Discoveries & Surprises

by: Rhiannon

Character(s): Abbey, Jed
Pairing(s): Abbey/Jed
Category(s): Romance, Drama
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Ain't mine... never claimed it as such
Summary: Sequel to Bent

Jed sucked in a breath, "Abigail?"

Abbey looked up, a puppy dog look on her face, "Yes?"

Jed reached over and turned on the light. He looked at his wife and opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. He closed his mouth and took a deep breath and tried to speak again, "Um... I don't think I heard you right... Would you repeat that please?"

Abbey lifted her eyebrows, "I'm going to have a baby."

Jed nodded and then, as if what she said had just sunk in, said in a loud voice, "WHAT?!"

Abbey exhaled the breath she had been holding, "I'm going to have a baby. That means that you will be a father, again. And I'm going to be a mother, again."

"But, what... how... a baby?!" Jed exclaimed. "A baby?!"

"Yeah, a baby." Abbey sighed. "You know, small versions of adults... a baby."

"When... How?!"

Abbey briefly lowered her head. She raised her head and lifted her eyebrows, "Please tell me that I don't have to explain how a baby comes into existence, Jed..."

Jed's eyes grew huge for a moment as he let the news sink into his brain... A baby... He really couldn't believe it... He was fifty-five years old and was going to be a father again, after nineteen years. A thought leapt into his mind, "Abbey, um... I just know that I'm going to sound really dumb and will probably get into trouble for asking this, but... aren't we a little old to be having children all over again?"

Abbey cocked her head to one side, "A little old, Jed?"

"What I mean is that, is this safe for you at your age?" Jed rushed the words out.

Abbey lifted her right eyebrow, "At my age, Jed?"

"What I meant... well, I didn't mean that... what I meant was... well, you see... oh no... oh, damn." Jed stammered.

Abbey shook her head, "I know what you mean... You mean that I'm fifty-three years old and I'm pregnant... Jed, I never... went through the thing."

"What thing?"

Abbey looked her husband in the eye, "The THING, Jed."

He looked to the side for a moment. Sudden comprehension dawned in his eyes when he looked back at Abbey, "Ohhh.... the thing."

Abbey shook her head, "For a Nobel Prize winner you can be dense sometimes, you know that?"

It was Jed's turn to roll his eyes, "Yeah, whatever. You were explaining something to me..."

"And since I haven't gone through the thing," she made a pointed pause before continuing. "So, pregnancy has and is a possibility... and now it's a reality."

"Isn't it dangerous for a woman your age?" Jed asked, all humor gone from his face and voice.

Abbey nodded, "The danger level goes up, yes. It is very rare for a woman past fifty not to have gone through the... thing... much less conceive and carry a baby to term."

"Are there cases of women your age having children successfully?"

"Yes, there are. Not a lot, but there are some."

"Can you name one?"

"Actually, yes, I can." Abbey said. "My grandmother had her last child, my Aunt Karry, at fifty-four. She came through it just fine."

"Your Aunt Karry?" Jed thought for a moment. "Isn't she the one that thought she saw Elvis in her eggs?"

Abbey turned her head sharply and gave Jed's arm a sound smack, "Hey!"

"Ouch!" Jed exclaimed, rubbing his arm. "I forgot how violent you get when you're pregnant..."

"I'll give you violent, Jed Bartlet..." Abbey said, trailing off at the far-off look in her husband's eyes. "What?"

"A baby."

"Yes."

"Yes."

"Yes."

Jed stared into her eyes for a long moment, "Okay."

Abbey smiled at him, "Okay."

Jed held the back of her head in his hand. He brought her head down to his and kissed her. They broke the kiss and Jed reached over and turned out the light.

**

Abbey groaned when she heard the alarm clock go off. She opened her eyes and glanced around. She was tangled up in the bed sheets and in her husband's arms. She sighed as she climbed over him to reach the alarm clock. She slammed her hand down on it and relaxed back into the warm bed.

"Jed?" she murmured.

"What?"

"It's time go get up."

"I don't want to."

"Me neither."

"Let's stay here until someone comes to get us." Jed said, wrapping his arms back around her. "I wanna stay right here."

"Okay," she replied, snuggling back into his arms.

They both drifted back to sleep, only to be awaken by the ringing of the telephone an hour later. Jed growled at the noise and started to reach for the receiver. Abbey stopped his hand and picked up the phone herself, "Hello?"

"Abbey?"

"That would be me."

"It's Leo."

"That's great." Abbey replied, dryly.

"Listen, the President and I were going to meet for an early meeting before the day officially started. Is he up?" Leo asked, completely missing the tone in Abbey's voice.

"Well, Leo, why don't you ask him yourself." Abbey replied.

Finally it dawned on Leo, his best friend and President was still in bed, and he was going to have to deal with the bad mood that Jed Bartlet would be in, "No Abbey! Wait! Never mind! Forget I asked!"

"Are you sure Leo? I'd hate for him to miss some important government meeting." Abbey said.

"I'm sure." Leo said. "Did you tell him?"

"Yeah."

"And?"

"Leo, think about that for a moment." Abbey said.

Leo was silent for a short moment, "Oh... should I clear the President's schedule?"

Abbey glanced over at her husband, who was watching her. She covered the mouthpiece with her hand, "Should Leo scrub the day?"

Jed looked up at the ceiling... He felt torn. He wanted to stay with Abbey,but he knew he had to fulfill his commitment as President. Abbey waited patiently as he fought a battle with his own emotions. Finally, Jed looked back at her. He looked in her eyes and nodded, "Tell Leo to push everything back until ten am... And tell him I'll want a staff meeting when I come in."

Abbey nodded, "Leo?"

"Yeah?" came the voice on the other end of the phone.

"Jed says not to cancel the day, but to push everything back until ten. And he wants to see the staff when he comes in." Abbey informed him.

"Okay, tell the President I'll have everything rescheduled when he comes in."

"Okay, Leo." Abbey said. "And thank you."

"No problem Abbey." Leo said, hanging up the phone.

Abbey placed the receiver back on the cradle and then turned to her husband, propping her head up with her hand, "How do you feel?"

Jed turned his face to hers, "I could ask you the same thing."

Abbey smiled, "I feel better than I've felt in a long time."

Jed reached over and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, "Me too... I hated it when you were gone."

"Me too."

"I'm sorry I made you leave."

Abbey shook her head, "It's all right... and you were right. But it doesn't matter anymore. We're together, right now. That's all that matters."

Jed drew her close to him, "We've got an hour or two before I need to get dressed. What ever will we do to fill the time?"

Abbey laughed, "I don't know, but I'm sure you'll think of something..."

**

Jed hobbled into the Oval Office at ten on the dot. His staff stood, all wore pleasant expressions.

Josh spoke first, "Mr. President, it's good to see you up out of the wheelchair."

"Josh, let me tell you something," Jed said, making his was to his desk. "As good as it is to you... it's even better for me."

"Yes, sir." Josh grinned.

Jed smiled, leaning against his desk, "Now, before you all start bothering me with things I really don't want to hear, I have an announcement to make."

His staff looked at him expectantly... Except Leo, who sat staring at Jed with a very slight smile on his face.

"My wife came home yesterday."

"That's great, sir." CJ said.

"Yes, it is." Jed agreed. "I missed her a great deal. But, that's not the announcement."

Josh looked at him warily, "You're not going to make us eat chili again ... are you?"

The staff chuckled as Jed gave Josh an unamused look, "No, Josh. I'm not going to make you eat chili again... Abbey won't let me eat chili."

Sam looked up, "But you ate it then-"

"That's because the First Lady was in another country and couldn't get her hands on me." Jed informed him. "And if any of you rat on me, you're life will become a very long and difficult existence. You all got that?"

Jed waited until every single person in the room nodded before continuing, "Back to my original point... Yes, Abbey is home. However, that's not the big announcement. The big announcement is this... Abbey is with child."

Everyone but Leo looked at him with confused expressions painted on their faces. They glanced at Leo, who sat motionless in his chair. They all looked back at Jed.

Toby arched his eyebrow, "With... child, sir?"

"Yes, Toby. With child." Jed answered.

"Mr. President," Josh said. "What, exactly, does that mean?"

"What that means, Josh," Jed began. "Is that in about nine months, my wife will give birth to a baby."

"A baby?" Sam asked.

"Yes, Sam. A baby."

"No disrespect, Mr. President." Sam said. "But aren't you a little old to have a baby?"

CJ landed a well-placed heel on Sam's toe. Sam gave a little yell, "OW!"

Jed looked at him with amusement, "Sam, I'll let you in on something... I asked my wife that same question when she told me... And you know what?"

"What, sir?" Sam asked, dread creeping up his spine.

"I got in trouble with my wife... Now, may I give you some advice?"

"Yes, sir." Sam replied.

"The words, old or at your age, should not be used within earshot of Abigail Bartlet. She has amazing hearing, so you might be better off not to ever say those words again. Because, let me tell you something, if you get busted I'm not going to help you... I get in enough trouble as it is." Jed told him. "And I can imagine that everyone in this room feels the same way."

Sam looked around the room and saw every single person nodding at him... He looked back at Jed, "Yes, sir. I'll be careful what I say."

"That's a good idea." Jed said. "Now, CJ we're defiantly going to need a press conference now."

"Yes, sir." CJ said, smiling. "I'll have no problem putting this press conference together... One thing sir."

"Yes?"

"May I give this story to Danny?" CJ said, ignoring the looks from those around her. "He is scheduled to do an interview with you and the First Lady..."

Jed thought about it for a moment. He looked over at Leo, who gave him a slight shrug. "Okay... but tell him not to write about it until the day of the press conference... I'd like to tell the rest of my family before the world knows."

"Yes, sir." CJ replied.

"Okay, let's get this meeting started.

~~~

After the meeting was over, the staff expressed their congratulations before leaving. When the last person left his office, Jed looked over at his best friend of over forty years, "You knew... didn't you?"

Leo grinned at him, "Yep!"

"She told you before she told me?"

Leo shook his head, "To be fair to her, Lili called me and told me that Abbey wasn't feeling well. I told Abbey that I'd tell you she wasn't feeling well and, after threatening bodily harm to Lili, she agreed to go to a doctor... But you knew some of that, didn't you?"

Jed made a face, "Funny, Leo."

"Lili and I got her out of that trip early and she called me and told me yesterday while you were listening at my door." Leo said. "She knew you were listening, that's why she told me and she knew I'd make a comment to get your curiosity peeked."

"My wife and my Chief of Staff... conspiring against me." Jed rolled his eyes. "What did I ever do to deserve this?"

Leo gave him a look, "Do you really have to ask that?"

"Get out." Jed said, pointing to the door.

Leo grinned, "Yes, Mr. President." He opened the door and was almost in the hallway when he heard Jed's voice, calling after him.

"And I'm not noisy as a cat."

Leo laughed as he closed the door behind him.

**

It was close to four o'clock when Jed finally found the moment to pick up the  phone and call his wife. He called to the residence and frowned when no one  picked up the phone. He put the phone down at stared at it.

No, she wouldn't... he thought to himself. She wouldn't do that.

He picked up the phone and called his wife's office. Two rings later, a woman picked up the phone.

"Hello."

"Abigail Bartlet." Jed said. "What are you doing at work?"

"Working, Jed... That's what most people do when they go to work." Abbey replied. "They work."

Jed rolled his eyes, "Very funny Abbey. You've been working nonstop for the past four weeks. You can't push yourself too hard with the baby."

Abbey sighed, "Are you going to use this baby as I reason to blackmail me into doing what you want me to?"

"Is it going to work?" Jed countered, with a question of his own.

"Yes." She replied.

"Then, yes... I am." Jed answered.

"Be that way." Abbey muttered.

Jed ignored her, "Have you called Elizabeth and Jennifer?"

"Yes, they're both thrilled. Elizabeth said she wanted to come, but couldn't get away. I told her we understood."

"What did Jennifer say?" Jed asked of his middle daughter.

"She's coming." Abbey said, simply.

"When?"

"Next month. I told her that she didn't have to come right away. She said that was fine, she'd wrap up the project she was working on and then would come out when that was done... she said it would be about a month. Abbey paused. "Jed, promise me that you'll be nice when she gets here."

"Abbey-" Jed moaned.

"Jed, Jennifer already promised me that she'd be on her best behavior while she was here. I want the same promise from you." Abbey commanded.

"Fine. I promise." Jed said, shortly. Then he quickly changed the subject, "Did you talk to Zoey?"

"I told her to come here tonight. I thought we'd tell her together?"

"That's fine..." Jed looked up when Leo stuck his head in the doorway. "Okay, I gotta go. Leo's here to bother me."

Abbey laughed, "Okay, see you later."

Jed hung up the phone and motioned Leo into the room, "What's up?"

"Nothing much, just wanted to see how you were doing." Leo responded.

"Jennifer is coming... That should say it all right there."

Leo nodded, "Yeah, but not till next month, you have plenty of time to prepare yourself."

Jed looked at him, "She told you didn't she?"

"Yep."

"She told you and then told you to come in here and tell me that I need to mind my manners when my daughter gets here." Jed said, more to himself.

"Yep." Leo repeated.

"Go away."

"Okay."

**

Zoey Bartlet sat with her parents in their bedroom after dinner. She moved her eyes back and forth between the two as they tried to tell her something. Finally, she raised her hand and waited to be called on.

Abbey noticed first, "What Zoey?"

"Can I ask you two a question?" Zoey asked.

"Go ahead." Abbey responded.

"What's going on? You two have been acting weird all night long." Zoey said. "I mean, even weird for the two of you."

"Thanks Zoey." Jed remarked.

Abbey rolled her eyes, "You're right. We have been acting weird... Okay, here's the deal... While I was away I started to feel bad and I went to the doctor."

"You're not sick, are you Mom?" Zoey asked, a little bit fearful.

"No, I'm not sick Zoey." Abbey responded, putting her arm around her daughter. "I'm going to have a baby."

Zoey looked at her mother, "A baby? Really?"

"Yeah, really."

Zoey smiled, "That's great! I mean, wow!"

Jed raised his eyebrows, "I take that to mean that you're okay about this..."

"Yeah! It's totally cool!" Zoey hugged her parents. Then her eyes clouded over, "Mom, are you going to be all right? I mean, isn't it dangerous for you?"

Abbey nodded, "Yes, Zoey. I won't lie to you. There is a high risk factor when a woman my age has a baby. But, I'm going to take very good care of myself. I'm sure you will be hounding me. And I know your father will do everything humanly and, in some cases beyond humanly, possible to make sure that everything goes smoothly."

"Do the girls know?" Zoey ask, referring to her sisters.

"Yes, your mother called them this afternoon." Jed replied.

"Elizabeth is happy about it and so is Jennifer... Actually, Jennifer is coming here next month." Abbey told her.

Zoey turned to her father, "Dad? Are you going to be all right? You and Jenn aren't going to fight, are you?"

Jed groaned, "No Zoey, your sister and I are not going to fight. We've both promised your mother that we'd mind our manners and be on our best behavior."

"Are you sure?" Zoey ask.

"Why does everyone keep asking me that?!" Jed exclaimed.

~~~

Later, after Zoey left, Jed and Abbey laid together in their bed. Abbey raised her head from where it was resting on Jed's chest, "Are you sure you're going to be all right with Jennifer here?"

"For the last time Abbey-"

"It's just that you always say that and then-"

"Abigail, if you ask me one more time about Jennifer, I swear to you-"

"Okay!" Abbey said, snuggling deeper into his arms.

"You know what we're going to have to do?" Jed asked, wrapping his arms around her.

"What?"

"We're going to have to do that thing that you did that made me crazy three times for nine months." Jed said.

"It wasn't that bad." Abbey said instantly, knowing exactly what he was talking about.

"Wasn't that bad? Abbey you kept changing your mind right up until they were all born!" Jed exclaimed. "Wasn't that bad, my foot!"

"Whatever." Abbey muttered.

"I have an idea..."

"Good for you!"

Jed ignored her, "I have a feeling it's going to be a boy, so-"

"You said that when Elizabeth was born."

"Like I was saying-"

"And you said that when Jennifer was born."

"Like I was saying-"

"And... you said that when Zoey was born."

"Like I was saying, Abigail." Jed paused for a moment. "Since I have a feeling this baby will be a boy, I think we should name him-"

"No."

"Abbey."

"NO."

"Be that way." Jed muttered.

Abbey rolled her eyes, "Stop impersonating your mother and turn off the light."

Jed reached over and turned the light off. He waited a moment, "Abbey-"

"Jed, no. We're not naming this baby Josiah Bartlet Junior."

"Why not?"

"Because, I have a hard enough time keeping up with the Josiah that I already have!"

The End.