Chapter 16

Dotty, Phillip and Jim arrived on July 28th, much to the delight of Bryan and Pete Van Slaars, who soon introduced the King boys to all their friends. On Friday the 31st, before Lee had to leave on Saturday so he could reset for work on Monday, the whole family went downtown to the Denton County courthouse, where Judge Ray Martin conducted an adoption hearing in chambers. Amanda and Dotty had helped Leeanne put on a pretty dress and had brushed her hair until it shone before pinning it back on each side with pearl barrettes; she couldn't wear hard shoes because the casts on her legs went down to her ankles and shoes would have been uncomfortable, but Amanda found a pair of soft leather-soled slippers that matched the dress for her to wear instead. Lee and Amanda were dressed appropriately for court as well, of course, and Amanda thought Lee had never looked more handsome except on their wedding day. In fact, he was wearing the same suit he'd worn that day in February, as was she. Phillip and Jim looked a bit uncomfortable in coats and ties, but Lee assured them that they wouldn't have to wear them for long, and the dress code was a way of showing respect for the dignity of the court.

Judge Martin asked to speak to Leeanne in private, with only his court clerk, a middle-aged lady named Della Sanders, as chaperone. After only a few minutes, Mrs. Sanders called them all back in, and Martin said.

"I've spoken to Leeanne at sufficient length to confirm that this adoption is her best interests, and therefore I've waiving all the other legal formalities we would normally require of adoptive parents. Since the late Dr. Louise Osterman saw fit to name you, Mr. and Mrs. Stetson, as Leeanne's trustees and guardians, I am merely reconfirming her expressed written wishes. Therefore, I am pleased to tell you, Mr. and Mrs. Stetson, that your petition to legally adopt Leanne Louise Osterman has been granted, and that I have directed that a new birth certificate be issued in the name of Leeanne Louise Stetson, daughter of Lee Matthew Stetson and Amanda King Stetson, residents of Arlington, Virginia. The actual legal document will take a few days, but in honor of the occasion, I've asked Mrs. Sanders to prepare a commemorative certificate for you to take home today. Mrs. Sanders?"

Mrs. Sanders handed him the certificate. He presented it to Leeanne, shook hands with everyone, and posed for pictures with the family.

"The next time you have this sort of picture made, Miss Stetson, I expect will be when you finish college. We're going to miss you here in Denton, but I know you'll do well wherever you continue your education. Have you thought about where you'd like to do that?"

"Well, Your Honor, Mama is a graduate of the University of Virginia, which as you know was founded by Thomas Jefferson himself, so that's a possibility, and Dad got his degree from the University of Alabama. I'll be living a few hours from William and Mary as well, but for this first year, while I get used to being a Virginian, I think I'll just attend George Mason, right there at home."

"A very wise choice. Congratulations again to all of you."

For the occasion, Lee had rented a minivan that would seat seven and allow space to store Leeanne's wheelchair behind the third seat. "I think one of these is in our future," he said as he put it into gear and pulled away from the courthouse. "I'll start looking for one once I get back to D.C. next week."

"You won't sell the Corvette, will you, Lee?' Phillip asked.

"No, I won't; it's paid for, it's a classic, and I like it too much to part with it for no reason. After all, your mother and I did what my parents would have called 'courting' in that car."

"Do we have to call you Dad like she did?" Jim asked.

"No, of course not; you have a father, a very good one," Lee replied evenly. He didn't like the boy's tone, but he wasn't going to make too much of it. Man, parenting is hard, he thought.

"You're really lucky to have such a good dad, Jim," Leeanne said. "I never had one until now, so I'm really happy that Lee is going to be my new dad, and that you're willing to share your mom with me."

"Nobody asked me. We're just supposed to shut up and accept it," Jim said.

Before Phillip could say something that would start an argument, Amanda said, "Fellas, we've talked about this, but obviously, we didn't talk about it enough. When we get back to the house, we're going to sit down and hash this out. Until then, we're going to be courteous to each other, understand?"

"Yes, Mom."

When they got back to the house, Dotty excused herself tactfully and went over to visit with Barb Van Slaars while the rest of them gathered around what had been Louise's kitchen table.

There were some tense moments, with the boys alternating between being sullen and being argumentative; Amanda had to remind them several times that they were expected to be polite and considerate even if they weren't happy with what was going on. Finally, Jim burst out with, "Lee, you said you knew her mother in high school. Was she your girlfriend?"

"Are you asking him if he's my real father, if all that about the man who died in Vietnam was just made up to cover up what they were doing?" Leeanne asked. "Because if you are, I asked him the same question when I was eleven, and he told me I was out of line. And then my mom told me what had really happened: she was assaulted by her boss at a church college she was attending. I was the result. She was an innocent young girl and he took her innocence and then tried to blame it on her. Lee didn't know what had happened until much later, after she'd married Walter Osterman, who offered to rescue her out of the goodness of his heart. Look, I know this is tough for you, for both of you," she continued. "Just in the last year, you've had to adjust to both your parents getting married again, and not to each other. Then your mom – our mom – got shot, and now you're being asked to accept a new sister you don't even know. It's a lot. I get that, but do you think we could all work together to make this family the most awesome one in Virginia?"

Seconds ticked by with no response from either boy. Amanda remained silent and sent Lee a glance that urged him to do the same.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity but was really only about ninety seconds, Jim said, "I'm sorry you lost your Mom, Leeanne."

"Thank you, Jim."

"I'm sorry too," Phillip said.

"Thank you, Phillip."

"I guess we thought you were this perfect person who never acted out and that we'd have people asking why we couldn't be more like you," Phillip admitted.

"Perfect? No way!" Leeanne said. "I was constantly getting into trouble at school because if I thought something was stupid, I said so, out loud. I can't count the number of times they had to call Mom from the school because I'd smarted off to a teacher. I hate boring routine, I detested those worksheets they gave us to keep us busy, and I didn't hesitate to say it."

"You finished high school when you were sixteen," Phillip said. "That's only two years older than I am now, and I haven't even started."

"So what? I did it because I wanted out of the grind of high school, but my first semester of college everybody looked at me like I was some kind of freak. The summer session last summer wasn't too bad because it's very intense and most people just want to get the class over with so they can go out and have some fun at the pool or whatever, but when I got to the fall semester last year it was miserable. I just didn't fit in, you know? Mom was wonderful, though; she talked to me about how she never felt like she fitted in either when she was in high school because her family belonged to a really strict religious group – not really a church, more like a cult – that wouldn't let girls cut their hair, wear any makeup, wear any kind of pants let alone jeans, or have anything to do with boys outside the church. She kept the fact that she was friends with Lee - Dad- secret from everyone in her family because she knew that if they found out, they'd yank her out of the public high school and send her to school at the church college. She said he was the only reason she got up the courage to go to school every day, because she knew he'd be there and he'd listen to her and support her. He was her best friend – her only friend, really."

Phillip and Jim looked at their stepfather with new respect.

"Wow," Phillip said. "I … wow. We knew he was this hotshot federal agent, but we didn't know that he helped your mom like that."

"Well, he did, and he caught a lot of grief for it, Mom said."

"Louise told me the same thing," Amanda said. "It didn't surprise me at all. And yes, Lee, we'll stop talking about you, since it's embarrassing you to no end. Phil, Jim, have we made some progress? I'm not foolish enough to think this settles everything, but have we made some progress?"

The two brothers looked at each other and said, "Yes, ma'am."

"Good. Now then, in honor of that progress, how about if I call out for a couple of extra-large pizzas – make that three – and we'll invite Bryan and Pete over to help us eat them?"