10
Window Reflection
The Long Christmas Eve
It had been a nice Christmas day. Dinner was over, Dean had left, and Dotty and the boys were behind her in the family room enjoying their Christmas presents as Amanda was finishing the dishes. She could hear the boys and their contented joy as they explored the gifts they had received. She had always loved Christmastime, even more so as she had become a mother. It was so special to enjoy it through the eyes of her children. After being trapped in that cabin last night and all that had transpired there, she was even more sentimental about being with her family today on Christmas.
The peaceful feeling of fullness that was usually in her heart during this special season was greater this year. She was safe and warm and with her family just like she should be. But this year some of her thoughts went beyond the inhabitants of her house. As she gazed out the window her thoughts were also on two KGB agents who were about to be deported and a very lonely older American agent who hopefully was going to be reunited with his daughter soon. But a bigger portion of her thoughts were centered on a hospital room and an even lonelier Lee Stetson.
When Philip and Jamie's father had called to wish them a Merry Christmas she couldn't help but think of Ted Rudolph who never had been able to call his own daughter on holidays or birthdays. As she served the goose at the dinner table she thought of little Lee Stetson fighting over the dark meat with five hundred men in Guam. And as she sipped wine while sitting next to Dean she could hear her words to Lee from the night before, "How often does a suburban lady like me get to drink vodka with the KGB and eat beans on Christmas?" How often indeed? There she was, in the warmth and safety of her home when last night she was in a cold cabin in the woods surrounded by SWAT teams.
When she thought about last night, she was actually pretty proud of how she had handled it. She had risen to the task and there had been a Christmas miracle. Sometimes she really surprised herself, but her only true motivation had been her concern for Lee. She had only wanted to make sure that he had gotten the care that he needed. She paused and stared out of the window into the dark night. Had he ever gotten the care that he needed? When he had told her about his Christmases as a boy on the drive into the woods she could feel her heart breaking for him. She could tell he was trying to be brave. He had the same look on his face that Philip or Jamie did when they were trying to be brave about something. She had known better than to push him about it any further.
Only one thing left her unsettled. It was silly, really. She sure hoped that Lee hadn't heard her comments after he had tackled her to the ground on their walk out to Rudolph's cabin. She shook her head at her girlish reaction. Well, maybe she had been momentarily disappointed that he was only being gallant, but really she wouldn't want anything to compromise their growing professional relationship. She had a lot to learn from Lee Stetson and she had a feeling that there were some things she could teach him too. But in this moment she wanted to enjoy her family on Christmas. She was a very lucky woman.