Jed grinned in his sleep. He was back home; he could hear the children in the hallway and waited with anticipation for the door to fly open and for the two rambunctious kids to come running in. When that didn't happen he frowned and opened his eyes. He wasn't at home after all. He was still in Louisiana, but that didn't make any sense. Was he missing his kids so much that he was starting to hear things? He could have sworn…There it was again, he distinctly heard the kids arguing over who was going to knock on the door. He sat upright a broad grin of delight breaking across his face.

"THE RUGRATS ARE HERE!"

He jumped from the bed anxious to see his children.

"Jed!" Abbey pulled the sheet up to cover her breasts. "Your clothes."

"Our kids bathe with me, Abigail. They've seen me naked."

"Yeah, well unless there's something you aren't telling me, Izzy has yet to see you in all your natural splendor. Or, did you think perhaps that they made the trip from Washington alone?"

Jed looked down at himself and then at the door, his skin flushing with what he had almost done. He grabbed for his bathrobe and tossed Abbey a T-shirt, which she proceeded to slip over her head just in time for Jed to open the door to their room.

"Who's making all that NOISE out here?" He thundered, in the voice that he used for the Giant when he read the kids 'Jack in the Beanstalk."

"DADDY!" The kids shrieks filled the room and Abbey laughed as she watched two mini tornadoes attach themselves to their father's legs. Jed pulled their arms from his legs and got down on his knees, holding them away from his body to survey them up and down, his eyes squinting critically.

"My God, Abbey, I think they've grown five inches since I last saw them."

"A bit of an exaggeration, wouldn't you say?" Her tone was sarcastic but a smile of pure joy was on her face at having her family together again.

"MOMMY!" The two children cried out, upon realizing that their mother was in the room as well and they both raced for the bed.

Grinning broadly, Jed lifted them up on to the bed and they hit Abbey's body with such enthusiasm she was pushed back into the pillows.

"Oh, gosh, I missed you guys so much." Abbey held their warm little bodies tightly to hers and began nuzzling and kissing their hair and faces as only a mother could.

Jed sat on the edge of the bed next to them and Nicholas crawled back over to his father. Jed lifted him up standing the toddler in front of him.

"What do you think, sport? Have you grown, or what?"

Nicholas nodded with a smile.

"Well, you tell your mother that. Us guys gotta stick together."

Nicholas turned to his mother who was laying back on the pillows with Aislinn snuggled up in her arms. "I gwowed." he informed her.

"Are you ganging up on me?" Abbey feigned a stern look and sat up. Nicholas leaned back against Jed's chest. "Cause if you're ganging up on me, I'm going to have to…TICKLE YOU!" She reached out her fingers pressing them into her little boy's ticklish ribcage and underarms. Nicholas shrieked and laughed while his mother continued to tickle and nuzzle at him.

"And what about you, young lady?" Jed asked, eyeing his daughter who hadn't moved from her spot nestled into the pillows. "Are you ticklish?"

Aislinn shook her head negatively but a smile was already working its way across her face anticipating what her father was going to do next.

"Are you sure about that? Cause I think I remember that you are very ticklish." Aislinn had already begun giggling by the time Jed had her shirt lifted and when he blew a loud raspberry on her belly she was helpless with paroxysms of laughter.

The sound spilling out of the room into the courtyard below was not what the service had become used to over the past couple of days. This time it was the sound of a family, of mother, father, and giggling children wrestling over the bed, tickling and squealing with delight. It was the joyful sounds of a family reunited.

****

Abbey and Jed had breakfast that morning in the hotel restaurant. The children had already eaten but they ordered them each a chocolate chip pancake and milk to keep them from getting too crabby while they ate. There was too much excitement at seeing their parents again and neither child wanted to stay in their high chairs, they fussed and squirmed until they were finally released and each allowed to sit on a parents lap.

"You two better start behaving," Abbey said, spooning a piece of pancake into Nicky's mouth. "Or we may just skip the zoo."

"Is that where we're going today, the zoo?" Jed asked, over the protests of his kids.

"Well, darling…that's part of the deal that I made with Bruno."

"Bruno wants us to go to the zoo?" Jed looked puzzled; he'd never campaigned at a zoo before.

"He wants us to go to the zoo with the kids and while we're there he wants a photo-op." Abbey cringed, waiting for her husband's outburst. They never used their children this way, never had, even when it meant getting more votes.

"We're going to spend the day at the zoo with the press trailing us?" Jed sounded more disgusted than pissed.

"No, not all day. I told him just one photo op. He chose the petting zoo. So, we'll have our pictures taken with the kids feeding goats and lambs and then we'll have the rest of the day to ourselves. I'm sorry. It was the only way I could get Bruno to agree. I think I could have sweet talked Leo into it, guilted CJ into it, or bossed Josh into it, but that Bruno is a real hard ass."

"Yes he is, it's why he's so effective.

Bruno's reputation was legendary. The man was a political animal pure and simple. Emotions and friendships did not exist for him, he did not care to build relationships or bond with the staff, he was simply there to do his job, and that was to get the President re-elected no matter what the cost. Because of that there was no manipulation or subterfuge on his part. Bruno was straightforward and honest oftentimes quite brutally honest. That was actually something Abbey admired in the man. With Bruno you never had to wonder where you stood. If she hadn't been fighting him for control of her husband's life she might even like the man, but as it was she was getting really irritated with butting heads with him.

"Speak of the devil," Jed said, as he watched Bruno and some of the staff enter.

"No pun intended," Abbey whispered to him with a raised eyebrow, as she sipped her coffee.

"The motorcade is ready whenever you are," Charlie informed them.

Jed nodded and they began to get to their feet.

"The press will be roped off by the petting zoo," CJ said. "They would like photos of each of you holding a child and then they'll take some candids. They will not, at the First Lady's request, shout at the children or try to talk to them."

"You sure about that, CJ?" Jed scowled. He still remembered that circus of hooligans screaming at the kids when he was bringing them to visit Abbey in the hospital.

"I'm sure. It's just legitimate press that has been invited. No paparazzi. And, when you move on, they will depart and you'll have the rest of your day in peace."

As they started to make their way out of the hotel, each holding a child's hand, Abbey stopped in front of Bruno while Jed continued on.

"Just so you understand. This is the LAST time that I barter for him." She stuck her finger in Bruno's face. "Next time I say he needs a break, he gets a break."

"Begging your pardon ma'am, but the President is a big boy, he doesn't need to be molly coddled," Bruno said derisively. The rest of the staff stepped back wondering just how stupid Bruno was to fire up the First Lady's temper. Nobody questioned the First Lady when it came to her husband's well being, NOBODY.

"EXCUSE ME?" Abbey's green eyes were flashing with fire now. " I'm NOT some brainless bimbo here, I happen to be a very respected doctor, something I think that you all often forget. I KNOW exactly what the hell I'm talking about. I'm also the President's wife and I know him better than ANY of you. I know what Jed needs and I know how to get the best out of him, why don't you try asking me for a change instead of fighting me." She turned to follow Jed out of the building, then turned back to them. "Don't EVER talk down to me again Bruno."

"Wow," Bruno watched the First Lady leave with something akin to admiration in his eyes. "Is there fire in her, or what?" Abigail Bartlet was proving to be everything that Bruno found appealing and admirable in a woman. She was feisty, smart, sexy, temperamental, candid and honest to a fault. Unfortunately those were the qualities he found LEAST appealing in a candidates wife. He liked his candidate's wives to be quiet and malleable, to stay hidden in the background and to pretty much speak only when spoken to. He did NOT like his schedules or his methods questioned and the fact that it was the First Lady second-guessing him stuck in his craw because there wasn't a whole lot that he could do about it. He couldn't complain to the President about her, their close relationship was just as legendary as his own reputation. Maligning the First Lady to the President would probably get him nothing more than a one way ticket out of Washington. Yes, Dr. Abigail Bartlet was proving to be a formidable and worthy opponent. But, then again, there was nothing Bruno enjoyed more than a challenge.

****

True to their word, the press remained behind their rope barricade and silently photographed the First Family while they wandered in the small pen that held a petting zoo. The President had purchased a large cup full of feed and the First Lady poured it into Nicholas and Aislinn's small hands so they could feed the lambs and baby goats. Aislinn at first clung to her father's leg, a little nervous at being surrounded by all the excited animals that threatened to knock her to the ground.

Jed bent over with an outstretched hand to show her just how easy it was to feed them and greedy little animals immediately surrounded him. Aislinn finally could not resist and accepted the transfer of feed from her father's hand to hers. Jed squatted beside her keeping the more aggressive animals at bay and when things had calmed down a bit, Aislinn tentatively reached out her hand, giggling when a snuffling tiny goat licked the feed from it.

"Moh, daddy," she held out her hand for more of the feed. Jed poured more onto her hand and soon Aislinn was an old pro, feeding even the most aggressive of the baby animals.

"Mama…YUCK!"

Jed's head turned at his son's exclamation and almost immediately he heard Abbey burst into laughter. Nicholas was seated in the dirt with his eyes closed turning his head from side to side while a newborn lamb crawled all over his lap trying to suck at his chin.

"What's the matter Nicholas?" Abbey asked, pulling the baby lamb gently off of him. "Don't you like getting kissed by a lamb?"

"Yucky" he scowled, scrambling up to his feet. He stepped up to where his mother was now kneeling helping his sister bottle feed the small lamb, and proceeded to rub his dirty face against the soft yellow cotton shirt that she wore with her navy blue shorts.

"Nicholas, don't do that, sweetheart, you're getting mommy all grimy."

Nicholas stepped back. Abbey noticed that both children seemed more sensitive to reprimands since she and Jed had been gone so much. "It's okay, honey," she reassured him. "Come over here with Aislinn and me and help us feed the lamb."

Nicholas toddled over and placed his hand on the bottle with his mother and sister, giggling at the way the lamb suckled and tossed his head.

"See," Abbey told him. "He was just hungry, that's why he was nibbling at your chin. You used to do that when you were a tiny baby."

Nicholas laughed and shook his head negatively.

"Oh yes you did. You were a very impatient little baby when you were hungry and when mommy wasn't quite ready to feed you yet you used to suck on my shoulder and my chin and you even used to suck on daddy's fingers."

Nicholas turned to look at his father for confirmation.

"Yup, you did, slugger. That's why I only have three fingers now." Jed put up a hand bending a finger so that only three showed.

"No" Nicholas continued to shake his head completely unfooled by his father. He ran toward Jed and grabbed at his wrist.

"Oh no you don't." Jed tried to hide his hand behind his back. Nicholas raced around behind him and grabbed his arm. "Oh no, you got me." He pulled back pretending to try to break away from his son's grip. "Oh, Abbey, I told you he grew, he's too strong for me now."

Nicholas laughed with triumph and turned his father's hand so that he could see where Jed was hiding his finger.

"Mama, see." He lifted Jed's hand to show her that he still had all his fingers.

"He does have all his fingers, doesn't he? Was daddy trying to trick you?"

Nicholas nodded with a big grin.

"You're too smart for me, kiddo, can't pull the wool over your eyes." He tousled Nicky's hair and the little boy scampered back off to his mother to finish bottle feeding the lamb.

Jed made his way to the edge of the pen where CJ was leaning against the rails smiling at them, enjoying watching the family at play. "Could you get word to some of the photographers. I'd like to have some of these pictures for our own personal photo albums, especially the ones with the three of them feeding the lamb.

"Of course Mr. President, that shouldn't be a problem."

When the children began to tire of feeding the animals, Abbey and Jed packed them back up into the little red wagon they had rented and made sure the tiny baseball caps they wore were shielding their fair heads and faces from the unrelenting sun. When they turned the wagon to walk by the press corps each child had their stuffed Paddington bear in one hand and a sippie cup of juice in the other. That was the last that the press saw of them as the First Family made their way away from the petting farm and over to the alligator exhibit.

"Show's over people," CJ told them. "Pack it up and move on out."

Nobody was truly complaining, they all knew they had gotten some pretty memorable stuff this morning.

****

The air was steamy, heavy with moisture, dead. It was eerily silent save for the call of a bird and the soft plop of a gator moving from a dead limb into the water. Live oaks dripped gray-blue beards of Spanish moss all around them and birds perched on the top of the dead Cypress trees that stuck up like skeletal fingers out of the brown swamp water.

The Bartlet family was visiting the Bayou, or at least the New Orleans Zoo's imitation of a bayou, in order to visit the alligator exhibit. They all stood on a wooden walkway that crossed directly over the swamp.

"Jed, watch him…" Abbey nervously eyed her son as he eagerly peered through the rail trying to spot an alligator.

"Abbey, he's fine," Jed assured her. "There's no way that he can fall into the water." On the outer part of the railing there was a fence to keep children from falling into the swamp.

"I know, but just…keep your hand on him."

Jed sighed placing a finger through the strap of his son's overalls. "There, mother, are you happy now?"

"Immensely."

"Daddy!"

Jed's attention was drawn to the water where Nicholas was pointing eagerly at a large alligator swimming their way; it's beady eyes visible above the water.

"Here comes a big one." He turned to Abbey. "Bring Aislinn over here, there's one right in front of us."

Abbey carried Aislinn over on her hip and they all watched the large alligator climb out of the murky water up on to the muddy shore. After watching the gator part its mighty jaws in a wide yawn revealing rows of large yellow teeth, both Nicholas and Aislinn turned to their parents with astonished eyes.

"Teef, Mama," Aislinn said, sticking her fingers between Abbey's lips to run over her teeth.

"Yes, love," she withdrew the fingers and kissed Aislinn's palm. "He has teeth just like us."

"Big teef." Nicholas turned to them, his blue eyes wide as saucers. Abbey couldn't help but smile at the incredulity on her son's face. One of the best things about having children was getting to watch the world open up for them and re-experiencing that wonder time and time again.

"That's because big teeth are better…TO EAT YOU WITH." Jed chased a shrieking and laughing Nicholas all the way to the indoor reptile exhibit, while Abbey took her time pointing out birds and pretty flowers to Aislinn. She had never been a fan of reptile houses. All those snakes gave her the creeps. They of course fascinated her son and she found him on Jed's shoulders peering into a large tank that held a giant Anaconda.

"Mama, look." He called her over to her. Abbey grimaced and made her way over.

"Mama doesn't like snakes, sport." Jed grinned at Abbey's discomfort.

"They're fine behind glass," she sniffed, but her distaste was still quite evident in her wrinkled nose.

"So you don't mind the little garter snakes they let roam free in here?"

"What?"

"Like that one behind you."

"WHAT!" Abbey shrieked, running towards Jed. His deep belly laugh told her exactly what she needed to know before she even turned to look back. There was no snake.

"Bastard" she whispered into his ear with as much venom as any snake in the reptile hut.

Both Aislinn and Nicholas were laughing at their father's joke on their mother.

"Gotcha!" He grinned. "God, Abbey, you're such a GIRL."

"You don't usually complain about that," she quipped, moving along to the next exhibit swaying her hips just a little more than usual.

Jed whistled softly with appreciation. "No I don't," he murmured to himself. "I surely don't."

****

Just outside the reptile hut was a young high school boy working as a hot dog vendor.

"Is everybody ready for lunch?" Jed asked his family.

"Hut gog, hut gog" both children began to chant.

"You heard them," Jed told the boy. "We're going to need some dogs here. What's your name, son?"

"Uh…Billy…sir….William Landers," the boy stammered.

"Aislinn, this is Billy, tell him what you'd like on your hot dog."

"Kessup"

"I guess its ketchup for Miss. Aislinn," Jed told him, in case the boy hadn't understood his daughter. "What about you, Nicholas?"

"Kessup n'lellow"

"Lellow?" Jed frowned at Abbey. He hadn't heard that one before.

"Yellow" Abbey deciphered with a grin. "He means mustard."

"You heard the young man. It'll be ketchup and yellow mustard for him. And," he turned to Abbey. "For the lady, ketchup and relish."

"And what can I get for you, sir."

"I'll take two chili dogs with cheese and onions."

Abbey wrinkled her nose at him watching the boy pile on the onions. She leaned over and whispered softly into Jed's ear. "Just don't be expecting me to kiss you tonight with that onion breath you're going to have."

"On second thought, Billy. Hold the onions on my dogs. My wife has just informed me that she doesn't approve of onion breath. You know how it is, gotta please the ladies."

The young man began to blush as he worked on their hot dogs.

"Do you have a girlfriend, Billy?" Jed asked, passing Aislinn's hot dog to Abbey.

"Yes, I do. Her name is Tammy Sue."

"Would you forgo eating onions even if you LOVE onions just to make sure that you get a kiss from Tammy Sue?"

"Well…yes, sir. I expect I would." Billy responded to Jed's man to man tone.

"You're a smart boy. Take it from a man who's been married for about 100 years. You're going to spend the rest of your life bending over backwards to get pretty girls to kiss you. If you're lucky, like I am, it will be the same pretty girl your whole life through."

The boy nodding, grinning at Abbey who stopped wiping ketchup from Aislinn's face to sidle up to her husband. Smiling softly she gave him a quick, gentle peck on the cheek.

"Oh how I love it when you suck up, Bartlet.

****

In the gift shop, conveniently located at the exit, Abbey and Jed promised the children they could each pick out one thing and one thing only. Aislinn chose a friendly faced stuffed alligator, while Nicholas made a beeline for the long twisting stuffed Anaconda's. With peals of laughter he chased his mother around the gift shop with it trying to scare her.

"That snake is bigger than you are. Why don't you get a nice scary lion?" Abbey suggested, showing him a stuffed lion.

"Unh uh" Nicholas shook his head. " 'Nake!" He held the snake to his chest.

"Did you put him up to wanting that ugly old snake?" Abbey narrowed her eyes at Jed as she placed the stuffed animals on the counter so they could check out.

"Actually I think it's kind of cute." He picked up the snake thrusting it toward Abbey's face, teasing her with its forked tongue. "You do know what a fear of snakes is supposed to indicate, don't you, Dr. Bartlet?"

"Yeah, Dr. Freud, and if I were you I'd be hoping that's not what my fear indicates."

"Somehow I think I eradicated that fear a LONG, LONG time ago." Jed discreetly gave Abbey's rear a squeeze.

The Bartlet family left the gift shop with Nicholas banging his snake's tail against Abbey's leg all the way to where their strollers were parked. Abbey had a feeling that she was going to be having that snake thrown at her for quite a while to come.

****

They walked from the sedan to the hotel, Abbey with a sleeping Nicholas in her arms, and Jed with an equally crashed Aislinn. Both kids had fallen asleep the moment they had been placed in their car seats.

"You do know that they're going to wake up as soon as we put them down," Jed told her. He was balancing Aislinn in one arm, while he opened the door with the other. "Then they'll really be full of it."

"That's okay. I want them to wake up."

Jed's brow furrowed. "Why?"

"You'll see." Abbey gave him a mysterious smile. Jed shook his head. The workings of the female mind never ceased to baffle him.

Abbey was still smiling, when Jed opened the door that led out to the courtyard, only this time it was with anticipation. Sure enough, within seconds their eardrums were assaulted and the children were startled out of their sleep.

"SURPRISE!"

TBC...