Part Ten
5:30 P.M.
The debriefing had gone surprisingly
quickly, and Lee and Amanda found themselves back at the house before dinner.
Deciding they needed a few minutes before they spoke to the boys, Lee and
Amanda went around back and sat in the gazebo. Through the kitchen window,
Dotty noticed them and went outside.
"Mother, I'm glad you decided
to come out here," Amanda said as Dotty walked into the yard. "Lee
and I have decided to tell the boys about our marriage, but we decided that it
would be for the best to only give them one bombshell at a time. The information
on our jobs is going to have to wait until they're a little older."
"What if they ask why you kept
your marriage a secret?" Dotty looked at them intently, trying to make
them think of any questions that the boys might possibly have.
Amanda sighed. "We'll probably
give them a modified version of the truth. We only plan to tell them about our
marriage tonight. The truth about our jobs is just going to have to wait,"
Amanda repeated, to insure that her mother understood.
"Is that your final
decision?"
"Yes, it's our final decision,
Dotty," Lee spoke up.
"Okay. I'm not exactly thrilled
by the turn of events, but it's not my decision to make," Dotty conceded.
"You both have my full support."
"Thank you, Mother."
Amanda stood and leaned in to give her mother a brief hug. "We really
appreciate it."
"Well, dinner's almost ready.
You know, I thought it would be a good idea to eat dinner early. I was afraid
that the boys might be too upset to eat if they heard about the marriage
first."
Amanda turned and reached for Lee's
hand, "Okay, let's go inside."
As soon as the trio of adults had
gone inside, Angela climbed down from the tree house. She had wanted to have a
few moments to herself before she went home. She didn't mean to overhear the
adults' conversation, but there was no way she could leave while they were out
there without being discovered. But now she knew she'd better get home; Jamie
would probably need to talk to her after he talked to his mom and Mr. Stetson.
Still, something about what Jamie's mother had said confused her. The truth about our jobs is just going to
have to wait. 'What did she mean by that?' Angela wondered as she left the
yard. 'Jamie told me that they were film makers.'
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6:30 P.M.
After everyone had finished dinner,
Phillip and Jamie cleared the table and washed the dishes while the adults went
into the living room.
"Amanda, are you sure that you
and Lee want to do this by yourselves? I could help you," a concerned
Dotty said to her daughter.
"Mother, thank you for your
offer, but this is something Lee and I need to do on our own. We can handle
it." Amanda reassured her mother.
"Are you sure?"
"Mother! If we need you, we'll
call. I promise. Go upstairs and try to relax."
"Okay. Remember, if you need
me, just call," Dotty said as she reluctantly went upstairs.
Once Dotty had left the room, Amanda
looked into the kitchen and whispered to Lee, "They should be done with
the dishes in a couple of minutes. Are you ready to tell them?"
He ran his fingers through his hair
and began to pace. "Amanda, do you think they'll be upset?"
Amanda watched as her husband
continued to express his nervous behaviors. "I really don't know how
they're going to react. If they do get upset, it won't be because we got
married, but because we kept the marriage a secret. Just keep that in
mind."
"I'll try to remember,"
Lee told her. A few minutes later Phillip and Jamie joined them in the living
room.
"Hey fellas," Amanda
greeted them. "Would you both please sit down? Lee and I have something to tell you."
Not suspecting anything, the boys
took a seat.
"Now, I want you both to listen
carefully to what we have to say before you make any comments, okay?" Both
boys nodded in response. "Sometimes adults do things that they think are
for the best. And while they don't mean to, they sometimes aren't honest with
the ones they love the most." Amanda shifted uneasily in her chair.
"I don't know any other way to tell you both this, so here goes: Lee and I
have been married since last February."
She looked at the expressions on
their faces. "I know this must be a shock for you," Amanda continued.
"We didn't tell you for a whole bunch of reasons; however, after hearing
Jamie's essay, we realized that they weren't very good ones."
The room was silent as Phillip and
Jamie sat and tried to absorb what their mother had just told them. Lee and
Amanda exchanged glances, both unsure if they should say anything more. Dotty,
listening from the top of the staircase, turned and went back to her room.
Finally, Phillip spoke up,
disappointment evident in his voice. "You didn't trust us enough to tell
us you got married? Lee," Phillip
turned to the older man. "I thought you and I were friends. I guess I was wrong.
Friends don't hide things from each other."
"I know we've hurt you, but we
had good reasons," Lee began.
"What were your reasons?"
an angry Jamie interrupted. "Why didn't you tell us you were
married?"
"Jamie, our reasons are
complicated." Amanda tried to explain.
"Don't give me that! We're not
little boys anymore!" Jamie persisted.
"Jamie," Amanda
reprimanded him gently. "I'm still your mother."
Lee took a deep breath and decided
to try to explain. "You two hardly knew me. I couldn't just stroll in,
announce I'm your step-father, and expect you to accept me with open arms.
Before marrying your mom, I never had much of a family of my own. I needed time
to adjust to you, and you needed time to adjust to me. It wasn't something we
could just blurt out." Lee looked at the boys timidly, afraid of how they
might respond.
"If that's all it was, you
could've told us during Thanksgiving or Christmas or some time before
now." Jamie's agitated words were not what Lee had wanted to hear.
Lee and Amanda looked at each other,
trying to figure out what else they could say. It was obvious to them, that
what they had decided to tell Phillip and Jamie wasn't going to be enough.
Finally, Lee decided to try again.
"The documentary film business is a very competitive one. There are
desperate people in our business that would do just about anything to get rid
of the competition. Production crew members have even had their families
threatened. Your mother and I didn't want either of you to be used as pawns. We
thought it'd be for the best if no one knew we were married. Looking back, I
realize that our logic wasn't very good. Maybe we should've waited to get
married until you got to know me better, but I just couldn't wait to marry your
mother," Lee admitted, the honesty in his last words ringing true.
"Just let me know one more
thing, okay?" Phillip asked. "If Jamie didn't do an essay on honesty,
would you still be telling us this?"
"I honestly don't know,"
Amanda replied. "Maybe."
Phillip nodded, not sure if they
were still holding back. "Thanks for being honest, but if you don't mind
I'm going to go upstairs. I need some time alone."
Jamie began to follow his brother,
but stopped just short of the stairs. "I don't know if I can trust either
one of you again. It's like you were forced to tell us." Turning away
again, he went upstairs.
"Phillip, Jamie . . ." Lee
began but Amanda stopped him.
"Let them go," she said.
"They'll come back when they're ready to face us."
"She's right," Dotty said
as she entered the room. "And you don't need to tell me what happened. I
heard most of it from the top of the stairs."
"Mother," Amanda began.
"Don't be upset, Amanda,"
Dotty told her daughter. "I was worried."
"I'm not upset. Thank you for
worrying."
"It's the part of my job that
doesn't ever end. Now, why don't you two sit back and relax for a little while?
I'll go get you some double fudge brownies and coffee. I'm sure both Phillip
and Jamie will come around."
"I hope so," Amanda
answered. "I hope so."
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