Chapter 21 (Final Chapter)

She walked into Michelle's office with a large packet, most of which was blacked out with marker. Michelle looked up at her as she leafed through it. "The language changes from Mississippi?"

Each state mandated its own prison system, so they were tackling minors' prison rights state by state, and Mississippi was proving to be the worst one yet. They offered GED programs instead of high school classes, no SAT or ACT testing, certificate training instead of two or four-year college courses, a drug rehabilitation program that didn't include counseling, no counseling for child abuse victims or gang involvement, and no hate crime program. Their visitation schedule only allowed the parents of minors to visit once a month, their prison libraries were a joke, their yard time was minimal, and their rehabilitation method was 'lock 'em up and throw away the key.'

"They just faxed it over. It looks like their lawyers picked it apart pretty badly."

Michelle raised her eyebrows as she continued glossing through it. "They're giving themselves loopholes?"

Donna sighed. "I haven't gotten into it yet, but it looks like it. They're going to fight this all the way. The governor's a conservative, redneck bastard."

"Well," Michelle said, closing the packet. "It's not a popular way to spend tax dollars in Mississippi."

"It's financially sound in the long run. You help these kids; educate them, prepare them for the real world, heal wounds… they're less likely to end up back there."

"I'm not the one you have to convince. When are you meeting with them again in person?"

"Three weeks, and I'm going to hit Arkansas too while I'm out that way, get an initial meeting."

Michelle nodded. "Let me know when legal gets through with this. I want to sit down with them and the entire legislative department before we go back to the governor."

Donna nodded and left, going down the hall to her office and sitting down in front of the identical packet on her desk. A half hour later, she was highlighting a paragraph dealing with secondary education when she caught movement out of the corner of her eye. She looked up and smiled. "How long have you been there?"

Josh shrugged and walked inside her office. "You're making the world a better place?"

She put the highlighter down and sat back. "According to the governor of Mississippi, I'm making prison a day spa."

He came around her desk and gave her a peck on the lips. "The language came back?"

"A lot of blacked out pieces of paper came back," she said in a resigned voice.

He sat on the edge of her desk. "They're creating loopholes in the language so they don't have to do whatever manages to pass."

"Yeah," she said nodding, in love with the way he still taught her, even things she didn't need to learn. In other men it might have seemed like showing off, but in his case, she knew he really just wanted her to understand. She stood up and made a place for herself between his spread legs. "So, to what do I owe this surprise?" she asked, kissing him again, longer this time.

He grinned. "I had a spare hour and thought I'd see if you've eaten."

She pulled back with lit-up eyes. "I haven't."

"No? What would you like?"

"You pick," she said, loosening his tie. He was far too put together for her taste.

He snaked his arms around her waist underneath the suit jacket she was wearing. "Mmm…Mortons?"

She scrunched up her nose and shook her head.

"Subs?"

"Greek," she said, leaning in towards him.

"I thought I was choosing," he said with a smile.

"You chose poorly," she mumbled against his lips just before kissing him.

"I see," he chuckled, pulling her closer to him and kissing her back.

When they parted, she got her purse out of her bottom drawer. "My mom called. They're coming in tomorrow morning instead of tonight. Dad has a client in town and wants to take him to dinner."

"Are you ok with that?" he asked, concern audible in his voice.

She smiled and put her palm on his cheek. "Yes. They get in at ten, the ceremony isn't until two."

He studied her for a second and she smiled at the way he looked out for her. "So… I get you to myself tonight?"

"Indeed."

"And you can spend the night?" he asked with raised eyebrows. She'd already told him there would be no overnights while her parents were in town. "We could sleep in tomorrow morning and then I could go with you to the airport to get them."

She smiled slyly. "I might be persuaded, but I'm going to need further detail regarding this sleepover you're suggesting."

He smirked and pulled her by the wrist back to him, leaning into her neck. "Details, huh?" he said just before kissing her.

"I heard you got… oh gross."

Josh pulled back in a panic at the voice, but Donna only glared at Liz. "What do you want?"

Liz ignored her. "Hi, Josh," she said in an overly sweet voice.

"Hi," he said, a half-grimace, half-smile on his face.

Donna stared at her, willing her to leave, but she didn't take the hint, and finally Donna moved away from Josh just a little. "Did you need something or did you just see Josh walk past your office and decide to pick on us?"

"I saw Josh come in," she said as she walked in and used both hands to lower herself carefully into a visitor's chair. "But I heard you got the language back from Mississippi," she said, breathing heavy.

Josh watched her with amusement in his eyes. "Having problems there?"

"Says the man who just got caught making-out," she grumbled, trying to cross her legs. She failed, and after a second huffed and slouched in the chair comfortably, her hands resting on her protruding stomach. She looked up and sighed. "I'm going to be pregnant for the rest of my life."

"You're not exaggerating just a bit?"

"Six days late, Donna!" she shouted before looking down and talking to her stomach softly. "Sorry, baby. That was Aunt Donna's fault."

Donna shook her head and picked her purse back up. "We're getting lunch. Would you like to join us?"

She raised her eyebrows. "What are you having?"

"Greek," Josh supplied, standing up and moving towards the door.

She thought for a minute. "Nah, I already had a bacon cheeseburger and chili-cheese fries. And a chocolate milkshake."

Josh looked over at Donna. "We could have that," he said hopefully. She shook her head and he looked back at Liz. "She's very bossy."

Liz just nodded. "Tell me about it."

"I'm ignoring you both," Donna said, walking towards the door. When she reached it, Josh's hand landed naturally on the small of her back.

"Wait," Liz half-shouted.

"What?"

She looked up at them helplessly. "I can't get up."

Josh laughed and Donna nudged him in the side before nodding towards Liz.

"But… what if…" he moved over to the chair and stared dumbly down at Liz. "What if I… I don't know, drop you or something?"

"You won't drop me," she scoffed, holding out her hand. He glanced back towards Donna standing in the doorway smirking at him, and then took Liz's hand and pulled her out of the chair. When she was standing, he awkwardly patted her stomach and said hello to Hannah as Liz stared at him strangely and Donna tried not to laugh.

"What about the language?" Liz asked as they left Donna's office and walked down the hall towards the elevator and Liz's office.

"They liked your racial tolerance program, as long as they don't have to pay for it."

"Of course."

"We're going to meet with legal in a few days. You should sit in on it."

She nodded and stopped outside her office as Donna and Josh kept walking. "Oh, Donna?" she called after them.

"Baklava?"

"Yes, please."

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

He woke-up twisted around her, clinging to her as if she was everything, which to him she was. One of his hands held her possessively to him, splayed across her smooth, soft stomach, his legs tangled effortlessly with hers, and his nose was buried in her hair, a scent he couldn't quite place but to call it her. He twisted his head and nuzzled into her neck where the scent was different but still uniquely hers, and she sighed and brought one hand up to his cheek in her sleep.

He kissed her bare shoulder before carefully untangling himself from her and going into the bathroom, catching a glimpse of himself in the mirror and tilting his head as though he barely knew this man he'd become. He still found it hard to believe sometimes, that this kind of happiness was even possible.

He walked slowly and quietly back into the bedroom a few minutes later, watching her from the doorway. She always looked so young and innocent while she slept. It was like seeing the girl he fell in love with the first time before falling in love with the woman four years later, and he allowed himself a moment to remember the differences.

She'd rolled over in her sleep and was just starting to wake-up, stretching and sighing in that delirious place between asleep and awake. A small smile lit her face followed quickly by a pout when she reached out to his empty side of the bed.

"I'm right here," he said softly, and she opened her eyes and looked at the bed before looking up at him by the door.

"Why are you way over there?" she asked, her bottom lip sticking out slightly.

He smiled and walked to the bed. "I was thinking." He'd been thinking about it a lot recently. It was something Tom had said to him one night when he and Donna had gone to Tom and Liz's a week after they'd disappeared to Vegas and eloped. Donna and Liz had gone in to ooh and ahh over Hannah's recently painted and decorated room and Tom had told Josh that one night he'd woken up while Liz was in the restroom and knew with complete certainty that he didn't want to ever wake-up without her again. So when she'd come out of the bathroom, he'd proposed.

She rolled onto her side and looked up at him standing over the bed. "Thinking about what?"

He wasn't sure he was ready to voice everything he thought about when it came to her. Marriage, a Hannah of their own, a house in the suburbs with a big back yard… things he'd never before dared to want but wanted desperately with her. And he knew himself; knew that he could be easily freaked out, knew he needed to take baby steps. So instead of telling her all things he thought about, he leaned across the bed and hovered over her, then leaned down and kissed her long and slowly. "I was thinking that we should re-visit the living together thing," he said when they parted a minute later.

They'd briefly discussed it for the first time in January when her co-worker was about to come back from Africa and Donna had started apartment hunting, but his psychiatrist didn't think he was ready, and he was probably right. And Donna had been reluctant to move in with him while she was still in school, so they'd dropped it and Donna had taken over Liz's lease when she moved in with Tom.

"I thought Dr. Miller said you weren't ready."

He shrugged like it was no big deal and lay on his side next to her. "Dr. Miller's a quack. I've always thought so."

She rolled onto her side facing him. "Hence you spilling your guts to him every Wednesday morning."

"Yes. Plus, he said that months ago. I'm doing well and you've finished school and we're…" He paused and linked their fingers together. "Really, really good."

She smiled. "Yeah, we are."

"I want to talk to him about it again."

She propped herself up on one arm and looked down at him, her blue, blue eyes seeking something in his. "This doesn't have anything to do with the Vice-President resigning and you feeling like you don't have control over anything?"

He shook his head, although she certainly knew him well. He didn't have control over anything at work. Vice-President Hoynes had resigned five days earlier after having an affair, and he'd felt incredibly guilty for not having warned the President about his… tendencies. And the one man he wished he could make Vice-President, Leo, had refused to even consider it. But that had nothing to do with Donna, and he was finally at a place in his life where he knew that.

"I don't like it when you don't spend the night and I have to wake-up without you," he said, running his fingers lightly back and forth over hers. "Cause the pillow smells like you, but not enough. And I don't like leaving your place at five o'clock in the morning when you're warm and lying half across me and moving you means that you sigh and pout in your sleep. And I don't like it when you say home, 'cause you're not talking about here." She bit her bottom lip and he ran his thumb over it before reaching up and kissing her, sucking it into his mouth and soothing it with his tongue. "Say yes," he whispered against her lips.

"Yes," she whispered back.

He pulled his head back and looked at her, a smile crossing his face. "Yes? Really?"

She shook her head and smiled at him. "Yes. But Liz's lease isn't up for two more months, so there's no hurry. Talk to Dr. Miller and see what he says."

"I will. Now…" he said with a smirk, pushing her lightly to her back and rolling on top of her. "Let's talk about something more pressing. You're naked; it would be a shame to waste that."

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

They were almost late to the airport to pick up her parents. They didn't have many mornings to spend lounging around in bed, so they'd lost track of time. He called and checked in with Leo as they drove to National, not hanging up even as they parked in short-term parking. He hated talking to Leo when he was supposed to be spending time with Donna. She'd once told him that she didn't need him to always be there, but when he was there, she needed all of him. He did his best, but with the Vice-President mess, it wasn't the best time to be taking the entire weekend off work.

He parked the car and reached over for her hand, picking it up and kissing it, his way of apologizing. She smiled at him and got out, waiting for him to do the same, and he put his hand on her back and led her into the airport and to the security checkpoint where they'd have to wait.

He finished his call and put his phone in his pocket, then stood behind her with his arms around her as she watched down the long hallway. "Everything's looking ok so far?" she asked nervously.

He knew she was worried that he'd get called into work and wouldn't get to meet her parents. He'd missed Christmas with her family because of a snow storm that had closed the airports, and had ended up trying to get a roof fixed in Israel with Leo and calling her about a thousand times to both hear her voice and make sure she was still planning on coming back. But that was December and this was May, and those fears that once plagued his mind no longer had control over him.

He nodded and kissed her neck lightly. "The President's too busy getting ready to speak at Zoey's ceremony today to do any real work."

"What about the VP?"

"Berryhill."

"That's good, right?"

"Yeah," he sighed, reminding himself that he couldn't force Leo to be the Vice-President anymore than he could force Vice-President Hoynes to remain faithful to his wife. "Yes. Yes, it's good."

She turned her head where she could look at him. "Wow, very impressive."

He wiggled his eyebrows. "I'm learning to let things go."

"You're doing a very good job of it."

"Thank you."

She turned back around and leaned into him a bit. "You're about to meet my parents," she said almost to herself. She didn't have to tell him why it was so important to her, why she was both nervous and excited. It was the same reason he'd been so excited when she and his mother had so quickly hit it off. He'd watched them from across the room, the two most important people in his life, and had felt a sense of… completion.

He squeezed her tighter. "I am."

"They've got enough votes to get Berryhill confirmed?"

He nodded against her neck. "Have I mentioned how much easier it is to get things done now that we've won back the House?"

She chuckled. "Once or twice." She stiffened and then her arm shot straight into the air and she waved enthusiastically at two people whose pictures he'd seen on the dresser in her bedroom, not that he'd ever tell them that. The woman waved back and Josh couldn't get over how much she looked like Donna. "That's them," she said in an excited voice, stepping out of his embrace and next to him, taking his hand in hers and squeezing.

"There's my lawyer! Hi baby," her father said, shifting the overnight bag around his shoulder as he approached her and hugging her solidly as she dropped Josh's hand and hugged him back.

"Hi, Dad!"

When he let her go, she looked at her mom, her smile widening even more, and without a word, they leaned in and hugged tightly. When she pulled back, she took a deep breath and looked at Josh. "Mom… Dad…" there was a quiver in her voice and he put his hand on her back, rubbing it slightly up and down. "This is Josh," she barely got out.

Her father stuck his hand out and smiled warmly. "It's nice to finally meet you Josh. We've heard a lot about you."

"It's an honor, Sir," he said, shaking the man's hand before turning to her mother. "Mrs. Moss," he said quietly.

"Josh…"

He looked at the woman in front of him. This woman who'd saved Donna's life in more ways than one, who'd been there for her when he hadn't been able to be. This woman to whom he owed a debt of gratitude he doubted he could ever repay. They stared at each other for several seconds before he suddenly leaned in and hugged her, and as if they were having a conversation only the two of them could hear, as if he was thanking her and she was telling him he was welcome, she hugged him back.

When he stood up, Donna had wet eyes and was wiping a tear off her cheek.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

She sat on a chair in Healy Lawn on the main campus in her black cap and blue gown, listening to the dean of the law school addressing the graduates and the future and the role they'd play. The President had spoken there two hours earlier at his daughter's undergraduate ceremony, but she didn't need that. It couldn't beat this moment. Not to her.

This was… everything she worked for when she had to work to ease the pain. It was the payback she demanded from a man who'd let her give it up. It was the reason for a thousand sacrifices and countless sleepless nights. It was the path Josh set her on and the one plus, the one good thing that came out of leaving him all those years ago. And now it had come full circle, leading her to DC and back to him, and he sat on hard, uncomfortable bleachers behind her, sharing this day with her, and the President couldn't compete with that.

"Donna Moss."

She took a deep breath and stood up, her three second recognition of a job well done. The path she'd taken to get there flashed through her mind; a break-up, a suggestion to get away, a candidate who stood out, a man whose view of the world changed her forever, and she smiled to herself, thinking of this life she'd stumbled into and how much better she was for it.