Everyone Notices Part 10
See part 1 for details.
Part 10
The next day, Abbey storms into Leo's office and slams the door behind her, "Leo, I really thought you'd learned your lesson," she snaps, pausing briefing before she continues her haranguing. "But, it appears that you're an even bigger jackass… than Jed is!"
"Good morning to you too, Abbey," Leo smirks as he stands. He's not sure what he's done, but he hasn't seen Abbey this angry in a long time.
"Don't you good morning me, Leo McGarry!" Abbeys replies angrily, as she folds her arms and gives him an evil look.
"What is it that I am supposed to have done now?" Leo asks, as he throws his arms into the air.
"Imagine my surprise when I called your doctor yesterday and found out that you missed your cardiologist's appointment last week." Abbey quickly throws back at him.
"What were you doing calling my doctor anyway?" Leo asks and then curses under his breath. He'd forgotten all about his last appointment. He's been so tied up with Margaret and Tommy that it totally slipped his mind. He hopes Margaret doesn't find out that he missed it. She was upset last night over some missed sleep; him missing an appointment would really put her over the top.
"Since you've started falling asleep during Senior Staff and giving CJ that stupid assed reason as to why you're so tired." Abbey uncrosses her arms, "A hobby, Leo? Can't you do better than that? My seven year old grandson can come up with a better lie than that."
"I… I…" Leo stutters.
"I what?" Abbey demands.
"Abbey," Leo purses his lips and shakes his head a little.
"Leo, you can't miss your appointments." Her tone softens as her angry lessens.
"I know... really it's the first one I've missed."
"Leo, why aren't you sleeping at nights? Is this something new or have you been hiding this from us again?"
"Abbey," he warns with an edge to his voice.
"Leo," she pauses. "Your heart… it might not be able to withstand another attack." Abbey sits down on his couch.
"Abbey, seriously, I just forgot, I lost track of the date," he sighs. "I'll call and reschedule it today."
"I already did," she replies softly. "It's at two o'clock this afternoon. CJ says you should just go home after it."
"Thanks," he whispers.
"Leo, we just don't want to lose you. Last time… was too close. Believe it or not there are several people who want you around for a long, long time."
"Abbey, I'm not going anywhere." Leo sits down beside her.
"Between Jed and you… I'm…" Abbey sniffs back a tear. Her emotions are raw now that her anger has subsided.
"Is Jed… okay?" Leo's heart skips a beat. He hasn't seen much of his best friend lately.
"He's… the same," Abbey looks into Leo's eyes. "I just can't wait until we all get out of this place."
"Yeah, it's been a long and challenging road at times."
"Too many times." Abbey states.
"We've done a lot of good," Leo emphasizes.
"Yes, but at what cost, Leo?" Abbey appeals. "We've lost so much already and come so close to losing so much more over the years in the White House." Her hand reaches over and takes his right hand in hers.
"Yeah, I know," Leo whispers, as he squeezes her hand.
They both sit there for a few seconds, reflecting on events of the past seven years. Leo raises his left hand to scratch the spot that always bothers him by his ear, whenever he's in deep thought.
Abbey immediately notices something missing from Leo's finger. She softly smiles. "Leo, do you plan to retire afterwards?" She asks, as she contemplates whether to mention the missing ring.
"No, I'm thinking of lecturing again. But, not the heavy schedule that I had before. Maybe just once or twice a month, at the most."
"Are you going to take Margaret with you?" She probes.
"I hope so." Leo's eyes sparkle.
"Good, then I know you'll be well looked after and kept in line," she smiles, deciding that she should not ask anymore questions right now. If something is up, Leo will tell her and Jed when he's ready. She's learned the hard way not to try to pry things out of Leo McGarry. He won't budge until he's ready.
"Yeah," Leo grins.
Abbey let's go of Leo's hand and stands, "Leo?"
"Yeah," he joins her.
"Don't be a stranger… afterwards I mean. We want to see you and spend time with you. We have a lot of catching up to do. I really don't know what's even going on in your life right now," she smiles.
"Yeah… there are some things that I need to talk with you and Jed about, when the time is right." Leo puts his left hand in his pocket. He thought he saw her starring at it, after the stood up.
"Well… you know where Jed and I live."
"Yeah, I know," he smiles.
"So, that means you'll come visit us at the farm?"
"I promise to visit, but not in the winter, it's too damn cold up there," he softly laughs.
"Okay, we'll come visit you in the wintertime." Abbey leans over, kisses his cheek, and then leaves his office.
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Around the time that Tommy is three weeks old, he finally starts sleeping longer periods at night. He no longer gets up at four, so Leo starts getting more sleep, too. A week later, Leo decides it's time to go talk with CJ.
"Hey CJ." Leo walks into her office.
"Hey, Leo, I think that we're still on for later today." She checks the time on the clock on the wall.
"Great."
"I feel bad that we've had to postpone Margaret's surprise baby shower a couple of times." She says, as she keeps looking through the files that are stacked up high on her desk.
"It's the White House, things happen." Leo states.
"Yeah, but… I still feel bad…" She looks at him, brushing her wayward bangs out of the way.
"Don't worry about it. Margaret will understand and I'm sure she's going to love the party."
"I hope so."
"She will." Leo walks over closer to her desk. "I asked Eddie to be prepared to go pick up Margaret and Tommy at three o'clock."
"Thanks for having Eddie do this. It will be so much easier on Margaret and make it easier on me to convince her to come into work."
"Right and don't forget to suggest to Margaret that my schedule is clear this afternoon and for her to ask me to watch Tommy."
"Are you sure you don't mind? The party's going to last at least a couple of hours, barring no national disasters."
"I think I can handle it. You do remember that I have a daughter, right?"
"Yeah, but that was years ago," CJ emphasizes the word years as she smiles at him.
"CJ, it's like riding a bike."
"Well, I hope you do that better than the President."
"Right," Leo laughs.
"You know," CJ joins Leo in laughter. "Here it is, over six years later and that's still funny."
"CJ."
"Yeah."
"Listen, I really wanted to talk with you about these… afternoon naps." Leo shoves his hands in his pockets.
"Okay, what about them?" CJ's surprised she's been able to enforce them for this long.
"I'm no longer having trouble sleeping at night and I've caught up on the sleep I've missed so…"
"Okay, naps are lifted, but… if you start looking fatigued again or fall asleep during Senior Staff then…"
"Okay, I'll keep that in mind," Leo turns and heads for the door. "Thanks Mom," Leo mocks as he quickly leaves her office.
"Cliff's rubbing off on him," she smiles as she goes back to trying to sort out the mess on her desk.
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"Hey, Leo," Margaret says, as she walks into Leo's office with Tommy in her arms mid-afternoon on Friday.
"Hey, Margaret," Leo smiles as he looks up from the files he's reading. "What are you doing here with Tommy?" Leo asks, as he gets up and heads for his two favorite people.
"Leo, I need a huge favor," she pleads as she hands Tommy over to Leo's outstretched arms.
"Anything, Sweetie," Leo smiles.
"CJ's in a real bind and needed me to come in for a couple of hours to help out. I hate to ask you, but… can you watch Tommy while I'm here?" Her nervous voice pleads.
"Of course I can, Margaret," Leo smiles. "I'm sure we can find something to do to occupy our time, can't we Tommy?" Leo as looks down at his namesake in his arms, starts to tickle his chin and is rewarded with a cute little smile.
"Oh Leo, thank you," Margaret gushes, as she quickly bends over, without thinking about where's she's at and gives Leo a tender kiss on the lips. She quickly realizes what's she's done and jumps back, looking around the office with panicked eyes.
"You're welcome," Leo says, with a goofy grin on his face.
"I'm sorry, Leo," she gasps. "I don't know what I was thinking. I don't think anyone saw it."
"Margaret, don't worry about it. I don't care if people know about us. We've talked about this before."
"I know, I just don't want it to cause you any trouble."
"Margaret, you worry way too much and you could never cause me trouble," Leo smiles.
"Probably," Margaret says as she reaches out and tries to rub off the bright red lipstick on Leo's cheek with her thumb.
"Hey, leave me some skin, will ya?" Leo smirks.
"Umm… I need to get, CJ's waiting, I'm not sure how long I'll be, but I'll try to hurry," Margaret starts to back out of the office, then walks over quickly to her two favorite men. "Tommy be a good boy," she says, as she kisses her son goodbye.
"He will and don't worry. We'll be fine," Leo persuades, as he escorts Margaret to the door and gives her a quick kiss.
"Leo." She can't believe he just kissed her in the doorway.
"What?"
"Oh, never mind."
"I didn't mind a bit," he softly laughs.
"No, you never do." She gives him a brief smile, but then remembers why she's here. "Oh, everything he might need is in his diaper bag. I just fed him a bottle before we left, so he'll need to be changed soon. Call me if you need anything," Margaret hesitates at the door. "I have my cell phone, and you still remember your old office number don't you?"
"Margaret will you go, everything's under control," Leo softly laughs as he walks over to the couch, sits down, and starts to remove Tommy's coat.
"Okay," she replies as she hesitates in the doorway, watching Leo with Tommy.
"Your Mama's a nervous wreck, isn't she? She doesn't think we can handle this, does she? Well… we're going to have all kinds of fun, aren't we little man?" Leo coos to Tommy, and then kisses him.
"I am not a nervous wreck, and I do… trust you, Leo. It's just… I've never left him. If he needs…" Margaret looks like she might cry.
"Margaret, we're in the same building. Your office is no more than fifty feet from here."
"But still…"
"Margaret, I know what to do and the sooner you go, the quicker you can come back," Leo smiles as he holds up Tommy and waves his little hand at his mother, "Tell Mama bye-bye, and for her not to worry," Leo grins.
"All right, I can take a hint," Margaret says, as she leaves Leo's office and quickly hurries off to find CJ.
Leo pulls out his cell phone, makes a quick call, double checking the plan and then looks down at Tommy, "Okay, little man, lets go for a walk," Leo grabs the diaper bag and heads off to the Residence.
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"Leo, who have you got there?" Abbey greets Leo as soon as he steps off the elevator.
"Abbey," Leo acknowledges. "This little man is Thomas," he grins.
"Thomas, you must have been named after someone who's really special to your Mama," she grins. She can't resist tormenting Leo. She's heard rumors around the White House, and she's going to find out if they're true. Plus, she has her own suspicions, especially after she noticed that his wedding ring was missing from his hand the day that she gave him hell about not sleeping enough.
"I thought you were supposed to be leaving for the party."
"I'm heading there, but first, I wanted to see the baby. I've only seen him once before and that was only for a few minutes at the hospital, the day after he was born and Jed was hogging him." Abbey reaches for him. "How old is he now?"
Leo almost blurts out his age, but hesitates, trying not to give himself away. "I think Margaret said he turned four weeks old, yesterday."
"Wow, he's a month old already. My, aren't you a cute one," she coos.
"Thanks Abbey, but I don't think you should be hitting on your husband's best friend," Leo smirks.
"You're so funny, Leo," Abbey sarcastically says. "I was talking about Thomas," she throws Leo a pretend annoying glare and then looks down at the baby in her arms. "Why your mother wanted to name you after him, I'll never know," she teases, as she turns and walks towards the living area.
"Aren't you going to be late for the party?" Leo smirks, as he follows them.
"Leo sounds like a broken record, doesn't he? That's what happens when you get old." Abbey walks over to the couch, sits down and holds Tommy who starts to fuss a little.
"He's probably wet. He doesn't like having a wet diaper, and Margaret said she just gave him a bottle before they left." Leo sits down and starts to rummage through the diaper bag. He pulls out the changing pad, a diaper, and wipes. He lays the pad down on the couch, reaches for Tommy and lays him down.
"And how do you know so much about what he likes and dislikes?" Abbey raises an eyebrow.
"Well… you know Margaret she was very thorough with her instructions," Leo grins, having quickly thought of a good explanation. "Wasn't she, Tommy." He tickles the baby under the chin, causing him to smile.
"Leo McGarry changing a diaper, now I've seen everything," she torments, as she leans back, enjoying watching Leo with Tommy.
"There we go, all done. That wasn't so bad now was it?" He asks Tommy, as he's snapping him back up.
"Leo, is there something… you want to tell me?" Abbey asks, with an arched eyebrow.
"Whatdaya mean?" Leo frowns, guessing what's about to come next.
"You seem like you'd done this before and recently, I might add," she smiles perceptively.
"I've… been sort of… helping out. Margaret is a single mother with no family close by and…"
"Is Tommy… the hobby you were referring to? Is he the reason you weren't getting enough sleep?"
"Yeah," Leo shyly admits.
"Leo, is there a particular reason why Margaret named him Thomas?"
"No, contrary to White House rumors, he's not mine," Leo says in a sad voice, as he looks down and gives Tommy a quick kiss.
"Yeah, but it looks like you wish he was yours," Abbey points out as she watches Leo love on Tommy.
Leo doesn't know what to say, he just looks down at the baby in his arms and closes his eyes. He hadn't planned to say anything today to Abbey or to the President. But, he doesn't want to lie about his feelings.
"Leo?"
"What," he raises his sad eyes to Abbey. Wondering if there might be someway that he can still get out of this.
"The other day when I was in your office, I noticed something." Abbey comments, as she looks at his left hand.
"What?"
"You've taken off your wedding ring."
"Yeah, it was… time," he tries to reply nonchalantly, as he looks down at his left hand.
"Are you going to tell her how you feel?" Abbey asks, as she moves to Leo's side and takes the baby from his arms.
"Tell who?" Leo feigns.
"Leo thinks he's so funny, doesn't he Thomas? But, we see right through him don't we?" She says, as she smothers the baby with kisses, causing Thomas to squeal with delight. "Or should I call you Papa?"
"I just told ya, he's not..."
"Yeah, maybe not biologically, but you love his mother and you love him." Abbey gives Leo a knowing smile.
"Abbey," he lightly warns.
"In my book that makes you his father," she informs him. "Plus, the next time Margaret kisses you, make sure you get all the lipstick off." Abbey reaches over and rubs off the last traces of lipstick from Leo's face with her thumb.
"Don't you have a party you need to be rushing off to?" Leo smirks.
"And why are you in such a hurry to get me to leave? Leo, I've suspected for a while that you love Margaret and when I realized Margaret was pregnant, I just assumed… well hoped actually… that you two had finally..."
"But… he's not and we… didn't." He quickly adds the word, 'yet' underneath his breath.
"Does that matter to you?"
"No," he answers quickly as he shakes his head. He knows there's no use trying to hide it any longer. "I love him as if he were my own."
"And you love Margaret, too?"
"Yeah," Leo whispers.
"Have you told her?" Abbey puts a hand on Leo's leg.
"Yeah."
"And?"
"She feels the same way," he grins.
"Oh, Leo, I'm so happy for you," Abbey beams.
"Thanks. But Abbey… we're taking it slow, okay? We haven't told anyone. I don't want to scare her off."
"Leo, I don't think you have to worry about scaring her off, she's been through a lot with you, already."
"Yeah, you're probably right," Leo looks off to the left and then back. "Abbey, she's always been there for me and if I'm being honest… I've loved her for years, but it wasn't until after my heart attack that I let myself give into those feelings."
"Leo, I'm so glad that you've finally seen what's was right there in front of you for all these years. I know that after Jenny left, you completely shut down. Jed and I have been so worried for you and have prayed that you would find someone. Of course, I always hoped it would be Margaret, but I think Jed… is clueless."
"Probably, I know I was," Leo pauses. "Abbey, I'm worried about the press and what they'll say about Margaret and Tommy. She's worried about what it might do to me, but I could care less about that. I'm worried about how it's going to affect Margaret. They're going to have a field day with this. I was never unfaithful to Jenny and never wanted her to leave me. It wasn't until after my divorce papers came that I started seeing Margaret differently."
"Leo, people are going to believe what they want. You just have to be strong for one another."
"Yeah, I know. I just don't want Margaret hurt. She doesn't deserve to be dragged through the mud."
"She's a strong person. I think she's probably more worried about you being dragged through the mud."
"Yeah, she is, I just got lectured on it again a little bit ago, when we kissed in my office."
"Are you going to tell Jed tonight?"
"I guess I have to now," he gives her a crooked smile. "He'll kill me if he finds out from you."
"He just might," Abbey agrees. "You better take him." Abbey holds out Thomas. "I really should get down to the party. Jed should be here soon."
"Okay," Leo takes Tommy.
"Leo, I'm so happy for you. I can't think of anyone who deserves this more than you," she bends over and kisses his cheek. "You know that Jed and I have always loved Margaret. She's perfect for you."
"Thanks, Abbey," Leo blushes.
"Hey, why are you kissing my wife?" Jed pretends to growl, as he walks into the room.
"Mr. President," Leo says as he starts to stand.
"Leo stay seated. You don't have to get up when you have such a cute little baby in your arms."
"Sir, I wasn't kissing Abbey, she was kissing me," he smiles.
"Abigail, are you trying to steal away my best friend." Jed mocks.
"Yes, Jethro, I've been trying for years, but he just won't give into my charms," she laughs as she blows Leo a kiss and then kisses her husband, "Bye, I'm late for the baby shower."
"And stop calling me that," he calls after his wife.
"Whatever," she throws over her shoulder as she leaves the room.
TBC in Part 11
Author's Notes: Once again, thank you so much for all the kind feedback that this story has received. It's been one of my favorite stories to write. In addition, thanks to my beta whom is still working hard and is patiently waiting for me to finish the last bit of part 14. It looks like the rest of the story should post before I leave for vacation. I hope you enjoyed this part.
Bev (adoreleo)