Setting the memo that I just finished on the table next to my laptop, I sit up a little and roll my shoulders. My house is quiet for what feels like the first time all week. Letting the kids, and Donna, sleep in was a good idea. It's Saturday, Congress isn't in session, and it's a holiday weekend.
The only thing on the agenda for today is Anna's trip to the mall. She was pretty disappointed when it didn't happen yesterday, but Donna had a headache and I put my foot down. Still even though she's not getting her way all the time, I think Anna's having fun. She's a pretty upbeat kid. She has little moments of teenage attitude, but Donna seems pretty good at stopping it cold. She's got the Mom look down.
Conor didn't say much about Saving Private Ryan after he and Matt watched on Thursday. I'm glad for that. Maybe it's wrong, but I'm not going to bring it up unless he does. Matt said they had a good discussion, and I hope that's good enough.
Both kids did have a lot to say about the Bureau of Engraving after Helen and Donna took them on Thursday evening. It turns out that seeing how money is made is pretty cool.
Yesterday, I was surprised when I stopped by Donna's office after work and she wasn't there. The plan had been to meet there at 4 to go to the mall. Karen informed me that Donna had a headache and had gone up to the Residence to take a nap while the kids went swimming with Miranda and Peter. When I found her in the COS bedroom, she had a cold cloth on her face. She started to sit up when she heard me come in, but I insisted that she lay back down. Anna's trip could wait another day. Instead, we had dinner in the Residence and watched Seabiscuit with the First Family. Donna laid her head on my shoulder and slept through most of the movie.
After that, it was an easy decision to work from home and let everyone sleep in today. Anna and Donna actually did a little happy dance last night when I told them. Just thinking about it makes me smile.
Grabbing a couple more memos, I head back toward the bedroom, stopping by the den and spare room to check on the kids on the way. It's still silent. I'll just read in bed and wait for Donna to wake up.
When I'm done, it's almost 10am and I have a moment of indecision. Should I start some breakfast? I've gotten pretty good at scrambled eggs. I can do pancakes. We usually have some turkey sausage in the freezer. If I start cooking will they all wake up? Do I want them to or do I want to let them sleep as long as possible?
Looking over at Donna, I decide to let her sleep. I think she's probably just exhausted. I know she's had a lot more energy this trimester, but she's been doing a lot of walking around with the kids. I scoot down in the bed and spoon Donna, slipping my hand under her shirt and caressing her belly. Maybe Lulu is awake. Sure enough, after a few minutes she gives my hand a kick. It won't be long before Donna wakes up now.
"Alright, let's go." Anna announces as soon as she's done loading the dishwasher. She and Conor have been taking turns after every meal. It was a very pleasant surprise.
"Hold your horses. I need shoes." Conor shoots back. I think it's possible that he's tying the laces as slowly as possible just to annoy her. I should probably discourage him but truthfully I find it kind of funny. The Mall is only 13 miles away, she'll have plenty of time to shop before it closes. I really hope we'll be done long before that.
Scott looks uncomfortable as we get into the SUV. This detail has to be frustrating for him. Protectees that probably aren't really in danger, that want to go to the mall and hang out. Wesley called it Paparazzi Patrol. But look how that ended. Even though we aren't on high security generally right now, given that it's a holiday weekend, and the inherent difficulty of protecting us at the mall, Scott decided to use a full detail of 6 for this trip. Two with the cars and four with us. I agreed so that we'd each have a shadow. The way I look at it, it's all or nothing. If we have even one agent, we are going to draw attention. And if we draw attention, I want my whole family protected.
Anna bops into another girly store and Conor rolls his eyes. He's been pretty patient but he might be close to his breaking point. Suddenly I spot something a couple doors away that might help. I hand him a twenty.
"There's Wetzel's Pretzels. Go get a couple and meet us back here, okay?"
"Thanks, Uncle Josh!" He grins as he sprints off.
"Don't forget the cheese sauce!" I yell at his back. Then I motion for Kevin to follow him.
Heading into the store, I see the shoe display against the back wall. I'm glad that Anna and Donna are heading straight back there.
But when I catch up to the girls, I'm horrified. These shoes are all ridiculous. Super high heels in weird designs. I can't let Anna pick a pair of these!
"I just love Charlotte Russe! Don't you Aunt Donna?" Anna is giddy. She walks up and down the display and finally settles on three pairs to try on. As she finds a sales clerk to get her size, I pull Donna aside.
"Donna, what the hell?" I don't even have words for this place. But Donna just looks at me with amusement.
"What's the problem, Josh?"
"THIS!" I exclaim, grabbing the closest shoe. It's black patent leather, it has a bunch of buckles crossing the top of it and the front of the shoe is cut off. It's not really a sandal. I don't know the technical name but I do know what shoes like this are called.
"What about it?" Donna asks. Does she really not see the problem?
"What is it?!" I counter.
"Well, it's called a peep toe, platform heel."
"That's not all they're called, is it Donna?" I narrow my eyes a bit, daring her to pretend ignorance.
"No. . ." she looks around carefully to see if anyone is listening to us, "they're called 'hooker heels'." Donna whispers furiously at me.
"Do you think it's appropriate for me to buy our 13 year old niece hooker heels?" I can't even believe this.
"JOSH! She's almost 14. She's starting High School in a few weeks. If she wants one pair of crazy shoes let her have them. If Bob doesn't approve then he won't let her wear them. . . . Besides, she didn't even pick that pair to try on!"
She gestures over to where Anna's sitting, grinning as she takes of her sandals. She's right. In front of Anna are 3 pairs of heels. They are all pretty high but none of them is quite as bad as what I have in my hand. One pair is white statin with black polka dots. There's a pair of bright blue suede boots. And lastly,a cute floral pair. What did Donna call that? Peep toe.
Anna puts the floral ones on and stands up hesitantly.
"Is she even going to be able to walk in those?" I hiss at Donna.
"Shhhhh! You're going to hurt her feelings!" Donna hisses back.
We watch as Anna takes a few faltering steps then finds her balance. Once she does, she strides around the area with a huge grin on her face, suddenly full of confidence. It's the same smile Donna gets when she's figured something out. Okay. I'm convinced. If these are the shoes she wants then these are the shoes she gets! After that, it's Bob's problem.
After walking around the store in all three, Anna's really having a hard time deciding which pair to choose, so I see an opportunity.
"We could go someplace else." I offer. Donna shoots me a glare from behind Anna's back. And Kevin and Scott roll their eyes. What? It was a legitimate offer.
"No, I don't need to go anywhere else. I really like all of these. What do you think Aunt Donna? Which ones sould I get?"
"Well, I think those white heels would get pretty dirty pretty fast don't you? Unless they already match something for a special occasion, I'd eliminate those."
"Well I was thinking for homecoming I could get a black dress and wear these."
"Oh! That would be cute. Do you have a specific dress in mind?"
"No. My Mom said we've still got time to find the perfect one."
"What about the other shoes? Anything to wear with those?"
"Well, if I didn't get a black dress, I could get a pink one and these floral shoes would be cute."
I like that idea. A pink dress would be better than black. I hope she picks those. But I'm smart enough not to say anything.
"And I think I could wear the blue suede boots with just about anything! They'd be cute to wear to school with jeans and a t-shirt. Don't you think?"
"Sure, I guess." Donna hesitates, but then breaks the news to her. "Really, they probably aren't going to be very comfortable to wear to school."
The sales clerk comes by again. "So have you decided or can I get something else for you to try on?"
"No thanks." Anna says politely. "I'm just trying to make up my mind."
"Well, don't forget, they're buy one pair, get the second for $10 right now."
That bit of information shocks me. "$10! How much are they full price?"
"$35.99" Anna says with wide eyes. I think she's afraid I'm going to tell her they are too much. Just the opposite, I think if they're that cheap, they are probably a terrible quality. They won't last long, but maybe that's just fine.
"Okay, get those," I point to the floral heels. "And those," the polka dot. "And let's go. It's too hot for boots right now anyway."
"Really, Uncle Josh?" She squeals. "You are the best!"
The sales clerk looks happy. Anna looks happy. Conor looks happy. The agents look happy. But Donna looks amused. She links her arm through mine as we follow Anna up to the register.
"You're just a big softie after all, aren't you, Bulldog?"
"Two pair for under $50! They're probably crap."
"But she's happy, and now she has a couple options for homecoming. And we get to be part of it. Thanks." Donna plants a kiss on my cheek.
"I seem to remember that it was always a lot more expensive when I took you shoe shopping."
"Yes. I was a girl on a budget. If you were buying, I wanted to make sure I got really good shoes!"
"I'm glad you did." I lean down and give her a kiss.
As I'm paying for Anna's shoes, I'm not really paying attention to their chatter. I'm thinking about shoe shopping with Donnatella Moss. I have these little memories, like videos in my head, that I've played back over the years, and this one is one of my favorites.
It was early in the Bartlet Administration. Sometime in the second year. Sam was going sailing and had pawned a meeting off on me, so I drafted Donna to join me. She pouted about being forced to work on a Saturday, so I promised I'd buy her some shoes. The weekend didn't go well. It was the first clemency request for the death penalty and we ended up working all day Saturday and part of Sunday. I only managed to get out of the building because I needed to stop by Joey's hotel and pass along a message from President Bartlet.
When I'd stopped at Donna's desk on my way out, it was clear that she thought I'd forgot about the shoe shopping. She didn't say anything as she gave me the hotel information, but she'd looked a little sad.
"Well, come on, get your stuff. After this errand, we'll go to Barney's." I'd told her as I stood there waiting. She'd suddenly perked up. The way her eyes lit up had revived me a little too. She'd given me a shy smile and said "okay" softly. She's always been made of steel but back then she didn't know it.
When we got to the store, I'd expected it to take a long time and I'd expected her to pick out something flashy and expensive. Maybe something to go with a formal gown for one of the many functions where she got stuck babysitting me. But she picked out some basic black leather pumps with only the slightest of heel. I'd almost teased her about it, but something held me back. She had gone in knowing exactly what she wanted, and she was letting me get them for her. It just made me happy to do something nice for her for a change.
She wore those shoes for years. Eventually I did tease her and offered to buy her a new pair. But she'd said they were perfect and since they were quality, they'd lasted, so why replace them? Of course, she'd let me buy her a pair of strappy formal heels instead. Then, there was the fall that I'd discovered that the zipper on her boots was broken. It had been a nice lunch break to go with her to replace those.
Over time, the pumps started making fewer appearances. But whenever she did wear them I got a little warm fuzzy feeling, because they were the first pair of shoes I'd bought her. Maybe I couldn't give her jewelry, but I could give her shoes. And no one would ever ask where she got them.
I smile as I hand Anna the bright pink bag. "Here you go sweetheart."
She grins and gives me a big hug. "Thanks, Uncle Josh. I love you."
"Love you too."
"Can we please go home now?" Conor moans. I look at Anna and she nods happily. I'm glad I got to make her day.
It's 11 o'clock before the kids are packed up and settled into bed. Their flight isn't until 2, but Donna insisted that they pack up tonight, so that they could all sleep in again in the morning. I think she's got a pretty good grasp on how to handle teens.
We climb into bed and I open my arms to her. She immediately snuggles into them.
"Did you have a good day?" I ask her.
"Yes. It was really fun watching you shopping with Anna. It reminded me of the old days. I gotta ask you though, do you have a shoe fetish that I don't know about?"
I can't help but laugh at her. "No. I don't. But in my family, it was pretty common to get shoes as a gift. I think it's just a way to express that you want to take care of somebody."
"Well that explains why your Mother sent you shoes. I always thought that was a little weird." Donna's silent for a minute, while I run my hand through her hair and down her back. I wonder if she fell asleep? She lets out a loud yawn, and I smile to myself. She's fighting it a little.
"So, you took me shoe shopping because you wanted to take care of me?"
"Yes, Donnatella. I've wanted to take care of you since the moment we met. I just didn't know that really it would be mostly you taking care of me."
She looks at me and smiles. Then gives me a kiss to acknowledge the sweet moment. Then she says, "Is that your way of telling me you need new shoes?"