June 9th 1991

Amanda cradled a hot cup of tea in her hands as she watched Phillip, Jamie, Curt and Lee installing the new swing-set that was to be the family's birthday present to Victoria and Cassandra on their first birthday.

It was hard to believe that it was already a year since the girls had arrived. Glancing over at her two daughters, Amanda once again felt the familiar maternal tug. They were Stetsons through-and-through. It was a delight to see so much of Lee in them. "Amanda, you might as well put another pot of coffee on. You know as well as I do that Lee is bound to come in soon." Dotty said from the floor where she was playing with her grand-daughters. Though she and Curt lived in their own house a mere hundred yards away, she was still babysitter-in-chief and spent a lot of time with her grand kids. As the only grandparents the children would ever know, Lee encouraged them to be as involved as possible.

Walking over to the coffee pot, Amanda's eyes flickered to the small LED display below the windowsill. Each of the tiny lights were blue; a promising sign that nothing had yet happened to interfere with the day's celebrations. There were similar displays in their bedroom, the den, and the garage. There were other ones in Dotty's house too. If any of the lights changed colour, she or Lee would need to go down to the complex a hundred feet below the ground of their garden to deal with the situation and Dotty or Curt would come over to keep an eye on things. Everyone in the West-King-Stetson household was aware of the displays all the time. The lights in the pool also changed colour in case they were outside when an emergency struck.

"Amanda? Is there any coffee left?" Lee asked, right on cue. Casually but fooling no one, he moved into the sunken family room where Dotty and the girls were. Seeing their dad, both infants began crawling to him as fast as their short legs would allow. Never had there been a better example of a mutual adoration society. The girls had Lee wrapped around their tiny baby pinkies and he could charm them out of the loudest melt down with a smile and a bit of singing.

"I'm just making a pot, sweetheart." Amanda told him. "No, don't bring them in here. I don't want them to see this." Amanda ordered, deftly sliding the two birthday cakes further down the counter. Lee immediately changed direction, distracting the girls by pretending to let them fall and catching them. The squeals of delight were music to Amanda. It was the sound of happy, loved babies who had not yet had cause to develop any fear.

"What time are the Beamans getting here?" Dotty asked.

"They said two. That's if Francine doesn't strangle Ephraim or Mabel first." Lee laughed. Amanda smiled too. If the last year had seen big changes for them, it had completely changed Francine's life in a way she'd never expected. In the aftermath of the SunChild case, she'd adopted Mabel and taken over the Q-Bureau. To her surprise, she and Ephraim had soon discovered they shared more than a case load. A few months ago, they'd gotten married to Mabel's delight. Just like Lee and Amanda, they'd headed out to Marion county and the same Justice of the Peace who had married the Stetsons. The difference was that they'd invited Billy and his wife along with Amanda and Lee to act as witnesses. With plenty of support and real parents to look after her, Mabel was becoming a very normal teenager; faster than anyone would have dared to hope. Francine had tearfully confided in Amanda that she was bizarrely pleased that her daughter was so confident that she'd even misbehaved. Francine had found the experience of grounding a teenager wonderfully normal. Mabel had been less delighted.

"Someone has a smelly diaper." Lee's pronouncement pulled Amanda from her thoughts.

"Here, I'll help with that." Dotty offered.

"That's okay, I've got it." Lee said, getting to his feet with one daughter in each arm. When Amanda had set up a diaper changing station in the utility room, he'd wondered why but since then, he'd repeatedly described it as a stroke of genius. Amanda turned her attention to preparing a tray with coffee for everyone. Just as she finished pouring out the last cup, the phone rang. Hearing Dotty answer, Amanda finished her task and carried the tray out to the patio. Within a few moments, Dotty bustled out.

"Amanda dear, I am sorry to do this to you but I really need to run an errand. I should be back in an hour or so if that's alright?" Amanda smiled.

"Of course it is, mother. We've got everything under control. I think I might even take the girls out for a walk before our guests arrive. Why don't you take my car? It's roomier than yours."

"Thank you dear, I think I'll do that. I'll be back as soon as I can." Dotty promised, kissing Amanda's cheek. Chuckling as she watched her mother zip confidently away, Amanda couldn't help but remember the inadvertent capture of Princess Sophia's would-be-assassins. Dotty had certainly gained much confidence since then!

The rest of the morning raced past. Amanda took the girls for a walk in the woods, letting them get completely muddy as they scrabbled along muddy paths and splashed in every puddle they saw. As always, it was a challenge to keep a pace that suited both of them. Cassie was a calm child, fascinated with the world around her and already experimenting with words that were recognizable. She had different names for everyone in the family and could easily entertain herself with toys or crafts. Vicky was constantly on the move. She wasn't speaking yet, preferring instead to let her sister speak for her. Where Cassie was happy to go to bed as long as she could take a cloth book or two; Vicky never wanted to go to bed. More than once, Amanda had found her wide awake on her sleeping father's chest. The differences were obvious in so many aspects of their personality that despite being physically identical, no one confused them after ten minutes in their company. Biting back a laugh as Vicky appeared caked with mud, Amanda turned them back towards the house. "I think you two need a bath before people start showing up for the birthday party." Amanda announced.

"Baff!" Cassie squealed. Showing that she'd understood, Vicky nodded her head vigorously in agreement. Both of them loved water and a mid-day bath was more treat than trial; at least for them. Deliberately avoiding the swing set construction area, Amanda headed up to the front door. One of the many perks of the Blue Leader role was the amount of cutting edge technology that was built into the house. Amanda couldn't remember the last time she'd used her key instead of the iris scanner that controlled access to the house. It was very handy for a mom of four who never seemed to have a hand free!

Without releasing the girls to spread their muddy trail, Amanda headed straight upstairs to the family bathroom. It didn't take long to have the water running and the two girls striped down. Plunking them into the water, Amanda reached for a washcloth and a bar of soap. There was no chance that she would escape the process dry but if she was quick enough, she might get both girls washed quickly enough that they could then be left to rinse each other off with enthusiastic splashing.

"Mom?"

"I'm in here!" Amanda called back, hearing Jamie's feet thundering up the stairs. Both boys had had a major growth spurt in the last year and Amanda was still taken aback by these young men they were growing into.

"Toddler mud-wrestling?" He asked, taking in the clothes on the floor and colour of the bath water.

"We went for a walk in the woods."

"That'll do it." He agreed, plucking Cassie out of the bath and quickly wrapping her up in a towel. "Come on, Rug-Rat. Let's get you dressed for the party."

"Thank you, sweetheart." Amanda said appreciatively, reaching forward and plucking the plug out of the drain. Vicky immediately threw a fit. "Oh, Jamie!" She called as he left with the cooperative twin. "Why were you looking for me?"

"Oh yeah, we're done outside and Lee asked me to come find you."

"Alright. I'll be down as soon as I get Miss Vicky here dried and dressed."

"I'll tell him."

Fifteen minutes later, Amanda had managed to wrestle the squirming, slippery bundle that was her daughter into a clean diaper and a pretty outfit for the party. Carrying her downstairs, she considered the prospect of relaxing for an hour while the girls had their nap.

Taking Vicky from Amanda's arms, Lee nodded to the back door. "I think something's up. Your mom isn't back yet and Curt's worrying. Why don't you go have a chat with him?" Lee suggested. Amanda took the hint and immediately headed to the back porch.

"Lee says you were expecting mom?" Amanda asked as she joined her step-father.

"Yeah. She should have been back by now." Curt seemed to hesitate but then made his mind up. "Amanda, she was going to pick Bob up at the MCA." Amanda frowned. The Montgomery County Airpark was a mere fifteen minute drive away. Her mother had had plenty of time to go, collect Lee's uncle, and return. If she'd been planning a detour or stop, she would have told them: it was part of the new protocols that Amanda and Lee had implemented since they'd transitioned into their new role.

"She took my car." Amanda told Curt. "We can call her."

"I tried that already, there's no answer."