It was still early when Lee and Amanda returned to their suite, Sahara padding softly behind them. When they settled on the low sofa, she stretched out on the rug. "Give me your feet." Lee urged. Amanda required no convincing and happily entrusted her feet to her husband's ministrations. She laughed a moment later as Sahara caught Lee's ankle between her big paws and began stroking her head against his foot, her fang catching a ticklish spot and making Lee squeak. Though she wasn't holding him tightly, her claws were sufficiently extended to keep him from any sudden motions. "Didn't you once tell me that you weren't ticklish?" Amanda inquired with glee.

"I was lying!" Lee managed, squirming desperately. Heroically, his hands continued their rapture-inducing massage of Amanda's feet. Finally content that she'd picked up enough of her new friend's scent, Sahara settled down in a ball, her big body wrapped around Lee's ankles.

"She's beautiful, isn't she?" Amanda asked.

"Yeah, she is." Lee agreed. "What would you think of getting the boys a kitten for Christmas?"

"I thought you were a dog person?" Amanda teased.

"I'm both." Blushing slightly, he shrugged. "Actually, I'm just crazy about most animals. Cats, dogs, fish, horses… heck, I'd probably have a kangaroo if it was practical!" Lee admitted. "I couldn't really justify having anything beyond my Siamese fighting fish when I was single because I was away so much. But with all the changes, and the fact that we'll be a whole family to look after any pets, it could work. Besides, I think it's great for kids to develop responsibility."

"Why not a puppy then?" Lee wouldn't look at her as he answered.

"I think maybe when the twins are a few years old? Think of the points we'd score as parents to get them a dog then!" Amanda laughed. "What?"

"I'm impressed with how well you're picking up on this parenting thing." Amanda told him, though her smile faded quickly.

"What's wrong?"

"I was just thinking that I'm not doing so well at this agent thing." It was Lee's turn to laugh. "I'm serious."

"You can't be." Lee told her, lifting her hand to drop a kiss on her knuckles. "Amanda, you're the best natural agent I've ever seen. Even on that first case, your gut was more reliable than all the trained skill that Francine and I had. We both got captured and we would have found it pretty difficult to get ourselves out of that mess if not for you." Considering his wife carefully, he could see that something was bothering her. "What's bothering you?"

"Doneck." Amanda admitted. "It's only been a few days and I hardly ever think about him. I mean, I never expected to kill anyone but if I was going to do it, then I at least expected to be bothered by it. You certainly tear yourself up over killing people."

"Gee, thanks." Lee muttered. He wasn't sure he appreciated his wife making him sound like a prolific serial killer.

"You know what I mean. I've seen you enough times after you've had to use lethal force. You spend days second guessing yourself and trying to figure out what you could have done differently." Amanda pointed out. "And I think it makes you a better agent. I've seen the way you deal with situations and it's obvious that you've learnt some ways of minimising the risks. I guess it just hits me every so often."

"Amanda, that's normal. We were supposed to be off, remember? There's a reason that you get two weeks off whenever you need to kill someone in the line of duty. Everyone deals with it differently and there's no right or wrong way, as long as you do deal with it. In this case, Doneck had come after our family twice. Once with the PD-2 and again this time, not to mention the first time when I put that slug in his knee. No one would ever have been safe from him, especially not our children. You did exactly the right thing."

"Thanks sweetheart." Amanda said, leaning forward for a quick kiss. Having Lee as a partner and husband was an incredible blessing to her. There weren't many agents who could talk things out like they could. They both understood the challenges of the job and each of them could really help the other gain precious perspective when the job got to them.

Leaning back, she settled into the paradise that was getting her sore feet massaged by her husband. "Have you thought about baby names yet?" She asked, determined to shift to a more pleasant topic.

"I have a few ideas." Lee admitted. "For a girl, I'd like a name that ends with a, like yours. I've gotten so used to hollering A-man-da that I'd like if our little girl had a similar name." Amanda chuckled.

"That's funny because I was thinking the same thing with the e sound from your name." Amanda said. "But I think that we can accommodate both. What do you think of Cassandra? You get you're a sound and, inevitably, that'll get shortened to Casey and I'll get my e sound!"

"Cassandra…. Cassandra…" Lee repeated the name a few times, then tried the diminutive. "Casey!" His imitation of Amanda's most annoyed tone had them both smiling. "I really like that." He agreed. "How about if it's a boy?"

"Well, it's harder because there aren't many men's names that end with an a sound." Amanda said. "But what about naming a boy after our fathers? Matthew Carl Stetson?" Lee grimaced.

"Actually, I know it's a common thing to do, but I don't really like the idea of naming my son for dead people. It always struck me as a lot of pressure to put on a kid. He'll be his own man, so I'd really rather he had his own name. I really like James, but of course, that's already taken in our family."

"I never thought about it that way, but I see what you mean." Amanda considered for a minute. "I like William and Robert but those are taken in our family too."

"How about Stephen or Elliot?"

"Yeah, those are possibilities." Amanda agreed. She wouldn't tell him, but she'd pretty much chosen the boys' names on her own and she wanted to indulge Lee as much as she could."

"Or Desmond?" Lee teased.

"No." Amanda laughed at her husband's teasing. "The names of any of your ex-girlfriends are off limits." They certainly weren't naming their child for any variation on Dorothy, no matter how honoured her mother might be.

The conversation continued for a while until Lee saw Amanda yawn three times in as many minutes. Smiling, he lifted her feet to the floor. "Come on, Mrs. Stetson, it's past bedtime for pregnant mums."

"Well, as long as sexy dads are coming too, it's no hardship." Amanda laughed. Getting to her feet, she quickly pulled her blouse over her head and tossed it in the hamper. Skirt and panties followed and her bra wasn't far behind. Groaning with pleasure as her breasts were freed, Amanda slid into bed naked just as a knock on the door announced a late visit. Pulling the covers up to her chin, she listened as Lee went to answer.

"Rheza?"

"I'm sorry to bother you, Lee. But I've just received word that Samira's house was destroyed in an explosion. She was killed in the blast." Amanda gasped. As her brain scrambled to process the news, Lee quickly finished his conversation and then came towards the bed. Slipping out of his clothes, he got into bed and pulled Amanda close without comment. Amanda knew that even if he hadn't noticed her tears in the darkness, he couldn't fail to feel them against his skin.

"It's my fault. I should have been more careful." Amanda whispered. "I got her killed."

"You don't know that." Lee said. "We aren't even sure the explosion was deliberate." Rubbing Amanda's back gently, he continued firmly. "Amanda, even if it was linked to your visit today, and we don't know that, what else could you have done? You're here to investigate a crime and that means that you'll talk to people and other people might not like that. It's not a predictable risk. You couldn't have known that Samira was in danger. If you had, you would have taken extra measures, offered her security, but you can't let worry about what might happen stop you from investigating."

"You always know just what to say." Amanda said, dropping a kiss on his chest. Propping herself up on an elbow she looked down at him. "Just keep reminding me that now I'm looking for justice for Samira and her daughters."

"I will." Lee promised before pulling Amanda down onto his chest. "But first, we have another mission to work on." Grinning, Amanda let herself be mesmerised by her partner.