Josh groaned at the sound of the alarm. It felt like they'd just gone to sleep. "Don't tell me you have to go in early again."

"It's my job, Josh. Of course I have to go to work." She was a bit testier than she would have preferred but they'd had this conversation every day that week.

"But you haven't had a day off in 11 days. That's insanity."

"It's the busy season and I told them I'd be available. Plus, the money is good right now."

"But you don't need the money," he protested, reaching out to pull her back to him.

She stood from the edge of the bed and said nothing, making her way into the bathroom to turn on the shower.

He followed her, not wanting the morning to start out on a bad note. They'd just had this argument a few nights prior.

"Hey," he wrapped his arms around her. "Tell me what's wrong."

"Nothings wrong," she deflected. "I'm just tired and I would love to stay home, too. But I can't because I made the commitment to cover these shifts for a friend and if I don't feel bad enough about not spending time with you and Audrey you have to say something so I feel extra awful. And the thing is Josh, I do need the money! And Audrey and I need the insurance! I know you cover the expenses now but I like to be able to contribute. Besides, I have expenses of my own that I need to take care of. I've always been self sufficient, Josh. I'm not going to give that up now."

"I'm not asking you to stay at home and cater to my every whim, Donna. I'm just saying that I miss you. I've been promising Audrey lunch out with both of us for almost two weeks! We're lucky if we get to see you before bedtime two nights in a row!"

"I know." She clenched her jaw and closed her eyes. "I'm just trying to do what's best, and for now that means keeping a job, even if it's not ideal."

She stepped into the piping hot shower before he could respond. She knew he was standing quietly next to the vanity, but she remained silent.

"I know," he stated in a soft tone. "I just miss you."

In actuality, it hadn't been that long since Josh himself was a workaholic, spending unreal hours as the Deputy Chief of Staff. And she'd been right beside him, maintaining the same erratic schedule that he did, trying to juggle an aggressive legislative agenda and raise a toddler. But that felt like a lifetime ago.

Though she knew Josh and Edith had the financial means to pay the bills, and Josh was working enough jobs withThe Post to make ends more than meet, she still didn't want to depend on that. She needed her own money, and her own freedom. She didn't want to start their relationship off feeling like she was financially dependent on him. She scrubbed the shampoo through her hair with more vigor than normal, taking her frustrations with herself out on her scalp. None of this was Josh's fault, and she knew it.

"I'm sorry," she stated softly, knowing he was still there. "This is something that we need to sit down and talk about. You were just asking for me to spend a little bit of time with you and Audrey and I blew up, when in reality I want to spend that time with you guys too."

"No, I'm sorry," he admitted. "You have professional commitments and I should never have questioned your commitment to your career. I know you're working hard to provide for Audrey, but I just wish you'd truly understand that you don't have anything to prove to me."

She let out a long breath and let it go, rinsing the suds out of her hair. She didn't want to leave things this way with him when she left for a long shift at work. Besides, they were both learning to navigate their new dynamic together. She knew they'd have bumps in the road, but if the biggest problem was that he wanted to spend more time with her, she really couldn't complain.

"Come on," she opened the door to the shower. "I'm home now, and I could use a little company in here."

OoOoOoO

"Have fun at school and be good today, Sweet Pea. I love you so much." Donna kissed the top of Audrey's head.

"Love you too." Audrey looked up at Donna and gave her a syrupy smile.

"Bye. Love you." Josh handed Donna a mug of coffee and gave her a peck on the lips as she grabbed her bag and hurried out the door.

"Bye." She gave him a lovesick smile as she walked out the door. "I'll see you two tonight. I'll be home as early as I can, but realistically probably around 9."

"Alright. Be careful."

"Yeah!" Audrey chimed in from where she ran over to stand next to him, tugging on Josh's sleeve for him to pick her up so they could wave goodbye to Donna from the kitchen window. "Be careful. Don't slip!"

The two watched Donna back out of the garage, give them a little wave, and pull away.

"Why do you say 'don't slip' to Donna every morning?" Josh asked casually, putting Audrey back down and returning to the coffee maker to pour himself a cup.

"Because I don't want Donna's car to slip on the ice again," Audrey explained, kneeling on her chair to take another bite of waffle.

Josh froze. "What?"

Audrey looked over to him, unsure of what Josh was questioning.

"Audrey?" Josh watched her carefully, then intently asked: "Did you and Donna slide on some ice?"

Picking up on her father's tone of voice, Audrey's eyes grew wide and she shook her head no.

"I won't be mad," Josh assured. Mad was the last thing on his mind. "But you need to tell me what happened."

Comforted by his reassurance that she wasn't in trouble, Audrey recounted the tale.

"One time when Donna was coming home from her work, her car slipped and then she had to call Bubbe and say that she couldn't be here to read me a story and tuck me into bed. But the next day a man came and helped us."

"What man?" Josh set his jaw in growing irritation. He couldn't help it, but he tried to hide it from his daughter.

Audrey shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. He had a big truck."

Josh's concerns over a gomer grew into genuine concern over Donna's well being. "A tow truck? She needed a tow truck?"

"It pulled our car back on the road," Audrey reported. "Because Donna slipped all the way down a hill."

Josh stared at Audrey, trying to process what he'd just heard. His adrenaline spiked at simply the thought of her being in a situation where she'd slid off the road at night, no less! And in the cold!

He couldn't stand the thought of something happening to the woman he loved, and when he considered that she drove Audrey around too, the thought of her sliding off the road practically made his heart stop beating in his chest. It was a reference he knew she'd scold him for making, but it was absolutely the way he felt.

When he thought about them driving around Colorado in his Audi, it made him a little crazy. It was all wheel drive, but it certainly wasn't built for this kind of terrain. His mind was made up in an instant.

He turned on PBS for Audrey and slipped into his study for a quick internet search. He had the information he needed in 10 minutes and he made a few phone calls as he hurried to get both himself and Audrey dressed.

"Audrey Joan?" Edith peaked her head in the door. "Are you ready to leave for school?"

"Yes!" Audrey jumped off the last step onto the living room floor, dressed and ready to go.

"Can you get her lunchbox, Ma?" Josh called as he ducked into the bedroom, quickly flipping on his electric razor for a shave and shrugging himself into the peacoat he used to wear with his suits.

"We're leaving, Daddy!" Audrey announced at the top of her lungs.

"Wait!" Josh grabbed his backpack and rushed to join them. "I'm, ah, going to join you. I need a favor if you're not busy today," he told his mother.

"Oh. Well, alright. I was just going to head to the market for a box of tea after I dropped her off."

"Great. Slight change of plans," Josh stated vaguely, ushering Audrey out to his mother's Mercedes and keeping the topic of conversation away from his afternoon agenda. Edith handed Josh the keys and buckled herself into the passenger seat, not questioning her son.

Josh walked Audrey to class, reminding her that she stayed until 2:30 that day. "Bubbe or I will pick you up. Have fun, Shortcake."

Edith gave him an expectant look when he re-emerged. "What's the fuss? Where are we going?"

"Denver." Josh stated calmly as he put the idling vehicle into drive. "To pick up Donna's new SUV."

OoOoOoO

Josh had carefully backed the new vehicle into the garage when he'd returned home from Denver, and then spent the next half hour wiping it down and polishing the shiny paint job. He'd then applied the oversized bow the dealer had provided him to the hood and closed the door.

Donna had called to tell him she was on her way home in the Audi around 8:30, so he and Audrey had made their way to the garage to surprise her. They wanted to see the look on her face when she opened the door to a new car.

The garage door clicked on and began to roll up the track.

"She's here! Donna's here!" Audrey cheered excitedly from where she was perched on Josh's hip in her pajamas and a pair of fuzzy boots.

Josh grinned as the door revealed the vehicle, shining in Donna's headlights.

Donna's eyes widened at the sight, her jaw dropping in disbelief.

"Surprise!" Audrey shouted, though she couldn't be heard over the running engine of the Audi.

Donna eventually composed herself and turned the sedan off, stepping out and plastering a smile on her face.

"Josh?" She asked talking a step towards them. "What's going on?"

"This is your new car!" Josh announced.

"Surprise!" Audrey repeated herself, oblivious to Donna's overwhelmed reaction.

"It's… for me?" Donna couldn't believe her ears.

"Of course it is," Josh announced, puffing his chest out a bit, proud of himself for thinking of such a grand gesture.

Donna was stunned, remaining silent and staring at the high end SUV.

"Well, what do you think?" Josh prodded as Audrey leaned out to reach for Donna, and transferred into her arms.

"It's very nice," Donna admitted. "Very fancy."

"It's the safest mid size SUV on the market, Josh announced, bouncing on the balls of his feet with excitement and opening the door for her to look inside. "It has four wheel drive, a moon roof, leather interior and those heated leather seats you like."

"I just… don't know what to say."

Josh furrowed his brow. "Say that you'll drive it and be safe on the roads. Say that you like it, and if you don't, we can take it back and get something that you do like."

"No, no. I like it. It's really everything I'd want to pick out," Donna added quickly. "And it's incredibly generous of you. Nobody's ever done anything this nice for me before."

"Then what's wrong?" Josh had to admit that her reaction was less than he'd hoped.

"Nothing is wrong. It's a beautiful vehicle. Thank you." She leaned over to kiss him before turning her attention to Audrey. "We better get you inside, Sweet Pea. It's cold out here."

Josh followed her inside, where she put Audrey down. "Okay, it's past your bedtime. Go upstairs and pick one book. We'll be up to say goodnight in a minute."

"But I'm not tired and I wanna stay up with you," Audrey whined. "I didn't even get to eat dinner with you or go to the library for a lot of days in a row."

"I know, Sweet Pea," Donna leaned down to eye level with Audrey. "And I'm very sorry about that."

"Can you stay home and play with me tomorrow?"

Donna pulled Audrey into her arms. "I'm sorry, but I have to work tomorrow. But in 6 more days I'll be off for 4 days in a row and I promise we can go to the library and eat dinner together."

"And have lunch at the diner?" Audrey asked, still looking rather defeated. "Because Daddy said we could!"

"Yes. We can have lunch at the diner." Donna reassured her.

"But that's a lot of days away," Audrey pouted.

"I know it is. But we've talked about this, Audrey, remember?"

Audrey nodded her head that she did, in fact, remember.

"Okay. Go pick out your book and I'll be right up." Donna kissed her head and stood up, watching Audrey make her way up the staircase as Lucy followed.

"6 more days?" Josh questioned when Audrey was out of earshot.

"Yes. But then I have 4 in a row off." She was trying to look at the bright side of things, even though she was exhausted.

"I would hope so." Josh stated shortly, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Why don't you tuck her in tonight. I'll heat up some leftover lasagna for you."

When Donna returned to the kitchen after putting Aidrey to bed, she all but collapsed into a chair. Josh could see her exhaustion and he hated that he couldn't do anything to fix it. She'd been working crazy hours and returning home dead on her feet.

He sat down next to her as she took a few bites of food and sat her fork down. He raised his eyebrows at the mostly untouched dinner, knowing she wasn't eating nearly enough, but bit his tongue for the time being. She was a grown woman, he wouldn't tell her to finish her dinner.

He stood and began to wipe down the countertop in the kitchen, noticing the way she stared at the door to the garage when she walked her plate over to the dishwasher.

"Come on," he encouraged, following her out to look at the new vehicle once again.

"It's so nice," she stated, staring at the SUV.

He opened the door for her and nodded his head towards the driver's seat. "It's yours. Hop in and see how it feels."

Donna climbed into the seat and looked around the vehicle. It really had every bell and whistle, and that new car smell was emanating from the leather seats. She'd never had a new car before, and she'd certainly never driven anything this nice.

"Why don't you drive it?" She asked him.

"Because it's for you," he explained gently, still wondering why she didn't seem so excited about the gift. "You deserve a nice vehicle, and I like the thought of keeping you safe."

"But it must have been expensive…" she trailed off, looking away.

"Donna? Look at me." His tone changed as he realized that she was worried about having a car payment. "I bought this for you. It's completely paid for and I want you to have it. "

"But how did you…"

"We've never gotten into the details before but I know you're aware that I'm… financially secure. It's not something you have to worry about, okay? And one night when you're not so tired, we can sit down and talk about it in more detail, if you'd like."

"I don't need to know. I just, I can't pay you back all at once, and I was worried when I saw it because I wasn't sure if the payments were feasible."

"It's paid for, Donna. I'd never do that to you, I wouldn't stick you with a payment because I picked out a new vehicle for you to drive."

"You don't need to buy me a fancy car.. You don't owe me anything. I'm here because I want to be."

"I know you are. And just to be clear- this isn't a payback for all your years of service. Although I owe you everything, and I could never begin to repay you. It's a gift, plain and simple. I care about you and I want you to have safe, reliable transportation."

She blinked back tears. "It's just… it's so nice. It's the fanciest thing anyone's ever given to me and I don't know what to say." She turned towards him, remaining in the driver's seat, as he stepped closer to her and wrapped his arms around her.

"I love you," he reassured her with a gentle kiss. "I know that you work hard and want to be an independent woman, and I respect that, Donna. Believe me, I do. But I want to help lighten the load a bit, and to just… give you nice things. That's all."

"I know," she told him. "And this is incredible. You really went above and beyond."

"You're worth it." He gave her an extra squeeze before taking her hand and leading her back to the bedroom where he handed her a pair of warm pajamas and held her close as she slept.