Abbey kicks her feet out in front of her, now looking down at her own feet, "Well, I did it…Not perfectly, but I did it."

Jed looks at Abbey, who continues swinging, looking down at her own feet. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. I didn't mean to pry."

Abbey looks up at him and rolls her eyes. "Well, let's see. You're the President of the United States. The Secret Service is currently patrolling my property as far as the eye can see, and I'm sure beyond that as well. And at this point, I've been to the White House multiple times, have committee meetings with the President, and he's sitting next to me right now, so I have to imagine some pretty detailed background checks have been run on me and my entire family. Thus, I'd say you have a more detailed account of my life than I do."

Jed looks off into the distance and nods. "Yes, I'm sure we do. But I want you to know…I didn't look."

Abbey turns to him. "What?"

Jed stares straight ahead "I didn't look at your file."

Confused, Abbey asks, "Why not?"

Jed shrugs, "Well, Leo and the team have, so I trust them. If they and the secret service have cleared you, then that's all I need to know. And, I just…it felt like an invasion of your privacy. I hoped that…I mean I figured that I'd rather have you tell me the information if it ever came up and you wanted to."

Shocked, Abbey stares at Jed. Recovering, she turns to look straight ahead and starts talking. "Richard has been gone for eleven years now. Liz had just turned five. Ellie was three and Zoe was two."

Jed glances over. "That must have been so difficult for you."

Abbey shrugs, "It wasn't a walk in the park, but I did the best I could. I thought about selling the house, but didn't want to uproot the girls from their lives. I made sure to be present for as much as I could. I had just finished my thoracic surgery specialty so I didn't have much flexibility in my career and was gone for such long hours. And obviously, without Richard, cutting back at work wasn't an option—not that I really wanted it to be. So my parents helped with watching the girls and cooking dinner, and just making my life easier. But my dad was still working at that point—still a doctor himself. So it was really just my mom. Without their help, I don't know what I would have done. And now, it's eleven years later, and the girls aren't totally screwed up, so I guess we did something right."

Jed looks at her, "If the quality of the advice you've given me tonight is any indication, I'm sure you've done a lot of things right."

Abbey makes eye contact, "Perhaps. I know it's not the same, but Richard was killed by a drunk driver. So I know a little bit about the proportional response. Projecting your feelings onto the people responsible…it's understandable, but it doesn't help with the pain. It just prolongs the healing process. Makes it difficult to grieve and move on with your life."

Jed shifts uncomfortably. "If you don't mind me asking…how long did it take you to move on? I mean, to feel any semblance of normality."

Abbey also shifts, "It's a process. Like the rest of life—ups and downs. Some days you're fine, and some days, it doesn't matter how much time has passed. The past is just there waiting in the shadows."

Abbey shivers and wraps her arms around herself. "But everyone is different. Morris' wife might feel entirely differently. Every relationship and person handles things in their own way."

Jed picks up the flowers next to him on the table. "Well, I know you wouldn't take these as an 'I'm sorry,' but what about as a 'thank you.'"

Abbey grins, "Now that I'll do."

Jed hands her the flowers, their fingers lingering as they touch. "I don't want to make excuses, but there really aren't many people I can open up to. Not that I was very good at opening up to people before the Presidency. And keeping it all inside, means I sometimes lash out. Usually at those closest to me. It isn't a trait I'm particularly proud of, but it's wrong."

Abbey rolls her eyes at him. "Yes, but you'll have to do more than that if you want to get rid of me. Remember, I went to med school and became a surgeon. That's how they talk to us when giving us a compliment."

They sit in silence for a few more minutes. Finally, Abbey makes a move to stand up. "We should probably go. I can't imagine the secret service is thrilled to have you hanging around outside in the middle of the night. And my dad probably has about thirty more seconds before the entire family wants to know where I've gone."

Jed stands up after her. "And again, you'd be right."

Abbey and Jed each look at the other, unsure whether to hug or handshake or what. Finally, Jed says "I can't thank you enough."

Abbey waves him off, "It was nothing."

Jed raises his eyebrow at her, "It was much more than nothing."

"Well, goodnight Mister President."

"Goodnight, Dr. Barrington."

They hug, melting perfectly together.

Stepping away, Abbey goes to walk inside. "Abbey," Jed calls, stopping her in her tracks.

"Yes?"

"This might be too much to ask, but would you perhaps…attend the White House memorial for Morris?"

Abbey looks at him, not expecting that.

"I'm sorry I shouldn't have…I just was hoping to introduce you to his wife."

"Of course, I'll go."

"You don't have to. I shouldn't have asked."

"Really, it's fine. Have Charlie pass along the details."

And with that, Abbey walks inside.

Taking off her boots, Abbey walks into the family room, all three girls squealing at her entrance. Nick stands in the middle of the room attempting to lift Zoe into the Dirty Dancing lift.

"Dad, be careful of your back!"

He puts Zoe down.

"Who wants hot chocolate?"

"Me!" All three girls scream at once.

"Great. Grandpa's famous hot chocolate coming up. Abbey, dear, help me in the kitchen?"

And with that Nick wraps his arm around Abbey and guides her out of the room, into the kitchen.

Abbey starts boiling hot water on the stove, but Nick stands at the counter staring at her.

"So, what was that about?"

"Nothing."

"The President stopping by your home is nothing?"

"Daddy, you know I'm on that committee…"

"He was carrying flowers."

"He wanted to apologize."

Nick walks over to her. "Apologize for what?"

"Just his mood today. He was frustrated."

Nick nods, knowingly. "Of course he is. He likes you."

"And I like him. He's a great President."

Nick pulls her hand off the pot. "Abbey, he likes you."

"Don't be ridiculous." Abbey averts her gaze and goes back to making the hot chocolate.

"And based on that reaction, you like him."

"I do not," she declares as her voice rises in pitch, "we just work well together."

"Well sure, a doctor teaching a President how to make house calls."

"We just talked about work stuff."

"So he didn't ask you out?"

"No. He just invited me to attend a memorial service."

"Interesting tactic. But he is a little nerdy, that one."

"Dad, you're wrong. Just drop it."

"Ok, sweetpea. But I'm here if you ever want to talk."

Later, Abbey stands in Zoe's room, covering her in a blanket. Zoe's fast asleep, a little hot chocolate still in the corner of her lip. Abbey kisses her forehead and leaves the room.

Walking into Ellie's room, Ellie looks up from her book.

"Still awake?"

"Yeah. I wanted to finish this chapter."

Abbey snuggles in next to her, reading over her head.

"Hey, mom?"

"Yes, honey?"

Abbey strokes the hair off her daughter's forehead.

"Are you dating the President?"

"What?"

"He was outside tonight."

"He was. We work together."

Abbey continues stroking her daughter's hair, her expression unreadable.

"Yeah, but are you dating?"

"No, sweetie. What makes you think that?"

Ellie's eyes start to close.

"He looked at you like Johnny looked at Baby in Dirty Dancing."

"No he didn't."

"Yes he did…" Ellie yawns and rolls over, "you probably just didn't notice because you were too busy looking at him like Baby looked at Johnny."

"Ellie, I wasn't—" Abbey stops, realizing Ellie is now fully asleep. She watches Ellie's even breathing for a few minutes, lost in thought.

Getting up, she turns out the light. Walking back into her own room, she pauses in front of the full length mirror.

Abbey stares at herself. She looks at her sock covered feet, her black yoga leggings, and her oversized sweatshirt. She fidgets with the sleeve, and then flips her hair, trying to make it look less tousled. She then stares at herself. At her eyes. She changes her expression. She frowns, she widens her eyes. She wipes a smudge of eyeliner from the bottom of her eye. She smiles, a small smile that deepens and almost glows.

She shakes herself out of her reverie. "What am I even doing?"