Josh was pissed.
The Mets were playing, but he had work. He was supposed to tevo the game so he could watch it when he got home, but of course he forgot. Josh sighed heavily when he remembered that he forgot and slammed his head on the stack of memos on his desk.
Sure Josh had always appreciated Leo, but after being Matt Santos' Chief of Staff for three years, he finally understood just how hard Leo worked.
"Okay there cupcake?" Donna teased.
As Mrs. Santos' Chief of Staff, Donna also had her share of late nights. She was currently sitting in sweats, curled up in a ball on the couch in Josh's office. She was buffing up on talking points for a state dinner the First Ladies' Office was planning.
She and Josh often spent their nights like this, studying in Josh's office, prepping for the next day. But Josh found that as long as they were together, it was a night well spent.
"By the way, I tevo-ed that Met's game that was tonight," Donna mentioned off-handedly as she continued to study her notes. "Figured you might forget with everything else going on."
Josh looked up from his desk slowly. You would think after all this time the way Donna could read his mind wouldn't shock him, but it still amazed him every time.
In that moment, Josh didn't know what he was waiting for.
"Marry me."
"Josh, be serious."
Donna didn't even look up from her notes.
"I am being serious."
And although he hadn't planned on this being the moment he asked Donna to marry him, he knew he meant every word.
"Marry me. I mean it. I love you. I'm in love with you. I will never love anyone the way I love you. Marry me."
"Josh," Donna said, finally looking up from her papers. "You are gearing up for re-election and are in a five-round dog fight with the Republican Senate about getting your education bill passed. Not to mention you're monitoring the situation in the South China Seas all the while I'm planning a state visit to India and working on a bill to help kids in the foster system."
"Your point being?"
"My point being is now really the time to talk about marriage? I mean with everything else we have going on?"
Donna saw the disappointment on Josh's face and backtracked.
"I love you too," she said earnestly. "Of course, I love you too. I have loved you for the last decade and I plan on loving you every decade I have left…"
Josh smiled sheepishly at her, wondering how he got so lucky.
"But..." Donna continued. "I knew who we were when we started this…Chiefs-of-Staff. We don't have time to plan a regular wedding. We sure as hell don't have time for all the mess surrounding a White House wedding. And honestly, I'm not totally thrilled about our nuptials taking over the news cycle for God's knows how long while Fox News decides if my dress was kind of slutty."
"Wow… That was one of your longer Donna speeches."
"Josh."
"I mean it I think it might have been record-breaking on the Donna scale."
"I'm serious."
"So am I." Josh walked over to the couch and crouched down in front of Donna, taking her hands in his.
"Listen, I wasted so many years being too stupid or too afraid to let anybody in. And by some miracle we made it here, together. I love you. I want to marry you. I don't care when or how or where. We could get married in Wisconsin with cheese hats on our heads for all I care. It could be tomorrow or next year or…"
"Okay, tomorrow then."
"Tomorrow?"
"Yeah, tomorrow. Let's go down to the courthouse tomorrow and get married."
A look of surprise comes across Josh's face.
"What?" Donna said. "Didn't you just say you didn't care when or how or where?"
"I don't, I just thought that you might want a little more pomp and circumstance. I want you to have what you want."
"What I want… what I've always wanted… is you and me. The best moments of my life are the moments we spent alone together. I don't want to share you with the White House and Congressmen and Senators and the like on our day. I want it the way we started it on that beach in Hawaii. The two of us together."
"Okay then it's settled. At the courthouse tomorrow at 10:00 am. We're getting married."
"Perfect," Donna said smiling.
"But you'll need one thing first…"
"I swear to God Josh if you joke right now about a Catholic school girl's uniform or say something totally Josh-like, I will change my answer."
Josh laughed and instead walked back over to his desk, opening up the bottom drawer and pulling out a small velvet black box.
He walked back over to her slowly. He got down on one knee and opened the box, revealing the stunning ring inside. Donna just stared… completely speechless.
"This may be the first time I've seen you at a loss for words."
"It's so beautiful, how did you… when did you…?"
"It's the ring my dad gave my mom. I asked for her it months ago, I just couldn't find the right time. But tonight you reminded me again just how much I need you, how I've always needed you, how you are the light that guides my path, and I just didn't wanna spend another day not engaged to you."
Donna reached down and put her hands on Josh's face, a small tear falling from her eye. She had waited for this moment for so many years, it was hard to believe it had finally arrived. She kissed him before putting their foreheads together softly. It was a perfect moment.
"So was that a yes then?"
"Yes, you dummy. It's a yes."
Josh smiled as he put the ring on the love of his life.
"We're engaged!" Josh laughed, embracing Donna in a hug.
"And it only took us a decade to get here."
The End