Disclaimer: "Scarecrow and Mrs. King" is copyrighted to Warner Brothers and Shoot the Moon Productions. The plot is mine, but not the characters. This story is meant for enjoyment purposes only. No infringement is intended.

Author's Note: This is the second installment of "Diaper Duty." I plan to do a few more of these outlining some of Lee's life growing up with his uncle, but each chapter will be able to stand by itself.

Bolling Air Force Base, 0900 Hours, June 13, 1958,

Robert Clayton was once again walking up and down the two parallel rows of Airmen, inspecting each one of them, as they stood stock-still awaiting his orders. The scene was familiar to him, having played it many times since earning his promotion. This one, however, was different as he was just a bit stiffer, a bit tenser as he was waiting for the phone call that was sure to come, as it had not quite a month ago. His lonely, orphaned nephew had been reprimanded for his refusal to participate in a Mother's Day project, a perfectly logical refusal in Bob's mind since he didn't have a mother any longer. A deep pang of sadness gripped him at that thought, as Jennie had been a lovely woman with whom his brother had fallen deeply in love. They'd both fallen equally in love with their son from the moment he'd been born to them nearly eight years ago.

He shook off those nagging thoughts and tried to focus on the task at hand, but he couldn't help his mind drifting back to that day in May. He'd fought on his nephew's behalf, not only at the school, but with the brass at the school board as well, all to no avail. The board refused to acknowledge that there was any wrongdoing on the part of the teacher, Miss Miller, who had clearly displayed that she had all the sensitivity of a brick wall. They'd refused to allow Lee to change classes since the school year was almost over. He was at least grateful for that since that meant the child would no longer be harassed by an unfeeling teacher; however, he was beginning to rethink his request to transfer to Bolling in the first place. He'd thought it was a good idea so that young Lee would be surrounded by familiar places. Now, though, he'd come to believe that there was too much familiarity as it seemed that his nephew was only grieving more profusely than he had previously.

He planned to take care of that soon after Lee was out of school for the year. He'd already requested and been approved for another transfer starting in late July. They'd be packing up and moving before the summer was out, giving them plenty of time to become acclimated to their new location and for him to register Lee at his new school. Before any of that though, he had a lot to do. Lee's birthday was on Tuesday and his CO's wife had helped him to plan a birthday party at the park with all of his little friends for tomorrow. He hoped that having a celebration for his eighth birthday would help to take his charge's mind off the idea of spending Father's Day the next day without his father.

His other charges were still looking at him quizzically as they waited to be told what to do. He realized at that point that he'd just made his fourth pass through the ranks and the call still hadn't come so he decided to just proceed as if it were any other normal workday in the life of a career military man. "Alright, Men!" He began.

That evening in the mess hall, his curiosity got the better of him when sitting across from his young nephew who didn't seem to be as morose as he had been when Mother's Day had been approaching. "So, Skip, how did everything go at school today?"

"Great!" Lee answered with an enthusiastic smile. "All my best friends are coming to my party tomorrow," he gushed. He then blushed and added shyly, "Even Alice is coming.

"Good," Bob smiled at his nephew's slight embarrassment. He'd known for some time that Lee had a bit of a crush on Alice. He had a feeling that his charge would be a huge ladies' man one of these days, much like his father before being tamed by Jennie Hamilton. "That's good, Son. I'm glad to hear it." While he was smiling on the outside for his nephew's benefit, a moment of panic set in and he was once again second-guessing himself, wondering if moving again were the right decision. Lee was so happy that his friends and his little girlfriend were coming to his party, but how happy would he be to be moved miles away from them?

He shook that thought off and argued with himself that he'd been raised in a military family who'd moved on a regular basis and he turned out just fine. But you weren't orphaned, another voice in his head argued. I did lose my father, he argued back. You still had your mother though and a stepfather who loved you as his own, the other voice countered. And Lee has me, he thought as he firmly quashed the condescending voice. "So, did you learn anything new in school today?" He asked Lee wondering if the unsympathetic teacher had tried the same crap that she had last month.

Lee just shrugged and said, "It was no big deal. Just another day at school, doing school stuff."

Bob looked at his nephew a bit worriedly. While he spoke so nonchalantly about his day at school, he sensed something beneath the surface of that devil-may-care exterior, one that reminded him painfully of Matthew when he'd be on one of his spy missions that he couldn't talk about. He'd give clipped answers just like that and Bob knew then not to ask any more questions. Lee, however, was not a career spy as he parents had been and he hoped to God he never would be. The boy had asked him many questions about how his parents had died and he'd simply told him the cover story that he'd been given by the US Army. Of course, having a bit of pull in military channels, he knew that that was all it was, a cover story. He'd had half a mind to do some investigating on his own, but with being transferred all over the place, dealing with his mother's death and taking on the role of surrogate father to his brother's child, he just hadn't had the time.

"So, what kind of school stuff," Bob probed.

Lee just looked down at the dinner tray and showed a sudden overwhelming interest in his lumpy mashed potatoes. "I dunno," Lee answered noncommittally and stuffed his mouth full as an attempt to avoid answering his uncle's questions.

"Huh," Bob muttered turning his attention back to his own dinner pondering the boy's mysterious behavior with a shake of his head. He kept trying to figure him out and every time he thought that he had and knew what to expect, the child did something that caused him to reevaluate her earlier assessments.

"Uncle Bob?" Lee said questioningly breaking the stalemate between them.

"Yes, Skip?"

"Thanks," Lee replied without looking up. "For letting me have a birthday party."

Bob couldn't help smiling. "You're quite welcome, Son." They finished their dinner in silence, Bob still contemplating the constant contradiction that was his brother's son. He wondered if it was because the child was a Gemini, not that he believed in that kind of hooey, but he'd always heard that people born under the sign of the twins were always changing and were almost like split personalities. He couldn't help wondering if there wasn't something to that theory. After all, his nephew never ceased to surprise him.

It wasn't until the next day that he found out the reason for Lee's non-answers. He'd watched him throughout the duration of his party for any signs of the inner turmoil he'd seen in him when Mother's Day had been near, but he saw none of the same reaction. In fact, it was just the opposite; he was laughing, joking and playing with his friends. He even saw him at one point smiling devilishly at Alice, his smile so broad, it deepened the dimples that he'd inherited from his father. He didn't know what Lee had said to the girl but it had caused her to blush and reward him with a chaste kiss on the cheek. Bob couldn't help laughing when Lee himself blushed and then slugged her on the arm before hurrying off to play some touch football with the other boys.

"I think someone's got a crush," a lilting female voice said beside him.

"Yeah, I'd say so," Bob replied. "You're Alice's mother, right?"

She nodded. "And Lee's your boy?" She questioned.

"My brother's," Bob corrected, but then added quickly, "But I'm responsible for him. My brother, he's...uh..." He faltered for words for a moment, but found that none were needed when the woman laid a comforting hand on his shoulder, patting it gently.

"I'm sorry for you loss," she said sincerely. "It's hard, I know, raising a child by yourself. I lost my husband two years ago in a plane crash."

"I'm very sorry to hear that," Bob replied. He nodded toward the children. "Alice seems to be doing okay. You must be doing something right. I wish that I had a clue what I'm doing with Lee."

"He seems to be doing okay too; I bet you're doing just fine."

"Sometimes I wonder. We...um...we had an incident at Mother's Day," He explained.

The woman nodded. "Alice told me about it, that Lee was upset by the class project because his mother's gone. I guess I just didn't realize that his father was too."

"Car crash," Bob answered simply. They were both silent for a beat as they watched the children at play. Bob was the first to speak again, saying hesitantly, "I...um...I hope you don't think that I'm being nosy, but their teacher, Miss Miller, did she...uh...did she give little Alice there a hard time about Father's Day the way she did with Lee about Mother's Day."

"No, I think she learned her lesson after what happened with Lee. She excused her from the assignment and gave her something else to do." She then turned back to face him and continued, "I think you calling the school board on her had a lot to do with that. She got a formal reprimand for that and now she's on some kind of probation."

"Huh," Bob replied with slight smile that his actions had had some impact after all. Perhaps that explained why Lee hadn't been upset when he'd come home from school. She must have excused him from the assignment as well.

Later than night, while tucking Lee into bed, he found that that theory was wrong. He was just about to turn out the light when Lee's small voice saying tentatively, "Uncle Bob?" stopped him.

"What is it, Son?"

Lee dug under his pillow and withdrew from beneath it a hand-made card and said, "I-I-I know it's not 'til tomorrow, but I-I-I made this in school and I didn't wanna' forget."

Bob sat at his nephew's bedside, his eyes flaring at his initial thought that Miss Miller had not indeed given Lee a reprieve from the heartless assignment. "Didn't Miss Miller excuse you from the project?"

Lee nodded. "She did...or well, she tried, but I-" he sighed and then thrust the card at his uncle. "I wanted to do this one."

"I don't understand," Bob said looking at his nephew curiously, not looking at the card he held. "You had a temper tantrum and threw crayons over the Mother's Day project because your mother's gone. I'm surprised you didn't do the same with this since you don't have a father either."

Lee shook his head and said, "Yes, I do." He then pointed to the card, "You."

It was then that Bob looked down at the card and saw that it was addressed to him and when he opened it, he found childish drawings of various sites around the base and the two of them together. "I-I-I don't know what to say. Thank you, Son." He ruffled his hair good-naturedly.

Lee beamed at his uncle's reaction. "Happy Father's Day, Uncle Bob."