Seriously, we've been in this park for about 10 minutes and she runs into Freddie Briggs? I tell you my wife is a Gomer magnet! I wonder if I can have Phil shoot him.
"Josh, This is Freddie Briggs. I, uh, knew him in high school."
I give her an incredulous look, does she think I don't remember exactly who he is?!
"Freddie, this is my husband Josh Lyman."
Politeness takes over and I reach out and shake Freddie's hand.
"Donna, you remember Stacy?" Freddie gestures to the woman next to him. "These are our kids. David is 10, Ryan is 8."
"Oh, do you go to school with my niece Carly?" Donna asks David, who immediately turns red and nods.
Great, mini-Freddie Briggs is in Carly's class! I narrow my eyes at him a little. Stay away from my niece, punk.
"So, you live in Washington now?" Stacy asks Donna. What does she live under a rock? "That must be interesting."
"It's a priviledge to serve the country." Donna says standing a little taller. Good for her.
"So do you meet any important people?"
Who is this Stacy person? Clearly not the brightest bulb in the box. Does she never read a newspaper? I know there was an article specifically on Donna's position as FLOTUS' Chief of Staff in the Madison Times Weekly, and she was mentioned in the Wisconsin State Journal's inauguration coverage as well.
Donna giggles a little and I think I heard Phil snort. I can't take it anymore.
"Donna is the Chief of Staff to the First Lady and an advisor to the President. She's an important person." Stacy's eyes bug out a little and she's looking a little like Gail. Donna blushes a little. I hope she's ready to go.
"It was nice to meet you, but you'll have to excuse us." I take Donna's arm. "The secret service doesn't really want us out in the open for longer than necessary." I give Phil a little head nod and the agents circle around us and whisk us off to the SUV.
As soon as we get in the car, Donna starts to give me a glare but ends up laughing.
"You know I should be really mad at you for that little stunt. But the look on Stacy's face was totally worth it, so you are off the hook."
"What?" I'm trying to play innocent, but yeah, I know I just pulled a power play there and it was partially out of jealousy.
"You know what I'm talking about." She gives me a look. "Really? You're going to be jealous of Freddie Briggs because I slept with him 20 years ago?"
She's laughing at me. That's good. I definitely don't want to fight about Freddie Briggs. But bantering . . . that's just fun.
"It was 18. And yes. On this, I get to be a caveman. I get to be jealous of every single man you've ever slept with, especially the man that took your virginity!"
"He was hardly a man then, and look what he ended up with- Stacy Mills!"
"Don't try to make me feel sorry for Freddie."
"Oh no, he did well. She was a cheerleader and very popular. I really wanted to find out how they ended up together. She was way out of his league. I'll have to ask Bella if she has all the details."
"You are way out of his league. Stacy is apparently dumber than a box of rocks. And I don't like that David kid, he better not be putting the moves on Carly."
"Oh my god, Josh! They are 10!"
"Still. I'm going to tell Sean to keep an eye on him."
"Well, you do that babe." Donna closes her eyes and lays her head back against the seat. I see her hand drift to her stomach.
Darn. I was hoping the bantering might distract her and maybe we could make it back to the house without her puking. When the car pulls up in front of the house, Donna doesn't move.
"Give me a minute, please." Donna says as Jackie opens the door. Jackie looks nervous. Protocol is to get us into the building quickly. I wave Jackie off and she closes the door again.
"Aw, hell." Donna mutters quietly, then opens the door and runs toward the house with Jackie on her heels.
While Donna's in the bathroom, I make a decision, there are some things I need from the store. But I don't really want to leave the house. Donna is actually right. Most of the agents are designated to protect me. If I leave to go shopping, I'm not sure how many agents Phil will let me leave behind with Donna and she's definitely not leaving the house any more than necessary. None of Donna's siblings are back from the Egg Hunt yet. Maybe one of them can help me out.
Finn and Julie have their hands full with the kids so it's between Sean and Bella. And since shopping is involved I think Bella's the better choice. I pick up the phone.
"Hey Bella, it's Josh Lyman."
Bella chuckles. "I have your number in my cell phone Josh. You don't have to say your last name." Right.
"Okay, are you guys heading over here sometime today?"
"Yes, we're on our way now."
"Can you stop at the store for me?"
"Sure, what do you need?"
"Ginger ale, Vitamin C drops and a baby name book."
"Josh, do you have something to tell me?"
Oh crap. I assumed that the Moss family network would have already spread the news. But I guess the 5 minutes that we saw Bella and family at the egg hunt wasn't long enough.
"I think I'd better plead the 5th until you talk to your sister."
"Probably a good idea, I'll act surprised but you owe me one."
"Okay. Can you get the stuff for me?"
"Yes, are you making Donna an Easter Basket?"
"A what?"
"An Easter Basket. You know a basket with candy and little presents in it. To celebrate Easter."
"I do not understand Christian holidays at all. Is this like the stocking?"
"Yes, good analogy."
"I didn't give her a stocking, your Mom did."
"Mom will do baskets for the kids but since it's your first Easter, it would be nice for you to do one for Donna."
I can't tell if Bella is serious or not, but I don't want to take any chances.
"Okay, can you get whatever I need for an Easter Basket?"
"Sure, no problem."
"Okay, we don't need special pajamas do we?"
Bella starts to really laugh at me. "No, Josh, you don't need special pajamas."
How the hell am I supposed to know?
When I come back from the den, Donna is sitting at the kitchen table drinking some water. I'm glad to see that Jackie is hovering nearby. Our protocol for inside the house is an agent inside at each of the doors, but since no one else is home yet, it looks like Jackie made the decision to shadow Donna until there was someone else around. I really appreciate that. There are agents outside at the doors as well as at the SUV anyway. We are well guarded. As soon as I walk into the room, Jackie walks over to the back door.
I walk over to Donna and lightly rub her back. She makes a little happy noise, not quite a purr.
"Maybe you should go lay down?"
I say it like a question, even though I'm tempted to make it a direct order. I've figured out that ordering your wife around is really not that good of an idea. But really, she should go lay down.
"I don't want to." My eyebrows lift at the whiney tone. I'm glad I'm standing behind her and she can't see me. She's entitled to whine, it's just not really like her. She only does it when she's tired.
"The rest of the family will be here soon. I want to see them. I don't want to sleep through our time here."
"Okay. I understand." I keep rubbing her back.
A few minutes later the front door opens and a calliope of voices fills the house. The family is back.
"Come on Carly, can I have some gum?" Liam is cajoling.
"You're going to just have to wait until Easter Egg hunt!" She's pretty adamant.
I look at Donna in confusion. "I thought we just got back from the Easter Egg hunt?"
"That was the community egg hunt. My parents will have their own egg hunt for the kids here."
"Does this have some sort of religious significance?" I still haven't figured out why they do this.
"No, it's just for fun."
Donna gets up and makes her way to the front room.
"Hi Aunt Donna! Hi Uncle Josh!" Anna greets us as soon as we walk into the room.
"Hi Anna!" Donna gives her a hug. "We didn't see you at the park."
"She was too busy hanging out with Brian." Conor sings. Anna turns red and smacks him on the arm.
"Conor." She hisses. Sometimes she reminds me so much of Donna it's not funny.
"Brian Who?" Sean asks harshly.
"Brian Greyson" Conor answers quickly.
"It's no big deal, Uncle Sean." Anna says, looking to her Mom for support.
"She knows she can't date until she's 16." Bob says, giving Anna a "Dad" look. His arms are crossed and he doesn't look happy about this.
Anna shoots a pleading look towards Donna and me. I cross my arms. I'm with Bob, except I think 30 sounds a lot more reasonable.
Donna gives Anna a soft look and takes pity on her.
"Since you are all here, I have an announcement . . ."
Everyone looks at us expectantly. I don't think this is going to come as a big shock to any of them. I feel a smile coming on and I uncross my arms and wrap one around Donna's waist.
"we're having a baby."
The family room erupts into a celebration. A loud one. Lots of "Congratulations" and "I knew its."
I hear "This is so awesome!" from either Aidan or Liam, who hi-five each other.
And an "it's about time" that I assume is Lottie.
Anna and Carly are hugging Donna, with Bella and Becky waiting their turn.
This a noisy, boisterous family and I just cemented my place it in. I couldn't be happier.
Sean claps me on the shoulder. "I guess Donna did turn 30 at some point, so I guess it's okay that you got my baby sister pregnant." He's grinning at me.
"Now, we've got the next generation to look out for." He looks toward Anna and Carly.
"Yes, about that . . . . You need to watch out for David Briggs. And if you need any help with that, the FBI works for me."