Chapter 16

"You look just like him, Lee, except for the mustache," General Bob Davis said as he stood back and took a good look at his cousin Matt's son, whom he had been led to believe had perished in a fiery car crash more than forty years before. "A little older, of course, he was only thirty-five the last time I saw him, but it's the same face."

"Thank you for saying that, General."

"Bob. You're my cousin, Lee, and I refuse to stand on ceremony with you. As you can see, Sue is just thrilled to meet your children."

Bob and Sue had brought each of the children a doll dressed in traditional Navajo costume, a male figure for Bobby and a female one for Emily. They'd explained that the Navajo people lived in Arizona, not where they lived near Tucson, but further north, near the Grand Canyon, and that their culture was very rich and very historic. "And did you know, Bob, that during World War II, the Marines enlisted Navajo men to serve in the Pacific because they were very brave and fierce warriors, and also because if they talked to one another on the radio in their own tribal language and the enemy heard them somehow, they couldn't understand them because they couldn't speak Navajo. They were called the "Code Talkers" and they were very important to the war effort," Davis had explained.

Clutching her Navajo doll, Emmy said, " Daddy, Ms. Sue says I can call her "Nana Sue" and that Mr. Bob can be 'Poppy'. That's what Kendra calls them. Now we have two grandmas and a grandpa. We had another grandpa, Grandpa Curt, but he went to heaven, Poppy."

"I heard about that, and I'm glad I can be your Poppy. Nobody can take your Grandpa Curt's place, but you can never have too many grandmas and grandpas, can you?"

"Well, I guess you could if you had like a hundred of them," Bobby said after some thought. "Oh, but if you did, they'd all give you birthday presents, and that would be awesome!"

The adults laughed. "I can see the boy has a very practical mind," Bob Davis said. "Where would you put a hundred birthday presents, though, Bobby?"

"Yeah, Bobby, where would you put them? Your room is already full of books and toys now," his sister pointed out.

"Ummm – in the garage, where Dad parks the Corvette now?" Bobby suggested.

"Not a chance, Son, not a chance!" Lee told him. "That Corvette is staying right where it is."

"Oh, well, I don't have a hundred grandparents anyway, so …"

"Mom, Dad, Lee and Amanda have supper waiting for us at their house," Matt said. "Their adopted daughter Leeanne and her husband Jack are there with Amanda's mom, Dotty."

"That sounds wonderful, Amanda," Sue said. "And thank you so much for offering your extra bedroom while we're here; we didn't want to make extra work for Deb and staying with you is much nicer than the VIP quarters at Andrews, as nice as they are."

"Closer, too," Bob said. " I haven't had to hassle D.C. traffic in years, and certainly appreciate a chance to avoid it whenever I can."

"We're happy to have you," Amanda said. "When we bought the house ten years ago, we knew we'd need five bedrooms and three bathrooms, plus a finished basement where our big kids could hang out with their friends in a safe environment, and now that all three of the older ones are out on their own, we have plenty of room, even with the two younger ones. And Lee is really looking forward to spending time with you, talking about his parents."

"He's not the only one," Bob said.

Deb managed to eat a decent amount, but she still tired easily, so Matt took her home at seven o'clock. Dotty left about the same time; after Phillip took her home, he came back to the house and he and Kendra took on the job of watching Bobby and Emmy play in the back yard so Jack and Leeanne could go home and get ready for the last week of school the following day.

Burning citronella torches in the yard kept most of the insect pests away, and as Bobby and Emily took turns on the slippy slide, Phillip and Kendra sat at the patio table and talked. Jamie had left for New York earlier that day, saying he had to be back in Brooklyn to photograph a very large Jewish wedding on Sunday night.

"Your brother is very good at what he does," Kendra said.

"Yes, he is. When he came to Lee right after he finished high school and said he wanted to try for a job at the Agency – this was four years ago, when it still had the IFF cover – Lee took him off for a weekend at Station One and pretty much put him through the wringer. When they were finished, Jamie still wanted to do it, so Lee told him to go get his degree and they'd talk about it. The idea was that he'd be a filmmaker for IFF, but then about the time he got his degree the Agency went public, but Jamie kept up with his photography, which really is the perfect cover."

"Does he have a girlfriend?"

"Not that he's mentioned. I'm sure he doesn't sit at home all the time, but he hasn't mentioned anyone special."

"It would have to be someone who was very understanding of what he does."

"Yes, and women like that are hard to find."

"Guys that understand aren't easy to find either. I had a pretty steady boyfriend while I was at GMU, but when I told him I wanted to apply for the Agency, he pretty much freaked out. We weren't on the point of getting engaged or anything, but I thought I knew him better than that, so when he freaked it really threw me for a loop."

"And then you met me, the only adult member of the spy family – well, except for Grandma, of course- that isn't a spy."

"Yes. It's good that I don't have to explain what I do."

Emmy came running up just then to say, "Phillip, I gotta go potty."

"Use the bathroom in the basement," he told her.

She disappeared through the door that led to the basement of the split-level house and Kendra said, "You take really good care of them."

"They're my brother and sister," he said, shrugging off the compliment.

"That may not be a big deal to you, King Man, but I've seen plenty of blended families where it doesn't work nearly as well. Take the compliment."

"I will, thanks."

Dusk came and Lee came out to tell his children that it was time to come in and get ready for bed. "You're off duty, you two," he told Phillip and Kendra, "and it's barely eight-thirty. Go take in a late movie, go to a club, or just go out for ice cream. We'll see you tomorrow."

"Thanks, Lee," Phillip said, as Lee shooed the kids into the house. "Well, K. D., what shall it be?"

"Ice cream. I want one of those big sundaes from Every Day is Sundae."

"The Brain Freeze Special?"

"You bet. After four days at Station One, I've earned it."

" I won't argue with that. One BFS for Agent Davis, coming right up."