In The Family

Chapter Four

Abbey stroked the brush through Lesly’s hair, silently counting them out. They both tried to not to grin too much since Abbey hadn’t done this in years and this was Les’s first time. She’d never been mothered before and she didn’t want an experience like that to end. Abbey twisted the girl’s silky tresses into a French braid and tied it off with a forest green ribbon in the form of a bow.

Les held her head up proudly and surveyed her mother’s work. She grinned and thanked Abbey warmly. Since the moment she had woken up in her mother’s arms, the bond they had shared when she was small had returned full force and stronger than ever. They had been inseparable from then on. She has taken full run of Abbey’s office from her place on the couch. Well, not full run. But she did have her wants catered to. Abbey could barely say no to the girl. The press went crazy the moment the ladies had hit daylight to shop. Who was this girl, they asked excitedly. Why was she with the First Lady, they asked. Lesly was nearly blind from camera flashes by the time they returned home.

Their day was hectic compared to the light day Jed had endured with Toby tagging happily along behind him. He had signed a bill with a quickly-suited Toby peaking from behind an agent’s legs. As soon as the questions started and the cameras, he’d lunged for Jed and hidden his pale face in his father’s chest. Jed smiled understandingly and fielded the questions protectively, giving absolutely nothing away. Who is that? had garnered little more than a tolerant smile and a Thank you for coming. Here’s a pen. Have a nice day now. Despite offers from those around him, he kept a tight hold on Toby and let them take their pictures. He wasn’t answering questions. Period.

Toby hung off his neck like a monkey and squealed when Jed poked him in the side with a pen. Jed looked at him slyly and asked him what was wrong with him. The mini-he narrowed his eyes suspiciously, but didn’t let go. This time, he poked him from the other side with his finger. He giggled, but glared a little more.

“Quit it.”

“Quit what?”

“You know,” he mumbled up close. Jed shrugged innocently.

“Whatever do you mean, hmm?”

“You know.”

“I know quite a lot, don’t I?” It was Toby’s turn to shrug. “I take offense.” Toby smiled his mother’s smile.

“Tough.” Before Jed could take his amusement out on his sensitive sides, he scrambled out of the President’s lap and ran to hide behind Leo. Leo, being one of the few who knew just who this kid was, rolled his eyes and stepped aside. Toby gruffed and met head-on with his namesake’s knees. He fell backwards and looked up into Toby Ziegler’s dark eyes. They sat there for a moment and took stock of one another. They both found themselves satisfied with their appraisals and the elder one reached down to help the younger one up.

“What’s your name?” He straightened his shoulders and firmed his jaw, looking for all the world like a small Leader of the Free World.

“Toby.” He stroked his beard thoughtfully and gave him a more thorough once over.

“That’s my name, too.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah, wow.” He put his small hand out in official greeting. Toby took his hand and shook it with gentle firmness. “Nice to meet you, Toby.” They both paused for a moment. Two Toby’s. That was gonna take some getting used to. They let go at the same time and Little Toby stepped away hesitantly. He peeked over his shoulder and grinned, showing his gap-toothed smile. The Elder Toby had no choice, but to smile back. The President was right there.

“Unca Jed, can I go see Au’t Abbey?” He turned his advantage onto his father pleadingly. Jed was helpless against his own best feature. He rolled his eyes and the small one was certain that he’d won this fight.

“Yes, you can go see your Aunt Abbey. I’m sure she’d love to see you.” He nodded matter-of-factly. Like there was any question. “Promise you’ll come back though?” He nodded affirmatively. Of course. Jed was Daddy. “Okay.” He kneeled down and kissed his blonde-smattered forehead. “Go ahead.” He trotted away behind Milo, who led the way to the East Wing.

Jed stood up and dusted himself off. “Guys, here’s the day. What’s next?”

~~~~

Toby looked at the large works of art that covered the walls along the halls on his way. They were all easily twice his size. He managed to overlook the stares that latched themselves to his person as he passed. There were four agents all around him, so close around his person that, at times, their swinging arms nearly touched.

When he arrived at Abbey’s office, he stopped at her executive assistant’s desk and waited patiently to be acknowledged. The first thing Sondra noticed wasn’t the darling boy at attention in front of her but the imposing agents that had accompanied him. She looked to each one before figuring that they had to be there for something.

“Can I help you?” Milo tipped his head down towards the empty place between them. She leaned over the desktop and met a pair of cerulean blues. “Well, hello.”

“Hello.”

“Can I help you?” He nodded politely and stepped forward.

“I’d like to see my Au’t Abbey.” His eyes widened when realized he’d forgotten something. “Please.”

“Of course. May I call her first to let her know you’re coming?”

“Yes, ma‘am.” She smiled warmly at the little stranger. He was so polite. She picked up the phone and pressed Abbey’s line. “Mrs. Bartlet, it’s Sondra. There’s a little visitor here for you from the West Wing. Yes, ma’am. He is cute, about yea high. Quite familiar in fact. Yes, ma’am, I’ll send him right in. Go ahead, sweetie.” He grinned an executive grin and slipped past.

He peaked into the office to see his mother leaning over his sister. She waved him over and he leaped into her arms. She gave him a deep smooching kiss on the dimple. He breathed her in and sighed contentedly. “Hey, punkin.”

“Hi.” She patted his back soothingly and rocked him side to side. He took her face into his hands and rubbed his nose against hers playfully and chuckled when their noses scrunched up the same way. “Missed you.”

“Missed you, too.” They shared a happy smile and pressed their foreheads together. “Wuv you.”

“Wuv you.” There was a rustling on the couch near the window. Abbey held a finger to her lips.

“Shh.”

“Shh.” She nodded and helped him down from her lap. He followed her to the couch to watch the familiar lump under an afghan emblazoned with the Presidential Seal. Just the top of Les’s head peaked from underneath. He kneeled on the carpet next to her and poked his sister. Abbey sent him a sharp look, advising him ‘not’ to try that again. He looked away, feeling duly chastised.

Abbey tugged the afghan down little by little until Lesly’s round porcelain face came into view. She exhaled lightly and writhed to find a dark place. Abbey deftly lifted her and settled beneath her to set her head on her lap. She nudged an errant tendril away from her forehead and found herself tracing the fading circles around her eyes. She began to count the sandy smudges on her cheeks that passed for freckles. 1, 2, 3, 4... There were so many. She was sidetracked from her census when Les’s endless lashes flickered as her eyes moved rapidly in dreams. It was jarring to see so much of herself in another human being. Even in Zoey, who bore the strongest resemblance to her side of the family, the likeness was only passing. This was miraculous.

Her features were so gothic, dark and contrasting with her intense bottle green eyes, full peach lips, and round rosy cheeks. It was shameful to see what a life with Sienna had done to such a face. Her forehead bore the brunt of past distress with worry lines and one could number the crises she’d endured on the frown lines ‘round her mouth, like tree rings; each counting out the days of her life. She was ancient beyond her years.

They both were. She tugged her boy down beside her and smoothed his unruly hair. His snub nose twitched in annoyance as he tried in vain to pat it down himself.

“Shh.” He looked up at her with a confused scowl. She gathered him to her with her free arm, tickling his side slyly. “Sleep already.”

“Not sleepy.”

“Try.” He huffed, but nonetheless relaxed into her side and closed his eyes. An unmistakable rhythm drummed just above his head and lulled him as it had soothed his sister just a bit before. From any other perspective, they were a perfect vision of mother and children, but to Toby, it wasn’t quite so. Abbey had to wait for their loosed bond to come before she could doze amongst her brood in an unsullied repose.

The remedy to their conundrum set himself upon the armrest, watching protectively over his kin with a contented spirit. There was nothing more beautiful than this sight, except maybe that of his entire clan gathered all together around him. He had missed, he thought, the laughter of children in the halls, the sounds of their good dreams under God after a long course of praying for every person they knew by name. He had yearned for these memories that played like home movies in his distracted thoughts.

From the day Sienna’s betrayal had become apparent, with little more left than a note in bitter explanation; he had abstained from dreaming of any kind of reunion between him and his baby daughter. But now a decade anon, it had happened. And now he had a son.

For the time being, his family was complete. He was undaunted and feeling invincible. He felt as Zeus, strong and unstoppable. His foundation was firm, his sister-in-law no more than a slipped stone in the catacombs of days gone by. He was perfectly secure.

Alas, as Jed well knew, the certainty of today could not insure the certainty of any other day. Threats were always growing; new and old. The threat that was to come was more ancient than the sweet children dearly encompassed in his lover’s arms. Sibling rivalry.

It was all about who had the upper hand, who was more loved and beloved, who could win this unfair fight. This battle had ended long ago, as far as Abbey was concerned, but for Sienna, it would never be over. She would never measure up and she couldn’t stand it, so she played the only advantage she’d ever had -- the children. Abbey’s children. Jed’s children. Their children.

The children they had given out of love for Sienna, out of a hope for reconciliation, and out of charity, so that someone else might know the unsurpassed emotion of holding their newborn child in their arms. The children Abbey had first given alone to her barren sister as a sort of olive branch. What greater trust is there than to knowingly hand your ungrown, untouched offspring over to another to grow inside of them, to be raised by them? There’s no greater trust than that.

And when that failed, she enlisted Jed’s help after hearing of Reynold’s sterility. That increased the weight of the game tenfold. Now, not only had she given her sister a gift straight from her womb, but she had delivered to them a child made from her husband as well. She had encouraged him to do this, though it had been no small feat. There was nothing stronger than his love for his babies. Even his love for her stood little chance beside. But she had asked him, with eyes pleading, and he had agreed -- with the stipulation that they could see the child as it grew. The chances of a single child were slim; the chance of multiple embryos was none. Every unsuccessful transplant --and pregnancy-- was a blow not only to them, but also to their tenuous relationship with Sienna and Reynold. Both couples grieved incessantly over the precious lives that never were.

They were all on their last legs when it finally happened. Sienna safely reached week thirteen without more than the usual complications of an older first-time mother. It had worked. They kept their fingers crossed and prayed out loud for just this one. Weeks passed and Si-Si was five months pregnant. She and Abbey had found their closeness again. They’d gossiped like teenagers and shopped and shared cravings. It was as though Abbey was pregnant along with her.

It was Jed that tried to warn Abbey. He wasn’t nearly as close to Sienna as his wife and he could see her objectively -- at least somewhat. He saw the jealousy in her eyes as Abbey interacted with the girls, the way she brightened when the baby moved within her, or even the way the baby responded to Abbey’s voice. Lesly knew who her mother was even before she was born. Once again, Sienna Barrington Dowd didn’t measure up.

Abbey hadn’t wanted to believe it. She asked him to give her sister the benefit of the doubt. He told her would, but he continued to watch Sienna nonetheless. Abbey, finally alerted to what was happening, started making similar observations. Soon, the distance returned, and the moodiness, and the chill in her eyes. She wanted to put it on hormones and mood swings, but the signs weren’t there.

The dark cloud briefly lifted following Les’s birth. They were all caught in the glow of someone so precious coming into their world. That was until she started coming into her looks; until she became the stunning reflection of a certain would-be First Lady of The United States a lifetime ago. Abbey didn’t see it in the beginning, but Jed did; and Sienna certainly did.

At seven months old, Lesly Marianne Dowd was an apple-cheeked, green-eyed, brunette baby monster. She loved to terrorize people as she crawled around on her knees. Jed and Abbey were in love and she loved them back. It wasn’t long before she began to talk. Her first course of action was to call Abbey momma and Jed dada. They beamed with pride and love. Her sisters gathered around their ‘cousin’ and cuddled her warmly. She couldn’t have fit in better.

Unfortunately, Sienna and Reynold saw just how well she fit into their (not so) little family unit and came to the conclusion that there was no way that they could raise her with Jed and Abbey’s interference. Their authority would forever come second.

And so, on a crisp day in December, Abbey and Jed came to their home in Bennington, New Hampshire to find Sienna and Reynold gone and their precious little girl nowhere to be found. Just a note and no forwarding address. Jed held Abbey all that night as she cried herself to sleep and he tried desperately not to. There was nothing to be done. Before this struggle even became an issue, they had both signed a binding contract stating that they surrendered all claim to whatever children resulted from these procedures to Sienna and Reynold. They also surrendered all of the fertilized eggs harvested for transplant. Unbeknownst to any of them, following Lesly’s birth, nearly half a dozen of them remained untouched and waiting.

Then, four years later, there was Toby. Toby Richmond Dowd. It was as if by some cosmic happenstance that Toby looked like Jed. As an infant, he’d bang his small fists on any surface when he was angry, with slim lips pursed and silver-blue eyes narrowed. But other than that, you’d have been hard-pressed to find Jed in him. He didn’t have that quick wit or that heart-stopping oratory that brought the masses to their feet in applause. He, at times, couldn’t string a coherent sentence together. It was a strain on his damaged mind. A few too many drinks too late in the first trimester, too few prenatal vitamins, and a premature birth that had deprived him of oxygen for precious minutes left him this way. He was functional, but he’d been afflicted with many developmental setbacks that tore his ‘parents’ already torrential marriage to shreds. All he’d had to hold onto was Lesly.

Now, he finally had the family he was meant for. He was home. There would be no more midnight visits that would leave him crying silently into his pillow, shame staining his sheets. There would be no more of Les’s being hurt to protect him from things he didn’t even realize he’d done wrong. There would be no more fear. They were home now.

They were finally home.

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