A Life Worth Living
By Heidi H
Disclaimers-These are not my characters and I am making no money off of them.
Ratings-Sam/Donna, life works out in the most unimaginable waysSpoilers-2
Cathedrals, anything with Laurie
Note-this is a sort of depressing fic. I might be tempted to write a sequel,
but maybe...
Donna Moss held the marriage license in her shaky hands wondering how things
had gone from wonderful to a disaster.
She and Sam had drifted together during the hearings. They both needed to find
comfort in something and that was each other. Sam was there to comfort Donna
when she was raked over the coals. No one else seemed to help her like Sam.
She was there for him when the prosecutor brought up Laurie. They both had
jumped in feet first when the subject of marriage was brought up. After the
hearings, everyone had three days off to regroup and get their heads back in
the game of politics.
Sam and Donna whisked away to Los Vegas where an Elvis impersonator married
them in a small, quick ceremony. The married bliss only lasted less than a day
and it all started with the ringing of Sam’s cell phone.
He answered it, only to find Leo on the other ending screaming about their
marriage making it on the front page of every tabloid in town. Leo demanded
that they both get their asses on the next plane and be back in Washington and
in his office. Sam had tried to reassure Donna that nothing would happen and
that everyone was just shocked. He couldn’t believe he was telling her
something that even he didn’t believe himself.
The scene in Leo’s office was the stuff of good television. Leo yelled about
trying to keep a low profile. CJ yelled about being the first phone call.
Josh and Toby yelled about the appearance of impropriety and the possibility of
having to appear before the grand jury again. All through the “meeting”, Donna
was being shot dirty looks like she was solely responsible for everything that
was happening. The meeting ended with Leo telling them that changes would be
made to make sure that things kept running smoothly.
The next day, Donna headed for her desk and Josh was there waiting for her. He
told her to pack up her things and find a new office to put them in. She
couldn’t believe that he was firing her. Donna packed up her things in shock.
She needed to talk to Sam, but decided to wait until he got home.
Sam found a few changes for him at work too. Toby handed him a large stack of
papers which were speeches for low level speaking arrangements. He was not
going to be working on any high level speeches for awhile, according to Toby.
Sam knew that this was the punishment for marrying Donna and landed them on the
covers of tabloids. He sucked it up and took his punishment. It wouldn’t last
forever, Sam kept telling himself.
Donna told him what had happened, but not to get mad at Josh. That she
understood what he had to do and why it was for the best. Sam understood it
too and went to his job everyday and gained the respect of his friends back.
Donna was able to find a job as an administrative secretary for a lawyer in
town. It wasn’t her old job, but she loved it too.
Then Laurie came back to town and all hell broke loose again. Sam was again on
the cover of tabloids when he went to lunch with her again. The White House
was up in arms when a story appeared that he was cheating on his wife of less
than a year. Donna ended up quitting her job because she couldn’t stand the
pitying looks of her coworkers. Sam got more punishment from Toby and Leo and
accepted it.
Sam came home that night and devastated Donna. He told her that their marriage
could never work because of her former position in the White House and his
current one. Sam packed his bags, told her that he would move the rest of his
stuff tomorrow afternoon, gave her the numbers where she could reach him if
needed, and walked out the door without ever looking back.
Donna was in shock. She would never expected Sam to bow down from the
pressure. The marriage license was in her box and she dug it out. She
wondered how things could have happened this way. Sam had left her unemployed,
broke, and with a baby on the way. She made the decision in that instant to
never subject her child to this. Sam would never get to see the child and the
woman he walked out on again. Donna knew that it wasn’t right to not tell him
that he was going to be a daddy, but he made the choice to leave and he would
have to live with that decision for the rest of his life.