A/N: Here it is-Election Day! It's long, but I didn't have enough written about the extra bit of drama in the aftermath for it to warrant its own chapter. Plus, I wanted to wrap up this part and move on to the next part of the storyline. Hope you enjoy it, please read and review!
Chapter 5: Election Excitement
It was early November, and the day that the Lyman had been awaiting for eleven months had arrived: Election Day. On that sunny Tuesday, Donna woke up to a pleasant surprise: since Annabeth had told her she would not need to come in as early as usual, only when she voted around 10, Josh had turned off her alarm, and she could smell breakfast cooking downstairs. She climbed down the stairs, where Josh was putting a plate of eggs and pancakes at her place.
"Well, isn't this a nice surprise?" She greeted, kissing Josh sweetly on the cheek.
"I just thought you deserved a nice breakfast on today of all days. You've worked so hard the last few months."
Donna smiled as Josh pulled her chair out. "You know, honey, I never could've gotten this far, especially with everything that's happened in the last month, without you."
"Well, that's what I'm here for," Josh replied, squeezing her hand from above as he pushed in her chair.
"Kids are at school?" She asked.
"Yep." Montgomery County had decided to hold school as usual on Election Day that year. "And Ainsley called and said to wish you good luck. She also said to tell you she hopes the work she and Helen did in Damascus did some good."
"I'm sure it did," Donna responded. Having Ainsley and Helen Santos in her corner was a real lifesaver, and it worked wonders for the Get Out The Vote movement. And all week, she had been getting calls from good friends, as well as people she hadn't heard from in years: CJ, both Santos kids, Will Bailey...the list went on.
"Hey, how's Anna this morning?" She said. Anna was now 10 weeks along (confirmed by ultrasound), and the family was getting more and more used to the idea. While not thrilled about the situation, Donna was looking forward to the future instead of being stuck in the past and what should have happened.
"A little peckish, but she got over it pretty quickly. I reminded her that you've been through this three times."
"Yeah, but remember the girls? I practically ended up in the hospital."
Josh smiled. "It doesn't seem to be as bad, though. Thank God."
"So, what do you have planned for the day?"
"Besides voting?" Donna nodded. "I might just hang out here, do some odd jobs…"
"Keep yourself from running the show?" She asked knowingly.
Josh nodded sheepishly.
"Honey, it's OK." Donna kissed his hand. "Annabeth won't mind you helping out."
"You sure?"
"Positive. Now let's go out and vote."
…
The day moved slowly, slower than many days in Donna's recent memory. They went out at 10 and voted at the girls' high school, where they answered a few questions for reporters.
"What do you anticipate the outcome to be, Delegate?"
"Well, that's up to the voters at this point, Troy," Donna answered, her easy attitude slipping into her voice. "But my team has worked hard to make me as appealing as possible, so we'll see who comes out on top. And don't forget to vote yourselves!"
"Okay, that's it for questions!" Leila yelled. "Polls close at 8, and we'll be at the Sheraton downtown for tonight's Election Night festivities."
"Thanks, Leila." As the crowd dispersed, Donna said, "Is it all right if Josh comes back to the office with us?"
"Not for me, it's not," Leila replied. The three piled in the car and headed back to campaign headquarters, and then after a couple of hours of work, went back to their house. Donna then spent the rest of the day awaiting exit polls and trying to get her mind off the polls.
At 7:30, they rounded up the kids and headed to the Sheraton, where Donna's campaign was already working.
Annabeth met them as soon as they came into the room. "Hey, guys." She greeted.
"Hey, Aunt Annabeth." They all said.
"How ya feeling, Anna?" She asked.
"I've been better, but I'm not gonna let it ruin my night."
"Attagirl. Can I steal your mom for a few minutes?"
They all nodded, and Donna followed Annabeth over to the table where exit polls were spread out.
"What are the latest exits?" Donna asked the group generally.
Cole held up a sheet. "You're up in Takoma Park, Damascus, Kensington, and Rockville."
"What percent of the precincts are in?"
"40%." There was a glint in Cole's eye.
Donna knew what he was going to say before he said it. "Don't say it."
"Why not?"
"Because you would be tempting the wrath from high atop the thing."
"The wrath from the what now?"
Donna laughed. "It's just an expression. Madison, you guys have a concession written, right? Just in case."
"Yeah," Madison responded.
"Good."
"Not that you'll need it, Delegate." said a voice from behind her. Donna turned around. It was Molly Ziegler.
Molly had joined the Lyman for Congress campaign as an intern while going to school at Johns Hopkins. And while interning, she had proven herself valuable to the point where Madison had made her an apprentice in the Communications department. Nepotism it was not, just a girl working hard enough to be promoted.
"Hey, Molly," Donna said. "Enjoying this?"
"I've never really felt like this before," Molly said honestly.
"Yeah, well, that never really goes away."
"Okay, listen up!" Annabeth called out. "Polls are closed. Now we have to wait for the official results to be tallied from all the precincts, which can take a while, so everybody settle in. It's gonna be a long evening."
Everyone nodded. Molly said, "I'm gonna go find Trenton."
"Trenton Lucas?" Donna asked. Trenton, the only son of their old friend Joey Lucas, had been the Hoya writer to interview her a few months back.
"Yeah, I gave him a ticket and one for his mom."
"His mom's coming?"
"Yeah, I think so." Sure enough, Joey and Trenton Lucas entered a few moments later.
Joey waved to Donna and hugged her briefly. "This is some turnout!" She signed, interpreted by Trenton. "I've seen the exit polls. You should be very proud."
"Thanks," Donna replied. "Where's...um...God, I can't remember his name."
"Kenny? I gave him the weekend off."
"Ah." Donna motioned to Trenton, knowing Joey could read her lips, even as Trenton signed to his mother. "You have a very intelligent young man there. You should be very proud of him."
"I am," Joey spoke.
Just then, Josh came around to them. "Hey!" He said, lighting up when he saw Joey. He kissed her cheek. "What are you doing here?"
"Couldn't miss the fun." Joey signed.
"You've got your kid interpreting for you now?"
"Sometimes." She signed and spoke.
Josh grinned. "Can I steal my lovely wife for a minute?"
"Sure. Mom, let's go down to the ballroom where everyone else is."
Joey nodded, said her goodbyes, and left.
"That was nice to see her," Donna commented.
"Yeah." Josh sighed. "You ready for this?"
"Josh, they haven't counted all the votes yet."
"I've seen the exits, Donna. You're gonna win this thing."
Just as Josh said that, Annabeth yelled, "This is it! Everybody quiet down!" She turned up the volume on CNN.
…
"With 92% of the precincts reporting," the announcer began, "we are now ready to call the Maryland 8th District for Delegate Donnatella Lyman-"
The room broke into cheers. Annabeth threw up her papers and hugged Ryan, who then swept his wife Carolina and pre-teen sons into his arms. Cole pumped Brett's hand and embraced Willow. Madison popped some champagne and grabbed Leila's hand. And Josh swept up Donna in his arms.
"You're amazing, Donnatella." He whispered in her ear. "You're absolutely amazing. I'm so proud of you. I knew you could do it."
"I love you." Donna mouthed as they pulled apart, too overcome with emotion to speak.
"I love you, too," Josh said, before pulling her in for another hug. They were immediately joined by the kids.
Over her shoulder, Donna could see Annabeth, who held up her glass of champagne in celebration. "Thank you." She mouthed over the noise, pointing to her.
"You're welcome." Annabeth mouthed back.
"Congresswoman-Elect," Cole said, approaching her. "Mr. Edwards is on the phone."
Donna nodded, then took the concession call.
To his credit, Brett Edwards congratulated her, and Donna was equally congratulatory, assuring him that he would be back. After she hung up, they all headed downstairs, where a group was waiting, including Joey and Trenton.
For 10 minutes, Donna spoke, thanking her campaign staff and outlining once more that she would do more good for this district than all the other representatives before her. And then, she made some personal thank-yous.
"I'd like to thank my kids-Anna, Abby, Matty, and Leo-for their love and support. And my incredible husband Josh-honey, I love you so much, and this is because of you. But it's also because of a man who couldn't be here today, a man who inspired me enough to drive 18 hours from Wisconsin to New Hampshire to work on his campaign. The late President Josiah Bartlet was my ultimate inspiration for getting into this business. I will forever be grateful to him for it, and I will forever miss him." Her voice cracked on that last part. Then, it resolved. "Tonight is not an end, it is a beginning. It is the beginning of a new and improved Montgomery and Frederick County. Thank you all so much, and let's celebrate! Have a good night!"
The crowd roared as Donna kissed Josh again, then embraced her kids onstage. It was a true victory but little did they know, something was about to happen that would threaten their enjoyment of their victory.
…
The next morning, the Lymans' phone was ringing off the hook. Donna came down after sleeping in for the first time in a while to hear Abby saying, "Hold on, Mrs. Santos, she just walked in."
Donna's eyes lit up. "Is that Mrs. Santos on the phone?"
"Yeah, here she is." Abby covered the speaker of the phone. "People have been calling all morning, Mom. I've been writing them down."
"Thanks, honey," Donna told her eldest daughter before turning her attention to the phone. "Helen?"
Helen Santos's voice came through loud and clear. "Donna! I've been trying to get ahold of you all morning. Congratulations!"
Donna grinned. "Thanks. It still feels like a dream."
"Well, I can assure you that it's not," Helen replied. "Matt sends his love and congratulations, and so does Miranda."
"How's she doing? She's in New York, right?" A musical theatre major, Miranda Santos had moved to Manhattan to give Broadway a try.
"Yeah. She's been on a few auditions, mostly cattle-call off-Broadway stuff. But she's still keeping her hopes up."
Donna laughed wholeheartedly. Then, she grew serious. "Helen, I can't thank you enough for everything you did for us during the campaign."
"Donna, it was my pleasure," Helen said sincerely. "I always knew you'd be a good fit for Congress."
"I appreciate that, Helen." Just then, her phone beeped. "Helen, I've got someone on the other line."
"All right. Well, congratulations again!"
"Thanks. Talk to you soon."
"Talk to you soon, bye."
"Bye." As Donna clicked over to the other line, she heard, "Please hold for the President of the United States."
Donna grinned, even before she heard the familiar voice on the other end. "Hello, Congresswoman-Elect!"
"Good morning, Mr. President." She greeted.
"Donna, you promised you'd try."
"Sam. I'm totally trying, I am."
"Donna, congrats. You've earned this, you really have." Sam told her. As soon as she heard Donna's name, Ainsley rushed over.
"Hey, Donna! Congratulations!"
"Thanks, Ainsley!"
Donna chatted with Sam and Ainsley for a few minutes. Then, she heard, "DONNA!"
She hung up quickly, then raced in. "What's going on? Josh?"
Josh nodded to the TV. Donna's eyes followed his, and her eyes widened. She could read the headline: Congresswoman-Elect Lyman's daughter pregnant at 16, sources close to the campaign say.
Josh was white. "They leaked Anna's pregnancy."
…
Donna rushed into the campaign office-it would be their "transition office" until she got the key to her office in one of the three House Office buildings. "Annabeth, what happened?"
"I don't know." She said immediately, meeting her at the door. "I swear to God, I don't know."
"Someone leaked it. Who was it?"
"An intern, maybe? Someone talked to the press last night."
"Find out who," Donna ordered, then paused. "Is it possible they thought they were off the record? It was a victory party."
"I'm firing whoever did it. I don't care if they did think they were off the record."
"Annabeth, that's not fair."
She scoffed. "It's entirely fair." She stood up on the desk. "Listen up!"
Everyone stopped what they were doing.
"I know you all saw on WBAL this morning about the Congresswoman-Elect's daughter. I want whoever gave that private info to the press in my office by the end of the day!"
They all nodded mutely. Their faces were unreadable; any of them could be guilty.
"Okay. Now, we all won an election last night, but we've still got a job to do. Madison, Leila, you're in charge of spin. Cole, you work on committee assignments. Willow, start the phone tree of thanking campaign donors. Get some interns to help you."
"What do we say about the…" Leila trailed off. At Annabeth's look, she said, "You know that's all the press is gonna be asking me about today."
"Just...tell them the Congresswoman-Elect will be making a statement."
"A statement?" Donna asked as they went into Annabeth's office.
"Do you want to just let it go, or do you want to control the narrative?"
Donna sighed. She knew Annabeth was right. "Control the narrative."
"Right. So, let's get Madison to draft a statement."
"Okay."
"How was Anna when she left? Does she know?"
"Kids left for school before it hit CNN, but…" Just then, her cellphone rang. She frowned at the number but answered. "Donna Lyman...Yes, this is she...Yeah, I'm Anna's mother...Oh...Oh! Yes, that was in the news this morning...Of course, I understand, but...What?! You can't do that, not without asking...This morning? Both of us?... Well, I'm a little bit busy, but I'll see what I can do...See you in an hour. Thank you." She hung up. "Well, that was Anna's school. Evidently, someone heard, because they're ready to call us in to discuss Anna's involuntary transfer to an alternative program."
"Alternative program?" Annabeth repeated. "Sounds like code for 'I don't want a pregnant teen at this school.'"
"No kidding," Donna said. "I better go handle this."
"Donna?"
Donna turned around.
"For what it's worth...even though it shouldn't have gotten out, I haven't heard one bad word about her on the news channels. Maybe a few on FOX News, but nothing that can't be discredited. I really think we'll put out a statement and it'll be the end of it."
"You think so?"
"Yeah," Annabeth replied. "I really do. I'm a PR expert, remember?"
Donna nodded, smiling. "Okay."
…
By the time Donna got to school, Anna was in hysterics. "Everyone knows!"
"Okay, honey, calm down," Donna said, sitting next to her daughter and pulling her in for a hug. "It's gonna be all right." Suddenly, something occurred to her. "Has anyone said anything bad about you?"
"There were reporters."
"Here?" Donna felt her anger level rise. She locked eyes with Josh next to her.
"And a few kids have been teasing me, but I let them have it."
"Good for you," Josh said. He smoothed his daughter's hair fondly.
Just then, the door to the principal's office opened. "Mr. Willis will see you now."
All three of them got up. Donna put her arm around her daughter's shoulders. And together they walked into the principal's office.
An hour later, she called Annabeth and was greeted with, "It's over."
"What do you mean, it's over?" Donna asked, genuinely confused.
"The intern confessed. He felt really guilty, and he told me he couldn't go any longer without telling me. He didn't know he was on the record, he'd had a little too much to drink, and he said something to the effect of, 'Well, the candidate's daughter's pregnant, but we still managed to elect her'."
Donna sighed. "So, is he packing his things right now?"
"Well, actually…"
"You told him he could keep his job?"
"I felt sorry for the kid. I made him promise up and down that he would never do this again."
"Okay, I guess that's fair. You'll release the statement?"
"Yep. How'd it go at the school?"
"Well, they're willing to work with us to make sure she gets the education she needs, and they'll support however they can, right up until she delivers. There's a support group, and they also gave us a list of resources-not that I wasn't aware of them anyway."
"So she can stay in school."
"Yep."
"That's great to hear. Looks like things all worked out for the best."
"Yes, they did."
With one crisis behind them, Donna felt like she could finally breathe for the first time in 11 months. But little did she know, there was another crisis looming that would change her life.
Forever.
A/N: What's next, you may wonder? Stay tuned for the next chapter, which will jump forward in time a little! Let me know what you thought!
