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I'm staring at a little screen, watching our baby. The feeling is indescribable. The soundtrack to this show is our baby's heartbeat. It's amazing. I'm overwhelmed.

"Are you crying?" Donna squeezes my hand.

"No . . ." I sniffle and wipe my nose with my sleeve. And she laughs at me.

"Oh my god, Donna. It's just incredible."

"Are you going to cry every month?"

"I'm not crying." My eyes are just watery, that's all.

Dr. Andrews is smiling. She takes the thingy away from Donna's stomach and the amazing sound of our baby's heart beat stops. I'm disappointed. I could listen to it all day.

"Everything looks good. Heartbeat sounds great. A solid 150 beats per minute. That's average."

"Average?"

"Within the normal range."

"Right." I'm sure our baby is going to be extraordinary, not average.

"And you haven't lost any more weight, Donna. That's great."

I smile to myself. The chart is really working out well.

"How's the morning sickness?"

"Well, being in the car longer than a few minutes still makes me nauseous but I'm not throwing up every single time anymore."

"That's good. And you're taking your vitamins every day?"

"Yes. Josh monitors that very well."

Dr. Andrews smiles at me again.

"Anymore dizziness?"

"No just that one spell."
"Well, it's not uncommon, but I would like you to keep track of it if it starts happening more frequently."

"Okay."

"Alright then. The nurse will give you the paperwork to take to the lab and set your appointment for next month. There is a chance we could find out the gender next month, so the two of you should talk about that. Decide if you want to know in advance or be surprised at the birth."

"Any questions?"

Donna shakes her head no. I've been reading the What to Expect Book and I don't think I have any questions this month. Next month I'll have a bunch, I'm sure.

Once Dr. Andrews leaves the room, Donna gets up from the exam table.

"Ugh. My belly is sticky. Can you get me another paper towel?"

I grab a couple and wet them at the sink.

She reaches for them.

"No, Let me." I start to wipe her belly gently. "Hey little Bean, it's Daddy. Good job today. Everything is looking good."

Donna smiles at me. I don't think she minds it when I get a little goofy. I can't help it. I'm just so happy!

Donna finishes getting dressed and we head out to the lobby. I give Phil a thumbs up sign, which he acknowledges with a smile.

"So, we've got the rest of the day off. What should we do?"

"Josh, it's Friday at 4:30!"

"Yep! Dinner, Dancing? Mocktails? You name it, baby!"

"Well, Peter and Miranda invited us back to the White House movie theater."

"What's playing?"

"Firehouse Dog."

"Is that what you want? A movie with the kids?"

"Not really. Maybe we can do that tomorrow afternoon."

"We could go to Iota."

"Let's see if Sam and Ainsley want to join us!"

"Ooooh, adult date night. I like the way you're thinking."

"You know, that reminds me we still haven't called CJ and Danny. We're at 12 weeks now. We should do that."

"You know who else we haven't told . . . the Bartlets."

"I know. I've been trying to think of a way to tell them in person. But we need to do it soon."

"Let's call Charlie. Maybe he'll join us at Iota. Maybe he'll know if the Bartlets will be in town anytime soon."

"Okay." Donna says as she leans her head back. We're almost home. I hope she can make it. I kind of hate to take her back out in the car again. But she did seem really excited about going out as adults to do something fun.

"I'll call Sam now. Just close your eyes for a minute, we're almost home."

"Hey Sam. You and Ains up for Iota tonight?"

"Sounds good to me. Let me check with the ball and chain and get back with you."

"You know in my experience it's better not to call them that."

"Duh, Josh. She's not in the room."

"We're thinking 7. I'll get a table. Shoot me a text and let me know."

"kay."

Once were in the apartment, Donna heads towards the bathroom. It's a fifty-fifty shot whether or not she'll vomit. I'm really hoping for the not. In the mean time I pick up the phone.

"Hey CJ."

"Mi amour! Calling on a Friday at 4:45? You haven't lit anything on fire have you?"

"No, but we do have some big news."

"You don't say?"

"You didn't happen to run a pool about when I'd manage to knock Donna up did you?"

"Get out of here! You guys are pregnant?"

"Well technically just Donna, but I contributed!"

"That's great! Hey Danny! Josh is on the phone he has big news."

"Hey buddy. What's up?"

"I'm gonna be a Dad."

"That's great. Donna's the Mom, right?"

"Very funny, Fishboy. Hey it's CJ again. Put Donna on."

I hand Donna the phone and then walk into the guest room. Maybe I can get ahold of Charlie.

"Hey Charlie, it's Josh."

"Hey man. It's been awhile. How are you guys doing?"

"You know, first 100 days, things are a little crazy."

"Actually, I wasn't there for the first 100 days but I can imagine."

"Oh, that's right. It just felt like you were always with us, but you didn't start until half way through the second year. So what have you been doing with yourself?"

"Well, since Law School doesn't start until the fall, I decided to get a joint JD/Masters in Foreign Service degree. So I've started taking the Foreign Service classes."

"That's awesome, Charlie. Spending any time in Manchester?"

"Yes, quite a bit. But Zoey is actually down here this week."

"That's fortuitous! We were calling to see if you wanted to join us at Iota this evening. It would be great to see the squirt again too."

"Hold on a second, please."

. . .

"Zoey says yes, she's williing to be seen with you since you married so well."

"Excellent! We'll meet you there at 7pm."

"Sounds good Josh."

When I walk back into the living room, Donna is still happily chatting with CJ.

"That sounds amazing. Well, once you're back I hope you'll come here and meet the little Bean."

"Yes, Claudia Jean is a great name. I'll discuss it with Josh."

"Bye CJ, love you."

"Claudia Jean?"

"Yeah, CJ said to let you know that she'd be honored if we want to name the baby after her."

"What if it's a boy?"

"Claude John, I guess." Donna says laughing.

"Are we putting either of those on the list?

"God, no."

"Ok good. And great news! Zoey and Charlie are meeting us at Iota, too."

"Great! You'd better call ahead for a table."

I'm a little nervous taking Donna all the way to Arlington, but she looks so excited. She's got these amazing skin tight black pants on and her top sparkles. She flipped her hair up into some twisty thing and put lipstick on. She looks ready for some fun. I don't look half bad myself. She had me change out of my suit and into jeans, but paired it with a button down shirt and blazer. I've never much cared what I'm wearing, but I do love having Donna dress me.

"So, did you have a nice chat with CJ?"

"Yeah, they'll be going to Africa this summer. A trip to sort of get the lay of the land so they can start working on spending Hollis' money. She said they'll come visit us after the baby's born."

"She was just kidding about the name, right?"

"Yeah, I'm sure she was."

When we get to the club Donna's looking a little green. We'll need to sit here a few minutes before we get out. I'm sure Kevin appreciates the chance to go sort out the arrangements anyway.

Donna keeps taking deep slow breaths.

"Aw man, I'm not going to make it." She grabs one of her bags and starts to puke when the door opens and Zoey slides in, followed by Charlie.

"Hey guys! OH gross!"

She looks from Donna to me to Donna.

"Normally, you're the one that gets car sick. But not for a 20 minute ride. What's going on?"

Zoey's not stupid. Both of her sisters have had babies. I think I almost see the light bulb when it goes off.

"Does this mean . . .? Oh! Please tell me you're pregnant!"

Donna's done, so I hand her the box of Altoids that we keep in here. She pops a few then smiles at Zoey and Charlie.

"Yes. And the little Lyman already likes to be the center of attention." Donna smiles fondly at me. What can I say? It's my kid.

"That's so exciting! When are you due?"

"November 7" I tell her proudly.

"Heh. So basically, election day." Charlie smirks "I can't wait to see how that plays out for you."

"The due date is just an estimate, Charlie. Really any time two weeks before or after is considered normal." Wow, Zoey really does know a lot about babies.

I have thought about the due date more than once. It's a good thing this is an off-year. Even a couple weeks before the Presidential or mid-terms would be an insane time to have a baby. But with just local elections and the odd special-election, this year won't be a big deal.

Kathy opens the door. "We're ready for you inside."

"This is going to be fun!" Zoey says. Charlie scoots out the door with Zoey and Donna right behind him, and I bring up the rear.

Kevin leads us to one of the large booths against the wall. Sam and Ainsley are already seated. This is an amazing table. We never would have scored one of these before. Of course, we never called ahead before either.

"Who's playing tonight, Cynthia?" Donna asks the manager as she walks up to greet us.

"Toby Lightman."

"Really?"

"Yes, she's working on a new album. Happened to be in town and agreed to play one night for us. You guys picked a good night to be here."

This is great. Good friends. Good music. Good food. Speaking of which, I hand Donna a menu. I already know I'm getting a burger and fries. I wonder if she'll let me have a beer?

"Have you told my parents yet?" Zoey asks as she steals another one of my fries. Between these girls, I should just order a basket.

"We're planning on calling them tomorrow. I just had my 12 week check-up today."

"They're going to be thrilled, you know. They really think of you two as family."

"I wish we could tell them in person. But Donna's not really that keen on traveling right now."

"Do you want me to lure them away from the Farm? I could get them tickets to the Kennedy Center or something. I think the Reykjavik Symphony is playing soon. You know how my Dad loves them." That gets a laugh from all off us.

"I mean, we'd love to see them, but we'd better just call them tomorrow. I don't want them to hear it from anyone else." Donna decides.

"So what are you up to, squirt?"

"I think I'm going to go back to school."

"Oh yeah? Where? I think Toby's going to take a job at Columbia."

"I'm leaning toward Nitze. If I get in."

"International Studies? I'm sure you'll get in. Where are you . . . Oh! Are you thinking about moving in with Charlie?"

Everyone at the table stops talking. Zoey blushes a little.

"I think that's great, Zoey." Ainsley says. "Living together before we got married has been good for Sam and me."

"My parents might not tend to agree. They . . ."

"They prefer to think of you as a little girl? You'll always be their baby, Zoey, but I'm sure they'll understand." I reach around her and give her a little side hug.

"Easy for you to say," Charlie mutters "he didn't threaten you with the 82nd Airborne."

"Ha! That's what you think. He's very fond of Donna."