It was a few weeks after the election. Thanksgiving had come and gone and the Bartlet's were preparing to leave the White House for Christmas in New Hampshire. Before leaving, however, Abbey had invited Toby and Andy over for dinner at the residence. She'd felt bad by what she perceived to be her and Jed's less than stellar performance the night they'd been informed about the upcoming birth and she wanted to make sure that both Toby and Andy knew that they were behind them 100% no matter what they chose to do and no matter what the press had to say about things. She knew the couple was already starting to receive flak about having the children without the benefit of marriage. In regular society it would hardly have been shocking but Toby was a senior advisor to the President and Andy was a congresswoman so it hadn't taken long for their predicament to become fodder for newsmagazine shows and the tabloids.

Abbey watched her husband lead the couple into the living room for coffee after their dinner She knew that Jed had been hurt and perplexed by Toby's reference to being intimidated by his Catholicism. That Jed was a devout Catholic was not news to anyone in the White House, however, Abbey had never known a man more tolerant of other religions, other cultures, other points of view and of the ultimate frailty of human nature, at least when those failures didn't hurt another person, than her husband. He definitely held himself to a strict moral code but he made mistakes just like everyone else. And, while there were times that he felt disappointed in his fellow man he had never been judgmental of his friends or his staffers unless warranted. She knew that he wanted Toby to know that, while he hoped that Toby and Andy would remarry, if they didn't he was not going to look down on them for having their family out of wedlock. Children were a blessing, a gift from God, no matter what the circumstances. It was a belief he had always held and one that he had only questioned once in their married life, a question that had caused him to remain pro-choice despite the stance his religion took on the issue.

"So, you're moving into your fifth month," Abbey said, as they settled in. It was telling that while Abbey sat next to Jed on the couch, Andy chose to sit separately in a chair, across the room from Toby. "That's always the best time in a pregnancy. No more morning sickness and yet you're not so huge you can't see your feet anymore."

"I never really had a lot of morning sickness," Andy said. "Just a little nausea every now and again. I think I only threw up a couple of times.

"You're lucky I got hit with it pretty bad in all my pregnancies," Abbey lamented.

"Especially the last one," Jed added. "Remember that prayer breakfast we went to with all the leaders of the major denominations?"

"Jed-----"

"No, this is good. We'd just all bowed our head in silent prayer when Abbey gets a whiff of the quiche and jumps to her feet spilling her coffee in a Rabbi's lap. In er haste to get out of there she kicked her chair over, LOUDLY, I might add, and barely made it out of the room before heaving everywhere. Apparently, according to the press corps, she was this close to nailing Sam Donaldson." He held his thumb and forefinger just inches apart.

"Thank you for that wonderful visual, Jed." Abbey shot him a sarcastic look. "But, Andrea Mitchell did say that she'd pay me if I could do that on command all over Rush Limbaugh. Unfortunately I never got the chance."

They were all laughing when Isabelle entered the room with a crying Aislinn.

"Mumma, Mumma," Aislinn twisted in Izzy's arms reaching out toward where her mother was sitting. It was obvious that she had been crying for a while.

"Mrs. Bartlet, I'm sorry to interrupt you but Aislinn woke up with a bad dream and she's crying for you. I can't console her."

Abbey was already on her feet heading for her daughter. "Excuse me," she turned back to her guests "I have to go settle her down."

"Mind if I join you?" Andy asked. "I need the practice."

"Be my guest."

"What is it, baby?" Abbey took Aislinn into her arms and the little girl buried her face into her mother's. "Did you have a bad dream?"

Aislinn nodded against Abbey's neck. "Bad mukey's…bad mukeys."

"Did they convince you to watch "The Wizard of Oz", by chance?" Abbey asked Isabelle while she stroked her daughter's hair soothingly.

"Yes. Is that what she's upset about?"

"Nicky's terrified of the wicked witch but for Aislinn it's the flying monkeys that give her nightmares. Is that what you dreamed about, sweetheart? Did you dream about those mean old monkeys."

"Bad mukeys…" Aislinn looked up at her mother, her face blotchy with tears."

"They ARE bad monkeys," Abbey agreed. "But, you know what? Monkeys aren't really bad and they can't fly and get Aislinn or Nicky or mommy or daddy because monkey's don't really fly."

"Mukey fye," Aislinn nodded. She'd just watched them fly on TV. Abbey knew she wasn't going to get anywhere trying to reason with a toddler over the difference between reality and TV.

"Okay, well, do you think Max would let the monkey's get you?"

"No…Maxy bahk."

"That's right, Maxy would bark and he wouldn't let a mean old monkey take Aislinn away. So, I'll tell you what. Let's go back to bed and I'll let Max sleep in your room tonight."

"Nooo…." Aislinn's tears started up again. "Mumma 'tay, Mumma 'tay."

"Yes, sweetheart, mommy will stay until you fall asleep. Okay?"

Aislinn sniffled and nodded against Abbey's chest, but as Abbey turned to leave Aislinn squirmed in her arms. "Dada kiss…pease Mumma." She lifted big watery pleading eyes to Abbey.

"Okay, you can give daddy another kiss goodnight but then its back to bed." She set Aislinn down and the little girl scampered over to her father catapulting herself against him.

"Night, night dada…kiss" she lifted her pursed lips up to him and Jed kissed her gently.

"Night night, sunshine." Jed pulled her in for a quick cuddle. "Now you go back to bed and be good for mommy." He patted her behind and sent her on back to Abbey who lifted her into her arms. Then the two of them, along with Andy, headed down the hall to the nursery.

"She's a really good mom," Toby said quietly, admiring the way Mrs. Bartlet hadn't pooh poohed her daughter's nightmare. That she had taken the little girls very real fears seriously and had come up with a solution all could be happy with. He'd always known she was a good mother but watching her get right to her feet to take her daughter from the nanny and not berate the woman for interrupting her really showed what they had tried to convey to the press. That Mrs. Bartlet truly was a hands-on mother

"Yeah, she is." Jed smiled proudly. The smile left his face when he noticed the almost wistful look on Toby's face. "Is something wrong?" he asked.

"No…well, uh, yes, I guess there is. I've been just sitting here listening to you and Mrs. Bartlet and I remember what it was like when she was pregnant with the twins. I remember you coming into the oval exhausted because she'd had a bad night or gushing with excitement because one of the baby's woke you up with a kick. I'm just starting to realize that I'm not going to have that with Andy. I never held her hair back while she threw up with morning sickness; I'm not there to run out and get food in the middle of the night when she has a craving, or to massage her back when she's having a bad night. I'll never be sleeping close enough to her for my child to kick me awake."

"You two made a baby, she must have feelings for you. Even if it was just one night of passion, at least there was that connection."

Toby's eyes were downcast. He hadn't broached the twin's conception with anyone yet. "We didn't exactly make a baby the old fashioned way. There was no passion involved."

"I'm not following you."

"Before Andy and I divorced we were trying to have a baby. We'd tried the natural way for years and it wasn't working so we decided to try in vitro. It didn't work for us and I think it was part of the reason we separated. Andy wanted a baby so badly. I guess it didn't matter as much to me. I was caught up with the campaign and then winning the election and I neglected what she wanted most in the world."

"What are you saying, Toby?"

"I'm saying that after we divorced Andy continued to try to get pregnant in vitro with my sperm. I don't think she ever thought it would take but it did and now we're going to be parents, separate parents. I'm only going to see my kids every other Sunday, if then. I won't get to kiss my daughter good night the way that you just did with Aislinn. You don't know how lucky you are."

"Oh, yes, I do. Believe me, Toby, I do. Are you planning to be there for the birth?"

"I don't know. Andy hasn't asked me. She's having a C-section."

"You have to be there, Toby. Regardless of your relationship with Andy, there is no more humbling experience or greater miracle than watching your child enter the world. Those were the five most precious moments of my life."

Toby stared at the President. If he'd ever doubted what kind of man Jed Bartlet was, that one statement would have told him. This was a man who had won a Nobel Prize, had been elected congressman, Governor and then President of the United States twice and the five most important days of his life were the day's that his children had been born.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"One father to another?"

"Yeah."

"Did you want a boy for your first baby?"

"No. I wanted Elizabeth, whatever sex she might be. A healthy baby with ten fingers and ten toes and that's just what I got. I love my son, and there is something wonderful about having a son, but there is nothing like being a daddy to a little girl, Toby. Just wait, you'll see. The moment they place that wet crying baby girl in your arms she is going to have you wrapped around her little finger so tight you'll never get free. It doesn't matter that her head is smeared with blood and birthing fluids and her face is all scrunched up and red from crying, she is going to be the most beautiful thing you've ever seen in your life."

Toby hoped he was right because deep inside he was terrified that he was not going to be able to love his children the way that a father was supposed to, that he didn't have what it took to be a good dad.

"You still look skeptical."

"I guess I am. I mean I know those feelings were true for you but that doesn't mean that I'll feel the same way. I didn't exactly have a great role model. My father spent more time in prison than he did at home."

"And Leo's father killed himself, Sams father had a mistress and my father was a hard ass. We aren't our fathers, Toby."

"I hope to hell not."

"When Abbey told me she was pregnant with Elizabeth I felt the same way that you do right now. I don't think there is any new father-to-be that doesn't have doubts, it's just a little stronger with us. And don't think Andy doesn't have the same doubts. New mothers aren't immune to fears. Believe me, Abbey wasn't always the cool, confident mother that you see now."

"Abbey was nervous?"

"Uh, yeah, you could say that. I think it may even be worse for our women since they're the ones that have to bring the little ones into the world, they're the ones who nourish them and ultimately they are their primary caregivers. They have a hell of a lot more to worry about than we do."

"Hmmm…I hadn't thought about that. I really don't know how Andy is feeling about all of that. I guess I should talk to her."

"I guess you should. Being a father-to-be is as much about supporting your child's mother as it is about supporting your child."

****

By the time the women made it to the nursery Nicholas was whimpering sleepily in his crib and asking for his mother and his binkie.

"This is something that you better get used to," Abbey told Andy, as she moved with Aislinn still clutched around her neck to Nicky's crib to search for his binkie. "When one wakes up you can pretty much rest assured that the other won't be far behind. Makes it tough when you're nursing. You can nurse them both at once, but it isn't easy. Most of the time I'd have Jed or Izzy give one a bottle of breast milk while I nursed the other and then for the next feeding I'd switch. Are you going to breast feed them?"

"I'm hoping to." Andy didn't tell the First Lady that she wasn't going to have Toby to help with those midnight feedings.

"Well, a good breast pump is imperative. It's the only way you'll be able to keep up. I got a top of the line one at my baby shower but let me tell you, those electric ones feel like they are going to suck your spine out through your breast. Jed used to refer to it as my medieval torture device and a lot of times that's exactly what it felt like."

"Mumma…up…" Nicholas murmured as she placed his binkie to his lips, but it was a halfhearted demand, his eyes barely opening.

"No, you stay in bed, little guy." Abbey continued to rub his back talking softly to him until the pacifier dropped from his lips. He promptly stuck his thumb in his mouth in its place and snuggled up to his Tigger to fall back to sleep. Abbey then moved from the crib and stopped at a small boombox that sat on top of the bureau to slide in a "Baby Lullaby" CD. As the soft strains of Brahms filled the room she made her way to the rocking chair to settle in and give Aislinn her bottle, rocking her gently as she drank. Clutching her blankie to her chest Aislinn suckled sleepily with her head pillowed against mother's breasts. Every so often she would pause her sucking to rub a tiny fist over her heavy eyes as she fought falling asleep.

Andy made her way quietly around the darkened nursery taking it all in. There were beautiful Noah's Ark murals all over the walls and little lion and giraffe nightlights in several sockets keeping the room from being truly dark. There were two cribs, two bureaus, two toy boxes with each child's name on them, and one changing table. Andy paused at the changing table picking up different items and inhaling the definite baby scents of Caldesene powder, baby lotion, and Desitin. She took in digital thermometers, and old fashioned rectal thermometers with the bottle of Vaseline close by. She took in teething rings and a box of Zwieback cookies, baby Anbusol and baby Tylenol. She took in the many family pictures on the walls and on the shelves and bureaus. Pictures of the twins in their parent's arms just moments after their birth all the way through the most resent shots of them playing with the balloons on election night.

She continued on to scan the titles of books in the bookshelf next to the changing table. The top shelves were definitely Abbey's and it looked like one or two for Jed. "Delivery Without Drugs" "Meditations and Positive Thoughts for Pregnancy and Birth" "The Thinking Woman's Guide for a Better Birth" "Yoga for Pregnancy" "Natural Mothering" "What to Expect When Your Wife is Expanding" "Surprise! It's Twins" "Everything You Need to Know to Have a Healthy Twin Pregnancy" "The Art of Parenting Twins" "20,001 Baby Names", beautiful art books of pregnant women and babies by Anne Geddes, and where the books left off there were stacks of "Parenting" magazines.

"Feel free to grab anything you'd like to borrow." Abbey told her.

"There's so much. I don't know where to begin." Andy began pulling out a few of the titles that had caught her eye then continued checking out the other shelves in the bookcase. After the pregnancy and birth books there was another shelf that held CD's. She glanced through the CD's noting that there was music to sleep by with several baby lullaby CD's including one in French and one in Spanish, Return to Pooh Corner and lots of classical Brahms, Mozart and Handel. There was also music to play by with favorite children's car songs and soundtracks to what looked like every Disney movie ever made. The bottom shelves were crammed full of children's books. Jan Brett, Dr. Seuss and many many more. "Goodnight Moon" and "Stellaluna" lay face up on the floor making it obvious that they were favorites.

Another bookshelf was stacked with puzzles, games, Playdoh, coloring books, crayons, and enough paste, Popsicle sticks, glitter, finger paint and construction paper to make a preschool envious. To the left of that shelf was a large three sided easel where the Bartlet toddlers could work on their masterpieces on the easel side or their ABC's on the chalkboard side. Little paint stained smocks lay over the easel seats waiting for the next time the budding young artists would want to create.

"This place. It's just…it's magical." Andy sighed. "I can't imagine any child ever wanting to leave this room. Heck I wouldn't want to leave this room." She moved closer to where Abbey sat, her fingers resting on Nicky's crib.

"I'll let you in on a little secret," Abbey said. "When I need to unwind, or a I just want to be alone and relax I like to come in here when the kids are asleep, put on one of their CD's and just sit in this rocking chair and watch them sleep."

"There is a feeling of serenity in here."

"Right now there is but you haven't been in here at 2 in the morning when they're both teething and screaming or in the afternoon when they're overtired and have twin tantrums because they don't want to put their crayons away."

Andy gazed down at the sleeping Nicholas, a soft smile curving on her face. He was an adorable little boy his fair hair falling over his forehead, his brow furrowing as he sucked on this thumb. He had kicked his blanket off and was wearing only a "Spongebob" pajama top and a diaper; his pajama bottoms were at the foot of his crib.

"Did you know that he's just in his diaper and shirt?" Andy asked, as she pulled the pajama top down to cover his round little belly.

"Yes," Abbey sighed. "He hates sleeping in pajama bottoms. Most nights he takes them off and throws them out of his crib. It must be a guy thing." Abbey knew that Jed was most comfortable just sleeping in his boxers or in the nude.

"Do you ever let them sleep in the same crib?"

"I did, especially when they were babies. They really seemed to take comfort from each other. Sometimes I'd find them all wrapped up in the same position they used to curl up in when they were in the womb. I have ultrasound pictures of them in the same position. Now I'll let them do it when they're having a bad night, but most of the time if they're having a bad night they end up in bed with Jed and me anyway.

Andy finally sat in the chair across from Abbey and watched mother rocking daughter, longing for the day when she would do this with her own daughter.

"She's beautiful, Abbey. I mean I know people say that about babies, but she really is beautiful."

"Thank you," Abbey smiled, tucking a curl behind Aislinn's ear. "We like her."

"This is all so…" She gestured around the room. "So overwhelming. I feel like there is so much that I have to learn. I have to admit I'm a bit nervous. I've wanted to be a mother for so long but now that I'm finally pregnant I'm afraid that I'm not going to know what I'm doing. I mean what if I can't tell the difference between a wet cry and a hungry cry or when a fever is just a fever and not some terrible illness."

"Believe me, that won't be a problem. There is something instinctual about being a mother."

"You weren't nervous with your first pregnancy?"

"Nervous? I was 21 years old and I was going to spend my whole pregnancy in a foreign country and give birth over a thousand miles away from my mother. Andy, I was terrified. But, like I said, once the baby is here your instincts just take over, well, that and a lot of phone calls to mom. But, I'll tell you. I did love being pregnant. I loved that earth mother feeling, especially once I made it to where you are now in your pregnancy. I never felt better and of course at this point all those hormones are kicking in and your sex drive just goes through the roof, don't you think?"

Andy eyed Abbey suspiciously. "Doing a little fishing, Mrs. Bartlet?"

Abbey met her gaze square on. "I guess I am. This came out of the blue, Andy. We had no idea that you and Toby were even thinking about reconciling so we don't know where you stand."

"We're not reconciling. I wanted a baby. There were other things more important to Toby and we ended up divorced. Don't get me wrong, that wasn't the only reason we divorced, but it certainly did pull us apart. But getting divorced didn't change me wanting a baby. I continued with hormone treatments and I decided to give in vitro another shot. Surprisingly enough it took."

"Did Toby know you were continuing to try to get pregnant with his sperm?"

"Not exactly. But, he wasn't angry; he'd signed a release. He knows how much a baby means to me. It's just, he's a bit like your husband. He has that old fashioned streak in him... he wants to get married again."

"And you don't?"

"No, I don't. A part of me will always love Toby, but I'm not IN LOVE with Toby anymore. There is no way that I could live with him again. Do you know what it's like to live with a man who sees the world through such jaundiced eyes?"

"No, I can't say that I do. I live with a man who tends to see it through rose tinted glasses."

"I'd rather have that kind of lightness and optimism than the oppressive heaviness of negativity. I don't want my children raised in a home like that. I know that regardless of how I got pregnant, Toby is the biological father of these two babies and I want him to be a part of their life. I'm just not sure that I want him to be a part of mine. I know that it would be better for my kids to have a mother and a father living under the same roof but not if we're all miserable there." She paused to watch Abbey slip the bottle from a sleeping Aislinn's mouth. " Do you think I'm a horrible person?"

"No, you're honest." Abbey got to her feet and placed her sleeping daughter in her crib then began adjusting the covers over her. "If you don't love Toby, if you don't think it can work than you're right, you're better off not getting back together because it's only going to hurt the kids in the long run. But, if you feel even the slightest chance that you could make a go of it with Toby than you owe it to yourselves and those unborn children to give it a try."

"I'll think about what you said. Toby and I really appreciate all the support you and the President have given us."

"Did you think we wouldn't support you?"

"Well, I felt you'd both take it in stride but Toby works so close with you and the President and he sees just how important your religion is to you both. I guess he felt that the President might have some old fashioned views about marriage and having babies out of wedlock."

"Believe me, we aren't people to cast stones. I'm sure you know that I was three months pregnant with Elizabeth when Jed and I got married."

"Yeah, but you DID get married. You were already engaged. You made a family."

"Yes, we did. But our ideas about family are shaped as much from statistics as they are by our religion and I suppose they are old fashioned. Ideally it would be nice for every child to live in a home with a mother AND a father but we both know that we don't live in an ideal world and that it's not always possible or best for that type of situation. In the end you just do the best that you can. That's all any of us can do." Abbey kissed her fingertips and placed them to Aislinn's forehead as they prepared to depart the room. "I just hope that my husband remembers that when he meets Zoey's new French boyfriend tomorrow."

"You don't think it will go well?"

"Uh…no. Meeting a new boyfriend would be difficult for my husband under any circumstance but after talking to my daughter and getting this guys biography I'd have to say that Jean Paul de Bourbon has disaster written all over him."

****

Your mother is really hot. Jean-Paul Pierre Claude Charpentier Vicomte de Condé de Bourbon. Jed ran the name and what he'd overheard the young man telling Zoey over in his mind. What kind of a pompous ass was his daughter bringing home to Manchester? God, he wished he could have been there when Abbey had met the languid young Frenchman. Jean Paul was the embodiment of everything Abbey despised in a man, an aristocratic, stuffy, indolent jet setter. Eurotrash. He was going to be as out of place at their New Hampshire farm as anybody could be. But, as he had told Toby, his daughter had had him wrapped around her finger from the moment she came out of her mother's body and there was nothing that he could deny her. Zoey wanted to bring Jean Paul to New Hampshire and he had agreed, but that didn't mean that he had to like it and it sure didn't mean that her mother had to.

"It's just a phase, right?" Jed asked his wife later that night as he watched her pack. "Tell me it's just a phase."

"What's a phase?"

"Jean Paul Maurice Chevalier Bourbon," he scowled.

Abbey smiled tolerantly at her husband. "That's Vicomte de Conde de Bourbon, to you."

"As much as I love it when you speak French to me I have to ask, does he honestly think that I give a damn about his stupid, useless title?"

"Some American's do, darling."

"Yeah, our daughter. How the hell could Zoey allow her head to be turned by that wastrel? We've seen these guys before, Abbey. He doesn't plan to do anything with his life but live off his title."

"She's young, Jed. Give her a break."

"Don't tell me you like him?"

"It's not up to me. He's Zoey's boyfriend and she seems to like him." Abbey closed one suitcase and began on another.

"He thinks you're hot."

"Jed, what on earth are you talking about?"

"I'm not making this up or imagining anything. I heard him telling Zoey that he thinks you're really hot."

"I'm sure that went over well with Zoey." Abbey winced for her daughter but couldn't help the little twinge of vain pleasure that came from a man young enough to be her son finding her hot.

"Abbey, tell me that boy did not get your hackles rising the minute he whipped off his ten names?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. I don't have hackles."

"Ooh, sweetness. I know you too well. There is no way that talking to this guy was not like nails running down a chalkboard to you. Your puritan work ethic is every bit as strong as mine, admit it."

"Jed, our daughter is bringing this boy home for Christmas and I want YOU to make him feel welcome."

"Abigail," He moved on her menacingly. "I'll make him feel as welcome as can be as soon as YOU admit that you don't like him."

"I like him just fine." She stepped back away from him.

"Abigail…"He had her pinned against the wall now. "Admit it, let yourself be a judgmental mother."

"I'm not a…." Abbey squealed as Jed reached his fingers under her armpits and began tickling her. "Jed…Jed…stop!" She cried, trying to twist away from him.

"Not until you admit it, Abbey. I'm not the only one who doesn't like him…Admit it!"

"Okay…Okay…. I can't STAND him. I DESPISE everything about him and his lifestyle and I hope to GOD that he is only a phase because the thought of him dating my daughter makes my skin crawl!"

Jed stared at his wife for a moment, a little in awe of her outburst. "I just wanted you to say that you didn't like him," he said, as he let her go. "You didn't have to be so mean about it. Jeesh, I almost feel sorry for the guy having such a judgmental woman for his girlfriend's mother." It was all he could do to keep from laughing at the look of outrage on his wife's face.

Abbey's response was to take the pair of pants she'd been packing and throw them at her husband's chest.

"Bet you wish that was a shoe," he chuckled.

"Damn straight."

"Well, this should be an interesting Christmas, anyway. Never a dull moment at the Bartlet's."

"Not with the Vicomte in the house anyway."

TBC...