Tonight, it was on Jed's shoulders. The pressure was on him. He had the power to make it better or make it worse. As on every other day, her emotional well bring rested in his hands. On her most difficult day, it was Jed who motivated her. On her proudest day, it was Jed who stood behind her. And at the end of her worst day, it was Jed who healed her. Today was one of those days. None of them had meant for it to be. Certainly not Abbey. She loved her family, as well as her husband's family, more than anything. It was because of this that she was constantly believing and seeing the best in them. They had good intentions, every one, but very few of them knew how to properly execute these intentions. A sad but true fact of their existence, and one Abbey tried to ignore, and when that failed, alter. Someday she knew it would be successful. It would just take some time. A lot of time.
The guests, if they could be called that, left shortly after dinner. Jed put the girls to bed and then headed off to his own. He knew that when his wife decided to return, she wouldn't want to be bombarded the moment she walked through the front door.
When Abbey finally came home, it was well after midnight. It was obvious she had been crying, and was beyond exhausted. She was relieved to find the house completely silent. She sauntered up the stairs, taking her time. Before going to her bedroom, she checked in on each of the girls, who were all sound asleep. When she entered her bedroom, the first things she noticed were the candles lit around the room and Sinatra playing softly in the background. Next thing she noticed was her sleeping husband, laying comfortably on the bed. Her mind wandered and she considered the possible purposes of the candles and music. Surely Jed wasn't expecting to get lucky tonight. She reckoned he knew that, by taking one look at his sleeping form. She figured she had a choice. Wake him up and inquire as to his intentions, or let him sleep and neverk now. The latter would be the passive choice. While Abbey Bartlet was many things, passive was not one of them.
"Jed."
Nothing.
"Jed." Louder this time.
Still nothing.
"Jed, the Celtics just lost to the Lakers!"
Jed awoke with a start.
"Goddamn rat bastardly know-nothing, surf-boarding, sun-tanning sonuvabitch Californians!"
It was took a moment for things to register. Abbey waited for him to get his bearings. She had been through this many times before.
"Oh. Abbey," he said, breathing her name, almost nervously.
She only stood there, with one eyebrow raised, until he sat up and rubbed his eyes. His vision clearer now, he looked at her, his gaze burning into her skin.
"Did the Celtics really lose?"
"You think I would know?"
They both waited. It would come. The breakdown would come. Her lips began to quiver. There it was. He stood up. It took mere seconds for her to fall right into his arms. A few long moments later, they broke apart, if only slight.y
"Why the candles?" She asked, quietly.
"Well, I would have had a bath drawn up waiting for you, but I didn't know when you'd be back. You want me to get one started now?"
Abbey nodded, gratefully. He headed straight into the bathroom and began running the hot water in the bath tub.
"Go and relax," he said when he returned. "Your nerves are all shot. We'll talk later."
Half an hour later, Abbey exited the bathroom wearing her robe. After changing into one of her silk nightgowns, she got into bed beside her husband.
"Feel any better?"
She nodded.
"Yeah. Thanks."
"You wanna talk about this?" Jed questioned.
"Not really."
"Abbey..."
"There's nothing to talk about."
"Don't withdraw from me, Abbey."
"I'm not. Honestly. There's nothing to talk about. It's done now. I'm sure it was mostly hormones anyway."
"Where did you go?"
"I went to the Lincoln Memorial."
"You did?"
"Mmm-hmm. I walked through the Vietnam and Korea memorials, down to the Washington Monument."
"Why?"
"Why not?"
"Touche."
"I was thinking about Liz," Abbey said.
"Yeah, what about her?"
"Just thinking. And remembering."
"Care to elaborate?"
"Do you remember the night I told you I was pregnant with Liz?" she asked.
"Of course I do. I remember it well..."
"You don't, do you?"
"No."
"Thought so."
"But I'm sure I'll remember if you jog my memory a bit..."
8:09 p.m.
October 11th, 1970
Knightsbridge, London, England
Jed Bartlet sat in front of his desk in the study of his Knightsbridge flat, surrounded by textbooks, notebooks, and chewed up pencils. He had confined himself to the room since returning from class around 3pm. His lovely bride had returned from work around seven, popped her head in to say hello, then headed into the kitchen to begin cooking dinner. As Jed studied, his eyes grew tired and weary and his neck began to ache. Abbey slowly walked in, carrying a plate of her famous lasagna and meatballs. He heard her come in and glanced up, grateful for the distraction. And a lovely distraction at that. Very elegant and mature for a girl of only twenty-four, her dark hair with a reddish tint was styled into loose ringlets that fell to the bottom of her neck. He smiled as her shapely figure sauntered towards him.
"Hungry yet?" She asked.
He moved his textbooks out of the way and she placed the dish down on the desk.
"Thank you."
"How long have you been studying?"
"Since about three."
"Without a break?"
"No time for breaks," Jed answered, matter-of-factly.
"But you'll break for me now?"
"I'll break for your lasagna."
"Ah. Well, how about giving me your attention for a few minutes?" Abbey suggested.
"My undivided attention?"
"Preferably."
"No can do. Between my notes and this lasagna, I'm completely booked."
"And if I told you it was important?" Abbey questioned, demurely, positioning herself onto his nap.
"More important than my exam tomorrow?"
She clasped her arms around his neck as he wrapped his around her waist.
"I'll let you be the judge of that."
"All right. Try me."
She inhaled deeply, before speaking.
"I'm pregnant."
His eyes widened and his breaths became quicker and shorter.
"What did you say?" He stuttered, finally.
"I'm pregnant," she repeated, calmly.
"You're...?"
"Pregnant."
"Pregnant."
"Yes."
At that point, Jed began to squirm so much that Abbey hopped off of his lap and stood in front of him.
"Jed!"
"What?"
"Say something!"
"I...I...how...did this happen?"
She frowned.
"What do you mean, how did this happen?"
"You're on the pill, Abbey!"
"Jed, I haven't been on the pill for over a month now," Abbey replied, clearly confused.
"WHAT!"
"What?"
"How could you do this, Abbey?"
"Do WHAT, Jed!"
"Go off the pill without telling me!"
"I didn't! We discussed this! It was YOUR idea!" She exclaimed.
"It was?"
"Yes! It was! Jackass."
She walked to the other side of the room, arms folded across her chest, facing the window.
"I...I just...I thought we were gonna wait until we've been married a few years," Jed stated.
"We HAVE been married a few years!"
He thought about it for a moment.
"I guess we have."
"And I guess you lost track of time between school and ignoring me."
A tear rolled down her cheek.
"Abbey."
He rose and walked over to her.
"I'm sorry you're so angry about this," she whispered, vulnerably.
"Baby, I'm not angry." He put his hands on her shoulders and spun her around. "You just caught me off guard, that's all. I'm surprised."
"You shouldn't be. We discussed me going off the pill together. You said..."
"I know. I'm so sorry, Abbey. I'm just...stunned. I'm stunned."
"Yeah. I wasn't expecting it to happen so soon either. It must have happened that first night."
"Wow." He grinned. "A baby. A baby!"
She squealed with excitement and he pulled her into his arms and held her tight.
"Are you happy?" Abbey asked.
"I couldn't be happier."
"Really?"
"Really. I love you so much."
She hugged him again.
"Oh, I love you too!"
"I can't believe this!" Jed exclaimed. "Is this real?"
"Oh, it's real."
"Abbey. This is a LIFE instead of you! We created life!"
She grinned.
"We did! Oh, my God! I have to go call everybody."
He shook his head.
"Tomorrow."
"Why?"
"I'm done studying for the night."
"Oh?"
"And I just...can't seem to remember exactly how we made this baby..." Jed said, feigning confusion.
"Well, maybe I can be of assistance..."
"Just give me a play-by-play."
"I think I could manage that."
"Oh, and fair warning- I'm more of a hands-on learner."
She giggled.
"I know that all too well...Daddy."
His face lit up.
"Yes, you do...Mommy."
"I like the sound of that."
"Good, because you'll be hearing it a lot more eight months from now."
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