"Mommy, no! No, not Lizzie. No! Don't, Mom! Don't kill the baby! Stop!"
Liz quickly moved to sit on the edge of the bed and shook Ellie awake.
"Ellie! Ellie, wake up."
Ellie opened her eyes, which were filled with years, and immediately threw herself into Liz's arms. When she had calmed down, she broke away and leaned back on her bed again.
"What were you dreaming about, El?" Liz asked, sympathetically
.
"It wasn't a dream. It was a nightmare."
"Well, what happened?"
Ellie bit her lip, hesitantly.
"Come on, El, it's ok. You can tell me," Liz insisted.
"I can't."
"Why not?"
"Because."
"Ellie, just tell me."
Ellie sighed.
"Ok. But you can't get mad," she demanded.
"I won't get mad," Liz agreed.
"Mom…well…Mom was killing the baby," Ellie admitted.
"What! Who's baby?"
"Your baby."
"Oh my God," Liz whispered, realizing how horrifying that must have been for her. "So the baby was already born in your dream?"
"No," Ellie replied.
At first, Elizabeth was confused. Then it dawned on her.
"Oh, JESUS. That's…that's really freaky, Ellie. Why the heck would you dream about something like that?"
Ellie looked away. Liz eyed her suspiciously.
"Tell me, Ellie," Liz ordered. "Were the kids at your school giving you a hard time about this too?"
"No. But I…I heard Mom and Dad talking tonight."
"Yeah, what about?"
"Mom performed an abortion on someone tonight," Ellie blurted out, more blunt than she had intended too.
Liz's jaw dropped; she did not speak.
"On a rape victim. And she didn't tell anyone she was doing it."
Still, Elizabeth remained silent.
"She was crying, Liz. I'd never seen her like that before. I thought she was, like, having a ceizure or something. She said she felt like she was killing her own baby while she was doing it. Dad said it was like murder."
"He was mad," Liz whispered, more like a questioned than a statement.
"No, he was holding her. But I think he was pretty upset by it."
"Hmm," Liz mumbled, pensively.
"But not as upset as Mom. It seemed like she was scarred for life or something."
"I wonder why they didn't come in here when you were screaming," Liz stated, thoughtfully.
"They were probably out cold," Ellie said. "They took sleeping pills."
"How do you know?"
"Because Dad said, 'Honey, we'd better take some sleeping pills if we wanna sleep through the night,'" she answered, deepening her voice to imitate her father. "They were pretty freaked out, Liz."
"Yeah."
"Are you mad?"
"No. I feel bad for her."
At 7am, a pajama-clad Zoey crept into her parents' room. The sleeping pills they had indeed taken the night before were apparently effective for they were still sound asleep. She ran up and jumped on the bed.
"Mommy, Daddy, time to get uuuuup!" She said, sitting on Jed's back.
Jed groaned, languidly, and tried to twist himself around. With one arm, he scooped his 6-year-old off of him and she landed next to him on the bed.
"Sweetheart, why don't you go and get dressed?" Jed suggested, rubbing his eyes.
"Lizzie said to make sure you're both wide awake so you're not late for work."
Jed looked past Zoey at his wife. Abbey was clearly awake despite the fact that her eyes remained shut. Her eye makeup had run and dried around her eyes after the crying she'd done yesterday evening. His heart went out to her.
"Uh, tell Liz that Mom and I are gonna skip work today, honey," Jed said.
Abbey's eyes shot open.
"Why?" Zoey asked.
Jed thought for a moment, and Abbey raised an eyebrow in anticipation of his response.
"Because…because it's your last day of school! And we wanted to be around when you got home."
Zoey grinned and gave her father a hug. Then she turned, smiling, to look at her mother.
"Hi, Mommy."
"Hi, sweetie," Abbey returned, with a weak smile.
Zoey could tell something was wrong with her mother. She had no idea what it could be, but it was definitely something.
"I love you!" Zoey cried, hugging her.
Abbey was touched and genuinely delighted.
"I love you too, baby doll."
Satisfied, Zoey crawled off of the bed.
"I'll tell Lizzie!" she promised, skipping out the door.
"Thank you!" Jed called after her, laughing.
Then, he gazed over at his wife.
"Hey," he said, smiling reassuringly.
She but sent him a bittersweet smile in return.
"How ya feeling?"
"Ok," she replied, yawning.
"I do want you to stay home today, Abbey."
Surprisingly, she didn't argue, she only nodded.
"And I'm staying home with you."
"Ok," she answered.
"Abbey."
He gently pushed her hair behind her ears and then ran the back of his hand over her cheek.
"Jed, I'm ok," she insisted.
He nodded.
"Of course you are."
"Jed, really, I am."
"Abbey."
"What?"
"I love you!" He said, imitating his youngest daughter.
She laughed.
"I love you too, baby doll."
"And I don't care about what you did," he stated, seriously now. "I understand why you did it. I love you for being so strong and I love you for essentially saving that girl's life, even though it went against everything you believe in. And I love you for being so completely honest with me about this."
At that, she began to tear up.
"Come here," he said, pulling her into him and holding her tight.
After a moment, there was a knock at the door and Elizabeth walked right in.
"Mom, Dad."
They broke apart only slightly to look up at her.
"Elizabeth," Jed said, with a mock formality.
"Uh…Zoey said you guys are gonna ditch work today?"
"Yes, ma'am," he answered.
"Ok, well, um. I gotta leave to catch the bus now. Zoey and Ellie have to be at the bus stop in forty-five minutes. So if you could just make sure they leave on time…"
"Ok, Mom," Jed replied, laughing at her. Always the responsible one.
"Ok. I'll see you later."
"Bye, Liz," Jed said.
"Bye, honey," Abbey said.
"Have a great last day!" He called after her.
"Thank you!"
Forty-five minutes later, Ellie and Zoey had already left for school (only stopping in to see their parents once to say goodbye). Jed and Abbey were still in bed. They couldn't remember the last time they were able to lounge around in bed past 8 o'clock.
"So. What now?" Abbey questioned.
"What do you want to do?"
"Ohhh, can we just stay in bed all day?"
"We can do whatever you want, babe," he replied.
"Let's watch soap operas all day long. And eat marshmellows."
"Now, now, Dr. Bartlet. That may be hazardous to your health."
"Screw my health. I want marshmellows, I want junk food, and I want soda. Lots and lots of sugar and caffeine."
Jed grinned.
"You got it, dude."
But she was serious.