Truth Aftermath
Chapter 18
As Lee sat in the room with the boys, trying to gather his thoughts, Phillip sighed, and asked impatiently, "Well? What is it? Just tell us. We can handle it-"
Jamie, raising a hand up towards Phillip, shook his head answering, "Hey, Doofus! Can't you see this is hard for him? Just give him a chance-"
Phillip argued back, "Why? All he's doing right now is trying to come up with something he thinks we'll believe-"
Lee then spat out, cutting both of them off with, "Knock it off!"
When both Phillip and Jamie then stared at him, Lee commented calmly, "Alright...First off, what I'm about to tell you stays in this house. Do you understand me?"
When he saw Jamie nod, but Phillip shrug with an air of indifference, Lee snapped his fingers in Phillip's face, stating firmly, "Hey! Look at me! I'm serious here!"
Phillip, startled a bit, looked at Lee, then swallowed, answering, "O-Okay! I get it! Go ahead."
Lee sighed and remarked, "Alright. Now, before I begin, I want to stress to you both that your mom did not go into this business willingly! She was helping me out the day she took Dean McGuire to the train station four years ago..."
And as Lee told what he could about the" business", meaning the Agency, and their mother's involvement, he finished by responding quietly, "Look, I did want her to quit early on so she and the rest of you could be safe, but she refused, wanting to help in her own way. And as luck would have it, she became quite good at the job, until I couldn't imagine doing it without her...In fact, letting her go was the last thing I wanted because by then, I was already in love with her."
Phillip, absorbing all that Lee had said, queried, "So, does that mean we're all in danger?"
Lee stated firmly, "Now that you boys and your grandmother know? Yes...You are all targets along with your mother and me. But we will do everything we can to keep you guys safe, huh? So...Any questions? I'll answer what I can."
Jamie asked quietly, "What about Dad, and the rest of our relatives?"
Lee sighed commenting, "Your dad knows because your mom explained about our marriage to him, also. As for your aunts and uncles, we'll have safety nets in place for them, but they aren't aware of our job. So, please, Guys, don't even tell your friends about this. Will you promise me that?"
As Lee looked at Phillip and Jamie intently, they slowly nodded, and he then got up from the desk chair, and sighing with relief, stated, "Okay. I think you've had enough for tonight, so I'm gonna head out..."
But as he got to the bedroom door to open it, he looked back at them, answering with a swallow, "One more thing, Fellas...I didn't tell you all this to scare you, but I need you to understand just how important you all are to me, and the last thing I'd ever want is to lose any of you! See, I lost my parents when I was four, and being raised by my uncle later on, never really had any sort of connection to anyone-until I got to know your mom, that is. Look, I know we have a long road ahead of us here, but if we could just meet each other halfway, it would at least be some sort of start, you know? Well, good night...Thanks for hearing me out."
-SMK-
With that, Lee left the room, closing the door, and Jamie looked at Phillip and queried, "Well, what do you think?"
Phillip sighed and shrugged, commenting quietly, "I dunno how I feel right now."
Jamie nodded, and asked, " Okay...Can I say something, though?"
Phillip responded, "What?"
Jamie remarked firmly with a gesture towards the bedroom door, " Alright...You, me, and Mom loved Dad, but he didn't love us enough to stay. Lee Stetson, on the other hand, really loves Mom, and wants to stick around! But it won't be fair to any of us if we don't give him a chance, right? So, can you think about it that way?"
Phillip got up from the bed, suddenly answering gruffly, "I'm done talking about this! Let's just get ready for bed, okay? We got school tomorrow."
He left the room to head to the bathroom to brush his teeth, as Jamie, shaking his head, went to his dresser to get his pajamas to change...
Meanwhile, downstairs, Lee sat at the kitchen table with Dotty and Amanda, going over the talk he'd had with Phillip and Jamie, and replied, "I-I guess it went alright, but Phillip? Whew! That's one angry kid right now."
Amanda swallowed hard as she reached for his hand, stating, "Well, Sweetheart, that's on me, I think, because of Joe and me splitting up years ago-"
Lee sighed and shaking his head as he squeezed her hand, responded, "No, Honey. I think it's a combination of everything, really. The divorce, for one, and then your shooting, and then finding out a stranger, an intelligence agent, is now his new stepfather? It's going to take time for him to wrap his head around all of it, you know?"
Amanda asked pensively, "What about Jamie? Did he take it alright?"
Lee answered evenly, "I'd say he was more surprised than shocked, but all in all, more worried about you in any case."
Dotty faintly smiled remarking to Lee, "Well, he was always more sensitive than Phillip, and always thinking about things completely before making up his mind about anything...So, what do you want to do? Would you want to go ahead and move in with us? I certainly wouldn't mind-"
But Lee and Amanda looked at one another, and smiling, shook their heads, as Lee responded gently with a hand up, "Thank you, but not yet...I think it would be like poking a stick at an angry bear at this point. Let's do this slowly, okay? Amanda had the right idea when she said I should try to get to know the boys first. I've talked to them, and made it clear that I will be around because I care about all of you, and I have no intention of leaving...The ball is in their court now."
Getting up from the table, he glanced at his watch and replied to Amanda and Dotty, "Well, it's late, and I have work in the morning. Thank you for dinner, and for the talk. Every little bit helps here."
He hugged Dotty, and kissing Amanda, commented, "I'll call you tomorrow. Love you."
But as Lee headed for the front door, Dotty responded to Amanda, "You go walk your husband out, and I'll check on our boys...Husband...Son in-law... Heh...I like that!"
Amanda nodded, smiling as she replied, "Thank you, Mother. I do, too!"
Walking out to the driveway with Lee a few moments later, queried to him, "Not the married life you expected at all, is it?"
Lee shrugged, and stopping to hug her and give her a tender kiss, commented lightly, "Hey...I've got a wife, a mother in-law, and two stepsons in one great package already! It's just going to have to be sorted out somehow until it works for us, you know?"
And as Lee got into the car and started it, Amanda asked carefully, "And it will work, right?"
Lee, taking her hand, kissed it, stating firmly, "We'll make it work!"
Then with a wink at Amanda, and a smile, he drove off, more confident than ever, that he and Amanda made the right decision to marry...
TBC
