(New Hampshire mid-80's)

Abbey sat at the elegantly set dining room table her fingernails tapping impatiently on the mahogany wood. Jed was already over an hour late. His favorite meal was staying warm in the oven and getting drier and more overdone with each minute that went by. She rose to her feet tugging the tight mini skirt further down her thighs. Her stiletto's clicked on the hard wood floor as she made her way to the window to stare down the driveway looking for his headlights. Wearing a garter belt and no underwear, with her long hair loose the way Jed liked it, she had been bent on seduction and ready to show her husband how much she had missed him. So, just where was the jackass anyway? His meeting should have been finished well over an hour ago. Every glance at her watch only made her more pissed as she saw just how late he was. It wouldn't be long now before the girls were brought home and she certainly didn't want her mother in law or even her daughters catching her in this slinky get up. She turned back toward the table and blew out the candles while grabbing the champagne out of the bucket it had been chilling in. Back in the kitchen, she angrily took the Yankee pot roast dinner out of the oven. Skye, their beautiful sable collie, sat eyeing her as she began scraping the food into the trash. She took pity on the dog and cut a chunk of the now dry meat off and tossed it to her muttering "Somebody ought to enjoy this."

By the time Jed returned home later that night the girls were sleeping and Abbey was reading in bed. An aide had dropped him off at the farm as he'd had a few too many beers while watching the Celtics thrilling overtime victory. Finding the door locked was not strange, but he knew that Abbey had deliberately locked him out when, after using his key, he found the deadbolts in place. They never used the deadbolts and Abbey knew he was coming home that night.

"Abbey," he called out as he pounded on the door. "Abbey, let me in!" When his knocks and the shouts of her name didn't draw a response he made his way back down the stairs and stumbled across the lawn to look up at their bedroom window.

"Abbey!" He cupped his hands over his mouth and bellowed up towards their window. "ABBEY!"

Jesus, Abbey thought. He sounds just like Marlon Brando calling out to Stella. Jed's shouts grew louder and Skye began to bark.

"Skye, hush," Abbey admonished the dog. She put her book down and got out of bed making her way to the window and pushing it open.

"ABIGAIL BARTLET, you let me IN!" He saw her lean out the window then, her long red hair falling over her shoulders, so damn beautiful. She'd let him in now that she was awake.

"Jed for Gods sake be QUIET. You're going to wake up the girls." She knew from his voice and his behavior that he was pretty drunk.

"Let me in, Abbey" he called up to her.

"No"

"NO, what do you mean, no? You let me in MY house, Abbey."

"Why don't you go sleep with the other jackasses in the barn."

"Abbey, come on baby, let me in." He changed his tactics and tried to sweet talk her.

"Not on your life."

"Then I'll stand out here and shout your name until I wake up the girls and everyone else in Hillsborough County."

Abbey knew he was stubborn enough to do just that. She left the window and grabbed the clothes she had discarded. From the linen closet she pulled out a quilt and a pillow and made her way downstairs. Jed was waiting for her on the porch when she opened the door.

"I knew you'd come around." The grin left his face when he saw the blanket in her arms.

"It's a nice night. You like sleeping under the stars, enjoy it." She shoved the blanket and pillow into his arms. "By the way, there's a little something in there to show you just what you missed tonight."

"Abbey, come on, don't be this way. My meeting ran long and then the Celtics were in this incredible game, I just lost track of time."

"Sleep it off, Jed, and if I hear another peep out of you tonight you will never see me in any of those garments. Sweet dreams," she smiled at him sweetly and shut the door. He heard the deadbolt slam into place.

Jed sighed and rolled out the quilt. Inside were a skimpy little black cocktail dress and a lacy garter belt. He didn't see any underwear with the outfit. Oh Christ, had she been wearing any? Suddenly the Celtics game seemed like a real waste of time. He groaned aloud when he found the red lace "Victoria's Secret" teddy she had obviously planned on wearing later in the evening. "You really ARE a jackass, Bartlet," he grumbled to himself, as he stretched out on the lumpy cushions of the wicker chaise lounge. Images of his wife in that dress and in that teddy clouded his mind, arousing him to the point of being uncomfortable. Now he knew what Abbey had meant by her last words. "Sweet dreams, my ass." He punched his pillow and tried to get comfortable knowing that right now he could be upstairs in his big, warm, king-sized bed making love to his wife.

(Present)

"He really did learn his lesson," Abbey laughed.

"Yes he did. Even when I tried to get him to…" Leo trailed off seeing sparks of anger ignite in Abbey's eyes.

"Even when you tried to get him to party with you and cheat on me," she finished for him.

"I should never have done that, Abbey."

"No, you shouldn't have. You had to know what that would do to me, to us. Why did you want to hurt me like that? Did you think that if Jed cheated on me I would leave him and turn to you?"

"No, Jesus, no. I never even thought of that. I hated myself, Abbey. I hated what I was doing to my family, to my life. And there was Jed, Mr. Golden Boy himself, trying so hard to help me see the err of my ways. His morals had never been questioned and I guess I thought that if I could make him do the things that I was doing than it wouldn't seem so bad, so wrong. But, he wouldn't sink down to that level. He was never tempted, Abbey."

"I know." The two words were said with complete confidence. "But, now that we've cleared up the past, where do we go from here.

There was an awkward silence as Leo stared into her eyes and knew he couldn't tell her what she wanted to hear. He couldn't tell her that his feelings had disappeared. "Are you going to tell me to stop loving you?" He asked.

Abbey's eyes widened with surprise. "Don't be absurd. You know, only a man would say something like that. Feelings aren't something you can turn off and on like a spigot. Feelings are just there inside us whether we like them or not."

"Uncontrollable," Leo offered.

"Well, to a certain extent. While you can't help how you feel, you can control how you react to those feelings and what you do with them…Why are you smiling? Jed told you to stop loving me, didn't he?

"No. He DEMANDED that I stop loving you.

Abbey shook her head with a sigh. "That does sound like my Jed."

My Jed. Leo had watched her beautiful hazel eyes go soft as she referred to her husband with a combination of possession and good humored exasperation.

"Did I just hear my name?" Jed asked, poking his head in the room.

"Leo was just telling me how you demanded he stop feeling the way that he does. How many times have I told you it doesn't work that way?"

"This year, or our entire life together?" He entered the room and Leo noted the subtle possessiveness in the way that Jed sat next to Abbey and took her hand. He read his best friend's message loud and clear. Hands off, he was telling him. She's MINE.

"It was a rhetorical question, Jed. Where are the kids?"

"I put them both down for a nap. They were getting fussy. "So have you come up with any solutions? Have you figured out what we are going to do about this mess?"

"I don't think there is a perfect solution," Leo said. "I can't make myself stop feeling the way that I do. It's wrong, it's hurtful and I hate it, but I can't stop it. Now, having said that, I can promise you that I am going to work on it. That's the best I can do. He turned from Jed to look at Abbey. "I don't want to make things uncomfortable for you, Abbey. If you think that it is going to be too strange and awkward for me to work in the White House knowing how I feel, I will leave my resignation with the President."

"I don't want you to resign, Leo," Abbey said. "Jed needs you and I think the three of us can work through this. I know it may be awkward for a while, but someday you'll fall head over heels in love with someone really special and you'll be able to let go of what you feel for me. I'm sure of it."

Daring not to contradict her, Leo turned back to the President. "What about you, Jed? Are you sure you can still work with me knowing all of this?"

Jed sat quietly as he contemplated the question. "I'm honestly going to try. I'm not going to say that this cut doesn't run deep. And, as much as I want to, this isn't a wound that I can put a Band-Aid on. I'm just going to have to let it bleed until it stops. Maybe then I'll be able to deal with everything a little better."

"That's fair," Leo nodded.

"Shake on it," Abbey ordered.

"Abbey----" Jed protested.

"SHAKE on it," she insisted.

Leo put his hand out to the man in front of him, his friend, and his brother. Jed looked at the hand for a long moment and felt Abbey prodding him on. Finally, reluctantly, he moved his arm forward to grasp Leo's hand in his."

Abbey beamed a smile at both men and placed her own hands over theirs, keeping them clasped together.

"We're family," she said firmly. "We'll get past this."

Both men smiled at her and nodded but both were wishing that they shared her confidence and optimism because at that moment neither was at all sure that they would indeed work past this. Neither of them was sure that they had it in them. But, they had promised the woman they both loved to try, and that was a start.

THE END