"A small role," Donna conceded.

"AHA! So you admit the display is insanely large," Josh said triumphantly.

"It may be large," Donna huffed, flopping down into one of the visitor's chairs "but now that I think about it it's more your fault than mine."

"My fault? How is it my fault?" Josh was incredulous.

"Did you or did you not come to me and tell me that the President thought Mrs. Santos was at loose ends after he finally convinced her to give Peter some breathing room?"

"That sounds vaguely familiar," Josh mumbled.

Donna felt the balance shifting. "And did you or did you not suggest I find something for the First Lady to funnel her excess energy into?"

"I don't recall that," Josh said, knitting his eyebrows as though he was trying to remember.

"Liar."

"So, are you telling me that this insanely large Christmas display is the product of Helen Santos' re-directed energy?"

"Pretty much."

"And you had nothing to do with it?"

"I'm just the hired help."

"You didn't egg her on at all?"

Donna shook her head innocently. "No."

"I've been told that somewhere in this building there are animated elves making toys on a real moving
conveyor belt."

Donna tried to appear disinterested.

"The fountain out front has skaters on it."

"Really? I barely noticed." Donna picked at a non-existent piece of lint on her skirt.

"There's a gargantuan tree in the lobby."

Donna couldn't contain her enthusiasm any longer. "Isn't it gorgeous. It's the largest one they've ever had here. There are 7,298 twinkle lights on it."

Josh smirked but before Donna could say anything else the door connecting to the Oval flew open and Helen charged in with Matt, and Martin the Mansion Manager in tow. "Tell them," she said pointing to Matt and Josh. "Tell them it wasn't our fault," Helen demanded.

"We've already gotten the preliminary report," Matt said. "There were too many lights..."

"Will you let the man talk please," Helen interrupted. "Tell them!"

Donna stood from her chair and moved to stand next to Helen in a show of decorating solidarity.

"The problem was actually with the wiring schematics that the electricians drew up when we initially designed the display," Martin explained. "They placed too much of the electrical load on one side of the building."

Donna and Helen were beaming at Martin like he was their hero. As eager as he was to please the leader of the free world there was something not at all unpleasant about having two gorgeous women looking at him like he'd just solved all their problems.

"If things are so complicated we need a wiring schematic, aren't they already a little out of hand?" Matt argued.

"No, not at all," Martin replied. "We use schematics all the time to ensure there are no electrical interruptions."

"Like all the lights going out you mean?" Josh snarked.

"The mansion electrical system is more than equipped to handle the 123,000 lights, 800 electric candles and 261 animated figures in this year's display." The more the women smiled at Martin the more determined he was to defend their insanely large Christmas display.

Donna and Helen moved a step closer to him and continued to smile.

"I've been around this place during a few Christmas seasons and isn't this display a bit large, even by
White House standards?" Josh asked.

Helen and Donna turned and scowled at him then turned expectantly back to Martin who suddenly felt trapped in the middle.

"I think it's an absolutely beautiful display," he said, trying to strike a balance between the two camps. "It's a little larger than we've ever had before, definitely, but it's also one of the most beautiful I've ever seen."

Matt and Josh shook their heads. It was clear Martin was more enthralled by the women than he was
intimidated by them.

"Thank you, Martin," Helen said. "YOU are a man of exquisite taste."

Josh and Matt scoffed.

"I think Donna, Martin and I should go check and make sure the outage didn't damage any of the lights," Helen said coolly. "Leave you boys to whatever it is you fill your days with."

Martin blushed beet red, then gallantly offered each woman an arm and the three of them left the office without looking back.

CUT TO:
INTERIOR - LOU'S OFFICE

Lou sat behind her desk, her face a picture of frustration, flipping through the draft pages of latest section of the State of the Union address Otto had brought over for her to review. The young speechwriter was slouched on her couch, head back, eyes closed, rubbing his temples.

"This is disjointed. It's choppy." She threw the pages down on her desk.

"I know." Otto moaned.

It would be like sandpaper to the ear." Her voice was rising

"I agree. It's terrible. And you know why." Otto's voice was dangerously close to a whine.

"Don't start this again," Lou warned.

"It's true." Otto was adamant.

"It isn't true. Speech writing is your job. You do it every day. You don't need..."

"I do," Otto interrupted. "And you do too. And do you know why?"

"You're an idiot," Lou growled.

"It's because this is the State of the Union," Otto was undaunted. "This is the big one. We need to be at the top of our game. And in order to be at the very top of game we need..."

"Don't say it!"

"...to have sex."

"I assure you, Junior, I've been at the top of my game many times without you around to have sex with," Lou argued.

"But that was before the campaign." Otto argued. "We've developed a block."

"A block?" Lou couldn't help but be amused.

"A block," Otto said, finally opening his eyes. "When it comes down to writing big monumental speeches-like election night acceptances and addresses to the nation-we just do better when we're totally in sync...in every way...if you know what I mean." Otto waggled his eyebrows.

Lou rolled her eyes. "You're an idiot."

"So what do you say," Otto asked hopefully.

"I say get out of my office."

"Come on, I need to get this section done so we can show it to Josh. Don't you remember how productive I was back on the campaign trail when we were...you know...semi-regularly?"

"Idiot."

Otto pushed on. "Remember how I struggled with all my election night speeches. Then you did that thing where you tied me up and...you said yourself the stuff I wrote after that was some of my best work ever."

"That is true," Lou acquiesced.

Otto could feel that he was winning her over. "We have three major sections of the State of the Union to get done by the end of the week," he wheedled.

There was a long pause during which he could almost see the wheels turning in Lou's head.

"Have you had lunch yet," she asked as she reached into her desk drawer and grabbed her purse.

"No." Otto sat up eagerly.

She extracted her keys from her purse and tossed them to him. "Tell Patty you're heading out for a late lunch then go to my apartment and wait for me there. I'll be about fifteen minutes behind you."

CUT TO:
INTERIOR - SAM'S OFFICE

"Your assistant said I could come right in," Ainsley said quietly as she entered Sam's office and stood in front of his desk.

"No problem," he replied, pushing away the file he was working on. "I'm just waiting for a call back from someone at State. What do you need?"

"I have some notes on the water standards bill that goes up to the Hill next week. I came up to give them to Bram since he's the point man on this but I can't seem to find him. Do you have any idea where he is?"

Sam chuckled. "In his secret hideout I would imagine. He's a nervous wreck over this thing. It's the first big project he's headed up and he wants to impress Josh. He's been slipping off somewhere quiet to work. He says the bullpen is too noisy and chaotic."

"That's sweet," Ainsley drawled. "Though I'd recommend if he wants to succeed in the White House he gets used to noisy and chaotic. There aren't any major issues as far as I can see. I marked a few small things." She handed Sam the folder. "He can get back to me if he has any questions."

"Thanks, Ains."

"My pleasure. Is there anything else you need from me?"

"Not unless you have some contacts at State. I can barely get a call back from them today. I'm trying to get everything they have on the elections office that blew up in Kazakhstan."

"I might know a few people," Ainsley offered.

"Seriously?"

"I can try. The worst they can do is not return my calls," she said cheekily.

CUT TO:

INTERIOR - LESTER'S OFFICE

Annabeth is here to see you," the voice over the intercom on Lester's desk said.

"Send her in."

"I heard you had a lot going on today so I thought I'd drop in and see if you needed any help." Annabeth chirped as she entered the office.

"Are you serious?" Lester asked gratefully.

"Absolutely. The First Lady's press office is kind of quiet today."

"I do not have that problem here at all. I'm swamped and I need to synthesize about 50 pages of information on three different subjects before my next briefing in 40 minutes."

Annabeth held out her hand and Lester mouthed 'thank you' as he handed her 20 pages of notes on US Postal Facility substations. "You are an absolute angel."

"I expect to be paid in pastries," Annabeth smiled as she took a seat on Lester's couch.

"Deal."

CUT TO:
INTERIOR - WEST WING LOBBY

"Thank heavens none of these lights burned out when the circuits blew," Helen said as she and Donna gazed lovingly at the towering tree in the middle of the room. "I'm would have hated for the tree to only be half twinkling while I'm giving Matt Lauer a guided tour of all the White House decorations live on Today in the morning."

"I don't care what Josh says, these decorations are gorgeous," Donna said as she fingered one of the
beautiful gold Christmas ornaments. The entire tree was decorated on gold balls, red velvet bows, and tiny white twinkle lights. Donna thought it was absolutely stunning.

"The boys are just being grumpy. Trust me, Matt's going to pay for all his mocking," Helen assured her. "He needs to be taught a lesson about the proper spirit of Christmas."

"A lesson?"

"I think I'll make him assemble Miranda's dollhouse. The box says over 300 pieces."

Donna laughed. "That'll teach him."

"You'd think he'd have learned by now. At some point every year during the holiday season he tries to pull this Grinch act and he always gets punished."

"Whenever I accuse Josh of not being appropriately festive he falls back on the old 'it's not my holiday' line."

"How convenient for him," Helen smirked. "How do you two handle the holidays? Do you exchange Christmas gifts? Do you celebrate Chanukah?"

"Josh has never been very observant, at least not since I've known him, but I try to incorporate Chanukah celebrations as much as I can. And as far as Christmas go--Josh is actually a surprisingly good gift giver."

"Huh! I never would have guessed. That puts the pressure on you. Have you picked out his present for this year?"

"I have," Donna answered excitedly. "When we were in Hawaii he fell in love with the work of one of the local artists. I commissioned a piece for his office."

"Really?" Helen seemed impressed. "That sounds great."

"I hope he likes it." Donna couldn't figure out why she was so nervous about the gift except for the fact that this was their first year together and this was the first time she'd had enough money to buy him a somewhat extravagant gift.

"I'm sure he will."

"How's your shopping going, Ma'am?"

Helen laughed. "I can never thank you enough, Donna, for introducing me to the marvel that is online
shopping."

"My pleasure."

"There's nothing like the rush of entering your credit card number...well...not my credit card number, the one the Secret Service provides me. Then we have to fill out about 10 forms...well really you fill them out, right?....then we reimburse...I'm not sure who we reimburse. Then they have to clear the packages through security. So maybe it's not exactly simple and easy."

"But it still beats the crowded mall," Donna offered.

"That it does."

"Do you ever wonder if they think it's a prank when they see the address 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue?"

"I hadn't thought of that," Helen giggled.

"Just be careful what you order. If you ever need anything...you know....." Donna blushed.

"Pornographic?" Helen arched an eyebrow.

"Yes," Donna laughed. "If you need anything of that nature, and I'm not insinuating you would, I'm just saying, if you..." Donna was rambling and the blush on her cheeks was getting deeper.

"So you're saying don't order stuff like that on line?"

"Exactly."

"So if I was to have a need for something from Boyland how should we handle that?"

"Boyland?" Donna choked.

"I found it the other night while I was surfing the net looking for a game to buy Matt. You really have to be careful about typing something like 'adult toys' into Google. I learned that lesson fast."

"I'll keep that in mind," Donna choked.

"You know, since Matt got elected President he's really been into some serious Commander in Chief role playing. Sometimes we need props."

Visions of ugly headlines darted through Donna's mind. "Props?"

"Sure. They have some great riding crops and satin lined handcuffs. Actually what we really need is a
good saddle."

Finally Helen couldn't hold back her laughter anymore and Donna realized she was being hazed. "No problem, Ma'am. We'll ask Bram to get it for you," she laughed.

CUT TO:
INTERIOR - JOSH'S OFFICE

"There's absolutely no chatter out there about threats in Kazakhstan or anywhere in the surrounding region," Sam said as he entered Josh's office. "Every person I've talked to is as surprised as we are."

"Maybe we'll get lucky with this one," Josh looked up from the file he was reading and Sam noticed his hair was more askew than usual.

"I hope so." Sam flopped down in Josh's visitor's chair and sighed, showing no sign whatsoever of leaving.

"Is there anything else," Josh asked.

"No."

"And yet you're still here."

"The guys are in my office."

"The guys?"

"Yeah, you know...with the monitors and the stern looks."

"Oh, the HazMat guys."

"Yeah. I haven't heard any of their little monitors start beeping yet so that's gotta be a good sign, right?"

"Probably." Josh tried to go back to reading the briefing memo in front of him.

"And I haven't seen any of them running for the parking lot."

"That's a plus." Josh was barely paying attention.

"And none of them look especially...."

"Sam!"

"What?"

"Do you really have nothing to do?"

"I'm in wait and see mode right now," Sam defended.

"Ooo-k."

"So....you're really thinking about proposing tonight just...at home and everything?"

"I was," Josh said, giving up on reading the memo. "But you've all made it very clear that would be a
mistake."

"What you need is nature."

"So you said."

"You say you don't like the idea of cherry blossoms? Who doesn't like cherry blossoms?"

"I like the idea of cherry blossoms fine. I was just hoping to do it a little sooner than spring." Josh ran
his hands through his already messy hair.

"Wait, I know." Sam's eyes lit up. "There's gotta be a snow festival going on somewhere."

"A snow festival?"

"Yeah...you know...ice carving and cross country skiing and the wonder and magic of winter nature. It's just like spring nature only colder."

Josh laughed. "I always pictured a proposal with somewhat less outerwear than I would imagine a snow festival requires."

"Trust me on this, Josh. Women are suckers for the wonder and magic of nature."

"Go back to work."