Josh's murmuring wakes me up. As I open my eyes I can see the top of his head down near my waist. The sunlight really highlights all the colors in his hair. There are still some of the auburn tones from when we first met, but these days it seems more brown. I smile as I notice a few gray hairs too. I won't mention those to him. He's already a little self-conscious of the amount of white hair in his stubble. It doesn't bother me at all. I think it's distinguished.
He's laying across the bed directly facing my belly and He's lifted my shirt. He's fascinated by the little bump that popped out this week. Unfortunately, that little bump is making it harder to find things in my closet to wear. I'm going to have to go shopping soon.
As a few more seconds go by, I realize that he is talking to the little Bean. Finally, part of it is loud enough for me to understand.
"And that's how a bill becomes a law."
Huh. I had assumed that he was showering my belly with words of love and affirmation.
"Did you just explain the legislative process to my bump?"
"No," he grins sheepishly. "I explained it to our baby. There are some studies that suggest that even though a baby can't hear exactly what you are staying in utero, they do recognize the sound of their mother's voice. I want the little Bean to know my voice too."
He's so sweet. And now that he's done talking, his hand is tracing little patterns across my stomach. It feels amazing.
After a few minutes, Josh looks up at me. "The little Bean is the size of a Peach now. Do you you think we need to call him something else?"
"Him? Do you have some sort of feeling?"
"No. I just don't like saying "it." The little Bean isn't an it."
"I think we can keep calling her the little Bean. It's just a cute nickname." I smirk at him as I say it.
"Her? Do you have some sort of feeling?"
"No. I'm just trying to give the feminine pronoun equal time."
He laughs then and starts placing tiny little kisses all over my belly. I'm getting very turned on.
"Mmmmmmm." I can't help give a little moan. It just feels so good. Josh looks up with a gleam in his eye. He knows what that sound means. We are both really enjoying the changes that have come since the second trimester began.
Josh hooks his fingers in the top of the boxers shorts that I'm wearing and slides them slowly down my legs. I reward him with another moan. I love Saturday mornings.
Later, I've just finished blow drying my hair when Josh comes up behind me and wraps his arms around me.
"Your hair looks really good these days."
It really does. It's the thickest and shiniest its ever been. This is another benefit of pregnancy hormones that I am completely enjoying.
Josh looks down at his watch. "It's 8:45. We should get going if you want to be there by 9."
"Yep. I just need two more minutes." I check myself over in the mirror. I think I am glowing. Finally. It feels good to feel good.
Once we are to the White House Josh gives me a quick kiss. "I love you. I'll probably still be in my office when you get back. Just give me a call or stop by when you are ready to go."
"Okay, love you too." I tell him as he walks away. I do love to watch him walk away. He does have the cutest little butt in politics.
Once he's down the hall, I head up to the Residence to meet Helen. She's speaking at the Women in Congress Brunch today and I know she's still a little nervous. She really has no reason to be. She's a very good public speaker.
When I get to the East Sitting Room, she's pacing and muttering to herself.
"You look good." She's wearing a powder blue suit and her hair is up in a french twist. She looks very professional, but the light color gives a softness to her aura that a red power suit wouldn't have accomplished. Annabeth did a really good job of picking this outfit.
"You too. Your hair is amazing." Helen smiles at me. "How are you enjoying those second trimester hormones?"
I feel myself blush a little and she laughs. "Told ya!"
"Okay, unless you want to hear exactly how I spend my morning, we have time for you to go over the speech one more time if you like."
Helen raises one perfect eyebrow at me. I hope she doesn't call my bluff. She's got a wicked sense of humor and she knows I embarrass pretty easily. But her nerves end up trumping her desire make me blush.
She rolls her neck, stands up straighter, and launches into her speech. She's really extraordinary. She has a notecard in her hand but she rarely looks at it. I'm following along with a printed version. It's clear that she has the speech almost completely memorized and the few changes she makes are slight. When she's done I applaud.
"So, no teleprompter?"
"Do you think I need one?"
"It's totally up to you. If you'd rather just work from your notecard, we can put the binder with the printed version on the podium as a back-up. I think you've got it down. But there is nothing wrong with using the teleprompter if you'd like it."
"Let's go without."
"Okay, boss. Let's go."
We meet up with Annabeth, Amy, Edie and Lou at the portico and arrive at the venue fifteen minutes later. We are immediately seated on a dias. I'm a little nervous. This is only the second luncheon I've ever been to that I didn't eat in the kitchen. I'm not really sure exactly what to do. It seems weird to eat on a stage in front of people. But I'm starving. There's already a bowl of fruit at our places. Can I eat it now? Are we supposed to wait?
Helen's on my right, but turned the other way. She's speaking to Dottie Baker, who will be introducing her later. Amy's on my left but she's speaking to Annabeth, who is on the other side of her. I try to look out into the crowd to see if any one else is eating. It doesn't look like it. Most of the women are chatting with the people around them.
I look back down at my plate. Oh! There's a piece of bread too. It looks like banana nut. I'm so hungry. I wonder if I can just break a little piece off and sneak a bite. I look around furtitively. Once I've convinced myself that even if it's not appropriate ettiquette, I need to eat, I reach out with my left hand towards the plate.
Unfortunately, Amy reaches for her water at the same moment and I manage to bump her arm, causing her to slosh her water all over.
"Donna!" She hisses at me.
"Sorry, sorry." I mutter. Damn. I really want that bread.
"What's your problem?" She says matter of factly without any real heat. We have a strange relationship, Amy and I. We aren't exactly friends, but we aren't enemies either. And right now she's the only ally available to me.
"I'm starving! When can we eat?" Even though I'm whispering, it still comes out slightly whiny.
Amy raises an eyebrow at me. I give her a 'please take pity on me' look in response. Finally, she does. Maybe she realizes that I really have no clue about these things.
"It's fine. You can eat your bread now. No one will think it's odd. In a few minutes Carol Gelsey will give a general welcome. Once she's done, everyone will start on their fruit while the wait staff starts bringing the main course. Generally, if you're seated out there, you don't have to wait until everyone at the table has their food since it's a luncheon. Wait until at least 2 people have been served, then someone at the table should say "please go ahead." But since we are at the speakers table, we'll all get served pretty quickly. We'll have about 20 minutes to eat and chat, then Mrs. Baker will introduce Mrs. Santos, then she'll speak. We don't eat while the First Lady is speaking, and most of the audience will stop eating as well."
"Thank you." I tell her sincerely, reaching for the bread again, that was really nice of her to clue me in on how these work.
Amy gives me a toothy grin. "The Sisterhood has to stick together. Did I ever tell you about the time I set the table on fire while Abbey Bartlet was speaking?"
"Oh no! Was she furious? Did she threaten to fire you?" This is basically my biggest fear. That I'll do something stupid and Helen will realize I have no business being her Chief of Staff.
"No, actually, that's when she made me her Chief of Staff." Amy smiles at me again. "Go easy on yourself, Donna. You're doing a good job."
Before I can respond to Amy, Carol Gelsey steps up to the podium. And the room quiets down.
"Welcome to the 15th Annual Women of Congress Spring Brunch. Now, you know a lot of the men in Congress like to call this the Mother's Day brunch since that's tomorrow, but we know that Motherhood is not the defining role for all Women. We have careers, we have goals, we have dreams to make this world better for the next generation, whether or not we actually have children of our own. That's our focus for today. And soon we'll have an opportunity to hear from both the First and Second Ladies, so please enjoy your meal."
"Oh thank god" I mutter as Carol sits down. I immediately dive into my fruit bowl. Amy giggles under her breath.
"I never took you as much of an eater." She says. "I think I've only ever seen you with a yogurt at your desk or eating a salad in Josh's office."
"It's the baby. Now that the morning sickness is gone, I'm starving all the time. Last week, I made pathetic faces until Josh gave me his burger and fries. He ended up having to eat my soup and salad."
She pauses mid-bite. She looks thoughtful for a moment, then says "I don't think he'd have given up his food for me."
Oh. Are we going to do this? Although Amy seems to accept Josh and I as a couple, without any animosity, we've never really had this conversation. This could be a bit tricky but I want to be fair to both Amy and Josh. I don't think they were right for each other but she definitely wasn't the worst girlfriend he ever had.
"I think he would have. I don't know if he thought you'd let him though. In some ways you and Josh are very much alike. Neither of you really likes for anyone to know you could use some help." I take another bite of fruit.
"But he wasn't all in with me, like he is with you."
"No. You're right. He wasn't all in. But from what I was seeing, it didn't seem like you were all in with him either."
"That's true. Work was more important."
"Exactly. For both of you."
"Donna. It's wasn't work that was more important for Josh. It was you."
I'm not sure what to say to that, and luckily, I'm given a reprieve when the food arrives. I use the opportunity to study Amy for a minute. She doesn't seem upset. Once the waiter is gone, I finally say "Amy, I hope you know I never tried to come between you." I take a bite of the spinach quiche. It's heavenly. Amy should really try some, but she's way more focused on this conversation.
"I know, but you loved him, right? You never answered me when I asked you, but you did." Well, she's waited a long time for this. I guess I can finally afford to be honest.
"Yes."
I leave it at that and take another bite of my food. The bacon's really good too. I never make real bacon anymore. It's good that my mouth is full. A little part of me wants to follow up with a lie, to tell her that even though I loved Josh he didn't love me. But I'm not going to tell her that because, truthfully, he did love me. He just didn't know it. But saying that out loud sounds pretty egotistical.
"He loved you too."
Oh. Well. Apparently, Amy's thought about this a lot. I guess I don't have to lie.
"Yes. But he didn't know it. I know that sounds weird, but you have to get Josh, he had such a strong ethical position on having a romantic relationship with a subordinate that he really didn't let himself love me that way for a very long time. To him we were just very good friends."
Amy smiles a me again. It's a little indulgent, a touch of smirk, but it's still friendly.
"You've always been protective of him. Believe it or not, I did "get Josh." Not as good as you, but I wasn't completely clueless. Josh and I just weren't meant to be . . . at least not in any universe where you existed."
I take another bite of quiche and chew slowly to give myself a minute. I really have no idea what else to say. But Amy's not quite done.
"Josh is a good guy. And I'm glad he's got you. If you hadn't been around, Josh and I might have tried to make the power couple thing work, and then I wouldn't have met Landon. And Landon makes me very happy. I hope we can be friends, Donna. The Sisterhood has to stick together."
"I'd like that. The four of us should have dinner sometime."
Dottie Baker steps up to the podium and we all clap. Damn. I should have eaten more when I had the chance.