Lyman Residence, Washington DC: May 31, 2006
DING-DONG
"Coming!" Josh shouted from the stairs as he struggled to get his cuff links on.
RING RING
"Donna, can you get that?" he called upstairs to where Donna was continuing to get ready.
"Daddy! Help me, I'm stuck!" Emma moaned pitifully in front of him, having trapped her arm behind her back in her overall straps.
RING RING
"Can you please get the damn phone, Donna?!" Josh cried out, trying to untangle his daughter.
"I'm not going tonight, Josh!" his wife called back, sounding suspiciously weepy.
"What?" he shouted over the noise, still struggling with Emma.
DING-DONG
RING RING
"I'm fat, bloated, and absolutely nothing I own fits anymore!" Donna continued, still crying. "I can't be seen in public like this!"
"Coming!" he yelled in the direction of the door as he finally freed his daughter. "Emma, grab the phone."
"And do what with it?" she grinned at him.
"I don't have time for games, young lady," he told her sternly. "Just answer the phone and take a message."
"Fine," she huffed, stalking towards the kitchen.
DING-
"There is no Earthly reason why you can't just assume we heard it on the first ring and that we're on our way?" Josh asked an amused Toby and Nicole.
"We can but we just enjoy adding to the chaos," Nicole said as they slithered inside. She looked him up and down. "You aren't ready yet."
"No, I am not."
"You have been home for two hours, I only had an one hour. How am I ready before you?"
"Probably because I had a nanny with the night off and a walking hormone hiding upstairs," he explained, holding out his hand for her to do his cuffs. "Speaking of which, I can't get her out of the bedroom."
"Let me give it a try," Nicole said as she finished with his cuff links before heading upstairs.
Josh shook his head at Toby. "Oh there are days, Toby. Believe me when I say there are days when the whole family thing drives me up a wall."
"Yeah, yeah whatever," Toby rolled his eyes at him, going over to fix himself a drink. "Try selling that act to someone who's buying."
DING-DONG
"Please be the limo," Josh prayed, going to answer the door. Alas, it was not. "Oh hey T.J."
"Good to see you too, Josh," he replied less than cordially as he came inside. "Hey Toby, what's up man?" he said far more politely, shaking the man's hand.
"Nothing much, just accompanying my boss here to a State function where there will be many people I dislike."
"Aren't there many people you dislike everywhere you go?"
"And yet I find the will to go on from some deep place inside me." He poured T.J. a drink of his own. "What about you, how you been?"
"Well I got promoted at work; I am now a principle photographer making double what I made before, I'm heading to Las Vegas next week for a bachelor party, Donna promised that I could be godfather to one of the babies, and what else? Oh yeah, Ellie sent me the divorce papers yesterday morning." He smiled bitterly, raising his glass. "Cheers."
"Cheers." Toby replied, knowing all too well the emotions raging through T.J. at that moment.
"Hey do you mind, T.J.?" Josh said from the doorway, putting on his jacket.
"Mind what?" he asked, going to pour another drink.
"Waiting until after you finish baby-sitting my kids to get hammered?"
"Well that's not the way I would characterize it."
"Well whatever you call it, can you wait until you're not responsible for my kids until you do it?"
"Fine," T.J. gritted out, going to empty out the glass in the kitchen, purposely nudging against Josh as he did.
"Hi Uncle T.J.!" Emma exclaimed as they passed, hugging him tightly.
"Hey munchkin," he said with forced cheer, patting her head quickly before detaching himself.
"I thought your party started soon," Emma said to her father.
"It does," Josh replied, checking his watch. "We'll be leaving as soon as the limo gets here."
"It won't," the girl told him, sitting down on the sofa.
"What do you mean?"
"That was the phone call, the limo company. The limo has mechanical difficulties and they can't make it."
"You're kidding, right?"
"Yes I am, it will be here in twenty minutes."
"Are you sure?"
"No I'm not, it really does mechanical difficulties."
"Do you ever want to be able to watch television again?" Josh asked.
"Yes I do, Daddy."
"Emma, is the limo coming or not?"
"It's stuck in some minor traffic, it will be here within a half hour or you get twenty-five percent of your deposit back."
"Thank you," he smiled, kissing her forehead.
"You're welcome," she smiled sweetly. "So whose party is this that you're going to tonight?"
"It is a party the White House is throwing for the Prime Minister of Great Britain," Josh told her, sitting beside her.
"Britain is England, right?"
"Yes, England is a part of Great Britain."
"The British were our allies in World War II. Their old Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, came up with the phrase, 'The Iron Curtain', to describe the Soviet Union in the 1950s," Emma explained, spouting off some of her recent fourth-grade graduate knowledge. "The British also have really bad teeth and they really like soccer for some reason except over there they call it football. Plus, the entire royal family is inbred. That means that--"
"Yes, yes we know exactly what that means," Josh cut her off. "But where'd you learn that?"
"From Lily."
"Ah, what a positive female role model you have for a godmother," he deadpanned, wrapping an arm around her shoulder.
"Can me and Natty have pizza for dinner tonight?"
"I don't know, can you? Do either of you possess the ability to chew, swallow, and digest pizza?"
"May Natty and I have pizza for dinner tonight?" Emma corrected herself, rolling her eyes.
"Yes you may, go ask your uncle to order it for you." She scampered off to the kitchen, leaving Toby and Josh to wait for the womenfolk.
"You shouldn't give him such a hard time you know," Toby said, standing across from Josh.
"What do you mean?"
"With T.J., it wouldn't kill you to be civil to the guy."
"I will when he will, Toby."
"Okay because this is exactly how a reasonable, respected elected official should behave."
"How come I get this lecture when he's the one who's been treating me for years like I'm the anti-Christ or Hitler or a Republican?"
"Maybe so but he's just a kid and he's getting divorced and being nice to his brother-in-law isn't high on his list of priorities right now."
"So what are you saying, I need to give him a shoulder to cry on? A manly pat on the shoulder and a lecture on how he'll be so much better without Ellie?"
"I'm saying it's normal for him to be pissed off and depressed and people usually don't like to be told they can't be those things."
"And I'm saying I don't care if he does that or how he does that on his own time but it isn't going to be drinking when he's taking care of my daughters. Got it?"
"Yeah," Toby replied, fiddling with his cummerbund. "But I know what he's going through firsthand and you don't so trust me when I tell you that you need to lay off him a bit.
"Fine," Josh said hastily as he heard footsteps descending down the stairs. He got up to see that Nicole had managed to get Donna dressed and out of the bedroom, a feat Josh had feared impossible. "You look amazing," he said sincerely to his wife, going over to kiss her.
"You are a politician and I don't trust a word that comes out of your mouth but I'm down here now and I don't have the energy to climb the stairs again," Donna pouted, reaching up to adjust Josh's bowtie.
"Just a few more weeks," Josh tried to reassure her, putting his arms around her as best he could but her huge stomach was extremely awkward between them.
"Yeah, like I'll have any energy left then either when I'm breastfeeding twins," she scoffed.
"Don't worry about that tonight," he said, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Just worry about charming all those foreign nationals and powerful politicos, which you will do with ease."
"Whatever," she sighed. "Is T.J. here yet?"
"Yes he is," the man himself said from behind her. Josh squeezed her shoulders, saying he was going to check on the girls before he left to give her a moment with her younger brother.
Donna immediately walked over to her baby brother and wrapped her arms around him. Nicole had told her upstairs about the divorce papers coming and her heart ached for him. "Is there anything you need?" she asked.
"Yes, you to stop chocking me," T.J. grunted, pulling back.
"What's with this hair?" Donna questioned, running her hands across the growing stubble on his chin and his longer brown hair. "Going grunge on us now, are you?"
"I don't know," he shrugged. "New life, new look I guess. But you," he stepped back to get a good look at his sister, clad in a deep burgundy silk Armani ball gown, "you look stunning, Bella. There's absolutely no way that you used to be that gangly kid with braces that used to kick my ass back to last week."
"Are you okay?" she asked again, not at all liking the melancholy attitude he was exuding.
T.J. shrugged his shoulders, keeping his eyes glued to the floor. "I don't know yet," he answered, squeezing her hands. "Maybe someday but not right now."
"Have you talked to her at all?"
"What are we gonna talk about? How neither of us are willing to change our careers or who gets the house or who cheated on who first?"
"Cheated?" Donna mimicked, stunned. That was the first she'd heard about it. "You mean you both--"
"Doesn't matter anymore," he said forlornly. "None of that matters any more, it was just something that sped the inevitable up a little bit. I don't hold it against her and she says she doesn't hold it against me."
"What about Shawn?"
"She wants full custody," he sighed, leaning back against the wall. "I'm gonna give it to her."
"Oh sweetie," she squeaked, her eyes welling up at the prospect of what her brother was losing.
"It just wouldn't be fair to him," T.J. explained, more to himself than to Donna. "I'm never in one place for too long and you know, with kids they need stability; they need the same house and the same bed and the same school every day. Ellie's hours are shit right now but they'll get better and mine won't." He shook his head and smiled a bit. "I'll still see him and all. It won't be like we had it growing up."
"I'll watch over him for you," she promised. "I'll make sure he always knows how much his Daddy loves him."
"Thank you," he choked out, reaching to put his arms around her, his shoulders shivering as he let his big sister comfort him.
"Donna!" they both heard Josh call from outside the living room. "The limo's here."
"Coming!" she called back, still clinging to T.J. Finally, she released him and wiped at the moisture underneath his eyes. "You gonna be all right tonight?"
"Yeah," he nodded, brushing her hands away. "Go ahead; you have foreign dignitaries to impress and I have nieces to entertain."
"Okay," she smiled, giving him a peck on his cheek leaving a bit of lipstick on him. "Oops," she apologized, spiting on a tissue to clean it off.
"Hey, hey, hey!" he protested, holding her hand with the offending tissue at bay. "One of the perks of adulthood is no one can clean me with saliva anymore."
"It's just a little bit, don't be a baby," she ordered, managing to swipe the make up off of him as he grimaced in annoyance. "There, all gone."
"Donna, go to your party. Schmooze, have fun, dance a waltz or two with your spouse."
"The last time I danced with Josh while pregnant I ended up going into labor," Donna informed him. "Not sure if I want to risk that."
"Donna!" Josh knocked loudly on the door. "We have to go now!"
"Yes, yes, I'm coming!" She smiled once more at her brother, patting his shoulder as they left the room. Josh, who had Natalie in his arms, let her kiss her daughter goodbye before handing the child to T.J. and immediately started tugging Donna towards the door as she prattled off last minute instructions to T.J. "Okay you have all the numbers? Cell phones, pagers, doctors?"
"All set."
"You'll make them dinner?"
"Already ordered a pizza."
"Emma can have two slices, cut up Natalie's, they can have yogurt and fruit for desert, and juice or milk for both of them." She grabbed T.J. by his right ear and yanked roughly. "So help me God, Tomasso Arthur Moss, you give either of my children a caffeine-based beverage of any kind before their bedtime again--"
"Got it, got it," he tried to assure her, prying her fingers from his flesh.
"Good. We'll be home by midnight, feel free to raid the fridge but try to refrain from ordering adult movies off pay-per-view again."
"It was one time and I--"
"Just don't do it again," Josh broke in, practically dragging his wife out the door. "Goodnight Emma, be good for your uncle!" he shouted towards the kitchen where the Emma was.
"Goodnight baby, we love you!" Donna shouted as well.
"Bye!" Emma replied and finally they were out the door and in the limo.
"We're late," Nicole said in a singsong voice as the car finally pulled away.
"I know," Josh said in the same tone, leaning his head back against seat. "Time is more of a concept than an exact science when kids are involved."
"And you guys only have two right now. We're never going to see you when those guys pop out," Nicole commented, pointing towards Donna's stomach.
Josh smirked at her. "Oh what a travesty that will be, Nicole. I shudder to think how'll we'll pull through without your guidance."
"Josh, my darling husband," Donna said, wrapping his arm around her.
"Yeah?"
"You really want to make disparaging remarks about your sister-in-law to your pregnant wife? You really want to walk down that path all by your lonesome?"
"No," he replied, slightly fearful. "No, I do not."
"No you do not," Donna agreed with him, wiggling as best she could to try to get comfortable.
"You all right?"
"My back hurts, what else is new?"
"Josh, you want to be sure to get a minute with Durmont tonight," Toby said, hanging up his cell phone.
"What for?"
"He's a soft yes on 1064, the Leadership wants him to be a hard yes. You have to get him to commit otherwise you have to deal with Shaw and Hartly on Monday morning."
"Got it," he agreed idly, stroking Donna's bare arm. "Call Gus, have him pull the Budget stats up in case Durmont decides he'd rather not sit at the cool kid's table."
"You can't," Donna said. "Gus is at the dinner tonight."
"He is? How?"
"He got invited," Donna explained as the limo pulled up to the White House among a throng of others.
"By who?"
"Whom, Josh. The correct word is actually whom," Toby chimed in.
"Thank you, Toby," he rolled his eyes.
"Oh so Emma must speak grammatically perfect English while her father gets to slack off? No, no, no."
"Again I ask, by whom was my aide invited?"
"I think," Donna smiled, knowing how much Josh was going to love the answer, "by Congressman Shepard's daughter, Eileen."
"Paul Shepard, out of the Indiana 5th?"
"Yep,"
"He's a Republican and I was under the assumption his family was as well."
"That assumption was correct," she replied as the limo pulled to a stop. Two attendants opened their doors and Josh and Toby helped their ladies out of the car.
"He's with a Republican," Josh bemoaned as the arrived at the security checkpoint. "Traitor."
"It's not like he's selling copies of staff memos or anything like that," Nicole laughed as she handed over her purse for inspection.
"She wouldn't have to offer money; she'd put her hand on some conspicuous yet unseen body part of his while she was whispering sweet nothings in his ear and before he knew it he'd be her love slave, ready and willing to adhere to all her nefarious demands."
"Well," Donna said, slipping her arm through her husband's as they were led into the East Ballroom, "look on the bright side."
"And what is that?"
"Maybe if Gus starts dating, your daughter will forget that she has a crush on him." She watched him consider that and after a beat, a huge grin appeared on his face.
"Well when you put it like that," he replied, snagging a glass of champagne from a passing tray, "a blessing on their house." Before he could drink any, Donna snatched it away from him and handed it to Toby.
"I can't get tipsy, you can't get tipsy," she reiterated. "I'm going to go freshen up in the ladies room."
"I'll go too," Nicole said, going with her.
"Are women afraid to go to the bathroom by themselves or something…" Josh trailed off to their retreating forms. "Never mind." He turned to Toby. "Which side of the room do you want?"
"I'll take the bar, that's where most of the staff members are gonna be. You should circulate around the tables," Toby advised, plotting out their courses for optimum politicking potential. "Meet back in about an hour."
"Got it," Josh said, going to his prospective area.
It was a fine art, making deals at official functions like this. One had to have the appearance that this wasn't what the evening was all about but one also had to let it be known to others that what was said here carried as much weight as if it were said sitting across one another from a conference table. It took the right kind of aura to pull it off but it was an aura that Josh had mastered years before.
He did a preliminary lap around the area, just nodding hello to people, making it known that he was there, before he spotted Durmont on the other side of the room. 'Perfect timing,' he thought, slowly moving in for the kill. He was about half way there when a voice halted him; a whiskey-smoked voice from his past that he'd doubted he'd hear again.
"Good evening, Josh." Turning slowly, trying best to keep his expression neutral, he came face to face with Leo McGarry.
"Leo," he said, shock clear in his voice. He gazed with curiosity over his former mentor and friend, surprised by how much, in the span of less than two years, age had touched him. His hair was now completely white, not a spot of gray to be found anywhere and the lines on his face were far more pronounced and embedded. He wondered when it had happened, when Leo had become an old man. "What are you doing here?" he breathed.
"I was in town, figured I'd drop by," Leo shrugged, trying and failing for a weak stab at humor. He cleared his throat and tentatively took a step towards Josh. "How's the family?"
"Good," Josh replied cautiously, not sure exactly why Leo was here or what he wanted from the conversation. "The girls are growing up faster than I can stand it."
Leo smiled that Cheshire Cat grin that you could never forget, that Josh had secretly longed to see for a while now. "They do tend to do that," he commented. "I heard Donna's pregnant too."
"Yeah, with twins. They're due in a couple of weeks."
"Well congratulations," Leo told him, taking another slow step forward. "On everything, Josh. You are truly living up to the potential your father had for you."
At the mention of the late Noah Lyman, Josh's face noticeably hardened. 'What right, after everything he's put me through, does he think he has to even utter my father's name in front of me?' he thought bitterly. "Not yours though," he retorted, his shock at seeing Leo quickly giving way to his residual anger at the man for just abandoning him two years ago. After Bartlet resigned and Sam, in anger and defiance, left to run for governor of California, Leo had eventually joined him there, leaving Josh alone to navigate the tumultuous waters of his first campaign. Adding insult to injury, Leo himself hadn't even broken the news to Josh; he'd left that task to Jed as he was already in California laying the groundwork for Sam's run, a campaign that had included more than one unfriendly mention of Josh and his career.
"Look Josh--"
"Senator," Josh cut him off bitingly. "It's Senator Lyman, Leo. I'm not the heir apparent anymore."
Leo sighed deeply, prepared to face the music he should have a long time ago. He jerked his head to the side of the room, hoping to have the argument as inconspicuously as possible. "That's not true and I think you know that," Leo countered as the two men leaned against a marble pillar, unheard but not unseen from the DC elite. "I have always known what you are capable of accomplishing when you want it."
"I don't know anything you think or know anymore, Leo," Josh shot back. "You packed up and left two years ago, never to be seen or heard by anyone again, on this Coast at least."
"Sam needed me to--"
"It never occurred to you that maybe, this being my first campaign for my first public office, I could use a little help too?"
"You had Toby as your campaign manager, you had the endorsement of the DNC, you had the funds to start campaigning and stumping right away, and you had your family for support," Leo ticked off. "Sam had a grand total of none of those things not to mention he's nowhere near the political mind that you are."
"Well who needs that when you have the former White House Chief of Staff doing all the actual work for you plus a world-class Press Secretary weaving the press under her spell," Josh said, referring to CJ who had also chosen to join Sam and leave Josh behind with no explanation.
"Sam is a good politician," Leo argued.
"Sam is a safe politician," Josh corrected. "Sam knows how to put a good spin on bad situations, how to not offend anyone who he disagrees with, and how to compromise to the detriment of his own goals. Sam's an amazing politician for himself; he's a shitty politician for his constituency."
Leo pursed his lips and cast his steely gaze on Josh, the gaze that used to have him promising Leo his firstborn child to get away from it; now, amazingly, it had absolutely no affect on him whatsoever. "I disagree with you on that," Leo finally said.
"Doesn't mean I'm not right," Josh replied, spotting Donna across the room chatting with the director of a charitable organization. "I have to go. I wish I could say this had been enjoyable." With that, he started to walk towards his wife but Leo grabbed his arm.
"I didn't want to fight with you," he said softly, focusing on Josh's shoulder rather than his face. "I heard about…about the robbery. I just needed to see for myself that you were all right." Lightly patting his arm, he released Josh. "Give Donna and the kids my love. And good luck with the twins." Gathering his composure, he quickly disappeared back into the crowd, leaving a speechless Josh in his wake.
"Hey." He jumped when he felt Donna touch his shoulder. He turned to look at her concerned eyes, seeing she had seen what had just transpired. "How you doing?"
"I'm okay, I think," he said, taking her hand and bringing it to his mouth, kissing her knuckles.
"So the two of you talked?"
"Yeah."
"What about?"
Josh narrowed his eyes, trying once again to spot Leo but he was gone. Gone again from Josh's life as quickly as he'd left the first time. Josh was surprised to realize that while it hurt, it didn't hurt as much as before and in understanding that, Josh finally grasped that Leo was his past; a huge, irreplaceable part of his past life but a part of his past nonetheless. Leo had helped to shape the man that he had become and now it was up to Josh to live up to the potential that Leo had helped give him. And for the first time in two years, Josh finally understood what Leo was doing: helping Sam to become the man he needed to be. Whether or not he would succeed with Sam was yet to be seen but Josh was heartened in the knowledge that Leo's work with him was done.
"Doesn't matter," he finally said to his wife, squeezing her hand tightly. "It's in the past."
"You sure?" Donna asked, not completely convinced.
"Yeah," he grinned at her, leaning down to kiss her. Pulling back, he took her other hand and started tugging her towards the main floor. "Come on, I want to dance with you."
"Josh no," she shook her head, trying to remain rooted to her spot.
"Please Donnatella?" he begged happily. "I'm in a room full of people who know how successful I am and I want them to see me dancing with the most beautiful woman in the entire world."
"So why do you want them to see you dancing with your cow of a wife?" she grumbled as she reluctantly let him lead her to the other dancing couples. As much as she didn't want to dance, a bigger part of her wanted to keep that smile on Josh's face.
"You," Josh said twirling her to the beat of the music, "are the most stunning creature in this hemisphere."
"Just this one?" she joked with him, relaxing in his embrace.
"In all hemispheres of all planets in all solar systems," he assured her. He pulled her tighter against him, as tight as her stomach would allow anyways.
"You mean that?" she asked shyly, knowing she was fishing for complements but as a hormonal pregnant woman, she thought that was her right.
"Donna," he whispered against her ear. "You've given me the two most amazing children that God ever created. How could I not worship the ground you walk upon?" He bent slightly to nibble her ear when he suddenly felt her hand tighten in his and her back immediately tense.
"I'm glad you feel that way," Donna breathed out, not relaxing her grip as she stopped dancing.
"Why?" Josh asked slowly but already having a good idea what the answer was.
"Because I'm probably going to give you two more tonight." She pulled back to look at him, smiling shakily. "My water just broke."
"Okay," Josh said confidently, feeling more prepared for the birthing process this time than he had with Natalie. He knew this time in order for Donna to remain calm, which was the best thing for herself and the babies, that he had to be calm as well. Or at least appear that he was calm. "Let's just get our things, find Toby and Nicole, and we'll get you to the hospital." He led her away slowly, so as not to draw any attention their way when a funny thought struck him. "Hey, do you realize this is exactly where your water broke last--"
"Oh God!" she screeched quietly as she felt her first contraction, so powerful she had to stop moving as the pain sucked all of the air out her body. She grabbed onto a nearby table with both her hands, squeezing her eyes shut as she fought to breathe against the discomfort ripping through her stomach.
'Screw calm!' Josh thought frantically, searching for Toby or Nicole as he saw what kind of physical distress his wife was in. "Are you supposed to be feeling one that bad this soon?" he whispered to her nervously.
"Shut up Josh," Donna panted out, waiting for the contraction to ease off so she could move.
"Just…just breathe and, you know, stuff," he tried to instruct her, feeling extremely inadequate watching his wife suffering.
Finally, the pain began to lessen slightly, leaving a sharp cramp in its wake. Donna knew they didn't have much time unless they actually wanted their children born in the White House. "We've gotta go now," she urged Josh, grabbing his hand and pulling him towards the exit as quickly as she could manage.
"Right," Josh nodded dumbly, letting her take the initiative in this.
"Hey guys!" Nicole gushed at them, hanging onto Toby's arm. The flushed color of her skin alerted them that in the hour or so they had been there, Nicole was not only drinking for herself but compensating for her sister. "What's the hurry? You bored to death already because you can't drink at these things? Because believe you me, these things are a hell of lot more fun with a couple of gin and tonics in your system."
"Did you talk to Durmont yet?" Toby asked, ignoring his girlfriend's giddiness and intoxication.
"No he didn't," Donna answered shortly before Josh could open his mouth. "And he's not going to. I'm in labor right now and I have to get to the hospital fairly soon or the twins are going to win the news cycle."
"Oh my God," Nicole sighed, almost immediately sobering up. Putting down her glass, she took Donna and started to get her out of the room while Josh and Toby just stood there blankly. "Are you coming?" she hissed back at them, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible.
"Yes," Josh said, trying to shake off his nerves as he and Toby hustled after the women.
Arriving at the Ellipse, Nicole led Donna to the first vehicle that she saw at the end of the line, a limo that was not theirs. "Here, get her in," she instructed the men. As they did that, she went to the driver's window and knocked politely. "Excuse me, sir," she said when the confused chauffer opened the window. "Hi. Listen, I need you to get out of the car right now and give me your keys."
"Beg your pardon?"
"I assure you, sir, I'm not committing a crime here nor do I intend to but my sister is having a baby right now, two actually, and we need to get her to the hospital like yesterday."
"Oh I can drive you there," the chauffer offered kindly, glancing in the back at Donna. "I can get you there in a jiffy."
"Yeah, a jiffy's not going to work for us," Nicole explained, opening his door for him. In a daze, the man got out of the car, giving his keys to her. "Thank you so much. We will get this back to you and take care of any expenses occurred because of this. Toby!" He popped up on the other side just in time to have the keys tossed to him. "Here, you drive."
Toby glanced in on the driver's side. "It's a stick. I can't drive stick," he said tossing the keys back to her. "You drive."
"I was downing gin and tonics that were decidedly more gin than tonic less than five minutes ago," she argued, tossing the keys back. "I'm not going to drive my pregnant sister to a hospital at seventy miles an hour."
Before it could go any further, Josh got out of the car and took the keys. "I'll drive," he said, much more in control now. Everyone got in the car and the doors weren't closed for a second before Josh gunned the engine and started to speed off.
"Josh, be careful!" Donna cried from the back, gripping her sister's hand in the midst of a contraction while Josh was pushing eighty miles an hour.
"I'm fine, just worry about you," Josh told her as he navigated his way through the streets of DC.
"There won't be a me to be a worry about if you don't slow down!"
"I'm fine!"
"You're driving a limo; you've never driven a limo before! Just slow down a little bit for God's sakes!"
"Donna, if we're lucky you won't give birth in this car! I'm trying to get you--"
"Hey!" Nicole shouted at the two of them, trying to assert some control. "Stop it right now, this situation doesn't need anymore stress! You," she addressed Josh, "eyes on the road and be careful. You," she said to Donna, "just relax and concentrate on your breathing and everything is going to be fine. Right Toby?" She looked up at him for an answer but he was unavailable as he was holding the car door open slightly and vomiting onto the street.
"Sorry," he coughed, looking up at her as he closed the door. "What was that?"
"Never mind," she replied wearily, turning her head and wishing she'd been able to finish that fourth gin and tonic.
Mercifully, roughly three and half minutes later, they arrived at the emergency room entrance of George Washington Hospital. Josh skidded to a stop and threw his door open.
"Hey you can't park there!" a police officer shouted at him angrily.
"My wife's in labor, officer," he threw out as he went to get her out of the car. "I'll move it later--"
"You'll move it now, sir," the officer declared.
"Officer--"
"Now!"
"Josh, its okay. Move the car," Donna told him as she was helped into a nearby wheelchair. "I'll meet you upstairs."
"Donna--"
"Josh, go," she said, squeezing his hand supportively. "You don't want to miss this, do you?"
"Okay," he replied, placing a quick but fierce kiss on her forehead. "I'll be right there, just try to keep your legs closed or something."
"Josh, just go," Nicole told him as she and Toby watched an orderly wheel Donna inside. "We'll stay with her." With that, Josh raced to go park the limo somewhere close by and Nicole and Toby raced to catch up with Donna.