I started this story meaning to write something lighthearted and fun, fitting to Jonathan's personality

I started this story meaning to write something lighthearted and fun, fitting to Jonathan's personality. But he's informed me that there's more to him than meets the eye. That his priorities may have changed…so it's changed into a story of events that force Amanda to grow up, and Jonathan to prove that his priorities have changed. So bear with me. It's turning into more of a drama than an action adventure. =)

Family

Amanda threw her pen down with a disgruntled sigh, scowling at the text before her. Her eyes ached from deciphering the ancient language. She'd been working on the tome for hours. It was her last task before she left her job at the museum this week. She was leaving in search of the gold she'd told Jonathan she'd wanted at the beginning. It had been nearly 7 months since Jonathan had walked out her door, out of her life. She knew from Rebecca that he'd returned to England with the O'Connell family. She also knew that Evy had given birth to a daughter. Her name was Emma, and from the letters Alex had written her Amanda could tell that she was going to be doted on by the entire family.

Speaking of family…while she couldn't say that her relationship with Ardeth was close, there was a friendship between them. She saw him and Rebecca often. They were due to travel to the Medjai City this week. Their child was due in a month, and Ardeth wanted to be home before that happened. He'd asked her to go with them, and she'd agreed. Her apartment was packed up and what belongings she did not wish to keep she'd sold. She didn't want anything tying her down in Cairo. She planned to leave with the pack on her back, and money in her pocket.

She closed the book with a scowl, deciding to let her replacement finish the translation. She was free.

Two weeks later:

"I thought the baby wasn't due yet." Amanda said, wincing when Rebecca gripped her hand tightly as a contraction ripped through her.

"Tell that to the baby." Rebecca said with her teeth clenched against the pain.

"Can you walk?"

The answer to that question came when Rebecca doubled over in pain. Amanda looked around. She slid her arm abound Rebecca's waist, bearing most of her weight as she helped her to the shade provided by a tree.

"I knew this was a bad idea." Amanda muttered. "We should have stayed at home."

Rebecca had wanted to go for a walk. They'd been in the Medjai City for two weeks now, and Rebecca had been complaining because Ardeth had done everything short of tying her to a chair to keep her within his sight. He'd had been called to a meeting of the council, and Rebecca had taken the opportunity to escape. She'd wanted a walk, and despite Amanda's protests had walked out the front door without a backward glance. Amanda had sighed and gone along. Someone had to keep an eye on her stubborn sister in law.

"Don't say it." Rebecca said, her breath coming in gasps.

"Don't say what?"

"Don't say 'I told you so'." Rebecca warned.

"Fine. I won't." Amanda sighed, looking around in exasperation. "Why the hell did we walk so far out?"

There weren't buildings in sight anymore. There wasn't anything. They'd only walked for an hour, and Amanda didn't think they'd gone very far. After all, Rebecca couldn't walk very fast. But they'd gone further than she'd thought.

"Go for help." Rebecca said.

"Sure, and leave you here alone? Ardeth would have my head." Amanda laughed nervously. "I'm not leaving you alone. When he discovers you're not at home he'll come find you."

"That could be hours!"

"We'll be fine." Amanda assured her. "This giving birth thing can take all day. My mother told me it took her 18 hours to have me…"

…Two hours later:

"Goddamn." Amanda gasped, her eyes wide as saucers. "It can see its head!"

Rebecca's wail cut off anything else she might have said. She was pushing…suddenly the head came free. Amanda's hands were filled with a mass of slippery baby. Rebecca gave one final push, and the baby slid into Amanda's waiting hands. She used her finger to gently clear the baby's windpipe, pleased when a choked cry was emitted.

"Thank god." Rebecca said, her voice weakened. "What is it?"

"It's a boy." Amanda told her, blinking back tears as she wrapped the squalling infant in her shirt.

She handed the baby to Rebecca. The rest of the birth was over quickly. Amanda used Rebecca's own knife to cut the cord, wiping the blade on the grass when she was finished. She took off her skirt, cutting it open to form a sort of blanket to lie over Rebecca. She wiped her arm across her face, mindless to the fact that she wore only a thin camisole, and a slip. She sat back tiredly, smiling at the sight of Rebecca with her son in her arms.

"He's beautiful." Amanda said hesitantly.

"He will be once we get him cleaned up." Rebecca smiled.

Amanda tore a bit of material from her slip, wetting it with water from her canteen and handing it to Rebecca.

When Ardeth found them he couldn't believe his eyes. Rebecca lay back against Amanda's lap, her eyes closed in sleep and the baby cradled in her arms. His heart stopped for a moment, she was so still…

"She's fine." Amanda whispered when he knelt beside them. "They both are."

The rest of the search party stood back, allowing Ardeth this time. He cradled Rebecca in his arms as Amanda rose, walking on shaky legs to the edge of the clearing. She was met and wrapped in a blanket by one of Ardeth's men. She smiled at him gratefully, missing the way he looked at her with admiration. She did not see what they saw, a brave woman that had brought a child into the world without help, and without knowledge. She ran a hand over her face, wincing at the stickiness of blood.

"Must you always do things the hard way?" Ardeth asked his exhausted wife, running a finger down her cheek tenderly.

"Always." Rebecca agreed, shifting the baby in her arms so Ardeth could look upon him. "Say hello to your son."

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"I am in your debt."

Amanda turned at the quietly spoken words. She met Ardeth's gaze, smiling at him tiredly. She'd had a bath and felt human again.

"No you're not." Amanda replied, covering a yawn. "He's my nephew. Some day I will tell him how much HE owes me because I…"

Her words trailed off when he stepped forward, framing her face in his hands and kissing her forehead.

"I am in your debt, Lailah."

Tears filled her eyes as he turned and walked away. He'd called her Lailah, the name that her father, their father, had used for her. She knew then that he'd accepted her as his sister. She rubbed her hand across her eyes, dashing away the tears. Now was not the time to get sappy.

"We will have visitors." Ardeth told her, turning to look at her from the doorway. "The O'Connell family should arrive tomorrow."

"Oh." Amanda replied, the color fading from her cheeks. "I didn't think they'd travel with the baby."

"I do not believe that Rick could stop Evelyn from doing what she wants." Ardeth said, his teeth flashing as he grinned. "We seem to both be unable to control our wives."

"Ardeth." She called, flushing when he turned back to her. "Is he with them?"

"I do not know."

The next day:

"Wow. He's a greedy little sucker." Amanda said, laughing when the baby set to wailing when Rebecca pulled him away from his source of food.

"Yes, he is." Rebecca said with what Amanda decided was a maternal smile. "Rather like his namesake, I think."

They'd named him Jonathan Ahmed.

"Here." Rebecca offered. "Hold him."

"Oh, I couldn't."

"Sure you could. It will give me a chance to use the restroom." Rebecca insisted, placing the baby in her arms. "Just hold him upright, against your shoulder. Pat his back a bit."

Amanda shifted the baby carefully so that he rested against her shoulder. She pat his back awkwardly, relaxing, as the baby didn't seem to have any objection to its position. She rubbed her cheek against the soft hair, closing her eyes as she snuggled the baby.

"Look who's here!" Rebecca said from the other room, pitching her voice a touch louder so that Amanda could hear.

Amanda's eyes sprang open as Alex bound into the room. She tilted her head back to look up at him. He'd definitely grown. Her stomach clenched as Rick walked in. He stepped up to her, eyeballing the baby she held against her shoulder.

"He doesn't have his mother's red hair, thank goodness." Rick said with a grin. "Hopefully that means he won't have her temper."

"Watch it buddy." Amanda said mildly. "His mother just walked in behind you."

Rick glanced over his shoulder to see Rebecca standing behind him with her arms folded across her chest. Evy walked in, Emma cradled in her arms. Emma was three months old now, if Amanda remembered correctly from Alex's letters. Rebecca came over and took her son, turning to introduce him to the room.

"His name is Jonathan Ahmed." Rebecca said, turning as Jonathan walked into the room. "We'll

We'll call him Ahmed, so it won't be confusing."

Amanda's stomach dropped. Rick saw her gaze dart around in panic, as if she were looking for an escape. He didn't miss the cold look his wife gave her, and he stepped forward with a warning glance. They'd talked on the way over, and decided that this was Jonathan's battle. She didn't need to fight it for him. He caught his wife's glance, shaking his head slightly as he took their daughter from her arms.

"Behave." He admonished quietly, so that only she could hear.

Amanda watched as Rebecca handed her son to the man she'd named him after. She used the opportunity to duck out of the room, stopping when she met Ardeth in the hall.

"Running?" He asked, raising an eyebrow as she shot her answer back over her shoulder.

"Yes!"

She was out the door in a flash. She knew it was cowardly, but she couldn't face him right now. She didn't know if she could ever face him again.

Jonathan had watched her bolt out of the room as Rebecca had handed him her son. She looked good. He'd nearly convinced himself that he'd forgotten how good she looked. He never had, of course. No amount of alcohol could make him forget her smile, how soft her skin was, the color of her hair. He dragged his attention back to what Rebecca was saying, ignoring the amusement in her eyes.

"You say Amanda delivered him?" Evy asked with disbelief.

"I don't know what I would've done if she hadn't been there." Rebecca said as she finished telling the story. "She was amazing. We've had to turn away three suitors who wanted to marry her just for that. Then there are the ones who saw her in her underwear."

"What? Did you say she…marriage?" Jonathan sputtered, outraged.

"She used her shirt to wrap Ahmed in, and her skirt to cover me. She looked quite fetching in her slip." Rebecca continued as if he hadn't spoken.

"Wow." Evy said. "Just when you think the worst of her, she comes through in a pinch. It makes it very hard to hate her."

"You never hated her, Mum." Alex said, slinging an arm about her shoulders.

Jonathan handed the baby back, suddenly uncomfortable with the conversation. He walked out of the room, not admitting to himself that he was going to seek her out.

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Amanda paced, as she had been doing for the past half hour. She'd locked herself into her room, unwilling to face any of the people downstairs. She felt guilty, and she'd convinced herself she'd been justified when she'd lied to them in Cairo. That was in Cairo. Now she knew she'd been wrong, but she didn't know how to go about making it right. The only person who did not seem to hold a grudge was Alex.

She froze at the knock on her door. She crept forward as the knob turned, halting when whoever was on the opposite side discovered it was locked. The knob jiggled, and Amanda jerked the door open, her gaze widening when she saw Evy standing there.

"Oh."

"I'm not who you were expecting, I'm sure." Evy said dryly. "May I come in?"

Amanda nodded, stepping back as Evy closed the door behind her. Amanda braced herself for the lecture she expected, and deserved. She stiffened with surprise when Evy stepped forward, embracing her fiercely.

"You saved Rebecca's life." Evy said, her voice free of the censure Amanda had expected. "I owe you."

"You're the second person who's said that this week." Amanda said with a shaky laugh, patting Evy's back awkwardly. "You're not yelling at me."

"I've decided not to waste time being angry with you." Evy replied, stepping back to stare at Amanda appraisingly. "You were protecting yourself. I just wish that Jonathan hadn't been hurt in the process."

"Me too." Amanda agreed, her voice soft. "How has he been?"

"Miserable." Evy confided with a pleased glint in her eye. "He's been trying to forget you. He's failing, I might add."

"I love him." Amanda blurted, shocking herself with the admission. Her gaze was stricken as she looked at Evy. "I'm totally wrong for him."

"You may be totally right for him." Evy corrected.

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Jonathan watched as Amanda and Evy entered the room arm in arm. He glanced at Rick with a raised eyebrow, nodding to indicate the two.

"They're chummy all of a sudden." He muttered under his breath.

"That should make it easier for you." Rick said, ignoring the glare his brother in law shot him. Rick was enjoying this immensely.

"It might." Jonathan said, frustration making his voice hard. "If I could get her alone long enough to talk to her. She keeps disappearing."

"Corner her while you can." Rick advised. "She's got Emma. That means she can't run anywhere."

Jonathan looked over to see his niece in Amanda's arms. Something twisted inside him at the sight, and he knew he might as well give up the fight.

"Damn." He sighed.

Amanda felt someone sit on the couch beside her but she was too absorbed in cooing at the baby to look up. She assumed it was Evy, and spoke without thinking.

"She has Jonathan's eyes."

"That's what I've been telling everyone." Jonathan said, his lips very close to her ear.

Amanda froze as he reached around her to rub Emma's cheek, an action that brought him up against her back in a half-embrace. Rick tugged Evy along with him out of the room, taking the opportunity to get his wife alone while the baby was occupied.

"We need to talk, you know." He said easily, leaving his arm comfortably draped over her shoulder while the baby clutched at his finger. "You can't avoid me forever."

"We have nothing to say to each other." Amanda replied stiffly, fighting to keep her emotions out of her voice. "Our conversation was finished 8 months ago."

"No it wasn't." Jonathan admitted. "I walked away."

"All the more reason not to continue it now." Amanda told him.

She stood abruptly, taking care to cradle Emma gently as she glared down at him. He lounged back on the sofa, fighting to keep a smile off his face. Trust her to make this difficult…

Amanda turned and stalked out of the room. If she'd seen the grin that lit Jonathan's face on her departure she would have turned back around…and hit him.