"Josh?" Donna walked into the apartment; take out in hand as she juggled her keys between her fingers. The apartment was silent except for the low mutterings of a television. It was dark outside and the apartment was shrouded in blackness aside from the streetlights streaming in through the windows. Donna flicked on every light switch on her way to the kitchen. After she deposited the food on the table, she caught sight of Josh on the couch, bundled up into a tiny ball underneath multiple large blankets. A small smile came to Donna's lips and she moved to the cabinet to bring down a few plates for the table.

With the table was set, food containers precisely laid out, she paused. After another moment's hesitation she picked up her own plate and started piling noodles on top. She grabbed a fork and then she walked slowly to the living room, plate in hand. Josh wouldn't care if she started without him.

Josh's face was mostly obscured by pillows and blankets. He tended to burrow his way deeper and deeper the longer he was asleep so right now all Donna could really see was a tuft of hair and his nose. Donna would never admit it to him, but she enjoyed watching Josh sleep. In the early days of the shooting, Josh being asleep gave her a never ending knot of anxiety that he might never wake up, but now, Josh was far enough into his recovery that Donna could take pleasure in the little things.

Naps were still a frequent part of Josh's day while he recovered and Donna had indulged quite a few times in watching him sleep. There was something about it that brought her peace, that lightened the load of the day's stresses. She loved the way Josh's cheek would often twitch when he was dreaming. She loved to see him truly at peace, his brow unfurrowed. There was a softness to Josh when he was asleep that was rarely visible when he was awake and in constant motion. More than anything though, Donna loved that she was finally allowed to do this freely. She didn't have to steal glances of him from behind the mask of papers and briefing books.

With her foot, she kicked against the side of the sofa a few times while taking another forkful of pasta. Josh stirred slightly and shrugged his shoulders a little deeper into folds of his blanket.

"Joshua," Donna said, a little louder than necessary through a mouth full of food. "I'm eating without you."

"Mmmnoo," Josh muttered, muffled through his blankets. "M'up"

Donna hid her laughter behind her fork.

"What?" she asked innocently, taking another bite.

"Donnaaaa," Josh whined, not moving.

"I'm going to go eat it now," Donna said, turning away with her plate. "Mine and yours."

"Don't eat my food," Josh grumbled sleepily, his head had emerged from the blankets. Donna looked back at him with a smirk and took another bite.

A few minutes later, Donna was sat at the table, enjoying a breadstick when Josh emerged from the living room. His hair was a disheveled mess and his eyes were still half closed. He wasn't as much walking as he was shuffling his feet forward without their consent. He was dressed in a pair of old shorts and an even older Harvard sweatshirt with a pair of blue and white stripped socks.

"Don't eatmyfood," he muttered. His words mushing together in his only semi conscious state.

"Like I'm going to eat two full plates of pasta all by myself," Donna said. Josh's eyebrows rose up into the mess of his hair.

"Hey!" Donna squealed as Josh took his seat.

Josh didn't answer; instead he went straight to loading his plate with pasta and breadsticks.

"Josh!"

"Mmm?" Josh said completely oblivious to Donna being offended.

"What did that mean?"

"What did what mean?"

"Your eyebrows?"

"What did my eyebrows mean?"

"Yes."

"I don't know what that means," Josh said quietly after a moment trying to comprehend the conversation.

"You raised your eyebrows when I said I couldn't eat two plates of pasta," Donna said, dangerously close to pouting. Josh winced, but couldn't help the way the corner of his mouth twitched.

"Josh!"

"You're pregnant!"

"So?"

"So pregnant people eat more!"

"Not all of them," Donna said, crossing her arms.

"Maybe not, but you do."

Josh ducked as Donna chucked a breadstick at him.

"Jerk," she muttered as she turned back to her food.

"It's cute," Josh told her sheepishly. Donna narrowed her eyes.

"How?"

"You finally have a reason to be stealing my food now," Josh said as he stifled a yawn. "How was work?"

Donna let his comments slide, eager to talk about her day.

"I think Toby's happy to finally have a researcher who isn't scared of him."

"Is he being nice?"

"He's being Toby."

Josh let out a small laugh at that.

"Is he still you know," Josh started playing with his food. "Still mad at us?"

"More you than me," Donna said honestly. Toby had been to visit only a few times since Josh was last in the hospital and each time had been purely work related. And Josh understood, Toby was the head of the communications department and Josh Lyman was a walking time bomb for Toby. It was only a matter of time until someone found out.

"Yeah," Josh replied, lost in thought.

"So I think I've found my replacement."

Josh came back to the present and pulled a face as he took a second to process her words.

"Right."

"He's very nice. Eager to please."

"What's his name?"

"Jake."

Josh grimaced.

"What!"

"Have you ever met somebody named Jake that wasn't an asshole?"

"Yes!"

Josh didn't look convinced.

"Josh, you have to accept that SOMEBODY is going to have to take my place and I think it should be Jake."

"Whatever," Josh said, leaning forward to focus a little harder on his food. Donna chose to drop the subject for now. Josh had been resistant to every name she brought up to him. She knew he just didn't want to face the reality to losing her as his assistant.

"Margaret confronted me today," Donna said after a few moments, a little shyly.

"Confronted you?" Josh asked straightening up, looking concerned. "About what?"

"About why it looks like I'm smuggling a soccer ball around the office under my shirt."

Josh gave a sheepish smile and waited for her to continue.

"I admitted I was pregnant, but I didn't tell her it was yours," Donna continued. She looked a little ashamed at this.

"Donna, that's what CJ told us to do. Keep it on the down low for now," Josh said, leaning forward to grab her hand.

"It feels like I'm lying."

"Donna, there's no way we could trust Margaret to keep that a secret," Josh snorted.

"Margaret can keep secrets," Donna said, a little defensive.

"Leo's maybe. Not ours."

"I guess."

"So does that mean the whole office knows you're pregnant now?" Josh asked as he reached for another breadstick.

"I mean," Donna took a bite of a breadstick and gestured to her belly, which was just barely poking out from the bottom of her shirt. "It's pretty obvious at this point. I think they already figured it out."

"Maybe people just thought you let yourself go," Josh said casually. He smirked at Donna's predictable scowl.

"This is your fault."

"What is?"

"Me getting fat."

"You're not getting fat!"

"Josh!"

"You're growing a person! That's not the same."

Donna just shook her head and took another bite of her food.

"You're fault," she said, pointing the breadstick at him, but keeping her eyes on her plate.

"You were there too!"

"And yet none of my pants fit me anymore while you walked away unscathed."

Josh looked flummoxed at what to say next.

"I mean, I got shot. Does that help?"

"A little," Donna allowed, smirking at him now. Josh rolled his eyes at her.

"What movie did you bring for us today?"

Josh and Donna had fallen into the habit of watching movies most nights. Since Josh's excursion to the West Wing a few weeks ago, they decided against having him leave the house for anything other than doctor appointments. They meaning Donna, but Josh was mostly compliant. He would whine about it, but Donna didn't have to worry about him getting overconfident.

Since Josh had gotten home from his last trip to the hospital, Donna had scarcely left his side. They'd never explicitly discussed it, but for all intents and purposes, Donna had effectively moved in. The first few nights she had taken up residence in the guest bedroom after Josh had fallen asleep, but once Josh realized, he laughed and insisted she shared his bed.

"I already got you pregnant, what's the worst that could happen?"

And so Donna would periodically collect more clothes from her apartment while spending most of her time at Josh's.

"It's a good one," Donna told him, talking with her mouth full.

"I doubt that," Josh quipped.

"It has Julia Roberts!"

"So?"

"And Hugh Grant."

"You got another rom-com?" Josh rolled his eyes, but Donna wasn't fooled.

"You love rom-coms," she stated plainly.

"Do not."

"Do too!"

"I only pretend to like them so you won't feel bad," Josh told her, avoiding her gaze.

"You only pretend you don't like them so Sam and Toby won't make fun of you."

Josh just shook his head. He knew she was right, but he'd never admit it.

"Sam likes them."

"And Sam is happier for it."

Leftovers stored faithfully in the microwave, they took their usual places in front of the TV as "Notting Hill" started playing. Donna sat with her feet perched on the arm of the sofa and her head on a pillow settled in Josh's lap while Josh sat with his feet up on the coffee table. Josh fingers were currently lightly clung around Donna's right hand as it rested upon her stomach.

"Do you think it's a boy or a girl?" Donna asked about an hour into the movie, staring down at her swollen belly, tracing a finger around it lightly. Josh looked at her.

"I donno. Stand up."

"What?"

"Let me look at your belly properly and I'll tell you."

"What?" Donna asked incredulously. "That won't work."

"Live with the pain of not knowing then," Josh said, turning his attention back to the TV.

"Don't you want to know?" Donna asked him. Josh shrugged.

"It's still going to poop and cry either way so." Donna smiled, endeared by the way Josh seemed not to care one way or the other what sex the baby was.

Taking her head from the pillow in his lap, she straightened up and stood in front of the screen. She pulled her baggy t-shirt up and over her belly. Her bump was almost perfectly round at this point. She couldn't have hidden behind the big lunch excuse if she had wanted to. She turned so that her belly was in profile to Josh.

"Tell me oh wise one, boy or girl?"

"I'm going with girl. Your carrying high, which means girl."

Donna gave him an incredulous look.

"How can you possibly know this?"

"I know things!"

"Josh," Donna said, laughing, but exasperated.

"They were talking about it on a talk show, okay," Josh muttered. Donna laughed at the image of Josh watching the View, answering their questions from the comfort of the sofa.

"Would you be happy with a girl?" Donna asked. Josh perked up and shot her a smile.

"I'd love it if it was a girl."

"Why?" Donna asked him, smiling at his infectious enthusiasm.

"Cause hopefully she'd be a mini you and she can teach me inane trivia facts nobody in their right mind should care about."

"Oh." Donna's face immediately crumpled as her hand shot up to her mouth. Her eyes were growing damp with unshed tears.

"Shit, Donna, please don't-"

"I know, I know," Donna muttered, annoyed. "These damn hormones." Josh walked the few feet between them and gently guided her back to the sofa.

"I'm kidding, I don't want it to be a girl. I don't want it to be anything like you I swear," Josh said jokingly, trying to reverse the situation. Donna giggled and shook her head.

"You know I'm not normally like this, okay," she said, dabbing at her eyes.

"Eh," Josh said dismissively. Donna turned to him with an incredulous look on her face.

"When have you ever seen me cry before YOU made me get incredibly fat and unstable.?"

Josh smiled and shrugged, enjoying her incredulity.

"I hope it's a girl too, that way we can spare her the worry of having your hairline," Donna shot back at him. Josh snorted and rolled his eyes.

-

Two Days Later

-

Josh was walking to the bathroom when he caught sight of Donna stood with her hands perched on her hips, gazing into the empty guest room with a pensive look on her face.

"Donna?"

"We need a crib."

"Okay."

"And a changing table."

"Right."

"And diapers."

"Donna-"

"How do we not have anything?"

"We still have like four months to go!"

"We need to be prepared!" She turned to stare seriously at Josh, who wavered under her gaze.

"We'll get stuff. Except-"

"What?"

"I," Josh looked down, embarrassed. He'd been thinking about this a lot lately, but he didn't want to admit to Donna that he was scared to venture out to the store. He wasn't sure he could make it there and back. "I can't go to a furniture store. What if a photographer sees me go in?"

Donna patted Josh's cheek.

"I'll take CJ. It'll be better that way anyways."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means this way we spare the baby from having a room that's completely decked out in Mets memorabilia." Josh scowled at her.

"If we don't act fast, Toby might sneak the kid a Yankee hat."

"Hey listen," Donna said quietly. Josh sobered and leaned against the doorjamb to listen. Donna had been anxious about this question for a few days. While she essentially lived in Josh's apartment at this point, she was worried about bringing this up to him. She didn't want to trigger some weird emotional switch in Josh's brain that would make him panic.

"Rent is coming up soon for my apartment and-"

"You're still paying-" Josh stopped himself. "Donna, I thought." He stopped again. "Can't you just move in here?"

A small smile lit up Donna's face.

"You want me too?"

"Haven't you already been doing that?" Josh looked genuinely confused.

"We've never discussed it."

"Oh," Josh's brow furrowed. "I mean, I kind of thought you already were living here."

"Is that what you want?"

Josh laughed.

"Is that what I want?" he repeated incredulously. "The mother of my child living with me? The woman who gives me takeout and sex?" Donna hit him lightly on his good arm.

"I mean, you won't let me drink beer, so that's a drawback. I might have to think about it actually," Josh said, a finger coming up to drum against his chin.

"I'm staying," she said as she walked into the guest room, her mind whirring as she mentally tried to place furniture about the room. Josh followed her in and wrapped his arms around her from behind.

"I'm glad," he said as he placed a kiss in the crook of her neck.

-

The Next Day

-

"Donna are you sure this is where this piece goes?" Josh was sat on the floor of what was slowly becoming the baby's bedroom. Pieces of wood were scattered all around him as well as different piles of screws.

"That's what the instructions say," Donna was sitting on a chair with her feet up,

"Are you sure you're on the right page?" Sam was over, and doing his best to assist Josh in building the crib. Sam crawled over to where Donna was and took the instruction packet. Donna watched on in amusement as Sam started turning the booklet around in his hands, even viewing it upside down.

"Hard to believe you guys run the country," Donna muttered. Only Josh heard and he shot her an amused look.

"Are you sure the kid even needs a crib?" Sam asked. "Can't we just put it in a basket or something."

"Fool proof plan," Josh said with a smile at Donna. "We can put it to bed in a river every night."

Sam scowled. With a big sigh, Donna heaved herself off the chair and lowered herself to the floor besides Josh and Sam.

"Gimme," she said, her hand out in gesture towards the instruction manual. Looking surprised, Sam handed her the manual.

"Give me that," Donna said now, pointing at the screwdriver. Josh obliged.

Within 10 minutes, the two boys sat transfixed as Donna went about constructing something that actually resembled a crib.

"You're amazing," Josh said quietly. Donna rolled her eyes at his genuine awe.

"I swear I'm just reading the instructions. I don't know how you two made that so hard."

"Donna!" All three heads turned to find a disbelieving CJ standing in the doorway, multiple large shopping bags adorning both arms.

"Hi," Donna said innocently. Sam quickly snatched back the manual, Josh the screwdriver.

"You're not supposed to be building it!"

"CJ-"

"The whole point is that you relax while the father of your child struggles with hard manual labor!"

Josh and Sam shared concerned looks.

"You two fly boys really are good for nothing, aren't you?"

"What's in the bag?" Sam asked her, trying to divert her from her warpath. CJ looked at the pair of them a little longer, trying to decide whether she was done yelling at them. She didn't miss the way Josh's chest was heaving a little heavier than normal, his fingers were drumming against his chest lightly in the way they often did when he was feeling some sort of discomfort.

"All of the baby stuff Donna ordered."

Josh's eyes went wide.

"How much stuff did you buy?" he was trying to keep his tone from rising.

"The stuff we need!" Donna said defensively. Josh poked his head inside one of the bags and pulled out a tiny stuffed llama.

"The kid needs this?" he asked.

"Josh-"

"I've already got the insurance companies breathing down my neck, Donna. I can't afford to be buying every stuffed animal under the sun," Josh muttered distractedly. He looked away from the group and listened as the other bags were explored.

"Josh." Donna's voice was soft and friendly. Josh turned to her to see her holding a tiny Mets onesie, with a tiny baseball hat and all.

"Oh my god," he said quietly, reaching for the onesie. All his frustration immediately evaporated.

"I can't believe something can actually be small enough to fit into this," Josh said, admiring it gently. Donna turned back to the other two with a satisfied smile. "What else did you get, CJ?"

About an hour and a half later, the room was finally looking like a room. They had the crib built, the changing table set up. There were baby clothes in the closet and in the dresser, though Josh insisted on leaving the Mets onesie out where they could see it. A delivery man had arrived with a large cushioned rocking chair that he thankfully installed himself. And now, CJ, Sam, and Donna were sat on the floor, on top of a new rug, all enjoying some pizza while Josh was passed out in the rocking chair.

"You know, that should be you asleep, Donna," CJ said, shaking her head. Donna smirked.

"Leave him alone, he's had a long day."

"And yet he's not carrying a human child inside of him," CJ said, still looking disapproving.

"He had physical therapy earlier today," Donna said, a little defensive.

"Oh," CJ replied, looking a little regretful. "How's that going?"

"Good I think," Donna shrugged. "He's not about to run a marathon anytime soon, but he has a lot of his mobility back."

"He's been looking a lot better lately, Donna," Sam said kindly. "Every time I come over he seems to have just a bit more energy."

Donna smiled wide at Sam.

"We're getting there."

"Got any coffee?" CJ asked. Donna nodded and made to stand up. Sam stood up quicker and extended his arm out, helping Donna up. She smiled gratefully at him and then moved to grab a blanket to drape over Josh.

"Getting all the practice you need for the kid with this one," CJ muttered with a smile. The three of them made their way out of the room. Donna paused in the doorway to take another admiring look at the room. They had gone for a mixture of neutral colors. There was a lot of grey and a mint colored green accenting the room. It was becoming more real by the day. A hand unconsciously made its way to the side of her belly as she felt a mixture of anxiety and excitement rush through her. She tried to live in this current moment. Where she was safe, where the world outside had no idea about her or Josh or the baby. She tried to exist in only this warm place, but it was hard not to let the fears of tomorrow invade her thoughts. Fears of what would happen when people found out, fears about her and Josh, fears about parenthood.

"It looks great, Donna," CJ said from behind her, a hand squeezing Donna's forearm, shaking Donna from her thoughts. She nodded and with one last admiring look at the room (and Josh), she turned and flicked off the light.