"Long lost son"- fanfiction
Disclaimer: I have a confession…wait for it...I don't own the west wing. I know it was a shock when I found out too
Summary: What if Jed and Abbey had another child, one they talked about rarely, because more than twenty-five years ago he went missing. What if twenty-five years later, they think they might have found him. What will happen? Will they have the happy reunion, both parent's have been waiting for? Who is this mysterious person, this other Bartlet?
Prequel- (just a little background)
"What a perfect day for a picnic," Jed Bartlet said, as he looked up at a clear sky and closed his eyes taking in the warmth of the sun, "did you know—"
"No, Jed! We talked about this, if I hear a single interesting fact today…I swear to god and in front of our children, you will be sleeping on the couch," Abbey Bartlet had that look in her eyes that she only got when she meant business.
"Mommy if daddy sleeps on the couch, can I sleep in your room?" Lizzie asked, giving her mom her best pouting puppy dogface.
"Of course honey," Abbey replied with, what Jed believed to be, a sinister smile.
Your wipped, Jed, Jed remembered his brother saying. Yes, yes he clearly was. "Honey, I promise, my lips are sealed," he muttered with a forced smile; the couch was not good for his back.
"Daddy, why your lips sealed?" came a small voice from above his head. Jed reached up and pulled his small son who was sitting on his shoulders, Ben, into his arms.
"Daddy's just using a metaphor," he replied smiling, as he looked down at the boy in his arms.
"A medifo?" Ben asked looking confused. "What's that?" Jed smiled at his son. The kid was a man after his own heart. Most parents would get tired of the many questions, but not Jed. He loved how curious and smart his son was. Twenty minutes later, Abbey finally got tired of listening to the back and forth between Jed and her son.
"Honey, why don't you go play with you're sisters? Look at how much fun their having, and when you get back we'll have lunch all ready for you," Abbey smiled at the little boy, trying to hide the irritation she felt at having to listen to twenty minutes of babbling between her husband and son.
"But Mommy—"
"Honey, go on," she was secretly praying the little boy wouldn't cry, she hated when her children cried. For a second he looked like he was going to, at the very least, start pouting.
Then he asked, in the voice he only used when he wanted something, "can I have ice cream later?"
Naturally, both parents sighed, and then Abbey looked at her son, "sure honey, if you go play and are nice to your sisters, then you can have some ice cream." Ben beamed; he was almost never allowed ice cream, his mom was a doctor and was always very conscientious about what her children ate.
"Thank you Mommy!" the boy yelled, for a four year old he had one hell of a pair of lungs. He got up and sprinted over to where his sisters Ellie, who was five, and Lizzie, who was seven, were playing on the jungle gym.
For a while both parents sat and watched their children play, they listened to them laugh and watched them run around like monkeys, his monkeys, Jed thought. It was one of those moments where Jed realized just how good is life was. He had a beautiful wife, and three beautiful children. He had a great job, as a member of the House of Representatives, and his family had everything they needed.
At that moment, he knew what would make his day complete; turning to his wife he gave her a loving kiss. Gazing into her eyes, he still felt the same passion he felt for her when they first met. She was the girl that made him realize he could never be the priest he used to want to be, she was his soul mate.
After a while of just sitting together, they slowly began to empty their picnic basket of it's load, preparing for lunch. "I'll go get the kids," he said to her as he got up and began walking over to the jungle gym. He saw the girls playing on the swings, but couldn't find Ben anywhere.
After a couple of seconds, of letting his eyes roam over the jungle gym, in an attempt to find the boy, he felt his throat constrict and his heart beat a little faster, and then he was running.
He tried to tell himself he was overreacting, that Ben was there and just hiding, but something, maybe it was parental intuition, told him Ben wasn't hiding. Something told him he needed to run, to search for Ben, because there was something wrong.
He reached the girls, who had now stopped playing on the swings and were staring up at him. "What's wrong daddy?" Liz asked, even at seven years old Liz could sense her dad's hysteria.
"Elizabeth…" Jed took a lung full of air, "where's your brother?" Lizzie, now knew something was definitely wrong; her dad almost never used her full name.
"I…he said he wanted ice cream," Liz hesitated, knowing that her dad wouldn't be happy, "the man said he'd buy him some."
"Oh god," Jed thought he might throw up, "Elizabeth, please… tell me you didn't let Ben walk away with this man." Somewhere in Jed's panic addled mind, he knew it was wrong to blame his daughter, but at that moment he could barely bring himself to breath, let alone actually think rationally.
"I— he…he said," Elizabeth didn't know what to say and at the realization that she had done something wrong, she had started to cry.
"What—what's going on?" Came a voice from behind Jed; it was Abbey.
"He's gone," the words seemed to echo, gone, gone, gone… Jed could feel tears begin to trail down his face. He never cried, hadn't cried in years, but here he was sobbing; his little boy wasn't there. He couldn't even wrap his head around it. Fifteen minutes ago, he was standing before his parents begging for ice cream, and now he was nowhere to be seen.
Jed could see dawning realization hit Abbey, and she stepped backwards, as if she had received a physical blow, "what are you talking about?" Jed knew that Abbey had understood, but he could see she needed him to say it, to say the actual words.
"A man…he took Ben…said he would give Ben ice cream," Jed had never felt so tongue tied, as a politician he was known for his way with words, but now he couldn't think, he couldn't talk, he felt numb and frozen.
"What?" Abbey wailed and then she began running around the park yelling Ben's name. People were staring, seeing that something was obviously wrong. Someone called the police, the happy atmosphere of the park quickly became that of a crime scene. Parents grabbed their children, suddenly insecure, and departed. The police came, asking questions Jed didn't know the answers to. His wife had to be sedated, too overwhelmed; they said she was in shock. Jed clutched onto his remaining two children, who looked scared and confused. He had no comforting words for his children; he had no comforting words for himself.
The police said Ben had disappeared without a trace and the only witnesses to the abduction were two little girls. They searched, searched the park, searched the state, searched the country, but the fact was Ben was gone. Jed and Abbey searched for years, eventually the pain and sorrow they felt for their missing son ebbed. Soon they stopped talking about him, though the pain of loosing him never died, it became something bearable.