Truth Aftermath
Chapter 4
While the boys had gone upstairs to finish their homework that night, Dotty had put the family's takeout dinner in the oven on Warm, and Amanda waited for her to come to the couch to talk.
When Dotty was ready, she came over to sit next to her daughter and asked gently, "Alright. What happened? Why did Joe really have to leave?"
Amanda sighed with a shrug, "To maybe get some air?"
Dotty then shook her head impatiently answering, "Don't get cute! I'm serious here-"
Amanda then nodded and replied quietly, "I-I know...But before we continue this discussion, I'd like to ask you something, and I'd like an honest answer-without thinking about it, okay?"
Dotty remarked, "Of course, Darling. What is it?"
Amanda swallowed and queried, "When Lee and I first told you about the elopement, what was your immediate thought? Go!"
Dotty shrugged responding quickly, "Well, I hate to use this phrase, because your grandmother used it so often, but...Back in the day, when a couple eloped, it meant that the girl was expecting-"
Amanda groaned, and shaking her head stated sadly, "Oh, my gosh! Not you, too!"
Dotty was bewildered, and commented, "I-I don't understand-You mean, y-you are, or Joe thought-"
Amanda sighed deeply and replied, "I mean that Joe misunderstood why Lee and I eloped! Of course I'm not pregnant! And yes, maybe someday, I'd like to explore that option. But with everything that just happened with the shooting and all-Look, Lee and I still have a lot to talk about before we even think of things like that, alright? And you know I'd tell you if it did happen, right?"
To Amanda's surprise, Dotty answered quietly, "Perhaps, but in all fairness, you haven't been exactly forthcoming to me about much of anything in your life lately-"
Amanda was astonished, and queried, "Mother! How can you say that? You know about Lee now and-"
Dotty sighed commenting, "Yes, but only because it took a tragedy to force you both to come clean, when you could have done it a while back, say, when you returned from that awful running from the Government situation?"
Seeing Amanda's crestfallen expression, Dotty rose from the couch, and kissing her forehead, answered softly with a gulp, "I will always love you, Panda, but I-I almost lost you, and, while I like Lee Stetson, it's going to take some time to come to terms with all this...I'm going to lie down for awhile, but please let me know if you need anything, alright?"
Swallowing hard, Amanda nodded, stating, "I-I love you too, Mother," as she watched Dotty slowly head up the stairs. She knew things would change, but how had it become so difficult so quickly, she wondered?
Sighing deeply once more, Amanda rose from her place on the couch slowly, and reaching down for her tea cup, brought it up with her, and headed over to the kitchen sink to rinse it out.
As Amanda cleaned out the cup, she thought, I wonder how Lee is doing? She couldn't remember at that moment if he said he was going to talk to Billy yet or not, but she did recall him telling her that he would call her later...
-SMK-
And at that particular moment, as Lee sat in Billy's office, he felt suddenly as though he were being interrogated when he slipped up while making an earlier comment, causing Billy and Francine concern!
Billy glanced at Francine before focusing on Lee, then sighed and asked carefully, "Lee, what's going on? Look, as I've already said, I'm not angry, I just want to help you, okay?"
Francine, clearing her throat added, "Me, too. And I apologize once again for being a bit too nosy where you and Amanda are concerned. I-I promise, nothing you share will leave this office if you don't want it to, alright?"
Lee nodded and swallowing hard replied quietly with a shrug, "Okay, I get it. You guys care and I appreciate it. I just-I just don't know where to start here, you know?"
Billy shrugged answering, "Wherever you feel comfortable to start, Son."
Lee, clearing his throat nodded, then began with, "Alright, Billy...Remember when you had trouble recollecting your weekend a while back, and you said to Amanda and me, that whatever our relationship was at the time, was fine with you?"
As Billy nodded, Lee, looking at Francine, added, gesturing to Billy, "He told Amanda and me at that point, that we all look for something, and when we find it, that we should hold on with everything we've got..."
As Francine nodded, Lee, pausing to gather further thoughts, began again, answering, " The truth is that we were already dating at that point, Billy...But I hadn't made any concrete plans, until just before the Birol mess..."
Billy, realizing what Lee was referring to, gestured back to the desk, and Lee nodded stating, "Yeah...I asked Edna D'Angelo to look into all that paperwork because I had planned to propose to Amanda-"
Lee stopped and shaking his head, remarked gravely, "Then, everything went from hell to a hand basket when Birol kidnapped Amanda! The longer she was gone, the worse I felt! I kicked myself mentally every day, thinking, Why didn't I do it sooner? I even played the "what if" game that we agents aren't supposed to play!"
Swallowing hard, he answered lightly, "Then I found myself going to see Dotty West...You know, to finally meet her, and let her know that Amanda was just on another trip, but also for me, to reassure myself that I'd get her back home somehow."
He chuckled saying, "I swear, Billy, as I was standing in Amanda's house, I had this vision of Amanda, telling me that she was okay! It gave me peace of mind at that point...So, that's when Francine and I came up with a plan to try and find Amanda-"
Billy, shaking his head at Lee then, commented firmly, "It was bad enough when Birol had Amanda, but then we found out he grabbed you-You and Desmond took a real chance there- but when we heard about the explosion-"
Lee raised a hand replying quickly, "I-I know, Billy! But I got to Amanda in time, thank God!"
Francine nodded, then asked, "So, when did you propose, or have you yet?"
Lee laughed and responded shakily, "W-Well, it happened when Birol had us locked up at the end-"
Billy, incredulous, uttered, "Son of a gun!", and Francine sighed, "Wow!"
Lee nodded answering, "I know, right? And it not being the best of situations, I felt like I wouldn't get a better chance at that point, so when Birol demanded I give him my complete list of sources and contacts, including Nightcrawler, and left us alone for me to work on it, I proposed to Amanda, and she accepted."
Billy and Francine smiled, and he asked, "I see...So, when's the big day so we can mark it on the calendar?"
Lee, filled with remorse at the question, sighed and replied, "Well, you see...Here's the thing..."
TBC
