Not a great chapter, but I still hope you like it.
The Talk
Knowing she can't go home, especially if the boys are there, she grabs a sandwich from a vendor near the office and drives to a park near their house. She finds a nearby bench, sits down and puts her hands on her head and starts to cry.
"Thought I might find you here", Lee says. "I've got a bottle of scotch with our names on it. We should talk".
"Yes, yes we should", Amanda sighs.
Lee sits down next to Amanda, unscrews the top of the bottle, takes a swig and hands it to Amanda. She takes a swig herself. She coughs a little and hands it back to him. Lee asks Amanda if she wants to go first. She reaches for the bottle takes a swig and begins her story.
She tells him how and when and about Francine, she pauses "Magda", then continues how it all came to be.
Lee asks, "Did Joe know? Your mother? Anyone?"
"No, Joe didn't know, mother either. No one you would know". Amanda takes another swig. "I had only been working part-time, still getting the hang of things, but when Joe died, well, we needed full-time income. That was when I asked to be a full agent, but I was already at the Agency for about two to two and a half years before that. I remember when Francine approached me, we'd been friends since college and when I eventually learned the truth, it sounded so exiting to me, I couldn't resist. She even mentioned that I could find a photography job anywhere I wanted, but I wanted to be an agent. I guess we've both been lying to each other since we've met. Your turn", Amanda looks at him, wanting to know his story. "Does your Uncle know?"
Lee responds, "yes, Bob knows. I made him promise never to tell you".
Lee's Uncle, Cornel Robert Clayton was an important officer in the Air Force. He has since retired, but it was Amanda who brokered peace between them. Bob raised Lee after his parents died and they had a difficult relationship. That was until Amanda came along. She helped them form a relationship again. He stopped calling him Skip among other names that would make Lee cringe. They respected each other in large part because of Amanda.
"Ok, continue", Amanda says.
Lee, says, "when I was 18, I filed the freedom of information act, wrote letters to the CIA, FBI and all the alphabet agencies I knew of. I never talked much of my family, especially to my Uncle, considering our relationship back then. My father was an agent, my mother was British, and he recruited her in an odd way, but they began to work together. They were on a mission and something went awry and they were killed. They were labeled as traitors. I could never accept that. When I was 21, I applied for agency status, was accepted, got my training and eventually got the answers I was looking for. I was able to clear their names, but if I hadn't joined The Agency, I never would have gotten the answers I needed. It was during that time I wanted to give back to my country and found out I was good at it. So, I stuck with it and about seven to eight years later, I met you. Your children were still young, I was afraid you'd walk out of my life. I was in love with you and your-our boys. I didn't want to jeopardize anything happening to our family, so I never revealed my true occupation. The boys grew older and by then it seemed too late. How could I explain to you what I did? I hated lying to you all these years but couldn't give up what I spent my life doing". Lee lets out a huge sigh of relief. "I know this is the absolute worst time to discover this about each other".
Amanda agrees. "Francine, who you met today, is my closest friend. She knew Joe from school, but when we got married, all she knew was I had a husband. I never told her your name, never brought anyone from work to meet you. I too, was afraid for our family. The last time she saw the boys was at Joe's service".
Lee takes a deep breath, "I am beyond words, except to say, I am so angry with you. Yes, we both lied, but I never had to worry whether you'd come home safely at night. I know you are pissed at me as well, but you are correct, I have no right to judge, when I did the same thing".
"So, what's next?" Amanda asks. "I need to come clean with Mrs. F and Francine tomorrow. Can we do this job professionally? Can we separate our emotions and not let this interfere with our work? I can't have you looking over my shoulder and worrying about me during this mission. I have been doing this a long time. Many times, alone-by myself. I don't need any hand holding".
Lee replies, "we should go home tonight, review the files and talk tomorrow, before we have to go and explain everything to our bosses. I think we can manage this case, but where we go from there, I don't know. I just don't know".
"Oh crap", Amanda says. "Family night. Can we pull it off or call the boys and disappoint them again?"
Lee says, "we did promise them. Put on a brave front, I guess we've gotten good at that all these years. Are you sober enough to drive?"
"Yes. I think so, but I think we should order in as I'm not up to cooking right now", Amanda replies.
Lee says, I'll call that Italian place, order some lasagna, calzones and tiramisu. I think I can manage a salad when we get home", he pulls out his cell and calls the number on his speed dial. "I'll follow you just to make sure you make it home safely".
Amanda takes out her phone and Philip answers. "Sweetheart, your father and I are on our way home. We ordered Italian and we should be home before the food arrives".
They make it home just before the delivery man shows up. Jamie has set the table, Amanda runs upstairs to take a quick shower, while Lee makes a salad. Amanda comes down the stairs dressed in sweats and a t-shirt. Philip has divided the food and put them on the plates.
Lee says, "first, cell phones off, then dig in everyone". He asks Philip and Jamie about their days, girlfriends and their school work.
Dinner goes relatively by without incident, the boys none the wiser. They are just happy to have everyone at the table together. After devouring their dessert, Amanda says, "You father and I will be taking a working trip in a few days. "I'll call your grandmother to stay with you, but until then, I want you to, go upstairs, do your homework and your dad and I will take care of the dishes. The boys rush upstairs.
Lee says, "once the dishes are done, we should talk more and then look over the case files, then decide what to do next".
"I agree", Amanda says. "why don't you shower, and I'll prep the files".
Lee is taking a very long shower, trying to process what happened today. "This was totally unexpected. I guess I should have known Den Mother was Amanda. She helped with the boy scouts and even went as far as coaching their baseball team. I helped too, became a Bomber father". He never thought he'd have a tailor-made family, but once the boys got older and joining all those teams, he and Amanda jumped right in and essentially became Den Mother and Father.
After spending almost an eternity in the shower, he throws on a t-shirt and boxers and joins Amanda in bed. She is already intently looking through her file. His is on the pillow. He flips through it, puts it aside and says, "okay, we need to let this awful day go and spend some quality time together. We still have a couple of days to get acquainted with this summit and prevent an arms war".
Amanda puts her file on the night stand, smiles and says, "you are right. Come here, let's get re-acquainted".
Lee slides under the covers, brushes her hair off to the side and leans in for a deep kiss. He brings her down farther with him and they are entangled with one another. Breathing heavily, he whispers in her ear, "I'm sorry, I love you and we will work this out".
"I'm sorry too", Amanda replies, "but stop talking and make love to me".
Later they lie in each other's arms and Lee curls up next to her, wraps his arms around her, kisses her on her neck and then her cheek and says, "sleep tight".
Amanda says sleepily, "you too".
They fall asleep, and morning arrives, sun shining in their eyes. Both are rested and content.