Series: Snapshots of the Past

Story: Back Home Again

Chapter 11

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Previously: Abbey finally told Jed about her troubles at the hospital; Jed assured her he was going to help her pass the first step of her medical license exam

Summary: John disregards Jed's request to stay away from Elizabeth

- - -

Jed closed the blinds to keep the intruding sunlight at bay. He smiled proudly at the vision of Abbey still curled up under the throw blanket on the sofa, her textbook resting gently over her chest. Her determination to master the USMLE guidebook had kept her up all night and because he opted for the nonexistent comfort of the loveseat over sleeping alone in their bed, he knew just how long she struggled to catch a few hours of slumber.

Elizabeth was up and ready to start the day. Unfortunately for Jed, that usually meant she needed Abbey's help. But today was different. Today, Jed was going to be an exceptional surrogate for his wife and, in turn, bond with his daughter over something he hadn't done before -- her hair.

He pulled out a chair and helped Liz climb up. She sat with her back to him, flinching her eyes in anticipation. He rubbed his hands on the side of his pants and took a calming breath, reassuring himself that this was going to be easy. After all, he had seen Abbey do it countless times. How difficult could it possibly be to learn?

He positioned his fingers under the chestnut brown locks and began to pull it away from her face, towards the back of her head. His lips curved down and his confidence faltered as he struggled to hold on to the thick, straight tresses, the longer pieces falling into place, but the shorter ones retracting towards the front.

After several tries, he twisted her red ribbon under the soft and shiny top layer of hair, then pulled the ends up over top to tie in a bow. She turned on him, gasping at the aimless strands that now covered her eyes.

"That's not how Mom does it," Lizzie assured him.

"Yeah." His eyes lit up with an idea. "Wait right here."

With furrowed brows expressing her apprehension, Liz watched as he placed a floppy rain hat on top of the disastrous style. The curves drooped down over her brows and obstructed her right eye altogether.

"Daddy!" she whined.

"What? It looks great."

She shook her head in disapproval. "Uh uh."

It was time to concede and with one big release of breath, he did. "Fine. Wake up your mother."

Liz jumped on her toes and quietly approached Abbey's sleeping form. She kneeled beside her at eye level and opened her mouth wide. "Mommy!"

Abbey's body jerked at the sound. Her face turned towards her daughter with a terrified fury.

"Lizzie, that isn't how you wake someone up!" Jed scolded her. "I'm sorry, Babe."

"It's okay." Abbey eyed Liz's disheveled, hat-covered head. "What's this about?"

Liz pulled off the hat to reveal what was underneath. "Daddy tried to do my hair."

"No, no, no, no, no. Angel, you never let Daddy do your hair. He's a genius at most things, but hair is his weakness. Go get the brush."

Jed flashed a surprised smirk at both his girls. "I was just trying to do you a favor and let you get some sleep, Sweet Knees."

Liz returned with the hairbrush and sat on the floor in front of her mother. While shaking her head in disbelief, Abbey tore out the ribbon that was mangled under the knotted mess of hair.

"Mommy, can I wear my white dress to Mandy's party?"

"I'm afraid not. That's a summer dress. It's way too cold for it now."

"Mandy's party?" Jed asked inquisitively.

"We talked about this, Jed. In honor of her birthday, Mandy's mom is having a few of the girls over to spend the night on New Year's Eve. It's Lizzie's first slumber party!"

"And I wanna wear the white dress."

Having finished working on her hair, Abbey turned her around. "I'm sorry, Sweetie, but how about we go shopping next week for another dress?"

"No, I wanna wear the white one."

"Lizzie, I said no."

Her firm stand wasn't going to change no matter how much Liz begged, so with a frown plastered across her face and very few words spoken between them, Liz took her father's hand and tottled off to the bus stop.

- - -

As school buses lined the front circle of the elementary school, Liz and her classmate Mandy joyfully walked towards the building. The car that was parked on the curb didn't get their attention until the man standing in front of it called her name.

"Elizabeth?"

"Hi!" she exclaimed, excited to see the familiar face she hadn't seen since Thanksgiving.

"You want to spend the day with your Grandfather?" John asked.

"But I have to go to school."

Armed with a back-up, he handed her a shopping bag and waited for her to look inside before replying. "We can play Candyland."

He was sure that would do it and he was right. S

She had polished the sleek, mischievous look that came from doing something she knew she wasn't supposed to do. "Okay!"

John opened the passenger's door for her then walked around to the driver's seat. With a single shrug in Mandy's direction, Liz left the crowd of other kids walking towards class and hopped in the car.

He didn't have evil intentions in mind, but despite Jed's strong objections, John was determined to simply get to know the spirited young girl - his granddaughter, a granddaughter his wife never got to meet.

Once the two arrived at his Boston townhouse, John did just as he promised and unwrapped the plastic from a newly bought game of Candyland. He allowed Liz to set up the board and sat back to bask at the fascination that radiated from her eyes, the very eyes that resembled her father's.

Through Lizzie's eyes, John remembered the same look of carefree glee reflected on Jed's face when he was a little boy. Those warm memories had been tarnished over the years by accusations of abuse and neglect, accusations that John never completely understood. He and Jed may not have been close, but he fully maintained that his job was to keep his children in line, something that was sometimes done with a firm discussion with Jack, but usually had to be driven into Jed with a simple spanking - at least, that's what he called it in the midst of denial.

Sure, he lost his temper and things elevated at times, he reasoned. But he would never admit his failures as a father; he would never succumb to the slight glimmer of regret he sometimes felt. But when he was with Liz, everything was different. Her charming attitude and larger-than-life personality gave him a chance to see just what he missed in his children's lives.

"Grandfather, it's your turn," she gently pointed out.

He loved when she called him grandfather. Grandpa was reserved for Abbey's father. It was Liz's own way of distinguishing between the two men she admired and adored.

"I'm sorry," he said.

Her infectious giggle only made his heart swell with love. He never thought he could relate to a little girl. It was no secret that both times Diane was pregnant, he prayed for boys. He never had interest in raising a daughter, nor a granddaughter for that matter. But there was something about Elizabeth, some spark of life that made her irresistible and that same spark made him abandon the emotional safeguards that kept him immune to the lovable qualities of his own children.

"Lizzie, come here a second." Having taken notice of Liz's attachment to kitchen counters, he hoisted her up and sat her down while he scooped up two bowls of ice cream. "Have your parents told you any more about having another baby?"

"Uh uh. They said I won't be a big sister for a while."

"Do you know why?"

"Nope."

"I'm sure in no time at all, you're going to have a little brother or little sister to play with."

"Sister!" Liz declared.

"You want a little sister? Why?

"Girls are better."

"If you have a little brother, though, you won't have to share anything."

She turned her eyes away while contemplating the idea of sharing. All her life, she had been the apple of her parent's eyes. Sharing them, or anything other than school supplies she sometimes shared with her classmates, was a foreign concept to her.

"What would I have to share?"

"Well everything. I mean, with a sister, your mom is going to want to give all your old clothes to her."

"She will?"

"Yeah."

"What if I want my old clothes?"

"Well, that's where the sharing comes in. And it's not just clothes. Your old toys will be her new toys, she'll sleep in the same room as you, and she'll take up a lot of your parents' time. You'll find yourself competing just to get their attention. You don't want that, do you?"

"But Daddy had a little brother and he was a boy."

"Yes and that's why your father hated his brother." John handed her a spoon to dunk into her ice cream.

"Uncle Jack? Why?"

"He was jealous. He thought your grandmother and I loved Jack more than we loved him."

"Why?"

"Because they were both boys. Your Daddy was always upset about something though. He certainly wasn't the model child. Thank God we decided to have another baby. Your Uncle Jack was a lot easier to please."

In a five-year-old's mind, those words could be interpreted many different ways. Unfortunately, in Elizabeth Bartlet's mind, they took on the worst possible meaning. Were her parents having another baby because she, like her father, wasn't the perfect child, she began to wonder. She dropped her spoon by the side of the bowl, her appetite for dessert fading.

"You know he's named after me," John continued. "We just call him Jack because having two Johns would be confusing."

"How come Daddy isn't named after you?"

"Even as a baby, your father never really liked me. I'm sure he'll tell you that he's grateful he didn't have to live with the legacy of my first name as well as my last. Not that you should ask him. He'd be pretty upset if he knew you were here."

"He would?"

"Yeah. So let's just keep this our secret."

"I can't tell him we played Candyland?"

"No. He wouldn't like it very much."

Lizzie nodded. "What's a legacy?"

"I'll tell you when you're older." His elbows rested on the counter as he took another bite of ice cream while staring at her over the rim of his glasses. "Go ahead and finish up. We have to get you back soon."

After a quick stop for french fries at a local diner, John drove her to school. She sat in his car and stared out the window, her cheery disposition slowly returning.

"Did you have fun today?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"Good. I did too."

He leaned in for a tender hug and sent her to her waiting bus. Liz rode home with her friends just as she had that morning on the way to school.

- - -

When the bus curved the bend and stopped to let the children out, Lizzie jumped down the steps and ran into Jed's arms with enough excitement and passion to provoke a bit of suspicion.

"What are you so happy about?"

"I don't know," she said with a shrug.

Jed took her hand and led her towards their apartment. "What did you do in school today?" She froze for a moment, thinking of a response. "Lizzie, what's wrong?"

"We got to finger-paint!" she finally blurted out, remembering her grandfather's warning.

"Finger-paint? That sounds like fun! You can tell me all about it before Grandma comes over to sit with you."

"Okay!"

TBC