Fandom:

The West Wing AU

Pairing:

C.J./Danny

Rating:

PG-13 for topic

Distribution:

How much do I owe you for hauling it off?

Spoilers:

Up to and including Full Disclosure, from which the series follows on

Email:

exfilia at livejournal dot com

Disclaimer:

if I owned them, they'd have a lot more fun

Warning:

mentions nonconsensual sex

Note:

Hoynes lovers should probably be hitting delete right about now.

The Creggs were put in the Diplomatic Reception Room to wait until their sister was available, or so perky blond Nancy told them. Marc and Cecil stayed where they were put, hats under arms, but Julie, the next youngest, followed Quentin as he circled the room, checking out the murals.

"Are they frescos?" she asked.

"Early wallpaper. 'Views of North America,' by Jean Zuber. They printed it with wood blocks."

"Wow. When did you become a White House expert?"

"When I told my kids I was coming here, they wanted to do a unit on it."

"Cool. It must be great to be able to research anything you want and share it with the kids."

"Not quite anything, but as long as you can tie it in...."

The door opened, and a redheaded girl stepped in.

"C.J. and the president are going to be a few more minutes," she said. "I'm Mallory O'Brian, one of C.J.'s bridesmaids. Can I get anyone anything?"

When everyone demurred, she smiled at Quentin and Julie. "Are you interested in the murals?" she asked.

"In the history of the building as a whole," he said. "I teach fourth grade, and my kids love anything with a personal tie-in."

"Wow," said Mallory. "Fourth grade? What a coincidence! Me, too. How long...?"

"Donna?" called Leo as they walked by her carrel. "Come play maid of ho... what's wrong?"

"I'm okay," she sniffled. He leaned on the glass panel that separated her desk from the corridor.

"If you say so, but when Mallory used to have that red around the eyes look, and the teary voice, and so on, it meant she was upset. Usually one of the Bartlet girls had been teasing her. What's funny?"

"Ellie."

"Not usually Ellie. Zoey was wicked, and Liz could be mean, but Ellie...."

"It was Ellie this time. I told her something, and...."

"About the president telling you to go out with Toby?"

"I told her Josh asked me to marry him."

Leo scowled at the glass between him and Donna, but he didn't say anything. "He didn't mean it," she assured him. Leo was still watching the furniture, but his eyebrows rose a bit.

"What makes you say that?" he asked.

"Because all this time, he didn't...."

"You think?"

"Don't you?"

"If he meant it, would you marry him?"

"He doesn't."

"If he did? Donna?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. I'll tell the president."

"But I said 'no.' What if he...."

"I don't think that's going to be a problem, sweetie."

"How do you know?"

"Because he's standing right behind me, and his face just lit up like a lighthouse. You two work it out, but hurry. The president's waiting, and Danny's in the Mural Room alone with way too many Creggs."

"Do you want to rescue the poor girl," Cecil asked Marc, "or shall I?"

"Let Julia handle it," his brother replied. "It's her turn to short-circuit Quentin's broken hearts before they happen."

"She doesn't look properly worried. In fact, she seems quite pleased."

"She'll pick up on it in a minute...."

Both brothers turned as the door opened. C.J. stepped in and opened her arms, and Marc picked her up like a child. Sometimes their oldest brother had no sense of decorum. Cecil himself allowed her a brief embrace before C.J. moved on to Quentin and Julia, and then turned to the fellow waiting by the door. He was the smallest person in the room, other than the O'Brian girl, but when Danny smiled and worked his way down the line shaking hands, no one watched anything but him. When he finished and turned back to C.J., the light of his smile hit the room's gilded woodwork like a rising sun.

"C.J.?" said Marc. "I'm not entirely sure why you've chosen to get married in quite this way, but I believe you know what you're doing. I want you to have something, though, to remind you of your family on your special day." He held out an envelope. C.J. opened it and extracted a lace handkerchief.

"That was Mother's," he said. "She got it from her mother on the day she was married. Her mother's sister had made it for her... for Grandma to carry when she walked down the aisle, and Grandma wanted Mother to carry it, too. I know they'd both be very proud to know you had it with you on your wedding day."

C.J. didn't say anything. She threw her arms around Marc's neck and hugged him, and then her Danny had to shake Marc's hand again. By the time they had finished the door was opening once more and Marc and Cecil and Julie all snapped to attention as a tall blond girl held the door open and made the announcement:

"Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States."