"How's Abbey" Leo was sitting watching the TV in the hotel suite when Jed entered the room.

"She's okay." Jed took a quick nip from his glass of scotch.

"She still looked tight leaving here tonight."

"She'll do fine, Leo," Jed snapped. "She always does."

A worried frown crossed Leo's face as he watched Jed cross the room and sit down in an overstuffed chair in front of the TV just as Abbey took the stage to a thunderous ovation. She might be small but when she took the stage in her slim fitting, just above the knee, fire red Donna Karan suit and three-inch heels she commanded it. Star power, some people had it, some people didn't, and thankfully for the Bartlet campaign both Jed and Abbey had plenty of it.

For a brief moment a smile crossed Jed's face as the crowd chanted his wife's name over and over and Abbey had to wait for quite a while for the raucous group to settle down so that she could begin her speech. It was "ladies night" at the Democratic Convention, and since she was the First Lady, she was the highlight of the evening. It wasn't lost on anyone that she had received louder cheers and a longer ovation than any other senator who had given a speech over the past two days had.

"God, they love her," Leo breathed.

"Yeah." Jed settled back to watch her speak. He knew this was not an easy night for her. Lecturing in front of a packed medical conference or a classroom of students at Harvard was a cakewalk for her. Making an impassioned speech to introduce him to a crowd had become old hat, but giving a half-hour political speech in front of the entire nation was a whole different ballgame.

Yet, to watch her, one would never know that she had any apprehension at all. She was articulate in underlining what her husband had accomplished in his four years as President, funny with her family anecdotes in showing what kind of man her husband was, and impassioned as to why the country needed four more years of Jed Bartlet.

"Hell, with a woman like that behind him, I might even vote for Jed Bartlet."

Jed looked up to see John Hoynes enter the room. His wife Suzanne had spoken just before Abbey.

"Hey, John, ready for tomorrow night?" Jed asked.

"As I'll ever be."

Jed heard the hint of resignation in John's voice. For the second consecutive election he knew his vice President had to be thinking that it was supposed to be him up there. Four years ago he had watched Jed Bartlet, a nationally unknown intellectual from a pissant New England state come from nowhere to steal the limelight and the nomination. He had thought it would be for one term. Now, here they were four years later and he was still playing second fiddle. Jed knew just how much that had to rankle him.

"In four more years this will be your Convention, John." Jed's words were spoken with complete confidence.

"From your mouth to God's ear," John grinned, pouring himself a glass of scotch and sitting back to watch the end of Abbey's speech. "She's a helluva speaker and the country loves her. Abbey ever think of running for office?"

"To quote my lovely, genteel wife, 'I'd rather have my eyeteeth pulled out with a string and bleed to death than EVER run for office'."

John laughed. It was a very Abbey-like thing to say. Right from the start he had liked Jed Bartlet's sassy, sexy wife. It was Jed he had the issues with. Now, things were much better between the two and getting to know Abbey had only caused him to like her even more.

"Nope, politics isn't Abbey's thing. She does it for me and because she believes in what we're trying to achieve."

"You've got a fine woman there, Mr. President. To the ladies" He lifted his glass of scotch.

"To the ladies" Jed lifted his in agreement.

****

Jed had hoped that whatever was bothering Abbey had to do with her speech. He'd hoped it was just nerves or something, but the day following her victorious speech her demeanor had not changed at all. Oh, it was nothing anyone would overtly pick up on. She made her rounds of breakfast meetings, and the quick pep talks to the delegates from all states. She laughed and had her picture taken with them and signed autographs. She was lovely, and patient and gracious, everything a politician's wife should be, but she wasn't Abbey. To Jed, when he saw her throughout the day, she appeared to be moving as if on autopilot. At odd moments she seemed to be lost in thought and a couple of times back in their suite he had seen her watching the twins with an strange sort of wistfulness and he could have sworn that he had seen tears. When he'd called her on it she had brushed him off telling him that he was being ridiculous. He didn't think he was being ridiculous in the least. Something was bothering his wife and for some reason she didn't want him to know about it.

Despite his concern, nobody else seemed to pick up on Abbey's melancholic mood. Then again, everyone was so busy it wouldn't be hard to miss. The night the Vice President was to speak their suite was filled with a combination of senior staffers, campaign staffers, and family. To Jed it was almost surreal. In one corner Bruno and Leo were discussing the upcoming bus tour that was to take place directly after the convention, in another Josh, Toby and Sam were going over polling numbers, and in yet another the twins were on the floor playing with their toys oblivious to the commotion surrounding them. Abbey was by the door greeting their daughters; even Zoey had made it back from the summer semester she had spent at the Sorbonne. All three daughters had arrived in plenty of time to be there for their father's crowning achievement, the acceptance speech the following night.

He watched Nicholas make his way over to CJ, who had just entered the room. "Aunie Ceej" he tugged at her skirt. Intent on making her way to the President, CJ stopped dead in her tracks to look down at the little boy.

"What did you just say?" Her eyes widened with surprise.

"Aunie Ceej" he reached for her hand to pull her towards his toy box.

CJ hadn't expected the warmth and pride that spread through her with those two simple words. "Did you guys here that!" CJ called out to the room. "Did you hear what Nicholas just called me? I'm Auntie Ceej!"

Unimpressed with her excitement Nicholas tugged hard on her hand, propelling his little body forward to make her move faster. "Come ON" he demanded.

"Oh, he IS a Bartlet," CJ grinned at the President. "He sounds just like you, sir."

Jed lifted his glass to her with a smile and watched as Nicholas reached into the box to pull out his newest toy.

"'Onkey" he told her proudly. One of the delegations had given Abbey big blue floppy stuffed donkey's for the twins.

"You have a new donkey, I see that. Since you have a new toy, does that mean that I can have Tigger now?" She teased the boy by picking up his ratty old stuffed animal. Nicky's eyes widened and he threw his donkey on the floor to run at her and try to grab his beloved toy.

"NO!" He cried. "Tig, Tig" he reached his hands up for it.

"Oh, okay, I guess you can have them both." She handed Tigger over to him. Overcome with relief, Nicholas sat on the floor holding the animal tightly to his chest, thumb back in his mouth.

"Now look at all those toys that you have and I don't have any." CJ flashed him a sad pout.

"Aunie Ceej?"

CJ looked down to see Aislinn holding her stuffed donkey out to her as a gift.

"Oh, honey, you are just too sweet for words. Thank you, but you keep your donkey."

Aislinn wasn't going to press the matter. She'd made the offer and been turned down so she took her donkey back with her to where she was playing and pretended to give it a bottle that belonged to one of her dolls.

Abbey had been watching the exchange with a smile and made her way over to Jed. "I got one for you too," she told him.

"One what?"

"One of these" she pulled a stuffed donkey out from behind her back. Thank God you're a democrat; an elephant just wouldn't have the same effect. Jed burst into laughter as read what she had written in black permanent marker on the donkey's rear. "My Jackass".

"It's perfect. Thanks" He leaned down to kiss her cheek.

"I better try getting them into bed. Tomorrow is going to be a very long day for them."

"Izzy can do it. Aren't you going to watch the delegate count and John's speech?"

Abbey heard the slight hurt in his voice; these were memories they would carry with them for a lifetime. 'I wouldn't miss it for the world."

So, with Abbey seated holding his hand on one side of him and his daughters seated by his other side and at his feet, Jed watched the state by state delegate count. And, when the great state of Nevada yielded it's spot to the great state of New Hampshire so they could be the delegation to push their favorite son over the top and give him the democratic nomination, loud whoops of excitement filled the suite and champagne corks began to pop. It might not have been as exciting as it had been the first time around but it was still a joyful moment.

After sharing a glass of champagne with her husband and watching the beginning of John's speech Abbey could still hear the twins crying from the bedroom.

"I'm going to help Izzy and try to settle them down."

Jed nodded and watched her leave the room.

Back in the bedroom it was obvious that with everything that had been going on the children were overtired and over stimulated. Getting them down to sleep was going to be one big battle and so Abbey did what every parent did at some point in their life. She caved. She turned the TV on to the cartoon channel, gave the children a bottle and lay down on the bed between the two of them.

That was how Jed found them a few hours later, Abbey still fully clothed and Nicholas and Aislinn sound asleep snuggled up close to her, their empty bottles laying on the bed and the TV still playing.

"Do you need another room Mr. President," Sam asked, as he peered over the President's shoulder at the sleeping trio. Jed shut the door slightly to bar Sam's view.

"No, that's why we request king sized beds. Good night everyone." He entered the room and watched the threesome sleeping for a few more moments before he went into action slipping the kids under the covers and undressing Abbey down to the silky teddy she wore under the sophisticated suit.

"Damn" he muttered.

"Mmm… what?" Abbey murmured sleepily, as Jed slid her skirt down over her legs.

"Tomorrow night when I undress you there won't be any kids in this bed, and you certainly won't be sleeping," he whispered into her ear. Abbey simply smiled in her sleep and rolled onto her side.

****

If the previous days of the convention had seemed exciting and hectic, it was nothing compared to this, the last day. The day that Jed would officially accept the nomination of his party. Abbey had spent the morning doing the rounds on the morning talk shows and attending more breakfast functions. She had gone to see a performance of the San Francisco ballet with Liz, Ellie, Zoey and Annie and now she was back trying to keep the twins amused in the bedroom while Jed gave interviews in the suite.

"Okay, what are we going to play?" She kicked her shoes off and hiked her tight skirt up to sit on the floor with them. Nicholas brought over a plastic ball filled with pieces of differing shapes. The object was to fit the right shape into the slot. Everything was going smoothly until he tried to fit the rectangle into the square space.

"Honey, you need a bigger space," Abbey told him. "That one isn't going to fit there. Nicky ignored her and continued to try to jam it in, his frustration growing.

"Nicholas, let's look for another space." She leaned forward but he yanked the ball away from her and grabbed his plastic hammer. With single-minded determination he began to pound away at it as if he could force it to fit where he wanted it to go. A grin crossed Abbey's face. "Oh yeah, darlin', you are your father's son."

She was just moving to take the hammer away before he broke the toy when Izzy entered from the adjoining room where she had been folding the twin's laundry.

"Uh, Mrs. Bartlet…"

Abbey looked up to see the bedroom door leading out to the suite wide open and Aislinn nowhere to be seen.

Jed knew the moment he had lost the attention of the journalists, photographers, and TV crews present. A loud gasp of excitement had filled the room and he turned to see his little daughter come tottering out of the bedroom wearing her mother's high heels and a long pearl necklace.

"Excuse me gentlemen but I better rescue my daughter before she breaks an ankle trying to walk around in her mother's Ferragamo's."

Jed got to his feet and stopped in front of Aislinn, squatting down to her eye level. "And who are you supposed to be? Cinderella?"

"Cindywella' Aislinn agreed with a beaming smile.

"Well Miss. Cinderella, I think there is another Princess who might fit into these shoes a little better. Who do you think should wear these shoes?"

"Mommy"

"Yes, well why don't we go give them back to mommy." They turned just as Abbey came out of the bedroom in her stocking feet.

"Sorry, everyone" She sent apologies out to the room but there was no need. Every media person present was thrilled with the knowledge that they had just gotten something on print, film, and video that would be featured not just on magazine covers and on the prime time news, but throughout history. As far as the Bartlet campaign went CJ and Bruno were in the corner ready to dance a jig knowing that they had just gotten the photo-op of a lifetime

"Honestly, I don't know how she was able to walk in these." Abbey began to remove the shoes from her daughter's tiny feet.

"She is her mother's daughter." Jed grinned.

Abbey took Aislinn's hand and began to lead her back to the bedroom. Aislinn twisted her head back to look at her father. ""Daddy come?"

"Daddy has to finish talking to these people but then he can come," Abbey smiled down on her.

"Daddy pay bissy bissy pider?"

"Yes, sweetheart, I'll play 'itsy bitsy spider' with you when I finish up." Jed ran a hand over her curls then turned to take his place back within the media circle.

"Okay." Aislinn gave a quick smile and much to everyone's delight waved to them and blew her father a kiss

CBS news anchorman Tom Brokaw watched Aislinn depart the room with a sentimental smile. "She's going to steal a lot of hearts, Mr. President."

"Starting with mine," Jed said, touching his fist to his chest.

****

Jed spent the latter half of the afternoon doing run throughs of his speech, returning to the hotel only when it was time to shower and dress for the evening ahead.

Abbey was one step ahead of him. She had already showered and was in the process of dressing. Standing in only a black silk half-slip, she began picking through her lingerie drawer and pulled out a flimsy lacy black bra. She held it in her hands, running her fingers over the delicate fabric. Tears stung her eyes as she wondered how much longer she would be able to wear such lingerie for Jed, how much longer she would want to feel sexy. She slipped the pretty bra over her shoulders and hooked it in the back so that she could eye her cleavage in the mirror from each side.

"You look pretty damn good to me." Jed had entered the bedroom and walked up behind her, cupping his hands over breasts. "Mmm…you feel good too, silk and lace."

"Jed, DON'T" Abbey pulled away more sharply than intended.

He gave her a puzzled look. "What did I do? Did I hurt you?"

"Nothing, you didn't do anything. It's just…we don't time for this. We have to get dressed."

"Abbey just because Dr. Stewart said you were all clear for recreational activities doesn't mean I was planning to jump you, I just wanted to touch you. It's been a long time since I've touched you."

"I know it has. I'm sorry. I guess I overacted. Must be nerves. Forgive me?" She gave him her best baby doll pout, clearly meant to deter him from the subject at hand.

"Of course I forgive you." His eyes were still wary. "You'd talk to me if there was something really wrong, wouldn't you?"

Abbey paused a few moments. God, she hated to lie to him.

"WOULDN'T you" he pressed her.

Abbey swallowed past the dryness in her throat. "Yes, Jed, of course I would."

Relief showed on his face and Abbey knew that she had done the right thing. "Well then, let's get our asses in gear, Mrs. B, we have a nomination to accept."

****

Abbey sat in her box seat surrounded by the entire immediate Bartlet/O Neill clan. All her daughter's were with her as were both she and Jed's parents and their siblings. The only two members of the family not sitting with them were Aislinn and Nicholas who Abbey had felt were just too young to make it through the 15 minute introduction movie and then their father's hour long speech. So, they were sitting in a room with Izzy waiting until it was time to take the stage. Without having to worry about the two antsy toddlers Abbey was able to sit back, relax, and watch the biographical movie that would introduce her husband.

It was strange at times to see it all up there on the big screen, all those pictures from their photo albums of Jed as a little boy trudging around on the farm in his snowsuit while his grandfather taught him how to milk a cow, as a buttoned up serious young boy standing in his uniform in front of his prep school and as an earnest young man making signs to lead his church youth group to go to Washington and see Martin Luther King deliver his "I Have a Dream Speech", a speech that along with John Kennedy's call to arms, had shaped his young political mind. Not shown or spoken of in the movie was the punishment that the young man had received from his father for disobeying him and going to the march without permission.

She smiled softly at the first sight of the young college- aged Jed in his Notre Dame sweatshirt, a lock of unruly hair falling over his forehead. That was the Jed she had come to know the Jed she had fallen in love with. In the next instant she was watching a picture of the two them fill the big screen. They were sitting hip to hip on a stone wall in front of the lake. Jed's hair was a little longer and he looked more relaxed and at ease than in previous photo's, his arm was around her waist. She was wearing a mini skirt, her legs and feet bare, her gleaming copper hair falling in waves over her shoulders to her hips. Her head lay affectionately against his shoulder. They were carefree and laughing, the epitome of blossoming young love. It all showed through in that one picture, everything that they felt for each other.

"I met Abbey when I was a junior." It was Jed's voice over that began to play while they continued to show college pictures of them. " She was a year younger than me but she skipped a grade in junior high school so she was in the same year as I was. We were at a party and she was with a group of friends. I saw her across the room and, BAM, that was it for me. She was laughing and making the whole group laugh. I remember thinking that somehow I had to meet her, and somewhere inside I knew I wanted to spend my life with someone who could make me laugh like that."

"I bumped into him." Now it was her voiceover. "I literally bumped into him when I was going back into the party and he spilled beer on my blouse. I remember thinking how sweet he was to be so embarrassed as he tried to dry my chest with a napkin. Then I looked up into his eyes for the first time and he just swept me off my feet. You know you read about stuff like that in books, but it really does happen. We spent the rest of the night dancing and talking about everything under the sun and by the next day I knew that I was in love. We've been together ever since."

It was back to Jed's voice now as they showed pictures and home movies of the two of them with their brand new infants and throughout the years, as the girls grew older. Abbey smiled wistfully as they showed Jed jumping up and down on the sidelines of a soccer game cheering 6 year old Ellie on, and Ellie coming off the field to jump into her daddy's outstretched arms. She felt Ellie's hand slide onto her hers and turned to see her daughter smiling through the tears in her eyes. Abbey acknowledged her emotions with a gentle smile and squeezed Ellie's hand before she turned back to the film that was now showing Jed dancing with little Zoey at his first inauguration as Governor.

"I'd always been aware of how important it was to save the environment and make the world a better place, but that became even more important to me when I became a father. I was there with Abbey when Elizabeth, Ellie, Zoey, Aislinn and Nicholas took their first breaths on this earth and those are the five most amazing moments of my life. I feel very deeply the responsibility that I have towards them, and not just to feed, clothe, shelter, educate and love them, but to do my part to make this world a better place for them and for their children. I think of that responsibility every morning when I sit at the breakfast table with them and every time that I visit a classroom. If children are hostages to the future than I think that we have to do everything we can to be able to release them into a world free of pollution and poverty, hatred and racism, drugs and disease, a world in which they have the education to fulfill their potential and take them as far as their dreams may soar. I want this for my children and for every child in America."

The segment ended with a moment from the 4th of July with Jed sitting on a picnic blanket tickling, rolling around, and laughing with all five of his children. Then, as the movie ended the strains of Peter, Paul and Mary's "If I Had a Hammer" filled the building.

If I had a hammer,
I'd hammer in the morning
I'd hammer in the evening,
All over this land
I'd hammer out danger,
I'd hammer out a warning,
I'd hammer out love between my brothers and my sisters,
All over this land.

If I had a bell,
I'd ring it in the morning,
I'd ring it in the evening,
All over this land
I'd ring out danger,
I'd ring out a warning
I'd ring out love between my brothers and my sisters,
All over this land.

If I had a song,
I'd sing it in the morning,
I'd sing it in the evening,
All over this land
I'd sing out danger,
I'd sing out a warning
I'd sing out love between my brothers and my sisters,
All over this land.

The crowd erupted into a frenzy as they saw Jed take the stage and still the music played on.

Well I got a hammer,
And I got a bell,
And I got a song to sing, all over this land.
It's the hammer of Justice,
It's the bell of Freedom,
It's the song about Love between my brothers and my sisters,
All over this land.

Abbey stood cheering along with the crowd, pride causing her heart to swell, pride in her husband, pride in who he was, what he stood for, and what he'd overcome to make it to this moment.

Jed's speech was inspirational, it was moving, it was eloquent and it was impassioned. It was everything anyone could expect from one of the greatest orators of the century, and more. It had people silently mesmerized one moment and on their feet chanting his name the next and at the end with his fist smashing promises to make the changes America needed he blessed them, and he blessed the country and the upbeat strains of U2's "Beautiful Day" filled the arena, reaching a crescendo just as Abbey took the stage with a child on each hip. Red white and blue confetti and balloons fell from the ceiling as she set the children down on the stage. Both kids were adorable in their patriotic splendor. Aislinn wore a white sailor dress with a navy pinafore and a little red headband held her blonde curls back from her face, while Nicholas wore navy pants and a red and white Rugby shirt. Both raced into their father's outstretched arms.

"It's a BEAUTIFUL day, don't let it slip away…."

Making her way across the stage Abbey was smiling broadly at Jed and he put the children down for a moment to pull her into his arms with boyish exuberance for a kiss that was just slightly longer than polite society would dictate. She grinned up at him when she pulled back, ran her thumb over his lips to remove her lipstick, and stepped aside so he could kiss each of his laughing daughters. After a few minutes of the Bartlet's waving to the cheering crowds, John and Suzanne Hoynes joined them with their teenaged aged children.

****

Back at the Governors Mansion in Florida Rob Ritchie stared at the TV with frustration. He was watching Nicholas Bartlet sit on his father's hip laughing and batting the balloons that fell to the stage, while Aislinn stood beside her mother picking up the fallen confetti and throwing it into the air. But it wasn't just the two youngsters that caught his eye. It was the photogenic first and second couples and the line of gorgeous, clean cut Bartlet and Hoynes children. "Jesus Christ" He moaned. "How in the hell can we compete with THAT." The beautiful strawberry blond daughter's of Jed and Abbey Bartlet were laughing and chatting with the dark haired Hoynes children, bending every so often to help with one of their toddler siblings.

Just a month ago at the Republican convention they had tried to demonize the two couples, tried to paint them as ultra liberals out destroy American family values, but anyone watching those two beautiful, loving families on that stage tonight would only see family values at their very best.

Janet Ritchie glared at the TV, with something akin to hatred flashing in her eyes. The Bartlet's might frustrate her husband but she was consumed with anger. She watched Abbey Bartlet lift her husband's hand to kiss the back of his knuckles while confetti and balloons continued to rain down on them. She would never forget the way her husband's eyes had been glued to Abbey's chest the night they had met at the opera, or that smug, superior attitude Abbey had given her when she had demanded the negatives back. Somehow there had to be a way to make that bitch pay and she was going to find it.

****

Abbey had barely stepped into their hotel bedroom when she felt Jed grab her by the waist and spin her around in his arms. If he hadn't planned on 'pouncing ' on her earlier, he was certainly making up for it now. His lips were on hers in a flash and for some reason it felt like he had eight hands and they were all over her body, pulling at her clothes and squeezing her flesh. She had known this was coming. This was the way Jed was after a major performance. He fed off the enthusiasm and adulation of the crowd his adrenaline still pumping furiously through his veins and he was horny as hell. His way of expressing his enthusiasm was very sexual in nature, but unlike a rock star coming off the stage to groupies, he jumped in his wife the first chance he got. Usually Abbey got into it, even looked forward to it with anticipation all night. She loved her it when her husband was in a take charge mood, loved it when he made her surrender to his will just as much as when she made him to surrender to hers. However, tonight she had not been looking forward to this, sex had been the last thing on her mind.

Still, when Jed slipped her earlobe between his lips and began to suckle on it as his hands moved up her back to work the clasp on her bra, she arched into him with a soft moan of pleasure. Jed flung the bra across the room, his big hand covering her warm soft breast. His thumb began to move across her nipple and Abbey pushed her chest harder against that kneading hand. Her fingers had just moved to his belt when she felt Jed step abruptly back from her, his hand still on her breast.

He was frowning down at her. "Abbey, what's this?"

TBC...