Hey! Here's the next chapter! Thank you all for the reviews! Please keep them coming!! Sorry about taking so long to update!
Enjoy!!!
From The Past
Telling Jackson:
Josh had always been a light sleeper. The slightest noise or movement would wake him up in an instance. So, when he heard footsteps walking towards him, he sat up and looked around his dark living room. Jackson froze when he saw Josh sitting up, looking at him.
"Hey." Josh whispered, rubbing his eyes. "You okay?"
Jackson just nodded his head silently.
"Your Mom still asleep?"
Jackson nodded again.
Josh glanced at the clock on the VCR and saw it was 6:30.
"You want some breakfast?" He asked, standing up.
"I didn't mean to wake you up?" He said quietly, looking down.
Josh smiled. "I was already awake... Come on, lets go and see what food I have."
Jackson quietly followed him into the kitchen.
"You want some toast?" He turned to him and he shrugged in reply. "Okay, I think I can manage to do some toast... Maybe some eggs too?"
Jackson smiled. "Okay!"
Josh couldn't help but smile back. "Okay."
He made some scrambled eggs and toast, placing a plate in front of Jackson before getting himself a plate. It had been a long time since he actually sat down at his own table and ate breakfast that he cooked himself.
"Good?" He asked, watching Jackson eat.
"Better then Mommy's." He nodded.
"Really?"
"She can't cook." Jackson told him, pulling a face.
Josh laughed. "She really that bad?"
"Huh-uh."
"What's going on in here?"
Josh looked and saw Leanne leaning against the door. "We're eating breakfast...I saved you some..."
"It's really good, Mommy." Jackson turned towards her. "It taste like proper eggs."
"Oh, it's that good is it?"
"Yeah!"
"Proper eggs?" Josh questioned, standing up to get her a plate. "Exactly how bad of a cook are you?"
"I'm not bad!" She claimed.
"Apparently, you are." Josh placed it down in front of her.
She just rolled her eyes and took a mouthful.
"Well?"
"You'd be in so much trouble if these egg weren't so good." She replied.
He laughed slightly and shook his head. "Well, I guess I'd better get ready for work."
"Aww." Jackson frowned. "What about our movie?"
"We can watch it tonight..." Leanne told him, before looking at Josh. "I mean, if that's okay?"
"No... No that'll be great." He said quickly. "I'll get us a pizza on the way home."
"Yeah!" Jackson grinned.
"Well, that's settled then." Josh smiled, relieved that Jackson was finally coming out of his shell a little. "I'm going to jump in the shower, I'll be right back."
"Josh?" Leanne followed him into the bathroom.
"What's up?"
"About last night..."
"Hey, don't worry...I'm sorry...I shouldn't have..."
She shook her head before cutting in. "It wasn't just you."
"But still."
"I don't want things to be weird with us."
"They won't be."
"And I don't want you thinking I'm mad at you."
"I'm not."
"And I don't want you to think that I didn't want to kiss you."
He raised an eyebrow. "You wanted to kiss me?"
She sighed and leaned back against the wall. "Josh..."
"You wanted to...But you stopped?"
"Things are way too complicated at the moment..."
"Are they?"
"Yes, Josh!" She insisted. "God, and your meant to be intelligent enough to advise the President."
"Well, we won't get into that right now..." He joked about her last comment. "But seriously, maybe things aren't as complicated as we think they are."
"We have a three year old son, no one knows that he's yours... And if my family ever find out they'd probably kill you!" She told him. "Never mind the fact that your boss hates me and would probably fire you for being with me."
"He doesn't hate you." He stated. "And he won't fire me."
"Josh..."
"And all that other stuff... Who cares?"
"I care."
"Lee, there has always been something between us...And there has always been something stopping us being together." He started. "But this time... We can make it work... We can be a family... Jackson, you and me..."
She stared at him. "How?"
"Move in here."
"What?"
"You and Jackson... Don't find a place of your own...Move in here."
"Josh, are you crazy?"
"Do I have to answer that?"
"Josh!" She exclaimed. "How... How could we move in here. You have one bedroom!"
"I have two."
"You have two bedrooms?" She asked.
"Yeah."
"So, uh... Why did you sleep on the couch last night?"
"Okay, well... I have a room that's meant to be a bedroom but is more like a dumping place for my crap." He replied. "But we can turn it into a bedroom...We can decorate it... Jackson can choose."
"It's very sweet of you, Josh but..."
"No, don't... Just think about it..." He cut in. "Just please...Think about it before you say no."
She was silent for a few seconds. "Okay...I'll think about it."
"Good." He nodded. "Right, now I really need to get ready for work or I'll be late."
"Okay."
"You guys hang around here for as long as you like." He told her, giving a quick kiss on the lips then blushed when he realised. "I'm sorry...I don't know why I just did that."
She smiled slightly. "It's okay... I'll leave you to it."
He smiled watching her leave the bathroom, staring after her before realising her had 30 minutes to get to work.
After his shower, he rushed around trying to get dressed and find a file he needed.
"You always this un-organised in the morning?" Leanne asked, leaning in the doorway.
"Pretty much, yeah..." He replied, looking through some papers. "Ha, got it."
She laughed a little and shook her head. "I still can't believe they let you talk to the President."
"Hey!"
"Come on, remember when you were in the 4th grade and Mallory's father arranged for one of the President's Senior staff to talk to your class?" She started. "And you asked why the President's house was boring and white?"
"I can't believe Mallory told you that story." Josh mumbled, not looking up from the paper in his hand.
"I can't believe you asked if it was because he couldn't afford to buy colourful paint..."
He shoved the paper back into its folder and then into his backpack before looking up at her. "I was a kid... And Mallory's making the colourful paint thing up."
"Whatever rainbow-boy." She laughed.
"I've really got to get going." He told her moving towards the door. "I'll see you tonight?"
"Sure." She smiled slightly.
As he went to pass her, she stopped him. They stared at each other for a moment before she hesitantly leaned forwards and kissed him softly. He started to kiss back, slowly putting his arms around her. After a couple of minutes, she broke the kiss with smaller ones. She smiled up at him as she straightened his tie. "You're going to be late."
It took a few seconds for her words to sink in and Josh looked his watch. "Damn! I'll see you later!"
XxXxX
"It could work..." Sam claimed, as he stood with C.J and Toby.
"We're not in the 3rd grade, Sam!" Toby glared at him.
"Maybe if we give it a try..."
"He's just finishing up with Leo." Charlie informed them, frowning seeing the three of them huddled together. "What's going on?"
"Nothing." C.J told him at the same time as Sam.
"I've got a plan."
Charlie gave him a wary look. "For what?"
"To find out what's going on with Josh."
"It's a stupid plan." Toby glared at Sam.
"It could work!" Sam insisted. "We just have to pretend that we have a secret that he'll really want to know, so he'll tell us his so we'll tell him ours."
"But we haven't got one!" Toby pointed out.
"That's our secret." Sam grinned, continuing when they just stared at him. "Get it... Our secret is that we haven't got a secret."
"How you graduated from Princeton is beyond me..." Toby muttered after a few more seconds of them just looking at his deputy.
"It could work!" He repeated.
"What could?"
They all turned and saw Josh joining them.
"Uh...Um...Nothing...It's a secret." Sam told him, whilst C.J rolled her eyes, Charlie looked at them all amused and Toby mumbled to himself.
"Okay."
Sam watched Josh for a few moments, frowning when he it seemed like he had no interest in their secret. "We can't tell you."
"Fine." Josh replied, distractedly. She had kissed him...What did that mean? He asked her to move in with him and she kissed him. Was that a yes?
"You can go on in now." Mrs. Landingham told them as she left the oval office.
Sam remained where he was, confused about Josh's reaction. He hated it when he was the only one that didn't know something. Why wasn't his plan working?
"Sam?" Mrs Landingham looked at him.
"Oh, right...Yeah." He quickly rushed into the Oval office when he realised the others had left him there.
XxXxX
That night, Josh returned home and like he promised, with a pizza. He stumbled and nearly fell over a box that was lying in front of the door.
"Oh, sorry!" Leanne rushed out of the kitchen. "I meant to move that."
"What's going on?" He asked, looking into his living room to see a few more boxes scattered around.
"Jackson likes blue."
"What?"
"You said he could choose." She said, a little nervous that he would have changed his mind.
"Yeah..." He nodded slowly, not sure whether he understood what she was saying.
"I thought I'd help tidy up for you...I mean, if you...You don't mind."
"Of course not..."
"I mean, I'd understand if you had changed your mind..." She rambled slightly, taking the pizza off of him and walking into the kitchen with it. "It wouldn't be a problem...We could find somewhere else..."
"I haven't changed my mind." He informed, following her.
"Really?"
"Yes!!" He couldn't help but grin. "You seriously want to move in here?"
"Well, yeah..."
"You're sure?" He asked.
"Pretty sure..." She laughed, still a little nervous. "I mean, it's a big step."
"I know...We can take things slow." He told her.
"Yeah." She nodded.
"So, where's Jackson?" He asked, after a few seconds.
"Well, he was trying to help me but last time I saw him, was about an hour ago and he was fast asleep on the couch."
"Josh!"
Josh turned around and saw Jackson running towards them.
"I guess he woke up." She added.
"Did you bring pizza?!" He asked, looking up at him.
Josh laughed. "Yeah, I did...Why don't you go and find that movie whilst your Mom and I sort the pizza out."
"Okay!" He grinned and ran off again.
"He never walks anywhere." Leanne commented.
"What's the point in walking when you can run?" Josh replied teasingly.
"He's defiantly your son." She rolled her eyes but then stopped and looked at him. "I meant…Uh..."
"It's okay..." He shook his head slightly to stop her. "But...But we're going to have to tell him... Soon."
"Yeah, I know..." She replied, quietly.
He watched her for a moment as she stood there, silently deep in thought.
"You think it'll go badly?" He asked.
Her head snapped up quickly at the question. "What? No... He'd... He'll love it."
"So... Lets tell him now."
"What?"
"We could tell him now."
"What about the movie?"
"Leanne?!"
She sighed. "I'm sorry...I'm just... It's... Last week, I was in England, a single Mom...Now, I'm here... Moving in with a guy who advises the President of The United States everyday... And Jackson has a father...It's just... It's all happened so quickly."
"You're really obsessed over me working for the President, aren't you?" He teased.
"It's an important job."
He stepped closer to her, gently placing his hands on her hips. "I'm sorry, if I'm moving to fast... It's just...Being with you... It doesn't feel new... It feels like it did back when we were still in school."
She smiled. "It's not just you...I want to be with you...I'm just saying...It's moving quickly...I don't want us to mess up."
"Are you guys coming or what?!" Jackson appeared in the doorway again before Josh had time to answer.
"In a minute... We want to talk to you first..." Leanne told him, stepping away from Josh.
"What about?" He asked.
"Okay, honey...Come here..." She sat down at one the kitchen chairs and pulled him up onto her lap, whilst Josh took a seat next to her.
"How would you like to live here?" She asked, glancing at Josh.
"With Josh?" He looked at him too.
"Yeah, with me..." Josh nodded.
"Can I bring some of my toys over?" He asked, turning back to his Mom.
"Yes." She smiled. "We'll bring all your stuff over."
He looked from her to Josh and then back to her. "Where are we going to put it all?!"
Josh couldn't help but laugh a little at the look on his face. "We can put it in your room."
His eyes widened. "I have a room?!"
"Yes but we need to paint it first..." Josh told him.
"Can I help?!"
"Sure."
"So, you would like to live here with Josh?"
"And you?"
"And me." She nodded.
"Okay!" He grinned. "Can we have pizza every night?"
"No." Leanne answered straight away.
"Ice cream?"
"Jackson, there's something else we need to talk about." She ignored his question. "Remember what I told you about your dad?"
Josh looked at her quickly. He knew he had suggested they tell him tonight but he didn't actually think she'd do it without them discussing it properly.
"You said he lived in a whole different country." Jackson replied. "And that he'd loved to meet me some day."
"That's right..." She nodded. "Okay and well, the thing is... Your Dad's here."
He frowned, confused. "Here?"
"Josh..." She started, giving him a quick look. "Josh is your Dad."
His eyes widened and turned to look at him. "Really?"
"Uh, yeah..." Josh whispered.
"Oh." He said, thinking about it all. "Do I have to call you Daddy now?"
"Uh, that's up to you..." Josh told him. "You can still call me Josh, if you want."
"Okay...Can we go watch the movie now?" He asked, jumping off his Mom's lap.
"Sure." She nodded, standing up. "I'll get the pizza."
"Come on, Josh." He said, running back out of the kitchen.
"He just needs time to let it all sink in..." Leanne told him, softly once they were alone.
"No, hey...It's fine." Josh shrugged. "I mean, I'm still trying to get used to it, myself, so it's fine."
"Okay..." She said slowly, not completely convinced.
"Well, we'd better get in there and start that movie." Josh gave her a small smile before going to find Jackson.
XxXxX
Josh looked across at the alarm clock on the bedside table, seeing it was 5:30am. He sighed and closed his eyes, drifting off back to sleep. Normally, if he had woken up at this time, he would get up and do some work before he actually went in. Things had changed since last week when he had asked Leanne and Jackson to move in with him.
It had been a little strange at first but he quickly grew to love it. So far, things were going great. Jackson still called him Josh instead of Dad, but Josh hoped that soon he'd change that. His relationship with Leanne was getting better and better everyday. At first she stayed in the spare room with Jackson but for the last few days, she had spent the night with him and it had been the best nights sleep he'd ever had. Which is why he had decided to stay in the nice, warm bed with Leanne in his arms instead of getting up and working.
It only took a few minutes for him to fall back to sleep until he felt someone shaking his arm. He opened his eyes and saw Jackson standing next to the bed.
"What's up?" Josh asked, sitting up.
"There's a woman on the phone." He whispered.
"A woman?" Josh yawned, glancing across and saw Leanne sitting up.
"What's going on?" She asked, sleepily.
"She asked for a Mr. Lyman..." Jackson told him. "She said Mr. Possum wants to talk to you."
"Possum?" Josh frowned then suddenly realised. "Potus?"
"That's what I said." Jackson shrugged. "I'll go get the phone for you!"
"Who's Mr. Potus?" Leanne asked, as Jackson ran back out of the room.
"Potus stands for President Of The United States." He explained.
"The President?!" She exclaimed, jumping out of bed and running over to the dresser and started to brush her hair.
Josh watched her amused. "You do realise, he's on the phone and can't see you right?"
"The president calls you at 5:30am?"
"Only when something is going on..." Josh replied, suddenly realising that he would probably have to leave to go into work. This was a new feeling for him... He was more concerned over the fact he couldn't stay and have breakfast with them rather than what had actually happened to make the President call him this early.
Before either one of them could say any more, Jackson rushed in and handed Josh the phone before bouncing on the bed.
"Josh Lyman." He spoke into the phone, leaning back against the headboard.
"Good morning, Joshua..." Mrs Landingham said. "I'll put you through to the President and for the record I told him this was a bad idea."
Josh groaned, realising this probably wasn't some kind of world crisis.
"Josh, good morning..." Bartlet came onto the line.
"Good morning, Sir...Is everything okay?"
"Well, see I was talking to Toby last night about that night in California during the campaign, when you and C.J made Sam enter that Elvis impersonating contest?" Bartlet started. "I was telling Charlie about it and I got the impression he didn't believe me...So, I was looking for the photographs but I couldn't find them...I thought you might have an idea where they were?"
Josh was quiet for a moment, wondering whether he was actually awake or if he was dreaming. Was the President of the United States really phoning him at 5:30am to ask for photographs of Sam Seaborn dressed an Elvis?
"Sir?"
"Yeah?"
"You do realise it's 5:30, right?"
"Yes, I couldn't sleep...Abbey's away...I figured you'd be awake."
"Uh, well...I wasn't but never mind." He shook his head slightly. "As for the photo's...I think I have some in my office somewhere...I'll ask Donna about it when I get in."
"Joshua Lyman not up at 5:30...Now I'm the one dreaming..." Bartlet joked.
This wasn't the first time he had called Josh this early. He had found out not long after Rosslyn that neither one of them could sleep that well. He decided that since they were both wide-awake thinking about the shooting when they shouldn't be then they might as well talk to each other. Although they never talked about it... They rarely talked about work either. Normally it was about the basketball game that was played the night before or a random useless fact from Jed and a lot of complaining from Josh.
"Uh, I was sort of up late last night, Sir." Josh told him causing Leanne to slap his arm. "Ow!"
"Josh?" Bartlet questioned. "Are you okay?"
"Uh, yes, Sir...Fine...Just...Just hit my foot." He told him.
"Well, okay...I'd better go and have some breakfast before the first lady and Mrs Landingham team up on me." He replied. "I'll see you when you get in."
"Yes, Sir...Thank you." Josh replaced the phone and looked over at Leanne and Jackson.
"I can't believe you just told the President of the United States that we were up late last night."
"What? It's not like I told him what we were doing." Josh shrugged in defence.
Jackson looked from Josh to his Mom, frowning a little. "What were you doing?"
"Okay, I think it's time for breakfast!" Leanne said, changing the conversation quickly.
"Yay!" Jackson cheered.
"I'll make my special pancakes!" She added.
Jackson pulled a face and looked at Josh, pleadingly.
"How about I make the pancakes." He laughed a little.
"Yay!"
"Hey, I can cook!" Leanne claimed.
"Sure you can..." Josh agreed, standing up and following Jackson out of the bedroom. "You're just so good, that we've decided you shouldn't cook so much because you'll spoil us."
"Alright, I'm making a list...And you're the first ones on the it." She stated, walking after them.
XxXxX
"So, Sam you'll talk with Matt Lewis?" Leo asked, during Staff later that morning.
"Yeah, we're having lunch." He nodded.
"Good... What's next?" Bartlet questioned.
"That's it for today, Sir..." Leo informed him.
"Right, great..." He stood up. "Oh and Toby...Josh agrees with me."
Josh's head snapped up and looked at the President. "Sir?"
"It was Vegas!" Toby stated.
"Oh, God, you're still not on about this?" Leo groaned.
"What's going on?" C.J asked.
"During the campaign... Whilst we were in California and you and Josh entered Sam in that Elvis competition..."
"We were in Vegas!" Toby insisted.
"Vegas? California? We were in New York, weren't we?" Josh looked at Sam and C.J.
"We went to New York?" Bartlet turned to Leo questionably.
Leo sighed. "Yes, Sir!"
"It was defiantly New York..." C.J agreed. "I've got photographs in my office."
"Ah, brilliant! Just what I wanted." Bartlet replied.
"Right, so if that's all..." Leo gestured for the door.
"If it was in New York...What happened in California?" Bartlet asked.
"I think we might have actually done some campaigning..." Leo answered.
"After we'd been celebrating a good day...Sam was so drunk that he fell asleep in a trash can..." Josh shrugged.
"Ah yes..."
"I have photos of that too." C.J added.
"Y'know, you guys might try picking on someone else for once." Sam commented.
"You guys might also try and do some work for once." Leo said.
"Okay, everyone get out..." Bartlet told them. "C.J I want those pictures."
"Yes, Sir..." She smiled as they filed out of the room.
"You're not really going to give him those pictures, are you?" Sam asked, as they left.
"He's the President of the United States...You want me to say no?"
"No, I want you to burn them."
"Not going to happen, Spanky." She told him, walking off.
"Josh?" Mrs Landingham called him over to her desk. "Would you like a cookie?"
"Uh...Okay..." He said slowly, it wasn't often that Mrs Landingham gave out her cookies. Normally, you'd have to earn them.
"I'm sorry about this morning's phone call...I tried to explain to him that it was 5:30 and it could wait..."
Josh smiled. "It's fine...I'm normally awake... He knows that."
"But you had guests over last night..." She replied.
"Uh...Well...Um..."
"Don't worry, dear...I won't tell a soul..." She patted his arm before picking up some folders. "And that boy seems so adorable."
Josh watched as she headed into the Oval office and closed the door behind her. He knew he'd have to start telling people before they all find out from someone else.
XxXxX
A few days later, Josh walked straight past Donna and into his office, closing the door behind him without saying a word to her. He threw himself into his chair and stared out of the window. Last night, he got up the courage to call his Mom and tell her about Leanne and Jackson.
He knew she'd be surprised but he thought after the shock had worn off then she'd be thrilled. She was a Grandmother at least after all these years. Plus she had always liked Leanne when they were dating during High school, although she hadn't known about the problems her family had with Josh being Jewish until her brothers attacked him, but his Mom wouldn't care about any of that. As long as Josh was happy then that was what was important.
Well, that's what he thought anyway. She had been silent on the other end of the phone whilst he explained everything. Then when he had finished, she ordered him to get a paternity test done to prove that Jackson was actually his son and even if he was, it didn't mean Josh had to be with Leanne. She called him crazy when he told her that he was falling back in love with her. She claimed he was just trying to get back the 'puppy' love they had shared when they were younger. She tried to tell him that Leanne was bad news that he needed to stay away from her. Then she gave him a lecture about one night stands and how disrespectful it was to his Father to be with 'that woman' on the night of his funeral.
How was he meant to tell everyone else now? When his own Mother wasn't happy about him felling in love and having his own family. Toby, C.J and Sam, it was their job to look at things from a political angle and how it would effect the President. He understood that they might go crazy about him having a 3 year old son that no one knows about and having a relationship with a woman who's family were racists, but he always thought his Mom would stand by him. He didn't know if he'd be able to do this with everyone against them. He wasn't going to give up on Leanne again and he defiantly wasn't going to walk away from Jackson. So that meant only one thing. If he was forced to choose between his old life and his job or Leanne and Jackson. Then there was no contest.
"Josh?"
He looked up and saw Donna standing in his doorway staring at him concerned. "Oh, hey."
"I was calling for like two minutes." She told him. "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah." He sighed.
"You sure?"
"Everything is fine." He forced a small smile.
"Well, okay...Oh, Leo wants to speak to you before Staff this morning." She informed him before leaving the office.
He groaned and rubbed his eyes. He wished he could just get out of there. He still hadn't told Leo that Leanne and him were back together. He had understood about the whole Jackson thing, even though he had also advised him to get a test done. Josh knew he'd go crazy about him dating Leanne again. All Josh wanted was for everyone to be happy for him.
He made his way to Leo's office and Margaret told him to go straight in.
"Donna said you wanted to see me."
Leo looked up from what he was reading. "Close the door and take a seat."
Josh did as he was told, silently waiting for Leo to speak.
"I just got a phone call from your Mother."
"Huh...I should have seen that one coming." Josh said, more to himself then to Leo.
"She seems to think I have some kind of influence over you..." Leo continued, ignoring his comment. "She wants me to convince you to stay away from Leanne, but I assured her that there was nothing going on between the two of you and you were just trying to sort things out about Jackson..."
"Leo..."
"You lied to me!" Leo cut him off. "I asked you if you were having a relationship with her and you said no!"
"You asked me if I was sleeping with her!" Josh shot back. "And I told you that it wasn't any of your business."
"Damn it, Josh!" Leo exclaimed, banging his hand on the desk. "What are you thinking?!"
"I'm thinking I want to have a life!" He replied. "I'm thinking I want to have a family!"
"A family that you want to keep secret?" Leo asked. "Because it's been over a week now and other then your mother and myself, no one else knows!"
"Yeah and just look how well you two took it!" Josh stood up. "Why can't you just understand that this is making me happy?! That Leanne is making me happy?! Why does everything we do always have to be about work?!"
"Oh come on, Josh! This is not just about work and you know that!" Leo replied. "The fact that her family tried to kill you last time is a big deal here!"
"Her father is dead! She hasn't spoken to her brothers since she went off to college!" Josh claimed.
"That doesn't mean that when they find out that they wont come after you again." Leo told him. "I mean, you put them both in jail for the attack... They haven't seen their sister in years because of you...I would think they have more reason to kill you now!"
"Who says they'll find out?"
"Come on, Josh..." He rolled his eyes. "You're Deputy Chief Of Staff to the President Of The United States...When the press find out you have a secret son... They're going to go crazy!"
Josh was silent for a moment, thinking about it all. Leo did have a point.
"Well, maybe I shouldn't be Deputy Chief Of Staff any more."
"I'm sorry?"
"I understand this might cause some problems for the administration and I can't expect you or anyone else for that matter to stand up for me when you disagree with me." He replied. "Just say the word and you'll have my resignation letter on your desk by the end of the day."
Leo watched as Josh turned and silently opened the door, walking past Margaret, who was staring at Leo. He sighed, wondering how much of that she actually heard.
TBC
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