Work Text:
February 2001.
Donna knows there is one season every Baseball significant other hates.
Spring Training.
Thanks to her experience as the Director of Travel for the team, failed plans, missed flights, and schedule mix-ups are nothing new to her, she’s fully aware of how hard it is to schedule something without hiccups that the idea of hiccups doesn’t worry her too badly.
But that was before she started dating an actual professional baseball player.
When she and Josh officially decided to stop the madness and get together once and for all, she knew that part of being his partner would be sharing him with the rest of the world.
And it doesn’t bother her!
She loves that other people love and support him with everything in them. There’s nothing she loves more than seeing Josh interact with his supporters and the diehard fans of the Nationals whether it be at the ballpark or in public while they’re out.
But she’d be lying if she said she didn’t wish he’d be able to make it back for Valentine’s Day.
It’s their first Valentine’s Day and while Donna knows expecting to celebrate it with him while he’s busy with training camp in Florida was a setup for failure, she just wishes that the universe could’ve played out in their favor.
She also misses him like hell.
Luckily she has Brandon continuing to steal her heart and bring her all the joy in the world, her family calling in to check on her, her work keeping her busy and her fellow National’s wives and girlfriends keeping her head above water the minute the heartbreak of not having Josh around threatens to bring her under water.
But it’s been a good two weeks since she’s last seen him and she misses him.
Badly.
“Donna, you’re pouting.” Helen’s voice interrupts her from her daydreaming of Josh’s last night before he left for Florida; thinking of the way his fingers ran along the curve of her sides under the covers of her bed as she writhed in pleasure from her orgasm.
“Hm?” Donna turns from the latest bouquet that’s been dropped on her desk almost five minutes ago, the card that came with the display still stuck in her hand, the idea of putting it down seems impossible.
“Flower display from your boyfriend,” Helen observes with a knowing smile, inching towards the extravagant red and white roses that take up a good chunk of the space on her glass office desk.
“He’s sent a few so far.” Donna smiles at the memory of the flower delivery she got this morning while she was on the phone with Josh, “I told him that we didn’t need to worry about doing the whole gift-giving thing but I think he feels bad that he couldn’t come back.”
“I take it he didn’t get the message.” CJ breezes into her office, holding extravagant common blue violet flowers situated in a gold vase, “Special delivery for Wisconcin’s own, Donnatella Moss.”.
“Seems like he didn’t.” Donna can’t bite back her smile, stepping forward to meet CJ halfway and retrieving the vase from her, “You didn’t have to bring these up, I could’ve come to your office.”.
CJ shrugs and dusts off her navy blouse, “I had to. If I got yet another phone call from Josh about another damn flower bouquet I was going to tear him a new one.” CJ gives a slight chuckle, “But because it’s you, I don’t mind.”.
“Thank you.” Donna turns to place the flowers on the table next to the other bouquet.
“I take it you have prepared your Valentine’s Gift for the significant other you were assigned to?” CJ rocks on her heels with a dangerous glint in her eyes and a smile on her stretched lips.
“I sure do.” Donna claps her hands together excitedly as she circles her desk and moves towards her coat closet, pulling out a large pink and red gift bag and holding it up in the air proudly by its handles, “It’s perfect. It’s exactly what Ainsley wanted.”.
Aside from being with Josh, one of her favorite things that comes with their new relationship is being fully immersed in the sisterhood of the wives and girlfriends of the team’s players.
While yes, she’s always been friends with the other women, it’s a whole new world being a part of their group.
The constant support with each other, the late night phone calls when one of the women misses their better half to the point where they’re moved to tears, the sleepovers, the dinner nights-she loves it all and is so happy she gets to experience it with some of the best women she knows.
Donna’s new to the life of being the girlfriend of a professional baseball player but with Helen, Ainsley, and the other SOs by her side, she knows that she and Josh will forever be supported and that makes her heart happy.
So when she got Ainsley’s name for the Valentine's Day gift exchange, Donna quite literally ran to the mall and got her friend the red cowboy boots she had been lusting over for the past few days and plenty of other treats she knew she would adore.
Then promptly after she got gifts for Brandon, Amanda, Josh, and her other friends and family members.
“That’s perfect. I’ll make sure to give it to her tonight.” Helen gives a dangerous smile along with a wiggle of her eyebrows.
Donna’s eyebrows hike up in confusion, “Don’t worry about it.” She gives a slight giggle as she returns the gift bag to the closet, right next to her gift for Amanda, “I’ll give it to her tomorrow.”.
The room falls silent.
Silent apart from the hum of the large mowing lawn that makes its way across the outfield on the ballpark field outside.
She looks up from her closet, her lips falling into a confused frown, her eyes bouncing in between
CJ clears her throat and turns to Helen with a knowing smile, bouncing her shoulders enthusiastically.
“Mrs. Santos, I believe you have a special delivery for a woman named Donna from Wisconsin,” CJ warns in a sing-song voice.
Helen gives a faux slack-jawed look and puts her hands on her chest, “Well I believe that I do.” Helen points a finger towards Donna and plunges her hand into her leather black purse, pulling out an envelope.
“I believe I do.” Helen gives the envelope a slight shake as she inches toward Donna, extending the red envelope to her, causing Donna’s heart to freeze at the gesture.
“What is this?” Donna blinks in confusion.
Helen and CJ give an over-the-top sound of confusion and both shrug their shoulders in unison.
“Why don’t you open it and figure it out?” Helen encourages her with a playful tone.
The envelope feels heavy in her hands.
She knows it’s from Josh.
What has she ever done to deserve this man?
After CJ and Helen rushed her to the Washington Inn immediately after work, Donna found herself standing in front of two dark brown sequoia doors on the highest floor, nothing but her purse slung over her shoulder.
She had insisted that she could take herself to the Inn to see whatever it was Josh had planned for her in his absence but Helen and CJ practically placed her in the car and took her themselves, promising that they’d handle Brandon for the night.
And Donna still wasn’t satisfied with the help in all honesty! She wanted to see and love on her sweet baby boy the way she does every single night-holiday be damned!
But Brandon had insisted that he would be too busy to hang out with her because he had plans with one of his ‘super cool and super awesome’ uncles and that she, deserved an evening to herself.
So, that’s how she ends up in front of one of the suite doors at the Washington Inn, confused as all hell.
She remembers briefly mentioning this hotel to Josh on the way back to her apartment after one of their first date nights on the town.
He was driving and watching the road with a focused expression, the way she loves and she was in the passenger seat, enjoying his rough hand on her thigh as she looked out and took in the view of DC that late Saturday evening.
She had noticed the hotel, pointed it out to Josh, and had even expressed her desire to have dinner there one day.
And him, being Josh, had stroked her thigh in a way only he could and had quickly agreed that dinner at the Inn sounded like a great idea.
Jesus, she misses him more than words could even express.
She knows that part of loving Josh means that accepting him being on the road is her new reality but she doesn’t know if she’ll ever get to a point where her heart stops yearning for him.
She misses his scent, his laugh, his smile, his dimples, she misses the way he wakes up in the morning before her when he spends a night and takes Brandon to the batting cages to spend time with him, she misses the way he plays with her hair to help her fall asleep..she misses him.
They worked so hard to get to where they are today and she takes pride in it because she knows that together, they can accomplish anything.
Eventually, she gets the key to work and opens the door and when she opens it, she’s met with a suite that’s fit for a Queen.
The high windows, dramatic blue satin curtains that line the windows, the extravagant fireplace seated in the heart of the room with the gold-steel canopy bed right at the heart of the room, an extravagant display of gifts seated on the bed along with a bouquet of roses and a champagne bottle that looks expensive.
It’s a scene straight out of one of the many romantic comedy films Donna makes Josh watch before they go to sleep during their sleepovers much to his incessant demands that he does not ‘watch’ romantic comedies.
Dropping her bag on the counter near the door, she inches closer to the overly decorative bed, her heart beating rapidly at the sight.
“Happy Valentine’s Day.” She hears the familiar voice she’s dreamt about hearing for the past few weeks.
She turns around at warp speed, almost giving herself whiplash.
It’s him.
It’s Josh.
He’s freshly shaven, dressed in his classic baby blue Wrangler jeans, black long-sleeved top that compliments his arms painfully well, his short hair indicating he got a haircut before he hitched a flight, and a smile that only he could pull off.
Part of her wants to jump him.
But also hug him?
And also squeeze him and never let him go?!
She wants to do so much and yet, she can't move an inch-she feels stuck in a glue trap.
“What are you doing here?” She feels like she’s seconds away from waking up and this all being a dream and she’s actually in bed alone.
“You thought I was going to let my Valentine celebrate Valentine’s Day alone?” He walks slowly towards her, landing a feather-soft kiss against her lips the minute he’s within reach of her, pulling her into his arms.
When they pull away her mouth is still agape in shock.
He’s here.
With her.
She’s in his arms.
She must be silent for longer than she thinks because Josh’s eyes watch her closely, his lips dropping into a frown the minute he realizes she still hasn’t said anything he takes a step back and gives her a slight squeeze.
“Hey?” His voice is soft and grounded, “You okay?”.
“I’m…..” She tries to speak but she fails over and over again, there’s no words for her to describe the feeling of happiness that’s bursting within her, “I…..I….I..”.
She throws her arms around him, the tears spilling out of her eyes in happiness.
She’s been happy before but she doesn’t think she’s ever been this happy before.
She’s happy.
And in love.
“I take it you’re happy.” Josh’s smile is clear and present in his voice, causing Donna to feel weak in the knees.
She can’t speak so she simply nods in the crook his neck, inhaling his scent as she does so.
Josh takes a step back and puts a gentle finger under her chin, coaxing her to look up so they’re looking one another in the eye.
“I’m only here for tonight and tomorrow morning but I wanted to be here with you because I love you and you mean the world to me.” Josh’s voice is soft and warm, “I’m in love with you, Donnatella.”.
This is all she’s ever wanted.
“I’m in love with you too, Josh.” She feels the butterflies within her and they feel the same way they felt the minute she first met him.
It’s official, she’s in love with him.