Author's note: For the flashback scene in this chapter, I can't take complete credit for it as the dialogue up to Dotty's "Maybe she listens to you better..." comes from an un-filmed scene from the original script of "Nightcrawler," which I've used once before in "The Honeymoon's Over." For that story, I modified it to fit the events of that tale. Now for this one I've modified it again to fit this one, added my own flair to the existing dialogue, and extended it a bit beyond Dotty's above comment. I just always really liked this bit between lee and Dotty ever since I first read the original script and felt saddened that it had been cut. That's the nice thing about fanfiction though, we can fill in the gaps of time that the show left out.
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On the drive from Georgetown to Arlington, Lee reflected back on his first visit to Dotty West, how he'd told her that Amanda would be out of town a while longer, and how she'd been surprised that he wasn't with her. If only she knew. He then began thinking of the conversation they'd had when he was leaving and how painfully awkward it had been.
Dotty was walking Lee to the front door to say good-bye and said, "Next time, I want to hear all the details of the grand adventure you went on with my daughter."
"It was all a big mistake," Lee answered as he shuffled nervously at the front door of the King house.
"You sound just like Amanda. She hasn't told me enough about her job in the last three years to fill a post card." She put her hands on her hips and gave him a perturbed look.
"It's pretty routine..." he hedged, but then in his mind questioned the use of that word. Well, it may not be the routine of a nine-to-five banker's job, but it was scary how much it was becoming routine for them. Something was always coming between them to stop them from moving forward in their future together.
"But what routine?" When Dotty pounced on that word just as Lee had in his own thoughts, he couldn't help but smile slightly."She comes home soaking wet, scorched...sometimes she doesn't come home at all..." Dotty paused for a moment. "I tell her to get married, put on a few extra pounds...There's a routine...Not a thrill a minute, but you don't get scorched."
"Sounds pretty good," Lee said with a smile. He couldn't help thinking just how good it did sound to him, Amanda married...to him. Then his thought shifted to Dotty's comment about her putting on some weight and chuckled softly to himself wondering just what Dotty west would think if he knew that there was a possibility that her child might very well be carrying his. She'd put on a few pounds in that scenario for sure.
"Then you tell her," Dotty said emphatically with an all-too knowing look as if she knew what had just been in his thoughts. "Maybe she listens to you better than she listens to me."
"You bet I will," Lee answered, still smiling as he shoved his hands in his pockets, one hand clutching the ring box that he had on him more often than not.
"Good," Dotty beamed at him. "That's good."
Lee stepped onto Amanda's front porch, but hesitated at ringing the bell as he ran his cover story through his mind and tried to prepare for any questions that the inquisitive Dotty West might throw at him. He took a deep breath to steel himself for the onslaught that he knew was about to be thrust upon him. "Just do it, Stetson," he scolded himself and had his hand just poised to ring the bell when the door was flung open and two exuberant boys attempted to barrel through it laden with overnight bags, not noticing he was there until they slammed into him. "Oof, he grunted.
"Hey," a stern male voice said behind them. Lee looked through the open door to find Joe King trailing wearily behind his two rowdy sons. "Slow down."
"Sorry, Dad," both boys replied but then turned curious eyes to Lee.
Once the boys stepped back a little, Lee stepped into the foyer, greeted Joe with a nod. "Joe," he said.
"Hello, Lee," Joe replied.
"Who are you?" Jamie asked with an inquisitive expression.
Joe gave Lee an arched eyebrow amusement dancing in his eyes from behind the boys and when it was clear that the other man wasn't going to help him out at all, Lee began hesitantly, "I...Um...I'm Lee Stetson...I...Uh...I work with your mom at IFF."
"Oh, I know who you are. You're Mom's new boyfriend," Phillip said bluntly.
This comment earned Phillip an elbow in the ribs from his younger brother who hissed, "Shut up, Stupid."
"Well, that's what Grandma says," Phillip argued, "And don't call me stupid, Lame Brain!"
"Hey, how about both of you lay off the name-calling," Joe admonished.
"So, are you Mom's boyfriend?" Phillip asked, undeterred by his brother's scolding.
"I...Um...I guess you could say that," Lee answered nervously. He had expected an interrogation from Dotty, but not from his future stepsons. It hadn't occurred to him that it was late enough in the day that they'd be home from school. With Amanda being pregnant, assuming the baby was alright and that Amanda made a speedy recovery, they'd most likely be getting married soon, so the boys should know at least a little something about their relationship. "We...Um...We've been seeing each other for a little while now."
"Well, I'm glad to hear at least one of you admit it," Dotty said as she breezed into the room, the boys' jackets in hand, giving one to each of them. "Boys, take these. This is almost November. It's much too chilly outside for you to go without your jackets and your mother will kill me if she comes back to find the two of you sick." She then turned her attention to her former son-in-law and warned him, "And you make sure they wear them all weekend, especially when you take them trick or treating tonight."
"I'll look after them, Dotty," Joe promised, then planted a quick kiss to her cheek before placing a hand on each of his sons' shoulders and said, "Let's go, Fellas'."
"Joe, you just make sure to bring them back in one piece on Sunday and do not let them get overloaded on sugar if you don't want Amanda killing you too," Dotty warned.
Once they were gone, Dotty gestured for Lee to come in further, turned a curious eye toward him as she closed the door behind him and gushed, "Well, Mr. Stetson, two visits in one week. To what do I owe the pleasure?" When Lee began to speak, she held up a hand to shush him, "No, wait, let me guess. You're here to tell me that Amanda's going to be gone longer than expected."
"Something like that," Lee answered warily. He didn't know what it was about Amanda's mother, but being in her presence made him more nervous that a confrontation with any spy he'd ever encountered in his life. "It's...Uh..."
Before Lee could form the right words, Dotty shook her head and said, "Why does that not surprise me?" She then looked him up and down before continuing. "So, let me ask you a question..."
Uh-oh, here it comes, Lee thought.
"Why is it that you're here, exactly? I mean, this is something you could have just told me about over the phone, not that I'm not delighted to see you again and to hear you admit that you're dating my daughter, but... Well, I mean, we have talked on the phone before. You could have just called. For that matter, why didn't Amanda call for herself and while we're on the subject, why aren't you with her on whatever mysterious film project that she's working on that's kept her away for so long? Don't you two usually work together?"
Lee chuckled at how similar Dotty's mode of speech was to her daughter's, took a deep breath and answered, "Um...actually, I'll be joining her soon. That...Um...that's why I'm here. The...um...the project that she's working on...it's become a...a little rough." That's an understatement, he thought, but plunged on. "I've been working on a different project and this is the first time I've been free to go join the rest of the crew. It's...Um...it's dragged on for so long that I...Um...I need to take some of Amanda's things to her when I go."
"So, there's one thing that I don't understand, Mr. Stetson," Dotty probed further. "If she called you to ask you to get her things, why didn't she call the house to let me know she was going to be gone longer or why didn't she call to tell me that you were coming?"
"Well, she didn't call me," Lee explained, hoping that his lies would hold up under Dotty's intense scrutiny. "The boss called me and said the crew had run into some trouble, that they needed some extra hands."
"The boss?" Dotty questioned. "But aren't you her boss?"
"No," Lee answered immediately without thinking, then mentally kicked himself for it. Shit!He cursed himself as he wondered if that was the cover story that Amanda had given her mother. "Did she...Um...did she tell you that I'm her boss?"
Dotty was silent for a moment as if lost in thought and then answered, "No, I guess not. I suppose I just assumed that because you call here so much to tell her that she's needed at the office."
"Well, since Amanda and I are partners, the boss usually has me doing the calling," Lee said. It wasn't entirely a lie, but Billy would never call since Dotty had already met him twice and knew he was an agent, once during when she'd gotten caught up in Dr. Zernov's defection and again when Stemwinder had been blown. "I guess...um...when Amanda called him, she asked to have someone stop by here to grab some things for her."
Dotty snorted. "You know, that is so like her since she started working with you people at IFF. She calls the office before she calls home."
"Well, from the way that I understand it, she didn't have much time to be on the phone and from what she tells me, you're a bit of a chatterbox just like she is." He flashed her his most charming smile.
Dotty laughed softly and replied, "She is right about that. We do both have the gift of gab."
Lee glanced at his watch and frowned. He still had a lot to do before picking up Amanda from the agency. "You know, I...uh...I hate to cut this short, but I...Um...I have...um...a plane to catch, so I need to...Uh..." He gestured up the stairs with his hand.
"Of course, Mr. Stetson," Dotty nodded. "I suppose you know where her room is...Oh, of course you do. What am I thinking? The two of you climbed out her bedroom window when you took off back in September."
"Yeah," Lee said and eager to escape Dotty's intense gaze darted up the stairs, breathing a sigh of relief once he'd reached Amanda's room. He took a moment to let out a long slow, breath, leaning against the doorframe for a moment for support. He shook his head to clear his thoughts, then dutifully made his way to Amanda's closet for her suitcase, then to her dresser to begin packing for the woman he loved.
"Hmm," Dotty murmured from the doorway. Lee, unaware that she'd padded up behind him, jumped and spun around to face her. "It's interesting to me that you knew right where to get her suitcase and exactly which dresser drawers to go to," she commented with a nod toward the partially-packed suitcase. "I came up here thinking that you might want some help finding the things that Amanda needs, but I can see that you already know where she keeps everything." She paused for a beat and then narrowed her eyes at him, "Exactly how is it that you know where everything is? Just how serious are you and Amanda?"
"I...Um...Well, it's like you said the other day, when she's on out-of-town assignments, I'm usually with her so I've helped her pack a few times." he then turned back to the dresser, busying himself with the packing to avoid her intense stares.
"Uh-huh," Dotty said as she eyed him suspiciously. "You still haven't answered my other question. How serious is your relationship with her and before you try to deny that there is one, I've known for some time that Amanda has had feelings for you that she wouldn't admit to. I can't for the life of me figure out why she's been hiding you all this time, but I know that she has been. So, how about it, Mr. Stetson."
Lee halted in his task, sighed and said, "First of all, it's Lee, okay? Second, as for the seriousness of our relationship, it's...um...it's pretty damn serious."
"How serious are we talking here? I mean, I saw how you reacted the other day when I told you to tell her to get married. Is it that serious?"
Lee found himself at a loss for words. Yes, it was that serious, at least for him it was, but Amanda didn't even remember him proposing to her, so how could he honestly answer that question if he didn't know for sure himself if they were engaged or not?" "I-I-I..." he sighed again. "I don't know yet," he answered honestly as he resumed packing the things he thought that Amanda would need for the next few days.
"Alright, you don't wanna' tell me, fine. I'm used to that with Amanda, but I have to ask one more question and I demand an honest answer." Without giving him a chance to respond, she bluntly asked, "Does this have anything to do with the fact that Amanda hasn't been able to keep her breakfast down for at least the past two weeks, or the fact that she hasn't needed tampons in at least the last six, or that she's been more run-down lately?"
"I...Um...I don't know what you mean, Mrs. West," Lee lied as he kept his focus on closing and latching Amanda's suitcase.
"Oh, I think you do," Dotty argued, "Not that I expected you to admit it, mind you, anymore than Amanda will. Those symptoms that Amanda's been experiencing, their all symptoms of pregnancy." At seeing Lee finally look up at her wide-eyed, she thought, Gotcha'. "I thought it so strange the other day when you just showed up here out of nowhere, ringing the bell like a normal person instead of skulking around the back yard or just calling as you normally do, but then the pieces started to come together. Since Amanda is obviously hesitant about introducing us properly, you decided to take it upon yourself to do so."
Lee hoisted Amanda's suitcase off the bed and answered vaguely, "You know, I'd love to be able to answer all of your questions, but right now, I have to go. I have-"
"A plane to catch, of course," Dotty completed.
"Right, a plane," Lee nodded, almost blowing by letting her throw him so much that he'd temporarily forgotten his cover story. "I'll have Amanda call you when I see her." He then took off before Dotty could throw another unanswerable question at him.
Dotty gazed after him with a knowing nod shaking her head as he walked out the door, that the man Amanda loved was just as evasive about the nature of their relationship as she was. What was wrong with them?
When Lee exited Amanda's room in a panic, he didn't stop until he was out the front door and safely locked away in his car, away from Dotty West's prying eyes and probing questions. When he reached to turn the key, he felt his chest tightening and realized for the first time that he'd been holding his breath the whole time since leaving Amanda's room. He exhaled slowly, threw the car into reverse, peeling out of Amanda's driveway and back toward the safety of DC.