Truth Aftermath
Chapter 7
Lee was well into his second drink when he called Amanda after 10 PM that evening.
When Amanda answered, Lee queried softly, "Hi, Sweetie, how are you doing?"
Amanda stated slowly in a concerned tone, "I'm okay, except I miss you, and I thought I would've heard from you much sooner than this...Are you alright? You sound tired."
Lee chuckled slightly and commented, "Well, it's been a lot of laughs today...Say, is your ex, "Mr. Wonderful" there by any chance?"
Amanda replied warily, knowing Lee's tense tone of voice at certain times, "N-No. As a matter of fact, he said he had to check in at the Embassy after he and I talked, and then when he came back a while later, he packed his things, saying he had a new assignment, assuming it was alright with Mother and me, now that we were home, and that he was leaving in the morning, so he'd stay in D.C. tonight...I said that we would be fine. The boys were sure disappointed though, since he hadn't had this long a visit with them since last summer."
Lee grunted at that point, and Amanda asked, "What? What's the matter?"
Lee sighed asking, "Um, where are you right now? Upstairs or down?"
Amanda puzzledly replied, "Uh, downstairs in the family room on the couch. Did you wanna come over for a bit? Mother and the boys have gone to bed already. I told Mother I'd be fine to get myself to bed-she did help me change into my night things of course, beforehand-"
Lee cleared his throat and commented, "Well, I'm home, because I'm really not in the best frame of mind to be there right now, so I will be by in the morning, okay? I love you."
Amanda sighed and answered, "Oh, Lee...I love you too, but just tell me what went on today, and not some fairy tale version. I'm a big girl and can take anything you say to me, hmm?"
When there was no response, Amanda asked gently, "P-Please, Sweetheart? I won't break, trust me...Tell me what's going on?"
Lee swallowed hard as stated carefully, "Well, I told you when we got home that I would talk to Billy and Francine about the elopement and all, right?"
Amanda thought carefully and commented, "Yeah, but I didn't know for sure if it was going to be today or not...So, what happened?"
Lee finished the last of his drink, and putting the glass down on the coffee table, replied slowly, "Ah, okay. I called Billy before leaving Dulles to head home, and he sensed maybe I needed to talk about what happened in California, and I admitted I did, so I headed over to the Agency, where he and Francine, although glad to see me, were acting a bit peculiar."
Amanda, surprised, queried, "Really? How so?"
Lee answered, "Billy had a folder on his desk with expense reports in it, explaining that two forms were in it, with my name on them. He said he didn't think too much about it, until he noticed two of the forms were inquiries about my pension, and also dependent tax breaks, and two salary hikes-"
Amanda groaned, "Ohh, Lee! The forms Edna D'Angelo helped you with?"
Lee sighed stating, "I-I know, Honey... The copies of those forms got mixed up in the folder somehow...So, I came clean about the forms when Billy reiterated about us having an actual relationship, and I admitted that we were already dating at the time that we helped him with the lost weekend case of his...Then, he asked about the day we left for vacation, and Francine asked why you were driving, the whole shebang..."
Amanda sighed responding, "And-?"
Lee commented, "So I mentioned finally the elopement, and those two were actually convinced that you were-"
Amanda chimed in with him, "Pregnant!"
Lee, startled, asked, "What? How did you know I was going to say that?"
Amanda replied, "Because Joe thought I was, and Mother even admitted later to me that she felt the same way-that it seemed people only eloped, back in the day, because someone was in trouble-my late grandmother's words, not Mother's."
Lee stated, "Well, I of course, blew it, when I told them it was impossible, given all the times we'd been interrupted anyway..."
Amanda chuckled answering, "Wow...Backed into a corner, eh?"
Lee sighed commenting, "Yeah, I know, I botched it, but at least now they know all of it, huh?"
Amanda remarked, "Right...Okay, so what about Joe? What did you mean by calling him "Mr. Wonderful"? When did you see him?"
Lee swallowed hard thinking carefully for a moment...If I told her Joe's move over the phone, she may want to confront Joe before he left town, which isn't good for her recovery at this point...But if I go over there now, I may be able to help her deal with it.
Lost in thought, he then shook his head as he realized Amanda was still speaking! "Lee! Are you still there?!"
He sighed answering, "S-Sorry, Honey. Yeah, I'm still here...You know what? I think I will come by after all, because I miss you, too...Just leave the back door unlocked, and I'll be over in a few minutes, okay?"
Amanda replied, surprised by his sudden change of attitude, "Alright...See you soon."
They hung up, and Amanda rose carefully from the couch, and moved slowly back to the kitchen, muttering softly, "Wonder what Lee's trying so hard not to tell me about Joe?"
-SMK-
As she turned the stove on to make tea and went to fill the kettle with water, she thought back to Joe's behavior when he came back to the house to have his burger and watch a bit of TV with the boys, telling them about his trip to St. Thomas... He did seem preoccupied about something...
The boys asked him all kinds of questions, such as how long the flight was, what the weather was like there, and what kind of bugs were there, and that's when Amanda stopped their inquiries stating, with a gesture towards the stairs, "Don't ask your dad things about bugs when he's trying to eat dinner, alright? Now I think it's time you both headed to bed. You have school tomorrow and I don't want two grumpy kids at the breakfast table. March!"
The boys groaned, but did what their mother asked, and hugging Joe, they said their goodnights, adding, "Bye, Dad! Don't forget to send postcards!" Then hugging Amanda as well, when they went towards the stairs, they said, "Love you, Mom."
Amanda shook her head grinning as she cleaned off the kitchen table, stating to Joe, already knowing the answer, "I bet they didn't argue once while I was gone, did they?"
Then she noticed he wasn't really listening as he was staring at the family photos on the bookcase shelf. She asked, "Joe? What's wrong?"
Joe, swallowing hard, commented distractedly, as he rose from the couch, "Um, n-nothing...Listen, I'm gonna go finish packing, and then head out, okay?"
He kissed her cheek as he passed by her at the kitchen table, answering, "Glad you're home, Babe..."
And then her mind came back to the present as she shook her head thinking, Lee, what are you trying to protect me from here?
TBC
