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�Probably as much as Sam does,� Donna replied. �I�m not too sure why his sister wouldn�t leave Meredith with Mr. Seaborn, though. You�d think she would want her daughter to stay with someone that the girl has, you know, met.�
�There�s probably a reason that Shayla didn�t want to share in a legal document,� CJ said logically. �Sam knows that this is going to be a thing, right?� she asked, always looking out for the good of the President and his staff.
Donna shrugged. �I think the thought has occurred to him, but I doubt he�s focused on it too hard. All this� it�s hit him hard, and all at once. His dad�s hurt, he�s got a sister that he�s never met, and not only is he an uncle but he�s also going to be responsible for an eight year old girl for an unknown amount of time. Once that actually settles in his mind and he�s done processing it all he�ll start to worry about how it�ll look for the administration. Until then you�re probably going to have to take the reigns.�
�As usual,� CJ said with a sigh. She and Donna shared a smile before going back to work.
At one AM they finally called it a night. Sam was already snoring softly on the couch when the other four filed out. Toby set the alarm, knowing it from the many nights he had woken Sam about a problem with a speech, and they all headed off in their own directions with halfhearted goodnights called over their shoulders. Toby was anticipating being without his deputy for at least the rest of the week�as much as he complained about Sam everyone knew that Toby would get bogged under without him to take care of things. CJ was worried about the press and how someone might spin the White House�s playboy living with a little girl. Josh was worried about Mr. Seaborn who had been a good friend ever since Sam had introduced them so many years ago, and he was worried about Sam who was clearly not dealing with everything as well as he tried to make them believe. And Donna was thinking about the things she was going to do the next day and how she was going to be able to fit the new additions into her already busy schedule.
By the time Senior Staff rolled around the next morning Sam felt like he was going insane and Donna had managed to organize everything on ten colour-coded note cards. The senior level assistants sent their boss� off to Leo�s office and went about doing the work that could only be done without having to worry about getting interrupted by a buzz on the intercom�or Josh bellowing Donna�s name.
Halfway through eh daily rush that the administrative staff laughingly called �free time��they worked just as hard in those forty minutes as they did the rest of the day only the tasks that they undertook were rarely if ever recognized�Cathy came over to Donna�s desk. �Hey, Cathy,� Donna said.