"Hey." Josh poked his head into Sam's office and raised an eyebrow, seeing him staring at the phone intently. "Sam?"
"Yeah?"
"We're gonna get dinner. You want to come?"
"Who's we?"
"Me, Toby, Charlie, Donna, and CJ."
"No. I got to get home." Sam mumbled, standing up.
"You okay?"
"Yeah. I just..."
"Sam, she'll call if anything happens." Josh said. "How is she anyway?"
"Impatient."
"She was due what? The 30th?"
Sam nodded and Josh shrugged.
"Big deal. It's the 3rd."
"Yeah. I mean, it can happen any day now."
"Yeah. That's pretty exciting." Josh grinned. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"Hang on. I'll walk out with you." Sam quickly grabbed his things and turned the light off, then followed Josh out into the bullpen, shutting the door behind him.
"How's things with your mother-in-law going?"
"I want her to leave. I apparently cannot do anything right in her eyes."
"How does Ainsley feel about it?"
"She's fed up with the two of us." Sam said. "I feel bad. I try not to argue with Emily because I know it upsets Ainsley but I need to defend myself."
"So she starts it."
"Basically, yeah. I hate going home cause I know she's there. We have no privacy."
"How long is she staying?"
"Hasn't made it clear."
"Why don't you just tell her to leave? Or stay at a hotel?" Josh asked.
"Because she doesn't listen. This has been the two weeks from hell."
"This is why I don't want to get married, even though Donna's parents like me."
Sam's head snapped towards Josh, who blanched.
"What?"
"I... nothing."
"What's going on?"
"Nothing!"
"You're dating Donna?"
"I didn't say that."
"Yes you did."
"No. No I didn't. You misheard me."
"You're dating her!" Sam exclaimed. "I knew it! How long?"
"I'm not dating her!" Josh hissed. "So be quiet."
"I know when you're lying. This has been going on since last year? Hasn't it?"
"What? Are you insane?"
"Everyone said they saw you two making out at my wedding."
"I was drunk! And besides I'm dating Amy."
"Then why did you say Donna?"
"I said Amy."
"You said Donna."
"Go away."
"I knew it. CJ owes me ten bucks." Sam muttered to himself.
"I'm not dating her!" Josh screamed as Sam disappeared out the door.
-----------------------TWW--------------------
"Ainse!" Sam burst through the front door and quickly dropped his things in the hallway. "Ainsley!"
"I'm in here!"
"You won't believe what just happened." Sam flopped onto the couch next to Ainsley, making her look up.
"What?" she asked. "Why do you have a maniacal grin on your face?"
"I was telling Josh how your mother hates me and he said, 'This is why I don't want to get married, even though Donna's parents like me.'"
"What!"
"Yeah!"
"Sam, my mother doesn't hate you."
"Get past that part. They're together! So Josh tried correcting himself and saying that he's dating Amy but they broke up like... a week ago and he has met Donna's parents before."
"Wow. You need to calm down honey."
"No. Everyone owes me money. I'm gonna make about $100 tomorrow." Sam said gleefully.
"Right. Dinner's almost ready."
"Is she still here?"
"Why do you have to make a mess everywhere you walk?" Emily screeched from the hallway. "Then you come in here, yelling at the top of your lungs like a two-year-old..."
"Oi."
Ainsley looked back down at her book and Sam rubbed her back lightly.
"You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm just preparing myself for another night of yelling."
"I won't yell tonight. I promise. I'll be peaceful tonight." Sam said. "Can't say the same about her though."
Ainsley nodded and Sam wrapped an arm around her shoulders, kissing her forehead softly.
"How're you feeling?"
"Same as when you asked me this morning."
Sam smiled and Ainsley sighed, tossing her book down.
"I'm sick of being pregnant." she said. "I mean, it was fun but now this is ridiculous. And it's not that I don't like being pregnant, I just want her to be here already."
"I know. I feel the same way."
"You do not feel the same way."
"Yeah I do."
"You're not the one who is sitting around everyday like a beached whale and getting your insides killed. You are not the one who has to go to the bathroom every thirty seconds. You aren't the one who went through weeks of morning sickness and eating weird things that I can assure you will not be in this house after next week and you are not the one who will be going through extreme amounts of pain in hopefully the next few days. All you have to do is sit around and wait, which is what I have to do too but at least you have the freedom of going where you want."
"I guess it's worse for you huh?" Sam grinned.
"Oh yeah." Ainsley sighed. "Can you get me a bottle of water?"
Sam nodded and headed into the kitchen, going straight to the refrigerator. He moved things around, looking for a water bottle and heard Emily begin to talk.
"You know, she's wrong." she said casually.
"About?" Sam questioned.
"The way I feel about you. I don't like you."
"I know. You don't have to remind me."
"Why are you even here?" Emily asked, making Sam come out of the refrigerator.
"I live here." he replied.
"I don't like your smart ass routine. You know what I mean."
"I'm here because I love her and nothing is ever going to change that."
"You're not good enough for her."
"I know I'm not good enough for her. She definitely deserves better than me but hey, she picked me to marry and I'm not going to complain about it. I'm happy."
"You will never be good enough for her."
"Don't need to tell me twice." Sam said.
"You're using her aren't you?" Emily accused.
"For what? When you and your husband die she'll be rich? Guess what, when my parents die, I'll be rich too. I'm already rich. I come from a wealthy family. I'm not married to her to take her money."
Neither of the two noticed Ainsley standing in the doorway, listening to the two of them.
"Sam..." she started.
"Hang on." he said, turning back to his mother-in-law. "I know you hate me but everyone else from your family seems to like me so it must not be because I'm a Democrat. Your husband likes me and honestly, when I first met you two, I was more afraid of meeting him but he seems to think I treat Ainsley okay."
"Robert is an idiot and he doesn't realize how people truly are." Emily said.
"Sam," Ainsley tried again.
"You stay out late every night. You come crawling through the door at odd hours of the night."
"Hey, if I had a choice, I'd be here with her but I serve at the pleasure of the President..."
"Oh and he comes first?" Emily snapped.
"Sometimes he has to and Ainsley understands that. I work crazy hours."
"You should be here taking care of her not serving some man who is incapable of running this country."
"She doesn't need taking care of! She's a grown woman! And she's not dying Emily, she's pregnant! I've been told time and time again to stay out of her way unless she really needs something!" Sam exclaimed. "And I'm not ready to upset her by doing what she doesn't want!"
"Can I just say something?" Ainsley asked calmly. "Mom, Sam has been wonderful these past few months. And everything he's saying is true and I stand by him. You say that Sam's probably hanging out at a bar picking up women but I talk to him practically every hour if he stays at work late and every time the caller ID says the White House's number. Everyone at the White House works crazy hours. I work crazy hours. And he's the Deputy Com—"
Ainsley broke off with a gasp and Sam saw her fingers tighten on the doorframe.
"Ainse," he quickly went to her side and wrapped an arm around her. She leaned against him for a moment, then looked up at him.
"Remember that conversation we had a couple weeks ago?" she asked quietly. Sam thought for a second and Ainsley saw him pale about ten shades.
"Oh God." he mumbled. Sam stared at Ainsley and paled some more.
"Sam, don't flake out on me." she ordered.
"I-I wo-won't." he stammered.
"Okay."
"Why are you so calm?"
"One of us has to be."
"Ha ha. How long has this been going on?"
"About a half hour."
"Are you okay?" Emily asked, a tone of concern in her voice.
"For now." Ainsley snapped. Sam's eyes widened at her tone and let out a quiet sigh. If this was the side labor brought out in her, it wasn't going to be a pleasant night.
"Why didn't you call me?" he asked, grabbing the phone.
"Because the contractions weren't bad and I didn't want to worry you. I didn't want to bother you at work."
"Ainsley!" Sam exclaimed. "What did I tell you?"
"To call you if I went into labor but I wasn't really sure but then when the second one hit, I figured it was a contraction."
"So then why didn't you call me then?"
"You had called and told me you were coming home."
"Why didn't you tell me then?"
"You would've gotten into a car accident!" Ainsley exclaimed. Sam waved a hand at her as he spoke to Dr. Coleman for a minute. He hung the phone up and ran a hand through his hair. "Honey, are you okay?"
"I'm fine."
"Can you drive?"
"Yeah."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"I don't want you getting into an accident on the way to the hospital."
"I can drive Ainsley."
"Okay." she said quietly.
"Ainsley, how are you feeling?" Emily asked.
"I am not talking to you right now." she said angrily. "You sit here and insult him and then you think cause all of a sudden I'm having contractions I'm going to let you near me or talk to me? No! If anything I want you to stay away from me because I'll say something I'll most likely regret later!"
'This attitude is just going to get worse as this progresses.' Sam thought to himself. 'And Emily won't be there in the room with her. I will and I'm going to be getting verbally abused and most likely physically. Oh gee...'