Friendly's Restaurant
The waiters, one in the middle carrying large chocolate cake, surrounded a large table in the middle of the restaurant. Everyone in the restaurant turned their heads to watch as they began to sing to the little girl who sat grinning before them. Many of them bystanders even joined in song with the waiters and the child's family.
"Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday, dear Zoey. Happy birthday to you"
The end of the song was met with overwhelming applause and whistling. Zoey Patricia Bartlet, now officially seven years old, received kisses from both of her parents, who sat on either side of her. Soon, the waiters disappeared and people focused their attention elsewhere, but the Bartlet family continued their own private celebration at their table.
"How does it feel to be seven, darling?" Catherine asked.
"Ummm…good," Zoey replied, shoving another bite of cake into her little mouth.
"Ah, I remember seven," Elizabeth said, with a sigh. "Those were good days"
"Yeah, I'm sure it's much different than being sixteen," Johnny said, sarcastically.
"It is!" Liz insisted, slightly offended. "For one thing, I wasn't pregnant when I was seven"
"Thanks for that, Liz," Ellie said.
"Yeah, because you know, we were wondering," Jed said.
"Mmm, cake," Zoey mumbled.
Jed glanced over at his wife, after noticing she hadn't been vocal in the conversation for an unusually long period of time. He saw that was staring blankly ahead of her, and her face had gone pale.
"Abbey"
"Hmm"
"Honey, are you ok"
"Uh"
"What is it?" Jed questioned, worriedly.
"I'm, uh… I'm having contractions"
"What"
"I think I'm going into labor"
December 9th, 1987
12: 07 A.M.
The Bartlet Household
Catherine, Johnny, and Elizabeth sat in the living room, anxiously awaiting for the phone call from Jed that would tell them they had a new grandchild, niece or nephew, and brother or sister. When hours had passed with no word, they began to worry. So much so that when Jed and Abbey walked through the front door, they were all too focuses on the phone to notice. Liz was the first one to acknowledge them.
"What the hell!"
Catherine frowned at her grandaughter, still not having noticed the presence of her son and daughter-in-law.
"Elizabeth Adele, you watch your language, young lady"
She turned and noticed them, finally.
"Oh, my goodness"
Abbey smiled sheepishly and shrugged.
"False alarm"
"Oh, honey," Catherine stood and hugged her. "Well, at least we know it won't be long now."
"Great," Liz said. "Now we're probably gonna go into labor at the same time"
Jed's eyes widened.
"Perish the thought, Elizabeth"
"I was just saying"
"That is not going to happen," Jed insisted.
"Ok, I'm going to bed. I'm exhausted"
"I bet you are," Johnny said. "Night, Abs"
"Night, everyone"
12: 31 A.M.
The Bartlet Household
Master Bedroom
"It was an innocent mistake, Abbey," Jed said, getting into bed beside his wife.
"I'm a doctor. I'm not supposed to make mistakes like that"
"You're not an obstetrician. Women have false alarms every day"
"Not me. I never have"
"For lack of a better cliché, there's a first time for everything"
"This kid is something else," Abbey commented.
"What"
"She was a complete surprise to begin with. I never dreamed I would be pregnant again, especially not at forty-one. She's been a worry and a concern for us because of my previous miscarraiges. And now I'm in my ninth month, and she's hitting us with false alarms"
"She"
"Jed, it's a girl. I think it'll be easier if you just accept that"
He nodded.
"Ok. Go on"
"I just mean that…this child is going to be unlike all three of the girls. I can already tell. We're going to have our hands full with this one," Abbey said.
"We've had our hands full for years, Abbey. Liz and Zoey are troublemakers if I've ever seen any. In the best of all possible ways, of course"
"This one's going to be different. I bet she's not even going to look like the other three at all"
Jed laughed.
"Not one of our girls look exactly alike as it is. Liz and Zoey are combination of both of us, but they got opposite features from us"
Abbey glanced at him with confusion.
"What"
"For instance, Liz has my eyes, but Zoey has yours. Zoey has my general facial structure, and Liz has yours. Liz has your nose, Zoey has mine," he stated.
"Right. Ok"
"Whereas Ellie is almost 100 me," Jed said, with a grin.
"You like that, don't you"
"It's not something I complain about"
"Well, I think this child is going to be almost 100 you too," Abbey said.
"Why's that"
"I just have a feeling. It's intuition"
"Well, I think she's going to look like you," Jed argued.
"That's because you like to deliberately defy me, Jethro"
"It gives me a thrill unlike any other, I admit"
"Jackass"
"Should we start thinking about names?" Jed questioned.
"I don't know. Do you want it to be spontaneous"
"I don't know. Do you"
"Maybe we should plan on a first name and let the middle name be spontaneous. Or vice versa," Abbey suggested.
"Ok. Do you have any ideas? Were you thinking of naming her after someone, or what"
"Actually I was thinking maybe…my mother"
"Alexandra"
"Yeah. What do you think?" Abbey asked.
"I love it. If that's what you want, it's fine with me"
"Ok, but here's the thing. There's already been on Alexandra in our lives, in my life. I don't want this to be…replacing her"
"No one could ever replace her, Abbey," Jed said.
"So I was thinking we use her middle name, whatever we decide it should be, and call her that"
"Have Alexandra be her first name, on the birth certificate, and call her by her middle name"
"Yeah"
"That's fine with me"
"You want to choose the middle name then"
"We'll both choose it. Spontaneously"
December 11th, 1987
4: 47 P.M.
George Washington General Hospital
Olivia Westin's Room
"Dr. Bartlet, would you please tell my grandson to leave me the hell alone!" Olivia Westin demanded, the moment Abbey walked into her room.
Doug smiled sheepishly.
"Doug, leave your grandmother alone"
"I was just asking her if she was feeling ok," Doug explained.
"Yes, every two minutes for the last hour!" Olivia said. "I'm fine. For the millionth time. Tell him I'm fine, Dr. Bartlet"
"She's fine, Doug"
"Are you just doing what she says or is that your honest medical opinion?" Doug asked.
"It's my honest, medical opinion"
"Do you have my test results?" Olivia asked.
"I'll have them for you later tonight. But it looks good, Olivia. It's looking very good," Abbey said.
"You hear that, Douglas? It looks good"
"I heard, Gram"
"So, if everything's all right in here, I'm gonna go see what's happening in the lab. Maybe I can get your results to you a bit sooner"
"Thank you, dear," Olivia said.
Abbey smiled back.
"Uh, Dr. Bartlet, could I have a word with you outside please?" Doug asked.
Olivia rolled her eyes.
"Don't let him, Doctor. He's just going to ask you ridiculous questions about my health"
"That's not ridiculous. Come on outside with me, Doug," Abbey said. "I'll see you later, Olivia"
Doug Westin followed Abbey out of the room, and they stood in the hallway.
"What's up?" She asked.
"I'm clean," Doug told her, proudly.
"Well, I know that, honey. I'm the doctor responsible."
"No, I mean, for good"
"Doug, it's too soon to say 'for good.' It doesn't just happen overnight. Wait till you start going through withdrawal. It's not going to be pretty"
"But I can do it," Doug said, with conviction.
"I have no doubt you can. But it's not going to be as easy as you think. It's going to take time"
"I'm gonna get clean, Dr. Bartlet. I'm gonna get clean"
December 12th, 1987
11:13 A.M.
Capitol Hill High School
Mrs. Martin's Advanced Placement European History Classroom
Elizabeth Bartlet sat in the quiet classroom, glancing around at her fellow classmates. This was what she hated most about taking tests. The ominmous quiet. The silence was especially nauseating today, for they weren't just taking some oridinary test. It was day of the almighty, dreaded, mid-terms. Mid-terms, Elizabeth knew, had no real purpose. They were created to add stress to the lives of teenagers and bring their grades down.
History was something that had always come easily to Liz. European was slightly more difficult, but she never had any real troubles. However, for some reason, she was having trouble focusing on this exam. She felt sick to her stomach and every bone in her body ached. She chewed on the tip of pencil and tapped her foot lightly against the floor, her eyes darting around the room.
Suddenly, she felt a shooting pain her stomach. It was fleeting, and left almost as quickly as it came. She took a deep breath and tried to put it behind her. Five minutes later, she was hit by a pain even stronger. She arched back against the chair, her hand falling to her stomach. The pain become excruciating, and she let out of a gasp. Students sitting nearby turned to glance at her. Tears began to fall down her cheek, and her heart started to race.
"Not here, not now," she pleaded to herself. "Please, God"
Mrs. Martin stood up from behind her desk, drawn to the slight commotion in the back of the room.
"Elizabeth? Are you are all right"
At that moment, she felt a rush of liquid between her legs and winced. She looked at her teacher, her eyes filled with tears, and shook her head.
"My water just broke."
THE END.