Story: Phoenix
Chapter 3
Disclaimer: See Chapter 1
Previously: When Jed and Abbey took Ellie to school, Jed admitted he now understood why the little girl was scared; Ellie seemed confused about the prospect of having a new brother or sister; Jed and Abbey made a romantic wager in order to end his habitual smoking
Summary: Staying away from cigarettes takes its toll on Jed's mood; Lizzie has news to share; Ellie shows concern about the baby; the new current events rule doesn't go exactly the way Jed planned; Abbey surprises Jed with her decision about residency
Jed stood on the stoop, eyeing the front door with a kind of trepidation he hadn't experienced before. This was home, his private oasis where he was free to be who he was. Problem was, he hadn't really been himself for the better part of a week.
His apprehension grew as he took a few calming breaths in an effort to clear his mind of the cobwebbed emotions that were likely to erupt without much cause.
Nicotine withdrawal was a terrible thing.
It had been four days since he agreed to that foolish bet with Abbey. Four days since the soothing feel of a cigarette was firmly nestled between his lips. Four days since he inhaled the forbidden vapors that served to fill a craving only a fellow smoker would understand. The desire for a cigarette hadn't disappeared. While the physical urge had lessened slightly, the psychological yearning was cruel and unwavering, monopolizing his thoughts and provoking his actions.
With another deep breath, he slowly reached for the doorknob.
"Hi," he greeted Abbey without so much as a glance.
Abbey flipped her head towards him before retreating into the kitchen. "Hi yourself."
Jed followed her around the corner. "That looks great," he said, standing on the opposite side of the counter and watching hungrily as she sprinkled mixed spices and added a dash of lemon juice to the uncooked fish.
"Dinner's in an hour."
"I'm starving." It was his mouth, not his stomach, that was longing for something edible. Without a word, Abbey slid a fruitbowl towards him. "Fruit is supposed to keep me happy?"
"For now. But, since you've been so good with our bet, we have chocolate cheesecake for dessert." This was a bet she would gladly surrender to him. All that mattered was that he be rewarded for not smoking.
And what a reward it was! Chocolate cheesecake. How could he ever resist that? He'd deal with the momentary disappointment of an apple if it meant his favorite dessert later. "How are the girls?"
"Fine. Ellie talked Lizzie into a game of Candyland on the back porch."
"She cheats," Jed stated dryly, remembering Lizzie's competitive spirit when it came to that game. "Ellie needs to be careful."
"She's a lot older than she was when she played with you, Jed. Give her some credit," Abbey replied as she popped the fish into the oven. "Besides, I don't think Ellie cares as long as she has her big sister's attention."
Jed focused on the rushing water falling from the faucet onto her hands, his mind lost in his own troubles. "Do you have any idea how many pencils I've gone through today?"
A bit random from Abbey's perspective, but okay. "No, I really don't."
"Twelve. I've gone through twelve pencils since this morning!" He dropped his apple and turned from her irately.
"Chewed them all up?"
"Right down to the lead."
Abbey hated this part. For four days, she dealt with his crankiness. It was getting better, but she wondered when it would finally end. "I'm sorry to hear that."
"Are you?" Jed questioned.
"Yes," she answered, a bit appalled that he asked.
"Sorry."
"Hon, I know the past couple of days have been rough, and you know I'm here for you to talk to or moan to or whatever you need to do to make this easier, but please try to watch your snippiness with the kids tonight. Especially Lizzie. She has news to share."
"First, I don't get snippy." Abbey stared up at him over her strainer of broccoli. A silent condemnation he chose to ignore. "Second, what news?"
"It's her news."
"So tell me." Was she avoiding him when she turned away and buried her face in the fridge? He wasn't really sure.
"No." She closed the refrigerator door, returning to the strainer with a bowl of raw carrots and a knife.
Mistakenly, Jed assumed she wouldn't jump right into cutting the vegetable into circular pieces. "Aren't you going to peel the skin? I hate the skin."
"The skin is good for you. It has nutrients you need."
"I'm sick of what's good for me and I'm sick of you telling me what's good for me," he mumbled. "What's good for me is gonna kill me." She looked at him with fire in her eyes, her teeth biting down on her lip in an obvious attempt not to respond. "Why can't you tell me about Lizzie's news?"
"I already said, it's her news. You have to wait for her to tell you."
"Why?"
"Because she wants to tell you."
"When?"
"At dinner."
"Why at dinner?"
"Because that's when she wants to tell you." Abbey's tone was growing increasingly firm, her annoyance showing.
Still, Jed contemplated the possibilities, frustration setting in when he was still at a loss. "Just give me a hint."
"Jed."
"Oh right, sorry. It's a 'secret.' I forgot." Sarcasm. How she hated his sarcasm. His eyes met her steely glare. "Okay, I can see where that was a bit snippy."
"Yeah." Even with her temper simmering, her emerald orbs still held a look of sympathy for what he was going through.
Jed walked around the corner of the counter and held her forearm to turn her towards him. "I'm sorry." He took a dry thumb to the drop of water that had splashed onto her face when she rinsed the broccoli.
"I know."
He returned her smile as he glanced at the uncut vegetables. "What can I do to help?"
"You can go to the store to buy some milk for the girls. I forgot to pick some up."
"Why didn't you call me at the office?"
"I didn't realize we were completely out until you had already left and since we don't have one of those handy-dandy car phones..."
"Yeah, yeah."
A trip to the store provided challenges he had never faced. With cigarette machines lining the front registers, it would take immeasurable willpower to avoid the urge that was endlessly gnawing at him.
"Wait!" Abbey shouted just before he got to the door. "I'll go. You stay here and watch the girls."
"Why?"
"Because I want to go. I'm the one who forgot. I'm the one who should go."
His head was turned to the left as he approached her, his eyes squinted in suspicion. "You don't want me to go because you don't trust me to stay away from the cigarettes," he deduced. "You think I'm going to steal a quick smoke." Abbey lowered her head in silent admission. "I'm right, aren't I?"
"I'd like to go pick up the milk," she answered flatly.
"You don't trust me."
Grouchy and hurt - never a good combination. "If you must know, dear sweet love of my life, I don't want to make your part of the bet any harder on you than it has to be, so..." she paused to give him a kiss on the cheek. "...I will go buy the milk. Watch the girls and keep an eye on dinner until I get back."
And with that, she was gone, leaving him to stare at the door for a moment longer as he tried, once again, to hide his irritability before heading to the porch.
"Lizzie! Ellie!"
Hoping to get a preview of the big news, Jed nudged the eleven-year-old with phony fables. And when that didn't work, he resorted to an old stand-by he hated having to use. He begged. Still, Lizzie held her ground, forcing her father to wait until dinnertime before finally breaking.
Dinner began with the usual chatter. Ellie wrinkled her nose at the fish, though she did seem delighted about the carrots. They were her favorite. Lizzie pushed aside the veggies and concentrated on the fish instead. Both took heaping spoonfuls of the garlic-lemon potatoes as they whined about having to drink milk instead of the much-preferred soda.
"Mommy, when will the baby come?" Ellie asked.
"In about 6 months or so. You never know. He could decide to stay in a bit longer like you did," Abbey answered with an affectionate smile. "Lizzie, that's enough with the potatoes."
"But I like them."
"And you can have as much as you want as soon as you eat the fish."
"Mommy, will I have to help the baby eat?" The baby had been dominating Ellie's thoughts since the day she learned Abbey was pregnant.
"You can help if you want," Jed replied.
"Can I not help if I don't want?" All eyes turned to Ellie.
"Why wouldn't you want to help sometimes, Sweetie?" Abbey asked.
Ellie shrugged. "I don't know."
"Ellie, is there something you're not telling me? Are you happy about this baby?"
She wouldn't dare say no. Ellie was the kind of child who always wanted to keep everyone happy. The peacemaker without a combative bone in her tiny body. She nodded with a smile. "I wanna be a big sister."
Abbey lovingly stroked the top of her head. "Good. Now eat."
"Ellie, take your napkin," Lizzie instructed.
"She has a napkin," Abbey returned.
"Then whose is this?"
"It's not mine!" Ellie declared.
"Fine, I'll just keep it."
"Pass it to your father," Abbey directed her older daughter. "I don't think he has one."
"Okay, can we stop with the napkin please?" The meaningless banter was grating on Jed's nerves. "Lizzie, my patience is running thin. I've been waiting for more than an hour so how about you fill Dear Old Dad in on this exciting news that you forced your mother not to share with me?" He shot a glare towards his wife.
Liz and Abbey exchanged a glance before Liz began. "My class voted me to run for class president."
"What do you mean they voted you?"
"They vote for three kids to run and I was one of the three! I'm going to run!"
Jed dropped his utensils, shaking his head with pride as he stood up to approach her. "Sweetheart, that is the best news in the world!" He leaned forward and kissed the top of her head. "I am so proud of you."
"Will you help me? We're allowed to spend ten dollars on our campaign and Sara says she'll come up with ideas with me."
"Who's Sara?"
"You don't know her. Her family just moved here last year."
"From where?"
"Iran."
Jed was immediately intrigued. "Really? You should bring her around, ask her to come over sometime. I'd love to meet her. Her parents too."
"Okay, but will you help me run for class president?"
"Oh you were seriously asking me?" he teased. "I thought for sure you had to be joking because I can't imagine you'd ever think I wouldn't help my little girl be elected class president!"
"We'll all help!" Abbey volunteered. "You and Daddy work on the speeches and campaign promises and Ellie and I will paint the signs. Won't we, El?"
"Will the new baby help me too if I ever want to be president?" Once again, it was obvious her thoughts rested with the unborn child.
"Yes, the new baby will help you too," Jed responded. "We're a family. Helping each other is what we do."
And that was the true motivation, the driving force behind Jed Bartlet. He was a family man at heart. The little boy who grew up devoid of fatherly love had turned into a man who never let a day go by without trying to prove his love to his daughters.
He remembered the hours he spent in front of a typewriter, little Lizzie on his lap as he taught her the letters on all the keys, encouraging her as she began to sound out the words she typed on a blank piece of paper. Soon, the words became more difficult, but Lizzie persevered and before long, he had come up with family reading time, an hour set aside daily when he, Abbey, and Lizzie would each pick out their own book and read it independently.
He spent weeks teaching Ellie how to say 'Mama' when Abbey was feeling guilty about all the time she spent away from her during residency. Abbey remembered the night she finally heard the word. She cried that night. She had come home two hours late, thinking she'd missed the chance to tuck in her daughters. Depressed and disappointed, she became confused when she heard a tiny voice from the bedroom calling out to her.
'Mama' Ellie had said. Abbey turned the corner to the room and saw Jed holding their daughter, urging her to say it again. She cried when she came home, but she cried even harder when her little girl struggled with the syllables of that one important word until it sounded just right.
Jed was a role model, an advisor, a teacher, and a coach. He and Abbey had decided they would do anything in their power to make sure the Bartlet girls would grow up to be independent, prosperous women, their success grounded in a solid education. It was important to know the math and the science, but it was equally important to know about the world. And when overseas trips weren't possible, it was up to them to teach them at home.
This year, they took the lessons to a new level.
Lizzie pulled out her copy of My Weekly Reader. Thanks to her father's new rule of meaningful dinner conversation, she couldn't get away with just skimming the pictures as she had before. She opened it to the page she selected for dinner and donned a great big smile, one that immediately caught Jed's attention.
"Lizzie has a good one, I can tell."
"I do," she proudly proclaimed. "Last week, President Carter was attacked by a rabbit!" She laughed.
Jed's smile faded quickly. That wasn't the kind of current events discussion he expected. "Hey!"
"It's here, Daddy. It's right here!" She pointed to the article. "He was in Georgia on a canoe trip!"
"I know. But we don't laugh at the President." He tried to maintain his serious face, but even he fell victim to a few laughs when he and Abbey watched the news footage earlier in the week.
"But why not? It's funny. And it's real. It was on the news and everything!"
Abbey pursed her lips tightly, trying to avoid the chuckle that seemed to be escaping her best efforts. Jed threw a stern look her way, but it didn't help. "I'm sorry." She finally surrendered to the laugh, causing another round of laughter from Lizzie. "But it really is funny, Jed. You know it is. Don't deny it."
Uh oh. She was about to out him. Jed ran his foot up her leg, gently pinching her skin between his two biggest toes under the table. "He's the President."
It didn't work. "Girls, what your Daddy isn't telling you is that when it appeared on the news, he laughed so hard I thought I would have to tranquilize him."
"Abbey!"
"You did! You laughed. In fact, I believe the headline you predicted for the New York Times was 'Republican Rabbits Run Rampant."
"Is there no end to your betrayal?" Jed quipped with a wink. "Unfortunate things sometimes happen to people, but if he's the President, you try not to laugh, whether he trips over his shoelaces, falls off a bike, or even if he's attacked by an obviously psychotic rabbit."
Ellie turned her attention from her giggling sister to her equally hysterical mother before looking at her father. "I'm not laughing, Daddy."
"See that?" he stared at Abbey. "Ellie. She's proven her loyalty." He blew her a kiss across the table. "Thank you, Sweetheart."
"Daddy, you said I had to pick something out of My Weekly Reader and be ready to share at the dinner table."
"That's right, Jed," Abbey agreed. "That is what you said."
Not exactly what he meant, but he could live with it for now. At least his nicotine withdrawal was cleverly disguised in his feigned disapproval.
"I'm proud of you," Abbey told him as she turned down the comforter in preparation for bed that night.
"For what?"
"You weren't at all snippy with the girls, your slight teasing about President Carter notwithstanding."
"Did you really think I would be? Snippy with the girls I mean?"
"No. But I like it when I'm right." She crawled onto the mattress and slipped her legs under the covers.
Jed sat on the edge, easing himself back and rolling towards her. "I don't like to admit something like this, but occasionally, I like it when you're right too."
"Four whole days without a cigarette. You may actually win this bet."
"The bet isn't the reason I'm doing this."
"It's not?"
"No. Whether I win or you win, it's all the same. That's the beauty of a sexual bet. Either way, we both get lucky." He flirtatiously winked as he slipped his fingers between hers. "I'm doing this for you."
Twelve years of prodding was finally starting to pay off. Abbey smiled warmly. "I have something to tell you."
"What?"
"I know you were concerned about me going back to the hospital, continuing with my residency, especially while I'm pregnant."
With her attacker still on the loose, Jed hated the idea of her returning to the scene of the crime. "Yeah?"
"You were right. I was being selfish, only thinking of my career and not about me or this baby or about your peace of mind."
"I never said you were selfish."
"I was. And the truth is, I'm just as nervous as you are. So, I made a few calls," she continued. "I'm not going back to the hospital until May. I already re-qualified so I won't lose my spot."
"Oh, Abbey." He inched himself closer to her, pulling her into his embrace. "Thank you."
"Just understand that it's not like I won't be doing something. Until the baby's born, I want to volunteer at the women's clinic downtown."
"Of course. Anywhere else is fine."
"I love you, you know?" Her lips lingering in front of his, Abbey gave in to the temptation and pressed her mouth to his for a kiss, tucking her head under his chin after she pulled away. "Good night."
"Good night," he replied as he stroked her hair with one hand, reaching behind him with the other to turn out the lights.
TBC