Author's Note: Because you know what the world needs? A White House Christmas party. I had SO MUCH FUN writing this story. I hope you all enjoy this little bit of holiday cheer from everyone's favorite administration :)
It's Tradition!
Two weeks before Christmas of 1999, Zoey Bartlet went to the Oval Office to visit her father. She paused in the outer office to flirt with Charlie and exchange greetings with Mrs. Landingham.
"Is that Zoey I hear out there?" Jed shouted from his office.
Zoey grinned. "Yeah, Dad!" she shouted back.
Mrs. Landingham came from behind her desk and opened the door to the Oval Office. "Would you two stop shouting? My god, it's a family trait, isn't it?"
"Sorry, Mrs. Landingham," Zoey said as she walked into her father's office.
Jed didn't apologize. He merely shrugged and closed the door behind Zoey. "Nice of you to visit, sweetheart. How's school?"
"The semester is over, Dad. I just finished finals."
"You did? How did they go?"
"Very well," she assured him.
Jed nodded. "Good. I'm glad. Now, I've got a meeting with the joint chiefs in about ten minutes, so did you come see me for any particular reason, or just to say hi? Or were you even coming to see me? Because I hear that my body man outside is quite appealing to someone I know."
Zoey laughed. "I did say hi to Charlie. And he and I are going out later. But no, I did come to see you for a reason. I wanted to ask when the party is this year."
"What party?"
"The Christmas party we have every year with your staff."
"Oh. Well I wasn't really planning on doing that this year. There's a lot of staff. And Liz won't be coming all the way down for a party, and I doubt you'd be able to drag Ellie away from Baltimore."
"Oh come on, Dad! I don't think Liz and the kids would come, no, but I know I can get Ellie here," Zoey whined.
Jed frowned. "Zoey, this isn't the Governor's Mansion in New Hampshire where we have a staff of thirty. This is the White House. And it's our first Christmas here."
"But it's tradition! And we can do it with just the senior staff. We can do it in the Residence for just the handful of us. Please, Dad?"
Jed looked at those big blue eyes and knew he couldn't say no to his baby girl. "Alright fine. Go talk to your mother and put it on the schedule for next weekend. Maybe Saturday night. And we need a theme, remember?"
"Oh I've got a theme," Zoey assured him.
"Fine. Go work it out with Mom. I gotta go, sweetheart." Jed stood up to walk her out. "You staying tonight?"
"Yeah, I'll be here through the holidays."
Jed grinned at the idea of having her around for at least a few weeks. "Great." He kissed her forehead. "See you later."
Zoey left the West Wing and made her way to the East Wing, where the First Lady's offices were located. Various staffers smiled and greeted her as she made her way to her mother's office. Abbey's staffers were all busy, so Zoey just let herself in.
"Zoey!" Abbey greeted happily, standing from her desk. "When did you get here, baby girl?"
"A little while ago. I put my stuff in my room upstairs and said hi to Dad."
"Oh fine, I see where I rank," Abbey pouted as she gave her daughter a hug.
"Well Charlie is at Dad's side of the building," Zoey explained.
"Well that's different altogether. I'm almost done for the day. Come sit for a while. Tell me how finals went," Abbey said, sitting on the couch. She slipped her feet out of her shoes and curled her legs beneath her.
Zoey sat beside her mother on the sofa and snuggled up to a pillow. "Finals were fine. I felt really good about my French final, but Intro to Cinema was a lot harder than I expected."
"I'm sure you did very well on everything. You're a little genius. Like me and like your father and like your sisters."
"Yeah, it's a Bartlet thing," Zoey agreed.
"Have you decided on a major yet?"
"Not definitively. I'm down to literature or political science."
Abbey raised her eyebrows. "Not biology?"
"No Mom, not biology. No med school for me," Zoey assured her.
The First Lady sighed melodramatically. "Alright, fine. Be that way."
"Hey Mom?"
"Yeah?"
"I asked Dad about the Christmas party…"
"Oh? And what did Mr. President have to say?"
"Next Saturday. But you and I are in charge of everything."
Abbey groaned. "Oh great. Like I haven't got enough to do. That's so typical of him. Make the women do it. Just because I don't have missile launch codes doesn't mean I'm not busy with my own stuff."
Zoey laughed. "I think he wants me to do it, but if you could help me, that'd be nice."
"Do you have a theme in mind?"
"Yep," Zoey replied triumphantly, her eyes flashing happily. "Ugly sweaters. We give a prize to the ugliest Christmas sweater."
Abbey scrunched her face. "Why?"
"Come on, Mom! It's fun! Everyone's doing it."
"I find myself still asking, why?"
"I'm sure you and Dad have at least one dumb Christmas sweater each," Zoey reasoned.
Abbey sighed. "Fine. We'll do it your way. Your dad is gonna hate this though."
"He'll get over it. So can I have free reign planning the party?"
Reluctantly, Abbey told her, "I guess so, yeah. Have fun, baby girl."
Zoey jumped off the couch and gave her mother a big hug. "Thanks Mom! It's gonna be great, I promise!" She ran out of the room to go plan her first Christmas party in the White House.
Over the following week, Zoey wandered around the West Wing, passing out invitations to the party and spreading holiday cheer. For a girl who had just turned eighteen and had spent months trying to get people to treat her like an adult, she made the whole White House as giddy as school children for the holiday season to arrive.
"Zoey, what's all this about?" Josh asked as she handed him a red and green striped envelope.
"Open it and find out!"
He did open it and found an invitation covered in silver glitter, telling him the time and date of the party, as well as the requirement to wear an 'ugly Christmas sweater.' He stared at it for a second before looking back at Zoey's bright smile. "Your parents okayed this?"
"They said I could take care of all the arrangements. We used to always have parties in the Governor's Mansion. It's really fun for the staff to get together and let loose all together. But we all got so close on the campaign trail, so I only invited the senior staff and the people we consider like family. And I'm planning games and stuff. I promise you'll have fun, Josh."
Josh grinned. "If you say so, Zo. I'll be there."
"Great! Hey, do you know where Mandy is?" Zoey asked.
He frowned. "You're inviting Mandy?"
"Sure. She was on the campaign. She was the one that convinced me to cut my hair short. I love Mandy. And so did you, for a while," she pointed out.
Josh chose to ignore that last comment. "I think she's in Toby's office."
Zoey said goodbye to Josh and made her way to the bullpen. On the way, she gave invitations to Donna and Sam. She found Mandy in Toby's office, as Josh had said.
"Toby, Mandy, we're having a Christmas party on Saturday in the Residence. Here are your invitations. Please come in the requested attire," Zoey told them both very seriously.
"Oh, Zoey, I'm sorry but I can't go," Mandy said.
"Why not?"
"I have to go to St. Louis for my uncle's funeral."
"Oh I'm so sorry," Zoey said, very sincerely. She took the envelope back, knowing she had to find someone else to invite to ensure they had the correct number of people for the games she was planning.
Mandy apologized again and left the office. Toby opened the envelope, getting covered in glitter just as Josh had. "Zoey?"
"Yeah?"
"You know I'm Jewish, right? And so is Josh."
"Yeah I know. But this is a holiday party of a nonreligious nature. Does that make you uncomfortable? If it does, I'll make some changes."
"No, it's not a problem. But maybe get a dreidel or two. Just so I'm not completely lost," he requested in his typical dry manner.
Zoey giggled. "Sure. I'll be sure to get some. So you'll be there?"
"There is nowhere else I'd rather be," he assured her.
Zoey then gave CJ her invitation as she finished the afternoon briefing. She also found the perfect replacement for the space Mandy had left open. Finally, she made her way towards the Oval. Leo and Margaret both got invitations.
"Oh, Zoey, I don't know if I should…I mean, I'm just an assistant, and this seems more like a Senior Staff kind of thing," Margaret said.
"Donna is coming. And it isn't a Senior Staff thing. It's a Bartlet thing with family and friends. And you all fall into those categories. Please come, Margaret."
"And I'm sure you've got a killer ugly Christmas sweater to show off," Leo noted with a smirk. "I've even got one that stands a good chance of winning the contest."
"Oh you do not," Margaret disagreed.
"I do so," Leo promised.
Margaret's eyes went wide. "Okay, Zoey. I'll be there."
Zoey left with a big smile in order to deliver the last two invitations to Charlie and Mrs. Landingham.
Charlie was delighted by the theme, which his girlfriend had kept secret from him while planning the party. "I know exactly what I'm gonna wear. It's amazing."
"Oh I don't know, Charlie, Leo said he's got one that's gonna win," Zoey taunted.
Charlie scoffed, "Please, there's no way that a man with handmade suits from London has an ugly Christmas sweater in his wardrobe."
Mrs. Landingham walked from behind her desk with the invitation in her hand. "Zoey, what exactly do you mean by 'ugly Christmas sweater?'" she asked.
Zoey was about to answer but the door to the Oval Office opened and the President shouted, "Mrs. Landingham! Where the hell is that report Nancy McNally faxed over earlier?"
"It's on the side table by the sofa, sir. Because I know that's where you're going to be when you read it," Mrs. Landingham explained calmly. "And would you please not shout?"
Jed found the fax and held it up. "I found it. Thank you, Mrs. Landingham." He walked to the outer office and put his arm around Zoey. "And what are you doing, Miss Bartlet? Bothering my staff?"
"Delivering invitations," Zoey replied.
"Do I get one?"
"I didn't think you needed one, considering we're hosting the party."
"Oh fine. Don't include me," he pouted.
"And there's glitter all over them."
"Well then I'm glad I didn't get one. Getting assaulted by glitter isn't very presidential."
Mrs. Landingham held out her invitation. "Certainly not, Mr. President. You can look at mine."
Jed read it over and frowned. "Please wear an ugly Christmas sweater for the contest?" he read. "Zoey, what the hell does that mean?"
"Don't worry. Mom's got it covered. But you know, Dad, those crazy Christmas sweaters? We're giving a prize for the most ridiculous one."
"I'm gonna win," Charlie informed him.
Jed looked over to him and chuckled. "Oh is that so? What about you, Mrs. Landingham? I'm sure you've got a bunch to choose from."
"And just what are you insinuating, Mr. President?"
"Oh nothing. Nothing at all."
Mrs. Landingham glared at him over her glasses. "Just for that, no cookie for you today."
"You know, I could just take one after you leave."
"Don't you dare."
Jed laughed. "I've gotta get back to work, sweetheart. I'll see you later." He kissed Zoey's forehead and went back into the Oval Office, closing the door behind him.
At last, the day of the party arrived. Sam stopped into CJ's office in the afternoon to ask her a question about the planned news cycle for the upcoming week, but he stopped short. "CJ, where's your sweater?" he asked, noticing that she was wearing a rather typical gray suit.
"Are you kidding? I'm not wearing an ugly Christmas sweater in the office. I won't wear one period until I'm required to. It's in my bag and I'll put it on before we go up to the Residence later. But I see you haven't wasted any time," she replied, nodding to his navy blue sweater embroidered with snowflakes and flowers and dinosaurs in red and white.
"Yes. I'm very proud of this sweater," Sam informed her, puffing out his chest slightly.
CJ nodded in a somewhat mocking way. "Yeah you sure are, Sparky. Way to go."
Upstairs in the Residence, the Bartlets were getting ready for the party. Zoey was putting last minute decorations around. Ellie was in the kitchen making two batches of eggnog and spiced cider, one alcoholic and one non. Even though Zoey was the only underaged guest at the party, they wanted to be conscious of Leo and anyone else who didn't drink or didn't want to.
In the bedroom, Jed and Abbey were getting dressed. Jed was complaining every step of the way. "This sucks," he said for the fifth time as he stood in front of the mirror in his blue sweater with white snowmen saying Merry Christmas.
"Oh shut up," Abbey called from the closet. "It's not that bad. I thought it would make you feel better if we wore the same one. This way we match." She came out wearing the same sweater he was. "See?" She gave a turn to show it off.
"Well it looks better on you," he grumbled.
"How do you figure?"
Jed smirked. "The snowmen. Their heads are a little fuller. They look much happier."
Abbey looked down and saw that the snowmen's heads happened to be directly over her breasts. "Stop it, Jed. We're going to be in front of the staff and our daughters. Behave yourself."
He walked over and took her in his arms. "And what if I don't?" he asked quietly, pulling her body flush against his.
She smiled, making her nose wrinkle. "Let's put it this way…if you're good, I'll let you take this stupid sweater off me and do whatever you want with it," she told him suggestively.
Jed's mind raced with possibilities. "Well then, I'll be sure to be good. Both now and later."
"I'm counting on it, babe," Abbey replied. She gave him a quick kiss and reached down to goose his behind. He jumped slightly, then did the same back to her. They grinned and walked out to the living room with their arms around each other's waists.
It didn't take Jed long to get into the party spirit. "Zoey, everything looks great!" he said, complimenting her decorations. The Christmas tree the family had decorated the night before had been joined by garlands and poinsettia flowers all around the living room. Jed walked over to the side table to look at the work she had done on the nativity scene. "Why is the nativity in the corner? We always put it on the table in the front hall."
"But this isn't the farm, Dad. We've never had Christmas in the White House."
"I know that. But the nativity belongs in the front hall."
Zoey frowned. "Well then you can move it. I have to go put on my sweater. So I can win the contest."
Abbey called after her, "You're not allowed to win, Zoey! We're the hosts. We don't get to win."
Zoey poked her head back around the corner. "Wait so I'm going to wear a stupid sweater for no good reason?"
"It was your theme, baby girl. You don't get to win a contest you create. It isn't fitting of the First Family."
Jed, carrying the baby Jesus in the manger from the corner to the table in the front hall, commented, "Actually creating a contest so you can win it yourself is the most American thing in the world."
Abbey just rolled her eyes. "I'm going to help Ellie in the kitchen."
"Tell her I have to test the eggnog and cider!" Jed yelled after her.
Abbey pushed open the door to the kitchen. "Did you hear that? Your dad gets final approval of everything, apparently."
Ellie sighed. "I shouldn't be surprised. I thought this was Zoey's party."
"I think he's starting to get in the swing of things. I swear, you'd think we were back in Concord, the way he's acting. I don't know how Zoey talked him into this crap," Abbey said, sitting down at the kitchen table.
"You know Zoey can get him to do almost anything," Ellie pointed out, sitting down beside her mother with a cup of cider, passing it to her to try.
"Oh gosh that's good, Ell. You weren't too heavy with the cinnamon like someone else I know."
Ellie smiled. "That's why I volunteered to make it. Please don't let Dad wreck it when he comes in to check," she begged.
"What is this control people seem to think I have over that man? Especially around Christmas! You might have been too little to remember the year I was pregnant with Zoey. My due date was the week before Christmas, so I told him we couldn't have a party because I was afraid I'd go into labor at an inopportune time. But he wouldn't have any of that. No, we had to have the party for the staff in the State Senate office."
Ellie frowned. "I don't remember you being pregnant at a Christmas party."
"That's because I wasn't," Abbey explained. "Zoey came two weeks early. So he took you and Liz to the party that he planned and hosted all by himself and I stayed home with the baby."
"That wasn't very nice of him."
Abbey chuckled. "Actually, it's the nicest thing he could have done. I love you girls to pieces, but not having you in the house for a whole day was heavenly. You'll understand when you've got kids."
"Which hopefully won't be for quite some time, right?" Jed asked, entering the kitchen.
"How about I just join a convent, Dad?" Ellie replied sarcastically.
Jed paused for a moment before nodding. "Actually that's not a bad idea."
"Just go try the eggnog, jackass. The cider is perfect. If you touch it, I'll kill you," Abbey threatened.
"Eleanor, tell your mother that I make superb eggnog and cider, and if she keeps complaining, I'll make it a treasonous offense to criticize the President's cooking."
Ellie left the kitchen, laughing at her parents fighting good-naturedly.
Very soon, the guests began to arrive. Mrs. Landingham arrived first, ever punctual. She had a bright blue sweater with flamingos wearing Santa hats. Zoey, wearing her green sweater that made her look like a giant Christmas tree, gave her a big hug and complimented her fabulous flamingos.
Sam, in his dinosaur sweater, arrived next with Josh and Donna. Josh had a lime green sweater with Santa Claus wearing a colorful sombrero. Big red letters read "Feliz Navidad!" Donna's sweater was red with a green Velcro tree on the front and colorful puff balls stuck to it.
"Hey guys, look!" Josh said excitedly, grabbing two of the balls off Donna's sweater and threw them at her, getting them to stick to the tree in different places. "We can make a new game out of it. Like pin the tail on the donkey. Except it's…pin the ornaments on the Donna."
Donna just sighed and let him carry on with it. She knew he'd get bored with it eventually if she didn't give him the reaction he wanted. Everything changed, however, when Jed noticed Josh and Sam throwing things at Donna. He laughed hysterically and joined in. Donna turned bright red to match her sweater as the President of the United States began throwing puff balls at her stomach.
"Would you guys knock it off?" Abbey scolded, moving Donna out of the line of fire. "I'm sorry, Donna. Your sweater is very cute."
"Thank you, ma'am."
"Donna, just for tonight while you're in our home for the party, call me Abbey."
Donna smiled and nodded.
"Oh, and even though I think they'll cool it with the pin the ornament on the Donna game, I can't guarantee they won't start it up again when they've got a few cups of cider and eggnog in them."
"That's okay. I'm pretty sure that's what the designer of the sweater probably had in mind. But hey, I might win, right? My sweater is interactive!" she pointed out.
Charlie and Toby arrived one right after the other. It was easy to see why Charlie had been so confident about his chances of winning. He had a red sweater with the Teenaged Mutant Ninja Turtles, each wearing a Santa hat.
"My mom got this for me when I was in high school. I wore it every day for a week before I realized it's ridiculous. But I'm gonna win, right?" he asked Zoey proudly.
Zoey just laughed and gave him a kiss.
CJ walked in behind Toby very nervously. Toby turned to greet her and frowned at her sweater. "What the hell is that?" he asked.
"It's a kitten in a stocking, okay? My stepmother gave it to me a couple years ago. It's stupid, but it's all I had," she said in her defense, staring at the carpet under her feet.
"It's cute. But yeah. Stupid," Toby replied.
CJ looked up to smile at him but caught a glimpse of the sweater he had on. Bright green with the body of Santa Claus, making it look like Toby's head was Santa's head. She burst into laughter. "Where did you get that?"
"Andi gave it to me as a joke when I first grew out my beard."
CJ couldn't stop laughing.
Ellie walked by with a plate of appetizers. "Oops. Looks like you two are the first victims of Dad's favorite Christmas tradition." She nodded up at the mistletoe hanging above Toby's head.
CJ, still laughing, grabbed Toby's face and gave him a quick peck on the lips. She then walked into the room to join the rest of the party.
Ellie noticed Toby's cheeks get a little festive color in them. "You'd better move if you don't want to keep getting assaulted like that." She stood up on her tiptoes and kissed his bearded cheek.
Toby cleared his throat awkwardly. "That's a nice sweater," he commented.
She looked down at the giant bucktoothed reindeer she wore. "Thanks. I borrowed it from my roommate. It was all I could get last minute. I came in yesterday so we could decorate the tree. Come see it," she offered, leading him into the party.
Margaret arrived next, feeling thoroughly awkward at being in the Residence. She had never been up there in the eleven months since they had all come to the White House. She stood in the doorway tentatively, waiting for someone to notice her.
A kind hand appeared on her back. "Go inside. Lurking in doorways is weird."
Margaret turned around to see her boss, Leo McGarry decked out in a bright green sweater with the Grinch on it. "Oh my god, you weren't kidding."
He nodded. "Mallory got it for me a few years ago. But look at you!" He gestured to her attire, blinking with tiny multicolored lights. "You got a switch on that thing somewhere?"
"Batteries," she informed him. Suddenly, she bent down and kissed his cheek.
"What the…?"
"Mistletoe," she said, pointing above his head. "We should go in. Lurking in doorways is weird."
Leo followed her inside, shaking his head with a smile. He noticed the President and First Lady. He was standing by the fireplace with a glass of cider in one hand, the other wrapped around his wife's waist.
"Oh my god," Leo said loudly. "You two match? That's just disgusting."
Everyone laughed. Donna commented, "I think they look cute!"
Josh added, "You know, if Mandy was here, she'd want to take a picture of you and leak it to the press. Score some more cuteness points with the public."
"Well we aren't going to do that, Josh," Jed replied. "It's hard to make America's enemies quake when the Commander in Chief's cuteness points are too high."
"What do you think, CJ? Wouldn't the press just love to get ahold of the matching Bartlets?" Josh asked.
"I don't want the press anywhere near this. Because you know what questions I'd get? I'd be bombarded at my briefing with stupid things like, 'Were you there CJ?' and if I say yes, the follow up will be 'What did you wear?' And I will never admit to anyone ever that I wore this stupid thing. No. The press isn't getting a whiff of this at all." CJ punctuated her statement by taking a long swig of eggnog and grabbing a crab cake off a nearby tray.
"Hey Leo," Jed said, "Mallory couldn't come?"
"No, she's on a date tonight," Leo replied.
"She is?" Sam asked sharply.
"Yes, Sam. She is," Leo told him threateningly. Sam didn't say anything else.
Abbey wandered over to her youngest daughter. "Zoey, do you want to start the games?"
"We can't yet," Zoey informed her. "Not until everyone is here. We need even teams for Charades or else it isn't fair. Dad is gonna cheat as it is."
Abbey couldn't help but agree, but she looked around the room. "Zo, who are we missing? Did you get someone to replace Mandy?"
Zoey was about to answer her but the last guest had just arrived.
"Hi everybody, sorry I'm late. I had to finish a story before I came up. What have I missed?"
CJ stood up, choking on her eggnog. "Danny!? What the hell are you doing here?"
Danny Concannon held up a red and green striped envelope. "I got an invitation from that Christmas tree over there," he said, pointing to Zoey.
Jed walked over, a dubious expression on his face. "Daniel."
"Yes, Mr. President?"
"I've got a couple of questions for you. And if you answer them correctly, you can stay."
"Okay."
"Where's your notebook?"
"Downstairs at my desk."
"Okay. And any recording devices?"
"Not one. Everything from the moment I entered is off the record."
"Very good. And just one more thing."
"Yeah?"
"Where's your sweater?"
Danny grinned and held up the black knitted mass in his hand. He put the invitation on a side table and pulled the sweater over his head. Everyone erupted into laughter and applause. The sweater had golden garland all over it and a stuffed moose head sticking out of the front.
Jed laughed and patted Danny on the shoulder. "Alright, you can stay! Now come on, it's time for party games!"
Zoey stood up with a piece of paper. "Okay, I've split everyone into teams."
"We don't get to pick our own teams?" Sam complained.
"No. Because I know all of you pretty well and I know who is going to work well with who," she explained.
"We could do boys against girls," Josh suggested.
"NO!" shouted Zoey and Ellie.
Leo was taken aback at their vehement protest. "Why not?"
"Because," Ellie explained, "Mom and Dad can't play games against each other. They're too competitive. He cheats and she gets mad and he laughs and the night usually ends with some kind of drink poured over his head and then he has to beg to be allowed back in their bedroom."
"Hey, that only happened once!" Jed defended.
"Once was enough," Abbey replied with a glare.
All eyes shot to Danny. He held up his hands defensively. "I didn't hear a thing!"
Mrs. Landingham, ever the voice of reason, turned the attention back to the party host. "Zoey, why don't you just tell us the teams, dear?"
Zoey nodded and pointed to one side of the room. "Over here we have Donna, CJ, Sam, Danny, Charlie, Mom, and Dad. And on the other team we have Leo, Josh, Toby, Mrs. Landingham, Margaret, Ellie, and me."
Everyone moved to the proper side of the room. Jed sat in the armchair and pulled Abbey onto his lap. "Looks like you're stuck with me, sweet knees."
"For richer or poorer, in sickness and in health," she agreed.
Charlie walked past Zoey and told her in a low tone, "You're going down."
"What makes you so sure?"
He slyly pointed to the President. "I've got the cheater on my team."
"He can't win if he cheats," she pointed out.
"I'd like to see you tell him that."
Meanwhile, Toby had sat down on the sofa beside Margaret. "You're blinking," he told her, looking at her bright sweater.
"I know," she replied, completely straight faced.
Toby just nodded. "Okay."
They started the game. Donna went first for her team. The card she pulled said To Kill a Mockingbird. She thought for a moment and then nodded to Zoey to start the timer. She had two minutes for her team to guess.
Donna began acting out the various parts. The members of her team shouted out things as they guessed.
"Book!"
"Four words!"
"First word…"
"Small word…"
"A, the, to…TO!"
"Second word…"
Donna took a moment to consider and then began miming getting strangled. No one was getting it, so she then mimed stabbing Sam.
"KILL!" CJ shouted.
Donna pointed at her, indicating that she had gotten it right.
"To kill…TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD!" Sam yelled.
Donna put her finger on her nose and applauded. Sam jumped up and punched the air. Everyone laughed at him.
First for the other team was Leo. His acting was much less spirited than Donna's, but his team guessed South Pacific much faster than anyone had expected.
The rest of the game went by relatively quickly. No one could guess Streetcar Named Desire from Toby, nor could Sam get anyone to say Cinderella. When it was Abbey's turn, Zoey gave her a card that she had made specifically for her mother. Abbey read it and laughed, beaming at her daughter.
"Alright, you ready?" Jed asked, anxious to pull ahead of the other team.
She nodded. "Start the timer." She started miming the preliminary parts, which her team guessed very quickly.
"Movie."
"One word."
Then Abbey pointed to herself with a big grin. She was looking right at Jed, knowing he would get it.
The rest of the team was still confused. CJ was trying to guess. "Me? I? You? What? Abbey, give us something else!"
She shook her head, still looking at Jed, hoping he could figure it out.
He thought aloud. "One word. A movie. You. You, a movie…Oh! Grease!"
"Yes!" Abbey laughed and applauded her husband.
Josh, on the other team, frowned and complained, "Wait, how did you get that? That's not fair!"
Danny agreed. "Yeah really. I mean, I'm glad we got the point, but how does Mrs. Bartlet pointing to herself equate to Grease?"
Jed explained, "Abbey claims that the movie Grease is an accurate representation of her own experience as a senior in high school. Whenever that movie comes on TV or someone mentions it, she doesn't shut up about it."
"It's true!" Abbey insisted. "I was a senior a few years after the fifties, but I swear, that was just like my school! I watched my boyfriend and his buddies in a drag race. We went to the drive in. There were pregnancy scares and rival cool guys and we all made fun of the cheerleaders and nerds and jocks."
"So what character were you in your real-life Grease, Abbey?" CJ asked.
"Wouldn't you all like to know," Abbey teased. She went back to her place, sitting on the arm of Jed's chair. He wrapped his arm around her and patted her hip affectionately.
Danny leaned over to whisper in CJ's ear. "I bet she was Rizzo."
"Really? I would have guessed Sandy. All cute and sweet and wholesome."
"Wholesome? Come on. Look at her. Mrs. Bartlet is definitely Rizzo."
CJ laughed. "I can see it. She even looks like her, a little."
The game got back under way. Josh got exceedingly frustrated with not being able to speak. Charades was not his game. He made a lot of exasperated groans and moans and nearly screamed at Margaret. He got quite a scolding from both Leo and Mrs. Landingham.
When it was the President's turn, everyone was wary. His card read The Godfather. He smiled confidently and began acting it out.
"Movie."
"Two words."
"First word…"
"Small word…"
"A, to, the…THE!"
Once his team had gotten that far, Jed was at somewhat of a crossroads. He paused to think for a moment before he continued.
"Three syllables."
"First syllable…"
Jed walked over to the nativity scene and grabbed the manger and held it up.
"Dad, no props!" Zoey protested.
He just waved her away, urging his team to keep guessing.
"Baby?"
"Jesus?"
"God?"
Jed pointed to Charlie, indicating he had gotten it right.
Charlie put it together. "The God…The Godfather!"
"Well done, Mr. Young!" Jed said in congratulations. He grinned at his aide proudly. Charlie smiled back and gave wink to Zoey. Just as Charlie had predicted, the President had cheated and their team was going to win.
And their team did win, six points to four. Josh resigned himself to the loss. "Hey Mrs. Bartlet, since I lost, can I go back to throwing things at Donna as a consolation?"
"It's a free country, Joshua. If Donna consents, you can go have fun," Abbey told him, holding her glass of cider up to him.
Donna did consent, allowing Josh, Zoey, Sam, and Danny to all throw puff balls at the tree on her sweater.
Everyone else went over to the piano to sing all their favorite Christmas songs, as was tradition at a Bartlet Christmas party. Ellie sat down to play. Usually Liz was the one to play piano because Ellie was less confident in her musical abilities, but she knew all the family's favorite Christmas songs very well. Leo, Jed, and Abbey started out with their favorite tune, Wonderful Christmastime. The men weren't great singers, but they stayed on pitch well enough. Abbey was having a wonderful singing with her two favorite men.
Charlie and CJ did a rather adorable rendition of Baby It's Cold Outside. They even did a little dance, though Charlie played matchmaker at the end of the song by spinning CJ right into Danny's arms. The reporter dipped her low and everyone applauded.
After that, Jed requested one of his favorite holiday songs from his daughters. Everyone sat around and listened to Ellie and Zoey harmonize with heavenly voices to sing O Holy Night. No one ever realized how musical the Bartlets were. Though it made sense, the President loving music so much. And it shouldn't have surprised them how talented everyone in the family was. What couldn't they do?
When the girls finished, leaving barely a dry eye in the room, Zoey walked over to Toby. "I did get you dreidels. If you wanted to play. I learned the rules."
Toby was touched by her kind gesture. "Yeah, sure. Go get Josh and a couple other people and some candy or pennies or something."
The resident Jews, along with Donna, Zoey, Charlie, Margaret, and Leo all sat at the dining room table to gamble in the traditional Chanukah fashion.
Meanwhile, Jed wouldn't let Ellie get up from the piano. Not yet, anyway. "Just one more, honey, then you can be done. I promise."
"Alright fine. One more. What do you want to hear?" Ellie asked begrudgingly.
Jed considered for a moment and then said, "I think it's Mom's turn." Ellie grinned in agreement.
But Abbey protested, "I already sang with you guys. No one wants to hear me sing."
"I want to hear you sing," Jed told her earnestly. "Mrs. Landingham," he called to his secretary who was standing by the tree with Danny. "Mrs. Landingham, shouldn't Abbey sing something for us?"
"Only if you want to, Mrs. Bartlet. Though you do have a lovely voice."
"I couldn't really hear you over Leo and the President, Mrs. Bartlet, but I'm sure Mrs. Landingham is correct," Danny added with a twinkling smile.
Abbey rolled her eyes. "You're all incorrigible."
"Does that mean you'll sing something?" Jed asked expectantly.
"Fine. But you owe me, boyfriend."
He whispered in her ear, "I'll make it up to you later tonight." He kissed her cheek and sat down to hear her sing to him.
"Alright, Ellie, what do you wanna play?"
Ellie thought for a moment. "Well, we haven't done my favorite yet."
"Let's do that then," Abbey said happily, knowing exactly which song was Ellie's favorite.
"Have yourself a merry little Christmas. Let your heart be light. Next year all our troubles will be out of sight," Abbey sang. The rest of the room paused whatever they were doing and fell quiet to hear her. Mrs. Landingham was right. She did have a lovely voice. Jed loved to hear her sing, though she only did it on rare occasions. Usually it was when she didn't think anyone else could hear her. He liked to walk into a room unexpectedly just to catch her. When their girls were little, she would always sing them to sleep or soothe them when they cried.
CJ stood beside Danny as they watched the First Lady sing. She was once again glad that Mandy wasn't here, because there would almost definitely be a conversation about trying to book Mrs. Bartlet on some morning show to sing for some dumb reason. Not that anyone in the First Family would agree to that. But CJ was just glad that she could see this first hand. And seeing the President look at his wife with that look of pure pride and love in his eyes was always so nice to see. CJ reached around and put her arm around Danny's waist. He looked into her eyes and smiled, pulling her closer to him.
Abbey finished singing and received the loudest applause of the night. She put her face in her hands, hiding the way she blushed bright red. She was a world class scientist. A thoracic surgeon! She was not a performer. Not like this anyway.
Jed took his embarrassed wife into his arms, taking her hands away from her face so he could kiss her. "That was amazing, babe. Thank you." She grinned, making her nose wrinkle, and she kissed him again.
Zoey let Ellie take her place at the dreidel table to make the important announcement of the night. "It is now time to vote for the best sweater! I have been informed that none of the Bartlets are allowed to win, despite the fact that my Christmas tree sweater is clearly the best, but whatever. I figured the most democratic way to do this would be to nominate the top five and have anonymous ballots for the winner."
The nominees were Donna, Margaret, Danny, Toby, and Leo. Charlie was slightly disappointed, but he admitted to Zoey, "How could my Ninja Turtles be expected to compete with a Velcro tree, blinking lights, a moose head, Toby as Santa, and the Grinch?" She couldn't help but agree.
Everyone wrote down their vote on small slips of paper, folded them, and put them in a big bowl on the table.
"Dad, do you want to tally the votes?"
"I'd love to, thank you, Zoey."
Zoey giggled as he father eagerly began reading the votes and marking them down. She knew how he loved to count. Once an economist, always an economist.
A moment later, Jed announced the results. "Alright unfortunately, neither Toby nor Leo got any votes. Sorry, guys." Both of the men shrugged. Neither cared too much about winning this particular contest. Jed continued, "So in third place, with two votes, is Margaret and her blinking sweater." Everyone clapped as Margaret gave an awkward bow and sat down on the couch with Leo and Toby. "Our winner, with eight votes, a whole fifty-seven percent of the overall vote, is Danny and his moose!"
Donna shook the winner's hand and everyone applauded the winner. Zoey gave Danny a small trophy that said "Best Ugly Christmas Sweater, Bartlet Christmas Party 1999." He held it above his head triumphantly.
"Now tell us, Danny," CJ said, "how many Bullwinkles had to die for that prize?"
He grinned. "Just the one, see?" he replied, pointing to his protruding moose.
People then started slowly departing. Mrs. Landingham left first and Leo offered to walk her out. Josh had to leave as well, as he had an early morning appointment on the Hill. Donna allowed Sam and Charlie to play one more round of Pin the Ornament on the Donna before she left too. Sam walked her out to her car.
Charlie helped Zoey begin to clean up. Margaret and Toby were deep in conversation on the sofa about who knows what. Ellie started taking the food back to the kitchen. Abbey and Jed were standing with their arms around each other, gazing at their Christmas tree.
"It looks really good this year," Jed commented.
"Sure does," she agreed. "We didn't get to add too many new ornaments this year."
"Well we added so many last year during the Transition," he pointed out. The Bartlets had a very nice tradition of taking plain colored ornaments and putting pictures of friends and family on them to decorate the tree. Everyone at the party had their face on the tree, though they doubted anyone had noticed. It made the family happy to include people that mattered to them in their holiday traditions.
"I think one of the strings of lights might be out," Abbey said, examining the tree closer.
"You want me to check it out?" he asked.
"No, I got it. Go help Ellie in the kitchen. She cooked all day. Don't let her clean everything too."
Abbey made her way around the enormous tree to the back to check the power outlet. She did find which string was unplugged. Someone had kicked it out of place. And she knew this because Abbey found CJ and Danny making out in the corner.
"Hey there," she said, causing them to break apart in panic.
Danny coughed and wiped his mouth awkwardly. "There was mistletoe," he explained, pointing above their heads.
"Yeah, my husband likes to hide it everywhere. He got me back here last night when we were plugging in the lights." Abbey had a big grin on her face, amused at what she had discovered.
"I'm gonna grab my trophy and say goodnight," Danny said. "Thank you for the party, Mrs. Bartlet." He quickly made his way back from around the tree.
Abbey and CJ were left there. "CJ?"
"Yes, ma'am?"
"You should have told me."
"There's nothing to tell!" CJ said defensively. Her flushed cheeks said otherwise.
"Well I only say that because I would have stopped trying to fix you up with doctors."
"I'm sorry," CJ mumbled.
Abbey smiled sympathetically. "Don't be. I like Danny better anyway. Do me a favor and plug that back in, would you?"
CJ plugged in the lights she had accidentally knocked out earlier. She then awkwardly made her way back around the tree and said her goodbyes.
Toby and Margaret were the last to leave. They stood in the doorway as he helped her switch off her blinking sweater before helping her with her coat. He paused, however.
"What?" she asked.
He leaned in and kissed her softly. "Mistletoe," he explained, pointing above her head.
The corners of her mouth twitched upward. "I know. I saw it earlier."
They left together. Jed watched them leave with interest. "Well," he commented to Abbey, "we do know he like redheads."
At last, only the family and Charlie were left. Abbey dragged Ellie out of the kitchen. "You've done enough, sweet girl. Come sit with your family. We can finish the dishes tomorrow."
"I think I'm gonna go to bed, Mom. It's been a long day. And it's getting pretty late," Ellie told her. She said goodnight to everyone and went down the hall to her room.
Jed came to sit across for Zoey and Charlie in the living room. "Now, Charlie, I like you a lot. But I swear to God, if you don't leave here before I go to bed in about twenty minutes, I'm gonna kick your ass to New Year's."
"Dad!" Zoey protested.
"Zoey Patricia, I know you're eighteen but that isn't going to stop me. When you're under my roof, no boys allowed. That was the rule in New Hampshire, and it's the rule here. You know that."
"I should get going, Zoey," Charlie said, not wishing to anger his extremely understanding boss, the father of his girlfriend.
Zoey sighed. "Fine. I'll walk you to the lobby."
After they left, Jed had Abbey all to himself. "What do you say we turn out the lights and get to bed ourselves? Because I do owe you for singing so beautifully for me. And I seem to remember a promise being made regarding these stupid sweaters."
Abbey smirked. "Yeah, alright. You behaved well enough." They walked into their room and Abbey noticed a new addition to the bedroom. "What is that?" she asked, pointing to the red ribbon hanging above their bed with a green sprig at the end.
"It's mistletoe."
"Are you going to make love to me under the mistletoe, Mr. President?"
Jed pulled her into his arms and shut the door behind them. "Of course I am. It's tradition."