The Story of Them

Disclaimer: As much chance of being mine as the SuperBowl being won by the Eagles.

Author: Lee )

Rating: PG

Part: Three of three stand-alone stories.

Feedback: Wonderful!!

AN: The companion piece to The Story of You, but can be read alone.

Summary: The hardest part was keeping the truth from Leo, but it wasn't your place to tell him.


You knew something had changed when they got back from the summit in Idaho Falls, but you were afraid to ask. No one else seemed to notice, but you did and it worried you. You wanted them to be happy and you thought that they would be, together.

Then the unthinkable happened.

You walked into her office one day and were greeted by a stranger. He told you later that she had resigned and he didn't know where she was. You couldn't understand why Margaret left, but Leo seemed to understand all to clearly and everyday you watched him sink a little farther into despair. You wanted to help. You wanted to find her and make her come back to DC, to him, to all of you. You wanted to give him that in return for all he'd done for you. You pulled strings. You called people. You even set up an appointment between he and Mike Casper, but nothing helped. It was if she dropped off the face of the earth.

Until that day in Boston. That State House was a confusing mess of hallways and doors, worst than the White House. You had wondered around for a good half hour before you stumbled on a door with the name of the man you were meeting etched in the glass. Figuring that it was better than trying to find the conference room by yourself, you slipped into the office only to discover a ghost working there. If you hadn't held her in your arms, you probably wouldn't believe that it was her. But it was. And she was pregnant.

You understood. You promised to keep her secret, but more importantly you promised to keep watch over her and her child. Not just because you cared about them, but because you knew that it was what he would want you to do. As you flew back to DC, you worked on a plan to get the President and Leo to approve you working on the Education Reform Proposal. Thankfully, it was a good proposal made better by Margaret's knowledge of the Bartlet administration. They would approve of you working on it and frequent flights to Boston would be understood and dismissed as part of this latest project. The hardest part was keeping the truth from Leo, but it wasn't your place to tell him. Or at least that was what you kept telling yourself.


"Josh? Josh, are you paying any attention to this meeting?"

You looked up, realizing that you hadn't been paying attention. Your mind was still on the call you received this morning. Margaret was in labor. She was going to give birth that very afternoon and all you wanted was to be by her side. You had made up some excuse about a problem in Boston and got Donna to book you on the evening flight, but you wanted to be there sooner. You wanted to hold her hand and bath her forehead. Shaking those thoughts from you head you apologized, "I'm sorry, Mr. President."

He nodded at you, "It's alright, Josh. Leo's the one that seemed to think you should be actually 'in' this meeting, if you are in this meeting."

You can't look at your boss for fear of screaming the truth at him, so you just mumble another apology.

Leo stared at you for a second or two too long, but physically shook the look from his face as he continued the meeting, "Josh, what's the problem in Boston?"

"Uh... um...," you choked on your words. Lying to him; your mentor, your boss, your friend; was so hard for you, but you had made a promise to your friend, "It's just a little thing, but Eric is worried and I think I need to do a little hand holding."

You breathed a sigh of relief when Leo nodded and went on to asking Toby about the next speech. You hadn't really lied to him. Sure, what was happening wasn't a little thing, but Eric was worried and you wanted to hold her hand.

Somehow, you made it through the rest of the meeting and even took some notes and remembered some key facts. Mostly, you just kept trying to not scream at Leo that he's going to be a father again in a few short hours.


You watched her sleep. You wondered if there was ever a child more beautiful than the one curled into your chest. Her strawberry blond hair was a striking contrast against the white of your shirt. You ran your fingers through her hair thinking about the day you had spent with she and her mother. After Valerie's birth you had made a promise that you would spend at least one weekend a month with them in Boston. In the little over a year since she had been born, you hadn't missed one weekend. That was a miracle in and of it's self. Of course, the true miracle would have been if you were able to convince Margaret to make the return trip with you.

The one and only truly awful fight you ever had was last month when you'd actually bought tickets for her and Val to go back to DC. You feared that she would never speak to you again, but when you got back to DC there was a message on your voicemail. She never apologized or asked for your apology; instead she just left a message about the plans she had made for this month's trip. That was the amazing thing about her. You smiled over at her as she sat reading a report. It amazed you how domestic your time with her was. You spent days at the zoo, the park, even the mall and then spent evenings having dinner, playing with Valerie and listening to music.

She could sense you watching her and looked up, "What?"

"Nothing," you shook your head, embarrassed by your thoughts. She shot you a look that told you she didn't believe you, and you amended the statement, "I was just thinking how nice today was."

She smiled at you, "Yeah, it was nice. It's always nice when you come up."

You patted the seat next to you on the couch and waited for her to move from her chair to your side. Wrapping your arm around her shoulders, you sighed, "I like coming up."

"Good," there was a warning tone to her voice and you knew not to press the issue of time or location.

James Taylor's voice floated into the room from the stereo in the corner and you sighed, letting your voice get lost in her hair, "I love you, Margaret."

She went stiff in your arm, "What?"

You smiled at her panic, "I love you."

"Josh, I... ah...," she started to pull away, but you held her to your side.

"Grow up, Margaret. I'm not in love with you. God, I don't even want to sleep with you. I just love you, like a best friend, like a sister."

Margaret laughed and tucked her head back against your shoulder, "I should be offended by the no sex crack, but I'm terribly relieved."

You joined her laughter and kissed forehead, "Feelings mutual, Mags."

You watched her hand brush back her daughter's red hair and gently track her daughter's face. The whispered response was so low that you nearly missed it, "I love you, too, my friend."


The first thought was that it hurt less when you were shot. There was no physical pain, but you were more acutely aware of the emotional pain than when you were first shot. She stood before you, smiling like you'd never seen her smile before. Her ring flashed in the fluorescent lights as she excited told you about her upcoming wedding. You never really thought that her relationship with Will would go this far, but she stood before you telling you of the upcoming wedding.

You blinked a confused glance at your assistant, "You're getting married?"

"Yes, Joshua," she shook her head at you. "Try to keep up. Will and I are getting married. We want to do it before the administration change over. I want to know if I could have week after next off."

You continued to stare at her, "You're getting married next week?"

"Yeah," she smiled at you.

"That's fast, isn't," you asked sinking against your desk.

Donna slumped against the desk next to you, "I've been dating Will for almost two years. We've been talking about it for awhile, but with the campaign and everything we've just been putting it off. Last night Will and I got talking and we decided that it would be better if we were married before he took over as Chief of Staff."

You nodded, "Yeah, it probably would be for the best."

"Josh," she turned to look at you, "will you be there? Will wanted to do it tomorrow, but I knew that you would away on one of your 'weekends.' I wanted to wait until you'd be there."

You caught the hand with the diamond and held it between your own, "Of course I'll be there. I wouldn't miss it for the world."

She smiled at you and wrapped her arms around your neck in a tight hug. You buried your head in her shoulder, like you'd done so many years before, but this time all you wanted to do was get on a flight and go see your best friend. You wondered when the woman in your arms stopped being that and the woman in Boston started.


The sun had finally broken through. After days of a depressing gray winter storm, the clouds had moved off the coast and the North-East Corridor was finally getting back to normal. You enjoyed watching the rolling white hills and plains on your trip from DC to Boston. You never saw snow the entire length of the flight, but this time that was all you saw.

As the plane settled onto the tarmac, you prepared to walk out into the freezing cold of a Boston winter. You prayed that your reception would be warmer.

The long stretch of the terminal seemed even longer this time, because you did not know what waited for you at the other end of it. You worried that once you reached the end you would find yourself alone. That their rerunion would not have gone well and both would blame you for that. You feared that she would turn her back against you and leave you truly alone in this world.

But you also hoped that when you reached the end you would find yourself a family. That their reunion would have been a sweet one and both would be grateful to you for that. You hoped that she would accept him agian and welcome you into that group as well.

Those two conflicting emotions were working in concert to make your feet move you towards the end of the concourse. Although the fear made them move much slower than on previous trips.

Then, just as you cleared security, you saw it: the sight that you'd been praying to see the entire flight. Leo and Margaret and Valerie all waiting for you. You stopped for a moment to take in the sight. Leo was holding Val in his arms, talking and laughing with her. Margaret stood behind them, her arms around Leo's waist and her head on his shoulder.

You stopped. The worry slipped from your face and was replaced with a grin. Margaret caught your grin and cocking her head to the side, she returned it. You stood there watching the living painting that was the story of them.