Chapter 8: Before The Funeral
Sam entered the 150-year old chapel both as the President of the United States and as a former Bartlet staffer mourning the loss of a mentor. Ainsley walked beside him, her face a mask of grief. Their children walked beside them, bewildered over the loss and the amount of people in the small cathedral.
The cathedral was filled to the brim with friends, family, and the former Senior Staff of the Bartlet Administration. Flowers were everywhere, and a CNN TV camera sat discreetly near the back of the chapel, ready to livestream the service for the rest of America. There were notable dignitaries from DC, such as the entirety of Congress: they were all sitting in a cluster, talking quietly amongst themselves as they waited for the service to begin. There were also more familiar faces. Hoynes and Russell sat several pews apart, acknowledging one another. Former Secretary of State Arnold Vinick walked in, leaning on a cane and shaking hands with Jed Bartlet's family. There were several former members of the Santos Administration, such as Lou, Edie, Bram, Ronna, and Carolina, who were there to not only honor the former President who had supported their candidate through the Democratic nomination and election, but also to support their friends.
Abbey and the rest of the Bartlet family were standing just outside the main doors of the chapel. They all turned as the former Presidents made their way into the cathedral in front of Sam and his family.
President Sullivan shook Abbey's hand, offering murmured sympathies. He then moved to do the same with his daughters.
President Santos approached next. "Dr. Bartlet, my most sincere sympathies. Your husband was a great man and a fine President."
"Thank you very much, President Santos." Abbey said gratefully. "He believed he couldn't have had a better successor. And it was just the icing on the cake that a member of his own staff was there to help lightning strike twice."
Santos gave a small smile. He had never been shy about giving Josh most of the credit for putting him in the Oval Office, but he knew he never would've gotten the nomination if it hadn't been for Jed Bartlet's support. Now, he just shook Abbey's hand and moved to greet Liz, who was next in line. Helen was next to greet Abbey, with a warm hug. Miranda also said a shy hello to Abbey, who remarked at how much Miranda had grown since her father had left office.
President Walken was next to offer sympathies, saying, "I never quite agreed with President Bartlet, but I admired his judgment."
Abbey nodded sagely. "That's kind of you to say, President Walken." She hadn't really spoken to President Walken unless she had to, if only because his brief presidency blatantly reminded her of a painful chapter in her family's history.
Finally, the Seaborn family and Donna approached the Bartlets.
"Oh, Sam." Abbey said, her voice breaking. "Thank you so much for coming."
Sam responded by briefly hugging Abbey. "Even if I didn't have to be here, I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else."
Abbey smiled. Sam had always been a good man, and now, he was an even greater President.
"You remember my wife, Ainsley," Sam said, gesturing to the First Lady, "and our children, Connor and Ava?"
"Of course." Abbey nodded. "How wonderful of you to come. Thank you."
"Dr. Bartlet, I just wanted to offer my sincerest condolences. Your husband got me a job in the White House, and I will never forget that for the rest of my life." Ainsley had started tearing up.
"Jed always respected you, Ainsley." Abbey said to her. "Never forget that."
Ainsley smiled. "Thank you. That's very kind of you to say that."
With that, the Seaborn family moved to greet the Bartlet family. Donna couldn't hold back her emotions any longer.
"Oh, Abbey." she softly wept, engulfing Abbey into a tight hug. "I'm so sorry."
Abbey held the woman that she had looked upon as one of her own tightly for a few seconds.
"I'm so glad you're here, Donna." Abbey said. She put one hand on her shoulder. "And thank you for lending me Josh for the last couple of days. He has been a godsend."
Donna grinned. "I figured the distraction would do you some good."
"You should go say hi to your kids before the service starts." Abbey suggested gently. "Josh tells me you're coming back to the farm later?"
"Yes, the President gave me permission."
"Well, I'll see you afterwards." Abbey looked inside as the church was beginning to fill up. "Lots of people here today."
"You can say that again." Donna said. She smiled softly. "If you need anything, just let me know, okay?"
Abbey nodded. Donna gave her another quick hug, then headed over to Liz Bartlet.
"Hey, Liz." Donna said.
"Donna." Liz acknowledged as they hugged.
Ellie was next after Liz's kids. "I'm so glad you're here." she said into Donna's ear.
"I wouldn't want to be anywhere else." Donna assured her.
Then she turned to Charlie and Zoey: the two people she had remained closest to besides the senior Bartlets.
"Oh, Donna!" Zoey cried, her voice cracking as she threw her arms around her.
Donna held Zoey tightly for a few seconds as Zoey let a few tears fall onto her shoulder.
"Charlie." Donna said, clasping Charlie's hand after she and Zoey had pulled apart, before also pulling him into a brief hug. "How are you all holding up?"
"Just trying to get through it one day at a time." Charlie said, squeezing his wife's shoulders.
"I understand." Donna said softly.
Suddenly, she heard a familiar voice behind her. "Donna?"
She turned to see Josh, leaning against the double doors. All of a sudden, nothing else mattered. It didn't matter if she broke down, as long as she and Josh could face it together.
She ran into Josh's arms. "Hey," he murmured in the same low, soothing voice that Ainsley had used earlier in the day. "You have no idea how glad I am to see you."
Donna smiled as they pulled apart, and Josh ran his thumb across her cheek.
"You gonna be OK?" Josh asked, concerned.
"Yeah." Donna said. "At least I hope so."
"I'll be right here for you." Josh said. He looked into the chapel and noticed people beginning to take their seats. "You might want to go ahead and take your seat. I'll be in in a few minutes. I kind of volunteered to be a pallbearer."
"You did?" Donna was surprised: she hadn't been expecting that.
"Yeah." Josh gave a wry smile. "Are you gonna sit with the Seaborns?"
"No, I'm going to sit with you all." Donna told him. "President's orders."
"Good." Josh said. He gave her a quick kiss on the forehead. "Why don't you go find the kids? They're sitting with CJ and everybody."
"Okay. See you later." Donna said, kissing him quickly before heading into the chapel.
Meanwhile, inside the chapel, the Bartlet staffers had found a couple of rows in which to sit together. Will and Kate were sitting next to each other in silence, their hands touching. Joshua sat on Will's lap, and Daisy sat between her parents. Toby sat a little bit further down the row, with Huck and Molly on either side. Their mother Andy, who had flown in the day before for the visitation, now sat next to Molly, leafing through the day's program. Finally, the Cregg-Concannon family sat directly diagonal from the Wyatt-Zieglers in the next row. CJ sat trying to blink back the tears that were already threatening to take over. Danny noticed her sniffling and reached for her hand. CJ smiled and gratefully took it. Tiana sat next to her father, watching with interest her parents' unspoken love for one another.
Next to Tiana sat the Lyman twins, who were sitting in the pews unsure of what to do. Matty sat trying to keep Leo occupied, while also unsure of how to react to the people around him. Finally, a familiar voice roused them all from their grief.
"Room for one more?" They all looked up to see Donna standing at the entrance to their pew.
"Mom!" the kids said in unison. Leo immediately reached up for his mother.
"How are you guys doing?" Donna asked, pulling Leo into her arms and pressing a kiss to the heads of each of her three older children.
"Okay, I guess." Abby said. "Right, guys?" The other two shrugged and nodded.
Donna smoothed back Abby's hair, a maneuver she had done countless times that worked particularly well when the kids were stressed or upset. She could tell that her four kids (outside of Jed's own family, of course) were going to be among those most affected. Donna then turned to her longtime friends, who had now stood up to greet her.
"Hey, CJ." Donna said, pulling her friend into a hug while being mindful of Leo, whose head now rested on her shoulder.
"How are you doing?" CJ asked as they pulled apart.
Donna shrugged. "I managed to have a good cry on Air Force One. I think that helped."
CJ smiled. "I think I've been crying all morning."
Donna squeezed her friend's arm. "Catch up afterward?"
"You bet."
Donna moved to greet Danny and Tiana, then Toby and the twins, all the while noting how big the kids had gotten and promising to catch up with them later. She waved discreetly to Will and Kate, before settling down at the edge of the row with Leo in her lap.
As Donna sat down, she saw Will Bailey approach the podium. While he had not known Jed long enough to feel comfortable giving a eulogy, he had agreed to give the traditional pre-funeral announcements.
"Welcome to the celebration of the life of Josiah Edward Bartlet. The family respectfully requests that no photography or videography be allowed in the church, and asks you to please silence your cellphones so that we may fully participate in this time of mourning."
Will's voice floated away as Donna recalled yet another memory of the Bartlets, while watching Leo sitting on her lap, fidgeting with his bow tie.
August 2014:
Josh and Donna sat in their car in silence in the parking lot of the doctor's office, both reeling from the unexpected news they had just been given.
"What are you thinking?" Josh asked his wife quietly.
"I'm thinking that I don't know how we're going to deal with this." Her voice caught, and Josh realized just how upset she was over this.
"Hey," Josh said, reaching for her hand. "It's gonna be OK."
The results from Donna's amniocentesis, done as a precautionary measure because she was over 35, had shown that their unborn child would be born with trisomy 21, also known as Down syndrome. Even the happy news that they would be adding a second son to their family was overshadowed by the news of his complicated medical condition.
"It-It's just-" Donna cut off to gather her thoughts. "I mean, did you hear everything the doctor said? Low IQ, low muscle tone, heart problems?" She was overwhelmed by the news. Nobody in her family had ever dealt with any sort of disability, let alone something like this.
Josh swallowed, then asked a question that he was almost afraid to ask, but was on the tip of his tongue.
"Donna." She turned to him with wide eyes.
"You wouldn't ever consider-"
"No." she said shortly, immediately. "Absolutely not."
Her voice softened as she turned to meet his eyes. "I meant everything I said in there to the doctor when she brought it up. I want to have this baby, and I know you do, too. He is as much our child as Abby, and Anna, and Matty. Yeah, there are gonna be challenges ahead, but he is our son. Our Leo." Her voice broke as she finished.
"I know." Josh said, pulling her into an embrace. "Leo, huh?"
"Leo Josiah Lyman." Donna said determinedly.
Later that night, they decided to call the Bartlets and ask for a professional second opinion.
Abbey answered on the second ring. "Hello?"
"Hey, Abbey." Josh said through the phone.
"Well, hello, Josh! Is Donna there, too?"
"Yeah, she's here." Josh paused. "We actually called to talk to you. We need medical advice."
"Oh? Well, you know I haven't practiced in God knows how long, but I'll do my best to try and help you. What's up?"
Hearing Abbey's reassuring voice made Donna burst into tears, knowing there was little Abbey could do to change their son's diagnosis.
"Josh, what's happening?" Abbey asked, concerned.
It only took Josh about a minute to explain what had transpired at her doctor's appointment, and the trying-not-to-be-too-optimistic prognosis the doctors had given their unborn son.
"Oh, Josh." Abbey sighed. "I'm sorry. That's tough news to get."
"Abbey, who's on the phone?" said a familiar voice far away.
"Josh and Donna." Abbey said, pulling the receiver away from her mouth and quickly and quietly filling in her husband.
Then President Bartlet's voice came through the speakerphone. "How are you doing with all this?"
"Well, sir, it's been a bit of a day." Donna admitted.
"You're continuing the pregnancy?" Abbey wanted to know.
"Yes. There's absolutely no question about that." Donna said.
"Well, medically speaking, you won't have any complications with the pregnancy itself, although there might be a premature delivery. You can expect developmental delays, and a low IQ, those are just standard with this disease. But as far as other complications-well, that just depends on the baby."
"Okay." Donna said.
"But I want you both to listen to me. People know a lot more about Down syndrome than they did 40 years ago. There are early intervention programs now, and therapies. There's no reason he shouldn't be able to have a relatively normal childhood."
Josh and Donna looked at each other. That was definitely more reassuring than what the doctor had told them earlier that day.
"Josh, Donna?" The President was speaking now. "Your new son is going to be just as wonderful as your other three children. And with parents like the two of you-well, now, there's no telling how many odds he's going to surpass."
"Thank you, Mr. President." Josh said. "That means a lot to me-to both of us." He reached over and squeezed Donna's hand.
"Well, thank you." Donna said. "That makes me feel better about things."
"Good." Abbey said. "Well, I'm glad you called. You just remember what I said, all right?"
"We will." Josh said. They said their goodbyes and hung up the phone. Calling the Bartlets had been extremely beneficial to both Josh and Donna, and made them feel a whole lot better about bringing their new baby into the world. Their support continued to mean the world to them.
Donna was jolted from her memories by organ music pouring through the church. Everyone stood up as they began the opening hymn, "Be Thou My Vision".
Donna felt tears spring to her eyes almost immediately as she watched the group of men that she knew very well carry the coffin down the aisle. The pallbearers included President Bartlet's brother John, his sons-in-law Vic and Charlie, his grandson Gus, Toby, and Josh. Abbey and the rest of the family followed behind the casket, processing slowly and steadily down the aisle.
Donna faced forward as the coffin made its way to the front of the church, and took a deep breath. It was time to say good-bye.