Tess walked out to the front porch, and she wandered around and settled on a porch swing and takes her cell phone out of her pocket. She leans over and grabs a fleece blanket and wraps her self in it, and settles herself on the swing. She turns the cell phone over in her hands as if she's deciding whether to use it or throw it over the railing into the growing snow bank that has settled against the porch. She finally opens it and dials. She curls tighter while she's waiting for the ringing to stop to hear a voice.
"Hello?" Evan says from the other end of the phone line.
"Evan?" she says shakily.
"Tess," he sighs, "What's up baby?"
"My grandfather wants to meet you."
"Your grandfather?" he asks slightly confused.
"Yeah."
"When you say that, when you say grandfather, who are you referring to?"
"My Grandpa Jed."
"Jed, as in Jed Bartlett?"
"Yea," she whispers with a smile on her face.
"Former President Bartlett?"
"Yes, he wants to meet the boy who's captured my heart," Tess says as her eyes tear.
"I've captured your heart?"
"Yes, you have"
"Good, because you've had mine since day one."
Tess gently laughs as the tears that had collected in her eyes fall.
"There will be a ticket waiting for you at Regan National for the six a.m. flight tomorrow morning to Manchester, there will be a car waiting for you at the airport to bring you here."
"Okay, I love you Tess," he says sincerely.
"I love you too Evan."
"I'll see you tomorrow"
"Good night," she whispers.
"Night baby."
She shuts her phone, takes a deep breath and begins to sob as she clutches her knees to her he chest .
"Oh Tess," Leo says from the doorway.
"Uncle Leo," she says as she wipes at her face.
"I hate to see you cry."
"Yea well…."
"It took us so long to hear that sound the day you were born, I can't stand to think you're hurt now."
"Oh yea?"
"I remember the day you were born," Leo says as he sits next to her on the swing.
"What about it?" Tess asks as she readjusts to give him part of the blanket.
"You gave us a major care that day, Tinkerbelle."
"What?"
"You know this."
"Tell me again."
"It was May 7th, and we were all here for Carley's baptism, because all of the Catholics in this family were baptized at Saint Vincent's," he began as Tess settled her head against his shoulder. "Any way, so here we are and your mother is eight months pregnant, and standing doing dishes at the sink, and Carley is cranky because she just had water dumped on her head. So Carley is like three months old and everyone else was between four and nineteen. And your mother is at the sink and all of a sudden she takes a sharp breath and winces and her water breaks. So your mother is all of a sudden in active labor, and after how fast Chris came we knew we didn't have time to get her to the hospital, so Ellie and Abbey bring her into the backroom and check her dilation or something and all we hear is Abbey yelling "Crowning!" and Ellie yelling for someone to get towels and for your father to get his ass in there to be with your mother. And then nothing, for a moment we all freeze and then we hear your mother moan and grunt and nothing again. Charlie bursts into the room with towels and Ellie is dealing with Donna and Josh is holding her hand and looking helplessly at Abbey, he said, "Help her Abbey!" And as the door opens again it gets stuck on the rug the way it still does, and we can see Abbey holding you and rubbing and tapping your back trying to get you to breathe, you were turning purple and scaring all of us to death, but Abbey was murmuring something in your ear. I had no idea what it was, but CJ and Jed and Liz and Zoë and Annie and Gus all did. They started saying the Hail Mary with her. And all of a sudden Carley cried out. And you jumped in Abbey's arms and you started to cry. You were with us. Doug had called 911 and I remember him standing next to me and nearly laughing "She's okay, she's breathing!" You were our miracle, Therese." Leo says kissing her forehead.
"You think we'll get another one?" Tess asks turning to look at the older man.
Looking dead in her eyes he says, "It's been 21 years Tess, we're due one."
