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Post Ep | Romance | General | Drama
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The Addition ~ 9
MONDAY MORNING
CJ had been able to get her neighbor to watch Madeline while she was at work. She made sure that Mrs. Harris had spent some time with Maddie so she wouldn't be so scared around her. "Okay," she said after she put on Maddie's shoe, "Are you ready to go see Mrs. Harris?"
Maddie nodded her head, but only a little.
As CJ picked her up, Maddie grabbed on to her, as if she was going to never see CJ again. "It's okay honey, no one is going to hurt you." CJ grabbed Maddie's bag and walked to her neighbor's apartment and knocked.
"CJ, good morning," Mrs. Harris said cheerfully.
"Good morning, Mrs. Harris. Maddie, can you say good morning to Mrs. Harris?"
Maddie shook her head no and buried her face into CJ's neck.
"Oh, it's okay," Mrs. Harris said. "We're going to have tons of fun today, aren't we?"
When Maddie didn't respond, CJ decided it was time for her to go. "Okay," she said as she set Maddie down, "I have to go to work now, but I'll be back before you know it, okay?" She hugged and kissed Maddie goodbye and thanked Mrs. Harris.
Right as CJ opened the door, Maddie reached out for her and started to cry. "Mama no go!" CJ was tempted to pick her up, but Mrs. Harris stopped her.
"I'm a grandmother, CJ. I know what to do. You go to work and Maddie and I will have a lot of fun here."
CJ nodded and tried to make it out of the apartment without being tempted to just scoop Madeline up into her arms. She barely did. The whole drive to work, CJ felt guilty for leaving her child with someone other than herself.
THE WEST WING
"Morning CJ," Sam said when he saw her walk in.
"Hey Sam," she said quickly.
"How's everything going with Madeline?"
"Fine. Just fine."
"CJ?" He stopped her.
"Yeah?"
"Is something wrong?"
"I feel so bad for leaving her with a stranger. I know that I can't take her to work with me, but I don't want to leave her alone."
"She's not alone. She's with someone you trust, right?"
"Yeah..."
"Well, that's all that matters." He smiled. "I'd stay and talk, but we have staff in ten minutes."
"Right. I'll see you in there. Sam?"
He turned around. "Yeah?"
"Thanks."
He smiled. "No problem. See you in ten."
"Yeah." She walked to her office and took her messages from Carol and took her coat off. She put everything away and grabbed her file she needed for staff and briefing the press and headed to Leo's office.
"CJ, great to have you back," Josh said when he saw her walk in.
"Thank you Josh. It's nice to be back." She smiled.
"So how's the little one?"
"She has a name, Joshua."
"Okay, so how's Madeline?"
"She's doing well. She seems to be adjusting really well to the new environment."
"That's great."
"Yeah..." CJ said as she saw Toby walk into the office.
He sat as far from her as possible. He didn't want to have to talk to her about what had happened on Friday.
"Okay, let's get started," Leo said, walking into his office.
After the meeting, everyone walked off to their offices. CJ looked after Toby as he walked to his office. He hadn't even said good morning. He had barely acknowledged that she was even in the room. What was up with him? She shook it off and went into the Press Room to give her briefing.
"Toby," Sam said when he caught up with him.
"What," he growled.
"What's going on with you and CJ? I mean, it was as if you two didn't know each other back there."
He stopped walking and looked at Sam. "Nothing's going on. Her kid hates me, that's all."
It took Sam a minute to comprehend what Toby had just said. "What are you talking about? She just came from a home where she had lived for the past two years. She was afraid of CJ when she first met her. Give it a chance--"
"Why, Sam?! Why should I when CJ isn't going to let me?"
"What are you talking about?" Sam followed Toby into his office.
Toby stood behind his desk. "I called on Saturday, mainly to apologize, and I wanted to see when a good time would be for me to actually be able to meet Madeline."
"What did CJ say?"
He took a deep breath. "She said that it would probably be a few days, if not a week. I don't get it. On Friday she said a few days, Saturday she said a week. What's next? A month?" He looked at Sam who had a wry grin on his face. "What's so funny?"
"Nothing. It's just...you're jealous, aren't you?"
Toby looked at Sam as if he were nuts. "What? Sam, are you feeling alright? Did you fall down and hit your head on something hard?"
"Come on Toby, admit it. You're jealous of Madeline."
"I'm jealous of a two year old," Toby asked rhetorically.
"Yes, you are. And you know why?"
"Why?"
"Because you love CJ. You just don't know how to express it." Sam smiled and walked out of the office.
"That is crazy," Toby said to himself out loud.
After CJ gave her briefing, she walked into her office, but stopped when she got to her desk. She had to talk to Toby. This just wasn't right. She needed to let him know that she wasn't shutting him out of her life. "Carol, I'll be back in a few minutes," she said as she walked out of her office.
"Okay," Carol said as she watched CJ walk away.
She stopped outside his office. For some reason she couldn't get herself to knock on his door. "This is ridiculous," she said to herself. She closed her eyes, raised her arm to knock on the door, not hearing it being opened by Toby, and ended up knocking her hand on his head.
"Ow," he said flatly.
She burst out laughing. "Oh my gosh. Toby, I am so sorry! I didn't mean to...I mean...I was just trying to..."
He nodded, "I know what you meant to do. Come on in."
She walked into his office and sat on his sofa. She waited for him to close the door and sit down to talk. "Tell me something, Toby."
"What's that?"
"What on earth is going on with you? Why are you acting so weird all of a sudden? Did I do something to offend you in some way?"
He took a deep breath. "No, you didn't do anything. It was me, and I'm sorry. I just didn't think that I could be--"
"Jealous of a two year old," she finished.
"How did you know?"
"Oh please, Toby. You can be very transparent sometimes. Plus, Josh overheard you talking with Sam and came and told me."
"Excuse me while I kill the Deputy Chief of Staff."
"Toby, don't," she said, laughing a little. She saw the look on his face and quickly composed herself. "Look, I overreacted about you not being able to see Madeline for a week. I'm just afraid that something will happen. I'm afraid she'll freak out or something. I'm sorry."
He walked over to her and sat on the couch. "Don't be sorry. You were just doing what you though was right. There's nothing wrong with that. When you think it's the right time for me to meet her, then you'll tell me. Until then, don't worry about it. Okay?"
She looked up at him. "Yeah. Thanks."
He looked at his watch. "It's noon. Do you want to call to see how she's doing?"
"Yeah."
"Here, use my phone." He handed her the phone.
"Thanks." She dialed Mrs. Harris's number and talked to her for a few minutes. She then talked to Madeline and was reassured. Mrs. Harris was right; Madeline was just fine.
After the call, CJ put the phone back on Toby's desk. "I'm hungry. You want to go get lunch?"
"Sure, let's go." He and CJ got up and got lunch.
"So I'll probably call you in a couple of days, maybe tomorrow, and you can come and see her. How does that sound?"
"Sounds good to me." He smiled and they finished their lunch.
TBC......