Just a precautionary rating of R for this one because of a possibly disturbing scene!
Series: Snapshots of the Past
Story: Endings and Beginnings
Chapter 5
Disclaimer: See Chapter 1
Previously: Jed refused to fail his students for skipping out on their midterms in favor of an antiwar protest; Liz kept quiet about a violent incident at school that resulted in knocking her tooth loose
Summary: Jed and Ellie bond; Liz is brought to tears by protesters; Abbey's worst nightmare is about to come true
- - -
Babies. They're cute and soft and cuddly. They're also a bundle of tears just waiting to erupt at any given moment, regardless of time or convenience. But two-month-old Ellie had a pretty good grasp on time, so it would seem. She usually waited until the sun went down to begin her tantrums, waking her parents with harsh screams that could only be calmed by Abbey.
And after a week of getting little to no sleep, Abbey was exhausted. Jed stepped in to relieve his wife, but quickly found his second daughter wasn't as enamored by his speaking voice and his charm as his first. He bounced up and down holding the baby girl, but it didn't soothe her cries. He patted her back gently, but she simply screeched at his touch. Finally, he remembered an approach that worked with Elizabeth and so he took a chance. He sang to her.
Isn't she lovely
Isn't she wonderful
Isn't she precious
Less than one minute old
I never thought through love we'd be
Making one as lovely as she
But isn't she lovely made from love
He stopped suddenly, the realization of her silence hitting him with abrupt force. She stared at Jed as if mesmerized by his lips and the lyrics that escaped them.
"You like that? Huh. Your sister did too. Maybe I missed my calling in life. Maybe I should have been a musician. Maybe I still will." He grinned wickedly at the thought. "My father would love that. So would your mother." There was no mistaking the big smile that took over Ellie's face, squinting her eyes and stretching her tiny cheeks. "Don't you laugh at me. I'll tell them it was all your idea."
It was perfect. He held Ellie firmly, her tiny, squirming body expanding with every breath she took. It was sheer perfection, a journey through a utopia he couldn't explain.
Jed Bartlet was a man with many doubts. The ones that usually resurfaced were the ones that were chiseled into his soul. But as he looked into the sparkling innocent eyes of his youngest offspring, it was obvious one particular doubt had vanished.
He didn't dare admit to Abbey that he questioned how to divide his love between his two daughters. He felt such a deep affection for Elizabeth that he imagined it impossible to love another child as much. As a result, he feared the younger Bartlet would be deprived of the bond he shared with her older sister.
But now he knew just how easy it was for the two girls to tug on his heartstrings equally and force him to stretch his love to envelop them both. It was an exhilarating grasp of reality that led him to that epiphany, one that he'd never forget nor trivialize. And so he savored the moment and sat on the couch with the quiet infant cradled in his arms.
That was how Abbey found him the next morning.
Jed leaned against the back cushions, his eyes closed, obviously taking advantage of an opportunity for a quick catnap. His hands were perfectly positioned to support a sleeping Ellie.
The image of father and daughter reclining so comfortably was too sweet for Abbey to ignore. After rummaging through the bedroom for a camera, she snapped a picture of the napping duo.
"Good morning," she said when Jed's eyes widened in response to the flash.
"Hey." He immediately felt the weight on his arms and stared down at Ellie. "Sorry, I guess I dozed off."
"She's fine." She bent down to scoop the baby up from his lap. "What time did you get up with her?"
"Around three. I didn't want her crying to wake you."
"You got her to settle down all by yourself?"
"It's not exactly unheard of," he teased. "I have done this before, you know."
"Yeah, but never with Ellie."
Jed conceded. It was his first successful attempt at calming his newborn daughter and nothing could taint the pride that radiated from within him. He put one little girl to bed and it was time to wake the other.
Liz stirred slightly when he crept into her room and sank down beside her bed. With the tips of two fingers, he lightly brushed her cheek, clearing it of a couple of strands of stray hair. "Hey, Angel. You ready to wake up?"
Avoiding his hand, she buried her face deeper into her pillow. "No."
"Come on, Sweetheart. It's time to go to school."
Her eyes blinked rapidly adjusting to the light. "I don't wanna go to school today."
"Aw, come on. You love school. Don't you?"
"I wanna stay home."
Telling him about the chaos that surrounded Roxbury wasn't an option. He had been so proud of her on her first day of class. He had called her his brave little trooper for weathering the protesters and returning home with a spring in her step, absolutely delighted about this new experience. She relished his pride and wouldn't disappoint him.
"Home? Home is boring. You get to go to school and play with all your friends." The sound of giggles echoed through the room as he playfully removed her blanket. "Don't you want to see your friends?"
"Yeah," she replied. Saying the words she wanted to was hard, but suppressing her displeasure was sometimes harder. She opened her mouth, but simply bit down on her lip when he began talking.
"I'll make you some banana pancakes. You'd like that, wouldn't you?" Her favorite breakfast dish always tempted her.
"Yeah!" And there was the return of her smile.
With a glimmer of excitement now visible, he kissed her forehead and headed out of the room. But it didn't end there. Liz really didn't want to go to school and though her instincts nipped at her conscious and she debated telling her parents why, it was easier to replace her true reasons with a deceptive motive.
"Can't I stay home today and play with Ellie?" she asked Abbey.
"Lizzie, we've been over this. You have to go to school. Now go get your backpack and I'll take you to the bus stop."
"Please, can't I stay here with you?"
Abbey took a break from packing her lunch to cup her chin and lift her head. "What did I say the last ten times you asked me?"
"No," she answered sadly, now lowering her head back down.
"I'm not going to change my mind." With a pat on her back, she sent her to her room. "Go get your things."
The stubborn six year old did as she was told, but she wouldn't surrender her quest to evade the potentially terrifying experience of another day at school. Only hours after classes began, she feigned a stomach ache that caused Abbey to rush to her side.
"Mommy!" she called out when she saw Abbey frantically entering the building.
"Are you okay, Sweetie?"
"It hurts," she said with an arm wrapped around her belly.
Abbey pressed the back of her hand against Liz's forehead. "No fever."
"Mrs. Bartlet, she seems to be fine other than a little dull ache in her tummy. There's always something going around the school, so we figured better safe than sorry."
"Yes, of course. Thank you so much for calling me. Come on, Baby Doll." Just as Abbey lifted her up to carry her out, she noticed a slight smile curving Liz's lips. Once out in the parking lot, she pulled the young girl's body away from her own to look at her face. "Elizabeth, what's going on?"
"I'm sick."
"No, you're not. Tell me what this is all about."
Liz collapsed her head against her mother's shoulder, a defiant sign that she was avoiding the question. Abbey sat her down in the car and spent the silent drive back home contemplating how she would tackle the newest phase of Liz's rebellion.
"I have a stomach ache," Elizabeth emphatically insisted as Abbey tucked her into bed.
"Fine, then I'm going to get you some medicine."
"NO!" she screamed.
"Well if your tummy hurts, you should probably have some medicine." Liz didn't respond verbally, but the creases of her frown deepened. "You know, if you came home to play with Ellie, I had to drop her off at the sitter when you called, so she's not even here." Her frustration intensified when Liz turned away from her. "Did you forget what happens when you lie to me?" She gently turned her back around and sighed at the tears that were wetting her lashes, causing her to backtrack and adopt a softer, more loving tone. "Lizzie. Baby, you know you can tell me anything. No matter what it is, all I want to do is help you."
"I don't wanna go to school." Only a mother could understand the jumbled words that came out in the middle of her cries.
Abbey softly blotted her eyes with a tissue. "Why not?"
"They were mean," she said quietly as she gasped for air.
"Who was mean? Did someone say something?"
Liz nodded and swallowed hard in an effort to catch her breath. "They said I shouldn't be there. They said I should go back to my own school. They yelled at me!" She was now shouting in outrage.
"Who did? Who said this to you?"
"Those people holding the signs!" The sobs fiercely shook her body.
"Oh, Sweetheart." Abbey lifted her off the bed and held her tightly against her chest. "I'm so sorry they hurt your feelings."
"I don't wanna go back. Please don't make me."
If there was such a thing as a broken heart, Abbey now knew what it felt like. Her daughter's anguish cut her like a knife and at that moment, she'd agree to never send Lizzie to a place that made her so miserable.
But there was something else to consider, something that Jed felt compelled to point out.
"She has to go back, Abbey. You can't pull her out."
"Why the hell not?"
"Because that's a horrible message to send her and you know it."
"Aren't you the one who said you didn't want her to go to a school where she'd feel unwelcomed? Aren't you the one who was against this from the start?"
"Yes, but I...I was wrong. What's happening out there is happening because things are changing. It's going to be rocky for a while, but it'll happen."
"How long do I have to stand by and watch my daughter miserable at school before things change, Jed?"
"You're over-reacting, Honey. We're talking about two people who told her to go back to her old school. That kind of stuff is happening all over town." If only he knew that she had been physically struck during one of these confrontations perhaps he'd take a different stand.
"But she's scared," Abbey argued.
"I know she's scared, but what are you going to do when the playground bully tells her to go home? Are you going to find her another playground? Are you going to teach her that whenever someone else doesn't want her somewhere, she should swallow her rights and concede?"
"She's a little girl, Jed. There's plenty of time for her learn to stand up for herself."
"And it starts now. She needs to go back. She needs to take on these bastards who think that by intimidating children, their voices will be heard."
"This isn't the playground bully. These are adults...and they're scaring these children."
"You don't think I know that?" He took a breath to lower his voice. "It kills me that she's so upset. I wish I could take away all her fears. I wish I could do something to help all the kids who are facing exactly what she's facing, but I can't. Busing is necessary. It's unfortunate, but it's necessary."
"I'm not talking about what is or isn't necessary. I'm talking about my baby girl being sent to a school where she feels like an outsider." She looked away from him and faced Liz's bedroom door. "I don't want to send her back there." His hand grasped her arm and turned her towards him.
"We have to," he insisted. "You know I'm right about this. If we cower to the manipulation of these idiots, they win. I know you're worried and so am I, but there hasn't been any violence at the elementary school. The teachers and administrators are keeping the kids safe."
Abbey crossed in front of him in silence.
"Integrating the schools is going to do wonders for Boston's future, for the future of all these kids, including ours," he continued. "We can't let her think it's okay to give up, that what the protesters are saying is true. We can't send her that message. We can't set that precedent."
She spun around with a reluctant nod. His argument was convincing. He made valid points and even Abbey couldn't deny that keeping Liz at home would damage her fortitude and undermine what little power she had as a child. Liz would have to return and it would be up to Jed to tell her.
"You're going to have so much fun at school, Lizzie," he said as he stroked her forehead while she laid in bed. "Do you guys still have the bunny rabbit?"
"Uh huh."
"Do you get to pet him?"
"All the time."
"See? That's something you can't do at home." He leaned in closer and twisted his fingers around her hair, just the way she liked it.
"I don't like school anymore."
"That's partly my fault?"
"You're fault?" she quizzed him.
"Yeah. I'm the one who filled your head with all that nonsense about you not being welcome at that school. I was wrong, Sweetheart. I was wrong not to tell you how important it is, what you're doing."
"It is?"
"Yeah. See, those people who yelled at you, Lizzie, they're ignorant. They don't understand what's going on so instead of educating themselves, they're lashing out at you and all your classmates. You have to stand up to them just the way you have been."
"How?"
"By continuing to go to school. That's all you have to do. Just go to school. You have to be my brave little trooper for a little while longer."
"And then what?"
"And then they'll back off."
"They will?"
"Yeah."
"When?"
"I don't know. But if you let them win, they'll think they were right. And they're not. You know that, don't you?"
"Yeah."
"You're going to be a hero. You're going to be my hero, always, because you will have taken them on and gone to school with your head held high regardless of what they say. Can you do that?"
"Okay."
A direct request from her father would always be honored. And so she didn't complain. She simply woke up the next morning and got herself ready to face the angry mobs that monopolized her nightmares.
The bus ride was a bumpy one. The violence had escalated and the driver was now forced to careen between crowds of demonstrators who had assembled to block the path.
Liz sat in her seat and stared out the window, her mind replaying her father's words. She was going to be brave, just like he asked of her. It was a nice sentiment, but not very realistic. Soon, her emotions took over and the terror that raged inside her manifested into a flood of tears. She stared outside, making direct eye contact with quite a few of them, but it did no good. She flinched violently at the impact of a rock that bounced off her window. Then another, and another, until the bus' windows began to shatter.
Her sobs became louder with every menacing throw and every duck to avoid the flying debris that was no longer repelling off the shelter of the glass. Her head rested on the seat in front of her, her hands gripped each other tightly, and her nails dug into her skin.
The driver was desperate to escape the scene. One stomp on the gas pedal forced the vehicle to lose control, wedging from side to side as the elementary school students screamed and fell into the aisles. With a harsh crash, the bus hit a tree just before it was struck by another car.
Suddenly, the screaming stopped. It was silent on board as the passengers lay motionless one on top of the other.
In the middle of the bus, snuggled tightly between the seats, a frightened Lizzie landed on her back. Her eyes closed, there was no effort to stop the stream of blood that was gushing from her face and dampening her hair, or rub off the shards of glass that littered her body. Like the rest of her schoolmates, she had been knocked unconscious by her injuries.
- - -
Meanwhile, it was a familiar siren that Abbey heard as she walked through the double doors of the emergency room to begin her shift. The hospital was gearing up for a bus accident. This, she knew. It was a school bus accident. This, she would soon find out.
TBC
