Once entering their bedroom, Lee quickly locked the door and took his wife in his arms kissing her passionately. Amanda responded instantly, sliding her hands up to rest on his chest, opening her mouth beneath his gasping as his tongue tangled with hers and sighing in contentment at his hands on her hips as he pressed her against the door. When they broke apart both gasping for air, Lee said, "I have been wanting to do that all night," as he ran his fingers through her hair.

"Me too," she whispered hoarsely still trying to catch her breath.

"Did I tell you how beautiful you looked tonight," he whispered low in her ear as he nuzzled the tender skin there as he pushed at the lapels of her suit jacket to drop it to the floor.

"You might have mentioned it once or twice," she replied with a smile as she angled her head upward to allow her husband better access to her neck while she stripped him of his tie and jacket. She then began to work on the buttons of his shirt slipping her hands inside to caress the taut muscles of his chest beneath.

Lee groaned at her touch pulling his head back to gaze at her. "Well, you did, you do. You're every bit as beautiful as the first time I saw you wearing this." He then captured her lips with his own again, kissing her until his breath gave out again. He leaned his head against her, gazing into her eyes. "Just as sexy as the first time I helped you out of it, too," he said as he began to undo the buttons on her blouse one by one exposing the satin and lace camisole beneath it.

"Big difference this time," Amanda said as she undid the buttons on his cuffs and yanked the tails of his shirt from his pants. "No maid bustling around to keep us apart."

"God, you don't know how much I wanted to forcibly remove her from the room. I swear to God, Amanda, I have never seen anyone move so damn slowly in my life."

Amanda giggled as she dropped his shirt to the floor and said, "I wasn't thinking of forcibly removing her, but I desperately wanted to tell her to stop worrying about making the bed since we were just going to mess it up again anyway."

"And so we did," Lee said with an amorous smile as he sat on the bed and pulled his wife into his lap, lowering his lips to her shoulder as he tugged at the bottom of her camisole, Amanda helping by raising her arms over her head to remove the garment. He slowly ran his finger around the edges of the scar on her now-exposed chest.

"There's another big difference between then and now," Amanda said as she watched him outline the scar with his fingers. "Not so sexy, huh?"

"Don't, Amanda," Lee said as he placed a tender kiss to her lips. "This is something that will always remind me how precious you are to me, how close I came to losing you and now that I think about it, our baby too." He lowered his hand to our stomach lightly caressing it. "If you'd died, our baby would have too," Lee choked out his voice strangled by the emotion he felt.

"Shhh," she said placing a calming finger to his lips. "I'm alive. Our baby's alive and we're here together. Don't think about the what-ifs anymore. Isn't that what you told me about this shooting, to stop torturing myself with the what-ifs?" She rose from his lap for a moment and stepped out of her shoes, Lee following suit, kicking off his own shoes. She then began to work on loosening his belt while he unzipped her skirt, dropping it to the floor, leaving her in just her panties.

Lee once again sat on the bed and pulled her to him, placing soft kisses to her abdomen where he knew their child was growing within her. He looked up at her standing over him as he ran his hand over her stomach again. "There's a part of me still inside you," he said reverently as if the revelation had just hit him.

Amanda placed her hand over his and replied softly, "Yes, there is." She leaned down and kissed him tenderly. She was delighted when she felt him respond by sliding his hands up into her hair deepening the kiss. As their kisses grew more heated again, she lowered herself back onto his lap astride him, her hands on either side of his face. She pulled back for a moment, gazed longingly into his eyes, her hands still on his face and said in a low, raspy voice, "There's another part of you that I want inside me."

"Patience, my love," he said as he ran his fingers through her hair. "I want to take my time making love to you tonight, just like I did on our wedding night." He lowered his hands to the bare skin of her back, just savoring the feeling of her soft skin. He pulled her further into the bed with him and rolled her beneath him, kissing her again as he clasped his hands with hers, before lowering his lips to her earlobe taking it between his teeth causing her to cry out. He paused to smile at her then resumed his task lowering his head again to suckle the tender pulse point at her neck while she freed one of her hands from his to caress his back, sighing at the feel of his lips on her skin.

"Lee," she gasped at his touch feeing the desire to touch him too. She soon freed her other hand, moved both hands to his hips and pushed frantically at his pants in an attempt to lower them.

Lee raised his head again and said, "Uh-uh. Not yet."

"You're just teasing me," she said in frustration.

"I haven't even begun to tease you yet," he said with an impish grin. He then grasped both of her hands pinning them above her head as he kissed his way down her chest capturing one nipple in his mouth.

Amanda cried out and said, "Honey, stop a second." When he only continued what he was doing, she said more emphatically, "Stop." At hearing the tone in her voice, he stopped what he was doing and rolled away from her with a sigh.

"What? You don't get your way, so you just want to stop. I don't get it. Ten seconds ago, you wanted...I mean...I...I thought you wanted to make love. Now, all of a sudden, you want me to stop touching you."

"It's not about not getting what I want. I do want to make love and I never said I wanted you to stop touching me," Amanda said as she scooted closer to him laying her head on his shoulder and draping her arm across his chest. "I love the way you touch me. I just need you to take it a little easy."

"That's exactly what I was trying to do," he said staring at her in irritation. "You seemed like you were enjoying it, so what gives?"

"I meant that I need you to take it a little easy on my breasts. They're a little...well...they're...um...a little sensitive right now."

"Oh, God, I was hurting you." Lee said in understanding mentally kicking himself.

"No, not hurting, exactly. It's...it's just during the early weeks of pregnancy, they get a little...tender while my body's preparing to turn them into a milk factory for the baby."

"So, in other words, look, but don't touch," He said.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean we can't still make love. I'd appreciate it, though, if you could kind of be a little careful around that area for a while."

"Just let me know what I need to do and I'll do it. This is all new to me," He said a little self-consciously as he reached up to caress her face. "In all my experience, making love to a pregnant woman is something I've never done until now."

"You can still touch me in other places," she said then demonstrating by reaching for his hand and placing it on her hip. "I'll tell you if there's something that I don't want you to do or if it's uncomfortable." She then placed a soft kiss to his lips as she trailed her hand down his chest to his stomach, then even lower to finish the job she started on his pants, not stopping until she'd worked her hand inside to cup him while she lowered his lips to his chest.

"Oh, Amanda," he groaned at the feel of her hand on him, her lips on his skin. He raised his hips to allow her to slide his pants off of him, his boxers following behind them.

Amanda sat up to remove her panties and toss them to the floor as well. She then reached for her husband's hand guiding it between her legs and said huskily, "See what else my body's been preparing for."

Lee rolled to his side, taking his wife's lead and began stroking her softly as he kissed her tenderly relishing the way she moaned into his mouth at the pleasure he was giving her. He pulled back from their kiss as he continued touching her, smiled at her mischievously and said, "So, I'm guessing this is ok?"

"Oh, yes," she gasped in response, gripping his shoulder tightly as the sensations intensified. She pushed him onto his back and said firmly, "No more teasing." She straddled his hips and guided him into her, sinking down onto his manhood and taking all of him in. "Oh, Lee," she cried out as he let out another groan at their renewed connection.

Lee grasped his wife's hips as she began to slowly rock against him eliciting low moans from him, "ohhhh, Amanda," he groaned as she moved maddeningly slowly.

Amanda leaned forward bracing herself with her hands on his chest to keep her tender breasts from brushing against him. She grinned and him said, "Like that, do you?" and then kissed him firmly.

Lee's response was to raise his hips while pulling down on hers to drive himself deeper into her, moaning against her mouth. "God, yes," he said when their kiss ended. "But now who's being the tease?" He used his hands on her hips to flip her onto her back, pulling her legs up around his own hips as drove into her as hard as he could causing her to cry out as he increased the pace.

"Oh, you like that?" he said with a mirthful grin at her response.

"Mm-hmm," she moaned as she gripped his shoulders and raised her hips up to meet his. "Feels so good," she said her voice coming out in raspy pants.

Lee slipped one hand between them, stroking her again while he moved within her until he felt her muscles clenching around him and heard her crying out with her release causing him to quickly follow. "Oh, Amanda," he cried out once again with his own release. Mindful of her tender breasts, he propped himself up on his elbows as he leaned in to kiss her. He rolled them both to their sides and held her while his heart rate slowly returned to normal.

She ran her hand lazily down his arm and once her breathing had slowed enough to speak normally again. "So, what do you think about Fielder's hot tamale theory now," she teased.

Lee chuckled, placed a quick kiss to the top of her head and replied, "I think he severely underestimated the hot tamale factor. I think you're more like spicy buffalo wings. They look innocuous enough until you bite into them, but then look out! Then the more of them you eat, the hotter they get."

Amanda giggled at Lee's analogy and said, "Spicy buffalo wings, huh?"

"Oh, yeah," he said with a smile.

"You know, those actually sound kind of good right now," Amanda said.

"You're kidding? It's almost one AM," He said.

"I know, but I worked up an appetite," she said. "I mean, after all we did just burn a lot of calories."

"Is this one of those weird pregnancy food cravings that I've heard some of the married guys at work talk about?" he joked.

"Probably," she said. "Would you mind getting me some wings?"

"Where do you think I'm going to get spicy wings at one in the morning?"

"Don't you spies have your ways?" she teased.

Lee couldn't help but laugh and said, "I'll see what I can do," not sure how he was going to manage it but willing to try to make his wife happy. He placed one more kiss to the top of her head before getting out of bed to get dressed.

He descended the stairs a few minutes later dressed in jeans and a tee, car keys jingling in his hand. He was about to head to the front door when his uncle's voice stopped him. "What are you still doing up or do I even need to ask," Robert Clayton said to his nephew from the couch as he sat up.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lee said tensely.

"When I went up to change out of my uniform and get ready for bed, I couldn't help hearing your...um...activities," he replied.

Lee grimaced and said in irritation, "You were listening to us?"

"Not intentionally, but it was rather hard not to hear since neither of you was very quiet. Since Amanda's expecting, don't you think you should let her get some sleep?"

"Well, if you were listening good, you might have noticed that Amanda had no complaints," Lee fired back. "Not that my private life with my wife is any of your business."

"No, you're right, it's not," his uncle conceded. "And you're right again in saying that I never heard her complain, but the question is, would she really complain? It's very obvious that she's completely in love with you and would do anything to make you happy." He reflected back on his dance with Amanda and the glowing look she'd had on her face when she'd looked at his nephew, how it had struck him then how deeply in love with him she was.

"Who said that it was about making me happy? Judging by her response, I'd say I made her pretty happy too," Lee said hotly. "You can just never let me live my life, can you? You're always so damned judgmental, nothing I do is ever good enough for you. My college degree, my job, my relationships...now you're sitting there judging me just because I enjoy making love to my wife."

"I'm not judging, Lee," the colonel replied. "I'm glad to see that you're finally on the verge of settling down, but I won't lie and say that I'm not concerned just like your friends are. Given your track record with long-term relationships, or lack thereof, I can't help but wonder, like they do, how long this will last and how serious you are about her, especially since there are children involved."

"Ok, I'm not "on the verge" of settling down, I have settled down, and the people you're talking about are not exactly my friends. They're co-workers, acquaintances, at best. None of them know a damn thing about what Amanda and I have together or what we've been through together to get where we are, and neither do you. I want you to listen to me for a change and listen good because I'm only going to say this once. What I've done in the past is just that, past. I love my wife and I would never have married her and promised to be with her for life if I weren't serious about keeping that promise. The fact that she loves me enough that she's willing to put herself through hell to bring my child into the world just makes me love her that much more and makes me want to do everything in my power to make her happy. Why do you think I'm getting ready to go out in the middle of the night? She's got a craving for hot wings and I don't know how, but I'm damn sure going to make sure I find her some if that's what she wants."

Robert Clayton laughed. "Cravings, huh? I seem to recall your father telling me your mother used to drive him nuts with weird cravings when she was expecting you."

"Yeah?" Lee said curiously, as he uncle didn't often talk about his parents.

"Yeah, I'll never forget once when I was visiting them, she sent him on a wild-goose chase in the middle of the night for Indian food because she was having a craving for curry and was bawling like a baby because she missed the string of Indian restaurants on the east end of London. Your dad was a wreck because in 1950, there weren't a whole lot of restaurants open in the middle of the night in general, let alone those serving Indian food."

"So, what did he do?"Lee asked intrigued by the tale his uncle was telling.

"He ended up running a mess hell chef at Fort McNair out of bed," Colonel Clayton said with a laugh.

"I bet he wasn't happy," Lee said.

"Not a bit, but her could hardly argue with a superior," Robert replied with a soft chuckle. He then turned serious for a moment and said, "God, did he love your mother. She was his whole world...until the day you were born, that is. If you could have seen him that day...I never saw a man so in love with a child as he was with you." He was quiet for another moment then added, "I'm sorry that I was such a poor replacement for him."

Lee was then quiet for a moment himself as he thought about what his uncle had just told him and reflected on their earlier conversation about taking on responsibility for someone else's kids. "It's not entirely your fault. You weren't prepared to be an instant dad. I, on the other hand, at least had some time to prepare for taking on Phillip and Jamie, had a chance to get to know them a little before I married Amanda. It wasn't such a shock to me as it was to you."

"Still it can't be an easy adjustment for you either. Is their father still out of the picture?"

"I wish I knew," Lee said. "He's living here in DC again, but he's bailed on them two weekends in a row and just took a mysterious vacation without telling anyone where he was going, so right now it's anybody's guess. I don't know what to think about it. He was really good about looking after them while Amanda was in the hospital recovering from her shooting, but since then I...I just don't know." He was silent for another moment, then said, "Listen, I should get out of here and go try to find Amanda her hot wings."

"Right," his uncle said. "Can't keep a pregnant woman waiting when it comes to food. Would you like some company on your hunt? I could throw some clothes on and join you."

"Yeah, that'd be nice," Lee said with a smile wanting to probe his uncle further since for the first time that he could remember, he seemed to be willing to open up.

A few minutes later, the two of them were in the 'Vette flying down the streets of DC in search of any place that was open that might serve hot wings. "You might wanna' watch your speed, Son," Robert said as he glanced at the speedometer worriedly.

"I don't need a backseat driver," Lee said.

"I'm not in the backseat," his uncle quipped. "Your car would have to have a backseat first."

"Cute," Lee said. They were both quiet for a moment before Lee took a deep breath and said, "Can I ask you a question?"

"Shoot," the colonel replied.

"There's something that's been bugging me for years," Lee said hesitating a little, not quite sure how to ask the question that was on his mind.

"What's that?"

"Well, I have a few memories of living with Grandma Stetson from the time my parents died until I went to live with you when I was seven. They're a little fuzzy, but I remember being happy there. So, I guess my question is why did you take me in then when she didn't die until I was ten and why did it take you two years to do it? I mean, for all the years that you told me you were just living up to your family obligation by raising me, it never made sense to me that you waited two years to act like you gave a crap about me."

His uncle sighed as he reflected on his conversation with Dotty. "I was wondering if you were ever going to ask me about that," he said.

"Well?"

Robert sighed again and said, "A big part of the reason that I didn't want to take you in at first was that it...it was just too damn painful. I don't know if you even realize just how much you look like my brother. Even when you were a kid, you did. Every time I saw you and that mischievous little grin you always used to have on your face, I was reminded of looking after my little brother when we were growing up, seeing that same look on his face. His dad, my step-dad reminded me every day that as the older brother it was my job to keep him out of trouble. I always had a tremendous amount of respect for your grandpa Stetson. I didn't have any memories of my dad since he died during the war before I was even born, so he was the only father I ever knew. You're very fortunate that you at least have some memories of your parents."

"I don't know. Sometimes I wonder if I wouldn't be better off if I didn't. Then maybe it wouldn't hurt so much, especially now with the boys in my life. I look at poor Jamie who was only a baby when his dad took off and how needy he is. Then I look at Phillip and how angry he is at his father and I sometimes think that Jamie's got the better end of the deal because he doesn't have as many memories of his dad being around as Phillip does. While he needs a lot of reassurance, that's a lot easier to overcome than Phillip's resentfulness."

"You sound like you know them very well," his uncle mused.

"I do. I told you I'm serious about taking care of my family and trying to be the best dad I can be to them, but you still haven't fully answered my question."

"You must be quite the interrogator on the job," Robert replied with a smile. When Lee just glared at him, he said, " Alright, you win." He took a deep breath and plunged on. "The first time I visited my mother's home after your parents died and I saw you looking so lost, it reminded me of how unfair it was that my brother died when he was only thirty-five. That's younger than you are now. My mother and I discussed what was going to happen to you and she suggested then that I take you since I was younger, actually I was about the age you are now, but losing my little brother, seeing you looking so much like him...it was just too..." He stopped abruptly unable to continue. "I'm sorry."

"I get it," Lee said softly as he got a little choked up himself never having seen his uncle display such raw emotion. After a long pause to compose himself, he asked, "So, what made you change your mind?"

"I can't talk about it," Robert replied.

"Oh, come on now," Lee said in annoyance. "Don't clam up on me now, not when you're finally starting to act like a real person. What, are you afraid that I'll see that you actually have some real feelings?"

"No, it's not that, really. I just can't talk about it. It's classified. You should understand that better than anyone." When Lee glared at him sideways, he said, "Keep your eyes on the road."

"What could possibly be classified about you taking me out of my grandmother's home and into yours?"

"To be honest, I don't know all of the details myself. All I can tell you is that there was an attempt on your life just before your seventh birthday. Your grandmother was attacked and hospitalized and you were too. You actually spent your seventh birthday in the hospital. If it hadn't been for a neighbor hearing the commotion and calling the police, you'd have both been killed. My mother and I had a long conversation while she was recovering and we both agreed that you'd be safer with me since the attacker was never caught."

"How come I don't remember any of this?" Lee questioned. "I don't remember ever being hospitalized when I was that age."

"I'm not surprised. You were doped up on pain medication a lot of that time due to your injuries. The guy who attacked you cracked your skull. You spent a lot of that time unconscious. I wondered sometimes when you were growing up, if there weren't some residual memories there though. Ever since that happened, you always hated to go to the doctor for anything, even routine checkups. There was one time, I had to give you a sedative just to get you to the doctor for your vaccinations."

"Huh," Lee said with a shake of his head. He'd wanted to learn more about his uncle and in the process was now learning more about himself as well. He was about to say something else when a siren and flash of lights behind him stopped him. "Oh, shit," he grumbled as he obligingly pulled the 'vette to the curb.

"What did I tell you," his uncle gloated. "And watch your language."

Lee rolled his eyes at his uncle, reached for his registration and rolled down the window as the cop approached them with the typical, "Do you know how fast you were going?"

An hour later, having finished with the cop and after finding an all-night pizza place that also sold wings, Lee and his uncle walked back through the front door of the house, takeout bag in hand. "I can't believe you got out of a speeding ticket by flashing your agency ID at him and what I really find hard to believe is that he was dumb enough to buy that tall tale you told him about your partner being in danger."

"It wasn't entirely a tall tale," Lee argued with a mischievous grin. "My partner was in danger of not having her craving satisfied."

Robert shook his head, laughed and said, "I guess that much is true. You'd better get that up to her." He nodded at the bag in his nephew's hands. "Though as long as we've been gone, she may have just gone to sleep."

"That'd be just my luck," Lee said as he reached the landing leading upstairs. He paused before heading up, turned to his uncle and said, "Thanks...for everything." Before his uncle could reply, he quickly sprinted up the stairs to the bedroom he shared with his wife. He opened the door as quietly as he could just in case she had fallen asleep.

When he entered the room, he found that not only was she still awake and now dressed in her normal cotton nightgown, but she had agency files strung across the bed. "What took you so long?" she said as she looked up from the file she was reading.

"It's a long story," He said. "What are you doing?" He gestured to the folders on their bed.

"I was just going through all the "evidence" Mrs. Frampton has compiled against us in case we need to come up with a defense a month from now."

"Well, that can wait," Lee said as he used his free hand to take the folder in her hand away from her and handed her the takeout box. "Here, you should eat."

"Thank you," Amanda said with a warm smile unable to believe he'd actually been able to procure hot wings in the middle of the night. "How'd you manage it," she asked. Lee recounted his adventures with his uncle while Amanda ate and he picked up the scattered files. Amanda laughed as he told her how he'd gotten out of the speeding ticket. "You are a dedicated partner," she said with a smile.

"I am," He said. "And as a dedicated partner, I say that since we have the next week off, we leave these alone until we're back on the clock." He then deposited the files on the dresser stripped down to his boxers and climbed in bed with his wife. "And as a dedicated husband, I think you should get some sleep," he added as he kissed her cheek.

"I will," she promised. "I just want to finish these first, especially since you went to so much trouble to get them for me. Besides that, they are really good."

"Yeah?"

"Mm-hmm," she said.

"You've got a little sauce right here." He placed a kiss to the corner of her mouth licking at the buffalo sauce there. "Mmm, spicy," he said with a smile.

"Now, would that be the sauce or me you're talking about," she teased.

"Both," he said with a laugh. "But mostly you," he added his voice full of love for her.

"Good," she said with a nod as she turned back to her midnight snack her heart as full as her stomach was becoming.