A/N: Hope you like this chapter! Please read and review!
Chapter 13: Holding Strong
Four days after Donna first told Josh about her upcoming deployment, they were sitting in the lobby of City Hall, waiting for their guests to arrive. Josh was wearing a three-piece suit that had been his father's (at his mother's insistence), and Donna was wearing her dress uniform. Both looked nervous, but also content. They were more than ready for the day that lay ahead, but were also apprehensive about what lay ahead after this.
After Josh had suggested to Donna that they marry before she deployed to Iraq with her unit in two weeks' time, things had moved quickly and come together better and easier than they could've imagined. They had gone to get the rings and marriage license that very evening they had decided, and made all the necessary calls. Miraculously, both Sam and Carol could get the weekend off to come serve as their friends' witnesses, and their parents managed to coordinate flights to Texas. Neither set of parents was willing to miss their only children get married. Also, Daniel and Roberta Moss knew this would be the last chance they had to see their daughter before her year-long deployment. They would've met them all at the airport, except everyone had waved them off to relax the morning before their 1:00 wedding. So, there they were, sitting at a bench just inside the courthouse.
Josh reached for Donna's hand; it was shaking. "Are you nervous?" he asked her.
Donna met his eyes. "Maybe a little." she admitted.
"About marrying me?"
"Never." she said, leaning in for a kiss.
As they continued to kiss, they heard a familiar voice behind them. "Well, now, there's a sight to behold!" They broke the kiss and whirled around to find Josh's mom Rachel approaching them.
"Hey, Ma." Josh said, standing up and kissing her on the cheek. Donna did the same before hugging her.
"I'm so glad you could come." Donna told her.
"Me, too." Rachel agreed. "I'm so glad my son has found someone like you."
"Donna!" someone called out. Donna turned to find her parents approaching, and Carol and Sam came in right behind them. She hurried up to her parents and hugged them, and threw her arms around her friends. Josh greeted them next.
Daniel greeted Josh solemnly. "Josh, a word."
They walked off to the side, unbeknownst to Donna, and Daniel started to talk. "Now, Donna's my only child, and I want to make sure she'll be well taken care of, especially...over in that place."
Daniel had had a hard time adjusting to the idea of his daughter being deployed to a war zone for well over a year. He accepted that it was part of her job and part of her duty as a soldier, but that didn't mean he had to like it.
"She'll be working with good people over there, Mr. Moss." Josh assured him. "And that's really all the assurances I can make on that front." The truth was, Donna being over in Iraq scared him to no end.
"Now, to the more important question." Daniel asked Josh. Josh stood up straighter. "You do love her, don't you?"
"More than anything, sir."
"Then that's good enough for us. Just take care of her, Josh."
"I will, sir. You have my word on that."
With that, the pair shook hands and made their way back over to the group. Just then, the door opened to the courtroom. "Lyman-Moss wedding?" the court reporter read out.
"Right here." Josh spoke up. He reached for Donna's hand and led the group towards the door.
"Hold it!" they all heard. They turned around to find Officer Bartlet and Abbey climbing the stairs.
"Officer Bartlet!" Donna exclaimed, embracing them both as they approached. "How did you know?"
"Oh, a little birdie told us." Officer Bartlet replied amusedly.
"I called them." Carol admitted. "I know how much they mean to you, so I thought you might like to have them here."
Donna smiled. "I'm so glad you did!"
"Ahem." The court reporter cleared her throat. "I hate to interrupt the happy reunion, but we have a lot of business to get to today, so if we could…"
"Yes, of course!" Josh replied. He took Donna's hand once again, and led the group into the courtroom.
The ceremony was short, but moving. The guests filed into the courtroom gallery, and Josh joined Donna at the front. The justice of the peace gave a few opening remarks, then invited Josh and Donna to declare their vows.
Josh went first. "Donna, you are without a doubt the best thing that ever happened to me. There was a time in my life where I thought I would just stay in the Army forever-until I met you. You're such a good person, the way you care about everyone around you, the way you put your country first. I promise to always look out for you, and to love you and cherish you through the rest of our days. You're my hero, and my best friend, and I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you."
"Josh," Donna began. "I knew from the first time we kissed that I would love you for the rest of my life. Your spirit and your dedication inspire me to strive to be a better person, and I will never question your commitment to us. I promise to stand by you always, and to never lose sight of why we fell in love in the first place. I'm so glad I found someone like you, who loves me unconditionally and makes me happier than I ever thought I could be. I promise to spend each day of our lives together making you feel the same way."
After the vows were over, they exchanged rings. Donna's was a white-gold eternity band, made for the military, while Josh's was a simple gold band. Then, the justice said a few final words and pronounced them husband and wife. Then, they kissed to applause from their family and friends.
After the ceremony, they decided to go out to eat with their family and friends to celebrate their marriage. And although they didn't have a traditional marriage celebration, or time for a honeymoon for that matter, it was the most beautiful, heartfelt wedding they ever could have had.
…
And then ten days later, it was D-Day. Deployment Day. Donna needed to be at the airfield in three hours, and Josh was determined to spend as much time with her as possible. After an early morning shower, they ate breakfast together at their new on-base apartment. They had pushed to get the housing office to approve transfer to married housing before Donna's deployment. Now, they were settled in a new place, and just in time.
After breakfast, they cuddled up together on the couch for an hour, just enjoying each other's company. All too soon, Donna glanced at her watch.
"It's time, Josh." she said quietly, pulling out of Josh's embrace to stand up.
Josh stood up with her. "Do you want me to help you carry your bag to the car?"
"That would be nice." Donna replied. Josh smiled sadly, rubbing her cheek with his thumb before kissing her softly.
"Let's get this over with." Josh said. He swung her Army bag over his shoulder and led the way out of their apartment.
The drive to the airfield hangar where the soldiers would depart was too short for Josh's liking. They got out of the car and Donna immediately went to check in. She was back in a few minutes. Neither one really knew what to say, so they stood in silence for a few minutes.
Finally, the soldiers were starting to line up for formation, and Josh kissed Donna in a way he had never kissed her before-as if he was giving her strength, and giving her all his love.
"I love you, more than anything." he told her. "Just...come back to me."
Donna nodded, her eyes filling with tears. "I love you so much, Josh."
They kissed one more time, then she said, "I-I have to go."
Too overcome with emotion to say anything else, he blew her a kiss as she walked away, still looking at him. She blew him one back, then turned to join her fellow soldiers as they boarded the aircraft to Iraq.
…
The next month was the longest month of Josh's life. He hadn't heard from his wife since the day she left, and while he understood that was the norm for the Army, he still missed her like crazy. Slowly, the days ticked by, and he began to develop some semblance of a routine. Breakfast, work, dinner, sleep. Sometimes he would find himself eating dinner at work while finishing something at his desk. He was slipping into old workaholic habits he hadn't had since before he met Donna. One day, the phone rang at his desk. After a couple rings, he picked up.
"Hello?"
"Joshua?"
Rachel Lyman's voice snapped him to attention. "Mom? Is everything OK?"
"Yes, everything's fine. It's 7:30. Why are you still at work?"
"Just have a lot to do." Josh replied, hoping to shrug his mom off with an excuse.
"A lot of work to do, or nothing for you at home?" Rachel asked knowingly. The silence on her son's end of the phone helped her know she had hit the nail on the head.
"I miss her, Ma." Josh said. "I miss her every day, and not being able to hear from her is so hard. I go home, and it's just full of reminders of her."
"Oh, Joshua." Rachel sighed. She hated to hear her son hurting, even more since she knew exactly what he was going through. She had spent many lonely nights missing her husband Noah during his tours in Vietnam with the National Guard. True, she had had Joanie and Josh to keep her company, but it was still difficult.
"How do I get used to this?" Josh asked her. He knew she had experience as a military spouse. Maybe she could help him.
"I'm not going to lie to you, Joshua. It's difficult, especially for a newlywed like you. I don't think it's something you ever get used to. You just have to keep moving. But I know that throwing yourself into work isn't healthy either."
"What do you suggest I do, Mom? Join a support group?" Josh asked dryly.
"That's actually not a bad idea. There has to be people on base who know what you're going through. You should reach out. Go join a recreational club or something. Get a life!"
Josh let out a small chuckle. His mom was right, as usual. He wasn't doing himself any favors by working himself to exhaustion, and keeping himself busy wasn't an admittedly terrible idea.
"I'll try."
"That's all I ask, Joshua." There was a pause. "So, you haven't heard from Donna?"
"Not one word since she left."
"Don't read too much into it. I used to go weeks without hearing from your father."
"That was different. That was before technology."
"Joshua. You have to believe that she's just fine."
"How do I do that?"
"You just have to have faith."
"I guess so. Thanks for calling, Mom. I really needed to talk to you tonight."
"Anytime, dear. Goodnight."
"Night."
…
Josh did learn to adjust. He didn't join a support group, but he did make an effort to talk to some of the other spouses on base. While most of the spouses on the base were women, there were a couple of men that he was able to connect with. One of them was a man named Todd Gardner. His wife Amy had been in for six years, and they had been married for ten, marrying right out of high school. She had attended college, then gone straight into the military, always a pet dream of hers. While in college, she and Todd had had their only son Jordan. Now, Todd was working two jobs and trying to be a single father. The good news was that Amy was getting out after her current deployment. Josh couldn't relate to everything that Todd was going through, but he related to missing his wife. The two became close, often spending time socializing with one another and Josh being another parental figure to Jordan. Just spending time with the ten-year old, Josh looked forward to the day when he and Donna would have their own children.
Speaking of Donna, he began to get letters from her after she had been gone nearly a month. They were short, but sweet, and always ended by telling him how much she loved him. He would write back with just as much emotion and love in his heart.
And then there were the times where communication was more than just letters. One day, Josh was at work, about to leave for a meeting when his phone rang. He was halfway out the door when it rang, so he yelled for someone to pick it up and take a message.
"Hey, Lyman, phone's for you." one of his co-workers said.
"Take a message." Josh said. He didn't want to be late.
"I think you might want to take this." the woman said, holding the phone out to him.
His heart pounded in his throat. What could it be? The possibilities running through his head, he took the phone and said, "Hello?"
The voice on the other end was unmistakable. "Josh?"
Josh felt a grin break out on his face. "Donna? Hey, baby!" The staff, remembering that his wife was stationed in Iraq, quietly shuffled out to give Josh time to talk to her. Josh sat back down. "It's so good to hear your voice!"
"Not half as good as it is to hear yours." Donna replied.
"How are you?" Josh asked.
"Right now, or just in general?"
"Just in general."
"I'm hanging in. We knew this was gonna be a hard mission when we got into it, and we're out there fighting every day."
"You're holding up alright?"
"Yeah, you could say that." There was a pause. "How about you?"
"I'm trying to keep busy."
"By working all the time, I bet."
"How did you-"
"Because I know you, Joshua. You're working all the time to keep from missing me, aren't you?"
"I can't hide anything from you, can I, sweetheart? Not even from five thousand miles away."
"Nope." He could hear the smirk in her voice even over the phone line.
"It's not like I've only been working." he told her. "I've found other people to talk to."
"Good. I knew you were worried about that."
Josh let out a contented sigh. He wished he could be on the phone line with her forever. "Donna, I…"
"Josh, you don't have to say anything. I miss you, too. Everyday, every second that I can't be with you."
"When will I hear from you again?"
"I have no idea." There was a pause. "I just had some free time, and I knew I had to talk to you, just to hear your voice remind me that I'm doing a good thing here."
"You're doing a good thing." Josh reassured her. "Defending our country from the enemy? That's just about the most noble thing you can do with your life, and I couldn't be more proud of you for it."
"Thanks, babe. I think I needed to hear that." She sighed. "I hear formation starting. I guess I should go."
"Donna, I love you so, so much. Never forget that, OK?"
"I love you too, Josh."
…
It was a hot day in Baghdad, Iraq, even in February. Donna had been assigned to do a routine reconnaissance mission with three of her colleagues. She had selected PFC Bram Howard, PFC Nathan Linden, and Corporal Amy Gardner. She had learned through her letters to Josh that Amy's husband Todd had gone out of his way to welcome Josh to the military spouse fold, and she was beyond grateful.
They were driving along the long, dirt road to get to their destination.
"So, what exactly are we looking for, Captain Moss?" PFC Howard asked.
"Anything in the topographical terrain that we might be able to use to our advantage." Donna answered.
"How much further."
She looked at her primitive GPS locator. "About 30 minutes out. That's just a guesstimate, though."
"Is it just me, or does it seem hotter than it did yesterday?" Corporal Gardner asked the group.
"I don't know," Donna responded, "but if it makes you feel better, the heat index is supposed to drop down to-"
BOOM!
An explosion sent the humvee flying into midair. By the time it landed, two still remained in the vehicle, but the other two-Donna and Corporal Gardner-lay unconscious a hundred feet from the vehicle. The radio crackled, then stopped, then started again.
"Captain Moss, this is Base Camp. Requesting location, do you read?"
…
Josh was working at home that particular Saturday. He was interrupted by a loud pounding on the door. He swung it open to find Dottie Baker, wife of General Eric Baker and general receptor of communications from the field.
"Mrs. Baker." Josh acknowledged, trying not to let on that he was nervous. "What's going on?"
"Josh, maybe you should sit down." Dottie said, gesturing to their sitting area. Josh sat down slowly. "What's going on? Is Donna OK?" The possibilities worried him.
"Josh, Captain Moss and three other soldiers went on a routine reconnaissance mission in a remote part of Baghdad. That was four hours ago, and attempts to contact them on radio have failed."
Josh swallowed. "So, what does that mean?"
Dottie nodded. "It means they're missing, Josh."
A/N: Uh-oh, a cliffhanger! Did Donna survive? Stay tuned! Leave a review if you like this chapter!