It's two in the morning on a Tuesday (technically, Wednesday, now) when Josh wakes up and realizes that Donna's not in bed. He reaches out blindly, looking for her, then he squints at the clock and frowns – he recalls going to sleep a few hours ago with her promise that she was right behind him.
"Hey," he says, voice gravelly with sleep as he leans on the doorframe. Donna's still fully dressed and peering at her laptop, her concentration not broken by his words. "I thought you were coming to bed?" he asks.
"Yeah, just taking one more look at this seating chart," she says without taking her eyes off the screen, hand hovering over the trackpad.
"Shouldn't Linda the wedding planner be doing that?" Josh asks with a yawn, pushing himself off of the doorframe.
"Linda's on my last nerve," Donna grumbles, still refusing to take her eyes off the screen. "She doesn't care about what I think of anything. It's easier to just do it myself instead of arguing with her over it."
Josh quirks an eyebrow. "Oh?"
"She makes everything more complicated."
He blinks sleepily and frowns, as he considers the first lady's chief of staff who regularly corrals senators and congressmen and his West Wing staff can't corral her wedding planner in the same way. Of course, he's met Linda – Linda is tough, he figures you have to be when you plan high profile weddings (it still blows his mind that their wedding is being considered high profile).
"You're exhausted," Josh notes as he gets two glasses from the cupboard and fills them with water. He sets one down next to Donna, but she doesn't even pay attention to it or reach for it.
"It's just… it's a lot. Even with the wedding planner, because they know us Annabeth is on me about publicity for the first lady's office. Then Lou is on me for publicity for the West Wing-"
"Shouldn't she be on me about that?" Josh wonders.
"Yeah, well, it's a wedding. Everyone piles everything onto the bride." Josh frowns, but Donna continues. "My sister-in-law is mad that I didn't ask Francesca to be a flower girl, and I know it's only because she thinks the photos might be in the press – never mind that we said we're not releasing bridal party pictures- and 'How would that look?'" she mocks. "She thinks it's some kind of signal to the world that I've never liked her which isn't true. Until now, maybe."
"I-"
"You should've seen the dress she made me wear in her wedding," Donna adds with a grumble.
Josh smirks, remembering the wedding from years ago and the photo he had seen, he recalls Donna venting about it back at the time, too. "I did."
"Francesca isn't the most coordinated kid, either."
Donna continues, standing up and pacing. "And I had to choose between all the girls because I have other nieces and Linda strongly insinuated that more than one flower girl would be a real faux pas in the photos, so I went with the most age appropriate."
"Donna," he finally interrupts and she stills. "Just, take a breath." She sighs and huffs and he frowns at her, indicating that's not the kind of breath he meant so she gives him an exaggerated, appropriate breath. "Did we do this all wrong?" he wonders.
"What do you mean?"
"This White House wedding," he wonders with a grimace. "I mean, I wasn't sure about it in the first place - but now look at you, you're stressed out-"
"Weddings are like this, Josh," she interrupts insistently. "They're stressful! White House or not. At least we have the wedding planner which was basically the perk of this whole idea."
Josh puts down his glass and stands to face her. "The wedding planner that's stressing you out, you mean?"
Donna rolls her eyes at the thought of Linda. "She just… I don't know, makes it so that everything has to be for appearances and I'm fighting for some part of it to just be ours."
The idea comes to him instantly. "Let's just do it."
Her face shows absolute confusion at his words. She knows that she's tired, but she's pretty sure he didn't provide a natural segue. "Do what?"
"Get married," he states as if it's the most obvious thing in the world. "Make it ours. Now. Forget about the White House."
Her eyebrows shoot up in shock. "Josh. We can't-"
"We'll still do the White House thing," he affirms, knowing there's no way to blow that off at this point in time. "On our wedding date. We'll still take the photos, give the blurb to the press, chat with senators and congressmen we don't even like at the reception. But this wedding will be for us. We can do that one however they want. God, we should've thought of this before," he realizes.
Donna's mouth is agape and she's speechless. "We can't… how?" Donna's mind is already in overdrive. "What, just sneak off and elope somewhere? Which would mean us and the secret service at the courthouse? It's not easy for the two of us to sneak off anywhere, let alone to get married."
Josh thinks for a minute as he forms a plan that's coming to him quickly now. "I know a place that's already got the secret service seal of approval," he teases, and Donna frowns as she can't keep up with his train of thought. "I know this couple," he clarifies. "They've got a farm that's perfect for a small little ceremony. And as luck would have it, the farm is already under secret service surveillance."
Donna realizes. "No way. No."
Josh is surprised. "Why not? They offered it to us before-"
Donna's jaw drops. "No, not for a last minute wedding! They offered it to us for a wedding that we planned with notice. We can't impose on them like that."
"They won't mind," Josh is sure of it.
"This is the former President of the United States, Josh. Who isn't always in the best health, by the way. We can't just show up at his home and demand we get married there."
"Just let me call him and see," Josh insists, reaching out to squeeze her hand. "You know that we have a special connection. We got shot together."
Donna's eyes widen in horror at his joke. "Josh!"
Josh ignores her as the ideas are flowing freely now. "CJ's already coming in early, right? So we move it up a bit and she'll be here. Sam's already here. Matron of Honor and Best Man – check."
Donna can't quite believe she's even feeding into this at all by asking the next question. "But, our families?"
"Maybe not your whole family," Josh concedes, "but I'm sure we can get our parents out here sooner. We can move up their flights a few days. I don't think your parents or my mom would mind- in fact, I think they'd prefer this wedding to the overly formal one where my mom is already afraid of what to wear and what to say and who she shouldn't talk to. She's sure something she says is going to end up in the press. It would give them a chance to really enjoy it, too."
"I don't know, this is really inconsiderate," Donna paces back and forth anxiously again. "We can't just ask everyone we know to change flights and cancel whatever plans they have to show up here a week early."
"Sure we can," Josh grins, dimples showing. "It's our wedding day."
"And what about everyone we work with? They can't just up and go to New Hampshire on a moment's notice, they work in the White House. Someone has to be staffing the White House."
"So, then they'll be at the next one," he says softly. He's grinning and she hates it, because she can't deny him anything when he grins with those dimples.
She bites her lip because the idea is tempting – oh it's so tempting. "But-"
"Look," he gently pulls her by the shoulder to stop pacing and turn to him. "Anyone who can't make it, that we want there, will be at the next one," he tells her. "That's the one they were going to be at anyway. We're still having the wedding at the White House, we'll still celebrate with them. But this one is just for us. Small, relaxed, it can go however we want it to go. No press, no phony staged photo ops, no politicians – well, I mean… some politicians. The ones we like."
"Including us," she jokes, feeling light for the first time, the anxiety she'd been dealing with lifting.
"Yeah, exactly - us," he says as he rubs his hand up and down her arm. "As long as you and I are there, that's all we need. This one's for us."
She knows in her gut the right answer, despite her hesitations. "Okay. Alright, you can call him," she agrees and Josh grins. "But don't push it! If he resists that's it."
"Okay. But maybe, y'know, in the morning. Let's go to bed," he says giving her a kiss and taking her hand to guide her towards the bedroom. "You've had a long night."
"I always knew you two would be the death of me," CJ teases Friday afternoon when she arrives at the Bartlet farm. She removes her sunglasses and throws her hair back, then she greets Josh and Donna, each with a hug. "I just thought it would be, you know, for hooking up when Josh was still your boss, not moving your wedding day up on me, the Matron of Honor, who is supposed to have this all under control."
Josh smirks, but Donna looks aghast at the accusation that they would ever have done anything so scandalous.
"Claudia Jean!" the voice of Jed Bartlet rings out as he makes his way towards her for a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
"Mr. President," she says with a grin, her eyes lighting up in joy at seeing her longtime friend.
"Now, now. Listen to me. Everyone," he looks at all three of them and tries to use his most stern voice, "is to call me Jed, do you all understand?"
"Yes, Mr. President," three voices echo out with Josh adding, "Sir," at the end and Jed rolls his eyes.
"Well, we'll work on that," he decides. "Come on up to the house, Abbey's got lunch prepared and we'll show you the gazebo out back. Zoey's decorating it as we speak, and she may have roped Charlie into helping by now as well," he says with a light chuckle.
"I'm so sorry about all this," Donna says with a guilt-ridden sigh. "This is such an imposition and I really-"
"Nonsense," he cuts her off with a wave of his hand. "Donna, you're the only reason Josh got anything done for seven years. I owe you one." This makes both Donna and CJ laugh, CJ elbowing Josh in amusement as Josh frowns. Jed pats him on the back reassuring him he's only teasing. "Let's go."
"So, I hear you've became an officiant?" CJ asks Jed. "As if being a former governor and President of the United States was not enough prestige?"
Jed laughs. "Oh, the things you find to do in retirement. I guess I just got overly excited when Zoey told me she and Charlie were engaged and she told me that she wants me to perform the ceremony," he admits. "They haven't even set a date yet, so maybe I jumped the gun a little, but worked out, didn't it? Here we are!"
They walk into the house and Abbey grins in delight. "It's so great to see you all together again," she muses as she hugs CJ, the newest arrival. "Wait. Are we still missing Sam?" she asks with a frown.
"Oh, yeah. Sam will be here tonight. He's covering for me at work," Josh explains sheepishly. "I had to duck out early so we could get here in time to get the marriage license and I guess I left a few things unfinished."
Abbey grins knowingly. "Have a demanding job, do you Joshua?" she jokes and turns to Donna. "Speaking of which, Donna. I hear you're a damn good chief of staff to the first lady," she hands her a glass of wine. "If only I had known you were looking for such a position, I would've snatched you up from Josh immediately years ago."
"That… is a very sore subject," Josh informs her with a grimace. It always seems to haunt him, seeing how good Donna is in her job, that he never promoted her. He feels like as her boss he should've realized that was the thing to do, but as someone who was completely in love with his assistant the idea of pushing her away never came to his mind.
Donna shakes her head in amusement and elbows him gently. "No. It's not, anymore." She turns to Abbey. "Thank you, ma'am. I'm really enjoying it."
"Oh, now, what's this 'ma'am' business?" Abbey asks as she turns to pour more glasses of wine for the others.
"Sorry," Donna apologizes with a chuckle. "Mrs. Santos tells me the same thing. It's a habit I just can't break."
"Well, there're worse habits, I suppose," Abbey says contemplatively and ushers everyone to sit down and relax.
Josh smirks and turns to Donna, his mind clearly still a few steps behind where the conversation has gone. "Besides. Now I'm giving you the ultimate promotion to wife."
Donna rolls her eyes hard, but can't help but laugh. "You're an idiot." Still, she kisses him before sitting down at the table.
That evening Sam arrives, with Ainsley in tow. Sam had come back to Washington DC engaged to someone else, but after his engagement didn't stand the test of the White House, he found himself reconnecting with Ainsley and now they're likely the next couple to head for a White House wedding. They greet everyone and they go through the small talk, but Josh can tell that Sam is nervous and anxious about something by the way he keeps his hands in his pockets, keeps glancing at Josh, and rocks on the heels of his feet.
After Abbey leaves him be and CJ, Jed, Ainsley, and Donna are engrossed in conversation, he pulls Josh aside.
"What's going on?" Josh asks, Sam's general demeanor making him nervous that something's going to go wrong or something that Josh hasn't anticipated in this scenario has already gone wrong. Had something happened at work?
"So, we don't have the rings," Sam says quickly, rushing to get out the words.
Josh blinks. "You don't have the…"
"Rings," Sam repeats, tapping his ring finger to clarify. "For your wedding."
"Okay," Josh says calmly. Sam blinks, as if he expected something more from Josh – an outburst or anger, a rant, maybe.
"It's just that I was supposed to pick them up from the jeweler this week and with the change of date it just slipped my mind so-"
"Sam, don't worry. It's fine," Josh tells him. "It's hardly your fault that we up and flipped this thing around on you."
Still, Sam looks disappointed. "You need rings on your wedding day."
"We'll have them for the next one," Josh says, patting him on the shoulder. This has been a perk of the whole thing – anything that goes wrong now, they can do for the next wedding ceremony. "This wedding is lowkey. No stress. No rings, no problem."
Sam frowns, still unsure but he quickly regroups and moves on, finding something he thinks he can be helpful with to make up for not getting the rings in time. "Do you need help with your vows?"
"Nah," Josh says as if it's no big deal, grabbing some pretzels from the bowl and popping them into his mouth. "I got it."
"You wrote them down?" Sam clarifies.
"No, I'm just gonna wing it," he says breezily. Sam laughs, then his eyes widen in horror as he realizes that his longtime friend is not joking.
"Josh!" Sam is aghast and lowers his voice to a whisper, as if Donna overhearing this would be criminal. "No! You cannot wing your wedding vows."
Josh gives Sam a look as if he's totally blowing this out of proportion. "Sure I can. I'm good at thinking on my feet."
Sam rolls his eyes. "Oh, yeah? Like how you thought up a secret plan to fight inflation on your feet?"
Josh groans outwardly. "Will no one let me live that down?"
"No, and if you screw this up, you'll definitely never live this down. Your wife will never let you forget it for all eternity."
Josh grins at Sam's use of the word wife, and he thinks it may be the first time anyone else has referred to Donna directly as his wife and not just in the hypothetical scenario of him having a wife once he gets married. "That's politics. This is easy. This is Donna."
Sam still doesn't look assured. "Okay." He starts to turn to walk away but then turns back to Josh. "I mean if you just want to write down some bullet points and I can glance at them or-"
"Sam."
"Right."
On Saturday morning, Zoey does Donna's makeup in her bedroom, palates of eyeshadow and blush laid out before her, while Angela Moss fusses over her hair and Rachel Lyman steams her dress in Zoey's bathroom.
"This isn't going to be the makeover you'll get at the White House," Zoey apologizes. "But I do know a thing or two about blending eyeshadow."
"And I know nothing about doing makeup," CJ says breezily as she enters the room with a large mug, kicking the door shut with her foot behind her. "But," she grins. "I did get you coffee."
"Thank you," Donna says gratefully.
"Look at that. From an assistant getting Josh his coffee to drinking coffee on your wedding day to Josh," Zoey teases as she dips a makeup brush in eyeshadow.
"I never got Josh coffee," Donna states casually as she takes a careful sip.
"Never?" Zoey asks, surprised, as she motions for Donna to close her eyes so she can do her eyeshadow.
"Well, a few times," she says carefully, trying not to contort her face too much as she speaks. "Special occasions, I guess. Not a regular daily thing, though. He never really asked me to, either."
"He was in love with her from day one," CJ explains.
"No, he wasn't," Donna says with a laugh.
"Oh, please," Angela intervenes. "Yes, he was. It's always been like that with you two."
"Yes!" CJ agrees with a clap of her hands. "I love someone who speaks the truth."
Donna rolls her eyes. "Oh, come on, Mom. That's not true. How would you even know?"
Angela just shakes her head and laughs. "Donna, you came home from the campaign in 1998 to go back to what's-his-name-"
"You know his name is-"
Angela waves her off. "And all you could talk about was the campaign, but more specifically Josh-"
"Honestly," Donna sighs, sipping her coffee. "You make me sound like a lovesick puppy. It wasn't that. I really enjoyed the campaign, and I liked the job."
"I'm sorry, are we still denying this?" CJ asks with a raise of her eyebrows. "All these years later?"
"And that time we met him when the campaign came to Madison?" Angela adds. "It was obvious how you felt."
"And you weren't the only one," Rachel Lyman cuts in and CJ snorts in agreement and motions for her to continue. "Honey, I knew it the moment he hired you," Rachel agrees. "I asked Josh how the campaign was going and he tells me, 'I hired an assistant. She's from Wisconsin.' Never in his career has he told me about anyone he's ever hired, let alone where they're from, especially as the first thing to tell his mother when she asks how things are going."
Donna smirks at that and gives a little shrug as if to say what can I say?, seemingly pleased that the immediate infatuation went both ways.
"Donna!" Josh's voice suddenly calls out from the hallway, loud and urgent.
"Well, if that's not a blast from the past," CJ says with a roll of her eyes at Josh's bellowing.
"I'm coming in," Josh warns them, though it's clear that he has paused on the other side of the door before doing so, waiting for a response.
"No! You're not supposed to see the bride before the ceremony!" CJ bellows back urgently, jumping up to do some kind of Matron of Honor damage control.
Josh rolls his eyes as he steps into the room. "CJ, we woke up together in the same bed this morning." CJ frowns, realizing she may have missed an important detail in keeping them apart on their wedding day, and Donna chuckles.
"We're not superstitious about that," Donna informs her. "Besides, it's impossible given the circumstances today." Not being in each other's space given the circumstances of this last-minute wedding was nearly impossible. Both had promised to help as much as they could as they didn't want the Bartlets doing anything extraneous to accommodate their request to use the farm for a last-minute ceremony.
"Yeah, we agreed to do it for the next one," Josh tells CJ, brushing it off.
"But, he hasn't seen the dress," Donna adds, gesturing towards the bathroom where her dress is and her mother quickly closes the bathroom door to avoid Josh getting a sneak peek.
"Anyway, can I talk to Donna?" Josh asks the women. "Just for a minute."
"As if she's not yours for the rest of your lives," Zoey teases, putting down her makeup tools and Josh nudges her playfully on the shoulder.
The women all grumble their acquiescence and head out of the room, CJ taking Josh's mother by the arm. "So, Mrs. Lyman, I've got a few questions for you…" she begins as Josh rolls his eyes.
"They're a cheery bunch," Josh says sarcastically at their groans and grumbles.
"Stop," she laughs. "What's up?"
"This might sound crazy," Josh says, sitting down across from her, their knees touching. She can tell he's freshly showered but that's about as much preparation as he's done so far for the big day. "And I definitely went through your purse, so I'm sorry in advance." Donna quirks an eyebrow at that in interest. "We don't have rings, but what about these?"
He holds out his hand and dangles in front of her from his finger their identical (except for, of course, their names and photos – even their work titles match) work lanyards.
He can see the confusion on Donna's face momentarily, but then he sees her begin to catch up and understand. "We exchange our…" then the true understanding hits her in the face. "We exchange our work badges."
"Yes," Josh says with a grin.
"Like when-"
"Yes," he says, grin getting bigger.
"You remember that," she muses softly as she takes a lanyard in her hand and runs her fingers over the plastic badge softly.
"Of course I remember that," he feigns offense at the idea that she would assume he doesn't. "That was the day I met you. You remember."
"Yeah, I remember because…" she trails off, recalling how that moment had been engrained in her mind forever because of the chance he gave her and the little flutter of butterflies she had felt in her stomach the first time she met him. He'd been in such a whirlwind with the campaign she'd always assumed the moment was just one of a hundred he'd had and then pushed from his mind that day. "I don't know, I just didn't know you remembered that specific detail."
"Because you seem to think you were the only one that was head over heels that first moment," Josh teases, nudging her knee with his.
She smiles thoughtfully, thinking about how long ago that really was. "Do you ever regret that it took us so long?"
"No," Josh says instantly.
She seems surprised at his quick response. "No?"
"All those years – I mean, at the time I thought we never had a chance to be together so didn't really care for that part of it, but – all those years made us who we are together."
She laughs, "Even the exes?"
Josh lets out a huff. "They never stood a chance."
"The fights?"
"We still fight."
She bites her lip in thought. "When I quit?"
"I'm glad you quit," he tells her boldly and Donna raises an eyebrow, surprised, a small snort coming out of her as she laughs at the concept. "I mean, I know it didn't seem like it at the time-"
"That's an understatement," she teases.
"But were locked in a holding pattern for all those years because of our jobs – which yes, I know I should've broken it by promoting you, but I didn't - and who knows how much longer it would've gone on had you not broken it." Donna shrugs at this, having never thought of it that way. "Plus, you needed to be on that campaign without me. You needed to do something away from me, as much as it pains me to say it. You came back so much more confident in yourself."
She doesn't know what to say so she just leans forward and kisses him softly.
He gets a grin on his face and she knows what's coming before he says it, "Even if you lost."
She slaps him playfully on the shoulder and he kisses her again.
"I love you," she tells him.
"I love you, too," he returns, recalling a time when he couldn't even admit that to himself, let alone imagine saying the words to her (or, her saying them back). Now he's facing the rest of his life with that concept at the forefront of everything he does.
As the morning creeps on, Josh eventually calls everyone outside before they change into their outfits to take a look at the set-up for the ceremony (calling it a "rehearsal breakfast" to which Sam points out there is no breakfast nor any actual rehearsing and Josh snaps back it's so they can get a feel for the layout). CJ is impatient, because they've already been over this, Sam is annoyed because Josh still refuses to write down anything for his vows, and Donna's mother and Josh's mother are busy ohhing and ahhing over every detail of the farm they encounter while Donna's father, Dave, follows them dutifully but sits down at every turn whenever he finds a seat (real or makeshift).
Everyone groans when Jed tells them to come around front.
"That's not even where the ceremony's going to be," Sam counters.
Surprisingly, Josh is all for it, glancing at his watch. "Let's just go," he tells Sam with a clap of his hand on his shoulder. He then grabs Donna's hand and pulls her along next to him, leaving their mothers to examine the plants along the way with Donna's father being a good sport about it all and strolling along next to them.
"What's that?" Angela Moss asks, and all their heads turn to the road leading into the farm's long driveway, where the entrance is heavily protected by secret service, eyes squinting against the sun and hands coming up to shield their eyes.
Donna frowns when she sees the front gate open and the sleek, black car with tinted windows drive through without much of a fuss. She's unsure of what's going on and she looks to Josh who bounces on the heels of his feet in anticipation, so she knows he's up to something. The car makes its way down the winding road, up to where they stand and a secret service agent gets out, nods to them, and opens the door.
Everyone audibly gasps when President Santos steps out of the car, dressed in a suit, followed by Helen, Peter, and Miranda - all three also dressed ready for an event.
Donna gasps and holds her hand over her mouth as there's a chorus of "Mr. President" and everyone stands up a little straighter. Jed chuckles in the background, amused at watching everyone react this way to someone other than himself.
"Now, did someone say something about a wedding?" President Santos asks with a wide grin, eyes shining. "Maybe my invite got lost in the mail?"
The surprise continues a moment later when Annabeth and Lou step out of the car behind them.
"What? How…" Donna asks in amazement, jaw dropping. "How did you…" she looks from the members of the Santos administration to Josh and back again. "You're here."
"Well, I couldn't very well let my chief of staff get married without me, could I?" Helen gushes, stepping forward to give Donna a hug. On the campaign trail they had, of course, formed a rapport which is what led to Helen wanting to hire Donna as her chief of staff. Their connection had been immediate, and in their time working together in the White House since, they had begun to form a friendship despite the fact Helen was her boss (then again, Donna had never been very good at allowing someone being her boss to stop a friendship).
"Hi Josh, Hi Donna!" Miranda, ever the extrovert, gushes. "Oh, hi Sam!" she adds excitedly as she notices Sam and watches Sam give Peter a high five and engage in some kind of secret handshake the two of them seemed to have mastered before both kids run off in the other direction to check out the farm.
"There's no way I'm missing this buffoon tie the knot," Lou says by way of greeting, giving Josh's shoulder a shove. "You know, you both have me to thank," Lou boasts with a laugh as Josh rolls his eyes knowing she's referring to her hiring of Donna on the Santos campaign.
Really, though, Josh has to admit she might be somewhat right. Had Lou not hired Donna (or listened to him when he pushed back on it) he wonders where Donna would've ended up – where they would've ended up - after she had walked away when he told her he couldn't hire her.
"Remember our deal," Josh reminds both women. "This wedding is not going to the press."
"We know, Joshua," Annabeth rolls her eyes and takes her turn hugging everyone, including CJ and President Bartlet who she also had the experience of working with in the White House for a short while and Donna laughs in delight through her tears.
"Your makeup!" Zoey warns Donna, who then tries to hold it together and stop the tears.
"Turns out," President Santos says, greeting Josh and Sam, shaking the hand of Donna's and Josh's mothers while Donna's mom looks absolutely pale, meeting the President of the United States, "this place already has secret service protection. Who knew?"
"Advance is still not that happy with us," Josh grumbles and Matt laughs.
"That's the beauty of being president," Matt informs all of them. "They have to do whatever I want."
As President Bartlet escorts the first family and new guests into the farm, Donna turns to Josh in absolute shock.
"How did you…?"
Josh shrugs. "It was a whole thing but.. I could tell you really wanted them here," Josh says softly. "I mean, as much as Sam and CJ and everyone is our family, they're – they're our family now, too," Josh says as he kisses her on the cheek.
CJ, Sam, Toby, Leo and the Bartlets had become like family to them as they first started out – as they all worked together, most of them still a little green - to get President Bartlet elected. Together they learned to navigate and understand life at the White House, to get through the long days and nights the job suddenly brought upon them. But now Annabeth and Lou and the Santos family had become something similar, only for a different phase of their lives. They were more comfortable in the White House from the get go this time, and now instead of late nights in the White House followed by beers at 1am or poker games after hours into the early morning, they were the friends and support system seeing them through life changes like buying engagement rings, pulling off proposals, and planning weddings.
"You're amazing," Donna says, leaning in to give him a hug, her hands rubbing his back. She pulls back and looks up into his eyes. "Marry me?"
He laughs, a deep, hearty laugh and kisses the top of her head. "I thought you'd never ask, Donnatella."
"I have a surprise, too," she says softly, carefully, as she pulls back to look at him but not yet breaking the embrace fully. "I really hope you're okay with it."
Josh crinkles his nose. "That's a little terrifying."
"Actually, I cleared it with everyone here first. I just want you to know that everyone's okay with it."
"Okay with what?" Josh asks, confused. "What is it?"
"Let's go up to the house," she says softly, taking his hand.
They make their way back to the Bartlet house. The Santos family and the others are all with Jed and Abbey in the back, looking at the area for the ceremony, the kids wide-eyed in wonder at all the elements of the farm they encounter. Donna hears Zoey promise to show Peter and Miranda the horses later. Donna steers Josh away from the group and towards the house, where they go into the kitchen.
Josh stops in his tracks when he sees another guest (he assumes?) sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee.
"Toby?"
Toby stands, nervous. "Mazel Tov," he says to Josh, reaching out a hand.
Josh blinks at him stupidly, and for a moment Donna's nervous that she may have done the wrong thing – but then Josh steps forward and pulls Toby into a hug, ignoring his outstretched hand.
They chat with him for a few moments before Sam steps into the kitchen and greets Toby in delight, which seems to put Toby a little more at ease. Donna pulls Josh to the side for a moment while Sam and Toby chat.
"I just thought, you know – he can't be at the next one, for obvious reasons, so…"
Josh steps forward and puts his hands on her cheeks gently, kissing her forehead. "I love you."
She smiles and leans her forehead against his. "It's almost time to do this. About an hour to go."
"It's way past time, if you ask me," Josh tells her and they break apart ready to go their separate ways and get dressed before the ceremony begins.
On Saturday afternoon the weather cooperates. It's sunny, but cool. Zoey (and Charlie) have decorated the area near the gazebo with flowers and have set out folding chairs. The group in attendance is small; Donna's parents, Josh's mother, Sam and Ainsley, CJ, Toby, Lou, Annabeth, Zoey and Charlie, and of course Jed and Abbey Bartlet and Matt and Helen Santos along with Peter and Miranda.
Sam and CJ serve as Best Man and Matron of Honor, Miranda is taking on the coveted role of flower girl for this ceremony, Peter is serving as the ring bearer (who has no rings), and Jed Bartlet is officiating the ceremony.
There are only two rows of chairs on each side of the makeshift aisle. Donna's mother and Josh's mother sit next to each other, an empty seat left for Donna's father while he prepares to walk her down the aisle. Next to them sit the Santoses, with Abbey seated next to Helen. Lou and Annabeth sit on the other side of the aisle with Zoey, Ainsley, Charlie, Toby. They've left an empty chair next to Toby, signifying Leo's presence.
Zoey's got some music playing from a portable CD player and Josh stands with Jed at the gazebo. Miranda walks in tossing the flower petals that she and Abbey picked earlier that morning, escorted by Peter. Then CJ makes her way down the aisle arm in arm with Sam. Once they reach the front Zoey cuts the music and changes it to an instrumental version of the wedding march by quickly switching tracks and everyone stands.
Donna and her father appear, a grin on Donna's face like she's waited her whole life for this moment. Josh can't help but grin back at her, his own smile mirroring hers, when he sees her in her dress. It's sleek and elegant with just the right amount of detail and he couldn't imagine Donna in anything else.
He can still clearly recall that moment that he walked into his office in the Bartlet for America headquarters only to find her there, answering his phone like she belonged (and, it turns out - she did). He had been entranced by her from that very first moment, the way she talked herself into a job. She was beautiful, yes, but it was something about her calm but insistent demeanor, the insistence she would prove herself, that sold him on her immediately.
She had been young then. Now she's ten years older (which is nothing, given he'll always have some years on her, he knows). She's still just as beautiful, she's even more insistent in what she wants for herself. She's grown- they've grown- so much from where they started from.
Donna and her father reach the end of the aisle and Dave kisses her on the cheek and takes his seat as Zoey quickly fiddles with the CD player, the music cutting off just a moment or two after it should have. The small crowd is silent, waiting. Out of the corner of his eye, Josh notices Sam grinning.
"Well, well. Here we are," the finally implied as Jed begins and everyone lets out a little laugh. "Now, I've known Josh and Donna for a long time. I met both of them on the campaign. Each of them, alone, was an asset to my administration. But together, they made a flawless team. They worked together so well that they made it look effortless. Many a thing got accomplished in my administration solely because of their teamwork. But it was more than that. They truly cared for each other, they had each other's backs – every day and in every way. When I thought about the typical wedding vows, I realized – they've been through it all already. Better and worse, sickness and health, richer and poorer- because I think we all know campaign trails don't pay all that well." Everyone laughs at his joke, many of them having lived that experience firsthand. So, it is truly my pleasure to preside over their marriage today. I've been told that they've written their own vows, so, Joshua?"
"I told my best man that I wanted to wing my vows," Josh begins and he can hear Sam softly groan behind him. "And he thought I was crazy because I once told the White House Press Corps that the president had a secret plan to fight inflation so he thinks I'm not so good on my feet," he says and everyone laughs.
Most of them remember and if they don't, those in the Santos administration who know Josh now can only imagine it. Donna shakes her head softly as she remembers how she had flown down the hall to be there when he got out of the briefing.
"Donna was there. She remembers," Josh says almost as if he's reading her thoughts and she nods in agreement. "That's the thing. I think back on everything in my life for the past ten years, and Donna was there. She was there when I made up the secret plan to fight inflation. She was there when my dad died, and when Leo died. She was there when I was recovering from surgery after I got shot. She was there when I almost got fired, several times. She was there when I found out Indiana has different time zones, when we won the election – all three times, when Sam and I accidentally set a fire in the Mural Room." Josh chuckles. "Through everything, you know? The good, the bad, the… stupid. That's why marrying her today is the easiest choice I will ever make. I've already been in love with her for ten years, there's no doubt in my mind that loving her for the rest of our lives will be the easiest thing I'll do."
Donna's eyes are teary and Zoey mouths your makeup at her as she realizes it might be her turn to speak. She takes the paper she had written her vows on and hands it back to CJ, who raises her eyebrows in question.
"I'm going to wing it, too," she declares and now Sam really groans. She can use her edited, revised, to the word vows at the next ceremony when there's no room for improvising.
"I hate being unprepared. I've carefully planned and rehearsed every speech I've ever given since high school," she begins. "The speech I used to convince my parents to buy me a car for my sixteenth birthday. All my presentations in high school and college. Speeches on the campaign trail, and at work. I crafted speeches for breakups and to quit jobs," she says softly, recalling the speech she had tried to recite to Josh even in the middle of the bullpen. "But there's one time I decided to go in totally unprepared and that's the day I walked into Bartlet for America headquarters and convinced Josh Lyman to hire me even though I had no experience and I lied to him several times." Josh grins at the memory. "I didn't have a speech that day, but I guess it worked because he hired me. I didn't mean to fall in love with him, either, obviously. In fact, I tried very hard not to because of our jobs, but I was fighting a losing battle. And I don't think I hid it very well because everyone claims that they knew. Who knew?" she asks the crowd.
Josh just laughs as he watches almost every hand go up: CJ, Sam, President Bartlet. His mom. Zoey. Charlie. Toby. Donna's parents. Lou.
Donna continues, "The thing is, that day I was looking for a chance to start over. I thought maybe I'd get a new job, find some new skills, see some of the country. Never did I imagine that it would take us here," she gestures around them to indicate the wedding, and their marriage. "It wasn't what I had planned but it's the best thing that ever happened to me."
"I just want to say," President Bartlet begins again. "That Donna, it wasn't only you that was obvious about your feelings," and everyone laughs. "Now, I understand we don't have rings today-"
"Sorry!" Sam tells everyone with a grimace and Ainsley shakes her head at him as if telling him to get it together.
"We do have some symbolic rings," Jed continues and Peter knows it's his cue and he moves to hand each of them a lanyard.
Jed guides them through the ring exchange, but instead of placing a ring on each other's fingers during this ceremony they place their lanyards around each other's necks with a shared smirk and Josh pulls Donna's hair out from behind the lanyard and gently fixes it.
"So, I guess all that's left now is to say that – and I know I speak for many when I add – finally, I now pronounce you: husband, and wife," President Bartlet grins. "You may kiss the bride!"
Donna gives him the biggest grin that he's ever seen in his whole life and he can't wait one more second to pull her into his arms and kiss her, his fingers lightly skimming over her cheek as he does so.
The crowd is small, but they're loud and their cheers and whoops fill the air, Donna laughing in delight as they break apart from the kiss to face their family and friends for the first time as husband and wife.
At the makeshift reception, Zoey plays DJ and puts on some various CDs. There aren't many people there to get a whole dance floor going, but Zoey still insists that they have to have their first dance as husband and wife. "It'll be a lot better than that stuffy old White House first dance," she says. "Remember Ellie's wedding?" she reminds them under her breath.
She's got out the mic that they use for karaoke and makes an announcement even though the group is very small and informal. "Everyone, Mr. and Mrs. Josh Lyman!"
Donna laughs at that, recalling all the times that she'd answered Josh's phone, how she never would have imagined as she said, Josh Lyman's office! for those thousands of times that one day someone would refer to her as Mrs. Josh Lyman.
Even as Josh takes her hand and pulls her to the dance floor, he asks her, "You're not changing your name, are you?"
"No, I've been using Donna for my whole life. I think I'll stick with it."
He rolls his eyes and kisses her on the cheek because even her sarcasm makes him fall more in love with her. "You know what I mean."
"I was planning to hyphenate," she explains thoughtfully. "Probably keep Moss at work, but we'll see."
"Donna Moss-Lyman," he tries it out for size and grins. "Donnatella Moss-Lyman. God, that's unbelievable."
She laughs and nestles her head on his shoulder. "Tell me about it." They sway to the music for a few moments before she lifts her head to look at him. "Today has been perfect."
"Yeah," Josh agrees. "It has. And I'm not saying the White House wedding won't be amazing, any time I get to marry you it would be amazing, but this is…"
"Yeah. I'm actually looking forward to the next one now. It can be whatever it's going to be. Good idea you had," she agrees as she runs her hand down his chest and her fingers catch in the lanyard – hers- that he's still wearing and she can't help but giggle. "Donnatella," she jokes.
"I wear it with pride," he says with a grin. "An honor."
She sighs happily, the day bringing her so much contentment. It had been such a makeshift wedding with their music coming from a CD player, their guests severely limited, and their flowers only those that were found on the farm, but the intimacy of it all rivaled anything they could have done at the White House. It's just a select few friends and family members, but it's the ones who know them best, the ones who watched it happen. The day has been so free and informal and she loves it.
She glances over Josh's shoulder to see their parents sitting huddled together. "What are our parents talking about?"
Josh rolls his eyes as if annoyed, but she knows he isn't. "Thanksgiving."
She pulls back to look at him and quirks an eyebrow. "Thanksgiving?"
"Yeah, your parents have invited my mom to join them in Madison for Thanksgiving. Christmas, too, if she wants – even though they know she doesn't celebrate. It will be a great excuse to spend more time with the grandkids."
Donna laughs. "Grandkids, huh?"
"I gotta tell you, they sure do know the carrot to dangle in front of my mother. I can see it, though," he tells her as she lets her head come to rest on his shoulder.
She sighs happily and agrees, "Yeah. Me too."
"Y'know," he says as his hands trace over her back softly. "Turns out – you are pretty valuable to me."
She grins, remembering her words that very first day. "What I didn't know then is that you'd be valuable to me, too," she sighs.
"We made it."
"Yeah. Well, we still have to do it again in the White House."
"I think it's going to be alright," he laughs and kisses her gently. When he pulls away, she tugs him close to kiss him once more. Someone in the crowd – he's pretty sure it's Charlie – whoops and cheers as they kiss.
As the evening winds down, they find themselves in front of the firepit. The evening is cool, but not too cold to be outside. Abbey has brought out blankets and drinks. Donna's parents and Josh's mother have since headed out and Toby has left, still being unsure of his place in it all. Now it's just a small group of people: CJ, Zoey, Charlie, Sam, Ainsely, Annabeth, Lou, the Santoses (the kids asleep in Ellie Bartlet's bedroom) and the Bartlets. It's small and intimate and causal and Donna loves it more than she could have imagined for her wedding reception.
"So!" CJ says with a devious grin, gulping the last of her wine and Abbey immediately gets up to refill it, "I say let's share our Josh and Donna stories! It's time to embarrass the bride and groom on their wedding day."
Josh frowns at her. "That's not a thing at weddings."
"It is now!" she grins. "A toast, Josh and Donna style. So, everyone, let's toast by sharing your stories about when you knew."
"Oh, that's easy," Sam laughs, sipping his beer. "When Donna left the campaign to go back to Wisconsin and Josh pouted for a week. Then he started marking the anniversary of when she returned with flowers for years to come, despite her irritation, like a little boy pulling hair on the playground."
"I remember that!" Ainsley declares as Josh rolls his eyes and everyone else laughs.
"He still sends the flowers," Annabeth adds.
"When I hired her to do Midwestern press," Lou says as she sloshes her drink. "And he would not shut up about her. Why did I hire her this, why did I hire her that."
CJ laughs. "No, wait. When he hired himself an assistant when no one else had one."
"Hey, first of all, she hired herself," Josh defends to the chorus of laughs, "and second, is anyone going to poke fun at Donna or just me?"
Matt grins, ignoring him. "So, what we're saying is that everyone on the Bartlet campaign knew it before you even got to office?"
"Yes," they all say in sync.
"When he went to her apartment and threw snowballs at her window," Charlie says with a deep chuckle. "He was the only one who could be the good cop."
"You're all lying," Donna accuses with a good-natured laugh. "You just think you knew because of where we ended up."
"Oh, no. We knew," Sam says taking a swing of his beer. "There was a pool going on for a while there."
Donna looks horrified. "No. There was not!"
"It's the first I'm hearing about it," CJ agrees.
"Who in their right mind would've clued CJ in?" Sam rolls his eyes. "She would've had a fit at the very thought of the press nightmare it would cause."
"Not untrue," CJ agrees with a shrug and a smirk.
"I know I worked with them during the Bartlet years," Annabeth steers them back on topic, "but not long enough to notice. There was a time on the Santos campaign though," she muses, trying to recall the exact details. "Around the time Vinick got the cold? Josh just kept staring after her. I remember I thought 'He's got it bad.'"
Donna snorts and Josh smirks. "Because he'd just kissed me," she informs her. She'd be lying if she didn't admit she'd noticed how he looked at her after that – to her it was the first time it had begun to feel like the old days.
"Over polling numbers," Josh admits and everyone laughs.
"Typical Joshua," CJ notes. "Always the romantic."
"It worked, didn't it?" Josh shoots back, then cracks a smile.
"Well, I guess I was slow on the uptake," President Santos admits, "But when he went away on vacation – he went with her, so I knew they were a thing by then – but the kicker was it was transition and he didn't even take his phone with him. I knew he was a goner."
Sam says, "That one was thanks to me!" as he high fives Lou in their apparent bond at pushing the two of them together.
Abbey pipes up, her story more solemn. "When I sat with Donna in the waiting room at GW."
Everyone goes silent for a moment in recollection, many of them having also been in that waiting room.
"When he took off to Germany without even packing a bag," Jed adds gently and the silence grows as they all contemplate how their moments have not always been funny and cute. As Jed had said in his speech – they had been through it all already – sickness and in health included, Rosslyn and Gaza being two of the worst situations either of them had dealt with in their lifetimes.
"Leo knew," Josh adds softly, adding to the heavy moment. He recalls how Leo had told him to go to Germany when Donna was injured without a second thought, knowing Leo understood then, too. "I don't know when he first knew, but he knew that Christmas when she went away with…" he trails off, not really wanting to bring up Jack's name on his wedding day. "He got her out to the Washington Inn and I was acting… I don't know, I didn't want her to go… so he asked me if he'd overstepped and told me to get it together."
"I knew you meant something when you said you didn't keep me there on purpose!" Donna declares, triumphant, the moment that had haunted her finally going in her favor.
Josh rolls his eyes playfully. "Oh, c'mon. Obviously I did."
They all laugh and reminisce by the fire pit for a while, enjoying the lowkey evening where they can enjoy each other's' presence without having to worry about work before Matt Santos regretfully reminds them all he has to head out as he promised Ron Butterfield he'd be back in the White House on schedule tonight.
As they gear up to head out, Helen prepares to gather her sleeping children and says, "And Donna - take Monday off."
Donna shakes her head, insistent, though she appreciates the gesture. She knows she has the second wedding coming up, and some time off scheduled after that, as well. "I can't I have the-"
"Take Monday off," President Santos tells her forcefully, then turns his gaze to his chief of staff. "Josh, you too. And consider that a direct order from the President of the United States."
"Nicely done," Jed nods his approval with a chuckle and a raise of his glass.
"Can I have Monday off?" Lou asks jokingly.
"You come in early," President Santos says quickly, pointing at her in teasing. "I'm short staffed," he adds, causing smirks and chuckles from the group. After the first family and Lou and Annabeth depart to head back to Airforce One, the Bartlets – including Charlie and Zoey, break away as well to head back to the house. Sam, Ainsley, and CJ stay for one last drink as they all reminisce about the early Bartlet days for a while, CJ catching up on the Santos administration gossip, before Sam, Ainsley, and CJ leave to head out together.
"So. Now what?" Josh laughs softly as he and Donna are the last two remaining, stroking her arm gently as she huddles up to him against the cold, the fire dying out.
"Now… we're married," Donna realizes, turning to look at him. "Oh my God, Josh. We're married."
"Yeah," he laughs, still stroking her arm softly, not quite able to believe it himself. "And we're going to do it all again on Saturday."
Donna laughs. "With rings."
"I'd marry you with these paper rings any time," Josh grins, gently tugging at his lanyard that's around her neck.
"Yeah, sure, but I'm really looking forward to seeing that ring on your finger," Donna grins. "So that all of DC can know you're mine."
"When you were growing up, did you ever in your life imagine that you'd have two presidents at your wedding?" Josh muses.
"No," she laughs. "At my small, intimate wedding only for close friends? God, no."
"Sam called you my wife earlier," Josh recalls with a smile on his face, that moment still sticking with him.
Donna turns to grin at him. "Because I am," she reminds him. He leans forward to kiss her and she smiles against his lips. He kisses her again, then once more for good measure. "Hey, it's our wedding night," Donna says.
"We're at the Bartlet farm," Josh says in a whisper. "We can't…"
Donna grins at him. "Oh, we can because we're staying in their private guest house. And I think you'll get over it real quick when you see what I bought just for the occasion."
Josh raises his eyebrows. "Yeah?"
"Mmmhmm," Donna says in a low hum. "But I was thinking, maybe it would be more fun for me to wear nothing but this?" she says tugging at the lanyard around her neck.
Josh closes his eyes, trying to keep his composure at the image that suddenly came to mind. "Donna."
"Well, no reason we can't do both," she grins cheekily and stands to take his hand. "C'mon."
He starts to follow her, then stops her and she looks at him curiously. It hits him hard in that moment that this is his wife. What's weird is that it doesn't feel any different – this is his wife, yeah, but this is Donna. This is the person he's always depended on and turned to and protected at all costs.
Now she just has the correct title.
He'd never really considered marriage before, most of his girlfriends in the last decade hadn't been that serious. When he was younger, he never really thought about marriage, either. When he got older his career took so much of his time that he'd assumed he'd never have time (or the desire) for marriage or a family. His mother, of course, occasionally prodded him about it – a little Jewish guilt thrown at him about being her only chance to have grandkids (but, because that often led them both to think about the other Lyman child that was no longer with them to get married and have children, she didn't do it that often). Sometimes he did feel sad that his father never got the chance to be a grandfather, because he knows he would've been great at the role.
Then Donna appeared out of nowhere.
Literally, she just appeared in his office out of nowhere. He almost missed her at first in the hustle and bustle of the campaign office, until her words on the phone caused him to notice something was off.
"I just want to remember this moment," he says with a smile. Before, Sam had referred to Donna as his wife. But the real shock to the system comes from Donna a moment later.
"Who knew my husband was so sentimental?" Donna jokes with a playful grin on her face.
Husband.
He's her husband.
"Okay," he decides instantly, the words breaking him from his stupor of savoring memories. "That's it. Let's go. I have things I need to do with my wife." He pulls her hand that he's still holding and begins to tug her in the opposite direction forcefully.
"Josh!" she laughs at his sudden urgency as he takes her hand and tugs her along, but she follows willingly.
They've spent so much of today thinking back to the past, when they met, before they were a couple. Their friends and family certainly had their opinions on it, and it seems like everyone knew they had feelings for each other (though she's still insistent that some of their knowledge comes from hindsight in seeing them together). It seems so long ago now when they first met – really, she can't recall her life before Josh was a part of it. It feels like it's all led to this moment but she realizes suddenly that one day this moment will also be just one part of their past, a moment that seems so long ago once it's stacked below all the memories and moments they have before them.
She can't wait to live it all.