Abbey, Jed, and the twins lay sprawled on a worn quilt under the shade of an old pine tree. Abbey was sitting back against the trunk with Jed's head in her lap. She was absently running her fingers through his hair while he slept and she read. Nicholas and Aislinn, both wearing only their diapers, lay on their backs gurgling and cooing as they kicked at the mobile of Sesame Street characters Abbey had placed over them. Abbey was just taking a sip of her iced tea when Jed gave a startled yelp and sat up.

"Abbey, that hurt," he grumbled, rubbing his armpit.

"What?" She asked. "Did you get stung or something? Let me see."

"Don't play all innocent with me, lady. I know you like to wake me up by tickling under my arm, but pulling the hair hurt."

"Jed, I can assure you that I did not pull the hair under your arm."

"Than what..." he looked down and saw his daughter had inched over on the blanket and had curled up next to him. "I think I found the culprit." He opened a tiny fist to reveal a few strands of hair.

"Well, she knows how to get her daddy's attention when she wants it," Abbey laughed.

"Think that's funny, do you?" He asked with a devilish glint in his eye. Before Abbey knew what was happening, he had pounced on her and was hitting all her ticklish spots. He knew them all very well. Abbey began to giggle helplessly, while pushing at his chest to get him off her.

"Jed enough!" She cried, "I said uncle...stop...please!"

"Say pretty please, you big handsome stud..."

"P...pretty...pl...please...oh...just stop!"

The couple was too wrapped up in their laughter to hear the car approach or the doors shut as the woman and the young girl got out.

"Those," Annie pointed, shaking her head the way teenagers loved to do, "are my grandparents. You'll have to get used to it. They're always all over each other."

At that moment Jed spotted them and stopped tickling Abbey.

"Anabeth!!" He shouted, getting to his feet.

"Gramps!" Annie shouted back, and ran with a big grin into his arms. She wrapped her gangly legs around his waist and Jed whirled her around.

"I've missed you, Tinkerbell," he said, setting her down and giving her long ponytail a tug.

"Grams," Annie said exasperated, "PLEASE tell your husband that I am 13 years old. I am too old to be called Tinkerbell for heaven's sake."

"Jed," Abbey said, while kissing Annie's cheek, "Annie is 13. She is too old to be called Tinkerbell, for heaven's sake."

"I heard, I heard. But, I don't care if you are 13 or 30, you will always be my Tinkerbell just like your mother is my princess, your Aunt Ellie is my kitten, and your Aunt Zoey is my munchkin."

"And what is Aislinn then?" Annie asked, thinking she had stumped him because the baby was too young to have developed a nickname.

"Aislinn is my sunshine because she and her brother were one of the few bright spots in a dismal year. Now, let's quit this jabbering and you can introduce us to your friend and then get settled in your room."

Annie made the introductions to Izzy, who turned out to be the opposite of Hattie. She was younger, slightly plump, and seemed to have a great sense of humor. She had never been a nanny, so she didn't have any preconceived notions of what the job would entail. She was also willing to give the job a trial run. In short, she seemed perfect.

****

Back at the house, Jed and Abbey put the twins down for nap, while Annie unpacked in the room she would be sharing with Zoey. As they walked down the hall, the door to the bedroom was half opened and Abbey peeked in to see how Annie was progressing. She smiled tenderly as she watched her granddaughter stretch her shirt down tightly and arch her back, as she peered at herself in the mirror above the bureau, then let out a sigh of disgust. How many times had she made that same motion? How many times had her daughters shared that same despair? Her heart ached with the memory of just what it meant to be 13 years old. No longer a child, and yet certainly not yet a woman. Living in a body that was now filled with angst and hormones, a body that you were forever displeased with.

"You go on," she whispered to Jed. "We'll join you in a little bit."

Annie's head snapped as she heard the door click.

"Didn't mean to disturb you," Abbey said, "I just wanted to see if you needed any help unpacking."

"I'm all unpacked."

"That's a pretty bathing suit," she pointed to a neon green two-piece.

"Yeah, Mom bought it. A lot of good it's going to do me. It's not like I'll fill it out. I'm as flat as a board," she sulked.

"Honey, you're not as flat as a board," Abbey smiled, brushing Annie's hair back from her face. She was such a pretty combination of Bartlet/O'Neill. She had Jed's Bartlet baby blues, and the fiery hair of Abbey and her daughters, only hers was a lighter strawberry blond. She also shared the O'Neill freckles, which were sprinkled liberally on her nose, giving her an impish quality. The slight cleft in her chin came from an unknown source Abbey didn't like to think about. The mystery creep who was Annie's biological father.

"I might as well be for what I have," she grumbled. "Do you think my boobs are ever going to grow?" She looked at Abbey with the despair only a 13 year old girl could have.

"I don't think they are going to grow, I know they will. In fact," she surveyed Annie seriously, "I'm already seeing some growth from the last time I saw you at the christening. You know, I used to ask your Gramma Beth the same thing when I was your age."

"YOU," Annie asked with wide eyes, "But you...you..."

"I what?"

"You've got big ones."

"Well, I didn't at 13," Abbey laughed. "We O'Neill women are late bloomers."

"That's what Mom said. But I thought she was just trying to make me feel better."

"Moms are like that, aren't they? But just look at me, your mother and your aunts. Give it a couple years and those O'Neill genes will kick in and you won't have any problem filling out a bikini top. Now, no more moping around. Your grandfather is setting up the Monopoly board on the porch and he is under some bizarre notion that he is going to win, simply because he has a Nobel Prize in economics. Let's go whip that Nobel Laureate's butt."

"You're on," Annie grinned.

*****

"That is against the rules," Jed said as Abbey handed all her properties and money over to Annie.

"You bankrupted me and refused to make any deals. What did you expect me to do?"

"It's business, beautiful. I can't make exceptions just because you bat those pretty green eyes at me, and don't think I didn't notice that."

"Hard ass," Abbey grumbled and Annie began to giggle.

"I'm paying off Gram's debts," she said, handing Jed the money. "And now I own all four railroads, Broadway, AND Park Place. Your butt is mine, Gramps."

"Hey, can I get a little respect in my own home?"

"That's what you get for being a hard ass," Abbey said, getting to her feet and winking at Annie. Jed swatted Abbey's rear as she passed him on her way to start dinner in the kitchen.

A little while later while she was chopping celery to go in the salad, Abbey heard Jed groan loudly in defeat and Annie whoop in victory. Abbey smiled, wiping her hands on her apron and moved to answer the ringing phone.

"Annie," she called out, "It's your mother."

Annie came racing in from the porch, all youthful exuberance.

"I whipped Gramps for us," she said, taking the phone from Abbey.

"I heard," Abbey said, giving her a high five. "Girls rule..."

"And boys drool," Annie finished. Abbey ruffled her hair and headed back to finish the salad.

***

When Annie came back into the kitchen, a scowl had replaced her smile.

"Sometimes I wish you were my mom," she sighed.

"Did you and your mother have a fight?"

"She treats me like I'm a baby. I want to get a tattoo and she said no. I told her that if you were my mother, you would let me."

"Why would you think that?" Abbey asked, puzzled.

"Because you have one."

"How did you..."

"We've changed our clothes together. I've known about it for awhile."

"You never asked about it."

"I thought maybe it was supposed to be a secret, because it's pretty hidden."

"It's not a secret honey, but it is personal. Something between your grandfather and I. And I was an adult when I got it. When you are 13, everything seems like a good idea, but this is something that would be on your body permanently. What you like now, you might despise at 25 or 35."

"Now you sound like my mother," Annie pouted. "She told me when I'm 18 I can make the choices of what to do with my body, but until then, she and Dad make the decisions."

"That's the same thing I told Zoey 5 years ago when she wanted to get her tongue pierced. Your grandfather and I told her she could do what she wanted when she turned 18. And you know what? By the time she turned 18, she thought they were gross and didn't do it."

"Well, I think it's cool that you have a tattoo."

"Thanks," Abbey said, kissing her cheek, "now go wash up for dinner." Abbey smiled watching Annie race up the stairs to the bathroom, then sat down, her mind going back to the day she had gotten the tattoo.

It was time for hers and Jed's college reunion. They returned to French Lick every year for a long weekend of get togethers with their old friends, and of course, the big Saturday football game. That year Abbey had gone early for a get together with just her and her girlfriends and Jed was to join her later. He had been contemplating a run for Governor and, therefore, was very busy.

(A Bar in French Lick, Indiana)

Abbey approached the table that held four of her closest friends from college, Millie, Jenny, Liza, and Susan.

"Abbey!" They cried, jumping to their feet to hug her.

"Look at you," Jenny said, eyeing her in the loose fitting leather pants, silk blouse, and high heels, looking completely chic and stylish. "You look incredible."

"How are you doing?" Millie asked, knowing what an awful year this had been for her. Only the immediate family had gone to the service at the funeral parlor, but Millie had visited the farm soon after. She had seen the tiny box with the teddy bear on the front that held Jed and Abbey's son's ashes. She had seen the certificate that had his name, birthweight, and length. 14 ounces and 9 inches long, was all he had been, much too small to survive. But, what had broken her heart, was the miniscule little ink feet stamped on the paper. The only tangible proof that Peter Bartlet had ever existed.

"I'm doing OK," Abbey smiled, kissing Millie on the cheek. "What are we drinking, ladies?"

"Margaritas," Liza said, lifting her glass in salute.

"Well, OK then. I'll take one of those," she said to the waitress.

***

A few hours and a few margaritas later, Abbey was getting depressed, listening to her friends discuss their marriages or rather, for some of them, the dissolution of their marriages.

"I found some other woman named Tiffany's phone number right in our night stand by the bed," Millie said. "The bastard was calling her right from our BED."

"I can top that," Susan said. "I found a used condom IN our bed. We weren't using condoms. Tim was actually screwing her in OUR bed with pictures of OUR kids right beside him. I mean really, what a slap in the face. It was bad enough to do it, but to do it right in the bed he shared with me was just too much."

A feeling of nausea overtook Abbey at the thought of that scenario. Of what she would do if confronted by the evidence of Jed and another woman, in their bed or another.

"I don't know how you can talk about it so nonchalantly," she said. "God, that would just DESTROY me."

"It did, but I've had a year to get used to it. It wasn't so easy in the beginning. You and Jed are still going strong though, aren't you? Zoey is what, starting preschool now?"

"Kindergarten."

"And what about you, Jenny? How are things with you and Leo?"

"Things are going OK," Jenny said tightly, taking a sip of her margarita. Abbey gave her a sympathetic look. Only she knew about Leo's alcoholism. About the nights when Jed stayed in DC and had to drag him home drunk and reeking of other women. Jenny was in her own private hell.

"Hey, you want to dance?" a man placed his hand on Abbey's shoulder.

"Oh...uh...no, I..."

"Go...go," her friends urged her.

"Oh all right," Abbey said, actually relieved to get away from all the talk of divorce and wayward husbands. While she danced with the man she knew only as Gary, she thought about her marriage. How she and Jed had kept it together, when so many others couldn't. The last few years had not been easy ones. First there had been Zoey's premature birth, then 2 years later, she had been raped and they had had to deal with the aftermath of that for several dark months. Then, Jed had been elected to Congress and there were the absolutely wrenching weekday separations when Congress was in session. And, most recently, earlier in the year, they had lost their son. They were still dealing with that loss. There had been so many pitfalls, so many times they could have fallen, or shut each other out, but instead, they had drawn strength from each other, comforted each other, and reached for each other with love, which had only served to tighten an already incredibly close bond. Her depression lifted, as she was filled with pride that she and Jed had made it this far and that they still loved each other as deeply, if not more deeply, than the day they wed.

"Wanna come have a drink with me?" Gary asked, running a hand over her leather clad rear.

"Sorry," Abbey said, flashing her diamond at him with a bright smile, "but I'm married."

"Doesn't mean we can't have a little fun."

"Yeah. It does."

"Abbey," Millie said, as she approached the table. "We decided we're all going to get tattoos to commemorate our new lives. Want to come?"

"Sure. I may not be starting a new life, but I can commemorate my old one," she said and tossed back the tequila shot that had been placed in front of her. "Let's go before the alcohol wears off and I chicken out."

"You're not really going to get a tattoo, are you?" Jenny asked.

"I'm thinking about it."

"Well, I'm not going to do it."

"Oh, come on Jen, don't be such an old stick in the mud. Just come see what they have, you might find something you like."

****

Abbey may have been tipsy, but she had enough presence of mind to tell the tattoo artist she needed it to be small and hidden, after all, she was a Congressman's wife. It wouldn't do to have one that could be exposed by the low cut, backless, high slit, evening gowns she favored. In the end she chose to get it on the back of her hip, down low, where nobody but Jed or her doctor would ever see it.

"Jed is going to love this," Millie grinned, holding Abbey's hand while she bit her lip against the pain of the needle.

****

The phone in her hotel room was ringing when Abbey entered and she picked up the receiver.

"Hello," she said.

"Hey babe. How was your night out with the girls?"

"It was fun. Do you miss me?"

"You know I do."

"I miss you too. You're a good husband, Jed," her words were slightly slurred.

"You're drunk, aren't you?"

"I do not get DRUNK, Jed," she said indignantly.

"Sorry, tipsy," he grinned.

"Maybe a little," she admitted.

"So what did you gals do tonight?"

"We danced."

"You danced with the girls?"

"No, I danced with a man," she laughed.

"You went out dancing with another man?" The amusement in his voice was gone, replaced by icy hardness.

"Just one. Don't worry, when he grabbed my ass, I told him I was married."

"Abigail, Goddammit."

"Don't take the Lord's name in vain, Josiah."

"We'll talk about this again when you aren't drunk."

"Tipsy," she insisted. " Are you still coming Friday?"

"Yes."

"Good, I'm lonely here tonight. When you come, will you show me what French Lick really stands for?"

"Ahhh Christ Abbey, you had to go and do it, didn't you?"

"What?"

"I knew if I called you, I'd end up with a hard on."

"I can't help it that you're quick to the trigger. Now tell me, will you?" Abbey asked seductively.

"Give you a French lick?"

"Mmmmm."

"You can count on it."

"I have a surprise for you."

"What is it?"

"It wouldn't be a surprise if I told you, naughty boy. Nope, you have to wait patiently...Bye bye professor."

"Abbey...Abbey," Jed looked at the silent receiver and then ruefully at the bulge in his pants. He sighed and moved to the bathroom where he turned the knobs for a cold shower, trying not to think of his wife and the French licks he would be giving her as soon as he got to Indiana.

*****

Abbey awoke the next morning with a pounding headache. She groaned, placing her arm over her eyes and rolled onto her back. Something felt sore on the back of her hip and she reached her hand back to find out why. Her hand encountered a bandage and her face flushed with the memory of what she had done. She had gotten an honest to God tattoo last night. What in the hell was she thinking? She was a respectable mother and surgeon, a Congressman's wife, and now she had a tattoo almost on her ass. What, in all that was holy, was her husband going to think about that?

She didn't have long to wait to find out. That night, as she and the girls were leaving for another evening out, Jed came striding up the hotel hallway eyeing his wife in her red leather skirt, black blouse, and red 3 inch heels that made her legs look a mile long. Christ almighty, she was one sexy woman.

"I thought you weren't coming until tomorrow?" Abbey said.

"I decided to come early. You sounded awfully lonely last night," and randy, he thought.

"Jed honey, come join us for dinner," Jenny said.

"I'd love to escort all you lovely ladies to dinner," Jed said gallantly, when all he really wanted to do was push Abbey back into her room and give her that French lick she had been asking for.

Jed entertained the women throughout dinner with his stories about certain pompous congressmen and senators they couldn't stand, then, finally when dinner was over, he led Abbey to the dance floor. He'd been wanting to get his hands on her in that sexy get up all night.

"God, are you hot in leather," he breathed.

"Like it, do you?"

"You know I do. So, what's my surprise?" he asked, nibbling on her ear.

"What surprise?"

"Last night you told me you had a surprise for me."

"I...I can't remember. Jed, stop that."

"Why? Am I getting you all hot and bothered?" He nipped her earlobe with his teeth, then soothed the bite with his tongue. Abbey felt the stirring deep in her loins. Then, as Jed dug his fingers into her lower back, she gasped in pain.

"What is it, Abbey?" He asked, concerned.

"Nothing, I'm ok."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to be so rough."

"You weren't. It's ok."

When the dance finished, Abbey excused herself to go to the ladies room to check the bandage she thought for sure Jed had moved. Jed knew something was not right with his wife and followed her to the bathroom. When he was sure no one else was inside but Abbey, he walked in and locked the door behind him. Abbey stood in front of the mirror, the back of her skirt unzipped, and she was looking back over her shoulder, examining a bandage on the back of her hip.

"Abbey, you're hurt. What did you do to yourself?"

"Nothing, I'm ok Jed, really."

"No, you're not. Let me see." Abbey took a deep breath knowing the moment was inevitable. She felt him loosen the adhesive and look under the bandage.

"Jesus, Mary, and Joseph," he breathed, eyeing the small Celtic forever knot that was surrounded by his initials JDB. "Christ, you have my brand on you," he said, feeling himself harden with a completely possessive desire.

"What?" She asked, eyes narrowed. "I did not brand myself with your name. Everyone was getting tattoos expressing their newfound freedom and I wanted to express the feelings I have for you with something permanent. Something to show that I know we will always be together. And yes, something to show that I am yours, forever."

"You bet your sweet little ass you're mine," he pushed her up on the sink, kissing her deeply.

"Jed," she protested, "anyone could just walk in here."

"I locked the door," he said, sucking hard on her neck, ready to add yet another brand to this woman.

"Jed, we're not...on the sink...in the bath...oh GOD."

"Oh yes, we are."

Abbey sat back on the sink, her legs wrapped around Jed's waist while he thrust deeply into her, and all the while he looked in the mirror behind her at that tattoo that told the world that this was his woman. No other man would ever know her this way, love her this way. She had his brand now. She was his. Forever.

And, when they left the bathroom 10 minutes later with flushed faces and slightly mussed hair, Jed winked at the line of women who were waiting to use the facility. Millie grabbed Abbey's arm as she walked by.

"I told you Jed would love it," she whispered.

"When you're right, you're right," Abbey grinned.

*****

"Abbey the steaks are ready," Jed said, startling Abbey back from her trip down memory lane, as he entered the kitchen with a platter of grilled steaks. "Where is Annie?"

"She's upstairs cleaning up," Abbey moved to him, kissing him softly on the lips.

"What was that for?"

"Because we are still together and I still love you and I'm glad that I am your woman."

"Well, I don't know what brought all that on but I thank God every day that you are my woman." He touched his lips softly to hers with more of a promise of a kiss than a kiss.

"See, I told you," Annie said to Isabelle, "all over each other."

TBC...