Chapter 20

The sound of the doorbell made Abbey jump, causing her to burn her finger on the stove. "Dammit!" she swore. "Would someone get the door?" she called out to the rest of the house.

"I've got it!" Jed yelled back, making his way to the foyer. He opened the door and greeted the Lymans. "Hey there, you two! Welcome!"

Donna immediately came inside to give him a big hug. "Happy Thanksgiving!"

Jed very happily returned her embrace. "And a Happy Thanksgiving to you," he replied, mildly distracted by something he felt while hugging her, but chose to ignore it. He let go of her and shook Josh's hand heartily. "Joshua, it's nice to see you, as always."

"Thanks so much for having us." Josh held out a bottle of wine. "We brought this," he added awkwardly.

Jed took the bottle and led them into the house. "I'll put this over on the drink cart. Abbey's in the kitchen, cooking like a maniac, if you want to go say hi. It's right back there," he pointed. "And Zoey is out with Charlie picking up some last minute things that I insisted were in the house but Abbey didn't confirm weren't actually there until this morning."

Donna laughed. "Such as?"

"Nutmeg, dried thyme, and cloves," Jed muttered with mild shame.

The Lymans went to say hello to their hostess and the doorbell rang again. Jed quickly put the wine in the living room and went to get the door again. This time it was CJ and Toby. Will and Kate pulled up just as Jed was greeting the Communications professors.

"You guys need a hand?" Jed asked as Will Bailey began struggling with the items in the trunk.

"Yes, actually," Will replied resignedly.

"You know, you do have to figure out how to do this on your own," Kate pointed out. She would have done it herself, but she had her hands full.

Jed walked over to them and immediately ignored Will's dilemma. "This must be little Nancy Harper-Bailey!" he gushed.

Kate smiled and allowed Jed to hold the baby. She took the opportunity to help her husband get the stroller and diaper bag out of the car. Jed cooed at the little blonde baby in his arms. Her dark brown eyes sparkled as she giggled up at him. He barely paid attention to anything else as he followed Will and Kate into the house.

CJ saw Jed come inside and melted at the sight. "Uh oh, looks like someone's made a new friend."

"You know, it's only been two minutes, but I can already tell that Nancy is the most rational and understanding person in this house," Jed quipped.

Toby was watching from the living room with a smile. He craned his neck around the corner to the kitchen. "Abbey, there's another woman stealing your man away."

"What?" With a confused look in her eyes, Abbey paused her frantic cooking and went into the living room to see the rest of her guests. She found the most precious scene awaiting her. "Jed Bartlet, you let me see that baby right now!" she exclaimed, coming over to say hello. "Oh she is the most beautiful little thing!"

Kate couldn't help but laugh. "She's the best behaved baby. Everyone likes us so much more now that she's around. But as soon as she starts to cry, you're all going to hate us."

"Parenthood treating you pretty good?" Josh asked.

"It's pretty amazing, yeah," Will replied softly.

"A house full of women isn't too hard on you, is it?" CJ teased.

"Are you kidding?" Kate interrupted. "He's wanted a girl from the beginning. I'm the one afraid she's going to be more interested in dresses than soccer, and then where will I be?"

"You've got plenty of time to brainwash her, Commander Harper," Jed assured her.

The garage door opened and Charlie and Zoey came in. "The rescuers have returned!" Zoey announced. "Mom, I'm going to put everything in the kitchen and then say hi to everyone, okay?"

"Here, I'll join you," Abbey responded, tearing herself away from the baby.

Charlie came to greet everyone and told Jed, "Professor McGarry just pulled up."

Right on cue, the doorbell rang again. Jed returned Nancy to her parents and went to greet Leo and Annabeth. "Nice of you to show up," he said sarcastically.

"It's all my fault," Annabeth insisted. "We were halfway here when I realized I forgot the hostess gift." She was carrying a large bouquet of mixed flowers.

"That's quite alright," Jed replied. He looked past them out to the car. "No Mallory?"

"Nah, she and Sam are spending the holiday with Jenny."

Josh overheard Leo's statement. "Sam? I thought he and Ainsley were back on?"

"Who knows with Sam?" Leo said, shaking his head. "I don't even want to know. But they aren't here."

"Too bad," Toby said, inserting himself into the conversation. "I was looking forward to kicking his ass in football. A little payback from last year."

"I tell you what, Toby, if your team wins, we can all call him up so you can gloat," Jed suggested. "And actually, we might as well start right now. Let me check with Abbey, and then we can start the game."

Everyone made their way out to the backyard. Jed had already gotten everything ready for the annual football game he had with all his friends at Thanksgiving. Toby had already begun warming up his throwing arm. Josh grabbed the football and mimed a perfect spiral.

"We're going to start the game pretty soon," Jed announced to Abbey.

She looked up from the sink where she was peeling potatoes. "Alright, have fun. And don't break anything, please."

"I'll make sure the backyard stays in pristine condition."

"Yeah, that and you. I don't want you to get broken either," she added.

He chuckled and came to give her a quick kiss before going to join everyone.

Leo caught him at the door and asked in a low tone, "So everything's going well with you two?"

"It's great. I moved in about a month ago. We got a real estate agent for my house, which will go on the market just after the new year. We're getting ready for our first holiday season together. Everything is really good," Jed replied sincerely. He removed his jacket so nothing would fall out of the pockets, and put it on the back of a patio chair.

"Hey Bartlet, you're on Toby's team!" Josh called.

Leo watched his dear friend bound over to the lawn. As Jed conferred with his team, Leo took a seat on the patio furniture beside Donna, who was holding Nancy and cheering on the sidelines. Annabeth had stayed in the kitchen to help Abbey, though they were both watching out the bay window.

"So what are the teams?" Jed asked, entering a little late.

"Since Sam isn't here, I took his usual place as team captain," Josh explained. "I've got Charlie, Kate, and Will."

"I was picked last, but that's nothing new," Will said. Kate kissed his cheek, a poor consolation after she was chosen first for Josh's team.

"That gives us you, me, CJ, and Zoey," Toby finished. "Now let's get going!"

And so the game began. Toby and Josh played opposing quarterbacks. Jed, CJ, and Zoey switched off as receivers for their team. It proved difficult, however, when Charlie grabbed Zoey and picked her up in almost every play. CJ could reach above everyone's heads but was easily tackled by Kate. Jed was the sturdiest member of the team, but wasn't as athletic a runner as he used to be. Will was a decent runner but dropped the ball about half the time it ended up in his hands. Charlie was more focused on Zoey than the game itself. And Kate was easily the star player. But the teams were surprisingly evenly matched.

By the time Annabeth called everyone inside, Toby's team had just managed to break the tie to secure a narrow win.

"Ha! Take that, loser!" Zoey taunted at her boyfriend.

"You know, I will not hesitate to tackle you again," Charlie threatened with a charming grin.

Toby and Josh hurried past everyone to get inside and call Sam. Toby wanted to gloat, and Josh wanted to witness Sam's reaction.

Will and Kate went over to Donna to use their baby to console their loss.

When Jed came inside, Abbey was waiting for him. "So? Did you win?"

"Hail the conquering hero!" he announced happily.

She laughed and gave him a big hug and a kiss. "Hail indeed. Go wash up. You'll get your real prize later tonight."

"Ooh I can't wait," he murmured, kissing her one more time.

Abbey had to push him back before she forgot that they had a house full of people. "Stop that. You have to carve the turkey."

It took a few minutes for everyone to get settled at the table. Once they had all taken their seats, Jed came in carrying the platter with the perfectly roasted turkey for everyone to ooh and ah over. He stood at the head of the table with Abbey on one side of him and Zoey on the other.

"Now, before we dig in, I thought it would be nice if we all went around and said what we're thankful for. Since that is the purpose of the day. Zo, why don't you start?"

"Okay, um, I guess I'm thankful for Charlie and my family and for getting the opportunity to work and learn at a place I love so much."

Will and Kate went next, thankful for their new baby. Leo was thankful for Annabeth and for the wonderful friends he had there at the table. Annabeth said she was thankful for Leo and for CJ for being such a wonderful mentor in her professional career, and for Dolly Parton's existence.

After the laughs died down, Josh and Donna looked at each other. "Well, I guess this is as good a time as any to say that we're thankful to have a baby of our own on the way. Donna is due in April."

Everyone erupted into excited congratulations for the Lymans. All except for one person. "How am I supposed to follow that!?" CJ whined. "Ugh, fine. I guess I'm thankful for all my wonderful friends and for a job I love, which lets me boss around Toby."

Toby rolled his eyes and expressed his thanks for everyone letting him into the little family they'd created.

When it was Abbey's turn, she wasn't sure she'd be able to get the words out. "It's been an interesting few months for me, as you all probably know. So right now, I'm most thankful to all of you for being extremely heavy-handed in forcing me together with the love of my life. I've never been happier, as Zoey can attest, and it's all thanks to you all, who met me and thought I'd be good enough for Jed. So thank you all for that and for being here today in our home for this holiday. I wouldn't want to spend it with anyone else." She had to dab her eyes with her napkin to keep from making a complete fool of myself.

Jed looked around, seeing all the loving, smiling faces of all their friends, and he knew this was the perfect moment. "I think that actually provides me a nice segue, thank you, honey. I know it's a little soon, perhaps, but at this point in my life, I don't feel the need to wait around. And I am not opposed to a long engagement."

Abbey's eyes widened. "Excuse me?" Her heart fluttered and her stomach turned in knots, full of excited energy.

"Abigail Barrington, I love you more than I ever thought possible. I knew that the first moment I saw you, and I've only grown to love you more each day." He got down on one knee and took the small velvet box out of his jacket pocket. "Will you marry me?"

Behind Jed's shoulder, Zoey nodded her head emphatically as happy tears fell down her cheeks. Abbey looked at her daughter and down at Jed, completely taken by surprise. "Oh my god. I can't believe this. Yes, of course I will marry you!"

Jed put the beautiful vintage diamond ring on her finger and kissed her. Everyone cheered and applauded. Josh grumbled slightly at being overshadowed, but he couldn't be upset.

"See, I told you it would be today!" Zoey said to Charlie.

Abbey overhead her daughter and broke the kiss. "You knew!?"

"I took her with me to pick out the ring a couple weeks ago," Jed explained.

Abbey started to cry and buried her head in Jed's shoulder.

"Sweetheart, you okay?" he asked tentatively.

"I'm just so happy!" she sobbed.

Jed had to laugh. "Okay, well I think we should feed our guests. You want to sit down so I can carve the turkey?"

As Abbey descended into her chair and couldn't stop smiling. She gazed down at her ring, amazed at the turn of events, and felt a calm wash over her, a security and a contentment that Jed had created in her. And she realized that she'd feel this way for the rest of her life.

Jed looked at his fiancée out of the corner of his eye, overwhelmed with love for her, for their found family, and for their future together.

The End