Author's Note: Here's the next installment of Bartlet History! I've been traveling a lot in the last two months and was inspired to write this. It took a while, but I finally finished it! Hope you like it :)
Honeymoon and Beyond
Jed reached down and took Abbey's left hand in his right. His fingers traced over the wedding band resting comfortably with her diamond ring, causing him to smile softly to himself. Abbey ran her free hand through her hair, pushing it away from her sunglasses and getting some of the length off her neck. She needed a little air in the humid heat. The Roman sun beat down on them as they strolled the Via della Conciliazione.
"Now, as you may know," Jed began, glancing over to see his wife roll her eyes. He'd begun many a sentence with that phrase in the two weeks they'd been in Italy. It was their last full day in Rome, and they'd decided to go to save the best for last: the Vatican.
"Yeah, go on, smartass," she replied with a small smile.
He launched into his history lecture. "This street was built by Mussolini. It's called the Street of Conciliation as a way of uniting the Church and Fascist Italy. And even though the sentiment isn't perhaps the best, it is a nice boulevard. It makes quite a grand entrance to St. Peter's, don't you think?"
"Yeah, it is quite nice, actually," she agreed.
They made their way up the street and entered St. Peter's Square. Both the Bartlets had seen pictures of the famous piazza, but seeing it in person was quite different. They both just stopped and stared. The statues of saints and prophets and apostles stood in gleaming white atop the arms of the square. St. Peter's stood tall and proud behind the great obelisk, and the twin fountains on either side spurted triumphantly.
Abbey turned and kissed her husband on the cheek.
"What was that for?"
"I'm just so happy we're here together. This is the perfect end to our honeymoon."
Jed's face broke into a big grin. A thought crossed his mind that he shared aloud. "Two weeks ago, I couldn't wait to marry you. And even so, I don't think I could have ever predicted how happy I would be as your husband."
Abbey felt her whole body grow warmer, even in the Italian heat. "Well, as Mrs. Bartlet, I have to say that I agree." They kissed briefly, then continued toward the basilica, hand in hand.
All her life, Abbey had been a Catholic. It was a part of her identity, and it was one of the first things that she and Jed had bonded over. In her youth, she had gone to Sunday School, and she had gone to church almost every week with her family. She and Jed continued to do so as often as they could. Despite this, she had never felt particularly religious. She never had the strong relationship to God the way her husband did. She enjoyed the community and the ritual of Catholicism more than anything else. But walking into the great Basilica of St. Peter at the Vatican, Abbey felt a wave of religious fervor sweep over her. The gleaming marble walls, the shining gold gilding, the enormity of it all. She dipped her hand in the basin of holy water and crossed herself.
Jed watched her reaction. It surprised him a little to see that sudden reverence present itself on her face. He crossed himself after she did and followed her as she wandered the church, wide-eyed and slack-jawed.
Abbey turned around to see her husband watching her with an amused expression. "Aren't you blown away by this?" she asked.
"It's a little much for my taste. It's beautiful and incredible, but maybe a bit overdone," he replied. "You disagree?"
Staring at Michelangelo's Pieta, Abbey let out a small sigh. "This must be what heaven is like. I see what the Baroque artists were all about. Nothing could ever be too beautiful or too ornate or too much to honor the Lord. Have you ever seen anything so incredible in all your life?"
"No," Jed replied honestly, locking eyes with her. "I have never seen anything more beautiful or more awe-inspiring in all my life." He knew Abbey was referring to the church decoration, but Jed was content to just watch his wife.
Abbey pursed her lips to keep from grinning wildly. Even in the most religious place in the world, her husband was still a die-hard romantic. And she loved it, despite how inappropriate it may have been for the setting. Well, really, she loved it because of the inappropriate setting.
They wandered the long side aisles up to the incredible bronze baldachin, designed by the great Bernini. Jed did his best to take in the intricacies of the decoration with the Barberini bees to honor Pope Urban VIII who had commissioned it, the grape vines to represent the wine in the mass, and the twisting columns used to mimic the original ones from the Temple of Solomon used in Old St. Peter's. The inside of the baldachin had a painted dove of the Holy Spirit. The Bartlets stood in front of St. Peter's tomb and looked beyond the altar to the Cathedra Petri behind it. The great bronze throne of Peter, held by the early doctors of the Church, and illuminated by holy light and gilded angels.
Abbey couldn't stop staring. "This just takes my breath away," she whispered.
Jed just smiled and put his arm around her waist. They continued their reverent tour of the church.
At sunset, after trekking around the entirety of the Museum and hiking all the way up the dome (much to Jed's acrophobic dismay), they finally made their way away from the Vatican. As they crossed the Bridge of Angels, Abbey stopped to take a picture. Jed leaned against one of the statue bases. She turned to snap a shot of him, but she paused.
"Jed, are you feeling okay?"
"I'm fine, honey."
Abbey frowned. She approached him to get a closer look. "Your face is red."
"It's hot out."
"But you aren't sweating. And your skin is clammy. Have you been drinking enough water?"
He rolled his eyes. "You've been shoving bottles of water at me for two weeks. I'm practically drowning."
"I know I've been giving you water, but have you been drinking it? You look like you're getting heat exhaustion. And dehydration is the worst thing for that."
"Let's just get back to the hotel, Doctor. Then you can do whatever you want to me." He reached out for her hand and they continued back.
Abbey kept glancing over at her husband, not trusting that he was as fine as he claimed to be. Jed could feel her eyes on him, but he chose to ignore it. No use getting annoyed at her on the last day of their honeymoon. When they finally arrived at their hotel, Abbey immediately got a bottle of water and handed it to her husband as she pushed him to the bed.
"Drink this and relax. I'm going to pack."
Jed didn't complain. He just sat back and drank the water, watching Abbey wander around the room, folding their clothes and gathering their toiletries out of the bathroom. There was something so calming and sensual about the way she did domestic things. After over a year together, they still hadn't gotten to properly live together. Now that they were married, they was no escape from the other person. Not that Jed wanted an escape at all; he had been dreaming of being like this with Abbey for months. "Abbey," he called softly.
She didn't turn around. "Is your face still red?"
"I don't know. I can't see my face."
Abbey rolled her eyes. "Keep drinking the water."
Jed chuckled to himself. "Abbey, I'm fine."
She finally faced him and walked over to check on him. "Well, you do look better."
"I'm fine," he insisted. Jed reached out to take her hand. "I promise I'm fine." She looked dubious, but sat down beside him. "You want me to prove it?" he challenged with a grin, pulling her toward him by her waist.
"Jed…" she warned.
"Come on, honey, it's the last night of our honeymoon. We can sleep on the plane to London." By that point, Jed gave up talking and instead fastened his lips to her neck.
Abbey could tell she wasn't going to win this one. And at this point, she didn't want to. She sighed happily and climbed on top of her husband.
Fifteen hours later, the Bartlets were arriving at their new home in a London cab. Theirs was a small brick building, four floors high. The top floor flat had been rented for two years by Jed's grandfather. They likely had neighbors around somewhere. Their landlady, a Dutch actress who escaped to London during World War II, lived on the second floor. A small pub occupied the street-level. The location was absolutely perfect. About a mile away from the London School of Economics and only two blocks from the local Catholic church. Their cab driver told them that the street had an open market in the late afternoons each day. For Jed and Abbey, it seemed the perfect place to begin their life together.
They carried their suitcases up the stairs and knocked on the landlady's door. Mrs. Douwes was a kind-looking woman with curly brown hair and very thick glasses covering her large brown eyes. She spoke with a kind voice and a slight accent, welcoming them to the building and to London. She showed them up the stairs and around their two-bedroom apartment. One bathroom, one master bedroom, one room to use for Jed's study, and a relatively large living and dining area attached to the kitchen. The living room was filled with boxes.
"And I put all of your parcels over there. I think at least two came every single day. But that should be all. If you need anything, just let me know."
Jed and Abbey thanked her. As soon as she left, they deposited their suitcases in their bedroom and got to work on the boxes.
"I found your books, Jed," Abbey called, opening the first box she got her hands. "I'll just put them in your study, yeah?"
"Yeah, thanks," he replied distractedly. He was looking through another box across the room. "This one seems to be your clothes. Very interesting."
Abbey paused in the doorway. "What's interesting?"
Jed grinned and tossed something black at her. It landed on Abbey's shoulder, and she saw that it was one of the lacy negligees she had bought for their honeymoon and accidentally packed for London instead of for Italy.
"Jed! Just put that box in the bedroom. You'll ruin the surprise!" she said, annoyed at things being thrown at her.
"The anticipation is gonna kill me," he replied melodramatically.
"Oh shut up and keep unpacking."
He laughed and took the box of Abbey's things into the bedroom. They spent the rest of the evening continuing to unpack. It was all very domestic and fun. Once all the boxes were in the room they belonged in, they decided to tackle the mounds and mounds of wedding presents. Abbey's parents had made sure that everything from the wedding got boxed up and shipped to London, which is where they would really need all the things they had registered for.
The Bartlet quickly developed a system. Jed opened presents while Abbey wrote down what it was and who it was from. With Jed starting school in a week, she would likely be the one writing all the thank you's. It took them over an hour to get through everything and Abbey was getting bored.
"Okay, this one's from your Aunt Francis," Jed announced, reaching for the final present.
"Oh god," Abbey groaned. This was sure to be something ridiculous. But even Abbey couldn't have predicted what her crazy aunt would give as a wedding present.
Jed ripped the paper and stared, brow furrowed. "Um."
"What is it?" Abbey stood up and crossed to where Jed was sitting.
He just held the box up to her, unsure what he could say.
"Oh my god. She didn't. She…" Abbey couldn't finish. She was laughing to hard. She ripped off the rest of the wrapping paper to reveal a box containing, according to the labeling, a Ouija board. "This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen!"
"She knows we're Catholic, right? I mean, she was at our wedding. And your family is Catholic. How could she think this is acceptable?"
Abbey shrugged. "That's Aunt Francis." She tossed the gift over to the pile of the other gifts. "Come on, it's getting late. Let's see if there's anything in the fridge to eat. If not, we'll go down to the pub and buy groceries tomorrow.
Jed, still a little shaken from receiving a tool of dark witchcraft as a wedding present, went over to the kitchen. In the fridge was a chicken pot pie with instructions on reheating, courtesy of Mrs. Douwes. There was also a case of champagne, a welcome home present from Jed's grandfather.
Abbey cooked the food, and Jed opened some champagne. And for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Bartlet sat at their dining table and had dinner together. They discussed where they would put things in their new home, what they needed to buy still, and all they wanted to do in London. Jed opened another bottle while Abbey washed the dishes, which he then dried and put away after refilling their glasses. Abbey found their record player and put on Jed's favorite Sinatra album.
Halfway through the third bottle of champagne, they were both getting rather giggly and clumsy as they tried to dance together. Abbey pulled away after nearly spilling champagne on herself. "Alright, boyfriend. I need a break."
Jed flopped onto the sofa. "Join me," he slurred.
Abbey paused a moment and smirked. Before sitting down beside Jed, she went over to the pile of presents and grabbed the box on top. "Let's play with it."
"No way. We're not opening a Ouija board!"
"Aww, are you scared of the spirits, babe? I'm sure there's a bunch in an old building like this. Don't you think it would be polite to say hello, seeing as we're new here?" she teased.
"Abbey, it's not funny," Jed insisted.
"Come on, we'll keep the music on and just ask fun questions. It'll be fun!"
Seeing that she wouldn't give up, Jed begrudgingly agreed. "I can't believe we're doing this. And on our first night here."
Abbey ignored his grumblings as she set everything up. "Alright, now put your fingers on the pointer with me. Now ask it a question. Something nice."
Jed thought for a moment before asking, "Are we going to be happy in London?"
Slowly, the pointer moved beneath their fingers. It skimmed over the alphabet of letters, first to N and then to O.
Jed frowned. "Well that's an inauspicious start."
"Will we have a good marriage?" Abbey asked, ignoring the unfortunate first answer.
This time, the pointer moved to Y, then to E, then to S.
"That's better," Jed commented. He was starting to get into the spirit of things. Frank's voice singing Fly Me To The Moon certainly helped. "Will we have children?"
Again, the pointed moved to Y, E, and S.
Abbey grinned. "Are we going to be good parents?"
The pointed did the same pattern once again. The Bartlets looked at each other with smiles. They didn't say anything as the record ended, leaving a quiet static crackling in the air.
"Okay, I think that's enough for now," Jed said softly.
Abbey nodded. She downed her last glass of champagne. "Take your time and finish your champagne, then come join me in the bedroom. I'm going to go get something out of that box you were so intrigued by," she told him with a suggestive smile.
Jed wasn't sure if it was the champagne or the Ouija board or the negligee or the fact they were married and living in their own home, but that was the wildest night they had ever spent together.
Three months later, the summer humidity cooled into the brisk rain of autumn in London. Jed was a few weeks into his program and loving every busy moment of it. Abbey filled her days decorating their home, going to the local library, and writing letters to their friends and family back home. She had long since finished the thank you cards for the wedding presents. Abbey wasn't sure if it was the change in environment or her relative boredom, but she hadn't been feeling well. As a future medical student, she knew it was best not to let these things wait too long. She got a recommendation from Mrs. Douwes for a doctor nearby and went one day while Jed was in class. She didn't tell him. She didn't want her husband to worry, assuming there wasn't anything actually wrong with her.
The doctor was late and the tests took longer than expected, so Jed was already back at the flat by the time she got home.
"Hey, where have you been?" he asked, kissing her hello.
"I had an appointment." Her tone was sharp and her face was stern.
Jed frowned. "An appointment where?"
Abbey sat down at the kitchen table and put her face in her hands. There were a million things running through her brain and she had yet to sort it all out. "I went to see a doctor. I've been feeling a little sick recently, and I wanted to get checked out, just in case."
"And? Are you okay?"
She took a slow deep breath and smiled softly. "Yes. I'm very much okay." Abbey stood up and put her arms around Jed's neck and pulled him close.
He wrapped his arms around her waist and buried his face in her hair. "What's going on, Abb?"
She pulled back just enough to look into his eyes. "Remember what we asked the Ouija board on our first night? About having children?"
"Yeah…" he replied warily.
"Well, it looks like we'll be figuring out our parenting abilities a little earlier than we expected."
Jed's jaw dropped and his blue eyes lit up excitedly. "Abigail Bartlet, are you telling me you're pregnant?!"
She laughed and nodded before her husband gave her a squeeze and a big kiss. Life in London had just become a lot more complicated and much more exciting.