The sun filtering through the gauzy white curtains woke Jed slowly. He stretched out tentatively under the white coverlet not wanting to awaken Abbey who still lay sound asleep cuddled up to his side. It was a rare morning that he was awake before his wife. Thanks to her profession and having five children it was she who was the light sleeper, she who awoke at the slightest whisper, and she who was generally in a much better humor first thing in the morning. He, on the other hand, thrived late into the night. He'd always put off grading papers and preparing lectures until after he'd helped his own children with their homework and helped to get them all tucked into bed. Subsequently, he was a little crabbier in the morning. But not this special morning.

Through the half open window he could hear the pounding surf, the cries of the seagulls and the sound of firecrackers being set off back in the hills. It was the morning of the 4th of July and all appeared to be well. The sun was sparkling off the blue expanse of the Atlantic and for the first time in days the omnipresent sound of the foghorn was missing. By all accounts it was going to be a glorious day.

He kissed the top of his wife's head and gently began to disengage himself from her. Not bothering with his robe, he ran his fingers through his thick, sleep tousled hair and began to make his way down the hall wearing a pair of old sweats and a gray T-shirt. He could smell coffee brewing and bacon sizzling and knew that Mrs. Johannson must already be bustling around the kitchen. His mother and her cook/housekeeper had arrived just yesterday and, as she always did, Mrs. Johannson had gone right to work preparing for the hordes that would descend on the house today.

Jed slowly opened the door to the nursery and found that both of his children were still sleeping as soundly as their mother had been. He stopped first at Nicky's crib. His son still slept like a babe in the womb, his knees drawn to his chest, his thumb firmly wedged in his mouth and his covers undisturbed. Aislinn, on the other hand, had kicked her covers off and her little pink "Cinderella" nightgown was tangled up around her waist. Sometimes the overpowering feeling of love that he had for his children was enough to bring the sting of tears to his eyes. They were so precious to him and, yet, it was a rare thing for him to have the time to just stand there and watch them sleep. At the White House everything was so rushed with early morning meetings that he barely had time for a quick breakfast with them and he was off. He enjoyed the sweet innocence of watching them sleep and was loathe to awaken them, however, a glance at the Mickey Mouse clock on the wall told him it was time to get moving if they were going to have breakfast and make it to the parade on time.

He opened the curtains allowing the sun to stream into the room. Both children began to whimper and stir. Nicky's blue eyes blinked slowly then focused on Jed standing above his crib and he gave his father a sleepy adoring smile. It was the same look he had given him as a newborn when he used to nurse at Abbey's breast.

"Dadda." He yawned, and, still lying on his back, he lifted his arms toward his father. Jed's heart did a little flip-flop at the gesture and he marveled at the fact that none of this ever got old. He lifted Nicholas into his arms and moved to awaken his sleepy- head daughter who whined and turned her head away from her father's insistent hand.

"Okay, sunshine," Jed told her. "If you don't want to wake up and go eat breakfast I guess it will just be Nicholas who gets to go to the parade." He stared to walk away.

"Pwade" Aislinn called out to him. She was hanging over the edge of her crib by the time Jed got to her and lifted her into his other arm.

"Get over here, you little monkey. Let's go wake up Mommy and get this show on the road."

****

Jordan sat at the kitchen table at the Bartlet cottage watching the dizzying array of Bartlet's preparing breakfast for everyone. As an only child, it was a tad overwhelming. There seemed to be so many of them. The President's attractive elder daughters were setting out platters on the big buffet, while the cook, the First Lady's mother and the President's sister in law were busy cooking eggs and pulling blueberry muffins from the oven. The President's elderly mother sat with Nicholas on her lap while the President's father in law and brother debated the use of hormones in dairy cows. The First Lady's sister was teasing the President, who had his youngest daughter on his lap and was attempting, with difficulty, to put the little barrette with it's red, white, and blue ribbon in her wispy blond curls. Into this scene of chaos walked the First Lady in a thin floral sundress, looking as cool and lovely as a spring day. Her exceptional tanned legs were bare and she wore a pair of strappy sandals. Fashionable to the core, her toenails were painted a soft pink that matched the roses in her dress. Her hair was loose and curling to her shoulders. Jordan watched with surprise as Abbey grabbed an apron, tied it around her slim hips and began to pitch in to help. Nobody else seemed a bit surprised by the move. She watched Leo's eyes follow Abbey and saw the barest hint of yearning before he turned away to look out the window at the sea.

Nicholas squirmed off his grandmother's lap and both he and Aislinn began toddling around Abbey's legs tugging at her dress and begging to be picked up. Rather than being irritated, Abbey swung Aislinn up onto her hip with practiced ease and gave Nicholas half of a blueberry muffin. Nicholas plopped down on his diapered butt in the middle of the kitchen, unconcerned with all the adult movement around him, and proceeded to share his muffin with Max. Abbey sat Aislinn on the counter and began to fix the barrette that Jed had put on her crooked. Jordan couldn't get over how much motherhood really suited Abigail Bartlet. Knowing she was a brilliant surgeon, but never having never met her, she'd only seen her on the news or in magazines and there she was the sophisticated, professional First Lady, or the First Lady who oozed sexual elegance at formal functions or for photo layouts. She had never expected this warm, competent, loving wife and mother side to her.

"There, now you look as pretty as a picture." Abbey kissed her daughter's forehead and began to maneuver her way around her son and the dog. "You sit with Daddy and finish your breakfast." She handed Aislinn back to Jed and gave her the other half of Nicky's muffin.

"We're a bit much all at once, aren't we?" Abbey said, seeing the shell shocked sort of look on Jordan's face.

"It's a little overwhelming, I'll admit. I'm an only child and I'm divorced. I never had any children."

"I hope we're not wearing you out."

"Not at all. I think it's wonderful that you are all together like this. You're a lucky woman to be surrounded by all this family."

"Well, you ain't seen nothin' yet. Wait until later this afternoon when we get back from our sail and all the uncles, aunts and cousins begin to arrive for the barbecue and fireworks.

"There are more of you?" Jordan's eyes widened with astonishment.

"We're Catholics, Jordan, there are many, many more."

****

Jed Bartlet had been to many parades in his lifetime especially since he had become President, but nothing; not even his grand Inaugural Parade could take the place of this small quaint parade down around the Village Square. He had been coming to this parade since he was a child, had brought his own children year after year. There were no Senators here, no congressmen, just summer people in khaki's and loafers along with the local farmers and fishermen and their families, all waving little American flags. There were no big fancy floats, just small high school bands playing John Philips Sousa, cub scout and boy scout troops, brownies and girl scouts, the volunteer fire department, the American Legion, the Shriners, on and on it went. And, although he was there first and foremost as an observer with his family, there were still salutes from the oldest man in the military down to the youngest little boy in the cub scouts.

Toby stood to the left of the President and his family, along with the other staffers. This was his first year at Windy Point for the fourth of July and it was a revelation of sorts. He had grown up in New York City. His experiences with parades were of the more grandiose type, the ticker tape splendor of a big city parade. But something about this little rag tag parade touched his heart. Maybe it was watching Nicholas sitting on the President's shoulders laughing and eating cotton candy. Maybe it was watching Aislinn put her sticky sugared fingers into the First Lady's mouth and watching Abbey lick the flavor off her lips. Maybe it was watching Emily Bartlet hanging on to her son John's arm and waving to a geriatric old soldier who was driving by in an antique car. Maybe it was just seeing them all together, all the Bartlet's, and the sense of family, of continuity, of knowing that 100 years from now when Jed Bartlet was long gone from the face of the earth his great- great grandchildren would be standing in this same spot eating cotton candy and listening to "The Stars and Stripes Forever". It was a concept that was completely foreign to him. His people had never been allowed to sink their roots very deep in any one place. Just when they thought, "yes, here is my place, my home" the pogroms would start and they would disperse and flee. But, worse than any pogrom, had been the Holocaust. The Holocaust had destroyed any chance that he might have had to be a part of something that the Bartlet's had. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, they had all been destroyed and those who had survived had fled, some to America, some to Palestine. The Bartlet's had helped to found this nation, they had always been here, would always be here. Could he say that about the Ziegler's or the Lyman's?

Toby's musings were brought to an end as he heard the deep baritone voice of the President starting to sing with the crowd as the end of the parade brought a huge American flag held by two boy scouts.

"It's a grand old flag
It's a high-flying flag.
And forever in peace may it wave.
It's the emblem of, the land I love.
The home of the free and the brave.
Every heart beats true to the red, white, and blue
And with never a boast or brag.
Should auld acquaintance be forgot?
Keep your eye on the grand old flag.”

****

"Great job, Mrs. B," Josh called out, as he pulled in the rope lines Abbey had tossed toward him and watched her began to swim toward the ladder on the side of the powerboat that Jed had just steered around the sheltered bay side of Barren Island. Once up the ladder she accepted a hand from both Josh and Leo into the boat. She stood for a moment in her shape molding tank suit with its vertical stripes of red, white and blue, and tipped her head to one side to begin squeezing the water out of her hair.

"Josh, could you hand me the ski's?" Amy asked. When she didn't get a response she turned to see he and Leo still intently watching the First Lady and rolled her eyes. Men, she thought to herself.

"Leo, the skis?"

Jed turned upon hearing the irritation in Amy's voice to see the two men ogling his wife, a fact to which she was oblivious of.

"Abbey" he said, more sharply than he had intended. Both men turned away and Abbey's head snapped up at his tone just in time to catch the towel he was throwing her way. She smiled sweetly at him and began to towel dry her hair.

"You sure you don't want to try it Josh?" Abbey asked, with a sly grin.

"Are you nuts? Have you women ever heard of a little film called "Jaws? Sharks EAT water skiers."

"Was it in "Jaws" or "Jaws II" that the water skier got eaten?" Amy asked.

"Are you sure that was in a "Jaws" movie?" Abbey asked. "It might have been…"

"Oh for heaven's sake, does it matter WHICH movie it was in?" Josh asked with exasperation. "I'm not tempting fate and taking the chance on being some shark's 4th of July picnic."

"Wimp!" Amy called out and jumped over the side of the boat into the ocean.

"I'm not a wimp!" He tossed her the skis.

"Chicken!"

"Yeah, well YOU have nothing to worry about, a shark wouldn't find it worthwhile to come chasing after your scrawny ass."

"Ooh," Abbey winced. "You're going to end up paying for that one, Josh."

"I do NOT have a scrawny ass!" "Josh, you're not exactly following the advice I gave you the other night," Jed admonished him.

"What kind of advice did you give him?" Abbey made her way to the front of the boat where Jed stood at the wheel. His windblown hair was sticking up like a rooster thanks to speeding around the bay and it caused Abbey to smile.

"Nothing major." Jed shrugged nonchalantly.

"He gave me advice on sweet talking a woman into bed." Josh smirked. He was not going down alone.

"He did, did he?" Abbey grinned, as she began to smooth down Jed's hair. "Teaching him the art of seduction, were you?"

"Abbey, the boy needed help."

"I see," Abbey nodded, her eyes filled with mirth. "Josh, how many women have you dated in the past 20 years?"

Josh drew a blank. "I…I don't know," he admitted.

"Okay. Now, Jed, how many women have you dated in the past 20 years."

"Aw, come on, Abbey, you know there's only been you."

"And you're giving HIM advice?"

"Absolutely. He's obviously not doing it right if he's still single and sleeping in a separate bedroom. And, as you may recall, I got the girl, and I kept her." He wrapped his arms around Abbey's waist and pulled her in for a quick kiss. "Mmmm…you taste salty" he murmured as he ran a tongue over his lips.

"Mr. President!" Amy called out from the water. "I'm FREEZING!"

"I think she's getting hypothermia," Leo deadpanned.

"Okay, okay," Jed reluctantly let go of Abbey and turned back to pull on the throttle.

****

With the water skiing and the picnic over, the small flotilla of boats made their way back toward the mainland for a late afternoon barbecue. Most everyone was on the President's large schooner the "Abigail Anne" while a few puttered back in the "Zellie" and a couple of power boats that they had used to ski from. Adding to the family total were the coast guard cutter and several cigarette boats that the secret service manned.

On the "Abigail Anne", the woman for whom the boat was named sat under the sails wearing dark sunglasses, low riding cut offs and a tank top over her bathing suit. Her face was to the wind and she was clearly enjoying the way the boat surged through the waves sending salty sea spray into the air. Abbey was in her element out here on the open ocean with nothing but the sun and the seemingly endless sea and sky. Every so often she would take a sip from her pina colada and look back at her husband who was at the helm of the boat. Wearing just his bathing suit, a Notre Dame T-shirt, and topsiders, he looked rugged and windblown, his hair sunbleached and shaggy. His blue eyes were seemingly bluer in his tanned face. He looked happy and healthy and more relaxed than she had seen him in ages. She was still watching Jed when she saw Leo come up from below deck. She patted the seat beside her urging him to sit.

"How's Toby doing?" She asked.

"He's fine thanks to you force feeding him the Dramamine. He just doesn't want to take any chances. He made it out okay, but he was afraid that since he ate lunch he might get sick again like last year."

"Poor Toby. It must really stink not to have sea legs. He doesn't know what he's missing not being out here on the deck with the wind in your hair and the sun on your face." Abbey turned her face back into the wind, and, looking at her lovely profile, Leo longed to run a finger along her delicate jawline, or tuck a windblown strand of her copper hair behind her ear.

He cleared his throat uncomfortably then turned to look out to sea toward the island in the distance. "I don't think Toby cares much what he's missing. He's not exactly an outdoorsman."

"He is a bit of a vampire, isn't he?"

"A vampire?" Leo burst into laughter. "That's a new one."

"Leo, I haven't had the chance to tell you. I'm sorry about the other morning. I guess Jed and I both overreacted when we saw you in the hall. You just…you surprised me."

"And I made you self conscious and uncomfortable. That's one of the main reasons I never wanted you to find out how I feel. I never wanted you to stop being who you are around me. I never wanted you to feel uncomfortable."

Abbey nodded, wishing that she could reassure him, but she couldn't. At times she did feel that way around him. "I like Jordan, Leo, I think she'll be really good for you."

Leo saw the brightness in her eyes, the hope, and he felt a slight irritation. Everyone was so ready to throw Jordan at him thinking it would kill the feelings that he had for Abbey. "Don't go getting too excited, Abbey. Jordan and I are just friends."

"Friends can turn into lovers in a heartbeat." She flashed him a saucy smile.

Leo's face turned to stone. "Abbey, please don't try to play matchmaker." He got to his feet and made his way to the cooler for some bottled water.

Abbey sighed sadly and watched him walk away. She turned and caught Jed's eyes on her. She made her way over to him and wrapped her arms around his waist from behind rubbing her cheek into his back.

"What were you and Leo talking about," he asked.

"Jordan. I was telling him how much I like her and that I think they make a good couple."

"He looked angry when he walked away."

"I think I pushed him. I just want him to be happy, Jed. Is that so wrong?"

"No, of course not." He smiled down into her face running a finger down the sun kissed bridge of her nose. "But we can't force people to be happy."

"No, but we can certainly try."

Jed laughed at the determination in Abbey's voice. She never did give up easy.

****

Spending the fourth of July with the Bartlet clan had been easier than Jordan had anticipated. They didn't celebrate any differently from any other family on this patriotic holiday. Upon returning from their water-skiing trip to the island, they had returned to the mainland for a loud and lively game of softball. Loud, because she soon discovered that all of the Bartlet's had very strong competitive streaks and that included the First Lady as well.

At the crack of Ellie's bat, Abbey took off of from second base. As she rounded third for home she saw Jed guarding the plate awaiting the throw. He got the ball just as she slid into him.

"You're OUT!" He shouted and held up the ball.

"I was not OUT!" Abbey jumped up to her feet and went toe to toe with her husband. " I slid UNDER your tag!"

"Sorry, sweet cheeks. You were out by a mile. You should have held up at third."

"Jed Bartlet, you need to have your eyes examined." She placed her hands on her hips turned to Sam, who had been pitching, and thus backing up the play. "Sam, tell him I was safe."

Sam looked uneasily from the President to his wife. "My mother always taught me not to argue with a lady. She was safe."

Abbey whirled on Sam, all feminist outrage. "Who are you calling a LADY?"

Jed chuckled watching the astonishment on Sam's face.

"Yeah, who are you calling a lady?" Amy called out from the bench. "We're all ballplayers here. Abbey just hit a double off of you."

"Hey," Sam put his hands up in defense. "I called her safe, didn't I?"

"You did, didn't you." Abbey smirked at Jed and stuck her tongue out before turning to walk triumphantly back to the bench where her teammates gave her high fives.

Jed sulked back over behind the plate and began to mutter under his breath. "Bats those damn gorgeous green eyes and she gets whatever she wants."

"Jed, did you have something to say?" Abbey called over to him.

"Not a word, dear, not a word."

As the afternoon progressed several grills were heated up and the President, wearing a 'Kiss the Cook' chef's apron, began flipping burgers and hot dogs while the First Lady and her daughters piled tables with salad, cole slaw, potato salad, macaroni salad, chowder, baked beans, and piles of hot steamers to be served with broth and butter. People were spread out over picnic tables and on blankets that they had laid out on the lawn to eat their meal. Unable to contain their excitement over the upcoming fireworks, children chased dogs and raced back and forth from parents to grandparents to aunts and to uncles. Somebody had turned a radio on and the music of the Boston Pops, live from the Boston 4th of July celebration, played in the background. As the sun began to sink behind the hills to the west of the coastline and dusk began to settle over the Point, Jed brought out the piece de resistance; a huge strawberry sheet cake frosted with whipped cream and decorated with blueberries and strawberries to resemble a giant American flag. On all four corners sparklers were lit to add a little pizzazz to his entry. Children squealed and raced to his side to follow him to the picnic table as if he were the pied piper. Nicholas whimpered softly when the sparklers burned out and urged Jed with his chubby little fingers to do it again.

"You want to do some sparklers?" Jed asked him.

"Yes!" Came the resounding shout from his own children and the children of his cousins and in laws.

"Well, okay, then. Follow me. Annie, grab a pail of water for the used ones. " He grabbed a bag of colored sparklers and walked with the kids over to the edge of the cliff walk.

Abbey stood on the porch sipping coffee from a Styrofoam cup. The setting of the sun and the change of the tides had brought a distinct chill to the air and she had changed into faded jeans and a navy Ralph Lauren sweater with a small American flag on her chest. Over her arm she carried one of Jed's Notre Dame sweatshirts. She knew he would never go in to get it on his own, as he could never admit to being cold. She leaned against the balustrade with a soft smile on her face as she watched her husband who was at the moment surrounded by young children jumping up and down begging for their chance with a sparkler. His own two youngest were too young to hold the sparkler on their own so he held it with them laughing and spelling their names in the air.

"He's in his element, isn't he?" CJ smiled.

"Yeah, he does love being the master of ceremonies. Must be the "Leo" in him."

"He's a great dad. We all knew that about him since Zoey was around so much, but it's just so nice to watch him here with Nicholas and Aislinn and all those young children."

"He loves children. He'd have been happy to have one of those old fashioned Catholic families with 12 kids. He told me once he'd like to be able to field a softball team." CJ turned a wide-eyed look of astonishment toward her and Abbey chuckled softly. "My sentiments exactly. Oh well, he can't complain too much, I gave him a basketball team instead."

"A championship basketball team." CJ took Abbey's hand and squeezed it. "You have an amazing family, Abbey, and the President is very, very proud of it."

"I'm pretty proud of it myself." Abbey turned back to where Jed was now helping their mentally retarded niece, Hannah, with her sparkler while Aislinn rode high up on his shoulders. Good lord, how she loved that man.

***

Dusk had given way to darkness and now everyone was sprawled over blankets at the edge of the point awaiting the fireworks display. Adding to the festive atmosphere were the lanterns that were lit along the cliffs and the paths to the beach and the cottage to keep anyone from tripping. Here and there older children still twirled sparklers into the darkness and fireflies blinked and glittered through the air keeping the younger children amused.

Jed was stretched out on the blanket and Abbey was leaning back against him nibbling on a strawberry from the top of her cake. Aislinn and Nicholas lay heavily against her both way past their bedtime. Nicholas was sleepily sucking his thumb and stroking Max's tail. Aislinn had her leg pulled up and was trying to push her tiny pink sneaker off all the while babbling some nonsense to herself that Abbey couldn't make out.

"Aislinn, leave your sneakers on," Abbey told her, pushing her leg down. Aislinn whimpered and got to her knees to begin playing with Abbey's hair. "I swear, Jed, this one is going to be a stripper. "Either a stripper or a nudist."

"Bite your tongue, Abigail." Jed looked over her shoulder at his sleepy eyed little girl and began to play with one of her fair curls. "Daddy's little girl is going to be a nun, aren't you, sunshine?"

Not knowing what her father had just asked, but knowing what response he expected, she nodded her head solemnly.

"Oh, Ashes, I'm going to have to remind you of that promise when you're 15." Abbey shook her head at her daughter.

"I KNOW I will," Jed enthused.

The loud bang and the burst of color in the sky put off any further conversation. Aislinn jumped into her mother's arms at the loud noise clutching on to her neck fiercely.

"It's okay, sweetpea. It's just a loud noise. It isn't going to hurt you." Aislinn clutched even tighter with the next big boom and began to whimper softly.

"Is she scared?" Jed asked. "Do you think we should bring her inside?"

"I think she'll be okay. Aislinn, don't you want to see the pretty colors?"

Aislinn shook her head negatively and kept her face buried into Abbey's neck.

Nicholas crawled over Abbey and plunked himself on Jed's lap, but he was more in awe than he was frightened. Jed couldn't help but grin at his son's wide blue eyes staring at the bright-lit sky. The next bang and burst of bright green fireballs caused him to clap along with the rest of the people watching the fireworks. Aislinn turned her head slightly, and, when she saw her brother laughing on her father's lap and pointing at the sky, she looked up, for the first time seeing the bright colors. She twisted around on Abbey's lap wanting to see more and before long she was just as entranced as her brother.

Abbey watched the brilliant display lighting the night sky and raining fireballs down over the ocean while she ran her fingers through her daughter's thin silky hair and leaned back against Jed's strong form. She felt the warmth of his hand as it unconsciously moved up and down her arm, felt his chin nuzzling into the top of her head and she wondered just how her anniversary party could get any better than this.

By the time the riotous explosions of the finale had finished and the cheers and clapping of the crowd had died down both Nicholas and Aislinn lay heavy and half-asleep in their parents arms. Abbey and Jed made their way through the crowd, pausing every now and then for someone to coo over or have a look at the little cherubs now sleeping in their arms. The babies were unaware of how many kisses to the forehead that they received from grandparents, aunts, uncles and good friends of their parents. The excitement and activity of the day, along with the late hour, had taken its toll and both were out like a light.

"What do you want to do about cleaning them up?" Jed asked, as they entered the nursery. Abbey surveyed cake frosting and berry juice smeared on both children's faces.

"I really don't want to wake them up. We'll just deal with it as best as we can and I'll give them baths first thing in the morning.

The two of them worked in companionable silence, changing wet diapers and sliding on clean summer PJ's, thankfully with minimal protest from the toddlers. A token resistance or whimper was all their tired little bodies could produce.

When they finally lay semi-clean and sleeping peacefully in their cribs their parents stood back leaning against each other to watch their offspring settle in under their covers. It was a tender moment, a quiet moment, a moment when all happened to be right with the world. It was a moment to be savored, not rushed, a moment that could be replayed time and time again in the all too frequent moments when all was NOT right with the world. Neither could know how long this would last, or how soon one of those moments might be upon them again. They were always out there waiting, always ready to grab you when you least expected.

TBC...