Changes Ch 6
The weeks that followed were very busy for CJ.
Just as they had done when CJ and Toby became engaged,
the President and First Lady hosted a small staff
party to celebrate CJ’s pregnancy. The first couple
congratulated CJ and Toby, and pledged to help them in
any way they could. When Toby and CJ arrived home
that evening, she was exhausted.
“I’m glad that I was finally able to get you out of
there.”
“Toby, don’t start.”
“You’re not taking care of yourself.”
“Yes, I am.”
“You’re so tired all the time.”
“I’m pregnant. It’s natural for me to be tired. You
know that Dr. Santos said everything is fine.”
“That doesn’t stop me from worrying about you.”
“I know, but I’m fine.” She said as she stepped into
his arms.
“You don’t seem to be.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“You’re tired all the time. I can look into your
eyes and see it. I just thing that you need to take
better care of yourself and the baby.”
“Come over here, and sit down.” CJ said, as she sat
down on the couch. Toby sat down and the couch beside
her, and she laid her head on his shoulder. “I know
you are worried about me. I wish there was something
I could do to reassure you, but there isn’t. Keep
this in mind, Dr. Santos says that I’ll be fine in a
couple of weeks when the first trimester is over.”
Toby kissed the top of her head. “I’ll try to
remember that.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Are you certain you feel like going?” Toby asked
CJ. The President wanted the staff to join him for a
Memorial Day picnic at the farm in New Hampshire.
“Because if you don’t feel like going I’ll be more
than happy to call and tell him we can’t come.”
“I’m sure you would. See the problem is I feel like
going, but you don’t want to go.”
“CJ...”
“It’s a picnic and you don’t want to go.”
“Because it will involve me being outside all day.”
“Not all day. There’s the ride to the White House,
the ride to the airport, the time on the plane, and
the ride to the farm. So, you won’t be outside all
day.” CJ laughed.
“Shut up.”
“Umm... No.” She laughed again. “I betcha you’ll
enjoy today.”
“Betcha I don’t.”
“Okay.” She said just before he kissed her.
“We should go. I would like to get this torturous
day over with as soon as humanly possible.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CJ was sitting in a lawn chair watching everyone.
The President and Leo had gotten a grill out and were
grilling hot dogs and hamburgers. Josh and Sam were
talking on the other side of the deck. Toby had
walked inside about twenty minutes earlier. She
thought she would give him a few more minutes and then
go in after him.
“CJ, I haven’t talked much with you since the party.
How are you feeling?” Abbey Bartlet asked, as she sat
down in the chair next to CJ.
“I think I’m almost over the morning sickness. At
least I hope I am.”
“That’s good. So are you planning to find out the
baby’s sex?”
“We haven’t decided yet.”
“I saw Toby go inside a few minutes ago.”
“Yes, he doesn’t like the outdoors. I thought I
would give him a few more minutes, and then go after
him.”
“Oh, leave him alone for a while. You could always
take his lunch into him.”
“Yeah, I could. But it’s too much fun to tease him
about his love of all things outdoors.” CJ said, as
she got up to go inside to find Toby. She found him
sitting in the den.
“You’re coming in to tell me to come back outside?”
Toby said.
“No, I’m not telling you to come back outside.” CJ
said, as she sat down on the couch beside him.
“Good.”
“Abbey did suggest I could bring your lunch into
you.”
“I’ll go out to get it.”
“Okay.” CJ laughed. “Give me your hand.”
“What?”
“Give me your hand.” She repeated. Toby held his
hand out to her. She took his hand and placed it on
her stomach. “Can you feel that?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s the baby.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Has this happened before?”
“A couple of times, but you weren’t around when it
happened.”
“I love you, Mrs. Ziegler.”
“I love you too.” She whispered, and then kissed
him.
“I guess we should go back outside.” He said
regretfully after a minute.
“I can’t believe that you are suggesting that!”
“If we don’t, someone else will come looking for us.”
Toby said as he got up, and held his hand out to her.
She let him help her up, and they walked hand-in-hand
back outside.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“We still haven’t decided what we are going to do.”
Toby remarked to CJ.
“About what?” She asked sleepily.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you were almost asleep.
Go back to sleep.”
“I’m awake now. What haven’t we decided?”
“You have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow. If we
want to tomorrow we can find out the sex of the baby.
Do you want to know?”
“Do you?” CJ asked.
“I asked you first.” Toby retorted.
“You’re going to find out what I think then make up
your mind?”
“I already know what I think. I just want to know
what you think before I tell you.”
“Part of me wants to know, and another part of me
wants to wait. It would be easier to decorate a
nursery if we knew though. What do you think?”
“I think I want to know.”
“You do?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay, I guess that we will find out then.”
“Are you certain you want to know?”
“Yeah.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Good morning.” Dr. Santos said. “Are you ready to
find out if you’re going to have a boy or girl?”
“Yes.” CJ replied, reaching for Toby’s hand.
“Okay.” Dr. Santos said, turning the monitor so Toby
and CJ could see it. “There is the baby and
everything looks fine. Toby, Claudia you are going to
have a little girl.”
“A girl?” They both said at the same time.
“Yes.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“You’re not upset are you?” CJ asked Toby. They
were in the car on the way to the White House.
“No! Why would I be?”
“Because we’re not having a boy.”
“CJ, I don’t care as long as you and the baby are
healthy. I like the idea of having a daughter. Of
course I hope she turns out to be just like her
mother.”
“Your going to make me cry again.”
“Yes, and when you do the briefing the press corps
can ask why you have been crying.” Toby laughed.
“Yeah they can.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“How’d the doctor’s appointment go?” Josh asked from
the door between his and CJ’s offices.
“Come in.” She said. “It went fine.”
“So are you having a boy or girl?”
“Well, I’m planning to decorate the nursery pink.”
“A girl. That’s great. So now you have to pick out
names.”
“I think I’ll wait till I’m closer to the due date.”
“Okay.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“So are you going to have a son or a daughter?” Sam
asked.
Toby looked up from his computer. “You really get to
the point, don’t you Princeton?”
“Yeah, and you didn’t answer the question.”
“A girl.”
“Hey, that’s great! Now you get to pick out a name.”
“I think we’re going to wait a little bit to do
that.”
“Okay.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was a quiet Saturday morning, and CJ was sitting
on the couch reading briefing memos. Saturdays when
Toby was at Temple was the only time she could read in
peace. Toby did not equate reading with resting, so
when he was there he was always trying to get her to
rest. Unless he was writing a speech. She looked at
the clock, and realized that he was a little late
getting back. He would sometimes stop and pick up a
few things, but he hadn’t done that a lot since they
had found out she was pregnant. She guessed that he
didn’t want to leave her alone very often.
She looked up from her reading when she heard his key
in the lock. She got up as she heard him open the
door and walk into the foyer.
“I was really hoping you wouldn’t be in here.” He
remarked when he saw her standing in the living room.
“Why?!”
“I have a surprise for you.”
“Should I close my eyes?”
“No.” He said, handing her the flowers which he had
held behind him.
“A dozen pink roses. Thank you.” She said and then
kissed him. “What would you have done if the baby had
been a boy?”
“Found some type of blue flowers to give you. But I
have something else to give you also.”
“Really?”
“Yes.” He picked up the bag he had sat on the table
and handed it to her.
“A stuffed dog.” She said as she pulled it from the
bag.
“I guess you could say that it is the baby’s first
stuffed animal. Since I can’t give it to her yet, I
thought I would give it to you.”
“You’re being sweet again.” She laughed.
“You think?”
“Yes.”
“I only act this way with you.”
“I know that.”
to be continued...