Finally Ellie was finished with the buttons and Abbey turned to them. The gown was absolutely perfect, a fairytale-wedding gown and Abbey looked like a fairytale princess in it. The beaded and embroidered dropped waist corset bodice revealed Abbey's tiny waist, while the double spaghetti strapped scooped neckline showed off her figure to it's best advantage, leaving her shoulders bare. It had been, after all, a summer wedding. The skirt flared from her waist into yards of Duchesse satin and taffeta and a cathedral train. Elbow length satin gloves finished off the elegant look.

Jed stepped up unnoticed into the attic. Unnoticed because everyone was circled around Abbey. When the circle parted momentarily, Jed's breath caught in his throat. Seeing Abbey he was transported to that July day of his 22nd year, the year that had changed his life forever. The year that Abbey had become his bride. Amazingly enough she hadn't changed all that much, if anything she was even more beautiful now than she had been then, having fulfilled the promise of a pretty girl who turned into a beautiful woman.

"Abbey…" He choked.

Abbey turned, her hand rising to her throat with surprise. "Jed."

Their gazes locked and it was as if they were the only two in the room, nobody existed except husband and wife. The other women were silent as they watched the emotional interplay between the couple, feeling the intensity of the connection that drew the two together. They watched, almost without breathing, as Jed began to move forward toward Abbey, completely oblivious to the fact that they were not alone. Abbey's eyes never left her husband's so she didn't notice the room had cleared until Jed stood before her with a look of such intimacy in his eyes that she chanced an uncomfortable glance at the other's and realized that they were totally alone.

"Abbey," Jed breathed. "My, God, woman, you take my breath away. One of his hands splayed on the curve of his wife's small waist, the other gently brushed a tendril of hair back off her cheek. "For a minute there I was 22 years old again, filled with nerves and totally awed that the amazing woman standing before me was actually agreeing to spend the rest of her life with me."

"Jed..." Her lovely hazel eyes began to glisten with the shimmer of tears.

"What is it, Abbey?"

"That look in your eyes when you saw me just now. It was the same look you had when you watched me walk down the aisle and I joined you at the altar. Sometimes it feels like it was just yesterday, but most of the time I can't remember what it felt like to be just me, you know, before there was an 'us'."

"I DO remember very well what it felt like before there was an 'us' and it's the last thing that I want to remember. I didn't become "me" until you became a part of my life, until you came along and told me it was okay to be whoever I wanted to be. Do you know what kind of freedom that was to somebody who grew up like I did?"

"I have an idea," she reached a hand up to stroke his cheek.

"You gave me everything that day, Abbey. You gave me love and joy, and most of all, hope. Hope for a future filled with children and laughter and happiness. A future of helping each other soar toward our dreams and catching each other when we crashed back down to earth. I knew that you would love me whether I decided to teach or go into business or work in a think tank or chuck my whole damn economics doctorate and run the family dairy farm. You never cared if I was a Nobel laureate or a farmer."

"The only thing that I've ever cared about when it came to your career was for you to be true to yourself and to be happy. How you did that never really mattered to me. But, you gave me freedom too."

"Abbey you always had everyone's backing to be whoever you wanted to be."

"Not everyone's. Do you know how many of my older relatives told me that I should throw the idea of becoming a doctor out the window once I got pregnant with Elizabeth? Or how many of my friends told me that once the baby came you wouldn't allow me to go on to medical school, or you certainly wouldn't make it easy for me."

"They didn't know what they were talking about. That was always the plan. I promised you your shot at your dreams."

"It wouldn't have been hard for you to renege on that one. Remember how badly I was wavering after Elizabeth was born and I couldn't imagine not being there 24/7 for her? I mean I'd been everything to her for almost 2 years. You easily could have tipped the scales in favor of me putting medical school off. It certainly would have made your life easier. Instead, you kicked me in the ass and told me that if I gave up on my dreams I would regret it for the rest of my life."

"If you'd given up, yes, my life might have been easier but probably not happier. There was too much in you, too much intelligence, compassion and ambition for you to squander that. I always knew that Elizabeth would be better off with a happy mother, one who was fulfilled at home and in her career, rather than one that was simply with her 24/7. You needed to be as true to yourself as I did"

"And do you have any idea how many husbands wouldn't have supported letting me spread my wings like that?"

"I never wanted you to have any regrets about marrying me." Abbey heard the catch in his voice, saw the sheen of tears in his beautiful blue eyes and she swallowed past the lump that formed in her throat.

"Regrets?" Her eyes widened with astonishment and she wrapped her arms around his waist to rest her cheek against his chest. "Never. You're the best thing that ever happened to me, Jed. I can't imagine being where I am right now without you standing beside me." She looked up at him with lashes wet with tears. "You've help to make me the person that I am. I love you so much sometimes that it hurts. When I married you I never thought that I could love you with any greater intensity than I did when I saw you standing in your tuxedo at the altar, so handsome and so nervous, but, God, that just pales when I compare it to what I feel for you now." She wrapped an arm around Jed's neck and pulled his face down for a tender heartfelt kiss, a kiss so different from the one they had shared in front of the congregation the last time she had been wearing this wedding gown.

"You know," Jed murmured, as he nuzzled down her soft bare neck to her collarbone. "I never did get the chance to undress you on our wedding night. You changed in the bathroom into that silky negligee."

"You didn't seem to have any problems getting rid of that." Abbey sighed and tilted her head back to give Jed's lips better access to her throat.

"No, but still, I think I may have missed out on something. You're not going to deny me the chance to re-live history, are you?"

"Me? Deny you anything?" Her fingers began to thread through his hair as his lips started to trail across her collarbone.

"That's what I like to hear."

Abbey felt his hands move over the bare expanse of her back and begin working on the mother of pearl buttons. His very masculine fingers seemed to be having a lot of problems working at the delicate buttons.

"You okay back there?" She smiled against his lips.

"Yeah, I'll get it."

"You sure?"

"Damn," he groaned. "How the HELL do you get these tiny buttons undone."

Abbey felt him grab both sides of the gown with frustration.

"Don't you DARE," she pushed him away knowing exactly what he was about to do. "This isn't some "Victoria's Secret" teddy you can rip off my body. This is my WEDDING gown. "Now, let's have a little patience and work together to get me out of it."

****

"So, you met Abbey." Leo pretended nonchalance as Jordan joined him in the kitchen where he was making himself a sandwich.

"Yeah, I met Abbey."

"And…"

"And I can see why you fell in love with her. She's not just a very attractive woman; there's a real warmth to her. She's also sharp as a tack and has a great sense of humor. I guess I didn't expect that. I think I expected her to be more reserved and aloof, she was nothing like that. I mean, her family practically came over on the Mayflower, her husband is the President of the United States and, yet, there doesn't seem to be a snobbish bone in her body."

"There isn't," Leo smiled. "Abbey is just as comfortable trading jokes with construction workers and truck drivers, as she is trading polite conversation with heads of state and royalty at state dinners. With Abbey, it's what you see is what you get, there is no artifice about her at all."

"And you're still head over heels in love with her."

"Is it that obvious?" Leo sighed.

"When you talk about her it is. Your admiration comes shining through."

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay. At least you're being honest. And, just a few minutes ago I got my first taste of why you need me up here so badly."

"What do you mean? What happened?"

"I got my first chance to see the President and First Lady in a casual atmosphere and honest to God, Leo, if you've loved that woman all these years I don't know how you've been able to stand it."

"What happened?"

"We were in the attic going through old chests of clothes laughing, teasing, and gossiping and then the First Lady found her wedding gown and tried it on. When the President came up and saw her in the gown they were so focused on one another I don't think either of them even noticed when we snuck out to give them some privacy. Honestly, you hear about people having chemistry, but for those two it was like the earth being drawn by the moon or something. They love each other very, very much, that was incredibly apparent."

"Yes, they do. They've always been that way. They can get so centered on one another that they can argue, or dance, or even kiss to the exclusion of anything else that may be going on. It's gotten them into trouble a time or two."

"Hey, there are worse things to get in trouble for in the press than being too intimate with your spouse," Jordan gave a rueful smile. "The First Lady doesn't seem like the kind of person that would let something like that bother her."

"You really liked her, didn't you."

"You know, Leo, I really didn't want to like her. It was easier for me to see her as this sort of femme fatale who was leading you on or something, but that just isn't her. Yes, I really do like her. She's the kind of person I could be friends with."

"I'm glad. She's a special person and you're a special person. You should be friends." He took Jordan's hand and gazed into her eyes. "Thank you again for coming up here with me. It really does help."

"You're very welcome.

****

"So, was re-living history as good as you thought that it would be?" Taking into consideration the fact that she and Jed were not alone in the house, and not wanting to be caught in flagrante delicto, the two had re-dressed rather haphazardly and were now laying wrapped in each other's arms on an old worn sleeping bag, listening to the comforting sound of the rain beating down on the roof.

"I never fantasized that it would take me 15 minutes to get you out of your damn wedding gown," Jed growled and nipped her earlobe.

"That's all that you have to say on the subject?" Abbey felt his palm slide up under her sweater to run in soothing circles over her stomach.

"Well, I could tell you that you've learned a few moves since our wedding night and you're certainly a hell of a lot less inhibited." Jed smiled at the memory of her initial shyness in touching him and in allowing him to touch her. Even if they had made love once before, that kind of intimacy had been so new.

"Inhibited!" She got up on one elbow to look into his face. "I was not inhibited. Nervous maybe, but not inhibited. YOU, my darling man, were the one who was inhibited."

"I've never been inhibited a day in my life in bed. You know exactly why I was being so tentative with you, my darling woman."

Abbey laughed softly at the memory. "Because you thought you were going to give our baby brain damage."

"It's not funny, Abigail. I thought for sure that all that pounding away in there couldn't be good for the unborn child. I didn't want my kid coming into the world with a big dent in her head."

"Well, if that were the case than all our kids would have been born with dents in their heads."

They were both still chuckling over the memory of how young and naïve they had been when they heard the door open and movement on the attic stairs.

"Is it safe to come up?" CJ called out.

"Of course it's safe to come up," Jed called back. Abbey pushed Jed's hand out from under her sweater and straightened herself up as best she could. Jed, bless is careless soul, didn't even bother.

"Why would you ask if it's safe to come up here?" Abbey asked, when CJ reached the top of the stairs. "We were just going through the trunks."

"If you think that I'm buying that one then pigs must be flying over DC as we speak."

The room was dead silent and Abbey and Jed simply stared at their press secretary. CJ began to squirm uncomfortably, wondering if she had overstepped her bounds. Then, unable to contain themselves any longer, both the President and First Lady burst into laughter.

"What gave us away?" Abbey asked.

"Oh I don't know, maybe because when I saw you earlier your sweater was not on inside out, and, Mr. President, isn't it customary to line the right side up with the left when you button a shirt."

Jed looked down at his mismatched buttons. "You're in the wrong business, CJ, you ought to think about going into private investigations."

"No offense, Mr. President, Ma'am, but it would hardly take a PI to figure out what was going on up here."

"Well, I'm sure you didn't come up here just to "out" us," Jed said, as he began to re-button his shirt.

"No, sir. I've just been on the phone with the mayor. They would like you to speak on the commons at the end of the fourth of July parade."

"I was planning on watching the parade with Abbey and the kids."

"You can still do that. You won't speak until the end. It's a great photo op, sir. Nothing could be more Norman Rockwell Americana than a politician speaking from a gazebo on a grassy commons, while little kids walk around with ice cream cones and American flags."

Jed looked to Abbey. He had promised her this vacation, a time for family before the campaign took off in full force. "What do you think?"

Abbey sighed deeply and looked at CJ. "He can still watch the parade with us?"

"Absolutely."

"And it's just a quick speech? We'll still have the rest of the day and night free from the media?"

"As promised."

"I guess it's okay then. Just remember that we have a big day planned for the fourth. I don't want our plans ruined."

"They won't be," Jed assured her. "I'll still take you and the girls water skiing and we'll take that sail out to the island and then we'll all watch the fireworks from the point."

"I'm counting on it, Jed."

TBC...