Ladies and Gentlemen of the Press

A/N: Wow, so I definitely had work, came home, went to Batman with a friend from college who drove a long way to get down here, and when I got home (intending to watch Fight Club) I realized I had to post a new chapter, so my friends are waiting for me. Haha! We know who's more important btwn friends and fanfic. Jk.

Therese: Patience, patience!

Kursk: That's an odd comment (I can't wait for her labor) but so appreciated. Wait no more…

Melissa: Lol! Worst nightmare ever…a baby Republican! And Danny and CJ have to get together. That hope keeps me alive. Lol.

WhiteCamellia: Thanks! Updating as fast as I can!

GoddessAnjanee: Thanks for the review! I do love them!

Thanks to everyone! I may have missed people b/c I can't get into hotmail; therefore I can only see the reviews that are on the site. It's 10:45 EST so if your review wasn't up and you're not in here; know that I love you anyway.

"Kind of in Labor"

CJ woke up to a pain in her abdomen. You just can't let me get any rest, can you? She thought, addressing Colleen. For some reason she had the idea that the baby could read her thoughts.

She realized quickly that she wasn't alone in the bed, and looked over to see Danny sleeping peacefully next to her.

"Oh sure, you get to sleep just fine. No baby pushing against your bladder," she muttered, getting up to go to the bathroom.

When she came back to the room, Danny was still asleep. CJ crept back into the bed and began covering his neck with kisses.

"Mmm," Danny stirred, opening his eyes to the sight of her. "I thought I dreamed you."

He realized suddenly exactly what his being there could mean. "What about the press?"

"I don't care anymore, Danny," she told him again.

He frowned. "CJ, you have to care. It's your job to care."

"It's not my primary concern anymore. I'm going to be a mother, Danny. I have to think about what's best for me, and what's best for Colleen," she looked into his eyes. "It's a little selfish, but I needed you here. I've needed you every night since I found out, and I haven't been 'allowed' to have you. So I just don't care anymore."

"I've wanted to be with you every night too," he confessed. "We can spend more time together, but we can't do this every night, people will talk."

"Let them talk," she spat. She was tired of hiding and tired of being alone.

"CJ," Danny began, but was interrupted when she clutched her stomach and groaned. "CJ! What's the matter?"

The pain passed. "It was nothing. It's happened three or four times since I've been up…" Realization hit her. "Oh my God."

"CJ…those are contractions," Danny told her, as if she didn't know.

"Oh my God," she repeated, mouth gaping.

"You're in labor!" Danny shouted, jumping out of bed to help her. "We have to get you to the hospital. Where's your overnight bag? Do you have one?" He looked back at CJ who hadn't moved a muscle. "CJ?"

"I can't do this," she told him.

"Of course you can," Danny told her. "Plus, this isn't really the kind of thing you can pay someone else to do."

"She's not due for another month, this shouldn't be happening right now, I'm not ready," she cried. Danny couldn't remember ever seeing her cry. He didn't really think she cried, which was absurd; everyone cried.

Danny moved to hug CJ and hold her. "Sometimes they come early. You're going to be fine, and I'll be there with you. You can do it, CJ."

"What about work…?" She couldn't get a grasp on the fact that this was happening now. It was so sudden, she thought she had another month.

"I think they'll understand," Danny said, motioning her to get out of bed. He picked up her cell phone. "Call them on the way, let them know. I'm sure the President wants to know."

In the car CJ did as instructed. She debated about calling Leo, who was in a sense her boss, but opted to call President Bartlet instead.

"Hi, Charlie? It's CJ, is he awake?"

"He's been up for two hours, actually. I don't know what he's on but he's been telling me about the various species of rabbit in America for the last hour."

CJ sympathized with Charlie's pain. They'd all been subject to early morning, middle of the day, and late evening trivia sessions with the President. "Well, maybe he won't be talking about rabbits after I speak with him. Can you put him on?"

She heard the President in the background, muttering about cottontails.

"CJ," his voice came through the phone. "Are you aware of all the different types of rabbit that are indigenous to America?"

CJ smiled. "Of course, sir." He knew she was lying. "I wasn't calling for a lesson on rabbits, I just wanted to let you know I won't be in today."
"Are you sick? Is everything okay with the baby?" Bartlet asked, concerned. "Let me get Abbey…"

"No!" CJ begged. "In the last five years I don't think I ever took a sick day, but that's beside the point. I'm on my way to the hospital, and I'm kind of in labor."

"Kind of?" Bartlet asked her after a moments pause. "From what I remember of my girls being born, there's no such thing as 'kind of' in labor."

She laughed. "Yes, sir, well the contractions aren't terrible yet, but Danny thought I should go to the hospital now."

"Danny's with you?" He asked. She immediately regretted mentioning it.

"Yes."

"Well, tell him he might not want to let you grip his hand. I can't tell you how close Abbey came to breaking bones."

CJ grinned. "Yes, sir."

"Good luck, CJ, and have Danny call me as soon as she's born….it is still a she, right?"

She grinned at his bad memory. "Yes, sir. Thank you." CJ hung up the phone, and was about to put it away when she thought better of it.

"Toby Ziegler," came the familiar voice.

"Toby, I'm in labor."

On the other end Toby smirked. "Who is this?"

She rolled her eyes. "I just thought I'd let you know. If you could tell Josh and everyone, that would be helpful. I have to go have a baby."

"Yeah, sure," Toby said, half-heartedly.

"Toby!" She yelled. "I need you to tell them."

"Yeah, no problem," he told her, hanging up the phone.

"Toby being his usual, pleasant self?" Danny asked, helping CJ out of the car.

"Of course. I mean, God forbid he say 'That's great CJ.'"

They went inside and after waiting around for awhile, CJ got assigned a room, and a bed. It felt good to lay down.

There was a knock at the door, which they assumed to be a doctor, but were surprised to see Toby.

"Toby?" CJ asked incredulously. "What're you doing here?"

"You're having a baby, aren't you?" He answered blankly.

CJ blinked. "Yeah…"

"Well, I figured maybe I should be here. I didn't know if you were alone or what the deal was," he looked at Danny who shifted a little uncomfortably. Softening, he explained to CJ. "On the phone before…I wasn't trying to be….I just had to figure out how I could get everything done and get here."

"Toby…" she smiled, awed at his love and concern. Though he showed it sparingly, Toby Ziegler was a big teddy bear.

They sat for awhile, and finally CJ broke the silence. "So how long does this usually take?"

Danny looked at her sympathetically, and Toby answered. "Sometimes it can take like two days."

Danny shot him a look. "Not the best thing to say." He looked at CJ. "What he meant was sometimes, very rarely it takes that long, but sometimes kids are born in like, an hour."

"Who're you to interpret what I meant to say?" Toby snarled.

"It's just that, I'm the one she's gonna kill if it takes two days," Danny said, a smile playing over his lips.

"Point." Toby could respect that, even if he didn't like that Danny was right.

"It's very uncomfortable," CJ muttered.

"You're about to push a tiny living creature out of a hole that's normally this big," Toby said, making a circle with his fingers. "Of course it's uncomfortable."

"I wonder how long it will be before I can go back to work," she mused.

"Did you call work? Does the President know? He'll be pissed if you didn't call him," Toby started to get out his phone.

"You can't use that in here," CJ informed him, "and the President was the first person I called."

Toby looked satisfied for a minute, but then furrowed his brow. "You didn't call Danny first?"

CJ bit her lip and looked at Danny.

"I was with her already," Danny told him.

Toby's face twisted a minute, as he realized what he'd just heard. "Do you have any idea how stupid that was? You have the press get a hold of that…of seeing you two spending nights together and…"

CJ had already cut him off, yelling. "It was one night, and you know what? I don't care, Toby! I've had to say it about fifty times just to get Danny to stay, but I wanted him there, and I needed him there, and you don't get to judge me on that, and you sure as HELL don't get to lecture me right now, while in LABOR!" She stopped as a violent contraction swept through her.

Both men looked concerned as CJ's face reflected the pain she was going through.

"They haven't given her anything yet," Danny explained.

"The President told me to warn you against holding my hand," CJ told Danny, who'd taken hold of her left.

Danny's face looked confused, assuming that they were still supposed to hide it from the public.

"He thinks I'll break it," CJ laughed, calming his fears.

"All the more reason for them to drug you," he told her, caressing her hand. She smiled, knowing he wouldn't let it go.

To be continued…