Author's Note: Thank you, Daphy for all the help with med school information!

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Story: Back Home Again

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: The characters depicted in this story belong to NBC, WB, and Aaron Sorkin. We're just borrowing them for some fun :)

Story Summary: Back in New England, Jed and Abbey contemplate having another child. Meanwhile, Abbey feels she has to prove herself in medical school at Harvard and Jed deals with a family crisis that causes him to come to terms with his relationship with his father and how it affects his relationship with Elizabeth.

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It was August 1973. President Richard Nixon sat in the White House amid the height of the Watergate investigations, the country was engulfed by a sea of protesters over the U.S. involvement in Vietnam, an act of Congress was about to take affect, halting the United States bombing on Cambodia, American Graffiti had just been released in theaters, the song The Morning After topped Billboard Charts, and in the top floor of a three-story walkup apartment nestled in the heart of Boston, Massachusetts, the Bartlet family -- Jed, Abbey, and little Elizabeth -- made their home.

The two-bedroom brownstone on Wigglesworth Street was only minutes from Northeastern University where Jed taught undergraduate classes in Business/Government Relations and Economics. A few blocks away, Abbey had completed two years of medical school at Harvard's Boston campus. And Liz would soon start public school at nearby Longwood Elementary.

Inside the cozy apartment, Jed turned his steely stare towards Abbey, carefully reading her expression in hopes of finding some measure of agreement. A slight nod convinced him his instincts were right on target. A quick glance at Elizabeth's beaming face confirmed the notion and with that, he moved his gingerbread man a few spaces, avoiding using the card that allowed him a shortcut to the Gumdrop Pass, ensuring a victory for the little girl.

Liz bent her tiny fingers around the edge of her card, then moved her own gingerbread man towards the Candy Castle, a.k.a., the winner's circle. A loud cheer with heavenly-pointed arms followed, reminiscent of the way Jed usually declared a triumphant outcome.

"She is her father's daughter," Abbey remarked between bursts of laughter.

Liz began to clear the board with visions of setting it up once again. "Let's play again!"

"I think we've had enough Candyland for tonight. You need to get ready for your bath," Jed reminded her.

"One more...please!"

Abbey sensed yet another five-year-old triumph. Anytime Elizabeth turned her baby blue eyes towards her father, the word "no" escaped Jed's vocabulary and she was the one who would have to interfere with a firm refusal.

"I don't think so, Sweetheart. I'm sure if you ask him to, your father will read you a story after your bath though."

Jed geared himself up for the predictable whine that usually followed, but on this night, Liz was interrupted by the chiming of the doorbell. Noticing the guilty grin that washed over Abbey's face, he approached the door, twisting the knob and looking away from the swinging wood.

"Long time no see."

The familiar voice caused Jed to snap his head back towards the open entryway. "Leo! Jenny!"

Following his gesture, the couple stepped inside the apartment.

"It's so good to see you again." Abbey welcomed Jenny with a hug.

"You too."

"You knew about this?" Jed asked his wife.

"Who do you think invited them?"

"We're just passing through on our way back from Niagara Falls. Abbey asked us to stop over for the weekend," Leo confirmed after greeting Abbey with a kiss to the cheek.

"We haven't seen you since last year," Abbey added. "And I swear, if Jed doesn't get some male bonding time, he's going to go crazy."

Jenny noticed an apprehensive Liz still sitting at the table absently fidgeting with her Candyland cards. "Wow, Lizzie! You've gotten so big. Can I have a hug?"

Always an outgoing and precocious child, Liz leaped out of her chair and into Jenny's embrace.

"You remember me, Lizzie?" Leo asked.

"Uh huh! You're Uncle Leo!"

The little girl was passed to Leo's waiting arms. "Yes, I am. And I think I have a little something for you."

He pulled a lollipop out of his jacket pocket and handed it to little girl.

"Lizzie, Honey, what do you say?" Jed nudged her.

"Thank you."

It was the sweetest voice Leo thought he'd ever heard. "You're very welcome." He tightened the hug before lowering her to the ground and exchanging a tension-laced smile with Jenny.

The interesting thing about friends is that they notice the most minute expressions of emotion, sometimes from clear across the room. Words aren't always necessary to convey the myriad of feelings that are visible on a person's face and, in this case, the unspoken words only added to Jed's suspicions.

During an after-dinner snack while Abbey accompanied Liz and Leo on a stargazing venture with the new telescope he had just bought the little girl, Jenny approached the troubling subject with Jed.

"I'm not sure who else to turn to, who else he'll listen to," she argued in an attempt to justify to herself the need to talk to Jed about something she was sure Leo would have a problem doing himself.

"Jenny, we've known each other for years. You can tell me anything. You know that."

"His drinking. It concerns me, Jed. I mean, really concerns me."

Leo had always been a heavy drinker, but in the past, he knew when to stop. Jed was frequently astonished by the amount of liquor the man could hold. He used to wonder if his friend was on a dangerous path to serious trouble or simply having a good time. According to Jenny, his initial instincts were right. Leo's drinking became more pronounced after his time in Vietnam and now, he was almost out of control. But Jed was still uncertain about the role he was supposed to play.

"You know I'll do anything for Leo, and for you. What is it you're asking?"

"Talk to him. Please. He won't listen to me."

"What makes you think he'll listen to me?" a skeptical Jed asked.

"If he doesn't, then I'm out of solutions." She teared up as she turned away from his prying eyes.

"Jenny, what aren't you telling me?"

"I'm just worried about him...now more than ever."

"Why now more than ever? What's going on?"

She took a beat and decided to forego privacy, but in the mere seconds it took to open her mouth, she was interrupted by the return of Liz, Abbey, and Leo. "I'm glad you're back," she said instead. "I think it's time to tell them."

"Tell us what?" Abbey asked.

She waited for Leo to stand beside her and drape an arm over her shoulder. "I'm pregnant."

Those two little words that had brought so much joy to Jed when Abbey spoke them were now uttered out of Jenny's mouth with an underlying hint of dread and insecurity -- one that Abbey didn't notice and one that immediately convinced Jed of the urgency of the favor Jenny was asking of him. He nodded sadly and took her into his embrace.

"Congratulations."

"I think it's great!" Abbey added with her own congratulatory hug for the couple. "Aunt Jenny's going to have a baby, Lizzie," she said as she picked up Liz.

"A baby?"

"Yeah, it's right here in my tummy."

Jenny grasped the girl's arm and directed it towards her stomach, letting her pat the barely swollen skin under her blouse.

Jed acknowledged the smile tenuously plastered across Jenny's face. In the ten years he had known her, he had never seen Jenny so unsure of her relationship with Leo. It always gave him great pride to brag that he was the one who introduced the two. And now that she needed his help, for Leo's sake, he couldn't turn her away.

He didn't dare mention Jenny's request to Abbey until they were alone that night. He propped himself up against the headboard as soon as she came into the bedroom.

"So Lizzie wants to know when Mommy's going to have another baby."

"Not anytime soon," he laughed.

Abbey slipped off her robe and picked up a bottle of lotion from the dresser. She dispensed the cream into her hand, blending it up and down the length of her legs. "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why not anytime soon?" She set the bottle back on the dresser and approached his lying form on the mattress. "Don't you want another baby?"

"Yeah, but...Lizzie starts kindergarten in a week and you're about to start your third year of meed school."

"Lizzie starting school is perfect timing. She's not exactly a baby anymore. And as for me, I could take some time off."

"Do you want to?" he asked.

"For another Liz? Yeah, I really want to."

Jed pulled her closer to him, bracing his arm behind her and causing her to lean back as he pressed his chest into hers. She squirmed underneath him, twisting her body to release his hold.

He looked at her with confusion in his eyes. "You said you wanted a baby."

"Down, Sparky, I didn't mean tonight. Lizzie's saying goodnight to Leo and Jenny. She's sleeping with us tonight, so..."

"No hanky panky."

She wrinkled her forehead and leaned in for a kiss. "I'm sorry."

He returned her kiss and affectionately curled his arm around hers. "How did Leo seem to you tonight?"

"Fine, why?" she replied as she fluffed up her pillow and laid beside him.

"Jenny's concerned about his drinking."

"Leo always drinks. It's nothing new, right?"

"He's been drinking more than normal and she's concerned with a baby on the way."

Abbey rested her head on his shoulder and rubbed his arm with her hand. "She wants you to talk to him?" He nodded. "And you're going to?" He nodded again. "Does that make you uncomfortable?"

"I've never interfered in how Leo lives his life. It's not my place."

"You're his best friend. If you're worried..."

The door swung open, interrupting the moment between the two. "Mommy!" Elizabeth gleefully shouted,

"Hi, Sweetheart. Come on up." She reached down to help Liz climb onto the bed.

"Did you say goodnight to Leo and Jenny?" Jed asked.

"Uh huh! Aunt Jenny said I can sleep with them tomorrow. Can I?"

Abbey helped her settle underneath the covers between herself and Jed. "We'll see." She kissed her daughter before turning around to turn off the light. "Night night."

"Good night, Angel," Jed added with a second kiss.

Liz rolled to her side and threw her arm around Jed's neck. She pressed her lips into his cheek as he returned her hug, savoring the loving gesture. Without fail, every time her tiny hands coiled around his body, it sent a warm tingle through his heart and brought a tear to his eye. She released her grip, turned her body back towards the middle, and tugged on the blanket on top of her. He helped her yank the fabric a little harder until she smiled, then, with a quick swipe to remove the moisture under his eye, he rolled away and turned off his light, seriously pondering the idea of having another child.

TBC