Series: Snapshots of the Past
Story: The Candidate's Daughter
Chapter 14
Disclaimer: See Chapter 1
Previously: Jed and Abbey had a big fight when he admitted he'd been lying to her about his death threat; Liz asked Jed to treat her like an adult
Summary: Jed and Abbey's loved ones conspire to lighten things up
Elizabeth hung up the phone, rose from her desk, and aimed her triumphant grin across the finance bullpen at her uncle. Right on cue, Jack strode down the hall to Jed's office without a hint of apprehension about what he was going to do. It was a conspiracy dreamed up by him and carried out by several co-conspirators, including Liz, and if Jed got angry about it when it was all over, that was a chance they were all willing to take.
"Hey, how was the thing in Exeter?"
Jed was on day four of a four-day economic recovery tour. "It's hard to have a conversation about job creation when all anyone wants to do is bitch and blame me for the unemployment rate. I'm a scapegoat for all the world's evils."
"Life as a public servant."
"Not to mention it's about 98 degrees out there and I'm walking around in a suit."
"Which only inspires a good attitude, I'm sure." Jack smirked.
"I haven't even checked the schedule for tonight."
"No need to. You have to go home."
"It's 5 p.m."
"It's uncanny how you sound like the time lady when you do that."
"Do I look like I'm in the mood to be mocked?"
"No, but then you never are. Anyway, you have to go home. Mrs. Wilburforce called. She has a family emergency and has to take off."
"I'll send Lizzie home to sit with the girls."
"You can't," Jack said. "I need her to finish the data sheets. They have to be filed tonight."
"She can't finish them at home?"
"We're working on them together."
"I'll call the back-up sitter then."
"Liz already tried."
"And?"
"It's Friday night. She's not available."
Ending a campaign day at five o'clock on a weeknight was rare for Jed. "I can't go home. Abbey and I are going away tomorrow. I have a lot to do tonight."
"It's a Friday, six weeks before the primary. The world won't come to an end if you take an early night."
"I have calls to make - campaign calls. I can't do that from home. And I've got briefing papers, speeches that need revising..."
"You have a first-rate campaign staff who will take care of anything that needs to be taken care of. You don't have any other events today. There's nothing here for you that can't wait until Monday."
"Why are you in such a rush to get rid of me?"
"You really want to know? You've been a bear around the office the past week and a half. You need to get out of here. You should go home, unwind, and find a way to put yourself in a better mood before you and Abbey leave tomorrow, unless you want it to ruin your trip."
"It won't ruin the trip. I haven't been that bad."
"Yes, you have." Jack handed him his briefcase. "Go home, relax, pack, do whatever you need to do to put yourself in a better frame of mind for Abbey. Let us take care of the campaign."
Ordinarily, Jed would have resisted. He would have said he was too wound up to go home, that he couldn't stand to leave things unfinished at the office. But Jack had a solid point, he had to admit. Abbey was still mad at him and the last thing he needed was to snap at her and make the fight worse. He had to find a way to rid himself of the stress that had him on-edge, so he let go of his hesitation and allowed Jack to usher him toward the door out of his office.
"You won't need Brownie, Zo." Ellie returned her sister's teddy bear from her overnight bag to its rightful place on the six-year-old's bed.
"Yes I will! I need him to help me fall asleep."
"You don't sleep at sleepovers."
That came as a surprise to Zoey, who was still fairly new to sleepovers. "Huh? Me and Cindy sleep when she spends the night."
"You're not supposed to."
"Then why's it called a sleepover if you don't sleep?"
"That's just what you call it."
"What are you supposed to do if you're not supposed to sleep?"
"You stay up all night and tell ghost stories or you listen to tapes or watch movies or look through magazines. Or you could just talk."
"What would we talk about?"
"Anything - movie stars, pop stars, boys."
"BOYS?" Zoey scrunched up her face.
"Well, not you since you're only six, but at a grown-up sleepover, the subject is always boys."
"You're not a grown up."
"I'm more grown up than you."
"And you talk about boys?"
"Sometimes."
"What boys?"
"Never mind."
"Tell me! What boys do you talk about?"
"I said never mind!" Ellie quickly changed that subject. "Get your tooth brush and pajamas. Dad'll be here soon."
Downstairs, Jed marched through the front door. He used the drive over as an opportunity to put himself in better spirits. It wasn't hard to do once he thought about the evening ahead. He'd be taking over for Mrs. Wilburforce, which meant he'd get to spend quality time with his daughters. His schedule had been so packed since the Fourth of July, he couldn't remember the last time he'd had the chance to pop some popcorn, kick back in his recliner in the family room, and watch television or play board games with Ellie and Zoey. If anything could pull him out of this grumpy rut he was in, it was that.
"Girls, I'm home," he called upstairs.
"Mr. Bartlet, I'm sorry about this." Mrs. Wilburforce rushed toward the foyer to greet him.
"It's no problem. I hope everything's okay."
"Yes, sir, it'll be fine. I just need to get back home."
Jed walked her out to her car and returned inside just in time to find Ellie sprinting downstairs behind the rolled-up sleeping bag she'd tossed down the steps. She had a duffel bag over her shoulder and a gift-wrapped Swatch in her hand. The fingers of her other hand held onto to the straps of a silver cassette case stuffed with tapes of the Bangles, Madonna, and Prince.
"What's all that?" he asked her.
"I'm spending the night at Wendy's, remember?"
Jed thought for a moment. "No, as a matter of fact, I don't. Why are you going to Wendy's?"
"It's her birthday; she's having a slumber party. Will you drop me off please?"
"I was looking forward to us having some fun here tonight."
"But I already told her I'd come."
Disappointed, he sighed. "Yeah, okay, I'll take you."
"Thanks! Zoey needs a ride too."
"Where's Zoey going?"
"She's spending the night at Shelley's."
"Shelley? Who's Shelley?"
"Her friend from school."
"Do I know her parents?"
"Yes," Ellie assured him. "You met them at Parents' Night. Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton."
"Did I like them?" Jed was never good with names.
"You said Mrs. Hamilton was a show-off and complained that Mr. Hamilton was a registered Republican."
That jogged his memory. "The windbag who criticized my minimum wage proposal?"
"That's the one!"
"That guy's not just a Republican. A Republican I can handle. That guy, he's a fascist. He was on the steering committee to turn Veterans Park into a strip mall! Why's Zoey going over there?"
"Because Shelley invited her and Shelley isn't a registered anything so why not?"
The door swung open then and Abbey waltzed in, just as surprised to see Jed as he was to see her.
"Hello," she said.
"You're home early."
"Liz called to say that Mrs. Wilburforce had an emergency and had to leave right away."
"Why would she do that? She knew that Jack sent me home to sit with Ellie and Zoey."
"He did?"
"Yeah."
"What was the emergency?"
"She wouldn't say. All she told me was that she had to leave..." It dawned on Jed then. His brother and eldest daughter were quite the meddlers. He turned to Ellie, who looked back at him with an innocent smile. "I think we've been set up."
"Ellie?" Abbey approached. "Did you guys orchestrate this to get us home? Did you send Mrs. Wilburforce away so that your dad and I would leave work early?"
"You'll have to ask Lizzie about all that, Mom. All I know is I'm going to be late for my slumber party if we don't go."
"What slumber party?"
"At Wendy's. Why doesn't anybody remember?"
"Sorry, I forgot that was tonight."
"Yeah, and Zoey's going to Shelley's," Jed added. "Lizzie's been a busy little bee, coordinating this whole thing."
"She didn't invent Wendy's birthday party, Dad. She just took advantage of it. And Mom said Zoey could spend the night at Shelley's weeks ago."
Jed looked at his wife. "Her father's a fascist, you know."
"Yes, I know." Abbey humored him. "Okay Ellie, you go with Dad, I'll drop Zoey off, and we'll get back to work." She hollered upstairs. "Zoey, let's go!"
Jed trailed her to the foot of the stairs. "You're going back to the hospital?"
"If the girls won't be home, then yes. I have a lot that needs to get done tonight before we go away."
"So do I, but it would be nice to have dinner together." He had toed the line all week, giving her the space she wanted and accepting the silent treatment. Truth be told, he was growing tired of it. "We have to talk about it eventually, Abbey."
"We will."
"When? On the drive tomorrow? When we get there? I was kind of hoping we could at least start talking before then."
A knock at the door interrupted them.
"It's Millie and Richard," Abbey told Jed as she caught a glimpse of them through the sidelight.
"Did you invite them?"
"No, did you?"
"Why would I invite them? Until a few days ago, I thought you and I were starting our weekend away tonight." He realized how petty and hostile that sounded after it came out. "That wasn't a dig; I'm just saying."
"Well, they're here, so we can forget about dinner alone." She opened the door. "Hi."
Carrying a platter of finger sandwiches, Millie walked right in, her husband Richard behind her. "Is it just me or are we shattering some sort of record with this heat wave?"
Abbey took the platter out of her hand. "What are you doing here?"
"It's couples' game night."
"Not until next week."
"Change of plans. It's tonight." Millie saw Jed closing the door. "I wouldn't bother. Jack and Kellie are right behind us and Kate and Bob are on their way."
"Jack's at the campaign office." Jed looked completely bewildered.
"Not anymore." That was Jack. He held a dish of taco salad and pushed the door open enough for him and Kellie to squeeze through.
"Why aren't you at the campaign?"
"I told you, it's couples' game night," Millie repeated.
"What she said," Jack tagged on. "And before you give me a bad time, everything's under control at the office. I left Lizzie in charge."
He grinned in the face of Jed's scowl.
"Knock, knock!" Kate and Bob were the next to invite themselves in, Kate with a bag of chips and a container of salsa and Bob with a couple of six-packs and a bottle of Baileys Irish Cream.
"Oh good, you remembered the Baileys!" Millie took the booze. "I think we should let the guys set up the game and we'll take care of the food. What'd you say, Abbey?"
Abbey was just as confused as Jed. Until a few minutes ago, she had planned to go back to the hospital. "I really don't think..."
"...that that's a bad idea! That's what you were going to say, right?" Millie took her by the hand and led her toward the kitchen.
Kate and Kellie followed with the rest of the food and drinks.
"Who's going to drop off me and Zoey?" Ellie asked again. She was standing in the corner of the room, out of the way.
"Jed?" Abbey called back to him over her shoulder before Millie dragged her into the kitchen.
"I'll take them just as soon as I figure out who else is coming through that door." Jed took a step outside to scan the driveway.
"Everyone's here," Jack told him.
"You set this up. You and Liz." He came back in and closed the door.
"We're all a little guilty."
"Why?"
"Because we thought it would be fun."
"It's not the best time for me and Abbey to be hosting couples' games right now."
"Maybe it's not the best time, but that's what makes it the right time."
"What does that mean? You know what's going on?"
"No, all I know is something is."
The people who knew them best knew that something was wrong in the Bartlet marriage. Jed had been touchy ever since he returned from Seabrook, but after his fight with Abbey, he was even worse. He couldn't help it. There was something off-balance in the world when he and Abbey were at odds. He missed the phone calls during the day, missed the goodbye kisses in the morning, the goodnight kisses before bed. Most of all, he just missed talking to her about whatever was on his mind. Their schedules had kept them playing tag all week and their limited conversations revolved mainly around the kids. He tried to hide it and he was relieved that Jack never asked about it. It wasn't because he hadn't noticed, Jed now realized, but only because he respected his brother's privacy.
A similar conversation took place in the kitchen. Millie, like Jack, got the feeling that something was askew in the Bartlet marriage on Wednesday, when she drove up from Boston for the sex ed class she and Abbey ran at the hospital. Jed had sent flowers to Abbey's office, a gesture that usually provoked a dreamy twinkle in her eye and a phone call. This time, Abbey reacted differently. She was visibly upset. Her thoughts were scattered, and although she did pick up the phone to thank him, when she learned he was at a campaign event, she didn't bother to leave a message. Millie asked her why, but when Abbey dodged the question, she backed off. Jack called Millie on Thursday to set up game night for the next week. They compared notes and decided their couples' date couldn't wait. Millie called Kate to set the details and Jack talked to Liz to arrange things at home.
"Let me guess what's going to happen next," Abbey started after Millie explained it all to her. "You're going to pair us up so that we can work through a game of Trivial Pursuit together, which you'll let us win as part of some master plan to remind us that we make a good team."
"Trivial Pursuit?" Kate scoffed. "You should be so lucky!"
Jed and Abbey never lost a game of Trivial Pursuit.
"We're playing the home edition of The Newlywed Game tonight." Kellie showed her the stack of question cards that Millie had brought into the kitchen.
"And don't get any crazy ideas. No one's going to let you win." Millie took out a bunch of five-by-seven index cards and four markers.
"None of us are newlyweds," Abbey reminded them.
"It's not a requirement." Millie handed everyone cards and markers. "I'll read the questions, you guys write your answers on these."
"I don't know."
"Abbey, objecting isn't an option," Millie replied lovingly. "You're not getting out of this, so don't even try."
As Jed left to drop off Zoey and Ellie at their friends', Jack, Richard, and Bob began to set things up. There were two sofas, a couple of chairs, and a coffee table in the Bartlet family room. They moved the coffee table to the center, where they planned to put the sandwiches and snacks everyone brought with them, and arranged the sofas on either side, the one on the right reserved for the women, the one on the left for the men. A large pad on an easel that stood in the corner would serve as the score board.
Millie and Richard had split up the question cards before they arrived. The wives chose from the stack Millie had and wrote their answers on their index cards in the kitchen. When Jed returned home, the men chose from Richard's pile and did the same. As soon as everyone was ready, they all gathered in the family room to begin the game. Each couple agreed to alternate playing hosts, Millie and Richard volunteering to go first.
Round One
Richard faced the women with a card that held a question the men had already answered. "What did your husband say is his favorite part of being married to you?"
Abbey was first. Numerous possibilities flooded her mind. 'Sex'? She and Jed had an active sex life and he always claimed he couldn't get enough of her. Still, she couldn't believe that's what he would have listed as his favorite part of their marriage. She thought about what he liked about her. Talking to her, that's what he liked. Jed was a talker and he loved that Abbey was too. He never missed an opportunity to boast how much her intellect turned him on and he sometimes said that while her beauty took his breath away, what he found even more attractive was her ability to hold her own in any conversation. In fact, he'd been known to egg her on once or twice, playing devil's advocate on subjects she was particularly passionate about, just so he could watch her mind at work. She started to go with that, but then she thought about a more general answer. Jed liked spending time with her. Jogging the hills at the farm before sunrise, reading medical journals to analyze the latest published research on heart and lung transplantation, blowing a Saturday parading the mall or fancy boutiques downtown in search of a new summer wardrobe, these were all things that he would never do on his own. But he did them with Abbey and he made no secret of why. Just being around her brightened his day, he often told her.
Abbey felt a flush thinking about that. Her heart swelled with affection for him. This question wasn't a coincidence, she decided. It was chosen by interfering friends who opened the game in a way that was sure to break the ice between her and Jed. They knew what they were doing, and they did it well.
She ruminated for another second, then gave her answer.
"Spending time together, that's what he said."
That was exactly what Jed had written. He flipped his index card to reveal that she was right, earning them a point.
Millie and Richard moved down the line, quizzing Kellie and Kate as they had Abbey. When everyone answered and all the points were assigned, Millie turned her attention to the men for the next question.
"What quality did your wife say she admires most about you?"
A few weeks ago, Jed would have said that Abbey had praised his honesty, but because of their recent spat thanks to his lie, he guessed that was no longer a possibility. He wondered what she would admire about him now and pondering that question made him squirm uncomfortably, so he gave the first answer that came to mind.
"My knowledge of random facts."
Abbey furrowed her brows. She humored him his trivia, but there was so much more to Jed than that. "That's what you think I admire most about you? It's not even a quality."
He shrugged. "It's the first thing I thought of."
Abbey flipped her card.
'His integrity,' she had written. That was something inherent in Jed, something ingrained in his soul and could never be lost. He may have lied to her about his death threat, but even honorable men made mistakes sometimes and in spite of her anger, she truly believed that's what this was.
For once, Jed was delighted to be wrong. He opened a bottle of beer and relaxed a bit.
Round Two
The first round had ended with Jed and Abbey in second place, right after Jack and Kellie. Kate and Bob took over as hosts and Millie and Richard took their place on the sofas.
"When you met your husband, what was the very first thing he noticed about you?" Bob asked the wives.
Abbey thought back to that night. New Year's Eve 1965. She was at a dance club with her friends, standing on a second-story platform overlooking the dance floor. Jed, there with his buddies, looked up and saw her leaning over the railing and gazing down at him. He was instantly mesmerized, he later told her. He couldn't have raced up the stairs any faster.
"He's going to say something sweet, like my eyes," Abbey replied with a love-struck expression, a clear giveaway that she was reminiscing. "But knowing what he likes, I suspect it was my breasts that first attracted him."
Jed flipped his card. 'Her beautiful face,' it read.
"You don't give me enough credit," he teased from his seat directly across from her, and Abbey's grin morphed into a small laugh as she dipped a chip into the container of salsa.
The ice was not only broken. It was melting fast.
Kate went down the line. "Kellie?"
"I'm going to have to agree with Abbey and say that Jack first noticed my breasts."
Jack showed off his answer, proving his wife was absolutely correct.
In his own defense, he explained, "I couldn't help it. She was wearing this skimpy bikini and all I could see bobbing out of the water was her chest."
"Pig," Jed baited his brother.
"At least we got it right."
Jack and Kellie raised their glasses to each other and both took a drink.
Kate called on Millie next.
"I'll say my hair," she answered.
"Your HAIR?" Richard asked, incredulous. "Has any man ever been magnetized by hair?" He flipped his card to show what he had written - 'Her smile.'
Jack and Kellie continued to lead.
"This is an easy one," Kate convinced the men. "We're going to have the wives stand up and turn around. When we were picking questions and filling out our cards in the kitchen, we knew we had to choose this one just for laughs."
"Oh great," Jed grumbled. Choosing a question just to laugh at their husbands didn't inspire much confidence.
"How many of you can accurately describe the color of your wife's eyes?"
Maybe he was wrong, he thought. This would be a piece of cake. He never tired of looking into Abbey's eyes. They were a gorgeous shade of green, but of course she would never say 'green.' Nothing was just an ordinary color to Abbey. Red was ruby or cranberry. Purple was plum. Blue was turquoise or teal or sapphire. When it came to green, it was jade or...
"Hazel," he said.
Her back to him, Abbey heard his answer. She spun around with her card and a great big smile.
'Green,' she had written, assuming that Jed would stick to the primary colors, but delighted that he went a step further to say hazel. Husband and wife high-fived as Bob added another point under their names.
Millie put down the sandwich she was snacking on and stood up. "I'm challenging that win."
"On the basis of what? We both said green." Abbey challenged the challenge.
"Jed said hazel and hazel is light brown with golden flecks."
"It's green with golden flecks."
"Abbey, it's brown."
"Unless brown is the new word for the color green, you're wrong."
Millie addressed the hosts. "We need a ruling."
Jed grabbed the dictionary that sat on top of the girls' Scrabble game and flipped through the pages. Abbey and Millie flanked him as he read aloud. "It says that in eye color, hazel refers to pigments ranging from light brown to dark golden-green."
"Jed obviously meant green," Abbey assured everyone.
"He didn't say green; he said hazel," Millie countered.
Jed rolled his eyes. "The one time I use a fancy name, I get hammered on it."
"It would have killed you to have said 'green'?" Abbey razzed him.
"I was trying to think like you. And in fairness, the question did say to 'describe' the color of your wife's eyes. I assumed we were going for more than ordinary green."
Jack was confused about the need for technical terms. "Colors are colors. Why can't we stick to the basics? Eye color is either green, brown, or blue."
"There's a lot of variation," Kellie told her husband.
"Only to you, Abbey, Millie, and Kate," he pointed out. "To the rest of us, it's not nearly as complicated."
Kellie sighed, "This is why men didn't invent Crayola."
"We did invent Crayola," Jed informed her, happy to share his trivia. "There were eight colors in 1903 - black, green, violet, blue, orange, yellow, brown, and red. Some woman got her hands on it and suddenly, aquamarine popped up, then apricot, and salmon..."
"What the hell color is salmon anyway?" Richard chimed in.
"It's a light purple or something."
"Pink," Abbey corrected.
"Whatever it is, we don't care," Bob interrupted. "That question's too controversial. We're throwing it out."
"Jed and I didn't agree to that," Abbey argued.
"We're the hosts for this round. We get to make the decisions." He flashed a smile at his sister-in-law. "Next question for the men. What article of clothing would your wife want to eliminate from your closet?"
Jed took the spotlight again. "The yellow shirt I like with the hole near the hem."
Abbey shook her head disgustingly at that raggedy old shirt, which gave away her feelings before she flipped the index card to confirm. "The hole, by the way, was thanks to a cigarette burn."
Jed waved his hand. "It gave it character."
"It's got threads hanging off, one button left, and a ripped pocket."
"It's comfortable."
"It's shabby. Oh, and it's lime green by the way, not yellow."
"Feel better?" He was amused.
"Much," she said, good-humored about the whole thing. "I can't stand that shirt."
She took a sip of her Baileys as they claimed a point.
Round Three
The finger sandwiches and taco salad were gone. All that remained were chips, salsa, and a lot more alcohol than any of them needed. Everyone helped themselves, then reassembled for the next round. Even without the question that Bob threw out, Jed and Abbey had managed to run up their score and tie Jack and Kellie for the lead. They took over as hosts while Bob and Kate returned to the sofas.
"All right ladies..." Jed looked to the wives. "What habit of yours did your husband say he'd most like you to break?"
Kate briefly mulled it over and said, "My smoking."
Always the doctor, Abbey replied, "That's a good habit to give up even if it's not what he said."
"Hey, no interfering!" Jed nudged his wife.
"That was never a rule."
Bob turned his card. 'Her smoking,' he'd written.
Jed gave them a point.
Kellie answered next, "My impulsiveness."
Jack flashed his card with a frown. 'Her obsessive neatness' was his response.
Their score didn't budge.
It was Millie's turn then. "I occasionally speed when I drive"
Richard shook his head as he held up the card that said, 'Her shopping.'
"Shopping?" Millie couldn't believe that's what he'd change about her. "I don't shop that much."
"We have a thousand-dollar Visa bill that says otherwise."
"I hear you, man." Jed offered his support.
Abbey nudged him. "Hey, no interfering!"
Tit for tat. Jed cracked another smile. Maybe it was the alcohol that provoked it, but it felt good to tease Abbey again and to have her teasing him back. The past few days had been too lonely - for both of them. This game was just what they needed to ease the awkwardness between them and start them on the path toward restoring the harmony in their marriage.
"All right gentlemen," Abbey began with the next question in-hand. "What bill did your wife say she's most likely to keep from you?"
Round Four
"What's the exact amount of the last check you wrote and who was it made out to?"
It was Jack and Kellie's turn as hosts now and it was Abbey's turn to answer.
There was no way Jed could have gotten this right, she thought, not if she answered honestly. They'd have to take a loss on this one. She revealed reluctantly, "Filene's. One hundred, fifty-five dollars."
"When did you go to Filene's?" Jed asked her. On his card, he'd written '$22.00 for Ellie's clarinet teacher.'
"Yesterday, between surgeries."
"That's what, 15-20 minutes? You spent a hundred and fifty dollars in that amount of time?"
"It's called power shopping. If we're going to the Berkshires, I'm going to need something to wear to dinner."
He smacked his hands together, a joyful glint in his eye. "And we're back to the shopping discussion from the last round."
"Okay already!" Abbey cut him off. "You'll like what I bought."
"That's beside the point."
"What is the point?"
"You're under the impression I'm taking you some place nice for dinner. What if I planned to take you to McDonald's?"
"Then I'd be the glitziest-dressed patron there. I'm comfortable with that."
Jed gave her a bad time because it was fun, but he was positively pleased that she had bought herself a new dress, not just because he knew she'd look smashing in it, but also because it proved that although it had been a rough week, she was looking forward to their overnight trip to the Berkshires as much as he was.
Jack made it through all the couples, then Kellie turned to the men for their question.
"What was the name of the last person your wife was with before she dated you and why did they break up?"
An easy one for Jed. "Ron Ehrlich. She dumped him because she met me."
Of course he was right. Everyone in the room knew the history there, but Abbey was just as satisfied as she'd been on the other questions that won them points. She turned her card and gave her husband a flirty wink as they bagged another one.
Bob went next. "His name was Michael Gag...Gagne or Gagston or something and they grew apart."
Kate had written down the same on her card, but when Kellie approached the score board to award them their point, Abbey objected.
"I'd like to challenge that play."
"Why?" Kate asked.
"You grew apart?" Abbey balked at that. "His name was Michael Gallagher, it was your freshman year in college, and you told me you broke up with him because he pronounced it Lay-go instead of Leg-o."
Kate feigned outrage at her sister's ribbing. "You've obviously had too much to drink!"
"Don't make me prove it, little sister," Abbey tweaked her playfully.
"All right, maybe that is what I told you, but you should have known that wasn't the whole story. Anyway, our answers matched, that's all that matters."
"She's right," Jack and Kellie ruled, giving Kate and Bob their point. As hosts for this round, the call was theirs to make.
"Lay-go, Kate, Lay-go. It drove you nuts!" Abbey teased.
"Sometime, I'd like to hear more about this pronunciation peeve of yours," Bob piled on.
"Oh, you will, dear," Kate assured her husband, "Just as soon as I fill Jed in on all of Abbey's adventures in adolescence."
"I'm up for that!" There was nothing Jed liked more than tales of Abbey's youth.
Abbey looked at him, a pointed stare and a cocked brow. "Aren't you in enough trouble?"
He chuckled as he opened another beer. She could needle him if she wanted, he didn't care. He was being enticed with stories of her childhood and he'd goad Kate on all night long if it meant he'd get to hear them.
Round Five
Coming out of the final round, the score was tied between Jed and Abbey and Jack and Kellie. The two couples prepared for the tie-breaking round, each armed with Bartlet-powered determination to win the game.
Like every other round, the first question went to the ladies.
"What two sports teams would your husband most like to see play each other in the Super Bowl next January?"
Abbey knew this one. Jed had griped and moaned for days after the last Super Bowl. His beloved Patriots had taken such a beating, losing to their rivals from Chicago by 36 points. He would have killed for a rematch, then and now.
Confident in her response, Abbey proudly answered, "The New England Patriots and the Chicago Bulls."
Jed flinched.
"The BEARS," he shouted. "Not the Bulls. Bears. Bulls - basketball. Bears - football."
"Okay, okay!" Abbey held up her hands. "We can't all know everything!"
Millie went on. "Kellie, what's your answer?"
"Jack would enjoy nothing more than to see the New England Patriots take on the Chicago Bears again."
Thrilled, Jack held up his card.
"FOUL!" Jed called out.
"What foul?" Jack asked. "You don't call foul in this game. You challenge."
"Fine, I challenge what happened just now. The game is flawed. Kellie heard Abbey's reply and that gave her a chance to adjust her answer. Throw that question out!"
"Kellie would have said that regardless."
"There's no way to know that. She might have said the Chicago Bulls or, for all we know, the White Sox. That question has to go."
"Jed's right," Richard agreed, despite Jack's objection.
Jed gave his brother a boastful head bob before he drained his last bottle of beer.
"In the interest of fairness, we'll use another question as our tie-breaker." Millie faced the men. "Gentlemen, when was the last time your wife faked it in bed?"
"Seriously?" Jack went pale.
Millie chuckled. "No, I'm just kidding...although, that might be a good question to have on-hand in case we need it."
"If we do, I'm going to need more beer," Jed warned.
"Here's the real question. It's not too difficult. Who is your wife's celebrity crush?"
Jack couldn't have been happier. He knew very well how bad his brother was with names.
"No complaining on this one," he told Jed.
Jed thought of the movie he and Abbey had seen dozens of times. He remembered the name of the film, but for the life of him, he couldn't remember the name of the actor who starred in it. He snapped his fingers, trying to jog his memory. He could see the guy's face and a couple of times, he thought he had it, but just as he opened his mouth, he realized that he didn't.
Finally, he had to stop. Time was up. He had to give some answer and hope that Jack got it wrong too. Dismissively, he said, "It's the guy who starred in Apocalypse Now. I don't remember his name."
Another smile crossed Abbey's face as she flipped her card. Knowing her husband as well as she did, she hadn't written a name at all. Instead, she had written down, 'the star of Apocalypse Now.'
Husband and wife cheered.
"I'm gonna challenge that," Jack interrupted.
"What?"
"The question is clearly begging for a name."
"It didn't say anything about a name."
Abbey added, "And it's already been established, thanks to Kate and Bob, that as long as the cards match, that's all that matters."
Another point was added to their column. Their celebration, though, depended entirely on Jack's answer.
"Robert Redford," he said with about as much confidence as Jed.
Kellie's face immediately crumbled. 'Kevin Costner,' she'd written.
And with that revelation, Jed and Abbey won the game.
It was after midnight when Jed walked their guests to their cars. He returned inside to help Abbey stack the dishes in the washer and lock up the house before retiring upstairs for the night. While she changed her clothes and stepped into the bathroom to brush her teeth, he retrieved that now-infamous lime green shirt from the closet and framed himself in the bathroom doorway so Abbey could see him stuff it into a brown paper bag.
"Okay?" he said. "I'll take it to Goodwill on Monday."
"Are you going to pay them to take it off your hands?" Abbey teased.
"Yeah, you can have your fun now, but starting next week, it's my turn. You and I are going to work on football vocabulary!"
"I already apologized for that. And I said I'd watch the Super Bowl with you."
"Yup, and I'm going to teach you everything you need to know to enjoy it!"
"Hon, how much of a chance do you think there is that I'm going to enjoy it?"
"You will, just wait and see." He followed her to their bed. They had the house to themselves for once and Jed considered taking advantage of that, but he picked up on Abbey's cues. When she was in the mood to make love, she usually wore something sexy to bed. Tonight, she wore a pair of striped cotton shorts and an oversized tee that fell past her hips.
"What time do we have to pick up the girls tomorrow?" She climbed in and pulled a sheet over her legs.
"Ellie said noon." He turned off the lamp on the nightstand.
"I hope to be done at the hospital by then. Still want to be on the road by three?"
"Or earlier if possible."
"I'll do my best."
They were quiet for a few minutes, until Jed broke the silence.
"I didn't ask where Lizzie was spending the night."
"That must have killed you." Abbey realized he was thinking that Liz was with Doug.
"We're doing this new thing now, she and I. I'm supposed to back off and trust her to be a responsible adult."
"You don't even get to ask questions?"
"That wasn't part of the deal, but since I can't go to wherever she is and drag her out, I thought it was better for my blood pressure if I just didn't know."
Abbey chuckled. "Relax, she's sleeping at Tori's tonight."
Jed heaved a sigh of relief.
"Thank you." He was lying flat on his back and he stayed there for a few minutes longer, then turned on his side, his head still on the pillow. "Is it the alcohol or are we really on better terms tonight than we were this morning?"
"I think it's a little of both."
"I hate fighting with you, Abbey."
"It's not a walk in the park for me either," she told him.
"I'm sorry. I really am. I never wanted to hurt you."
She believed that. Jed made her mad at times, but she knew that he'd never intentionally hurt her. She turned onto her side to face him, her head on her pillow just like his. "I know."
"I tried to talk to you about it, I called you at your office, I sent you flowers, I tried to bring it up last night before bed. I don't know what else to do."
"It's not about doing something, Jed. I wasn't trying to get back at you by giving you the silent treatment. I did it because I was too angry to talk."
"Are you still angry?"
"Yeah..." she replied honestly. "But not talking doesn't solve anything."
"So talk to me."
"I can accept your apology. The problem is it doesn't change the lie."
"I can't erase the past. If I could, I would, but I can't, so how do we move on from here?"
"I don't know." He rolled away from her, onto his back again. "It wasn't just about you and me. If someone threatens to kill you, I have a right to know, if not because I'm your wife, then at least because I'm the mother of your children. How do we know the girls aren't being targeted?"
"They're not. Come on, you knew about the threat before. If you thought they were in any danger, you would have moved them out of the house and forbid Liz from working at the campaign. You trusted they were safe then. Nothing new has happened."
"Yes, it has - you lied to me. And it scares me that I couldn't tell. It made me doubt everything."
That phrase concerned him. "What do you mean everything? Do you doubt my love for you?"
"No."
"Do you doubt my commitment to you?"
"No."
"Do you doubt my fidelity?"
"No."
"Then you don't doubt everything. You doubt what I told you about the threat, which is understandable."
"Are you arguing semantics?"
"No, you just worried me for a minute." He took a beat. "If it'll help, you're welcome to call the FBI and ask them whatever you want. I'll give you the case number."
"I don't want to do that, Jed. I don't want to check up on you. I don't want us to be one of those couples."
"What do you want then?"
"I want this to be easy." She rolled onto her back again, staring at the ceiling fan above. "You had a point when you said that I've been running myself ragged at the hospital."
"July is always busy."
"It's worse this year. I brought it on myself with the residency drama. It's dominated my attention. I'm ashamed to admit it, but I didn't know that you didn't give you Seabrook press conference until you told me."
"I'm giving it on Monday."
Abbey nodded. "In the past, I've always kept track of things like that. This time..."
"You had your hands full."
"It's more than that. When we fought the other night, I realized that you and I have been out of step the past few weeks. We haven't spent more than an hour at a time together since the Fourth of July. In the mornings, it's rush, rush, rush. In the evenings, it's 'let's eat and go to bed so we can get up and do it all over again tomorrow.'"
"Yeah." Jed had already acknowledged that to himself. "We've been distracted, sort of living in our own respective worlds. It happens with us now and then. With all couples."
"All couples or just the ones where both partners have careers like ours?"
"It wouldn't matter what careers we had or if we had them at all. If it wasn't work, it'd be the kids. The only couples who don't have these issues now and again are the ones who lead identical lives, do the same exact thing - together - day after day. I'm glad that's not us. I'm glad we're not joined at the hip."
"We'd drive each other crazy...more than we do now." She grinned at him.
"I like coming home at the end of a long day and telling you what happened at work."
Abbey said quietly, "Except you haven't lately."
He stared at her for a couple of seconds. "I know."
"And neither have I."
"Why do you think I wanted us to get away this weekend?"
"Do you still want to?"
"What?"
"Do you want to go away for the whole weekend, not just one night."
"Of course I do. But you said you were too busy."
"I might be able to sweet-talk Dr. McArdle into covering my patients."
"And the interns?"
"It's the weekend. They'll get along without me for two days."
"Are you sure?"
She rolled back on her side and gave a nod. "This is more important."
Jed reached for her hand, praying she wouldn't pull away from him. She didn't. Her fingers threaded his and their eyes locked. "I'll never lie to you again. I made a terrible mistake and I regret it more than you'll ever know."
They faced each other, their bodies so close that their noses almost touched. It was impossible to hide anything in that position. Every thought, every feeling was on display. They talked in a near-whisper. Softly, intimately for another hour, until exhaustion kicked in and they both dozed off to sleep.
TBC