Olivia's Room

"I am doing what I can," Lynne said sweetly to Josh. "Donna can't provide for this child like we can. Custody is the only way to keep Olivia happy," she said with a little pout. "In time, you'll see that I'm right," she insisted.

"Enough," Josh said shaking his head and walking out of Olivia's room pulling Lynne with him. He closed his daughter's door and then led Lynne away from it. "Enough," he told her firmly again. "Olivia is Donna's and my daughter. Not yours. We'll have our own children some day. But for now," he sighed. "For now you have to leave this alone," he insisted. "I will not sue Donna for custody of her child. I can't do that to her."

Lynne shook her head, "You're being sweet here again, Joshua. You need to wake up. People aren't always as nice as you'd like them to be," she insisted. "Don't you think that as soon as she has enough of what she wants she'll just take Olivia away?"

"Donna's not like that," Josh insisted, shaking his head.

"Josh," she sighed. "She kept your daughter a secret from you. Would you have thought that your precious Donna was capable of that?"

"That's not the point," he sighed frustrated.

"Then what is the point?" she asked. "You love Olivia. You want what's best for her. You're what's best for her. This house is what's best for her. A stable family is what's best for her. We can give her all of that. Can Donna?" she asked.

"Donna's her mother," Josh said as his eyes filled a little with tears.

"Donna is an unemployed woman who was too scared to commit to you," Lynne spat back at him. "She was never good enough for you. She wasn't then and she certainly isn't now. And she's not what's best for Olivia. You know I'm right."

Josh shook his head in disgust, "How could you say that?" Lynne had started to walk away from him and he grabbed her arm and spun her around. "How the hell could you say that? You don't even know Donna!"

"There's not really all that much there to know, is there?" Lynne seethed and jerked her arm away from his grasp.

"Olivia's her daughter," Josh said. "She's her daughter."

"She's your daughter, too," Lynne said.

"How could you say the things you did about the mother of my child? How could you do that?" he asked, shaking his head.

"The truth hurts," she said simply. "We have a party to get back too," she smiled falsely and stalked down the stairs with Josh at her heels.

At the foot of the stairs

CJ noticed Donna running down the hallway and then heard the door slam. She shook her head and wandered down to the bar where she found Sam and Will. "Hi boys," she sighed as she singled for the bartender to refill her martini.

"Hey, CJ," Will smiled. "Have you seen our hosts?"

"Josh and Lynne are on their ways down from Olivia's room and Donna just stormed off to her room," CJ sighed.

"Why?" Sam asked.

"I have no idea," CJ said, unconvincingly.

"Were they all with Olivia together? Cause that is not supposed to happen. Donna is very determined to keep Olivia away from Lynne. She just doesn't trust her yet, I guess," Will added.

"Donna and Josh were putting Olivia to bed. Lynne came and asked where Josh was so I told her. Then she left and the next thing I knew Donna was running away from Olivia's room," CJ explained. "That's all I got."

"C'mon," Sam said to Will as they jogged off in the direction of the stairs.

CJ started to follow them and then they all stopped when they were cut off by Lynne and Josh.

"Donna's a good mother," Josh insisted. He was well past drunk by now and mumbling was not his forte when sober so in his condition, he was not fairing all that well.

"Yeah," she's a great mother. "She has no job and no real career future ahead of her at this point. She's dependent on us for everything!"

"Me," Josh corrected her. "It's my money, honey."

"Yeah," Lynne smirked. "She's dependent on you for everything. I feel so much better."

"You know what I mean," Josh said.

"Do I?" Lynne asked. "Do you?"

"I....I....Donna's Livvie's mother. I can't take Olivia away from her mother," Josh said, sounding defeated.

"You're drunk Josh," Lynne observed. "You're too drunk to think straight right now."

"I'm not drunk," Josh insisted loudly as he lost his footing and fell down on the stairs. "I'm not drunk."

"Right," Lynne smiled. "And I'm a natural red head," she seethed. "I'm leaving this party now. I'll be back later after all of these people leave. Be a good boy and think about what I said, Joshua."

"Bye, Lynne," he said from his spot on the floor. "God her ass looks great in that skirt," he murmured as she left the room.

"Josh," Will said as he came to sit by his friend. "What the hell was that all about?"

"Lynne wants us to have custody of Livia because Donna is a not good mother with no future or job or something," he mumbled. "And Lynne has a great ass, doesn't she? I mean and her legs go on for like ever. And Donna called me names and left and Lynne said she's just moody or something but I'm not a bastard so I guess Donna's just moody like Lynne said. Can I get another drink of something?" he rambled.

"Where's Donna?" Sam asked.

"Who knows," Josh sighed. "She left when Lynne came. Donna hates Lynne," he smirked. "I think she's jealous a little. She likes my dimples," he gave a grin and CJ shook her head in amusement.

"Josh are you sure you need more to drink buddy?" Will asked, handing his friend another glass.

"Yes, William, my friend. Alcohol is very good in this case," Josh sighed and downed his drink quickly. He shook his head and pulled himself up and stumbled over to the bar for a refill.

"I'm going to check on Donna," CJ said and started for the stairs.

"No," Sam told her. "You've done enough for the night, CJ," Sam explained. "And relax," he said when he noticed her tense. "We're not furious. It's just she loves him so much, you know? It took everything she had in her to come here for the baby and for Josh. She's dealing with his psycho fiancé and her continuous love for him and the knowing that he's sleeping with another woman down the hall every damn day. You were never on the happy Josh and Donna parade bandwagon so you can't understand."

"I don't want Lynne to take her baby away from her," CJ said. "I love Lynne – she's my friend. But I would never want her to do that to Donna."

"We know CJ," Sam smiled as Will kissed her cheek. "We know."

And with that, Sam and Will made their way to Donna's room and CJ sighed.

Donna's Room

She was sitting in front of her mirror and trying to wipe away the tracks that her mascara had made down her face when Sam and Will came in.

"Hey," they murmured quietly.

She tried to smile but burst into tears again.

"It's gonna be okay," Will said as he crouched next to on the floor.

"No," she said shaking her head. "It's not."

"Why would you say that?" Sam asked coming to sit on the other side of her.

"She's right," she whispered. "I'll never be able to give Olivia all this. And this is what she deserves. This and so much more. I'll never be able to do it."

"Donna, you're a great mother," Will insisted. "Josh knows that," he explained. "He's just not in a good place right now."

"I would never take her away from him," she insisted. "Lynne's wrong about that. I couldn't do it – he loves her too much."

"He'd never take Livvie away from you either," Sam insisted. "This is all Lynne's idea. She's just insecure or whatever."

"I hate her," Donna whispered. "I hate her so much and I hate myself for hating her that much. She's gonna be an important part of Olivia's life. I should try to get along with her," she sighed. "I just can't."

"That's because she's not a decent person," Will smiled. "You are – you're so much better than she is."

"Yeah," Donna cried. "And he still chose her."

"You left," Sam reminded her.

"For him," Donna insisted.

"You still left," Will sighed.

"I know," she sighed. "And I want him to be happy and I want him to have a good life – just not with Lynne," she made a face.

"He's a mess right now," Sam told her. "He's drinking himself into nothingness."

"What a good idea – I wish I'd thought of that," she sighed.

Will smirked. "You want something?" he asked with a grin.

"No," she sighed. "Someone needs to be the adult around here."

"He thinks you're a wonderful mother," Sam told her and pressed a kiss to her temple.

"He really does," Will agreed.

"I hate Lynne," Donna sighed and got up to throw cold water on her face.

"We do, too," Sam laughed as he followed Will out of the room and back to the party.

As they made their way down the stairs they found Josh mid-way leaning against a railing.

"You okay, man?" Sam asked him.

"Is Donna up there?" Josh asked.

"Leave it alone Josh," Will told him. "For tonight, just leave it alone."

"I just...I just want her to know that I wouldn't take Olivia away from her," Josh insisted.

"She's getting ready to go to bed Josh," Sam told him. "Just leave it for tonight."

Sam and Will continued down the stairs and Josh made his way up them to Donna's room. He knocked softly, but she didn't answer. So, he made his way inside and found her bedroom empty but heard the sound of the shower from her bathroom. He smiled softly – when she was upset she always took a shower, he recalled. He noticed the mound of tissues by her mirror and decided that she'd been crying a lot. He didn't hate her – not really. No matter how pissed off he was or got, how could he ever not like Donna Moss? He just didn't know how to express his feelings to her without crossing some sort of line or whatever. After he'd yelled at her in the hospital, things changed. He'd forced her to move back to DC with him and Lynne. He knew she didn't want to be there with him and his new fiancé, but she did it because she felt horrible about not telling him about Olivia. He'd used her guilt to keep her and Livvie close to him. And she wasn't happy about it. She could barely stand to be in the same room as him lately. Usually when he'd go to her room she made sure that she had guests or something to avoid being alone with him. He looked around the room and sighed. It was completely Donna. The room was decorated in pale pinks and purples. There were teddy bears, porcelain dolls, candles and knickknacks. On the nightstand by her bed was the book he had given her so many years ago – "The Art and Artistry of Alpine Skiing." He smiled. "She still looks at it," he whispered.

"I didn't pack many books when I moved back here," Donna said coming out of the bathroom. "Don't make more of it then it is."

"Donna," he sighed as she made her way to her mirror and began combing out her damp hair. "I just...I just wanted to come up here and," he paused because the room began to spin a little bit.

"Sit down," she instructed, not leaving her position as he sat on the bed. She turned around as she put up her hair. "Now, what do you want?"

"I'm not taking Olivia away from you," he told her. "And I'm not a bastard."

"Okay," she said, calmly.

"That's it?" he asked as she approached the bed.

"What else do you want me to say?" she asked. "Move," she ordered as she climbed into bed and he scooted to the end to accommodate her.

"Nothing," he sighed.

"You gonna be okay?" she asked. "You're way past your limit and with your delicate system and all," she smiled softly at him.

He smirked back and shook his head, "I'll have a hell of a hangover in the morning."

"You deserve it," she smiled with satisfaction.

"Probably," he nodded. "Good night, Donna," he smiled and turned off her light as he stumbled out of the room.

"Night, Josh," she answered and wiped the tears from her eyes.

At the Party

Danny arrived very late along with Michael, his new assistant. "Where's the party at?" he asked as he approached CJ.

"You're late," she laughed and then noticed Michael. "And you've brought company," she put on a fake smile.

"I just want to get him acclimated to the whole scene, ya know?" Danny smiled at CJ. "Did you miss me?" he asked wiggling his eyebrows.

"Mildly," she tossed back. "So," she paused. "What do you know?" she asked.

"I know that Donna Moss is back in town and living here with a baby," he said. "I gather the child is hers, but who's the father?"

"My lips are sealed," she said. "You think that's all anyone's got?" she asked.

"I'm sure of it," Danny said. "I've looked everywhere for the information – the father is listed as unknown on the birth certificate and Josh isn't talking and no one's been able to reach Donna. This place is like Fort Knox."

"Excellent," CJ smiled. "Let's get you a drink, Danny boy," CJ laughed and drug him to the bar.

"Michael," Danny called. "You gonna be okay?" he asked.

"Yep," he called and wandered around the party's dwindling guests.

Sam and Will came upon CJ and Danny shortly there after.

"Gentleman," Danny greeted them with a smile.

"We know nothing," Sam smiled at his friend.

"Right," Danny laughed.

"We should all probably get going," Will mentioned. "Josh is toasted and Donna's probably asleep by now. Lynne's out and we should probably just call it a night or whatever."

"Did Toby leave?" Sam asked, looking around.

"About an hour ago," CJ told him. "C'mon," she said. "Let's get everyone out of here."

And everyone left. The house was quiet and a mess when Lynne made her way home. She figured that Josh would be passed out so she quietly entered their room and began to undress. Then she felt arms come around her waist first then move upward slowly then spin her around. Josh's mouth met her own in a fierce kiss.

"You're home," he whispered roughly in her ear and then began to assault her neck. "You're still drunk," she smiled, allowing his hands to explore her body and remove the rest of her clothing. "I'm sorry I said what I said about Donna," she offered.

"I'm sorry I got upset about everything – it's just that Olivia's Donna's baby, too. And if she tried to take her away from me I know how devastated I'd be. And I know you're a part of my life now, but so is Donna because of Olivia," he insisted.

Her mouth began to kiss down his chest leaving a hot moist trail in its wake. "I was just trying to think about what would be best for Olivia," she murmured against his scar.

"Mmmm," Josh closed his eyes and reveled in her touch. "I know," he said shaking his head. "Next time, we'll just discuss things more in private before we talk about them to others," he said.

"Can I make it up to you?" she asked sweetly as her hands made their way to his boxer shorts.

"Please do," he moaned as his mouth reattached itself to her neck and her hands moved down his body.

Josh lay in bed early the next morning feeling very odd. He'd made love to his fiancé whom he loved and admittedly found vastly attractive. But he kept thinking about how happy he'd been that Donna still had the skiing book. He was starting to wonder how wise an idea it was to move her in with him. Things were starting to get confused in his head and he didn't like it. He needed to sort it all out before things got worse. He needed to talk to Sam or to Will or even to Leo. He needed to do it before the press got wind of the entire situation. He was going to work that day. He would deal with everything at work. He would do it before things got too out of control for him to handle. He looked at the clock on the nightstand. It was 4:30 AM. He could be in work early if he got up now. He could actually help run the country before the others who ran it with him could help run his life. And if he got up now he'd be able to catch a few minutes with Olivia before Donna got up. He liked that idea and got up quickly and hopped in the shower.

Donna woke up earlier than usual the next morning as well. It was about 5:15 AM and she happily trotted down the hall to her daughter's room to watch her sleep for a little while. Olivia usually got up around 6 in the morning and Donna rarely had a moment to just revel in the wonder that was her daughter, so she figured she should take it. She walked in and she noticed Josh was sitting next to the crib quietly. She didn't want to wake Olivia or startle Josh so she just pulled up a chair and silently joined him. Together they watched Olivia sleep peacefully. Here breaths were slow and deep and sucked happily on her index and middle fingers. It was quite a sight. Josh was already beaming and a small smile began to form on Donna face.

"She's beautiful," Josh whispered, without turning to Donna.

"She is," Donna agreed. "We did really good," Donna said softly, without moving her head away from her daughter.

"You did really good," Josh sighed. "I still can't believe you did it all by yourself."

"You helped," she laughed softly. "I mean, the crazy hair and heart- melting dimples are just a couple of things that I can't take credit for."

"Yeah," Josh agreed with a smile. "You know I would've helped you, right?" he asked suddenly, turning his head to look at her.

"That's why I kept it a secret," she said with a sad smile. "You deserve political greatness, not career disaster."

"I could've fixed it...I could've done something," he insisted.

Donna's face remained forward and tears pooled in her eyes. She smiled as Olivia began to stir and she watched Josh reach into her crib and pick her up. He placed a kiss on her forehead and handed her over to Donna carefully. Donna's gazed now switched to her daughter now wrapped in her arms.

Josh watched Donna and Olivia for a moment before he cleared his throat. "I have to go to work," he said.

"Have a good day," Donna said, not looking up.

"You, too," he smiled at them. "The both of you."

"Josh," she said, looking at him for the first time as he walked out the door.

"Yeah?" he asked as he slung his backpack over his right shoulder.

"You did do something," she whispered. "You did a lot."

Josh gave her a full dimpled smile and shook his head. "Why don't you stop by the office today with Olivia," he suggested. "We could grab lunch in the Mess or something. I'm sure the President would love to see Olivia."

"Yeah?" she asked, as her eyes perked up. She'd missed the White House terribly and she couldn't wait to have her daughter meet the President.

"Come by around 12:30 or so," he told her. "I'll see you both later."

Donna smiled as he left. "Bye," she whispered.