A/N: This chapter contains dialogue from episode 2x14, "The War at Home". Credit goes to the writers of that episode. We used it for context.

Happy reading!

A year and a half earlier….

Jed regarded the three people gathered in his bedroom from his position in bed. Beside him, Abbey held their baby girl in her arms. She was very cranky and had been ever since Abbey rushed home the previous night. It was as if she was worried about her daddy.

"I haven't had an episode in two years," he said. "From all accounts, I just have the flu. But we have to be cautious with any illness. I see no reason for telling the other staff."

It took everything Leo had not to roll his eyes. To keep this from him for almost a decade was one thing, but the staff? "Mr. President, suppose they find out accidentally?"

"Then we'll deal with it then," Jed answered calmly.

"And the American public?" Charlie asked.

Jed looked at his aide. "I don't want to cause a panic yet."

"But, Mr. President-"

"I don't want to give off the impression that I can't do this job." Jed's voice was firm. He turned to his wife's aide. "Donna, I notice you haven't said anything yet. Is there anything you'd like to add?"

"It's your decision, Mr. President," Donna allowed. "But you're going to have another episode at some point. What if it happens while you're with Felicity?" She asked.

Jed's expression darkened, "I can take care of my own daughter, Donna."

"No one is saying that you can't, Mr. President. But Felicity wasn't here two years ago. She is now. What's the plan if something happens?"

"Donna is right, Jed. We do need to find a way to manage."

Jed nodded sagely. "That's where you come in. If the time ever comes where we can't take care of her, Donna, you'll have to step in, cover for us."

Donna nodded along with him. "Yes, sir."

"And Donna," Abbey added, "I want you to know that you will never be fully responsible for this child, even if the President's condition worsens."

"Yes, ma'am."

"And what are you going to do when Felicity starts asking questions?" Leo asked pointedly. "Do you expect her and the staff to be in the dark forever?"

"This is my decision!" Jed said, raising his voice. "We will tell her when the time is right, Leo. And the staff too. Just not now."

Jed sat in the Oval Office on late Wednesday afternoon reading through a brief. It made him think of Felicity and how much he missed her. Most of his non-classified reports did. She loved to be read to and liked to read out loud as well. For all of her physical delays and setbacks, her brain continued to thrive and grow. How they would handle such a smart child when it came to school was a thought for another day.

"Mr. President?"

Jed looked up. Leo walked into the room with Bruno behind him. He set the briefing down and stood.

"Bruno."

The men shook hands before they sat down. Bruno sat down across from Jed on the couches. He wasted no time.

"Mr. President, we have to reschedule the announcement."

Jed looked up. "Why?"

"Because we need to have your family life straightened out before we can straighten out your campaign."

"My family life is fine."

"Really? Because I think this tape would beg to differ."

"What tape?"

Bruno went over to a TV on a cart that was brought in earlier in the day and popped a tape in the VCR. An image of Donna and Felicity filled the screen. It was pointed at them from across the room. Jed saw Donna gently swaying his little girl, trying to get her to fall asleep.

"Donna, where's my mama?" She asked, yawning.

"She'll be here soon. Just be patient."

Felicity sighed and a few minutes later she fell asleep. Bruno fast-forwarded the tape. From his vantage point, Jed saw Felicity startle awake. Dread formed in the pit of his stomach as he watched her struggle to breathe.

Her screams echoed on the tape, and Jed's chest constricted. Then, he felt himself relax.

Because Abbey had come onscreen. He watched her lovingly administer her medicine. The tape buzzed off, and Jed sat in silence.

"Where did you get this?"

"B-footage from CNN."

"WHAT THE HELL?" He exploded. "That is my child! My children are off-limits to the press. They had no right to shoot a video of Felicity and they should know that. No photos or video of my kid inside the White House unless I say otherwise. Felicity is already in the public eye enough as it is. We've had the same rule for two years now. She's not one of the pandas at the zoo."

"The cameras were running for the interview, Mr. President. Felicity was in the room."

"Because she was waiting for her mama and her daddy to say goodnight to her!" He practically growled. "Damn it! Is it going to leak?"

"You bet it will," Bruno said without hesitation.

Jed looked to Leo.

"I don't know what to tell you, Mr. President," Leo replied. "But it's gonna leak whether you like it or not."

"Leo, this isn't a matter of me liking it or not. If that tape goes wide, Abbey will go ballistic. Felicity is sick. This isn't supposed to be for public consumption."

Leo and Bruno looked at one another. They knew Jed was right. If the tape leaked before the weekend, Abbey was going to be furious with him.

"It's already done," Bruno said matter-of-factly. "The question is what are you going to do about it?"

"I was going to go home on Friday but I don't know if I'll be welcome when I get there."

The next day, Abbey poured some coffee for Stanley, who sat opposite her. Felicity was napping upstairs.

"So," Stanley narrated, "You were angry."

"Yes, I was," Abbey admitted.

"Angry that Jed appeared to be backing out of his promise."

"Yes. But to tell you the truth, I was also worried."

"About Jed's health?"

"Yes, this is a very stressful job and he could have an attack at any time."

"Had he had an attack before?"

Abbey closed her eyes. "Yes, he had."

"So, you had genuine reason to worry about him."

"That, and he could progressively get worse the longer he has the disease."

6 months earlier…

Jed entered the bedroom in the Residence to find Abbey packing for a brief trip.

"First there's the preliminary or the dry run. Then there's the actual packing. Abbey, you're just going away for two days, right?"

Abbey sighed. Clearly, he was not going to leave her alone until they talked about this. She turned to the aides in the room. "Guys…"

The aides got the message and left the room.

Abbey turned to Jed, her eyes trained on his face. "What happened?"

"It was an ambush."

"Oh, God."

He described to her what had happened. And then, before Abbey knew it, the conversation turned back to the deal.

"Abbey, I didn't make a decision to run again. I wouldn't do that without you."

"Jed we don't have to talk about that now."

His eyes flickered to their baby girl who was asleep in the middle of the bed. Abbey was wearing one of the wraps Felicity loved. They were ready to travel.

"I would never make a decision without you," Jed said, turning his gaze back to her.

"If we're going to talk about this, let's talk about this. The moves over the last few weeks, last night's speech…this whole place is in re-election mode."

"That's what we do, Abbey. We run for things. A Congressman has to raise 10,000 a day for re-election. A President gets to govern for 18 months."

"We had a deal!"

"Yes, we had a deal."

Jed started to walk away, but Abbey wasn't finished yet. She grabbed his arm. "Look at me!"

He did so, reluctantly.

Abbey's eyes flickered to the bed. "We can't do this here."

She led him to the living room and looked him in the eyes, tears gathering in the corners.

"Do you get that you have MS?" She took a breath. "Your daughter almost died. Do you get that? And you could drag her down right alongside you."

"I could drag her— Abbey, what the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Felicity has a long road ahead of her, Jed. She tires easily and is just starting to feel good about crawling again. She can't stand anything resembling solid food, to say nothing of her damaged lung or her arm, which still needs surgery. And you want to go on the campaign trail?"

"Felicity has access to the best doctors—"

A soft squeak of protest came from the bed. Jed went over to it. Felicity's lashes fluttered and she frowned. He picked her up blanket and all and held her close to his chest. Felicity inhaled softly and buried her nose in his shirt, breathing in his scent.

"It's all right, lovebug," He whispered, kissing Felicity's head tenderly. "Go back to sleep."

Jed felt Felicity relax into him and waited until her breathing slowed before placing her back on the bed before returning to Abbey.

"You also have access to the best doctors, Jed," Abbey said, emotion evident in her voice. "But that won't stop your own immune system from shredding your brain and I can't tell you why. Do you know how good of a doctor I am and that I can't tell you why?"

"I've had one episode in 2 years."

"Relapsing-Remitting MS can turn into Secondary Progressive MS 10 years after the diagnosis and that's where we'll be in two years…" she said and went on to list the symptoms. "Our daughter is only going to be young for so long…if you do this…if you run again, you won't get that time with her back."

Jed's eyes were downcast. "I know that, Abbey. You think I don't know that?"

"We had a deal. And that deal is how you justified keeping it a secret from the world. It's how you justified it to God." Her voice was firm but full of pain. "It's how you justified it to me."

"Let's talk about Felicity since she came up in that conversation with your husband. In your last session, you said that you were sure that your husband would lose. You were actively planning for life after he left office."

"Yes, we were."

"Was Felicity a surprise to you after the election?"

"No," Abbey said, straightening in her chair. "We had been trying to have another baby for nearly 20 years at that point."

"Is there a reason why you decided to try again?"

"Jed thought I was pregnant that summer. And he was disappointed when it turned out I wasn't."

"Did you feel maybe it was some kind of a sign?"

"Yes. Dr. Keyworth, at that point, my husband was picking up steam, but…people still thought Hoynes would sweep the convention. I…"

Stanley leaned forward. "Dr. Bartlet, are you trying to tell me that you were hoping your husband would lose? Because some divine intervention convinced you it was a good time to have a baby?"

"He wasn't supposed to sweep the convention. He was supposed to not be able to hold a candle to the Republicans in the general. He-"

"Dr. Bartlet!" Stanley broke through her litany of excuses. "You didn't answer my question. Were you praying that your husband would lose the election?"

"Yes." Her voice was barely audible. "Yes, I prayed that my husband would lose the election. Are you satisfied?"

"This isn't about me, Dr. Bartlet. It is about you and your marriage. Because he won, there was always going to be a chance that he was going to run again."

"I know," Abbey said quietly.

"But you were hoping and praying that someone, something would stop him. If not you, your daughter's injuries. That didn't happen either. This, being here, it's your way of saying you can't do this anymore."

The sound of pool balls hitting one another echoed through the local pool hall in DC. Toby sunk the ball in the pocket before turning to Josh.

"Your turn."

Josh leaned forward and hit the balls, barely making a dent.

"So, Toby, do you think we're gonna have to move the announcement?"

"His poll numbers are in the thirties, Josh. We can't have an announcement. An announcement says Jed Bartlet is excited to run, that he thinks he can win. Meanwhile, the narrative is that Felicity is stricken with Pediatric MS and Dr. Bartlet took her home because she needed care. America's father looks like a neglectful husband and an absent father."

Josh nodded, "It does look out of touch. Leo brought in Bruno."

Toby sighed, "I heard. I hate it. We don't really need him. But the President is in a hole Josh and I don't think we can dig him out…at least not alone."

"How is the Manchester side of things?"

"Donna said Stanley Keyworth is up there for Felicity. He's putting Felicity through play therapy. But she won't do anything. She just sits there and stares at him. He made the mistake of assuming that Felicity might be a bit delayed with her speech since the shooting and Felicity said, "No, I'm not."

Josh cracked a smile. That sounded just like Felicity. "She's not delayed. In fact, she's ahead of the curve. She's just…down a hole right now, that's all."

Toby nodded. "Well, I hope she cracks soon because there's only so much more the President can take."

"Yeah, Donna says the same."

"Have you talked to Donna?"

"I talk to her every week."

"Yeah, but have you really talked to her?"

"We try when I go up. But we're both just so exhausted by the time we see each other. Not knowing how this is going to play out is hard. And Donna is right in the thick of it with the kid so…"

"Your relationship is on pause."

"Basically. Donna is the safe zone for Felicity, trying to give Dr. Bartlet a break when she can."

"Word to the wise, don't let it sit too long."

"How long is too long?" Josh asked, deep in thought.

"I don't know. Andy and I split up because we didn't talk. I got…bothered that we couldn't communicate. The moment your partner starts keeping you out of the loop, your relationship's history."

Toby started to play again, and Josh knew the heart-to-heart portion of the evening was over. But he couldn't help but let his mind drift back to his first suspicions of the very thing Toby was talking about: that Donna knew more about the First Family than she let on.

Josh was starting to wonder what was getting Hoynes so riled up. Why would he suddenly change his position on big oil?

And he had noticed other things, too. The President, although he had agreed to start running for re-election, was having some sort of problem with Abbey. It was as though no one had informed her the President would be running again. And Hoynes…well, the only thing that would make his sudden ramp-up make sense is if…

He leaned on Leo's doorway. "Leo?"

"Yeah?"

"Has there been any discussion, on any level, about Hoynes being dropped from the ticket in '02?"

"No, why?" Leo asked.

"Just wondering why all the moves recently. Seems like he's running."

"He's not."

"Has the President decided?"

"Not yet. He's still talking it over with Abbey."

Josh's forehead crinkled. Still, deciding? This should be a no-brainer.

"Okay." He said to Leo.

When he got home that night, he and Donna got ready for bed. As he watched her work on some briefing memos, he opened his mouth, then closed it again.

Donna looked up at Josh. "What's up?"

"Nothing…just Hoynes. I think he's running in '02."

"What did Leo say?"

"He's not," he said and paused. "You haven't heard anything about the President's decision have you?"

"Josh…."

"I'm not asking you to tell me everything, Donna. I just want to know if you've heard."

"Dr. Bartlet and the President have a lot on their plate with Felicity. She's still very sick, Josh. She'll put on a brave face and smile for everybody. But that child can't even take a deep breath." Donna paused. "So, no, Josh, as far as I know, the President hasn't decided whether or not to run for re-election. Felicity's too sick, he's certainly got enough in his medical history-"

"What?" Josh asked suddenly.

Donna realized what she had said. "Never mind."

"Donna-"

"Josh, just…drop it, okay?" Donna suddenly looked uncomfortable.

An hour later, Josh again appeared in Leo's doorway.

"I just talked to Donna. She said that the President hasn't decided to run again. And she implied that there's something going on with his health."

Leo sat there in shock.

"Leo, why does Hoynes think the President isn't going to run again?" He swallowed. "And what does he have that he can't tell anyone about?"

After his meeting with Bruno and the President, Leo sat in his office and placed a call to Donna. She was the next person who needed to know about the CNN leak. The only good thing about this was if anyone had to break the news to Abbey, Donna would be the one for the job. He dialed her number and waited for her to answer.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Donna, how's it going?"

"Pretty well, Leo. How about you?"

"Good. Listen, there's gonna be something that breaks in the next couple of hours."

"What's going on?"

"CNN's got B-roll footage of Felicity."

Donna let out a breath, "The cameras were on in the Mural Room, weren't they?"

"Yeah, they caught Felicity's entire panic attack. The President knows about it and he's not happy. He wants to pull CNN's credentials over it."

"He's not gonna be able to do that, though, is he?"

"Not unless he wants to start a press war. The networks get limited coverage, to begin with. Now they have something like this in their grasp. Practically ransom."

Donna sighed. "The First Lady's not going to be happy about it, either."

"Like I don't know that."

"Leo, Dr. Bartlet hasn't been wearing her wedding ring. That's where we are in this. She hasn't spoken to the President as far as I'm aware either. I haven't said anything about it to her. But Dr. Bartlet might be halfway out the door."

"You know I can't tell the President that, kid."

"I have no problem mentioning it. If for no one else, then for Felicity."

"How is she doing?"

"Better. She's up less often at night. But the President not being here at night bothers her. I've heard her crying because she misses him."

"Poor kid. Listen, you'll tell the First Lady?"

"Guess I have to."

"Just keep your chin up and Abbey from going off on reporters and you'll be just fine."

Donna grinned. "Okay, Leo, I'll talk to you soon."

"Bye, kid."

Felicity shifted in her sleep and then opened her eyes, frowning in the dark. It was hard to breathe and she wanted to cough. But she stayed super still, aware that her mama was asleep beside her.

Her chest felt tight and she tried to breathe slowly. But it was really hard to do that. Suddenly the coughs burst out of her. She gasped and coughed some more, turning bright red.

She thought about calling out for her mother but decided not to wake her. However, Abbey was already jolted awake by the sound of her daughter's coughs.

"Felicity?" Abbey said worriedly, switching on the lamp and turning to face her miserable little girl. "Do you need your inhaler?"

Felicity coughed and whimpered. "Mama…"

Abbey jumped out of bed and grabbed Felicity's rescue inhaler.

Felicity let her mama administer the medicine and struggled to take a deep breath. Finally, the tightness seemed to ease. Her breathing slowed. Abbey put the inhaler on the nightstand and when she turned around, tears were rolling down her little girl's cheeks. Felicity looked at the other side of the bed. But she said nothing and tried to find her binkie in the sheets. When Abbey found it and popped up with the binkie, that only made Felicity cry harder.

Abbey swept her up in her arms. "Oh, lovebug, what's wrong?"

It took a minute for Abbey to hear Felicity through her sobs. But when she did, her heart broke.

"I…want…Daddy!"

Abbey kissed Felicity's head, "We can call him."

"He's asleep."

Abbey was positive he wasn't asleep.

"Let's call him," she said and reached for the phone. Abbey dialed the White House. "It's Dr. Bartlet. Put me through to the President please."

There was a pause followed by just two rings.

"Yeah?"

"Jed, I have lovebug here," she said, turning on the speakerphone.

"Hi baby," he said, sitting up in bed. He heard her sniffles through the phone. "What happened?"

"Daddy, you're not here," Felicity said, taking little gulping breaths.

"I know," He said. "Did you have a bad dream? Is that what woke you up?"

"No, I had to cough."

"Oh," Jed said. He could just imagine the scenario. Felicity had woken up many times in the middle of the night in the last year because she had trouble breathing or had a nightmare. "Do you feel better?"

"No," Felicity said, dissolving into tears again.

Abbey hugged her daughter tighter, "How about I give you your milk, and maybe daddy will read to you?"

"I have a report here," Jed said, grabbing it off of the nightstand. "You're just the person I wanted to read it to."

"Okay," Felicity said, tearfully. She sniffled and looked up at her mother.

"It's all right," Abbey soothed, seeing the lingering fear in her daughter's eyes. "You're safe."

Felicity melted into her mother gratefully and Abbey peppered her with kisses. Then she shifted the little girl in her arms so she could nurse. Abbey felt Felicity's entire body relax into her as she sat back against the headboard. She smiled to herself. Despite the stress of the last twenty minutes, Felicity was worth every single moment of this hellish year and then some. It might have taken nearly twenty years to get here. But Abbey was quite certain that she had never been loved so completely by her children as she was by the baby girl in her arms.

Jed started to read the driest policy report Abbey had ever heard. But their daughter didn't care. She simply snuggled into her mother and listened to Jed's voice. Abbey kissed Felicity's little hand and put her forgotten binkie on the nightstand. It took roughly ten pages and then Felicity was out like a light. Abbey pulled up her pajama top and pulled the covers up around them.

"Jed," Abbey interjected as he finished a paragraph, "She's asleep."

Jed stopped reading, "Good," He offered.

"You should get some sleep yourself."

"I will. Abbey—I'm gonna come home this weekend. Is that okay with you?"

"It's your house, Jed. You can do what you like."

"I'd like to come home. For Felicity."

"I'll see you this weekend then," Abbey said and then sighed. "I won't tell lovebug you're coming. It'll be a surprise if you do come."

"Thanks," He said. "Abbey I—"

"Goodnight," She said quickly and ended the call.

Abbey turned off the light and settled back under the covers with Felicity close enough to feel her breathing. Abbey tried to relax and fall back to sleep. But she couldn't stop thinking about what Jed just said. He was coming home after nearly a month apart. Stanley was going to have a field day with this.