"It could be worse."
Amanda makes a noise somewhere between offended and amused, as Lee and her inspect the damage to the kitchen window.
"How, exactly?"
Lee grins as he moves his reading glasses up to the crown of his head - and why did all disasters in this house have to happen when he finally settled down with a good book and his lovely wife by his side? - and stands by the hole in the kitchen window, one hand under his chin in studied concentration and another pointing towards the counter.
"Had the ball's trajectory been just a couple degrees off it would have hit the cookie jar," he places a hand on Amanda's shoulder, a mock mournful gesture in his face ruined by the telling dimples caused by a barely concealed grin, "we could have lost the whole batch, ma'am."
Amanda chuckles and swats at his arm, bending down to retrieve the baseball now laying on her kitchen floor. She studies it for a second as Lee takes the opportunity to assault the aforementioned cookie jar.
"Uh oh."
Lee is by her side in an instant.
"That doesn't sound good."
Amanda looks up at him like she's trying very hard to conceal a smug smile but failing, and as she holds the baseball up for him to see, he understands why.
"That's my... That's my Ty Cobb baseball!" Lee snatches his precious collectable from Amanda's hand, and inspects it for damage, "well, this has gone too far. We need to have a chat with those kids."
Amanda gasps in offense, her hands moving to her hips in what Lee fondly started to refer to decades ago as her you're gonna get it now stance.
"So breaking our window you're okay with, but they use your baseball and all of the sudden we need an intervention?"
Lee huffs in exasperation, wildly gesturing in an attempt to make his point. "Amanda, a window you can replace, this baseball is unique!"
"Whatever you say, sweetheart," is Amanda's response, but Lee can already tell she's up to something just by the look on her face.
"Talk to me, partner, what are you thinking?"
Amanda briefly smiles at the appellative, but is soon back to her plan. "Well, I was wondering who of the two of us they fear the most."
Lee chuckles at that, and there's a glint of pride in his voice. "That'd be Pop-Pop, the international secret spy, I think."
Amanda snorts, and Lee deflates somewhat. "Just because they think you spent your thirties killing Nazis."
"Nazis?"
"They watch too much TV," she replies dismissively.
They stay silent for a moment, pondering their plan before Lee speaks, voice back to that this is business tone it hasn't taken since his retirement. "Good cop, bad cop?"
Amanda snaps her fingers in agreement, but before Lee can walk towards the front door she grabs his arm, turning him back towards her.
"Can I play bad cop?"
Lee gives her a sideways look, little shake of his head included, but just shrugs. "If you think the Mean Grandma approach will work."
Amanda smiles widely, pressing her hands against the lapels of his jacket and straightening them fondly. "Oh, it'll work," she loops her arm around his elbow and walks him towards the front door, "they think I finished off the Nazis that escaped Scarecrow."
Lee huffs and cocks an eyebrow, opening the front door for Amanda. "As if I ever let a Nazi escape." He winks at her before they walk towards the front patio, primed and ready to scare their grandchildren out of playing catch around the house ever again.
