It didn't take Jed long to get himself into a routine of work and rehab. He liked to spend his early morning hours in the solarium where Ronald Reagan recuperated after his shooting incident. He had a cup of coffee and went over his nightly briefings and his schedule with Leo. His schedule was still very light with any meetings being held at the White House.

Usually an early riser, Abbey's pregnancy caused her to sleep in later than her husband. By Jed's second cup of coffee, Abbey had come out of the bedroom in her kimono bathrobe yawning and running a hand through her hair.

"Morning, babe," Jed said. "How are you feeling? Breakfast this morning?"

"No," she groaned, covering her mouth with her hand.

"I had a feeling. I had Lucy bring your usual dry toast."

"Thanks," she sat down and Leo excused himself so they could breakfast together.

"Abigail, why are you glaring at my coffee mug?" Jed held the mug protectively against his chest.

"Because I need caffeine, Jed and I can’t have it. I hate drinking this stupid decaf. I need something to get my body moving. It's not fair. God made it difficult enough to give birth, he could have made pregnancy a more enjoyable experience."

"I know," Jed said commiserating. “But he was smart in choosing women to go through it because men would never go through any of this shit more than once."

He had been through this four times. He knew how to deal with a pregnant woman. He'd learned what to say and definitely what not to say. He was confident this time he would not detour into any pitfalls. He was a seasoned pro a.....

"Jed, are you listening to me?" Abbey asked, irritated.

"Of course, sweet knees. You were saying?"

"Jed Bartlet, do NOT wave that damn piece of bacon in front of me like that. Do you want me to get sick all over you?" She leaned back in her chair taking deep breaths to still her clenching stomach.

"Sorry," he popped it into his mouth. "Do you feel up to our swim this morning?"

"Yes, I'll feel better once I am away from all this food. “She pushed away from the table and opened her robe to show him she was already in her suit.

"You gonna wrap me in plastic again?" He frowned.

"Yes Jed. I'll have to until you get your stitches out. We don't want to get them wet."

Both Abbey and Jed had begun to use the White House indoor pool more often. It was great exercise for Jed without putting any stress on his back and Abbey enjoyed the time with her husband. She did make him do some different exercises but mainly they just swam together.

"You know," Jed said floating on his back, "when we first moved in here, Leo asked me to keep you out of the pool."

"What? Why?" She asked, puzzled.

"Because, whenever you were here swimming with me, arguments would break out among the men over who was going to deliver my messages. I guess they enjoyed your physical attributes more than mine."

"Jed, you are making that up."

"I am not. Ask Leo. I guess the consensus is the black bikini is the favorite."

"The black bikini is YOUR favorite."

"I have good taste."

"Yeah, well nobody will be seeing me in that suit again for awhile. “ She glanced down at herself. In her one piece suit she could see the tiny almost indiscernible swell of her belly that she knew would only increase every day.

"I like you this way.” He moved up behind her to kiss the back of her neck.

"You're a warped man, Jed Bartlet," she said shaking her head.

***

The decision about when to tell the senior staff about the pregnancy became moot later in the afternoon when Abbey made her way to the Oval Office to pick Jed up for his physical therapy session. He was in a meeting with the staff so she stood talking with Mrs. Landingham. While they chatted Abbey felt herself grow light headed, the room began to sway, and as she turned to take a seat, everything went black. Mrs. Landingham saw all the color leave Abbey's face as she fell to the floor.

"Oh my gosh, Mrs. Bartlet...Mrs. Bartlet!" She exclaimed. When Abbey didn't respond, she burst into to Oval Office forgetting all protocol.

"Jed...Abigail just fainted in my office," she stated urgently.

"What!" Jed burst out. "Oh Christ."

Everyone raced from the room. With his injuries, Jed was the last one to his wife's side. Abbey was already coming to and her head was in C.J.'s lap.

"What are you doing fainting away in here?" Jed said, his concern coming out as an accusation.

"Don't take that tone with me, Josiah,” Abbey said, allowing herself to be helped to her feet. "You KNOW why I fainted."

"Are you sick, ma'am?" Sam asked.

Abbey scanned the room and saw the worried faces of the staff. She knew they were probably thinking something worse than what was really the case.

"We may as well tell them," she said to Jed.

"OK. We're going to have to have some leeway in scheduling for the next six months," Jed said. "Abbey and I are going to have a baby. Surprise!"

They got the same stunned response they had received from their family.

"Did you just find out?" Josh asked.

"I've known for a little while," Abbey said. "We just told our family this week."

"Now, before you guys get all upset about being kept in the dark," Jed said, "we were planning on waiting until after Abbey has an amniocentesis next week so we could give you all the facts. We still want to wait until after that to tell the public."

"What is that?" Sam asked "I mean, I know it's a kind of test."

"Yes," Abbey said “it is a test. They’ll use a needle to take amniotic fluid which will enable them to check for abnormalities or conditions like Down's Syndrome. There is an increased risk of these things for a woman who is pregnant over 35."

The mood in the room had gotten sober so C.J. turned to Abbey with a bright smile.

"When are you due, ma'am?" She asked.

"February 10th," Abbey smiled. Due, she thought. For the first time she really thought about what it would be like to carry the baby to term and have a healthy child.

As the staff turned to leave, Jed chuckled as he heard Toby say to Josh, "Well, that old dog." He then turned to Abbey."We need to talk," he said and began to pull her into the Oval Office.

"Jed, fainting is perfectly normal. Remember how I used to faint at the drop of a hat when I was pregnant with Liz? It's..."

"It's not that," he interrupted. "I don't like the idea of you fainting in the halls. But it's not that. It's about the amnio. I don't think you should do it."

"Why not?" She asked surprised.

"Well, I just...I guess I never thought much about it until you were just talking to the staff about what they are checking for. I mean what exactly will we do if they tell us our baby has Down's Syndrome?"

Abbey just looked at him unable to speak.

"I'll tell you what we'll do," he said more softly now. "Absolutely nothing. We won't do anything but love that child with all our hearts just like we do our other three. We will love it and give it the best possible life he or she can have because it will be OUR child, Abbey. No matter what."

"Oh, Jed," Abbey said, gripping his forearm while shaking her head. "Sometimes you just blow me away. When you say something like that, you just make me realize all over again why I married you."

"You feel the same, don't you?" He asked.

"Yes Jed. We'll deal with whatever comes our way. But I do want to do the amnio. We really do need to be prepared. Especially if it's something really severe."

"All right. Just so long as we're in sync on this."

"We're in sync. Dr. Brant is going to do the amnio while I go in for the cervical surgery. I don't like the idea of a big needle any more than you."

"Can I be there with you?"

"You really want to?" She asked skeptically. "I mean, I damn well expect you to be there for the birth, but I don't expect you to have to be there for this."

"I'd like to be there with you, Abbey."

"Well, OK. I think I can clear it with Dr. Brant."

***

A week later Jed accompanied Abbey to the Washington Women's Health Clinic. Abbey was nervously sitting on the edge of the exam table in her hospital gown.

"OK Abbey, before we do the surgery I want to just do a quick exam and we'll let you hear the heartbeat," Dr. Brant said.

She measured Abbey's belly and then hooked her to a monitor so she and Jed could hear their baby's heartbeat. Suddenly the room was filled with a whooshing sound and the tiny drum beats of the heart.

"That's the heartbeat?" Jed asked excited, and in that moment the baby truly existed for him. He wanted it with a pang of longing so strong it nearly brought him to his knees. But, Dr.Brant was frowning. Abbey picked up on her O.B.'s look of concern.

"What is it, Mia?" Abbey asked, the alarm evident in her voice.

"Abbey, I'd like to do an ultrasound. NOW." Dr. Brant began to unhook Abbey from the monitor. Abbey's fear filled eyes met Jed's and he gripped her hand tightly.

TBC...