Disclaimer: I in no way own any thing West Wing or otherwise.
Author's Notes: Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed my other story. This is a sequel to "We Have a Problem," it came to me one night. I hope you enjoy, I love hearing what you think so please reivew!!
"Joshua Lyman!"
"This can't be good," he muttered to himself as he headed up the stairs to the bedroom. As he pushed opened the door he saw Donnatella Lyman sitting slumped in a chair. "What did I do?"
"Nothing, I can't get up, and it's all your fault!"
His gaze dropped down to her protruding belly. "Not all my fault. It takes two."
"Says who?"
"My health teacher, Mr. Rupt!" he replied.
Donna just glared at him. "Would you help me up, I'm going to be late?"
"Late for what?"
"I have a doctor's appointment, Joshua!"
Josh helped her out of the chair and into his arms. "How come I'm not coming, I always come."
Donna just rolled her eyes. "Because, dear, you have staff in a half in hour and then you have meetings on the Hill today all day because of the vote next week. You don't have time to go to a routine check up. I'm not due for another couple of weeks."
"Are you driving?"
"Like I could get behind a steering wheel with a stomach like this," she scoffed. "Mallory is picking me up. She has an appointment for Lily anyway."
"Lily?" Josh's eyebrows furrowed.
"Yes, Lily, Sam and Mallory's baby girl."
"Oh, right."
Donna let out a long sigh as she slipped on her sandals.
They walked down the stairs and into the living room. "Are you sure you don't want me to come with? I'm not sure how I feel about missing an appointment," Josh said as he leaned in and kissed Donna on the base of her neck, her favorite place.
"I'll be fine. It's important that you win that vote and get it out of the way before I go into labor because let me tell you national emergency or not, you're going to be in the delivery room taking full responsibility for what you have done to me."
Josh smiled. "Then I should go."
"Go!" Donna urged. "Don't forget that tonight Danny and C.J. are supposed to be coming over dinner and that means that you're supposed to bring something home with you because I'm not cooking."
Josh kissed his wife and headed out of the door. He climbed into this car and drove to work.
"How are you feeling?" asked Mallory.
"I look like a hippo, how do you think I'm feeling?" Donna muttered.
"You do not look a like a hippo. Believe me I understand how you feel. Once the baby is born, you'll feel much better about everything."
Donna huffed, "This is all Josh's fault."
Mallory laughed. "Sam and Josh will have a lot to talk about. Both of their women love blaming them for pregnancy sucking."
"I told Josh I wanted to wait until he got out of office. We've been married for nine months, and I'm almost nine months pregnant, which means we didn't wait until he was out of office!"
"Donna, what's going on?"
"Mal, I don't think I can do this." Donna wiped the tears from her cheeks.
"Do what?"
"Be a mother. I don't think I can be a mother and a wife and me," she wept.
"What are you talking about, Donna? You're going to be a wonderful mother and you're already a wonderful wife. Josh has never been this happy in his entire life. I've never seen the man rush home from work like he does now and he enjoys his friends and he can't stop talking about you or the baby."
Donna sobbed, "I know. He's wonderful. I'm the one who isn't wonderful. This kid is going to love its father and it's going to take one look at me and hate me for the rest of its life."
"Don't be ridiculous, this kid is going to be crazy about you. Donna, you're one of the most wonderful, kind, and sensitive people I have ever met. You're going to know what the kid needs before it does, just like you know what Josh needs before he does. It's your way."
Donna looked over at her friend. "Thank you," she cried.
Mallory smiled and handed her a tissue. "Hormones are hell aren't they?"
Donna nodded and then she looked back over her shoulder at the sleeping baby in the backseat. "She just keeps getting more and more beautiful every time I see her."
"She's my little princess. Sam is so cute with her. He reads to her every night and he's already decided that she's going to be President when she is of age."
"So he doesn't have any big plans for her then?"
The women laughed together.
"Josh already bought a toy donkey. It doesn't matter if it is a boy or a girl as long as it's a Democrat."
"Hey, Josh, how's Donna doing?" C.J. stood in the doorway of his office.
Josh looked up from the pile of papers on his desk that he was pulling together for his meetings on the Hill. "She's good! Mike!"
His assistant came into the doorway behind C.J. "Yeah?"
"I need the thing from the other night."
"Yeah." Mike disappeared and reappeared in moments. He came in through the other doorway to avoid running into C.J. and laid the file on his desk.
"She's due soon isn't she?" C.J. asked.
"Two weeks and a couple of days," Josh mumbled as he scanned the file.
"You're on the Hill today?"
"That's right."
"Are we still coming over to dinner tonight?"
Josh looked at C.J. "Yeah," he replied. "What's wrong?"
"What do you mean what's wrong?"
"I don't know, something isn't right with you. You seem different."
C.J.'s gaze fell on her shoes. "It's nothing." She turned around to walk out.
"Claudia Jean, what's going on?"
She turned back around and stepped into his office and closed the door. She didn't move from the middle of her office. Josh stepped around his desk and stood in front of her. "C.J.?"
"I think something is wrong with me," she sobbed suddenly.
"What are you talking about?" Josh's hands instinctively went to her arms to comfort her.
"We try and we try and we try and nothing. You and Donna are married for a day and you have no troubles."
Josh cocked an eyebrow. "Still confused, C.J."
"I don't think I can have kids."
The realization of what was going on hit him hard. "Oh," was all he could manage to say for the first thirty seconds. "Have you talked to the doctor about this?"
"Of course. We're getting the test results later today. I just know that there is something wrong and it is wrong with me."
Josh pulled the Press Secretary into a warm embrace. "C.J., I promise that if God was nice enough to let me and Sam reproduce there will be a way for you and Danny to have children."
"But what if we can't," she cried.
"C.J., I promise you there will be a way."
She squeezed him a little harder and then released him all together. "You're a sweet man."
"That's what it says in my bio."
She swatted him playfully. "I'm sorry to just fall apart in your arms like this."
"Oh, please, don't worry about it. What are friends for?"
"I got mascara on your shirt," she said rubbing at the black smudges on his shirt.
"Don't worry about it, they gave me this great jacket when I bought the suit, no one will no the difference and Donna can spend an hour scrubbing the stain out, because lately that's all it seems she wants to do is clean."
C.J. smiled, "She's nesting, Josh, and you should be nice to her. She's got like an eight pound baby just walking around inside of her."
"Can I tell you, she's been acting less than thrilled with the baby stuff lately?"
It was C.J.'s turn to look concerned. "What are you talking about?"
"I'm not sure, she's just been very crabby lately and not at all excited about the baby."
"She's sounded excited when I've talk to her about it."
Josh shrugged, "Maybe it's just me then."
"I wouldn't worry about it. It's got to be hard being that pregnant."
Josh nodded. He looked at his watch. "I should get going."
"Yeah. Hey, thanks for the pep talk," C.J. said.
"Any time."
"Josh Lyman's office," Mike stated into the phone.
"Is Josh in?"
"No, he's in meetings at the Hill all day today," Mike replied. "Can I take a message?"
"No, I need you to page him. This is Mallory Seaborn. I need you to page him or call him on his cell phone and tell him that Donna was just admitted to George W. Hospital, she's gone into labor!" She ordered.
Mike wrote down the information and replied, "I'll call him right now."
Mike dialed his boss's cell phone number.
"Hi, you've reached Josh Lyman..." Voicemail.
Mike hung up the phone and paged him immediately after that. A few moments later the phone rang. Mike picked it up. "Josh Lymans's office."
"Mike, it's Josh, what's going on?"
"Donna has been admitted to the hospital, George W."
There was a long silence.
"Josh?"
"Yeah!"
"Did you hear me?"
"Yeah!"
"Do you want me to call you a cab?"
There was another silence.
Mike opened his mouth to say something but then Josh responded. "Mike, I need you to call Leo and tell him what's going on and then I need you to clear my schedule for the next couple of days. I need you to farm out the important stuff. I also need you to call Toby and C.J."
"Josh, get going, I know what to do!" Mike hung up the phone and called Leo's office. "Hi, Margaret, is Leo available?"
Josh felt his entire body zinging with emotion and excitement. Donna was at the hospital which meant that she went into labor. He ran through the halls and he spotted Mallory. He jogged up to her.
"Where is she?"
"Josh?"
"Do I get those comfortable pajama outfit things so I can go into the delivery room with her?"
"Josh?"
The smile slowly faded off of his face when he saw the concern and sorrow behind Mallory's eyes.
"What happened?"