Josh shrugged. "It's politics. You make enemies. They go for your weak spot. Get used to it."

Sam sat back down and swiveled his chair around so that he was facing Josh. "You're in good humor, all things considered."

"Living with Donna helps." Josh grinned, then took a bite out of his sandwich. "Besides, after the staff
meeting last night, Donna pointed out that someone was bound to mention us in this context—a pattern of illicit behavior and all that. I freaked out, she calmed me down, I can deal now." He shrugged, then added, "I still want to punch a wall, but I can deal."

Sam nodded his understanding. "It's just that I thought this would never come up again. I mean, if I
ran for office again, maybe. But—"

Josh leaned forward. "Is that why you didn't run for office again? The call girl thing?"

This was one of those things Josh would never understand, Sam reflected. Josh's world revolved around politics. After he'd lost the Congressional election, Sam had been inundated with emails and phone calls from Josh, all filled with advice and strategy for Sam's next run for office. Josh's advice had been to stay in California, get a job with a high-powered law firm and make a name for himself, then run for statewide office before trying for the House or Senate again. Sam had gone as far as getting back into law, but then he'd met Lauren and his priorities had changed.

"I'm getting married, Josh," he pointed out. "I can't just think about myself. Lauren and I want to have a family. This isn't the whole story about my past—it isn't something I could easily explain to my
children."

Josh crumpled up the remnants of his lunch and tossed them into the wastebasket. "I'm only going to say this once," he told his deputy. "You're the kind of guy who should be running for office. You're smart, you're idealistic as hell, you know how the system works. If you don't *want* to run again, that's one thing. But if it's the call girl thing that's holding you back, that's not a major problem. There are ways to deal with it. Any good political strategist could help you with that. Explaining it to your kids"—he shrugged—"I don't know how you do that, but people have to tell their kids worse stuff. Ask Toby." Josh walked to the door of his old office, paused, and turned to face Sam. "It's one thing not to run again if you hate the idea of being in office. But if you're avoiding it because your opponent might bring up this old story—well, that's not the Sam Seaborn I know."

CUT TO:
INT. DONNA'S OFFICE
THURSDAY AFTERNOON

"Josh's mother is there?" Donna could hear the combination of amusement and irritation as she listened to CJ's voice over the phone. "You mean I'm missing a visit from Judith the Great?"

That was vintage CJ, Donna thought—always bestowing nicknames on the people she cared about. She turned to Judith Lyman. "CJ says hello."

Mrs. Lyman paused in her examination of Donna's office. "Hello, Claudia Jean," she called out.

"Hear that?" Donna asked CJ.

"Yes, but I'm gravely disappointed not to be there."

Donna laughed. "Why? Are you nostalgic for the good old days? Watching Lester's briefings and wishing that were you facing a roomful of ravenous reporters?"

"God, no. Don't get me wrong; there are times when I really do miss that podium. Today, however, I am very glad that it's somebody else's headache. I called to ask for a favor, actually. Is there anything important scheduled for July 10?"

Donna pulled out her appointment book, assuming that CJ was putting together some event she wanted the First Lady to attend. "No," Donna replied. "It looks like the day is free."

"Good. Very good." Whatever was happening on July 10, Donna thought, it must be important, judging from the excitement in CJ's voice. "I need you to come out here and be my maid of honor."

"What?" Donna jumped up, knocking over her appointment book and a glass of water in the process. "You're getting married?"

Judith Lyman gasped, then began motioning until Donna gave her the phone. "You're marrying that nice reporter?" she asked.

All those years as an assistant, Donna thought as she mopped up the water, and I forget there's such a thing as speaker phone. As she reached back up and punched a button on the phone, CJ's voice echoed throughout the office. "So, definitely, Judith, We want you to be there."

"My dear," Josh's mother replied, "I wouldn't miss it."

"You realize that Josh and Sam are going to give you about ten kinds of grief," Donna told CJ. "These are the guys who think that putting turkeys in your office was the high point of their careers. A wedding's going to provide them with any number of opportunities for wacky hijinks."

"See what you did there?" Not even the threat of Josh and Sam's antics could dampen CJ's mood. "I haven't had a headache since I left the White House, and now I'm going to have to go buy some extra-strength Advil."

"Just trying to help," Donna said. Sitting back down, she added, "Honestly, CJ, I'm thrilled for you and
Danny. And, yes, I'll be your maid of honor."

"Great," she said. "Don't mention this to anyone besides Josh yet, would you? I have some calls to
make. Toby..." Her voice trailed off.

"Yeah." Donna wasn't sure where matters stood between CJ and Toby these days, but she knew that they shared an incredibly complicated history.

"Hey," CJ said before she hung up, "Tell Lester he's doing just fine with this Morales story. And if
there's anything I can do..."

"You're my first phone call." Donna smiled. "As always."


CUT TO:
INT. RESIDENCE BEDROOM
THURSDAY NIGHT

"...footage taken outside the school shows the young girl who is rumored to be Matt Santos' daughter," the reporter said.

"You know, Brian," the anchor replied, "she certainly bears a remarkable resemblance to young Miranda Santos."

Helen Santos reached across the bed for the remote. She turned the sound down, all too aware that Miranda and her brother were playing in the next room. "This is getting out of control," she told her husband.

Matt nodded. "My brother called today. He wants to know why I haven't put a stop to this."

"Are you joking?" Helen looked for something to throw at the wall. Unfortunately, everything around her seemed to be a priceless antique that was, technically, the property of the American people. "If he's so upset, why doesn't he just go to the press and explain the situation himself?"

"The possibility doesn't seem to have occurred to him." Matt smiled and handed Helen the briefing book he'd been reading. "Try this," he suggested.

Helen pitched the book against the wall and watched as it landed on the floor. After a moment's silence, she told Matt, "This damn story isn't going to go away, you know."

"I realize that now," Matt admitted. "I assumed that if we didn't say anything, the press would let it go. Obviously, they won't."

"And Anita and her daughter are caught in the middle," Helen said, "through no fault of their own. We'll have to explain all this to Peter and Miranda; they're going to be hearing about it at school."

Matt sighed. "I hate doing that. Despite everything, they love their Uncle Jorge. The image of him as a deadbeat dad is going to upset them."

"I don't know whether to cancel my speech tomorrow. Donna and Annabeth think the press is going to be clamoring for a statement. Every version of 'I trust my husband' that we can think of comes out sounding like I'm incredibly naive."

"Josh says that the longer this story's news, the more trouble we'll have getting any kind of support on the Hill. It could set us back months, depending on how long it takes for the media to get tired of this thing."

The First Couple sat silently, each trying to come up with a solution. Finally, Helen said, "You know,
Donna had an idea..."

CUT TO:
INT. JOSH'S APARTMENT
THURSDAY NIGHT

"So, Mom, you're a voter..."

Donna gathered up the empty dishes. When Judith moved to help, Donna put a hand on her shoulder. "Stay there," Donna said. "I want to hear where your son is going with this."

"You're actually an important demographic," Josh leaned back in his chair, folded his arms and continued. "Record numbers of retirees—"

"I hate that word," his mother replied.

Josh grinned at her. "Elderly?" He looked up at Donna, eyes twinkling, as though he were saying, "Let's see what Mom does with that."

Judith leaned back in her own chair and replied conversationally. "I'm not so elderly that I can't still smack you, young man."

Donna laughed as Josh sat up straight and politely suggested, "Women in their prime?"

His mother inclined her head in agreement. "Good boy."

"The thing is that retir...women in their prime...are voting in record numbers. The conventional wisdom says they rely heavily on the mainstream media and that value-related issues are important to them. So, you know, this thing about the President..."

"Is of very little importance," his mother answered.

"Really?"

"Yes, Joshua, really." Judith stood up and took a handful of dishes. But instead of following Donna into the kitchen, she handed the dishes to Josh and sat back down. "Despite what I'm sure you want to call our advanced age, we still have brains. We can tell that there is no evidence to back this story up. And even if there were, what does it have to do with whether the man is a good president?"

Josh placed the dishes in the sink and called back over his shoulder, "What about your friends? What are they likely to think?"

Judith reached for her wine glass and took a sip. "Josh, you can't assume that all people my age will
think the same way or vote the same way or—"

"Yes, Mom, I know this." Josh reached for an unopened bottle of wine while Donna searched the shelves for clean glasses. Josh held up the bottle of wine he'd selected. Donna shook her head, reached into the cabinet and handed him a more expensive brand. As they walked back to the dining area, Josh gestured to his mother to follow them to the living room. Soon, Donna and Josh were sitting side by side on the couch, with Judith on the armchair across from them.

Josh smiled at his mother as he continued the conversation. "You have to subdivide the demographic
categories—you know, Jewish women in their prime, Catholic women in their prime..."

"If all these hypothetical women have anything in common," Judith said, "it's that they're on fixed incomes. Who the President may have slept with concerns them less than whether they can afford to pay their bills."

Josh leaned back, his hand resting on Donna's knee. "Well, you say that, but the data suggest something else."

"Did you ever consider that the data are wrong?" his mother asked.

"Not actually, no."

Donna grinned at Josh's mother. "Was his father this obstinate?"

"My dear," Judith said, "Josh is much more easygoing than his father ever was."

Donna nearly choked on her wine. "You're kidding," she finally managed to say.

"You forget that Noah was a litigator, dear," Judith explained. "Josh is a politician. I'm sure he has to
compromise occasionally."

"I can give you the names and phone numbers of quite a few members of Congress who would disagree with you," Donna laughed.

Judith picked up her wine glass and stared into it for a moment. "Of course," she said, "I always loved Noah most when he was fired up about whatever case he was working on. He had such passion for the law." She smiled sadly. "And for his family." Smiling at Josh, she said, "As proud as he'd be of everything you've accomplished, do you know what he'd be bragging to all his friends about?"

Josh swallowed hard and shook his head.

"That this intelligent, beautiful woman has chosen to share your life," Judith told him.

Donna thought Josh was tearing up. Of course, she reflected, it was difficult to be sure when she was close to crying herself. She gave Josh's hand a quick squeeze as she fought back the tears.

"I know how much you miss him," Judith continued. "I do too. And that will never change. Noah Lyman was the great love of my life, and there have been days when I didn't know how I could go on without him."

Josh looked away from his mother, whether out of guilt or because he didn't want to burden her with his own grief, Donna couldn't tell.

"I should have spent more time with you," he told Judith.

"First of all, son, I refuse to become one of those mothers who clings to her grown children. Second, I have always had good friends to lean on. You never have to worry about my being alone. In fact, it's time I told you something important."

Judith Lyman took a deep breath as though gathering her courage. "Josh," she said, "your mother has a boyfriend."