Josh was finally back at home. He had been home for the past two days. His body had recovered from the flu, but getting around still wasn't easy for him. He had regained some mobility, but it was stamina at this point that was his major problem. In no time at all he would become out of breath.

Josh took solace in the fact that he could at least move around more freely now. As long as he didn't attempt to go too far, he felt like he had a large amount of freedom back. He was still on a long list of medications and had Donna hovering daily, but each passing day he felt himself get a little bit stronger.

"Josh?" a voice called from the door.

"Hey," Josh called back. He walked from the kitchen with a can of Coke in his hand and plopped down on the couch. He still felt an uncomfortable pull on his muscles at certain muscles when he made certain movements.

"You okay?" Donna asked upon seeing the small grimace on his face.

"Yep," Josh answered, sounding only slightly strained. Donna looked skeptical as she sat in the chair next to the sofa. She dropped her bag in front of her and starting sifting through it looking for something.

"I have your prescription," she was muttering.

"Ah ha!" she grabbed onto the paper bag holding the pill bottles and tugged it upwards quickly, causing a whole host of other items to come spilling out of the bag.

"Shit," Donna muttered as she scrambled to gather everything.

Eager to prove he was getting his mobility back, Josh quickly dropped to scoop up Donna's fallen materials. As he stood up though, his eyes read the label on a bottle in his hand. It was a bottle of prenatal vitamins. The world seemed to come grinding to a sudden halt as he stared down at the bottle and his eyes widened in shock as he took in the implications. His head whipped up to Donna and he swallowed heavily. Donna too looked frozen in fear.

"I-." Josh started briefly before his mouth shut. He looked up at the ceiling as he quickly did the math in his head as to when him and Donna had slept together. The ball of anxiety at the pit of his stomach exploded into fear as he started shaking his head.

"D-Donna are you," his voice shook and faded, he couldn't finish the sentence. Donna, her eyes never leaving Josh's face, gave a slow, terrified nod.

"H-how could you not tell me this?" Josh said as his mouth hung open in shock. "Is it mine?"

"Yes, but Josh-"

"Shit," Josh started muttering to himself. "Shit, shit shit."

"Josh-"

"You didn't think I had a right to know!?"

"Of course I-"

"I can't believe you would just not-" Josh cut himself off and turned away, a hand held up against his chest.

"Josh," Donna said again, this time as sharply as possible without yelling, desperate to get his attention. Josh stopped pacing and looked at her. Donna noted the sweat on his brow already.

"The day I found out was the day you got shot," she said, trying to stay calm. "How was I supposed to tell you when you were stuck in that hospital bed and could hardly breathe?"

"Donna," Josh said in a dangerous tone. "How many hours did we spend in that hospital room alone, you could have told me at ANY time-" Josh cut himself off again sharply with a sharp grunt of pain. This time he had to sit down. He started massaging his chest as his face twisted in pain.

"Seriously Josh? You wonder why I didn't tell you?" Donna asked harshly, her arm gesturing towards him. "You could hardly deal with not being able to talk about work. You would get yourself upset up about it every day. And you wonder why I didn't want to tell you about a baby?" Her last word rung out across the room and she saw Josh's face register panic again as she actually acknowledged their child for the first time.

"Donna. I was fine," he growled out after a moment. "When DID you plan to tell me?" The bite in Josh's tone was something Donna had very rarely if ever had directed at her before. It was the tone Josh used at his most combative.

"You were fine when you were asleep the majority of the day because your body didn't have the energy to do anything else? Fine when you could hardly walk during your PT sessions? Fine when you had the flu and could barely make it to the bathroom to puke your guts out?" Donna demanded. "Are you really that delusional to think you were fine for those three and a half weeks in the hospital?"

Josh glared at her but said nothing, he folded his arms across his chest. He then focused his gaze on a single spot on the floor and didn't look up. Donna could tell he was running through the same disaster scenarios she had been through a hundred times.

"Josh-"

"I'm gonna get fired," Josh said simply, running a hand over his mouth. "Leo's gonna tear me a new one. That's if there's anything left of me after CJ is done." Josh leaned back into the sofa looking utterly miserable. "And Toby."

"Josh, they'll be upset but-"

"You think?!" Josh demanded, his voice rising dangerously loud again. "You think they'll be a little upset that I got my assistant pregnant?" Speaking the truth out loud, made Josh's face twist into deep lines of misery and he had to catch his breath.

Donna remained standing, feeling increasingly more upset and uncomfortable by the second. She knew Josh's reaction was never going to be pure positivity from the get go, but Donna couldn't help but be dismayed at just how badly he was taking this. He looked lost sitting on the sofa, staring into space.

At the sting of tears behind her eyes, Donna quickly muttered out. "Maybe I should go."

"Yeah," Josh agreed absentmindedly, he seemed a million miles away. With a sniff, Donna picked up her bag and quickly made her way out of the apartment. Before shutting the door, she took one last look at Josh and saw he hadn't moved an inch. The second the door was closed, Donna let the tears cascade freely down her cheeks, not bothering to hide it as she got to her car. Once safely inside, she placed her arms across the steering wheel and leaned her head against it and sobbed.

It was around 10 minutes later when Josh finally registered that Donna had left. He blinked a few times as he broke free from his own thoughts. He looked around the apartment and realized it was empty. A crushing guilt washed over him.

"Shit," he muttered to himself. "Shit, shit, shit." He made his way over to the window as fast as his still largely broken body would allow to look for Donna's car on the street and found no sign of it.

"Fuck," Josh muttered as he leaned back onto the windowsill. Had he really just let Donna leave? Cursing himself he slowly walked over to his phone and picked it up. Before dialing, he paused and soon fell back onto the sofa again.

He was furious with her for keeping this a secret for so long, but at the same time, he could see where she was coming from. Hadn't his reaction just proved Donna right anyways? He absentmindedly started rubbing at his chest again.

When he thought of Leo and the staff finding out, he felt prickles of pain dot across his chest. He didn't know how much sympathy he would have left after the shooting now. Josh thought of Donna again and he felt his throat tighten with emotion. Had she been carrying the burden of this news on her own for however many weeks?

Josh groaned out loud as he replayed his reaction to the news in his head. He knew Donna. Whether or not he agreed with her keeping the news from him, he had no trouble believing she was doing it out of a belief that it would protect him in some way.

"Donna," Josh muttered sadly. He reached out for the phone again and began dialing.

Donna was curled up with a blanket on her bed, still shaking from the tears that had wracked her body. All the stress she had been feeling over the baby, over Josh's recovery, over the frenzy this situation could cause all came rushing out. All the emotion she had been trying to hold back for weeks was finally released.

Josh's reaction hadn't exactly taken her by surprise, but there was a harshness to his tone that Donna had never had directed at her before and it left her terrified about where her and Josh would go from here.

With a shaky sigh she pushed herself off the bed and started to walk to the bathroom. She stripped off layers of clothes off as she went until she was just down to a tank top, and grabbed a pair of sweatpants from the dresser.

Scrubbing her face clean of all makeup, she tried not to think about the past hour. She lowered her head down to the sink to splash water on her face and when she came back up, she caught her own reflection in the mirror and grimaced.

Red splotches covered her cheeks and her eyes were red rimmed. Her eyes travelled down further and landed on the small, but now clear bump. Her tank top had ridden up slightly to reveal an expanse of Donna's stomach. She was still able to get away with baggy tops and layers, and her pants still buttoned, but now a thread of worry wove itself through Donna's mind as she wondered for how much longer it would be until she was unable to hide it.

Donna turned to the side curiously as she gazed in the mirror and ran a hand over her belly with a sigh. At least Josh knew now and she could stop fretting over telling him.

She jumped as she heard the phone ring and she let her eyes travel through the open door of the bathroom to her nightstand to stare at it. Not trusting herself to speak yet, she let it ring out. There was a beep from the phone and then Josh's voice rang out across her bedroom.

"Hey," he began slowly. "It's me. I-" she heard Josh take a deep breath. "I'm really sorry. Please call me back. Please." The line went dead and Donna felt the slightest bit of hope ignite within her. That was a Josh she recognized. She looked back into the mirror and her eyes landed on her belly again. She thought of the way Josh reacted and cringed. Her eyes shot to the phone again and she looked down before shaking her head. She wasn't ready to talk to him yet.

After finishing up in the bathroom and grabbing a loose cardigan, Donna headed to the kitchen and started brewing some tea. She enjoyed the warmth that spread through her fingers as she picked up the steaming mug. She held it there for a long time without taking a sip, her eyes glazed over as her mind wandered. What if she called Josh back and he was still angry?

She jumped as the phone went off again. She bit her lip as she stared at it and looked away. Still not ready. The phone rang out and Donna heard the answering machine start up again.

"Donna, what the hell is going on?" It was Sam this time, sounding panicked. "Josh just called me freaking out about how he needs me to drive him to your place or else he's going to try and go himself and we both know that's an awful idea, he'd only make it to the sidewalk before collapsing. Please call-"

Donna swiped up the phone.

"Sam?"

"Donna!" Sam sounded incredibly relieved. "Is everything okay?"

Donna didn't answer right away.

"Donna?"

"Sam, I'll call Josh, okay? Don't worry about it. I'll make sure he stays put."

"Donna..."

"Sam, don't worry about it right now. You'll find out soon enough," Donna said, her voice growing quiet towards the end of her sentence.

"Donna," Sam said again. "Are you sure everything's okay?"

Donna felt tears prickling her eyes again.

"I gotta go Sam. I'll talk to Josh." And with that she hung up the phone. She held the phone face down on the counter for a long time trying to compose herself with her eyes closed. She then quietly moved back to the bedroom. With a deep breath she pulled the phone up to her chest and pressed Josh's speed dial with her thumb.

He picked up on the first ring.

"Donna?" his voice sounded frantic.

"Hi," she replied quietly. She sat on the floor with her back pressed up against the side of her bed. She looked down and saw her belly poking out of the tank top again. She placed her hand there and closed her eyes.

"Donna," Josh started. She could hear the pain in his voice. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

When Donna didn't respond, he kept going.

"It's just so much to deal with and I didn't act like I should have and I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner," Donna allowed.

"C-can you come back over?" Josh asked tentatively. "Please? I'd come to you, but I'd probably collapse by the time I got to the front door," he finished glumly. A silence stretched out between them.

"Okay," Donna finally agreed quietly. It was still around 7, so the sun hadn't fully gone down yet. Not having the energy to change, she grabbed her purse and a jacket and walked out the door as is. Ten minutes later she was knocking on Josh's front door. It opened immediately. So quickly that it made Donna jump.

"Sorry," Josh said apologetically. "I've been sitting by the door a while so I wouldn't have to make you wait while I got up to answer it." Donna gave him a small smile before stepping over the threshold and Josh shut the door behind her. They both stood there awkwardly for a moment, neither knowing how to navigate the situation.

"I ordered Chinese food," Josh said suddenly. Donna's eyebrows perked up at that. Chinese food sounded delicious to her right now.

"You're not supposed to have Chinese food," she said sternly. Donna started to pull off her jacket and tossed it over a chair. She turned her head back to Josh to find him staring at her with his mouth slightly agape. He was staring right at her belly, which was showing again as her tank top struggled to cover the whole thing. Donna self-consciously pulled her cardigan around her and Josh's eyes snapped back up to her face.

"Whoa," he muttered. "Donna-"

"Let's sit down," Donna said, ushering Josh to the table. She sat down and watched as Josh slowly made his way over, using the furniture to help balance him as he walked. When he finally sat down, Donna began.

"I'm 14 weeks. The doctor said everything looks good and the baby is healthy."

"So I guess you're keeping it then," Josh said, his voice sounding unsure. Donna frowned.

"You don't want me to?" Josh immediately started sputtering denials.

"I want you to." Donna felt the load off her shoulder lift marginally. "Keep it. I mean."

"Good," Donna said quietly.

"I-I," Josh began. He was having difficulty not stuttering. Donna cut him off by reaching into her bag. She searched for a moment, leaving Josh in suspense before pulling out an ultrasound photo. She slid it across the table to him.

"What is this?" Josh asked as he pulled it closer to himself with his right arm.

"That's your baby," Donna said simply. Josh's eyes flicked up to her in shock for a moment before they began hungrily scanning the photo. Donna couldn't help the smile that came to her lips as she saw the absolute wonder in Josh's eyes. He was staring down at the sonogram like it was nothing he'd ever seen before.

"Wow," he muttered. After several long moments had passed, Josh finally looked up.

"Are you, you know. How are you doing?" he asked nervously. This was a completely different Josh than Donna had been faced with a little while ago. This was a Josh she could deal with.

"Tired," Donna said honestly. "But at least I'm not throwing up anymore."

"You were throwing up?" Josh asked urgently, as though it was the most awful thing to ever happen to someone. "When? Is that normal?"

Donna let out a laugh.

"In the beginning. Yes, it's normal."

"I'm sorry I wasn't there," Josh said, looking supremely guilty.

"Not really much you could do about it," Donna said, loosening up a little now.

"I guess not."

Josh picked up the sonogram again and gazed at it with the same marvel he had before.

"Do I get to go to the next one?" he asked.

"Next what?"

"Doctor's appointment thing. Wherever they print out these weird pictures," Josh said, waving the sonogram a little bit.

"You want to?" Donna asked. She wanted to make sure. Josh looked at her in disbelief for a second.

"Of COURSE I'm sure, Donna. God," he said, staring at her. "What did you think I'd just take off and make you go through this on your own?"

Donna shrugged shyly.

Josh looked mortified. "Donna. I'm sorry about before." Donna nodded.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, but you have to know it wasn't out of spite or anything. It wasn't that I didn't want to tell you. I just didn't want to make your recovery harder. There was a lot going on."

Josh nodded. "I know." Donna felt relieved to hear that. They sat in silence for a while.

"So that's our kid huh," Josh said in small voice, clearly in awe as he stared down at the sonogram again.

"Yep," Donna confirmed. She watched closely as Josh continued to stare down at the black and white image. He had a tentative smile on his lips, which in turn made Donna smile. She saw as the invasive thoughts about how to deal with work came to his mind. His smile fell into a deep frown.

"We gotta tell, CJ," Josh half whispered. He suddenly looked terrified.

"CJ already knows."

"What?!"

"She was kind of the one who guessed and made me take a pregnancy test," Donna shrugged.

"CJ knows and I still have my-" Josh stopped as he looked at Donna. "You know."

"Guess getting shot wasn't all bad," Donna said lightly. Josh gave a short laugh before leaning back in his chair.

"What are we gonna do, Donna?" Josh asked miserably. His voice came out no louder than a whisper.

"What do you wanna do?" Josh's eyes rose slowly to meet Donna's. The amount left unsaid between them was suddenly deafening. Josh's face fell as he shook his head.

"I donno."

Donna's face fell slightly.

"I mean, do you want to be involved? Beyond just... doctor's appointments?" she asked, trying to sound casual. As though it wasn't a big thing they were discussing.

Josh nodded solemnly.

"Yeah," he said simply. Donna frowned at the lack of enthusiasm.

"Josh?" she prompted.

"I'm just," he stood up and placed his hands on the back on his chair to steady himself.

"I donno how useful I'm gonna be to my kid when I can't support it since I'm gonna be fired."

"Let's call CJ over," Donna suggested softly.

"Okay," Josh replied sounded defeated. His shoulders sagged as he sat down again and leaned his arms forward to rest against the table.

Twenty minutes later, Donna saw Josh flinch as a knock came from the door. In any other situation she would have made a joke, but with their jobs on the line, it didn't feel appropriate. Donna got up slowly and made her way over to the door. Josh couldn't even bring himself to look as Donna invited CJ in. He remained stock still at the kitchen table, his eyes anywhere but CJ and Donna.

He heard CJ ask Donna if she was okay and briefly wondered if she would extend that kindness to him. He felt panic rise in him as Donna and CJ exchanged a few quiet words and his head snapped to the door as Donna left the apartment.

"What-" Josh called out meekly. CJ was now glaring at him across the room. Josh gulped and looked down at the table again.

"Josh," CJ began. Her voice was already at a dangerous tone. Josh didn't reply. CJ took off her jacket and tossed it over the arm of the sofa.

"You aren't even going to say hello to me?"

Josh turned to look at her, scowling.

"Can we just get this over with?" he asked, sounding tired. CJ sent Josh a smile that made his stomach turn.

"CJ-"

"Get what over with Josh?"

"If you're going to yell at me can you just do it?" Josh asked weakly. "Playing with your prey before you eat it is a cruel tactic to use."

"And for what reason would I have to yell at you Joshua?" CJ asked, feigning innocence.

"CJ-"

"Could I possibly feel angry when a senior White House staff member first, repeatedly ignored warnings from multiple co-workers." CJ was listing the reasons on her fingers as she went, her voice rising with every word. "And second, was so incredibly stupid when not listening to us, he managed to knock up his assistant."

"It's not-" Josh began. CJ immediately cut across him.

"You are her superior, Josh. Do you have ANY idea how bad this is going to look?"

"Yeah," Josh said in a small voice. He looked down again. CJ saw how terrified he looked and took a breath.

"Josh, what were you thinking?" CJ asked in a defeated voice. She collapsed into a chair beside him. Josh just shook his head.

"It wasn't what you think, CJ," he replied in the same small voice. CJ wasn't sure she'd ever seen him look so lost and vulnerable.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean," Josh said, starting to get a little more worked up. "It wasn't some meaningless one night stand."

CJ sighed. "I know." Josh looked surprised at this.

"You do?"

"Of course I do, Josh," CJ said, almost dismissively.

"What do we do?" Josh asked her, trying not to sound desperate. CJ's demeanor softened. She knew Josh understood the gravity of this situation. There was no more use yelling.

"Well, I think before we take any further steps we need to discuss what you and Donna are going to do. How are you going to handle this situation Josh?"

At Josh's questioning glance, CJ continued. "I mean, are you going to be there for the baby?"

Josh looked offended. "Of course I am!"

"You're going to go to the doctor appointments and the Lamaze class and buy a crib and learn how to change a diaper?" CJ asked. She watched as Josh's face registered just how many things she had listed that he hasn't thought of yet.

"Jesus," Josh muttered to himself. He let his face fall into his hands.

"You're going to be there when Donna needs you?"

"Yes, but CJ-"

"What do you want to do Josh? With your relationship with Donna. Do you want to be with her?"

CJ watched as Josh turned his gaze away from her with a short laugh. He wiped a hand across his face.

"Josh?"

"CJ, I've wanted to be with her for two years now." Josh had a faraway look in his eyes. "But I don't want to hurt the President. So I'll step aside if I have to."

"That's up to Leo, not me," CJ said with a sad smile. She watched as a fresh wave of terror washed over Josh's face. The thought of putting Leo in such a position was tough to swallow.

"You think it's for the best that he fires me?"

"I think," CJ stared. "It'll be a bad look for this administration to fire a man who just took a bullet for the President."

Josh looked uncomfortable at that.

"But if we could spin this as you two actually being a couple, we might be able to get away with it." Josh looked up at her with hope in his eyes.

"She wouldn't be allowed to work for you anymore." CJ saw Josh's eyes fall at this. "Josh, you know she can't." Josh nodded somberly. The idea of not seeing her at work every day was almost too much to bear.

"Maybe we can put her in Communications," CJ said thoughtfully.

"That's not far," Josh said, a little happier. CJ smiled at that.

"No, it's not."

"If Leo doesn't banish me from the building," Josh said grimly returning to reality. CJ gave a small, sympathetic smile at that.

"You're not going to yell at me more?"

"I yell at you when I need to get a point across," CJ said primly. "You seem to understand the severity of this one."

"Yeah." Josh was staring into space again.

"How ya feeling?" Josh's eyes snapped to her again and he started shaking his head.

"I donno."

"Did Donna show you the sonogram?" At this, Josh's eyes seemed to sparkle.

"Yeah," he whispered, a small smiling coming to his face.

"That's something, huh."

"Yeah," Josh agreed. "Something."