Once they were in the back of the car, with the driver and the agent in the front, Jed caught hold of her hand. "Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose."

"Your French accent's getting better, Josiah! And yes, I can feel the deja vu experience too."

"Just a week since we slipped into anonymity in this car, and now–" he gave a small shrug, "we can't ever go back now to how we were before all this, can we?"

"We made that decision – a long time ago. We knew what it would mean when you decided to run for President."

"Yeah. But we can still sneak away for time on our own, can't we?"

"With the Secret Service on our heels?"

"I could have declined the protection."

"But you didn't."

"No."

"Qumar?"

"Yes. The world's changed, hasn't it? It's become a much more frightening place because of terrorism. Matt Santos is gonna have to make some tough decisions these next four years."

"All Presidents have to make tough decisions."

"Truman had the hardest decision."

"Hiroshima?"

"Yes." Jed leaned back against the seat. "At least I didn't have to make that sort of decision. Or JFK's about the Cuban missiles, or LBJ's about Vietnam or Jimmy Carter's about the Iran hostages. Come to think of it, I had a pretty easy time really."

Abbey's eyes widened. "You did not have an easy time!"

Jed thought for a moment. "Actually, it was all the small things that were sometimes the hardest – a couple of votes down in the House – things like that sent the staff scurrying round like crazy!"

"What were the best moments, Jed?"

"Whoa, that's quite a question! Can I take a raincheck on that while I think about it?"

"You mean that the best moments outweigh the hard times?"

Jed looked round at her. "Yes – yes, they really do. I only have to think about them all – Leo, CJ, Josh, Sam, Toby, Charlie – and I know that I was so blessed to have them all. The first term was the best – we had so much fun together sometimes. The second term was harder."

Abbey nodded. "I know."

They were silent for a few moments, then Jed squeezed her hand. "Hey, come on – we're looking back now, we should be looking forward."

"I'm looking forward to being at the farm again."

"They had a bad ice-storm in New Hampshire last week."

"Yeah, and Liz said they've got about eight inches of snow in Manchester at the moment."

"You called her again? You didn't tell me."

"Sorry, it was while you were working yesterday afternoon. But it was just to let her know we would be home on Saturday – we couldn't talk much because she was in a shop somewhere."

"Is she okay?"

"She certainly seems to be. We'll know better when we see her again. Oh, and I did say that if they were planning to have the postponed welcome home party they should leave it until Sunday, because we'll be jet-lagged on Saturday."

"What did she say?"

"She just said 'Okay' – but I got the feeling that she wasn't telling me something. So heaven knows what they are planning."

Jed glanced through the car window so that Abbey wouldn't see the smile he was trying to hide. Quick, change the subject, he thought to himself. "We won't be all that jet-lagged on Saturday actually – it's easier flying west than flying east."

"Tell me about it!" Abbey groaned. "Flying east is hell – even flying back from California to DC used to knock my body clock out of synch."

"That's because our body clocks are programmed to operate on a day that's longer than twenty-four hours, so we can extend the day – but find it much more difficult to reduce the day."

"Anyone coming over on Air Force One right now will tell you that it's simply because they have missed a proper night's sleep! What time would they have left DC – midnight?"

"Yeah, about that."

"Brussels is an hour ahead of us, right?"

"Yeah."

"So we get to go to bed an hour earlier tonight?"

Jed looked round at her and started laughing. "I suppose you could say that. Now there's a thought I can carry with me for the rest of the day!"

"Where are we staying?"

"Never thought to ask Josh about that. Meridien, Hilton, Radisson? Hotels are the same the world over. Can't even remember where I stayed the last time I was in Brussels. They'll have taken over some hotel somewhere."

"You gonna have to work this evening?"

"I'll need to meet with various people – but after that the evening's our own. It's tomorrow night we have a reception."

"Casual or formal?"

"Formal. It's a tux thing at the Embassy."

"Just hope I can find something to wear in those shops in Brussels then."

"I have no doubt that you will – and bankrupt us in the process. Don't forget I'm unemployed now!"

"I'll use the charge card – and then we can decide later whether we need to hock the farm to pay the account."

Jed grinned. "I'd rather see you in jeans and sweater any day."

"You'd rather see me in nothing any day!"

"Well, yes, that goes without saying, of course. But I can get turned on by you wearing one of your – er – special garments – and wearing one of my shirts – and that red bikini's okay too – and – oh, what the hell, I get turned on by whatever you're wearing!" He gave her a sideways look. "But if you're gonna buy anything, buy something low cut, will you?"

Abbey returned the look. "My magnificent breasts?"

Jed let out a guffaw of laughter. "Oh God – Lord John!"

Abbey laughed too. "He always knew how to get to you, right from when we first met him. Remember when–? "

"Yeah, I know exactly what you're going to say – the first time I brought him back to our flat in London – and when we walked in you were breastfeeding Elizabeth – and even before I could introduce you, he just said, 'Good God, what magnificent breasts you have!'"

"And your face was an absolute picture, I don't think I've ever seen you so lost for words!"

"What a character! And it was the way he could get to Leo as well, calling him Gerald, pretending to think he was the butler, and Leo got so pissed off about that."

Jed's face suddenly stilled, and Abbey looked at him. "You miss him, don't you?" she said gently.

Jed's eyes met hers. "Desperately. I still can't believe he's gone. That man was my rock, I loved him so much." He had to look away and blink a few times before he looked back at her and gave her his small smile.

Abbey understood and put her hand on his knee.

"We're getting near to Shannon now," Jed said, quickly looking out of the window. "And if I'm not mistaken, that's Air Force One coming in to land."

They both watched as the aircraft descended ahead of them, finally disappearing behind the trees that lined the road they were travelling on.

"A few minutes more and we're back on duty, honey."

Abbey turned to him, put her hand round his neck and pulled him over to kiss him, a long and passionate kiss which, after his initial surprise, he responded to with equal passion.

"Whoa, what did I do to deserve that?" he said eventually.

"You're Jed Bartlet – you're the man I love with every fibre of my being – and I just want you to remember that while we go all formal and on our best behaviour again."

His eyes softened as he looked at her. "How could I ever forget it?"

"Dammit, Jed, don't look at me like that – or I might just have to rip all your clothes off and have you right here in the car."

"Too late, sweetheart, we're here." But his hand reached out to grip hers and she knew that he was feeling exactly the same. Then he laughed. "But at least we can go to bed an hour earlier tonight!"

The car swung into the airport grounds and travelled around the terminal building, finally coming to a stop on the tarmac close to the stairway of the large blue and white aircraft with its Presidential seal.

Jed glanced at Abbey. "Two days and we'll be back at the farm."

"I think I can hack it for two days."

"Okay, you ready?"

Abbey drew in a deep breath. "Yeah, I'm ready."

They got out of the car to be greeted by the airport's General Manager and a couple of local dignitaries, whilst press cameras flashed from a group of local journalists. As they reached the top of Air Force One's steps, Jed did his customary turn to the press and raised his hand in a wave, then put his arm round Abbey as she joined him.

"Bet they're all cursing that they hadn't got wise to the fact before now that we were actually in Ireland!" he said to her.

Abbey smiled and waved to the cameras too, and then they both turned and went aboard. Air Force One's captain, Mike Hewitt, was at the doorway and saluted. Jed returned the salute out of habit and Abbey smiled at him and said, "I think I've forgiven you, Mike – it was a good vacation."

Mike grinned. "I'm glad to hear that, Mrs Bartlet."

Jed glanced back at him. "Can I still do my thing, Mike?"

"Yes, sir," Mike replied with a smile. "Just give me a couple of minutes to get back to the cockpit."

Jed led Abbey through to the conference area of the plane, where a sun-tanned Sam Seaborn was waiting to greet them. "It's good to see you again, Mr President."

Jed shook his hand warmly. "You too, Sam. You glad to be back in the West Wing?"

"Like a home from home – well, except that you're not there, sir. We miss you."

"Sam!" Abbey said, reaching up to kiss his cheek. "It's so good that you're here with us – and I want to hear all about your fiancée, of course."

Sam grinned, the same boyish grin that she remembered. "I don't have any problem with that, ma'am – any time you have a couple of hours to spare!"

More greetings followed, the Secretary of Energy, the Chairman of the House Committee on Energy, several Congressmen and a couple of Senators.

Then Jed turned to the phone on the bulkhead behind them. "This might be the last time I get to do this!" He picked up the phone. "This is the Pres– er– this is the former President. We're ready to go." He waited for a moment until they heard the engines roar into life, then grinned at Abbey. "Now that was always one of my favourite moments."

They stayed in the conference room until the plane had taken off and then, once the seat-belt lights went off, they made their way up to the Presidential suite at the front of plane.

When they reached the door, Jed caught hold of Abbey's hand and drew her back. "I think you might have a little surprise in store."

"Surprise? What?"

"Go in and find out."

Abbey opened the door of the lounge and then stopped. Liz, Ellie and Zoey turned from their seats then stood up to greet their mother.

"Oh!" Abbey gasped, and rushed forward to hug her daughters. When she finally untangled herself from their embrace, she looked round at Jed.

He was smiling. "I figured you might need some company for your shopping trip," he said.

Abbey stood there looking at him. Finally she said, "Jed Bartlet, I love you so very much." She moved towards him and reached up to kiss him. He took her in his arms and the kiss turned into a long and passionate one.

Zoey rolled her eyes and grinned at her sisters. "Must have been a good second honeymoon, I guess!"

TBC