I'm sitting at the Bartlet's table chatting with CJ and Danny, when Ainsley comes up and whispers something in Abbey's ear. Abbey immediately gets up and heads toward the bathroom.
"Ainsley? Where's Donna?"
She looks at me and smiles. "Bathroom. Do you know where Sam is?"
"Over there." I point to the head table where he, Toby and Will are deep in conversation.
Ten minutes go by, and I'm getting kind of nervous. Neither Donna nor Abbey have come back from the bathroom. I get up and head that way.
"Where are you going mi padre?" CJ inquires.
"Bathroom."
"Men's is over that way." She points in the opposite direction.
"I'm going to find Donna."
I walk purposefully towards the ladies room. I suppose I could have asked CJ to come with me and check it out, but oh well, I don't care.
I burst throught the door and meet the started expression of a blue haired little old lady fixing her lipstick in the vanity mirror.
"Well I never!" She exclaims as she walks out in a huff. Ooops. Ainsley might get an earful about this.
"Josh! What are you doing in here?" Abbey asks me.
"Abbey? What's going on? Donna are you okay?" She's leaning back in a chair and Abbey is sitting next to her with her hand on her abdomen. She keeps glancing at her watch. I don't like the looks of this at all.
"Everything is fine." Abbey reassures me. "Donna's body is just starting to get ready."
"What does that mean?"
"She having a few contractions."
"Okay. Let's go." I take Donna's hand to help her up. We need to find Phil. I know he knows where the nearest emergency room is. This is way too early, she's not quite 34 weeks yet.
"Have a seat, Josh." Abbey says with authority. But I shake my head no. We need to leave.
"Joshua. Sit down. Donna is fine. You don't need to go to the hospital. I'm sure you heard about this in your class. These are just practice contractions. I've been monitoring them. They aren't very strong and they aren't very close together. If Donna rests for a little while longer, they'll probably go away completely."
"Braxton-Hicks?" I do remember reading about this. It's normal. But maybe we should go to the hospital just to be sure.
"Yes. If they get any stronger or closer together, then we'll reconsider. But for right now, the best thing is for you both to stay relaxed and just enjoy the party. Okay?"
I look at Donna to see what she thinks. She nods a little but her eyes are still a little big. I take her hand and give it a kiss. Then I look back at Abbey. She's a good doctor.
"Yes, ma'am."
"Good, now tell me. How are Sam's in-laws?"
"They sure do make me appreciate Donna's family!"
Abbey and Donna's laughter makes me feel a little better.
I kneel down next to the chair and stroke Donna's face. "How are you?"
"I'm okay. I just felt a little strange. Ainsley must have noticed that I was uncomfortable. I didn't ask her to go get Abbey."
"Well I'm glad she did."
"Me too! I've had Donna's pregnant belly all to myself for 15 minutes!"
This gets another small laugh from Donna. She's looking perkier. Maybe she just really needed to sit and rest for a bit. She's been pushing herself pretty hard lately. I think I'm going to need to find some ways to take the pressure off her.
"So," Abbey ask slyly, "what names are you thinking about?"
"Leonora" I answer.
"Olivia" Donna responds at the same time.
Abbey laughs again. "Well those are both very nice. I'm sure you'll work it out."
A few more minutes go by then Abbey says. "Okay Donna, I haven't felt any contractions in the last 10 minutes. Why don't we go back to the party? You can let me know if they start up again."
I stand up and help Donna to her feet. "We can go back to the room so you can lay down."
"No, I want to go to the party. I want some cake, and I want to see Ainsley toss the bouquet."
"Okay, but no more dancing, alright? You'll just sit with your feet up?"
"Yes, dear." That's her little phrase to let me know she's agreeing, but that I'm being a little bossy. I'm okay with it.
When we get back to the ballroom, I steer her towards the Bartlet's table. The President is the only one there. Everyone else is out on the dance floor in a circle. The music starts and Donna gets excited.
"It's the chicken dance!"
"No."
She pouts. If she hadn't literally just been having contractions, I would cave in and go dance the silly dance with her. But right now my heart's still beating a little fast. I really want her to take it easy the rest of the night.
"Please." I implore. "Have a seat. I'll go get you some cake and ginger ale."
She looks into my eyes and sees my pleading look. I just want her to be safe and Lulu to be healthy. I'm not trying to be bossy.
"Okay." She takes a seat next to President Bartlet and I smile.
"Can I get anyone else a drink?"
"No thanks, Josh." The Bartlets both smile at me.
"Now, Donnatella, tell me about your visit with the Queen." President Bartlet says as I walk a way. I'm leaving her in good hands. And I'm only leaving her for a few minutes.
When I get back with her drink and cake, the chicken dance is well underway. It involves a jaunty little tune, hand movements, arm movements that resemble flapping wings, and hip twists. Donna's doing the movements from her chair much to President Bartlet's delight.
"Donnatella, I've missed you!" He says gleefully. It takes me back a second. In spite of, or maybe because of, the rough patches, he really did regard us all as his family. He's enjoying this wedding as if Sam really were his son. And he really is going to think of Lulu as a granddaughter. We really have to do a better job of keeping them involved in our lives.
"Oooh! Cake. Gimmee!" Donna squeals. I hand over her piece and she immediately takes a bite. She moans, "it's so good," her face morphing into ecstasy. I'm a little embarrassed to have the Bartlets witness this, and to be honest, it's turning me on. She takes another bite and moans again.
"For God's sake, stop moaning." I whisper harshly into her ear. She's killing me here. She opens her eyes, takes in my current state, looks at the Bartlets' amused expressions, and gets an evil glint as she scoops up another bite.
I lean back to her ear and say very softly- "one more moan, and I will make you very sorry."
Her eyes smolder. I really don't want to play this game in front of the President! I put my mouth against her ear and whisper my threat. "If you moan again, I'm not going to give you my piece of cake."
Donna suddenly sits up and finishes her piece of cake without further incident, so I push mine to her.
"Thank you, honey." She says in a sickeningly sweet tone of voice.
Abbey bursts into laughter. "Oh you two are something! I don't know how you managed to keep yourselves in check for 8 years!"
"Come on, Sweet Knees, the electric slide is starting and you know I can't resist a good line dance." President Bartlet stands up and takes Abbey's hand. "Besides, these two might spontaneously combust and my tux isn't flame resistant."
"Here." Donna offers the last bite of my cake to me on her fork.
"Hey, that's really good."
"It's a lemon-raspberry torte cake. It really is quite spectacular. Maybe you should hunt up another piece."
I love Donna and I'd do anything for her. But I'm not sure that getting her a third piece of cake is really being that supportive. I think I'll hold off a little and see if she brings it up again.
"Well, there's something you don't see every day."
Donna follows my head tilt to look at the dance floor, where two Presidents, two First Ladies and many current and former Senior Staffers are performing "the Hustle." Matt and Helen are actually really good at it, but I guess that's not surprising. Given the size of his family, they've attended a lot of weddings. Miranda and Peter are pretty good too.
Miranda is trying to help President Bartlet get the moves. It's really good to see him able to dance like this without his cane. Retirement has been good for his health.
The Photographer stands near us as she takes a picture of Sam and Ainsley with everyone behind them dancing.
"Uh oh. Should we be worried about those optics?" I say half to Donna, half to myself.
"No need to worry. I already reached out to the Photographer before the wedding and she signed a non-disclosure agreement. She won't sell any images containing either of the First families, nor will she post them on her website, nor will she distribute them in anyway, without the written consent of the White House."
"Really? How'd you get her to agree to that?"
"She was pretty excited just to be here with two Presidents. It wasn't hard. Of course there is nothing I can do about all the cell phones in the room."
I look around. Sure enough there are a few people holding up phones. I've never actually used my camera phone, but I've been burned by photos taken this way.
"Well, at least they aren't that close." They might have video of the President doing the Cupid Shuffle but it won't be a good one.
When that dance is done, the DJ announces it's time for the tossing of the bouquet and garter.
"All the single ladies out on the dance floor, please!"
Miranda tries to stay with Margaret, Ginger, Zoey on the floor. But Matt leads her over to us.
"Not you, mijita." He says.
"But Daddy! Clemmie and Maggie are out there!" Miranda says pointing at her new friends.
"Nope. This is not an appropriate activity for little girls. You'll have to stay here."
Miranda sits down next to Donna with a pout, but without further argument.
"You can have my bouquet." Donna offers her.
Miranda perks right up. "Thanks Tia Donna!"
We watch as Sam escorts Clemmie and Maggie off the dance floor too. It appears that he's got a little fatherly instinct himself. I can't help but hope that Sam and Ainsley decide to have kids right away. She'll have a year on the job, and hey, I know her boss won't mind her taking maternity leave.
The White House is well represented in the group of single women. Kate and Zoey are near the front of the pack. I know how Charlie feels, but I wonder about Will. CJ was forced out on the dance floor by Margaret and Ginger and she stands at the back reluctantly. Danny is beaming. No doubt about his feelings on the subject. I wonder whether he'd propose right here and now if she catches it. That would be exciting!
"Alright, Ladies, get ready. . . . One . . . Two . . . Three!" Ainsley tosses the bouquet high and hard and it looks to be sailing straight toward a startled CJ who throws her hands up to avoid getting beaned. Just when I think Danny is about to be a very happy man, Aberdeen jumps high into the air and snatches it. That was really quite impressive.
CJ leaves the dance floor with a sly smirk, looking rather pleased with the outcome of the events. I might need to remind Danny that he can ask her even without the flowers.
"Okay, Guys it's your turn now. Come on down."
Charlie, Danny, and Will head towards the back. Otto and Bram head towards the front. Sam leads Ainsley to a chair facing way from the crowd of guys, then kneels before her. He doesn't break eye contact with her as he slips his hands under her dress and gropes for the garter. His cheeks do turn fairly red as everyone hoots and hollers. Once again, I'm pleased that Donna and I eloped.
Once Sam finally has the garter, he stands up and takes a good look to see where everyone is standing. Then he turns his back to the crowd and flings the garter over his shoulder. It shoots straight toward Otto and it hits him in the chest. He cups his hand around it and grins.
Aberdeen takes Ainsley's spot on the chair, pulls her dress up to her thigh and sticks her leg out.
"Come here, big boy." She practically purrs at him. Otto is now blushing profusely too.
"Bring Honor to the Family!" I shout out to him.
"She's going to eat him alive." Donna mutters under her breath. "She's looking to hook a man. Poor Otto won't make it through the night."
"Have faith!" I grin, "if he can survive Lou he can survive anything."
"Fair point."
Otto manages to get the garter in place without too much harassment, then the DJ invites him and Aberdeen to join Sam and Ainsley on the dance floor in a slow dance. He holds Aberdeen close as they sway, grinning over her shoulder. I shoot him a thumbs up sign.
We're still hanging out at the Bartlet's table. I think Donna's taken over Zoey's seat, and I've just pulled up a chair and squeezed in next to her. I'm close enough that as Carolina on my Mind plays, she leans in to me and rests her head on my shoulder. I wrap my arm around her and begin to caress her head. CJ has been explaining how massive the need is for an infrastructure in Africa, and the ideas that she's got to make it happen, when she suddenly stops and smiles at me. Well, at Donna.
I look down and her eyes are closed. She always could fall asleep almost anywhere. A loud bus, a convention center, Air Force One.
"It reminds me of old times." CJ says softly.
"Hey Guys! You'll never guess what?!" Ainsley's excited voice startles Donna and she sits up and looks around in confusion. God, I love her so much. I just want to take her back to the room and tuck her into bed.
"What?" Donna asks with a small yawn.
"They're bringing out the 'late night snack.' Sam got to pick and he's kept it a secret this whole time. You'll never guess what it is?!"
I spot a server with a tray behind Ainsley, so I've got a pretty good idea. But I'll wait for her to tell us.
"Muffins! Isn't he just the cleverest man? There's Chocolate Chip, Caramel Apple, Pumpkin, Lemon Poppy Seed, Blueberry. I think they have Orange-Cranberry and Banana Nut too. We can dance all night now that we can refuel with Muffins!"
"I'd like a Muffin." Donna says with a smile. She gets up and follows Ainsley over to a long table while Ainsley continues to extol their virtues.
I'm smiling as I turn back to the table. I'm sure Donna will bring me one. I hope it's Blueberry.
"Joshua." Mrs. Bartlet says with a warning tone, and get that old feeling like maybe I've done something wrong.
"Yes, ma'am?"
"Donna can't stay down here all night. She was practically asleep on your shoulder a minute ago. You need to take her up to bed."
"Yes, ma'am." She's not going to like it, but I'll do my best. I glance at my watch. It is almost midnight. No wonder she's dead on her feet. Maybe after she has her snack, I can get one last dance with her and persuade her to accompany me back to our suite. I know she won't really want to leave before Sam and Ainsley but it sound like this party still has several hours to go.
I'm pleasantly surprised when it takes less effort than I expected to get Donna to agree that it's time for bed. I keep an arm around her in the elevator while she leans into me. I'm hoping she can make it to our suite under her own power. Phil looks like he's ready to lend a hand if necessary, while Jackie smiles sweetly at us.
Once we're back in our room, I help her out of the dress. While I hang it up, she sits in the chair and peels her stockings off. When I turn back around, she looks like she's mostly asleep. I really need to get her into bed. Then I notice the brush in her hand.
Ah. I've been looking forward to this moment all night long. "Let me, please."
I reach for the brush, then climb around behind her. She sighs softly as I start pulling pins out. I unwind the bun and undo the little braids. Then I'm finally able to run my fingers through her hair.
"Donnatella Lyman," I whisper in her ear, "No bride will ever compare to you."