Take Two – Chapter 6 – How the Christmas Grinch found his heart

I am so, so, sorry I left everyone hanging back in January. Life got a little busier than I had anticipated. I took the time last week end to organize some things, and spent part of yesterday getting myself reacquainted with this world before jumping back in.

My Take Two is still taking some of the episodes and redoing how they could have gone, but I really want to focus on the building of the relationships Lee is building with not only Amanda, but also her boys.

We pick up just after the Long Christmas Eve. I really didn't want to leave Lee in the hospital without Amanda and her family. Enjoy.

After the guns had been put down, and the teams realized there were wounded inside, all involved were gathered by their various agencies, hands shook, and comments of turning the other cheek in favor of the Christmas Spirit.

Once they were back in Washington, Lee was transferred quickly to the Walter Reed to have his shoulder looked at it. After the surgeons had debrided the area and patched him up, they determined he needed to stay at least until morning rounds to see how things went. Upon hearing the news, Lee sagged back into his pillows in relief. Misinterpreting the action, Amanda was quick to ask him what was wrong.

"Nothing is wrong, Amanda. I am just so happy to hear that I won't be in here the whole day tomorrow." He reached over with his free hand. "I was worried that I would miss our first Christmas together. I even have presents for you and your family to bring over tomorrow." He glanced down. "Although, I may have a hard time carrying them."

Amanda smiled and sighed. "Lee, its fine! I'm just happy you are going to be okay!" Her eyes filled temporarily before she blinked them away. "Now, to help you get them there – are they are already wrapped? If so, where are they, and I will make sure they make to the back of the car before I swing by to get you in the morning."

"Are you sure you don't mind?" Lee asked, hoping that this was going to work out after all.

Amanda waved her hand dismissively and smiled. "I don't mind at all! Now, what about those presents?"

The next day, after swinging by Lee' place to pick up not only the presents, but also the essentials he would need to get dressed for the day, Amanda collected Lee from the hospital and pointed the car back toward the home in Arlington.

Steeling a glance at him, she noticed that he had his eyes shut and head leaned back into the car seat. "You doing okay?"

"Yeah. Not the first time I've been shot." He opened his eyes and saw her worried look. "Hey, look at me." He waited until she glanced at him again, and replied, "It's part of the job, but not one that happens all the time. It'll take some time but I'll heal." He smiled, and continued, "Not to mention that I have the best Bluebell Bedside Volunteer to help me out!"

Amanda snorted, and shook her head. "Oh, you!" At that moment the house was just ahead and Amanda smoothly turned into the driveway, easing over the slight incline from the street to keep from jarring Lee's shoulder. "Ok, home sweet home!" as she unbuckled her seatbelt and looked toward her home.

Letting out a sigh, Lee braced himself not only on getting out of the car but also dealing with Amanda's family, along with the first Christmas that he could recall actually wanting to participate in. "Are you sure it's okay for me to join in?" he asked hesitantly.

Amanda had opened the hatch, but had paused in pulling out the packages in hearing the uncertainty in his voice. Straightening up, she walked up next to him, and gently put her arms around his waist. "I do. They really want you here." She squeezed him gently, then gave him a subtle push toward the front of the house. "Go on, I'm right behind you."

Lee took another breath, then let it out slowly before doing as she said. As he got closer, the door swung open to see a smiling, but concerned, Dotty standing there holding it open. "Lee!" she cried out. Once he was within arms distance of Dotty, she gently folded him into her arms, careful of his shoulder. "Amanda told me what really happened," she whispered. Lee's head jerked up and a look of panic appeared. Dotty shook her head. "I've been sworn to secrecy. However, after the boys are in bed tonight – you, me, and Amanda are having a bit of a chat."

Lee swallowed, and looked back at where Amanda was closing the hatch and carrying his stuff in. He cleared his throat and softly said, "Maybe I should just go –"

"Nonsense, you aren't going anywhere. You need someone to take care of those bandages. Now, come on in before you freeze." Seeing that he didn't really have a choice, he allowed himself to be pulled into the home.

Looking at the tree in the corner, Lee was astonished that there still presents under the tree. Seeing his confused look, Jamie took pity and explained. "We normally do open presents first thing; however, when Mom told us what had happened last night, and that you were getting released from the hospital today, we decided to wait for you. After all, Christmas is not the same if you can't enjoy it with family."

"That's right, sweetheart," Amanda answered as she came further into the room and began to place Lee's presents under the tree. "And I know you and your brother have been very patient, and I really appreciate it." She glanced at Lee still standing there, staring at the tree, jacket still on and looking as if he might bolt. "But, we're going to give it a few more minutes so I can get Lee settled in first."

Lee looked at Amanda when he heard his name mentioned. "Amanda," he moaned. "I can take care of myself. You really don't need…"

"Nonsense." There was that word again! "You were there for me just a few weeks ago when I needed help. Let me help you this time. It's okay to lean on others when you need to." Hearing the words that he had used when helping Amanda with Jamie in the emergency room, he conceded defeat and allowed her to help him get his jacket off. Once she had him situated on the couch with a pillow supporting his arms, she stood up with his jacket in her hand. "Okay, I'm going to go put this away, and then find you a glass and your prescriptions to take. We have water, juice, and coffee. What would you like to have?"

Once he gave her what he wanted, he looked up again at the tree, marveling in the decorations and the amount of items under the tree. Seeing movement out of the corner of his eye, he was surprised to see Dotty bringing him the juice with one of his pills. Taking the pill then the juice, he sipped on the beverage and continued to look at the tree.

Dotty seeing that neither of her grandsons were no longer in the room with them, crossed her arms and leaned on the couch until her arms rested on the back. "Pretty, isn't it? Did you have trees like this with your uncle?"

Lee shook his head. "We kind of stopped doing Christmas after he took custody of me when I was 7 years old. You have to understand, he was a career military man, bachelor to boot, who suddenly found himself as an instant dad and having to deal with not only a child, but an angry child." Lee put the glass down, but continued to look at the tree. "I still couldn't understand why I had to move in with him when I was perfectly happy where I was." He sighed. "It wasn't until a few years later I learned that my grandmother, who was the last relative I was living with, was very sick and knew she could no longer take care of me. They thought it would be best if I just went to live him, no explanation given."

"That must have been very hard for you." Dotty stated. Lee shrugged, but didn't really say anything more. Dotty glanced toward the staircase once again before leaning over further so she could lower her voice. "Lee, I don't know if Amanda had mentioned this to you, but it was the boys' idea to hold off opening the presents until you got here."

"What? Why?" Lee turned his head to look at her. "I've only been in their lives for not quite two months. I would have thought that they would have been like most kids – not be patient and want to open them as soon as they got up."

Dotty smiled and shook her head. "You would think, right?" Pride shone in her eyes. "As soon as Amanda mentioned that you two were scouting a location and were "accidentally shot by hunters", but was going to make it, the boys demanded at that moment to gather all the presents and take them to the hospital." She chuckled when she saw Lee's jaw drop open. "Once she was able to convince them that you were going to be released this morning in time for Christmas, they determined they could wait until you got here." She shrugged and stood as she heard running feet come down the stairs. "Boys, what did we say about running in the house?"

Lee sat there for a few more moments contemplating what Dotty told him before the rest of the household descended into the family room. Being mindful of Lee's injury, the boys opted to sit on the floor and wait for their mother to start passing out gifts.

After the opening of most of the presents, Lee sat back still in awe that he actually had not one, not two, but four presents in front of him from this family. Amanda wadded through all the paper and toys scattered and sat beside him on the couch to watch the boys examine each items they received and talk about "how cool" the ones Lee had given them, which included the Atari 2600. "Lee, it was really nice of you, but really, you shouldn't have. I know that game system was expensive."

Lee shrugged his non-injured shoulder. "After seeing Alexi play, and seeing how much the boys were excited to see the games he was playing, I thought it was only right that they have the option to have one as well. I knew you couldn't quite afford it since you just started at IFF, but I have to admit, I do plan to play some of those games with the boys if they let me have a turn!" he responded with an impish smile.

"Oh, you!" Amanda smiled, thoroughly enjoying this time.

Philip was looking around and saw there were two other packages under the tree that were shoved in the back. "Hey, Mom. I think you missed a couple up under there." He pointed to them so his mother could also see where they were. Frowning, Amanda stood up to go see what he was talking about, and proceeded to pull them out. Seeing that they were still in brown postal paper, Amanda glance to see where they had come from.

Seeing her shoulders droop, Lee became concerned. "Amanda, everything okay?"

Looking back up at Lee, she attempted to smile but it didn't quite reach her eyes. "Uhm, they're from Joe." She looked at the expectant eyes of her boys. "Sorry, fellas, I didn't realize these were here." She proceeded to open the brown packages so she could make sure she got the presents to the right ones.

After handing them out, the boys looked at the packages then at each other as if trying to decide if they should open them or not. After the unspoken communication, they then carefully opened the presents. Inside each one was a stuffed animal – a wildebeest for Philip and a zebra for Jamie. Both boys sighed at the gifts. Philip was the first to say anything. "Mom, why does he even try? Does he think we are still babies in need of stuffed toys?" He tossed it down. "Tell him thanks, but no thanks." He turned his attention back to reading the back of one of the Atari games, ignoring the gift from the absent father.

Lee kept his attention on Jamie, looking to see what his reaction would be. Jamie stared at the zebra for a few more moments, but there was no emotion on his face. He careful sat it down near his mother before saying, "Mom, could you tell him thanks for us?" then wandered over to sit near Lee with one of the action figure sets he had gotten. Lee dutifully paid attention to what Jamie was demonstrating with his action set, but was also watching Amanda. She, too, was also looking at the two stuffed animals. She carefully picked them both up and moved them out of the room.

Not another word was mentioned of the last presents.

"Well, the boys are snuggled down and asleep. I thought for sure Jamie was never going to let go of his GI Joe." Amanda grinned. She wandered through the kitchen and picked up a mug of coffee before joining Lee and her mother in the family room.

Lee was also nursing his own cup of coffee, but was beginning to feel the effects of the last round of pills Dotty had given him while Amanda put her sons to bed. "He really was very happy with that gift from you, Amanda."

Dotty nodded, and joined in. "Then there was Philip – so excited about the Atari! He really didn't want to put down the controllers when we called him to dinner."

"Yeah, we're going to need to put some time limits on that system, I think," Amanda responded as she settled on the opposite end of the couch. "I think just an hour a day is all I can justify for him to play, and even then I'm not sure that it is just too much."

Lee was beginning to feel bad about the gift. "Amanda, I didn't realize – "

"Relax, Lee," Amanda reassured him. "It's good for him to have the system, but he needs to balance it with other things as well."

Lee nodded, then decided to go straight to the question that bothered him about the boys' father. "Amanda, if you don't mind – where is their father at this time? I know I could have read it in your file, but didn't want to violate your privacy."

Amanda cupped her coffee mug, and looked over the rim before answering. "Joe works for the EAO, and has since Jamie was a bay. He has been stationed in Estocia for the last 5 years."

"Is that the last time he saw them?" Lee asked. After getting a confirming nod from her, he continued. "I wondered, as I watching the boys for their reactions. Philip seemed angry but Jamie seemed so indifferent. If the last time they saw him was when Jamie was 3 and Philip 5 that would explain a few things." At her inquiring look, he clarified. "I lost my parents at 5, remember? There are days I think I remember things about them, and others that I think I might have just dreamt about."

He took another sip, and then looked between mother and daughter. "Okay, so I have to ask – what was really told about my injury?"

Amanda looked at him. "Don't be mad, but I couldn't lie to her anymore. I told her the truth." She put a hand up to forestall any protests. "I called Mr. Melrose, and asked him if his family knew about what he did. When he confirmed his wife did know, I asked why not Mother since I need to rely on her from time to time. He didn't have a reasonable argument at that point." She shrugged her shoulders and took another sip of her coffee.

Lee turned to Dotty. "I, uhm, I'm not sure what to say."

Dotty leaned over and patted his arm. "My dear Lee, nothing to be said. You depend on my daughter for things that only a civilian can know. And she does have some rather unique skill sets." She paused before she continued. "However, I am also concerned about her safety if she is to help you in – what do you say – out in the field?" She looked over for confirmation before going on. "Can you promise me that she will be taken care of and protected?"

Sighing, he set his coffee cup on the table before him and turned to give Dotty his full attention. "I can only promise to do my best." He then turned to Amanda. "And since you are now working full time with us, and going more into the field, I think it is time we sign you up for some of those training you've been asking for. After all, I need my partner to keep me from getting into more trouble," he mentioned as he gestured to his injury.

"You've got that right, buster! I'll watch your back, you watch mine!" Amanda smiled. "We also know, based on what you have told me and Mother, which is that your family is basically gone and that is why you have not celebrated the holidays in the past. Even though we've been dating for just a few months, Mother and I would like to officially add you to our family circle. You will never lack a place to call home ever again." Amanda sat her mug down as well, and placed her arm around his shoulder.

Lee lowered his eyes quickly, hoping they would not see the emotions, but was not as successful as he had hoped when faced with two very observant women. Dotty sat her cup down as well, and placed her hand on his right arm. "Welcome home, Lee."

Lee looked up at first Dotty, then at Amanda. "Home," he breathed.

He was finally home.