"I want you to come to a meeting with me and Katy later on today. We're
meeting with Sean Friedman about copkiller bullets and handguns, and I just
want you to come along, hear what he has to say." Leo explained. Toby sighed
and shrugged.

"Katy's going. I guess I'll just listen in." He relented.

"Good. Knew she had to be good for something." Leo exclaimed.

"When is this meeting?" Toby asked.

"Right now. Come on." Leo exclaimed.

"Right now? I thought you meant like, next week or something." Toby
exclaimed as he got to his feet and followed his boss through the hallways to
KD's office. A strange thing about the hallways at six; they were so much
emptier than they were before. Today they seemed still emptier, but Toby was
hardly the person to notice.

"Katy, you in here?" Leo asked as he leaned in the door.

"No, dad, I was abducted by aliens." KD replied and looked at them. "Look
out, their leader is right behind you. Oh, wait, that's Toby." She corrected
herself. Leo laughed as Toby smirked dryly.

"Har, har." He retorted.

"Behave you two." Leo teased.

"Oh, but that's not fun." KD retorted as she slid into Toby's arms and
kissed him gently. He smiled at her and then looked at Leo.

"Can we just skip this? I'm getting an idea of what I'd rather be doing."
He exclaimed. Leo flashed him a glare and shook his head.

"Uh, uh. You're coming with me right now. Both of you. You guys know how
I hate this Friedman guy. I'm not going into a room with that man alone." He
insisted. KD nodded and pinched Toby's cheeks playfully.

"Oh, he can be patient. Let's go already. Get it over with as soon as
possible." She replied. Leo checked his watch.

"Right, okay. Follow me." He said almost nervously and then took off down
the hallway. KD and Toby followed him, talking softly and not really paying
attention the path he was leading as they discussed the day's events with
each other. Finally they looked around.

"Leo, where is this meeting?" KD asked, a little confused.

"We're just gonna cut through here." Leo replied.

"The Dining room?" KD asked.

"Leo, we're not even in the West Wing anymore." Toby pointed out. Leo
shrugged and opened a door.

"We're just cutting through here. Come on." Leo said as he took a hold of
KD's arm and pushed her into the room. Toby followed, his mouth open to say
something but he was interrupted.

"Leo, there are no lights on in this room." KD called and then slowly got
the idea. Leo closed the door behind them.

"Oh, sorry, lemme see what I can do about that." Leo exclaimed. KD closed
her eyes and leaned into Toby.

"Oy." She whispered. The lights went on.

"SURPRISE!" The crowd chorused. Toby laughed as he saw the brilliant
balloons and the large sign reading 'Happy Birthday, Kody' draped across the
ceiling. KD laughed too and looked around at the crowd of friends and
surrogate family that surrounded them.

"Leo, I told you not to tell!" She scolded playfully. Leo raised his
hands in innocence.

"He didn't tell, I did!" Abbey declared as she stepped forward to give KD
a hug. KD sighed and hugged her back.

"This is great. Wow." She said as she looked around.

"This isn't all." Jed exclaimed as he signaled to Sam. Sam pulled on a
rope and another sign dropped down underneath the birthday one. Toby laughed
and looked at his feet as the words 'it's about time, Toby' appeared before
him.

"We thought we'd kill two birds with one stone here." Josh exclaimed as
he walked up to them to give KD a kiss on the cheek.

"It's a conspiracy." KD said to Toby. He nodded and slipped an arm around
her.

"But of course. Have you forgotten where we work?" He retorted. Those
that heard him laughed.

"Come on, come on, come on." Jed encouraged as he reached out for them.
"You haven't gotten the bulk of it yet. Come sit down over here." He ordered
playfully as he gestured towards a couch. KD and Toby moved to sit on the
couch, their curiosity peaking.

"Last time I checked, there wasn't a couch in this room." KD pointed out.

"Oh, shush. I'm the President, I can get a couch." Jed retorted as the
crowd gathered around them.

"What are you guys doing?" Toby asked.

"Hey, it's speech time. Shut up, Ziegler." Leo exclaimed. Toby shot him a
look that sent everyone into chuckles again. KD slapped his shoulder
playfully and snuggled into him.

"What, you get Sam to write it? Disaster time." Toby muttered.

"Hey." Sam protested softly. Toby grinned at him.

"Just playing. Calm down, kid." He added. Sam grunted and tried to relax.

"Anyway. Now, Katy, you've been here somewhat close to a year now. Since
then, Toby has become a much more likable individual, I must point that out."
Jed started.

"Hey." Toby protested then glanced at Sam who was smirking. KD laughed.

"Don't worry, Tobe, I wrote my own speech. Eyes back here please." Jed
insisted. Toby looked at him. "Now, we've been working on this get-together
for a while and it occurs to me now that we're surrounded by people who
should follow your example. Hopefully they will. Now, I know that KD doesn't
like it that people know when her birthday is, so we didn't tell anyone. We
just said that it's coming up, but made no mention of the fact that it's
tomorrow." Jed said casually, causing laughter to erupt through the room.

"Thanks a lot." KD muttered with a smirk.

"Hey, it's what you get for making all of us feel old." Josh called.

"That's exactly what I was trying to avoid, Jolly." She called back.

"Hey, hey, hey. MY speech." Jed exclaimed.

"Well, get on with it then." KD retorted playfully.

"I am. I just keep getting interrupted." The President exclaimed.

"Silence for the leader of the free world!" KD called. Jed smirked and
looked at Abbey who had moved to his side. He slipped an arm around his wife
and then looked at KD and Toby who were accepting glasses of champagne from
David. He nodded and held up his own glass.

"You two kids are good for each other, I know. I can't see a world where
you're not together." He started again. "Tonight, this staff is going to be a
family, not a staff, and we're going to celebrate you two. Sit back, relax,
accept everything we give you because this is the one and only night you're
gonna get where we treat you like royalty." He assured them, causing more
laughter from the crowd. KD nodded and clinked her glass with Toby's.

"Now, what's going to happen tonight is this," Abbey started as she and
Jed exchanged glances. "You're going to accept everything we do here, because
this night has been a while in planning."

"Yes, ma'am!" KD said playfully with a mock salute. Abbey waved at her.

"First up, toast everyone." Abbey called. Everyone obediently raised the
glasses. KD glanced around the room and smiled. She saw Josh and Donna
standing together, his arm around her waist. She saw CJ and Danny standing
together, CJ maintaining at least an inch of cautious distance. Jed and Abbey
were doing the opposite, standing as close together as the laws of physics
would allow. Sam and Mallory were standing relatively close, but seemed
almost as if they weren't sure where they were supposed to stand. KD saw
David, who was standing on one end of the room, a soft smile on his face as
he held his glass, but Ginger was a good four feet away. Maybe they hadn't
talked yet, KD pondered. There were Charlie and Zoey, laughing lightly with
each other about some unheard, inside joke. She glanced again and saw Leo and
Margaret standing together, holding their glasses and talking softly. It was
obvious Leo was trying to get Margaret to stop obsessing over the small point
of the day. Finally, KD looked at Toby and found herself meeting his soft
brown eyes. She smiled and nuzzled his neck.

"None of that now. My wife is giving a speech. You kids have to listen."
Jed interrupted as Toby kissed KD's forehead.

"Hmmm, listening." KD retorted and looked at Abbey.

"Katy, you did it. You grew up and I'm very proud of you." Abbey said
softly. KD smiled, a tear coming to her eye. Abbey sniffled to hide her
emotion and then smiled. "Toby, you hurt my girl in any way and I will hurt
you." Toby chuckled and nodded, squeezing KD close.

"Cheers to the couple and the birthday girl!" Jed exclaimed. Everyone
cheered and clinked their glasses with whoever was nearby.

"Let's eat! Please?" Josh called. People laughed.

"Yes, Josh, we can eat now." Abbey retorted. "You two stay on the couch.
We're serving you tonight."

"That's right. What shall it be?" Jed asked.

"We got salmon, steak and a couple kinds of ravioli." Abbey added.

"You know what I like. What a shame." KD teased. "Lemme try the Italian
stuff." She added with a smirk.

"Same here." Toby added. Abbey nodded and pushed Sam towards the table.
KD laughed as Sam went to get the food.

"Okay, everyone. We set you free for an hour to eat your food but then
we're gonna need your attention again. Go to it." Jed announced and then
kissed his wife on the cheek. Sam brought their food and then moved off to
join Mallory, Josh and Donna.

To Be Continued . . .