Story: Phoenix
Chapter 5
Disclaimer: See Chapter 1
Previously: The family celebrated Ellie's 5th birthday at the farm, complete with candy apples and pony rides; Jed was puzzled by the Rubik's Cube
Summary: A day in the life of the Bartlets. It's election day at Lizzie's school and Ellie helps with posters while Jed polishes up her speech; Ellie needs reassurance from Jed; Jed tries to help calm Abbey's fears about the baby
Ellie sat on the kitchen tile, hunched over the sign in front of her. Surrounded by a variety of markers and Crayola paints, she examined her tools before dabbing the pencil-thin brush with water and dipping it into the royal blue pot. She gave it a good swirl then proudly applied the color to the poster.
Smooth, even strokes. That was her goal as she painted inside the black stenciled letters that spelled out her big sister's slogan. Initially, she had no trouble. But her hand began to tire rather quickly and her thumb slipped down the slippery handle.
"Oops!" She reacted quickly to the sudden jerk that marked the poster with a random streak of blue.
"Ellie!" Lizzie covered the stray color with a washcloth. "Mom, we need your help! Ellie's getting it all over!"
"Ellie, stay inside the lines," Abbey ordered with her back to the girls as she cleared the table of breakfast plates.
Ellie paused to stare at her mother with obvious indignation. "I am!"
Jed remained oblivious to the art project, leaning over the countertop as he scribbled on a stack of notecards. "Lizzie, you have to concentrate."
"I'm trying to concentrate," Lizzie insisted in a tone laced with frustration.
This was it. The culmination of countless hours of preparation. Father and daughter had designed a list of campaign promises, Jed had helped her write her first speech, he had coached her on presentation, and arranged a mock question/answer session. No other student was as ready as Liz to run for class president. And no other student was as ready to win.
It all came down to this day, the day when she would give her final speech at the sixth grade assembly before her classmates had the opportunity to vote.
Jed rose from his chair and handed her the notecards. "You have to do more than try. This is your last chance to address the students, to tell them why they should vote for you. It's what you've been working for, Sweetheart."
"Uh oh." Water splattered across every inch of the cardboard, coating the royal blue letters with a grayish haze.
"Mom!" Lizzie shouted. "Ellie spilled it." She furiously began to pat the poster dry. "She spilled the dirty water all over it!"
"Ellie!" Abbey abandoned her chore and approached the mess.
Ellie lowered her head in remorse. "I didn't mean to!"
"Of course you didn't," Jed assured her as he kneeled down to rub her back. "Lizzie knows that. Don't you, Lizzie?"
"Yeah, I know." Her little sister was an expert at pleasing her. But with her strong devotion came the inevitable pitfalls of being five.
"I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault. It was an accident," Lizzie acknowledged. "But the paint's going to be wet and the poster is ruined! I can't take it to school."
"It's not ruined." Abbey reached under the sink to pull out a sea sponge and a small jar of paint. "I'll fix it and then we'll fan it. No harm done."
"That's the paint we used for Ellie's room?" Jed asked.
"The leftovers," she answered as she dipped the sponge into the sky blue jar then lightly pressed it onto the cardboard.
Lizzie gasped, immediately impressed with the lacy indentation of the sponge. It gave her bland poster the illusion of texture. "Neat! Why didn't we do that with the posters we made last week?"
"I wasn't feeling quite so creative then."
Jed wasn't nearly as captivated by the design. "Okay, now that that problem is solved, how about you focus on your speech?"
"I know it, Dad!"
"Oh for God's sake, Jed, it's a school election. It isn't a senate race," Abbey snapped as she molded Ellie's hand around the sponge.
"An election is an election. Don't you want her to win?"
"Of course I want her to win. But right now, I'm more concerned about you pushing her." With her hand on top of Ellie's, they blotted the sponge onto the corners.
"I'm not pushing her." He was offended by the accusation and at the same time, a bit frightened as well. All too reminiscent of Ellie's first day of school. "Am I pushing you, Angel?"
"No," Lizzie answered honestly. "I need to know the speech. It's important. And I want to win."
Just more proof of the vast differences in Lizzie and Ellie that drove Jed crazy with confusion. "Well, whether you win or not, I'm extremely proud of you. That isn't going to change."
"I know," Lizzie replied, happy to hear the sentiment anyway.
He turned to Abbey with a certain air of smugness that always came from being right. "If you'll allow me to continue..."
She smiled as she grabbed her younger daughter's hand and led her to the table. "Come on, Ellie, we'll get this poster all ready for her."
"Oh, and I have a permission slip you have to sign." Lizzie reached into her backpack and handed Abbey a crumpled piece of paper.
"I don't 'have' to sign it, but I will gladly take a look at it."
"It's for gymnastics."
Jed mouthed the word silently before asking her out loud. "Gymnastics?"
"Yeah."
Lizzie had never shown an interest in gymnastics. Surprised by her choice, he prodded. "Why gymnastics?"
"Because it'll help me with dance."
"Lizzie, they gave you this permission slip on the first day of school," Abbey interjected.
"I kept forgetting."
"When is it due?"
"Today."
Jed playfully yanked a lock of her chestnut hair. "Are you going to think about everything else or this speech?"
"I got it, Dad." Lizzie took the cards from his hand.
"Are you sure? Do you want me to go over the notecards again?"
"No."
Abbey pulled her reading glasses to the middle of her nose, staring up at her daughter over the rim. "Lizzie, this is a big commitment. If I let you do this, you'll have to stay after three days a week. You already stay after once a week for Drama Club, you have ballet and jazz classes every Saturday, and you're about to be class president."
"So?" Nothing was ever too much for the energetic preteen.
"So I think you need a break."
"She can handle it," Jed assured Abbey.
"Yeah. I can handle it," Lizzie agreed.
Abbey wasn't convinced. "Not to mention the fact that gymnastics is dangerous. I'm signing away our right to hold the school liable if you get hurt."
That even caught Jed's attention. "Wait a minute."
"I won't get hurt." Lizzie rolled her eyes at the mere suggestion.
Jed tilted his head to read along with Abbey. "I don't like the idea of the school not being held liable. What's the incentive for them to keep her safe?"
"Exactly," Abbey replied as she snatched the glasses off her face and set them down on the counter.
"It's perfectly safe. I promise."
The Lizzie Bartlet Guarantee didn't inspire much confidence in Abbey. "Yeah, well, I'm going to have to think about it."
"No!" Lizzie complained. "It's due today. You have to sign it now."
"All right." Abbey picked up a pencil and checked off the box denying permission, then slid it towards her daughter.
"Okay, you can think about it," Lizzie amended, sliding it back to her mother.
"Thank you."
"Here you go, Lizzie!" Ellie presented her with the poster she just finished fanning. The light blue sponge paint blended in perfectly, drawing attention to the words 'Vote Lizzie 4 Prez' as if they were embossed with royal blue script.
"That's so cool! Thanks! I'm sorry I snapped at you, El."
The excitement in her voice was the only apology Ellie really needed. She bit down on her bottom lip with a proud smile. "That's okay."
"Wait a second!" Jed began to regret not having inspected the poster before now.
"What?" Lizzie asked, holding it up in front of her.
"That's spelled wrong!"
"No, it's not, Dad. That's how I wanted it."
"Prez? With a Z instead of an S?"
"Yeah."
Surely she was mistaken. "You're rallying for votes on a theme of illiteracy?"
"It's how we talk. It's what the kids know. It's what I want."
"Well, far be it from me to interfere with what you want. I just think you'd be much better off promoting the correct spelling of such important words as 'President.'"
"Dad."
"And what's a 'pres' anyway? People run for president. They don't run for pres."
"Daddy!" Lizzie protested a little stronger.
Jed held up his arms in a gesture to surrender. "I'll be quiet."
"Give your father a break, Lizzie. Keeping his mouth shut about this is killing him." Abbey chuckled as Jed pursed his lips even tighter. "You're going to call me as soon as you know, right?"
"Yes, I'll call right away," she promised with an exasperated tone.
Lizzie had been blessed with the same confidence and charm for which her parents were widely known. With Jed's knack for making friends and Abbey's talent for embracing diversity, she was the most popular candidate among her classmates. Usually, she had the kind of presence that lit up a room, commanding attention before the first word was ever spoken.
That morning was no exception. She approached the podium like a pro, her nervousness softened by her mind replaying her father's encouraging advice. She spoke from her heart, barely looking down at the notecards in her hands. Her words were crisp and incisive, her commitment sincere. At the end of the speech, she earned a loud chorus of applause. At the end of the day, she earned much more. With the votes tabulated, Elizabeth Bartlet had attained her goal. She won her first election.
Abbey had already started baking the cake when she received the anticipated phone call. She predicted her daughter would win this contest - mother's intuition and all - but nothing could compare to the joy of hearing the results. Lizzie had broken a school record, winning by such a wide margin of votes that she was asked to address the students regularly.
It was the very first time Liz understood the exhilaration of such a win. The adrenaline rush of hearing your name called out as the person your peers chose to represent them was something she had never experienced, something she could barely explain.
Luckily, to Jed, she didn't have to, for that exhilaration and adrenaline rush, coupled with his dedication to making the world a better place, had long-since been his motivation for continuing to serve in public office.
Like himself, Lizzie was a born leader, Jed had always told Abbey. She wasn't one to sit on the sidelines and allow others to make decisions for her. She was an independent, opinionated, and articulate child and with Bartlet genes and her own intelligence, he was convinced she would follow in her family's footsteps, someday devoting her professional life to public service.
And on that day, that was exactly what Lizzie wanted too. She told him, in so many words, as he helped her get ready for bed after the big victory party.
"I wanna do it again! I wanna run for something...anything. This is what I wanna do when I grow up! I wanna run for office and I wanna run the campaign all by myself!"
Jed teasingly scoffed at the idea of an independently run campaign. "Well, no one runs a campaign all by themselves."
"You do!"
"No, I don't. You and Mom and Ellie, you all walk with me around the neighborhoods to help me get my name out there, meet my constituents."
"Oh yeah."
"And we'll all be right there to help you too the next time you run for something." He pulled down the covers as she crawled into bed. "But first, we have to deal with the aftermath of this run."
"What do you mean?"
He fluffed her pillow before gently pushing her back. "You made some promises to your classmates, remember? You said you'd work with the principal and the superintendent on getting chocolate milk in the cafeteria, a slightly more lenient dress code, a sixth grade dance at the end of the year?"
"Yeah."
"You have to follow through on those," he told her as he tugged on the ends of the blanket to make sure she was covered. "Every single one."
"I know."
Meanwhile, down the hall, Abbey and Ellie began their daily nighttime routine - a ritual that, in the past, was sometimes sacrificed because of Abbey's hospital schedule.
"Which one?" Abbey asked, pointing to the books on Ellie's shelf.
"This one!" She pulled out her longtime favorite, 'Good Night, Moon.'
"We read that every night. Don't you want a new one?"
"Uh uh! I want this one!"
There was no point arguing with her. Ellie was adamant. The five-year-old braced herself on her palms, digging deep into her mattress as she climbed onto the bed and slipped her tiny feet under the covers. Abbey sat down next to her, her legs stretched out and one arm around Ellie's shoulder to cradle the little girl close to her chest as she held the book in her other hand.
Ellie moved her lips as her mother read to her. Truth be told, she had pretty much memorized this book, but she occasionally missed a word or two in an effort to sound out the letters. She helped Abbey turn the pages, her brows creasing and her frown becoming more prominent as they neared the end.
"Good night stars, good night air, good night noises everywhere," Abbey read the last line, shocked by Ellie's hand preventing her from closing the book. "Ellie?"
"I want you to read it again!"
"Oh, Sweetie, I can't. It's late and I'm tired."
"But I really wanna hear it again!"
"How about tomorrow?" She cupped her chin and lifted her head when Ellie turned her gaze to the floor. "Hey, I'll read you two books tomorrow, okay? It's just been a long day today."
"Okay." She wrapped her hands around Abbey's neck, pulling her down to plant a kiss on her cheek. "I love you."
"I love you too, Sweetheart." Abbey stood to leave, but gave her one more kiss after she sensed Ellie's disappointment. "Daddy will be in soon to say good night."
Ellie sank herself into the bed, covering her face with her blanket after her mother's departure. There were so many feelings running around inside her. Day after day, she was becoming more confused and upset about the prospect of a new sibling stealing Abbey's attention.
"And I'll set up a meeting with them too!" Lizzie excitedly declared as she and Jed discussed her next move as class president.
"Sounds like a great idea."
"Meeting with who?" Abbey asked, having just walked in on the conversation.
"With the fifth grade teachers! Daddy thinks it would be neat for the fifth graders to help with planning the sixth grade dance, just like the prom in high school!"
"Well, not exactly like the prom," Jed corrected.
"She knows what I mean."
"Yes, I do," Abbey confirmed. "And I think that's a great idea."
"Thanks for my party! My friends had a lot of fun!"
"You're welcome. And now it's time to get some sleep."
Jed laughed at that suggestion. "I don't think she'll be sleeping for quite a while. She's way too hyper."
"I told you one piece of cake was enough," Abbey joked as she stroked her daughter's hair and dropped a kiss to her forehead. "Good night, Baby Doll."
"Good night."
Jed followed his wife's lead, bending forward to kiss Lizzie's cheek. "Love you, Angel."
"Love you too! Thanks, Daddy!"
Before retiring to the master bedroom, Jed had another stop to make. He turned the corner out of Lizzie's room and headed for Ellie's.
"Daddy!" Ellie exclaimed as he sat down on the edge of her bed.
"Hey, Princess. Did Mommy read you a story?"
"Uh huh! Good Night, Moon!"
"How did I know?" he chuckled.
"Daddy?"
"Yeah?" Ellie hesitated for a second, her nerves dictating her fidgety pause. "Ellie, what is it?"
"After the baby comes, will Mommy still read to me?"
Jed noticed the apprehension behind her question, the glimmer of fear that clouded her aqua-colored eyes as she contemplated his answer. He slid his hands under her arms and sat her up against the wall behind the bed.
"You know why we call you Princess?" he asked.
"Why?"
"There once was this beautiful Swan Princess. She had these lovely blonde curls, with just a hint of strawberry in her hair, just like you." Ellie was immediately mesmerized. "But this Princess had a problem."
"What kind of problem?"
"She didn't know how to get her Prince to fall in love with her." He tucked a stray curl behind her ear.
"I thought a Prince always loved his Princess."
"Well, usually, but this Prince didn't realize what he was missing. So one day, the town witch, Lady Marian came to see the fair Princess."
"A witch?"
"A good witch. Lady Marian was like Glinda on The Wizard of Oz."
"I like Glinda!"
"And just like Glinda, everyone in town loved Lady Marian. One day, she gave the Swan Princess this magic liquid, kind of like a potion, and when the Princess dabbed a bit of it behind her ear, she was given the power to cast spells."
"Really!" Ellie's enthusiasm reached new heights.
"Really! So she did it. She rubbed the potion all over her skin and from that moment on, everyone she met instantly fell in love with her."
"Even her Prince?"
"Especially her Prince. And just like the Swan Princess, when you were born, you must have had that magic potion because you cast a spell on me and your mother. You made us fall in love with you."
"I did?"
"You did. And you know the rule about spells."
"They can never, ever be broken," Ellie concluded.
"That's right."
"Even with a new baby?"
"Even with a new baby," Jed confirmed. "It's a permanent spell." He pulled on her legs to lay her back down. "Does that answer your question?"
"Uh huh."
"I thought it might," he replied as he covered her with the blanket. "Good night, Princess. I love you."
"I love you too, Daddy."
Her sweet voice carried through those five little words, sparking his concern about how Ellie was adjusting to the changes around her. He had previously dismissed Abbey's theory about Ellie being uncomfortable with the pregnancy. Perhaps she had been right all along. Perhaps Ellie needed the kind of reassurance that he gave her tonight.
He walked into the master bedroom, his fingers twiddling the buttons on his shirt as he reached in the dresser for his pajamas.
"Hey!" Abbey greeted him, leaving the bathroom and heading towards the bed.
"Hi." He saw her reflection in the mirror and noticed her hands gripping her stomach. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing. I think I just ate too much tonight."
"Are you sick? Should I call the doctor?"
"Jed, I'm fine. Really." Touched by his concern, she took his hand and led him to bed. "I'm just not used to all the cake and chips and soda we had tonight."
"You were a really good sport about all that stuff."
Abbey pulled his pants down to reveal his boxers as he slipped a t-shirt over his head. "Well, Lizzie deserved it, and so did you for staying away from your cigarettes for the past four weeks. "
"Ellie's a little worried about the baby." He didn't mean to actually blurt it out.
"What?"
"I think she's okay. She was just wondering if you were still going to read to her after the baby is born."
"Of course I will. Do I need to go talk to her?"
Jed grabbed her hand before she could get out of bed. "No, I straightened it out. Let her sleep. You just might want to reinforce it tomorrow."
She rested her head against the headboard. "I don't know why she isn't happy about this baby. Lizzie was thrilled when I was pregnant with Ellie."
"Now who's comparing the girls?" he quipped, changing direction almost as quickly. "She'll come around. Give her some time." Jed cupped her bulging tummy, stroking the top of it tenderly.
"It tickles when you do that." Abbey giggled.
"I can hear her move," he replied with his head against her skin.
"Yeah? What does HE sound like?"
Jed placed his hands on either side of her frame and looked up at her. "He sounds like a she."
"Whatever you say."
"Your mother's going to be awfully disappointed when you're born, Little One," he whispered to her stomach.
"Jed! That's an awful thing to say!"
"I'm only kidding."
"Still." Abbey took a breath as he sat up beside her. "This past year has been really difficult, hasn't it?" Jed nodded. "I don't care if it's a boy or a girl. I just want this baby to be healthy."
"It will be, Abbey. It will be."
"I was so worried when we first found out. I mean, this baby was inside of me the night of the attack..." Still scared and unsure, it was obvious she was on edge.
Jed tilted her head to the side, allowing it to rest on his shoulder as he ran his fingers through her hair. "Shh. Don't think about that."
"It's not that easy."
He allowed a moment of silence between them, nothing but the sound of their deep breaths filling the room before he began. "You know, in early Christian art and literature, many artists and authors used a symbol to represent immortality and reincarnation. And with that one symbol, they could say what a thousand paintings, a thousand words couldn't - that life is the most important gift in the world."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. That symbol was a bird. The Greeks called it a benu, known for its peacock-like beauty, but the Egyptians referred to as the Phoenix."
Abbey immediately dismissed the conversation. "I know the story of the Phoenix."
"Well, you're going to hear it again because I feel like telling it." She smiled as he winked at her. "It was revered as one of the most beautiful birds of all time. It lives some 500 years and at the end of its life-cycle, the Phoenix builds itself a nest of cinnamon twigs and then ignites it."
"Both the bird and the nest fiercely burn until there's nothing left but a pile of ashes and from the ashes, a new, young Phoenix is born," Abbey finished without much emotion as Jed looked to her quizzically. "I told you I already knew the story."
"A baby bird soars out of that fire, even stronger and tougher than the one before it. It climbs out of those ashes, Abbey, to face a life of prosperity, where it too is honored just for having been born."
"Yeah."
He gently eased her up and made his way down to her stomach, framing his hands around her. "Five months ago, we created a life together. The next day, our love was tested in a way neither of us could have ever imagined."
"Jed."
"We survived, Abbey. That's the point. We survived, the girls survived, this baby survived. Don't go around looking for bad things because this child that you're carrying is a symbol of the good. Just like the new Phoenix is to its predecessor, this child is the reincarnation of us, of our love, tested by fire and rising from those flames stronger and tougher than ever before."
He was always so good at easing her fears. She grabbed his arm and pulled him up beside her. "That's a much better way of looking at it."
"This baby is fine. We're all safe and sound. And we're all going to stay that way."
"I was wrong."
"About what?"
"I hadn't heard that story after all." Abbey tightened her grip around his hand as she leaned into his comforting embrace.
TBC