"We have an operational link," Donna announced to the assembled in the Situation Room.
"How did you do that?" Vice President Eric Baker asked, looking questioningly at Josh.
"Well, as it turns out the system was 98 ready, we just had to connect the dots, erm… the cables." Josh said with a cocky grin.
"Well, let's call the President then," Vice President Eric Baker told them then.
Two minutes later the Matthew Santos' face appeared on the giant display in the Situation Room. However, the most remarkable thing was not that they could see him, but that they saw him smiling.
"Congratulations to all of you," he greeted them with this sentence.
"Congratulations for what exactly, sir?" Josh asked him.
"Well, you did it in a record time; you beat us by three hours," POTUS added.
"What did we do in a record time, sir?" Mr. Baker asked President Santos.
"Well, I'm sure all of you will be relieved to learn that you just completed a drill very successfully," Matthew Santos told them, his voice clearly indicating that he was proud. "We did the same last week when they told you that I wasn't available. The Secret Service, CIA and FBI devised a plan to test our readiness and whatnot. You beat us by three hours," he repeated, this time a hint of bitterness in his voice. "Who figured out that you only needed to connect the cables?" President Santos asked.
"It was Mrs. Lyman," Romana Gutierrez told him, barely suppressing a chuckle.
"Mrs… Lyman?" the president asked.
"Yes, sir," Romana and Eric Baker nodded simultaneously.
"I didn't know Josh' mother was flown there," the president said hesitantly. "Did you know, Sam?"
"No, sir, that's impossible. I spoke to Mrs. Lyman today, she couldn't have been there," Sam walked into view.
"Hi, Sam," Donna chirped in.
"Donna!" Sam exclaimed, both he and the president looking extremely surprised, almost baffled.
"How comes that Donna is there?" the president asked Ron Butterfield who just walked into view.
"I hear congratulations are in order, Mrs. Lyman," the always sober special agent said with a smile.
"Thank you, Agent Butterfield." Donna thanked him with a 100-Watt smile.
"You just called Donna Mrs. Lyman, Ron," the president turned to Agent Butterfield.
"Well, sir, I think it's Mr. Lyman's job to break the good news," the agent said with a smile and then walked out of view again.
"Sir, Sam, I married Donna," Josh said, deciding not to dwell much on the details.
His announcement was met with silence at the other of the line. Then a big smile appeared on both faces. Sam and President Santos looked both as if Christmas came early this year. They said their congratulations, shared a laugh that it was Donna who connected the dots and then the president ordered them all back.
The presidential motorcade was already waiting for them and they were swiftly transported back to the nation's capital. In about two hours everything was back to normal, Josh was in the Oval Office, explaining his marriage and Donna was in the Residence, watching the First Kids playing while they were all waiting for Helen to arrive from Boston.
Josh was still musing about the president's order when he stepped into his office at half past six.
"Good, you are here," the president said, after entering the Chief of Staff's office.
"How can I be of assistance, sir?" Josh asked him, stifling a yawn.
"Well, let me be of assistance this time," Matthew Santos told him, and draped his right arm across Josh' shoulders. "Get your coat and your credit card, Josh, we are going shopping."
"Shopping, sir?" Josh asked back puzzled, but the president was already back in the Oval Office. Josh hurried after his boss and found presidential aide, Tom Reed in his coat, helping the president into his own.
"Let's get going, Tommy," Matthew Santos told the aide and then looked at Josh. "You should probably close your mouth, Josh. We are going shopping, tomorrow is a big day for me, it's Helen's birthday."
"I see, sir," Josh said, but he didn't understand it. Why would the president need his assistance for picking a birthday present for the First Lady? He could've invited Donna for the trip; she could've give the president better advice than he will ever be able to.
On the way to the store, the president signed some documents, called his mother-in-law and joked with Tommy about his crush on Lou's assistant. Josh was deep in his thoughts, still thinking about what he did the day before. Donna asked him if he minded that he only married her because of a drill but Josh pointed out that he did have a woe. All of Donna's doubts were washed away. She asked for the crumpled paper Josh wrote the woe on and she read it again, her eyes filled with tears again. Josh remembered with a smile how she kissed those kisses away and how Donna promised him to have a woe at the end of the following day.
"Josh," Tommy called him and judging by the look on his face, it wasn't the first time.
"Yes?" he snapped out of his reverie. He looked outside and didn't recognize anything at all. He didn't know where they were and how long they traveled; he just guessed that they didn't leave the immediate vicinity of the DC. He thought he would have noticed if they were cruising through the countryside.
"We are here, Josh," the president told him.
Josh stepped out of the limousine and found himself staring at a building which bore the name of the store in big, bold golden lettering and it read Tiffany and Co.
"Sir?" he asked unsure. "I doubt they are open."
"Why, Josh, they agreed to open up earlier so we have an hour, but I do hope that it won't take that long," the president told him, patting his shoulders.
"Yes, sir. Do you need any assistance with picking a…" Josh offered.
"Josh, I brought Tommy along for that. I think you want to see the rings, I'm more interested in chokers and necklaces. So our ways part here," the president said with a chuckle and then disappeared with Tommy.
"Mr. Lyman?" a shop-assistant called him.
"Yes?" Josh turned on his heels.
"I understand that you are looking for wedding bands, sir." The young woman smiled at him genuinely.
"Yes. Yes. But could you show me something… I don't know… Something different, maybe," Josh asked hesitantly.
"Well, sir, you came to right place if you wanted to find something different. Something different is our specialty. Do you want an engagement ring or just wedding bands?"
"Why do half the work?" Josh murmured under his breath. "You know what, show me matching wedding bands for husband and wife and then we'll take a look at the engagement rings."
"Well, sir. Platinum, white gold or traditional gold for the wedding bands?"
"Platinum," Josh said and then looked in awe as the shop assistant took out the rings to look at. "Wow, that's a lot to choose from."
"Sir, if I may…"
"Yes, help me please," Josh said, flashing a smile at her.
"This is something very simple. But I think if you are inclined to give your betrothed another ring you should definitely go with this. I see you don't wear any rings, so I don't think you would be very comfortable with something big and fancy. This is the Milgrain wedding band. I would say the two-millimeter one for Mrs. Lyman and the three-millimeter one for you."
"Yeah, okay, all right," Josh said nodding his consent. He tried on two rings to get the right size. "I don't know which size Donna is wearing."
"That's already taken care of, sir." The shop assistant smiled at him friendly.
"I see. Okay, let's shop engagement rings," Josh said, suddenly very interested in rings. He imagined Donna's face upon receiving something beautiful from Tiffany's.
"This is the Tiffany Blossom ring, Mr. Lyman, isn't it beautiful?" she asked, after placing the ring in front of Josh. "This is a bit smaller, it's called the Bloom ring, platinum too. Do you like it?"
"It's beautiful," Josh said, after picking the ring up.
"This is something different, it's diamonds and sapphires. It's a channel set diamond and sapphire band ring. It's full circle and three millimeters in width." With this she put another ring in front of Josh.
"Well, you made it really hard to decide. Which one do you like?" he asked then.
"Well, these three, that's why I suggested them, sir," the shop assistant told him.
"I think I will need help. Could you hang on a minute?" he asked then. "You have a homepage, right? Are these rings on it?" he asked then.
"Yes, sir," the shop assistant nodded. "But…" she wanted to tell him something, but Donna already picked up.
"Hi, Donna!" He smiled into the phone.
"Hi! Where are you? I tried to phone your office, but…" Donna wanted to ask, but Josh interrupted her.
"Listen, we are shopping for the First Lady's birthday and we cannot decide on a ring. We already picked the earrings and whatnot but we need a ring too. Could you please log onto Tiffany's…" he explained.
"You are at Tiffany's?" she squealed.
"I strongly hope that the First Lady is not there, Donna," Josh tried to sound scolding.
"No, she is still with the kids. Okay, I'm in. What should I look at?" she asked then.
"At the rings. Just tell us what you like and we will decide then."
"Okay, here is an interesting one. It's white gold…" she started, but Josh interrupted her again.
"Platinum rings only, Donna," he said, trying to sound impatient.
"Okay, okay. Is the President stressed?" she chatted while she was looking at the rings.
"A bit," Josh said, he imagined that by now Matthew Santos was a stressed, at least a little bit.
"Oh! Oh! That's beautiful!"
"Which one?" Josh asked impatiently.
"The Tiffany Bloom ring, it costs a fortune, but I guess the President can afford it," she chatted on happily.
"Yeah," Josh said, looking at the shop assistant. "Well, thank you."
"Wait, there are more…" Donna wanted to protest.
"But you said the Bloom one is beautiful."
"Yeah, but there are more, Josh. Why take the second best?" she asked at the other end.
"Well, what else do you like?" Josh asked, sitting down and mouthing a 'sorry' towards the assistant. She sent her a reassuring smile and then busied herself by packing away the wedding bands.
"Okay, I've found many with a diamonds and sapphires," Donna reported. "They all look very nice."
"Yeah, okay, I'll tell them then," Josh said, wanting to hang up.
"Oh, oh!"
"What's wrong, Donna?" Josh demanded to know.
"The First Lady is here. Gotta go! Love ya, Mr. Lyman!" she said.
"I love you too, Mrs. Lyman," Josh said to the deaf phone.
"Josh, we are ready to roll," Tommy stepped up to him.
"I need a couple more minutes," Josh murmured, still unable to decide which one to think.
"Trust your instincts, Josh." He then heard the President's voice.
"Well, sir, we know that sometimes even my instincts are wrong and this is not one of those occasions when I can let that happen." Josh turned to him.
"Well, Josh, let me ask you a question. What do you think which ring will Donna like you more, this one," he said and pointed at the simpler wedding band, "or this one?" He then pointed at the Tiffany Bloom Ring.
"This one," Josh answered, pointing at the wedding band.
"Okay, then the second one doesn't really matter," President Santos told him. "Pick one and let's go."
"This one then." Josh turned to the shop assistant and then pointed at the Tiffany Blossom one. It was the first he saw but it was still the one he found the most beautiful ring he had ever seen. He paid and then several thousand dollars poorer they left the building, thanking the store manager for her kindness.
"I think we best let Tommy have the boxes, Josh. Women tend to go crazy about these blue boxes," Matthew Santos told Josh when the unmarked SUV pulled up to the White House.
"It's a good idea, sir," Josh said and they shared an all-knowing smile. "I still have to brief you about Hungary, sir. The Prime Minister will arrive in two days."
"Okay, Josh," the President said and they switched into POTUS- and COS-mode the moment their feet touched the ground of the White House pavement.
Around 9 pm. Josh stepped into Tommy's office before heading home. He was grateful for the president's idea because Donna had dropped in during lunch break and Josh knew she would have spotted the boxes, even if he had hidden them well. He would have somehow betrayed himself; he would have kept glancing toward the hidden boxes or something but this way his mind was on something else.
After arriving home, he unloaded the bag with the Tiffany blue boxes in the foyer. He was greeted by a sight that took his breath away. The table was set for two, candle-light made their everyday plates look prettier and his old wine glasses were twinkling at him. His new wife was sitting at the table, reading a file. She was wearing a cerulean blue skirt and a cream-colored blouse.
"This is a sight to see," he greeted her, after stepping into the dining room.
"Josh!" Donna jumped to her feet and greeted him with a hug.
"This is something I could get used to," Josh said, after kissing his wife.
"Well, don't get too used to it, it won't last. I guess they are treating us like honeymooners but this will go away," Donna said while making her way to the kitchen.
"Need any help?" Josh shouted, secretly dashing back for the bag with the boxes to relocate them into the living room.
"You could help me with the salad," Donna said and Josh obliged.
"We are a good team," Josh told her, after they placed the dinner at the table. "I like candles," he added then, taking her hand into his and bringing her palm to his lips. He kissed her palm and then pulled out the chair and waited behind her while she was taking her seat.
"I know," Donna said and threw him an all-knowing smile, while he was hurrying to his own side of the table. They were chatting during dinner, mostly about what happened that day in the office and then Donna shared some Capitol Hill gossip with him, making him laugh.
After dinner Josh grabbed the bottle of wine and Donna got their glasses, they went into the living room and settled down at the sofa, sipping at their wine, watching MSNBC.
"Josh." Donna turned to him, taking his wine glass and placing it onto the coffee table. She switched off the TV and that made Josh realize that she is about to say something really-really important. "I told you that I'll have my woe finished tonight. I did write it and I'd like to share it with if that's okay."
Josh took her hands in his and looked her in the eye. It was all the encouragement Donna needed.
"Some say love is a river that drowns the tender reed. Some say love is a razor that leaves your soul to bleed. Some say love is a hunger, an endless aching need. I say that love is indefinable. Love is a unique feeling that you have to cherish. Today, in the presence of God, I promise to love you, to stay by your side, in sickness and in health, in joy and in sorrow, through the good times and the bad. I promise to encourage you to dare to dream and to make your dreams come true. I'll cherish you and our love 'till death do us part. I will love you always and forever."
Josh was so touched by her words that he had to blink back the tears. After her woe he took her in his arms and they shared a long, tender kiss. Finally they broke apart and Josh reached behind his back to produce the Tiffany bag.
"Josh?" Donna asked hesitantly.
"Well, it was true that the President went on a shopping spree for a birthday present, but he didn't invite me along to advise him," Josh confessed while opening up one of the boxes.
"Donnatella Lyman, with this ring I thee wed," he said and then put the ring onto Donna's finger.
"You already married me, Josh," Donna stated. "This is… This is…" she stammered. "I don't know what to say. I'm so… This is so…"
Josh gave her the other box and when Donna opened it up, her tears started falling. But she pulled herself together, took the ring out of the box and grabbed Josh' hand.
"Josh Lyman, with this ring I thee wed," she repeated.
"You may kiss the bride now, I guess that's the next line," Josh quipped and then did what he said. "Do you really like this ring, Donna?" he asked unsure of himself.
"It was incredibly sweet of you to think of it, Josh," Donna said, giving him a short kiss on the lips.
"Well, it was the President's idea, but he didn't say to buy this one too. It was all me," Josh said, referring to an earlier conversation. Sure enough Donna's face broke into a smile when he handed him the next box.
"You shouldn't have done this, Josh," she said while unwrapping the present. She opened the lid and then gasped. "Josh, oh, Josh!" she exclaimed and threw herself into his open arms. "It's beautiful!" she whispered and handed him the ring back giving him her hand to put the ring on her finger. "It's incredible, Josh! I still cannot believe it!" she said after five minutes. "How can I thank you for this."
"Well, you already thanked me for that. I'm extraordinarily glad that you liked it. It was a gut feeling that this is nicer than the Bloom one," Josh said proudly.
"It is," Donna agreed, and then looked down at her wedding band. She took Josh' hand and nestled the two rings next to each other. "I will treasure this one," she whispered, and then looked down at her Tiffany Blossom ring. "And I will never cease to admire this one. Thank you."
"I love you, Donna," Josh whispered back, taking her into his arms once again.
"I love you too, Josh," Donna returned the confession and sealed it with a kiss.
THE END
Inspiration for Donna's woe came from Bette Midler's The Rose. No copyright infringement intended, used solely for entertainment purposes and not for profit.