Jed hung up the phone and turned in his chair to stare out the window of his office. His brother Jon had just informed him that he wouldn't be able to use the site he had wanted in New Hampshire for his Presidential Memorial library. That, in itself, was galling but it wasn't what was depressing him. What was depressing him was the idea of a memorial library at all. He'd only been here two years, was just getting the hang of the job, and now he was forced to think about the end of it all. He'd worked so hard to get here and now he would have to leave with so many things half finished. Then, if Hoynes won, all his plans and initiatives would either be dropped or would become part of the other man's legacy.

"You look very glum all of the sudden," Leo said entering the office.

"I was just talking to Jon about sites for my memorial library. I really don't want to think about that right now. I still have two years to go. Two years with so much more that I want to accomplish. That needs to be accomplished."

"Two years with the chance of four more," Leo said puzzled by the strong references to two years. "We'll get those extra four so I think it is a bit early to be worried about your presidential library."

"Yeah...well...maybe," Jed hemmed.

"Mr. President?" Leo asked, worried.

"We need to talk Leo. God only knows how long this filibuster will go on. Why don't you have supper with me? Pierre is in town and we can have a nice French meal and talk."

"With you and Abbey?"

"No, Abbey is at the farm for a few days with the babies. She wants them to see the guy who is going to be their pediatrician in New Hampshire."

"Ok then," Leo said, leaving the office with a sense of dread. Whatever his best friend wanted to discuss with him, he had a feeling it wasn't going to be good.

***

"Sorry about the romantic setting," Jed said, shrugging as Leo gave him a strange look upon seeing the flowers and candlelight. "They thought I was dining with Abbey."

"Do you guys dine like this every night?"

"Not lately," Jed sighed, thinking of the coolness between he and his wife. They could have used this romantic night. "Have a seat and we'll just pretend there's no candlelight."

"Or that we're not paranoid homophobes in any way," Leo said, sitting down.

Leo was on and off his cell phone throughout dinner but Jed was not in any hurry to tell him what he had to say. Finally, with dessert finished, Leo stared at him across the table.

"Well, go ahead. Hit me with it."

"Abbey and I...well...we had a deal. I made her a promise." Leo looked at him and Jed could tell the instant he came to the realization of just what that deal was."

"You told her you would only run for one term. That's why Hoynes is mouthing off against the oil industry. He thinks you won't run again."

"Yeah, because of my thing."

"That was three years ago. She can't still hold you to that."

"Oh yes, she can. My wife remembers every word of that conversation. Ah hell Leo, when I made that deal I never thought I was actually going to win. I thought it would be a moot point."

"Have you told her that? Does she know you want to run again?"

"Oh, I think she got that impression when she finally watched the State of the Union. While she was in labor preparing to give birth to my children, I was making promise for a future I was not supposed to have."

"Is that how she sees it?" Jed could see Leo was getting angry with Abbey and that hadn't been his intention at all. He was simply trying to explain his decision.

"Oh yeah. I can't blame her. She's scared, Leo. I think this thing I have scares her more than it scares me. Maybe it's because she's a surgeon. She finds a problem and she goes inside and fixes it or cuts it out. She can't do that with me and that frustrates the hell out of her. It makes her angry and it scares her. She tries to be so strong for me but I see the fear in her eyes every time I stumble or feel nauseous or cough. I know she is thinking relapse and that damn thermometer comes out faster than I can say 'Abbey I'm fine.'"

"Well, you ran for president and you've been in office for over two years now and the episodes haven't become more frequent or severe."

"You're stealing my argument now."

"Do you have any idea how lucky you are? I'd love to be in your position. You know I have envied you since prep school. The ease you had in being a member of an old family, old money. No, it wasn't a perfect family, but it did give you advantages."

"I know what advantages I've had, Leo. Believe me, my father drilled that into me every day."

"I thought if I could just get out there and make more and more money I would gain some of that ease and acceptance. But that didn't happen. No matter how much money I earn, I will always be the poor Boston Irish boy who happened to earn a million. That did something to me. It caused me to piss it all away. My marriage and my chance at ever running for elected office."

"I didn't think running for elected office interested you. I thought you liked all the behind the scenes stuff."

"It would have been nice to have had the option."

"Well you haven't done so bad. Look at yourself, Chief of staff to the President. That's a long way from that South Boston tenement."

"Yes, but I serve at the pleasure of the President. I am here because you are. Don't get me wrong, I am nothing if not realistic. I know that I don't have the qualities of a good politician. I don't have the charisma to make people want to follow me or the oratorical spark to light a crowd. And, with my history of alchohol and drug abuse, it is highly unlikely that, even if I did have the qualities, I could be elected."

"So you found someone who could be," Jed stared straight at him.

"Yes. I wanted to stay in politics, but, I wanted to work for a good guy, not the lesser of two evils. And, there you were, the photogenic governor of New Hampshire, living on the family farm, happily married for thirty years to your equally photogenic college sweetheart, three beautiful daughters and not a hint of scandal to taint you."

"So we looked good on paper. That's what made you think of me," Jed said incredulously.

"No, that's why I thought you could get elected. I wanted to work for you because of your combination of intellect and compassion. Because I knew you would be a leader who would care. Someone I could be proud to say I work for. And, I have been, but there is still so much we could do. We have this one opportunity. It won't come again. Don't piss it away, Jed."

"You think I don't know all that, Leo? There is nothing more that I would like to do right now than tell you I will run again. But, I made a deal with my wife. This job is only one part of my life. My wife and my family are the biggest part. I can't piss away my marriage, Leo."

"You think Abbey would leave you if you ran again?" Leo asked with shock.

"No," Jed said simply. He could think of only one thing that would cause Abbey to leave him and that was another woman, which was never going to happen. "No, she wouldn't divorce me, but I do think it would severely test the trust that we have built."

"Do me a favor, don't completely rule it out. At least talk to her. You might be able to convince her." Leo's cell phone began to ring. CJ needed to see them both so their conversation was over for the evening.

****

The next few days were incredibly trying for Jed. The White House had been all abuzz with the Vice President's speech against the oil companies, polls he was running, and, most recently, giving a speech in New Hampshire. He was acting like a man who was planning to run for President and it was making them all considerably uncomfortable.

This was especially true for Toby who had begun to piece things together. He figured that either Hoynes was planning on dropping himself from the ticket and making an independent run or he believed that the President was not going to seek a second term. He had a feeling Hoynes knew something that he, one of the closest advisors to the President, did not know.

Leo informed Jed of Toby's suspicions and that he felt it was time to come clean with him. It was a moment Jed had been dreading since the day he was elected. First Toby, then it would be the others. He could almost feel their sense of anger and betrayal, their disappointment in him. He knew how much they valued his integrity. He was not a man who kept secrets like this. He was not a man who lied. And while technically he had not lied, the guilt from his omission had never the less been a burden. Now that burden would be gone, only to be replaced by a weightier version. The burden of his staff finding out that he was a human being after all. A human, who had made a mistake. A big mistake. One that was going to cost them all in the long run.

He had been right. Telling Toby had been incredibly difficult. Jed had expected the anger and disappointment. He had not expected the outrage, the bitterness, and the complete disdain with which Toby had regarded himself and Leo. The fact that Toby didn't seem to care that he had this serious illness had hurt him at first, but, as the evening wore on, and Toby's attitude got more and more holier than thou, he had gotten angry and defensive. He had, as a friend, let him rant and rave venturing far over the presidential line hoping he would get it all out of his system. But, when he had started in on Abbey, that was the end of it. He had become the President again and NOBODY was going to tar and feather his wife, or treat her with anything but the respect she deserved. Toby worked for him, he was a friend, but he did not own him. He was the President, but he was also a man and there were some parts of him that would always be kept from his staff. Private things, and this had been one of them. He was the one dealing with the health consequences of the MS and what it might mean to his wife, his daughters, and his two brand new babies, and anything Toby might be feeling now had to pale in comparison to that.

When the evening was over, Jed was emotionally wiped out. He wanted nothing more than to be held in his wife's arms or hold one of his babies to his chest, or to be in the presence of his daughters. To be with people who loved him unconditionally even if he had screwed up. But none of them were around and he had never felt so alone in his life. Everything seemed to be crashing in around him and he was forced to stand alone and to remain strong.

****

There wasn't any respite for Jed in the anger department when Abbey came home mad as a wet hen that he hadn't told her there was a problem with one of them signing Zoey's medical form for college. She didn't know the whole story as Leo had shut up when he realized Jed hadn't told her about the problem and she hadn't been able to pry the rest of it out of him. Jed explained to her that Zoey had been underage when starting Georgetown so one of them had to sign the medical form, which did not have anything about her father's MS on it. Abbey had been shocked to hear that she had been the one to sign it. She had signed so many forms for her daughters over the years that she didn't even remember that one.

"Why didn't you tell me Jed!" she whirled around on him, her green eyes blazing fire. He knew better than to say so but she really was quite beautiful when she full of this righteous anger. "We talk THREE times a day, why didn't you tell me!"

"Because I didn't," he snapped back and then, reigning in his anger, he said more quietly, "I just didn't." Because this is all my fault, he thought, as he watched his wife sit down her face drawn with the realization of just how serious this was for her. Just what kind of trouble this could cause. It hurt to see her like this, knowing that because of him she was going to be subjected to the same grilling his staff was going through with the take no prisoners White House counsel Oliver Babbish. He was suddenly ashamed that he had ever put her in this position. Because of her love for him, she was going to be hurt and that was something he had never intended when coming up with their deal.

"Abbey," he said more softly now, "I need you to talk to Oliver Babbish."

"I know," she said gently and gazed up into his eyes. With her anger faded she noticed the worn expression on his face. He seemed to have aged over the past weeks, the lines on his brow deeper, the weariness evident in his eyes. Everything about him seemed to register defeat and she was swept by a wave of guilt that she hadn't been here for him when he met with Babbish and when he bore the brunt of the staffs betrayal.

"Does everyone know now?"

"Yes."

"How are they taking it?"

"I'm not sure. Leo told them. I told Toby in person. We should have told him when we asked him to Aislinn's godfather. He went off on me pretty good. It's been a hell of a week," he rubbed his eyes tiredly. Abbey's heart ached for him. She was angry with him but that was nothing compared to the love she had for him. Seeing him like this broke her heart and brought her to her feet. She opened her arms and Jed walked into them resting his chin on top of her head and inhaling deeply the flowery scent of her hair. God, it felt good to hold her soft body in his arms again. To receive comfort rather than disdain. Abbey was the one person who could understand all the emotions he was going through. When she was here, he was no longer alone in the battle.

***

Later, in CJ's office, Abbey compared notes with her about being bitch slapped by Oliver Babbish. Abbey sat quietly letting CJ explain how the terminology she used with the president could determine how much trouble she might be in. Both knew it was ridiculous. Jed was her boss and her friend and she certainly didn't watch the words she used in talking to him. And when CJ said she thought she saw Abbey giving the President a shot in their suite on the campaign trail. Abbey admitted she was giving him a betaserone injection to help with his episodes. Abbey remembered those days well. She, who had valued her privacy so much, had at first been appalled when staffers came in and out of hers and Jed's suite, heedless as to whether they were half dressed, wrapped in each other's arms watching TV, sharing pizza and beer, or even still in bed. It wasn't long before she became used to it and, a lot of times, didn't even look up from what she was doing, whether it was rubbing her husband's neck, receiving a foot rub, or painting her toenails. They had all seen each other at their best and at their worst, and that was what made this doubly hard. There was such a strong bond between them all, they were all friends as well as co-workers.

Abbey commiserated with CJ's confusion, letting the other woman know how much she did not remember when questioned. While they had all bonded on the campaign trail, she and CJ had formed a close friendship as two strong intelligent women in a campaign dominated by men. There were things the two could share as women that they would not or could not share with the guys. Things only another woman could understand. So, when Abbey apologized for not being present when CJ was told because she hadn't known it was going to happen the night before, her eyes filled with tears of regret. She knew she and Jed were not the only ones who were going to suffer over this. Good people like CJ would suffer as well.

"You trusted me to be the godmother to your daughter," CJ said. "Why couldn't you trust me about this?

"It wasn't a matter of trust. It was a matter of not getting you guys involved. If we had told you, you would be in this a lot deeper than you are. As it is now, you have nothing to hide."

"If anyone will believe that," CJ sighed.

*****

The next week was spent preparing for the upcoming live broadcast. Abbey was stuck in the basement with Sam and it irritated the hell out of her when she realized she and Jed were being questioned separately to see if their stories were the same. She resented being treated like a liar and a criminal and, at times, she would have liked to slap that superior look off Sam's face. Instead, she used her vast medical knowledge to bring him down a peg or two. To let him know she was an intelligent woman, not the child he was talking down to. As her irritation and weariness grew, she looked up to see Oliver Babbish coming down the stairs. Oh goody, she thought, this day is just getting better and better.

Oliver was in rare form. He was angry that she wouldn't take his advice about getting her own lawyer and that she was so adamant about being with Jed on the live broadcast. He seemed to enjoy spelling out to her everything she had done wrong and then reading off what medical ethics rules she had broken. She remained calm and unflappable and she knew that pissed him off to no end. He wanted to ruffle her feathers, to get her riled up. That was why he asked her if she had ever asked Jed, as his physician, if he had ever had an extramarital affair in order to determine autoimmune diseases. The question had shocked her but she did not so much as flinch or blink. She simply looked him straight in the eye and said, "No", before re- iterating that she wanted to be beside Jed for the live interview. She knew he thought she was crazy to put her career in jeopardy by doing this. But, hell, Jed was more important to her than any type of punishment she might receive from the medical board. He had not been alone in his decision not to tell anyone, and she would be damned if she would let him take the heat for it alone. They got into this mess together, they would get out of it together.

When her meetings were over, she decided to go down to the gym and work off some of her pent up anger. Jed wasn't surprised when Lilly told him Abbey was in the gym. She had always worked out regularly and had been even more strict with her toning regimen while trying to regain her figure since the birth of the twins. What did surprise him was to find that she had given up her usual dance and yoga workout and stood before him in shorts and a tank top, her hair in ponytail, and she was kicking the shit out of big hanging punching bag.

"Wow," he gave a low whistle, "who the hell pissed you off today?" Abbey turned to him, the sweat trickling down her neck and between her breasts.

"Oliver," she kicked the bag hard again, "Babbish!"

"Well, with those kicks I'd say he better start protecting his balls."

"I wish I had kicked him in the balls. For such a big man, he is such a LITTLE man."

"Abigail, darlin', stop kicking and talk to me." Abbey turned back to him, pushing damp tendrils of hair back from her face. Jed watched her sweat dampened chest rise and fall and had to drag his mind back from the gutter. It wasn't easy to focus when his wife stood in front of him looking so incredibly sexy. He wanted to take her then and there. To make hot and sweaty love with her, but, with those lethal kicks and, the mood she was in, he felt it would be safer for a certain part of his anatomy if he ignored that urge. "What did he say to get you this upset?"

"It was the WAY he said it. He just enjoyed rubbing my nose in all the rules I broke. He's so goddamn arrogant and condescending. He just kept jabbing at me."

"Did you jab back?"

"No, that was what he wanted. I wasn't about to give him that satisfaction. I didn't even rise for the bait when he asked me if, as your doctor, I had ever asked you if you'd had an extramarital affair."

"Whoa...wait a minute. He wanted to know if you'd ever asked me if I've cheated on you. What the fuck does that have to with my MS? I didn't CATCH it from someone," Jed was furious now.

"It had nothing to do with it. Like I said, he was mad because he couldn't make me lose my cool, or break down and cry. I guess he thought that might do it."

"Yeah well, we'll see about that," he turned in a huff to leave.

"Jed, remember he's a lawyer," she called out after him, "don't hit him, he'll sue us."

A few minutes later Jed stormed into Oliver's office.

"Mr. President," Oliver said surprised, "what can I..."

"Lay off my wife, Oliver. The next time you want to know if I screw around, you ask me. Abbey has done nothing wrong."

"Excuse me sir, but she has. She..."

"Everything she did, she did out of love. To help me. None of it was her idea and if she made a mistake by going along with it, she doesn't need you rubbing her nose in that. It's one thing to be a lawyer prepping a client but you went over the line today. You're mad because you can't make her cower but don't you DARE try to break her down," Jed's tone was that of steely coldness and barely suppressed rage.

"Yes sir," Oliver said, knowing just how angry the President was with him.

"Oh, and Oliver," he said from the doorway, "for the record, the answer is no."

"What?"

"You asked Abbey if she ever asked me if I've had any extramarital affairs. The answer is NO," and with that he turned to leave.

****

Later that evening Jed was in his office pulling his thoughts together on the crisis happening in Haiti, and waiting for Mrs. Landingham to return so he could check out her new car.

When Leo entered the office, Jed knew right away from the ashen quality of his skin and the grave look on his face that something was wrong. Terribly wrong.

"Jed," he said softly, and Jed knew it was personal. "I'm so sorry." Oh God, Jed thought his heart racing, please God, not one of my kids.

"What is it Leo?"

"It's Mrs. Landingham. Her car was struck by a drunk driver on the way over here."

"Is she hurt very badly?" Jed kept his voice calm and even.

"I'm sorry, Jed. She's gone. She was dead at the scene." Jed closed his eyes, feeling the wave of shock and pain envelope him. His legs felt weak and shaky and he staggered back sitting heavily in his chair. He put his elbows on his desk and covered his face with both hands.

Leo was overwhelmed by the crushing grief he was witnessing and was at a loss as to what to say to him. However, he knew who would know just how to comfort him.

"I'll go get Abbey," he said.

TBC...