A/N: Here's my next story! It's the next installment of my post-series canon. And for those wondering about the title-well, you'll just have to wait and see. First, a little prologue to set the stage. I hope you enjoy it, please read and review!

Prologue: Lyman For Congress (January 2024)

American flags were everywhere as a small crowd of supporters, well-wishers, and family surrounded the steps of James Hubert Blake High School in Silver Spring, Maryland. They were to witness a step in history: for the first time, a former FLOTUS Chief of Staff would be making strides towards her own political career, in a campaign backed by a current sitting President, former President, and two former First Ladies. Plus, the campaign would be run by the former Press Secretary to the 43rd First Lady of the United States. All in all, not a bad start to a campaign.

Of course, it didn't hurt that the candidate was married to a man who was once called the "101st Senator" by the Washington Post. While she wanted her husband to slow down (actually ordered him to), you couldn't keep Joshua Lyman away from a Congressional campaign (particularly not this Congressional campaign) with a ten-foot pole.

Maryland State Delegate Donnatella Lyman was well on her way to a political juggernaut.

It was a move that had been championed by nearly every political pundit and commentator. Her children had taken a little more convincing, but at the end of the day, all four Lymans were on board with the idea.

But on the day that she was to throw her hat into the ring, Donna was experiencing a bout of cold feet.

She stood at the window to the school, watching as the crowd was revved up. She could see her kids standing in the front row of the crowd, smiling widely. Donna could see 15-year-old Abby and Anna talking to a few of their classmates, while 13-year-old Matty and 9-year-old Leo waited for the proceedings to start.

Donna was so lost in thought and nerves that she jumped a mile when she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, it's okay. It's just me." said the comforting voice of her husband.

She turned to see Josh standing behind her.

"You scared me." Donna gently admonished him. Then, in hopes of softening the blow, she turned and kissed him quickly. She relaxed against Josh a little, letting him rub the tension out of her shoulders.

"Caught in your own little world there, Donnatella?"

She smiled softly. "Just thinking about how crazy this is."

"I don't think it's crazy."

"Josh." She said. "26 years ago, I walked out of my life in Wisconsin to join an underling, dark-horse campaign for the Presidency. 8 years later, a woman who'd never been a part of the political scene in her life took a chance on me because she liked what we had together. She didn't care that I didn't have a degree, because it didn't matter what it said on paper. Now, I'm a major political player in Maryland, and I'm running for Congress? How did I get here?"

Josh hugged her from behind. "I'll tell you how you got here. You were brave, you were intelligent, and you took a lot of plunges. And you did that all on your own. I am so proud of you, and I think you are the most amazing person I have ever met. And you are going to kill in this election, I know you are."

Donna smirked. "Wouldn't Toby call that 'tempting the wrath of the whatever…'"

"From high atop the thing." Josh finished. "But I don't care."

She smiled at Josh, turning to face him. "What would I do without you?"

"I hope you never have to find out." He said softly.

"I almost did." She reminded him.

Almost 18 months ago to the day, Donna had been at work when she got an emergency call from Margaret. Margaret had found Josh hunched over on the floor, gasping in pain and struggling for breath. The doctors had classified it as a "mild coronary event", but warned Josh strongly that if he had any hope of living for longer than five years, he had to make some serious lifestyle changes. Since it was almost Sam's second term anyway (a time for changeover), he stepped down as Chairman of the DNC and took early retirement. He still consulted every now and then, but his days of running Washington DC from the back end were over.

That was part of the reason why, when Donna decided to run for the open seat in the 8th district, she had picked Annabeth to run her campaign over Josh. Annabeth had left the Today Show to come back into politics. Even though she had never run a campaign before, Donna trusted her implicitly, and they worked well together. After four years as Donna's Chief of Staff in the Maryland State House, Annabeth was fully qualified to run a Congressional campaign.

Donna's thoughts were interrupted by Josh squeezing her shoulder. "They're calling me." He told her. He kissed her deeply on the lips.

"This is it, babe. Break a leg out there." He told her. Then, he walked out to the cheering crowd to introduce his wife.

Watching her husband work the crowd, Donna was transported back to nearly a week earlier, when she and Josh had to break the news to their kids that she was running for Congress.

There hadn't been one major conversation between Donna and Josh about whether or not she was running, but rather a series of conversations as the clock of her initial term in the House of Delegates ticked down in the waning months of 2023. After Josh's heart attack, she had put all thoughts of running for Congress out of her head. Or so she thought.

When Congresswoman Paula James announced she would not seek a third term in the chair that had formerly been Sam's, Josh saw an opening and pushed Donna to consider running for their hometown seat. Donna had been worried about the strain it would put on the family first and foremost. But Josh and Annabeth had both convinced her that now was her time. Who knew when the seat would be available again?

And so, in the week between Christmas and New Years', Donna made her decision. Now she just had to tell her kids.

They were eating dinner on a cold winter night three days after Christmas. The four kids were chatting about whatever, and Donna looked at Josh, wanting to see if she thought now was the right time. He smiled and nodded.

"Kids?" She waited until she had all four's attention. "I have something I need to talk to you guys about."

"What's up, Mom?" Anna asked as she doled out a second helping of vegetables onto her plate.

"Well…" She said, "You know that I work for the state government, right?"

"Yeah, you're a delegate," Abby said. While both of their daughters had been bitten by the political bug, Abby was the one who took that to the level her father did, becoming a member of the debate team at school. Both girls were also members of the Young Democrats Club.

"That's right. And you know Congresswoman James represents our district in the US House of Representatives."

"I like her," Leo said as he ate.

"We all do," Matty told his brother, "but I don't see what that has to do with...Oh."

From the look on his face, Donna could tell Matty had started to figure it out. She decided to just bite the bullet. "I've decided to run for Congresswoman James' seat in the House when she retires at the end of this term."

The four of them sat, stunned. Anna was the first to speak up. "Are you sure about this, Mom?"

"Well...yeah. I've thought long and hard about it, and I've decided that now is as good a time as any to run."

"It's a lot," Matty said. "The press are gonna be watching us a lot more, right?"

"I mean, the local press will probably pay attention, certainly, but the scrutiny won't be as bad as if I was running for, say, Governor."

"Or President." Josh piped in.

"I guess that makes sense," Matty replied.

"This is a big decision," Donna told them. "If I run, you guys will probably have more responsibilities. You'll have to go out a lot more on weekends to events. And yes, you will probably be in the papers a little more, at least during the campaign. But I want this to be a family decision, okay? Do you guys have any other concerns about the campaign, or what's gonna happen?"

Leo raised his hand. Donna couldn't help but smile fondly. "Yes, Leo?"

"Will you be away a lot?" He wanted to know. "Other mommies and daddies have to travel a lot."

Donna knew that to a child with Down syndrome (any type of disability, really), routines were very important, so she knew Leo was just making sure that his life wouldn't be completely flipped upside down.

"That's a good question. The nice thing about living in Maryland is that the commute is very easy. If we lived in another state, I would be flying back and forth to DC all the time. But I should be able to be home on weekends, and even if I have to work late, I'll call. How does that sound?"

"Pretty good," Leo replied. '

She smiled. "Okay. Anything else? Anna, Abby, Matty?"

The three older kids shook their heads.

Josh opened his hands. "Okay, then I say we put this to a vote."

"A vote?" Abby asked.

"Yeah, yeah. All those in favor of your mom running for Congress, raise your hand."

There was a pause. Then, Anna's hand went up, followed by her sister's.

"I think it'd be cool," Anna said. "I think Mom should run. She'd be great."

"Thank you, honey," Donna replied. "Boys? How about you?"

Leo's hand shot up. "I vote yes, Mom."

"Matty?" Josh asked.

"I mean, I guess it would be cool to see my mom on TV once in a while," Matty said. Finally, he raised his hand. "Okay, I'm a yes, too."

"Okay," Donna said, a little relieved that her kids were so receptive to the idea. "Then I guess it's unanimous."

"Lyman For Congress," Josh said quietly, a smile beading his face.

"Lyman For Congress!" The kids echoed, coming up to hug their mom.

"...It is now my privilege to introduce former FLOTUS Chief of Staff, former White House Chief of Staff, and current member of the Maryland House of Delegates representing Montgomery County, my wife, and the love of my life...Donna Lyman!"

Donna took a breath and pushed open the door, where she was greeted by a cheering crowd. The kids were front and center. Annabeth was standing next to the podium, grinning wildly. And Josh was approaching her. He kissed her on the cheek.

"Go get 'em." He whispered to her.

Donna smiled at him and stepped gracefully up to the podium, where the applause continued.

"Thank you." She managed over the cheering. The crowd began to quiet down in anticipation.

"Thank you all very much. Though I am one of only three candidates entering the primary this year, I am also certain that you may not know a lot about me. I was born in Minnesota in 1974, but was raised in Wisconsin, the daughter of an insurance salesman and his homemaker wife-your basic All-American family. I wish I could tell you that I always knew politics was for me, but that wasn't the case. I never quite knew where I belonged, but I finally figured it out in 1998. That's when I joined Jed Bartlet's campaign. His campaign was run by intelligent, but flawed people, people who left six-figure incomes because they so believed in this candidate.

My next career move came by chance, a chance to work for a woman whose only experience in politics at the time her husband was elected President was secretary of the PTA. But with my help, Helen Santos became one of the most popular First Ladies of all time." There was applause; Donna wasn't sure if it was for Helen or her: probably both.

"I come to you today with not as many years of experience as my opponents, but with sincerity. I want to do right by my constituents. As a sufferer of violence-related PTSD myself, I plan to expand mental health and make sure that not one other person is misdiagnosed or mistreated due to their mental health status.

I am prepared to take chances and make mistakes. And some of my initiatives may succeed, and some may fail. But in return, people have to take a chance on me. If I am elected, I can promise you this: I will make time for you. You will never feel like I am not in your corner." She took a breath. "And so, with great pride and purpose, and with the support of my husband, children, campaign manager, and many, many friends in this business"-she smiled as she thought of those who came before her, and those who were there now- "I hereby announce my candidacy for the United States House of Representatives!"

The ovation was deafening. Every person in the crowd was up on their feet. Donna then looked down at her children, who ran to join her on the steps.

Surrounded by her family and her staff, Donna knew that there was nothing she couldn't overcome.

It was a thought she would have to remind herself of repeatedly as she faced the hardest year and a half of her life. The challenges she would face would test their family bond in a way she could never have imagined.