Felicity Bartlet fought to stay awake. Her body had reached a point of exhaustion. She barely had a nap, save for 20 minutes earlier that afternoon. Donna held Felicity close, gently swaying with her from side to side, while she quietly talked to her staffers as they moved around the Mural Room and between the Outer Oval.

Mere feet away from them, cameras, lights, monitors, and cables were set up and pointed at one of the sofas where the President and the First Lady would sit for their interview. The interviewer was off to one side talking to her staff.

Felicity had no idea why all these people were here or why they were rushing around. All she wanted was to find her parents, have a little milk, and go to sleep in the big, safe, comfy bed.

"Donna, where is my mama?" She asked sleepily as she rested her head on Donna's shoulder.

"She's busy right now." Donna said quietly.

"I want my mama now." She whined.

"It's okay." Donna said in an attempt to soothe the youngster. "Just be patient. You'll see her soon."

But patient was a word Felicity was sick and tired of hearing. For the past month, as her parents had spent more and more time away from her, she had been told "Be patient" more often than not.

She wanted her mama and daddy. And suddenly, something shifted.

Donna continued to sway Felicity gently in an effort to help her fall asleep. She knew better than anyone that her charge needed to go to sleep and that it was more than likely that her parents would miss bedtime due to interview preparations. Slowly, Felicity lost the battle to stay awake. Donna felt Felicity bury her face in her hair and smiled to herself. She kept swaying for a few minutes more to make sure Felicity was completely asleep.

Sleep was no longer a given for Felicity. Blissfully peaceful sleep ended for her on the night a bullet entered her arm, broke several ribs, and shredded once-healthy lung tissue before lodging itself in part of her left lung. All she could do for nearly two weeks was sleep. It was her only escape from the pain in her body and the tubes in her nose and throat. Sleep also kept her from remembering and reliving that night over and over again. Those memories and dreams came after the hospital.

As Felicity drifted into a land between sleep and waking, Donna's swaying motion took her back to the car ride to the hospital the night of the shooting. She remembered the SUV moving them forward and how hard it was for her to breathe. Mama and daddy weren't there with her in the backseat of the SUV. She didn't know where they were. Felicity heard Donna singing to her, trying to make her not so scared. But breathing was becoming more and more difficult. Her chest burned and she was starting to become so sleepy.

Felicity cried out, jolted wide awake as adrenaline dumped into her blood. Her infamously loud cries from infancy were gone after the shooting. Instead, they were softer. She squirmed in Donna's arms, wanting her mama and daddy more than ever now. She started to hyperventilate causing her chest to ache in protest.

"Felicity?" Donna asked, concerned as she felt and heard Felicity's breaths hitch. If she didn't know any better, she'd say the one-year-old was having a panic attack…

She audibly gasped quietly as she realized that was exactly what was happening. "Felicity, it's okay. You're safe."

"Mama!" Felicity cried out in fright and began to sob uncontrollably. "Mama!" Her voice level rose to hoarse screams as her breathing grew even more ragged.

Donna felt her own adrenaline spike. Before she could take off down the hall of the West Wing, however, Abbey entered the room.

"Dr. Bartlet! She-something happened, I think she might be having a panic attack!"

Abbey rushed forward. Quickly noticing the throes of panic and distress her daughter was in, she consciously chose not to snatch her daughter out of Donna's arms-that would only frighten her more. Instead, she picked up Felicity's head and urged to make eye contact.

"Felicity, can you hear me?"

"Mama," she whimpered.

Even though Felicity could see her mother, her body didn't register it. It reacted to the fear and adrenaline coursing through her veins. The damage caused by the bullet left Felicity with asthma and a wheeze in her chest. Most of Felicity's doctors needed a stethoscope to hear it. She had come to know the reminder of the bullet that tore through her daughter's lung without help. It told her when her baby was struggling, in pain, and when she woke up at night. Abbey heard the wheeze now. It grew louder and her baby's breathing increased rapidly. Coughing followed as Felicity desperately tried to catch her breath.

Abbey rushed over to Felicity's bag and retrieved the rescue inhaler and spacer from it. Donna took a seat in a nearby chair and held Felicity facing out on her lap. Abbey inserted the inhaler into the spacer and then held the mask at the end up to Felicity's nose.

"Baby, I need you to breathe for mama."

Felicity took feeble breaths at first as Abbey put the first puff through the spacer. But over a span of minutes, her breathing started to ease with each puff.

"Good job," Donna said, holding Felicity. "You're doing so well."

Big, fat tears rolled down Felicity's cheeks.

"There we are." Abbey said in relief. "There's my little lovebug."

"Dr. Bartlet, we need to start." CJ said from behind her. "Is Felicity all right?"

"She will be." Abbey said, standing up. "Donna, do you think you can get her down if I give you a bottle to give to her?"

Donna nodded. "Of course, ma'am."

Felicity wriggled in Donna's arms. "No, Mama, no!"

"Oh, it's all right, lovebug." Abbey tried to soothe her. Suddenly, she knew what she had to do as a mother. Donna saw the look in Abbey's eye and knew what she was thinking.

"Hey CJ. We need a minute."

"We don't have a minute, Donna. The interview is live!"

Jed came into the room, "What's going on?" He asked, seeing his crying daughter.

"Lovebug needs to nurse and go to sleep."

He took Felicity in his arms and felt her cling to him as she cried quietly.

"CJ…let's put this back a few minutes."

"Sir, we're live in three minutes."

"Why did I agree to this again?" Jed mumbled.

Doing this interview was one thing. But adding Felicity to this circus was another. Throughout this entire month of preparation, Jed and Abbey did everything they could to shield Felicity from this stress and it was about to be for nothing. One look at her little face told him everything he needed to know. She needed her mama and it was up to him to make sure Abbey and Felicity were comfortable, even on live television.

"I got it," Donna said and rushed to grab a blanket from beside Felicity's bag.

Jed took it from her as he and Abbey were ushered to the couch and everything was set. Makeup people descended on them to do last minute touchups. Felicity frowned at the bright lights. Jed held her close and tried to keep her calm until Abbey's makeup was done. When she was ready, he handed Felicity to his wife and laid a blanket over them, which Felicity promptly hid under. The corner of Jed's mouth quirked in a smile as he watched Abbey get their baby girl settled. One of Felicity's hands snuck out from under the blanket and Jed allowed it to wrap itself around his fingers. He looked up as the interviewer sat down.

"Dr. Bartlet, are you okay to do the interview right now?" The interviewer asked, and for good reason.

"Yes, thank you. I'm just going to nurse her and let her sit on my lap while we do this. With any hope she'll fall asleep," Abbey said calmly.

The interviewer nodded in understanding. Donna stood off to the side, watching as her charge visibly relaxed in her mother's arms.

"Okay," the interviewer said.

The introduction rolled seconds later and suddenly, Abbey and Jed were live with the country watching. The interviewer led them into the announcement about Jed's MS. That turned out to be the easy part. The follow up questions turned out to be much harder.

"You made history almost two years ago when you welcomed Felicity into your family. Have you given any thought about what you'll tell Felicity about your condition, Mr. President?"

Jed swallowed deeply. The world at large still didn't know about her chances of developing pediatric MS. And he wasn't entirely sure that he wanted to keep it that way.

"Well, we hope that as my condition stabilizes, she won't notice it as much. But when she asks, we will tell her that yes, Daddy has a condition that makes him sick sometimes, and that one day it might make her sick too, but that I will always be her daddy."

"Mr. President, there's no evidence of MS being hereditary. Why might there be a chance of her having it too?"

"Multiple Sclerosis isn't a genetic disease," Abbey answered instead, not quite sure where this was leading.

"No it isn't. But Felicity is at risk of developing Pediatric MS. She was enrolled in a private study last year at Johns Hopkins University. That was the main reason given for her participation. Isn't that true?"

Jed's mouth felt dry. How did this person know private medical information about his daughter? He wanted to answer but didn't know what to say.

"Is there a chance she could develop the disease?" The interviewer asked again.

"Yes." Jed replied, barely looking at Abbey. He hadn't meant for it to come out the way it did. But now it was out, and it was too late to take it back. The whole world knew it now.

The interviewer led them through a few final follow-up questions. Then, the interview ended, and Jed was hustled back to the Oval Office to prepare for the press conference.

Abbey stood in the doorway, shell-shocked as she held Felicity close to her. She couldn't believe he had done that. If the attention hadn't been on Felicity before, it would be now.

Donna went over to Abbey, "Ma'am?" She said.

"Yes, Donna?" Abbey said after a moment.

"I'll bring Felicity's bag upstairs."

"Thank you," she said and knew what she needed to do next. "I'm going to go back to Manchester tomorrow. Can you make the arrangements to accompany Felicity and I?"

"Of course," she said, grabbing Felicity's bag as they walked out of the Mural Room to the Residence.

A half hour later, Abbey was watching the press conference while packing. She wasn't really listening-she figured she knew what the answers would be, and she wanted to focus on packing. She planned to break the news to Jed when he got back to the Residence. She figured he wouldn't care too much, since they would likely be going together just to decompress.

She had just placed Felicity's clothing in a carry-on bag when she heard something she had not been expecting to hear yet.

"Mr. President, can you tell us right now if you'll be seeking a second term?"

Abbey turned to watch, expecting to hear the answer he had decided for sure that afternoon after Dolores Landingham's funeral. The answer he had assured her would be the answer for the last six months.

But that was not the answer her ears were hearing.

"Yeah. And I'm gonna win."

"Jackass," Abbey muttered under her breath. She was furious.

All thoughts of telling Jed about going home were moot. In the span of ten minutes, Abbey finished packing and called down to Donna's office.

"Ma'am?" Donna said, when she answered the phone. She had a sinking feeling in her stomach. The press conference was on and she just heard the President's answer.

"Donna, I'm leaving for Manchester tonight. Are you able to join me?"

"Yes, ma'am. I'll meet you by the Residence elevator in a few minutes."

Donna stood up and grabbed her go bag from the corner next to her bookshelf and turned off everything in her office. She was going to have to tell Josh she wasn't coming home tonight.

Josh's cell phone rang as they left the State Department. He pulled it out and grinned as he saw the caller ID.

"Hey. Did you see it?"

"Yeah. Josh, can you meet me at Andrews in the next 30 minutes?"

"I thought you were leaving in the morning?"

"We were. The First Lady changed her mind."

"The President's not gonna be very happy to find his wife and baby gone when he gets back."

"Josh…I'm not sure that they should be in the same room when he gets back. Maybe this is for the best."

"What are you talking about?"

"They were ambushed during the interview," Donna said quietly. "The interviewer found out that Felicity is part of a study at Johns Hopkins and she's being monitored for Pediatric MS."

"What?"

"Dr. Bartlet had no choice but to say something and the President confirmed it. With the announcement on top of it…"

Josh blew out a breath, "So she's leaving him?"

"It looks that way…"

"I'm on my way."

Josh hung up the phone without another word and ran to his car.

He got to Andrews just as Donna was boarding the plane.

"Donna!" He yelled out.

She turned, and her face brightened. Handing off Felicity's go-bag to an agent, she bounded down the steps and towards Josh.

"I didn't think you were going to make it," she said breathlessly as they embraced.

"I'm glad I did," he confirmed and kissed her. "So I'm thinking about weekend visits. We can get to know Manchester better."

"Really? You would do that?"

"Of course. This isn't just work, Donna. I know that. Felicity needs you."

Donna nodded, tears in her eyes. "She does." She looked back toward the plane. "I need to get going."

Josh took her face in his hands and kissed her. "I love you."

"I love you too."

Josh watched Donna walk back to the plane and get on. The door shut and the stairs were moved just before the plane began to taxi toward the runway. He watched the plane takeoff and stayed until it vanished into the night sky. Who knew how long it would be until Donna came home?

At the White House, Jed walked up the hall to his bedroom, preparing himself to talk this out with Abbey. He heard the TVs covering the announcement as he walked to the bedroom. He opened the double doors.

"Abbey?" He called into the darkened room. He walked in and turned on the lamp closest to the door.

The room was empty. The covers on Abbey's side were thrown back and Felicity's baby nest was gone. He walked over to the closet. A bunch of clothes were missing. Jed walked into Felicity's nursery and turned on the overhead light. Her dresser drawers were open and empty. The only thing left was a little giraffe Mrs. Landingham made Felicity sitting in one corner of the dresser.

They were gone.

Jed convinced himself that Abbey must have decided to go home to Manchester. After the interview, he didn't blame her for wanting to take Felicity somewhere away from prying eyes. He resolved to call her after he got out of the Haiti briefing. By the time he returned to his empty bedroom at 4:30 in the morning, Jed found that he couldn't sleep even though he was exhausted. So he waited until six and then called Abbey's cell phone, knowing that she would just getting up with Felicity.

Abbey's cell phone buzzed on the nightstand next to her. But she made no move to answer it. Instead, she was curled up in bed snuggling her baby girl, who had slept through most of the night. When the phone buzzed again a few minutes later, Abbey paid it no mind and focused on enjoying a quiet moment with Felicity. Jed could wait.

Receiving no answer again, Jed had no choice but to leave a voicemail.

"Abbey, it's me," He said, sitting on the side of the bed. "I talked to the Secret Service and I know you're up in Manchester with Lovebug. But please call me. We need to talk. You have every right to be mad at me. Just don't shut me out, please. I love and miss you both. Talk to you soon. Bye."

Early the next morning, Leo walked into the Roosevelt Room where the senior staff minus Donna was assembled. In her place, Amy sat at the table. Despite working in the East Wing, Amy and Donna were very aware of what was going on in the West Wing for the sake of scheduling with the First Lady and the President.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we have some serious PR problems," he announced taking his seat. "During last night's interview, the interviewer somehow knew about a private study Felicity is in. Now the narrative is that she has pediatric MS. This comes on top of the President's admission," he said and paused. "The First Lady also departed for New Hampshire last night with Felicity."

The table was silent for a moment. Then, CJ raised her hand.

"What's pediatric MS?"

"More or less what it sounds like. 3-5% of individuals with MS experience onset before the age of 16. Because the President has it, the chance that she might develop it is 2-4% higher. A chance, not an absolute certainty. We need to spin that."

"When's the First Lady coming back?" Sam wanted to know.

Leo opened his hands. "That remains to be seen."

"I wouldn't count on it anytime soon," Amy spoke up. "Dr. Bartlet wasn't consulted on the President's announcement last night."

Another silence settled over the room.

"So we might have a War of the Roses on our hands," Toby said.

"Possibly," Leo acknowledged. "One step at a time."

"I'll tell the press that the First Lady is taking vacation time with Felicity. Maybe I'll get lucky and have to answer questions about why Felicity needed to nurse during the interview instead," CJ sighed.

"It was a panic attack, wasn't it?" Sam asked. "Off the record."

CJ turned to him. "And how would you know that?"

"I heard it from Josh, who heard it from Donna."

"What is this, a game of telephone?" Leo groused.

"We have to play the game, Leo," Toby pointed out. "Since you and the President make a point of not talking about Felicity's recovery."

"Because it's no one's business!" He exclaimed.

"It's about to become America's business," Toby pointed out. "The President's approval ratings will plummet because he'll lose his Felicity bump."

"That's a myth," Josh said, thinking of how many times they discussed how President Bartlet got a small bump in the polls because the American people loved Felicity Bartlet.

"We'll see within a few days," Sam said.

"Leo?" Josh asked. "How's the President?"

"Devastated, what do you think? Listen, today is all about containing what happened last night, and making sure the President stays on schedule. Got me?"

Everyone nodded. "Thank you, Leo."

As they all stood to walk out, Leo walked over to Josh. "Donna went with the First Lady, right?"

Josh nodded. "Yes, she did."

"Hopefully they'll be back soon," Leo said, patting him on the shoulder. Then he went into the Oval and approached Jed who was sitting behind the Resolute Desk. "The staff knows about Abbey."

"Yeah," Jed said distractedly before looking at his Chief of Staff. "Leo, I don't understand it. How do we not know who leaked that information about Felicity by now? It wasn't public information."

"Mr. President, we're still looking. I'm going to find out who told. We're looking at everyone who works with Dr. Keller."

"If someone paid for that information, I swear to God, Leo…"

"I'll find it if it's the last thing I do," Leo said and then paused. "Has Abbey called you back yet?"

"No," Jed said quietly. "She ripped my heart out and won't even answer the phone so I can talk to my kid."

Leo sighed. This was more of a mess than he ever could've imagined.

"You just have to give her time."

"Time?" Jed exclaimed. "All I've given her is time!"

"Mr. President..."

"Leo, I just don't understand this. Doesn't she understand that it wasn't my fault? I was trapped!"

"I know you were trapped," he admitted. "But you know just as well as I do that the interview was only part of the problem. Abbey wasn't on board for you to run again."

"I would have got her there…"

"Maybe. But you know just as well as I do that Abbey being on board matters. She fully backed you last time while you were both sneaking around hotels, I might add. And this last year, Abbey devoted herself to that baby…it's not easy."

Jed looked up at him, angst written all over his face. "You think I don't know that? I sat with her for hours while we waited to hear whether our baby would live or die. I made her a promise that I would do whatever it took to make sure Felicity came first. But I made a commitment to this country, too. I can't just walk away."

"Maybe Abbey's trying to tell you something." Leo offered.

"What?"

"Maybe you can't have it all."

"Maybe…but I want this, Leo. I'm good at this. Felicity, I'm not so good with."

"I've seen you two together. She adores you."

"I know she does. But ever since Dr. Keller told us about Felicity's diagnosis, I can barely look at her."

"This isn't your fault…"

"My daughter could have MS, Leo. That is my fault."

"The answer to that question isn't any clearer than it was last year."

"It doesn't change how I feel," He said quietly

"I know."