Disclaimers: The characters in this story are copyrighted by Warner Brothers and Shoot The Moon Productions. I make no money from these characters; I simply like to share their world for a short time.
A/N As February 13 will mark Lee and Amanda's 30th wedding anniversary, I thought a little celebration was in order. While I didn't set out to write this without conversation, it just kind of turned out that way. Hope you enjoy. A special thanks to Bruce Boxleitner and Kate Jackson—as well as the rest of the cast—for portraying these characters so wonderfully.
Thanks to Lanie for her superb beta job and great advice. (I have made a few changes, so any remaining mistakes are mine!)
Lee Stetson lay next to his sleeping wife. He knew that the activities of the last few days—not to mention the lengthy flight and the jet lag that went with it—had totally worn her out. He, on the other hand, was suffering from an emotional overload. It still amazed him that this beautiful creature had been his for the past 30 years. Just where had the time gone? It seemed like only yesterday that he had picked her out of the crowd at the train station when he had literally been running for his life. A blink of an eye later, and they were married. Two blinks, and they were not only mom and stepdad to two teenage boys but parents to twin infants of their own. Three blinks, and the children were all grown and the team of Scarecrow and Mrs. King was settling into retirement.
Then, of course, there was the whirlwind of the past few days.
Saturday had seen their Rockville home filled with family for an early anniversary celebration . . . Phillip, his wife, and their two children; Jaime, his wife, and their three; Matty and his wife, who was seven months pregnant; and Jenny and her fiancé. Sadly, Dotty had passed away several years ago; at least she had lived to see the first four of her great-grandchildren. Phillip and Jaime had been devastated when Joe had succumbed to a massive heart attack just a few months later, but their close relationship with him had helped ease the pain of losing their father. The Colonel had been gone for fifteen years already—buried with full military honors in Arlington National Cemetery. They might be gone, but they definitely weren't forgotten; neither were his parents or Amanda's father . . . all three had died much, much too young. Whenever the family got together, he was always sure to include all of them in a toast—remembering their love for his incredible family and the family's love for them.
Yesterday, Sunday, had seen the Beamans, Jeannie Melrose, and the two of them having brunch together. Billy had always been their biggest supporter, and after the mystery marriage had been revealed he had suggested a new tradition. The six of them had celebrated birthdays, wedding anniversaries, and other assorted happy occasions over good food and even better company—usually at the Blue Fox. While Billy was gone and Jeannie now resided with her oldest daughter and her family, he made it a point to continue to include her in their outings. At 87, she was still spry and going strong. The Beamans had tied the knot in 1990 amidst much teasing from everyone—especially himself. Both their children were currently away at college; Effrom and Francine had now joined the ranks of the empty-nesters.
As they made their way to their cars after brunch, he had handed his car keys to Effrom with a huge grin. The women were too busy saying their goodbyes for Amanda to have noticed. She had raised a questioning brow, however, when Francine opened the front passenger-side door for Jeannie. The Beamans had brought her, as she no longer drove, but she usually sat in the back seat. His wife had watched as Francine got in behind the wheel and the two women drove off—her face showing a look of pure puzzlement.
He had quickly opened the rear door of his silver Jaguar, indicating that Amanda should enter and settle in. Beaman, playing his part as chauffeur to the hilt, proceeded to hold the other back door open for him, then took his place behind the wheel.
As they pulled away from the curb, he had taken his wife's hand and kissed her palm. He was full of surprises, as always . . . his dimpled grin still giving his face a certain boyish charm.
Amanda had questioned him extensively about his plans, but he refused to answer. It wasn't long before she realized they were headed to the airport. He knew she would worry, so he quickly reassured her that their bags were packed and in the trunk. Jenny had been more than willing to help her dad with the packing, making sure her mom would have everything she needed.
Arriving at the terminal, Effrom opened both rear doors for his passengers and emptied the trunk, carefully placed their luggage on the curb. Effrom's mission accomplished, he had waved goodbye to his charges, slid his body behind the wheel, and steered the Jaguar toward his Georgetown home where it would spend the next two weeks locked in the garage. While he was no longer Effrom's superior at work, he had made it quite clear to the temporary chauffeur that there would be hell to pay if the car suffered so much as a tiny scratch!
Again Amanda raised an eyebrow, but he had just turned over the luggage to the porters, taken her hand, and led her into the terminal.
Airport security, post 9/11, was difficult at best. He had hoped to be able to keep his plan secret just a little while longer, but Amanda reached up to give him a lingering kiss when she deciphered their destination from the markings above the first class check-in counter. They were headed to sunny, warm Honolulu. As DC was experiencing one of its coldest and snowiest winters on record, he had known his choice would be a big hit. That, and it was on Amanda's list of places she had yet to visit. While the Agency had afforded them the chance to travel to numerous places both near and far, she had never had the opportunity to spend time in the Aloha state.
The long plane ride had given them plenty of chance to reminisce on their 30 years together as well as plan their sightseeing while on the beautiful islands. He had already booked two-day excursions to Maui, the Big Island, and Kauai. But he had known she would want to have some say in their day-to-day itinerary. Finally, both of them had fallen into an exhausted sleep, Amanda's head resting—as always—on his shoulder.
Once the plane had touched down on Oahu and the luggage had been claimed, they made their way to the long line of waiting limousines. To his relief, the second in line had a sign reading "Stetson" on the windshield.
Darkness had begun to overtake the island as they reached their hotel. As their things were taken up to their suite, they had made a quick visit to the outdoor café for a light dinner of tropical salads filled with the freshest pineapple he had ever tasted. Finally, they had taken the elevator up to the penthouse suite where they had taken a few moments to enjoy the view before falling—exhausted—into their PJ's and into bed.
That had been roughly six hours ago. By his calculations, it was now February 13 . . . time changes had never been his strong suit, and the more he aged, the rougher the transitions had become. While it was probably about 4 a.m. local time, his body was telling him it was noon. Since sleep was alluding him, he rolled to his side and indulged in one of his favorite pastimes—watching his beautiful wife sleep. And she was still beautiful. While time had left him with a head of grey hair, her chestnut locks were merely frosted with a beautiful silver. Despite bearing four children . . . including a set of twins . . . her figure was as alluring as ever. And her legs . . . better focus on something else, he quickly reminded himself.
She must have sensed his eyes on her, however, for she slowly opened one expressive brown eye to sleepily stare into his hazel ones. Both smiled as their lips met in a lingering kiss with the promise of so much more to come. If anyone had told him all those years ago that he would be so happy making love to just one woman for three decades, he would have called them crazy. But he was beyond happy. Words could wait till later. For now, he planned on showing his bride just how much he still loved her. It was going to be a wonderful anniversary indeed.
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Amanda Stetson rested with her head on her husband's shoulder. Thank goodness for first class, as the return flight would be a long one. After two wonderful weeks in the Hawaiian Islands, the thought of returning to the wintery cold of DC was less than appealing . . . although she was anxious to see her family and friends.
She turned to look up at her loving husband but quickly realized that he had fallen asleep. He had really outdone himself this time. Not only had he planned the entire trip, but he had kept it a secret until the last possible minute. While the Lee Stetson of old had been a love 'em and leave 'em playboy, the Lee she had married 30 years ago had turned into a hopeless romantic. This 30th anniversary trip was nothing short of perfect—from the romantic, candlelit dinners to the early morning strolls on the beach. And throughout it all, they had never left one another's side.
Retirement had been difficult for Lee. Used to the exciting, albeit dangerous, life of an intelligence agent, the adjustment to section chief when Billy retired eighteen years ago had been rough enough. But retirement, with its inherent lack of activity, had all but driven him up the wall. While she had no doubt that he wanted to surprise her with the trip, she was also certain that all the planning—especially the secrecy—had served to keep him occupied for hours on end. As she reflected on the past month or so at home, she realized that he hadn't been under foot quite as much . . . hadn't pestered her when she was cooking . . . hadn't constantly been sneaking up on her. That should have been a clue. But he had totally blindsided her with this fantastic anniversary trip.
As much as she had thoroughly enjoyed the past two weeks, his surprise plans had put a wrench into her surprise plans—plans that included something to keep her handsome husband busy in the months to come! Luckily a quick call to Jenny from the airport two weeks ago had helped put her mind at ease, although she had trouble hiding her grin when he had asked what had taken her so long at the ladies room. She could hardly tell him that she had to check on the status of his surprise, now could she? Jenny had reassured her that everything was being handled. Being privy to both parents' surprises, she and Matty had easily set about juggling both secrets as soon as they had learned of the conflict. With the help of Phillip and Jaime, everything had been handled perfectly. Just as they knew their mother would absolutely love the trip to Hawaii, they knew their father would be over the moon at the surprise waiting for him when he got home.
She snuggled a little closer to her husband's side and closed her eyes, allowing his steady, slow breathing to relax her into an almost hypnotic state for the remainder of the ride to DC.
Chauffeur Beaman was waiting for them outside the door of baggage claim and quickly scurried to open the trunk and rear doors for his passengers and their luggage. Luckily the ride to Rockville was relatively smooth, as the evening rush hour hadn't quite gotten underway.
They pulled into the long drive just as dusk was beginning to make itself known. After opening the doors and helping Lee get their luggage to the back patio, Effrom bowed, dropped the keys to the Jaguar in Lee's outstretched hand, and headed to the end of the drive where his wife was waiting in their car to drive him home. Arrangements had already been made for the four of them to meet for lunch on Saturday; Francine apparently couldn't wait to hear all the juicy details of their luxurious trip.
Suddenly, the relative quiet was broken by an all-too familiar sound . . . a sound, however, that hadn't been heard at the Stetson estate for the past few years . . . not since old Beau had peacefully passed in his sleep. While they had talked of replacing him at various times since, they had just never gotten around to doing so.
She had been expecting the sound, but Lee's head quickly shot up and his eyes searched for the source. Not immediately seeing one, he shot a questioning look at her. She just smiled, nodded, and pointed to the small barn at the rear of the property. She reached up, took his hand in hers, and led him to the stable. His anniversary surprise was there waiting for him, just as Jenny had assured her it would be.
Opening the door, she ushered her husband into the small tack room and through to the stall area where two long, velvety noses hung over opposite stall doors. Two pair of dark eyes followed their every move. Amanda quickly produced a bag of peppermints from one of the storage bins, handing a few to her husband.
As he walked over to the stall on the right, her eyes noticed the sign that Jaime had made for the door—FESTUS. A quick look revealed a dark brown gelding, approximately sixteen hands high. She knew she had chosen the perfect gift. As Lee was 6'2", he was most comfortable on a bigger horse, and Festus was certainly a big fella. That thought made her grin. She realized, however, that despite his size he was indeed a gentle giant as he carefully took the proffered mint from her husband's hand. Lee leaned in and gave her a passionate kiss.
A sweet nicker encouraged them both to turn their attention to the opposing stall . . . the sign on this door said BELLE. And a beauty she was . . . white with grey mane and tail . . . and the most incredible set of eye lashes she had ever seen on a horse. She saw him shake his head in disbelief, however, as he took notice of Belle's rounded girth.
She could see it in his eyes . . . he was already formulating an exercise plan to bring the mare's weight down, she just knew it. Before his thoughts took too great a turn, she reached up and gently directed his head toward the adjoining stall, which was decorated in pink and blue ribbons. As he took in the sight, his eyes widened in understanding. Belle wasn't overweight; from the looks of it, there would be a foal in the adjoining stall by late spring.
He turned to give Belle her peppermint treat, but not before she spied him quickly try to wipe away the tears that were forming in his eyes. These two—make that three—additions to the Stetson clan were just what the doctor ordered, of that she was certain. Festus was perfect for Lee and the boys, while Belle, once the foal was born, would be wonderful for Jenny and the grandchildren. She knew, too, that the foal would give everyone in the family an excuse to visit more often. She was just glad she had stocked up on allergy medicine.
She reached up again, this time bringing his face down towards hers for another passionate kiss. It was several minutes later before either of them were aware of their surroundings again . . . and it took a giant horsey snort even then to break the magical spell surrounding them.
As they slowly pulled apart, she couldn't help but look at his handsome face and rub her thumbs over the dimples she loved so much. Thirty years, and he was still as handsome as the day she met him on that train platform. And while she didn't think it was possible, she loved him even more than the day they had wed. Many had said over the years that she had saved him from a life of loneliness and, quite possibly, an early grave. But she knew that the reverse was also true . . . he had saved her from fading into the landscape. He had taken her from merely existing to living a life filled with indescribable love.
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Later that night found Amanda by the fire in the family room poring over all the pictures of their trip that had been carefully stored on a travel drive. It would take her a good week to organize them then decide which ones to have printed for a more traditional album. She looked up as she felt a draft of cold air pass over her only to see her handsome husband coming in from the barn, straw still clinging to his jeans. The huge grin on his face confirmed what she had known from the start . . . he already loved those horses . . . almost as much as he loved his wife and family.
Seeing his beautiful wife there by the fire simply melted his heart. He knew his surprise trip had been a success; she had loved every minute of it. The best part was that they had gotten to spend every minute of it together. And if he had anything to say about the future, it would be spent with his wife in his arms . . . well, most of it anyway. There were, after all, two—soon to be three—other 'loves' out in the barn.
No words were spoken, but as one they began their evening security checks on the first floor before heading to the stairs. Meeting at the top of the staircase, Lee picked his wife up in his arms and nestled her against his chest for the short trip to the master bedroom. They might be getting older, but he could still sweep her off her feet . . . even if the mere sight of her still left him weak in the knees.