Disclaimer: Scarecrow and Mrs. King and its characters are property of Warner Bros. and Shoot the Moon Productions. No copyright infringement is intended.
The story, however is mine! :)
Time: Post Season 4- Shortly after "Happy Anniversary?"
Lee stood on the threshold of the entrance into the kitchen/den area of 4247 Maplewood Drive dressed in his hunter green bathrobe. Amanda was already up, showered, dressed and flitting around the kitchen. Her mind was on the day ahead, so much so that she didn't hear Lee come down the stairs and she certainly didn't notice him watching her from across the room. Amanda opened the refrigerator door and took out the milk for her coffee and cereal.
"Morning!" Lee said suddenly appearing behind the refrigerator door as Amanda pushed it shut.
"OH! LEE! You scared me half to death! Don't sneak up on me like that!"
Lee smiled that killer dashing smile of his and let out a soft chuckle.
"I couldn't resist! I had to do it for old time's sake. Sorry, Amanda…but that never gets old!"
Lee leaned in and gave Amanda a kiss on the lips.
"Not funny!"
Lee proceeded to pour himself a cup of coffee as he continued to chuckle. He walked across the kitchen to the table stopping to give Amanda a more passionate kiss as he placed his hand on her belly hoping to feel the baby move.
"How are you feeling this morning, Amanda?"
"I'm feeling good! First good night's sleep I've had in a long time."
Amanda took Lee's hand and repositioned it to where he could feel the baby move. A beaming smile spread across his face. Amanda smiled in response to her husband's elation at feeling their baby kick.
"That never gets old either, Sweetheart."
Lee looked up from focusing on her belly, his mouth still decorated with a permanent grin.
"What doesn't get old?"
"Seeing how excited you get every time you feel the baby move. I love it…..and I love you!"
Lee smiled an almost boyish smile as he looked into Amanda's eyes. She brought her hand and gently caressed his cheek as she kissed him tenderly on the lips. Lee returned the kiss and took Amanda's hand in his and placed a kiss in her palm. Amanda smiled as she watched Lee take a seat at the kitchen table and open the morning newspaper.
"What are you doing up so early on a Saturday? I was disappointed to find my wife was not next to me in our bed this morning."
Amanda stopped putting her breakfast dishes in the sink and looked at Lee.
"Lee…..I have the benefit this morning! We talked about this yesterday."
"That's this weekend? I thought it was next Saturday!"
"Lee, really? We JUST talked about it!"
"I know but for some reason I didn't think it was this weekend. What's the benefit for again?"
"It's for the women's board at the hospital. They're raising money for…..well I forgot what they're raising money for but it's for a good cause."
"Oh that's right. And you agreed to do this because?"
"Lee Stetson! You know darn well why I agreed to do this! You just want to give me a hard time about it again, don't you?"
Lee opened and lifted the newspaper higher, blocking the Cheshire grin on his face. He loved getting a rise out of Amanda. Some days it was far easier than others.
"Why don't you refresh my memory?" he said from behind the paper.
Amanda knew exactly what Lee was doing so she decided to get him right back.
"Well, I agreed to help out with the refreshments because my friend Stephanie called and was in a bind for someone to help her at the benefit today and I said yes. And, Stephanie works at the TV station with Dean, my ex-boyfriend and I thought it would be great to get to see him again. You know, say hi….see what he's been up to, talk about old times…"
Amanda busied herself at the sink as she kept an eye on Lee in her peripheral vision. She laughed to herself as he started to squirm a bit at the mention of Dean. She really had no idea if Dean was going to be there or not. She hoped not. Lee folded the newspaper and turned to look at Amanda.
"Dean? As in DAN is going to be there?"
Amanda fought to hide the smirk she was getting knowing that she had gotten to Lee.
"Uh, well I can't be sure, but I think Stephanie said something about Dean coming."
Amanda walked over to Lee and stood beside him.
"That doesn't bother you, Sweetheart does it? I thought it would be nice if he and I went and grabbed lunch."
Lee looked up at her, grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her onto his lap where he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her passionately.
"I am the only one that is allowed to do any grabbing of you! I wish you didn't have to go."
Amanda smiled, still wrapped up in Lee's arms looking deeply into his beautiful eyes.
"I know, Sweetheart but Stephanie was such a good friend to me for many years and she really needed my help with this benefit. I felt bad not saying yes to her after all the times she was there for me, especially when the boys were really small."
"I know, you told all this to me before. Well except for the fact that Don might be there. Is he really going to be there?"
"It's a possibility that DEAN might be there. I guess a lot of the station's employees are coming to the benefit. I am helping with the refreshments, though. Even if he is there I probably won't even see him."
"OK, well I'll miss you. What time do you think you'll be home?"
"I hope to be home about 5 or so. And you won't have time to miss me. You and Jamie are going to clean out the garage attic today, remember? Or did you conveniently forget about that, too?"
Lee let out a heavy sigh. "No, I remember! Are you sure that Dotty is OK with us making that into an apartment for her so that we can have her room for the baby?"
"Yes, she is. It was her idea. I think that part of her is hoping that things between her and Harry will continue to progress and that she might move in there."
"REALLY?" Lee said with a crooked smile and his eyes wide with surprise. "I never figured your mother one to shack up with someone!"
"Lee! Not like that! She is feeling like they might want to talk about marriage soon."
"Well, that would be great! I would love to see that happen!"
"So would I. Now let me up, I have to get going."
Lee gave Amanda one more kiss before releasing his grip on her. Amanda stood up and walked over to the pad of paper that was by the phone.
"Here is the address and number of where I'll be in case there are any emergencies. Philip is not due back from his trip with Joe until tomorrow so you don't need to worry about him. You and Jamie will have a good time together today."
"Hmmmm, yeah. What could be more fun than cleaning out an attic?"
"Oh, it won't be that bad! I would do it but I can't carry the boxes down the stairs in my condition. I have already labeled most of the boxes of what needs to go into the attic here in the house and what can be thrown away. There are some of your boxes from your apartment up there that you should go through, too."
"Amanda…."
"I'm not saying you have to throw anything away….just go through the stuff to make sure that you need all of it."
"Fine."
Lee got up from the table and walked over to Amanda. Wrapping his arms around her, he gave her a good bye kiss.
"I'll see you tonight! Don't lift anything and tell Donald to take a hike if he starts talking to you!"
"Good-bye, Sweetheart! Don't let Jamie sleep too late! Love you!"
"Love you, too!"
Lee freshened his cup of coffee and then watched Amanda drive down the road. Lee finished reading the paper and decided that it was time to get the day going. He went upstairs and poked his head into Jamie's room.
"Morning, Champ! Rise and shine!"
Jamie stirred in his bed letting out a few incomprehensible moans.
"I'm going to jump in the shower. You and I have a fun day ahead, cleaning the garage attic!" Lee said in an overly saccharinely sweet voice laced with sarcasm.
Jamie opened one eye and looked at Lee, his hair sticking straight up from last night's sleep.
"Oh…Dad….do we have to clean the attic today? I'm still tired!"
Jamie rolled over and pulled the covers up over his head. Lee walked into the room, grabbed a pillow off of Phillip's unmade bed and lobbed it gently at Jamie hitting him in the head.
"Ooooofff!" was heard from under the covers.
"Your mom says that cleaning out the attic is our job today and I don't know about you, but I don't want to make your mom mad!"
Jamie pulled the covers from his face, sat up and playfully threw the pillow back at Lee.
"OK, OK", Jamie said as he struggled to wake up. "If we hurry up and get it done, can we go out and do something fun today?"
Lee tossed the pillow back on Philip's bed as he pondered Jamie's suggestion.
"Yeah…yeah I think that could be arranged! You go get yourself some breakfast. I am going to jump in the shower and then we can talk about it, ok?"
Lee smiled as he walked out of Jamie's room. He was not looking forward to cleaning the attic, but he was very happy that he and Jamie would be spending the day together. Jamie had been clinging closer and closer to Lee ever since the kidnapping at the hands of Ekaterina. Lee and Amanda were both happy with how Jamie had handled that whole situation. The first few days after that horrible day were rough for everyone, but out of everyone, Jamie seemed to be readjusting the best. He had been regularly seeing Dr. Pfaff and had been working through a lot of issues. Lee was glad to see that Pfaff was good for something other than handing out tutti-frutti. Jamie had pulled away from Joe for the time being. Pfaff told Amanda that Jamie was harboring a lot of feelings of abandonment and anger towards Joe; rightfully so Lee thought. When Lee came to the rescue of Philip and Jamie, something within Jamie clicked and made him realize that Lee would always be there for him. Joe was hurt that Jamie didn't want to see so much of him right now, but Lee and Amanda were thankful that Joe was at least doing the right thing and giving Jamie his space.
Lee turned on the shower and took off his robe and sweatpants. He noticed that Amanda's robe had fallen off the hook on the back of the bathroom door. He picked it up and hung it back on the hook next to his, getting a whiff of her perfume as the robe passed by his face. Lee inhaled deeply. It never ceased to amaze him how breathing in her scent transported him to places he never knew before he met Amanda. He missed her already, even though she had only been gone less than an hour. He stepped into the shower and let the warm water run over his body.
"Wonder if Don will be at the benefit today? Kind of wish I could be there to see that….. He better not try anything with Amanda…..Maybe I can get him transferred to Alaska."
Lee chuckled out loud at that thought. He got out of the shower, toweled off and got dressed in his favorite broken-in jeans and light blue t-shirt . When Lee came down the stairs, he saw Jamie sitting on the couch watching TV eating a bowl of cereal.
"Hey, Champ! Good to see you up and around!"
"Yeah….I would rather still be in bed."
"Me too!"
Lee poured himself another cup of coffee and smiled at Jamie. He was very glad that they would be spending the day together. Jamie reminded Lee of himself when he was a boy. Jamie had a gentle way about him and was a kind and caring young man. To look at the Lee of 6 or 7 years ago, one would never have known that he had a sensitive side, a caring side. The Colonel didn't like to see that side of Lee and made sure that Lee was well aware of that fact. He thought that it made the young Lee weak. Lee learned long ago to hide that side of himself. He hid it so well, that he forgot he ever had a caring sensitive side that was until he found Amanda. As Lee got to know Jamie better, he discovered things about himself that he had repressed for most of his life. Lee often wondered how he would have thrived if he had a caring mother to raise him as Jamie had. Would he still have become Scarecrow, international spy or would his life have brought him somewhere else altogether?
"So what did mom want us to do today?" Jamie asked as he brought his cereal bowl to the sink.
"Clean out the attic over the garage."
"Great." Jamie said flatly. "That's going to take FOREVER!"
"Well, then I guess we should get started!"
Lee reached over and tussled Jamie's hair. They both shared a glance that said, "I don't want to be cleaning out the garage but I'm glad we're doing it together." Lee and Jamie ascended the staircase and entered the attic. The light from the rising sun lit up the room. Jamie and Lee both silently surveyed the room and the huge job ahead of them.
"Oh, MAN! This is going to take us FOREVER! Do we HAVE to clean this whole place?"
Lee ran his hand through his hair letting out a heavy sigh as he looked at the endless number of boxes in the attic.
"Your mom said that she marked the boxes that need to be brought down to the trash and marked some of the other boxes to be looked through. Let's get the boxes out of here that are going into the trash and then we'll see how much more we have to do. Sound like a plan?"
"Yeah…I guess."
Lee and Jamie worked for the next half-hour bringing boxes down the stairs and out to the curb for trash pickup. Jamie then sat on top of one of the "TO KEEP" boxes and light out a sigh.
"How much more of this do we have to do?"
"Well, Champ….these boxes that are marked "TO SORT" need to be looked through and I need to decide what is being kept and what is being thrown out. Looks like your mom labeled some boxes for you, too."
"When we're done, THEN can we go do something fun?"
"Yes! What did you have in mind?"
"Uuummm, not sure but I want to get out of the house for a while. Maybe we can go to that awesome hamburger place for lunch?"
"MMM yeah! That sounds like a great idea! Let's hurry and get this done! Start looking through your boxes and I will start looking through mine!"
Jamie dragged one of his boxes out of the clump of boxes and opened it to reveal the treasures within. He found some stuffed animals, including his favorite stuffed lion that his father had sent him from Africa. There were also some Star Wars action figures: Boba Fett, Darth Vader, Luke, Yoda, Chewbacca…but where was his favorite? Han Solo? It wasn't just any Han Solo….it was the Ice Planet Hoth Han Solo! Jamie dug deeper into the box to find his long lost friend. He pulled out a few winter hats, mittens without mates, a few stray matchbox cars and finally…HAN! Jamie felt a sense of relief finding the action figure at the bottom of the box.
"Dad? Does Mom want me to throw all of this stuff away? Cause I want to keep some things!"
"No, Sport! Put the stuff you want to throw away in one of these empty boxes and the stuff you want to keep, put back in the box."
Jamie looked at his Star Wars friends and breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't play with them anymore, but he wasn't ready to get rid of them right now. In fact, he couldn't picture a day when he would be ready to part company with his plastic companions. Jamie put the mittens, random playing cards and other miscellaneous items into the junk box and placed the stuffed animals, matchbox cars and Star Wars action figures back in the "TO KEEP" box.
"Hey, Dad? What should I do with these pictures? I'm sure Mom doesn't want to throw them away."
Lee took the photos from Jamie. They were pictures of the boys and Amanda taken about 5-years ago, around the time when Lee first came into their lives. A warm smile overtook Lee's face as he remembered how small the boys were when he first started watching them through the kitchen window.
"No, we definitely don't want to throw these away. I forgot how small you boys were!"
"What do you mean you forgot? We only met you a few years ago. Philip and I weren't that small!"
Lee smiled as he looked at Jamie.
"Well, son…..I have been looking out for you for a lot longer than that. When your mom and I first met, I would come over here a lot to talk to her and give her assignments. At least that's what it was at first. But then I found myself just coming over and making sure that the whole family was ok and that included you and Philip. I used to well, keep an eye on you umm…through the kitchen window."
"So, you used to spy on us, in other words!" Jamie said very matter of fact.
Lee squirmed a bit.
"Well….not exactly, you know….it was more….yeah…I guess I did spy on you. What can I say? I loved you guys way back then, I just didn't know it."
"I think it's kind-a cool. I wish we had met you sooner."
"Me, too son…me too."
Lee placed the pictures on a pile of items that needed to go back into the house and continued to look through the box that awaited sorting. Jamie dragged another box over to his spot by the window where the sun was creating a wonderful warm atmosphere. Opening the box, he began to pull out items that were very foreign to him.
"What is THIS stuff? Mom labeled this as my box but I have no idea what this stuff is!"
Lee turned to see Jamie going through a box of his things, mainly things from his early days at the agency.
"Oh! That's a box of my stuff! Let's see what we've got here."
Lee pulled out the trench coat that Amanda begged him to throw away a few years ago. He slipped it on. He could still smell the pipe smoke from the embassy party that he ran from the last time he wore it.
"Check this out!" he said to Jamie.
"A coat?"
"Not just a coat! Look here!"
Lee pointed out the two bullet holes on the sleeve that represented an entrance and an exit point of a close call.
"What's that?"
"Bullet holes! Close call that night! I was lucky to get away without being shot!"
Jamie's face lit up! "COOL! What else is in this box?"
Jamie began rummaging through the box looking for other equally cool items. Lee squatted down beside him and surveyed the contents of the quasi treasure chest. Jamie and Lee started pulling everything out of the box, discovering glimpse after glimpse into Lee's past. Lee was excited to travel down memory lane; Jamie was excited to learn more about his step-dad.
"Cool! Look at this!" Jamie said holding up a single walkie talkie.
"Yeah….that would work much better if I knew where the other one was. Let's put that in the throw away pile."
Lee took off and folded the trench coat as Jamie continued to rifle through the items. He pulled out a journal and began reading it out loud: "Close call last night. Surveillance is not going as smoothly as I had hoped. Almost got spotted last night while sneaking into Stile's office. Good thing the one that almost caught me was that gorgeous redhead that I was talking to Wednesday night. It was almost too easy to distract her! It's amazing how far some flattery and a little…"
Lee remembered what came next after the flattery. He yanked the journal out of Jamie's hand and slammed the book shut, laughing nervously.
"Hehe…..that stuff in there is uh, classified." Lee said as he tucked the journal under the trench coat. "Let's see what else is in this box? Any idea what these are, Jamie?"
Lee held up some night vision binoculars that he was supposed to return to the agency about 7 years ago.
"Binoculars?"
"Night vision binoculars! You know how a cat can see at night? Well this is kind of the same principle. Very cool!"
"What's this?" Jamie said holding up a pretty sophisticated looking microphone with a cone attached to it.
Lee immediately recognized it as yet another piece of equipment that he swore up and down that he had returned to the agency.
"That? We call that an elephant."
"An elephant? Why?"
"Because that is a listening device that will let you listen in on someone's conversation from 300 yards way. Maybe more. Gives you great hearing just like an elephant."
"Awesome! Are these what you would use when you go on a stake out?"
"Well, we don't really call it a stake out, that's more police, but yeah, same idea."
"Can you show me how to use them some time?"
An idea quickly overtook Lee. He smiled a boyish grin at Jamie.
"How about now?"
"Really?"
"Yeah! But you gotta swear NOT to tell your mother! I'll get in big trouble!"
"OK! Deal!"
"OK, I need to go grab my keys. Get your coat and we will go on our own secret mission!"
Jamie and Lee raced down the stairs and into the house. They were excited to not be cleaning the attic anymore but more excited to go on their own adventure.
"Amanda's probably going to kill me if she finds out that I taught Jamie how to do surveillance." Lee thought to himself, but he decided that the bonding with Jamie was well worth the risk of Amanda's scolding him.
"Come on, Dad! Let's go!" Jamie yelled from the driveway. Lee grabbed his keys and his coat and went out the door. Jamie jumped into the Corvette as Lee put the binoculars and the elephant into the trunk.
"So where are we going?" Jamie asked, his eyes wide with excitement.
"Well, I thought I would teach you a little bit about surveillance. How does that sound?"
"You mean….like….spying on people?"
"Uh, yeah….sort of."
"YEAH! That is great! Who are we going to spy on?"
"Well…..we're just going to watch a few people so I can show you how this stuff works. Don't worry, Sport, we're not going to get involved in anything dangerous."
Lee looked at the clock and saw it was almost noon. The rumblings in his stomach confirmed that it indeed was lunchtime.
"Jamie, I just realized that we are headed in the opposite direction from that hamburger place you wanted to go to. Do you want me to turn around or do you want to grab something from Quickie Chickie and keep going?"
"QUICKIE CHICKIE! I want to get started as soon as we can!"
"You got it!" Lee smiled as he turned into the Quickie Chickie drive-thru. "That is exactly what I was hoping you were going to say!" he said to himself.
After getting their food order, Lee continued down the road towards their mystery destination.
"Hey, I don't usually let food in the car, so be extra careful, ok son?"
Jamie nodded as he took a sip of his chocolate milkshake. Lee could tell just by looking at Jamie how excited he was to be going on this adventure. Lee was equally excited to be sharing this time with Jamie and being able to introduce him to something that no one had ever broached with him before. Today was something that only the two of them shared. Lee really loved that idea and the feeling it gave him.
After a few more twists and turns in the road, the duo had reached their secret destination. Lee pulled the car down a side road and parked the car.
"Where are we?" Jamie asked.
"We are, uh at the Wellsworth Country Club."
"What are we doing here? It looks like there is a party going on. Are we spying on someone here?"
"Son, we are not spying exactly. We are doing some surveillance, and yes we are doing some surveillance on some people that are here."
Lee got out of the car, retrieved the binoculars and the elephant and then jumped back into the Corvette. With the binoculars in one hand and French fries in the other, Lee scanned the country club for partygoers. Jamie looked at Lee, slightly disappointed.
"Are we just going to sit in the car the whole time?"
Lee put down the binoculars and looked at Jamie.
"Nope but we first need to scope out the situation and figure out where the best place is to set up or surveillance station. Are you finished with your lunch because it's time to move out!"
Jamie threw his cheeseburger wrapper into the Quickie Chickie bag and flung the door open. Before Lee had a chance to say another word, Jamie was outside the car waiting for him.
"OK, sport…..here's what we're going to do. See that small clump of trees and shrubs over there? We are going to QUICKLY move into those shrubs. As we move, we're going to stay low to the ground. If you need to say anything to me, say it in a soft whisper. Got it?"
"Got it!"
Lee thought Jamie was going to burst at the seams! He was so excited he could hardly contain himself!
"You take the binoculars and I'll take the elephant. Ready?" Jamie nodded. "OK, follow me!"
Lee hunched over and sprinted from the car to the clump of trees and bushes on the edge of the country club's lawn. Jamie was right on Lee's heels executing everything that had been instructed perfectly. When they arrived at their destination, Lee pulled Jamie down and told him to keep low and out of sight. They both observed people milling about on the outdoor patio, having conversations, sharing a laugh. There were waiters passing hors d'oeuvres and beverages. Jamie took the binoculars and began to scan the crowd. Lee assembled the listening device and held his breath that it still worked.
"Who are all these people and why did you want to spy….ummm do a surveillance on them?"
"Keep scanning the people and let me know if you see anyone you know. Make sure you keep down!"
Jamie repositioned himself to get further into the bushes. He played with the focus on the binoculars to get the best possible view. Lee plugged in the headphones to the elephant and switched it on. It worked! Lee could now hear people talking on the patio.
"Hey! I know that lady! That's mom's friend Stephanie. She used to come over the house a lot when me and Philip were little. I haven't seen her in a long time, though."
"Which one is she?"
Jamie looked at the party without the binoculars to see if Lee could see her, too from where they were stationed.
"She's that lady right there, in the yellow."
"Ah, ok. See anyone else you know?"
"Uh, no I don't think so…oh wait! There's Mom!"
"SSHHHH! Jamie! Keep it down! We don't want to let anyone know we're here! Especially your mother!"
"Right! Sorry!" Jamie said in a hushed whisper.
Lee did his best to try and filter out some of the background noises and focused on Amanda's voice.
"I just wanted to thank you again, Amanda for helping me out so last minute!"
"Oh it was my pleasure, really. After all, how many times have you helped me out over the years?"
"Don't be silly! You don't owe me anything! I wish I had known that you were expecting! I never would have asked you to come and be on your feet all afternoon!"
"I'm fine. Absolutely fine. I feel really good. This pregnancy has been a lot different than my pregnancies with Philip and Jamie. I am not nearly so tired, have a lot of energy. Besides, this has been a lot of fun getting to see you again!"
"We need to not let so much time go by before we see each other again, Amanda. And, I want to meet that handsome husband of yours."
"Oh! Haha well, that would be wonderful. I would love for you to meet Lee!"
"Why is she laughing? I am handsome!" Lee thought to himself as he chuckled at his own thought.
"Dad! I see someone else I know! There's Mom's old boyfriend, Dean!"
"Oh yeah? Which one is he?"
Lee had only seen Dean once or twice in person through the kitchen window.
"He's the one walking over to Mom."
Dean walked over to Amanda and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Lee shifted uncomfortably in the bushes as he watched Don touch his wife. Lee turned up the volume so he didn't miss a word.
"I was hoping that I would be able to see you before you left, Amanda. How have you been?"
"Oh, I have been great, really, really great, Dean. How about you?"
"Pretty good, actually. I am engaged to a great woman. Her name is Rita. I would love to introduce you to her later. I do have to say that you look wonderful! When is your baby due?"
"June. We are very excited. The boys are excited, too."
"How are Philip and Jamie?"
"They're great. Philip is off with Joe this weekend and Jamie is home with Lee cleaning the garage. They've both grown so much since you last saw them."
"Please give them my best and tell them I am so glad to hear that they are both doing well."
"Oh, I will Dean."
Dean stepped closer to Amanda and took her hands in his. Lee could feel his temper start to flair. He clenched his teeth and sent his temple muscles dancing.
"You know, Amanda. I always regretted not telling you a few things after we broke up. I just wanted you to know that…"
Suddenly the band came back from their break and interrupted the conversation with a huge downbeat. Lee motioned to Jamie that they were going to move closer so that Lee could hear better. Quickly, they moved to the next clump of trees running in the open for a brief few seconds.
"Dad! What are they saying?"
"Shh! I'll tell you in a minute."
Lee managed to position himself in a location that allowed him to tune back in on their conversation.
"Well, Dean, Lee and I are very happy and so are the boys. Maybe one day, you'll get to meet Lee."
"That would be nice. Take care, Amanda and let me know when the new baby arrives!"
"Like hell we'll tell you!" Lee muttered under his breath. "Damn it! I didn't get to hear what Dan had to say!"
Lee watched Dean walk away.
"Here, Jamie….try these headphones on and see what this sounds like."
Jamie handed Lee the binoculars and slipped on the headphones. A smile instantly spread across his face.
"Woah! This is SO cool! It's like they are standing right next to me!"
Lee smiled as he watched Jamie get so much enjoyment out of their adventure. It had worked out better than he thought. Lee was hoping that they would get to catch a glimpse of Amanda but he actually got to see her interact with Don. Lee was definitely loving this father-son bonding time that he and Jamie were sharing.
"What are they saying?"
"Stephanie is thanking Mom for her help…..Mom said any time and thanks for letting her leave early."
"Leave EARLY? Is your mother leaving now?"
Lee quickly looked through the binoculars in time to see Amanda walking away from Stephanie and giving her a wave good-bye.
"Jamie! Quick! We have to get back to the house before your mother does! Let's go!"
Lee and Jamie dashed back to the clump of bushes and tree where they started out. Lee looked around, made sure the coast was clear and then began a dash for his car. As they were about to run from their cover, Amanda drove by in her car. Lee shoved Jamie back into the bushes and ducked down.
"Ow! Dad what are you doing?"
"Your mother just drove by! I had to keep us from being seen! Hurry, let's go!"
Lee and Jamie ran the rest of the way to the car. After quickly getting into the car, Lee tossed the binoculars on Jamie's lap and sped off.
"How are we going to keep Mom from seeing us?"
"Creative driving, son! Hold on!"
Lee quickly cut down one of the side roads and drove as quickly as he could. Jamie let out a squeal of delight as Lee pushed the Corvette to reveal how well it performed on tight curves.
"Don't tell your mother about this either, ok?"
"Yeah! No way am I telling her about this! She'd freak!"
"She'd freak, alright!"
Lee took another turn that brought them back to the main road. He checked in his rearview mirror and saw Amanda driving a few cars behind them. Lee increased speed as much as he could without drawing too much attention to them. If he got pulled over for speeding, Amanda would definitely beat them home. Lee gained a bit more distance from Amanda.
"When we get to the house, jump out as quickly as you can and run into the house! We are just barely going to beat her home!"
Lee pulled into the driveway, tires squealing. They quickly exited the car and ran in through the kitchen door. Jamie plopped down in one of the chairs as Lee sat on the couch. They both took a moment to catch their breath as they sat there smiling at each other. Amanda's car pulled in and parked behind Lee's.
"I'm home!" Amanda proclaimed as she walked in the kitchen door.
Jamie realized that he was still holding the binoculars and the elephant. He stashed the elephant under his chair as he tossed the binoculars to Lee, which were then quickly hidden under the couch cushion.
"Hi, Mom!"
"Hi, Jamie!" Amanda said as she walked over and gave Jamie a kiss on the top of the head. "Oh, Sweetheart! You're all sweaty! You fellas been working hard all day?"
"Oh, yeah, Mom! We've been bringing boxes down the stairs, cleaning stuff up. We were just taking a little break."
"Oh, well that's good to hear!"
Amanda turned her back on Jamie and made her way over to the couch. Jamie flashed Lee a smile accompanied with a wink.
Amanda bent down and gave Lee a kiss on the lips. "Did you boys have a good day?"
"GREAT DAY!" Jamie exclaimed!
"I'm so glad! Jamie, why don't you go take a little break for a bit then you and your dad can finish up in the attic?"
"OK, Mom!"
Jamie smiled at his parents as he ran up the stairs giving Lee a knowing nod on his way out of the room. This was one of the best days he had had in a very long time.
Amanda stood behind the couch and wrapped her arms around Lee's neck.
"I missed you today, Sweetheart! I am so glad you and Jamie had a good day."
Lee took one of Amanda's hands into his own and kissed her palm.
"I missed you, too! We had a great day. I think we bonded a lot."
"I'm so glad!"
"How was your event? Was Dan there?"
"The event was great! They had already raised a lot of money by the time I left. And yes, DEAN was there. It was actually very nice to see him."
Lee shifted on the couch so he could see Amanda's face.
"Did he have anything special to say?"
Amanda thought for a moment before she answered.
"Ummm, no He really didn't have too much to say actually. The conversation was kind of boring."
"Really? Huh. Nothing at all?"
"Nope, not really."
Lee looked at Amanda wanting to reveal so badly that he knew that Dean had said something significant to her, but of course he couldn't.
"Oh, Sweetheart, before I forget…You dropped these in the driveway." She handed Lee the special headphones that worked with the elephant. "And next time you take Jamie out to teach him how to spy on people, make sure that you aren't wearing a light blue shirt. You stuck out like a sore thumb in those bushes!"
Amanda reached over and pulled a stray leaf out of Lee's hair and smiled at him.
"But how did you…"
"You should know better by now, Scarecrow. You can't pull one over on me!" she said with a wink as she leaned over to kiss Lee. Lee pulled her over the back of the couch and onto his lap where they sat face to face. Lee leaned in and kissed Amanda deeply as passionately.
"Maybe not, Mrs. Stetson….but I sure love trying!"