5. The boys

Their first week at the cabin went by without any incidents. Not that they had expected incidents to happen, but Amanda had been especially worried about her boys. And sure enough, on Monday, Philip began to complain.

"Mom? What date is it today?" he asked, after finishing his breakfast.

"It's March 17, honey."

"So we've been here for almost a whole week now."

"That's right."

"I miss my friends."

"Oh, Philip."

Amanda stood up to give her son a hug.

"I'm so sorry baby," she said softly and Philip rested his head against her shoulder. He was her oldest but sometimes he was still her little baby.

"We haven't been anywhere yet," Philip complained. "Just here around this stupid cabin!"

"I know, I know," Amanda whispered, rubbing his back. "You know, there's some fishing gear in the shed. I wanna bet there's some good fish in the lake. Why don't we skip school work today and do some fishing, huh? What do you say?"

Philip untangled himself from her embrace and looked at Lee, who was just standing up to go to the van to make his scheduled call to Billy.

"Does he know anything about fishing? Dean did."

Lee stopped in his tracks and Amanda bit her lip. Her eyes sent him a wordless apology but he knew it wasn't her fault that Philip would say something like that. The reality of their seclusion was beginning to sink in for the boys and he couldn't blame Philip for lashing out a little.

"I can teach you, Lee," Jamie piped up, getting up from his spot at the table to walk up to Lee. "We just have to find some worms first."

"Who says I wanna go fishing, wormbrain!" Philip spat at his younger brother.

"Well, then don't come!" Jamie yelled back.

He stuck his tongue out at his older brother and then turned back to Lee.

"You'll go fishing with me, won't you?"

Lee rubbed the back of his neck with his hand and glanced from Jamie to Amanda and back.

"Ah, sure kiddo. Just let me make my call to the agency first?"

"Okay. Can I come?"

Lee looked at Amanda again, who pulled up her shoulders as if to say it was up to him. Lee then smiled at Jamie and told him that, of course, he could come. And he could talk to Billy too if he wanted to.

The two of them left for the van and Amanda sat down at the dinner table, pulling Philip into her lap.

"Philip, I know it's hard for you guys to be away from home and everyone you know. I wish it didn't have to be this way too. But it's just too dangerous for us in Arlington right now. You understand that, don't you?"

"Yeah. But there's no other kids to hang out with here at all. Just my baby brother."

"Jamie isn't a baby anymore Philip, you know that. And you two have fun together too, right?"

Philip shrugged.

"I guess. I just miss my own friends from school."

"I'm sorry honey. I guess it's all my fault for wanting to be a spy," Amanda sighed.

"Oh no mom. That's totally neat!" Philip countered emphatically. "I just wish I could tell my friends about it."

"You can never tell anyone," Amanda said sternly and Philip's face fell.

She didn't want her boys to hurt but she couldn't take Philip's pain away this time and it made her heart ache.

"But meanwhile, we can make the best of it here, can't we?" she asked hopefully.

Philip shrugged again.

"I'm trying mom. I just wish dad was here, too, instead of …"

He gestured at the door and Amanda sighed inaudibly. Maybe things had been going too well this past week. She couldn't expect her children to accept a new man in their family overnight.

"Lee is trying too, honey. He's been telling you stories because we don't have a TV and he plays along with any game we pick. It's no fun for him either you know. He has his own life that he misses too."

Philip took a few moments to think about his mother's words, and then asked,

"Does he have his own family back in Washington?"

Amanda rubbed her son's back absentmindedly and gave him a sad smile.

"No. No, he doesn't have any family actually."

Philip frowned. He didn't say anything else about Lee and decided that maybe he and Jamie could build a treehouse. Amanda encouraged the idea and suggested that he start making a plan for a treehouse on paper first, since Jamie was planning to do some fishing. There was a hardware story in Romney, so if they needed any additional tools, they could get them in town. By the time Jamie and Lee returned, Philip was already engrossed in drawing a treehouse and calculating what they would need to build it.

Amanda smiled at Lee and asked him if Billy had some good news this time.

"I'm afraid not," Lee replied. "Word is that the Russians are still after us and are keeping the pressure on. They want to know what we know exactly, so they can relocate and hide their operations. The first arrests have already been made based on my intel, and they're pissed."

Amanda frowned and he wondered briefly if she objected to his choice of words, but then she remarked,

"I can imagine. So that means we're not out of the woods yet."

She chuckled then and Lee smiled when the double meaning of her words hit both of them.

"Looks like it," he agreed, gesturing around him. They were definitely still in the woods.

"So, are you and Jamie going fishing?" Amanda asked.

Lee had some experience fishing but he was a bit hesitant about spending time alone with Jamie. What on earth did he know about 10-year olds? But Jamie was undeterred and grabbed his hand to go and find a shovel, so they could dig for worms. Lee let himself be dragged off and was rewarded with a warm, happy smile from Amanda.

...

With all the men in the household busy, Amanda suggested to her mother that they go grocery shopping together this time. Dotty was very happy to get out of the house and also to spend some time alone with her daughter. While the reality of their situation had sunk in by now, she was still restless about the secret life her only child had been leading for such a long time. She had been connecting more and more dots of strange disappearances and nights and weekends that Amanda had had to work. It had all been for the spy agency. She hadn't been involved in a secret affair after all, and Dotty wasn't sure if she should be relieved or disappointed about that. But getting to know Lee Stetson and seeing how he and her daughter interacted was interesting to say the least. Amanda had told her that Lee was a ladies man, with a new girl on his arm every weekend, but the handsome man seemed extremely content to be here with them now. He was helpful and respectful and was making an effort to entertain the boys. He didn't strike her as the shallow type at all. And the look in his hazel eyes whenever he looked at Amanda … it was swoon-worthy. And yet her daughter didn't seem to notice, convinced that Lee wasn't interested in her.

Dotty knew that Amanda would be annoyed if she brought this back up. And she really didn't want to meddle. But it was becoming more and more obvious to her that there was much more than just a working relationship between these two people - whether they knew it themselves or not.

Still, it was great to see other people again and she enjoyed shopping with Amanda. For a few hours, it was as if everything was normal. They even had lunch in town before going back to the cabin with their purchases, including some more reading material. Amanda had insisted on buying three different newspapers for Lee and had simply smiled softly when Dotty had told her she was a good friend.

Amanda was relieved that her mother was't pressing her about Lee this time. They had had a wonderful time in town together and she wanted things to stay relaxed between them. She had hated keeping things from her mother, but she wasn't ready to talk about her latent feelings for Lee Stetson with her. Not while they were all confined to the same living space.

She saw movement in the corner of her eye as they were carrying their last purchases back to the jeep in the parking lot and spotted a man with a camera, taking pictures of the area. She quickly turned away and pulled her mother behind the jeep, out of sight of the man with the camera.

"Amanda! What are you doing?" Dotty protested, but Amanda quickly shushed her.

"Mother. There's a man taking pictures over there. We can't show up in anyone's pictures right now, alright?"

Dotty nodded. Amanda peered through the side windows of the jeep to see if the man was still there. Once she was satisfied that he had moved on, she took a deep breath and stood up straight.

"Is he gone?" Dotty asked, her voice trembling a little.

"Yes. Yes, he is. Now it may have been completely innocent, but we can never be too sure," Amanda told her mother. "Let's just get in the jeep and get out of here."

Dotty nodded and stealthily rounded the jeep to get in on the passenger side. Amanda smiled. Her mother reminded her of herself, those first few times she'd been 'on the job' for the agency. No wonder Lee had found her annoying. She must have matured in her new role without realizing it, because she could suddenly see how levelheaded she had become about the spy business. She didn't panic quickly anymore and was able to maintain a completely casual attitude and improvise her way out of - or into - all kinds of situations.

Her thoughts drifted back to Lee automatically while she steered the Jeep away from the parking lot and back to the main road. He must have seen that change in her, and that's why he had arranged for her to become a real agent after all. And maybe … maybe he looked at her differently now in other areas too …

Amanda blew out an annoyed breath and then pretended to be annoyed by the long drive back, before her mother might begin to wonder out loud what was on her mind.

...

Lee had to admit that it had been a lot of fun to do some fishing with Jamie. He already knew how to fish but he had let Jamie explain things to him anyway. They had caught only a few small fish and thrown them back, but Jamie was elated and that was enough of a reward. He wasn't sure what to do about Philip though. The 12-year old had been rather stoic and had hardly responded to Jamie's excited stories about their fishing adventure. Instead, he continued to draw his treehouse, adding measurements, and a while later he went looking around the cabin for the best tree to build it in. Lee wondered if the boys would want him to help them once they entered the building stage.

Having had only a small breakfast, since he still wasn't used to eating anything first thing in the morning, Lee was beginning to get a little hungry and he checked his watch. It was almost 1 PM and he wondered why Amanda and Dotty hadn't come back yet. Could something have happened to them? He tried to shake off his concern but still, he hated that they didn't have a phone in the cabin, and the car phone only worked when it was connected to the car's battery. Besides, Amanda didn't even know the number of the car phone. They would have to fix that as soon as she got back. He had asked her to fill up the Jeep's gas tank in town and could only hope she hadn't forgotten. Otherwise, they might get stranded somewhere along the South Branch River Road.

The more time went by, the more restless Lee became. Shouldn't they have been back now? How long had he and Amanda been in town last week? They'd been back well before lunch, hadn't they? He tried not to show his concern to the boys and casually suggested having some lunch.

"What about mom and grandma?" Jamie asked. "Shouldn't we wait for them?"

"We could, but maybe they've eaten in town," Lee replied, and he realized that the excuse he was making up for the women might very well be true. Amanda really liked to stick to her routine and eat at regular intervals.

"Can we make our own sandwiches?" Jamie asked and Lee smiled.

"Sure. Why not?"

Half an hour later, he had completely rethought that decision. The kitchen was a mess, with open jars and containers everywhere, butter in the sink and mayonnaise all over the counter.

"I didn't know that you could pile that much on just one slice of bread," Lee mumbled, shaking his head while looking at Philip, who could barely take a bite of his monster-sandwich, as he called it.

"You haven't lived until you've tried it," Jamie said dryly and that made Lee laugh out loud.

Surely the kid hadn't made that phrase up himself.

"That's what grandma always says," Jamie explained, and suddenly it made sense.

The older woman was definitely more of a risk-taker than her daughter. Lee joined the boys at the table and took a bite of his own sandwich, which was far more modest than what they had made.

"What have you got on it?" Philip inquired.

"Just some butter, a fried egg, cheese and a few slices of ham," Lee replied.

The boys looked at each other, rolling their eyes, and then said simultaneously,

"Boring!"

They burst out laughing and Lee couldn't help laughing along with them. He was glad the boys were relaxed and that even Philip was agreeable. He had pretended that he hadn't heard Philip mention Dean, but it had stung a little. From what he'd seen, if anyone deserved the label 'boring' it was Dean. But maybe things were different from a young boy's point of view. Dean had apparently had a lot of fun with them - in retrospect, probably more with them than with Amanda - and he knew it was very important if you wanted a relationship to go anywhere, that the kids were on board. He knew that Philip was probably acting up a little because of his age. Twelve was that awkward stage between being a boy and hitting puberty. Maybe he would have rebelled against Dean too if he'd been twelve when the weatherman came into his mom's life.

Lee frowned and scolded himself mentally. He wasn't seriously comparing himself to a boring weatherman who liked to wear plaid, was he? He was a man of the world. He spoke five languages, he knew how to dress and he was well known and well-liked at all kinds of events around DC, socializing easily with the rich, the famous and the beautiful. He didn't have to spend a single evening alone if he didn't want to, his four black books could attest to that. So why even think about Dean? Just because Philip wished he'd been here? Or was there another reason? Lee stubbornly refused to continue his train of thought when he realized where it was leading him. Still, a nagging little voice in the back of his head asked him, if he could have a stunning woman on his arm every night, why he had consistently brought Amanda to government functions lately. He hadn't really needed someone with a grade A security clearance every time. And they'd been out to dinner and even the opera. In fact, he had been looking for ways to spend time with her outside of work.

He focused on the conversation the boys were having instead of allowing more thoughts to float to the surface about Amanda and how much he enjoyed her company. When Jamie noted that it was almost 2 o'clock, he stood up and walked to the window next to the door.

"Shouldn't mom and grandma have been back by now?" Philip asked.

"I'm sure they're fine," Lee responded automatically but he wasn't sure at all.

He had a mind to take the van and drive towards town, but he couldn't leave the boys here alone, and he didn't want to worry them either. Instead, he asked them if they would clean up the mess they'd made in the kitchen before their mother would see it and they boys quickly got to work. Lee walked outside, pretending to need something from the storage room. He wished he knew what was taking the women so long, and relief washed over him when he suddenly heard the unmistakable sound of the Jeep, bouncing over the last part of the bumpy road towards the cabin.

…

Lee was standing outside, his hands on his hips, waiting for them when they arrived back at the cabin.

"Uh oh," Dotty mumbled. "He does not look amused."

"Oh mother. He just happened to be outside," Amanda said, focusing on clearing the final hole in the road before steering the Jeep onto the clearing in front of the cabin.

"If you say so, dear," Dotty replied, completely unconvinced.

They got out of the car and sure enough, Lee came walking up to them immediately. He ran a hand through his hair and sounded agitated when he asked Amanda,

"What took you so long?"

"We went shopping, Lee. What did you expect, that we'd be back in an hour?"

"You've been gone for almost five hours!"

"We did some shopping, got our groceries, got the gas tank filled up and we had lunch." Amanda counted on her fingers. "And then we had to drive all the way back here. Why? Did the boys give you a hard time?"

"No," Lee huffed. "That's not the point. I had no idea where you were."

"We went to town. Of course you knew where we were!"

"You could have been stranded somewhere."

"Now why would we get stranded, Lee. That doesn't make sense. Besides, people are all quite willing to help each other out here so we would have gotten back eventually."

"Not everyone who is willing to help, can be trusted Amanda!"

"Oh come on! I just needed some time alone with my mother so we had lunch in town. Is that such a crime?"

"Well, we are supposed to stay out of sight, remember?"

"Children, children," Dotty interrupted, holding her hands up while approaching the two bickering agents. "There is no need at all to argue. Please. Lee was clearly worried because we were gone longer than he had expected. Next time, we'll be clearer about our plans, alright?"

Amanda raised an eyebrow and looked at her flustered partner. Worried? He didn't look worried, just angry.

"I wasn't worried," Lee huffed.

"Of course you weren't dear," Dotty said sweetly, putting a hand on his arm and tugging him along. "Come on. Help us unload the Jeep. I could use a cup of coffee right about now."

Lee looked at her one last time over his shoulder while her mother dragged him to the back of the Jeep and Amanda wondered if his anger really was born out of concern. Had they been gone that long? Or had it just seemed that way to him because he had trouble relating to the boys? She sighed softly and then turned around to help them unload the Jeep. Once all their purchases were safely inside the cabin, Dotty made them all coffee. Amanda and Lee each plopped down in their respective armchairs and looked at each other. They both seemed to realize the ridiculousness of their argument at the same time, and the corners of their mouths began to tug up. First one, then the other, until they were both smiling.

Amanda chuckled and then Lee shook his head, grinning.

"I'm sorry Lee," Amanda said with an understanding smile.

"Me too. I really was getting a little worried."

"I understand."

Dotty walked up to her daughter to hand her a cup of coffee and gave her a pointed look. She didn't have to say anything, Amanda was getting her message loud and clear. Once they all had their coffee and Dotty had sat down on the couch, Amanda asked Lee,

"So, how did it go with the boys?"

…

To be continued

A/N I know I reversed they boys' reaction to Lee compared to the actual show. Considering their ages, it seemed more logical to me that a boy hitting puberty would have more of a problem with a new man than the younger one. Writer's prerogative :)