What We Learned from Mom and Dad

Josh was stretched out on the couch in his study nursing a beer and flipping through the television channels. The boys had just gone to bed and Donna was sitting at his desk across the room. It was Friday and the week had been very long. The boys had started baseball practice and Josh had given exams in all his classes, Donna was swamped at work and Ben was very busy with school. He had a little over a month left in his first year of law school. He was looking forward to some time off between the time he finished school and the middle of June when Jake and Jessie got out for their vacation.

Josh and Donna and the boys had gone out for pizza after the boys finished practice. It was a nice family night out. Ben had taken off for Baltimore to visit Annie that afternoon and wasn't returning until Sunday night. The Lyman clan had a rare weekend basically free and clear. They had all been incredibly busy for the first few months of the year. Josh and Donna had taken 10 days after Christmas to go to Hawaii. It was nothing short of heaven. Both Ben and Josh got busy with school in January. The boys played basketball during the winter.

In March, at the beginning of Josh's break from school the 4 of them, plus Annie and Ben, made an emergency trip to New Hampshire. Jed had had a hard winter struggling with a bout of pneumonia that left him very weak. In March he suffered his second heart attack in a year and a half. Abbey had called Donna before dawn and by noon the Lyman family was on a plane heading north. True to form Jed rallied and was home within a week. Donna, Ben and the boys flew home the day Jed got out of the hospital while Annie and Josh stuck around for a few more days.

Josh had been doing very well, all things considered. There had been a lot of snow during the winter, by DC standards and that slowed him down a little but as the warmer weather came he was able to get out and walk more. He continued physical therapy once a week and still met with his therapist every other week to help keep his emotions on an even keel. He'd finally gained about ten pounds and managed to keep them on. The residual swallowing difficulties from the stroke made an appearance a few times a month but Josh and Donna were used to them. The nightmares still occurred once in a while but the panic attacks were few and far between.

So on that Friday night while Josh rested Donna paid some bills and read her email.

"Josh?"

"Mmmm?" he muttered, not bothering to open his eyes.

"Where's your wallet? I need to clean out the receipts."

Josh rolled over enough to put his hand on the back of his jeans. Not finding his wallet he thought for a minute. "In my backpack."

Donna leaned over and hoisted the overstuffed backpack onto the desk with a thud. It was about twice as heavy as it needed to be and Josh knew better. With his back and hip his physical therapist and Donna were both on his case constantly about the weight of his backpack. "Josh," she warned.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll clean it out over the weekend," he said as she reached for the beer bottle he'd set on the floor. Donna dug into the bag, found his wallet and what looked like the contents of his mailbox from work. "Cleaned out your box at work?" she said with a smirk. Josh just nodded as he stood up to go to the kitchen to get another beer. "Bring me one too," Donna called after him.

While Josh got the beers and rummaged around for a snack Donna pulled the receipts from his wallet and took a quick look through the stack of papers from work. She pulled one notice out and put it aside.

"Find anything good?" asked Josh as he came back into the room and sat down on the corner of the desk.

"Yeah and you're sitting on it," smirked Donna as she patted his hip. He leaned to one side just enough so she could pull the piece of paper out from under him. Josh snatched the paper from her and read it as he took a long drink of the beer.

"Again. Didn't we just do this?"

"A year ago Josh. TAKE YOUR CHILD TO WORK DAY only happens once a year."

"That was a year ago?" he asked, shaking his head a bit.

"Yes, it was a year ago. And if you remember I was the one to take the boys to work. This year, it's your turn."

"MY turn?" he asked as he scrunched up his face to convey his not so enthusiastic feelings about the idea.

"That's right," she said as she got up from the chair and moved to stand in between Josh's knees. He put his hands on her hips and pulled her in for a kiss. One kiss led to another and soon the receipts, the beers, the snack and the memos were long forgotten.

The weekend was the most relaxing one they had had in a long time. They basically hung out a home, something they rarely had the time to do. The weather didn't cooperate much so on Saturday afternoon and night they lounged around and watched movies and played games. On Sunday they went to the park and made chili for dinner. Jed had entrusted his secret recipe to the boys on one of their recent trips to New Hampshire. Sunday night found Donna standing in the living room in front of the couch. On said couch were her "boys". She handed them their backpacks and a garbage bag and told them to start cleaning. She helped Jessie with his, extracting a folder of papers that she was pretty sure was important. As she opened the folder Jessie got up to make a beeline out of the room. Donna managed to snag him by the seat of his sweatpants. He curled up on the couch while she read the papers.

"Jessie Samuel, don't you think maybe you should have showed this to me a few days ago?" asked Donna as she waved the paper from the school nurse.

"What is it?" asked Josh as he looked up from the pile of junk he had dumped out of his own backpack.

"A note from the nurse. He failed his eye test."

"You didn't tell Mom?" asked Jake. "You're in trouble," he said teasing his brother.

"Jake, that's enough from you. If you're done go get ready for bed," said Josh as he motioned for Jessie to sit next to him on the couch. "Why didn't you show the letter to us?"

"Because I don't want glasses, they're not cool."

"Hey," cried Josh in mock horror, "Excuse me, do I not wear glasses?" he asked as he pulled Jessie onto his lap.

"Yeah, but Mommy had to fight with you to get them."

"Ok, ok, yeah, you're right. But you still need to go to the eye doctor."

"How about I go over the summer," offered Jessie with a hopeful grin.

Donna just shook her head and rolled her eyes, "He's so your child," she snorted in Josh's direction. "I'll call the eye doctor in the morning."

Jessie pouted for a few minutes while Donna finished repacking his bag. "Come on buddy, time for bed," said Josh as he patted his son on the back. Jessie kissed his parents and headed upstairs, hoping to avoid his brother.

"Hey, geek boy," Donna heard Jake call to his brother. "Jacob Leo, knock it off," she yelled up the stairs.

An hour later everyone was tucked into bed. Jake was reading and Jessie was asleep. Donna was also reading and Josh was fidgeting as usual. "You ok?" Donna asked as she put down her book and took off her reading glasses.

"Can't get comfortable," he muttered as he shoved the pillow under his head, yet again.

"Back hurts?"

Josh shrugged his shoulders and rolled over again. Donna pushed back the quilt and padded into the bathroom. She got Josh a sleeping pill and a couple of Tylenol, her surefire cure for when Josh was cranky, tired and just plain uncomfortable.

******************

Three days later Josh and Jessie were on the Metro heading into DC for the appointment with the eye doctor. Jessie was quiet and brooding while Josh read the newspaper. They got off and took the escalator up to the street level. Jessie tucked his hand into his Dad's, much to Josh's surprise. Jessie had turned 8 that past November and Josh knew that the days of holding his son's hand in public were numbered.

Two hours later they met Donna for a late lunch and a trip to pick out glasses for Jessie. He'd calmed down about the situation a little and Josh and Donna assured him there would be swift punishment if his brother teased him about them. Jake tried a little teasing that night but a swift sentence of dish duty and no video games for the night was enough to put an end to that. Three days later, the day before the boys were going to work with Josh, Donna and Jessie picked up his glasses. He looked absolutely adorable, a blond version of his father. Donna took him with her to work for a few hours and he was in his glory. He loved the Capitol and everyone in Senator Fernandez's office doted on him.

Josh spent the afternoon watching Jake's baseball practice and grading papers. The four met up for dinner in the city and a walk around the mall. By the time they got home that night Jessie had decided he could live with the glasses.

The next morning Josh and the boys sat at the kitchen table eating breakfast. Josh was reading the front page of the paper while Jake read the sports section. Jessie was reading the back of the cereal box. Donna stood in the doorway with a big goofy grin on her face as she took a good look at her "boys". All three were similarly dressed in khaki pants and plaid shirts. Josh and Jessie wore matching glasses and Jake and Jessie had both managed to tame their wild curls with a little gel. All three looked adorable. "I don't suppose you'll let me take a picture?" asked Donna with a grin. The three rolled their eyes but eventually let her take a few shots of them on the front porch. As they headed down the street towards the Metro station, backpacks slung over their shoulders, travel mugs in their hands, coffee for Josh and hot chocolate for the boys, Donna took one last photo of them from behind.

The university had a tour planned for the kids who were taking part in Take You Child to Work Day so Josh spent the morning in his office doing some reading and preparing for the following weeks classes. He met the boys in the cafeteria for lunch at noon. He told them they could sit in on his next class, Fundamentals of Political Management. It was Josh’s favorite class, the one that gave him the greatest chance to share his experiences from the Bartlet administration. He set the boys up in the corner of the room. Both had books to read and stuff to draw with. The class started and Josh quickly introduced the boys before launching into his planned lecture. Fifteen minutes into the class he started coughing and excused himself to grab a bottle of water from his office. The class was quiet for all of two seconds before they started asking Jake and Jessie some questions.

Josh came back to the classroom in time to hear Jake say, "In the foyer of the White House Andrew Jackson had a two ton block of cheese."

"And a Wheat Thin the size of Lake Tahoe," Jessie chimed in with a laugh. Josh stopped short, swallowing just in time to keep from snorting water out his nose. He hung in the doorway motioning for the class not to make his presence known. The boys had their backs to him and were oblivious to the fact he was listening as they started to take questions.

"So you mom used to be your Dad's assistant?"

"Yeah, but Mom say she was really in charge anyway," said Jessie with a grin.

"Any embarrassing stories from the White House about your parents."

"Well, we weren't born when they were in the White House with Uncle Jed."

"Wow, Uncle Jed," murmured about 5 people in the room. To the boys he was just that, Uncle Jed. The fact that he had been President was something they didn't fully grasp.

"Come on, I'm sure your parents tell stories over the dinner table," said one guy in the front of the class.

Jake and Jessie looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders. They had plenty of stories they could tell. Jake went first. "Well, our Dad and Uncle Sam almost burned down the White House."

That caused a swell of laughter through out the classroom.

"And my Dad had to wear fishing waders in the White House but we're not sure why," said Jessie. "I think it had something to do with my Dad's sensitive system," added Jake. Josh clutched his hands to his heart and shook his head as he looked at the floor.

"Dad slid across the floor of the Capitol." Josh glanced up a little, showing the crimson flush coloring his cheeks. "Grandma bought him new shoes." explained Jake.

"Mom only brought Dad coffee once. She thought he was going to be fired. He said something stupid on television."

"What did he say?"

Both boys looked at each other and shrugged. "We don't know," said Jake.

"Dad did a press thing once. Aunt CJ would never let him in the Press Room again."

By this time Josh was trying his best not to laugh aloud. Finally enough of the class was watching his reaction that Jake and Jessie turned around and saw him standing there. He was really attempting a stern face but wasn't even coming close. The boys, after looking terrified for a few seconds started laughing along with Josh. "Didn't I teach you anything useful from my years in the White House?" he asked as he sat down on a desk in the front of the room.

"We know what post hoc ergo propter hoc means," quipped Jake.

"Good anyone else know?" A few hands shot up and a girl in the back row answered correctly.

"We know what a filibuster is and how Mom saved the saved the day and ended one once."

"We learned how to make chili," said Jessie.

"That you did but I don't think that really has anything to do with the White House," said Josh with a grin. "Come on boys, you two seemed to be on a roll when you didn't know I was listening," he teased.

"Uh, Aunt CJ likes goldfish. The crackers not the fish."

"It's easier to tell where you're going with a map than with the stars."

"How many kinds of lies are there?" Josh asked both his children and the class as a whole.

"Lies, damn lies and statistics," everyone yelled.

Josh broke into a dimple showing grin and chuckled. "What else boys?"

"You shouldn't keep turkeys inside."

"You can't get information out of a computer using a screwdriver."

"Dad is scared of snakes."

"Mom hired herself and Dad found out she was valuable."

"Yo-Yo Ma rules." said Jessie as he moved to stand in front of Josh. Josh put his hands on his son's shoulders and kissed the top of his head.

"You can relax by leaning against the wall, but don't pick a wall that's behind the door."

"And what's the most important thing?" asked Josh as he returned to sit on the desk and pick up his lecture notes.

"Decisions are made by those who show up," chorused Jake and Jessie.

"That right. Now, if you'll sit back down I can continue the class," he teased as the class groaned in protest.

At 5 that evening Josh and the boys boarded the Metro to go to the Capitol to pick up Donna for dinner. Josh gave a point by point description of the "humiliation" he'd been put through during the boys' visit. But a smile was never far from his face and he was proud of the fact that the boys actually did pay attention when he and Donna talked about their White House days. At 8 and 9 the boys still didn't fully grasp all their parents had done in their lives before they came along. But as they grew older Josh and Donna would share more of their experiences, good and bad.

THE END

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