MY GUESTBOOK
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He is doing this because he knows that once he isn�t focused on work he�ll realize that Leo is really gone. I didn�t like it, but he needed to be focused and so I let him tune out his emotions. For the moment.
�CJ says that the President wants the President-Elect and the First Lady In Waiting to join him for dinner with Abbey tomorrow night,� I said.
�Mrs. B is coming down from the Manchester house? I thought she swore never to step foot in the White House ever again,� Josh said. He had said the same thing before Ellie�s wedding�as if Abbey Bartlet would miss such a huge event in her daughter�s life.
�I think she wants to make sure that President Bartlet isn�t alone right now,� I said softly. Josh shot me a confused look. �Think about it, Josh. This is the last job he�s ever going to do, and he went in knowing that there would be time limits, but do you think he ever really thought about what it would feel like today.� I didn�t add that he had just lost his best friend. Josh was all too aware of that fact, and it would only be cruel to keep hammering it home.
Josh nodded. �Okay. I�m going to tell� them,� he said, nodding his head to the Santos family�s suite. Josh, like everyone else, is a little unsure of how to address the couple. Eight years ago it was easy; Governor and Dr. Bartlet, and then President-Elect and Dr. Bartlet. Sir and ma�am work best, though, since they�re fairly all-purpose, but there was no real confusion. The others will catch on faster than Josh and I will, I�m sure, because no matter how long we work with and for Matt Santos, Josiah Bartlet was our President and calling anyone else �Mr. President� seems weird and, quite honestly, more than a little scary. �You�ll be around when I�m done?� he asked, his carefully hidden vulnerability pushing through his wounded psyche.
�I�m going to my room, but I�ll be up for a while,� I replied. I reached out and pulled Josh into a tight embrace. �Come by whenever,� I whispered, tenderly stroking his hair as he buried his face in my neck.
�Thank you,� Josh murmured. He held on for another minute, composing himself, and then he pulled back and offered up a weak smile, one that barely showed me his dimples, and then he turned and headed off to the suite.