"Mommy?"
"Oh! I thought you were asleep, honey," Abbey said, sitting beside her on the bed.
"Mommy, is the baby in there?" Zoey asked, pointing to Abbey's stomach.
"That's right, baby doll."
"Is it in there right now?"
"Mmm hmm."
"Right NOW!"
"Yes, baby, right now."
"How did it GET in there?" Zoey asked, bewildered.
"Oh...we're not gonna get into that one just yet."
"How, Mommy?" Zoey asked again.
"Oh, God," Abbey said, under her breath.
"Mom!"
"Zoey, you know, I'd really prefer that Daddy be here when we have this conversation."
"Why?"
"Because it's hard for Mommy to explain it alone."
"Why?"
"Because it's very hard to talk about, sweetie."
"Why?"
"Zoey. We're going to have to discuss this another time, when Daddy's home. Ok?"
"But I wanna know now!"
"Well, that's just too bad, darlin'. Now. Say goodnight, Gracie."
This was a tradition they had. Abbey's mother had done it with her as well, before she died when Abbey was seventeen.
"Goodnight, Gracie."
Abbey smiled and kissed her forehead.
"I love you, baby doll."
"Love you, Mommy."
"Sleep tight."
Abbey shut the door quietly, relieved to have gotten out of that conversation. She turned around and ran right into her husband.
"Jed!"
"In a hurry there, Hot Pants?"
"Did Zoey see you?" She asked, worriedly.
"No. Why?"
"She just asked me, essentially, where babies come from and I told her she had to wait until you were home so we could tell her together."
"Oh, God."
"We should have known she'd start asking questions when I got pregnant."
"Yeah. She'll probably forget for a little while though," Jed said.
"I don't know, Jed. She seemed pretty intent on getting answers as soon as possible."
He nodded, pensively.
"Where are Liz and Ellie?"
"Liz is in hre room and Ellie's watching TV, I think," Abbey answered.
"Ok. I'm gonna go talk to Liz. I want to hear more about school today," Jed stated.
"All right. I'm gonna go tell Ellie to take her shower so she can get to bed."
Jed observed her suspiciously as she very, very slowly started down the stiars. About halfway down, she stopped.
"Abbey?" Jed called, nervously, as he walked halfway down the stair case to meet her.
When she didn't respond, he put his hands on her shuolders and spun her around to face him.
"Honey, what's them atter?"
"Nothing."
"It's not nothing. What is it?"
"I just...can't move."
"What do you mean you can't move?"
"My legs...I feel so tired...weak."
"Ok, come on, let's get you to bed."
He started to lift her up but she stopped him.
"No, I can't do it."
"Ok," he said, soothingly. "You do it, baby."
With one arm around her shoulders and the other holding her hand, he slowly guided her back up the stairs and into their bedroom.
"I want you in bed, Abbey," Jed told her, sternly.
"Ok," she responded, faintly. "I'm just gonna change first."
"You want me to help you?"
"No. I'm fine."
"Ok. I'm gonna go make you some tea. I'll be right now."
"Uh huh."
When he returned, two cups of tea in hand, he found her sitting on the bed, staring blankly ahead of her. She had not changed her clothes. Seeing this, he quickly put the mugs down on the end table, and sat beside her.
"Abbey?"
"I couldn't do it. I couldn't change."
"Ok, look at me for a second. Do you need to see a doctor?"
She shook her head.
"Are you sure?"
She nodded.
"I'm just tired. That's all. Help me get changed."
Ten minutes later, they were both changed and settled in bed, drinking their tea. After a moment, she looked over at him and smiled.
"What?"
"Nothing. It's just...it's not even 9 o'clock, Jed."
"If you're stuck in bed, so am I. That's just the way it goes."
"Thank you," she said, sincerely.
He nodded.
"How do you feel?"
"Fatigued," she answered, simply.
"Do you need anything?"
"No. Thank you."
Forever trained to knock first whenever she stood in front of her parents' closed bedroom door, Liz listened for a moment, then knocked. When they gave her the ok, she entered and was surprised to find them both sitting up in bed.
"Guys...it's like 9 o'clock."
"Yeah. Listen, Liz, do me a favor and tell Ellie to get to bed, ok?" Jed asked.
"Uh, ok. What are you doing?"
"We're just a little tired and wanted to hit the hay early tonight."
"Right," Liz said, skeptically.
A few seconds later, she had disappeared from the room.
"Abbey."
"Yeah."
"Um. I have to, um..."
"Jed, whatever it is, just say it," Abbey said.
"I have to go to California."
"What!"
"I've gotta go to California for four days next week."
"What for?"
"I just gotta meet with some people and..."
"Jed, don't talk to me like I don't know jack about politics."
"I'm not! To tell you the truth, I don't even really know what it's about."
"This is really bad timing, you know."
"I know. If you don't want me to go..."
"No, you have to go. It just really...sucks."
"Well said, Shakespeare. Yes, it does."
"You know, today was a really great day. This morning, at your office...you just made me entire day better, corny thouhg it may be. I just didn't see it ending this way."
"I'm sorry."
"Not your fault, hon. You'll just have to make it up to me when you get back."
"Ok, Steve, I'm just going to go make my rounds. I have to be in the OR in an hour, you wanna meet me there?"
"Sure."
"Good. See you in an hour then," Abbey said, heading off in the other direction.
After making a few stops to visit her other patients, she decided to stop and check in on one of her favorite patients, 76-year-old Olivia Stokes Westin. Olivia had been a patient at GW for about two weeks, following a stroke, which had paralyzed her from the waist down. From the moment Olivia regained consciousness, she had won Abbey's heart by regaling her with stories about how life was "back in my day." When Abbey walked into her hospital room, she saw that Olivia was not alone.
"Oh! Dr. Bartlet, come in, come in"
"Sorry, Mrs. Westin, didn't realize you had a visitor," Abbey said.
"Mrs. Westin? How many times have I told you to call me Liv?"
"About six hundred, Mrs. Westin," Abbey answered, walking over to Olivia's bed.
"Dr. Bartlet, this is my grandson, Doug. Doug, this is Dr. Bartlet, the woman who's been keeping your dear, sweet grandma alive these past two weeks."
"It's great to meet you, Dr. Bartlet."
"Likewise."
"Doug's a sophmore at Georgetown. Although technically this is his first year there. He attended Boston University last year."
"Oh, are you from the Boston area, Doug?" Abbey wondered.
"New Hampshire, actually."
"Really? Whereabouts?"
"The poor boy was born in the slums of Rochester," Olivia answered for him. "Thankfully, my rat of a son had enough sense to move his family back to North Conway, where I raised my children."
"You never told me you were from New Hampshire, Liv!"
"See, NOW she calls me Live."
"I love about an hour from North Conway, and we have a summer house near there, in Meredith."
Doug nodded.
"Yeah, Meredith. Not far from us at all. You live in Manchester, I bet?"
"Yeah! Well, obviously we're herein DC right now, but we consider our home base to be Manchester. I was actually born in Boston, but, alas, the things we do for the ones we love. My husband's from New Hampshire and I lost the best," Abbey said, with a wink.
"Dr. Bartlet's husband works on the Hill," Olivia said.
"Oh, yeah? I'm thinking about getting into politics," Doug said.
"It's a rough life," Abbey said.
"Then your husband is very lucky he found someone like you to support him."
Abbey smiled at Doug.
"Well, I consider my husband more...an economist and a professor than a politician, as it stands."
"Dr. Bartlet, tell Douglas how your husband won the Nobel Prize for Economics."
"Douglas, my husband won the Nobel Prize for Economics."
"Really? When was this?"
"'84."
"That's impressive, Dr. Bartlet."
"Yes, it is. He is quite the nerd, my husband. But enough about me. How're you feeling today, Olivia?"
"How do you think?" Olivia replied.
"You sound good."
"I feel good!"
"Medicine's working, huh?"
"That must be it."
Abbey wrote down a few things on Olivia's chart. Just as she finished, there was a knock on the door and GW's hospital administrator, Roger Carmichael, entered the room.
"I'm sorry to interrupt."
"Quite all right. We were just sitting idly by while the good witch here works her magic on me," Olivia responded.
"Well, I'd certainly hate to come between the good withc and her patients, but...Dr. Bartlet, could I see you for a moment please?" Roger asked.
"Absolutely. Mrs. Westin, I'll come by later, all right?"
"I'm counting on it."
"It was nice meeting you, Doug."
"You too, Doctor."
Abbey grinned and started to follow Roger out of the room.
"Goodbye, Glinda!" Olivia called, waving like royalty.
Abbey winked at her and closed the door on her way out.
"What can I do for you, Roger?"
"I don't want you to take this the wrong way, Abbey," Roger said.
Abbey's smile faded.
"What is it?"
"I was thinking about it, and I think you'd be more comfortable working in the lab...right now."
Her jaw dropped slightly.
"A...a desk job?"
"No, not a desk job, a..."
"A desk job."
"All right, a desk job. But only in a matter of speaking."
"I don't understand. Have I done something wrong?"
"No, no. I've just been hearing about your recent spells of fatigue, and...well, I was considering your last pregnancy. It sounds like the best thing for you right now would be to take it easy for awhile."
"I...but I...I've never..."
"No, you haven't taken it easy. And looking at your most recent prior pregnancy, it looks as it maybe you should have."
"I'm sorry, are you ordering me that I accept this position?"
"No, of course not, Abbey. You know we would never do that. This is merely a suggestion. A strongly urged suggestion."
"Can I think about it?"
"Yes, yes. Think about it."
"I'd like to discuss it with my colleagues, and my husband. He's out of town right now and I..."
"Go ahead and take your time with this, Abbey. It's a big decision. But remember, it's not neccesarily permanent."
"Thank you. I...I have to be in the OR in a few minutes..."
"Ok. Think about it."
"I will."
"Oh, Abbey?"
"Yeah."
"That Steven Wright was an excellent find. Good eye."
"Thank you."
"How much longer till Daddy gets home?" Zoey whined.
"Soon, baby doll."
"But when!"
"Daddy will get here when he gets here. That's all I can tell you right now," Abbey said.
"I want Daddy to be home right NOW!"
"Me too, sweetie, me too."
"Yeah, really," Ellie said, joining them in the kitchen. "Dad needs to get here so we can eat already."
"Yeah, I've starved," Liz added.
"We're waiting until he gets home and I don't want to hear another word about it!"
"Why do we have to wait? We've been eating without him for four days already," Liz said.
"Because he's coming home tonight. He needs to eat. And...because I say so, now stop it!" Abbey exclaimed.
They all jumped when the phone rang. Abbey practically raced to answer it. The girls watched and listened intently.
"Hello!"
"Hey."
"Jed, where are you!"
"I'm still in California."
Her heart sank.
"But..."
"Yeah, I know. My flight was canceled."
"Why didn't you call me sooner? You must have known about this for hours."
"Because I've been in on a conference call with the majority leadership all afternoon," he replied.
She sighed audibly.
"Oh, Jed. The girls are going to be so disappointed."
"Just the girls?"
"It's been four days. I miss you." This time it was Abbey's turn to whine.
"I know and I miss you too. All of you."
"When are you coming home?"
"I'm taking the 7am out of LAX tomorrow."
"You can't get anything sooner?" Abbey asked.
"Not unless I want to get into DC at one in the morning. And I can't get a cab at 1am."
"I'll pick you up."
"I can't ask you to do that."
"I'm off tomorrow. I won't need to be up early or anything."
"Well..."
"Come on, Jed. This'll mean we could spend the whole day together. The kids will be at school. We could sleep in..."
"Go out to lunch..."
"Maybe catch a movie. It'll be like t he old days."
"Except I won't have to drop you off at your parents' house with only a kiss goodnight."
"And we can sit and listen to our old records."
"Sinatra...Dean Martin..."
"The whole Rat Pack!"
"We haven't had a day to ourselves in ages," Jed said.
"Come home, Jed. Come home tonight," Abbey begged.
"Well. You convinced me. You lured me with Sinatra...how can I resist?"
"You are a good man, Jed Bartlet."
"Save it for when I run for President."
"Very funny. Like that would ever happen."
"Don't count me out, Abbey. I've got potential."
"Don't be silly. No one would vote for you anyway."
"Yeah, but I could givet he other guy a run for his money.."
"I doubt you could even do that."
"I love your faith in me, Mrs. Bartlet."
"Dr. Bartlet."
"Yeah, yeah. Stupid medical degree."
"You better watch yourself or I'll leave you stranded at the airport at one in the morning."
"I'd make you pay for it."
"Yeah, how?"
"I'd deny you sex."
"Shut up."