Give A Little

By Clarity Scifiroots

Josh/Sam, Toby/CJ hints

Notes: It’s at least post-Noel, but otherwise there’s no real episode boundaries.

Rating: Teen

December 23, 2004

Summary: Josh has last-minute shopping to do and it seems that the fates are conspiring against him...

Standard disclaimers apply. The song quoted is “Give a little love on Christmas Day,” the Temptations’ version.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

People making lists, buying special gifts, / It's a time to be kind to one and all / It's that time of year when good friends are dear / And you wish you could give more / Than just presents from a store

People you don't know smiling out hello / Everywhere there's an air of Christmas joy / It's that once a year, when the world's sincere / And you'd like to find a way / To show the things that words can't say

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Why did it always come down to this? Three days before Christmas and he was still lacking in the gift pile department; he had no idea what to get for his friends, he rarely ever did. He knew that explanation was old, seeing as he’d been giving it over the years to explain why his gifts tended to be goofy, oddball things that were probably more appropriate as a white elephant gift (or Yankee present). This year, he really wanted to change that tradition and get something special for everyone. But that’s when things came full circle to the original problem: what the heck would he get?

Josh thanked God—or perhaps the guardian angel of parking spaces?—for the opening he spotted. This time no one stole it from him, another thing to be thankful for. Of course, getting a parking spot meant he really did have to brave the crowds and go shopping. He was unable to hold back a shudder. There were way too many people cramming their cars together—he hated to think of that many bodies shifting around in an enclosed space.

Finally he made himself get out of the car and start walking. It was too cold to leave his coat behind even though it would be burdensome in the mall. He looked down the never-ending line of car’s bumpers and groaned, it was like a mile hike to the damn entrance! He would really like one of those handicap parking passes right about now. As he started on his way, he saw a tall guy unfold himself from a pretty small two-door and run around to the passenger side. The woman he helped out looked to be in at least her seventh month of pregnancy. Josh decided he was better off than her.

With that cheerful thought, he sped up his pace. He needed to get inside as soon as possible or he’d decide to flee and try another time—which was ridiculous since it was the twenty-second already and the crowds would probably be even worse later...

~ * ~ * ~

“Excuse me!” Josh practically shouted as he reached for the flustered-looking store assistant passing by. “Miss!”

It wasn’t until he caught her sleeve that she turned around in wide-eyed surprise. “Sir? Can I help you?” she asked while shaking free of his hold.

Josh let out a sigh of relief. “Yeah, I’d really like to get the coat hanging up over there. The upper rack’s too high to reach, but the sizes on the bottom won’t work.”

The woman stared in the direction of his pointing finger and nodded abruptly. “Okay. If you’d stand over there, I just got to grab the hook.”

“Wait!” Josh stopped her. She started to look annoyed. “Just, please come back? I was stranded already by some... Oh, I have no idea who she was.”

The woman nodded, more sympathetic, and then took off at a deliberate pace. Josh smiled to himself, at least this would take care of Toby. He wandered towards the wall where the coat hung to take another look at it. The cost would put a dent in his wallet, it was true, but the material of the coat was of good quality and proved to be stain-resistant—another way of saying relatively waterproof. He rubbed the cuff between his fingers, mentally repeating a litany of pleas that the right size would be on the upper rack.

~ * ~ * ~

After waiting for what seemed like an eternity to get checked out with Toby’s coat, Josh made a relatively quick stop at one of the more fashionable clothing stores he’d heard Donna and some of the other girls in the office talking about. Gift certificate for Donna, check. (And a pretty good size one, in his opinion.) At least he’d have ammunition for the next time she claimed that she didn’t have enough money to get a nice dress.

While stuck between two large families in the middle of the hallway, he realized that he probably could have gotten CJ a certificate for the same place. He tried to look back, but the mob was definitely keeping him from going that way. Oh well, if he needed to, he could get back there on the way out... hopefully.

At an entertainment store he came across a gift for Charlie by accident. Josh picked up the first season box set of Def Poetry. Charlie had talked about it once with Josh after seeing a few episodes that a friend had taped from HBO. Actually, it sounded like a pretty neat show with a variety of poets performing a wide range of works. Josh wasn’t a big poetry fan, but Charlie had actually made it sound interesting. Maybe he could borrow some episodes later to check it out.

He was getting down to the more difficult people on his list. At least he didn’t have to worry about picking out something for the Bartlet girls—the senior staff traditionally contributed some money towards gift certificates for the girls. This year it was CJ’s turn to pick up the certificates from wherever she deemed appropriate. Still, that left CJ (if he didn’t decide to go back to get the certificate), Sam, Leo, and the President. Yeah, he had the biggest challenges ahead of him.

~ * ~ * ~

Josh answered his cell phone at the tail-end of what was likely the last ring. “Hello?” he said. He worked his way towards a side-hallway leading back to business offices and bathrooms so that he might have a chance at hearing the person on the other end of the line.

“Josh, where are you?” Donna’s voice sounded anxious. Given, she often sounded a little frazzled, but Josh didn’t like the implications.

“Out. Shopping, remember?”

Donna hesitated a moment before continuing. “Um, you might want to leave. Josh... there was this call...”

He held his breath, a thousand possibilities rushing through his head. “What?” he demanded quietly.

“I-it’s your place, Josh. Somebody was careless with an oven and a cigarette, or something like that. There was a fire and—“

“Shit.”

“Yeah,” Donna said, her voice soft and sympathetic. “I can go over there to meet you,” she offered.

Josh sighed, closing his eyes and forgetting all about Christmas shopping for the moment. “Did the fire get everything or what? Who was it who called?”

“Your super called. The fire was in the apartment adjoining yours—y’know that new neighbor you’ve complained about the past few months? So... I don’t know, it doesn’t sound good.” Donna waited, probably for his reply, but he gave none. “I’m so sorry, Josh. Listen, I’ll head out right now.”

“No, don’t’ worry about it,” Josh told her, struggling accept this reality. “I guess I’ll drop by and then find a place to stay.”

Donna offered quickly, “I think Toby or Sam should still be here, I’ll ask them if you can stay...”

“I’ll do it, Donna. Don’t worry, really.” Josh tried to smile but could feel how strained it was.

“Josh... Only if you’re sure,” Donna said.

“I’m okay, Donna. I’m going to go right now and figure out what happened, okay? Then I’ll call you with details and let you know where I’m going.”

That seemed to pacify her. “Okay. But if you don’t call me in two hours, I’m calling you,” she threatened. Josh chuckled softly; what would he ever do without Donna?

~ * ~ * ~

The damage had been pretty bad, Josh found out. There was basically only enough stuff salvageable to be put in two medium-size boxes that fit snuggly in the back of his car. He was too tired to deal with it all that evening. It was going to take forever to figure out what exactly his insurance had covered, where he could end up moving to, what he could get back... and what made it worse was that very soon most places would be closed or have severely limited staff because of the holidays. Things were not looking too good anymore.

He ended up calling Donna from a payphone in the back of a bar. He told her not to worry, that there had been some things saved, and that he would stay in a hotel for the night. She argued that he should just call Sam, but he declined. Josh didn’t tell her that he didn’t think he could sleep that night.

He spent a few hours at the bar, sitting alone in a booth as he scratched out ideas between random doodles on napkins. The news refused to fully soak in so that he could understand the repercussions; he was at a loss for what to do. He was torn between throwing himself into the process of dealing with the aftermath of his burned apartment or simply go on with his regular schedule—most of which included getting the last few gifts. He had gone back for the gift certificate for CJ, so was down to three people. The rational part of his mind told him to go back and return what he’d bought, knowing that he was going to be a in a tight spot for a while, but he struggled with that decision. It was Christmas, for goodness sake, and he was determined to get his coworkers and friends something nice this year.

Eventually Josh ended up driving towards the White House. He got some weird looks but was let through anyway. He left his shopping bags and what was left of his apartment in the car. For a time he sat at his desk and flipped through the paperwork laying out for his attention, but he couldn’t focus. Near two o’clock in the morning he wandered down to Toby’s office and collapsed on the couch. He turned on the TV and watched numbly while holding a pillow to his chest. He faded in and out for a time before finally giving in to sleep, his head slipping sideways toward his shoulder.

~ * ~ * ~

“CJ?”

The press secretary held up a hand to single that she needed to finish her phone call first. Carol nodded and waited patiently.

“Yeah, what’s up?” CJ asked distractedly after she hung up. She jotted down a note for her briefing.

“Donna’s here,” Carol said, indicating with a small shrug that she didn’t know what it was about.

CJ nodded and a moment later Donna came in, closing the door behind her. Her expression hardly belonged to the woman who had been happily quoting Christmas songs all week, much to the annoyance of her boss.

“What is it, Donna?” CJ asked, giving her full attention.

Donna shifted restlessly, nibbling on her lip as she hesitated. “You know, Josh left a little early last night to go out and shop? Well, I needed to finish up some things...” She shifted again, her frown deepening. “I got this call from Josh’s super at like nine-thirty—“

CJ caught her breath, remembering the horrifying December not very long ago when Josh had been drowning in the aftermath of Rosslyn. “Is he okay?” she asked quickly.

Donna nodded. “Yes, he’s okay. His super called in to tell Josh that there had been a fire. I told Josh and he went over there and called me later. He said that some things were salvageable and that he’d stay at a hotel for the night. But...” Donna rolled her shoulders uncomfortably. “You know how he can be.”

CJ sighed and nodded. “Yeah. You’re worried he didn’t end up going anywhere and that what’s left of the place is stuffed in a box?”

Smiling slightly, Donna agreed. “He’s sort of predictable, isn’t he?”

CJ smiled fondly. “Yeah. So, have you seen him this morning?”

“I tried his cell phone and found it out it was in his office. He’s here somewhere, but I haven’t found him yet. I sort of... wanted to tell you guys first.” Donna sighed sadly. “I think he’ll need some extra help this Christmas.”

CJ agreed. “Listen, I still have to finish a briefing, but how about you let Leo know? Maybe Toby, Sam, and I can meet with you later and figure out something to help.”

“That sounds good. Thanks CJ,” Donna said. She looked a little better, as if the weight of the world wasn’t resting solely on her shoulders anymore.

CJ stood up and rounded the desk to give her a hug. “We’ll take good care of him,” she promised.

~ * ~ * ~

“Does this look like a bed and breakfast?” Toby’s frustrated voice made its way clearly into Josh’s waking consciousness.

He sat up abruptly and groaned at the pain in his back and neck. He had to blink several times to take in his surroundings. Toby’s office—he must have fallen asleep. Why was he here again? Oh, yeah; the answer quickly came back. My place burned down.

“Joshua,” Toby said, a long-suffering sigh tucked behind his words, “if you want to sleep in the office, get your own couch.”

Josh rubbed his neck after an attempt to nod. “Uh, yeah, I’ll get right on that.” He attempted to stand; he managed to make it to his feet, but he had to stand crookedly to avoid too much pain. “No problem, I’m not using this thing again—gives me a back ache.”

Toby pointed towards the door significantly and Josh rolled his eyes. The bullpen was already busy outside the office. Cathy and Bonnie were on the phones and Ginger busily flipped through a file cabinet, which probably would explain Toby’s grouchy mood that morning. Josh stretched a bit and leaned over to peer in Sam’s office. His friend was in, typing away on his computer. Josh smiled to himself; he would never admit it out loud, but Sam looked absolutely adorable when he concentrated.

Josh decided to stop off in the bathroom before heading towards his office. Donna was astute enough to notice the wrinkles in his slept-in clothes, but he’d prefer to at least look awake when she scolded him.

~ * ~ * ~

“What kind of idiot leaves their cigarette near the oven?” Leo asked, appalled.

“Apparently Josh’s ne—old neighbor,” Donna answered despondently.

Leo sighed and turned to Margaret, who had walked in with a few folders. His secretary looked surprised. “Josh’s apartment was burned down?” she asked. Donna nodded. “Leo, you have to do something!” Margaret insisted, turning wide-eyes on her boss.

“I’m getting to it. Hand those over, would you?” Leo said with some annoyance.

“Have you seen him yet?” he asked Donna once Margaret left. Donna shook her head in the negative. “Who else knows?”

“I just talked with CJ,” Donna said. “Should I go tell Toby and Sam?”

Leo thought about it for a moment, then shook his head. “I’ll handle it. I’d like you to try and find Josh and see how the rest of his night went.” He snorted softly. “Knowing Josh he stayed up all night trying to figure everything out.” Donna gave a small smile of understanding. Leo stood up and patted her shoulder. “You’re a good kid, we’ll take care of it.”

“Thanks, Leo,” Donna whispered before slipping out to do some Josh-hunting.

~ * ~ * ~

“Sam, you mind coming into Toby’s office for a few minutes?”

Sam looked up from his computer in surprise. Leo didn’t often come down to the communications office to talk.

“Um, okay, sure,” he said quickly. He stood up and followed Leo into the office next to his.

Toby was on the phone, looking very determined and rather cranky; however, seeing as it was Leo who had interrupted, he couldn’t exactly just kick them out. After another five minutes some sort of agreement seemed to have been made and Toby hung up.

“What’s going on?” he asked wearily as Leo motioned Sam all the way in before closing the door.

“Donna came to see me this morning,” Leo said. “It seems that last night while Josh was out his idiot neighbor burned down the place.” Sam looked stunned and Toby frowned. “Apparently he told Donna some stuff was saved and he would stay the night in some hotel—you know what that translates to.”

Toby muttered, “He was here.”

“Yeah, probably,” Leo agreed.

Toby shook his head. “No, this morning. I woke Josh up on my couch.” Toby leaned back in his chair, showing a significant amount of concern considering that he tended to react pretty stonily to most personal issues. “His apartment is ruined?”

Leo shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine. Donna said that it didn’t sound very hopeful.”

“Why didn’t he just call one of us?” Sam said, a disappointed frown on his lips. “I’ve got room.”

“This is Josh we’re talking about,” Leo reminded. “Look, I think Donna is working on a plan to help Josh out, so find out from her what’s going on.” Leo turned towards the door but paused before leaving. He shook his head in wonderment, muttering, “He was out Christmas shopping, for crying out loud!”

Sam met Toby’s gaze with a sideways glance. They would have to count on Donna to come up with a plan to make the holiday season a little brighter for Josh this year.

~ * ~ * ~

“Josh, you slept here, didn’t you? Did you even sleep?” Donna had locked onto Josh’s trail and wouldn’t go away now that she had found him.

Josh sighed tiredly. “I did sleep, and yes, I did so here. I’m fine, it’s okay, I won’t do it again, Mom.”

Donna huffed indignantly. “I’m way too young to be your mom, Joshua. A much younger sister, yes, but not your mother!”

“Much younger?” Josh asked, stopping abruptly and turning around. He had to steady Donna when she almost ran into him. She looked up at him guiltily and smiled. Josh rolled his eyes. “You might want to watch what you say or I’ll get you one of those ‘grow a boyfriend’ things they’re selling at those weird teen stores.”

Donna hurried to say, “Josh, don’t even think of presents. We all understand, and you have other things to worry about.”

“Donna!” Josh shouted in exasperation. He turned around and stormed towards his office. “The whole world doesn’t need to know about my personal problems, okay? And stop telling me what to do; if I want to do holiday shopping, I damn well will.”

“Damn well will?” Donna repeated with some amusement. She had stopped just outside his office.

Josh turned to glare at her. “Bye-bye,” he announced before firmly closing the door in her face. He heard her frustrated sigh through the wood. She definitely hadn’t given up, but he hoped she would be satisfied by setting up her stake-out by her desk instead of glued to his side.

He finally relaxed when he heard Donna turn away and call to the bullpen in general if anyone had the file she was supposed to be working on. Josh slumped into his chair and twisted idly back and forth for a while, contemplating the ceiling. He didn’t like those tube lights, but having no overhead light could be a pain sometimes. He knew that he had been squinting lately and if another lamp wouldn’t help, he’d have to face up to the possibilities of contacts or glasses—not something he cared to deal with, especially at the moment.

He thought about Donna’s insistence that he not bother with gifts and felt all the more determined to finish his shopping that evening. Just because something lousy had happened to him didn’t mean that he’d forget about his plan to get everyone something nice. Glad that he’d decided on at least one thing, Josh sat up and dug for a pen and scrap paper to make a list of ideas for the last few people on his list.

~ * ~ * ~

“Josh isn’t cooperating,” Donna announced during lunch.

Toby and CJ snorted softly. Sam smiled and said, “That’s not unexpected.”

Donna sighed and poked at her salad idly. “He threatened to fire me if I said a word to his mom, he won’t listen to me about forgetting the presents, and has he talked to any of you about where he’s going to stay?”

“No,” Sam admitted. “But maybe you should ease up on the gift thing.”

CJ cut in, “Getting a couple of gag gifts might keep him occupied and cheer him up a bit.”

Donna bit her lip nervously. “Um, Josh wasn’t going to do the usual thing this year...” she said. “He’s been nosing around to figure out something ‘nice.’”

“Nice?” Toby echoed, raising an eyebrow in silent inquiry.

“That’s what Ginger said,” Donna answered.

CJ waved her hand dismissively. “In any case, that’s still out of our hands. We don’t have a remote control for him. Let’s focus on what we are able to do.”

“Donna, don’t worry about finding him a place to stay. I’ll talk to him after lunch, okay?” Sam offered. Donna smiled gratefully.

“Do you know of anything he lost that was really important to him?” CJ asked.

Donna said, “I want to organize some pictures. I know it’s not exactly a guy thing, but I think it’s important, you know?”

“We’ll contribute,” Sam agreed. CJ volunteered to help with organizing the next day.

“What about the party on Saturday?” Donna asked, looking at Sam since it had been planned to be at his place.

“It’s still fine by me.”

“Okay. There’s another thing...” Donna paused, seeming to consider if she wanted to share her thoughts or not. “I was just thinking... it would be sort of nice to just help Josh out this year.” She glanced around the table.

“You mean set aside the other gifts?”

“Yeah,” Donna said.

Toby, CJ, and Sam looked at one another and quickly came to a silent agreement. “That’s a nice idea, Donna,” Toby said.

“I’ll let Leo know,” CJ added.

“Keep us posted on gift ideas,” Sam said as he stood up. “I’ll go find Josh and tell him he’s coming home with me tonight.”

CJ smirked. “Wow, Sam, how’s the world look outside of that closet?”

“Shut up,” he told her, rolling his eyes in exasperation.

As Sam walked away, CJ and Donna exchanged knowing glances and started giggling. Toby raised his eyes heavenward even though he knew asking for relief hadn’t gotten him far before.

“Don’t pretend you’re not enjoying this,” CJ said, nudging him with her elbow. Toby said nothing, but he did scowl at her before getting up to leave.

~ * ~ * ~

Josh glanced at his wristwatch to check on the time. They had teamed up on him! Sam had insisted that Josh stay with him and hadn’t let up until Josh solemnly swore to come over that night. Donna’s contribution to the agreement had been that he couldn’t be out after eleven. Whatever.

He was, of course, back to shopping. His first stop had been to a department store for a few changes of clothing; two days in the same thing was his limit. He knew that he could borrow some stuff from Sam, but since he already felt like he was imposing, he wanted to have some things of his own.

The next stop had taken him to a game and puzzle store that seemed to be overflowing with games involving special themes like Dogopoly and Lord of the Rings Trivial Pursuit, Risk, and Chess... He wanted the regular editions and was extremely frustrated that those were the ones difficult to find. Finally, with some help, he tracked down the regular games on the back wall on the lower shelves. His back, still sore from sleeping on the couch, protested when he crouched down to take a look. In the end it had paid off, he found an expanded edition of Trivial Pursuit for the President even though he knew that he’d be cursing himself along with the others later on when the President decided the game would be a nice alternative to their poker games. He had considered a very nice Scrabble set for Sam, but decided that wasn’t really what he was looking for.

With an hour left to shop, if he wanted to be considered even relatively on-time to Sam’s, Josh was starting to feel more than a little anxious about finding the last two gifts.

At a loss, Josh wandered into a few stores and then moved on until he found a directory. He glanced through the list of stores, hoping that something would jump out at him. He noticed that a number of specialty stores were grouped in one area of the mall; that seemed like his best bet. He glanced at his watch again and then took off at a hurried pace.

~ * ~ * ~

Josh knocked on Sam’s door at eleven-thirty and wasn’t at all surprised when he was admitted immediately. He stated more than asked, “Donna call to check in?”

Sam grinned. “Yeah, but I covered for you. I have to say, though, you were beginning to push it.”

Josh rolled his eyes as he set aside his bag of new clothes. “Please spare me, Donna is enough of a mother hen. Besides, I thought curfews were for when we were in high school and were supposed to be doing really stupid things?”

Sam shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine. So, what did you pick up?” he asked, toeing Josh’s bag.

“Take a look,” Josh invited, “that would be my new clothes. You’ll have to wait to see the other stuff.”

Sam frowned as he checked through the bag. After a moment he looked up. “Josh, I can lend you clothes.”

Rolling his eyes, Josh said, “It’s not like I have a closet full of options now. I needed to start collecting at some point.” Sam didn’t say anything and went back to staring at the bag. “Now you’re just creeping me out, man,” Josh joked, grabbing the bag. “Mind if I go get changed?”

Sam waved him in. “Hey, mi casa es tu casa, mi amigo. You even got new sheets on the guest bed and everything.”

“Goodie,” Josh responded with a cheeky grin.

“I could have been really mean and given you that awful puce blanket my mom sent last year.”

Josh looked dutifully horrified. “It could go to the Salvation Army, you know,” he said as he headed towards the room.

“I don’t feel like I can do that,” Sam shouted in response. Josh got in the last word, something like “Yeah, right,” before the bedroom door shut audibly.

Sam went into the kitchen, wondering if Josh had eaten yet. He hadn’t eaten more than a snack since lunch and felt a little hungry now. The makings of a sandwich were available, he decided, and it wouldn’t even cut into the food he had stocked for the party.

Josh found him a few minutes later and happily helped himself to Sam’s sandwich. After a token protest, Sam made another one. He didn’t realize he was humming until he was half-way through “White Christmas.” Josh was watching him with amusement, but didn’t seem to be in the mood to interrupt. Sam decided to make the bold move to actually singing. Josh responded with a full-out grin.

Things were looking brighter already.

~ * ~ * ~

There was thankfully no real reason to be in the West Wing on the twenty-fourth, but there were a number of staff members floating about to exchange gifts and hold impromptu parties in an office or a bullpen. Josh left Leo’s gift in his office and then went to see Charlie. He left the President’s gift on Charlie’s desk and made a big deal out of deciding whether or not the young man could open his gift right away.

“This is great, Josh,” Charlie said, his expression surprised. He turned the box set over to look at the back and then looked up. “Thanks a lot.”

Josh waved it off coolly, his broad smile revealing how pleased he really was. “You’re welcome, Charlie. Actually... if you find some really good ones, let me know, okay? I’m a little interested.”

Charlie grinned. “No problem. It’s a really great show. Why don’t they put things like this on regular television?”

“They do it to tempt the masses to buy cable,” Josh said sagely. “It sucks.”

~ * ~ * ~

In the early afternoon people began clearing out for a late lunch or party engagements. Donna had dragged Josh over to help make last minute plans with CJ, Sam, and Toby—who was also there reluctantly with CJ’s insistent hand gripped firmly around his arm. The five of them stood in a sort of huddle in the communications bullpen.

“Well this is perfect,” a familiar voice announced cheerfully.

The group broke off their current conversation to greet the President. Josh smiled to himself when he saw a familiar game box tucked under the President’s arm.

“Aren’t you all at least a little curious why finding all of you together brings me such joy?”

“Well... we’re your favorite people,” Sam offered.

Bartlet smiled. “Sometimes, of course. But no, that wasn’t quite what I was thinking.” He moved the game box into more prominent view. “It seems like Santa Claus came a little early today and left this brand new toy—“

“Torture device,” Toby muttered.

“—to try out,” the President finished. He paused momentarily and looked Toby over. “Was there something you’d like to correct me on?”

Toby cleared his throat. “Nothing at all, sir.”

“Good, then you’re all free to join me in a trial run.”

CJ and Toby looked aghast. Sam attempted to glare threateningly at Josh, but his smile was ruining the effect.

Josh announced graciously for all involved, “We’d love to, Mr. President.”

Bartlet nodded, smile still on his lips. “Thank you, Josh.”

“You’re welcome, Mr. President.”

~ * ~ * ~

“I can’t believe how badly he whooped us!” Sam continued to protest on the drive back to his apartment. Josh grinned pleasantly, quite happy with the success of his gifts. “Josh, next time you get a gift like that, make sure the playing field is even, okay?”

Josh laughed. “I thought of the Lord of the Rings edition, but you and the President are the only two geeks to successfully manage your way through that.”

“CJ and Toby have read the books!” Sam protested.

“Not nearly as obsessively as you,” Josh answered wryly.

For a time they drove in comfortable silence. Then Sam asked, “Is that what you got me?”

“What?” Josh started out of his daze.

“The Lord of the Rings game,” Sam prompted.

Josh smiled, “No. Did you want it?”

“I don’t think I knew about it until just now. So, no, not in particular.” He paused a moment. “Although I like the idea that it might be something I’d have a chance at winning.”

Josh laughed. “I’m not too sure anyone can top the President on detailed trivia.”

“No? Well, isn’t there some sort of decade-based culture trivia thing now?”

Josh considered that and decided that he had seen something like that. The idea of President Bartlet participating in that particular game made him laugh. Sam joined him. They reached the apartment with chuckles still tickling their lips.

“We have got to get that for his birthday,” Sam decided as they made their way inside. “And we have to make sure that all the girls are there.”

“Probably the first fact-based game Zoey will have won since the days when you’re simply supposed to lose to the kid,” Josh agreed.

Sam hesitated before opening his front door and looked over at Josh’s happy expression. Sam’s smile softened.

“So, we’re home,” he said upon opening the door.

Josh entered with his arms spread wide. “Honey, I’m home!” he called cheerfully. Sam prodded him in the back. Josh turned back with a disappointed expression. “Hey, where’s the dog and kids?”

Sam laughed, taking off his jacket. “And the wife, huh?”

Josh shrugged one shoulder before slipping out of his coat. “Whoever. Just someone to kiss on the cheek and say ‘My day was fine, how about yours?’ Don’t you think?”

Sam turned to the closet to hang up their coats and considered the specification. He felt the warmth of hope ease past anxieties. He turned back to Josh and nodded. “I think that’s right.”

An amused smile crossed Josh’s lips. He shifted position very slightly and then reached out to touch Sam’s cheek with the back of his hand. Sam closed his eyes in acceptance and leaned into the caress. Before Josh could remove his hand, Sam used his own to guide Josh’s hand over his heart.

Josh leaned forward and spoke softly next to Sam’s ear, just close enough so that his lips brushed over sensitive skin, “I didn’t see any mistletoe.”

“Don’t ruin the moment,” Sam replied, turning his head to catch Josh’s lips in a gentle kiss.

“Mmm, I was wondering if our closet references were going to match up at some point,” Josh murmured.

Sam ignored him and went back to kissing, it was far more important.

A few minutes later as they pulled back to catch their breath, Josh tried again, “Does this mean we get to share a closet?”

Sam growled in annoyance. “If you don’t shut up I’ll lock you in one,” he threatened.

Josh proceeded to kiss him in a very convincing fashion, reminding Sam just why locking him up would be a very bad idea.

The next time they came up for air, Sam said, “Okay, forget the closet. But, you know, the bed is rather comfy.” Josh snickered and allowed Sam to pull him towards the bedroom.

Christmas was turning out just fine.

~ Fin ~

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Why don't you give love on Christmas day (on Christmas day) / Oh even the man who has everything / Would be so happy if you would bring / Him love on Christmas day (on Christmas day) / No greater gift is there than love

Why don't you give love on Christmas day (on Christmas Day) / Oh every little child on Santa's knee / Has room for your love underneath his tree / Give love on Christmas day (Christmas day) / No greater gift is there than love / What the world needs is love / Yes the world needs your love

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

(For now) I can likely see a sequel coming for this—at least a New Year’s one, eh? And what was Leo’s present? I have no idea, that bit of writer’s block still hasn’t gone away.