The shower turning on wakes me up, as it often does, but instead of trying to sneak in another 15 minutes of sleep, I sit up and pull my shirt up so I can look at my bump. It's grown considerably in the last three weeks.

"Hey, little bean. Today's the big day. What do you think? Should we find out if you are a little girl or a little boy or should we be surprised? You know Daddy is anxious to find out. I promise, we'll be happy either way, but he just likes knowing things."

"Hey beautiful. You're awake." Josh comes out of the bathroom. There are droplets of water on his chest and he's got a towel wrapped around his waist. I wonder if we can afford to be late today. Probably not since we need to leave early for the ultrasound. Damn.

"Hey. Oooh! C'mere, feel this." Josh rushes over and puts his hand the bump. A few seconds later, a mega-wyatt grin breaks out over his face. I don't care if the baby is a boy or a girl but I hope the little bean has those dimples.

"That is so amazing!" Josh breathes. He's only been able to feel the baby this past week and he's pretty captivated. Last night he spent three hours with his hand caressing my belly hoping for a kick. Unfortunately we don't have that kind of time right now.

"I'd better jump in the shower." I tell him, starting to get up. His face falls like a little boy who just got his favorite toy taken away, but he gets up and drops his towel. Now, that's really not playing fair.

"So have you decided yet? Are we going to find out?" He asks me eagerly as he starts getting dressed.

"Not really." I answer coyly as I head toward the bathroom. I'm leaning towards finding out just because he really wants to know, but there's no reason not to tease him a little. "While I'm in the shower, you could think of ways to persuade me into finding out."

"Here you go." Josh hands me a breakfast sandwich as soon as I walk into the kitchen. Half a bagel at the office no longer cuts it for me, and Josh has risen to the occasion. I really am impressed at his recently acquired culinary skills.

"Thanks, Babe." I take a huge bite. "yummm, so good. You're the best!" He beams at my praise. God, I'm just so happy. I guess they call it domestic bliss for a reason.

"Here. Drink some water." Josh hands me an insulated cup. I wish it were coffee, but I'll do anything for the baby. Next he hands me my vitamins and I swallow them as I finish the water and refill it. It's hard to get those 64 oz in.

I don't think he meant the sandwich to be a bribe, but if he did it was a good one. Food is pretty persuasive for me right now.

"Thank god, it's lunchtime. I'm starving. I really hope the guys can join us." Helen grins back. She's pretty pleased with herself. Once she heard the rumor that they're having a light day, she made plans to kidnap them and drag them up to the residence for lunch. A deli tray from Crupin's will be ready when we get there. Mmmm, a giant roast beef sandwich, and some potato salad, and a dill pickle.

"Anyone in there?" We ask Ronna when we arrive.

"Just Josh, you can go in." She smiles at us.

"Hey, pretty ladies." Matt greets us.

"Can you join us for lunch? We've got something special planned."

"I don't know. Can we Josh?"

"Josh looks at his watch. Yeah, that'll work, we can go over the NCAA Championship Reception stuff while we eat."

"Okay." Matt grins at him and takes Helen's hand. "Ronna! We're going to the residence for lunch. Tell Margaret. And get some lunch yourself."

"Yes, sir."

We've completely covered the agenda for Monday's reception and we're about finished with lunch when Josh's phone rings.

"Josh Lyman."

"Hi Margaret."

"Yes. Alright, we'll head there now."

Josh's face morphs into his all business mode. I get a chill. This can't be good. He stands up and buttons his jacket.

"Sir, we're needed in the Sit Room. There's been a helicopter crash in Kazakhstan."

"Fatalities?" The President asks.

"We don't know."

"Hostile Fire?"

"We don't know."

"Alright, let's go."

Josh shoots me an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, Donna, I don't know when I'll be done."

"Don't worry about it."

"I'll call you when I can."

As the guys stride out of the room, Helen looks at her watch.

"Your appointment is at 4:30?"

"Yeah."

She gives me a small, sad smile. "That's still a few hours from now. Maybe they'll be done in time."

"Maybe." I answer softly but I know better than to get my hopes up. If the helicopter was shot down by either side our role as a neutral policeman is probably over. What's happening in the Sit Room right now is more important than finding out the gender of the little bean.

At 4, Josh calls. "I'm so sorry. I can't leave. There were 5 fatalities and we are still waiting for verification regarding the cause of the crash. I have to stay."

"It's okay. The President needs you."

"You need me too."

"Josh, it's okay. Really. I'd like you to be there but we'll be okay."

"But I want to be there." His voice is sincere, not whiny. He's not pleading with me, he knows what he has to do, he's just making a factual statement.

"I know. Do you want me to cancel?" I really don't want to. This is an important appointment. They'll be checking for abnormalities and all sorts of things. I'm anxious for the reassurance that everything is okay. Plus, my detail already vetted this ultrasound technician, and they made special arrangements for the scan be the final one for the day. If I cancel I don't know how long it will be before I'll get in again.

"I'll go with you." Helen offers.

"Helen said she'll go with me."

"Okay. Yeah, you should go without me. I'm really sorry, baby. Really."

"I know. When I'm done I'll come back here. I'll wait in the residence until you are done."

"Okay. I love you."

"I love you too."

"Thanks Helen. I guess I'd better call Ron."

We're a little late, but when you bring the First Lady no one seems to mind. The ultrasound technician has finally stopped giving nervous glances at Helen but hasn't said a word in 20 minutes. She just keeps moving the wand around, clicking buttons and typing. I'm starting to get worried. Sometimes it actually hurts when she pushes hard on my stomach. And I really have to pee.

I really wish Josh was here holding my hand. The tech pushes the wand down again and I can't help the slight "ow" or the tear that trickles out of the corner of my eye.

"Sorry," the tech mutters, "I need a few more measurements."

Helen moves closer to me and puts her hand on my shoulder. "Are you okay?" She looks concerned. Now I'm really nervous.

"Is something wrong?" I whisper. "Dr. Andrews normally talks to us during the ultrasound and it never takes this long."

With that the tech looks up. "I'm sorry. Since I'm not a doctor I'm not supposed to really say anything during this part. I'm just taking a bunch of pictures and measurements. This is a level 2 ultrasound so it takes longer. Please don't assume anything is wrong."

"Oh, okay."

"Just a few more minutes, then we can get to the fun part."

"Is that the part where I get to get up and go to the bathroom?"

"Eventually. But first, I'll show you the baby's heart and hands and feet, and I can show you if it's a boy or girl if you'd like to know."

"My husband really wants to know, but I don't want to find out without him. Can you write it down and put it in an envelope?"

"Sure."

"Do you already know if it's a girl or boy?"

"Yeah."

"How sure are you?"

"Well I never say I'm 100% sure, but in your case I'd say I'm 95% sure and by the end of this appointment I might even raise it to 99%."

"Okay, that's pretty confident."

"Yep. I've been doing this a long time."

A few more minutes goes by, then she turns the screen towards me so I can see it.

"The baby is about the size of a banana now." She shows me a profile. And clicks a button and the machine whirs a bit.

"Here's the heart. You can see the four chambers. The baby's heart rate is 168. Here's the brain. This is the spine. Here's a good view of the baby's face." The baby's face is pretty squishy. She clicks and the machine whirs again printing a couple more pictures.

She moves the wand down. "Let see if we can get some good pictures of the feet." Sure enough, a few seconds later she's got one then both feet on the screen.

"Ohhh. They're so little." Helen coos. I'm glad she's here even though I'd rather it be Josh.

The tech prints a couple pictures of feet, then hands. She has quite a few for me. That'll please Josh a little. I'm sure he's not happy about missing this at all.

"Well if you wanted to find out the gender, this is when I'd show you. But since you'd like to find out with your husband, I'm going to turn the screen. If I get any good pictures for the reveal, I'll put them in the envelope for you. Does that sound okay?"

"Yes. Thanks."

"Will you and Josh open the envelope while you're in the residence? I want to know too!" Helen asks hopefully.

"I don't know. I'm going to let Josh decide. He's the one that really want to find out the gender now. And since he missed this appointment, maybe getting to decide when to open the envelope will make it up to him."

"Okay." Helen answers a bit dejectedly.

"Don't be too depressed. Josh doesn't keep secrets well. I'm sure once he finds out the whole city will know. I wouldn't be surprised if you see an ad in Roll Call."

Helen laughs. "True, but if he knows how much I want to know, he might not tell me just for spite." She's sort of right, but it would be just for fun.

I see the tech raise an eyebrow and I'm reminded that we shouldn't talk so freely with someone else in the room. HIPPA covers information about my medical condition but not someone talking about their observation of our relationship with the President and First Lady.

Once were back in the limo, Helen says "That was fun! Thanks for letting me come with you."

I really appreciate how she makes it seem like I was doing her a favor instead of the other way around. I'm sure Ron wasn't thrilled with the short notice that she wanted to attend. I think it helped that my own detail has vetted the Doctor's office and I usually get the last appointment of the day on Friday.

"Thanks for offering. That wouldn't have been much fun by myself."

"So, what do you think? Boy or Girl?"

"I don't know. I'd just be guessing and I don't want to guess then be wrong. What do you think? I heard there is a baby pool."

Helen blushes a little. "I've got boy born November 7 at 12:15 am, 7lbs 1oz, 21 inches long."

"Wow, you picked my due date?"

"You are a very punctual person, Donna."

"Why 12:15 then?"

"CJ Cregg already had 12:00, Margaret had 12:05 and Charlie Young had 12:10. 12:15 was the first open slot on your due date. Seem like I'm not the only one who figures the baby might take after you."

"Ah."

"I want to have a baby shower for you." Helen announces as we pull up to the portico

"Here?"

"Yes, I'm sure Ron would rather have it here than have to secure a different location."

I start to giggle, I mean, it's crazy right? Ten years ago, who would have thought that the location of my baby shower would be dictated by the secret service.

"Everything okay, Donna?"

"Yes, just momentarily overwhelmed by the insanity of my life."

"I hear ya, sister."

At 6pm, Helen rounds the kids up and we sit down at the dinner table. There are covered plates for Matt and Josh too. It's nice to have an executive chef for those days you're a little busy. She must have put the order in when she decided to come with me to the doctor's office.

Fifteen minutes into dinner, the guys walk in. Josh looks haggard. I immediately walk up to him and wrap my arms around him and he emits a deep sigh.

"Hey, you all done down there?" Helen asks.

"No." Both Matt and Josh frown. "But we needed to eat. And someone was getting very anxious to see his wife." Matt gives a bemused look Josh's way.

Helen raises one eyebrow. "And the other one?"

Matt recognizes danger when he sees it. He walks up to Helen wraps his arms around her and whispers something in her ear that makes her blush. I hope Josh and I still react to each other that way fifteen years and a couple kids down the road.

Finally, Josh finds his voice. "How'd the appointment go?"

"Let's go into the sitting room for a minute." I'd like a little privacy. I'm sure we'll end up telling Matt and Helen everything but Josh deserves to get to make his decision about opening the envelope, and his reaction if he does, without an audience.

I lead him into the West Sitting Room and sit down on a sofa. Josh sits down next to me and wraps his arm around my shoulder so I can snuggle into his chest. How to begin? Should I try to give him a play by play?

"Donna? Do you have bad news to tell me?" Oh shit! I didn't mean to worry him.

"No. I don't really have any news!" I exclaim, a little frustrated. "It was really intense. The tech hardly said anything and sometimes she was pressing so hard it almost hurt. And we have to wait for the Doctor's appointment for them to tell us anything!" My voice breaks a little and I immediately feel bad. I didn't realize I was so stressed out about this, and it's really not fair to Josh, he's already under enough stress right now.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there." Josh kisses the top of my head. His voice sounds really sad.

"No. I'm sorry." I sniffle, "I didn't mean to yell. It's not your fault. I'm not upset with you. It was just more stressful than I expected."

He holds me a few minutes. "Did you find out if the little bean is a boy or a girl?" He asks me quietly.

Well hey, at least I can make up for yelling at him. I sit up and pull the envelope out of my blazer pocket with a flourish.

"No. But I had her put that information in this envelope." I hand it to him. "What you do with it is entirely up to you. You can open it now, or you can wait if you'd rather. Just don't lose it!"

"Really? I can open it now? I could use some happy news right now."

"Yes, you can open it right now."

I watch Josh's face carefully as he opens the envelope. He looks ecstatic. I honestly don't think I've ever seen him smile bigger. People keep asking us if we want a boy or a girl, or if we have any sort of gut feeling about it. It makes me feel like I should, but I really don't. I really don't think it matters to me. I don't think one gender or the other will make me happier. And now, seeing Josh's reaction, I know it's true. No matter what that card says, I'm going to be thrilled because Josh is over-the-moon happy.

"Well?" I want him to tell me. I don't want to just read it.

He stands up, and pulls me to my feet, then picks me up and twirls me around. Then he whispers in my ear and I feel a smile break out on my face too.