A/N: Thanks to my friend Raquel for headcanon help, and the bits I sorta borrowed from her.

"Babe, could you help me with my dress, please?" Abbey called from her bedroom.

Jed got up from the couch in her living room, one of the few items left in the apartment. He walked into her room to find her faced away from him, her plum-colored dress halfway zipped. It was a very pretty dress, and very short, which he appreciated. Anytime he got to see Abbey's fantastic legs was fine by him. The deep purple was a wonderful color against her freckled skin and dark hair. He zipped the dress all the way up to the high neckline, fastening the decorative button at the top. Before he let her go, he pressed his lips to the small patch of skin showing between the top of the dress and her hairline. He was careful not to disturb the fancy updo she had undoubtedly spent a lot of time fixing.

Abbey smiled. His touch melted some of the tension that had building within her all day. "Thanks," she murmured, turning to face him. His face was unreadable. She knew that he saw the flicker of apprehension in her eyes, so she cast her gaze elsewhere. Abbey reached between them to straighten his tie. "You're so good-looking," she stated casually. "It almost isn't fair that I get to have you all to myself."

Jed's heart swelled with pride. As did his head. "Well, the same goes the other way, honey. It might not be fair that we belong to each other, but here we are. Everyone else's loss and our gain." The sound of her soft laughter made his nerves calm considerably.

"Are you alright?" she asked, not sure if she was projecting her own apprehension onto him or actually seeing his discomfort.

"Oh sure," he lied. "Are you?"

"Never better." Her smile didn't quite reach her eyes, and she knew she wasn't doing a good job of pretending. But how could she possibly confide her fears? How could Abbey possibly tell her fiancé that she was terrified of what her future father-in-law might do at dinner? It was the first time their families were all meeting. Their mothers had met in Boston for lunch with Jed and Abbey over spring break, but their fathers both had to work. Abbey knew that Jed would never hear a negative word against his father, despite quite a few negative words being warranted, in her opinion. Jed adored his father and longed to make him proud; Abbey was well aware of this, even if Jed never said so. He didn't need to. It was plain to see every time they were together. But John Bartlet did not seem to have any approval to spread to his eldest son. Abbey got a pang in her chest whenever she saw it happen, but she knew to keep her mouth shut.

Jed knew she was lying too, but he wouldn't push it. They had to get to dinner. A dinner he was dreading. Realistically, Jed knew his father wouldn't do anything to jeopardize the impending nuptials; John adored Abbey and frankly thought she could do a lot better than his son. But even so, Jed was wary of what might happen if Jonathan acted up at dinner, or if Dr. Barrington, being so kind and good-humored, noticed something off about the Bartlets. Jed couldn't help feeling like his whole future depended on the success of this dinner.

"Ready to go?" he asked, trying to push his fears away so he could enjoy the evening with his fiancée.

Abbey nodded and accompanied him out to his car. They drove to the restaurant in town to meet their families. They didn't speak on the drive, letting the silence be filled with the sounds of the radio. Jed absentmindedly hummed along to the Nancy and Frank Sinatra song that came on. Abbey watched him and smiled. No matter what happened tonight between their families, Abbey knew she was going to marry this man. She'd get to spend every day of the rest of her life with Jed Bartlet. Her whole body warmed at the thought.

Jed noticed Abbey watching him. "What?" he asked, grinning.

"Nothing. I just love you, is all," she replied. Their eyes met for a moment and they were both filled with the comforting notion that their love was certain, even if nothing else was.

They arrived at the restaurant. The Bartlets were already there. The Barringtons hadn't arrived yet, but they were surely on their way. Jed greeted his parents and his brother, Jonathan. Mary Bartlet gave both Jed and Abbey big hugs. John smiled kindly at Abbey and shook Jed's hand. Jonathan, ever the clown, gave them both melodramatic greetings.

"Abigail! It's been months! However could I survive without you?" he cried.

"Knock it off," Jed scolded.

Abbey laughed, but didn't reply.

Jonathan then turned his attention to his older brother. "Josiah? Is that you? I didn't recognize you! You've aged horribly."

Jed couldn't help himself. He tried to roll his eyes in annoyance, but he started laughing. They all stopped with their mirth, however, when John Bartlet fixed his disapproving gaze on his sons. Both boys immediately put on straight faces. Abbey felt a chill in her spine.

Thankfully, the Barrington's arrived a moment later. Louise Barrington immediately gave her daughter a hug before doing the same for Jed. She then greeted Mrs. Bartlet warmly. They had been keeping in contact regularly as they planned the upcoming wedding.

Jed walked up to Dr. Barrington to shake his hand. "It's very nice to see you again, sir."

Abbey's father smiled. "It's very nice to see you, too, Jed. Finals go well?"

"Very well. Though I was only taking German and a few economics classes this semester. Abbey's the one who was taking Virology, Neuroscience, Gross Anatomy, and two advanced Bio labs." Jed looked over to his fiancée proudly.

Dr. Barrington was very pleased with what he saw from young Mr. Bartlet. This was exactly the kind of man who should be marrying his daughter. A man who looked at her like that.

"Before you ask, Dad, my finals went fine. I won't get my final grades until next week, but those were all elective classes that I didn't need to get my degree, so there's no need to worry," Abbey assured her father.

"You guys are so weird," Abbey's sister, Kate, said with disdain.

Abbey just laughed and pulled her into a hug, kissing her cheeks.

"Oh my god, stop! Why are you such a square all the time!?" Kate squealed, trying to get away.

The families all went into the restaurant and were seated at the large table for eight. There were many other families with their graduating children also dining at that restaurant. It being the night before graduation, it made sense. Jed didn't like it. Too many witnesses. He glanced to his father, who had an unreadable expression on his face. A hand grabbed onto his and squeezed it tight. He looked over to Abbey, thankful of her presence, both at his side and in his life.

Dr. Barrington ordered a bottle of champagne to toast the graduates. "To Jed and Abbey, who will both be graduating at the top of their departments tomorrow, and who will be joined in holy matrimony next week."

"To Jed and Abbey," everyone repeated.

Mrs. Barrington then brought up the topic of the wedding. "Now I know you've told me a thousand times, Abigail, but just once more, can you take me through your plans for the week?"

Abbey sighed. "Tomorrow we graduate. Then we have to finish packing up our apartments before we fly to Boston the next day. Jed is going to New Hampshire, and I'm spending Sunday night at home. On Monday, I'm driving up to New Hampshire so Jed and I can have our meeting with Father Cavanaugh on Tuesday. I'm coming back to Lincoln on Wednesday. My final dress fitting is on Thursday. Friday, the Bartlets are all coming to town for the rehearsal in the evening. Saturday is last minute plans, and Sunday is the wedding, after which Jed and I are going to the hotel in Boston so we can fly out Monday for our honeymoon." She finished her recitation of the week's events with a smile. "Anything else?"

"I'm so glad you're so organized, Abbey," Mrs. Bartlet complimented.

"Well, someone has to be," she replied with a pointed look at Jed.

He chuckled. "I planned our whole honeymoon. I'm not completely incapable."

"If I really thought there were anything you couldn't do, I wouldn't be marrying you," she assured him.

At the other end of the table, Jonathan and Kate were deep in conversation. "Ugh, you want to be a doctor? That's so boring. My dad does that and my weird sister wants to do that."

"Well what do you want to do?" he asked her.

Kate shrugged. "I don't know. I like painting. I like art."

"You're a work of art," he told her, his voice low. Jonathan stared at her with a sparkle in the blue eyes that were so like his brother's. He found it interesting that the younger Barrington could look so like her sister but be so different. Kate's eyes were dark brown and dangerous, while Abbey's were green and full of life. But they both possessed that sharp intelligence that the Bartlet men seemed so drawn to. Yes, Jed was certainly a lucky man.

Kate was surprised at what he had said. But she didn't dislike it. "Ow!" she shrieked, being distracted by a sharp kick to her shin. Abbey glared at her. Kate glared right back.

"Jonathan," Jed said loudly, "come join me outside."

"Where are you going, Josiah?" John Bartlet asked sharply.

"Just to have a smoke. We'll be back in a few minutes." Jed didn't wait for his father's reaction. No doubt he'd think it was extremely rude, but Jed needed to have a talk with his little brother.

Jonathan bummed a cigarette off Jed when they got outside. They both lit up and took a long drag.

"You've crossed a line, Jonathan. You've been in college for a year, and you haven't grown up at all, have you?"

"Nah, it's not a big deal, Jed. She's a tough kid. She knows I'm teasing," Jonathan insisted.

Jed shook his head. "She puts on that act. I have no idea why, but she's shy and scared a lot of the time. She's barely said two words to me in the last few years. Besides, she's about to be your sister-in-law."

"But not my actual sister."

"Jonathan!"

The younger Bartlet laughed, dropping his cigarette and smashing it beneath his shoe. "Calm down. I'm just kidding. Good grief, you're going to worry yourself into an early grave, Jed." Jonathan patted his brother on the shoulder and walked back into the restaurant.

Jed stayed outside for a few minutes, finishing his smoke. He wanted to light up another as soon as he had finished, but he knew he had been outside too long already. He took a deep breath of the Indiana night air before going back inside.

Dinner went by without any more problems to speak of. Jonathan kept polite conversation with Kate and Mrs. Barrington, but Jed was still keeping an eye on him. Abbey was glad Jed was preoccupied with Jonathan. It let her be the one to worry about Mr. Bartlet. He seemed just as polite as always, though she could tell that her father was a bit apprehensive. She should have warned her parents that Mr. Bartlet was a very distant man, so unlike her own warm father, and so unlike Jed's friendly and charismatic nature.

When the check arrived, the two fathers had the customary good-natured fight over who would pay the bill. Mr. Bartlet insisted he take care of dinner, seeing as the Barringtons were paying for the wedding.

Everyone said their goodbyes. Abbey was going to her apartment with her family so they could take some of her boxes back to the hotel. Jed was driving back to his apartment all alone. He promised to call Abbey before he went to sleep.

Kate sat in the backseat of the rental car with Abbey. "You didn't tell me about Jonathan," she said.

"He's going to be your brother-in-law. And he's a playboy and an idiot. So stop that right now," she scolded.

Kate crossed her arms and stared out the window in a huff, like any seventeen year old in that situation would do. Abbey smiled to herself. It was very rare indeed that she could ever be a good big sister. Tonight she had done the right thing for Kate, and it would all turn out for the best.

When they arrived at Abbey's building, Kate opted to stay in the car. While Dr. Barrington was carrying boxes down the stairs, Louise caught her daughter alone. "Abbey, I wanted to ask you something."

"Yeah?" Abbey asked, slightly wary of what her mother had up her sleeve.

"Is everything alright with the Bartlets?"

Abbey frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I got the feeling they didn't like us. The way Jed took his brother outside like that? Mary is such a lovely woman, but her husband was so quiet most of the night."

"Please don't read too much into it. Mr. Bartlet is the headmaster of a school. He's an academic, so he doesn't speak unless he has something to say. And Jed is very protective of his brother. I'm sure whatever they said had nothing to do with us. And who couldn't like us, Mom? We're fantastic!"

Louise chuckled and kissed her daughter on the forehead. "If you say so, dear. We should go. We'll see you tomorrow at the ceremony."

Abbey said goodnight to her parents and closed the door with a heavy sigh. Finally, that night was over. And nothing bad had happened. Relief washed over her, leaving her slightly giddy. She sauntered into her bedroom to get ready for bed.

It was very late by the time the phone rang. Abbey picked it up immediately. "Hi," she said softly.

"Hi," Jed greeted. "I didn't call too late, did I?"

"No, I was waiting up for you. Are you in bed?"

"Not yet. I was doing some last minute packing. Why?"

Abbey paused, hesitating before asking, "Will you come over?"

Jed grinned. He had been hoping she'd want him to come. He didn't like the idea of sleeping alone that night. "I'll see you in ten minutes."

"I left the door unlocked for you."

Jed hung up and hurried over to Abbey's apartment. He locked the door behind him as he walked through the empty apartment to her dark bedroom. He changed into the pajamas he kept in her dresser for this very purpose. As soon as he got under the covers, Abbey's arms were around him, clutching almost desperately.

"You okay?" he asked with concern.

"I'm glad you're here. I hate the possibility of sleeping without you."

"In a week, we'll be married, and we'll share a bed every single night."

"But until then, we'll be apart. We can't dare to sneak around at your parents' house, and you'll be at a hotel in Lincoln for the two days before the wedding."

Jed thought for a moment. "So what you're saying is we'll be apart until the wedding night?"

She giggled, knowing what he was getting at. "We'll have to make the most out of tonight and tomorrow, but yes, the wedding night is going to be a very long time coming for us."

His hands began wandering beneath her nightgown. "Did I just hear you say we have to make the most of tonight?"

Abbey grinned, her own hand trailing down his chest and below the covers. "Why do you think I asked you to come over, boyfriend?"