Series: Snapshots of the Past

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Story: Man of the House

Chapter 39

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Previously: Abbey tried to help Zoey view her learning disability in a positive light; Jed struggled with rewriting his radio address with Abbey's help over the phone; Liz comforted Abbey after her miscarriage (Chapter 19)

Summary: Abbey and the girls leave for DC to start spring break as a family; Liz finds out her parents are considering adopting another child; after some back and forth with his new communications director, Jed finally tapes his speech in response to the president's radio address; the Bartlets enjoy a picnic at the National Mall

Author's Note: Thanks for all the feedback and support with this story, guys. It means more than I can say!

On a misty April morning in 1985, Jed awoke to the sounds of D.C. traffic outside. The beeping horns of gridlocked cars, that forced him out of his nice warm bed at dawn, worked better than an alarm clock. As much as he wanted to, he couldn't fight it. With a packed schedule before Abbey and the girls arrived, he had no time to lose, so he rose from his slumber, threw his bathrobe over his shoulder, and sleepily padded his way to the bathroom.

Five hundred miles away, In New Hampshire, Abbey had won the early morning battle with Liz and managed to drag her out of bed, but her attempts with Ellie were hopeless. The ten-year-old buried her golden curls under the covers and groaned something inaudible until Abbey granted her a few more minutes of sleep while she helped Zoey pack the last of her things.

Meanwhile, with his hair damp and tangled from his shower, Jed headed to the kitchen in search of breakfast. It resembled a bachelor pad, the Bartlet apartment on Porter Street. When Jed was alone in Washington, clothes were scattered all over the sofa and chairs, a collection of dirty dishes were stacked in the sink, and an empty fridge was coated with take-out menus dangling off generic magnets because it wasn't worth the effort, he felt, to spend the time cooking for one when he usually returned from the office as late as eight or nine in the evening.

It was nothing like home. At home, things were organized. Cleaner. Clothes went where they belonged, homecooked dinners were the norm, the dishes were washed after meals, and the only things dangling off the fridge were pictures and finger-paintings alongside the shopping list and a calendar with the girls' cheerleading and volleyball practices, soccer and softball games, Girl Scout meetings, and riding lessons highlighted. And every now and then, a love note from Abbey, left behind on the mornings she had to leave for work before he woke up.

Oh how he cherished those notes. He often said that one lipstick-stained note from her was all he needed to make it through any challenge he faced in his day. He never realized just how true that was until he got to Washington without them. He had to remind himself of the reasons he ran for office, of the need for his presence in congress if he hoped to shape his district and have a voice in legislation that would affect the lives of his constituents. That was why he was here and he had no regrets on that front. That's what kept his spirits up.

Back at the farm, Abbey zipped up Zoey's Jem and the Holograms rolling backpack and carried it out into the hall, an act that didn't go over quite as well as she hoped. This was Zoey's first trip with her very own luggage so her mother taking it downstairs was out of the question. The young girl insisted she'd carry her own bag when she was ready to go and no matter how much Abbey tried to reason with her, it was clear the decision had been made and Zoey wasn't about to reconsider.

As Abbey and Zoey continued to negotiate the backpack situation in Manchester, Jed finished washing the last of the glasses he had left in the sink in the apartment in DC. The night before, he had cleaned and dusted the place, stocked the fridge full of fruits, veggies, meat, and dairy, stocked the freezer with ice cream for Lizzie and the pantry with double-stuffed Oreos for Ellie and grape and cherry lollipops for Zoey. Even though they'd spend only two days in the city before heading south to Virginia to soak up the historic charm of Williamsburg, he wanted everything to be perfect.

It was shortly after 5:30 that morning that he scoured the fridge, passing up traditional breakfast food in favor of a chocolate cupcake and a glass of milk. With a determined stride in his step, he sat down at the table, phone in hand, to eat. If Abbey was going to lecture him about his junk food for the next 10 days, then he at least deserved one last splurge, he thought as he began to dial.

In the meantime, Abbey, who had lost her argument with Zoey, had returned downstairs and rushed to answer the phone on the first ring. "You're late."

"What?"

"You said you'd call at 5:30. It's now 5:33."

Jed replied to her tease with a little one of his own. "Sorry, it took me three minutes more than I planned to wake Rita and get her out of here."

"What did I tell you about your trampy girlfriends?"

"To take them to cheap motels instead of the apartment?"

"Damn right."

Jed chuckled. They both enjoyed a little banter that raised the others blood pressure first thing in the morning, especially since they knew how harmless it all was.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Making breakfast sandwiches for the girls to eat on the way to the airport."

"Are they up?"

"All but Ellie."

"Of course."

Abbey wiped her hand on a dishtowel. "How'd you sleep?"

"Can't complain." Jed smiled when he heard his youngest daughter's voice in the background.

"Mommy, you forgot..." Zoey began with her kitten in one arm and a pin-up horse and pony calendar in the other. She walked faster when she saw her mother on the phone. "Is that Daddy?"

"Zoey, you were supposed to be getting ready!"

"You forgot to mark last night on the calendar."

"Go ahead and mark it off."

"But YOU always do it!"

Abbey grabbed a marker from the drawer to draw an "X" where Zoey told her. "There you go. How many more days until Easter?"

Zoey counted the boxes aloud. "Eight?"

"That's right. And only three more days until Busch Gardens."

"YAY!"

"But only if you go get ready so we can go to the airport."

"I wanna talk to Daddy first!"

"Put Ginger down, say a quick hello, and then get upstairs and change."

Abbey passed off the phone to the pajama-clad preschooler and continued wrapping a trio of egg and cheese sandwiches in foil, lost in her own thoughts until the crashing echo upstairs led her out of the kitchen. She planted herself at the foot of the stairs and looked up to see Lizzie tossing her overstuffed suitcase down the steps.

Liz shrugged when she saw her. "It was heavy."

Thank goodness Jed wasn't around, Abbey thought. If he had been, he might have reminded her - and their daughter - that back in college, Abbey frequently hurled her bags downstairs when they were packed to capacity, and that little gem would have undermined the pearl of wisdom she was about to throw Liz's way.

"Next time, pack less," she said on her way up while Liz breezed past her towards the bottom landing.

"Ellie's still asleep," the teen informed her.

"Not for long," Abbey replied as she reached the top and made the turn to Ellie's bedroom. "Ellie?"

"I'm up!" Ellie groggily answered at her mother's knock.

Abbey opened the door. "I want you really up, as in out of bed."

"I'm stretching."

"Enough with the stretches."

"Mooooommmm," she whined.

Sitting on the edge of the mattress, Abbey uncovered her small frame. "Come on, right now."

"Why are you so mean to me?"

"You want to see mean? Because I can do mean."

"Mmmmoooooommmm!"

"You already said that. There's no time to go four rounds this morning. We're going to miss our flight."

"Why can't we drive?"

"Because you girls would make me crazy on a nine-hour drive!"

"I'll be good."

"Eleanor..."

"Just five more minutes?"

"If you spend five more minutes in bed, I'm going to call your grandmother and tell her to sit with you for the week while your sisters and I go to Washington."

"You're blackmailing me."

Abbey tweaked her nose. "Only because I love you, sugar plum. Don't make me leave you behind."

"I don't think you do love me."

"If you don't get up..."

Ellie sighed. "Why can't we take a later flight?"

Fortunately for Ellie, Abbey's impatience faded into worry when she heard the frightening scream downstairs. Recognizing the voice as Elizabeth's, she bolted towards the door, swinging it open and charging out of the room.

"LIZZIE?"

Zoey nearly ran her over, jogging up the stairs after her kitten as Abbey sprinted down. "GINGER, STOP IT! GET BACK HERE!"

The wayward cat ignored her mistress and with a dead mouse in her jaws, she raced towards Ellie's room in hopes of winning favor with the blond since she had killed the rodent that disgusted and terrified her a few weeks earlier. As Ginger neared Ellie's bed, where she hoped to deposit the bloodied corpse, Ellie jumped out of her tangled sheets with a blood-curdling scream that rang throughout the house.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"GINGER, LEAVE ELLIE ALONE!" Zoey demanded.

"Get it out of my room! GET IT OUT!" Ellie shouted from the corner. "MOM!"

Liz rushed back in with Abbey on her heels. "So that's how you get Ellie out of bed."

"Has anyone called the Congressman to wake him up?" On the fourth floor of the Rayburn House Office Building, Michael, Jed's chief of staff, paced the lobby of the congressional office suite, holding a copy of the revised version of the radio response Jed had left on Friday night.

"You think Abbey hasn't already called him three times this morning?" That was Samantha Lloyd, Jed's communications director. A few weeks into her job and she already knew the Bartlet marriage better than her male counterparts.

"I think that if she hasn't, you're going to have to explain to the Majority Leader why the Congressman is still in bed."

"I'll gladly shoulder that burden. Trust me, Abbey Bartlet wouldn't let her husband sleep his morning away on a day as important as this."

Announcing his presence by clearing his throat, Jed said from the doorway, "And I suppose there's no chance that I woke myself up this morning, the adult that I am?"

"Good morning," Michael replied.

Jed gestured a greeting, then addressed Samantha. "Just so you know, I was the one who called my wife at dawn and not that it's any of your business, but so far, we've spoken once, not three times."

"Is she on the plane yet?" Sami questioned, approaching him with a leather padfolio.

"No."

"Then there's still time."

"You taking bets?"

"I only take bets when there's a chance I'm wrong."

"Something about that doesn't sound right to me."

"It's the part about me being wrong. I never am."

"That confidence of yours is grating."

"So you've said, Congressman."

"Hasn't made an impression, has it?"

"I consider the source."

Jed shrugged off that flippant response as he walked into his office. Something he'd only admit to himself is that he enjoyed Sami's candor. He liked that she didn't fall all over herself to appease him or that she didn't apologize for disagreeing with him. He couldn't share that with her though. Still feeling burned by the fallout from what happened with Christine, he was reluctant to trust her.

Samantha didn't push him. She'd been warned by Michael about the rumblings surrounding Christine's departure. She wanted no part of that. Her job was to serve the people of New Hampshire - and, by extension, her country - by representing and advising Congressman Bartlet, a man she had quickly come to respect and admire. She didn't have time to play games or allow herself to be wrapped up in office gossip and she definitely had no interest in following in her predecessor's footsteps by letting something like a fleeting crush on a man so clearly in love with his wife to cloud her better judgment.

She gave Jed his space. She held her ground, but didn't complain when he turned to other staffers for things she felt were better suited to her expertise. She wanted him to have an opportunity to realize her loyalty on his own. If he didn't, she thought, he'd never truly trust her and without his trust, she couldn't properly advise him anyway.

Her suit jacket over her arm, she stood in Jed's doorway. "Ready?"

"For what?"

"Meeting with the Majority Leader."

"Now?"

"Yes, now. It's on the schedule."

"I haven't had time to check the schedule."

"We need to do a run-through of your radio response before the taping."

"The taping isn't live. Why do we have to do a run-through?"

"Because it's important, Congressman. We need you to read the speech in front of the Majority Leader."

"In case he has reservations?"

"Or in case you do."

"I already know what it says."

"I changed it."

"What?" Jed asked, dumbfounded by her admission. "Why would you change my speech? I stayed up half the night writing that thing. Why would you..."

"It's my job."

"To change my speech? Without my knowledge? Who gave you that kind of authority?"

"I gave it to myself. You're a brilliant man, but you're not a political strategist. If a speech needs to be changed, it's my call to make."

"This is an on-air radio response to President Reagan. I will speaking for the entire Democratic Party."

"Which is why we need to do a run-through with the Majority Leader. Look, Lindsay, Michael, and I spent weeks putting together a response that would accurately spotlight your thoughts on minimum wage. You came in last night and rewrote it. Did you really think I wasn't going to look it over?"

"Looking it over and changing it are two different things."

"I tweaked it. Don't make more out of it than it is."

"The essence is still mine?"

"It's possible I might have done a little more tweaking than you would have liked. But every word in that speech has a greater purpose and once you read it, I think you'll agree."

"What if I hate it?"

"Stomp your feet and cry. So long as you read it on-air, I really don't care."

"It's your warmth that led me to hire you."

"Let's get to work." She led the way into the lobby.

"So what happens if the president decides to trash his speech on the economy at the last minute and instead does his radio address on the significance of the White House Easter egg roll?"

"He won't."

"How do you know?"

"Because his radio address will be about the economy. It's an important one."

"Okay, so he rattles off a speech about funding the Easter egg roll. How better to screw me over than to come out as Mr. Fuzzy before I deliver a message on our stagnant economy?"

"Congressman..."

"I'm agreeing to the run-through. What do you want from me?"

"A little good cheer wouldn't be out of line."

"Okay, while I brighten your day with the gift of cheer, will you do me a favor?"

"What's that?"

"Keep reminding me this is important just in case my departure from common sense affects my reasoning ability in the next hour or so."

"Are you going to be this much fun all day?"

"Only if you're lucky."

Maggie, the receptionist, held the phone receiver and called out to Jed as he and Samantha headed for the hallway outside the suite. "Congressman, it's Mrs. Bartlet. She's calling from the airport."

"Shut up," Jed warned in response to Samantha's cheeky smile before he walked back in to take the phone. "Hi, hon. Is the plane on time?"

Somewhere high over the Atlantic Ocean, Liz glanced over at her sleeping sisters. Zoey was wrapped in her blue fleece blanket and curled up against the window while Ellie was resting soundly on her white and pink "princess pillow" in the middle seat. Without disturbing them, Liz stood up and crossed the aisle to sit in the empty seat beside Abbey.

"Are we almost there?"

Abbey checked her watch. "About an hour left."

"I hate flying." Take-off and landing always bothered Liz.

"You want some gingerale?"

"No."

"You know, I remember when you were three years old and we flew back from London. You loved that flight so much that when we walked out of the terminal, you wanted to get back on the plane. What happened to my brave little girl?"

"She grew up and flew to Sweden. I didn't mind planes until that terrible flight back home."

None of the Bartlets would soon forget the choppy ride through a rough winter storm on their way back from Stockholm. It was the worst for Lizzie. She got so sick that they had to spend an extra hour at Logan Airport in Boston to ease her queasy stomach before driving back to New Hampshire. Every time she set foot on a plane from then on, she armed herself with a dose of Dramamine, even for short trips, like the two hours it took to get from Manchester to Washington.

"No storms today," Abbey told her. "It should be smooth."

"I'm gonna hold to you that."

"And if I'm wrong?"

"I'll drive to Washington next time."

"I don't want to have that fight again."

Liz changed her tone then. More serious now, she said, "Mom?"

"Yeah?"

"I checked the mail before we left." She pulled a postcard from her purse. "This came for you."

Abbey examined it, a look of concern crossing her features when she realized it was confirmation that the adoption agency had received her and Jed's application. "Oh."

"Adoption?"

"This isn't how I wanted you to find out."

"I figured. But now that I did..."

"Now that you did, what do you think?"

"About you and Dad adopting a baby?"

"We haven't decided yet. We've talked about it. That shouldn't come as a shock to you. You knew I wanted another baby after the miscarriage."

"I didn't realize you were ready for one this soon."

"You don't think it's a good idea?"

Liz shrugged. "I don't know."

"Two months ago, you said your dad and I should have as many kids as we want. Remember?"

"I remember. I said you love being a mom and you deserve to have more children. I still think that."

"Then what's the doubt about?"

"It's a timing issue. We're not living an ideal life right now. I mean with Dad in Washington and all, things haven't been perfect. You're running yourself ragged between the hospital and taking care of us. If it wasn't for Mrs. Wilburforce, you'd never even sleep. And as far as I know, there's still no decision on reelection. If he runs again, how are you going to handle another kid? Things are hard enough as it is with me and Ellie and Zoey." She backed off when Abbey looked away. "You asked what I think."

"And I'm glad you're being honest," Abbey acknowledged, turning her head to face her daughter once again. "We're still talking about reelection and about adoption. Nothing is set in stone on either one of those issues."

"Don't they go hand-in-hand?"

"I don't think it has to be either-or. You do?"

"I admire what Dad's doing in Washington. It takes a lot of courage to uproot your life and go to congress, knowing you'll be living away from your family for the half the year and you'll be battling people you disagree with day in and day out."

"But?"

"But it's not the best situation for raising children, is it?"

"We're not blazing new ground here, Lizzie. A lot of representatives and senators do exactly what we're doing."

"Yeah, but they're not us. A baby is going to miss out on knowing Dad...really knowing him, like Zoey, Ellie, and I do." Liz softened her voice and said, "I'm not even a kid anymore and I miss him. I really miss him, Mom."

"I know you do, sweetheart." Abbey wrapped an arm around her, bringing her in close enough for Liz to lay her head on her shoulder. "I'm sorry he can't be with us full-time."

"I understand how important it is for him to do what he's doing, I do. It's just..."

"You wish he could be there and here at the same time."

"Yeah."

"Ever since he took the oath, he's been in Washington. It must seem like forever to you girls. But don't forget that summer recess is coming up. He'll be home all of July and August and then he'll be back at the end of October through Christmas and New Year's. You'll be so sick of him by next January, you won't even notice when he goes back to DC."

Liz gave a weak laugh, but Abbey knew it was forced. The separation between them and Jed was hard on everyone, especially on Lizzie. She loved her mother with everything inside her, but her entire life, she had a connection with her father that she had with no one else, a special bond that only she and Jed fully understood.

If it wasn't for the fact that Jed would be home in New Hampshire half the year and that that would disrupt Lizzie's schooling, Abbey would have allowed her the choice of moving to Washington, not as an ultimatum like the one she issued during the campaign when she and Liz weren't getting along, but as a genuine option that Liz could choose without any guilt or resentment from her. She would have done that because more important to her than her own feelings was her daughter's happiness.

"Will Ellie, Zoey, and I be part of the discussion about reelection?"

"You really think we'd make that decision without you?"

"I guess not."

"You'll be part of it all, Lizzie. This is your life too and you have every right to have a say in what happens next." Abbey twirled a strand of chestnut hair around her finger. "I love you, angel."

"I love you too."

"The whole thing would have taken 10 minutes if Greg, the sound guy, knew what the hell he was doing!" The run-through was over and Jed had just finished taping his response to the president's radio address. He sauntered through the halls of the Capitol towards the exit.

"There were some mishaps, sir," Samantha agreed, hustling down the corridor with him.

"Mishaps I can handle. That guy had no idea how to work the board."

"He'd never done it before."

"Well, then, by all means, let his first time be on the day of my radio response. Tell me there's no vast right-wing conspiracy!" Having reached the crosswalk outside, Jed stopped until he saw a break in the traffic.

"To silence you? No, there's no vast right-wing conspiracy to silence you."

"How about to make me a laughingstock?"

"That's entirely possible."

"Have I mentioned how much I love politics?"

"Not today, sir, no." Samantha flipped through the itinerary as they reached the Rayburn Building and headed towards the elevator. "You're done for the day. All you have left before vacation is a photo-op tomorrow morning."

"No way. I'll be spending tomorrow with my family. Cancel the photo op." Jed pressed the call button.

"It's with the Cow Alliance."

"What the hell's the Cow Alliance?"

"C-O-W. Cattle Owners of Wisconsin."

"What the hell do they want with me?"

The duo stepped into the elevator.

"Actually, nothing. They're here to meet with the Wisconsin delegation and we snagged them for a photo-op. Or, more accurately, we snagged their cow."

"The real thing or are we talking acronyms again?"

"The real thing."

"They brought a cow on a plane?"

"They drove." Sami followed Jed out of the elevator.

"With a cow on a hitch?"

"What do you care?"

"I don't." Jed crossed the threshold into the lobby of his suite. "Hey, Maria."

"Maggie," Samantha corrected him.

"That's what I meant."

"Congressman?"

Jed spun around to face her. "You want me to take a picture with a cow?"

"Yes."

"And not even a New Hampshire cow. You want me photographed with a Wisconsin cow."

"Yes."

"This is what being a legislator boils down to? Photo ops with cows?"

"Well, you wouldn't have to except you have a likeability issue with the dairy farmers and I need this photo for the press release I'm sending out Monday on the farming bill you're supporting."

"I don't remember agreeing to support a farming bill."

"It's on your desk. It's a big enough gesture to pacify the New England dairy farmers and minor enough that it's no big deal politically. You'll read it, you'll support it, and I'll announce it on Monday."

"You really like calling the shots, don't you?"

"It's how I get things done. Now as for the photo, your suit might get a little soiled..."

"Oh for crying out loud, if I have to tell my wife that I'm ditching her and the girls on Palm Sunday so I can suck up to a cow, she'll have my you know what in a sling."

"One picture and you're done, I promise. Bring an extra suit to change into and give me 10 minutes before church."

Maggie jumped on an opportunity to interject. "Congressman, you have a visitor in your office."

"No meetings," Samantha said. "He's done for the day. If anyone needs anything, they can deal with me."

Maggie shook her head. "I think this is something the Congressman has to handle on his own. She said it was important."

Jed sighed. "Name me one thing in this building that's not important."

Grumbling all the way to his office, Jed barged in to find Abbey sitting comfortably in his leather swivel chair with her high-heeled boots propped up on his desk. She wore black tights, a black skirt, a maroon sweater, and a light leather jacket. Her sexy auburn tresses tumbled softly around her face.

"It's about time." She cocked her brow and gave him a flirtatious tilt of her head.

"You look like a scandal just waiting to happen!" He tossed his briefcase aside. "Get over here, Dr. B!"

Abbey floated into his arms. "Too bad there's no lock on the door."

"I'll have that fixed first thing."

His hands roamed her body, molding to every inch of her buxom figure. It was an hour glass, perfectly proportioned from her head to her feet. She pushed herself into him, relishing the feel of his big, masculine hands holding her so tightly, as if he was going to squeeze the life out of her if she let him. But it wasn't painful. It was heaven. No matter what, all was right with the world when Abbey was in Jed's arms.

"I missed you so much."

"Not half as much as I missed you." He leaned her against the desk until she was sitting on top of it. "I could take you right here and now."

"Easy, Romeo. We have to keep it above the waist." Her verbal protest didn't stop her wandering eye from falling to his pants and the belt that would be so easily undone.

"No, we really don't."

"We're in a government building and there are people right outside the door."

"This is what fantasies are made of!"

"Jed, your staff!"

"I'll fire them if they come in."

"The walls are thin. They'll hear us."

"If they're offended by the sound of me kissing my wife, maybe they should staff another congressman."

"It's not the kissing. It's the panting, and the moaning, and the screaming they're likely to hear."

"Promise me you'll scream!"

Abbey screaming in pleasure during intercourse always did amazing things to Jed.

"Jed..." She laughed when he nibbled on her ear. Between kisses, she murmured more seriously, "Jed?"

"Hmm?"

"Won't the New England farmers be offended that you used a Wisconsin cow for your photo op?"

"I wanna ride the carousel!" Her arms stretched wide out to her side, Zoey spun herself around over and over again.

"Not until Mom gets back," Ellie told her, staring up at her kite flying high in the breeze.

"But I wanna ride it now!"

It was a gorgeous spring day in Washington, the kind that lured people out of their homes and sent them flocking to the grand monuments, memorials, and museums of the National Mall. It was cheery blossom season and with the festival in full-swing, scores of tourists roamed the grounds with cameras, children ran around over the grassy knolls, and picnickers scattered on colored blankets that dotted the field from the steps of the Capitol to the flags that circled the Washington Monument.

Jed and Abbey spotted their daughters from a distance as they strolled along the sidewalk. They saw Zoey spinning herself around into a state of dizziness and Ellie tugging on the string of her kite to keep it out of the trees. They saw Elizabeth, her eyes hidden behind a pair of shades, lying down on a powder blue blanket next to a picnic basket Abbey had packed for lunch. When she heard Zoey complaining, she sat up and pulled a pair of ribbons out of her purse to distract her baby sister while they waited for their parents.

"Hey, Zo, come here, I'll braid your hair."

"Okay!"

"Sit down and keep still."

Though they couldn't hear them, Jed and Abbey suspected what was going on. Zoey loved the carousel. Being that close to it without being allowed to ride must have annoyed her to the point of a tantrum, they guessed, and Liz had to intervene.

But Liz's attention was overmatched. Beside her, sat an old portable radio they had brought along and piercing the air was President Reagan's address on the economy. All it took to sway Zoey from any lingering thoughts of the carousel was hearing the end of the president's speech which blended almost seamlessly into the start of Jed's.

"That's Daddy!"

Abbey pulled Jed along on a near jog towards the girls and the radio. Seeing them approach, Liz pointed them out to Zoey, who jumped to her feet, one pigtail braided and the other one dangling loosely as she raced into her father's arms.

"Hiya, chuckles!" Jed threw her into the air and caught her with a kiss.

"My name's not chuckles!"

"It is now, you giggly girl!"

"SHHH!" Liz shushed them so she could hear Jed's response on the radio, but that didn't stop her from flipping her shades and giving him a kiss hello.

Moving from Liz to Ellie, Jed embraced his middle daughter, but she also cut him off when he tried to talk, pressing her finger to her lips and telling him she'd been waiting all morning to hear his speech.

"I'm here, in the flesh," he groused.

"Sit down, Jed." Abbey yanked on his arm until he sank to his knees to join them on the blanket. When he did, she threaded her fingers through his and watched him while she listened to his voice on the radio.

Jed didn't have to search her expression to know what she thought. He knew it with her smile and with the silent platitudes that poured out of her eyes with every blink. She had heard most of it on the phone the night before and the things that Samantha changed were things that Abbey wasn't crazy about in the first place. A smug nod of her head reminded him of that. He pinched her arm until she laughed and then looped his arm around her back to let her lean into his frame so he could hold her from behind.

"The political spin is likely to frighten you into thinking of all the businesses that will fail or the jobs that will be lost to a minimum wage hike, but study after study has shown exactly the opposite to be true. Incrementally raising the minimum wage will, in the long run, boost a failing economy and have far-reaching consequences throughout society by weakening the barriers of inequality that separate us into financial classes."

Abbey stroked his hand, so impressed by her husband and all he had done in the few short months since he'd taken the oath of office. He went to Washington an inexperienced politician wanting to serve his community. With the commencement of his first national public policy speech, he had grown into his role in ways she couldn't have imagined. He was still the caring and compassionate person he had been in the New Hampshire legislature, but now he was something more. He was a statesman. Exuding class and dignity, he was a fighter who was taking on the President of the United States on issues near and dear to the people who voted him in office. Abbey couldn't have been more proud.

For his part, Jed tuned out the radio address. He had read that speech so many times, he didn't need to hear it blaring out across the National Mall to recite it. Instead, he looked at the faces of the people he was with - the enthusiasm he saw in Elizabeth, followed by the thumb's up gesture that told him she approved, the confused yet satisfied look Ellie gave him, obvious that though she didn't quite grasp the legislative lingo he spouted, she was certain he did it well anyway, and the spirited smile that Zoey cast. She didn't understand any of it, but she was thrilled to have her father's voice echo through a little black box for all to hear.

And, of course, there was Abbey. Jed rubbed her arms as he held her. A lot had happened in the last three months, things that he couldn't have predicted. When he married the love of his life, he had to adjust to living with her. He never guessed that nearly 20 years later, he'd have to adjust to living without her.

There had been some bickering, some disagreements, and even a few fights between them, but they were minor in the long run. And looking back on it now, Jed realized that the cross words they shouted at each other on that tense weekend in February was as much a mechanism of adjustment as the fantasies that they each took comfort in when the lack of physical intimacy drove them crazy with desire during the work week. It was hard being away from her and the life-changing events they'd confronted made it that much harder.

Abbey's miscarriage still stung. There were unanswered questions lingering in the air about the possibility of adopting another child or of starting a reelection campaign. And there was still the matter of continuing to adapt to all the changes in their family brought about by his absence. He had no doubt in his mind that they could do it. They might have had a bumpy start, but they had finally reached a point where it was clear to them both that they were still the partners they always had been and nothing - not physical distance or manipulative employees or problems with the girls or crippling grief after an unexpected gift was cruelly taken from them - could change that.

"Honey?" Abbey nudged him by squirming so he'd loosen his grip. When he did, she leaned forward and opened the picnic basket to dish out two fortune cookies lost between the containers of Chinese food.

"Chinese food, I should have guessed," Jed laughed, remembering back to the first night in the empty DC apartment when they dined on Chinese take-out on an old blanket they spread over the hardwood floors.

"Remember what we said that night? A fortune can change everything."

"We never clarified, for better or worse?" He watched her eyes twinkle when she saw what it said.

"Oh, it's definitely for the better. You'll love this one." She straightened out the slip of paper that held the nugget of wisdom and read, "Break out the lab coat and spend the day playing doctor.'"

Liz tried to ignore it at first. It was when she caught her parents exchanging gooey eyes that she realized she couldn't. "That is so over-the-top gross!"

"We could do mad things with that stethoscope." Jed played along despite Liz rolling her eyes. "Thermometer too."

Liz stuck her fingers in her ears. "Besides the fact that I now need therapy..."

"Excuse me, I'm trying to flirt with my wife, if you don't mind."

"You're making out with her over your radio address which I would like to hear!"

"It's just about over." Jed reached for the dial.

"NO! I wanna hear it all."

"Me too," Ellie agreed.

Jed shoved Liz. "Killjoy!"

When Lizzie swatted him with her sweatshirt in response, Jed aimed his clutches at her which made her scramble to her feet and run from one side of the blanket to the other, expecting fully that he'd do the same. Predictably, he did, and soon after, Ellie and Zoey jumped up to help their sister escape their father's wrath. Abbey shook her head at her rambunctious family. She would have joined them, but first, there was something else she wanted to do. As the girls screamed while Jed chased them around the musical carousel several feet from the steps of the Capitol, she turned up the radio to hear the very last line of Jed's speech and with a self-restrained cheer in her heart, she listened proudly as he finished.

"Once again, I'm Congressman Jed Bartlet. Thanks for listening."

The End

To be continued in Father of Daughters