Series: Snapshots of the Past (part six of this series)
Story: The Anniversary Waltz
Chapter 1
Disclaimer: The characters depicted in this story belong to NBC, WB, and Aaron Sorkin. We're just borrowing them for some fun :)
Story Summary: In the months leading to their tenth wedding anniversary, Jed and Abbey find it difficult to juggle professional and personal commitments
- - -
October 1976
Ellie jerked from side to side every time she heard her mother's voice. Restrained by her highchair tray, the two-year-old wiggled as she held out her hands to get Abbey's attention in the few seconds she'd catch a glimpse of her running from room to room in a hurried effort to get dressed for work.
"She isn't eating," Jed called out to his wife when Ellie pushed his hand away repeatedly.
"Muuuummmmmmaaaaa!"
Abbey stopped at the table and took the spoon out of his hand, offering it to her daughter herself. That was all it took for the compliant toddler to open her mouth. "There you go, Sweetheart."
A slight inkling of jealousy running through his veins, Jed sat back in his chair and watched Abbey interact with their baby girl, entranced by the special rapport she seemed to have with her -- one that he never had. "She refuses to eat when I feed her."
"She just misses me." Unfortunately, even Ellie was feeling the strain of Abbey's new schedule.
"She's not the only one," Jed mumbled. He looked around the room to spot his older daughter. "Lizzie, get off the phone and eat your breakfast."
Liz pressed and released the hookswitch several times, each push becoming more aggressive than the last. "I need to call Amy to see if she's wearing her purple skirt today."
"Why?"
"Because if she's wearing her purple skirt then I have to wear my black one."
"Why can't you wear the one you have on?"
Questions. How she hated questions she felt had pretty obvious answers. She looked down at her skirt before replying. "Because it's red."
"So?"
"We'll clash."
Jed squinted while staring at his daughter, his mind comprehending her words, but still asking the inevitable. "What?"
"We like to match when we're together."
"Lizzie, aren't you a little too young to worry about matching your outfits to those of your friends?" He didn't dare mention that she was only in third grade.
It didn't matter. She caught his tone anyway. "Daddy, I'm not a baby. Mommy and her friends used to match their outfits."
He turned an accusatory glare towards Abbey. "Tell me she's kidding, or at the very least misinformed."
"That was in high school," Abbey dismissed.
"So this is your fault." His head snapped towards Liz as she slammed the receiver into the cradle.
"The phone doesn't work."
"I'm not surprised after that little outburst. You know better than that. Come finish your breakfast."
"She's right. It isn't working," Jed confirmed after trying it himself.
"Did you pay the bill?" Abbey asked.
"I was about to ask you the same thing."
"Jed, why would I pay the bill? You're the one who balances his checkbook every night and goes over everything with a fine-tooth comb."
"I assume you're looking for an answer slightly more sophisticated than 'because you said you would'?"
"I barely have time to breathe these days. Why would I say I would pay the bill?"
He moved towards her and handed her her purse. "Abbey, I was sitting at the table, exhausted from grading papers, you came home and picked up a bunch of bills, put them in your bag, and said you'd take care of them so I get to bed."
"That's ridiculous." At his urging, she slipped her hands into her purse and slowly pulled out several envelopes, her brows crinkling at the evidence. "Oh God."
"Yeah."
"I must have forgotten."
"Hmm mmm. Well, Lizzie, I hope you don't need electricity this weekend because we're about to lose that too," Jed commented while flipping through the rest of the bills.
"What? No!"
"Jed, I'm sorry. I've just been so..."
"Busy. I know."
"Please go down there this afternoon and fix this. I'll make it up to you. I promise."
"You're not around long enough to make it up to me."
A hint of leftover resentment didn't go unnoticed, though she refused to acknowledge it with the same tone. "I thought we were over our snippiness."
"Yeah, well, I wanted to get one more snipe in before I turn over a new leaf. And by the way, unless you're a partner in the aforementioned 'snippiness,' you don't get to use the word 'we'."
His more cheerful response put her mind at ease, for the moment. "Jed?"
"I'll take care of it."
"Mommy, when can we go get my costume?"
One family crisis averted and another one just beginning. "I don't know, Sweetie."
"But Halloween is next week and I have to have my costume ready for Amy's party on Friday."
"We already bought you a costume," Jed interrupted.
"It doesn't have any sparkles on it. I want the one at Redmon's so I can be a sparkly ballerina."
"Maybe I can get off a little early tonight and we can go shopping, okay?"
- - -
Lizzie anxiously watched the clock from the time she returned from school, occasionally breaking to stare out the window in anticipation of her mother's return.
When Jed realized Abbey wasn't going to be home in time, he offered to take Liz to the costume shop. Unfortunately, it was just minutes too late. They arrived just as the store was closing, leaving the eight-year-old feeling disappointed and angry.
She shuffled her feet against the concrete walkway to the entrance of the house and just barely lifted herself to step inside, her expression unwavering when greeted by Abbey.
"I'm really sorry," Abbey said. "There was nothing I could do."
No matter how sincere her statement, it didn't ease the frustration. These late nights had become the norm. A resident's schedule was not her own and though Jed and the girls had tried to get used to the 100-hour work weeks, the frequent 36-hour shifts, and the night she spent sleeping at the hospital when she was on-call, it was a challenge.
"It's okay," Liz offered quietly.
Jed handed a restless Ellie to Abbey and in the brief moment husband and wife connected, she realized Liz wasn't the only one upset. "Lizzie, why don't you go get ready for bed. I'll read you a story."
"Wait. Don't I get to see the costume first?" Her daughter's blank stare forced her to look at Jed. "That's where you took her right?"
"They were closed."
Those three words coupled with Liz's disheartened retreat to her bedroom, broke Abbey's heart. She had come to terms with the fact that the commitment to her profession would take its toll on her family, at least temporarily, but some days, her absence was even harder on her.
All her life, she had dreamed of having the storybook marriage with beautiful children and a challenging, yet rewarding career. Unfortunately, she had given little thought to reconciling those two goals into one dream.
"How am I going to make it up to her?"
"Take her shopping tomorrow night."
"I'm working through the night. I won't be home until Friday."
"And I have a late meeting so I guess I can't take her either."
She caught the chilly response he threw at her. "You're mad at me too."
"I'm not mad at you, Abbey. I just feel bad for Lizzie. And I'm wondering how we're going to deal with this for the next several years."
"It'll get easier. I really believe that. In the meantime, I've been thinking. We have a baby-sitter here practically full-time. Why don't we hire a nanny?"
"A nanny?"
The thought of a nanny would have made both of them cringe once upon a time, but now, they had exhausted other options. The girls deserved the attention they were once given, the attention that professional constraints now made it impossible to give.
- - -
The next morning as Liz emerged from her room, her eyes glazed over her sleeping parents on the sofa and quickly came to rest on the lavender ballerina costume her mother held in her hands. The sheer lace overlay was glittered with purple and silver Austrian crystals that Abbey had run out to buy the night before. Jed stayed up with her as she sewed each one on individually, strategically placing them so the colors reflected off one another.
"Mommy!" Lizzie called out gently with a light tug on Abbey's shirt.
"Mmm." Abbey stirred slightly before opening her eyes. "Hey, good morning."
"Is that my costume?"
"Yes, it is. What do you think?" She nervously held her breath as she held it up for Liz's inspection.
"I love it!"
"I know it's not like the one you saw at Redmon's."
"That's okay. I really love it! Thank you!" Her attention moved to Jed who was rubbing his groggy eyes with his fists. "Isn't it pretty, Daddy?"
"It's beautiful. But there's one more thing. You're going to look like an authentic ballerina with these," he said while handing her a rectangular box containing a pair of pink ballet slippers.
"Thank you..." she said hesitantly."...but they don't match."
"Ah, I must have given you the wrong pair." He smiled at his intentional mistake, then pulled out a pair of purple slippers instead. "These are for Halloween. The other pair is for when you start dance class next week."
"REALLY?!"
"Really. I'm going to take you every Thursday night." Jed and Abbey exchanged a glance before he continued. "It was your Mom's idea."
"Actually..." Abbey began before Jed tapped her hand to stop her from admitting that it wasn't her idea. That, in fact, she had no knowledge of Jed's surprise whatsoever.
He was determined and confident that misdirecting Liz would erase any residual disappointment. "She's happy. Let it go," he whispered to Abbey after a grateful Liz jumped into her arms.
He was right. Lizzie was happy. And so was Jed. But in a moment when she was surrounded by the joyful expressions, the only emotion that penetrated Abbey's exterior was sadness. This conflict may have been resolved, but it was the start of a new phase in the family dynamics -- one that would test everyone's strength and, she hoped, wouldn't result in bitter resentment.
TBC