4. Family routine

After the children had gone to bed, the adults moved to the sitting area. Lee suggested lighting up the fireplace, and he went outside to fetch a few logs while Dotty poured them all a glass of red wine.

"I love a man with a taste for wine," she mused and Amanda wondered how many times she could roll her eyes at comments like that from her mother.

When Lee returned, Amanda helped him put the logs in the fireplace, having decided to simply ignore her mother's innuendo completely. Dotty had been on her case constantly when she'd been dating Dean to convince her to tie the knot with him and Amanda feared that Lee was going to be her next target for quite a while. Eventually, she would hopefully see that they weren't compatible at all. Because they weren't, she reminded herself.

Meanwhile, she and Lee worked in tandem to build a fire and within a few minutes, the flames began to emerge from beneath a modest pile of logs.

"There. Just the perfect mix of newspaper and twigs," Amanda said triumphantly.

"And you only needed one match," Lee said with a grin.

"Of course," Amanda smiled, but she felt herself get a little warm and not just from the growing fire they were kneeling in front of.

Lee was clearly referring to their night in the swamp and that brought back so many memories. He had admired her survival skills then, too. Their wrists had still been chained together after they had managed to escape their captors, and Lee had held her close, trying to keep her warm. And then they had almost kissed. If she closed her eyes, she could still feel his breath against her lips, he'd been that close. And then they had heard the men again and they had lost the fire - in more ways than one.

They had cuddled up together again a while later when they settled in to get some sleep, but Lee had been more distant then. Well, until he'd fallen asleep that was. She still hadn't told him what he'd done after falling asleep. They hadn't been completely comfortable of course, sleeping on the cold ground with his left wrist chained to her right wrist. But Lee had held her close again, and after he had fallen asleep, he had caressed her back and shoulders gently. She had never felt as safe with a man as she'd felt in those moments, forgetting for a while that they were on the run from homicidal extremists. When she had snuggled closer against his chest, he had made room for her without waking up, and had rubbed her cheek with his own while whispering words of comfort. She still remembered the feeling of his slight stubble on her skin and she had tried not to wonder if maybe Lee's subconscious was telling him he was with one of his lady friends instead of with her. She hadn't asked him of course, but that near-kiss and his comforting presence even in sleep had given her the courage to contradict him the next morning, when he'd tried to brush the whole thing off.

"Let's hope this fire lasts a bit longer, huh?" she heard Lee ask and she blinked, shaking off all the memories of that night four months ago.

"Yes. Yes, let's hope so," she said quickly.

She stood up to move to one of the armchairs and Lee did the same. He watched her accept the glass of wine her mother was handing to her and he smiled at the older woman when Dotty handed him his glass. He wondered if Amanda had thought back to that night too, like he had. He had been less shocked than he had expected when he'd felt himself being drawn to Amanda like a magnet that night. He had tried to reason it away afterwards, telling himself it had just been the circumstances; telling himself that he hadn't felt drawn to her before at all, like that time in the ambulance after she'd been poisoned; or that time when she had wanted to quit the agency and he'd tried to agree with her but really didn't want her to walk out of his life. He'd even felt a slight sense of rejection whenever she'd confirm so readily that there was nothing going on between them. Strictly business, that was their motto. Or so they'd told each other, over and over again.

He couldn't feel drawn to Amanda, he had kept telling himself. She wasn't his type at all. He always went for the glamorous girls who liked to party and who wouldn't mind a meaningless affair. Amanda was way too conservative about relationships for him. He couldn't even imagine her sleeping with her boyfriend of several months, let alone a random date. What was that guy's name again? Dan? Dean. Dean, who liked to wear plaid coats. He was glad the weatherman was out of the picture now. Amanda might even have wanted to drag him along to this cabin if he'd still been in her life today. Lee tried not to think about why that would have bothered him. There was no room for another person; it was as simple as that. It was bad enough that he was sleeping on the couch - but any other arrangement wouldn't have made sense. Amanda wouldn't even sleep in the same bed with him fully clothed on an assignment!

And yet … they couldn't have been closer to each other that night in the swamp. And that has been why he figured she had only allowed the contact to keep warm. She had completely blindsided him the next morning with her comment and even four months later, he still didn't quite know what to make of it. 'Not exactly.' That was what she'd said when he had suggested that they'd just been two people trying to stay warm. And then she'd left him standing there in the hallway, completely stunned.

He looked at her again and wondered, as he'd done a hundred times before, what was going on inside her head. She hadn't mentioned it again and things had quickly returned to normal. They had worked together, he had pretended to be annoyed with her as usual, until he had finally admitted to himself, and then to her, that she really was a great help and an asset to the agency. She was now officially an agent in training and his partner.

"Lee?"

He blinked when Amanda suddenly called his name, and he sat up a little straighter.

"Yes?"

"I know you told me about our new names, but what are the new names mother and the boys should use?"

"New names? What new names?" Dotty chimed from her spot on the couch, and Amanda quickly explained to her mother that they couldn't use their own names anywhere for the time being.

"Maybe not ever," Lee stressed and she frowned at him.

Amanda didn't see the need to underline that particular detail. She just needed her mother to understand that she couldn't go by Mrs. West for now.

"We'll see about that," she continued. "But what are their names?"

"Well, the boys will be Philip and Jamie Dunkirk, same as our names."

Amanda raised an eyebrow and needed a few seconds to formulate a response.

"Same as ours?" she then asked, stressing the last word in surprise. "You mean you're going to pose as their father?"

Lee looked from her to Dotty and back and seemed very uneasy suddenly.

"Well …" he started, shifting in his seat. "That was our most logical cover. A regular family."

"The Dunkirks? We're the Dunkirks?" Dotty asked, confusion written all over her face.

"No mother, we're the Dunkirks," Amanda told her, waving her hand between Lee and herself. "You can't have the same last name, unless you wanna pose as Lee's mother instead of mine."

That made her chuckle despite the uncomfortable discussion. She still wasn't completely over the fact that Lee wouldn't only pose as her husband, but also as the father of her boys.

"Let's not make this any weirder than it already is, alright?" Lee suggested quickly. "You, Dotty, are Dotty Ross. Fake school records have been made for Amanda Ross and there is a record of your marriage license to Fred Ross of Annandale, Virginia. Fred passed away a few years ago, just like your real husband."

"And you're my daughter's husband."

"Ah, yes. Yes, I am."

"Hah!"

Dotty looked triumphantly at Amanda, who had to suppress the urge once more to roll her eyes.

"Well, why didn't you tell me? Amanda, you shouldn't let your husband sleep on the couch!"

Dotty was clearly joking but Amanda was mortified nonetheless.

"Mother!" she she said through clenched teeth.

Lee seemed very amused and added,

"Yes dear, why did you kick me out of our bedroom?"

"Ho ho, very funny," Amanda huffed.

She wished now that she was a more regular drinker because she had a mind to drink her wine in one go and grab another glass. Her cheeks were red already so she might as well get tipsy, but the wine wasn't the sweet fruity stuff her mother usually brought home and she couldn't just gulp it down like lemonade.

Amanda was glad the others let the joke go after that, until she realized that Dotty was settling in for a nice long chat with Lee about her daughter's love life, or lack thereof.

"You know, Lee. I've been telling Amanda for ages that she needs to get out more. You know, ever since she stopped seeing Dean. For the life of me, I don't know why she let him get away. He was absolutely perfect for her. And for the boys, too!"

"Alright, alright!" Amanda interrupted, standing up to actually go and get that second glass of wine. "Mother, please. I'm sure Lee doesn't want to hear all of this."

"Oh, but I do," Lee said quickly.

Amanda turned to face him and glared at him, but Lee simply smiled sweetly.

"How can I not be interested in every detail of my lovely wife's life?"

"Oh shut up!" she huffed, walking off towards the kitchen. "All mother will tell you is how perfect Dean was for her; not for me."

It was Dotty's turn to roll her eyes, but she clearly wasn't done yet. Lee liked to see these two women together, giving him a glimpse of what Amanda's upbringing must have been like, but he could tell that Amanda felt quite embarrassed. And that wasn't what he wanted for her. But when Dotty asked her pointedly if she would care to share what kind of man would be perfect for her, he had to admit he was interested to hear her answer.

"I don't know why we're even talking about this," Amanda deflected, walking back to her chair with a newly filled glass of wine. "It's serious enough that we need to assume a different identity at all. Who cares that we're posing as a married couple with kids for now. This isn't a game. It could be a matter of life and death."

Lee could see the relief in Amanda's face when they dropped the subject of her love life, and he smiled to himself. He didn't want her to feel embarrassed and he shouldn't expect to find out everything about her on their second day at this cabin. He shouldn't expect to find out anything at all about her, he admonished himself. Where did that thought even come from?

When Dotty got up a while later to go to bed, Amanda was quick to follow her. Lee wondered if she was trying to get away from him but then shook his head as he got his couch-bed ready for the night. Amanda wasn't one to shy away from a challenge. When it came down to it, she was far more direct than him. Over time, she had called him out in ways nobody had ever done before. And she had been the one brave enough to address their attraction in the swamp the morning after. He had been the one to run away then. He still didn't quite know what to do with himself and these feelings. Amanda wasn't his type, remember? He sighed when he took off his sweater and jeans. It was warm in the room now, the fire was still burning a little. He wondered if the women would mind if he'd sleep in just his boxers but decided in the end to keep his t-shirt on. He tried to block all thoughts of Amanda quickly, not wanting to think about what she would wear on a warm night. He grinned when he remembered her "Hot mama" shirt and then sighed when he caught himself wondering what she'd look like in just that shirt and nothing else. It was a good thing it wasn't just the two of them in the cabin. He wondered now how he'd ever gotten through the weekends he'd spent with her without making a complete fool of himself. Amanda King had to be the only woman on the planet who had him flustered so regularly. Maybe it was her bluntness, but then again, she could be the meekest little kitten when she was apologizing for something. She managed to throw him off completely every time and it was annoying. And confronting.

Lee sighed again as he tried to get comfortable on the couch. Tomorrow he would contact Billy. Hopefully, he would have some good news for all of them soon.

…

Unfortunately, Billy didn't give Lee any good news on Thursday morning. A large team was working around the clock to track the Russians involved in the threats and they were passing messages along, hoping the Russians would intercept them, that all of Lee's information was already being processed higher up in the agency food chain. It made no sense to continue to threaten his life or the lives of Amanda and her family to get the intel back. So far, they had not heard back from the group or groups involved so Lee was ordered to stay where he was, in his new identity with Amanda's family. Even if they had gotten the messages, the Russians might still want to take revenge.

Lee knew that Amanda was the first target, since the Russians thought she was his lover. Once again, her life was in danger through her association with him. She could argue that she was with the agency willingly but still, Lee knew that she had shown up on the KGB radar for working so closely with him. Very closely, as the many pictures of them together showed. If he didn't know any better, he would also have thought they were pictures of a couple in a relationship and he wondered if Amanda had seen it too.

She had an eye for these things, reading people's body language and their faces. He wondered what she saw when she looked at the pictures. He even wondered what she saw when she looked at him. Could she see somehow that he had feelings for her that were at the very least confusing? He watched her after his call to Billy as she went over the boys' school books with them to make a weekly study schedule for them. She was sitting at the dining table with the boys while Dotty was getting to know the laundry room and Lee was doing the dishes after breakfast.

"Lee, do you have anything that needs washing?" Dotty called out to him as she walked up to the kitchen counter.

"Ah, yeah. I'll get it for you."

He walked to the laundry room with Dotty and gestured vaguely at the pile of clothes in his open suitcase.

"That?" Dotty asked, making the same gesture. "All of it?"

"Uhm, no … Some of it's been worn but not everything, obviously."

Dotty decided that he couldn't keep living out of a suitcase and went in search of a better place for Lee's clothes. She cleared out two shelves in the linen closet next to the laundry room, stacking up the extra blankets and sheets at the bottom of the closet, and Lee was grateful. He felt like a squatter enough as it was, sleeping on the couch. At least he had a place to put his things now.

Dotty went back to sorting out the laundry, which was already beginning to add up for the five of them after two days at the cabin. Lee was glad that the older woman was adjusting to their new life and he was grateful that she was taking everything so well.

When he walked back to the kitchen to finish the dishes, Amanda looked up from the school books and smiled at him. She had a smile that could light up an entire room and he was grinning back before he even realized it.

Amanda watched Lee as he returned to the dishes. She was glad he was making an effort to adapt to their family routine. She knew he wasn't lazy by nature but she'd seen his apartment and she knew that he had taken his rebellion against his military upbringing to the extreme. But they were in this together and everyone would need to do their part.

Once the boys were hard at work at the dining table, Amanda picked out one of the books she had brought, planning to finish reading it today so she could start reading one of the new ones they'd bought in Romney. She got comfortable in one of the armchairs near the fireplace and Lee asked her,

"You want me to make a fire again? It's a little chilly today."

"Sure Lee, that'd be great," she agreed.

Dotty came back in the room, announcing that she had finally put the washer to work. She was carrying a modest pile of magazines and chose a corner of the couch for herself to do some reading as well. Lee returned with fresh logs and Amanda glanced at him a few times to see what he was doing. He was copying her actions of last night perfectly and sure enough, he got a nice fire started within five minutes. He was looking at the flames contently and then looked up at her. She smiled at him and he winked at her before pushing himself up to go and wash his hands. Amanda tried to focus on her book again but was acutely aware of Lee's every move. She wondered what he was going to do, now that the entire family was engrossed in reading. He had already finished yesterday's paper and they hadn't gone out to get a new one today. She couldn't really picture him fishing or gardening. It was a shame that it was still relatively cold outside. Otherwise, they could all go for a swim in the lake.

Amanda tried not to let her mind wander too much, or try to picture Lee in swim trunks. Still, if they did have to stay here for a few months, it would be interesting …
She cleared her throat when Lee suddenly approached her to check out what she was reading. She really shouldn't be thinking about him like that, because it made her nervous now that he was suddenly so close, leaning his arms on the backrest of her chair to see her book.

"Good book?" he asked and she nodded.

"Yeah. It's a medieval novel."

"Oooh. Very bloody I bet," Lee grinned.

"Yes. And romantic," Amanda added, glancing up at him with a gleam in her eyes that made him pull away quickly. He really shouldn't get this close to her, he reminded himself. She was going to call him out on it every time.

Dotty opened her mouth to say something but somehow, Amanda's death glare shut her up before she could even say a word. Lee decided to get out of the way fast, and grabbed yesterday's newspaper from the coffee table on his way to 'his' armchair. Maybe he could find an article in the sports section that he hadn't read yet.

…

To be continued