Author's Note: I wrote this story over the course of a few weeks, but I originally intended it to be one continuous piece. And then it ended up being nearly 8000 words. And that's just ridiculous. Though I suppose that's what I get when I dawdle on writing Bartlet History for so long. So this, BH21, has been separated into 3 parts. I hope you enjoy. I really loved writing this. We have some new characters and some returning characters, and as the title suggests, Jed and Abbey work through the miscarriage (see Bartlet History 20 entitled Too Soon).
Healing
"Look at me, I'm Sandra Dee…" Abbey hummed to herself as she folded laundry.
Jed groaned. "Again with that?"
"It's stuck in my head!" she told him.
"We saw Grease over a week ago. And you're still singing the music," Jed complained.
"Well, it's very catchy. And besides…"
"Yeah, yeah, Grease is the story of you in high school," he said, finishing her sentence. "I still have trouble believing you were ever a cute new girl falling for the bad boy jerk. But I guess that transformation is why you ended up like you were when we met."
Abbey smirked and looked away to hide her expression. It amused her to no end that Jed assumed she was Sandy. No need to shatter that illusion right now. "At least I got over my bad boy phase," she conceded.
He frowned at her. "Are you saying I'm not a dangerous, sexy bad boy?"
Abbey laughed loudly. "You were studying to be a priest when we met!"
"Okay, so maybe not a dangerous bad boy," he pouted.
She walked over to where he was sitting and leaned down and whispered, "Not dangerous but very sexy." She nibbled on his earlobe to emphasize her point.
Jed inhaled sharply before clearing his throat and inching away from her. "Knock it off. We gotta get going soon." Besides, it had been a while since she'd come on to him like this. He liked her in a good mood, but he was still a little worried.
Abbey sighed. "Yeah, you're right. My family is expecting us for dinner." She stood and returned to her laundry. "I'll finish this up. Can you make sure the girls are all packed?"
Jed nodded and went down the hall to check on Liz and Ellie. Before he even reached their bedrooms, ten-year-old Elizabeth darted out of Ellie's room and closed the door behind her. "Dad, I tried to help her," she told him in preemptive defense.
"Okay…" Jed went past his eldest daughter and entered the room. Ellie's clothes were all over the entire room in messy piles. "Eleanor, what's going on here?" he asked calmly. Abbey was sure to be livid, but he couldn't help but find it a little funny.
"I'm packing," the four-year-old replied simply.
"It looks to me like you've got more clothes out here than you need, jellybean."
"I'm organizing, Daddy." Ellie then went into a long-winded and somewhat mumbling explanation of her process.
Liz stood in the doorway and folded her arms, watching with a bemused expression. Jed noticed she looked identical to her mother, and it made him smile for a moment. "Okay, Ell, why don't you and me and Lizzie decide what it is you want to bring for the week with Grandma and Grandpa, and then we can put the rest away. Let's get to work quick before Mom sees, okay?"
Abbey found her husband and children a little while later working in such a focused manner. "We should probably get going in about half an hour. Are we going to be ready?" she asked.
"We should be, yes," Jed replied. He was too focused on his task to even turn to look at her. He didn't know how Abbey did it. She seemed to be able to fold blouses and pants with such ease. He wasn't doing the best job, and it was still taking forever.
"Hon, why don't I swap with you? Tim is on the phone."
He nodded and went to take the call from his campaign manager in his study. Abbey was left with the girls. She had them packed and ready to go by the time Jed got off the phone.
"OH FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!" Jed's voice sounded loudly down the hall.
Abbey rolled her eyes. She knew that tone. He was angry, but it was going to be something petty and unimportant. When he was really angry, it was quiet and terrifying until it did finally explode. This wasn't that.
The door to the study slammed and Jed stomped down the stairs. Abbey paused for a moment, trying to decide what she needed to do. "Liz, Ellie, finish packing the last few things and then bring your bags down to the front door. You can leave the rest of the clothes until we get back." She stood up and sighed. "I have to go calm your dad down before he drives us all to Boston."
Abbey left the girls to finish their task and went downstairs to find her husband. Jed was in the kitchen, angrily drinking a glass of water. She leaned next to the fridge and crossed her arms.
"You wanna tell me what's going on?" she asked, her brows raised, daring him to say something ridiculous.
"You know whose book is being published next month?"
"Yours," Abbey answered.
Jed nodded. "Mine and Yosh Takahashi's."
"Oh god," she groaned. "You two have been biting at each other's heels since London. Can't you just let it go?"
"Abbey, every single theory I've ever had, he's tried to argue the exact opposite. He's doing it just to get at me, I swear to God he is."
She could tell that he was getting himself more worked up, and if he got behind the wheel of a car like this, he'd probably crash into a fire hydrant or something. "Jed, go take a walk. Milk a cow or brush one of the horses."
"I'm fine, Abbey," he insisted.
"I'm going to load up the luggage. You go cool off. Our daughters are going to be in the car, and I won't let you drive like this."
"Yeah, okay." He knew she was right. He hated that Takahashi got him so worked up like this. But that pompous, Japanese pain in the ass never seemed to go away. He was always right there, spouting some conservative, free-market BS. Jed never could resist that bait. It was a classroom debate with Takahashi that had led to the paper that had almost gotten Jed thrown out of the London School of Economics. Takahashi had gotten him so riled up that he'd gone to the other extreme and posited the deregulation of far east trade barriers, a theory so incredibly radical that he'd gotten reprimanded by the Dean himself. He hadn't ever told Abbey how much trouble he'd actually been in. But thank goodness Professor Meade had seen the spark of a legitimate idea in that insane paper. It had ended up being his Master's thesis and grown into his PhD dissertation, and was now the subject of his forthcoming book. Ten years after the idea had started, he'd finally be publishing his book, Theory and Design of Macroeconomics in Developing Nations.
Jed took another turn around the barn, pausing to greet the horses. By the time he returned to the house, Abbey had gotten everything packed into the car and was in the process of making sure the girls were comfortable for the journey. The parents shared a nod, indicating that they were ready to go now.
As they drove, Jed asked the girls silly trivia questions. "Who can name all the seven dwarves?" or "How many states end with the letter A?" or Abbey's favorite, "Sing the alphabet backwards!" She loved listening to her little girls get all tongue-tied. They were both smart as a whip, and seeing them struggle with something so inane was absolutely charming. It also didn't hurt that Abbey could recite the alphabet backwards in her sleep—she often did just that when she was having trouble falling asleep.
To save Liz and Ellie from their confusion, Jed decided to change the subject. "Girls, remember, we're going to see Aunt Theresa and Uncle Richard and Cousin Max."
Ellie was still too young to remember the last time the Millers had visited. But Liz remembered Max. And Abbey had a long history with her cousin, Theresa. Mother and daughter grumbled at the prospect.
"Oh come on, they're family. Max is thirteen now. You guys will have lots of fun," Jed assured them.
Abbey still wasn't excited to see her extended family. Just the night before, she'd gone on a whopper of a rant about Theresa. "She's spoiled and entitled and she's always been a brat. Even when I was ten and she was fifteen, she was pompous and pretentious and a complete and utter pain!"
Jed had heard these complaints about boarding school-educated Theresa many times before. So he complimented his wife on her alliteration and otherwise ignored her disgruntled raving.
In the car, Abbey mumbled, "I don't see why we couldn't have Aunt Cynthia and little Joe visit. He's a sweetheart."
"I thought Aunt Cynthia scared you?"
"Well, she's a bit forceful. But she had a baby at forty-one, became a widow a year later, and has been running a supremely successful corporation ever since Uncle Milton died. How Joe has grown into such a sweet teenaged boy is beyond me. You know, he's going to Princeton next year," Abbey said.
Liz interrupted, "Are we there yet? Ellie is falling asleep and I'm bored."
Jed went back to trying to entertain the kids while Abbey stewed in annoyance beside him. Her feelings were premature, as she was sure to be plenty frustrated spending a holiday weekend with her least favorite relatives, but preparing herself did seem the better course of action. But Abbey smiled to herself. At least they'd get one night off to spend with people she actually adored.
At long last, they arrived at the Barrington house in Lincoln, just in time for dinner. Liz and Ellie practically burst out of the car and into their grandparents' arms. Louise, Abbey's mother, covered Liz in kisses while Jim, Abbey's father, lifted little Ellie with one arm. She giggled happily. By the time Jed and Abbey got out of the car, Jim had taken Liz in his other arm and began swinging the girls in circles.
"Jim, they're gonna throw up on you in a minute," Jed warned with a laugh.
"We're having fun, Daddy!" Liz assured him.
But Jim put them down anyway so he could greet his daughter and son-in-law. Abbey got to her father first.
"You used to do that with Kate and me when we were little," she said nostalgically. She fell into her father's crushing embrace and somehow felt calmer than she had in quite a while.
Jed greeted Louise warmly but watched Abbey and her father out of the corner of his eye with a small smile. Their relationship was so special and was so very much a part of who Abbey was as a person. And Jed wanted nothing more than to be a father to his girls the way Jim was to Abbey and her sister. Unlike his own father, Jed never had any hesitation going to Jim Barrington with any questions or concerns he had. He was lucky to have married into such a kind, loving family who accepted him so happily.
"Everyone come inside! Dinner is almost ready," Louise announced.
"Mom, are the Millers here yet?" Abbey asked warily.
"No, they won't be here until the holiday barbecue tomorrow. Theresa wanted to stay at a hotel closer to the city. Apparently none of the ones around here cater to her unique needs," Louise replied with ire dripping from her tone. That made Abbey secretly quite happy.
