Ladies and Gentlemen of the Press

A/N: I combined these two chapters because alone they are too short, and I want to give you guys as much to read as possible. Raise your hand if you hate Mary Marsh. Lol. SPOILER for my own fic…I don't know if the one part is a lil out there…about CJ not saying that she loves Danny until now, but we could always go with the fact that she's trying to depersonalize the relationship and basically just using him or trying to seem like she is, when actually she's falling for him and loves him, just can't say it. Have fun reading about it!

Mara152: Thanks so much for adding me! I'm really glad to hear that everyone is in character, and so glad you're enjoying the story!

GoddessAnjanee: Here's so more! Thanks for the feedback!

"The Many Joys of the Pregnancy"

CJ flicked through the news in the days that followed her announcement, always stopping to hear about the moral crisis in the White House. On the screen before her was Mary Marsh, pleading for CJ to find and marry the father of her child.

She left her office, disgusted with the television and needing a cup of coffee. She'd have to cut back, but there was no harm in a cup in the morning.

"Hey there, mom," Josh teased her, joining her in the hallway.

"Do you have to call me that?" CJ asked, annoyed.

"I figured it'd help you get used to the name," Josh defended himself.

"Joshua, as much as I love the thought of you being my child…I…" CJ stammered as she fought a wave of nausea. "I'm gonna be sick!"

"Ouch," Josh replied. As she ran to the bathroom he followed, unsure of whether to leave her alone. "You know, CJ, it's not just nuclear weapons that destroy people. Words can hurt too," he called into the bathroom.

"My days always have a way of getting better like this," Josh muttered to himself.

"Better like what?" Sam asked, slowing his pace to talk to Josh.

Josh shook his head. "Nothing…CJ's in there throwing up," he informed his friend.

Sam went into flustered-Sam mode. "Is she okay? Does she need anything? What do we do?"

"I figured standing here could help," Josh said, sarcastically. Truth be told, he didn't know what to do. He caught sight of Donna.

"Donna! You're a woman," he yelled, getting her attention.

She turned and smiled sweetly at him. "After all these years, Josh, I thought you'd never notice!"

Josh gave her a Look. "What I mean is, CJ is in there getting sick and we can't go in because we're men."

"But she might need help. I'm really not sure how this whole pregnancy thing works," Sam confessed.

"Well first the Mommy and Daddy…" Donna began, teasing them.

"Donna?" Josh asked. She looked up at him and stopped talking. "Not helping, okay? Just tell us what we need to do for CJ."
Donna was about to respond when the bathroom door opened. "You don't do anything to help me, I'm fine. It happens every morning."

Josh and Sam whirled around to see CJ standing behind them.

"If you two will excuse me, I have work to do," CJ said, cutting a path through her entourage.

"Well…" Josh began, flatly.

"You have a meeting with Congressman Meisler in fifteen minutes, Josh," Donna informed him.

"Yeah, and I should really get writing," Sam said, excusing himself.

Donna tailed Josh back to the office. "So you really thought you needed to dash in there and rescue her?" She was still amused by the display of concern the two men had shown.

"Enough already, Donna, I don't need you attacking my manhood."
"What manhood?" She snapped, wrinkling her nose as if he'd implied something dirty. "Besides, the fact that you wanted to help a pregnant woman is gallant, even if she didn't need your help."

She did a tiny shuffle down the hall to keep up with Josh, who was tearing away from her. "Josh, don't you think it's amazing?"

"That I put up with you everyday?" He grumbled, rifling through papers on his desk.

Donna sighed and called in from outside of his office, "That she's going to have a baby."

Josh stopped, and looked up at Donna coming through the door. "Yeah," he paused. "I do."

Donna took a moment to study her boss before reminding him, "Meeting in ten minutes."

A few weeks later CJ was actually in her apartment at a decent hour, when she heard a knock on her door. Cursing to herself, she vowed to turn him away, if it was Danny. She couldn't have the press get a hold of it.

"Josh?" She asked, surprised to see him on her doorstep.

Josh Lyman grinned at her, holding up a small gift bag with tissue paper in it. "I brought you a present," he declared.

Inviting him inside, CJ looked at the neatly decorated present. "You did this?" She asked incredulously.

"What? You doubt my decorating skills?" He asked. "I happen to be….Donna did it," he admitted, "but I was the one who bought the present, she just prettied it up."

CJ let out an awing sound as she discovered a pair of pajamas in the bag. They had little goldfish on blue material, and she laughed as she unfolded them. "Josh, these are huge!"

Josh smiled. "So we both suck at sizing pajamas for one another…at least you'll grow into yours."

CJ's smile was enormous, and she hugged Josh, kissing him on the cheek. "This is so sweet!"

"Yeah…well," Josh muttered, trying to shrug it off. Truth be told, he loved to make the people he loved happy. He just didn't like to get attention for it.

"Can I get you something to drink?" CJ offered, straightening.

"Nah, I wasn't gonna stay long….I just…Donna said something a few weeks ago about you having a baby and it being amazing, and I realized it really was." Josh beamed at her. "So I wanted to get you something and, you know, tell you that I really admire what you're doing."

"Thanks, Josh," CJ breathed.

They sat on the couch, and talked a little, and realizing that Josh's conversation kept turning to Donna, CJ got an amused look on her face.

"I dunno…I just hope that someday I find someone who thinks I'm worth it…going through the throwing up and the labor pains and all. You think anyone would do that for my kid?" Josh asked, realizing that CJ was grinning at him.

"I can think of at least one," CJ answered.

Josh gave her a look of confusion. "Who?"

"You know who," she told him, laughing. Josh still wasn't getting it…or he had and wouldn't say it aloud.

Instead he looked at the clock. "It's kinda late, I should get going," Josh said, excusing himself.

"Of course," CJ laughed, still amused that he couldn't admit it. "Thank you for the pajamas, Josh."

"No problem," he yelled back through the door.

CJ laughed in her apartment, glad that she had the power to fluster Josh Lyman. Looking at the pajamas one last time she picked up the phone and called Danny.

Outside in his car, Josh stared at the street light in front of him. CJ had definitely meant Donna, he thought to himself. Did she know something that he didn't? It was amazing that CJ Cregg was having a baby, but even more amazing was the idea…

No, came a voice in his head, silencing his thoughts of her. He started the car and drove away.

The next day CJ was hit with a barrage of questions about the father, only the tide had turned ugly.

"CJ, is Josh Lyman the father of your baby?" shouted one reporter.

"CJ," piped another. "Is it Danny Concannon?"

"What about Toby Ziegler?"

Groaning at the accusations, more because one of them was true, CJ called an end to her briefing, screaming to the room, "I warned you about personal questions. Now you'll have to be happy with no news!"

Stalking off stage, she looked at Carol without saying a word. She didn't have to.

"I know, I know…I'm getting the gasoline," her assistant joked, trying to cheer CJ.

"Good!" CJ yelled, disappearing into her office.

The phone rang, and she heard Leo's angry voice on the other side. "What the hell happened in there!"

"I don't know," CJ replied sadly. She didn't like being attacked in the pressroom, but it was worse when it came from Leo.

"Get to my office," he told her. She was there in a minute.

" …they just…all of a sudden everyone in DC has a theory as to who's fathered this child."

"Well ya know some of 'em got it right," Leo said, agitated.

"I know," CJ replied calmly.

"Where'd they get Josh and Toby?" Leo asked.

CJ thought a moment. "Josh came over last night and brought me a present. We talked for awhile…I guess they could have seen us." Shit, she thought. This was not good. "And Toby comes into my office every now and then just to talk to me."

"Has Danny been in your apartment since then?" Leo asked her dryly.

"No, and I haven't gone to his," she told him, truthfully.

"What about your office?"

"He's been in my office…" She fought to continue before Leo got angrier. "It isn't as though he wouldn't be if none of this had ever happened."

"Was he there for business reasons?" Leo asked her, calming down a little but leaving the harshness in his tone.

"No," CJ admitted. "He was there for me. It was after the first two briefings, and I warned him that he shouldn't be there…he just….I needed the support even if I didn't realize it."
Leo nodded, understanding a little. "Just make sure you two don't get caught doing anything a Press Secretary and a reporter shouldn't be doing."

Like having a baby together? CJ thought, fighting the urge to laugh. "Yes, sir."

"A Little Thing Called Love"

Article after article had surfaced after that day, and CJ had a pile of them on her desk. She started blankly at them, lost in her thoughts until there was a knock at the door.

"CJ, it's me," came a familiar voice.

Ignoring Leo's warnings to her, she let Danny in, and pointed to the mess on her desk. "They're all about me," she said softly.

Danny struggled to find a way to comfort her. "Well, are they all…."

She held up one, "Sleeping with the White House: The Three Men Who're the Most Likely Fathers," she read aloud.

"CJ, I'm sorry…" Danny said gently, laying a hand on hers.

"No, I'm sorry," she said, angry at the situation. "I know I shouldn't get emotional about this. The real me doesn't get emotional about anything, but there are all these hormones, and-" she gave up, falling into Danny's arms.

"CJ," he soothed. "Those hormones are part of you, and it's okay if they make you angry, or if they cry. It'll all be okay."

"No," she spat, miserably. "It's not okay. I can't do this anymore. I don't like hiding you, as if I'm embarrassed by you."

Danny held CJ in his arms, thinking that he'd never seen her look quite so fragile. She was always headstrong and in charge. She wore the pants, he thought laughing, always calling the shots in their relationship.

"I know you aren't embarrassed. Don't worry about that, you're just doing what is best for the administration and I can respect that." Danny rubbed her back and looked at her. "It's hard, I know it is…." he thought a moment, trying to figure out if he should ask her about it with her in such a state. "You could have avoided all of this," he began, unsure.

"No!" CJ said fiercely, looking him in the eyes. "I know I could have with anyone else….but not you, Danny. Never, ever you."

Danny swallowed, knowing that he loved her more than anything in the world. "There's a word for that," he coaxed her, softly.

CJ wiped at her tears. "Love?" she asked him, knowing what he wanted to hear. Though they'd been together off and on for four years, having to deal with their careers and travel, he'd told her many times that he loved her, and she simply couldn't find the words.

"CJ, I love you with all of my heart," he said, clasping one of her hands. "Why can't you bring yourself to say that word?"

CJ sniffled and laughed. "I did…back when Toby came to me about the pregnancy. I told him..."
Danny frowned. "You told Toby that you love him and you still can't tell me?"

CJ laughed out loud at him. "No…I didn't tell Toby I love him," she smiled at Danny, without pausing. "I told him that I love you." Her voice caught the moment she'd said it. Why had it been so hard before? She didn't even notice this time…it just came out of her mouth.

"CJ?" Danny asked her warily. He didn't doubt that she loved him, but he wasn't sure she'd meant to say it just now.

"I love you," she repeated quietly, her tears returning. "Oh God, Danny. I love you." She cried, hugging him tightly to her body.

To be continued…