"This makes it every night this week!," a tall, obviously upset teenager grumbled as he threw darts in a perfect circle around the bullseye.
He stood in the center of his small, abnormally clean room. His brother stood in the doorway, watching as his shoulders sunk in defeat and as he crossed the room and collapsed into the hammock he slept in.
"You're so immature, Jamie," Philip mumbled as his brother stared at the ceiling. "Mom really likes Lee, and so do I. What's the big deal?"
Jamie sat up, crossed the room and slammed the door in his older brother's face. He stared at the door for a moment, then in one swift motion, grabbed his hat and bookbag and was out his bedroom window and onto the roof.
Knowing his mother and grandma were too busy in the kitchen to worry about anything else, Jamie sat on the roof and lit up a cigarette. He sighed and let out the first breath of smoke. He knew smoking would get him into huge trouble with his mother, but lately he had enjoyed anything that he knew would make her even the slightest bit angry.
The silver corvette pulled up, and he clenched his jaw. Jamie pulled the bill of his hat lower, stomped out the cigarette and made his away across the roof to climb down the trellis.
Lee sighed as he made his way up the front walk. He had seen Jamie look right at him and put his cigarette out. He knew Amanda's youngest son didn't care for him, but this open display of disapproval made Lee feel almost guilty that he was causing more problems in Jamie's already complicated life. He shuddered to think what the boy's reaction would be when he and Amanda finally decided to tell the family that they were married. He sighed deeply.
"Hey Jamie!" Lee called, knowing that the boy was probably two yards over by now. Hearing no answer, he sighed again and rang the doorbell.
Jamie sauntered in between fences and bushes, quickly fleeing another night with Lee Stetson, the man who had stolen his mother away. He waited to cross the street and noticed Philip's girlfriend, Summer, sitting in her car at the traffic light.
He darted into traffic and banged on the passenger side window.
"Hey! Can I get a ride to the metro station?!"
Back at the house, Lee and Philip sat in the living room discussing Philip's chances at making the All-Area baseball team. Amanda watched the two and smiled.
"Two of the most handsome men in my life together in one room! What more could a girl ask for?" she tousled Philip's short hair. "I know. What about number three?"
Lee and Philip shared a knowing look. "I think he's in his room, Mom."
Amanda tapped lightly on Jamie's door. She could hear piano music through the door, but got no answer.
"Jamie, sweetheart. Dinner is ready," she opened the door and walked into an empty room. She noticed the darts, knowing her youngest son's creative energy surged when he was angry.
Amanda came back down the stairs and smiled at the two men sitting on her couch.
"He must have gone over to the school to practice. You know how he gets when he has a bad piano lesson," she lied as she looked at Lee with caution.
"Yeah, that must be it," he lied back.
"Well, come on. Dinner is ready, and Jamie is used to eating leftovers," she sighed.
It was a humid night for October in Washington. Jamie had to constantly wipe the condensation off his camera lens. He sat in the tree, snapping photos of the White House, his latest architectural fascination. He thought to himself how beautiful it looked at night.
After finishing his roll of film, he cautiously put the camera back in his bag and climbed out of the tree. Slowly walking down Pennsylvania Avenue, he realized he wouldn't have a ride back home from the metro station.
Lee paced back and forth in the living room. Philip had gone to study with Summer, and Amanda was sitting quietly, amused by her husband's sudden protective instincts over her sons.
"Lee, he's practicing! You know he completely drifts into another world when he sits down at the piano. Give him some time! We should be enjoying our time alone together," she smiled, knowing the last statement would grab his attention.
Lee stopped pacing and looked over at his wife. She was smiling up at him, knowing she had struck a nerve.
"You know, I love you very much," he said gently, sitting next to her on the couch.
"And I love you very much," she smiled, and leaned up to kiss him.
Jamie rounded the corner of Maplewood a little after midnight. He was enraged to see Lee's car still parked in the same spot in front of his house. So enraged, in fact, that he didn't even bother to sneak into the house. He burst through the front door, startling his mother and stepfather, and trotted down into the basement to develop his pictures.
Amanda was used to the moodiness accompanied with this particular teenager, and didn't even give him a second look.
"Amanda! He's over an hour past curfew! Aren't you going to say anything to him?!" Lee panicked.
"He knows he's grounded, Lee. He's obviously not happy about something. I'm not going to mess with him right now," she shrugged.
"Well, I'm going to go see what's bothering him," and Lee headed into the basement.
Jamie had converted the closet that the water heater occupied into a makeshift darkroom. Once in the basement, he had flipped on the radio, stripped to his undershirt, and shut himself in the closet.
Lee walked slowly through the basement. He realized it was somewhat like walking through the boys' childhood. Boxes of toys lined a wall of the room, leading into tricycles and bicycles, baseball bats, and finally to the tool bench where Philip was now spending so much time working on parts for his car.
Lee leaned up against the tool bench and listened as Jamie sang along with Billy Joel, smiling at the tremendous talent his youngest stepson was finally beginning to grow in to. The smile vanished as he heard Jamie's grumbles of disapproval at the pictures he had taken.
Lee jumped as Jamie exploded out of the closet. Their eyes met, and Jamie immediately looked down at the floor.
"I know I'm grounded. You didn't need to come down here and rub it in my face," he said, barely above a whisper.
"What's wrong with those pictures?" Lee ignored the comment Jamie had intended to discourage him with.
Jamie tensed and wondered how long Lee had been in the basement.
"They'd just be tons better if I could focus the lens myself and take panoramic shots. I asked Dad for a new camera for my birthday," Jamie nodded at the opened package sitting on Philip's bench. "He sent me a really nice baseball glove instead. I guess Dad keeps forgetting I'm not Philip."
The silence that followed was uncomfortable for both. Jamie finally dropped the pictures in the trash can and brushed past Lee on his way out of the room.
Lee sighed and fished the pictures out of the trash. He caught his breath at the quality of the photographs and smiled as he flipped through the stack.
"Better than agency photographers," Amanda whispered as she came up behind him and rested her head on her husband's shoulder.
"What is Joe's problem?" Lee grumbled.
"He wants his boys to be prize athletes. He's not around enough to realize that Jamie doesn't even play baseball anymore," Amanda answered. "It's late."
"I know," he answered, tiring more each time he had to return to his apartment and sleep away from his wife. "Walk me out?"
Jamie watched out his window as his mother walked Lee out to the car. He noticed the way that they looked at each other, he knew it was something special. He just didn't want to trust Lee. He had trusted his father, and that had gotten him nowhere. Not wanting to think about it, he turned on Beethoven piano sonatas, changed from jeans to shorts, and started doing chin-ups on the bar Philip had hung in his doorway.
He heard his mom coming up the stairs, and began to push himself harder, doing more and more chin-ups and trying to focus on the second movement of the Moonlight sonata playing behind him.
"Jamie, we need to talk," his mom stated calmly, looking up at her son.
"Mom, I really don't feel like talking at the moment," he answered.
"You never feel like talking. Put a shirt on and come downstairs," she stated and walked back down the stairs. He heard her talking to Philip, who had just come in from studying. Jamie sighed in resignation, pulled his undershirt back on and slowly walked downstairs.
Philip snickered as they passed each other in the hallway. Jamie elbowed him in the side as he passed. Philip ignored him and shot up the stairs.
Amanda was making tea in the kitchen, a sign that she had quite a few things to discuss. Jamie sighed and plopped down in a chair at the kitchen table.
"So where were you off to tonight, sir?" she asked, not turning from the tea.
"I went into the city and took some pictures," he answered, knowing she was going to be upset.
"Jamie, we've had this discussion. I don't like you riding the metro by yourself. Especially this late at night!" Amanda brought two mugs of tea and sat down across from him.
"I know, Mom. I just didn't really want to be here tonight. It's the third night in a row with Lee, and I am a little tired of his baseball stories. All he talks about is baseball with Philip. He never talks about anything else," Jamie sighed and took a sip of his tea.
"Have you ever thought to ask him about anything else?" his mother was trying to keep this conversation running smoothly.
"No, I guess not. I don't really know him at all, Mom. I'm not sure I want to. As soon as I warm up to him he's gonna turn around and walk out of our lives anyway," he said, not meaning to say as much as he had.
"Oh, sweetie. Lee is not your father. Lee is a good man, and he truly cares about you boys. I know these past few years have been hard not having a father around, but Lee wants to help you in anyway possible. He wants to be your friend," Amanda knew how upset Jamie had been when Joe took another job in Africa.
"It's just gonna take some time for me to warm up to him, Mom. I've got a lot on my mind now."
"I know it, sweetie, I know it. It blows my mind to think that you are as busy as I am, and not even fourteen years old yet."
"Well, I'm going to be fourteen next week. Not that that will change anything," he smiled up at his mother.
"And giving that big recital on your birthday. I wish you could reschedule; that doesn't leave you much time to enjoy the day," she said. She knew her son was very excited about his first recital, and wouldn't think of rescheduling.
"We have plenty of time after the recital, Mom. Plenty of time," he wanted to avoid the recital topic. It made him sick to his stomach to think of being on the huge stage at George Mason, all by himself. "Does Lee like me?"
"Lee thinks you are great, Jamie. He told me himself that you never fail to impress him, whatever it is that you're doing."
Jamie smiled at that. Lee may have been overly enthusiastic about baseball, but he had asked questions about his pictures, something his father had never showed any interest in.
"Maybe I'll talk to him next time he comes over," he said.
"Good, honey. Good."
"Are you going to marry him?"
Amanda choked on her tea at that question. She had been trying to decide on a good time to tell the boys about her secret marriage, but it had never occurred to her that they might actually have suspected anything.
"Oh, I don't know honey. I am very in love with him, I know that. I would marry him if he would have me," she smiled knowingly, reaching for her ring, hidden on a chain under her shirt.
"He'd be a fool not to have you," Jamie said quietly. His mother was his hero, and he knew that one day some man was going to snatch her up for good. Amanda's eyes watered as she heard her son's declarations of adoration. She suddenly realized that there was a young man sitting in front of her now, not her sweet little baby boy.
"Jamie?"
"Yeah, mom?"
"When are you going to get a haircut? I know you were excited when you realized your hair got curly if you let it grow … but this is getting ridiculous," she smiled, looking up at the unruly curls that were growing below Jamie's ears at this point.
"Oh, mom! Girls love boys with curly hair!" he smiled back at her, both of them knowing that he didn't care what girls loved and what they didn't. The curly hair made him feel professional as he banged out powerful chords on his opening recital piece, and made him feel a bit like a rock star when he played with his jazz group.
"You should get in bed. You have an early rehearsal, no sleeping in on Saturday for you tomorrow, sweetie," Amanda stood up and kissed her son on the forehead.
"Yes, ma'am," he stood up, taller than his petite mother, and kissed her back on the forehead.
"I love you sweetie," she patted his back as he turned to go.
"I love you too, Mom," he said, and climbed the stairs to his room.
Jamie pulled his undershirt back off and flopped into his hammock. He laughed as he thought about the first time he had told his mother he wanted to sleep in a hammock.
"Jamie, you don't live in the jungle! Sleep in a bed, dear!"
But he had his way, and his grandma had seen to that. It was just one more eccentricity that made up the young man that was Jamie King. He drifted off to sleep, not anticipating the week ahead of him.
He woke up late. Jamie was running around, trying to find his lucky shirt, get showered, iron his pants, and get a ride to the high school for his recital rehearsal.
He was graded for this final rehearsal, the recital was basically the fun part of the whole experience. This was the first time a freshman had given a recital, let alone a freshman who had skipped the eighth grade, and the faculty of the Metro Area High School for the Arts was skeptical of the young man's abilities. Jamie was out to prove them wrong.
He got to the high school five minutes before his rehearsal was supposed to start, and gave a pep talk to his jazz group. He took a deep breath, ran a hand through his unruly hair, and walked out onto the stage.
At his piano teacher's suggestion, he had chosen blue lights for his opening piece, the first movement of the Moonlight Sonata. As he began, Lee and Amanda crept into the balcony of the high school auditorium to watch their son mesmerize the faculty.
"He looks incredible," Amanda whispered. The blue lights brought out her son's lucky shirt, a faded blue polo, and his brown hair seemed to glow as he accented heavy passages with his head.
"He is incredible," Lee answered. He had never anticipated the pride that filled his chest, watching his youngest stepson perform.
The faculty passed him after his first piece. They asked him if he wanted to play the jazz number for them, which he jumped at. Nothing made Jamie happier than playing Duke Ellington, especially with an audience. The four other members of his jazz group, The Secret Agent Men, strolled onto stage. Amanda had been secretly amused when Jamie had told her of the name they had chosen.
Performing a twelve minute version of "Mood Indigo" exhausted him. Amanda could tell as he got up to shake hands with the faculty. He was completely drained. Jamie poured every single bit of energy into his performance, and she knew he would go home that afternoon and sleep for a good part of the day.
Lee and Amanda snuck out of the school before Jamie could notice them, and went back to the Agency to catch up on paperwork. Jamie shook hands with all of the faculty, getting pats on the back and congratulations all the way down the row. He said goodbye and thanked the other guys in his jazz group, left through the back of the school building, lit up a cigarette and began the short walk back to his house. When he arrived home, he walked into an empty house. He knew his mom was working, and Philip was at practice. He figured his grandmother was out with Kurt, so he went upstairs to take a nap. He peeked into his mother's room, noticing the answering machine light was blinking. He flopped onto his mother's bed and hit the play button.
"Hey guys, it's Dad. Jamie, I'm just calling to wish you an early birthday. I'm not sure I'll be in to call on Monday, but I hope you get good use out of your glove. Philip, I got your letter, and I know you'll be on that All-Area team. You're the best first baseman in Arlington! I'll call again soon, bye!"
Jamie brought his fist down on the machine. He was so tired of the long distance parenting. His life had finally begun to make sense almost two years ago when his father came back from Estoccia. Then last year Carrie had agreed to go with him after the wedding, back to Africa and out of Jamie's life again. Maybe his mom was right, maybe Lee in his life would do him some good. But could he trust him? Jamie's thoughts blurred into one mass as he drifted off to sleep on his mother's bed.
It had been Lee's idea to take the afternoon off. Amanda had run upstairs to make sure Jamie was sleeping. He wasn't even in his room, so she assumed he had gone into the city to take more pictures or had gone off with some of the boys from the band. She ran down the stairs like a school girl, meeting Lee's kiss.
"We're home alone, Mr. Stetson," she growled as he tore at her blouse.
"Well, Mrs. Stetson, I think we should take advantage of the situation," he huffed in between kisses as they slowly stumbled up the stairs.
They were almost onto the bed, and Amanda's shirt was almost completely off when Lee noticed Jamie, asleep on her bed. He caught her just as she was about to collapse right on top of her sleeping son. She gasped, and quickly evacuated the room.
Jamie stirred slightly, and Lee stood and watched his youngest stepson struggle with whatever was going on in his dream. He smiled at how innocent Jamie looked while he was sleeping.
"Please don't leave, Dad. I didn't mean to make you leave again," Jamie mumbled as he turned over onto his back. Lee frowned at his stepson's remarks. Even in his sleep the poor boy couldn't escape the problems that plagued him during consciousness. Amanda came up behind Lee, fixing her blouse, and kissed his neck.
"What do you say we let Jamie sleep and go get something to eat?" she whispered. Lee nodded and gave Jamie one more glance before following his wife out of the room.
Once they were alone and tucked into a booth at Dooley's, Lee took a deep breath and asked Amanda the question he had been waiting to ask all afternoon.
"What do you think of telling the boys about our marriage?" he blurted out.
Amanda looked up from her salad and smiled at her husband, who looked as if he had just said the worst thing possible. "I think it's a great idea, sweetheart. I just don't exactly know when …"
"What about Monday night, after Jamie's recital? The whole family will be at your house for his reception, as well as Billy and our friends. I want the whole world to know that you're my wife, Amanda Stetson," Lee sputtered. He was incredibly nervous that Amanda wouldn't agree.
"Let's wait and see how things go with you and Jamie at the picnic tomorrow. If he reacts badly, we'll ruin his reception AND his birthday. Let's just play it by ear," she smiled. Lee's face fell. "Lee, you know as well as I do that Jamie is having a hard time adapting to a man in his mother's life."
"I know, Amanda, I know. I just wish there was some way I could connect with him. I've been trying for so long. And me being in Europe for almost six months certainly hasn't helped anything."
"He told me last night he thought he might try and talk to you about something other than baseball the next time you come to the house. He seems to think you're only interested in Philip."
"He's never in the house for more than two seconds as soon as I show up!"
As the conversation continued, a tall, dark man listened attentively from the booth behind the Stetsons. 'Scarecrow is married?!' he thought to himself. 'And with children. This may prove most helpful in getting him to talk.' He was startled as Lee suddenly got up from the booth and exited the restaurant.
"Thank you, Tommy. Yes, he's up to something … I'm not sure what! Keep the change sweetheart, see you at the game tonight!" Amanda said to the young waiter and left the booth a few minutes after Lee. The man watched her leave, and then made his way to the pay phone in the back.
"Get me Varostov, tell him we may be able to bring Scarecrow in afterall."
Jamie was watching cartoons when his mother came in from her afternoon with Lee.
"Hey mom! I passed my recital hearing!" he exclaimed and jumped up to help her with the groceries she was carrying.
"Oh, sweetheart, congratulations! Not that there was any doubt in my mind about it!" she smiled, put down the groceries and caught Jamie in a bear hug. He smiled as he caught a whiff of men's aftershave.
"Whatcha been up to this afternoon, Mom?" he smirked. "You smell like Philip!" He quickly scooted out of arm's reach and began to put the groceries away.
"That's none of your business, sir!" she blushed slightly and swatted at her youngest son.
"What's all this food for, are we grilling out tonight?" he smiled, eyeing the steaks his mother was setting in the sink to thaw.
"Yeah, I thought this might be the last night warm enough to grill out for a while. We'll go to Philip's game and then come back here and do the steaks. How does that sound?"
"The steaks sound better, but I guess I'll go to the game too," he sighed.
"Oh, you hush. Why don't you take your camera? Your dad would love a picture of Philip in action for Christmas!"
"He'd be more excited over Philip than the fact that I took the picture," he sighed.
"Well, I love to hang your pictures up in the house. So, why don't you go put on some jeans and we'll head over to the ball field?"
"Ok …."
"And comb that hair please!"
"MOM!"
"I'm serious, mister!" she giggled as her son ran up the stairs. She heard the familiar tap on the kitchen window. "It's open, Stetson!" she smiled, not even looking up from the last of the groceries.
"Good evening, madame," he said in a low, husky voice, taking her hand and bringing it to his lips.
"Monsieur! I do believe you are overdressed for a baseball game!" she wrapped her arms around his neck. "And what were you up to, leaving me at the restaurant this afternoon?"
"Overdressed? I left the tie and jacket in the car, what else do you want me to do?"
"You'd be overdressed in a bathing suit right now, monsieur," she smiled, as his face lit up. "Perhaps later tonight we might rendezvous at your apartment?"
"Perhaps," he replied, and pulled her in for a deep kiss. The sound of Jamie booming back down the stairs prompted him to release her. "Until tonight, madame! It will be difficult for me to maintain my composure. And leaving you at the restaurant, well, you'll just have to wait and see."
"Likewise," she mumbled as Jamie entered the kitchen.
"Hi, Lee," he managed, doing his best to be amiable.
"Hey, Jamie. Mom tells me you passed your recital hearing!"
"She did? Well, yeah, I did!" he was confused. Lee wasn't talking about baseball, and seemed generally interested in his welfare. Something was different.
"She also tells me your jazz group is doing Mood Indigo Monday night. I think that might be my favorite Ellington piece," he sat down at the kitchen table, and Jamie sat down across from him.
"You like Ellington?"
"Oh, yeah. I learned to love him. A good friend of mine plays a lot of jazz," he glanced at Amanda, who smiled at him. They remembered Billy Blue Note fondly. "The saxophone though, not piano."
"Who else do you listen to?" and the conversation deepened. Amanda smiled as she finished making the salad.
"Are you fellas ready to head over to the ball park?" she asked.
"I almost forgot about the game," Jamie smiled. "Lemme go get my camera, I'll be right out!" he jumped up and ran down to the basement.
Lee and Amanda locked the front door and got into the Wagoneer. Jamie came running out of the house and hopped into the back seat. They pulled out of the driveway, not noticing the dark sedan sitting a few houses down.
As soon as the Stetsons had pulled away from the house, the man from the restaurant had left his sedan and made his way to the back of 4247 Maplewood. In the rush, the Americans had not even locked their back door. He shook his head and entered the house.
'The picture perfect family,' he thought to himself as he looked at the pictures of the boys on the wall. Philip and Jamie together on baseball and soccer teams as children, and as they grew older the photographs showed they had developed their own separate interests. The last picture on the stairs before he entered Jamie's room struck the man as almost comical.
There was the invincible Scarecrow, sitting in the park with the two King boys, playing Monopoly of all things. Mrs. King was behind Scarecrow, looking at the scene with a look of perfect contentment. The older boy was beaming, and the younger boy had even cracked a small smile.
He opened the door to the younger boy's room and peeked in. Everything looked basically normal, with the exception of the hammock, and a Duke Ellington poster where any normal fourteen year old might have hung a rock star. He quickly sat down at the boy's desk and went through his drawers. 'He must have 500 pictures in these drawers,' the man thought. He laughed out loud at some of them. The man was almost feeling guilty for invading such childish innocence. Not quite, but almost.
He came to one of the pictures well hidden in a book, which read like a journal, but the life seemed too unhappy to belong to this boy. He got a case of conscience and put the book aside, but continued to stare at the picture. Why would this young child photograph such an obviously sad moment?
The photograph was taken from somewhere in the air, the man guessed probably in a tree. The boy's mother was crying. She looked completely destroyed. She was holding a man's hands, but he was not in the picture. There was a great deal of luggage in the background of the photograph, and a taxi in front of the house. The man quickly flipped the picture over. The date told him the entire story of the picture. The day before he had been notified that Scarecrow had landed in Moscow.
He put the picture back in its place and shut the drawer. It would be easy to take the boy, he was sure of that. Scarecrow was a family man now. He would come for this boy, and Varostov would have his revenge on the KGB's most formidable enemy for all that had occurred in Moscow over the past year. The man felt quite guilty now, but his job had no place for guilt. He left the King household exactly as he found it.
Saturday night had come and gone without much controversy. Philip had won his baseball game and Jamie had taken lots of great pictures. The food was great at home. Jamie had talked Lee's ear off about jazz for most of the meal. Philip had stayed to eat and clean up and then had gone with Summer's family to Richmond for the rest of the evening to see her older brother in a play. Dotty and Captain Kurt had come in around ten and asked Jamie to come with them and see a jazz show in Baltimore. Amanda had panicked because it was so late, and she knew how easy it was for Dotty to lose herself in Kurt's charm and lose track of a thirteen year old boy. However, Kurt was flying his little plane, and Jamie was so excited she couldn't say no.
Lee smiled and looked down at his beautiful wife, sleeping with her head nuzzled against his chest. It had been the perfect evening. Jamie was finally opening up to him again after completely shutting him out when he left for Russia. And in an exciting turn of events, their late night rendezvous had worked out just as planned. He let out a deep sigh of contentment and brushed her hair off her face. She was perfect.
Amanda had finally forced Lee to get up and shower, and they were back to the house by noon, merely seconds before Jamie, Dotty, and Kurt burst through the front door. Jamie was talking a mile a minute about the pianist in the jazz group he'd seen, Dotty was yelling at Kurt to go home and get ready for the picnic, and Amanda and Lee surveyed the scene with sheer delight. Philip was home half an hour later, and the family piled into the Wagoneer and Philip's little car and headed towards the park to celebrate Jamie's birthday.
It was a beautiful October day, and the family took over a table under a huge oak tree and sat down to eat and discuss the previous day's events. Lee smiled as he watched Jamie. 'Such a huge change in him since Friday,' he thought. No matter, he'd take this Jamie, the happy and content boy, over the troubled and sorrowful young man any day of the week.
"So where's all my presents?" he smiled. Dotty, Philip, and Kurt each produced a gift and set it in front of him. Amanda shook her head.
"Jamie King, you're terrible! Now I told you I'm not giving you your gift from me until tomorrow. I wish you'd wait til the big day, but go ahead. I can see there's no stopping you now," Amanda rolled her eyes and watched him tear into the first package.
"Wow! Philip, this is really nice! Thanks," he smiled at his brother, while looking at the three cassette tapes he had just unwrapped. 'Philip didn't even buy me that crap he listens to. This is great music,' he thought to himself. Philip actually paid attention to Jamie's interests.
"Now, Jamie, these next two are from Kurt and me. We couldn't decide on just one," his grandmother said.
Jamie unwrapped a beautiful burgundy leather photo album. The corners were wood, and his initials were engraved on the bottom right corner.
"Wow, Grandma. This is great," he was so surprised. His entire family was interested in his hobbies.
"Well, I've seen all those pictures all over your room and the basement. This way you can organize them," she smiled. "And thank Kurt, he engraved those initials."
"Thanks Captain!" Jamie smiled.
"Go on, open the next one," he replied.
Jamie was expecting a sweater or a typical grandmotherly gift. He opened the box and lifted out concert tails, a blue vest and a blue bow tie. He got a lump in his throat. All this time he had been so wrong about his family. He'd wasted a whole year of his life, bitter about the past. These gifts had proved to him that they wanted more than anything to be a part of his life.
"This is awesome. Thank you so much," he spoke softly, trying not to reveal the emotion in his voice.
"You're welcome sweetheart. Now I want you to wear those tomorrow night, and tell all your friends what good taste your grandmother has!" she bubbled. She could tell just by the look on his face that any walls that had remained between her grandson and the rest of the family had just been knocked down.
He smiled and looked around the table. His entire family was smiling at him.
"Where's Lee?" he asked when he realized Lee was no longer sitting next to his mother.
"Behind you, kid. Behind you. Had to run to the car for something," he said nervously, and handed Jamie a clumsily wrapped box.
"Oh geez, it's heavy," Jamie said, surprised by the weight of the package. He set in down on the table and looked at it for a moment. "Nice wrapping job."
"Hey! It took me forever to do that! Just can it and open it, will ya?" Lee smiled and leaned over Jamie as he began to unwrap the package.
It was a plain brown box, with the exception of a few sentences in cyrillic on the bottom. Jamie stared at it.
"Just open it!" Philip exclaimed.
He tore at the tape and opened the box. He pulled out something encased in protective styrofoam. Jamie tore at more tape and finally pulled the styrofoam apart. It was too much for him. He immediately began to cry.
Amanda couldn't see what was in the styrofoam, but she was almost certain she knew what it was. Philip and Dotty exchanged alarmed glances, and sat in silence, not quite sure what to say.
Jamie quietly stood up and looked up at Lee. Lee looked down at Jamie, worried if he'd overstepped the delicate boundaries that they'd formed in the past two days. He received his answer as Jamie threw his arms around Lee's shoulders and hugged him. Lee's eyes widened and his body tensed. Amanda gave him her gentlest look, and he relaxed and patted his youngest stepson on the back. It was then that he realized this family was worth giving up everything else.
He stood in the center of his small, abnormally clean room. His brother stood in the doorway, watching as his shoulders sunk in defeat and as he crossed the room and collapsed into the hammock he slept in.
"You're so immature, Jamie," Philip mumbled as his brother stared at the ceiling. "Mom really likes Lee, and so do I. What's the big deal?"
Jamie sat up, crossed the room and slammed the door in his older brother's face. He stared at the door for a moment, then in one swift motion, grabbed his hat and bookbag and was out his bedroom window and onto the roof.
Knowing his mother and grandma were too busy in the kitchen to worry about anything else, Jamie sat on the roof and lit up a cigarette. He sighed and let out the first breath of smoke. He knew smoking would get him into huge trouble with his mother, but lately he had enjoyed anything that he knew would make her even the slightest bit angry.
The silver corvette pulled up, and he clenched his jaw. Jamie pulled the bill of his hat lower, stomped out the cigarette and made his away across the roof to climb down the trellis.
Lee sighed as he made his way up the front walk. He had seen Jamie look right at him and put his cigarette out. He knew Amanda's youngest son didn't care for him, but this open display of disapproval made Lee feel almost guilty that he was causing more problems in Jamie's already complicated life. He shuddered to think what the boy's reaction would be when he and Amanda finally decided to tell the family that they were married. He sighed deeply.
"Hey Jamie!" Lee called, knowing that the boy was probably two yards over by now. Hearing no answer, he sighed again and rang the doorbell.
Jamie sauntered in between fences and bushes, quickly fleeing another night with Lee Stetson, the man who had stolen his mother away. He waited to cross the street and noticed Philip's girlfriend, Summer, sitting in her car at the traffic light.
He darted into traffic and banged on the passenger side window.
"Hey! Can I get a ride to the metro station?!"
Back at the house, Lee and Philip sat in the living room discussing Philip's chances at making the All-Area baseball team. Amanda watched the two and smiled.
"Two of the most handsome men in my life together in one room! What more could a girl ask for?" she tousled Philip's short hair. "I know. What about number three?"
Lee and Philip shared a knowing look. "I think he's in his room, Mom."
Amanda tapped lightly on Jamie's door. She could hear piano music through the door, but got no answer.
"Jamie, sweetheart. Dinner is ready," she opened the door and walked into an empty room. She noticed the darts, knowing her youngest son's creative energy surged when he was angry.
Amanda came back down the stairs and smiled at the two men sitting on her couch.
"He must have gone over to the school to practice. You know how he gets when he has a bad piano lesson," she lied as she looked at Lee with caution.
"Yeah, that must be it," he lied back.
"Well, come on. Dinner is ready, and Jamie is used to eating leftovers," she sighed.
It was a humid night for October in Washington. Jamie had to constantly wipe the condensation off his camera lens. He sat in the tree, snapping photos of the White House, his latest architectural fascination. He thought to himself how beautiful it looked at night.
After finishing his roll of film, he cautiously put the camera back in his bag and climbed out of the tree. Slowly walking down Pennsylvania Avenue, he realized he wouldn't have a ride back home from the metro station.
Lee paced back and forth in the living room. Philip had gone to study with Summer, and Amanda was sitting quietly, amused by her husband's sudden protective instincts over her sons.
"Lee, he's practicing! You know he completely drifts into another world when he sits down at the piano. Give him some time! We should be enjoying our time alone together," she smiled, knowing the last statement would grab his attention.
Lee stopped pacing and looked over at his wife. She was smiling up at him, knowing she had struck a nerve.
"You know, I love you very much," he said gently, sitting next to her on the couch.
"And I love you very much," she smiled, and leaned up to kiss him.
Jamie rounded the corner of Maplewood a little after midnight. He was enraged to see Lee's car still parked in the same spot in front of his house. So enraged, in fact, that he didn't even bother to sneak into the house. He burst through the front door, startling his mother and stepfather, and trotted down into the basement to develop his pictures.
Amanda was used to the moodiness accompanied with this particular teenager, and didn't even give him a second look.
"Amanda! He's over an hour past curfew! Aren't you going to say anything to him?!" Lee panicked.
"He knows he's grounded, Lee. He's obviously not happy about something. I'm not going to mess with him right now," she shrugged.
"Well, I'm going to go see what's bothering him," and Lee headed into the basement.
Jamie had converted the closet that the water heater occupied into a makeshift darkroom. Once in the basement, he had flipped on the radio, stripped to his undershirt, and shut himself in the closet.
Lee walked slowly through the basement. He realized it was somewhat like walking through the boys' childhood. Boxes of toys lined a wall of the room, leading into tricycles and bicycles, baseball bats, and finally to the tool bench where Philip was now spending so much time working on parts for his car.
Lee leaned up against the tool bench and listened as Jamie sang along with Billy Joel, smiling at the tremendous talent his youngest stepson was finally beginning to grow in to. The smile vanished as he heard Jamie's grumbles of disapproval at the pictures he had taken.
Lee jumped as Jamie exploded out of the closet. Their eyes met, and Jamie immediately looked down at the floor.
"I know I'm grounded. You didn't need to come down here and rub it in my face," he said, barely above a whisper.
"What's wrong with those pictures?" Lee ignored the comment Jamie had intended to discourage him with.
Jamie tensed and wondered how long Lee had been in the basement.
"They'd just be tons better if I could focus the lens myself and take panoramic shots. I asked Dad for a new camera for my birthday," Jamie nodded at the opened package sitting on Philip's bench. "He sent me a really nice baseball glove instead. I guess Dad keeps forgetting I'm not Philip."
The silence that followed was uncomfortable for both. Jamie finally dropped the pictures in the trash can and brushed past Lee on his way out of the room.
Lee sighed and fished the pictures out of the trash. He caught his breath at the quality of the photographs and smiled as he flipped through the stack.
"Better than agency photographers," Amanda whispered as she came up behind him and rested her head on her husband's shoulder.
"What is Joe's problem?" Lee grumbled.
"He wants his boys to be prize athletes. He's not around enough to realize that Jamie doesn't even play baseball anymore," Amanda answered. "It's late."
"I know," he answered, tiring more each time he had to return to his apartment and sleep away from his wife. "Walk me out?"
Jamie watched out his window as his mother walked Lee out to the car. He noticed the way that they looked at each other, he knew it was something special. He just didn't want to trust Lee. He had trusted his father, and that had gotten him nowhere. Not wanting to think about it, he turned on Beethoven piano sonatas, changed from jeans to shorts, and started doing chin-ups on the bar Philip had hung in his doorway.
He heard his mom coming up the stairs, and began to push himself harder, doing more and more chin-ups and trying to focus on the second movement of the Moonlight sonata playing behind him.
"Jamie, we need to talk," his mom stated calmly, looking up at her son.
"Mom, I really don't feel like talking at the moment," he answered.
"You never feel like talking. Put a shirt on and come downstairs," she stated and walked back down the stairs. He heard her talking to Philip, who had just come in from studying. Jamie sighed in resignation, pulled his undershirt back on and slowly walked downstairs.
Philip snickered as they passed each other in the hallway. Jamie elbowed him in the side as he passed. Philip ignored him and shot up the stairs.
Amanda was making tea in the kitchen, a sign that she had quite a few things to discuss. Jamie sighed and plopped down in a chair at the kitchen table.
"So where were you off to tonight, sir?" she asked, not turning from the tea.
"I went into the city and took some pictures," he answered, knowing she was going to be upset.
"Jamie, we've had this discussion. I don't like you riding the metro by yourself. Especially this late at night!" Amanda brought two mugs of tea and sat down across from him.
"I know, Mom. I just didn't really want to be here tonight. It's the third night in a row with Lee, and I am a little tired of his baseball stories. All he talks about is baseball with Philip. He never talks about anything else," Jamie sighed and took a sip of his tea.
"Have you ever thought to ask him about anything else?" his mother was trying to keep this conversation running smoothly.
"No, I guess not. I don't really know him at all, Mom. I'm not sure I want to. As soon as I warm up to him he's gonna turn around and walk out of our lives anyway," he said, not meaning to say as much as he had.
"Oh, sweetie. Lee is not your father. Lee is a good man, and he truly cares about you boys. I know these past few years have been hard not having a father around, but Lee wants to help you in anyway possible. He wants to be your friend," Amanda knew how upset Jamie had been when Joe took another job in Africa.
"It's just gonna take some time for me to warm up to him, Mom. I've got a lot on my mind now."
"I know it, sweetie, I know it. It blows my mind to think that you are as busy as I am, and not even fourteen years old yet."
"Well, I'm going to be fourteen next week. Not that that will change anything," he smiled up at his mother.
"And giving that big recital on your birthday. I wish you could reschedule; that doesn't leave you much time to enjoy the day," she said. She knew her son was very excited about his first recital, and wouldn't think of rescheduling.
"We have plenty of time after the recital, Mom. Plenty of time," he wanted to avoid the recital topic. It made him sick to his stomach to think of being on the huge stage at George Mason, all by himself. "Does Lee like me?"
"Lee thinks you are great, Jamie. He told me himself that you never fail to impress him, whatever it is that you're doing."
Jamie smiled at that. Lee may have been overly enthusiastic about baseball, but he had asked questions about his pictures, something his father had never showed any interest in.
"Maybe I'll talk to him next time he comes over," he said.
"Good, honey. Good."
"Are you going to marry him?"
Amanda choked on her tea at that question. She had been trying to decide on a good time to tell the boys about her secret marriage, but it had never occurred to her that they might actually have suspected anything.
"Oh, I don't know honey. I am very in love with him, I know that. I would marry him if he would have me," she smiled knowingly, reaching for her ring, hidden on a chain under her shirt.
"He'd be a fool not to have you," Jamie said quietly. His mother was his hero, and he knew that one day some man was going to snatch her up for good. Amanda's eyes watered as she heard her son's declarations of adoration. She suddenly realized that there was a young man sitting in front of her now, not her sweet little baby boy.
"Jamie?"
"Yeah, mom?"
"When are you going to get a haircut? I know you were excited when you realized your hair got curly if you let it grow … but this is getting ridiculous," she smiled, looking up at the unruly curls that were growing below Jamie's ears at this point.
"Oh, mom! Girls love boys with curly hair!" he smiled back at her, both of them knowing that he didn't care what girls loved and what they didn't. The curly hair made him feel professional as he banged out powerful chords on his opening recital piece, and made him feel a bit like a rock star when he played with his jazz group.
"You should get in bed. You have an early rehearsal, no sleeping in on Saturday for you tomorrow, sweetie," Amanda stood up and kissed her son on the forehead.
"Yes, ma'am," he stood up, taller than his petite mother, and kissed her back on the forehead.
"I love you sweetie," she patted his back as he turned to go.
"I love you too, Mom," he said, and climbed the stairs to his room.
Jamie pulled his undershirt back off and flopped into his hammock. He laughed as he thought about the first time he had told his mother he wanted to sleep in a hammock.
"Jamie, you don't live in the jungle! Sleep in a bed, dear!"
But he had his way, and his grandma had seen to that. It was just one more eccentricity that made up the young man that was Jamie King. He drifted off to sleep, not anticipating the week ahead of him.
He woke up late. Jamie was running around, trying to find his lucky shirt, get showered, iron his pants, and get a ride to the high school for his recital rehearsal.
He was graded for this final rehearsal, the recital was basically the fun part of the whole experience. This was the first time a freshman had given a recital, let alone a freshman who had skipped the eighth grade, and the faculty of the Metro Area High School for the Arts was skeptical of the young man's abilities. Jamie was out to prove them wrong.
He got to the high school five minutes before his rehearsal was supposed to start, and gave a pep talk to his jazz group. He took a deep breath, ran a hand through his unruly hair, and walked out onto the stage.
At his piano teacher's suggestion, he had chosen blue lights for his opening piece, the first movement of the Moonlight Sonata. As he began, Lee and Amanda crept into the balcony of the high school auditorium to watch their son mesmerize the faculty.
"He looks incredible," Amanda whispered. The blue lights brought out her son's lucky shirt, a faded blue polo, and his brown hair seemed to glow as he accented heavy passages with his head.
"He is incredible," Lee answered. He had never anticipated the pride that filled his chest, watching his youngest stepson perform.
The faculty passed him after his first piece. They asked him if he wanted to play the jazz number for them, which he jumped at. Nothing made Jamie happier than playing Duke Ellington, especially with an audience. The four other members of his jazz group, The Secret Agent Men, strolled onto stage. Amanda had been secretly amused when Jamie had told her of the name they had chosen.
Performing a twelve minute version of "Mood Indigo" exhausted him. Amanda could tell as he got up to shake hands with the faculty. He was completely drained. Jamie poured every single bit of energy into his performance, and she knew he would go home that afternoon and sleep for a good part of the day.
Lee and Amanda snuck out of the school before Jamie could notice them, and went back to the Agency to catch up on paperwork. Jamie shook hands with all of the faculty, getting pats on the back and congratulations all the way down the row. He said goodbye and thanked the other guys in his jazz group, left through the back of the school building, lit up a cigarette and began the short walk back to his house. When he arrived home, he walked into an empty house. He knew his mom was working, and Philip was at practice. He figured his grandmother was out with Kurt, so he went upstairs to take a nap. He peeked into his mother's room, noticing the answering machine light was blinking. He flopped onto his mother's bed and hit the play button.
"Hey guys, it's Dad. Jamie, I'm just calling to wish you an early birthday. I'm not sure I'll be in to call on Monday, but I hope you get good use out of your glove. Philip, I got your letter, and I know you'll be on that All-Area team. You're the best first baseman in Arlington! I'll call again soon, bye!"
Jamie brought his fist down on the machine. He was so tired of the long distance parenting. His life had finally begun to make sense almost two years ago when his father came back from Estoccia. Then last year Carrie had agreed to go with him after the wedding, back to Africa and out of Jamie's life again. Maybe his mom was right, maybe Lee in his life would do him some good. But could he trust him? Jamie's thoughts blurred into one mass as he drifted off to sleep on his mother's bed.
It had been Lee's idea to take the afternoon off. Amanda had run upstairs to make sure Jamie was sleeping. He wasn't even in his room, so she assumed he had gone into the city to take more pictures or had gone off with some of the boys from the band. She ran down the stairs like a school girl, meeting Lee's kiss.
"We're home alone, Mr. Stetson," she growled as he tore at her blouse.
"Well, Mrs. Stetson, I think we should take advantage of the situation," he huffed in between kisses as they slowly stumbled up the stairs.
They were almost onto the bed, and Amanda's shirt was almost completely off when Lee noticed Jamie, asleep on her bed. He caught her just as she was about to collapse right on top of her sleeping son. She gasped, and quickly evacuated the room.
Jamie stirred slightly, and Lee stood and watched his youngest stepson struggle with whatever was going on in his dream. He smiled at how innocent Jamie looked while he was sleeping.
"Please don't leave, Dad. I didn't mean to make you leave again," Jamie mumbled as he turned over onto his back. Lee frowned at his stepson's remarks. Even in his sleep the poor boy couldn't escape the problems that plagued him during consciousness. Amanda came up behind Lee, fixing her blouse, and kissed his neck.
"What do you say we let Jamie sleep and go get something to eat?" she whispered. Lee nodded and gave Jamie one more glance before following his wife out of the room.
Once they were alone and tucked into a booth at Dooley's, Lee took a deep breath and asked Amanda the question he had been waiting to ask all afternoon.
"What do you think of telling the boys about our marriage?" he blurted out.
Amanda looked up from her salad and smiled at her husband, who looked as if he had just said the worst thing possible. "I think it's a great idea, sweetheart. I just don't exactly know when …"
"What about Monday night, after Jamie's recital? The whole family will be at your house for his reception, as well as Billy and our friends. I want the whole world to know that you're my wife, Amanda Stetson," Lee sputtered. He was incredibly nervous that Amanda wouldn't agree.
"Let's wait and see how things go with you and Jamie at the picnic tomorrow. If he reacts badly, we'll ruin his reception AND his birthday. Let's just play it by ear," she smiled. Lee's face fell. "Lee, you know as well as I do that Jamie is having a hard time adapting to a man in his mother's life."
"I know, Amanda, I know. I just wish there was some way I could connect with him. I've been trying for so long. And me being in Europe for almost six months certainly hasn't helped anything."
"He told me last night he thought he might try and talk to you about something other than baseball the next time you come to the house. He seems to think you're only interested in Philip."
"He's never in the house for more than two seconds as soon as I show up!"
As the conversation continued, a tall, dark man listened attentively from the booth behind the Stetsons. 'Scarecrow is married?!' he thought to himself. 'And with children. This may prove most helpful in getting him to talk.' He was startled as Lee suddenly got up from the booth and exited the restaurant.
"Thank you, Tommy. Yes, he's up to something … I'm not sure what! Keep the change sweetheart, see you at the game tonight!" Amanda said to the young waiter and left the booth a few minutes after Lee. The man watched her leave, and then made his way to the pay phone in the back.
"Get me Varostov, tell him we may be able to bring Scarecrow in afterall."
Jamie was watching cartoons when his mother came in from her afternoon with Lee.
"Hey mom! I passed my recital hearing!" he exclaimed and jumped up to help her with the groceries she was carrying.
"Oh, sweetheart, congratulations! Not that there was any doubt in my mind about it!" she smiled, put down the groceries and caught Jamie in a bear hug. He smiled as he caught a whiff of men's aftershave.
"Whatcha been up to this afternoon, Mom?" he smirked. "You smell like Philip!" He quickly scooted out of arm's reach and began to put the groceries away.
"That's none of your business, sir!" she blushed slightly and swatted at her youngest son.
"What's all this food for, are we grilling out tonight?" he smiled, eyeing the steaks his mother was setting in the sink to thaw.
"Yeah, I thought this might be the last night warm enough to grill out for a while. We'll go to Philip's game and then come back here and do the steaks. How does that sound?"
"The steaks sound better, but I guess I'll go to the game too," he sighed.
"Oh, you hush. Why don't you take your camera? Your dad would love a picture of Philip in action for Christmas!"
"He'd be more excited over Philip than the fact that I took the picture," he sighed.
"Well, I love to hang your pictures up in the house. So, why don't you go put on some jeans and we'll head over to the ball field?"
"Ok …."
"And comb that hair please!"
"MOM!"
"I'm serious, mister!" she giggled as her son ran up the stairs. She heard the familiar tap on the kitchen window. "It's open, Stetson!" she smiled, not even looking up from the last of the groceries.
"Good evening, madame," he said in a low, husky voice, taking her hand and bringing it to his lips.
"Monsieur! I do believe you are overdressed for a baseball game!" she wrapped her arms around his neck. "And what were you up to, leaving me at the restaurant this afternoon?"
"Overdressed? I left the tie and jacket in the car, what else do you want me to do?"
"You'd be overdressed in a bathing suit right now, monsieur," she smiled, as his face lit up. "Perhaps later tonight we might rendezvous at your apartment?"
"Perhaps," he replied, and pulled her in for a deep kiss. The sound of Jamie booming back down the stairs prompted him to release her. "Until tonight, madame! It will be difficult for me to maintain my composure. And leaving you at the restaurant, well, you'll just have to wait and see."
"Likewise," she mumbled as Jamie entered the kitchen.
"Hi, Lee," he managed, doing his best to be amiable.
"Hey, Jamie. Mom tells me you passed your recital hearing!"
"She did? Well, yeah, I did!" he was confused. Lee wasn't talking about baseball, and seemed generally interested in his welfare. Something was different.
"She also tells me your jazz group is doing Mood Indigo Monday night. I think that might be my favorite Ellington piece," he sat down at the kitchen table, and Jamie sat down across from him.
"You like Ellington?"
"Oh, yeah. I learned to love him. A good friend of mine plays a lot of jazz," he glanced at Amanda, who smiled at him. They remembered Billy Blue Note fondly. "The saxophone though, not piano."
"Who else do you listen to?" and the conversation deepened. Amanda smiled as she finished making the salad.
"Are you fellas ready to head over to the ball park?" she asked.
"I almost forgot about the game," Jamie smiled. "Lemme go get my camera, I'll be right out!" he jumped up and ran down to the basement.
Lee and Amanda locked the front door and got into the Wagoneer. Jamie came running out of the house and hopped into the back seat. They pulled out of the driveway, not noticing the dark sedan sitting a few houses down.
As soon as the Stetsons had pulled away from the house, the man from the restaurant had left his sedan and made his way to the back of 4247 Maplewood. In the rush, the Americans had not even locked their back door. He shook his head and entered the house.
'The picture perfect family,' he thought to himself as he looked at the pictures of the boys on the wall. Philip and Jamie together on baseball and soccer teams as children, and as they grew older the photographs showed they had developed their own separate interests. The last picture on the stairs before he entered Jamie's room struck the man as almost comical.
There was the invincible Scarecrow, sitting in the park with the two King boys, playing Monopoly of all things. Mrs. King was behind Scarecrow, looking at the scene with a look of perfect contentment. The older boy was beaming, and the younger boy had even cracked a small smile.
He opened the door to the younger boy's room and peeked in. Everything looked basically normal, with the exception of the hammock, and a Duke Ellington poster where any normal fourteen year old might have hung a rock star. He quickly sat down at the boy's desk and went through his drawers. 'He must have 500 pictures in these drawers,' the man thought. He laughed out loud at some of them. The man was almost feeling guilty for invading such childish innocence. Not quite, but almost.
He came to one of the pictures well hidden in a book, which read like a journal, but the life seemed too unhappy to belong to this boy. He got a case of conscience and put the book aside, but continued to stare at the picture. Why would this young child photograph such an obviously sad moment?
The photograph was taken from somewhere in the air, the man guessed probably in a tree. The boy's mother was crying. She looked completely destroyed. She was holding a man's hands, but he was not in the picture. There was a great deal of luggage in the background of the photograph, and a taxi in front of the house. The man quickly flipped the picture over. The date told him the entire story of the picture. The day before he had been notified that Scarecrow had landed in Moscow.
He put the picture back in its place and shut the drawer. It would be easy to take the boy, he was sure of that. Scarecrow was a family man now. He would come for this boy, and Varostov would have his revenge on the KGB's most formidable enemy for all that had occurred in Moscow over the past year. The man felt quite guilty now, but his job had no place for guilt. He left the King household exactly as he found it.
Saturday night had come and gone without much controversy. Philip had won his baseball game and Jamie had taken lots of great pictures. The food was great at home. Jamie had talked Lee's ear off about jazz for most of the meal. Philip had stayed to eat and clean up and then had gone with Summer's family to Richmond for the rest of the evening to see her older brother in a play. Dotty and Captain Kurt had come in around ten and asked Jamie to come with them and see a jazz show in Baltimore. Amanda had panicked because it was so late, and she knew how easy it was for Dotty to lose herself in Kurt's charm and lose track of a thirteen year old boy. However, Kurt was flying his little plane, and Jamie was so excited she couldn't say no.
Lee smiled and looked down at his beautiful wife, sleeping with her head nuzzled against his chest. It had been the perfect evening. Jamie was finally opening up to him again after completely shutting him out when he left for Russia. And in an exciting turn of events, their late night rendezvous had worked out just as planned. He let out a deep sigh of contentment and brushed her hair off her face. She was perfect.
Amanda had finally forced Lee to get up and shower, and they were back to the house by noon, merely seconds before Jamie, Dotty, and Kurt burst through the front door. Jamie was talking a mile a minute about the pianist in the jazz group he'd seen, Dotty was yelling at Kurt to go home and get ready for the picnic, and Amanda and Lee surveyed the scene with sheer delight. Philip was home half an hour later, and the family piled into the Wagoneer and Philip's little car and headed towards the park to celebrate Jamie's birthday.
It was a beautiful October day, and the family took over a table under a huge oak tree and sat down to eat and discuss the previous day's events. Lee smiled as he watched Jamie. 'Such a huge change in him since Friday,' he thought. No matter, he'd take this Jamie, the happy and content boy, over the troubled and sorrowful young man any day of the week.
"So where's all my presents?" he smiled. Dotty, Philip, and Kurt each produced a gift and set it in front of him. Amanda shook her head.
"Jamie King, you're terrible! Now I told you I'm not giving you your gift from me until tomorrow. I wish you'd wait til the big day, but go ahead. I can see there's no stopping you now," Amanda rolled her eyes and watched him tear into the first package.
"Wow! Philip, this is really nice! Thanks," he smiled at his brother, while looking at the three cassette tapes he had just unwrapped. 'Philip didn't even buy me that crap he listens to. This is great music,' he thought to himself. Philip actually paid attention to Jamie's interests.
"Now, Jamie, these next two are from Kurt and me. We couldn't decide on just one," his grandmother said.
Jamie unwrapped a beautiful burgundy leather photo album. The corners were wood, and his initials were engraved on the bottom right corner.
"Wow, Grandma. This is great," he was so surprised. His entire family was interested in his hobbies.
"Well, I've seen all those pictures all over your room and the basement. This way you can organize them," she smiled. "And thank Kurt, he engraved those initials."
"Thanks Captain!" Jamie smiled.
"Go on, open the next one," he replied.
Jamie was expecting a sweater or a typical grandmotherly gift. He opened the box and lifted out concert tails, a blue vest and a blue bow tie. He got a lump in his throat. All this time he had been so wrong about his family. He'd wasted a whole year of his life, bitter about the past. These gifts had proved to him that they wanted more than anything to be a part of his life.
"This is awesome. Thank you so much," he spoke softly, trying not to reveal the emotion in his voice.
"You're welcome sweetheart. Now I want you to wear those tomorrow night, and tell all your friends what good taste your grandmother has!" she bubbled. She could tell just by the look on his face that any walls that had remained between her grandson and the rest of the family had just been knocked down.
He smiled and looked around the table. His entire family was smiling at him.
"Where's Lee?" he asked when he realized Lee was no longer sitting next to his mother.
"Behind you, kid. Behind you. Had to run to the car for something," he said nervously, and handed Jamie a clumsily wrapped box.
"Oh geez, it's heavy," Jamie said, surprised by the weight of the package. He set in down on the table and looked at it for a moment. "Nice wrapping job."
"Hey! It took me forever to do that! Just can it and open it, will ya?" Lee smiled and leaned over Jamie as he began to unwrap the package.
It was a plain brown box, with the exception of a few sentences in cyrillic on the bottom. Jamie stared at it.
"Just open it!" Philip exclaimed.
He tore at the tape and opened the box. He pulled out something encased in protective styrofoam. Jamie tore at more tape and finally pulled the styrofoam apart. It was too much for him. He immediately began to cry.
Amanda couldn't see what was in the styrofoam, but she was almost certain she knew what it was. Philip and Dotty exchanged alarmed glances, and sat in silence, not quite sure what to say.
Jamie quietly stood up and looked up at Lee. Lee looked down at Jamie, worried if he'd overstepped the delicate boundaries that they'd formed in the past two days. He received his answer as Jamie threw his arms around Lee's shoulders and hugged him. Lee's eyes widened and his body tensed. Amanda gave him her gentlest look, and he relaxed and patted his youngest stepson on the back. It was then that he realized this family was worth giving up everything else.