Sam suddenly felt a rush of protectiveness and pride. "With my life, sir."
"You promise to take care of that child?"
"Also with my life, sir."
Leo let out a long frustrated sigh. "You're a good man, Seaborn, but if you hurt either of them, you're in big trouble!"
"Yes, sir." Sam swallowed hard.
Leo held out his hand. "Come here, son." Sam accepted his handshake and was surprised when he pulled Sam into a tight embrace. "Now go find my daughter and apologize for whatever it is that you did, the wedding is going to start soon."
"Yes, sir."
Sam waited for Leo to go back into the room before he moved. He turned and saw Mallory hovering in the doorway. She wiped away the tears streaming down her face.
"Mallory, I'm so sorry for..."
"Just shut up, Sam!" Mallory pulled him to her and kissed him hard. She pulled away and looked at him. "We'll talk tonight. I'll see you in a while." Then she was gone.
Sam stood there looking dumbfounded. "I do not understand the McGarry family."
The wedding reception was held in an enchanting hotel. Neither Danny nor C.J. were in a good place employment wise to take a real honeymoon, but they promised each other they would take one soon and some where tropical.
"I can't believe C.J. is married," Donna leaned over and whispered to Josh as they watched the newly married couple moving across the dance floor for their first dance as husband and wife.
"We would now like to invite all our other couples out here to join them," the D.J. announced.
Donna watched the couples around her standing up and floating out to the dance floor. When she turned back to Josh he was standing holding his hand out for hers. She blushed and accepted his hand.
"You look surprised," Josh murmured as he pulled her into his arms.
"I am a little," she replied as they started swaying to the elegant music drifting through the air.
"Why?"
"First of all, Joshua, you don't dance. Second of all, besides the having sex bit, our relationship hasn't changed that much and I'm so used to being at weddings alone that I forget some times that I'm with you."
"First of all, I do dance, I just don't like to show off," he said as he dipped Donna. "Second of all, I can't believe you forgot that you're in a relationship with me, I'm not quite sure how to take that!"
"That's not what I meant," replied Donna as she tried to catch her breath after Josh spun her around a couple of times.
"I know what you meant. I kind of feel like we've both been so busy with work, you finding a job, this wedding and you know work that we've hit a slump in our relationship. We haven't done much. This is pretty much the first real public thing we've had since we've become a real couple, not to mention an engaged couple. We've been so busy we haven't even set a date."
"I know. I don't think we should worry about setting a date right now. Work is your priority right now and I need and want to find a job."
"I hate not seeing you all the time."
"I know, me too."
They were silent for a little bit while the music continued to drift over them. Donna nuzzled her face into the crook of his neck. Josh rested his head against her, his fingers drawing lazy circles down her back.
"I think you should move in with me," Josh said suddenly.
Donna pulled back and looked at him. "What?"
"I'm serious. I want to wake up with you in my arms."
"You do."
"Every morning, Donnatella."
She smiled, "That's not what we discussed."
"So, move in with me."
"Don't you think we've been doing all this a little too fast?"
"All of what?"
"Everything, dating, getting engaged, sleeping together, and now you're talking about moving in together. It's been like six months since I got back from Germany."
"I realize that, but I don't care. We waited six years before we had our first kiss, I can't see how this is rushing anything."
"You're sure. You want me to move in?"
"Absolutely." He lowered his mouth over hers and kissed her deeply.
"They look happy," Sam commented.
"I never thought they would ever get it together," C.J. replied.
Toby scoffed, "I did."
"I never pictured you as the hopeless romantic," Leo retorted.
Toby turned and glared at his friend and boss. "Not hopeless, hopeful," he said finally.
"Ah, Tobias, I knew you were a sucker for the mushy stuff," C.J. cooed.
"If it gets out I'm hunting the three of you down first," he muttered.
The four of them watched Josh and Donna dancing together on the dance floor. They silently wondered if they even noticed that the song had changed three times and that they were the only ones dancing on the dance floor.
C.J. managed to find her way back to Danny and she pulled him back onto the dance floor. Leo stood in the back of the room and watched as Sam took Mallory out into the cool December night in the courtyard where he gave her his jacket so they could talk. Toby wandered back over to Andi and sat next to her whispering little comments into her ear that made her laugh out loud. Josh and Donna danced the rest of the night away in each other's arms.
Donna had finally convinced Josh to come back to her place for a night. They were giggling and kissing their way into her apartment building. Donna stumbled backwards and instead of finding the hard wood of the door she found that she had run into a warm body. She pushed Josh back and turned around to make an apology but instead her mouth just dropped.
"Ryan!" she exclaimed.
"Hi, Donna." The man that stood in front of her was tall, dark and handsome. Josh thought he looked kind of familiar but he couldn't place the face immediately. He was sure that who ever he was Donna was surprised and not too happy to see him.
"Josh Lyman." He held out his hand to the other man.
"Ryan Reynolds."
They shook hands.
Donna stood between the two men as if to protect them from each other. "What are you doing here?" she hissed.
"Your mom gave me your address when I told her I was coming to D.C., she thought you would be thrilled to see me."
"My mother wouldn't do that. But my father would." Josh was surprised to hear Donna's voice so sharp.
"You're father always liked me."
"My father can be naïve," Donna retorted. "What do you want, Ryan?"
"Just to tell you that I've come back for what is rightfully mine." Donna saw his gaze flicker to Josh and then back to her. "This must be the politician you've been seeing, your father told me about him."
"Did he?" Josh asked still trying to figure out exactly what was going on.
"Josh, go inside, I'll be right there," she said unlocking the door.
Josh obeyed.
Donna turned back to Ryan. "What are you doing here, Donna? Your father told me you were fired."
"Ryan, you don't know anything about my life and I would really appreciate it if you would just stay out of it all together. You and I have nothing to say to each other."
"We have plenty to say. Look, things were really messed up and I want to give us another chance."
"I'm engaged, Ryan. I'm in love with Josh and I have been since before you and I broke up."
"With that guy?" Ryan asked as if it were completely impossible.
"That guy has more class than you'll ever have."
"Donna, come on. I still love you and I'm not giving you up."
"Where were you when I was in the hospital when the car I was in suddenly blew up? I'll tell you what, I don't know and I don't care, but I'll tell you right now, Josh didn't stop for a beer on his way to the airport to fly to Germany to be by my side. And we weren't even together then," Donna snapped.
"Donna, you know damn well..."
"I'm sorry, Ryan, but your time is up."
Donna brushed passed him into her apartment. She locked the door, slipped out of her jacket, laid it on the couch and roamed into her bedroom. Josh was empting his pockets onto her vanity.
"Sorry about that."
Josh turned around and looked at her. "That was Dr. Freeride wasn't it?"
Donna's gaze dropped to the floor. "Yes...it was."
"What's with you?" Leo asked as he straightened his tie.
"Nothing," he squeaked.
"I thought Mallory was coming with you."
"She'll be here in a minute," Sam replied making sure that there was always a good distance between him and Leo.
"Do you know why C.J. and Danny moved up the wedding?"
"I do in fact know why."
"Well? Why?"
Sam fidgeted anxiously. "Why what?"
Leo just rolled his eyes. "Seriously, man, what is with you?"
"Nothing."
"Daddy, you look wonderful." Mallory's voice made Sam jump.
"Hi, sweetheart." Leo beamed and kissed his daughter on the cheek. "Mal, do you know what's wrong with Sam?"
"I do. He's scared of you right now."
Leo's eyebrows furrowed. "Why?"
"He's afraid you're going to hurt him when you find out that I'm pregnant and it's his."
"Why would he be afraid of me...you're what? It's whose?" Leo snarled.
"Daddy, calm down!" Mallory interjected, "Sam and I have been dating for a while now and I'm pregnant," Mallory said calmly.
Leo just sat there and fumed for a minute. "How pregnant are you?"
"Two months and one week."
"Have you two talked about what you're going to do?" Leo asked while he glared at Sam.
"Not exactly. We haven't had time to actually do that. Once C.J. found out I was pregnant and a couple of other things happened she decided that it was best to move up the wedding, that's why it's happening today and Sam and I have been doing everything we can to help with the wedding, so no we haven't talked about everything yet."
"Leo..." Sam trailed off when he saw Leo glare at him again. "Mr. McGarry, I love Mallory, and even though I haven't had a chance to tell her that, I do, and I plan on being there for whatever decision she wants to make. Eventually I'm going to ask her to marry me, but I didn't want her to think that it was because she was pregnant that that was why I was asking. I would want to marry her child or not. So, please, sir, don't kill me!" Sam pleaded.
"Go away from me right now!" Leo snarled.
Sam quickly dissipated out of the room. He ran into Danny in the church.
"How'd it go?" Danny asked.
"The good news is that he didn't kill me, the bad news is that I'm pretty sure he's going to later."
"I look good," Josh said while studying himself in the mirror.
"You think?" asked Donna.
"I definitely have to say that this is one of the better tuxes I've worn. I look damn good. The groomsmen are going to look good, but I look great."
"Well in the honor of tradition I look like an idiot," she huffed.
Josh turned around and looked at Donna who was wearing a light blue dress that seemed to be made of tool mostly. He smirked, "Donna, you look beautiful."
"You said that last night when I was covered in pasta that you spilled on me."
"You looked all cute and noodley."
"Let's just get going, Joshua!"
They headed to the church.
"I can't believe C.J. is getting married." Donna said as she stared at the numerous photographers.
"I can't believe she gave out press credentials."
"What do you care? You look great! I on the other hand look like Little Bo Peep. C.J. has great taste and this is a great dress but I look awful in it."
"I think you're over exaggerating."
"How so?"
"Little Bo Peep wears white doesn't she? And clearly you have no sheep."
"Josh! You aren't helping."
He smirked. "You look great, Donnatella. Just smile and cry and giggle like women do at these things and tell me how good I look."
Donna just glared at him.
They pulled up in front of the church. Donna got out and was greeted by Mallory and Andi. "Donna, come quick!" They grabbed her. Donna gave Josh a quick wave before she was pulled into the church.
"What's going on?" Donna asked.
Andi started, "C.J.'s, what's the word..."
"Flipping out?" Mallory interjected.
"Having a difficult time adjusting to her wedding day," Andi finished.
"That doesn't sound good." Donna replied. "We need morale. We need you. You'll be able to talk her down," Mallory suggested.
They entered a small room in the back of the church where C.J. was sitting calmly in her lingerie, stockings and heels and nothing more. Donna had to give her props, Danny was going to have a hard time talking tonight, she looked amazing.
"C.J.?" Donna felt like she was approaching a wild animal.
"Hi, Donna," C.J. said forcefully.
"What's going on?"
"I'm not sure I can do this."
"Get married?"
"Yes, but more importantly, I don't know if I can be a wife. I've never done it before. I could be bad at it."
Donna smiled. "C.J., I've never seen you do badly at anything you've ever tried. You're the White House Press Secretary for crying out loud. You can do anything and marrying Danny is going to be the easiest thing to do in this life. I promise."
"Really? Then why do I feel like I'm about to make a mistake?"
"Because you're scared. Because getting married is a big deal and a big commitment and in this time and place not a lot of marriages survive."
"So it's fine?"
Donna nodded her head.
"You're sure?" C.J. looked at Donna with worried eyes. "I don't know if I can take this kind of pressure."
"C.J., you heard the part where I said that you were the White House Press Secretary right? You had to give a press conference when you were shot at, you had to give a press conference when the President announced he had MS and you had a camera following you around all day during a very high stressed situation, and you think you can't handle pressure? You're wrong."
C.J. looked at her friend for a long moment. "It's fine."
"Oh, yeah. Once you put on the dress you'll feel like a million bucks and then you'll see Danny standing at the end of the isle and it'll be the best moment of your life until the preacher pronounces you man and wife."
C.J. looked like she was about to cry.
"Now get dressed, before you ruin your make-up," Donna instructed.
She nodded and stood up and headed over to the pile of white lace, tool and silk.
"Why are you sitting out here?" Josh asked as he approached Sam.
"I'm not allowed in Leo's line of vision until the actual wedding and then I'm not allowed in his vision again until he Okays it."
"Told him about Mal?"
"Yeah," Sam muttered.
Josh sat down next to his best friend. "How'd it go?"
"He doesn't want me in his line of sight, Josh."
"You're still standing."
"Excellent point."
"Where's Donna?"
"She's with the women. I came here to be with the men," Josh grunted.
"The men are inside." He pointed to the closed door behind him.
"Have you and Mal talked about..."
"Don't go there right now. She's a little mad at me too right now, because I told her father that I loved her and that I wanted to marry her before I told her, so she's not speaking to me either."
"It's just not your day is it?" Josh couldn't help but smirk a little.
"Not so much."
"Let me get this straight, you're pregnant too?" Andi asked.
"Yep."
"And that's why you moved the wedding up?"
"Yep," C.J. replied.
"That's also why you were flipping out about getting married, because you were freaking out about being a mother too?"
"Yep."
"C.J., are you okay?" asked Donna.
"Not so much. I'm the White House Press Secretary, where am I going to find the time to be a mother, a wife and you know a mother!"
"It's hard, but you'll manage," Andi replied.
"What did Danny say?"
"He's ecstatic."
"That's promising," Donna murmured.
"When are you due?" Andi continued.
"I'm just a little over three months. I wanted to get married while I was still fitting in the very expensive dress that I bought and then when Mallory said she was pregnant it just seemed even more logical because I wanted her to fit in the dress too."
"Gotcha!"
The women sat in silence for a moment. Donna spoke first, "Have you and Sam talked about what you're..."
"I'm not even talking to Sam right now!" Mallory snapped.
"Why not?" C.J. questioned.
"He told my father that he loved me and he told my father that he wanted to marry me before he even discussed any of it with me."
"He loves you?" Andi inquired.
"And he wants to marry you?" Donna squeaked.
"Well that's what he told my father, who is now furious with Sam. He won't even look at me in the eye."
"I thought for sure he would be thrilled that it was Sam. Leo loves Sam like a son." Donna replied.
"True, but not as much as he loves me as his only daughter. I know he'll come around, but all of this just feels really messed up right now."
"What isn't messed up right now?" C.J. muttered.
Andi chuckled, "She's right." Andi glanced around the room. "C.J.'s getting married in about a half hour, she's three months pregnant, Mallory is two in a half months pregnant and the father tells her father before he tells her that he loves her and wants to marry her, Donna over here is finally engaged to the man that she's been in love with forever, it took reporters, a shooting, a car bomb, and some help from their friends to get their sorry butts together and then there's me who has twins that belongs to Toby and he's finally starting to come around and be a father to them but I can't decide if I want to take another chance with him or not."
"Who wants a drink?" C.J. countered.
"Okay, see the thing is, there wasn't supposed to be a guy good enough for Mallory."
Sam peered up at Leo who was looming over him with a very intimidating glare. "Yes, sir."
"I know that you care about Mallory, but don't expect me to be thrilled at the idea of you getting her pregnant at least not without being married. I'm a liberal guy but she's my daughter."
"I understand, sir."
"You promise to take care of her?"
Sam suddenly felt a rush of protectiveness and pride. "With my life, sir."
"You promise to take care of that child?"
"Also with my life, sir."
Leo let out a long frustrated sigh. "You're a good man, Seaborn, but if you hurt either of them, you're in big trouble!"
"Yes, sir." Sam swallowed hard.
Leo held out his hand. "Come here, son." Sam accepted his handshake and was surprised when he pulled Sam into a tight embrace. "Now go find my daughter and apologize for whatever it is that you did, the wedding is going to start soon."
"Yes, sir."
Sam waited for Leo to go back into the room before he moved. He turned and saw Mallory hovering in the doorway. She wiped away the tears streaming down her face.
"Mallory, I'm so sorry for..."
"Just shut up, Sam!" Mallory pulled him to her and kissed him hard. She pulled away and looked at him. "We'll talk tonight. I'll see you in a while." Then she was gone.
Sam stood there looking dumbfounded. "I do not understand the McGarry family."
The wedding reception was held in an enchanting hotel. Neither Danny nor C.J. were in a good place employment wise to take a real honeymoon, but they promised each other they would take one soon and some where tropical.
"I can't believe C.J. is married," Donna leaned over and whispered to Josh as they watched the newly married couple moving across the dance floor for their first dance as husband and wife.
"We would now like to invite all our other couples out here to join them," the D.J. announced.
Donna watched the couples around her standing up and floating out to the dance floor. When she turned back to Josh he was standing holding his hand out for hers. She blushed and accepted his hand.
"You look surprised," Josh murmured as he pulled her into his arms.
"I am a little," she replied as they started swaying to the elegant music drifting through the air.
"Why?"
"First of all, Joshua, you don't dance. Second of all, besides the having sex bit, our relationship hasn't changed that much and I'm so used to being at weddings alone that I forget some times that I'm with you."
"First of all, I do dance, I just don't like to show off," he said as he dipped Donna. "Second of all, I can't believe you forgot that you're in a relationship with me, I'm not quite sure how to take that!"
"That's not what I meant," replied Donna as she tried to catch her breath after Josh spun her around a couple of times.
"I know what you meant. I kind of feel like we've both been so busy with work, you finding a job, this wedding and you know work that we've hit a slump in our relationship. We haven't done much. This is pretty much the first real public thing we've had since we've become a real couple, not to mention an engaged couple. We've been so busy we haven't even set a date."
"I know. I don't think we should worry about setting a date right now. Work is your priority right now and I need and want to find a job."
"I hate not seeing you all the time."
"I know, me too."
They were silent for a little bit while the music continued to drift over them. Donna nuzzled her face into the crook of his neck. Josh rested his head against her, his fingers drawing lazy circles down her back.
"I think you should move in with me," Josh said suddenly.
Donna pulled back and looked at him. "What?"
"I'm serious. I want to wake up with you in my arms."
"You do."
"Every morning, Donnatella."
She smiled, "That's not what we discussed."
"So, move in with me."
"Don't you think we've been doing all this a little too fast?"
"All of what?"
"Everything, dating, getting engaged, sleeping together, and now you're talking about moving in together. It's been like six months since I got back from Germany."
"I realize that, but I don't care. We waited six years before we had our first kiss, I can't see how this is rushing anything."
"You're sure. You want me to move in?"
"Absolutely." He lowered his mouth over hers and kissed her deeply.
"They look happy," Sam commented.
"I never thought they would ever get it together," C.J. replied.
Toby scoffed, "I did."
"I never pictured you as the hopeless romantic," Leo retorted.
Toby turned and glared at his friend and boss. "Not hopeless, hopeful," he said finally.
"Ah, Tobias, I knew you were a sucker for the mushy stuff," C.J. cooed.
"If it gets out I'm hunting the three of you down first," he muttered.
The four of them watched Josh and Donna dancing together on the dance floor. They silently wondered if they even noticed that the song had changed three times and that they were the only ones dancing on the dance floor.
C.J. managed to find her way back to Danny and she pulled him back onto the dance floor. Leo stood in the back of the room and watched as Sam took Mallory out into the cool December night in the courtyard where he gave her his jacket so they could talk. Toby wandered back over to Andi and sat next to her whispering little comments into her ear that made her laugh out loud. Josh and Donna danced the rest of the night away in each other's arms.
Donna had finally convinced Josh to come back to her place for a night. They were giggling and kissing their way into her apartment building. Donna stumbled backwards and instead of finding the hard wood of the door she found that she had run into a warm body. She pushed Josh back and turned around to make an apology but instead her mouth just dropped.
"Ryan!" she exclaimed.
"Hi, Donna." The man that stood in front of her was tall, dark and handsome. Josh thought he looked kind of familiar but he couldn't place the face immediately. He was sure that who ever he was Donna was surprised and not too happy to see him.
"Josh Lyman." He held out his hand to the other man.
"Ryan Reynolds."
They shook hands.
Donna stood between the two men as if to protect them from each other. "What are you doing here?" she hissed.
"Your mom gave me your address when I told her I was coming to D.C., she thought you would be thrilled to see me."
"My mother wouldn't do that. But my father would." Josh was surprised to hear Donna's voice so sharp.
"You're father always liked me."
"My father can be naïve," Donna retorted. "What do you want, Ryan?"
"Just to tell you that I've come back for what is rightfully mine." Donna saw his gaze flicker to Josh and then back to her. "This must be the politician you've been seeing, your father told me about him."
"Did he?" Josh asked still trying to figure out exactly what was going on.
"Josh, go inside, I'll be right there," she said unlocking the door.
Josh obeyed.
Donna turned back to Ryan. "What are you doing here, Donna? Your father told me you were fired."
"Ryan, you don't know anything about my life and I would really appreciate it if you would just stay out of it all together. You and I have nothing to say to each other."
"We have plenty to say. Look, things were really messed up and I want to give us another chance."
"I'm engaged, Ryan. I'm in love with Josh and I have been since before you and I broke up."
"With that guy?" Ryan asked as if it were completely impossible.
"That guy has more class than you'll ever have."
"Donna, come on. I still love you and I'm not giving you up."
"Where were you when I was in the hospital when the car I was in suddenly blew up? I'll tell you what, I don't know and I don't care, but I'll tell you right now, Josh didn't stop for a beer on his way to the airport to fly to Germany to be by my side. And we weren't even together then," Donna snapped.
"Donna, you know damn well..."
"I'm sorry, Ryan, but your time is up."
Donna brushed passed him into her apartment. She locked the door, slipped out of her jacket, laid it on the couch and roamed into her bedroom. Josh was empting his pockets onto her vanity.
"Sorry about that."
Josh turned around and looked at her. "That was Dr. Freeride wasn't it?"
Donna's gaze dropped to the floor. "Yes...it was."