Part Two
CJ groaned and shifted in Toby's embrace, frowning. "What's wrong?"
"Every fifteen minutes," she huffed, moving to push herself up, "it's time for a bathroom break!" Toby chuckled, eyes alight with a strange mixture of wonder and amusement, and stood, offering her both of his hands.
Moments later, CJ was on her way, and Toby slid his hands in his pockets, watching as she disappeared around the corner.
"Toby," the President called, pulling him back from his thoughts. The Communications Director attempted to pull on his most professional expression, and turned to face the President and First Lady. "How are you doing?"
Toby raised his eyebrows, slightly startled by the question, "Uhm, fine?"
"No soon-to-be-a-daddy jitters?" The President asked, exchanging an amused look with Abbey.
Toby's eyes softened, and he smiled, feeling a familiar hand on his shoulder, the scent of chamomile and rose hips lingering in the air as she approached. He turned to look at CJ, the word "no" passing his lips. The three turned to gaze at their Press Secretary, her hand again molded against her stomach, the curve skimming fabric drawn closer to her body. Toby's eyes narrowed slightly as his eyes ran over her face, taking in her tinted pallor. "How do you feel?" he asked, and his hand inconspicuously gravitated toward hers, fingers unclasped but grazing.
"Hungry?" she chuckled, suggesting without much encouragement that he find her food and a seat.
Toby nodded, "Something dry?" and headed for the appetizers when he had her approval.
The President stood and stepped to her side, then guided her to his seat. "You don't look well, Claudia Jean," he spoke, glancing at Abbey as CJ lowered herself into the chair.
"I'm fine," she assured them, waving her hands through the air, "Just hungry and tired, of course," CJ chuckled, "I'm always hungry and tired and. queasy."
"And horny?" Abbey supplied, mischief dancing in her eyes, causing her husband to burst into laughter and CJ to blush. Abbey grinned, congratulating herself on her ability to liven up a party. "Well, as I recall," she slid her eyes suggestively to Bartlet, "Pregnant sex is the best in quality and quantity, next to make-up sex, that is. Has something to with hormones, and the way they," she indicated the men, "look at you. All proud of their accomplishment and full of more desire than they ever have been before."
Toby approached and coughed, hearing the end of the conversation. The President removed the plate and glass from his grip, handing both to CJ. "Let's. go," he sighed, and Toby nodded, sending a single longing look in CJ's direction before they departed.
"Well?" Abbey laughed devilishly, an eyebrow raised as CJ contemplated her answer.
"Toby loves me," she began carefully, her words strong, "it took me a long time to understand that, to believe it. And I love him. And," CJ paused, smiling as she got to the topic Abbey had focused in on, "he's been so reverent, since we found out, so gentle and loving and beautiful. And the sex is. wonderful, it's like, I don't know, nothing I've experienced before or since quite compares."
Abbey chuckled, "I understand that," a wistful expression upon her face, "Yes, that man loves you very much. He worships you, Claudia Jean Cregg, you and that baby. You're wearing his ring," she tapped the silver chain she'd worn for three months and would wear for nearly two more, "and his heart," Abbey indicated the locket she'd advised him about so kindly, "Now when are you going to accept his name?"
"Well?" the President prodded, halting next to Charlie, who was watching Zoey present Leo with his Christmas gift. "How is she really?" His paternal side shone through as the three men turned to CJ and Abbey.
Something within Toby's eyes sparked as he watched them converse, Abbey saying something that caused CJ's face to flush a deep crimson. His gaze drifted downward, and the blush sank from her cheeks to her neck to the tops of her breasts revealed by the low neckline, and his eyes moved to again capture hers.
"She's. wonderful," he paused, smiling again, "She's tired all the time now. I come home from work and she's asleep on the couch with her reading glasses still perched on her nose, briefs spilling onto the carpet, most days." Toby's expression was wistful, as he drifted backward to the same scene he was describing.
"And the baby?" Jed asked, grinning with Toby as Charlie just shook his head, unable to grasp the spirit of fatherly pride that permeated their corner of the room.
"It's a girl," Toby grinned again, long-forgotten happiness in his words. "We've decided to name her Rachel, after my mother. It was CJ's idea," he chuckled, "she claims that any woman strong enough to deal with Toby Ziegler as a child had to be as feisty as she already feels our daughter is."
Jed laughed, the sound full-bodied and as much like Santa Claus as Charlie thought he ever would. "That's our CJ!" A few moments passed and Jed's eyes turned to his wife, lost in memories of years and Christmases past. "I remember the first time I felt each of the girls, when they'd just begun kicking Abbey. I think she was worried I'd become permanently attached for all the time I spent reading to each of them, whether it was from a college text book, poetry, or a political brief. It's very important, you know, reading to them."
"And music," Toby added, "and talking, touching."
Jed nodded, pausing, "CJ's a beautiful woman, Toby, intelligent, gentle, and very witty. You've done well, making her so happy," he smiled, patting Toby's shoulder, "and safe." Before the conversation could continue, the President's thoughts turned to three years before and the traumas she'd struggled with, that they'd all fought with her. For months after a madman had driven her into the Potomac on a suicide mission reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet, she'd cringed before climbing into her own car, gripped the seats near-painfully when Toby drove, and refused to get into a car with anyone else. When they'd driven for a campaign speech just outside of Washington, Josh had ridden along, and though CJ loved him as dearly as any of her brothers, she had felt tears in her eyes as she fought against a panic attack. Eventually the ride culminated to CJ's insistence that Toby pull over in a rural area, where she exited the car, fighting the urge to vomit.
Bartlet jerked his thoughts back to the present, and noticed the slight darkening of his eyes, realizing that Toby had been there to. For all that they'd seen and heard of those months after that early winter day, Toby had been the only one to see it all. He was the only one that knew she still dreamed of reeds that whispered "Romeo and Juliet" and heard a voice as ancient and evil as any of Satan's angels scream: "If I can't have you, no one can!" Though the dreams were few and far between, it was Toby who woke with her and held her as she trembled, and it was he that had wiped away tears and slept with the bedroom light on for weeks.
"So, son," Jed grinned easily, and Toby raised an eyebrow, focusing on his words, while Charlie laughed, "when are you going to do the right thing by her and your daughter? I imagine Rachel would like her parents to be married."
Toby shook his head and chuckled, "Actually, I don't think Rachel cares about that right now. It's CJ's decision sir, and she wants to wait until the end of the Administration, when there's nothing left as an obstacle, when it's just us. But for the record, we've decided on January 23rd 2006, so that Josh can get drunk at the Inaugural Ball and won't be hungover at the wedding." The three men laughed with gusto, and CJ's eyes flitted back up to Toby as his fell to hers, laughter brimming at his lips. She smiled at him, cocking her head sideways, and he could almost feel the warmth of her lips from across the room as she too began to laugh at the First Lady's expression of amused disgust.
He'd always wondered how she did that, made him laugh and smile and cry just by the expression on her face. The words never seemed to come to him, yet when his eyes again reached hers, he could see in her smile and her laughter and her tears that love was only the beginning.
CJ groaned and shifted in Toby's embrace, frowning. "What's wrong?"
"Every fifteen minutes," she huffed, moving to push herself up, "it's time for a bathroom break!" Toby chuckled, eyes alight with a strange mixture of wonder and amusement, and stood, offering her both of his hands.
Moments later, CJ was on her way, and Toby slid his hands in his pockets, watching as she disappeared around the corner.
"Toby," the President called, pulling him back from his thoughts. The Communications Director attempted to pull on his most professional expression, and turned to face the President and First Lady. "How are you doing?"
Toby raised his eyebrows, slightly startled by the question, "Uhm, fine?"
"No soon-to-be-a-daddy jitters?" The President asked, exchanging an amused look with Abbey.
Toby's eyes softened, and he smiled, feeling a familiar hand on his shoulder, the scent of chamomile and rose hips lingering in the air as she approached. He turned to look at CJ, the word "no" passing his lips. The three turned to gaze at their Press Secretary, her hand again molded against her stomach, the curve skimming fabric drawn closer to her body. Toby's eyes narrowed slightly as his eyes ran over her face, taking in her tinted pallor. "How do you feel?" he asked, and his hand inconspicuously gravitated toward hers, fingers unclasped but grazing.
"Hungry?" she chuckled, suggesting without much encouragement that he find her food and a seat.
Toby nodded, "Something dry?" and headed for the appetizers when he had her approval.
The President stood and stepped to her side, then guided her to his seat. "You don't look well, Claudia Jean," he spoke, glancing at Abbey as CJ lowered herself into the chair.
"I'm fine," she assured them, waving her hands through the air, "Just hungry and tired, of course," CJ chuckled, "I'm always hungry and tired and. queasy."
"And horny?" Abbey supplied, mischief dancing in her eyes, causing her husband to burst into laughter and CJ to blush. Abbey grinned, congratulating herself on her ability to liven up a party. "Well, as I recall," she slid her eyes suggestively to Bartlet, "Pregnant sex is the best in quality and quantity, next to make-up sex, that is. Has something to with hormones, and the way they," she indicated the men, "look at you. All proud of their accomplishment and full of more desire than they ever have been before."
Toby approached and coughed, hearing the end of the conversation. The President removed the plate and glass from his grip, handing both to CJ. "Let's. go," he sighed, and Toby nodded, sending a single longing look in CJ's direction before they departed.
"Well?" Abbey laughed devilishly, an eyebrow raised as CJ contemplated her answer.
"Toby loves me," she began carefully, her words strong, "it took me a long time to understand that, to believe it. And I love him. And," CJ paused, smiling as she got to the topic Abbey had focused in on, "he's been so reverent, since we found out, so gentle and loving and beautiful. And the sex is. wonderful, it's like, I don't know, nothing I've experienced before or since quite compares."
Abbey chuckled, "I understand that," a wistful expression upon her face, "Yes, that man loves you very much. He worships you, Claudia Jean Cregg, you and that baby. You're wearing his ring," she tapped the silver chain she'd worn for three months and would wear for nearly two more, "and his heart," Abbey indicated the locket she'd advised him about so kindly, "Now when are you going to accept his name?"
"Well?" the President prodded, halting next to Charlie, who was watching Zoey present Leo with his Christmas gift. "How is she really?" His paternal side shone through as the three men turned to CJ and Abbey.
Something within Toby's eyes sparked as he watched them converse, Abbey saying something that caused CJ's face to flush a deep crimson. His gaze drifted downward, and the blush sank from her cheeks to her neck to the tops of her breasts revealed by the low neckline, and his eyes moved to again capture hers.
"She's. wonderful," he paused, smiling again, "She's tired all the time now. I come home from work and she's asleep on the couch with her reading glasses still perched on her nose, briefs spilling onto the carpet, most days." Toby's expression was wistful, as he drifted backward to the same scene he was describing.
"And the baby?" Jed asked, grinning with Toby as Charlie just shook his head, unable to grasp the spirit of fatherly pride that permeated their corner of the room.
"It's a girl," Toby grinned again, long-forgotten happiness in his words. "We've decided to name her Rachel, after my mother. It was CJ's idea," he chuckled, "she claims that any woman strong enough to deal with Toby Ziegler as a child had to be as feisty as she already feels our daughter is."
Jed laughed, the sound full-bodied and as much like Santa Claus as Charlie thought he ever would. "That's our CJ!" A few moments passed and Jed's eyes turned to his wife, lost in memories of years and Christmases past. "I remember the first time I felt each of the girls, when they'd just begun kicking Abbey. I think she was worried I'd become permanently attached for all the time I spent reading to each of them, whether it was from a college text book, poetry, or a political brief. It's very important, you know, reading to them."
"And music," Toby added, "and talking, touching."
Jed nodded, pausing, "CJ's a beautiful woman, Toby, intelligent, gentle, and very witty. You've done well, making her so happy," he smiled, patting Toby's shoulder, "and safe." Before the conversation could continue, the President's thoughts turned to three years before and the traumas she'd struggled with, that they'd all fought with her. For months after a madman had driven her into the Potomac on a suicide mission reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet, she'd cringed before climbing into her own car, gripped the seats near-painfully when Toby drove, and refused to get into a car with anyone else. When they'd driven for a campaign speech just outside of Washington, Josh had ridden along, and though CJ loved him as dearly as any of her brothers, she had felt tears in her eyes as she fought against a panic attack. Eventually the ride culminated to CJ's insistence that Toby pull over in a rural area, where she exited the car, fighting the urge to vomit.
Bartlet jerked his thoughts back to the present, and noticed the slight darkening of his eyes, realizing that Toby had been there to. For all that they'd seen and heard of those months after that early winter day, Toby had been the only one to see it all. He was the only one that knew she still dreamed of reeds that whispered "Romeo and Juliet" and heard a voice as ancient and evil as any of Satan's angels scream: "If I can't have you, no one can!" Though the dreams were few and far between, it was Toby who woke with her and held her as she trembled, and it was he that had wiped away tears and slept with the bedroom light on for weeks.
"So, son," Jed grinned easily, and Toby raised an eyebrow, focusing on his words, while Charlie laughed, "when are you going to do the right thing by her and your daughter? I imagine Rachel would like her parents to be married."
Toby shook his head and chuckled, "Actually, I don't think Rachel cares about that right now. It's CJ's decision sir, and she wants to wait until the end of the Administration, when there's nothing left as an obstacle, when it's just us. But for the record, we've decided on January 23rd 2006, so that Josh can get drunk at the Inaugural Ball and won't be hungover at the wedding." The three men laughed with gusto, and CJ's eyes flitted back up to Toby as his fell to hers, laughter brimming at his lips. She smiled at him, cocking her head sideways, and he could almost feel the warmth of her lips from across the room as she too began to laugh at the First Lady's expression of amused disgust.
He'd always wondered how she did that, made him laugh and smile and cry just by the expression on her face. The words never seemed to come to him, yet when his eyes again reached hers, he could see in her smile and her laughter and her tears that love was only the beginning.