Dotty looked at Lee expectantly who stammered, "Mrs. W-Uh...Dotty, I...Um...I-I-I don't know that this is the best time to...to...you know...get into all that. Amanda's still...you know..."
"Sitting right here," Amanda cut in with a scowl at Lee. "Didn't I already tell you that I don't want you trying to baby me or treating me as if I'm fragile?"
"Oh, Lord, here we go," Francine muttered under her breath, Dotty casting her a bemused look.
"Amanda King, You are the most stubborn, bull-headed-"
"What happened to the best and that bravest," Amanda fired back reminding him of the words he'd spoken when he proposed. "I believe there was even a beautiful in there somewhere." She smiled serenely at him.
Lee opened his mouth to speak, but found he had no response to that. He then shook his head and said, "Yeah, you're all of that too, but-"
"No buts, Lee," Amanda countered. "When you love someone, you have to take the good with the bad. If we're gonna' get married, you're gonna' have to get used to that, you know, the whole for-better-or-for-worse bit."
Dotty laughed and said, "She makes a good point," while Francine just looked on in amusement, firing a grin at Lee across the table.
"Yes, she does," Lee nodded toward Dotty, scowled at Francine and then turned back to Amanda, "But I think in the three years that we've been working together, we've more than proven we can handle the better-and-worse part. It's the in-sickness-and-in-heath part that I'm more concerned with right now."
"I'm not sick," Amanda protested. When the other three all looked at her skeptically, she reiterated, "I'm not! Look, I know that I have some things to work through and I'm not one-hundred percent yet, but I'm getting there and things are starting to get a little clearer."
"Okay, then explain why you thought I was Magda," Francine put in, "And why you thought Magda was trying you hurt you and your baby."
"Magda," Dotty mumbled low, the name ringing a bell, "Magda," She repeated, "That strange Hungarian woman who was at the house for hours on end and drank enough coffee to keep her awake for the next ten years?"
"Yes, Mother," Amanda answered but couldn't help the shudder that accompanied her answer.
"Amanda," Lee said gently as he took her hand as seeing her reaction to Magda's name. "What's going on here? Magda never tried to hurt any of us; in fact she put her own life in danger to help us rescue you."
"No," Amanda shook her head as she began trembling in fear, "Sh-she...she h-h-had a bomb or something in her hands. She-"
"No, Amanda, not a bomb, not in the traditional sense, anyway," Lee explained. "It was a zap gas bomb. She set it off to distract Birol so we could get him and get the hell out of there. I promise you, Amanda, Magda was on our side. She felt she owed it to you for all that you did for her when she defected. She knew that her defection would have been a bust without you looking out for her." Lee explained to her about Magda having been Birol's mistress for three years prior to her defection which had given her the in with him and how she'd used that to her advantage to help him and Francine set Birol up, and how they'd also used Francine's resemblance to Magda to make it work.
"You mean her resemblance to me, don't you," Francine interjected with a conceited grin.
"Now, that I think about, the two of you do resemble one another," Dotty mused.
"You see, Amanda?" Lee said. "Magda wanted to help you. If Birol had caught on to what she was doing, he'd have killed her on the spot. She took a big risk for you; it was her way of thanking you for everything that you did for her."
Amanda nodded and relaxed as the pieces began to come together in her mind, the memory of Lee telling her that she wouldn't be able to move for a while, how he'd wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly to reassure her. "I understand." She hung her head and stared at her plate for a moment. "I'm just so mixed up on what really happened," she said gloomily.
"I know, I know you are, but that's why I thought having your mom here, another familiar face, might help."
Amanda released Lee's hand, pushed her plate aside and rose from her seat, "I...um...I think what I really need to do is get it all out, talk about it, and get it all out in the open. I-I-I need to be able to ask some questions about everything that happened and I need some honest answers, no sugar coating."
"Amanda, I don't think that's the best-"
"I mean it, Lee," Amanda said firmly. "No more walking around on eggshells around me," she then glanced at Francine, "From either of you."
Francine gave Lee her arched eyebrow who responded in kind with slight nod, "Um...Amanda...I'm afraid I have to agree with Lee. Dr. Quidd said that it's best to let those memories become clearer on their own and that if we fill in the pieces for you; that might only make your memory loss worse."
"Let's get one thing straight here," Amanda said insistently, her eyes flaring in anger. "I do NOT have any memory loss. I remember everything. What's not clear is which of those memories are real and which are part of the hallucinations that were brought on by what Birol did to me."
"O-kay," Francine said doubtfully.
"It's true," Amanda responded at Francine's dubious look as she rose from her seat and stared down the blonde. "And furthermore, Dr. Quidd was the one who insisted that some of the conversations that Lee and I had, that he already confirmed with me were real, were nothing more than some grand delusion that I made up in my head about him being my white knight." She took a deep breath and added, "And while we're on the subject, while I appreciate everything that you've done for me, Francine, what I don't appreciate is you twisting what I told you when I was in the infirmary. I never once told you that I didn't remember Lee proposing to me. What I actually said is that I didn't know if he did or not and that was because it was one of the memories that was fuzzy and was made even fuzzier by Dr. Quidd trying to tell me that it couldn't possibly be real and that I needed to block out all of those fantasy images from my head. So, I don't believe that he's the best authority on how I should handle this and try to put the pieces of this puzzle together."
"Okay, Amanda, okay," Lee said as he too rose from his seat and took her hand in an attempt to cool her temper. After the way Amanda had reacted to Quidd showing up at his door, he had to admit that he was inclined to agree with her. Talking about it now, even though she was irritated to the point of being angry, for the first time since he'd brought her home, her emotional distress wasn't due to fear and it was the first time she'd been able to say both Quidd's and Birol's names without trembling, stammering or without the look of panic in her eyes. Maybe they were on the right track by helping her fill in the gaps in her puzzled mind.
Francine also stood and in an attempt to ease the tension in the room, stated, "Well, since it seems that everyone's done here, how about I get this all cleaned up and we can all sit down in the living room where we'll be more comfortable. Then we can talk. I know how it makes you crazy not to have everything in order."
A little twinge of guilt hit Amanda as her flare-up at Francine. She sighed as she thought about how she was just trying to help. "Let me help," she suggested in a conciliatory tone. "You shouldn't have to do it all. You've done so much already."
"Amanda, you should take it easy," Lee argued.
"Stop it!' Amanda snapped, turning her frustration on him. "How many times do I have to say it? I'm not helpless!" At the hurt look that crossed Lee's features, she quickly backpedalled, "Lee, I'm sorry. I-I-I just feel like I need to dosomething normal to start feeling normal again."
"Yeah," Lee responded with a nod as he recalled his words to Francine about how household chores helped to ground her. "Sure," he said, but still had a skeptical look on his face as he reached for the coffee pot on the table, pouring himself a refill just for something to do with his hands.
"Well, then that works out perfectly," Dotty declared cheerfully in an attempt to lighten the mood as she pushed back her chair. "I'm sure with you two working together, you'll make quick work of this mess and while, you're doing that, it will give me some more time to get to know my future son-in-law.' She then linked her arm with Lee's and pulled him toward the direction of the living room.
"But-" Lee protested with a rescue-me look at Amanda who just shook her head and smiled as she began to gather up the dishes from lunch.
As Amanda and Francine made their way into the kitchen together, Francine paused at the doorway, chuckling at Lee being dragged off by Dotty and joked, "Why do I have a feeling that he'd be safer in the hands of the KGB's finest?"
Amanda laughed in return and answered, "I think that by the time my mother's done with him he'll wish we were on one of those boring stakeouts that he hates with a passion or doing his own reports for once. I think that would be less painful for him."
The two women laughed together as Amanda began making dishwater and Francine retreated to the dining room to finish clearing the table. When she returned, it was with a more serious expression, "Amanda?"
"Hmm?' Amanda replied turning to face Francine. At seeing the grim expression the other woman wore, she took a deep breath as she tried to reign in her agitation. "Look, if you're going to tell me again that you don't think that I should try to get my mind together-"
"No, Amanda, I wasn't going to say anything like that. I...Um...I wanted to ask you about what your plans are..." She paused for a moment as she set down the stack of plates she held in one hand and sipped at the coffee she held in the other. "You and Lee, I mean."
"Haven't you been paying attention, Francine? We're getting married; we're having a baby-"
"I know all that, Amanda," Francine interrupted. "But I mean, long-term. I have known Lee for a long, long time and while he's a great guy and the most loyal friend you could ever have, he's never been one for the long-term commitments-"
"Doesn't this look like a long-term commitment to you, Francine," Amanda replied as she held up her left hand to display the diamond ring there.
"Look, you said you didn't want sugar coating, so here it is," Francine stated as she slammed her coffee cup down on the counter. "While it's very obvious that Lee cares deeply for you and that he wants to do the right thing by you and your baby, his past is well...Let's just say that it's colorful enough that leprechauns would follow it looking for a pot of gold."
"Don't you think I know that? News flash, I have a past too or have you forgotten that I have two children?"
"Okay, no, I haven't forgotten, but that's different. As noble as his intentions are and as much as he cares for you, I'm just worried that Lee may not be cut out for marriage, where you...you had a ten-year marriage and-"
"Which ended," Amanda replied pointedly. "Did it ever occur to you that maybe I'm the one who's not cut out for marriage? I mean, you saw how Lee and I were arguing just now. Maybe my marriage to Lee won't last any longer than my first one did, I don't know, but if we just give up without even trying, then we'll never know if it will or won't."
"But what if it doesn't...last, I mean? Then you're a single mom raising his kid by yourself," Francine began, but was once again cut off by Amanda.
"Then I'd be no worse off than I am now. I'm already a single mom and have been for a long time. Even if, God forbid, something did happen and Lee and I split up, I know one thing for sure. It wouldn't matter if we weren't together; he'd be there for our child, no matter what. Just look at the way he was raised by his uncle...he'd feel the same responsibility to his child. I have that much faith in him. What I don't understand is why you don't have that same faith in him when you've known him longer than I have." Francine was silent, realizing that she didn't have an answer for that.
While Francine and Amanda were having their debate in the kitchen, Dotty and Lee were having one of their own in the living room. Once she'd finally let go of him, Lee had flopped down on the sofa wearily while Dotty sat in the armchair opposite him, staring him down, "All right, Mr. Stetson, while Amanda's occupied, I want you to tell me everything that happened to her and I mean, everything."
"Mr. Stetson?" Lee questioned sensing that her cheeriness at the table had been a front for Amanda's sake. She was good. He had a feeling that was where Amanda came by her talent for concocting a good cover. With the way his future mother-in-law was glaring at him, he surmised that was also where Amanda gained her skill for reducing someone to size of a Lilliputian with just a withering look. He, himself was feeling very small under Dotty's piercing gaze. "What...um...what happened to being on a first-name basis?"
"Oh, that," Dotty scoffed with a wave of her hand. "That was for Amanda's benefit. It's quite apparent to me that she's under a great deal of stress and I'm not about to add to that, so, now that we're alone, I want to know what's causing that stress."
"There's...um...there's only so much that I can tell you," Lee hedged. "Doing what we do, a lot of things are classified." In truth, he couldn't bring himself to tell the mother of the woman he loved that he'd failed her and failed their unborn child.
"Didn't you hear me say in there that I'm not stupid? I know you can't give me away any government secrets, but you can tell me enough to know what happened to my daughter. You told her that you thought having me here could help her, but how can I help if I don't know what's going on?"
"You're right," Lee nodded and began to lay out the whole sordid tale for her about Birol and his abduction of Amanda. By the time he'd finished with, "And now, we're just trying to help her sort out in her mind what was hallucination and what wasn't," Dotty's expression toward him had softened at seeing his pained, guilt-ridden face.
"Oh my god, my poor baby." she said softly.
"And mine," Lee said grimly as he thought of what both Dr. Quidd and Dr. Kelford had said about the risk of miscarriage. While he didn't trust Quidd as far as he could throw him, he did trust Dr. Kelford.
"Speaking of which, you said that you only found out about Amanda's pregnancy yesterday morning, but you came by the house yesterday afternoon, so why did you dodge my questions about it?" Lee ran a hand through his hair, rose from his seat and began pacing. "Lee?" she said when he didn't answer.
"So, we're back on a first-name basis," He jested, but his attempt at a joke fell flat as his heart wasn't really in it. He halted in his pacing, fixed Dotty with a worried look and answered, "There are several reasons that I didn't say anything. The first is that I had just found out myself and that Amanda knew she was pregnant and didn't tell me, so it hadn't quite sunk in yet. To be honest I'm still processing it. A man finding out he's going to be a father is a huge deal."
"It should be," Dotty responded in agreement, already gaining more respect for Lee.
"Another reason that I didn't answer you is that I just met you and I-I-I just didn't know how you'd react to finding out that I got your daughter pregnant. I-I-I've been trying for almost two months now to work up the courage to ask her to marry me and it just...something always happened...the timing was just never right, like when we had to run from the agency. That was just one of many things that stopped me from asking her. Then when they told me she was having trouble picking out what was real and what wasn't, I figured that she didn't even remember me proposing once I finally did and I before I could face talking to you, I wanted you to know that I'm committed to Amanda, even though we're not married yet. I want to spend my life with her and I have for a very, very long time."
"You know, you could have just told me all of that at the house. I already knew that the two of you had taken off together back in September, so it wouldn't have been a shock to me to find out that you were the father of her unborn child. I knew that she must have had some very strong feelings for you herself or she'd have never left with you."
Lee nodded, opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it again. He cleared his throat loudly and began pacing again.
"There's more, isn't there?" Dotty questioned.
He stopped again and said grimly, "Yeah, there is. The other reason that I didn't say anything is because the agency doctors aren't sure that the baby's going to survive after what Birol did to Amanda."
"What!" came a startled voice from the doorway. Both faces turned to see Amanda there, a look of utter horror on her face as she wrapped her arms protectively around her middle.