Rated NC-17 for sex

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Story: Checkmate

Chapter 3

Disclaimer: The characters depicted in this story belong to NBC, WB, and Aaron Sorkin. We're just borrowing them for some fun :)

Previously: Seeing how upset he was by the suggestion, Abbey decided not to challenge for his seat and instead started a public policy initiative campaign to gather constituents to instruct him and his colleagues to debate the issue

Summary: When Jed informs his colleagues of Abbey's actions, they ask him to keep an eye on things; Abbey is eager to prove she can still take care of her family and run a successful constituent campaign; a confused Liz doesn't react well when she finds out what Abbey's doing; Jed and Abbey make up

Jed walked past all the open office doors in the dimly lit hallway that stretched through a building adjacent to the State House. It was this building that housed the state congressional offices and it was here that Jed and his democratic colleagues huddled together to strategize every so often.

He rounded the corner towards the room that appeared welcoming and friendly. Sounds of laughter echoed through the opened double doors and he soon heard his friends calling out for him as they waved him inside.

"We were wondering what was taking so long," one of them said as he shut the door behind him. "You're the last one here."

Within state politics, this was their war room. Armed with constituent letters, public appearance schedules, and piles of wrinkled papers that held the first draft of legislative proposals, this was where the Democrats gathered to share their thoughts, ideas, and problems.

Today, in this room, Jed showed up ready to deliver the news no one wanted to hear.

"There's a new citizen's group that's starting a campaign for a public policy initiative," he said. "And it's going to affect all of us."

"What's the cause this time?"

"Medicinal marijuana."

Sitting in one of the antique wood chairs that lined the large cherry table, Larry Griggs leapt to his feet. "Are you serious?"

"Is the group based in your district, Jed?"

"Their leader is," Jed answered. "The woman who's organizing the whole thing is a doctor in my district, but she's got people coordinating statewide."

"She won't get very far," one of the cynical members offered.

"If she does, it'll be just as bad for all of us as it will be for the Republicans," another warned.

"Not all of us." Griggs smiled.

"At the very least, it leaves us vulnerable to criticism from opponents. The primary is coming up in September. I don't know about the rest of you, but I've got problems enough in my district. The last thing I need is ridicule about getting something like this passed."

"It's not the vote she's concerned about," Jed replied. "She wants the debate. She just wants us to consider it."

"It's a waste of time. You should tell her that, Jed. Talk to her, make her understand the session's almost over and there are more important things..."

"Fellas, I already tried. She's serious and I don't think anyone's going to change her mind. Besides, do we really want to talk down constituents from getting involved in the process?"

"She's your district, Bartlet." Brandon Kelley, the Democratic Whip looked Jed squarely in the eye. "Surely there's something you can do."

"Believe me, there's nothing we can do right now. When something is important to her, God, Himself, can't strike down the wall of determination she builds around her."

"You know her well?" Griggs asked.

"I'm married to her."

"You're kidding! Abbey?"

Jed stared at the surprised faces looking back at him. "She's not playing around."

"This is good," Kelley replied. "You can keep an eye on her. Let us know if she's making any progress."

"I won't spy on my wife."

"We're not asking you to, Jed."

Jed's eyes scanned the crowd and landed on Floor Leader Anthony Patell. "No?"

"No," he said. "As a representative, it's your job to stay abreast of a potential situation in your district. Do that. Gauge constituent reaction to Abbey's efforts and report back to us so we can be ready for the fight. We have to stay a step ahead of her if for no other reason, damage control."

It certainly sounded benign enough. He wouldn't be rummaging through her things or eavesdropping on her conversations. He would simply keep an eye out for the number of residents who supported Abbey's position. Had it been anyone else, Jed would have been eager and willing to do as Patell suggested, but there was something a bit unsettling about taking on his wife, even in the most professional sense.

He hesitated slightly, a myriad of problematic scenarios running rampant in his mind. He and Abbey hadn't resolved their latest fight and he feared this would only make things worse. But Abbey would understand, he soon came to acknowledge. She wasn't small and petty, unable to separate his political maneuvering from the love he had for her as a devoted husband. She would accept this for what it was - a strategical decision and nothing more.

So, he subtly nodded and accepted the challenge.

"Yeah." A bit of reluctance still clear in his voice, Jed stood to flip his jacket over his shoulders. "I need to get home before my girls get out of school."

And with that, he left.

It had been a week since Abbey broke the news about the public policy initiative. In that time, they barely had a moment's privacy. A few troubled glances had been exchanged from across the breakfast table, a few strained phone calls left them practically speechless, and a few 'goodnights' were whispered when she came home from the hospital after he had already gone to bed, but for the most part, their hectic schedules conspired to keep them apart.

Abbey had spent the night at the Hanover house four nights out of the past seven, returning early in the mornings to have breakfast with the girls. It wasn't that unusual. In fact, they hadn't yet sold the Hanover house because Jed frequently encouraged her to stay there instead of hitting the road to Manchester late at night. But this week, the time Abbey spent away just added to the tension between them.

He drove up the gravel driveway to the farmhouse that afternoon, confused when he noticed her car parked out front. He called for her when he walked inside, then followed the sound of squealing and laughter towards the door that led to the backyard.

Two sets of dampened footprints shaded the concrete outside and little orange floaties sat among the towels draped over a lounge chair. Visibly nervous, Zoey held on to the side of the pool, her arms completely free and her legs kicking against the pressure under the shallow water as she twisted her head over her shoulder to search her mother's gaze.

"Come on, Zoey. You can do it. I won't let anything happen to you." Abbey only three feet away with her hands extended, waiting for Zoey to swim to her.

A spark of fear initially forced him to push open the screen and breeze through the small crack in the door, but once outside, his fatherly instincts subsided, allowing him to slow his pace. This was Abbey's thing. She had taught Liz and Ellie how to swim and though they were a little older, he realized Abbey would have never taken the step with Zoey if she wasn't ready.

Still, his heart went out to his little girl as he saw her biting down on her bottom lip, pondering the task at hand. Suddenly, her arms splashed hard in the water and she dog paddled towards Abbey, soaking the abandoned concrete rim until she reached the safety of her mother's embrace.

"I knew you could do it! I'm SO proud of you!" Abbey lifted her up and held her close as Zoey cuddled up tight.

"I do it," she screamed against Abbey's shoulder.

"Yes, you did do it!"

His boisterous chuckle instantly revealed his presence and both Zoey and Abbey turned to see Jed approaching. "I saw you do it too, Sweetheart! That was terrific!"

"Daddy!" Zoey held out her arms for Jed.

"Sweetie, you're going to get Daddy all wet," Abbey told her.

"It's okay." Jed retrieved a towel from the nearby chair and held it out as Abbey lifted the little girl out of the water. "Did you have fun?"

Zoey nodded, squirming in his arms to get back into the pool. "Daddy, swim with us?"

"Maybe later, Zo." He grabbed Abbey's towel when he noticed her stumbling towards the stairs. "Here."

"Thanks."

As she dabbed the moisture off her skin, Jed couldn't help but admire her buxom figure now exposed against the wet and clingy red one-piece swimsuit. Her hair contoured her cheekbones, spiraling down her naked face in springy curls and dripping drops of water onto her bare shoulders.

"I didn't expect you to be home," he said.

"It's my day off."

He had lost track of her schedule, a testament to how little time they had spent together in the past several days. "Oh. I was going to pick up the girls."

"Don't worry about it. Lizzie said she's riding the bus and I'm going to get Ellie because we have to pick up her First Communion dress at the seamstress and pick out a pair of earrings."

"You're doing that today?" he asked, following her inside.

"It's the only day I can. If you'll do me a favor and get Zoey into some dry clothes then put her down for her nap, I can go get ready. I need to run to the cleaners before I pick up Ellie."

"Of course." Jed lifted Zoey onto his shoulders while Abbey wrapped the towel around her, tucking the corner under her arms as she trailed behind father and daughter on the trek upstairs.

Once Zoey was asleep in her bed, he was drawn to the master bedroom where he knew he'd find Abbey. The scent of her perfume still lingered in the air and he snuck up behind her to help her with the clasp to her necklace.

"Thanks." Her hands fell to straighten the silver pendant as Jed wandered slightly, stopping right in front of her vanity and picking up the papers that sat on top.

"Is this the petition?"

"Yeah. I'm stopping in Concord on my way to work tomorrow morning to drop it off at the attorney general's office."

"Wow."

"What?"

"I was going to recommend you do that. You're already a step ahead of me."

"I don't want to be caught in a loophole with this thing, Jed. I've read the state election laws. I'm doing it by the book. You may be the politician, but I'm not exactly incompetent."

"Whoa! I never said you were. I never even thought it."

"Sorry. It's already been a long day and I guess I'm cranky." She slipped her feet into a pair of heels. "I've been thinking that school gets out next week and if we want Lizzie to help out with the babysitting all summer, we may want to raise her allowance."

"That's a good idea."

"Also, it's important that we start teaching Zoey how to swim, or at least doggy-paddle to stay afloat. I know she's only two and a half, but I feel like I have to try because I don't feel comfortable leaving her here with anyone knowing how much she loves sneaking outside. So I'm going to need your help with lessons on the weekends."

"Absolutely." He followed her erratic movements around the room as she ran a brush through her damp hair and searched for her purse.

"I made you a sandwich in case you haven't had lunch yet. It's in the fridge. Turkey on rye just the way you like it with some grapes, apple squares, and those nutty bars you like so much."

"You always lecture me when I eat those."

"Not today," she returned warmly before she left the room and jogged down the steps.

"I won't ask why." He grinned as he embarked on a pedestrian tailgate all the way downstairs.

"There's also some pasta salad for you and the girls when Lizzie gets home. Make sure you pick the olives out for Zoey and let her snack on the noodles and dressing. She likes that. Around 5:40, I'd appreciate it if you could put the chicken casserole I made for dinner in the oven. I'll be home around 6 and I'll pick up something for dessert on my way. I ran out of time to bake anything."

"Abbey, today's your day off. Have you had a moment to relax?"

"I'm fine."

"I'm just saying..."

"I told you when I got into this that I'd find time to do everything. I meant it."

A pang of guilt hit Jed as he remembered the words he threw at her during that argument. He never believed that Abbey would neglect her family, but anger motivated his actions that morning and though that anger had now faded substantially, it was obvious there was still some hostility floating between them.

He wondered if maybe with a touch of her arm or a stroke of her cheek, she would turn to him so he could envelope her in a comforting hug and shower her with forgiveness. He was confident she wouldn't ignore the gesture, for he knew that the past week had been just as miserable for her as it had been for him. He sensed it in the fatigue he could see in her swagger, probably due to restless slumber the night before. Brown smudges outlined her eyes and she seemed frazzled when she spun around herself to gather her belongings.

He wanted to fix things and he wanted to begin that evening at dinner. But something else happened that night. Through no fault of his own, the subject that caused all the problems in the first place dominated the discussion.

"Why is there a petition upstairs asking Dad to make drugs legal?" Lizzie asked her parents.

Abbey turned a curious glance towards Jed, then looked back at her daughter. "Where did you see that? Were you going through our room?"

"No. One of the pages fell on the floor in the hall just outside your door."

Liz was still in the dark and that's exactly where Jed wanted to keep her. "Lizzie, that's not something for you to worry about."

Abbey nudged her husband. "I think we should tell her. It's going to get some press coverage. She'll find out anyway."

"Find out what?"

"I don't think this is a good idea," Jed insisted. "But I'll leave it up to you."

Confident in her proposal, Abbey began. "I'm trying to get the state legislature to consider allowing patients to use marijuana as a form of medicine."

"Medicine?"

"Does it help them, Mommy?" Ellie questioned.

"I think it does, yes."

Her curiosity piqued, Lizzie furrowed her brows. "So you're saying that pot is actually good for you?"

"No, no, no, no, no," Jed answered before Abbey. "Your mother is NOT saying that pot is good for you." He glanced at his wife. "Are you?"

"No, I'm not. Marijuana is VERY harmful for you, Lizzie. I haven't changed my stand on that. But for certain patients, it does help them not feel as sick as they normally would."

"So then it's not totally bad for you?"

"For you, yes, it is."

"But it's not bad for others?"

"Not all the time. It's complicated, Sweetie."

"I thought you said it was bad, always for everyone."

"Most of the time, it is."

"You don't let me hang around Sandi because she tried pot once at her friend's Sweet Sixteen party. ONLY ONCE. You said I couldn't go to her house anymore or hang out with her after school."

Abbey fidgeted uncomfortably. Explaining the issue to Jed and his colleagues was one thing. Trying to get her fourteen-year-old daughter to understand the implications of what she was doing was quite another.

"That's right. I did. I didn't want her smoking it around you and I didn't want you tempted to try it. You know how your father and I feel about you ever even experimenting with drugs."

"She doesn't do it anymore. It was only that once!"

"Once is enough."

"And why are you so worried about it when you want Dad to make it legal for other people?"

"Not teenagers."

"Wait! So it's okay for your patients, but not anyone else?" Liz had just crossed the line from confusion to rebellious sarcasm.

"Doctors believe it can be beneficial for certain people. CERTAIN people."

"What if it makes Sandi feel better too? How come you get to decide who it can be legal for?"

"Because I'm a doctor," Abbey snapped. "I can see the effect it has on the human body. It's good for some people, but it can be severely damaging to others. That's what I'm trying to emphasize."

"I don't understand why it's okay for who you say but not anyone else. It doesn't make sense! Either it's good for people or it's not."

"It's not a black and white thing. If you'd calm down and stop acting like a child, you'd see that." That was unfair and Abbey knew it. She wanted to take back the words the moment they escaped her lips, but it was too late.

"I'm not acting like a child. I just don't get it because you're being a hypocrite!"

"Hey," Jed intervened. "That's enough."

A few minutes passed and Abbey's temper had simmered enough to allow her to adopt a softer approach. "You're right. You're not a child. You're mature enough to hear this and I'll be happy to explain it to you later, Elizabeth, but you're going to have to change your tone."

"Whatever."

Nothing else was said during that meal. Jed and Ellie ate in silence. Abbey and Liz twirled their utensils around the plate, but neither finished their dinner. The only sound heard in the next half hour belonged to Zoey. The two-year-old who was usually oblivious to the conflict around her, didn't utter a single word, but she used her suppressed energy to repeatedly smash her food with her spoon before swirling it around the tray of her high chair.

After dinner, Abbey retired upstairs while Jed and Liz cleared the table and washed the dishes, giving him a chance to address the teenager alone.

"Regardless of what's happening with your mother and me, I want to be perfectly clear," he told her. "Pot is not something that's good for YOU. No matter what, you are not to try it - ever."

"Fine."

"Your mom didn't mean what she said to you, but I'm not happy with your behavior either."

"I don't understand how the rules can be different. If people are sick, wouldn't pot make them sicker? And if not, then if they're healthy, how can it make them sick?"

"Ask her those questions. I'm sure she'll answer them. But don't disrespect her. She's not a hypocrite. You know that." His warning was spoken softly. Gentle, yet firm and Liz acknowledged it with a nod.

"Yeah."

"I get that you're confused, Lizzie, but this is her field. Not mine. Not yours. It's something that's important to her and neither you nor I have given it the attention it deserves."

"Maybe," Lizzie conceded. "I'll apologize to her when we're done."

He got through to her. Now it was time to follow his own advice and talk to Abbey.

After the girls were tucked into their beds, Jed laid back against his pillow, his head turned to the side so he could watch Abbey dip the bottle of Vanilla Noel lotion and squeeze it into her palms. She rubbed her hands together so furiously, he was convinced it had to hurt and he narrowed his eyes in response. She stopped suddenly when she noticed his stare through the reflection in the mirror.

"You're making me nervous," she said, her eyes connecting with his in the glass.

"Tell me how marijuana can help a cancer patient."

Caught off-guard by his request, she spun around to face him. "You don't have to humor me, Jed."

"Tell me. I really want to know." He patted her side of the bed and, slowly, she walked over to join him.

"It can ameliorate fatigue, help debilitating symptoms like pain, nausea, loss of appetite, and severe weight loss. And it's not just cancer patients. We might be able to help patients with all kinds of diseases, maybe even GRID."

"But it can't extend a life, can it?"

"We don't know that yet."

"But from what you do know. It can't, can it?"

She reluctantly surrendered by shaking her head as she slid her legs under the covers. "We're still learning more every day."

"My point is that even if you could have given Jamie Woodward marijuana, it wouldn't have saved her life. Even if you could have given Megan Carmichael marijuana, it wouldn't have kept her alive and we don't even know, for sure, that it would have eased her symptoms."

"This isn't about Jamie or Megan."

"The hell it's not," Jed countered. When she attempted to turn away from him, he grabbed her hip and rolled her onto her back.

"Jed."

"This is about every patient you ever lost. I was there with you when you came home and told me about the lung cancer that eventually took Jamie's life. I was standing right next to you when you got the nightly updates from Boston about Megan and I held you in my arms all night the day she died. It took me this long to figure it out, but I know that's what this is all about."

"What?"

"You can't stand the helplessness when you lose a patient. You feel like a failure and each and every time, you wonder if it was because of something you did. You wonder if there was more you could have done. THAT'S why you feel the way you do about this. It's an escape from that feeling."

She was sitting up now, agitated. Her right brow was arched slightly. "Stop telling me how I feel or why I think what I do! This isn't guilt because of patients I lost!"

"It's not?"

"No!" she blurted out before taking a breath to stop the tears welling in her yes as she addressed him more calmly. "It's wondering how I could have helped them in their final hours."

With a soft stroke, he caressed her shoulder. "You helped them, Abbey. You did, in the best way you could. You're an amazing doctor. No one expects you to be superwoman."

Her appreciative gaze bore into his sympathetic one. "Thank you for that, Jed, but I have to ask what's the point of this?"

"Of what?"

"This chat. What's the point? It isn't like you've changed your mind."

"I haven't changed my mind, Honey, because there's little evidence it does all the things you think it does. Maybe there will be evidence in a few years, but until then, I don't think there's enough reason to send such a dangerous message to the public. Lizzie's reaction tonight just confirms that for me."

"Then why are we talking about it?"

"Because I should have talked to you about it before, when it came up at work. I'm sorry I didn't."

His apology melted any residual anger she felt and as she looked directly into the sincerity that poured from his twinkling blue eyes, she sighed a liberating sigh and reclined against the mattress. He slipped his hand under her waist, pulling her closer to him. Her head rested against his chest and she listened to his steady heartbeat. His chin just barely grazed the top of her hair as auburn tendrils danced around his lips.

He adjusted his posture, moving away for a moment to lower his lips so he could press them into hers. This was what he had been longing for. It's what he had missed during the past week. Like magic, just feeling her warm body pressed so closely against his made all his discomfort vanish.

"You're not mad at me?" Abbey asked, breaking the kiss and pulling back to leave only an inch of space between them.

"If I was, I'd fight much harder to bury this overwhelming urge to make love to you right now." He swept her forehead with his finger, clearing her face of an intruding strand of hair. "Are you still mad at me?"

"If I was, I wouldn't want you to make love to me right now." She leaned in again, this time, framing his face as she pressed her mouth against his.

Still entangled in their sensuous liplock, Jed eased her onto her back. He fingered the buttons on her pajama top as his head swayed with hers and he kissed her harder. His hands fondled her soft skin and fanned out to rip open her shirt, giving him unrestricted access to the valley between her sexy mounds where his mouth eventually landed. He stopped then as Abbey lifted his shirt over his head and threw it to the side.

While her nails ran up and down his spine with a feather-light touch, he tenderly rolled her breasts with his thumb and when he squeezed, she squirmed beneath him, arching her back and moaning softly. Her legs wrapped around his, enclosing them between her crossed ankles.

So overcome by the passion that erupted between them, their bodies collided repeatedly, meshed together so tightly that they could barely move against one another. It didn't stop them from trying however, for every attempt sparked the kind of friction that sent them down a road towards unadulterated ecstasy.

Jed continued the affectionate assault down her body. His teeth played with the elastic on her pants until she raised her hips off the mattress and he was able to pull them off her legs and discard them at the foot of the bed. Next, he tugged on her panties and as they followed the same journey over her bent knees and shapely calves, Abbey yanked his pants to reveal the bulge still sheltered by his blue boxers. But before she could remove them too, he raised her leg to get it out of the way so he could settle comfortably between her thighs.

He lowered his head and she immediately let out a high-pitched gasp as his tongue invaded the most intimate part of her body. His entire mouth covered her there, greedily devouring her until her head was thrashing from side to side and she was writhing uncontrollably against his face. He didn't stop. Instead, he gently held her knees apart and continued to pounce the area with stronger strokes.

Her legs were quivering now. His masculine hands grazed the slope of her inner thighs to join his lips and he moved slightly to make room for a finger that penetrated her deep inside. The muscles in his tongue constricted to stiffen the limp organ as it massaged the thin flesh of her sensitive nub, driving her out of her mind. He added another finger inside her, twisting them both and pulling them out just past the middle knuckle only to plunge them back in seconds later.

Abbey's moans intensified. Her fingers twisted his hair and scratched his scalp and her heels dug into his shoulders so hard that it would have caused pain if he wasn't so turned on and mesmerized by the depth of her desire. She pushed herself into his mouth and he welcomed the intrusion by continuously sweeping his tongue over her folds and delving his fingers even deeper inside her until her voice caught in her throat as she called out his name. Her gyrating hips finally buckled under his hot breath, nearly paralyzed by the orgasmic climax that rendered her speechlessly spellbound.

Jed held the same position until the initial pulsating wave tapered off and her back fell hard against the bed. It was only then that he removed his fingers and raised his head from between her legs, ridding himself of his boxers as quickly as possible while she was still lost in a rapturous flood of sensations.

Helped by her guiding hands, he crawled up her petite frame and dipped his lips into the delicate skin between her neck and shoulder, smothering her with kisses while she cupped the back of his head and ran her hands through his thick brown hair. Her ankles met just above his rear as she thrust her lower body up against his groin and he instantly crumbled, entering her with deliberate ease and speeding his pace when provoked by the movement beneath him.

From the tip to the base, Jed was all the way in. Abbey summoned her strength to tighten her muscles around him, erotically gripping him every time he pulled out and forcing him to slide in deeper. He went faster when he felt her clutching him so seductively. He slammed against her time and time again until he eventually surrendered his composure, grunting her name in a breathless whirlwind of vibration that ultimately shattered his control.

Embedded fully inside her, he exploded, trembling as he reached the height of sexual gratification. When it was over, his exhausted limbs crashed on top of her.

Abbey rubbed soothing circles across his back and whispered, "I love you" into his ear.

With ragged breaths, he answered, "I love you too, Sweet Knees."

TBC