CHAPTER SIX

Tuesday 21 July, 9:15pm 

After her mother's full debriefing with Billy at the Agency, Amanda was allowed to take her home.  Amanda, however, wasn't looking forward to the forthcoming conversation - the one that would explain her odd behavior for the last four years.  Billy had agreed that she could fill Dotty in on the basics - beyond what had become obvious during the previous day - that IFF was a cover for the federal government's Agency.

"So you're a spy?" asked Dotty as her daughter pulled the Wagoneer out of IFF's underground parking lot. 

Amanda smiled to herself as she remembered that had been one of the first things she had asked Lee.  "We prefer agent, Mother." 

"I see."  Dotty nodded.  "So, how long have you been an…agent?"

"Well, officially, just about a year.  But, I've been helping out around here for nearly four years now."  There was a pause as both women sat in silence.  "I did tell you once, Mother.  Don't you remember?"

"You told me you were a spy?  I think I'd remember that."  The disbelief in Dotty's voice was clear. 

"I did, Mother."  Amanda spoke deliberately.  "Don't you remember?  That morning when I hustled you onto a train to Vermont in the early hours to see Aunt Lillian?  Before you left, I told you then."

Dotty closed her eyes and rested her head on the back of her car seat as she trawled through her memories.  Suddenly, she opened her eyes and looked at her daughter.  "You said there was a nuclear bomb in Washington!  Something about the answers being inside your head."  Dotty was obviously struggling to remember what else was said, but she couldn't.  She resumed her posture of eyes closed and head leaning back.

"It's true, Mother, there was a nuclear bomb and it was hidden at Arlington Cemetery but it was okay because I told Lee about the dishwasher."

Dotty's eyes opened again.  "You did what?"

"The dishwasher.  You know when it's acting up, you just jiggle the blue wire?  Well, I told Lee to pull the blue wire on the nuclear bomb and it worked.  Lee saved us all."

"Oh."  Dotty still wasn't convinced she wasn't having one of her dreams, like she had after reading a particularly lurid spy novel.  She opened her eyes and looked again at her daughter.  "You're really a spy?"

"Yes, Mother."

"And our dishwasher saved us all from nuclear destruction?"

"Well, sort of."

"I hope this is that other secret you've been keeping from me."

Now it was Amanda's turn to look confused.  "Mother?  What other secret?"  The slight tinge of pink in her cheeks indicated to Dotty that Amanda remembered more than she was willing to admit. 

Dotty smiled, deciding it was time to turn the tables and gain the upper hand in the conversation.  "That day, when you told us you were already married to Lee.  You told the boys that there would be no more secrets.  I knew then that you were lying."

"But…how?…what?  Why didn't you say anything?"

"What could I say?  I knew you must have a good reason for lying, or you wouldn't do it.  Like I said this morning, I knew you'd tell me when you felt the time was right.  Although, I could've done without finding out this way."  She laughed, and reached out to cover her daughter's hand with her own.

"I'm sorry, Mother."  Amanda couldn't think of anything else to say.  For several minutes, Amanda drove on and the two women sat in silence.  Suddenly, Amanda spoke again.  "It's why we tried to keep everything a secret, you know.  To protect you…you and the boys.  We thought you'd be less of a target."  Suddenly Amanda smiled.  "It seems, though, that you are quite adept at getting yourself into trouble."

"A-man-da!" exclaimed Dotty.  "What happened today was not my fault."

"No, it never is," Amanda said wryly, thinking of the many times she had stumbled into something the Agency was involved in.  Under her breath, she muttered, "Must be a family trait."  Dotty just looked at her curiously.  Glancing across to her mother, Amanda said, "You are all right, aren't you Mother?  After today, I mean?"

"Oh, yes," Dotty said, and her eyes suddenly became more animated.  "I know that Mr. Melrose said I can't talk about specifics but I've still got enough that I can talk about to keep the Women's Circle interested for months.  I know for a fact Agnes is going to be really sorry she missed all the excitement.  I mean, she must have left just minutes before those men came into the salon."

"Moth-er," said an exasperated Amanda. 

"It's okay, darling," said her mother, conspiratorially, "I'll remember to keep your name out of it."  Dotty smiled and Amanda sighed in relief.  At least she was taking today's trauma pretty well.  All those spy novels must have paid off.  They drove the rest of the way home in silence, each of them wrapped up in their own thoughts of the day's events.

As they pulled onto the drive at 4247 Maplewood, Dotty finally spoke again.  "So are you going to tell the boys?" 

As she put the car into park, Amanda looked at her mother.  "I don't know.  I wish Lee was here.  We didn't tell them for their own safety, but maybe, if they knew more, they could protect themselves better.  It might put them on their guard, but I don't want it to ruin their lives and have them always looking over their shoulder.  I just don't know."

"They're growing up, Amanda.  And they're smart, too.  They're not your little babies anymore."

"Hmm," was Amanda's only response.

"Maybe you should wait until Lee gets back.  I assume he's on a…mission, do they call it?"

"Yes," said Amanda sadly.  "It's contact-zero."  Dotty looked puzzled.  "It means he's not allowed to contact anyone from the Agency, no one from his real life at all.  For security reasons.  It means he's on his own in the field and I've no idea when he'll get back."  She paused, then added as an afterthought, "If he'll get back."

"Amanda, now don't you think like that.  Of course he'll be back.  He's a very resourceful man.  I'm sure he'll be fine and back before you know it.  No wonder you've been behaving so oddly lately."

"I'm sorry mother.  I tried not to let it get to me, but it was different this time."

"Different?"

"Well, before, we weren't a visibly married couple.  You know what I mean?"  Dotty nodded.  "Before, we weren't supposed to be seen together all the time.  Now that we can be, it's harder when we're not.  I just miss him."

"We all miss him.  So, knowing what you do - or don't, rather - I'm surprised you've held together as well as you have."

They got out of the car and entered the darkened kitchen in silence.  Dotty turned on the lights and Amanda began to prepare a pot of coffee as Dotty continued the conversation.   "You've not had it easy, have you Amanda?  Bringing up the boys alone and everything."

Stopping what she was doing, Amanda interrupted, "I wasn't alone, Mother.  I had you."

Dotty smiled.  "Yes, darling, but it's not the same as the boys having a full-time father.   Now I find that you're not only a Den mother, an active member of the PTA and a volunteer for more charities than I care to remember, but that you've also been a spy for the last few years.  I'm really very proud of you, you know?"

"You just do what you have to do."  Amanda's eyes filled with tears.  "Thank you, Mother."  She gave her mother a hug, then resumed her coffee-making.  When she was finished, she gave a cup to her mother.  As they sat down to drink together on the couch in the family room, Amanda spoke.  "Why didn't you ask why I did it?  Why I kept doing it?  Why I didn't stop putting you all in danger?"

"Amanda." Dotty reached over and squeezed her daughter's free hand.  "I trust you.  You wouldn't do anything to deliberately hurt us.  I know that - and the boys will understand that too.  And besides…" 

Amanda saw a grin forming across her mother's face.  "Besides what, Mother?"

"I may be your mother, Amanda, but I'm also a woman.  You forget that I've had occasion to look into Lee's eyes myself."  She winked at her daughter.

"Oh, mother!" said Amanda, as her face turned bright red. 

Dotty laughed.  "So, why did you do it?"

"It all started out as an accident, a chance meeting.  Then I kept getting involved.  Soon I began to feel it was too important to let go.  That I was helping to make the world better for Philip and Jamie.  Besides, Lee really needed me."

"He doesn't strike me as the type of man who would admit he needed help from anyone."

Amanda smiled.  "No. Not at first, but we became a team before we even realized it.  Looking out for each other, knowing what the other was going to do before they did it."

Dotty looked knowingly at her daughter.  "You've been in love with Lee for a long time, haven't you?"

"Yes.  Well, no.  Well, I don't know.  I certainly liked him, but he could be so…so…infuriating!"  She laughed.

"It's usually the most important people that we find the most annoying, love.  If you don't care about them, what they do doesn't matter."

"I suppose so.  He certainly didn't seem to like me much in the early days.  But his boss, Mr. Melrose kept putting us together.  I think Billy saw how well we complemented each other, before we even knew.  Then, more and more, Billy would find excuses for getting us to work together.    He loves to take credit for the two of us."

"Amanda, I've always thought that Mr. Melrose was a charming man."  Amanda's mouth fell open.  "Close your mouth, dear.  You'll catch flies in there."  Dotty winked.  "So, you've no idea how long it will be before Lee gets back?"

Amanda's lip trembled.  "No," she said weakly.  "It wouldn't be so bad if he'd been making his check-ins, but he can't.  Ooohh!," she said, flinging a sofa cushion across the room in frustration, "it's just not fair!"

"Come here," said Dotty.  Her daughter felt like a small child again as she was enveloped in her mother's arms.  "He'll be fine, Amanda.  He loves you, and no one will be able to stop him coming back to you.  No matter how hard they try."

"She's got that right."  A voice behind them spoke from the kitchen doorway. 

Amanda sat up and looked toward the sound.  "Lee!"  She ran over and engulfed him in a hug, with a grip that would have made a limpet envious.  As he hugged her back with almost the same force, neither said anything.

Eventually, Lee spoke, although his voice sounded quiet and a little strained.  "Amanda?"  He paused, then tried again when she didn't reply.  "Amanda, I'm gonna need to breathe real soon, you know." 

Without lifting her face, which was buried into his chest, she said, "What?"

"A-man-da…breathe…I can't-"

"Oh."  She eased her grip, just a little, looking up at her husband.  "Sorry."  She gazed into his eyes, as if trying to believe this wasn't a dream.  "You're back?  You're really back?"

"Obviously," he grinned at his wife, glad to have been missed.  "Now, can I come in?"  He was still standing in the kitchen doorway.

"Of course you can, Lee," interjected Dotty, as she leaned around her daughter and dragged him into the kitchen, with his own human limpet still attached.  She closed the door behind them.  "So, how long have you been standing there?"

"Oh, just a few minutes, Dotty.  I didn't like to interrupt."  He smirked at his mother-in-law, with a twinkle in his eye.  He reached down and picked up his wife and carried her to sit on his lap on the family room sofa.  Looking into her eyes, he asked, "So, did I miss anything?"

Dotty placed two cups of coffee onto the table in front of the sofa, totally loving the sight of her two favorite people, her children, who were so obviously in love with one another.  Time to make a discreet exit.  "Well, I'm going to take a long soak in a hot bath, then I'm off to bed. I've had a long day, you know."  Dotty stopped talking as she realized Lee and Amanda weren't listening to her.  "Goodnight Moneypenny, 'night James," Dotty said, chuckling as she headed up the stairs. 

"Thanks, Dotty," called Lee as his mother-in-law retreated.  As her words sunk into his consciousness, he looked quizzically at Amanda. 

"It can wait," she replied.

Accepting her words, he returned his attention to his wife and said, "Well, Mrs. Stetson.  It looks like we're all alone."  He leaned forward and his lips sought Amanda's.  The second their lips touched, the world around them disappeared, taking away so many unpleasant thoughts and worries. 

~~SMK~~SMK~~SMK~~