"OK kids, its just about time for Mommy to leave. Can I have a kiss?" Abbey was kneeling on the floor in her traveling suit, her hair perfectly coifed for the photos that would be taken of she and Jed getting on Air Force One. She set aside the big foam puzzle pieces she had been using to help the kids work on a big floor puzzle.

"Mama, bye-bye?" Aislinn looked up at her with troubled eyes. Oh God this was hard, Abbey thought as the tears began to sting her eyes. This was the first time since their birth that both she and Jed had been gone at the same time for more than a night or two. This would be a whole week

"Yes, sweetie, Mama bye- bye." She pulled the little girl into her arms and nuzzled the top of her head. Aislinn squirmed in her arms and leaned back to look up at her.

"Dada bye- bye?" her lower lip began to quiver.

"Yes, Daddy's going bye- bye with Mommy, but Izzy is going to be here and she's going to take good care of you."

"No bye- bye" Aislinn buried her face into Abbey's breasts clutching at the lapels of her Donna Karan jacket.

"Oh sweet pea, Mommy and Daddy will be back before you know it…"

"Mrs. Bartlet?" Lily poked her head in. "It's time to go."

Abbey nodded swallowing past the lump in her throat. "Just give me another minute Lily." She handed the sniffling Aislinn over to Izzy and moved to kneel beside her son.

"Nicholas, Mommy's leaving. Can I have a kiss?"

Nicholas refused to look up at his mother and instead continued to pile his blocks. "Good lord you really do have your daddy's sulk down pat, don't you." She lifted Nicky's chin and saw that the toddler's eyes were filled with tears.

"No bye- bye" he demanded, echoing his sister's sentiments.

"You're going to have so much fun. Izzy is going to take you to the farm and you can play with Max outside in the yard. Grammy and Grampy O'Neill are going to come down for a couple days and Zoey is going to spend the night with you at the end of the week. You'll be having too much fun to miss Mommy and Daddy."

"No bye- bye!" Nicholas threw his block on the floor.

"Mrs. Bartlet…" Lily poked her head back in.

"I'm coming." Abbey stood and placed Nicholas in Izzy's other arm.

"They'll be fine Mrs. Bartlet," Izzy assured her with a smile. Abbey nodded unable to speak. She kissed each child and turned to leave the room. At the door she couldn't resist one last look. She almost wished that she hadn't. Aislinn was hiccuping bravely; her lip still trembling as she gave her mother a half- hearted little wave. Nicky's head lay comfortingly against his sister's his thumb stuck in his mouth and big tears rolling down his cheeks. They looked like two little orphans and it was killing Abbey to turn and leave that room. She blew them each a kiss and turned blindly through the door and headlong into Jed.

"Abbey" he gripped her shoulders seeing her eyes swimming with unshed tears. He had said his good byes earlier in the morning when the kids thought he was just off to work. Emotional scenes could sometimes be tougher on him than they were on her, however she seemed to be taking this one pretty hard.

"Guilt, guilt, guilt," she muttered huskily. "Damn, I hate parental guilt."

"They'll be fine, hon."

"They'll hate us."

"Abbey they're a year old, they won't even remember this. Parents have to go away all the time."

"I'm going to remind you of that 25 years from now when they write their Mommy and Daddy Dearest expose and tell the world how they ended up in therapy for years because their parents deserted them for a week when they were only a year old." Abbey accepted the hankie Jed held out to her and wiped under her eyes, careful not to smudge her mascara.

Jed chuckled and placed an arm over his wife's shoulders. "I think we can risk it."

* * * *

"You know Jed, I think we have a long way to go to catch up with the Finns."

"What?" He came around into the doorway that divided his study from the little living area that they had in their suite on Air Force One. Abbey had discarded the formal First Lady look and was kicking back on the couch in jeans and a baggy T-shirt. Papers and folders the State Department had given them about the country they would be visiting surrounded her. Abbey always read the information given thoroughly. Some of it was garbage but some of it was very interesting and informative.

"It say's here that the President of Finland, Tarja Halonen, was an unwed mother and raised her daughter Anna on her own. She relinquished membership to her church and began living with a man she didn't marry and the voters STILL elected her. Can you imagine what a big deal it would be if anyone like that tried to run in our country? She'd get eaten alive. I'm really looking forward to meeting her."

"I thought she had a husband, " Jed sat on the couch pulling Abbey's feet into his lap.

"She does now, and he got to keep HIS job. She ended up marrying the guy she was living with, this Pentti Arajarvi, after the election. I think there were problems with protocol and how he would be received and stuff. I think that is going to be a major issue when we elect our first woman President."

"Protocol?"

"No, the job of First Lady. I mean I think it's kind of old fashioned and elegant to be called a First Lady even if there is so much more to the job than being a hostess, but I don't think many men today would like to be referred to as the First Gentleman. And I really think he'd have to modify the job. Look at all the senators wives teas and brunches I have to attend. Maybe he could do meetings at a sports bar instead," she grinned.

"It would be tough at first, " Jed admitted.

"Not a position you'd care for?"

"Why, are you thinking of running for President when I'm done?"

"Good lord, NO" Abbey rolled her eyes. "You know that's not for me."

"You're sure? I'd play First Gentleman for you any day, cupcake."

"You're sure about that? I mean I have a hard time picturing you walking TV crews and the editors of women's magazines around the White House to explain how we decorate for the holidays."

"I'd do it with dignity and aplomb."

"And it's not just the job you know. There is way more to being First Lady than that. You have to be ready to be scrutinized from head to toe. Every change of your hairstyle will be reported." She ruffled her fingers through Jed's thick hair. "Although, I guess that wouldn't be a problem for you since yours hasn't changed since 1980. But, then there are your clothes, what colors you wear, how much you spend, what designers you choose, how short your skirts are, how low your dresses are cut, how high your heels are, what jewelry you choose to wear, hell CJ said there have even been attempts to find out what kind of underwear that I wear…"

"Ok, Ok, I surrender" he laughed. "After hearing that I think a man would actually have it easier as First Gentleman, at least he wouldn't have to worry about most of that. Although, I did get the boxers or briefs question once or twice myself."

"You're right, he wouldn't, because a man is not judged by his appearance at all and women still are. Nobody cares that Senator Walken weighs over 300 pounds but they sure were monitoring every pound I took off after my pregnancy. And you know the sad thing? The woman who does get elected President will probably have it ten times worse than I do."

"You're right and it sucks, it really does."

"It does suck, Jed. I hate that people we don't even know go digging through our lives to try to fill this insatiable curiosity that people seem to have about us. I mean who really cares if I wear a thong or you wear boxers? How does that matter in the great scheme of things?"

"Are you wearing a thong?" His interest piqued he began to run his hand up her jean-clad leg.

"No" she slapped his hand away. "I was trying to make a point. I just hate that people want to dig into our private lives to find something to titillate or something to hurt us with. That picture that Danny was given, that was a private moment and it has nothing to do with your Presidency."

"And it still may end up on the covers of a tabloid." Jed gritted his teeth at the thought.

"Not if I can help it," she said her green eyes flashing fiercely.

"Abbey, what are you up to?"

"Nothing." The word was said with all innocence but Jed knew her too well.

"Don't nothing me, sassypants. "You've got your Irish up and you're ready to do battle.

"I do have my Irish up, Jed. That person had NO business giving Danny that picture. This is something PRIVATE, between you and me and Leo. We need to work this out privately, not in the press. It's nobody's business that Leo…that he…"

"Wants to fuck you," Jed supplied her with the crude term Abbey had always hated.

"I swear to God, Jed, if you say that ONE more time I'm going to SCREAM."

"Well, it's the truth isn't it?"

"I wouldn't know, you don't want me to talk to him. I'm abiding by your wishes right now because I know how hurt that you are and because I really don't know how to deal with this myself, but when we get back from the summit I am going to talk to him."

"Abbey---"

"Don't Abbey, me. For Gods sake, Jed, what do you think is going to happen if I talk to him? Do you honestly think that after 12 years he may try to make another pass at me?"

Jed simply glared at her knowing that was highly unlikely. "Ok, if that's not it, what is the issue? Do you think his sweeping declarations of how much he loves me and wants me will turn my head and I'll leave you for him? WHAT exactly IS it that has you so adamantly against me talking to him."

"ALL of it." Jed swung her legs off his lap and buried his forehead in his palms. "I can't stand the thought of him touching you the way that he did and saying the things that he said to you. I can't stand that he was willing to betray me and that he wanted me to betray you. I can't stand that he's heard you making love with me and has probably fantasized about what it would be like with you. I can't stand that when he looks at you he WANTS you."

"Jed," she said softly, as she placed an arm over her husband's slumped shoulders. "Do you think it's any easier for me knowing all that? It's not. I thought his feelings were in the past, I believed that he thought of me like a sister, but I really don't know how he feels and I never will if I don't give him a chance to tell me. I will give him that chance, Jed. Other than me, he's your best friend and you should give him that chance too. I mean he is still giving you sound political advice, isn't he?"

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, he gave you the green light on your idea to 'accidentally' call Rob Ritchie dumb and look at how good that's turned out for you. Everyone is talking about your degrees and your Nobel Prize and Richie's staff is still running around whining that the American people now think their candidate is stupid."

"He didn't actually give me the green light. I didn't discuss it with him."

Abbey looked surprised. Jed usually ran things like this by Leo first. "So, Bruno thought it was a good idea?"

"I don't know."

“Jed, did you tell anyone?"

"No. CJ figured it out in the end but I made the decision and I trusted my instincts. To tell you the truth it felt kind of good and it all worked out just like I'd planned."

"It was good strategy, Hon, but you need to regain that trust if you want to win this election. You can't do it on your own no matter how smart or politically astute you are."

Jed nodded and looked at his watch. He knew that Abbey was right. He needed to trust the people he surrounded himself with but that didn't mean that it had to be a blind trust and it didn't mean that one of those people had to be Leo. "I have to go out back and talk to the press for a little bit. Want to join me?"

"No" Abbey shook her head and yawned. "I'm going to finish reading this stuff then I'll catch a little nap. It's going to be a long day. When you finish with the press I'd like you to come back and join me."

"Oh really. Are you trying to tell me that you want to add another notch in our mile high club bedpost."

"I'm trying to tell you it's going to be a long day and you don't deal well with jet lag so you really should try to catch an hour or two of sleep before we land."

"Oh fine" he sighed and headed for the door. He turned back to her when he got there. "But my idea was a lot more fun." Abbey smiled and shook her head as she slipped her glasses back on and opened another folder to read biographies about the Shugurins.

* * * *

A few hours later as Air Force One circled over Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, CJ knocked on the door to the Presidential Suite. A catnap and a shower had both the President and First Lady looking and feeling refreshed and ready to meet the day, which was a good thing since already unexpected things were happening.

"Sir," she said, as she watched Abbey fixing his tie and smoothing his collar. "We've just gotten some reports from the ground that we have a crowd of thousands waiting for your arrival."

"Thousands?" He asked with surprise. They had expected a crowd but not quite that big. "It's only 7:00 am."

"I know, evidently people began arriving around 3:00 this morning. They want to see you and Mrs. Bartlet. I think that you should make a couple of quick remarks when you get off the plane. We have to acknowledge something of this magnitude."

"This could be a little awkward. Have President and Mrs. Shugurin arrived yet?"

"Last night around midnight."

"The crowd?"

"Almost non-existent."

Jed pondered for a moment. To ignore a crowd that had been waiting for hours for his arrival would be rude to his host country, however it was also a bit of a slap in the face to his Russian counterpart.

"Have Sam whip up some comments. Have him stress that the people are out in force to support the summit. Of course we all know that what they are really here to see what Abbey is wearing." He winked at his wife as he alluded to their prior conversation. He had been teasing her but CJ knew that it was partially the truth. Wherever Abbey went abroad and at home there were huge crowds of people. It had been a long time since a First Lady had created such a stir wherever she went and for a public, who had lost such beloved icons as Jackie Kennedy Onassis and Princess Diana, she was able to fill that adulation void. It was something that CJ knew she was not entirely comfortable with. She hated it when the press referred to her as a combination of Eleanor Roosevelt, Marilyn Monroe, Jackie O, and Princess Diana all rolled into one. As she often said, "I'm not any of those people, I'm just me, Abbey Bartlet." But in just four years she had burst on the scene and become number one in polls asking for the most admired women in the world. She had been listed as one of the 10 most intriguing people of the year, and was consistently on "People Magazine's best dressed lists. Her pregnancy and the birth of the twins had only fueled the public's seemingly unquenchable desire for information about her and a walk down any magazine aisle would find at least one with her picture on the cover. She had become, in that short time span, one of the few very famous people in the world who could be referred to by one name and everyone would know who was being spoken of; Liz, Cher, Madonna, and now simply Abbey.

She didn't disappoint her loyal followers. The weather was a frigid 35 degrees, cold even for Finland at this time of year, and she disembarked from the plane wearing a dove gray cape that was trimmed and lined with a darker gray fake fur. The cape matched the soft wool dress she wore underneath and her two-tone high heels. Her auburn hair fell loose to her shoulders and she looked young and fashionable as she held tightly to the handsome President's hand and waved to the crowd with him. Jed had not donned his overcoat when they left the plane and he stood there in the cold, hatless and coatless, the sun gleaming off his bronze hair. As a photo-op CJ could not have asked for anything better than the attractive, photogenic Presidential couple being greeted by thousands of cheering Finns waving little American and Finnish flags. However, Sam knew that somewhere in a hotel room in Helsinki, Vladimir Shugurin had to be cursing at yet another American President arriving in bitter cold wearing nothing but his suitcoat.

As they reached the bottom of the plane's stairs several dignitaries, including Bonnie McElveen-Hunter the U.S. ambassador to Finland greeted them. Abbey bent to receive a bouquet of flowers from a little boy and after the obligatory small talk Jed was led to the small dais that had been set up for his impromptu remarks. Abbey felt his hand shaking on the small of her back and turned to look at him. The north wind had picked up and she was certain the wind-chill had gotten to the point where it was cold even for Jed. Sure enough, it was almost discernible, but she could see that his teeth were chattering. She was going to kill him for not putting on his wool overcoat, for not only was the jackass going to catch pneumonia, but also there was no way that he was going to be able to speak with his body shivering so badly. While it would serve him right to let him make a fool of himself, Abbey saw a flash of panic in his eyes and knew that she had to do something to help him out of this jam.

TBC...