Title: The Domestic Education of Joshua Lyman(1/1)
Author: Edgy (edgeriffic1919@yahoo.com)
Rating: PG-13
Author: Edgy
Rating: PG-13 (for innuendo)
Category: post-Tomorrrow
Feedback: Always appreciated.
Archiving: Sure. Just let me know where its going.
AN1: This one began life as several different stories---it evolved
into a series of vignettes making up one long story. There are
subtitles before each vignette--I don't know how they'll come out with
Yahoo formatting....
AN2: Many thanks to Michael and Watz, my super betas. My pieces
wouldn't get done or be much good without them!

The Domestic Education of Joshua Lyman

Josh Lyman, bachelor of a certain age, having not lived with a woman
since leaving for college and having not had a roommate for over
twenty years, was a little nervous at the prospect of one Donna Moss
moving in.

Yes, he was nervous, even though he had been the one to suggest it,
back during their vacation. Then, all he could think about was how
happy he was to have her in his life and in his bed and that if they
no longer worked in the same wing he needed to see her every morning
and night at home. Now, he worried about all of the things that could
go wrong once she actually had to put up with living with him. Deeper
down, he worried that she would take over his life, that the sex
couldn't possibly stay this good, and that he would have to change his
many bachelor ways, all at once.

Then it turned out he was wrong about quite a lot of this, and that
worried him even more.

** A Woman's Bag Can Be a Dangerous Thing **

The first thing she does when she walks in from work, no matter how
early or late, is empty her bag and empty her purse. Any papers or
files from work she places in the middle of her desk, which they had
set up in the corner of their bedroom. The purse stuff she dumps into
a basket. Loose coins, receipts, her wallet, her cell phone, which she
plugs in to re-charge. Even the make-up bag gets dumped into its own
little basket. In the morning, it all gets packed up again.

"Why do you do that every night" he asked her one evening, leaning
against the doorway. She looked up.

"Do what?" she asked.

"Empty everything out when you just re-pack it in the morning?"

"Ah, but I don't just re-pack it. I sort and reorganize. I file
receipts, put coins in the jar, throw away little slips of paper after
transferring any jotted down notes or phone numbers. A woman's bag is
a dangerous thing, Josh. It only takes a day or two to go from
convenient carry-all to an out-of-control transporter of unnecessary
junk." Finished now, she headed into the bathroom to wash her hands.

"Okay."

"Don't mock!" She called. "I read it in a magazine and I've done it
ever since. Besides, you asked."

"Well if it's such a good method, why aren't you subjecting my
backpack to it too?" Josh asked as she came back into the room and
began to change out of her work clothes.

Donna stopped unfastening her skirt and looked at him.

"What?" Josh asked.

"Because it's your pack, Josh."

"Oh." He was still confused.

Donna rolled her eyes and went to hang up her clothes.

It was weird. She was still Donna, neat and organized to a fault, but
she didn't seem interested in imposing it on him. It freaked him out,
just a little bit. But it seemed a silly thing to be freaked out by,
so he decided to ignore it.

** Feathering the Nest **

The morning he walked into the kitchen to find Donna grimacing while
stretching out her back was when he figured the re-decorating would begin.

"Sore back?" he asked her.

"Yeah, your mattress sucks."

"Sorry. Back rub?"

"Yes please, and a new mattress too."

"Really?" he whined.

"Yes!" Donna was grumpy. "It's way too soft. How long have you had it?"

"I don't know, since I moved in I guess."

"Wow, okay, definitely time for a new mattress. We'll go test them
this weekend."

"Do I have to go?"

"Josh, yes, it's your back too. It's for both of us and we have to
pick the one we both feel the most comfortable on."

"Do I have to stay for the rest?"

"What rest?"

"Oh you know-- the new bedding and comforter and towels and throw
pillows and soap dishes you'll suddenly decide we need."

"Who said anything about all of that?"

"Isn't that what happens when women move in? Redecorating? Nesting?"

"Well, Josh, I can't really speak for all women, but I have no general
plan to redecorate."

"Really?" Josh sounded doubtful.

Donna laughed. "You really have quite a few paranoid fantasies about
this living together thing, don't you?"

"Paranoid? Fantasies?"

"Yes. Everything I do or say you seem to think is the beginning of a
master plan to take over your home and life."

Josh didn't say anything.

Donna looked at him more intently. "Wait...is that what you secretly
want?"

"No....but I don't mind if you want to change some things, you know."

Donna smiled. "Would you like some new things?"

"Well, it's not like I love my stuff so much. I've always been pretty
utilitarian about it in the past. But I hate shopping for household
things. I thought you'd be more into it."

"Well, let's do this. Let me look at some things on line and in
catalogues, and narrow down some choices. Then we can make final
decisions together."

"That sounds good."

"And, now that you mention it, some new kitchen stuff would be
good-yours is limited and mine is kind of old and cheap."

"Check."

"Okay, then. No more paranoid fantasies?"

"Ok. Non-paranoid fantasies still all right?"

"Yes, welcomed in fact. And we get a new mattress, for the sake of
both our backs?

"Yes."

"And until it's delivered, you give me a back rub every morning?"

"As long as you're naked at the time, it's a deal."

"Deal."

** Josh's Pants, Wrinkled Again **

"You're home." Donna smiled sleepily and looked up from her book as
Josh came into the bedroom, rumpled and tired. She stretched and
yawned and looked at the clock-almost 11. Josh leaned over and kissed her.

"Did you eat?" she asked, stretching again.

"Yeah, I did. I'm beat, I'll be right in."

Josh toed off his shoes as he began unbuttoning his shirt. He pulled
off his shirt and undershirt, letting them drop to the floor. He added
his pants and socks to the heap and as he headed for the bathroom,
glanced over at Donna to see if she had any reaction to this slobbish
gesture. She had gone back to her book without a glance. Weird.

When he emerged from the bathroom he looked at his rumpled clothes on
the floor, walked right by them and into bed. Donna put her book down,
turned off her light, and snuggled next to Josh. After a moment she
felt him staring at her and opened her eyes.

"What?" she asked.

"You're not going to say anything about my clothes?"

"What about them?"

"I just left them in a pile on the floor."

Donna looked at him for a moment, a slight frown forming. But then she
smiled and said in a sultry voice, "What do I care, as long as you
took them off?" and moved her hand down to squeeze his ass. Exhausted
and a little confused, he still couldn't help but respond to her, and
he forgot about the clothes and squeezed her back.

She brought it up the next morning as they were eating breakfast.

"Josh, what was that thing with the clothes last night?"

"The clothes?" He stalled.

"Why did you assume I would care about you leaving them on the floor?
They're your clothes."

"You're such a neat freak, I assumed it would bother you."

"Do they bother you?"

"No, but I'm not a neat freak."

"Stop calling me a freak." She was smiling, but her voice had a slight
edge to it. "I'm not your mother, Josh. You're a grown man. If you're
too tired to hang up your clothes, that's up to you."

Josh looked at her and said, "Who are you and what have you done with
Donna?"

"Josh you're starting to piss me off here. Why are you assuming that
I'm obsessed with your neatness or lack thereof?"

"Well, because-that's how you used to be, back before we were apart.
Seven years of nagging me, complaining about my slacker ways..."

"I wasn't that bad."

"You pretty much were."

"You loved it."

"Yeah, I guess part of me did."

Donna paused. "Is that why you're freaking out about this? You think
that if I don't nag you or organize you I don't love you?"

"Well, that just sounds stupid."

"But?"

"Well, I guess I got used to it, and missed it when we were apart, so
that now that we're together, I figured you would go back to taking
care of me like that."

"But I do take care of you, and you take care of me, but in different
ways now." She got up to put her dishes in the sink. Turning back to
him, she said quietly, "Taking care of you in those ways, back then...
not always the healthiest thing, you know?"

"Yeah, I know." He stood up and leaned against the counter opposite
her. "But I liked it."

"I liked it too. Because it was one of the few ways I had of loving
you. But it's also part of why I left. I wanted the whole package, not
just part."

"You're different now."

"Yeah, in some ways. Do you hate that?"

"No, not really," Josh admitted.

"It's one of the reasons I left when I did, to break some of those
patterns that weren't so good for me... for us."

Josh nodded, then asked, "Now you think you've got the whole package?"

"I do indeed." She smirked, leaning in for a kiss and giving him
another squeeze, down low again, but this time in front.

"Donna!"

** Laundry Day **

Donna was humming as she pulled warm clothes from the dryer into the
basket and then transferred the wet load into the waiting dryer. She
set the timer and headed toward the bedroom for folding. Josh looked
up from the report he was reading and smiled.

"You look like a cheerleader in that little skirt and tank top
ensemble. And you're acting all peppy too."

She rested the basket on the back of the couch. "I'm doing laundry."

"And?"

"And doing laundry makes me happy."

"Really?"

"Yes."

Josh got up and followed her into the bedroom, where she dumped the
basket and began laying out clothes on the bed, smoothing out the
wrinkles while they were still warm.

"Tell me what there is to love about doing laundry."

"Well, I love the sound of the machine chugging along. I love the
smell of the clean clothes. And I love having the stacks of warm
clothes at the end." Donna patted a pile of blue jeans. "Oh, and I
love best that I now have a laundry room right in the apartment."

"Want some more to do?"

"Sure."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. Why, you don't like doing laundry?"

"No, not particularly. I don't hate it, but I don't love it."

"Are there chores you do hate?"

"Dry cleaning," Josh answered with no hesitation.

"Why?"

"I hate the way the bags cling, especially when it's hot. I hate the
smell. It's all-around annoying."

"Hmmm-I'm getting an idea..." Donna sat down on the bed. "We should
trade the chores we hate. Like dry cleaning, I don't mind it, so I'll
take care of it for both of us."

"Really? Shirts too?"

"Shirts too."

"Ok, what about you, what chore do you hate?"

"Emptying the dishwasher."

"Why?"

"I hate the noise the plates make when you stack them."

Josh grinned.

"It's annoying!"

"Doesn't bother me. OK, I unload the dishwasher. What else?"

Donna thought for a moment. "Well, dishes in general are not my
favorite, though I don't mind doing them together."

"So washing dishes is me but you can keep me company if you want, and
unloading the dishwasher is me. Laundry and dry cleaning, you. What
else....garbage?"

"Ugh." Donna made a face. "You can have that one."

"But if it's full and smelly and I'm not here...."

"I'll take care of it. Same with the recycling?"

"Sounds good."

"Ok, what are your feelings on grocery shopping?" Donna asked

"I don't much like going alone, but it's okay together."

"And I don't mind going together or alone."

"So, that one we'll just handle as the need arises," Josh decided.
"What else?"

"Hmm...I can't think of anything else right now. Let's start with
these and go from there."

"This was fun. Who would have thought?"

"See-this living together thing has a few benefits."

"I like laundry day." Josh declared.

"And you don't even know the half of it," Donna said archly, heading
back to the living room.

Josh shot up off the bed and followed her eagerly. "What? What don't I
know?"

"Well, usually on laundry day I wear no underwear so that I can start
out the week with every pair clean..."

** Victoria's Secret Gets Out of Hand **

"I'm SO glad we're living together," Josh announced one evening as
Donna walked into the kitchen.

"What brings this on?"

Josh held up the Victoria's Secret catalogue he had been perusing.
Donna laughed.

"They found you fast enough," Josh observed.

"Oh, I went to the website and did a change of address."

"Well, that was very considerate of you," Josh said, raising his
eyebrows at the new page he turned to.

"Pig." Donna muttered and swatted him on the butt.

"I'm just saying, of all the girly catalogues to make sure you keep
receiving, you picked the one I like best."

"Oh, I changed my address for all of them."

"Donna!!"

"What?"

"Don't you know that moving is the golden opportunity to keep the
catalogues from finding you?"

"But I love catalogues."

And she did. Over the next few weeks, they kept rolling in, until they
were up to 3 or 4 every day. Clothing, art, house wares, gadgets,
items "for the discriminate reader." And almost every night, while she
was watching TV or lying in bed, she would thumb through a catalogue
or two, and fold down pages. But she hardly ever got rid of them, and
she never seemed to order from them. And the stacks, neat as they
were, were getting on his nerves. There were two stacks underneath the
coffee table in the living room, and somehow it was the first thing
his eye went to when he got home at night. And there was a stack on
her bedside table as well, so it was one of the last things he saw at
night. There was another stack on the kitchen counter near the table,
because she often thumbed through them while drinking her coffee in
the morning.

He made a few sarcastic comments from time to time about how many had
come that day, but he didn't come out and say anything. He was trying
to be a good live-in boyfriend, and he was sure some of his habits
were driving her crazy as well.

The phone rang one Friday evening as Josh was finishing up cleaning
the kitchen. As he reached for it, his elbow knocked over the stack of
catalogues and they slid to the floor, spreading out under the table.
"God damn it!" he said as a few more fell. He grabbed the phone and
said hello irritably.

"Josh, it's Sam. You guys left early, huh?"

"Yeah. What's up?"

"I wondered if you and Donna wanted to meet me for a drink. Laura is
out of town."

"Yeah, actually that sounds really good to me, but let me see what
Donna wants to do. Hold on."

Josh headed to the bathroom, where Donna was soaking in the tub, and
stuck his head around the door. "Sam's on the phone. He wants us to
meet him for a drink. Do you want to go?"

Donna opened her eyes. "Nah---I don't feel like getting dressed again.
Why don't you just go?"

"Yeah, I think I will. I won't be late."

"Sam, okay, Donna's staying in, where should I meet you?"

.....

When Josh got back to the apartment a couple of hours later, Donna was
sitting on the couch watching a movie. She looked over at him and
raised her eyebrows at the large plastic bag he was carrying. "Crate
and Barrel has a bar now?"

"Nope. We had a beer, and then Sam took me shopping."

"Why?"

"I'll tell you in just a minute". Josh shed his coat, washed his hands
at the kitchen sink, and came to sit next to Donna on the couch,
carrying the bag with him. She turned off the TV and turned to him
expectantly.

"Let me just start by saying, I love you."

"I love you too."

"I love living with you. I love that you had no problem with me going
out alone with Sam. I love that at the end of a long week we can be
together, or we can be apart."

"But?

"Your catalogues are driving me crazy."

"Okay..."

"I accidentally knocked over the stack on the kitchen counter when Sam
called."

"I saw."

"I was too annoyed to pick them up. I'm sorry."

"It's okay-it was my stack--I picked them up."

"OK. Also, I'm sorry, but I complained about you to Sam."

"Yeah?"

"I told him your catalogues attacked me and are driving me `round the
bend."

"And what did Sam say to that?"

"He said that I should listen to him because he has experience with
these things and I don't. And that I should tell you when something
bugs me and not bottle it up and then explode. That you're a grown
woman and a reasonable person and if something's driving me crazy we
can find a solution together. And then he took me shopping."

"At Crate and Barrel."

"For these." He reached into the bag and placed two rough-woven,
rectangular baskets on the coffee table.

"Baskets are the solution?"

"Yes. Sam said that maybe when the catalogues have reached the top of
a basket, you would be willing to put some in recycling."

"That sounds reasonable."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." Donna smiled and reached out to touch his shoulder. "And Josh,
the other stuff Sam said is reasonable too. You can tell me right away
if something is bothering you."

"Even if it seems small and petty?"

"Absolutely."

She held out her other arm and Josh settled in with his head on her
shoulder.

"So, there are only two baskets, and three piles. Where do you propose
we put them?"

"Um, here, and in the bedroom."

"And in the kitchen?"

"I really hate the pile in the kitchen. It tried to hurt me."

"So no catalogues left in the kitchen. You'll remind me if I forget?"

"Yup. I'll even move them if you forget."

"Thanks." Donna ran her fingers through Josh's hair. "I love you."

"You do?" Josh turned his head to look up at her.

"Totally and completely. Do you want me to move the catalogues now or
would you like to make out for a while instead?"

"Hmm...." Josh said. Donna gave a quick yank to his hair.

"Ow! Make out now, catalogues in the morning."

** The Family Table **

Josh turned into his street, backpack slung over one shoulder, grocery
bag in hand. Donna had called and asked him to pick up milk and a
bunch of parsley on his way home from the White House, so he had the
car drop him off at the green grocer's a few blocks from their place
and decided to walk home from there. It felt good to stretch his legs
at the end of the day, so he had been walking rather slowly. But as he
turned the corner he picked up the pace. He was hungry and already
anticipating that moment of opening the door and smelling delicious
dinner smells. He smiled as he approached his building and let himself in.

"Honey I'm home! What's for dinner?" he called as he came in the door.

Donna popped her head out of the kitchen. "Damn, and me without my
apron and pearls."

Josh grinned, crossing to the kitchen to give her a quick kiss and
deposited the milk in the fridge and the parsley on the counter.

"Seriously, smells good." He lifted the cover of the pot on the stove.
"Ah, chicken soup."

"Yup-leftovers from Sunday. I added the chicken to an old recipe of my
Mom's--pasta and broccoli soup."

"Sounds odd.... um, delicious."

"Damn straight." She grinned and gave him another kiss. "Help me with
the salad?"

"Yes ma'am, just let me get changed"

Josh returned to the kitchen and began slicing carrots for the salad.
"Has the First Lady calmed down at all about the trip to New York next
week?" he asked.

Donna fished a piece of broccoli out of the soup and ran it under cold
water before she popped it in her mouth to test if it was done.

"I think so. She's still nervous about leaving the kids overnight in
the White House for the first time, but I think she realizes she needs
to be seen outside of Washington at some point. And all of the details
up there seem to be falling into place pretty smoothly, knock on
wood." She began ladling soup into bowls. "What was your day like?"

"It was pretty slow, actually. Lots and lots of briefing memos for
meetings over the next few days. But the President was driving me
nuts-- he kept wandering in looking for work."

"He had nothing to do? How is that possible?"

"He had a day heavy on the cosmetic stuff, lots of hand-shaking and
photo-ops in the Oval. I have to work with Ronna to balance that stuff
out better, it really bothers him if he feels there's not enough
substance in the day."

"That should be easy enough to do. She probably just thought it would
be efficient to consolidate the formal stuff."

"Always defending the assistants, eh?" Josh teased.

"Yes," Donna said with mock seriousness. "I've finally come to terms
with my past, and now I feel I must always honor my roots..."

She set the soup on the table, Josh added the salad and bread, and
they settled in to eat. An easy silence fell over the table. After a
few moments Josh said, "It's really cool that you can cook."

Donna raised her eyebrows, "Cool?"

"Yeah, I mean, I never knew that about you. I only ever saw you eat
salads and takeout. All that time we spent together, I never saw you
cook."

Donna shrugged. "When we were together at dinner time, it was always
because of work, and we were always at the White House, and so I
wasn't going to stop and say, gee, let's go to my house and I'll whip
up some beef stew. I did cook though, before I was out on the road for
the campaign. Kind of like now-I'd cook once or twice a week, then
have leftovers or takeout the other nights. I could happily eat
re-heated lasagna for a week."

"See, I always pegged you for a typical girly rabbit-food eater."

"So I like salads-sue me. It just depends on what I feel like eating.
A lot of the time green and fresh and crunchy is what I want. Other
times, cheesy and gooey and full of meat is what I want, so that's
when I make the lasagna. I've always cooked like this for myself-it's
what my Mom did."

"Cheesy and full of meat?"

"Sometimes, yeah. We always had plenty of good, balanced food. Plenty
of vegetables and salads, but meat and potatoes and pasta and ...
well, everything. Her philosophy was to eat what you were hungry for.
She was totally against dieting."

"Really? That seems somehow...un-American."

Donna smiled. "I remember my sister announcing one night that she
wasn't having a baked potato, that she was going on a diet. My mother
just dismissed her. `Diets don't work, don't be an idiot. You're a
beautiful healthy girl. Eat when you're hungry, stop when you're full.
That's the only diet advice you need.' "

"And that works?"

"Well, we're all healthy, all in good shape. I mean, we've got good
genetics-both sides of the family tend to the tall and lean. But yeah,
she taught us well. We always had a full range of food to choose from,
and none of us ever got in the habit of overeating." Donna pushed her
soup bowl away and started on her salad. "How did it work in your
house, growing up?"

"Well, my Mom was a decent cook, but it wasn't her favorite thing. She
never did that stereotypical Jewish mom thing, pushing you to eat. I
don't think I ever thought about food much-just ate most of what was
put in front of me, took it for granted." He paused, thinking. "She
was big on the eating dinner together thing though. She and my Dad
would sit and talk while she cooked, and we all talked over dinner. I
think that's why this has been such a pleasant surprise---it's like
going back to something I had completely forgotten. For the first time
since I was a child, I look forward to dinner time as a special time
of day, because of you."

Donna smiled. Josh sopped up the last bit of soup in his bowl with a
piece of bread. "Mmm, that was good."

"I'm glad you liked it." Donna stood and picked up her dishes, and
Josh did the same.

"How come I keep getting surprised by you?" he asked as they walked
into the kitchen.

"'Cause you never paid attention before?" Donna quipped.

"I paid attention...some of the time. Are you ever surprised by me?"

"Not so much, really."

"Why are you smarter than me?"

"I'm not smarter, I just spent a lot of time and energy focused on you."

"Does that make you mad?"

"It did, at times. But we've talked about all of that. Now here we
are, and I know a lot about you, and you know the basics about me, and
you're finally paying attention to some of the details, and it's all
good."

"No surprises at all?" Josh looked hurt.

"Hmmmm...well, you often surprise me in bed."

"Really?" Josh perked up at that.

** Frankly, I'm Entitled to More **

Josh was flipping through the channels while Donna was finishing up a
file from work. He stopped for a minute on Everybody Loves Raymond
where a typical conversation about lack of sex was getting some laughs.

"Are you worried we're having too much sex?" He suddenly said, eyes
still on the screen.

"There's a question no girl ever expects to hear." Donna said dryly,
not looking up.

"But don't you think it's weird?"

"To have sex almost every day, sometimes twice?"

"For six months? It's kind of unparalleled, in my experience."

Donna put down her file and finally looked at him. "Are you actually
concerned?"

"Not really-I just kind of marvel at it and wonder how it can last,
and.... "

"And what?" Donna prompted.

"I don't know." Josh sighed. He got up from the couch and began to
pace. "Sometimes, I think, tonight's the night I'm too tired, we'll
just take a break. But the very act of getting into bed with you is
erotic and next thing I know I can't keep my hands off of you."

"And this is a problem because?"

"God, I don't know. It's crazy, I know. I just find myself obsessing
on it. Are we going to burn out? Are we using sex as a distraction
from some deep issues we should be talking about instead? Am I going
to get too old to keep up with you? Will it disappear if we get
married, and have kids? Will I miss it so much that I'll begin to
resent the kids?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa..." Donna held up her hands in surrender. "This
really is a little nuts, Josh."

"I know." He sat back down.

Donna stared into space for a minute, thinking. "Okay, I have an idea.
I think we need bullet points. Give me a little while and I'll have
some answers for you."

"You're writing a report? On our sex life?"

"Says the man who's worrying that we're having too much sex?"

"Ok, ok, do a report if you want." He watched Donna go into the
bedroom, and returned to his channel surfing. A little while later he
poked his head in and saw her hard at work at her desk, scribbling and
using a calculator. He shook his head. Maybe they were both crazy.

About 20 minutes later Donna came back in to the living room.

"OK, here's what I've got. If we're really conservative and take Jan
21, 2003 as our start date."

"Start date?" Josh looked confused.

"The date when really, truly we should have gotten our act together
and started having sex."

"January 21?"

"2003."

"2nd inauguration?"

"Well, the day after. There was that whole saving Kundu thing and all."

"Right." Josh smiled.

"So, if that's our start date and you figure that after all that
waiting we would have been good for a two month start up period of sex
almost every day..."

"Only two months?" Josh teased.

"Then gradually tapering off to about 3 times a week after that."

"Only three times a week?"

"So, if we follow that formula we were owed 626 days of sex by the
time we finally got together. Now, in the six months since we've been
together, we've had sex pretty much every day, except for, you know,
that time of the month, but sometimes more than once, so, it all evens
out and we deduct 151 days from 626. That leaves 475 days of sex we
owe each other. Which means we have one year, three months, and three
weeks to continue having sex every day until we catch up. So we're
good for a while." Donna finished with a grin.

"You're insane."

"No, I believe it's your insanity that's driving this one, pookie. I'm
just trying to help."

"Are you mocking me? Throwing numbers at my insecurities?"

"Just a little, maybe. But ....I am serious about making up for the
time we missed." She stood up. "You talk about the simple act of
getting into bed together being a turn-on. What about the simple act
of being in the same room with you being a turn-on? I spent eight
years being turned on by a look from you, Josh, a touch to my back,
you rolling up your sleeves, a loosened tie, your crazy, beautiful
hair, you and your brain moving 100 miles an hour. And it was torture,
not acting on it. So now that I have you, and can touch you, do you
seriously think I'm going to pass up any opportunity to get you into
bed? It's not about my sex drive or being younger than you, it's about
us." She paused for a breath.

"We fit-in this realm as in all others. We have incredible chemistry
and an incredible connection. I've never felt this way about anyone
else, I've never had this much and this good sex. It's us, and it's a
gift, and we kept ourselves from opening it for far too long, and I
want my 475 days of sex, and frankly, I'm entitled to more. " Donna
stopped abruptly, eyes flashing, hand on hips.

Josh regarded her seriously for a minute, then a little smile
appeared. "One year and three months, eh?"

"And three weeks. Give or take a few. "

"And then?"

"Then we'll just have to see."

"Do you think there are couples who keep having sex most days?"

"I have no idea."

"Can we try?"

"Absolutely."

Josh was quiet for a moment, then a small smile began to form. "Pure
torture, Donna, not having me all those years?"

"Yes, it was. It physically hurt." She reached out her hands to him,
and pulled him up to her. "And it was the same for you, so don't smirk
too hard there." Donna kissed him.

"Do you really feel like we're having sex instead of talking about
things?" she asked, after they broke the kiss.

"No."

"Good, neither do I."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

She sat back down on the couch, one leg tucked under, pulling him down
with her. "We can talk about anything, Josh. We can fix anything
together. We always have. The hardest thing I ever had to tell you,
besides quitting, was about Cliff and the diary. But I told you, and
together we fixed it. And even quitting-it took longer, but we found
our way back, we did fix it. And we'll never be apart like that again.
It's not possible. I know that deep inside. And I think you feel the
same way, deep down inside."

Josh leaned forward and pulled her into a hug. "I do." He whispered
into her hair.

"Aren't you scared of anything?" Josh asked after a moment.

Donna pulled back to look at him. "Of course I am," she replied.

Josh took her hands, and looked into her eyes earnestly. "No, I mean,
when it comes to us. I look back over the past few months, and it
seems like I keep freaking out over things, big and small. And you
don't-you're calm, rational, and full of faith in us. So, I repeat,
doesn't anything about us scare you? "

"Of course I'm scared, sometimes."

"Of what?"

Donna pulled her hands out of his, folding them across her chest. She
looked away. "I don't want to say...I don't want to say it out loud."

"I think I need to hear it, though," Josh persisted.

Donna turned her body away, and spoke very quietly.

"I do worry, but over the big things. I'm scared that we both almost
died and that that's no guarantee it won't happen again. I'm scared of
having children and losing you before they finish growing up. I'm
scared of not getting to grow old with you. I'm scared of time and
stress and your heart. I'm scared of the things I can't control."

"Oh."

She turned back and met his eyes again. "But little things between us?
Working out how to live together peacefully? That doesn't worry me."

"Why not?"

"We're a team, Josh. A really good team, we have been since the day we
met, with just that one awful stretch where things broke down. But now
we're a better team than ever, because we know how we feel and we know
what we value, and we talk about it, right out in the open, no
misdirection. We're not perfect, but we work. I don't see anything
changing that."

*********

Josh Lyman, no longer a bachelor and still of a certain age (though a
few months older and a little bit wiser) rolled over and looked at one
sleeping Donna Moss, so much more than his roommate, and the only
woman he'd ever asked to live with him. Nervousness gone, he thought
about how incredible it was to have her in his life and in his bed,
and to start and end every day with her. He thought about how easily
she had adapted to living with him, and about all the things he had
been worrying about since she moved in. He marveled at the life they
had made together and at all that he had gained.

He'd been wrong about a lot of what life with Donna would be like, and
it turns out not to worry him at all.