Spoilers: Up through "The Stackhouse Filibuster"

Archive: Let me know where and please give me credit.

Summary: Kinda falls in with my previous stories. If you haven't read them, you shouldn't be totally lost, but some things may make more sense. Previous stories are:

"The Good Part"

"The Good Part-Part 2"

"Longitude and Latitude"

Notes: Donna's POV

"Buccaneer on the Senate Floor"

By Mary

Part 1/5

Everything looked soft and hazy. It was a beautiful spring afternoon. The flowers were blooming and the birds were singing. I could hear the happy squeal of a child at play. I was holding a beautiful little girl who looked like me. She was about 6 months old and was cooing at me. I looked around and saw the squealing child was a little boy with curly reddish brown hair and dimples. He was so happy because he was being pushed on a swing. For some reason, I couldn't see the man pushing the swing just yet. As I got closer to them, the little boy yelled, "Mommy-tell Daddy to push me higher! Please! Higher, Daddy, please?"

That's when I saw the man pushing the swing. It was a face that will forever be etched in my memory. The chiseled chin, the perfect dimples, the warm brown eyes smiling at me.

I walked around the swing set to stand next to the man. He continued to push the child with one hand while he wrapped the other arm around me, pulling me toward him for a gentle kiss. Then he looked at the baby in my arms and said, "And did Daddy's little girl have a nice nap?"

The baby in my arms smiled at the sound of his voice and giggled as he tickled her chin. The man looked into my eyes and said, "How did I get so lucky?"

I smiled back and said, "How did we get so lucky?"

He kissed me again and said, "Donna, I love you so much. Have I mentioned that yet today?"

I leaned against him and said, "Yes, I believe that you did, but I never tire of hearing it," then to the little boy, "Noah-time for dinner. You can swing tomorrow. Grandma is waiting for us."

The little boy leapt on the downswing and headed up the hill like he'd been shot out of a cannon.

The man took my hand and walked with me up the hill silently. As we reached the back porch of the house, an older woman opened the back door and said, "There's my baby Jessica. Grandma will get you ready for dinner." The woman swept the baby out of my arms and into the house.

I turned to the man and he folded me into a warm embrace. We held each other silently before I said, " I love you, Joshua."

I turned to look out at the setting sun on the horizon as the man wrapped his arms around me from behind and said my name, "Donna..."

"Donna? Donnatella, wake up."

I opened my eyes to see the slightly frantic face of Josh Lyman, my boss, my boyfriend, and after last night, my lover, staring down at me. He smoothed some hair off my forehead and said, "Are you alright? You were mumbling something in your sleep. You scared me. I hope it was just a dream."

I smiled at the halo of wild hair above me and couldn't resist reaching up to plunge my fingers into it. "It was a dream. Definitely a dream." I used my leverage on his head to draw him to me for a kiss. His lips were soft and felt so good against mine.

"What did I say," I asked. I wondered what it was that he'd heard.

"I just heard names and some other mumbling that I couldn't make out: Grandma, Jessica, Joshua, and my father's name, Noah.

I remembered the dream pretty clearly, but figured that telling Josh that I was already dreaming of the family I hoped we'd have one day might just freak him out a little too much. Especially the morning after the first night we'd made love.

However, maybe that was to blame for the dream. Maybe my sexual re-awakening had triggered my biological clock to start ticking again. I'd dated too many men that I saw absolutely no future with-that I'd never really gotten involved with much less intimate with-that maybe my biological clock had gone into a semi-permanent snooze mode-waiting for me to find somebody worthy of dreams like the one I'd just had.

"Hmmm. I wonder what that was?" I acted confused. "My grandparents are gone, I don't know anybody named Jessica, I spoke to your father on the phone, but don't know anybody else named Noah." I paused to grin wickedly at him. "And then there's you. I do know you, don't I?"

"Oh yeah," he replied, kissing me hungrily.

I knew that would get him. Sometimes you have to throw the ego a little snack. I don't mind. It's harmless since we all know who is really in charge.

And that is how Josh and I began the next phase of our relationship.

* * * * * * * * * *

I had packed a bag and put it in my car the day before-just brought some things with me. I had figured I'd spend the night with Josh. We had done that at one or the other's place since we had been seeing each other. I was getting used to sleeping wrapped in his warm embrace and listening to his steady breathing.

Now, we were getting ready to go into work on a Saturday. This was the first time we had done this together. Usually, one of us had to go home in order to get ready, but here we were, feeling very much "coupled" and sharing his bathroom.

Josh shaved while I was put on a little makeup-both rituals that are very much tied to our respective sexes. We both watched the other, so it's a wonder that Josh didn't slit his throat and that I didn't end up looking like a circus clown.

I finished my preparation first and sat on the counter to watch him. He tried desperately not to grin as he took the last few swipes with the razor. He rinsed off the instrument, splashed away the remainder of the shaving cream, and toweled off, never breaking eye contact with me in the mirror.

I was ready to go. He was wearing a pair of faded blue jeans (my favorite ones, I might add, which called attention to the cutest little butt in professional politics) and no shirt. I didn't move as he stepped in front of me and rested his arms on my shoulders. "Care to inspect my work?" he asked, flashing the trademark Lyman dimples.

I tried to resist another ego stroke so early in the day, but couldn't stop my hands from reaching up and touching his freshly shaved face. "Feels smooth to the touch." Then I pulled his face toward me and put my cheek against his. "Yeah, still good." Then I turned his face again and scored a direct hit on his smirking lips. "Oh yes. Very good job," I confirmed.

He wrapped his arms around me and hugged me close to him. My hands on his back were almost enough to send us tumbling back into bed, but we managed to refrain.

He stepped back into the bedroom, headed for the dresser. While he pulled a clean white t-shirt over his head, I had said, "So, we should probably talk to Leo today, don't you think?"

His head popped out of the opening and he looked at me strangely. "Why do we need to talk to Leo?"

"Well, we were out with Sam, CJ and Toby last night. And I don't think we were very subtle, do you?" It's hard to be too subtle when you've been drinking. Even though Josh had only had one beer, I distinctly remember a lot of casual touching going on through the evening. I remember because it was making me crazy, being so close to him and knowing I shouldn't crawl into his lap and kiss him soundly.

"I don't remember trying to be subtle, Donna," Josh winked, grabbing a brown v-neck sweater and pulling it over his head.

"I'm just saying that you told Sam about us, and now CJ and Toby know, so we should probably tell Leo before he hears it from one of them."

Josh made a circuit around the room in order to pick up his watch, pager, cell phone, and finally fished his wallet out of the pants he'd worn the day before. The trip had led him back to standing in front of me. He put his hands on his hips and cocked his head at me. He appeared to be gearing up to protest, but then he thought about it and said, "Yeah, you're probably right. You think we should see him together?"

"We're in this relationship together, aren't we?" I asked.

He smiled as he pulled me into his arms and said, "Yes. Yes we most certainly are. I'll call him on our way in and see if he has some time this morning."

We started down the hall to the living room where we picked up our jackets and I snagged my purse. "How do you think he'll react?" I asked as we walked out the front door.

Without discussing it, we walked to Josh's car and got in. No point in taking two cars when we would be arriving and leaving together. Josh thought about my last question for a minute before answering. "Look at the facts: we've worked well together since day one. The rest of the free world was evidently laying bets on when we'd finally get together. The president basically gave me his blessing. We are consenting adults. I don't see any reason why this should be a problem."

"But I am your assistant. You don't think anybody will have a problem with that?" I asked suspiciously.

Josh narrowed his eyes at me as he thought about a response to that question. "Well," he started, "you know that I used that argument with the president when he and I had our little chat a few weeks ago. Remember, I told you how he suggested that we change your job title and description so that you could still maintain some control over the chaos that is, well, me, but also have more opportunity to function outside of being just my assistant. Would you like that?"

I tried not to vibrate with excitement because I very much wanted to be able to contribute on that level. "Yes, I think I would like that."

"Well, then there's something else to talk to Leo about as well. I wonder if we should talk to the president first? Nah. We'll start with Leo." We were on our way to the White House. And we were going to go public.

TBC