They'd kept the debriefing to the basics, but it still took almost three hours before they arrived at Amanda's home. Before they left Lee's car in the special storage Lee rented, he'd asked Amanda if she was sure she wanted to re-introduce him to their family before explaining anything. She smiled telling him she needed him there. He was glad there was room for two vehicles in storage leaving both his work and personal car. Next they took Amanda's work car to her storage unit, where they got into her personal vehicle. They'd juggled this life for so long, it was old hap. Even then, Lee and Amanda were hyper-vigilant the entire way to her house watching for any tales. They never were seen together at either of their places or in their personal cars. Being seen together was still dangerous- especially around the boys. There were still security concerns they'd need to get worked out.

As they reached her driveway, they could see that the gang was all home. Amanda quickly called Jaime's cell phone and asked him to make sure the back door was unlocked. Lee and Amanda hurried from her car and into the house.

"Oh, Amanda, you brought your co-worker Lee with you," Dotty exclaimed. "I've been wondering about you. How are you?"

Lee looked over at Jaime, "I'm good." He then looked over at Phillip, "Hey Phillip, how are you?" He hadn't been this close to both his stepsons in so many years. Lee could feel tears starting to surface. He focused on what was before them and forced himself not get too far ahead of the present moment.

"I'm good. Can you smell that food Grandma cooked?"

"It smells good, is that Yankee Doodle Pot Pie? Amanda has brought me leftovers to work before. It happens to be a favorite of mine."

"Sentimental are you?" Amanda whispered to Lee from behind him.

"Yes, that's it," Dotty smiled so happy that he'd stopped by. She didn't understand why he and Amanda had broken up. It was obvious to her in these few minutes that they really loved each other. "It won't be ready for another hour or so. Come, let's go in the living room. We have a lot of catching up to do."

Lee decided to have a little fun hoping it would come in handy in a minute. "Mrs. West, where did you get that recipe? Is it a family recipe?"

"Oh no, dear. But it is a funny story. You see there was, for a short while, a cooking segment on TV, years and years ago, gosh I guess it's been 20 plus years ago. The woman, Ms. Welch, featured some really interesting recipes. I was going through a phase where I wanted to experiment with new recipes and Ms. Welch's recipes had some of the most unique and memorable recipe names, I'd ever heard."

"You can say that again," Amanda chimed in enjoying this moment recalling how it all began.

Dotty never missed a beat, "There were names like Duck a la Nathan Hale, Valley Forge Flapjacks, and Pilgrims Peach Puff. I never missed an episode. So, to say I was hooked would be an understatement. Anyway, Yankee Doodle Pot Pie was one of the recipes on the show. It was probably one of her best recipes. I don't know what I did wrong but several of them just did not turn out. Sadly, the show wasn't on long. You'll never believe this- she was a Russian spy!"

Amanda watched her husband closely. She wondered if Lee's bemused smile was about getting to hear Dotty tell this tale or how long she rambled on.

"Wait a minute," Phillip said. "Why do I remember those recipe names? Weren't those the words written on that note with that old broken music box I found when I snuck a peak into the package?"

Jaime looked at his mom and stepdad and in that instant realized what was held within the package that Lee had handed his mother. He started laughing. "And, as I recall, I'm the one who snitched on you opening that package. We had no idea just what you'd done." The last statement drew an inquisitive look from his older brother.

"Well, actually, yes. Phillip, Mom, Jaime, we need to talk. Jaime learned some of this last night because of something we didn't plan for, but we really wanted to talk to all of you together."

"I want all of you to know that I've kept some pretty big secrets from you through the years. While I did it for your own safety, it doesn't make keeping several big pieces of my life from you right. I, well we," she said as she smiled at her husband, "were going to wait six more months until it would be much safer for you to know this, but as I said, something happened last night that we didn't expect. It wouldn't be right if only Jaime knew. But, what we are going to be telling you has to stay among us. And we'll have to talk about safety precautions too. I want you to know that I love you so much."

"Your mother has hated keeping these secrets from you. If you are going to blame anyone, I want you to blame me. It might have all started with that package, but I'm the one who gave it to your mother."

"What are you saying? Amanda, are you ok?" Dotty couldn't stay quiet any longer.

"Mom, I'm fine. I didn't mean to worry you like that. Lee's fine. Jaime's fine. We're all fine. But this is hard enough as it is, can you let us get this out before you start asking questions?"

"You're right Dotty, Ms. Welch was a spy and it was that music box and Phillip's memory of what the note in the box said, that brought her to justice." Lee started to explain, "if you remember, it was still the Cold War and we were always leery of the Russians and them of us. It's been so long now that most of the case involving Ms. Welch has been de-classified. At the time, most of the cases that I worked involved the Russians and/or the Cold War. Well, I suppose," he fumbled for the words, "that you should first know that I am a counter-intelligence officer, not a film maker. I know, the question you're next thinking, is 'a spy?'. Yes, I am a spy or at least most of my work in those days was as a spy, though I never was truly comfortable with that word. Okay, sorry, back to the package. I was working to get a lead on what appeared to be a leak within our agency. Somehow the Russians had information about where our agents would be. I met a contact who gave me a package. I was being chased before I could open the package to see inside. We'd arranged a series of drop-offs to get the information back to the agency. I was to hand off the package to a man at the train station. But I was very close to being caught and was worried about how I'd get the package handed off. That's when I saw the most beautiful woman I've ever known. Of course, if I'd have known she was in a nightgown. . ."

"I was dating Dean back then and he'd insisted that I drop him off at the train station because it was going to rain. After I dropped him off, this man in a waiter's coat and bow-tie, grabbed my arm. He begged me first to walk with him, then to take a package and give it to a man on the train, a man with a red hat. I didn't take the time to really think it through at the time. There was something in his eyes that compelled me to trust him. They still do. So, there I was in my nightgown and coat, I took the package, and I got on the train. The man had told me to give it to the man in the Red Hat. Now there was the rub, the train was full of men in red hats. I didn't know what to do, so I brought the box home. Somehow, the man found me."

"I had to find her again- I thought because it was important to the case but now I realize because finding her changed my whole life. The woman's mother mailed the package." Lee paused, smiled, and let out a little chuckle, "That was the first night that someone we know almost went to jail- for sneaking around a post office- with yours truly. I suppose I was always getting her into tight scrapes. When we didn't find the package, I said good-bye to the woman thinking our time together was over. I said good-bye to the best thing that has ever happened to me. But, you Phillip, you brought her back into my life, only it took me a long time to realize that she was the best thing ever to happen to me. I bet neither of you know that your mother's flown a helicopter. She did- when she saved my life after solving the mystery of our leak and determining that one Ms. Welch was using her recipes on that cooking show to send information in code to other Russian spies." Lee decided it was best to leave out the deaths of his fellow agents.

They paused to gauge Dotty and Phillip's reaction and see if the re-telling of that initial case sparked any questions from Jaime.

"Wait, honey, I thought you worked with Lee. If he's not a film maker, what do you do?"

"Well, at first it was mostly secretarial, but over a few years' time, I became a full agent. Lee and I are partners. But, remember, mom the boys were so little. Agency policy is that family and friends are told we work for IFF in the film industry in order to keep our family's safe. In those first years, Mom, I wanted more than anything to talk about my job, the changes I was going through, and Lee." Amanda trailed off for a moment and a tear escaped. "But there was a lot of danger associated with knowing what was going on. In fact, in those early years, I was kidnapped because they thought I was the 'Great Scarecrow'," Amanda chuckled as she put quotation marks in the air. "Lee's first code name was Scarecrow. Thankfully I didn't really know that much at that time. I wasn't as fortunate another time I was kidnapped to get to Lee and the man tried to play mind tricks to get national secrets from me. Most agents don't have kids and families. Family members are easy targets and can be pumped for information, even if they don't have any."

"Your mom learned this business so quickly. She really is quite suited for this line of work. Jaime, I think that's where you get it from. She's taught me and a whole lot of other agents so many things through the years. Phillip, I can see why you are so suited to teaching and coaching. Given all that's happened and all the things she, and I, have missed out on over the years, this may sound odd, but she did it, for that matter we did it, for you boys. She wanted this world to be safer for you to grow up in. You may not know it, but she played a more direct role in saving you on several instances. She helped stop a nuclear bomb here in the city, a potential water poisoning, and countless other attempted attacks on this city."

Jaime sat back in his chair taking it all in watching the scene unfold. He watched his mom and stepdad nervously begin to unravel their secrets. He watched his grandmother shocked look and wondered how long it would take her to really see the whole picture. Phillip looked bewildered.

"Mom, do you mind if I continue a bit? With some of what you told helped me put together last night?"

"Phillip, Grandma, I'm sure you remember when I was kidnapped at the Pizza Parlor. I'm not sure if you remember but Lee was there when they found me."

"I'll never forget watching them drag you away that day and wishing it was me," Phillip said. "That was around the time the two of you broke up- was that because of us?"

"That was the case that forever split my life as a mother and daughter away from everything else," Amanda added. "Shielding and protecting you from my work took on a whole new meaning and a lot of changes occurred."

It was Lee's turn. Here came the next big truth. He took a deep breath and dived back in to their story. "As far as this family goes, the harm done to you all that day is my biggest regret. That was all about getting to your mother and I- it was my fault for getting too close to you. Your mother and I had put Hollinsworth behind bars in an Austrian prison. He escaped and wanted revenge. I missed being around you all after that but it was more than worth it to keep you safe. Your Mom and I faced a lot of changes at the time. But we were determined to find solutions to the problems we'd created. And we had some help from two of our best allies at work. Of course, they don't even know what I'm about to tell you now. Your mom and I've kept this secret strictly to ourselves and have never shared this secret with anyone. We've prayed this day, when we could tell you, would eventually come. You see," Lee paused. "Well, I told you that I had to find her," Lee smiled at his wife, "and how beautiful that she is. If you can't tell, I'm still very much in love with your mother- even more so that I was back then."

"And, I still am very much in love with you, more with each passing day."

Phillip watched as Lee and Amanda exchanged a glance, "so, if you are still in love, why aren't you to still together?"

"That's the thing Phillip," Lee said taking one more deep breath before dropping this bombshell on his stepson and mother-in-law. "We were engaged to be married before you had ever met me, well, officially met me. Not all that long, but still. We were married in 1987, a few months after I had barely gotten to speak to you."

I suppose you should also know that I am a spy; I've spied on the two of you all this time and had the privilege of watching you boys grow into fine young men, even if it's been from a far. I love you. It's hard to explain but it was if you were my boys, my stepsons, from the time I started dating your mother almost three years after we had met. After we were married and even after we buried our secret marriage so far underground no one would find it, I never thought of you as less than my boys. It feels so good to simply be able to tell you that I love you. Now, of course, with all the secrets I've made your mother keep, I wouldn't blame you if you hated me and never wanted to speak to again."

"Lee, you didn't make me tell those lies. It was something I did on my own. I felt it was the right thing to do." Amanda walked over to her purse and pulled the letters out. "I know this is so much to take in. The pot roast should be done. You all just sit here and take this in; Lee and I will go set the table and get everything ready." Amanda looked down at the letters in her hand and several tears escaped again. It took her several moments to find her voice. "These are letters that we'd hope you would never see. They are the letters we wrote to each of you if something had ever happened to us. Like so many in this or other dangerous lines of work, we wanted to make sure you knew how much we love you. Of course, I'd never fully understood the logic of that and fully believe you should let your loved ones know they are loved and cherished every single day. But, of course, Lee and I had so much more to explain. And Lee would have never had the chance to tell you how much he loves you," Amanda choked up again as her words trailed off. "There's a letter from each of us to each of you. Lee and I thought they might better explain all that we are try to explain now."

As Amanda passed Phillip, Jaime, and Dotty their letters, Lee spoke, "I know this is a lot to take in but we've kept these secrets out of love. It doesn't make it right and I hope one day you can forgive us."

Amanda and Lee walked through the kitchen to the dining room. Before they started setting the dining room table, Lee wrapped his arms around his wife and kissed her. The tears began to trail down both of their faces and as they looked into each other's eyes they could see their feelings mirrored back- fear, relief, anxiety, and love, so much love. After all this time, it was just a little more than they were prepared for- it all seemed to be happening so fast.

Dotty stepped outside on to the patio in the backyard and sat down at the picnic table. She needed some fresh air. She wasn't sure she wanted to think about what it would have been like to read a letter from her daughter had she died in the line of duty. Or, for that matter, the son-in-law she barely knew. She opened the letter from her daughter first and began to read it.

"Hey Wormbrain," Phillip said to his brother. "How did you learn about this? I'm sure mom would have rather told us all together."

"Yeah, they very much wanted to tell us all together in a few months when Lee would face mandatory retirement, or at least have to come out of the field. You know that for the past month I've been buried under with a case. I wrapped it up earlier than expected and then got called to work security at a party that John's dad, the senator, was hosting at the last minute. I flew out yesterday afternoon. Apparently, mom and dad had someone to keep tabs of my whereabouts. I know, I know, I called him dad. I can't explain it fully Phillip. That man loves us very much. Mom did say that while he wasn't visibly around, he attended as many functions as he could in disguise and supported us financially without even blinking. I just, well, I don't know, I've come to accept that we have a step dad. And, I'm really happy about it- especially for mom. It's like as their secrets have unraveled, we've gained so much. I know this is all much newer to you but it just warmed my heart from the moment it started to unfold.

"Anyway, Mom and Lee must have had some way to know when I wasn't going to be on a case. Oooohhhhh," Jaime paused for a second realizing information about his assignments and whereabouts must have been passed through the elder Agent Beaman . "I think I know how that happened."

"Hey wormbrain, you gonna finish telling me how you learned about this," Phillip asked while waiting for Jaime to continue.

"Oh yeah, sorry. So, I was at the party when I spotted Lee and walked over to say hi. I couldn't figure it out at the time but he seemed quite nervous and was scanning the room. I know now, he was trying to avoid what happened next. The Senator called us over. As we walked over to the Senator, Lee said things were about to get weird and that we had to keep our agent faces on. My first reaction was 'we?' He, thankfully, was trying to warn me that I couldn't have a breakdown in front of the senator and needed to play along. That's when I saw mom standing next to the Senator. He introduced me to agents Amanda and Lee Steadman who had been helping him with some case. Things began to fall into place. I don't know how much I can say but work be damned, I can tell you that I've heard about the legendary Amanda and Lee and some of their exploits over the years. They are revered by so many. So, when I was introduced to them, it took me back. After the Senator walked away, Lee promised he would explain. As I thought about it, I could see the way they loved each other very much. A little while later, I took a break and met them outside where they started to explain. Then, we were on the same flight home and mom finagled me a seat next to them. Lee and I talked some while mom slept in his arms. It's been a long 24 hours to say the least."

Phillip regarded Jaime and what he seemed to think of all this. Jaime had his mom's intuition and knowing that made him feel more at ease. He opened the letter from his mom and started to read, but he noticed Jaime was staring at his letters.

"Jaime?"

"I don't know if I can read these."

"Have you written one of these?"

"Yeah, one to you, one to mom, and one to grandma." Jaime stood up and walked over to the window. "It was the hardest thing I've ever done. You face your own mortality in an all too intimate way and you realize the potential consequences to your loved ones for the line of work that you've chosen and all the sacrifices they make while you're off doing what you love."

"Jaime, they don't feel like consequences. I am so proud of you. I love you." Phillip thought about how close he and his brother had become since the fateful day that he'd been kidnapped. If it hadn't been for his mom and step-dad's line of work, they may not have been as close as they are today.

Jaime turned to face his brother, "I love you too worm brain. I can't imagine what these would have been like to write for them- they had to try to explain all this too." Jaime walked to the living room as Phillip started reading his mom's letter.

Lee separated from his embrace with Amanda, pulled out one of the dining room chairs, sat down, and pulled her into his lap.

He saw the letter in her hand. He knew that she knew he broke their promise. Well, part of it. They had promised not to write letters to each other, but would rather never let the words go unsaid. He had made sure he always told her the same things that were in the letter- that was the part of the promise he had kept. But, he'd written her a letter. He wanted her to be able to read those words hoping that if something had happened to him they would give her strength to go on, to move on, to live, and to thrive.

Amanda looked down at the letters in her hand and started to cry again. She just could not seem to keep it all together. She felt so vulnerable right now. She knew she'd broken their promise not to write letters but she hadn't known until she started handing out the letters earlier that he'd broken it to. Her hands were trembling. Lee took her hands in his and then realized there were two letters. His own tears fell as he looked at his wife.

"Oh Lee," Amanda sighed taking a deep breath to stop her crying. "Here." She handed him the letter she had written many years ago.

Lee looked at her, "Are you sure?" Amanda shook her head yes. "I know what we promised but still I wanted you to have it. But, read it." He paused, "I love you."

"I love you, too" Amanda replied as they began to read the letters.

Jaime watched the exchange unfold from where he sat in the dining room. Watching the scene, tears began to stream down his face. Both for what he had just seen and for all they had done for the boys over the years. The sacrifices they had made in their relationship for the sake of Phillip and him had been weighing heavy on Jaime's mind since the night before. He looked again at the envelopes in his hand. His hand was shaking as he opened Lee's letter first and began to read it.

Dotty wiped the tears away, took a deep breath, and went inside. She saw clearly now how she had made things harder on her daughter over the years. She found her daughter in the dining room still sitting in Lee's lap. "Oh honey, I am so glad that you found a career that excites you and the love of your life," she said as Amanda stood and they embraced. "I am so sorry that I meddled and pried all those years about why on earth you'd want to make those boring documentaries or about your lack of love life. It must have made it so much harder for you and I shudder to think about how much it made you realize how you and Lee were missing out on by not having a normal life."

"Oh mom, you didn't know and you just wanted me to be fulfilled and happy. You love me and I understood that. I am so sorry for all the lies."

"I wish you would have told me the truth, but I understand that you had to keep it all quiet. It must have been such a burden. I love you."

"There were so many times I wished I could sit and talk to my mom about all the things I was learning in my new job, how frustrating Lee could be- he'll even admit that now, about falling in love, about all the decisions we had to make- especially after the Hollinsworth case. I missed out on a lot of real mother-daughter talks. Though, Mom, you often had the knack of saying just the right thing even when you didn't know what was going on."

"Lee, it's clear that you love my daughter and have brought so much good into her life. Welcome to the family, son."

"Oh, Ms. West, thank-you."

"Call me mom," Dotty interrupted.

"Mom," Lee continued clearly choked up. "I can't say that I always dreamed of having a family, but after meeting your daughter, I've wanted nothing more than to be a part of this family."

Jaime was standing in the doorway between the foyer and dining room. "Lee," he said, "dad." He found Lee standing there and, as they looked at each other, Lee opened his arms to his step-son. Jaime found himself in Lee's welcoming embrace.

Phillip walked into the dining room and smiled. "I love this family. Mom, Lee thanks for all you've done for us all these years. I'm sorry you had to sacrifice your own lives for us. Come on now, group hug."

And with that, they all embraced. As they began to separate Dotty noticed that the table wasn't set but saw some letters left on the table. She looked up at Lee and Amanda. They seemed like the weight of the world had been lifted off their shoulders. "Why don't we just eat in the den? Easy and simple."

"Grandma," Jaime said, "if you'll get the plates out, I'll get the pot roast out of the oven." Jaime followed his Grandma into the kitchen giving his parents some time alone with Phillip.