Jed stood in the bathroom splashing water on his face. He was still reeling from the phone call they had just received and was very worried about Abbey, about how she was taking all this. Her voice had been that of Dr. Abigail Bartlet, detached and clinical. Her speech was that of prognosis and paralysis, yet the white knuckled grip she held the phone with belied the struggle within her to remain in control. He knew it was only a matter of time until she broke down.

When he re-entered the bedroom, she was gone. He threw on his bathrobe and began to search for her. He had a pretty good idea where she would be. Many nights he would find her sitting in the nursery watching the babies sleep. Tonight was not an exception. He found her sitting in the rocking chair her knees drawn to her chest, as she often did when she needed to comfort herself.

"Abbey," he said softly. Abbey turned her head toward him and his heart broke at the tear stained face the moonlight revealed to him.

"I'm OK, Jed," the words came out shakier than she had planned. "She's going to be fine." Abbey rose to her feet moving to the window that overlooked Pennsylvania Avenue. She placed a hand on the cool glass pane staring at the brightly-lit Washington Monument. The landmark was wavy and blurred through the tears that pooled in her eyes.

"Yes, she is," he said placing his hand on her shoulder. Abbey stiffened at first, holding herself aloof from him, however it wasn't long before Jed began to feel her shake as she tried valiantly to keep her tears at bay. He felt the moment she gave in to them and in an instant she turned to bury her face into his chest, her arms clutched tightly around his waist.

"I'm so scared, Jed," she sobbed. "I'm so damned scared. I don't want her to die." She was holding him so tightly, desperately, a woman drowning in fear and uncertainty, and Jed was the rock she chose to cling to.

Jed lifted her into his arms and carried her to the rocker, snuggling her into his lap as if she was a child. He wanted to cry too. Cry for the pain that Abbey was in as much has his own torment about it. But, he had to hold strong. Abbey needed him right now.

"Ssh," he stroked her hair softly, soothing her as if she were one of the babies. "I know you're scared, Baby, but she's going to be fine."

"You don't know that," Abbey cried, her face buried into his neck now so that he could feel her warm wet tears against his skin. " She was fine this morning, laughing and helping to take care of the kids and now this...Jed, your father DIED of a stroke."

"A massive stroke, Abbey. Your father said this was a minor stroke," Abbey knew he was right. She was a doctor, she shouldn't be reacting this way. But this was not just anyone.

"I know what he said but I also know about complications and..."

"Ssh. Abbey, don't torture yourself with what ifs. We'll go to the hospital tomorrow morning and you'll see for yourself."

"I'm not ready to lose my mother, Jed."

"I know, honey, I know," Jed rocked her and held her, stroking her hair and comforting her until her sobs subsided to shaky breaths and finally to sleep. And even then he continued on with her in his arms all night long.

++++

The First Couple arrived at Massachusetts General early the next morning and was subjected to a barrage of reporters and photographers. Jed held tightly to Abbey's hand as they walked up the hospital's stairs, trying to ignore the chaos around them. The pictures that were taken that morning of the couple showed a grim President and pale and drawn First Lady. But Abbey was in control now. Her fears and grief had been left behind on the tears that had stained and dried on her husband's pajama top and she was ready to be strong for her parents the way they had always been there for her.

A tiny bit of that composure was lost when Abbey saw her father in the waiting room. Dr. Michael O'Neill, whose presence was, like her husband's, bigger than life, suddenly looked old and worn out. Seeing him like that forced Abbey to face the fact that her parents were not going to live forever.

"I'm so glad you're here, Abigail," Michael said as he held his small daughter in his arms. "You too, son," he turned to accept a hug from Jed.

"How are you holding up, Dad?" Jed asked.

"I'm doing fine."

"You look tired, Daddy," Abbey said. "You should go home and rest while Jed and I are here."

"I'm not going anywhere," Michael said firmly. Jed could see Abbey was about to argue but he squeezed her arm to stop her. He couldn't blame the man. If this were Abbey, he would park his ass beside her and not leave until she came home.

"How is Mama?" Abbey asked, heeding Jed's warning.

"She is doing OK. The stroke has affected her speech slightly and some movement on her left side. But, they believe that through physical and occupational therapy, she should make a full recovery."

"Did they put her on anticoagulants and..."

"Abbey," Michael smiled fondly down into her lovely face and ran his finger down her cheek. "I'm a doctor too. Don't worry, I am making sure they are doing right by her."

"Sorry," she said a bit sheepishly. Sometimes she forgot that she wasn't the only one who could treat a patient. "Have you called Jane and Evan yet? Are they coming?"

"Yes, I called them both. They're both in Europe but I told them not to rush back. Your mother is not in any imminent danger and, by the time they get here, she will probably be released."

"I want to see her," Abbey swallowed. "Can we go in?"

"Yes, go ahead."

"You want to go alone, Abs?" Jed asked, wondering if his wife wanted some private moments with her mother.

"No," Abbey shook her head negatively, she didn't want to do this alone. "Please come in with me." Jed smiled reassuringly at her, took her hand, and they entered the room together.

Amazingly enough, given her age, this was the first time Abbey had ever seen her mother in the hospital and it gave her a start. Her usually vibrant mother looked so still and pale sleeping in the bed. The wrinkles on her face were more pronounced, the gray in the hair she still dyed auburn, in the same shade she had passed on to her daughter and granddaughters, was more predominant. And, when her tired eyes opened and saw them, she looked old and sick. Jed felt Abbey squeeze his hand and turned to see the tears in her eyes. He knew she was fighting desperately for control.

"Hey beautiful," Jed said, moving forward to kiss his mother-in-law's cheek. Beth gave a slightly lopsided smile at her charming son-in-law and a spark of laughter lit her hazel eyes. It was that light that made her Beth O'Neill again, not just a sick old lady, and Abbey was able to move forward from behind her husband to kiss her mother's forehead. Beth reached out her right hand and weakly traced finger over the worried frown lines on Abbey's forehead.

"Lose these," she said in a slurred voice that sounded almost as if she were drunk.

"I'll try," Abbey smiled, but evidently the smile was not convincing to her mother.

"Don't worry...be fine."

"Yes, you will," Jed said with more confidence than he felt at the moment "but you know Abbey, she's not happy unless she is worrying over somebody."

"Make sure...doesn't worry...too much," Beth said looking as sternly as she could at Jed.

"I'll try, Mom."

"Hey, you two, I'm sitting right here," Abbey said indignantly and the two of them laughed conspiratorially.

+++++

The afternoon was spent with doctors and therapists. Jed felt slightly out of the loop as Michael, Abbey, and Beth's doctors threw medical terms and procedures around, but he was there for moral support for both of them, and that was what was important. When they finally returned to the O'Neill house in Salem, they were all exhausted. Abbey stood at her mother's stove heating up some leftover chowder for their supper. She was physically and emotionally wiped out. Intellectually, she knew her parents were getting old and that they wouldn't live forever, but they had always been so full of life that she had never dwelled on that, never really thought about it. The thought of losing her mother had caused her to panic in a way she hadn't since Jed had been shot. Yes, she was close to her father, they had the bond of a shared profession, but it was her mother she was closest to. Beth O'Neill had always been there for her. Her mother had completely shaped her life, gently guiding her from young girlhood to womanhood. It was Beth who had instilled her with the confidence to believe she could be whatever she wanted to be. Beth, who had believed in her when she said she wanted to be a doctor, not a nurse, like everyone in her family, including her father, felt she should concentrate on being. It was Beth whose arms she sobbed in when she found out that her first boyfriend, Bobby Fitzpatrick, was cheating on her because she wouldn't 'put out'. Beth was the first person she admitted to that she had fallen in love with a young man named Jed Bartlet. Beth, who was the first to know that she was pregnant with Elizabeth and had offered only support and encouragement, rather than condemnation. Beth, who had taken so much joy in helping plan every aspect of their wedding with she and Jed. Beth, who had flown to London after Elizabeth's birth, to help her learn how to be a mother and care for a newborn baby. Beth, who she turned to in the beginning with Elizabeth's every sniffle and rash. It was Beth who had convinced her that when you miscarry in your first trimester it is nature's way of taking care of a baby that was not meant to be. Beth, who was there that long, exhausting, stormy winter night when she had given birth to Ellie in her bedroom at the farmhouse. Beth had been able shed the tears of pain with her and comfort her, along with Jed, and share in the joy at watching her son-in-law and Millie deliver her granddaughter into the world. It was Beth who had come to stay with Elizabeth and Ellie when she and Jed had to spend so much time at the hospital with tiny premature Zoey. It was to Beth that she had confided her fears about Jed's reaction to her rape and her own sexuality. Beth, who had spent weeks caring for Jed and the girls after Peter's death, when she had been so filled with grief she hadn't been able to do so. It was Beth who had convinced her that she had it in her to be the best First Lady this country had ever had and Beth who had been there those long days last year when Jed lay near death after being shot. Her mother had always been there for her, supporting her and giving her strength. It was now time that she gave some of that back. She knew what she had to do and now she just had to tell Jed.

++++

Later that evening, Jed lay in bed with Abbey snuggled in his arms. Her head lay tucked under his chin and he could inhale the flowery scent of her hair. He remembered the first time he'd ever slept with Abbey in this, her girlhood room. It had all seemed so exciting and forbidding. Now it was just familiar.

"I have to go back to Washington tomorrow," he said reluctantly, staring up at the ceiling.

"I know," she sighed with acceptance. "I can't go back, Jed. Not yet, I need to stay here and help Dad take care of her for a while."

"I had a feeling you were going to say that."

"I know we've got that State dinner coming and all the holiday stuff, not to mention the hearings, but I..."

"Ssh...it's OK, Abbey. This is your mother. You do what you have to do. Everything will fall into place."

"Leo and Bruno will be pissed. No First Lady by your side throughout the holiday festivities. What will the voters think?"

"You just leave Leo and Bruno to me. If the voters can't understand a woman wanting to take care of her sick mother than I don't want their vote. Will you keep the babies here?" There was a wistful tone to his voice and Abbey knew how badly he was going to miss all of them.

"Yeah. I mean I think they will be better off here with me. I have more time to be with them."

"You don't have to explain. I know you're right. I don't have the time they need. They need their mother. You're right to keep them with you."

"I just.... I feel awful leaving you in Washington all alone with the hearings coming up. I don't know how I would have gotten through last night and today without you beside me," she twisted a few strands of Jed's chest hair around a finger. Jed smiled, placing his hand over hers, knowing it was a part of Abbey's nature that she always had to be doing something with her hands when she was nervous or anxious about something.

"I'm a big boy, Abbey. I can handle it. We'll talk on the phone."

"And you'll call me if you need me?"

"You know it."

++++

Jed was back at the White House and Abbey was right. It was a tough blow to the campaign not having she and the twins around for the holidays so they could play up that wholesome family image to combat the hearings, which in all probability were going to try to paint the First Couple as manipulative and power hungry. They understood why Abbey was staying behind, but understanding was not accepting.

"We have a State Dinner next week," Leo said. "We're going to need a hostess. Do you think you could get Liz to fly down?"

"I could, but she is busy with school. Do I have to have a hostess?"

"You have to have a hostess," CJ said firmly. "What about your mother?" Jed looked up skeptically over the rim of his glasses from CJ to Leo.

"I think we knew how that suggestion would go over," Leo grinned.

"What about Zoey?" Sam asked. "She's been to these things before. She's stood in the receiving lines."

"Yes," Jed said, "With Abbey beside her, guiding her. But, what if we have Zoey do it with help from Jenny? Leo, you know how much Jenny loves these functions."

"Yeah," Leo squirmed. He knew how much Jenny would love it all right. She would finally be where she wanted to be all those years ago, playing Jed Bartlet's wife and being First Lady. He didn't know why this still bugged him, after all, he had his own conflicting feelings about Abbey. "Won't that be awkward? The First Lady and the kids are out of town and another woman is playing hostess."

"I don't think it will be awkward at all. Zoey will be the official hostess and we'll invite Jeffrey too," Jed was pleased with his plan.

"I think that's perfect," CJ grinned.

"Yeah right, perfect," Leo muttered.

"Sir, excuse me but there is someone I would like you to meet," Charlie said, entering the Oval Office as the others began to depart.

"Yes?" he asked, looking up from his papers to see Charlie enter with a young blond woman.

"Sir, this is Samantha Greer, Samantha, President Bartlet."

"Nice to meet you, Samantha," Jed absently put out a hand. He had much weightier items on his mind than meeting one of Charlie's friends, but he was always polite.

"It's Sammi, sir," the girl flashed her best flirty smile. Boy, what a plum assignment, she thought, Jed Bartlet was even more good looking in person than he was on TV or in pictures.

"Sammi is going to be filling in for me for a couple weeks," Charlie explained "She used to work for Senator Stanton."

"Where are you going, Charlie?" Jed asked puzzled.

"I'm taking my sister to visit colleges campuses on her Christmas break."

"Oh, yes, well," Jed turned to the young girl, "I'm sure you'll do just fine, young lady. But you may be in for more than you bargained for. My wife is out of town taking care of her mother so I will probably be having some long working nights."

"I understand, sir. I'm prepared for that." Oh am I prepared, she thought, almost smiling with anticipation over the fact that the President might be in for more than HE bargained for. Long nights with the little wife out of town indeed. This was going to be better than she thought and certainly much more enjoyable than doing that old white haired Senator Stanton. Jed Bartlet was sexy and powerful, and wouldn't it be a notch on her belt to say she screwed the President of the United States?

+++++

Beth O'Neill had come home from the hospital and was now working with her doctors and her husband and daughter to regain her mobility and her life back.

Abbey sat on the edge of her mother's bed giving Aislinn a bottle while Beth tried to form her mouth around the simple words of a kids book. It was frustrating as hell for her to be reading children's books and not be able to get out what she wanted to say.

"Wo..wo...wo," Beth struggled.

"Wooorrrk, Mama," Abbey touched her mother's lips to help get her mouth around the word. Filled with frustration, Beth flung the book against the wall knocking a lamp over in the process. Aislinn spit out the nipple and gave a startled cry at the crash. Abbey lifted her daughter to her shoulder to calm her and Beth's face began to crumple as she realized how she had scared her baby granddaughter. Tears began to pour down her cheeks.

"It's OK, Mama," Abbey said, wiping a tear away. "It's going to take time. You're doing fine."

"You....should...go home...with Jed," Beth pointed to the door.

"I'm right where I want to be Mama," Abbey said, picking up the book. "Now let's start again."

++++

A few hours later Abbey finally had the twins down for their naps and her father was relaxing and watching TV. She made her way tiredly to the library. Other than her bedroom, it had always been her favorite room in this house, just as it was at her home in New Hampshire. Books had always been a comfort to her, a way to escape from the world and all its stress and anxiety. She heard the rumbles of a freak winter thunderstorm as she lit the fireplace. With the logs burning, she scanned the walls for a good book pulling out a well-worn copy of 'Wuthering Heights'. How many times had she read this as a teenager, she wondered with a smile. This was what she needed, escapism, pure and simple. She took a sip of her tea, perched her glasses on her nose and lay back on the leather couch to retreat into the brooding world of Heathcliff and Cathy on the moors of England. It wasn't long before her eyelids began to flutter closed and the book fell to her chest.

She was jolted out of a sound sleep by a loud bang of thunder and was disoriented for a moment, not knowing where she was. She gazed around the room realizing that she was in the library of her parents' home. As her eyes touched the far end of the library, a white flash of lightening lit the room. She gazed with horror, not able to breathe, for standing outlined in the bright light was the dark figure of a man pressed up against the glass French doors, staring in on her. The breath Abbey had been holding came out in a loud piercing scream of terror.

TBC...