five votes - a west wing collection

xiv

you fell asleep in my car i drove the whole time
but that's okay i'll just avoid the holes so you sleep fine
i'm driving here i sit
cursing my government
for not using my taxes to fill holes with more cement

Josh flinched as his old BMW thudded through another pothole. It was one of the rare occasions in which he actually had the time to vacation with his family, and he was determined to spend as much time with his wife and two children as possible.

Glancing back in the rearview mirror as he hit another hole, Josh glimpsed his two babies, the lights of his life- Leona, his little Leo, was slumped against the window. Her dirty blonde hair, just a shade darker than her mom's, fell across her face as she quietly slept. Josh smiled as he thought about the imprint that was sure to be left on her cheek from the plastic fairy's wand squashed between her face and the window.

Still keeping half an eye on the road, Josh's gaze traveled to the seat next to his daughter. Buckled into his carseat, staring silently with wide eyes out of the car window, was Josh and Donna's son, Noah. Despite the late hour, he seemed to be wide awake. His eyes followed the lights flashing by outside the window, but when he caught Josh's gaze in the mirror, he cracked a grin, his two little teeth flashing in the dim light. As though he knew he needed to stay quiet, he let out a breathy giggle, and Josh grinned back.

Hearing a soft sigh next to him, Josh turned his head to the passenger's seat. Donna was twisted around in her seat, watching her babies in the back seat. Her hair was messy from being in the car for hours, and her eyelids drooped slightly, but when she felt Josh's gaze on her, she turned her head to face him, a bright smile lighting up her features.

As he slowly took her hand, Josh thought about his family. The past six years since Santos's election had been a struggle, but it was the moments like these, few and far between as they were, that made all of that work worth it. And now here he was, able to take a week off to drive his family to Florida to see his mother.

Josh and Donna both grimaced as their car hit another pothole, this one jolting Leona's head against the window and waking her up. Slowly, she sat up, blinking a few times as her eyes adjusted and attempted to focus.

"Mommy?" Leona whispered, her voice seeming very loud after the silence that had lasted for hours. "Are we at Bubbe's yet?"

Donna smiled slightly, squeezing Josh's hand as she turned to face her eldest child. "Not yet, Leo. We're almost there, though."

Josh watched as Leona nodded, her nose wrinkling as she yawned. "How much more?"

His voice crackling with exhaustion, Josh answered this time. "Not far, baby."

Noah chose that moment to let out a shrieking giggle. "Bubbe!" he laughed, waving his small, pudgy hands and causing both his parents to laugh.

"Yes, baby, we're going to see Bubbe."

Donna squeezed Josh's hand as the backseat quieted back down. With the late hour, it didn't take much at all for Leona and Noah to fall asleep, and they were out within minutes.

Sighing, Josh focused his gaze back on the road. "I'm sorry for not being around as much as I should," he whispered to his wife, for what was probably the eighth time on that vacation alone.

Josh had always aimed to be as much like his mentor as he could, in everything he did, but there was one thing that would always differ from Leo's life- with Josh, his marriage and his family came before everything. His work came next, yes, but Donna, Leona, and Noah were his world, and nothing could ever convince him to give that up. That didn't make work any easier though, and every time he had to work late or work weekends he felt guilty, and apologized more than was probably necessary, and certainly more than his wife thought he needed to.

"Josh," she began, and his gaze flicked to her for a second, long enough to let her know that he was listening. "You have to work. I get that. I was part of that world, even with Leona. Just because I quit being the First Lady's Chief of Staff does not mean I expected the same of you. I know what that job means to you, and I know that we rank higher than that job, even if it doesn't always seem that way."

She ran her fingers over his knuckles, and he sighed again, turning onto the dimly lit road that his mother lived on. "I love you," he quietly whispered, causing Donna to smile.

"I love you too," she replied. "And, hey, at least you're still here."

"Yeah," Josh replied, glancing toward his children as he parked the car. His mind flitted back to the White House, to what it used to be. To the people he'd spent his days with, and the friends he'd made and lost. "I'm still here."

[a/n: i wrote this months ago and only just now realized that i made josh use a canon jed quote OOPSIE]