Title: Everyone Notices (Part 1?)

By: adoreleo

Characters: Leo, Margaret, CJ, Donna, Abbey, and Jed

Rating: Overall Story Rating Mature

Spoilers: Anything up to and including Drought Conditions.

Disclaimer: The characters are from the NBC, WB, TV show The West Wing; they do
not belong to me.

Additional Ideas/Beta By: Lynn, who always goes above and beyond the call... THANKS!

Feedback: Is greatly appreciated.

Summary: Someone who works at the White House is pregnant.

Part 1

CJ watches as Josh hesitates a little before he walks out of her office and then turns her head back towards a smug looking Leo, "Stop it," she lightheartedly commands, trying hard to keep the growing grin from her face. She picks up some papers on her desk and pretends to be reading them.

"Well…" Leo begins, and then softly clears his throat for effect. "Another man would tell ya I told you so, but…" Leo emphasizes as he leans back in his chair, tilting his head a little, as he gives her his best boyish grin.

"Yeah right," CJ shakes her head, as she looks over the top of the papers in her hands.

"Josh is right and… so is Cliff," Leo pauses, taking a deep breath and then breathing it out. "CJ, you need to have a conversation with him, sooner is better," Leo informs her again.

"Leo," CJ shakes her head as she slightly frowns. "I really don't want to talk about it anymore."

"Okay, you're the boss," Leo concludes as he starts to get up out of the chair in front of CJ's desk.

"Leo," CJ motions for Leo to stay seated.

"I thought you were done with me," Leo sighs as he begrudgingly sits back down. He has several things that he needs to be working on, and he wants to spend some time with Josh before he leaves the White House and heads back out on the campaign trial. It might be weeks before he gets a chance to visit with Josh, and Leo has some advice he wants to give him.

"We're done talking about you wanting me to hire Cliff Calley as my deputy," CJ lies the down papers on her desk, stands up, walks from behind her desk and then sits down in the chair next to Leo.

Leo folds his hands in his lap as he watches CJ. "Well… if you don't want to talk about Cliff, what do ya want to talk about?" He asks, even though he has a pretty good idea what she wants to talk about. He's surprised she's waited this long to mention it.

"Leo, you need to talk with her," she requests in a hushed tone, as she glances at the closed door.

"Her who?" Leo retorts in his best demure like voice. He's not going to make this easy for CJ.

"Leo, you know who," she huffs. "Playing stupid, doesn't really become you," CJ frowns, as she crosses her legs, allowing her skirt to ride up her thigh. 'Two can play at this game,' she thinks to herself. "You need to have a talk with Margaret," she smiles.

"Why me?" Leo requests as he uncomfortably shifts positions in his chair, trying hard not to gawk at CJ's shapely long legs. He knows that she's purposely trying to unsettle him.

"Well, you've known her the longest," she quickly points out, as she smiles at the effect that she's having on Leo.

"But, I think this is… well it's more of a woman thing so..." he stutters, motioning to CJ with a hand.

"Leo!" CJ's voice squeaks. "She's worked for you… since the Labor Department. I would think you'd care about what happens to her."

"I do care," Leo softly returns as he quickly glances down at his shoes and then back up to CJ. "It's just…"

"Just what Leo?" CJ raises an eyebrow, as she tugs her skirt down. "Is there something I should know about? I mean have you two ever...you know...I mean... I know you are both very busy and maybe a little lonely... and... well… no one could blame either of you if something did happen... after all you are an available handsome man, and she is a beautiful woman..."

"CJ," Leo growls and then takes a deep breath. "Margaret's baby… is not mine," he releases carefully, hoping that CJ doesn't notice the tone of disappointment and sadness in his voice.

"Sorry, but I had to make sure. I didn't think so but…" CJ tries to explain out loud, but in her mind, she has often wondered about those two and all the late night hours they have worked together over the years.

"CJ," Leo relents. "I'll… talk with her."

"Okay, great," CJ nods her head, relieved that he'll do it. She really wasn't looking forward to having that conversation with her assistant.

"Yeah, great," Leo sighs, as he looks off to the left, wondering how he got caught up in this mess.

Leo and CJ sit quietly for a few seconds, thinking about the tall red headed assistant on the other side of the door. Both of them are very worried and concerned for her.

"So, when are you going to talk with her?" CJ finally breaks the silence, looking at Leo.

"I don't know," Leo infers, turning his eyes towards her. "I need to think about what I'm going to say, first."

"True, but… sooner is better," she smiles an evil grin as she throws his own words back at him.

"Yeah."

"Carol and I were talking earlier today and she thinks that Margaret might be in her eighth month," she advises.

"Thanks for that bit of information," he smirks. "Do you have any idea what I should say to her?"

"No, but you need to be gentle with her and… tactful," she adds as she stands, walks back to her desk and sits down.

"Look," Leo gets up from his chair and points at her. "This is why I think you should do it. She works for you, now."

"But Leo, you're like..." CJ stops, not quite sure how she thinks of Leo's relationship with Margaret, "… like her…"

"Don't you dare say… father figure," Leo quickly interrupts CJ.

"I wasn't," CJ slightly smiles, as she wonders why he was so quick to stop her. "I was going say… uncle," she laughs.

"Gee… thanks," he retorts sarcastically.

"Leo, I was just kidding," she says, as she thinks to herself that Leo cares a lot more for Margaret than he's willing to admit.

"Yeah," he whispers, as he tries to keep the concerned look off his face.

"Leo, she looks up to you… she trusts you," CJ explains.

"Margaret and I well… we've… we've never… really discussed that part of her life… you know… her love life. She's always been too busy trying to fix me up with somebody after the divorce and then again after I broke up with Jordon," Leo shyly admits.

"Margaret tries to fix you up?" She asks with more than a slight smirk. "I can just imagine some of her choices," she laughs as she makes a sweeping gesture to the coat of Margaret's that she borrowed from to help cover up the huge coffee stain on her blouse.

"Yeah," Leo smiles a lopsided grin. "There have been some real winners in the lot that she's trotted in front of me, these past few years," Leo softly laughs as he shakes his head.

"I bet there have been," CJ laughs in agreement. "Have you ever see her with anyone?" CJ wonders out loud.

Leo looks off to the left and then replies after giving it some thought, "No, I don't think so. I've never seen any of her dates, but she hasn't really dated that much… well not that I know of anyway."

"Oh, I thought maybe Bruno liked her?" CJ asks, remembering that they showed up at a couple of campaign events together.

"Yeah, well… thank goodness nothing ever came of that," Leo mutters. He had almost forgotten about Margaret dating Bruno.

"What was wrong with Bruno?" CJ asks with a smile. She thinks she sees a flash of jealousy in Leo's eyes.

"He was… ah… he was just wrong for her," Leo sidesteps.

"And who pray tell is right for her?" CJ's smile grows wider.

"How would I know? I don't know the kind of man she likes!" A frustrated Leo spouts.

"Hmm… I wonder if he works here?" CJ wonders out loud as she carefully watches Leo.

"He who?" Leo asks, having no idea what CJ is talking about. He's still trying to get the idea of Bruno and Margaret out of his head and that dam necklace that Bruno had given her.

"King Kong!" CJ howls in an exasperated voice.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Leo growls.

"The father of Margaret's baby, Leo. I was just wondering if 'he' works here." CJ shakes her head at Leo. 'Men,' she thinks to herself.

"Oh... I don't know," Leo responds as mentally he runs through a list of eligible men who work in the White House. But, none of them seem to be Margaret's type. Well, as least what he thinks her type might be. He doesn't think she could have had much time to meet someone outside of work, unless she met someone at the hospital or during one her visits to see him at his hotel after his heart attack. She somehow found the time to visit him every night in the hospital and kept up the same practice even after he went home to his hotel.

"Leo, that's why 'you' need to talk to her. You need to find out some things. Like who the father is? Are they getting married? Is she coming back to work? And most important, when is the baby due?"

"Yeah, I guess," Leo says, avoiding CJ's eyes. He's not sure he wants to know who the father is. He knows who he wishes it were.

"Well… you need to talk with her today, 'cause if Joshua noticed that she's pregnant then…"

"Yeah," agrees a somber Leo.

"Please be..."

"Don't worry about it. I'll be gentle," Leo quickly gives her a reassuring half smile. "But, if this turns out badly, it's all your fault."

"You had better be careful, too, 'cause her hormones are raging right now, in case you hadn't noticed," CJ knowingly points out.

"Ah… Yeah," Leo sardonically affirms; having already been snapped at by Margaret a couple of times lately.

"Okay," CJ says, as she starts to mess with files on her desk. She has really fallen behind schedule today.

"Yeah," Leo sighs heavily as he starts for the doorway that exits through Margaret's area. Just as he reaches for the doorknob, he abruptly changes his mind, turns and walks to the door that exits into the hallway.

"Chicken," CJ calls after him.

Leo stops in the hallway and turns back towards CJ. He puts his hands in his pockets and shrugs his shoulders. "No more than you," he points out as he gives her a daunting look, then quickly starts towards his new office and runs right into someone.

"Why don't ya watch where you're going," the female voice angrily snaps as an armful of files go flying.

"I'm so sorry," Leo promptly returns, as he grabs her to steady them both, and quickly realizes he's holding the very person he's trying to avoid, "Margaret, are you okay?"

"Oh, Leo, I'm sorry. I… wasn't paying attention to where I was going and…" She hastily replies as she starts to bend down to pick up the mess of files that she had dropped.

"Are you okay?" He repeats, as gently takes a hold of her arm, stopping her from bending over. "Margaret you shouldn't be doing that."

"Leo, I'm fine," she answers, staring at Leo's hand on her arm. "It's my fault. I wasn't watching where I was going."

"Nah, it's mine," Leo says, as he regrettably lets go off her slender arm. "I'll get those," Leo lets go of her, gets down on his hands and knees, and gathers up the jumble of files.

"Leo, I could have done that. You shouldn't be crawling around on the floor picking up after me because of my clumsiness," she slightly huffs, more from frustration than anger. She is getting tried of not being able to do simple tasks anymore.

"Why not?" Leo asks, as he stands and hands her the files.

"Well, because you'll ruin your expensive tailored suit," she begins, as she points at some dirt that's now on Leo's pants.

"Margaret, I…" Leo looks down and brushes off his pants.

"Secondly, you're much too important a person to be crawling around on the floor," she continues.

"I wouldn't say that," Leo smiles.

"But more importantly, you just had a…"

"Margaret, don't you dare say… heart attack," Leo sharply interrupts. "'Cause that was…" Leo mentally starts to calculate the number of months it has been since his surgery. He used to know the exact number of months, weeks, and days that it'd been since his heart attack, but he finally stopped counting, after he came back to work.

"Almost nine months ago," Margaret supplies as she absent-mindedly caresses her swollen belly.

"Yeah," Leo agrees, as his eyes flash to Margaret's obvious predicament and then back up to her, "Umm… Margaret, I need ya to stop by my office later today when ya get a chance. I already cleared it with CJ."

"Okay," Margaret slowly says, noticing that Leo had been staring at her now very obvious condition. She's surprised that he hasn't said anything to her about her pregnancy before now. He has to know now, after having his body pressed up against hers when he was holding her, to keep her from falling. "Do I need my steno pad?"

"Nope, just you."

"Do you have some phone calls you need me to make?" She asks, trying to figure out what he needs her for.

"No… umm… just stop by when you can. Okay? Umm… well… I need to get back to work," Leo slightly babbles, as he starts to walk away from her. He needs to get away before she asks any more questions about what he needs. He's not ready to confront her about her pregnancy right now. He's not sure that he ever will be, but he knows he has to.

"Leo, your office is in the other direction," she sweetly smiles as she wonders what's going on with him. He seems rattled. So unlike the Leo McGarry that she's known for over fourteen years.

"Yeah, umm… thanks," he slightly blushes, as he quickly changes direction and passes her.

"Is there any time in particular that you need me to stop by?" Margaret calls after him.

"No, just whenever you can," Leo throws back over his shoulder, before he disappears around the corner.

"That was strange. I wonder what he needs me for?" Margaret comments to no one in particular as she heads into her office.

----------

Leo is trying to read a briefing report when a knock at his door causes him to look up, "Hey, Donna," he softly smiles, as he lays the papers down on his desk in front of him.

"Hey, Leo," Donna replies, hovering in his doorway, suddenly having second thoughts about if she is doing the right thing. "My… you're wearing a nice suit today."

"Thanks," Leo slightly smiles. "It's really good to see ya Donna," Leo gestures for Donna to come into his office. "I'm sorry I never got a chance to see ya after… well after ya got back from overseas."

"Yeah, well… you were in the hospital when I got back from Germany and then you were still off work when… I quit," she explains, stepping into his office. "I'm sorry I didn't come visit…"

"Donna," Leo quickly interrupts. "Don't worry about it," Leo stands, walks to the front of his desk and leans against it. "You were having enough of your own problems I'm sure," he motions for her to have a seat.

"Let's just say… I couldn't bring myself to set foot inside another hospital so soon after I got out," Donna looks down at her hands that are folded in her lap.

"It's not… been a good year or two for a lot of us," Leo says softly, as he walks over in sits in the chair next to the couch, where Donna is nervously sitting.

"Yeah," Donna breathes out slowly without looking up at Leo. Her hands start to fidget in her lap, and she inwardly laughs at the Margaret like qualities that she is exhibiting.

"Donna, what's wrong?" Leo asks with concern. The last time Donna was this nervous is when she came to talk to Leo almost five years ago at Christmas time, when she was worried about Josh.

"I was umm… talking with Josh earlier and…" She hesitates and then slowly looks at Leo.

"Donna, I know what happened," Leo says as he shakes his head. "I think they just need… some time to cool off and…"

"No, Leo," Donna interrupts. "I'm not here about what happened between Josh and Toby."

"Then why are you here?" Leo sharply asks with a raised eyebrow.

Donna gives Leo a small frown and wonders again if this was such a good idea after all.

Leo notices her grimace and feels guilty, "I'm sorry Donna, I didn't mean for it to come out that way. I just assumed this was about Josh."

Donna slowly shakes her head and takes a calming breath, "No it's not about that. It's about… Margaret."

"What about Margaret?" Leo asks as he leans forward in his chair, suddenly even more concerned.

"Well, Josh told me that you… umm… that you were going to talk to her about…" Donna softly stutters.

"That boy needs to learn to keep his big yap shut and his temper under control," Leo grumbles.

"Leo," Donna lightly scolds as she shakes her head.

"Okay, it's just that… what the hell were those two thinking?" Leo growls.

"I know," Donna immediately interrupts. "Josh feels really bad about what happened."

"What am I going to do with them?" Leo wonders out loud.

"Leo, you need to let CJ handle it. You're no longer…" Donna interjects.

"I know… I know I'm not the Chief of Staff anymore. It's just…" Leo is caught slightly off guard by Donna's candor.

"Leo, that's not what I was going to say. I was trying to say that you no longer need to worry about their foolishness," then Donna's voice turns serious. "You need to worry about taking care of yourself."

Leo drops his head a little, and then gives Donna a half grin, "Have you been talking with Margaret?"

"Maybe," Donna softly smiles in return, as she makes a mental note to talk to Margaret about Leo's health. She is concerned that Leo is looking tired and stressed again.

"So, didn't ya originally come here to talk to me about Margaret?" Leo tries to get them back on topic. He knows that Donna wouldn't come see him about her, unless it was important.

"Yes, I did," Donna smoothes down her skirt.

"And?"

"Well… I'm not sure if I should say anything, but…" Donna stops, looks towards the open door, and then back to Leo. "She's pregnant," she whispers.

"Yeah, I'm well aware that Margaret is going to have a baby," Leo sighs.

"She told you?" Donna asks in a high pitch tone. She had told Margaret to talk with Leo, but she didn't think she would.

"No, but Donna, when was the last time you saw Margaret?"

"Well… it's been at least a couple of months or so. I've been out on the campaign trail and well… since we arrived today, Will hasn't given me a minute to myself. Right now, he thinks I'm trying to convince Debbie to let him see the President." Donna explains.

"Look, I think you need to drop by and take a look at Margaret. Anyone who can't tell that she's pregnant needs to have his or her eyes examined. I know that people are really busy in this place, but I can't believe she's gone by this long without it being the talk of the White House."

"I'm sure that it's the talk of the tried and true gossipers," she mumbles, looking down at the floor. She feels very guilty that she's not been there for Margaret these past few weeks.

"Yeah, you're probably right, everyone notices things like that," Leo agrees, as he envisions what rumors are flying around the West Wing.

"I have talked with her several times, but she's never complained, and she sounds much better," slips from her lips before she can stop it.

"Donna, was there a problem? Is she all right? Is the baby okay? What's going on?" Leo fires off his question in Margaret like form.

"Leo, as far as I know the baby and she are fine. But, there is something that I want to talk with you about."

"Okay, I'm listening," Leo sits back in his chair.

"I just wanted to make sure that when you talk with her that… that…" Donna pauses, not sure how to phrase this.

"That what?" Leo growls, quickly losing his patience.

"That you don't ask… too many questions when you talk with her," Donna offers with a small frown.

"Donna, I'm not here to judge her," Leo explains, as he leans forward in his chair. "Look, I'm not going to pry… but CJ and I think that there are some things that need to be answered."

"What type of things?"

"Does she plan on coming back to work after the baby is born? And if so, how long will she be taking off work?" Leo hesitates, looks out his window and then back at Donna, "And… is she going to marry the father?"

"No, don't ask about that… that bastard," Donna angrily spits out.

Leo is confused by Donna's malicious response, "Donna, what's going on?"

"Leo… I…" Donna looks down at her hands and then back up at Leo. "Maybe I shouldn't have come," she quickly stands.

"Donna," Leo's voice pleads, as he too jumps up. His mind races, coming up
with all kinds of scenarios about what happened to Margaret.

"I'm sorry, Leo. But, I need to umm… go talk with Debbie about…" Donna starts to turn for the door, but Leo puts a hand on her arm.

"Donna, do you who know the father is?" Leo softly asks.

"No," Donna replies.

"Does Margaret still have contact with him?"

"No," Donna firmly returns.

"Does he know about the baby?"

"No," Donna shakes her head. "Leo, I really shouldn't say anymore," Donna heads for the door and then turns, "Leo, don't think anything bad about Margaret. It wasn't her fault. She was really upset and… and…"

"Donna, what are you trying so hard not to tell me? Why was Margaret upset? Did someone hurt her? Please… tell me what happened." Leo implores, with a worried look on his face.

"All I can say is that she was upset because of…" Donna abruptly stops, when Kate Harper suddenly appears in Leo's doorway.

"I'm sorry," Kate says, realizing she has interrupted something important, "I can come back," she starts to turn and leave.

"No," Donna firmly says as she gives Leo an apologetic look and then looks at Kate. "You're fine. I was just leaving," Donna says as she escapes Leo's office and his probing questions.

TBC in Part 2

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