Once ensconced in the kitchen, with everyone cutting up vegetables, Abbey continued on with her story.

"We had only been dating a few months when it came time for summer break. That summer of separation was really hard."

"But you only live about an hour apart. Didn't you visit each other?"

"We could have, except that Jed had already signed on to go with the Jesuits to do some teaching on an Indian reservation in Arizona and I had promised my Dad I would help out at his practice. So there we were, missing each other like crazy. I think I wrote him a letter almost every night and received them just as often. Anyway, in the fall, we picked things up where we left off. We were inseparable. God, I used to love to sit under a blanket with him at the home football games, cheering Notre Dame on. And of course fighting off his wandering hands," she smiled.

"I knew the President was a big fan, I didn't realize you were as well."

"I am a fan, CJ, I am just not the complete fanatic my husband is for our alma mater. I actually have clothes that say Harvard as well as Notre Dame. You don't see him wearing anything with a logo advertising the London School of Economics, do you?"

"Do they even have a team for anything? I mean think of it," she giggled. "A bunch of nerdy little economic students on the playing fields. Wouldn't that be a sight?"

"Hey, I want to hear the rest of the story," Sally said. In spite of the fact that they were sisters-in-law and got only very well, Sally and Abbey had never had enough in common to be close enough to reveal the intimate details of their lives. That was why she had never heard the complete Jed and Abbey story before.

"Well, after Christmas break, I had to go do an early internship program at Johns Hopkins and that evidently got Jed thinking. He had been accepted to the LSE and I had been accepted into Harvard Med. So, that meant at least a two year separation."

(Bartlet farm, Easter break)

Jed had not been himself all day. He had not commented on the Easter service and had been silent throughout the big Easter dinner. Abbey attributed it to being home with his family. He always seemed to be a little less himself around them. But, when he asked her to go for a walk so they could talk, her heart began to slam in her chest. Was he going to break up with her? Had he had enough of the absences? Did he think they couldn't make it through a two year long distance relationship? They silently walked hand in hand across the pastures to the pond. Abbey knew this was Jed's favorite spot in the world. The place he always came to think. She sat quietly gazing over the water waiting for Jed to tell her what was on his mind. Finally, he turned to her.

"Abbey, this past semester has been really hard for me. I missed you so much that I could barely concentrate. And last summer was just hell."

"I know Jed," she said, "I missed you too. I feel like a part of me is missing when I'm not with you."

"I just don't think I can make it two years in London without you."

"Jed, are you breaking up with me?" Abbey asked through tears.

"What!" he exclaimed, "no, God no. Damn, I'm not doing a very good job of this." He stood up from the bench and proceeded to go down on one knee in front of her. "I love you more than I have ever loved anyone in my life Abbey. I want to spend the rest of my life loving you and making you happy. I want to grow old with you and have children with you. Please say you'll marry me." Jed didn't realize he was holding his breath until Abbey cupped his face in her hands.

"Of course I'll marry you, Jed. I thought you'd never ask." His breath came out in a whoosh and he clumsily dragged her into his arms kissing her deeply.

"Oh wait, I've got something for you," he dug in his pocket and handed her an obviously old velvet box. She opened it to see a gorgeous intricate antique diamond ring. "It was my grandmother's, and her grandmother's before her, but if you don't like it, we can go pick out something more modern."

"Sssh," she placed her fingers over his lips. "I love it. It's beautiful and old fashioned, just like you." Jed slid the ring on her slender finger and Abbey moved it to catch the sunlight. It felt very right to have on a ring that had belonged to so many Bartlet women before her. It made her feel like she was already a part of Jed. For his part, Jed felt a wave of possessive love seeing his ring on her finger. He took her hand and kissed the finger that held his ring.

"You'll never take it off?"

"Not until I have a gold band to go with it."

(Maine)

"So, what did you do about school?" CJ asked.

"I decided to defer my enrollment for two years so I could go to London with him." Abbey took another sip of the wine she had switched to, then turned to CJ. "Oh hell CJ, you know the official version of this story, but everyone here knows the truth. You may as well know it too. I didn't start medical school because I got pregnant."

"Ah, so Elizabeth wasn't premature?"

"No, I was just lucky she was a tiny baby so people accepted that little white lie. Jed and I had planned on marrying that summer and I was going to attend medical school at Cambridge. I had gotten a late acceptance. But fate stepped in."

"More like lust," Jane grinned.

(Bartlett farm, Easter break)

"Abbey," Jed said, breaking out of her embrace to catch his breath, "we have to stop now, or I may not be able to." They had left the pond and were now in the barn preparing to go horseback riding.

"Let's not wait anymore," she pressed her lips against his.

"Do you know what you're saying?" he asked against her mouth.

"Mmmhmmm," she murmured. "I know I'm the one who wanted to wait, but realistically, if I hadn't gone to Johns Hopkins, we would have probably made love by now. This hasn't been easy on either of us. I know you've had your share of cold showers."

"Don't do this because of me Abbey. If you want to wait until we get married, we'll wait. I'm not saying it's going to be easy" he gave her a painful grin, "and I may have to go jump in the pond..."

"Jed, I don't want to wait anymore. I want you to make love to me. I'm tired of being a good girl, Josiah." She gave him a new saucy smile, that she would perfect over the years to the point of being able to get him to do almost anything when she flashed it.

"Ok, then," he said moving to grab the horse blanket that was lying over the stall. "I just never pictured our first time being an actual roll in the hay."

"When have we ever done things predictably?" Abbey asked, stretching out on the blanket. She reached a hand up to Jed to pull him down with her and his stomach began to flutter with nerves. He had only had sex three times in his life and one of those times was with a hooker Leo's Dad had gotten them in Boston's combat zone. He had never actually made love to a woman. And, he had been celibate for so long, with only some heavy petting and erotic dreams of Abbey for release. He was afraid he would embarrass himself and everything would be all over before it started. Abbey sensed his hesitation. "Jed, don't you want me?" she asked.

"God, Abbey I feel like I've been wanting you forever. I just want this to be good for us."

"It will be," she pulled him down so he could stretch out next to her and he began to kiss her, reveling in the knowledge that his wandering hands could go wherever they wanted without fear of being turned away. However, when his hand slipped under her bra to caress the satiny skin of her breast, Abbey pulled back slightly. Jed bit back a moan of disappointment. This was usually the point that Abbey stopped him before things got any further.

"Abbey, do you want to stop?" He bit out.

"No...it's just...Jed, this is my first time. I thought you should know."

"But Ron...Ron told me he slept with you? Was he lying?"

"No, he slept with me, but all we did was sleep. Well, that's not all we did, but we didn't go all the way."

Jed smiled tenderly down at her, tracing her cheekbone with his forefinger.

"Well, I'm hardly Casanova, Abigail. I've never done this with a woman I love before. So, we'll learn together."

And learn they did. Learned each other's contours, pressure needed and wanted, intimate touches that might have embarrassed if it hadn't been with each other. Clumsy touches and sweet touches, touches that caused the other gasp with need. And when Abbey was finally laying naked on the blanket, tears came to her eyes at the way Jed's desire filled gaze moved with reverence up and down her body.

"You are so beautiful," he breathed in a voice husky with need. Abbey had never felt more beautiful or loved as she did in that moment. Jed felt her tense slightly as his body settled in between her parted thighs.

"Are you sure?" He asked.

"Yes," Abbey sighed.

"I don't want to hurt you."

"You won't."

"I might."

"It's ok," she instinctively lifted her legs around his waist, showing him how much she wanted him. Jed moved forward, taking Abbey's small gasp of pain into his mouth as they were finally joined as one.

"Are you ok?" He bit out, fighting the urge to move within her.

"Yeah, just don't move for a minute." They lay together, fingers intertwined, for what seemed an eternity, while Abbey's body learned to accept the man who would spend the rest of his life moving inside of it. And, when he finally did move, the pain was gone and was replaced with a need so great they cried out with it. It was amazing to Abbey, these waves and waves of pleasure that just kept building until she didn't think she could stand it anymore. Just as her own body began to shake with release, she heard Jed groan out her name loudly and she could actually feel him pulsing and spilling himself inside her. That was a surprise. That she could actually feel him. When it was over, Jed pulled her to his side tightly, as if now that he had finally had her this way, he was never going to let her out of his reach again.

"You ok?" He asked, still breathing heavy and picking bits of hay from her hair.

"I'm fine," she smiled, running a hand over his crisp chest hair, watching the sunlight play on her engagement ring. "If I had known it would be like that, I would have given in ages ago."

"It's not always like that Abbey," Jed said seriously. "It was never like that for me."

"I'm glad," she kissed his chin.

(Maine)

"So, how long was it before you realized you were pregnant?" CJ asked.

"Not long. Oh, I was in denial big time. I knew the risks. Hell, I was pre-med. But you still never believe that ONE time is going to happen to you."

"She came home after graduation and she was puking everywhere," Jane grinned.

"Thanks for that attractive vision, Janey," Abbey rolled her eyes. "Morning sickness has always hit me pretty hard, as you may remember with Nicky and Ais."

"How could I forget?" CJ smiled, remembering all those meetings where Abbey would have to race from the room hand over mouth or leave the President to make her excuses to the press when she left a function early.

"It was our mother who discovered her little secret."

(O'Neill house, Salem, Massachusetts)

It's just nerves about the wedding, Abbey told herself as she brushed her teeth after vomiting for the third time in one morning. That's all it is. I'm making a mountain out of a molehill. I just have to relax. Oh God, I don't think I'm ready to be a mother. I'm only 21. What am I going to do about medical school? Will I ever get the chance to be a doctor? My parents are going to be so disappointed. They are so proud of me, especially Daddy. He loves the idea that I want to follow in his footsteps. No Abbey, this is nothing. It's just stress. She opened the door to leave the bathroom only to see her mother standing with her arms crossed, staring at the door.

"Abigail, is there something you want to tell me?"

"What?" Abbey asked nervously.

"Abbey, this is your mother you are talking to. Are you pregnant?" Her tone was softer now, causing tears to fill Abbey's eyes.

"I think I am," she began to cry. "I can't seem to stop throwing up."

"Are you late?" Beth asked, leading her daughter into her bedroom. "Do your breasts hurt?"

"Yes, and yes."

"Do you know when?"

"At the Bartlet's on Easter break. We didn't use anything."

"That would make you about 5-6 weeks. Oh Abbey, you should know better, you're going to be a doctor."

"Mom, don't. I know it was stupid. But we had waited so long and I just didn't want to wait anymore, and Jed had asked me to marry him."

"Ssh, it's ok, don't go getting all worked up. Have you told Jed yet?"

"No. How can I tell him when I'm not even sure yet? How can I tell him that he is going to be a father when he is still in school? I won't be able to go to med school."

"Are you afraid that if you tell him, he might ask you to do something about it?" Beth asked gently.

"Absolutely not," Abbey said eyes wide with surprise. No, Jed had almost become a priest, he wouldn't want her to do that. She knew that despite the fact that it was illegal, her father would know of somewhere reputable to take care of it. But, that thought sent a surge of protective love throughout her body for her unborn child and she realized that despite the mess she was in, she wanted this baby. "No, I'm not afraid of that. I'm afraid that he will be angry with me and call off the wedding."

"That doesn't sound like the Jed I know."

"I know," Abbey sighed. "He is more the type to accept the responsibility and stew in his anger about it. What if he isn't ready?"

"Well, he better get ready fast because he may have a baby on the way. Give him some credit, Abbey. He loves you. You are already getting married. In any case, you have to find out for sure and you have to tell him."

(Maine)

"How did the President react?" CJ asked, "Was he angry?"

"No," Abbey smiled tenderly. "His reaction was not what I had expected at all."

(O'Neill house, Salem, Mass. 3 days later)

"Jed, I asked you to come down here for a reason."

"I know, I have to help you finish writing out the wedding invitations."

"No, that isn't it." How do I tell you, she thought. How do I tell you that all our plans are going up in smoke? How are you going to take this? "Jed, I'm late."

"Late for what? You didn't tell me you a fitting today?" He said, puzzled. Abbey shook her head at him. God, men could be so dense sometimes.

"Not late. LATE. My period is late. Six weeks late."

"Oh," Jed mumbled, his face going red with embarrassment, "is that normal for you? Are you late sometimes?"

"No, I am usually very regular. Like clockwork."

"So you think you might be..." he trailed off uncomfortably.

"Pregnant, Jed, you can say it, pregnant." Jed's first reaction was a little burst of joy in his heart, but as he looked at Abbey's face and heard her tone, guilt overwhelmed him. Because of him, all her plans were ruined. She couldn't go to medical school pregnant.

"Abbey, I don't know what to say. I'm so sorry," he had a panicked look in his eyes that made her angry with him.

"I don't want you to be SORRY, Jed!" she exploded. "I just...Oh, I can't talk about this now, please just go away."

"Abbey, we need to talk about this," God, she hated it when he was calm and rational and she wasn't.

"Not now Jed," she turned and ran from the room. Jed stood stunned for a few moments not sure whether he should go to her or give her the space she asked for. He heard her crying in her bedroom and almost opened the door. But he turned instead and went to walk by the harbor, hoping to clear his head. He didn't know what to feel. A baby. Abbey is having a baby, MY baby. He was going to be a father. A part of him was thrilled that Abbey was carrying his baby, but the evidence of Abbey's pain was almost more than he could bear. The guilt gnawed at him. He was the man. He should have taken care of it. But he hadn't protected her and now all her dreams were being crushed. She must be absolutely furious with him. Then, a niggling fear worked its way down his spine. What if Abbey REALLY didn't want the baby? What if she decided NOT to have the baby? It scared the hell out of him to think of her under the knife of one of those back alley butchers. He had heard quite a few stories of unclean facilities and people who didn't know what they were doing maiming women for life. Not to mention the fact that he wanted the baby. Really wanted it. Well, he wasn't going to accomplish anything walking around out here on his own. He had to talk it all out with Abbey. So, he made his way back to her house and knocked on her bedroom door. He didn't expect her to fly into his arms the way she did.

"I'm so sorry, Jed, I didn't mean to shut you out. I shouldn't have reacted that way. I'm just scared."

"I'm so sorry I did this to you," he said into her hair. Abbey pulled back away from him and gave him a fierce look.

"Well, you may be sorry but I happen to want this baby and I'm having it, Jed, whether you are with me or not."

"Abbey," he said stunned, "of course I am with you. That's my baby inside you. But, are you happy about it?"

"Are you?" She shot back.

"I know I shouldn't be, Abbey, but yes, a part of me that is selfish is very happy."

"You are? I thought you would be angry," she said, looking up at him through wet lashes.

"Shocked, nervous, stunned, but not angry. Never angry. But, I'm not the one who has to carry this baby. I'm not the one who isn't going to be able to go to medical school in the fall. THAT is what I'm sorry about. But, I was thinking about all that and you can still go to med school. When we come home from London, the baby will be almost 2. At that point you can go to Harvard like you had planned to from the start. You can get a deferment. Then, while you are in medical school, I'll teach part time and take care of you and the baby."

"You'd do that, Jed?"

"Just doing my fair share. Besides, don't you know by now that I'd do anything for you? Now, before we go making all these plans, we should find out for sure if you really are pregnant."

"I have an appointment at 2:00 on Friday."

"I have to talk with someone from the LSE Friday, but I should be able to pick you up from your appointment."

"Ok," she squeezed his hand. "Will you always be my rock, Jed?"

"As long as you're mine."

Abbey walked out of the examination room still slightly dazed and saw Jed waiting for her anxiously. He got to his feet and approached her.

"Well?" he asked. Abbey bit her bottom lip and simply nodded affirmatively.

"Everything is going to be just fine, Abbey," he gave her a broad smile, "I promise."

"Jed, we're really going to have a baby," she said in disbelief.

"We're gonna have a baby!" he shouted and lifted her into his arms to spin around, causing everyone in the waiting room to smile. Abbey began to laugh at his joy.

"Wow, you really are happy."

"I really am happy," he said, giving her a big noisy kiss.

They left the doctor's office and began to head toward Jed's car but he stopped her before she could get into the passenger's side and brought her to the trunk.

"What are you doing?" Abbey asked, puzzled.

"You'll see," He reached inside and pulled out a dozen long stemmed roses and a gift-wrapped box.

"What is all this?" She asked stunned.

"For the mother of my child," he grinned, "I wanted to make sure before you saw all this."

"Jed, you always know how to make me cry," she smiled through her tears.

"Well stop crying and open it," he urged her. Abbey handed him her flowers and began to open the gift. Inside lay two tiny newborn outfits. One little blue sailor suit and a frilly pink and white gingham dress. "Boy or girl, I got you covered, babe," he winked. Abbey threw her arms around his neck.

"I can't think of a better man to be the father of my children," she said against his neck.

"Children?" he asked

"Well, yeah. You didn't think this would be the only one, did you? I mean you're the one who said your dream was to have a big, noisy, loving family."

"You gonna make all my dreams come true?" He pushed the hair back from her face.

"I'll do my damnedest."

(Maine)

"And you followed him to London and into the history books," CJ said with a dramatic flourish of her arm.

"I guess you could say that. Good lord, did we drink all this wine?" Abbey asked, eyeing the empty bottles.

"Nobody else here but us," Jane giggled. Abbey gave her a strange look. Jane did not giggle. They were all plastered. Well, she had to admit, she was feeling pretty light-headed herself.

"Where did I put that oven mitt?" Abbey asked, not seeming to be able to focus well on anything at the moment.

"Ah, see now this is what happens with CIU," CJ said knowingly.

"CIU?" Abbey asked.

"Cooking under the influence," she said straight-faced, causing everyone to burst into laughter.

"Oh, I see it," Jenny said, grabbing it from the top of a pile of magazines on the table. She picked it up and handed it to Abbey, who began to check on the broccoli casserole she was cooking.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" CJ asked, picking up a Cosmopolitan magazine that just happened to be bookmarked. Abbey turned to see her opening the magazine.

"CJ, give that to me," she said, remembering the afternoon she had idled away filling out that questionnaire.

"No way, this is too good." She held it up, taking advantage of her height advantage.

"Damn, where are my heels?" Abbey asked, eyeing her bare feet with dismay.

"Listen to this ladies. The headline reads 'How Sexually Adventurous Are You?' and there are a whole bunch of questions checked off here. I'm impressed, you ranked pretty darn high. In fact it looks like you would have made the top spot if you'd been into S&M or menage et trois."

"CJ," Abbey glared at her, "I'm the First Lady again."

"No way," CJ said, much too drunk to worry about protocol, "you haven't been the First Lady all day, you can't change now."

"Yeah Abbey, no way you're pulling rank now," Jane protested. Abbey was just drunk enough to accept their proclamations and turned to continue cooking while trying to act indifferent to what CJ was saying.

"Well," CJ grinned with delight, "it seems that the letter d which states "4 or more" seems to be the letter of choice for you."

"What are the questions?" Jane egged her on.

"Let's see. Here is a pretty benign one. How many rooms in your home have you had sex in? If you guessed the answer was d, 4 or more, you'd be right."

"Four?" Sally asked, tapping Abbey on the shoulder. "I mean, I get the bedroom, the bathroom, maybe the couch in the living room, but where is number four?"

"Well," Abbey turned around, hands on her hips. If she was going to get ribbed for this she may as well go all out, "that kitchen table you're all sitting around is very stable." They all looked at her in shock, then burst into drunken fits of laughter.

"You didn't?" Sally giggled with shock.

"Oh yeah, and four is nothing. I live in a mansion with dozens of rooms now. The number is well over four."

"Did you ever...you know...in the Oval Office?" CJ asked.

"Not yet. Well, not technically anyway."

"What do you mean, technically? You're waffling now, Mrs. Bartlet."

"There are way too many windows in the Oval Office so we went into the Oval Office bathroom."

"Shut up, you did not!!!" CJ gasped.

"Oh, didn't we? If Mrs.Landingham were still alive, she would confirm it. You should have heard Jed trying to explain to her about the special meeting of the government that was going on in the bathroom. Somehow, I don't think she bought it," Abbey laughed.

"Was she shocked?" Jenny asked with wide eyes.

"Mrs. Landingham worked for my husband for more years than I care to remember. Nothing we did could shock her at that point."

"Okay ladies, the hunters have returned," Jed called out, barreling into the room with his cooler. All the women eyed him and burst into laughter, their thoughts still on the First Couple's sexual escapades. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing, Mr. President." They all began the fits of giggles again.

"Ignore them, they're drunk," Abbey said, elbowing CJ.

"I can see that," Jed said eyeing the empty bottles as he leaned down to greet Abbey with a kiss. "Mmmm, coconut," he licked his lips.

"Piņa coladas." Abbey watched the rest of the men filter in and turned back to Jed. "So, should we start the steaks now?"

"Abbey, I'm wounded. We said that we would bring supper home to our women and we did." He opened the cooler to reveal that it was filled with bluefish.

"Well, I have to say that I am astonished and impressed, but get those smelly fish out of my kitchen," Abbey wrinkled her nose.

"You know usually the men catch it and the women prepare it," Jed informed her.

"And you know my rules. You caught it, you clean it."

Jed turned to go outside, dragging the other men with him.

"We have to clean them?" Josh asked with disgust.

"Abbey hates to clean fish. She thinks it's gross."

"Your wife is a surgeon," Toby said incredulously, "how can she find it gross to clean a fish?"

"I don't know, Toby? Maybe it has something to do with the scales and the stench and their eyeballs staring at you. But, if you'd like to go in and argue the point with her, be my guest."

"No thanks," he grumbled and began to get to work with the others.

"Do you think she'll find out we bought these fish off of that fisherman?" Sam asked.

"Not a chance," Jed grinned.

A bit later while Jed was watching the fish on the grill, Abbey brought out some more dill sauce to baste them with and wrapped her arms around his waist from behind.

"Hey, you," he said, turning around into her arms.

"Only two more days until our anniversary," she told him.

"I know," he kissed the top of her head. "I've been thinking about the first time we met a lot today."

"You have?" She asked with surprise. "So have I. Sometimes it seems like it was so long ago and other times it seems like it was just yesterday."

"You know, I was thinking that maybe we should send some flowers to Millie and Jenny, you know, to thank them for making us go to that party."

"That's a nice idea," she snuggled against his chest.

"I might even send some to Ron."

"Ron?" Abbey pulled back to look up at him.

"Yeah, to thank him for being such jerk you had to dump him."

"Jed," Abbey rolled her eyes, "Ron wasn't a jerk, he just wasn't for me."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, well however you want to look at it, I'm just glad that I was the one for you."

"Me too," she smiled, cuddling back to his chest. "Oh by the way, Jed," she said against the hollow of his throat, "who did you buy the fish from?"

"How did you know?" He chuckled.

"When are you going to learn that I know you better than you know yourself?"

"Someday, Abigail," he rubbed his cheek against her soft hair. "Someday."

TBC...