The Lincoln Memorial
While the other children had wandered off in small groups to explore the area, wide-eyed and fascinated by their surroundings, Liz, Ellie, and Zoey sat on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, completely unimpressed.
"Why did Dad make us do this?" Ellie asked, glumly.
"We're acting as hosts to the other kids," Liz replied.
"By sitting here staring at the Washington Monument"
"Guess so"
"I'm bored," Zoey complained.
"Me too. Where's Grandma?" Ellie questioned.
"Somwhere up by Lincoln," Liz said.
"Can we find her and tell her we want to go home"
"No, Ellie"
"But it's my birthday"
"Grandma doesn't care"
Ellie's jaw dropped and she looked at her older sister with disbelief.
"You know what I mean, El," Liz said, quickly.
"Drop dead"
"After you"
"What about me!" Zoey said, pouting.
Ellie and Liz laughed. Zoey was at that age where she wanted to be included in everything, even things she didn't understand.
"You can drop dead too if you really want to," Liz allowed.
"Yesss"
"Hey, do you think Mom and Dad got me those books? The first edition ones?" Ellie asked her older sister.
"Yeah, I'm sure they did"
"You think so"
"Why not"
"I don't know"
"I want Daddy," Zoey complained.
"Yeah, well, that's just too bad," Liz replied.
"I want Daddy"
"Stop it, Zoey, you know Dad's not here."
"Yeah, stop being such a baby, Zoey," Ellie added.
"I'm not a baby"
"Yes, you are," Liz said. "And you better stop before Mom has HER baby, because then there'll be two babies and one of you will be forgotten"
"Yeah," Ellie agreed. "If you keep acting like a whiny little baby, nobody's gonna pay any attention to you"
"Yes huh"
"Nuh uh"
"Meanies"
Zoey pouted and slid a few feet away from them.
"Hey, Liz?" Ellie said.
"Yeah"
"Do you think you'll make a good mother"
Liz looked at her, startled.
"What"
"I mean, like, are you scared to…have a kid and stuff. Do you think you'll be good at it"
"God, I hope so. But I guess…the poor kid doesn't have a choice in the matter, huh? It'll have to make do," Liz said.
"Yeah…I really don't think that attitude's gonna work out for ya, Liz."
"Well, people say it comes naturally, once you have the baby. Like all of a sudden you're hit by all this unconditional love and crap like that. Why should I be any different"
"Liz, come on. You can't be a teenager anymore, you know that, right?" Ellie asked.
"I AM a teenager, Ellie"
"Not after you have that baby you're not. You can't think that Mom and Dad are just gonna treat your baby like one of their own. You're gonna have responsibilites"
"Ok, I really don't need to be lectured by my little sister"
"Yeah, you really do, apparently."
"I'll be fine, Ellie," Liz said.
"Yeah, ok. Whatever"
The silence that followed was disrupted when Catherine Bartlet came running down the steps towards them.
"Grandma, what's going on?" Liz asked.
"Come now, girls, let's get going," Catherine said, urgently.
They all stood and brushed themselves off.
"Grandma. What is going on?" Liz repeated.
"We just…have to get back to the house right away, sweetheart."
Martina Bartlet and the other kids soon followed and showed up at the scene.
"Aunt Marti, tell us what's going on," Ellie said.
"Leo was just here, looking for us. We gotta go"
"What!"
"He didn't give me a lot of details, I don't know if it's serious or not," Martina continued.
"If what's serious or not!"
"Let's go, girls," Catherine said, whisking them all down the steps.
"It's Mom, isn't it?" Ellie assumed.
Neither Catherine nor Martina replied. Ellie looked at Liz.
"It's Mom"
Liz nodded and grabbed Zoey's hand as they walked.
"Is Mommy dying?" Zoey asked, her little lips trembling as she spoke.
"No! No, I'm sure she's fine. Don't worry about it."
"Is Ellie still gonna have her party"
"Of course she is! Now, come on, walk faster"
9:51 A.M.
June 6th, 1981
Manchester, New Hampshire
"Come on, Abbey! I want to get to the beach before eleven"
"Hampton Beach is not going anywhere, Jed. It can wait"
"What are you doing in there anyway"
She had been locked in the bathroom for close to a half hour.
"I'm looking for some Tums," she replied.
"You haven't been doing that for thirty minutes"
"No, I haven't"
"Abbey! Come on! The girls are waiting in the car. They're gonna come looking for us in a minute"
He heard her slam a few things down into the trash can and then she flung open the door.
"Damnit! Ok! Hand me my shirt"
She was wearing her favorite (and Jed's favorite) black bikini. He tossed her the tank top and she put it on, then stepped into a pair of jean shorts.
"You're not gonna be crankly like this all day, are you"
"I really couldn't say," Abbey answered, walking past him.
Before following her out, he took a peek into the bathroom to see what she had been doing. He glanced around the until his glance fell upon something in the wastebaket. Though at first he was shocked, he left the room smiling. And when he join his family in the car, he was still smiling.
"What?" Abbey inquired, finally.
"Nothing"
She looked away, thinking nothing of it.
They made the hour-long drive to Hampton Beach, got themselves a place on the sand and set up their umbrella, beach chairs, etc. Liz and Ellie sat a few feet away from their parents, building a sandcastle. As Jed sat reading his book, he noticed that his wife, presumably reading as well, was acting particularly squirmish. He looked over his reading glasses at her.
"Abigail"
She turned her head.
"Hmm"
"What are you doing"
"Reading," she replied, matter-of-factly.
"You've been on the same page for five minutes now"
"Yeah. Um." She stood up. "I'm gonna run up to the bathroom"
"Ok," he said, grinning.
"Why are you looking at me like t hat"
"Can't a man look at his wife"
"Not like that, he can't. You look like you know something I know," Abbey said, defensively.
"Nope. Just admiring your skimpy ensemble, love"
She relaxed her tensed muscles and breathed a silent sigh of relief.
"That sounds more like you"
He nodded, cockily.
"I'll be back in a few minutes. Maybe longer. I might run into the little convenient store up on the hill"
This only made him grin more.
"For what"
"Uh…to get a bottle of water," she stuttered.
"We've got some in the cooler"
"Oh. Well, we…need some…chips or something"
He raised an eyebrow.
"Chips? You mean, junk food"
"No! Well…crackers then"
"We've got some, Abbey"
"Screw it! I'm just going! Leave me alone," she exclaimed, storming off.
"Abbey!" He called after her.
She whipped around. He couldn't help but notice how much she resembled a movie star with her sunglasses, long, dark hair, and bikini. He then grabbed her mesh wrap and threw it at her.
"Put this on! I don't want any horny surfer dudes gawing over my wife"
"Nobody surfs at Hampton Beach, Jed, it's not Malibu"
She rolled her eyes and tied the wrap around her waist.
"Not like the wrap'll make a difference," Jed whispered.
"What was that"
"I'm just saying, I'd have to cover you in molasses to keep men from gawking at you"
She smiled against her will.
"There's that smile! That utterly disaming smile"
"Are you being sardonic with me, Josiah"
"On the contrary, I meant every word"
"I'm leaving now"
"So long, fair maiden"
Jed tried to conceal, but the fact of the matter was, this was the first he had known before she told him. He was ecstatic.
Abbey returned twenty minutes later with a blank expression onf her face. She sat down in her chair and picked up her book. Jed was the only one that noticed a receipt fall out of her purse. He picked it up, read it, and then turned to look at his wife. He was very pleased with himself. He was right.
"Abbey"
"Yeah?" She asked, not glancing up from her book.
"This fell out of your purse"
Her eyes widened and her heart began to race.
"Jed"
"This is your second pregnancy test today," he commented, casually.
Her jaw dropped.
"What"
He smiled warmly.
"I saw it in the wastebasket this morning"
"You did! Well, why the hell didn't you say something"
"What, and take all the fun out of it"
"Jed! You made me go through all that when you knew all along"
"You made the choice to keep it a secret, Sweet Knees, not me"
Abbey sighed audibly.
"So," he said. "Why'd you need two"
"Because you made me leave before I could see the results of the first one"
"It was positive," he said, softly.
"You saw it"
He nodded.
"What about the one you just took?" Jed asked.
She looked away from him.
"Negative"
"It was negative"
"Yeah," she whispered.
"Well, let's do another one"
"You think we should"
"Yeah! Abbey, you've been moody, nauseous, touch-senstive, and yesterday you ate an entire package of Oreos. You're pregnant. You have to be"
"Ok"
"Before we leave, we'll pick up another test and you'll go to the bathroom. We'll find out for sure."
A few hours later, they had loaded their gear into the car. Abbey ran into the convenient store and came back with three separate pregnancy tests.
"Three?" Jed asked.
"I just want to be safe"
He laughed.
"Ok, go"
Jed watched from the car with the girls as she ran into the public bathroom. Twenty minutes later, she still hadn't come out.
"Girls, stay here. I'm gonna go check on Mom," he said to Liz and Ellie.
Jed got out of the car and walked over to the bathroom.
"Abbey? Honey?" He called.
"I'll be right out"
"Everything all right"
"Yeah"
He stood outside the door, pacing back and forth. He nearly had a heart attack when the door flew open and she stepped out.
"Well"
She looked down at the floor and his heart sunk. Then she looked back up, smiling brightly.
"They're positive, Jed. All three of them. Positive. It's four to one now"
He hesitated, waiting for her to say the words. Words that, in the past, had scared him, astonished him, worried him, excited him, confused him, and amazed him. Each time those words came out of his wife's mouth, he remembered exatly when, where, and how she told him. He made a mental note of the expression on her face, the glimmer in her eyes, and the bright smile on her lips. She was radiant. Always radiant.
"I'm pregnant"
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