A/N: Alright, let's get back to this story, shall we? Sorry for the delay in updates, I was struck by a flash of inspiration now known as The Formative Years lol.

Anyway, thanks for all the reviews on the last chapter! You certainly didn't hold back with your opinions. You were fairly split on whether you thought Donna's reaction was out of line or not. Now, while I'm going to try to hold myself back from typing out a lengthy feminist diatribe to you all, I will go ahead and say this: If a guy proposed to me right after I told him I was pregnant, I'd probably react the same way. And though, as many of you pointed out, Josh and Donna have a history, I think that only compounds the situation. He hasn't said anything for years, and then suddenly when she gets knocked up, he loves her? Friends, I would be just as suspicious as Donna. And I'd be hurt - can you imagine what it's like to love someone for years, only for them to suddenly (or so it appears) decide they love you back, all because you got pregnant? That's gotta be painful as all hell, especially if you've believed for so long that your love is unrequited.

Sorry for the spiel. I just thought it was important you know what my intentions were with that last chapter. That being said, I appreciate all of the feedback. I can always learn from you guys, and I have already learned a few things from you with regard to this story, that's for sure. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy chapter four!

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

The building of private medical offices isn't in one of the more well known medical parks, which Josh is thankful for. It's less likely they'll be seen here. Not that the story leaking is at the top of his list of things to worry about - but, because he is who he is, it is on the list. He's thankful it's not at GW, or at the physical therapy place they'd both frequented. She'd gone there on his reccomendation, and because she was already on good terms with so many of the staff members. Still, the memories of most medical facilities in the city are tainted.

This one isn't. Yet, he can't help but add in his head.

She beats him there, because she always beats him everywhere. She's made more than a few comments over the years about his poor timing. Ironic.

Her beat up, junky car is in the parking lot when he gets there. She hasn't gotten a new one since he's known her, and that's saying something. When she offered to sell her car during the first Bartlet campaign, she wasn't talking about bringing in a whole lot of revenue, even then.

He's glad to see the bumper, plastered over the years with copious Bartlet stickers, has yet to be graced by one of Bingo Bob's.

He finds her in one of the hard plastic chairs in the waiting room, reading a briefing memo instead of the magazines the other two women are leafing through. It makes him smile.

"Hey." He sinks down into the chair beside her. He thinks vaguely that they should probably invest in some better chairs. They've got numerous pregnant women coming through the place on the daily, after all.

"Hey." She barely looks up at him.

He hasn't seen her in a week. Not since that fateful day. He's thought about her relentlessly, of course. How could he not? He'd moved over the course of the seven days from crushed, to regetful, to defeated, to determined. It's been quite the whirlwind for him, really.

Not that she knows any of this. All she wanted to talk about when she called was this very appointment. He wonders what the past week has been like for her, and if she's had any of the same reactions that he has. "How are you feeling?" seems the safest question.

"Fine." She flips a page of her memo.

"Donna." He tries to keep the sigh out of his voice.

"Nausea's gone, I'm hungry seemingly at all times, my feet hurt like hell, and, oh yeah, I've gotta pee like five times an hour." She gives him a look. "Happy?"

"Yeah, thanks." She raises her eyebrows. "I mean not happy that you're dealing with all of that, obviously, but..."

She rolls her eyes. "Thanks."

"Anything I can do?"

"Nope." She looks back down at her memo determinedly.

Josh feels vastly out of place. The other two women are staring at him. He shifts restlessly in his seat and leans in toward her, making her stiffen. "Donna, let me explain."

"No."

"C'mon, I've thought a lot about it. I know what I did was stupid. Let me-"

"I think you've done enough, Josh." She hisses.

That stings. "Listen, I know. I know it was stupid. But you always see past the stupid things I do, to my intentions. You're the one person who sees past the impulsive stupidity, and poor social cues, to what I actually meant."

"Not this time."

"Please. Give me five minutes, I-"

"I'm done making excuses for you." She says coolly.

He fumbles. "Then let me make 'em. I've got like ten I'm dying to try out on you."

"Josh, please. Not now."

"I'm not so good with the whole patience thing." He needs her to understand. He needs them to be on the same page again. They should go in there as a team.

"You're going to be a parent. Now's probably a good time to learn."

Just then, a nurse appears in the doorway with a clipboard. "Donna Moss?"

Donna stands up, plastering a smile on her face. Josh jumps up beside her, and they follow the nurse into a narrow hallway. Reflexively, Josh puts his hand on the small of her back as he walks at her shoulder, but a quick glare makes him retract it.

"So, how have you been feeling since we last saw you, Donna?"

"Good. Really good."

Josh gives her a skeptical look, but she doesn't meet his gaze. She sits on a stool as the nurse takes her blood pressure. "Any nausea?"

"Nope, that's pretty much gone."

"Cramping?"

"Nope."

"Fatigue?"

"Some."

The nurse makes a note in her chart. "That's fairly normal. Can I get you to step on the scale?"

Donna obliges, giving Josh another glare which he takes to mean, don't look at the number. He sticks his hands in his pockets and averts his eyes, feeling very useless.

He would very much like to be joking with her throughout this process. He'd like to be sharing smiles and quips about mood swings, he'd like to take her hand.

"Huh." The nurse makes another note in her chart. "You're a little behind on your weight gain."

Both Josh and Donna knit their brows in concern. "I am?"

"You're fourteen weeks, right?"

"Yes."

"Then, yeah, I'm afraid so. It's nothing to worry about, I'll have Dr. Lee talk to you about it some more."

"What does... What does that mean?" Josh can't help but ask as Donna gets off the scale, and the nurse gets out a measuring tape. "I mean, that can't be good, right?"

Josh gets the feeling Donna had wanted him to be pretty much silent during this visit, but she doesn't shoot him any looks for asking the question. Maybe she's wondering too.

"It's really nothing to worry about." The nurse reassures him. "Everyone's body reacts to pregnancy differently. Some women have more trouble putting on weight than others. It doesn't mean the baby's not growing, necessarily, it just means your wife isn't. Not the projected amount, anyway."

"I'm not his..." Donna starts, but decides it isn't worth it. "Thank you, Louise."

"Sure thing." Louise gives them a smile, and leads them down the hall a ways more. She gestures to an open door. "Here's your room. Dr. Lee will be in shortly."

"Thank you." They both say. Josh follows Donna inside, unable to keep himself from looking around, mildly horrified.

"They put those things inside people?"

"Josh."

"Oh god, this is gruesome. I'm so glad I'm not a woman."

"Josh? Pregnant woman about to be treated over here."

"Right, sorry." He sinks into the plastic visitor's chair beside the exam chair. "Are those... Stirrups?"

"Josh." She warns again.

"Okay, okay." He squeezes his eyes shut. "Anyway. Are you not eating enough?"

She takes a deep breath. "I knew you'd do this."

"What? I'm worried."

"I'm eating, okay? I am."

"But enough is the key word."

"I don't know. I'm trying. I've practically been gorging myself the past few weeks, but, I guess before that I was having more aversions than cravings."

"It's not because you're too busy?"

She silences him with a glare.

"You're right. Probably best to wait for the professional's opinion."

"What a thought." Donna mutters.

They wait in tense silence for the next five minutes. Donna avoids eye contact with Josh, and Josh avoids eye contact with pretty much all medical equipment and anatomy diagrams in the room. Finally, a stout brunette woman opens the door after knocking once.

"Dr. Lee." Donna greets, relief filling her voice.

"Donnatella. I see we've got company this go round." Dr. Lee is experienced enough to know not to ask if he's her boyfriend, husband, or the baby's father.

"Hi." Josh greets lamely, still feeling a tad queasy. He attempts to pull himself together, and extends a hand. "Josh Lyman."

Dr. Lee accepts his hand with a smile. "Nice to meet you."

"He's the father." Donna figures she might as well tell her now. She's bound to figure it out eventually.

Josh senses the reluctance in her tone. "Yeah. That's, uh, that's right."

Dr. Lee gives them a thin lipped smile as she examines Donna's chart. "Wonderful," is all she says, not betraying any emotion.

Donna rather likes Dr. Lee. She's no-nonsense.

"So I hear you're not gaining as much weight as we'd expected?"

"That's what they tell me." Donna tries to keep her nerves out of her voice.

"Have you been eating?"

"Yes." Donna ignores Josh's pointed look. "A lot. More than eating for two. More like eating for three."

"What about your lifestyle? Are you taking it fairly easy?"

"Fairly." Josh can't contain a scoffing noise. Donna glares at him. "Okay, not so much. I've got a very demanding job. I travel a lot, I work long hours."

"Oh yes, I've seen you." Dr. Lee tells her. "You're very poised, by the way."

Donna beams. "Thank you."

"But, nevertheless, your job might have something to do with it. Especially if you're not sleeping enough, or if you're overly stressed."

Donna looks down guiltily, twisting her hands in her lap. "Those are both probably accurate assessments."

"I see. Well, we'll know more once we take a look at the baby, and then we'll go from there, okay?"

"Sounds good."

Dr. Lee pulls a cart with her toward Donna's chair, and Donna automatically lifts her sweater up. Josh can't help but stare. She was right - with her clothes on, any sign of pregnancy might as well be imagined. But uncovered, the slight convex curve of her stomach is undeniable. He's awestruck. There's seriously something in there, no question about it now.

Donna exhales loudly, and his gaze snaps up guiltily. At first he fears she's sighing in irritation, but then he catches her eye and realizes she's amused. She finds his fascination funny.

"Sorry." He mutters.

"That's okay." She practically giggles.

He moves his chair in closer.

"Might be a little cold." Dr. Lee warns before squirting the gel onto Donna's stomach. Josh is fairly familiar with the process of an ultrasound, as he'd had to have a few of his chest and abdomen to make sure his organs were all healing properly after the shooting. The doctor probes around for a brief few seconds before stopping with a smile. "There. That's your baby."

Okay. Seeing the picture is one thing, but this is a whole other level. He's seeing his kid, in real time, shifting on the screen. Sure, he's not really seeing a "human" shape yet, per se, but that doesn't matter. It's something, and it's his, and he's overcome.

"Growth seems to be normal, and... Yup. There's the heartbeat."

She's right. There it is. A faint, rapid whooshing sound. Da-doom, da-doom, da-doom. Persistent, rhythmic, beautifully alive.

It undoes him.

He thinks for a moment that he might totally lose it right there in the doctor's office, that he might just come apart at the seams and totally break down. But then he feels something.

Unconciously, he'd leaned in and gripped Donna's arm the moment the image of their child had taken up the screen. Instead of brushing his hand aside, she'd let it stay there. Now, as the only sound in the room is the steady da-doom that allays their every fear, she is threading her fingers through his. She intertwines their fingers and he happily lets her. A moment later, as she stares in grateful awe at the screen, her forehead comes to rest gently against his.

For a second, he draws his eyes away from the screen and they stare at each other, smiling and crying and stupidly happy.

"Everything's just fine. I'll just take a few pictures-" she moves the probe a few times, "-and that's that. Growth is right on track, seems you're the only one who could use a little extra padding, that's all."

Donna manages to smile. "Okay. Thank you. That's great. I'll try to work on some of..."

Donna trails off distractedly, and bites her lip to keep the tears from her voice. Dr. Lee conceals a smile. "I'll give you two a minute while I go print these off, okay? We can talk more about some suggestions I have then."

They can barely manage a nod between them.

A few minutes of relieved sighs, dried tears, and trying to get it together later, they exchange another smile. Donna tries to put some of her walls back in place, and moves away from him, but she's left with a residual warmth.

"You want to get lunch after this?"

"I... What?" That's pretty much the last thing he expected to hear.

"I'm starving. You can buy me some food, and you can... You can explain. Or you can try, at least."

"I, um... Okay. Yeah, definitely. Let's do that."

"This is by no means a date, by the way."

He smiles again. "No. Of course not."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"I just don't... Believe you." Donna repeats for possibly the fourth time.

"I don't know what to tell you. I do love you. I have for years. I seriously thought it was obvious... Hell, a lot of other people seemed to cotton on." The serious tone of their conversation is somewhat diminished by the fact that Donna is inhaling a club sandwich, a plate of fries, and a stack of onion rings.

"Then what was stopping you, these past however many years? Why now?"

"Um, serious terror was stopping me?" He says as though it should be obvious. "I didn't want to lose you. I didn't want to lose what we had. I mean, I did anyway, but..."

"Okay, so then? After I quit? After we slept together? Something else must've stopped you, because you let me walk away then, too."

"Still terror, Donna. Us not being able to handle working on different campaigns. Resenting each other. Being away from each other. You... Not thinking I was worth it." He admits, growing quiet as he broaches his greatest fear: her walking away from him, again.

She has to try very hard not to look affected by this. "So what changed? I got pregnant, and suddenly it's worth it."

"Yeah." He agrees. She starts to look angry again, so he presses on, "Because the stakes got higher. The time felt right. It was either risk it all, or... Lose it all, anyway."

"That doesn't change the fact that you just assumed that I, someone you've only spent one night with, would want to marry you, just because I'm knocked up. You were taking me for granted, which, let's be honest, you've done before."

"Maybe I have." He allows. "But that's not what it was about. It felt... It felt like the stars were aligning. And I know it was beyond stupid to think that you felt the same way, but for me? It wasn't an opportunity I could just walk away from."

She frowns, contemplative. "But-"

"And I know. You're right. It was only one night, but it... It meant something, right? We're more than just one night to each other." He says softly. "At least, I hope so."

"We are." She says immediately. She even drops her sandwich. "Of course we are. And that night, it was perfect. Really." She offers him half a smile, and he relaxes. "But... It was only one night. We agreed to wait. And then I found out I was pregnant, and I was terrified out of my mind about how I'd handle it, and how you'd handle it, and then I finally told you, and you were perfect about that too."

He straightens up. "Yeah?"

"Yeah. But when you proposed to me? Josh, you've gotta understand how stupid I felt."

He leans forward. "Stupid?"

"Yeah. Because, for once, I felt respected, you know? We were doing good. We were handling it together, even if we weren't together, and then you go back on everything we agreed, acting like everything had changed, like suddenly nothing I thought mattered anymore. Like I would just... Fall in line." She shakes her head. "I felt really, really stupid Josh."

"I really didn't mean it like that."

"Yeah, well."

"Look, I'm sorry."

"I know you are."

"Okay, and...?"

"I'm still not marrying you."

"Yeah, I figured that was off the table."

"And, I'm not doing anything beyond what we agreed. Being parents together, nothing more."

"What, seriously? C'mon. We've gotta give this a try."

"Maybe when things have died down. Like we said before."

"But, Donna - and I don't mean to alarm you here - things have changed. Some reevaluating isn't out of line, here."

"Yeah, it is, okay? The stakes are higher now."

"Exactly. When won't they be? We're having a kid."

"Maybe, I don't know, after the baby's born, after we start figuring out this whole parenting thing..."

"Great idea." He says sarcastically. "'Mom, why are you and Dad just dating now?' 'Because we're trying to figure out if we actually like each other,' 'You couldn't have done that before you had me?' 'Well, we could've, if I listened to your dad...'"

Donna glares at him, and picks her sandwich back up. "I'm serious, okay? I'm just not... Ready."

He'd seriously hurt her with the proposal. There's no amount of explaining that will change that, he's realizing.

"Donna. I'm serious, I do love you-"

She holds up a hand. "Please stop. You're not going to make me believe you."

"But I-"

"I believe you think you love me. But I also believe the reason you think that is that I'm pregnant, and you're a compulsive fixer who can't just let things alone."

"That's not it."

"Josh? This is enough for now."

"So, that's it?"

"For now, yeah."

He considers this. He hasn't eaten anything yet, perhaps because her ordering a sandwich with both guacamole and mayonnaise added to it had kind of put him off his appetite. "You don't mind if I keep asking though, right?"

"I guess I can't stop you." She says dryly.

"That's what I love to hear."

She scrutinizes him as he leans back into his seat. "What's up with you?"

"What do you mean?"

"You hate talking about relationships. You hate talking about your feelings. Hell, Amy once asked if you saw your relationship 'going anywhere' and you asked me if you should break up with her. How the hell have you managed to sit here and talk to me about us, about how you feel, for fifteen minutes?"

Like I said. The stakes are higher now. "I think you'll find that you're the exception to a lot of rules in my life."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Just a little bridge chapter for you all! We're still not really into the heart of the action yet. I'm excited to get there.

Thanks for reading, and let me know what you think! Please continue to keep me on my toes with your feedback ;) I promise I can take it.