Author: Kathleen
Email:
The
Santos Campaign
Pairing(s): Josh/Donna
Category(s):
Romance, Post Season 6
Rating: TEEN
Disclaimer:
The original characters aren't mine (God Bless You Sorkin,
Schlamme, and Wells) but the new staff is ALL mine! Its fun creating
new characters – I could do this for a living if Wells so wished it
so (wink, wink, nudge, nudge!)
Summary: The
Santos' Campaign continues. Series: A New Day has Come #3
(First two stories: Changes in Attitude and Back to
Basics)
Spoiler: None, really, as long as you watch the
show! )
Author's Notes: Part of a series I decided to start, thanks to some encouragement. Thanks for all the feedback as well. I realize that there are Amy & Will fans out there, so I apologize, but this has been fun. Also, I tried to be as factual as possible with all the locations I'm using (thank God for City Search on MSN!), so any places I reference are actual locations! Also, I wasn't real sure how to introduce my new characters, so I just kind of stuck them in! Sorry if it seems a bit confusing!
By the end of the day, they had completely forgotten about the whole Amy drama. Well, Josh had forgotten about it the moment he kissed Donna, Donna took a little bit longer.
The five of them spent a good part of the afternoon finishing things up at the office. Everyone was looking forward to the fundraiser. Yeah, they had to work, but it was their first chance to dress up and hob-nob with the rest of the Washington DC elite as members of "Santos for President". Tonight was also going to be the first time the Santos' and the Bartlets were together at an official function. Donna remembers how Helen Santos had stressed about what to wear – she was in awe of Abbey Bartlet and her sense of style – she wanted to make sure she made the right impression. Helen must have dragged Donna to every upscale dress shop in the DC area (including a few in Virginia) before they both finally found the dresses they had been looking for.
At 4:00, the entire Santos staff was meeting at the office for any last minute details they would need before the party. Along with Ned, Ronna, and Caroline were Julia Harrison, the campaign strategist from Texas who had been friends with the Santos' since before Matt ran for office; Adam Crowley, another campaign strategist that Leo had recommended; Jackson Hughes was a speechwriter that had worked for the Speaker of the Kentucky house for several years; along with Jackson was Sandra Mills, a speechwriter who had spent the last three years working for Abbey Bartlet; and lastly was Jane Edwards, Matt Santos' Executive Assistant. Donna and Josh just sat back and watched how they worked together.
She leaned into him and whispered "Do you get the vibe?"
"What vibe?"
"The vibe – you know, like this is the group, these are the people who are going to do something amazing."
"How do you know that's the vibe?"
"Cause it's the same thing I felt during the first campaign, watching you and Sam and CJ and Toby all work in the offices, trying to pull off the impossible!"
He smiled at her and looked at his staff. "Yeah, I think I know what you mean." He gave her a quick hug and returned his attention to the staff.
"You guys about finished?"
They all looked at each other with that deer-in-headlights look that Josh knew all too well.
"Let me guess, no one is sure!"
They all kind of laughed nervously.
"Ok, let's try it this way – Jane, what time are the Santos' arriving?"
Jane whipped open her date book and scanned the page. "Mr. and Mrs. Santos are leaving Alexandria at 4:30 to meet the President and the First Lady at the White House. They will be having drinks and a light dinner in the residence. They will leave the residence at 6:45 and Secret Service will take them directly to the Willard Hotel where they will meet with a few members of the press corps to have pictures taken before they are announced. They are due to be announced at 8:15, assuming that the Congressman doesn't take any questions!"
"Or the President for that matter!" Donna piped up from the back.
Josh whirled around to look at her. "Stop!"
"I'm just saying you all need to look out for the President as well. If they ask him…"
"Donna!"
"What?"
"Stop, you are starting to scare the children!"
Donna looked at the horror on the faces of their staff.
Caroline was finally able to mutter the words "Are you saying I might have to tell the President of the United States to shut his mouth?"
Donna giggled. "It's always a possibility!"
"Oh my god! I quit. Seriously, no, seriously, I mean it this time. I quit!
"Caroline, relax, if anyone has to tell the President to stop talking, we'll make Donna do it. Are the press packets done?" Josh said as he tried to calm her down.
"Copied, stapled and in a box sitting outside the Crystal Room as we speak."
"Good, you are done. Be there 30 minutes before the Bartlet's and the Santos' are supposed to arrive. Get out of here."
Caroline took off without one more word.
"Julia, Adam – you all got the receiving lines and seating figured out?"
They kind of giggled and Julia responded – "Yeah, finally, we forgot the Santos' at first, but it's figured out now."
Donna laughed, remembering a time when the President himself had been forgotten – "don't worry, it happens to the best of us."
"You two got anything else."
They shook their heads and Josh moved on to the bickering speechwriters.
"Could you two stop for just a minute?"
Sandra sighed and turned to Josh.
"Look, it's not like he's not good at this – he's very eloquent, but" she yelled as she turned back to Jackson "how did you manage to get through elementary school without learning proper sentence structure!"
"I'll let you know that I happen to have a very unique writing style."
She held up the yellow pages in Jackson's face. "Are you telling me you don't see a problem with three pages of the SAME paragraph!"
"Unique!"
"That's it, I'm signing you up for English 100 tomorrow at Georgetown, I mean seriously…"
Josh finally stepped in the middle of the two of them. "Please tell me those aren't for tonight!"
Sandra looked at him like he had two heads. "Seriously? The Congressman's speech has been done since last night. These are for the League of Women Voters' Luncheon in Cincinnati in two weeks!"
Jackson chimed in as well. "Really, Josh, you act like we don't know what we're doing. What – you think we aren't professional or something?"
Josh looked at Donna who just shrugged her shoulders.
"You are useless. Why do I keep you around?"
"Impervious"
Josh sighed. "Right. Ok, you two" he said pointing at Jackson and Sandra "can you keep the bickering to a minimum tonight, please?"
"We're professionals Josh. We know what we are doing!"
"Right! You all, get out of here. Ned, Ronna – be at the Willard by 7:30. Everyone else, try to be there as close to that as possible. See you tonight!"
With that, the staff shot out the door.
"They are a little nervous" Donna added from her position perched on the desk.
"They'll be fine."
"I know, I just was saying…"
He turned to look at Donna. "You think I don't know they are nervous?"
"Well, since the infamous Joshua Lyman, nerves of steel, has probably forgotten what it feels like to get nervous, I just wanted to throw that out there."
"Shut up. You wanna leave sometime in the near future."
Donna grabbed her bag and his backpack and was out the door before Josh had finished turning off the lights.
By 7:15, they were finally ready to leave the townhouse – this after one very steamy shower and Donna having to redo her hair and makeup twice. When she finally emerged from the bedroom, Josh was speechless.
Donna came out wearing a blue, strapless dress that Josh was convinced she matched to the engagement ring before buying, since it seemed to be the exact same color as the sapphires on the ring. He didn't know how she managed to take his breath away every time she put on a dress like that, but she did.
"Quit staring Josh."
He threw his tie on the couch and started to stalk toward her. "Forget it, we aren't going."
"Joshua, we kind of have to – our candidate, our campaign and everything."
He continued to approach her. She finally stretched her arm out and pressed her hand to his chest when he got close enough.
"Joshua Lyman, that is close enough. I am NOT redoing my hair and makeup anymore. Besides, it will be VERY noticeable if we are late to the event WE planned!"
Josh groaned in agreement and backed up from the direction he had come from. She walked in his direction and retrieved his tie from the couch. This was their favorite part – she loved tying his bowties and he loved having her do it. It had been a ritual of theirs for years – the only new part was now, Josh wrapped his arms around her waist while she tied the tie, which was something he had wanted to do for years, but couldn't until now.
As soon as he was presentable enough, they gathered their things to head out to the Santos-coming out party!
They had been to several events over the years at the Willard Hotel. Donna loved this place – it had to be the most beautiful hotel in all of DC.
Josh handed his keys to the valet as he opened the door for Donna. As she exited the car, she was greeted by a very nervous looking Josh.
"You going to make it there, Lyman?"
"Would you believe that I'm nervous?"
"Really, Joshua Lyman, nerves of steel…"
"Oh, stop it. I remember what it feels like to get nervous!"
"Really, when was the last time that you got nervous?"
Josh thought about this as they walked through the doors of the Willard Hotel and headed toward the Crystal Room.
"9th grade. I was asking Shelly McCormick to go to the Fall Dance with me. It was the first time I asked a girl out and of course she said yes, cause even back then, no woman could resist the Lyman charm."
Donna groaned as they walked through the doors of the Crystal Room.
"Donnatella, even you can't resist my charm, my style…"
"Your Texas size ego?"
He wiggled his eyebrows at her and gave her a full on dimple smile. "You know, I always knew that you found that irresistible about me!"
"Sometimes are easier to resist than others, there, Joshua!"
Josh grabbed Donna and pulled her into him. He bent her over his arm and gave her a light kiss.
"Is this one of those easier times, Ms. Moss?"
"I would have to say no, not one of those times!"
He laughed as he pulled her back up. She wiped the lipstick off his lips and they began to maneuver their way to the table.
They were so wrapped up in each other that they didn't notice the smiles they were receiving, the whispers of 'it's about damn time' from senators and their wives or the very noticeable and loud groan and the slamming of doors as a certain brunette stormed her way out of the party. 'Stalker' Ned thought as she shot past him and into the night.
It was 9:30 and the party had been in full swing for about an hour. Josh had to send in Donna and Toby at 8:30 to rescue the press corps when Caroline announced that the President and the Congressman had started to ignore her as they debated about the nuances of really good chili at the goading of Greg Brock. Josh had to, on more than one occasion, rip up the napkins Caroline was trying to write her resignation letter on.
Josh and Donna were sipping champagne, enjoying the fantastic reception that the Congressman's speech had gotten with all those in attendance, when they finally heard what they had been waiting to hear all night.
"Joshua Lyman and Donnatella Moss!"
Josh gulped as Donna's eyes got really wide. They both turned their heads to see the First Family, followed by CJ, Kate, Annabeth, Margaret, Carol, Debbie, and Ginger, heading directly toward their table.
"Oh god!"
"Josh!" Donna hissed at him.
"No, seriously, we are going to die sitting in these chairs as the President recounts the historical significance behind a proper proposal!"
"Well, I wasn't really planning on it Josh, but if you so wish me to, feel free to join me for breakfast in the morning – I'll read up on it and give you a full briefing bright and early."
Donna stood up to greet the President as Josh proceeded to bang his head on the table.
"Josh, get up!"
"No thanks, Donna. If I'm going to die in this spot, I'd rather be sitting."
"GET UP!" Donna yelled as she yanked the chair from underneath him. It took all of Josh's skill on to fall flat on his ass. Josh regained his footing and turned to greet their visitors.
"Sir, Ma'am, how are you all this evening?"
The Bartlets started to laugh at the scene that had just played out before them. Abbey Bartlet finally broke the laughter.
"We are fine, Joshua. We just wanted to come over and congratulate you two on the engagement."
Abbey Bartlet gave both of them a hug and a kiss on the cheek while the President shook Josh's hand.
"Can't believe you convinced her to marry you at some point? You can be honest – she was drunk, wasn't she?"
"A little bit, Sir!"
"DONNA!" Josh yelled as he turned toward her. "You were not drunk!"
"I said just a little bit!"
"DONNA!"
The President laughed and gave Donna a hug. "Give the poor guy a break at some point, Donnatella."
"Never sir!"
Abbey Bartlet joined her husband and linked her arm through his. "Well, we just wanted to say congratulations. I think we are going to get out of here, but Donna, I do believe there is something the rest of the women would like to discuss with you." Donna turned to see the gleaming eyes of the rest of the women that had accompanied the President and First Lady over to their table.
"Josh, perhaps you would like to go join the rest of the men at the bar?"
Josh jumped from his spot and started toward the bar. "Absolutely Ma'am, no problem. Donna, I'll be…"
"Joshua Lyman!" Donna said with a warning tone to her voice.
He started walking toward the bar. "Donna, I'll just be right over there. Just wave when you want me to come back."
With that, Donna immediately started to wave both arms over her head. Josh joined in the laughter with the rest of the women.
"Have fun Donnatella. I'll see you later."
"Bite me Joshua!"
"Later Donna!"
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! STOP IT!" Everyone turned to see CJ collapse into a chair with her hands covering her ears. Josh took off before Donna had a chance to stop him again.
Zoey Bartlet pushed Donna back down into the chair she had originally been sitting in. The rest of the women surrounded the table as Jane, Ronna, Caroline, Saundra and Julia joined the group. Zoey started first.
"Ok, Donna Moss, spill it."
"Spill what?"
"You are marrying Josh Lyman! Do you know how many women would DIE to be in your position?"
"Zoey, seriously, most of them are your age…"
"Still, he's very much a catch!"
Ellie Bartlet, who had sat on the other side of Donna, chimed in. "We want to know about the sex!"
"NOT ALL OF US DO!" CJ screeched as she downed what was left of Josh's champagne.
"OK, so everyone but CJ wants to know."
Donna started to blush. "I'll just say that however good you guys think he probably is, he's better and leave it at that."
"I KNEW IT!" Kate yelled from the other side of the table. "I mean, you can just tell, by the way he walks and swaggers and you two have always had that whole foreplay banter thing going on…"
All the women started to laugh and Donna's blush became more apparent.
Josh watched the scene from across the room and became alarmed when Donna started to blush.
"What do you think they are doing over there?"
"Plotting your demise." Charlie responded as he threw back the shot Toby bought him.
Josh gulped. "My demise?"
"And by demise I really mean party, the party the Bartlets want to throw for you and Donna. And by the Bartlets, I really mean Zoey and Mrs. Bartlet."
Toby chuckled as he downed his shot. "Yeah, I was coming into the Oval the other day and I do believe the exact words were 'Jethro, when we want your opinion, we will ask for it and no, you can't make chili'. Ever seen the President speechless, cause I can now say that I have!"
"And" Charlie said as he took a slug of his beer "apparently Debbie had to track down some number for the Mrs. Bartlet of someone in South Florida."
"Oh my god – she's a traitor. My mother's a traitor" Josh yelled as his voice did that whole high pitched thing.
"Apparently!" Toby said as he placed a whiskey shot in front of Josh. "I guess, to some people, it's a big deal."
"Yeah, not so much to us." Charlie said.
"Thanks you two, I mean really, the support is fantastic!" Josh said as he slugged down his shot.
"So, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum…"
Toby pointed to Charlie. "You're Tweedle Dum."
"I would have to disagree with you there Toby…"
"Seriously, you two, concentrate…"
"What?"
"Any idea what Mrs. Bartlet talked to my mom about?"
"Nope, but there's a memo somewhere about it…"
Josh said nothing and began to bang his head on the bar.
Donna started to get concerned.
"Anyone know why Josh is banging his head on the bar?"
Debbie looked over. "Oh, Charlie probably told him about the conversation Mrs. Bartlet had with his mom."
"Oh, okay… wait, what? Who had what with who?"
Zoey had a really evil look on her face, Donna noticed. "Oh yeah, mom and Mrs. Lyman had a REALLY long conversation the other day. They must have spent, god, like 2 hours on the phone!"
"Oh my god. Lydia's a traitor, a damn traitor."
"Yeah, mom would have talked longer, but she only got your parent's machine."
"WHAT!"
Margaret decided to join in on the fun. "Yeah, can you imagine coming home for the grocery store to this message – 'Mr. and Mrs. Moss, this is Abbey Bartlet, from the White House. I would love to talk to you about Josh and Donna, so if you could call me back, the number to the White House is…"
Donna started to look at the floor. "Why is there NEVER a hole around when you want one to swallow you up? Something needs to be done about that!"
CJ decided that she needed to save Donna before she started to dig a hole to hide in right there in the middle of the Willard Hotel.
"Ladies, don't you think we should tell Donna the real reason we cornered her tonight?"
Zoey got very excited all of a sudden. "Donna, me and mom decided that we are going to throw you a great engagement party sometime in the next month or so. And don't try to say you are too busy cause…"
Donna watched Jane pull out her date book. "We already have the date picked out and coordinator schedules with the Congressman, Mrs. Santos, Mr. McGarry and the Bartlets."
Zoey smiled triumphantly. "See, no getting out of it. And, the bonus, is that you don't have to worry about planning, you two just need to show up. Mom and I will take care of everything – food, drink, guests, entertainment…"
"Entertainment?" Donna squeaked.
"Trust us, everything will be fine!"
"I think Josh had the right idea" Donna said as she started to bang her head on the table as the rest of the women started to roar.
Another whiskey shot and beer later, Josh noticed that Donna was now sitting alone at the table in front of 4 empty champagne flutes. He took his leave of Toby and Charlie and made his way back to her.
He sat down next to her. "You alright?"
"I think I've been run over by a train."
He gave her a very confused look.
"Seriously, the Bartlet Train. Those Bartlet women, they just run you right over with their good intentions and evil ideas and make plans and then tell you that the 'entertainment' will be taken care of – what the hell does that even mean anyway, 'entertainment' and they call our parents and discuss, in detail, well, everything and then, when you really need a hole, there never is one!"
She sighed and put her head back down on the table. It was muffled, but Josh was able to make out "Did you know about the party?"
"Charlie told me something about that."
"Did you know Mrs. Bartlet called your mom?"
"Once again, thanks to Agent Young over there…"
"Did you know she left a message on my parents' machine?"
Josh laughed. At least his mom wasn't the only parent involved in whatever grand plans were being hatched. "Nope, didn't know that."
Donna shot straight up and turned to look at him. "They don't get it Josh, they don't get it. We aren't typical, we are nowhere near usual. I mean, look at how we got engaged. I wouldn't have changed that for the world, but everyone else thinks it's weird. Helen didn't even believe me when I told her about it. She wanted to know where the flowers and grand romantic gesture was and I told her that you walking into that store with me was the grand romantic gesture. She just laughed until she saw that I was serious."
He really wanted to make her laugh. "Besides, you don't even like flowers!"
Success! She started to laugh. "Idiot, I don't like flowers in April."
"Oh that's right. I really need to make a note of that somewhere."
"Josh, what are we going to…"
He grabbed her hand and pulled them into his lap. "Donna, here's what we are going to do. See, I've got some grand plans of my own."
She smiled at him. "And what would those be Mr. Lyman?"
"Well, see, first, we get out of here as fast as humanly possible so I can take you back to the brownstone and FINALLY get you out of that dress. I'm going to do some very fantastic things to you until you scream my name. And, at that point, I'll have made sure that you've forgotten about whatever everyone else is planning for us. We'll let them have their fun and plan their party, cause when it comes down to the important plans" he said wagging his eyebrows at her "well, those are just between us!"
She stood up and pulled up to her. She kissed him for all she was worth and he responded. It was a good thing that the room was mostly empty at this point, since the Santos' had left about a half hour earlier. It wasn't until they heard "Get a Room!" from a very drunk Toby and Charlie at the bar that they gathered their things and left.
And he was right about one thing, she decided the next morning – once she started screaming his name, she forgot about everything else.
The End, until the next chapter…