As the limos had pulled up to the Manchester house, they could all see that the house was still up. All the lights were on and as they climbed out of the cars they stood side by side looking up at the house remembering all the good times they had had there in the past. Slowly they took their bags and walked into the house where Abbey, Zoë, and Liz were waiting in the foyer.

"Grandma Abbey," Tess and Carley said simultaneously as they rushed to hug the woman they had known their entire lives.

"Oh girls, you two look beautiful!" Abbey said as the tears gathered in the corners of her eyes, as she looked at the two girls that she remembered holding as newborns. They looked back at her and she smiled at them sadly.

"Your Grandpa Jed wants to see the two of you as soon as you got here."

"Okay," Carley said, as Abbey wrapped her arms around the two of them and began to lead them down the hall toward the study that had become her husband's bedroom in the past few weeks. When they reached the door she knocked and as she pushed the door open called into the room, "Jed? There are two beautiful college girls here for you!"

Tess let a small smile appear as she looked at the bed where her Grandpa Jed lay so helpless and looking so small, not at all like the man that taught her how to swim, or watched her ride a horse, or told her to find an economist husband cause those were the best ones.

"Oh if it isn't the terrible two!" Jed said with a smile as Abbey lifted the head of his bed so he was sitting up.

"Grandpa Jed," Carley said as she sat on the edge of his bed. Tess looked on from the middle of the floor scared to get to close to the old man.

"Therese, I thought this was explained to you when you were six, Multiple Sclerosis is not contagious," the former President joked as Tess stepped closer to the bed.

"I don't want to hurt you," she said as she let the tears climb in her eyes.

"I can't feel anything below my rib cage, Therese Sophia Grace. You won't hurt me."

Tess stepped closer and sat on the opposite edge of the bed as Carley.

"Now you two, I need to tell you something," Jed said taking each of their hands and stroking it with his. "I'm not going to be around much longer, and I want you two to know that I love you with all my heart. You guys are no less my grandchildren then Annie and Gus and Wyatt and JT and Emma and Lauren, okay?"

The two girls sniffled and nodded.

"Tess, there are going to be a lot of eulogies given for me at my funeral, and I want you to give one of them, Abbey knows this and she understands my choice for this. Carley you are to go up there with Miss Therese, because we both know that she can't get through anything without crying and she'll need you up there with her."

"Okay, Grandpa Jed," the girls say in unison.

"Okay, lighter topics, Miss Therese I hear that there is a new man in your life."

"Yea," Tess says blushing.

"Did he come with you?"

"No, I just told him who my father and god-father are."

"Tess…" the former President takes on his warning voice.

"I know… and I would have told him sooner but I was worried about the reaction to the family that most people have, I wanted normality," Tess states in a half whiny tone.

"Normal is over rated."

"Yea, yea, any way he's not vetted yet."

"He will be by tomorrow."

"What?"

"I need to meet this guy," Jed says with a tired smile, "I want him to pass the "me" test, to see if he is worthy enough for you."

"He survived a Tess and Toby fight, I think he's worthy," a voice says from the door.

"NOAH!" Tess says as she jumps off the bed and runs to her brother.

"Tink!" Noah responds as he opens his arms to a hug from his baby sister.

"Noah James, get your butt over here," Carley says as Noah releases his sister and wraps Carley up in a hug before releasing her and leaning over the bed and hugging his surrogate grandfather.

"Grandpa Jed," Noah says quietly as he takes in the frailty of the man he has adored his entire life.

"How did you know about the fight?" Tess asks.

"Charlie was raving about this guy, Evan Leahy, and how he just watched completely amused while his girlfriend and some man argued over the stupid things like why she didn't give her new cell phone number to her god-father's security detail," Noah says pointedly.

"Look! Mom had it! She was supposed to give it to Dad, and she probably did and he just lost it!"

"Probably," Noah concedes as he kisses his grandfather's cheek.

"Where is your wife?" Jed asks staring down Noah.

"Outside, Chrissie and Joey were sleeping in the car, and Zoë went out to help her and sent me inside, telling me that the three of you were in here," Noah stopped as he watched the smile creep along his grandfather's face, "It started to snow."

"It does that a lot here. We are in New Hampshire," Jed says letting his smile grow.

"Snow…" Carley says slowly. "Does that mean that everyone won't be able to get here because…"

"Everyone is already here, apparently an executive order can get people on a plane as soon as possible," Noah said gently chuckling.

"God all of you look like your parents," Jed says looking between the three young adults before him.

"What?" Carley asks.

"You look like your mother Miss Cregg-Ziegler but with your father's eyes. Tess over here looks like her mother except she has her father's hair, the bane of his existence, those beautiful curls. And Noah, you look at him and see the exact opposite of Tess but you can tell your family because you both have your mother's eyes, but you have your mother's hair and your father's features," Jed says amazed.

"Thank you," Tess says quietly, trying not to cry again.

"I think there is a line forming outside this door to speak to you," Noah says as each of the three take their turns hugging Jed and as they walk out the door, Jed calls "Noah, get your father, and your Uncles Sam and Toby in here!"