"Aunt Abbey!" the brown haired girl streaked towards Abbey Bartlet as she came through the doors at the airport. CJ made no attempt to stop her, simply followed more slowly than Evelyn, who was now wrapped in the arms of her godmother. CJ smiled at Abbey, and moved to hug Jed tightly.
"How are you, Jed?" she kissed his cheek gently.
"I'm surviving." He looked much older than she remembered, but at least he was still able to travel and walk unassisted most of the time.
"Good." CJ smiled at him warmly.
"Don't I get a hug, Ev?" Jed demanded, turning his attention to the young lady in Abbey's arms, and the 4-year-old held out her arms to him. Abbey passed her over, and moved to hug CJ.
"Hey, Claudia Jean." She murmured into CJ's hair. It had been years since their relationship had been anything more than a close friendship, but that murmur still sent shivers down CJ's spine.
"Hi Abbey."
"Shall we get the bags?" Jed asked, breaking into the moment. "I think we have presents in there!" he said, raising an eyebrow at Evelyn, who grinned broadly.
"Presents? For me?" she asked quietly. Jed nodded knowingly.
"Oh, I think so."
Abbey rolled her eyes at CJ. "Let's go, children." She said pointedly to her husband, linking her arm through CJ's.
Danny met them at the beach house, coming out onto the porch as the car pulled into the drive.
"Hey everybody!" he said cheerfully, kissing CJ before moving in to shake Jed's hand and kiss Abbey on the cheek. "I have lunch going inside. We'll get the bags later." His daughter stood in front of him, the look in her eyes demanding she be picked up. Danny swept her into his arms. "You're getting awfully big, Miss Evvy." He announced, carrying her inside as she giggled. Everyone else followed a little more decorously.
"You said in your email that Zoey's pregnant?" CJ asked Abbey as they set the table for lunch. Jed and Danny were drinking beer on the porch.
"Yep." Abbey smiled. "Charlie's ecstatic."
"I'll bet." CJ grinned. She hadn't seen them since the wedding, six months before.
They all spent lunch catching up. Despite Abbey and CJ exchanging calls every few weeks, and emailing far more often, there was still so much going on that hadn't been mentioned.
After lunch, Abbey and CJ took Evelyn for a walk on the beach, Jed and Danny preferring to stay behind and debate current events.
CJ rolled her eyes at her husband as she kissed him gently. "You boys be good, now."
"Oh, we will." Danny winked.
Jed laughed. "We'll be fine, CJ. Go have fun."
"You seem at peace here." Abbey commented, smiling, as they walked along the beach with their feet in the surf. Evelyn danced along in front of them, her dress getting more than a little wet as she dove into the sand for shells to collect.
"I am." CJ smiled. "I love California. Life is much more relaxed here."
"I think that might have something to do with not working at the White House." Abbey pointed out. CJ laughed merrily.
"Fair enough" CJ swooped forward and scooped up her daughter, who shrieked and giggled wildly, spraying sand everywhere as she kicked her feet in the air. "Let's build a sand castle!" she smiled back at Abbey.
"Yeah!" her daughter exclaimed, running up the beach and plonking herself in the sand.
"She looks just like you, you know." Abbey pointed out. "Long brown hair, blue eyes." CJ smiled.
"I know. It frustrates Danny infinitely." She winked. "He says it's unfair that there's now two of me." Abbey laughed.
"Too much sarcasm and argument?"
"Something like that." They sat down beside Evelyn and helped her to shape the sand into a tower.
On the way back, Abbey ran up behind CJ and put an arm around her waist, spinning her around in a sudden dance. CJ grinned as Abbey spun her, afterwards pulling the other woman's hand above her head so Abbey could twirl under it. "Me too, me too!" Evelyn giggled as she watched her mother and godmother joking in the sand. Abbey grabbed her up, spinning in a circle with her arms hooked under Evelyn's. Then she pulled the child in, sitting her on her hip, and smiled gently at CJ, who smiled silently back.
They were only friends now, but in that moment, they were both thinking back to another time, another beach where they had danced, their feet swirling as the warm surf tickled around their ankles.