SINS OF THE FATHER
RATED R
FIRST PART OF THE 'HISTORY REPEATS' SERIES
SAM/DONNA ROMANCE
SPOILERS FOR 'SOMEONE'S GOING TO EMERGENCY, SOMEONE'S GOING TO JAIL'
Despite the fact that CJ had leaked the truth to the press, rumours of Sam's Congressional aspirations dominated her press briefings. Sam had been in California for two days and CJ was one press briefing away from having a nervous breakdown. "We need Sam to get back here. Either that or we need something to take the spotlight off of this because I'm not sure how much longer the press will lay off based on the minimal leak that we offered up," CJ announced in Senior Staff.
"He'll be home tonight, CJ. He already e-mailed me a copy of the statement he wrote. It covers everything we need it to and nothing we don't," Toby said calmly. The 'big brother' thing he had felt while defending Sam's job during the call girl fiasco had come back with a vengeance and, until he could figure out a way to make it go away Toby decided that there was nothing he could do except go with it.
"Okay, I've got a thing today so, Josh, you're me for the next twenty four hours," Leo said. Josh's eyes lit up as CJ and Toby hung their heads. Handing Josh a position of power almost always led to no good for anyone.
"What could possibly be so important that you leave this moron in charge?" CJ asked bluntly. For someone who made a living being tactful she was more than adept at cutting right to the heart of the matter.
"Mallory," Leo said. CJ and Toby nodded, not understanding because neither one of them had children of their own, but knowing that Leo had given up a lot for his career, especially when it came to his family, and there was no way that they could begrudge him something that he shouldn't have to fight for to begin with—time with his daughter. "CJ, make sure that Education Reform is your first and last stop at every briefing today because you're right. The press isn't going to want to sit on a White House staffer who might be running for Congress, especially when we don't even know if the President is going to run again. Make education the big story. Toby, I need you to meet with Greg Talon. I need to know what side he's going to come down on and I need to know by lunch. Josh, Donna and Margaret are going to double-team you to make sure that you don't screw this country up in the next fourteen hours. If you screw up or create a secret plan to fight anything I will kill you in so many ways they won't even be able to ID your body through DNA, am I clear?"
Josh paled slightly but didn't lose his composure. "Crystal. Is Mal okay?" he asked, concerned for his childhood friend and surrogate sister.
"Chicken pox. She never had it as a kid. Apparently it has already run through half her class and is expected to get the other half by the end of the month. Her mother is in England, shopping with money she stole from me in the divorce and you know how Mallory gets when she's sick," Leo said. Josh nodded and smirked slightly. "Okay. Get out. I have calamine lotion to buy."
CJ and Toby headed out quickly. "This is going to be eighteen kinds of bad," CJ said to Toby.
"Uh-huh," Toby nodded.
Miraculously Josh managed to keep his mouth shut unless his opinions were called upon and the day was smooth sailing until the President was called to the Situation Room. The only thing Josh said to Donna before racing after the President was that she would need to pick Sam up from the airport, which was fine with her because it meant that she got to go home early for the first time in many moons.
Waiting at baggage claim, Donna sipped an iced mocha and flipped through a fashion magazine trying to find styles that would flatter her body type for the next ball she got the chance to attend. She knew she wouldn't be able to afford the names featured in the magazine but she had always had good luck finding decent looking knock-offs of clothing by the biggest names in the fashion industry.
Her caffeine buzz refreshed and four pages folded to mark the items she wanted to keep an eye out for later Donna spotted Sam in the crowd of arriving travellers.
"I thought Josh was picking us up," Sam said as he pulled Donna into a warm embrace. Two days of assorted family members was enough for Sam. He'd spent some time with his father, had a couple of tense conversations with Theresa, sat at his sister's bedside for a few hours during which she didn't wake up once, and he'd even managed to get away to have dinner with his mother because he knew that if he was in the SoCal area and didn't drop by for at least one meal he would end up very, very dead. Sam loved his family, but there was only so much he could take. It was good to be home.
"He has to staff the President today. Mallory caught the chicken pox from one of her students and, according to Josh she is the absolute worst sick person in the world, so, since Mrs. McGarry is in London until tomorrow Leo took the day off to sit with Mallory and make sure she doesn't scratch too much," Donna said. She knelt down so that she was at eye level with the little girl who was holding onto the fabric of Sam's pants in a death grip. "You must be Meredith. My name is Donna."
"Donna works with me," Sam explained, his hand moving to rest tenderly amongst the mop of messy brown curls atop his niece's head.
"Hi," Meredith said shyly. She peered up at Sam with wide blue eyes full of innocence and curiosity. If she didn't know any better Donna would have sworn the little girl was Sam's daughter. "Do I get to live with Donna, too?"
Sam blushed and Donna smiled. "No, sweetheart, but anytime you want to see me, for any reason, just give me a call, okay?" Donna said, pulling one of her cards out of her purse and handing it to the little girl. Meredith stared at the numbers for several moments before tucking it away in the bib pocket of her overalls.
The buzzer went off alerting everyone that was waiting that bags would be descending the conveyor belt and Sam told Meredith to keep her eye out for her bag. Being an expert at travel Sam had only packed what could fit in a carry-on, but Meredith had packed many essential items like stuffed animals and books that she just couldn't live without as well as enough outfits to keep her clothed for a month without doing laundry. "There it is!" Meredith exclaimed when a large suitcase in a funky floral print more commonly seen on Hawaiian shirts came sliding down toward them. Sam stepped forward and heaved it up before it could travel away from them and the three started working their way toward the parking structure. Sam was struggling with a wobbly wheel on the suitcase so Donna took Meredith's hand to make sure she didn't get separated from them.
"You didn't bring your car, did you?" Sam asked sceptically. Donna's beat up Ford Pinto was unreliable at best and Sam was pretty sure that Meredith's bag was about the same size as the vehicle.
"No, Leo loaned me his 'guy' for a few hours," Donna said. "You don't want to stop at the office, do you?"
"I think if I did I would never get to leave," Sam said wryly.
"Toby was muttering something about actually chaining you to your desk this time. What was that about?" Donna asked as they approached Leo's car.
Rolling his eyes Sam hefted the bag into the trunk. Leo's driver was pushing eighty, suffered from osteoarthritis, and would probably break in half if he tried to lift the little girl's luggage. "He was a little angry when I told him about Lorie," Sam said, "and apparently he thought I couldn't get into trouble if he chained me to my desk and sent someone in to feed me periodically." Meredith giggled at that. Sam looked at Donna. "Yeah, she likes to torture me," he said before they got in the car.
"Well, Meredith, I think I can tell you some stories about your uncle that you'll like," Donna said with a smile. Then, off of Sam's look she added, "All G rated, of course." It didn't make Sam feel much better but he figured that Meredith deserved the chance to laugh after the ordeal she had just been through.
Zoey entered the anteroom for the Oval Office and greeted Charlie with a kiss. "Hey you," she smiled.
"Hey yourself," Charlie replied. "I thought you had study group after classes today." Out of the corner of his eye he could see Zoey's Secret Service agent standing in the doorway. At first it had been weird, dating someone who came with all the extra people that Zoey did, but he had gotten past that. He hadn't, however, gotten past the fear of her father. Dating the daughter of the man who can order the Navy, Marines, and the Army, not to mention the Secret Service, to visualize you as the enemy was more than somewhat disconcerting.
"Got cancelled," Zoey said as she perched herself on the edge of his desk. "I don't suppose he's got some time to spare for his baby girl," she said, nodding toward her father's office.
"Unfortunately not," Charlie said. "Situation Room," he added.
Zoey nodded. "Okay. I'm gonna go see if I can convince Josh to take a break, maybe grab a bite to eat," she said.
"Uh, Josh is staffing your father. He's waiting outside the Situation Room," Charlie said. He had never really understood why Josh didn't have the code word clearance that, as Deputy Chief of Staff, he should have had, but when he'd asked the President about it all he had been told was that it was Josh's decision to turn down the NSA's card and that the Administration stood by him. Whatever that meant.
"Oh. What about Donna?"
Charlie smiled wryly. "She's picking Sam up from the airport."
"Is anyone free for dinner?" Zoey pouted.
"The First Lady is in her office today, I could call Lilly and see if she's available," Charlie said. Zoey gave him the puppy dog eyes. "I would love to, Zoey, you know that. But Mrs. Landingham had a doctor's appointment and I've got to fill in for her while doing all of my work and there aren't enough hours in the day for me to do two full time jobs and eat."
Zoey hopped down off the desk. "Fine. I'll go see if mom has time for me," she said in the tone that told Charlie he was in trouble.
"Thanks Ken," Donna said before closing the car door. She struggled slightly with the heavy luggage but she managed to get it up the steps to Sam's front door while Sam carried his slumbering niece. Meredith had fallen asleep not long after they left the airport, not having slept since the night of the accident, and neither Sam nor Donna had the heart to wake her.
"You've still got your key, right?" Sam asked as he realized that he wouldn't be able to get his keys out of his pocket without dropping Meredith and that it would look very bad for Donna to reach into his pants pocket. Donna nodded and fumbled through her purse for a moment before smiling triumphantly and pulling out a set of keys that Sam figured weighed more than his laptop. "You're not moonlighting as a janitor are you?" he asked as she flipped through the keys to find the right one.
"The term is 'custodial staff', and when exactly would I find the time to moonlight? I work twenty hour days, six days a week," Donna said. "I'm the head assistant in Operations. I have to be able to get into any and all offices in my area, as well as all the file drawers. Plus I have my house keys, car keys, Josh's house keys and car keys, your house keys, the keys to my sister's house in Madison, and about ten keys that I don't really know the use of but I'm sure I'd find out if I threw them out so I'm keeping them anyway." She found the key to Sam's front door and quickly let them inside. "Office protocol decrees, ironically enough, that all keys to the offices be locked up while I'm in the office, by the way, so that's why I don't have to lug all these around all day."
Sam frowned. Thinking back he could remember Bonnie complaining about the number of keys she needed to keep track of. He'd never really thought much of it.
"I'll just put her down in my room," Sam decided.
"No need. C'mon. I've got a surprise for you," Donna said, leaving the rolling suitcase in the front hallway and tugging on Sam's sleeve to get him to follow her to what was now Meredith's room. "You didn't have much time before you left and I promised to help out any way that I could, so… I went shopping," she said as she pushed open the door and revealed what Sam decided was the perfect bedroom for his niece. "The, uh, mattress is new and you own it outright. The rest of the furniture is from one of those rental places because I knew you didn't know how long Meredith would be here. That's also why we decided not to paint the walls. Well, that, and the time factor," Donna rambled as Sam set the little girl down on the bed and took off her shoes before tucking her in under the covers.
"How did you get all this done?" Sam asked in amazement.
"Josh owes me about a year of paid vacation, so I took a day. Cathy handled Josh for the day, leaving him terrified and, I'm sure, very hungry. I got the furniture delivered after I got home from work the day you left. I bought sheets, curtains, pillows, and movies this morning and this afternoon I talked to some people and managed to get a woman named Norah Trell to pull double duty as tutor and babysitter Monday through Friday at a very reasonable rate for someone with her qualifications—which I will fill you in on once you're fully awake and can handle words with more than two syllables," Donna said.
Sam smiled gratefully. "Thank you for that."
"No problem. I figured that Meredith would pack some things, clothes and toys and stuff, but anything she needs or wants or whatever, just let me or CJ know and we'll either take Meredith or go with the two of you so that you don't have to fake a feminine side. Josh and Toby helped me move everything into the room and we turned that oddly shaped nook by the kitchen into a storage area for the things that you said you didn't want to go to Josh's," Donna continued.
Nodding, Sam tried to take that all in. "What about work?" he asked. He knew that when Donna said she had taken care of 'everything' she meant that she had taken care of everything.
"I spoke to Leo and the President and have been ordered to let you know that you have the next three days off unless there's an emergency. If there is one there will be a pass waiting for Meredith at the gate. Mrs. Bartlet is in town and has volunteered to watch her if you need to bring her with you to the office. Also the President expects to meet Meredith, as long as she's feeling up to it, tomorrow, but that can be stalled for a day or so because who better to know how jet lag feels, right?" Donna said with a lopsided smile. She had been witness to the President's tirades while dealing with jet lag—he'd fired Sam twice in her presence, Josh six times, and Mrs. Bartlet once, though that one had backfired in many, many ways.
Sam started to get a little worried. "Exactly how indebted to people am I going to be for this?"
"CJ says she expects a spa day. Josh and Toby want the finest scotch in the land. Other than that you're off the hook," Donna said.
"Okay, you're gonna have to write all that down for me," Sam said. He'd been ready to fall over since leaving DC two days earlier and he didn't foresee his condition getting any better without at least ten hours of uninterrupted sleep.
Donna smiled and pulled a stack of her infamous note cards out of her back pocket. "Itemized and ready for your perusal. There's an index that explains the colour-coding on top of the pile," she said, handing the package to Sam who looked at it dubiously before tucking it into his own pocket where he wouldn't lose it.
"Then I shall peruse after dinner. Is there anything I should be doing right now?" Sam asked.
"Yeah. Sleeping. Go catch a few hours. By the time you're rested enough that you can keep your eyes open for a conversation and, I don't know, retain some information, Meredith should be awake."
Sam pulled Donna into a tight embrace. "You are amazing," he whispered. "Thank you."
"Say that again after you get your credit card bill," Donna replied with a weak smile. She knew she had gone a bit overboard but she couldn't help herself.
"How did you get my credit card?" Sam asked, pulling back and lining Donna up with a glare that would have made Toby proud.
Fortunately for Donna she worked with Josh Lyman and was impervious.
"I didn't."
"Then how…?"
Donna smiled a Mona Lisa smile. "How many times do I have to tell you that I know everything?"
"So everything includes…?"
"Yes, everything includes," Donna said with a firm nod.
Sam chuckled. "You are a dangerous person to know, Donnatella Moss."
"I hear that twice a day," Donna replied. "Now go get some sleep. I'll wake you when Meredith gets up."
"You're gonna stick around?" Sam asked, pleased.
"Unless you want me to leave," Donna said. She really hoped he didn't want her to, but she would understand if he did. The last time she had been back to Wisconsin it had been a weekend trip that left her feeling like crawling into a hole and dying. When she got back to work on Monday Josh had told her that she needed a vacation from her vacation. He'd been teasing her, but the sad thing was that it was the truth.
"Not in the least," Sam said. He hugged Donna tightly and placed a lingering kiss on her forehead before murmuring a 'goodnight' and stumbling off to his own bedroom.
The hallway was empty, which was good except that Josh had long since counted all the tiles on the floor and had given himself multiple lectures on the stupidity of giving back the NSA's card. At the time it had been the right thing to do, and on the whole Josh didn't regret it, but when it came to times of emergency and he was forced to sit on the sidelines he felt like kicking himself in the head.
"So everything's cool? The kid doesn't hate him or anything?" Josh asked. Boredom had led to Josh calling Donna, partially to bug her but mostly to get her opinion on how Sam was coping thus far with his surrogate daddy status.
"No, she doesn't, Joshua. It's not surprising, though. Sam is good with kids. You, on the other hand, should be kept away from anyone under legal drinking age to prevent emotional scarring," Donna replied. "What are you doing? It sounds quiet."
"I've been banished to the only hallway in the White House that doesn't have anything to hold my interest. There are, however, seven hundred and twenty six tiles from end to end," Josh said.
"And you know this because…?" Donna prompted.
"Hey, I've been standing here since ten in the morning," Josh complained. The President had told him that he needed to wait outside the door to the Situation Room until a decision had been made. "Tell me about the kid. Is she a devil child with sticky hands and cookie crumbs on her face?"
"Seriously, you need to stay far, far away from any and all children, Josh," Donna said. Josh knew she was rolling her eyes. "Meredith is great. She's incredibly intelligent for her age, very well behaved, and she can bring the verbal almost as well as Sam can. We didn't get to talk much, though, 'cause she fell asleep in the car, but I'm gonna stick around here for a while and make sure that she gets settled in."
Josh smiled. He knew that Donna had been determined to make this situation as easy for Sam and Meredith as possible. He wanted to do that, too, but he was so hopeless at non-political things that he had decided that helping with the furniture and picking up some of the slack for Sam at work was the extent of how he would help with the Meredith situation. "Good. Make sure Sam gets some sleep. Whenever he has to face his family he ends up getting all maudlin if he doesn't get some quality sleep after it's over."
"He's already in bed. So is Meredith. I'm just about to run to the store because I realized that, with all the stuff we were doing to make that office become Meredith's bedroom we didn't stock the fridge and all Sam had in there were the leftovers from when I came over the night this all started," Donna said. "I'm sure he'd appreciate it if you called him in a few hours to find out how everything's going," she added.
"I was going to wait until morning, let him get some more sleep, but if you think he'll be up in a few hours I'll check in," Josh said. "Assuming I haven't gone insane from standing in this damn hallway," he muttered causing Donna to laugh softly and comment on how it wouldn't take much for him to go insane.
We're nearing the end of this portion of the series.