Jed stumbled into the kitchen bleary eyed and stiff. He and Abbey had fallen asleep on the deck for a few hours before finally getting up and returning to their bedroom and he was feeling the effects of that this morning. His wife, bless her perky little soul, did not seem to be suffering the same lingering effects. While Nicholas and Aislinn colored at the kitchen table Abbey stood at the stove wearing a pair of silk Capri pajama bottoms that rode low on her slender hips and a matching camisole top that didn't quite make it to the waist band. Her hair was still a bit mussed and she was singing softly along with the radio while she flipped pancakes. Rumpled and sexy, she was irresistible. Jed approached her from behind wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Morning," he mumbled sleepily against her neck, his hands sliding up to rub over her breasts.

"Morning," she smiled leaning back against him secure in the knowledge that they were facing away from the children. Jed nuzzled his unshaven jaw against her soft cheek as he playfully teased her hardening nipples.

"Uh, enough of that." Abbey pushed his wandering hands down and gazed back over her shoulder to see that the children weren't paying any attention to them.

"They're oblivious," Jed assured her, but he backed off and moved toward the coffee maker to pour himself a mug.

"What would you like for breakfast?"

"Pancake!" Nicholas demanded from the table as if daring for his father to contradict him.

"Wif smiley face," Aislinn added.

"I know what YOU two want for breakfast. I was asking daddy what he wanted."

"Pancakes with a blueberry smiley face sounds pretty good to me. Count me in."

"Are we still going for a hike out to the river fly fishing?" Abbey placed the pancakes on a plate and began placing big fat blueberries on the top in the shape of a smiling face.

"That was the plan. I just have to have my NSA briefing and we can be off. By the time I finish you should have the kids ready."

****

Abbey did have the children ready by the time Jed had finished with his briefing. They were outside playing with the dogs with their little backpacks already on their backs.

"Daddy, meeting?" Aislinn asked.

"Yup." Jed picked her up settling her on his hip. "But no more meetings today. I'll go put my briefcase in the cabin and then we're off."

"Yay!!!"

"I'm surprised you didn't try to worm your way out of it," Abbey smirked. "I mean considering how much you enjoy hiking."

"Abigail, I've always enjoyed hiking with the children, it's YOU I have the problem with."

"Me?"

"Yes, you. You're like some kind of Lewis and Clark trailblazer out there. I'm hoping with young children you'll keep the pace down."

"So, now you're saying you're on pace with two year olds. That's not telling me much about your physical fitness level. Maybe I should start personally seeing to your exercise regimen. I could�"

"Hah! Nice try, but I think you have better things to do than to be my personal trainer. I swim every morning in the White House pool and I play tennis and basketball."

"Every once in a while," she snorted derisively.

"Well, promise me you'll wear one of those tiny little white skirts and I'll play tennis with you every morning."

"Somehow I doubt your mind would be on the game."

"Somehow I think you're right."

****

"Look at this kids, it's a little nest that fell out of the tree." Abbey knelt in the pine needles before her children, a small nest held delicately in the palm of her hand.

"Birdies?" Aislinn asked poking her finger inside.

"No, the birdies must have had to make a new home after this one fell."

Jed scoped the area making sure that his children were not about to get a lesson in the food chain with dead birds lying around. When he was satisfied there were no carcasses he leaned back against a tree and watched as Abbey allowed the children to touch the nest all the while explaining to them how birds built nests and what they used to make them. Abbey had a way of taking a simple moment and opening up the world to them. She was an absolutely incredible mother, the kind of mother he had never known existed when he was a child and he couldn't have asked for a better woman to be the mother of his children. She spoke to the toddlers in a language that they would understand yet she never talked down to them. There was a gentleness and a patience with them that was not always exhibited with the adults that surrounded them.

His wife was as natural a teacher as he was. Of course it helped when you loved the subject as much as Abbey loved nature. Most of the world knew how much she enjoyed hiking. Her trips into the Blue Ridge and the Shenandoah Valley were legendary but what they didn't know was that it was more than just exercise for her. She could benefit just as much from the treadmills and stepping machines of the White House exercise room as she could hiking down a mountain trail. But, for Abbey that wouldn't be the same. She enjoyed the feeling of the sun on her shoulders and the wind in her face. She enjoyed spotting different bird species flying across the tree limbs, or coming across a fox kit practicing it's hunting techniques, or a mama deer and her fawn sipping from mountain stream. It was that love of nature that she had passed on to all of their daughters and was now passing on to their two youngest. And, if the wide interested eyes that Nicholas and Aislinn had glued onto her was any indication she was doing a fine job with them as well.

The hike to the river continued to be a walk of discovery. To the children's delight, Abbey found eagle feathers that she passed on to them and later showed them what deer tracks looked like and how to stay away from poison ivy while Jed yelled for Max and Panda not to chase the rabbits that popped up periodically. As they reached the point high on the ridge that marked where they would begin their descent to the river below Abbey pointed out a soaring, diving hawk as it made it's way gracefully throughout the valley. They followed that hawk, down the twisting path toward the river valley. At the bottom of the ridge was a large grassy meadow dotted with thousands of white daisies. It was the perfect spot for a picnic lunch.

"You guys ready to eat?" Abbey asked.

Rubbing dirty, grubby hands over their tired eyes, both children nodded. Jed began to spread out the picnic blanket while Abbey dug in the backpack for the "Wet Ones" so she could clean the kids up for lunch.

"Well, let's see what we have in here." Jed took the backpack and began pulling out plastic baggies. "Looks like I see peanut butter and jelly sandwiches."

Aislinn and Nicholas began reaching out with greedy hands for their lunch. Abbey settled them in with their sandwiches and carrot sticks, complete with a container of ranch dressing for dipping, which was the only way Nicholas would eat his carrots. Jed continued to dig in the backpack not all that eager to see what Abbey had ordered for their lunch. His eyes widened with surprise when he opened the top of a plastic container.

"Cold fried chicken? Oh, BABY, a woman after my own heart. I thought for sure I was going to find some kind of lean turkey sandwich."

"Well, I figured that technically, it IS our anniversary."

"Say no more. This is a GREAT anniversary gift." Jed took a ravenous bite out of a piece of chicken looking skyward as if he were in heaven.

Abbey smiled at his obvious enjoyment of the food and bit into her own drumstick. "Anybody need more lemonade?"

Nicholas lifted his sippie cup to her at the same time Jed lifted his plastic one.

"Men." Abbey said, placing her hands on her hips. "What are we going to do with them, Ash? They're always hungry."

Aislinn giggled at the look on her mother's face but Nicholas didn't really get that he was being made fun of and he looked up at her nodding. "I still hungwy. Want cookie."

Abbey chuckled and handed him his lemonade. "No cookies, bud, but I did pack some grapes and strawberries.

"GWAPES!"

While the kids picked at a bowl of grapes Jed began pulling up some of the daisies that grew near their picnic blanket weaving them together as Abbey had taught him way back when Elizabeth was just a little girl. Intrigued, Aislinn came to sit in front of him watching his every move.

"What daddy do?" she asked.

"Didn't you say that you wanted to be a queen?"

Aislinn nodded.

"Well, every queen needs a crown. So, here is yours." Much to Aislinn's delight, Jed set the crown of white flowers on his daughter's head. She got to her feet dancing around spinning circles in the field of daisies, the sunshine playing in her pale blond curls, her soft pink lips smiling with the joy of being alive. Jed felt his throat tighten with the sheer beauty of his child and the love for her that often sent a warmth radiating throughout his body.

Finally getting dizzy, Aislinn fell to the ground and turned to her father. "Do mumma," she begged. "Daddy, do mumma."

"Okay, okay." Quickly Jed wove the flowers together and set the crown on top of Abbey's bright auburn hair.

"Mumma pwetty." Aislinn told her.

"Thanks sweetie." Abbey did her own twirl in the daisy field.

"Mumma queen." Nicholas added his two cents.

"Well then, if I'm the queen, you know what that makes you?" Abbey pulled Aislinn on to her lap. "You're a princess. Princess Aislinn of the Clan Bartlet."

"Hold on you two, don't move. You look so pretty with those flowers in your hair, I have to get a picture."

"Me pwincess, Nicky." Aislinn said, while Jed fished for the camera.

Nicky was too busy finishing off his grapes to worry about whether his sister was a queen or a princess.

Finally Jed found the camera and he set his lens on his wife and daughter sitting in the midst of a green field dotted with daisies the bright sun sparkling on the blue river behind them. There were smiles on their faces and white flowers setting prettily on their heads, the breeze catching their respective red and blond curls. He knew right away that the picture would be one for framing and placing on his oval office desk.

With lunch finished Jed was ready to try his hand at some fly-fishing. Given the opportunity to follow his father or his mother and sister, Nicholas opted to take his father's hand. Abbey watched them walk away a fishing pole over Jed's shoulder and Nicky's little hand in his. Like Andy Taylor and Opie she thought with an affectionate smile, then turned to gather up the gold mining pans they had bought for the kids in Jackson Hole and she and Aislinn set out for the river themselves.

Nicholas stood near his father listening to Jed's explanations of the art of fly-fishing but found that it wasn't nearly as exciting as being on a boat fishing. After wading in the cold mountain water for about fifteen minutes and splashing Max and Panda when they got too close he wandered over to where his mother and Aislinn were panning for gold near the rivers edge. Sifting through the gravelly river bottom for gold proved to be a lot more fun than fly-fishing and they spent the next hour so engaged.

****

"You're sure he said casual?" Abbey called out to Jed who was already dressed in jeans and an oatmeal colored shirt and was seated in front of the coffee table playing solitaire.

""For the tenth time, YES, he said casual jeans and stuff. It's a barn dance."

"Well, it may be a barn dance but who knows what Hollywood stars will be there. He IS Harrison Ford, after all."

"Yes, and you're much too excited about the prospect of spending an evening with him. He only PLAYED the President. I AM the President."

"Are you pouting?" Abbey pulled on a pair of faded Calvin Klein's that hugged her curves in all the right places.

"Should I be looking forward to spending the evening watching my wife drool over a man who is her favorite actor on our ANNIVERSARY?"

"Jed�baby�" she sat on his lap in her jeans and bra wrapping her arms around his neck. "How many times have I told you that Harrison Ford is the only man I'd ever leave you for?"

"You're not making me feel better," he sulked.

Abbey smiled and ran a finger over his furrowed brow. "And how many hundreds of times have I told you that I will never, ever leave you. So, there you have it, nothing to worry about. Feel better?"

"Slightly. But, you're still way too excited about this evening."

"Of course I'm excited. I'm meeting Harrison Ford for heaven's sake. I am only human, after all. But, and if you tell him this I'll have to kill you, he aint' got nothin' on you in the looks department." She grinned and kissed his chin before rising to her feet to finish dressing.

"Well, I KNEW that," Jed sniffed.

****

The lights of the Ford ranch were ablaze as the presidential motorcade pulled up the long drive. As the doors to the sedan were opened they could hear the music spilling from the open barn doors and people were milling about moving from the barn to the house. All activity came to a standstill, however, when they realized that the President had arrived. Ford had obviously been waiting for them for he was the first to approach just as Jed was stepping out of the car.

"Mr. President, glad that you could make it."

"We were pleased to be invited." Jed shook his hand. "Looks like you have quite a party going on here."

"We do it once a year, nothing fancy as you can see." At that point Abbey had come around the side of the car and stepped up to Jed's side. "Mr. Ford, my wife, Abigail Bartlet."

"Harrison Ford." Harrison stretched his hand out to the President's pretty wife and Abbey shook it.

"I know who you are," she smiled.

Jed could swear that Harrison was blushing. "I guess you probably do. Well, it's very nice to meet you ma'am."

"Please, call me Abbey."

"Abbey it is then. Please come inside and get some refreshments."

Jed took Abbey's hand and began leading her in following well behind their host.

"Please, call me Abbey�" Jed softly mimicked her tone. "Honestly, if you tell me you're never washing that hand again I think I'll puke."

"Jed, I was putting him at ease, being the gracious First Lady that I am."

"You were flirting with him."

"You think that was flirting? Honey that wasn't anything, you just watch me."

"Abbey," Jed squeezed her elbow in warning. "Don't even think about it."

"Jed, you can't be serious. You are not that much of an ape to�" Abbey trailed off as she saw the humor dancing in her husband's eyes. "You're TEASING me." She was astonished.

"Well, to quote my esteemed wife. You are so HEARTBREAKINGLY easy."

"I can't believe that you were pretending to be jealous. It was all pretend, wasn't it?"

"Well, maybe not all of it," he admitted with a sheepish grin. "Just remember whose girl you are." He placed a proprietary hand on her hip.

"As if I could forget." She smiled up at him, that special smile meant for his eyes only. With that smile a warm glow filled his chest. She might dance with Harrison Ford and half a dozen other Hollywood stars, but she was going home with him and that made all the difference in the world.

****

As the evening progressed Abbey did get a chance to dance with Harrison but most of the time she just seemed to whirl from partner to partner to the upbeat country music the band was playing. She and Jed even got lessons in line dancing; something Abbey still hadn't gotten the hang of after her brief lessons in Texas. Jed was even worse.

"I just don't think this kind of dancing is in our genetic make up," he laughed as he made the wrong turn and bumped into Abbey for the fifth time. Abbey was laughing, her face flushed and her eyes sparkling. She was having a good time. It gave him a pang to think that he rarely saw her like this anymore unless they were with their family. Everything in Washington was so serious, so riddled with protocol. It was nice to see her let her hair hang down and just be the free spirited Abbey that she'd been before becoming First Lady.

"Maybe not." For Abbey it was fun, but she longed for dancing, as she knew it. She didn't have long to wait. As the song ended Harrison took the stage and the microphone.

"It has come to my attention that tonight is a special night for our guests of honor. President and Mrs. Bartlet are celebrating an anniversary and the President has requested a special dance with his wife. So, let me just be the first to congratulate them on their remarkable marriage and to wish them many, many more years. Happy Anniversary." He lifted his glass in a salute that was echoed throughout the room

Abbey smiled up at Jed as the slow familiar music started and a female singer took the microphone. Returning her smile, Jed held out his hand taking hers and pulling her in close to his chest, her hips up flush against his. Abbey lay her cheek against his shoulder probably more intimately than a First Lady should in public, but this was her anniversary and this was her man. She felt Jed's arms go around her, his hand resting at the base of her spine, probably more intimately than a President should in public, but this was his anniversary and she was his woman. His cheek nuzzled into her hair and sentimental tears burned at Abbey's closed eyelids as she listened to the words the woman was singing for just the two of them.

I'll always remember, the song they were playing, The first time we danced and I knew As we swayed to the music, and held to each other, I fell in love with you Could I have this dance for the rest of my life, Could you be my partner every night, when we're together it feels so right, Could I have this dance for the rest of my life I'll always remember, that magic moment, When I held you close to me As we move together, I knew forever, you're all I'll ever need Could I have this dance for the rest of my life, Could you be my partner every night, when we're together it feels so right, Could I have this dance for the rest of my life

****

Back at the cabin a fire burned in the grate, soft music played on the radio, two wine glasses sat abandoned on the coffee table and Abbey and Jed were on the couch wrapped in each other's arms, reluctant to let the romantic evening come to an end. Jed was tracing the outline of Abbey's lips with his tongue, his kisses soft, gentle, absolutely exquisite, and so entirely different from last night's ravenous hunger. Tonight was all about romance and sensation. His lips traced along her jaw and down her neck then back again to taste her mouth and draw a response that had her arching into him and rubbing her face against his rough jawline. Her fingers nimbly worked the buttons on his shirt slipping inside to caress the warmth of his chest. His kisses grew deeper then and he pressed her back into the couch, his hands moving up under her shirt and over her ribcage to cup her breasts. He covered her then, kissing her as he worked at the zipper of her jeans. It was feeling his fingers sliding inside her jeans and her panties that brought some measure of sanity back to Abbey's clouded mind.

"Not here, Jed."

"What?" He looked up at her with slumberous confused eyes.

"We can't do this here." She scooted out from underneath his body shoving her shirt back down but not buttoning her jeans. "The kids could walk in here anytime. Let's take it to the bedroom." She reached her hand out to him and helped him to his feet.

Jed was so aroused it damn near hurt him to walk. " You scared me for a minute there, hot stuff. I can do the bedroom. Some of my best work has been done in the bedroom." He followed her toward the room in question.

"Oh yeah?" Abbey looked back at him over her shoulder with a flirtatious glint in her eye. "Prove it."

"Is that a challenge?"

"You up for it."

Jed gazed down at the straining bulge in his jeans. "Oh, yeah, baby. I am CERTAINLY up for it!"

Laughing like newlyweds the Bartlets raced into their bedroom, their laughter soon replaced by moans and heavy breathing as the President proved to his First Lady that he was definitely UP for the task at hand.

****

"Mr. McGarry?" Ron gave the President's Chief of Staff a puzzled look as his car pulled up to Bartlet cabin's checkpoint. "The President didn't say you were on your way."

"The President didn't know I was coming. You better get everyone prepared to head out tonight. The President is needed back in Washington."

"Yes, sir."

"Is he at the cabin?"

"He and Mrs. Bartlet went to the resort to play tennis this morning but they did say they were going to stay close to the cabin this afternoon. Little Aislinn was feeling a bit under the weather."

"I hope it's nothing serious."

"I think Mrs. Bartlet said something about teething."

"Ah," Leo grinned. "That's not so bad then. I'll go see if I can find them.

Leo made his way to the cabin but was shushed out by Izzy who told him the children were napping and that the President and the First Lady were out reading on the hammock down by the lake. By the time Leo found them, they were no longer reading. Their books lay on the ground beneath the hammock and they were sound asleep in each other's arms. Leo stood for a moment watching them with that familiar twinge of tenderness and envy. Abbey's head was pillowed on Jed's shoulder, one arm flung across his chest one leg drawn up over his hips her knee resting at his groin. Jed's face was nestled in her hair, one hand loosely cupped over her breast. It was very telling that even in sleep they clung to one another. As Leo stood silently Abbey moved in her sleep sliding her thigh almost imperceptibly over Jed's. His response was to flex his hand over Abbey's breast squeezing her and drawing a soft sigh from her parted lips. It was that sigh that yanked Leo out of his stupor, guilt flushing his face at having been privy to such an intimate moment.

Leo made his way to Jed's side of the hammock studiously avoiding watching where Jed's hand was still flexing intermittently over the mound of Abbey's breast. "Mr. President," He whispered softly. He didn't get a response. "Mr. President�" It was a little louder this time and Jed sniffed stretching his arm out to reveal the pebble hard nipple his caresses had created and that was now straining against Abbey's tank top. Leo swallowed tightly and hoped that he was waking up. Jed didn't wake up, his hand simply resettled, this time on his wife's shapely rear. Abbey pushed her hips involuntarily against Jed's thigh at the touch of his hands and Leo had had all he could take.

"Mr. President!" It was said more sharply and definitely more loudly than he had planned.

"WHAT THE HELL!" Jed bolted upright causing the precarious balance he and Abbey had settled into to give way and the hammock flipped dangerously to the left tipping out first Jed onto the bed of pine needles, then Abbey on top of Jed.

"What in God's name!" Abbey awoke with a start sprawled on top of Jed who was lying on his back on the forest floor. Stunned eyes of blue and green turned Leo's way.

"Uh, sorry." Leo gave them a sheepish half smile. "I was just trying to wake you up."

"By giving me a heart attack?" Jed got to his feet brushing the pine needles from his shorts and picking them out of Abbey's hair.

"Sorry, I didn't realize how dangerous those things are."

"Leo, what are you doing here?" Abbey hated the irritated tone to her voice but she knew deep in her heart that Leo's arrival could only be bad news for the rest of their vacation.

"I'm here because there's trouble. Mr. President, you need to come back to Washington. Tonight."

TBC...