Scarecrow and Mrs. King: Total Comfort
Disclaimer: They are not in any way mine. I make no money. I'm poor as it is. I'm just a teenager! If you want to sue me, I promise you won't come up with much.
Thanks to Jen for beta reading this story for me.
This story is a continuation in the series I'm sort of making. Sorry it's taken
me so long to continue it, what with graduating and all I've been busy these
last few months. The other stories in the series are:
Secrets Can't Be Kept Forever
A Familiar Dance
Hush Little Baby
There will be more to come; I'm trying to show you my version of all that I think might have happened after the series ended. I hope you're enjoying them.
I love writing, so your reviews are very welcome, especially helpful ones. But flames are not appreciated. It's fine if you don't like my stories; even though I'd really like you to.
Chapter 1
"Everything will work out, everything will work out." The man reassured himself, he began to play with a few pieces of machinery he had sitting on his table, he was enjoying David Letterman on the TV that sat in front of him. "You will pay Lee Stetson, you will pay."
________
Lee rolled over in bed and went to put his arm around his wife, he realized she wasn't there and looked at the clock sitting on the nightstand on her side of the bed. 3:43, she couldn't have been making breakfast, and he doubted she was up with Eric, he didn't remember hearing the baby monitor, and ever since he'd taken a break on the teething, he had been sleeping all night. Then he realized there was a light on in the bathroom. Lee threw his covers to the side and slid out of bed. He stood in the doorway and looked at his wife sitting against the bathroom wall crying.
"Manda, it's 3:45, what's wrong Beautiful." Lee said as he sat next to her and put his arm around her.
"I wasn't feeling so well, so I came in here, and after I threw-up, I just started to think."
"Think about what gorgeous." Lee asked.
"Well," Amanda paused. She looked at Lee. "I don't remember." Amanda sobbed as she fell into her Lee's chest. She began to cry even harder. Lee hugged her, and played with her hair.
"Hey, hey, stop." Lee said as he wiped her tears. "Come on now. Let's brush your teeth, and go back to bed, I'll hold you." He helped Amanda to her feet, and stood behind her as she brushed her teeth. He loved the idea that she was wearing his shirt. "Come on." Lee said as she finished up and hugged him. They walked out of the bathroom and he turned the light off. He climbed into bed with her and she laid there the rest of the night in Lee's arms.
At seven o'clock the alarm went off. Lee threw his pillow at it, and knocked it off the nightstand. He laid his head on Amanda's pillow and lay there smelling Amanda's hair. He wished they could stay there forever.
"That was effective." Amanda said as she grabbed Lee's hand and kissed it. The doorknob on their bedroom door began to turn, and the door pushed open. A tiny ball of brown hair peered it's way through the slit in the door as Eric slipped in.
"Mommy, Daddy, Normie's stuck." Eric said as he came into the room dragging a blue blanket behind him. Lee quickly sat up.
"Eric, who let you out of your crib, Philip or Jamie?"
Amanda asked.
"Nobody." Eric said as he climbed up on his parent's bed.
"How'd you get out then Sport." Lee said as he looked at his son.
"Climbed." Eric answered simply.
"He wouldn't be related to you, would he?" Amanda asked as she sat up and lifted her son to her lap. Lee smiled. "Sounds like somebody's ready for a big boy bed." Amanda said as she looked at her son.
"Sure." Eric shrugged. "Normie's stuck."
"Where is Normie stuck?" Lee asked.
"In the bars." Eric said.
"Come show me." Lee replied as he lifted his son off Amanda's lap and stood him on the ground. Lee climbed out of the bed. "I'll get Philip and Jamie up, you get your shower."
Lee took his sons hand and went with him into his bedroom.
He saw that the small yellow stained blackish, duck laid with his head outside
of the bars, his neck between and them, and his body inside of them. Lee
kneeled down by the crib and looked at his son that stood next to him.
"Tell me what happened." Lee looked over to the little boy and watched intently as he explained.
"Well, I woked up, and I was a tittle hungie, so I climbed up Bear, and then I got on the desser, then, I got onto the dair, and I came back to the bed to get Bankie and Normie, Bankie came out, but I could only pull Normie to dare." Eric said as he pointed to the duck that was indeed stuck. Lee nodded, as he turned the duck to its side, and pulled him out.
"There's Normie." Lee said as he handed him to his son. "Now, let's go wake up the other two sleepy heads." Lee picked his son up and they left the room. They walked across the hall to Philip and Jamie's room. Lee opened the door and saw Philip asleep on the top bunk; Jamie was sitting at the desk writing something. He was too caught up in whatever he was doing to notice Lee and Eric come into the room, Lee walked over to Jamie and stood watching him.
"Why don't you give your brother a kiss." Lee mentioned to Eric. Eric willingly leaned over and kissed Jamie on the forehead.
"Good morning Jamie." Eric fell back into his fathers' arms.
"What's up there little man." Jamie mumbled still paying attention to his paper.
"What are you working on?" Lee asked.
"I just don't feel right about what I wrote on this picture. I hate it that Mr. McGrant thinks we should be able to write three-hundred words on the pictures we turn in."
"Well, write what you feel." Lee said as he picked the picture up to look at it.
"That's the problem, I think there a short circuit somewhere in my brain, I know what I feel, but I can't put it on this dumb piece of paper." Jamie told him in frustration.
"Well, keep tryin' Champ, you'll get it." Lee patted Jamie on the back. Then he walked over to the bed where Philip slept. He lifted Eric onto his shoulder; Eric took his hands and squeezed Philip's cheeks together.
"Fishy." Eric giggled as he watched his brother move around on the bed.
"Eric, I don't want to get up yet." Philip moaned as he rolled over.
"Tough luck Chief, school starts in an hour." Lee replied as he pulled Eric back. "Get up." Lee walked away from the bed and turned the light on. He knew that Philip would be unable to sleep with the light on. "Oh, give me your pillow." Lee thought. Philip groaned as he threw the pillow across the room. "Morning boys."
Lee took Eric in his room and dressed him. Then he went down stairs and started making the boys their lunch. He gave Eric a graham cracker to keep him occupied, and watched him play in his high chair from the counter. Amanda came down stairs with her hair wrapped in a towel; she was dressed and mostly ready for work. She kissed Lee on the cheek and whispered "your turn" in his ear. After the boys were sent off to school, and Eric was dropped off at Mrs. Mather's house, Lee and Amanda headed for work.
Mrs. Mather's was a sort of safe house for the children of spies, agents were posted around the house at all times, and Mrs. Mather's watched the children from inside, the windows were bullet proof, and the doors remained locked at all times. Of course the kids didn't understand what was going on, but the children of spies had to be protected from anyone that might want to take revenge on their parents, it was an agency precaution.
When Lee and Amanda arrived at the agency, Francine and Billy were in a conference. It didn't matter too much, the four had agreed on having lunch, and that would come soon enough, so Lee and Amanda just went to the Q Bureau and began to work on filing. Amanda had excused her self twice before lunch to go to the bathroom, and the second time Lee followed her to make sure she was okay. She had been throwing-up constantly lately, and it was making Lee worry, although Amanda never said anything was wrong.
__________
"Everything is going according to plan." The tall man said to himself as he watched the agency in a black car from across the street.
Chapter 2
Lee sat in his desk waiting for Amanda to come back into the Q Bureau; he fiddled with the pen that was in his hand before Amanda finally came back in. She gave him a quick glance before sitting to her desk, hoping he wouldn't say anything she dove into some papers.
"I want you to go to the doctor." Lee said breaking the silence.
"I said the same thing to you about five months ago, and I remember hearing, 'doctors won't help, they don't know what they're talking about'." Amanda told him.
"That was different, I knew that I had just caught some whimsical virus that passed out of me in a couple of days, you on the other hand, have been throwing-up every couple of hours for the last four days. You're going to the doctor today at 1:30, we'll go after lunch with Francine and Billy, together."
"Lee, we have all kinds of work to do here at the agency, the last thing either of us have time for is the doctor."
"Amanda, you're going, we're not arguing about this."
"Fine, the sooner I get this 'whimsical virus' out of me, the better." Amanda smiled as she stood and headed for the safe. Lee followed her over to the safe. He put his arms around her waist and looked into her brown eyes.
"Thank you." Lee said as he kissed her cheek. "It's makes me sad to watch you sick."
"Well, it's not like it's all fun and games for me." Amanda whimpered as she kissed him back. "Although, I always enjoy this." Amanda whispered as she moved towards Lee's lips, he willingly kissed her back when they heard the door outside the Q Bureau open.
"Did you lock the door?" Lee asked. They pulled apart quickly.
"No." Amanda answered regretfully. "Why is it, that no one comes up here when we're looking at paper work, but the second the fun begins, they decide to drop by the Q Bureau." Amanda asked as the door opened, it was a very pregnant Francine. She'd begin showing lately, and she wasn't very happy about it.
"Amanda, how did you ever manage to look so good when you were pregnant with Eric." Francine complained as she sat in Amanda's chair at the desk.
"Francine, it's all part of being pregnant, you can't always look like a model."
"Especially not with a big bulge in the front of you." Francine whined as she put her hands in her face. Amanda walked over to where Francine stood. "What were you both doing in the safe, I wasn't interrupting anything was I?" Lee looked disappointed as he left the safe and shut the door. He walked over to the refrigerator and pulled out a chocolate pudding cup, he grabbed a spoon and walked over to Francine.
"Amanda loved these when she was pregnant." Lee said as he handed it to Francine.
"You didn't bring one for your wife." Amanda said displeased. Lee went back to the refrigerator and grabbed one for Amanda. "Thank you." Amanda added smiling. Lee handed it to her and went and sat at his desk.
"So, what's this really about Francine." Lee questioned. "Because I know that you didn't come up here to whine about how pregnancy is ruining your fashion statement, and although part of it was probably for the pudding cup, you had to think of a real reason, or Billy would have never allowed it."
Francine smiled at Lee, she knew he was right. "SDBIR offered me a job, pay jumps to GG 15, and I'm probably going to take it."
"I think it's a great idea." Amanda said as she went and sat on the couch on the opposite end of the room.
"So do I, but…" Francine paused.
"You're worried about us." Lee said. "Francine, we aren't work acquaintances, our friendship goes deeper than that. And you can always call Amanda after the baby's born for advice on how to change a diaper." Lee joked.
"I know, I just never thought when I met Amanda six years ago, that I'd be needing her help."
"Hey." Amanda complained. "I'm not that bad."
"No, you aren't." Lee started. "But you know, that six years ago, Francine and I lived quite differently than we do now, if you'd have told me six years ago, that today, I'd be married, have three sons, one of which was genetically mine and taking my wife to the doctor at 1:30, I'd have laughed in your face. But, I love you." Amanda smiled back at him.
"I love you too."
"Isn't this cute. Guys, I'm talking about me here." Francine interrupted.
"Sorry." Amanda apologized. "Look, give us more details, maybe that'll help."
"Okay, well, the job doesn't start until August of next year, which will give me plenty of time with the baby, and I like that, I just don't know how I'll feel investigating things that aren't, well, you know." Francine said as she fell back in the chair.
"August of next year? That's a lot of advance notice, don't you think?" Amanda sounded surprised.
"Well, I guess some old guy can't retire and get full pension until then, and he likes to make sure there's someone to fill his shoes, so he suggested me. Then, he heard that I was pregnant, and things seemed to just fall in place. He wants me to come in a few days a week next July so he can train me. Said I could bring the baby." Francine explained.
"Francine, I think you should take it." Lee said. "The danger is very low at SDBIR, that'll put you, Jonathan and the baby at a lot less of a risk. Having a family is a lot different than being on your own. You know mine and Amanda's number, you can call us anytime, and we can do stuff with the kids, I want Eric to get to know that baby."
"Yeah."
"Hey, that little baby in there is going to be my niece or nephew, and I don't want to put it in any more danger than Eric is in, I already hate it that Amanda works here, but she insists, and I can't tell her no, now, we keep our family safe, and we still work at the agency, it just might be better if you didn't."
"I know. Amanda, you're pretty quite in all of this, why aren't you saying anything?" Francine asked.
"Well, I already made the decision once, it was a hard one for me, and it was a decision I had to make on my own, you're where I was about two years ago, you just have to look at your options." Amanda told her honestly. "Are you guys hungry? I think it's time we left for lunch." Amanda quickly stood up and walked toward the door. "I'll be right back."
"Not again." Lee sighed as he followed her.
"Where are you going?" Francine said as she watched them both quickly leave the Q Bureau. Francine stood up and watched Lee and Amanda go into the woman's bathroom. She decided to figure out why they were both going in there, so she too went in. She heard Amanda, and stood in the door waiting as Billy came in the door. He didn't realize that Francine was standing in the doorway to the bathroom, so he proceeded into the Q Bureau.
Amanda stood from the toilet, Lee flushed it for her, and she washed her face off in the sink. "Is Amanda pregnant again?" Francine asked. Amanda lifted her head quickly from the sink. Lee was taken aback.
"I never thought about that." Amanda turned to look at Lee.
"You can be pregnant again, already, I mean…" Lee stammered.
"Lee, Philip was about Eric's age when I got pregnant with Jamie." Amanda informed him as she looked at Francine and knew that she was right.
"Really?!" Lee questioned smiling. Amanda hugged Lee as Billy came over to the bathroom.
"When did we start having meeting's in the ladies restroom." Billy asked as he
came over.
"Billy, Amanda's pregnant." Lee shouted as he looked at his boss with a gleaming smile.
Billy smiled widely as well. "Lee, we don't know for sure yet." Amanda reminded him.
"Are you guys telling me, you didn't have it figured out?" Francine questioned looking amazed.
"Don't let it go to your head Francine." Lee grunted as he wrapped his arm around Amanda's waist and began to leave the bathroom. "Let's go get something to eat."
Lee and Amanda didn't go back to work after they left the doctor, it was certain that Amanda was pregnant now, two months a long, and the baby was due in July, they wanted to spend the after noon together, so they went to the park. They sat on a park bench talking.
"We're going to have to move." Lee said looking at Amanda.
"No, we can make Eric share his room with the new baby." Amanda said not fully willing to put up with the hassles of moving.
"What if it's a girl." Lee said.
"We move Eric in with Jamie and Phil…" Amanda stopped as she thought about it. "Yeah, you're right, we have to move."
"Can we move to Rockville, acre and a half?" Lee asked. "We still have all of that money from when we let go of my apartment and sold the furniture."
"We didn't sell your bed though did we?" Amanda asked.
"No, we kept my bedroom set, that's the $59 payment we make to Diamond Storage every month."
"This will work." Amanda smiled looking at Lee.
"You lost me."
"We can give Philip his own room, and he can have your bedroom set, those bunk beds that the boys have now come apart, we give one bed to Eric, and the new baby can have Eric's crib. Everything is coming together quite nicely."
"So you see us getting a five bedroom house." Lee said just before an explosion came from across the park. They both sat up quickly as they noticed what had just been blown up, Amanda's car. As they ran toward the car a homeless man that pushed a cart walked up to them.
"The man in the red hat said to give you this."
"I don't believe this Amanda!" Lee shouted as he looked around the park.
"Yeah." Amanda sighed, deciding this actually fit perfectly into the picture, nothing ever seemed to work out without a few kinks.
"How are we supposed to cart three kids around this city if they just blew-up the Wagoneer, now all we have is the Vette, and it's a two passenger." Lee growled.
"Multiple trips?" Amanda joked. "I'm sorry, Lee look, let's just call Billy, and tell him what happened. We should have him send a few agents over to the school to make sure no one goes after the boys, and we'll go pick up Eric so that he's with us. We'll call mother and check on her too, they'll probably leave her out of it though if they want our 'attention'." Amanda reasoned as she hugged her husband for support.
"Chevy's been making Corvette's since 1953, you'd think by now they'd have made a backseat." Lee mumbled to himself. "Not now Amanda, I don't want to deal with this right now." He said as hugged her back and rested his head in her shoulder.
"Come on." Amanda was trying to hold back the tears that were forming in her eyes. "Let's find a pay phone." He grabbed her hand and they began to walk closer to the Wagoneer that sat in flames at the edge of the park. They knew they should investigate more closely, but there were already crowds of people around the flaming car, and people were working on putting out the flames, they weren't ready to answer any questions.
Chapter 3
Francine offered to let Lee, Amanda and the boys stay at her house for the night, the agency wanted to do a sweep of Amanda's house to check for bombs and bugs. Seen as how they weren't allowed to step foot in the house until the agency was sure it was safe, they had to go through the agency civilian 'props' to find things for the night. Amanda took the boys to Target to get some new clothes for school the next day. Amanda was glad she carried three different outfits for Eric in his diaper bag.
The conditions were more than cramped, and the boys weren't very happy, but they were nice to Francine and Jonathan, and that made things a little better. Lee and Amanda agreed this was definitely not the time to tell the boys about the baby. At around ten o'clock everyone decided it was time for bed, Eric was already sleeping in his fathers' arms. Francine had never realized how fatherhood had almost come naturally to Lee Stetson.
As Francine put the dishes in the sink, Amanda made sure the boys were somewhat comfortable in their sleeping bags. They seemed tolerant to this situation, they understood why they couldn't go home, they just wished things could have been different.
"How are you guys doing?" Amanda asked as she sat between them.
"Mom, this kind of sucks, I wish I was at home, in my bed." Jamie grumbled.
"Yeah, I don't even have a glove for tomorrow at school. I want one that's already broken in." Philip complained.
"Well, Lee and I will stop by the house tomorrow and bring it to you at school before you need it." Amanda told her son.
"I need it at 11:30."
"We'll drop it in the office at 10."
"Okay." Philip said, less than satisfied he slipped into his sleeping bag. "It smells like smoke in this."
"So does mine." Jamie joined.
"I'm sorry guys, but it'll work for tonight." Amanda said as she stroked Jamie's hair.
"I hope I don't die of smoke inhalation." Philip complained.
"Night sweetheart." Amanda told them as she stood to her feet and went into the
kitchen to check on Lee and Francine. "Here, let me take him." Amanda said as
she put her hands out toward Lee, he gently slid his arm out from underneath
him as Amanda replaced hers there. Eric only moved a little bit, Lee bent
forward and kissed his sons' forehead. "See ya in a bit Sport." Lee whispered.
Amanda went into the living room and laid Eric in the middle of the bed.
"He looks a lot like you Lee." Francine said as she faced him in the kitchen.
"Amanda says that all the time. He climbed out of his crib this morning, by himself, and Amanda asked if we were sure he wasn't my son." Lee told her.
"He's a lot like you. But, who'd have ever guessed that Lee Stetson would have a child, and be so good with him."
"I know. It's amazing. We've grown so much in the last six years haven't we."
"I hate to say it, but most of it's due to Amanda."
"She changed a lot, and not just in me."
"Do you think I'll be a good mother?"
"Hey, look how I've been doing with Eric, you just got
finished saying that I'm good with my son, and six years ago, I didn't even
know how to hold a kid, now, I've changed numerous diapers, stayed awake all
night long when he had colic, I mean, it sort of comes natural, to everyone.
Amanda helped though.
"I wouldn't expect you to, especially since you'll have another to deal with."
"Yeah, it's great isn't it? I get two kids, on top of Philip and Jamie, it's the family I never had." Lee smiled at that thought. "But, it wears you out, and I think I'm going to hit the hay." Lee hugged Francine good night. "You'll do fine." He assured her as he went into the living room; he climbed into the fold out couch where his wife and son were already asleep. He faced them, and put his hand across, just enough room to get around Amanda. Francine had stayed in the kitchen and thought to herself long enough, that when she passed the living room she saw the family that slept in it. It looked so natural, she smiled, and said 'The Happy Stetson-King Crew' before she turned off all the lights and turned in herself.
'The happy Stetson-King Crew' was up at 6:00 o'clock, by 6:30, Philip and Jamie had already had their breakfast, and Eric sat on the couch watching TV. The couch had been returned to its original form and the blankets were folded neatly on the arm. Amanda was in the kitchen making breakfast for Eric when Francine and Jonathan woke around 7. Lee sat on the couch next to Eric watching cartoons, as Francine came out of her bedroom rubbing her eyes.
"Let me feed me."
"Eric, if I have to tell you that I'm feeding you one more time you're going to
get a spanking, do you want that?"
"No." Eric said softly.
"What was that?" Lee asked him.
"No, I don't want a spanking." Eric told him reluctantly. "You can feed me."
"Thank you." Lee said as he lifted the spoon back up and into Eric's mouth. Eric willingly took it and ate.
"Lee, Lee!" Shouted the boys as they rushed into the apartment.
Lee sat Eric down in the chair as he quickly got up to see what the problem was. Philip and Jamie stood right inside the door crouched over and gasping for air. "What's the matter?" Lee asked them, Amanda, and Francine came over to see what was wrong as well.
"505-J84R, 505-J84R, 505-J84R." Jamie repeated over and over again.
"Lee, remember that blue Cadillac that was sitting outside of here last night, and the guy that was wearing a hat was sitting in the car." Philip said trying to grasp for air.
"Yeah?"
"Well, last night at around midnight or so, Jamie and I went to see if it was still there, and it was, but from up here we couldn't see if the guy was in it, and then, this morning, Jamie and I saw it out there again, with the same guy, and he was talking into a radio, so I went over to see if he needed anything, but when I knocked on the window, he got this scared look and drove off really fast. Jamie has the license plate number."
"505-J84R." Jamie said as he finally stood.
"I'll call the agency, have Billy run the plates." Lee said as he combed his fingers through his hair. He walked into the dinning room and saw that Eric had taken the bowl and dumped it over his head. "Eric, why couldn't you have waited just two minutes?" Lee shouted. "Manda, you want to come clean this?" Lee said in a rush. "Jamie, keep saying those numbers over and over in your head. Come here."
Amanda came into the dining room and looked at the mess Eric had made. "Philip, will you take Eric, change his clothes and wash his hair in the sink." Amanda said as she picked up her youngest son and handed him over to Philip.
"Bad Eric." Eric began to say as his brother walked into the kitchen. Lee watched his sons and began to smile. "Hey, Billy, I have a license plate number for you to run, you ready?" Lee watched Philip struggle to try and get Eric to lean backwards. "Eric, you listen to your brother and lean over, or I'll deal with you." Eric immediately agreed to lean back and let his hair be washed.
"Scarecrow, I'm surprised to here you say something like that." Billy said into the phone. "Which brother is Eric not listening to."
"Philip, now will you grab that pen from your jacket and hurry up and write this down, Eric made a big mess, and it's not fair to Amanda to have to clean it alone." Lee was agitated and sounded so accordingly into the phone. "Kay, Jamie, numbers." Lee told him.
"505-J84R." Jamie told Lee as he watched his mother gather oatmeal from the chair.
"Sounds like you have your hands full Scarecrow." Billy said.
"No, this is a normal morning. Eric just dumped his breakfast, it's all too normal." Lee told Billy.
"Bad Eric!" Eric shouted from the sink.
Billy laughed into the phone. "Why don't you bring them into the agency this morning, I need to ask them a few questions." Lee said into the phone.
"All you're going to get out of
Eric is 'Bad Eric'." Lee finally smiled.
"You know I mean Philip and Jamie."
"Yeah, okay, I'll run the idea past this gorgeous woman cleaning up oatmeal and we'll see what she says." Amanda looked up from the ground and into her husbands' eyes to try and read them. "Look, I should go." Lee hung up the phone, grabbed a towel and began to try and help her.
"What I'll say about what?" Amanda asked as Lee crouched down to the ground and began to blot the carpet.
"Bad Eric." Eric said once more as Philip sat the now nude Eric on ground next to his parents.
"Eric will you stop saying you're bad, you're not bad, you just get into trouble." Lee pleaded as he looked over at his son. "Jamie, will you put a diaper on your brother."
"Sure." Jamie said finally glad he could be of more help to this family crisis than remembering some numbers.
After the mess was cleaned up, and Amanda had agreed to allow the boys to skip school, they all headed for the agency in Amanda's agency rental car.
Lee opened the door and Amanda walked into the agency lobby with Eric in her arms, Philip followed her and Jamie sort of unwillingly came through the door, Lee closed up the door behind Jamie. Mrs. Marsten looked up from her desk and saw the entire Stetson-King family standing in front of her.
"Mr. and Mrs. Stetson, you are supposed to leave the children in the car." Mrs. Marsten said as she handed Lee and Amanda their passes.
"Actually, Billy wants to talk to Philip and Jamie, and well, we couldn't have left Eric alone, besides, he's really little." Lee said as they stood in the center of the room. Philip and Jamie just looked around the room trying to understand what was going on.
"Well, they'll need a 'guest pass'" Mrs. Marsten said as she grabbed two more and handed it to Amanda, who handed one to the boys.
"Guys, just clip it somewhere on your clothes." Lee told them.
"I think the little one will be okay without one as long as either you or Lee is carrying him at all times."
"Fine." Lee said as he looked nervously around the room, he himself was unsure of what to do with the boys.
"So, what's the little Lee Stetson's name?" Mrs. Marsten decided to ask since they all still stood there.
"Eric." Philip said as he looked at her. "Mom says he's a dead ringer for Lee."
"He is." Mrs. Marsten smiled adoringly as she looked at the little boy in Amanda's arms.
"Ah,
he has Amanda's smile." Lee nervously informed as she grabbed Amanda's free arm
and began to go up the stairs. "We're going to go to the Q Bureau, will you
tell Billy to call me if you see him."
"I see you brought the whole family Scarecrow." Dr. Smyth said as he stood at the top of the stairs.
"Yeah, Billy has a few questions for Philip and Jamie."
"And who's Scarecrow Jr.?" Smyth asked with another breath of his cigarette.
"That's mine and Amanda's son Eric sir, if you don't mind, I'm taking my family to the Q Bureau." Lee said as he tried to ignore the man in his suit. Lee stood at the door to the Q Bureau and began to search for the key.
"Film Library?" Jamie asked.
"Um, yeah, this is mine and your mother's office." Lee answered as he opened the door to let Amanda and the boys' in. "Uh, don't touch anything." Lee added as he watched them go in.
A few minutes later the boys were sitting on the couch bored, Eric was beginning to get fussy, and Lee was wondering where Billy was. He thought he'd be waiting for him to come and get the questions over with. Lee lifted the phone and called Billy's office, no answer.
"Amanda, I'm gonna go down to the bullpen and see if I can't find Billy." Lee grinned, as he looked at the boys' toss a ball back and forth on the couch.
"What's the bullpen?" Philip asked.
"The brother to hell." Lee rolled his eyes and left the Q Bureau.
"Mom, what's the bullpen?" Jamie asked when he saw that Lee was gone.
"That's
where a lot of people work, there are a bunch of desks down there, and it's
really hectic. Lee and I used to work down there, but we got the office up here
about three or four years ago. This way it's easier for us to think and put
together pieces of the puzzle for cases we're trying to solve."
"Well, there are other people with their own offices, but most people work down in the bullpen if that's what you mean." Amanda skirted answering the actual question trying not to go into too much detail, the less the boys actually knew the better.
"I think, what Philip wants to know is, what makes the people with offices better than the people with desks in the bullpen."
"Well, the better agents are normally the ones that come up here."
"Are you and Lee good?" Philip asked just as Billy came into the Q Bureau with Lee behind him.
"The best." Billy laughed as he walked over to Amanda and Eric. "How's my godson?" Billy asked as he took Eric from Amanda and into his arms. "Hey there Eric, how's life been treatin' you?"
"Billy, he's really cranky right now." Amanda warned him.
"Who, Eric, why are you being cranky?" Billy questioned him as he bobbed the boy up and down in his arms. Billy walked over to where the boys sat and Lee sat at his desk. "So, which one of you wants to go first?" Billy grinned.
"Not me." Jamie said quickly.
"Jamie, you're not scared are you?" Billy's brows furrowed in puzzlement.
"No, I'm not scared, I just don't want to go." Jamie hung his head lower. Billy smiled at him.
"Alright Jamie, come with your Uncle Billy, and we'll go answer some questions. Don't worry, it'll just be you, me, and Eric." Billy said as he forced Jamie to stand up. Lee looked at Billy thinking 'why's he going to take Eric?' "Scarecrow, relax, I hardly ever get to see this little guy, and I'll just keep him with me. He'll be fine, spend some time with your wife and Philip, I'll be back in about fifteen minutes."
"Don't worry. Easy for you to say." Lee sighed as he sat back in the chair. "Amanda, what would you think about telling Philip now?" Lee asked as he eased back.
"Telling me what?" Philip curiosity got the best of him.
"I guess we could, and if we told the boys individually, we could get their individual thoughts and concerns with out taking in the considerations of what the other was thinking." Amanda added to the conversation.
"Tell me what?!" Philip shouted as he stood, his
mother and stepfather were driving him crazy. "Tell me now, anyway, it won't
matter if Jamie's here or not."
"Philip, your mother's pregnant again." Lee watched Philip sit quietly.
"Really?" Philip asked in excitement.
"You're happy about this?" Amanda was in shock.
"Yeah, I love Eric, he's the coolest little guy I ever met, and it'd be awesome to have another little brother."
"What if it's a girl?" Amanda asked him.
"A girl, I doubt you're even capable of having a girl, you already had three boys, I bet somewhere in your gene's it's written 'boys only'." Philip told her. Lee chuckled.
"That's not funny Philip, it could be a girl."
"If it's a girl we'll return her and ask for a boy." Philip said seriously. "No, I'm just kidding, if it's a girl, I guess it'll be a learning experience for all of us, and she'll have three very protective big brothers, and Lee to watch out for her." Amanda smiled at the thought. "Yeah, she'll probably never get married."
"So, we have your approval I take it." Lee said as he went to hug his son.
"Well, if you wanted my approval, you'd have asked a few months ago, but I wasn't in the decision making process." Philip said as he moved closer to give Lee a 'congrats' hug.
"Philip." Amanda's voice stern.
"Hey, don't get me wrong, I didn't say I was upset about it." Philip said as he backed away. They all laughed and spent the rest of the time talking about how they would be moving to a bigger house, which Philip was also very excited about. He'd get his own room.
In exactly fifteen minutes Billy came back with Jamie and Eric. "Well, that was successful, but I'd guess someone needs a diaper change, and that's not Uncle Billy's job is it Eric?" Billy said as he bent down to hand Eric to Amanda.
"Uncle Billy's job." Eric repeated in a giggle.
"Philip, it's your turn." Billy said as he motioned toward the door.
"Have fun Phil." Jamie teased as he watched his brother go.
"Hey, you too Bro!" Philip shouted as he walked out the door. Billy nodded his head and left the Q Bureau.
"What was that all about?" Jamie asked uncomfortably as he sat down at his mothers' desk. His mother had moved to the couch to change Eric's diaper.
"How was your talk with Billy." Lee asked as he watched Jamie fidget uncomfortably in the chair.
"Fine. I guess." Jamie said, as he looked the desk over. "Mom, why don't you have any pictures of me, Philip and Eric on your desk?"
"Put
your hands under the desk, all the way to the back, you'll feel an envelope,
it's taped to the back of the desk, pull it out." Amanda said as she finished
taping together the diaper. Jamie pulled out a small manila envelope, he lifted
the flap at the top and saw a picture of him and Philip in their baseball
uniforms, it was an older picture because he wasn't wearing his glasses. Then
he flipped to the next one and saw a picture of him and Philip with Eric in the
hospital when Eric was born. Then he flipped and saw a picture of Lee and
Amanda at their first wedding.
"Let me see it Jamie." Amanda said as she sat Eric on the ground and walked over to Lee's desk. Jamie held it up for her to see.
"Oh, well that was after our wedding." Amanda informed, while she didn't want to lie to her son, she knew she couldn't tell him that they'd been married in February of three years ago, instead of October of three years ago. It was the truth, just not the whole truth.
"Jamie, sit down, your mother and I need to talk to you." Lee told him, Jamie looked at Lee, and he decided to agree and went to sit down on the couch.
"About what?" Jamie asked curiously.
"Well, what would you think of having another little brother or sister?" Amanda was being blunt.
"You're pregnant?" Jamie asked not very enthused.
"Yes, and I want your honest truth on how you feel about it." Amanda told him.
"Well, if you're already pregnant, it doesn't matter how I feel, I wouldn't expect you to get an abortion, but I guess it's fine. But I don't want to share a room with Eric and Philip." Jamie mentioned.
"You won't have to, we're going to get a bigger house, what if we go look at them this weekend." Lee looked at Jamie, knowing he wasn't excited made Lee think he didn't want the baby.
"Sure." Jamie tried not to show how upset he really was.
"Do you want to talk about the baby?" Amanda asked as she stood from her desk and walked over to her son.
"No. Not really, there's not a lot to talk about, I just hope this ones a boy like Eric was." Jamie said as he turned his face from his mother and looked at a picture on the wall. He noticed that it was a confusing picture, and seeing it as an opportunity to change the subject, he pointed to it. "What's that?"
"That's a picture of us. You can only see it if you think about it though, the colors were changed to looked like a picture of trees, but if you really look at it, it's that family picture we took about four months ago." Lee replied as he walked over to where Amanda stood. "See, there's you, and your Mom, there's me, and Philip and Eric." Lee said as he moved his finger around on the picture. "One of my friends in covers helped me make it."
Jamie smiled as he looked at Lee. "You really wanted a picture of us in the office that badly?" Jamie asked.
"Hey, I have my own packet of pictures of you guys hidden in my desk too." Lee said as he rubbed Jamie's head. "I'll show you one that I took myself." Lee told him as he went to his desk and pulled out his top drawer. Then he lifted an envelope out of the top of the desk. Lee lifted the flap on the envelope and pulled out a picture of Philip and Jamie. He handed the picture over to Jamie.
"This is my tenth birthday?" Jamie questioned.
"Yeah, that's what it is." Lee didn't want to hide too much from the boys.
"You didn't meet me until I was twelve." Jamie said doing the math.
"That's right, I didn't actually talk to you until then, but I met your mother when you were eight." Lee told him.
"Yeah, I guess that would be right, so why did you take a picture of me and Philip when I was ten?" Jamie asked.
"Well,
I'd started watching you guys grow up, and you two both kept getting taller,
and I hoped that I'd be able to remember you when I got older. So, I decided to
take a picture."
"Yeah, your family was the only family I knew, and you know how I feel about family." Amanda put her hands up on Lee's face and kissed him.
"I love you." Amanda said as she heard a bang. Eric looked over at his parents and laughed at the mess he'd created by pulling on the blanket that covered a filing cabinet. Lee and Amanda looked at Eric and laughed. Lee walked over to Eric and lifted him up.
"So, Sport, what do you say to a little brother or sister?" Lee said, as he looked his son in the eyes.
"Broder." Eric said laughing.
After Amanda, Lee and Eric finished cleaning up the mess, Billy came back with Philip. They exchanged good-byes, and Amanda took the boys' home. The house was completely safe. Lee stayed behind to talk to Billy, he told Amanda he'd be home in time for supper.
The boys were happy that they'd gotten a day out of school and spent the rest of the time playing at the park. An agency monitor sat outside the house at all times, just in case, and someone from the agency went with them to the park.
Lee arrived at home in time for supper. It was a quiet evening at home for the Stetson-King family. After dinner the boys went upstairs to do their homework for the day. Lee had stopped at the school on his way home from the agency and picked their homework up for them. After Lee and Amanda had given Eric a bath, they put him in bed, shut the door, and went downstairs for a nice little, talk.
"I think we should talk about names Mrs. Stetson." Lee said as he sat back into the couch and moved Amanda's arm behind his head.
"Names for what?" Amanda teased as she looked into her husbands' eyes. "The different ways you make me smile?"
"No, that child in there." Lee smiled as he rested his other hand on her stomach.
"I
was hoping we could name it Lee Jr. if it's a boy."
"Well,
I was just hoping."
"What?"
"No, I want to name it Amanda."
"I can't name a boy Lee, but you want to name a girl Amanda?"
"Yeah."
"What about Jennifer?" Amanda asked.
"For my mother?" Lee questioned in a barely audible whisper.
"Well, yes, and because I really like the name." Amanda told him.
"Alright, Jennifer if it's a girl, but does that mean we have to do Dorthea for middle name."
"I think if we tell my Mom we love her, she won't punish us by making us call any child Dorthea."
"What about Amanda?" Lee asked.
"Jennifer Amanda."
"Yeah, I like it. Plus, Amanda is your mothers middle name." Lee told her honestly.
"Alright Lee Stetson, you win on the girls name, but now we can't have a boy." Amanda mocked as she faced her husband and pulled up on his loosened tie. She smiled and kissed his lips lightly.
"Why is that?" Lee asked as he kissed her back.
"We can't agree on a name." Amanda informed as she kissed her husband passionately.
"I don't know, I think we can." Lee said. Amanda pulled back and looked at him.
"Well, your Dad's name was Adam right?" Lee asked her.
"Yeah. I like the name Adam." Amanda sat back to think about the name for a few seconds.
"Adam Mathew." Lee said. "If it's a girl, we use our mothers' names, if it's a boy, we use our fathers' names." Lee smiled thinking at how great he'd done at solving the problem of Lee for a boy's name.
"Agreed." Amanda said as she grabbed Lee's hand. "But I still want a Lee Jr." Amanda whined.
"I tell you what, if for some reason, we have three sons, I'll let you name the third one Lee." Lee told her as he kissed her forehead.
"How many do you want Mr. Stetson?"
"I don't know, lots." Lee said.
"Okay." Amanda told him as she kissed his lips. "Now, no more arguing, I want to go upstairs." Amanda stood up and dragged Lee along.
"If you insist." Lee told her as she closed the distance between them and kissed her neck.
Answers were running short the next few weeks. Every lead they had crashed and burned. Things were looking doubtful and tormenting.
______________
"Amanda, do you want to hurry up?" Lee asked. "We're going to be late for the doctors appointment."
"Alright, I just want to type these last few words." Amanda hurried.
"No. No. No." Lee said, as he lifted her fingers off the keyboard, he lifted her up, and anxiously moved her out the door.
"My purse." Amanda said. Lee jumped back into the Q Bureau, grabbed her purse and shut the door. They were walking down the hallway when they passed Billy. He opened his mouth and was about to speak.
"Not
now, we'll be back tomorrow, if it's urgent, call the house at around 7, we
should be home." Lee said as he held his wife's arm and rushed her out of the
agency.
At the doctors office Amanda laid on the bed nervously. Lee stood next to her with his hand wrapping Amanda's. Her shirt was lifted over her stomach and the doctor was making the ultrasound. You could hear the babies' heart beat.
"Wow, it's really fast." Lee said in amazement.
"Almost too fast." The doctor said looking at the screen.
"Why is that bad?" Lee began to worry.
"Actually, I think that's good, you're having twins." The doctor said as she turned to face Lee and Amanda.
"Twins?"
Amanda asked. "As in, oh, there's one, and now two?" Amanda began to babble.
"As in, two babies at one time?" Lee moved his hand and put it over Amanda's
mouth.
"I'm afraid so. You have two little babies in there Amanda."
"How is that possible, twins don't run in my family?" Amanda asked.
"Well,
sometimes it can be genetic, and skip a few generations, but it doesn't have to
be." The doctor told them as she focused back to the screen. "Would you like to
know the sex?"
"Yes."
Amanda said.
"No."
They said together. She knew that when Lee winked he was telling her that they
could do whatever she wanted. The doctor nodded and looked at Lee and Amanda.
"A normal amount of stress for me, or a normal amount of stress for a normal person." Amanda asked.
"A normal amount of stress for you, for right now, but you'll have to take it easy."
"Well, I guess that can be arranged." Amanda sighed as she began to climb off the table.
"Don't worry Doc, I'll make sure she takes it easy." Lee grinned as he wrapped his arm around Amanda. "Thank you so much." Lee shook the doctors' hand and they began to leave the room.
"Don't forget to schedule an appointment for next month. And call me if you have any questions, or problems." The doctor said as she went the opposite way from Lee and Amanda down the hall.
Chapter 4
Lee and Amanda lay in their bed, a month and a half had passed since the incident in the Arlington Sports Complex.
Chapter 5
"Boys or Girls!" Philip and Jamie shouted simultaneously.
"I'm not supposed to say anything." Dr. Furrston told them.
"What, how can you not tell us, we're the big brothers!" Philip shouted.
"Big broder." Eric said as he tried to jump out of Billy's arms.
"Dotty, will you come with me." Dr. Furrston told them.
"Hmm. It just pleases me to know that Lee and Amanda want me to go first." Dotty said as she walked through the door.
In the room, Lee held one baby, and Amanda the other, both babies were wrapped in yellow towels. Dotty walked in, and smiled gleefully.
"Hey Grandma, this is Adam." Lee said showing her her grandson.
"Boys, more boys Amanda, I swear this time I was sure it was a girl." Dotty shook her head disappointingly. "I suppose I'll love them nonetheless."
"Well, I'm sorry mother, Lee and I did our best. Oh, and this is Jennie." Amanda said showing her mother the baby girl in her arms.
"A girl, you mean it! I have a granddaughter!" Dotty exclaimed.
"She was born three minutes after Adam here, she'll not only have me to look after her, but four big brothers too, I think she'll start dating around the age of 35." Lee joked.
Amanda smiled at Lee. "I love you."
"I love you too." Lee told her as he looked at his son. "And I love you Adam Mathew Stetson." He walked closer to Amanda and looked at his daughter. "And you, little Miss Jennie, I love you too." Looking to his wife, he said, "Don't be jealous honey, I love you the most." Lee kissed Amanda's nose.
"Can I hold one of my grandchildren, because there's a lot of love in this room, and none of it seems to be headed in my direction." Dotty asked.
"Well sure, who do you want to hold, Adam or Jennie?" Lee inquired.
"Well, I don't want Adam to feel left out, but I would love to hold a baby girl again." Dotty said as she walked toward Amanda.
"Well, alright mother, here you go." Dotty walked over to Amanda, and smiled widely as she held her granddaughter for the first time, tear glistening in her eyes. "Lee, give me Adam, and you go get the boys. Remember don't tell them if the twins were boys or girls." Amanda reminded him.
"I won't." Lee left the room.
"Amanda, you know, Adam is the perfect mix of you and Lee, and Jennie here, looks just like you did at this age." Dotty said as she looked over at her daughter.
"Mother." Amanda said.
"No, I'm serious. Amanda, you even had this little mole right here." Dotty
pushed a small little spot on Jennie's cheek.
Lee came back into the room with Philip around his right arm, Philip was holding Eric and Jamie around his left, and Billy and Jeannie stood behind the three of them.
"Guys, meet your new siblings." Lee told them, as he took Eric from Philip.
"Lee, this joke is getting old, will someone tell us if they're boys or girls." Jamie said anxiously.
"Well, Philip, here you go, take a look at your littlest brother." Amanda said as she handed Adam up to Philip.
Philip walked closer to his Mom, and looked at Adam.
"He looks like Lee, with less hair of course, but he looks like you too Mom. What's his name?" Philip asked.
"Oh, and Jamie, why don't you go take a look at your sister." Lee said as he pushed Jamie forward lightly.
"A girl! I have a sister?! What's her name?" Jamie asked excitedly.
"Their names are Adam and Jennie, why don't you go hold her Jamie." Amanda told him.
Jamie walked slowly over to his grandmother, he smiled
widely, and put his arm under her neck, his grandmother quietly slid her arm
out from around the baby as Jamie moved his in place.
"Jennie, I'm your big brother Jamie, I'll make sure Philip doesn't beat up on you to bad." Jamie told her.
"Yeah right geek-boy." Philip said back.
"Philip, don't call your brother geek-boy." Amanda told Philip quickly.
"All right guys, lets leave your mother and Lee with the babies." Jamie walked over to Lee, and handed him Jennie, Philip got off of the bed and he and his brother left, Dotty also reluctantly left the room.
"Congratulations you two, you really deserve this one." Billy said as everyone left the room.
"Thanks Billy." Lee said as Billy left the room. "Well Mrs.
Stetson our family is growing."
"Yeah, no more. We'll be done with kids in eighteen years." Lee promised as he watched his wife drift off to sleep. He held Adam and Jennie in his arms. He leaned over and gave his wife a kiss on the forehead. And as he walked over to the small cribs he placed Adam and Jennie in them. He looked at them, and he smiled. Then, he realized the door was being pushed open, and Eric slid in.
"Daddy, I want to see the babies." Eric said, he carried Normie with him.
"Well, come here." Lee smiled with pride as he lifted his oldest son up, he watched him look at the babies. "That's your brother Adam, and your sister Jennie."
"They're all wrinkly and red." Eric stated.
"That's how they're suppose to be." Lee said laughing. Philip and Jamie came into the room.
"Sorry Lee, he got away from us." Philip confessed as he went over to take Eric from Lee.
"That's okay. Now the whole family's here." Lee said as he smiled. He glanced at his five children, and smiled. His family might have been finished growing, but he couldn't have been happier.