Series: Snapshots of the Past
Story: The Candidate's Daughter
Chapter 1
Disclaimer: The characters depicted in this story belong to NBC, WB, Aaron Sorkin, and John Wells. We're just borrowing them for some fun :)
Story Summary: As Jed runs his re-election campaign for congress, Elizabeth struggles with a secret that will change the Bartlets' lives forever. Part 15 of the Snapshots of the Past series.
Feedback is always appreciated!
Author's Note: In real life, 1986 represented a mid-term election cycle, but given that on The West Wing, Jed won his presidential election in 1998, 1986 had to be a presidential election year for the fictional Bartlets. Therefore, starting with this story where Reagan will be completing his final months in office, the show's fictional former presidents will occupy the Oval Office from now on. And by the way, if anyone has a list of the order in which they served on the show, I'd greatly appreciate it!
- - -
June 1986
In the Spring of '86, Jed Bartlet had his hands full. On the pop culture front, 'Out of Africa' won an Oscar for best picture, the Boston Celtics defeated the Houston Rockets to win the NBA championship, and the 'Hands Across America' campaign earned international attention when over five million people participated in the fundraising effort for hunger and homelessness by forming a human chain from New York City to Long Beach, California.
But it was politics with which Jed was concerned. He was running for re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives and he'd had his campaign strategy already mapped out. The Rogers Commission, appointed by President Reagan, had just released its findings on the investigation into the Challenger explosion. That's what he expected would dominate his campaign speeches over the summer months, but it wasn't. Something much closer to the hearts of his constituents had led the headlines since late April and by June, that was all anyone in New Hampshire wanted to talk about - nuclear power.
A malfunction at the Chernobyl Power Plant in the Soviet Union had caused multiple explosions and fires that shot radioactive elements into the atmosphere, killing thousands and forcing the evacuation of more than 300,000 residents. It steered the national debate in America and because New Hampshire was in the process of building its own nuclear power plant, it also steered Jed's primary campaign
On a sunny day in June, he headed up a conference call with his district office staff, senior campaign aides, and his Washington staff to pen a new strategy going into summer press interviews. The Seabrook Station, the budding power plant on the southern coast of the state, had become such a controversy that a group of protesters known as the Clamshell Alliance had recruited people from around the country to help them with demonstrations. When those demonstrations ended in arrests, it became an urgent political issue for Jed.
"I've got five minutes," he said, playing the conference call on a speaker phone from his campaign headquarters, the old warehouse on Elm Street that had also been used for his first campaign.
"We're still getting calls." That was Michael, his Chief of Staff in the DC office. "Samantha's issuing multiple press releases a day, but the bottom line has to be that you don't support the arrest of citizens exercising their Constitutional rights."
"Were they breaking any laws?"
"It was a peaceful demonstration."
"Mark?" Jed asked.
Mark was his campaign director. He was sitting in the room with Jed at the campaign office "They spent one night in police custody and by all accounts, the state police acted professionally. A member of the Alliance is on the record in the New York Times as saying so."
"That has to be it then," Michael replied on speaker. "Feed them that line - the state police acted professionally, but while you might not agree with every word the Alliance says, you defend their right to say it."
"Fine, for today. What about tomorrow and the next day and the day after that? How am I supposed to run for re-election while balancing the pros and cons of nuclear power?"
"Very carefully."
"That's all you've got?" Jed was frustrated. "Look, I know this isn't easy guys. We're gonna piss someone off no matter what we do, but we have to figure it out and fast. It's been five weeks since Chernobyl and we're still playing it day-by-day."
"Seabrook is in your district, Congressman," Mark reminded him. "The polls positively show that voters are scared."
"And they have a right to be. But am I supposed to cave to that fear or play up the positives?"
"Part of our problem is that we don't know how you genuinely feel about it. Do you?"
Jed could have admitted he was on the fence, but his silence was admission enough. He saw both sides of the nuclear power debate. Coming on the heels of Chernobyl, he refused to succumb to the emotional fears that other politicians were fostering, yet he wasn't convinced that the advocates had it right either.
"It's Friday. I want a plan by Monday. A real one," he said.
Michael scribbled a note on his legal pad and went on without missing a beat, "Congressman, I need to switch gears. Before you go, I want to bring up Ernie Bennett."
"I've made up my mind on Bennett's bill, Michael! I'm not doing it!"
"Congressman..."
"It's the same damn bill he tried to shove down my throat when I first got to Washington. I didn't support it then and I sure as hell won't support it now!"
"It's not exactly the same."
"It's close enough."
"It's sex education, Congressman."
"No, that's precisely what it's NOT. I will not put my name on any bill that allows free access to condoms in schools without so much as a word of caution. If Bennett wants my support, he'll amend his bill to mandate that any safe-sex lecture kids receive will also include the mention of abstinence as an option."
"I'm saying that it's being presented as a sex-ed bill and with Abbey running a sex-ed class at the hospital, this will turn into a battle we're not prepared to fight."
"Abbey's class has nothing to do with this bill. She's teaching teenagers about the consequences of sex. She isn't just handing out condoms on a street corner. Abbey asked for parents' permission for every teen enrolled in her class. Bennett doesn't give a damn about parents, as if what their 14 and 15 year olds do is none of their business!"
"I still think it's a mistake. You're positioning yourself in a very precarious position without any allies. You won't support the bill with the Democrats, but you won't support an abstinence-only program with the Republicans either."
"Why does it have to be one or the other? God forbid we should find some middle ground on this topic."
"I have to agree with Michael," Mark interjected. "This is a mistake."
"And you'll get a chance to tell me why." Jed pushed his chair back. "But not now. I've gotta go. My daughters have this thing and their mother can't make it, so I need to get out there. We'll continue this in a few hours. I'll call from home."
He hung up the phone, grabbed his briefcase, and strolled into the lobby of his office, where he had set up a desk for his new office manager, Delores Landingham. Mrs. Landingham had settled in nicely since moving back to New England. Once she was all moved in to her new place, she started work at Jed's campaign headquarters and proved quickly what an asset she was.
"Mrs. Landingham, I'm going to be out for a while."
Mrs. Landingham jotted down a note on a message pad as he passed through.
"Okay. Mrs. Bartlet called again," she said. "She's swamped at the hospital and doesn't know when she'll be home."
"No, no, no, she has to be home on time today. She's supposed to help Elizabeth this afternoon."
"It's an emergency. She said it was unavoidable."
"Damn, Lizzie's gonna be pissed. You wouldn't happen to know a reliable seamstress in the area, would you? Someone who can hem a prom dress in minutes?" It was the day of the prom and Liz was sure to be a wreck when she learned of this latest snag, Jed thought.
"No, but you don't have to worry about it. Mrs. Bartlet fixed it."
"The dress?"
"The problem. The hem wasn't that long, so she gave Elizabeth permission to use her credit card to buy the shoes with the higher heel."
"My 18-year-old daughter is buying a hundred-and-fifty dollar pair of shoes that she will only wear one time and I don't have to worry about it? Fantastic."
Unhappily rolling his eyes, he grabbed his car keys and stalked out of the office.
- - -
There was a board hanging off the East wall on the surgical floor of the hospital. On it was the list of surgeries and O.R. suites. Patients were posted by last name and the initials of the surgeon on the case was written next to them, followed by the operating room the doctor had booked. Abbey spent minutes each morning learning the board and in between operations, she always studied it again.
On that day in June, she saw something that bothered her and she turned to the nurse's station nearby.
"Can you page Dr. Harkin for me please?"
She waited until second-year resident, Dr. Zack Harkin, approached.
"I was paged?" he asked at the nurse's station.
"Dr. Harkin," Abbey called from behind him. "They're bringing accident victims from ER."
"I know. I'm assisting you."
"So you put your name on the board?"
"Yeah, sorry, I didn't want to bug you and I just figured you wouldn't care."
"I do care. You were on call last night?"
"Yes."
"And the night before?"
"Dr. Neil was sick. I volunteered."
"You've been at the hospital for 42 hours, which means it's time for you to go home."
"What?" Harkin was stunned. Never before had he been asked to leave.
"You need to sleep."
"I'm not the least bit tired."
"Well, you're sleep deprived. And as impressed as I am by your work ethic, I don't want you in the O.R. Go home, get some rest, continue your regular shift this weekend. I'll see you on Monday."
Abbey breezed past him to scrub in as Harkin stood there, annoyed and speechless.
- - -
It was Field Day at Manchester Elementary. The school year was winding down and summer was fast approaching. The kids had so much energy, too much to sit in a stuffy classroom and pay attention to yet another math lecture. That was the basis for inventing Field Day, Jed thought on the drive over. Whoever came up with it was probably being overrun with listless school children, too hyper to do anything but run around.
The sun shined bright that day, the first Friday in June, as kids from every grade raced out of their classes and onto the field, excited about the annual sports contest. They had all been assigned games they would compete in, something that their teachers had seen them excel at during the year. The older kids, like Ellie, were slated for the more demanding track and field athletic sports, like sprinting and hurdling, while the younger kids, like Zoey, would get to compete in things like the three-legged race and the water balloon toss.
Since Abbey couldn't be there to watch, it was up to Jed to cheer his two daughters to victory and hope that they wouldn't feel her absence. He called out to them when he got to the field and gave them both a big thumbs-up from the stands when they waved back. Zoey was first and as she took her spot for the potato sack race, he clapped louder than anyone else.
"GO ZOEY!" he shouted the whole time she hopped down her lane, his voice rivaling those of the other proud parents who were screaming for their kids alongside him.
Across the field, Ellie jumped up and down, rooting for her sister.
The whole race took just a few minutes and at the end, a disappointed Zoey walked away in fourth place. She didn't have time to sulk over her loss, though, because after a five-minute breather, her next event was due to start - jump rope. This time, she walked to her position among five of her kindergarten classmates, determined to jump the longest without stumbling.
Jump rope wasn't an activity Zoey was particularly good at, but it was one that she enjoyed. Her teachers noted that her hand-eye coordination wasn't the best. Still, she was chosen as one of the five to compete because they knew it was her favorite sport. That day, her adrenaline was pumping. Her heart was racing. She jumped high and she jumped fast. Too fast. Her rope got tangled in her feet within seconds and just like that, it was over. She had lost.
With a fifth place finish and no other events left, she hung her head as she walked to the sidelines to watch the other games going on. Jed's heart broke for her. He wanted so badly to run out onto the field, scoop her up in his arms, and take away her sadness. But he couldn't. He had to wait until the whole thing was over before he could reassure his little girl.
Over on the track, Ellie prepared for her first event. She was a good athlete, the most talented in the family, Jed always said. She had a great love of sports and she was good at so many of them. It came as no surprise to him and Abbey when she qualified to compete in the 50-yard dash, the obstacle course, tug-of-war, and the girls 50-meter hurdle.
Jed watched her stretch her legs and her arms just before each contest, then watched as she came in first, beating out her peers over and over again. His heart still breaking for Zoey, he cheered for his middle daughter and pumped his fist in the air every time she crossed the finish line or in the case of tug-of-war, when her team yanked the rope so hard that the flag went several feet past the cone marker. He shouted her name and wished that Abbey had been there to share the moment with him.
Right after her last event, an enthusiastic Ellie ran over to Zoey. She had been so busy stretching for the 50-yard dash when Zoey was competing in jump rope that she hadn't been able to see it. Zoey gave her a congratulatory high-five and with fresh tears in her eyes, she told her that she finished fifth. From the stands, Jed saw Ellie wrap an arm around her little sister and walk her over to a crowd of her sixth-grade friends to cheer her up as they all waited for the ribbon ceremony.
- - -
The juniors and seniors at Elizabeth's high school had their own celebration planned. It was Prom Night. Students were only required to attend a half-day of school so that they could prepare for the evening's activities. For Liz and her friends, those preparations included a stop at an upscale salon and day spa in Bedford to have their nails, hair, and make-up done. Afterwards, the four girls stopped by the flower shop to pick up the boutonnières they had ordered for their dates and returned to the Bartlet farmhouse, with their dresses protected in garment bags, to get ready for the big dance.
When they reached Liz's bedroom, Morgan began switching things she'd need from her regular purse to the sequined clutch she wanted to use that night. Holding up a handful of condoms, she turned a shameless eye to her friends. "Check it out, girls!"
"Good God, Morgan, nobody's that randy!" Tori teased.
"Curt is. He's renting a room."
Liz didn't pay much attention to the talk. Morgan and Curt had been sleeping together for months now. It was no surprise that they'd arranged a secret rendezvous at prom. That was one of the reasons Liz wasn't wild about the event being held in a hotel ballroom to begin with. She wondered how many other couples had reserved rooms and planned to sneak out during the dance.
"You got some extras there?" Kimberly asked. She raised her hand to catch them when Morgan tossed her a couple. "Thanks! Rick never comes prepared...pun intended."
Morgan laughed as Kimberly threw a pillow at her. She looked over at Liz then. "Liz?"
"Huh?"
"You want one? I mean, just in case."
The girls knew Liz and Doug hadn't been intimate yet.
"No, I'm good."
"You don't have to sleep with him, but it wouldn't hurt to carry it with you. You never know when you're gonna wanna do it. You might as well be prepared."
"Trust me, nothing's going to happen between me and Doug tonight."
"Don't you ever want to? I mean, don't you have the urge to?"
"Sometimes." Liz blushed slightly. "I mean, yeah, I have urges and all. Doug's the first guy who's ever brought them out in me. But..."
"But what? He's been pursuing you for a year," Tori replied.
"TWO YEARS," Kimberly corrected. "He was trying to get a date with her when her dad was running for congress the first time."
"Yeah, well, he didn't get a date with me back then. We were friends. We haven't been officially dating that long."
"Whatever, he's been into you for two years, right?" Kimberly questioned.
"I guess."
"He's not going anywhere if that's what you're worried about. No guy chases a girl for two years just for sex."
"That's NOT what I'm worried about! Doug's not like that." Liz was adamant. "You guys, I really don't want to talk about it. I'm not ready yet."
There was silence for several minutes until Morgan stepped in to take the heat off.
"I think that's cool, Liz," she said. "That you want to wait and all. I wish I had waited. I mean, with Curt it's great. I'm happy and I feel like I'm really in love. But he wasn't my first, you know? I wanna marry him and he wasn't my first. I wish he had been."
"That's what I worry about," Liz confided. "I'm not saying I have to wait until my wedding night, but when I go all the way with a guy, I want it to be the man I'm going to be with forever. And it's just too soon to tell with Doug."
"Do you love him?"
"I do. I didn't think I would, not when I first met him. But he has this thing about him. He makes me feel so comfortable, so connected to him in this weird kinda way. We don't have that much in common, but it doesn't matter. I feel like I can be myself around him and that he thinks I'm special just for being me. He's sweet and attentive. He has a good heart and that's what I care about. It's like I've fallen in love with his heart and the rest of it just isn't important."
"So what's the hold-up?" Kimberly prodded.
"I can't tell if he feels the same."
- - -
Back at the hospital, Abbey had finished her last surgery, changed out of her scrubs, and threw on her street clothes in the locker room. She was about to head out the door when Robert Nolan saw her. He rushed up and fell into step with her as they left the main building and walked out toward the parking lot.
She addressed him pre-emptively. "Don't do it, Robert. Don't tell me there's been another accident. Elizabeth will never forgive me if I don't get home right now."
"Relax, I just wanted to warn you so you're not thrown off on Monday."
"What?"
"Zack Harkin. He came to see me...about you."
"About me? Why?"
"You took him off a case and asked him to leave the hospital?"
"His shift was over."
"He wanted to stay. He's not happy that you kicked him off a case."
"He'd been up for 42 hours."
"Playing devil's advocate here, how do you know?" He persisted when she groaned in disbelief. "No, I'm serious. He just got off call. Half that time could have been spent sleeping in the call room."
"Come on, Robert. I was a resident once and so were you. How long did you sleep when you were on call? Besides, you could tell just by looking at his eyes that he hadn't slept. There may not be any rules in place, but I prefer residents who are wide awake and alert assisting me in surgery."
"Well, from now, I have to ask that you go through me when you make decisions about sending residents home."
"Through you?"
"As Chief of Surgery."
"You don't have more important things on your desk than to worry about when residents leave the hospital?"
"I need you to this, Abbey."
"This has never been a problem before."
"It is now."
"What aren't you telling me?"
"From now on, come to me. Okay?"
Abbey took a breath and looked away for a moment. Her eyes back on him, she finally said, "Fine. I'll check with you first."
He watched her pick up her pace and leave him behind on her way to her car.
- - -
"Is she home yet?"
"Yes, Elizabeth. In the 30 seconds since the last time you asked, your mother came home. I've now hidden her so that you can't find her." A prominent frown on her face, Liz turned back, making Jed feel guilty for teasing her. "Hey, get back here."
"It's the prom, Dad!" she blurted out from the top landing of the stairs. "It's the highlight of high school and she's not here!"
"Well, first of all, I think graduation is the highlight of high school. And second, calm down. Doug and the other guys aren't here yet, the limo isn't here yet. Your mom will be home soon."
"I wanted her home in time to see me before I left, to tell me how I look."
"I already told you how you look. You look beautiful."
"Yeah, but you're a Dad. You'll say I look great even if I have horns coming out of my head. Mom's honest about it. She tells me if I look out of place or if something doesn't go."
"Okay, so you can't count on me to be objective. What about your friends? There are three of them upstairs."
"No, you don't get it. It's more than just that. I wanted Mom. If she had said she couldn't make it, I wouldn't have counted on it. I wouldn't have gotten my hopes up. But she said she'd be here."
"And she will be."
"She promised she'd be home hours ago!"
"Your mom doesn't break promises just like that, Lizzie. There was a wreck on I-93. What did you want her to do, walk out on the patients?"
"Of course not."
"They needed her."
"I didn't know there was an accident."
"Now that you do, cut her some slack, huh? Finish getting ready. I'm about to put in a new roll of film for this."
Liz let out one more huff as she went back to her room.
- - -
Minutes later, Abbey crested the last hill on the gravel drive that led to the farmhouse and pulled up next to Jed's sedan in front of the garage, taking note with relief that the limo wasn't there yet to pick up the teens for the prom. She then waved at Ellie and her best friend, Wendy, who were playing basketball. They stopped dribbling momentarily as Abbey parked and stepped out of her car.
"Well? How'd it go?"
Ellie sprinted toward her. "FOUR first place ribbons!"
"I knew it!" Abbey gave her a high-five and then a hug. "Way to go! I'm so proud of you!"
"Thanks! Wendy got one for the relay!"
"Congratulations, Wendy."
"Thanks, Mrs. Bartlet."
Ellie's expression changed suddenly. "Zoey didn't do so hot."
"Oh no. What happened?"
"Fourth place in the potato sack race and fifth place in jump rope."
Abbey shook her head, disappointed. "I'll talk to her. How's Lizzie's prom prep going?"
"I dunno." Ellie shrugged. She and Wendy had been playing outside all afternoon. "I think she's mad at you for being late though."
"Yeah, what else is new?" Abbey assumed she would be. It was an important night for Liz and emergency or not, she had let her down.
"Mom, can Wendy spend the night?"
"Sure, if it's okay with her mom."
Inside the house, Jed and Zoey were in the foyer. Jed opened up a new roll of film and fumbled to put it in the camera so that he'd be ready when Liz and her friends started down the stairs. At the same time, he tried to console Zoey, who was still upset about her performance at Field Day. Growing up in the shadow of two older sisters who seemed to have been blessed with so many gifts, was tough enough to take on an ordinary day. But with her Field Day losses weighing on her mind, she was taking it even harder today.
"I just wanna win one time!" she kept saying. "Ellie won FOUR times and I can't even win one!"
"Ellie's in the sixth grade, Zo. She's had a lot more time to work on her athletic skills."
"But Ellie was good at sports even at my age!"
"Everyone is good at different things."
"Except me. I'm not good at anything."
Jed set the camera down on the console and bent down to look his daughter in the eye. "Now that's just not true. You are good at so many things, Zoey."
"Like what?"
"Like riding, for one. You can ride circles around Ellie and Lizzie. And you're the only one in the family who takes private riding lessons."
"Big deal."
"It IS a big deal," he assured her. "Riding is a sport, just like soccer and basketball and track and volleyball and, God forgive me, even cheerleading."
"It is?"
"Of course it is. Don't you remember when you first started riding and Mom signed you up for Pony Club? We talked about horse shows. There are a bunch of them and they award ribbons, trophies, and prizes for equestrian events."
That jogged Zoey's memory. "But Mommy said I was too young to compete in those."
"Maybe it's time we revisit the idea." Abbey said from the doorway. She had come in so quietly that neither Jed nor Zoey realized she was home until she spoke. "Ellie told me what happened."
"I lost."
"You didn't lose. You just didn't come in first." Abbey kneeled down to give her youngest daughter a comforting hug. "If you want, we can do some research on those junior equestrian competitions. Maybe talk about signing you up for one. Would you like to?"
The first spark of joy since school. Zoey's eyes grew to twice their size as she broke the embrace from Abbey. "YEAH!"
Jed threw his wife a glance. "Okay then. I'll take Zoey to her lesson this weekend and I'll ask her instructor how to get her started." He looked at Zoey next. "Sound like a plan, kiddo?"
Zoey nodded happily at that.
"Good." Abbey rose to her feet and headed toward the stairs. "Is Liz upstairs?"
"Yeah, but go easy. She's a little miffed that you weren't here on time." Jed followed her up. "Speaking of that, did you tell her she could borrow our credit card to buy those expensive shoes we agreed were too much for one dance?"
"I had to. Her dress would have dragged on the floor without a higher heel."
"And that wasn't planned for ahead of time?"
"Yes, but I couldn't fix it from the hospital, Jed."
"There are these people called seamstresses..."
"Who charge an arm and a leg to hem an evening gown I could finish in an hour. It was an inch too long. If I hadn't gotten held up at work, it would have been taken care of."
"All I'm saying is it's a ridiculous price to pay for something that will be hidden under her gown the whole time and that no one will ever see."
"Did she show them to you?"
"Yeah. They have more glitter than Dorothy's ruby slippers."
"That's why they cost what they do," she told him as they reached the top landing. "I'm going to help her get ready. Will you set up for pictures?"
Jed hurried back down the steps. "All right, Zoey, we're on!"
Upstairs, Abbey knocked on the door to her eldest daughter's bedroom. "Liz?"
She turned the knob and opened it to find Elizabeth standing in front of her, more beautiful than she'd ever seen her. Her hair had been curled and swept into a glamorous up-do, a style which revealed the small pink crystal earrings that shined at her ears. Her skin looked flawlessly natural. The make-up woman at the salon had used a shimmery powder to set her foundation and when she turned her head, Abbey could see a subtle hint of sparkle on her face and eyelids. Her strapless evening gown had a sweetheart neckline. It was ice pink with a delicate sprinkling of cream and clear-cut crystal beading to give it a bit of glitz. It was also layered and had a satin cream underlay that only showed when she walked, outlining the slit that opened to the bottom of her right thigh.
"You made it!" Liz beamed when she saw her. She twirled around. "What do you think?"
Abbey's voice caught in her throat as she eyed her daughter up and down. "You look like a princess. A real-life princess."
"I know you liked it when I tried it on at the boutique, but with the hair and make-up...it's not too much?"
"Not at all. It's perfect." She looked at the other girls. "All of you look perfect. Gorgeous actually."
Liz was visibly relieved. "Thank God! I was worried you were going to say I look too grown-up."
"No, you look the right amount of grown-up." Abbey smiled.
"Thanks. And thanks for letting me buy the shoes. Dad never would've gone for it."
"Let's see them."
Liz lifted the hem of her dress to show off her pink and clear shoes. "You like?"
"I LOVE! I just wish I could have been here to fix your gown, or to help you get ready, for that matter. I got out of the hospital as quickly as possible just to help."
"You were late and I couldn't wait anymore. I had to get dressed."
"I know."
"What happened at the hospital? The accident." Liz's expression was more grim now.
"A few casualties, but the ones we got into the O.R. in time, made it."
She sighed at that. Liz was often disappointed by Abbey's schedule, but she was always proud of her mom, never more so than when she saved lives. "Good."
"Forgive me for being late?"
"Yeah. They needed you."
Yes, they did, Abbey thought. She didn't feel guilty for performing life-saving surgery, but she did feel bad for not being home to help her daughter on this special night. She thought back to Lizzie's first boy-girl dance when she was 13. The blossoming teen would have been lost without her mom's assistance back then. She didn't have a clue how to get ready for a formal event. Abbey had been home the whole day to guide her and help her with everything.
Oh, how times had changed.
From downstairs, Ellie shouted up. "LIZZIE, THE GUYS ARE HERE!"
Morgan pulled the curtains to peek out the window. "The limo's pulling up too!"
Jed and Zoey began snapping pictures from the foot of the stairs when the four girls emerged from the room. Abbey made her exit first so she wouldn't disrupt any of the photos. Ellie grabbed her own camera and joined her family while Tori, Morgan, and Kimberly's dates approached. Doug showed up a few minutes later, carrying a small box with a beautiful white and pink wrist corsage in it.
"You look amazing," he whispered to Liz as he helped her slip the corsage over her hand.
After she pinned his boutonnière to his tux, everyone got ready for group photos.
Jed posed the couples on the staircase, two in front and two a step higher. After that round of pictures, they moved outdoors for two more rounds - one on the porch and one in front of the white stretch limousine. Abbey mentally earmarked copies of the snapshots for the mothers of the other kids, then nudged Jed and Ellie to let them go so they'd be on time for their dinner reservations.
As the limo pulled out of the drive, Jed turned to Abbey. "No curfew?"
"We said we trusted her enough to agree to no curfew on Prom Night, remember?"
"They're going to be out until after breakfast."
"It's the prom, Jed. A lot of couples stay out until after breakfast."
"Those other couples don't include our daughter."
"They have the limo until 6 a.m."
"I would have never signed off on that if you hadn't talked me into it."
"She's 18 now, honey. She's graduating high school in a week. We're letting her go to Mexico for the class trip..."
"Something else I wouldn't have signed off on."
"My point is, we have to let her spread her wings."
"She can spread them just fine at home in Manchester." He didn't back down when Abbey chuckled. "If she wanted to dress up tonight, she could have done that at home. We could have turned dinner into a black-tie affair."
Abbey wrapped her arm around his waist and they walked up the porch steps. "At least they'll be together tonight, all eight of them. And you know they won't be drinking. I don't think we have to worry."
"I hope you're right."
"We taught her well, Jed. She's going to be just fine."
- - -
Prom was held in the ballroom of the Marriott Hotel. Doug and Liz waltzed in arm-in-arm, catching a glimpse of the dance floor, then scanning all the tables that lined it. There were over 100 tables in the room, every one of them lit by candlelight. They had gift bags on them with disposable cameras to use during the night and a souvenir goblet with the name of their school and 'Prom '86' written in script lettering. In the corner of the room, a photographer sat ready to take pictures of the couples and present them with frames or keepsake key chains.
Liz and Doug spent most of the night dancing, with the exception of the few minutes they spent in line waiting to have their photo taken. They returned to their table, giddy with enthusiasm, when it was time to announce the King and Queen. Having been named Homecoming Queen at the beginning of the year, Liz had taken herself out of contention for this honor, so she and Doug sat back and watched as two of her classmates were crowned and urged to share a dance.
While Liz was lost in the moment, Doug couldn't stop staring at her. She wasn't just beautiful in his mind. She was smart and compassionate. She had a soul that wanted to save the world and a brain that would surely help her do it. He never dreamed that he'd be lucky enough to attract a girl like Elizabeth Bartlet. Now that he had, he couldn't imagine ever letting her go. Taking a deep breath, he moved to the chair beside her and pulled out a little velvet box from his pocket.
"I've been waiting all night to do this."
He opened the box to show her the promise ring he had bought. She gasped when she saw it. It had a silver band and two criss-crossing ribbons of tiny diamonds with a pink heart intertwined. Liz sat motionless for a few seconds, her heart practically beating out of her chest.
"Oh, Doug."
"It's a promise ring. This next year is gonna be kinda weird with you starting college at Wellesley in Massachusetts. I just wanted you to know that I'm always going to be here for you and that even though we'll be further apart in distance, we'll still be close together in our hearts." A brief pause and then, "I love you, Liz."
"I love you too." Her eyes shining in tears, Liz held out her right hand so Doug could slip the ring on her finger.
They both rose to their feet and kissed, melting into each others arms and swaying to the music as the last song of the evening began to play. It was Ben E. King's 'Stand By Me' and during that very special dance, the lyrics burned into Liz's heart.
TBC