The air is cold, and smells of snow. The wind whips around, and yet, it's the perfect day to be outside because the sun still peeks through the snow clouds, casting a ray of warmth on those intrepid outdoorsmen. Or women, as the case may be. It's Abbey's one day off and thanks to the irreplaceable help of her new housemates (her parents), all of the laundry had been done, and the shopping, and the household chores, leaving Abbey free to bask in the day with her daughters. Although when pulled out of bed bright and early by her giggling girls this morning, Abbey was reluctant to leave the warmth of her bed and partake in any form of physical activity, the girls had been adamant: they wanted to hike. And so, when all three looked at her with such innocent and pleading eyes, she lamented. And here she is, cheeks red from the cold, breathing in the winter air, racing her daughters back to the bottom of the trail. Laughing, Liz lands at the bottom first, with Ellie and Zoey right on her heels. The three smile back at her, their cheeks even redder than her own, and cajole her in her defeat.

"Wow mom, how does it feel to be a loser," Liz taunts, albeit harmlessly.

"Mom, you never lose!" Zoey says, stunned to have finally beaten her mother.

Abbey leans over heavily, deep breathing to catch her breath, but smiling to herself as her hair covers her face. Ok, so she let the girls win. It's worth the teasing to add to their pure joy.

"You ok, mom?" Ellie asks, always the sensitive one.

Standing up, Abbey wraps her arm around Ellie's shoulders saying, "I'm fine sweetheart. Just letting your sisters gloat in their victory."

The four make their way back to the car, with Abbey hopping into the drivers seat.

"Hey mom," Zoey piped up from the back seat. Abbey looked up into the rearview mirror to make eye contact. Zoey continued, "Can we pleaseeee get some pizza?"

Abbey pauses to think, but the truth is, she's absolutely going to agree. Her parents will be out late, having deemed today their own date night; she's exhausted from the hike and needs to head in to work at 11pm, and the last thing she wants to do is spend her last few hours cooking and doing dishes. "Pizza it is!" Abbey proclaims.

"YES!" all three girls squeal in delight.

Around 11pm, the house quiet, Abbey sits nursing a mug of black tea, when the door opens and her parents enter the house.

"It's so quiet. Did you finally get rid of the girls?" Nick cajoles.

"What girls?" Abbey deadpans back.

"They're all asleep?" Katherine questions, worriedly.

"The hike really knocked them out." Abbey offers.

"Long hike followed by pizza and soda…is someone feeling guilty?" Nick asks as he looks at the pizza boxes stacked up by the trashcan.

"No….we just were having a really lovely day. And so I indulged the girls a bit." Abbey justifies.

"You're a great mother. And a little spoiling never hurts. I spoiled the heck out of you, and you turned out just fine." Nick rubs Abbey's shoulder, as Abbey adjusts, hoping he can loosen the knot that is forming there.

Katherine notices. "Dear, did you get any rest today?"

"A little." Abbey adds back.

Katherine nods. "That means no. Please tell me you didn't do that whole 10 mile hike."

Silence.

Katherine shakes her head. "Great. 10 mile hike. Pizza and soda. No rest. Caffeine at 11pm. And a 12 hour shift. I hope there's an extra doctor on call for when you collapse."

Abbey kisses her mother's cheek. "Mom, I'll be fine. Now, I'm off. Remember that the girls are staying late after school tomorrow. Ellie has science club. Liz has basketball. And Zoey is making up her history test from when she was sick last week. I have my committee meeting at the White House. And then I'll be home. Probably by 6pm the latest."

Nick kisses her goodbye as well. "Just be careful. It's supposed to snow tomorrow and that's a long drive back in the dark at the best of times."

"Yes dad, Goodnight"

And with that, Abbey is off into the night.

"It's 2pm, Dr. Barrington. You're late." Emily stated, ushering Abbey out of her office.

"Emily, I don't think we pay you enough to be a nurse and my mother." Abbey chides gently, as she grabs various papers off her desk and shoves them into her bag.

"At this time of the day, it'll easily take an hour, maybe two to get into downtown DC." Emily continues.

"Oh, damn," Abbey laments as she flings off her doctors coat and sprints out of the office, only to reappear a minute later in the doorway, "I lost my…"

Emily throws the car keys at her as Abbey catches them, and immediately turns to run again shouting over her shoulder "I owe you a raise."

Emily sits down in Abbey's chair laughing. She puts her feet up on the desk, "Oh yes, you do!"

Abbey made it to the White House in the nick of time, only because it had gotten pushed back so that Leo could join. They were meeting with various economic advisors today for the proposal they were putting together on an equal pay initiative. As the meeting ended, Abbey was looking forward to nothing more than arriving home and collapsing into her own bed.

Until Leo stopped her, "Abbey. Good work today. This proposal is shaping up to be something that I think we can get passed. It'll be a landmark and really put this committee and you on the map."

"Thank you, Leo. That means a lot."

"I'd like you to discuss it with the President. If you have time."

"Absolutely…" Abbey pauses as Leo still stands there. "You mean now?"

"If you have the time."

"I thought the President was still traveling."

Leo shakes his head. "He arrived back a few hours early due to the impending storm. He's working out of his office in the residence for the rest of the day though. Trying to keep his presence quieter so that he can catch up on things without being bombarded by everyone."

"Right, sure. The residence."

Leo ushers her, "Well, this way it is."