No. Absolutely not. Mom and Dad would never let something like this distance them. Or would they? No. I have other things to think about, I can't worry about this. I have another life inside me. An innocent, completely unassuming life. Oh, my God. This poor child. It has no choice in all of this. It's stuck with me as a mother, an unwed sophmore in high school! Ha. And Mom wants me to go into politics. I guess that's all shot to hell now. At least she won't be on my back about it. But Dad…he may never be on my back about anything again, period. He may never even speak to me after this. Oh, what have I done?
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. A knock which nearly made Elizabeth jump out of her skin.
"Who is it?" Liz asked, fear plain in her voice. She really wasn't prepared to talk to her parents yet. It was too soon.
"It's me!" A little voice cried out.
"And me!" Another followed.
Ellie and Zoey. Thank God.
Liz opened the door and let them in. They looked frightened and very, very young to her. It was as if Liz had turned into an adult over the last few days; she felt decades older than her little sisters.
"Lizzie, what's going on?" Zoey asked, mounting herself onto her sister's bed. Ellie followed, and Liz stood before them.
"Nothing, guys. Everything's fine," she answered.
"Nuh uh. Mom and Dad are still downstairs and it's after two in the morning!" Ellie argued.
"And Mommy made Aunt Julia drive you home by yourself. What did you do, Lizzie?" Questioned the littlest Bartlet.
"It's nothing. Really. Why don't you guys just go back to sleep?"
"You don't fool us, Liz," Ellie stated, firmly.
Eleanor Emily Bartlet was eleven now and nothing got past her. Elizabeth knew she could have easily fooled Zoey, who was still a baby in her eyes, but not with Ellie by her side she couldn't.
"Ok. Look. Something happened. Something big. But I think Mom and Dad should tell you"
"Why"
"Because. Now go to sleep."
"What about the baby?" Zoey asked, innocently.
Liz was startled.
"What did you say"
"The baby. Mommy told Daddy something about a baby. Whose baby is it, Lizzie?"
"There is no baby," Liz replied.
Ellie looked at her in disbelief.
"You're pathetic, Liz"
"Hey, pathetic or not, I'm still your big sister and I reserve the right to beat the crap out of you if you don't let this go"
Ellie rolled her eyes.
"You've never even come close to beating us up, Liz, and I know you're not about to start now. Mom and Dad are already mad at you. You're not about to do something to get you in even more trouble."
Zoey looked confused and although Liz's heart went out to her frightened baby sister, she wasn't going to crack. She sighed.
"Ok, out"
Liz gestured for them to get off the bed and with her hands against their backs, guided them to the door.
"You'll know soon enough." She opened the door.
"But Lizzie"
"Liz, come on. Just tell us"
"Goodnight!" She gently pushed them out the door and closed it tight behind them.
She hated lying to her sisters. Rarely had Liz not been completely honest with them. Despite the difference in all their ages, the Bartlet girls had always had a unique bond and very little sibling rivalry. Jed and Abbey always considered themselves incredibly lucky to have three such exemplary daughters, who were never a problem. That is, until now.
Despite themselves, every member of the Bartlet family had managed to get a little sleep that night. When Elizabeth awoke the next morning, she rolled over and looked at her clock. 7:06am. She rubbed her eyes, reluctantly got out of bed, and headed down the stairs sleepily.
Liz looked over into the living room as she walked down the stairs. She saw that her parents had fallen asleep on the couch, in each other's arms.
Good, she said to herself. This isn't going to bring them apart at least.
She trudged past them into the kitchen. She checked her mother's work schedule on the refrigerator, just to make sure she didn't need to be awake for work. She didn't.
After pouring herself a glass of milk, she started to brew some coffee. She knew her parents would be going through caffeine withdrawal when they woke up. As the coffee brewed, she took her milk and went to sit on the stairs by the living room, lost in thought.
Ten minutes later, she heard stirring from the living room and looked down. They were awake. Well, almost.
Abbey squirmed and gently untangled herself from Jed. When she sat up, a feeling of dizziness came over her and she fell back onto him, moaning in pain.
"Hey," he said, lifting her so he could sit up on the couch. When he positioned himself so that his feet were on the ground, he let her fall back into him.
"You all right?" Jed asked her.
She didn't say anything, she only sighed. He placed the back of his hand on her forehead.
"You're a little warm, honey. Do you feel ok"
Weakly, she replied, "I'm the doctor here."
"Ok then, Dr. Bartlet, do you feel ok"
She shook her head.
"Well, if you want, I can…"
Suddenly, he looked up and saw Liz sitting on the stairs watching them.
"Liz"
"What?" Abbey questioned, quietly, lifting her head from his lap to see what he was looking at.
"Liz," she said.
They're like a broken record when they're together, Liz thought. And now it's the moment of truth.Time to clear the air. Time for them to kick me out of the house and leave me to die in the streets. God give me stength…
Abbey struggled to sit up and, with Jed's help, she succeeded after a moment. She was about to say something to her daughter when nausea took over. Instantly feeling the need to throw up, Abbey shot up and ran up the stairs past Elizabeth. (The downstairs bathroom needed some repairs done on it and they were having trouble getting a plumber at such short notice)Jed's eyes widened with confusion as he watched her. Liz looked at him with alarm.
"I'm sure it's just something she ate," Jed said, casually. "Who knows what the caterers put in that food? And you know how food-sensitive your mom is."
Elizabeth nodded, uncertainly. She wasn't sure how to act around her father after the way he had spoken to her last night.
They heard a loud thud, and both assumed either Ellie or Zoey had jumped out of bed with a little too much force, as had been the case many a time before. After that, the silence between them was almost tangible as they waited for Abbey to return downstairs. After a few more minutes, Liz couldn't take it anymore. She had to break the silence.
"Dad, I"
Suddenly, Zoey came bounding down the stairs, tears flowing from her eyes.
"Daddy!"
She ran into his arms, sobbing.
"What's the matter, baby"
It was then that Elizabeth realized just how young her little sister was. And how peculiar it was for her to be having a baby of her own when her sister was hardly more than a baby herself. Liz heard footsteps on the stairs and turned around. Standing two steps above where she was seated, Ellie stood, a look of sheer panic on her face. Liz quickly looked back down at Zoey and Jed.
"Mommy fell in the bathroom!" Zoey exclaimed.
Jed immediately looked up at Ellie for more.
"I think she's unconscious, Dad," Ellie said.
"Jesus Christ," Jed said under his breath, so as not to scare his daughters, as he bolted up and flew up the stairs. The three younger Bartlets followed close behind him. And, sure enough, there in the bathroom was Abbey. Unconscious and on the floor.
To Liz, everything was a blur after that. All she would later remember was thinking 'Well, my parents always were unconventional, and this is one unconventional way to avoid having a conversation.' After that, her ears were pierced by the sound of sirens and the pain of her heart dropping into her stomach became too much to bear.