"Abbey, baby doll, time to wake up."

The sound of her husband's cheerful voice penetrated the deep alcohol induced fog of Abbey's sleep. She experimentally moved her head and moaned at the hammering pain. Jed either didn't notice the agony she was in or he was ignoring it because he continued to sing that damn Beatles song he had been singing in the shower. "Here comes the sun, do do do do, here comes the sun and I say, it's alright…" Over and over it went until she wanted to tell him just where to shove his sunshine, only that would take more energy than she had at the moment. She cracked one eye and saw him vigorously towel drying his hair. Just the sight of all that energetic movement caused her nausea of the night before to make another appearance.

"Come on, angelpuss, rise and shine." He pushed open the drapes and the bright sunshine pierced through Abbey's eyes like an ice pick.

"Oh, Christ, shut the damn drapes, you sadist monster, " she groaned.

Jed turned to see her. She had curled up into a ball, her knees drawn to her chest and the palms of her hands covered her eyelids to keep out the light.

"Unh uh. You don't want to be late for another day with Mrs.Shugurin."

Abbey removed her palms to glare at him. "What did I ever do to you to make you so MEAN. You are just plain MEAN this morning."

"Do you remember anything about last night?" Jed had to bite back a smile at the look of horror that crossed his wife's face.

Abbey tried frantically to recall what she might have done the previous night. She remembered President Shugurin giving her vodka shots. It was then that she looked down to see that she was still wearing her slip from the night before. "What did I do?" The words came out on a pitiful moan. "Did I make a fool of myself?"

"Well, President Shugurin wanted you to do an Irish jig for everyone."

Abbey's eyes widened and when that proved incredibly painful she pressed her fingers to her temples. "Please tell me that I didn't," she pleaded.

Jed paused a few seconds letting her think the worst.

"Jed?"

"No, you didn't," he smiled. "I explained that you only do it on St.Paddy's day."

"Thank God," she sighed, then looked up at him with narrowed eyes. "Why did you let me think that I had? You're just plain evil this morning.

"I have my reasons."

"What reason could you possibly have for kicking your beloved wife when she is down?"

"Think further into the evening."

Abbey stared at him blankly.

"You don't remember being in the limo and wrapping yourself all over me like a sheet on a mummy?"

"No I do NOT," she sniffed haughtily. "You must have been having a fantasy dream again." But, truth to tell the memories were starting to flood back to her and she had been all over Jed like a bitch in heat.

"It was no dream, babycakes, you were all over me ready to jump my bones. Hell, it was all I could do to protect my innocent virtue from your greedy sexual needs."

Abbey couldn't help but laugh at the image of her lusty husband as the victim of her unwanted physical advances.

"And you, being the gentleman that you are, refused to take advantage of a lady in that condition, of course."

"Now, I didn't say THAT. I certainly wasn't feeling very gentlemanly toward you last night. But, then again, you weren't exactly acting like a lady."

"Excuse me?" She lifted an eyebrow.

"Honey, LADIES don't rub up against a man like you did last night, they don't slide their tongues into a man's mouth the way that you did last night, and they certainly don't feel a man up the way that you did last night."

"Josiah Bartlet, are you telling me that you don't think that I am a lady? I'm the FIRST LADY, for crying out loud."

"Abbey, there is a time and a place to be a lady, and when it is time for you to be a lady there is nobody who can hold a candle to you, but I'll tell you, the LAST place on earth that I WANT you to be a lady is in my bed."

"So what's the problem then? Wasn't I any good? I mean come on, what did you expect I was pretty smashed."

"Oh you were real good, very good, very hot, very sexy…right up to the moment that you threw up on me."

"Shut UP, I did not," she grabbed her head as the high pitch to her voice caused the throbbing to begin to hammer behind her eyes again.

"Well, maybe not on me," he admitted. "But the usual response that I get to getting hot and heavy like that is not my wife breaking away to run and vomit."

Abbey gave him a rueful smile as he triggered her memory of last night's events. "And you undressed me for bed."

"Not the way I had expected, but yes."

"And you brushed my hair and tucked me in."

"I did."

"You took care of me," she said in a sweet little girl voice. "My big sweet bear." She wrapped her arms around his waist and nuzzled into his chest.

"Yes I did," he kissed the top of her head.

A room service knock on the door shattered the silence of the room. "Come in!" Jed called out nearly right into Abbey's ear.

"Jed!" she groaned and began to pull the sheet up over her head. "You are a hateful, evil man."

"And you still owe me, precious," he grinned at her.

* * * *

Abbey, in a dark sleek suit and dark sunglasses turned to look at her husband's staff as the chorus of overly cheerful calls of, "Good morning Mrs. Bartlet" followed her down the hall.

She didn't disappoint. "Just what exactly is good about it?" she wanted to know.

"Feeling a little under the weather this morning?" Sam noted.

"You people actually run the free world?" Abbey asked incredulously.

"May I ask you a question, Mrs. B? Josh asked.

"Yes, Josh, I have a hell of a hangover and no I won't be tossing back anymore vodka shots with President Shugurin."

"That wasn't the question," Josh grinned. "But it is good to know. I was just wondering about that song that you were singing to the President last night, the one about wanting skin on skin. How does the rest of it go?"

Abbey felt herself start to blush, the unfortunate side to her Irish fair skin, but she wasn't going to let Mr. Full of himself, Josh Lyman, get one up on her. "Oh that song," she said as she approached him. "It goes something like this," she tiptoed up and began to whisper something in his ear. If Josh's wide eyes and flaming red face were any indication it was something pretty risqué.

When she was finished she backed up and smiled sweetly up at him. "Don't mess with me when I have a hangover AND PMS." She turned and began to head back down the hall.

"I always have liked her style," CJ grinned.

Jed gave her a wink and turned to his staff. "OK, troops let's hit the road."

* * * *

Pentti Arajarvi and Lyudmila Shugurin waited patiently with the group of ambassadors for the arrival of Abigail Bartlet. When she did finally enter the lobby ahead of her husband and his entourage they gave each other knowing glances. Dark sunglasses inside could only mean one thing, a headache of gargantuan proportion. Pentti winced, he'd been on the bad side of a Russian vodka hangover more than once and poor Abbey had been drinking champagne to boot. She had to be completely miserable and instead of shaking it off by sleeping in she had a full day of activities planned.

"Abigail!" the booming voice of President Shugurin slammed through her head with the force of a sledgehammer. Why must men shout her name? She wondered. For a moment Vladimir Shugurin had sounded suspiciously like Lord John Marbury. Then, while her fingers flew to her temple she faced Shugurin with as bright a smile as she could muster.

"Mr. President" she nodded slightly.

"It's Vladimir, remember?"

"Yes, Vladimir."

"I wanted to see you before I leave with your husband for the meetings. I wanted to give this token to the fair American First Lady to remember the night that she danced and drank with the Russian bear." He grinned and handed her a crystal shot glass with the imprint of the Kremlin on it.

Just seeing the shot glass caused the bile to rise in Abbey's throat. "Th…thank you," she swallowed gamely. "Believe me, it's not a night that I will ever forget."

Jed smiled at the double entendre. "You're a gutsy broad Mrs. B," he whispered into Abbey's ear, and gave her rear a soft tap as he passed her on his way to the motorcade.

Once in her limo, Abbey rested her pounding head back against the seat.

"Here, this may help."

Abbey opened her eyes to see Lyudmila handing her a small thermos.

"What is it?" Abbey asked.

"A special remedy for being under the weather. It has been passed down in my husband's family for centuries. I thought you might need it this morning."

Abbey smiled at the euphemism. "It's not hair of the dog, is it?"

"I didn't put any hair from my dog in it" she said, puzzled as to why Abbey would think that.

"I mean it doesn't have any alcohol in it, does it?"

"No," Lyudmila smiled. "It is safe. My husband likes his vodka; he needs this quite frequently. Your husband was smart not to try to compete with him."

"Yeah, well Jed is more a scotch or beer man." Abbey took the thermos but before she could drink from it an agent took it from her to test it first.

"Is it dangerous," Abbey asked with a smirk.

"It's pretty dangerous," the agent grimaced, "but it isn't going to kill you. At least I don't think it will."

* * * *

After two days of frustrating, stressful meetings the official summit was over and the Russian President and his wife headed home, while the American President and his wife headed north to the Savonlinna Opera Festival as guests of honor of the Finnish President.

"We really have to go to the Opera tonight?" Josh grumbled, as the motorcade pulled up to the Art Centre Retretti.

"Maybe a little culture will rub off on you," Abbey suggested.

"What are we seeing?" Toby asked.

"Let's hope it's not an operatic version of 'Othello'." It was said under Jed's breath but everyone heard. The words elicited an elbow to the ribs from Abbey and a dirty look from Leo.

"We're seeing Verdi's 'Rigoletto'" Abbey told them. "And I'm sure that it will be a perfectly lovely evening."

Abbey's statement put a halt to any griping about the evening ahead and Jed looked at them all flabbergasted.

"Why is it that when I try to shut you all up with a statement like that you just ignore me and keep grumbling?"

"Cause we're a bunch of brown nosers trying to get in good with the boss's wife?" Sam suggested.

"What about trying to get in good with the boss, himself?"

"Naw, he'd see right through that. We need to be covert," Josh grinned.

After going underground to the caves to see the art exhibition, they were taken on to a local cruise ship from Retretti to Savonlinna. On the deck of the boat Abbey could see the huge Olavinlinna castle on it's own on an island on the lake. It was where they would be attending the opera tonight.

"Imposing, isn't it?" Jed asked.

"Romantic, " Abbey sighed. "I think tonight is going to be very romantic."

"You have no idea."

* * * *

The Savonlinna Opera festival was a huge cultural event that drew people from all over the world. The outdoor castle yard was filled to the brim every evening and this evening the excitement was even more palpable as the President of the United States was to be in attendance.

Jed and Abbey had been warned that evenings at the outdoor courtyard could be quite cool. However, as they toured the medieval castle before the show, Abbey was happy that it wasn't anything like the frigid temperatures they'd experienced on the day of their arrival. She wore stylish lined, wool houndstooth slacks with a black ribbed sweater turtleneck, a matching houndstooth bolero jacket and black leather boots. Jed looked every inch the college professor in his casual brown and tan blazer with the requisite suede elbow patches that Abbey found incredibly sexy. There were many looks on her husband that she found irresistible, white tie and tails and jeans and a sweatshirt just to name a few, but professor Jed with his elbow patches and sweater vest and that lock of hair that fell over his forehead was right up there at the very top.

As they made their way to their seats Abbey noticed that many couples had blankets on their laps and was thankful to see a heavy wool blanket reserved for them by their seats of honor. She was even more thankful for it later in the evening, after intermission, when the temperature began to plummet. Suddenly her wool bolero jacket was not enough to keep out the cold.

Jed felt Abbey shiver beside him and saw her try to tuck her hands up into her jacket. The Gods were definitely on his side tonight. He bent down to retrieve their blanket and spread it over both of them. Abbey smiled at him and took his hand under the blanket to play with his fingers. It was incredibly romantic sitting out under the stars at the open theatre while the beautiful music of Verdi filled the dark night air. Before long Abbey felt Jed's fingers begin flexing over her knee. She gazed his way but he was deeply engrossed in the opera and was probably doing it unconsciously. She thought that for all of about three minutes, until his nimble fingers began working their way higher to knead her thigh gently. She wondered if he knew just what he was doing to her. She wanted to squirm in her seat, she wanted to part her thighs, and she wanted him to do it harder. Still, he pretended not to be aware of what he was doing, that is until the pulsing ache at the juncture of Abbey's thighs became to much for her and she parted her knees where her legs had been crossed in a ladylike position even under the blanket. It was the sly knowing smile that crossed briefly on his lips that gave him away. Oh yes, he was very aware of what he was doing to her.

Abbey placed her hand over his to still his movement. He allowed her a brief respite, allowed her to get back involved in the opera, then he went in for the kill. Abbey was completely immersed in the opera but not so much that she didn't feel his feather light fingers advancing up her inner thigh.

"Don't you dare, " she whispered, a smile still plastered on her face.

"You know better than to dare me," he whispered back.

In the next instant Abbey felt his index finger begin to trace the line of the pant seam that ran between her legs. He felt the slight jump that she gave and the almost indiscernible intake of breath. Her hand moved back to cover his, to stop him from creating this torturous need within her. She tried to push his hand away from her, but he was having none of that. Abbey realized that if she didn't stop fighting him soon everyone around them would wonder what all the wrestling under the blanket was about. She stopped pushing at him and his hand cupped between her legs again, his middle finger moving insistently up and down that seam. Abbey felt the pulsing begin again, felt the need to press herself up hard against that invading hand. It took almost all the self control that she had to keep her breathing steady and even, to keep from arching her neck and moaning, when all she could think about was how much she wanted Jed to slide that damn hand of his inside her pants to stroke her naked flesh.

Jed felt her hips squirm against him, saw her teeth bite down on her sexy, full lower lip and couldn't help the very male, very self-satisfied grin.

Abbey couldn't believe it; she was going to come right here in the midst of over 2,000 people. But just as that thought crossed her mind and her breath began to catch in her throat she saw everyone around her jump to their feet in applause. The opera was over. No this couldn't be, just another minute and she would have…She stopped herself from giving a cry of distress as Jed removed his hand so he could clap.

"Sorry, babe, we'll have to finish this later," Jed whispered into her ear. He could see the dazed look of unsatisfied desire in her eyes and grabbed her elbow to help her to her shaky feet. Suddenly cognizant of where she was and what was going on Abbey began to clap.

"You were really are a hateful, evil man," she hissed through her smile. "That was about last night, wasn't it?

"Payback's a bitch, baby doll."

It was the wink that almost got him a knee to the groin.

* * * *

As they walked arm and arm toward the entrance, Jed suddenly swung to the left.

"Uh, Jed. I think that big long line of black cars out front belongs to us."

"It's a beautiful night, we don't need to ride." He steered her to the back exit of the castle and out onto the edge of the dark lake. It was obviously a planned move as the service was already in place.

"We aren't even walking the right direction back to the hotel," Abbey protested.

"That's because we aren't going to the hotel."

"OK, I'll bite. Where are we going?"

"You're chariot awaits, madam." Jed bent at the waist and gestured to his left. Abbey turned to see a huge white yacht lit up with tiny white lights. Soft music emanated from its deck.

"Is this you're idea of a peace offering?" she couldn't help her delighted smile. As grand romantic gestures went, this one took the cake.

"Do you accept?"

"You know, Jed, sometimes you are just as sweet as a Georgia peach. She gave him a loud, smacking kiss on the lips, then looked up at him, her eyes shiny with her love for him. God, he thought, cupping her soft cheek in his palm, what he wouldn't do to get her to look up at him like that. He would move mountains, stop the tides, and tame a hurricane, whatever it took to make her look at him with those adoring eyes that told him that he was the most special person in the world to her. Thankfully this time it had been as easy as renting a yacht.

Abbey cupped her own palm over his rough shaven jaw. "Of course I accept, you knucklehead."

TBC...