The first word that came to Lee's mind as he followed Amanda into the house that night was chaos. The boys were in the family room with a bunch of friends playing video games and Amanda's mother was apparently trying to make supper and study for flight school all the while trying to keep the noise the boys were making at somewhere approaching, rather than surpassing, brain curdling volume. Amanda grinned at Lee's slightly panicked expression.
"Boys! Turn that down please." Amanda hollered as she rolled up her sleeves. "Mother, I'll do that. Why don't you take your study material upstairs while we deal with dinner?"
"Mom! Can Tommy and Bobby and Luther stay for supper?" Phillip yelled as he wildly tried to avoid a virtual car in his path. Amanda didn't quite understand what the crazy gestures contributed to his driving skills.
"Not tonight, Phillip." Amanda refused. All five boys looked like she'd just told them she'd killed a puppy. "I'm sorry boys, but Lee and I need to talk to you about a few things in private. Luther, Bobby and Tommy, you guys can come over for supper on Saturday, ok? We can even have a barbeque." Appeased, the boys returned to their game. Lee smiled ruefully at Amanda. He hoped that their news wouldn't make the disappointment worse for them.
Within an hour, Amanda had cleared the house of visitors with the diplomatic skill that would smooth nuclear proliferation negotiations. The boys had tidied the family room and set the table without being asked. Supper was almost ready when Dotty came down the stairs. Winking discreetly at Lee, Amanda took out a tray and carefully poured out three glasses of wine and two glasses of pop. "Wine? Pop?" Dotty asked. "What's the occasion?" Amanda rarely allowed sugary drinks in the house and wine on a weeknight was unheard of in the King household. It was something that was going to change in the Stetson household, Lee decided. Carrying the tray to the family room, Amanda passed each person an appropriate glass. When Lee sat down in the easy chair, she deliberately took position at his side. Dotty was smiling like a loon, clearly guessing what was coming. Lee bit back a smirk. Well, she thought she knew what was coming.
"Mother, boys, Lee and I have some news to share." Smiling down at him, Amanda faced her family. "We're married." Lee had never in his life heard silence as profound as what followed in the ten seconds after the announcement.
"Lee's our step-dad?!" Phillip blurted. "Cool!" Lee grinned at him. At least that was one person on side.
"When?" Dotty and Jamie asked at the same time.
"February 13th."
"The day before you got shot." Dotty said quietly.
"Yes. We were on our honeymoon." Lee answered just as softly. He watched Jamie carefully. The boy looked like he'd been hit with a sonic blast. Lee knew he'd made some progress with Amanda's younger son, but he wasn't sure it was enough to help them past this.
Jamie stared as his mother in silence for a moment.
"I… I have a wedding gift for you." He finally blurted. Amanda looked to Lee, bewildered. How could Jamie have a wedding gift at the ready when he didn't even know that they were thinking about it? Running up the stairs, he came back down with a large envelope in his hands and shoved it at Lee. Pulling out the contents, Lee and Amanda gasped. "I have more, but I thought those were the best ones." They quietly looked at each of the four photographs that Jamie was giving them. "Remember when my photography club was doing that family theme week?" Jamie asked. "I got some of dad and Carrie too but these were the ones I liked the best. I didn't include them though because I couldn't really explain how Lee was part of our family. I guess I can now." Amanda reached out and yanked Jamie into a hug, kissing the top of his head. Lee cleared his throat twice before he could speak. Jamie's welcome into the family was all the more special because it had started before Lee and Amanda even knew about it.
"Mother? How about you?" Amanda asked. It wasn't like Dotty to keep quiet for so long.
"I'm a little bit hurt that you felt you had to elope, Amanda. I'm sure you had your reasons, but I'm still hurt. On the other hand, I'm delighted that you took my advice and married Lee. I've never seen you this happy, not even when you and Joe got married. Welcome to the family, Lee."
"Thank you, Mrs. West."
"Dotty." She corrected, coming over to give Lee a kiss on the cheek and to hug her daughter. Lifting her glass of wine, she smiled. "To many years of health, happiness, and laughter."
"So Lee, when are you moving in?" Phillip asked. Lee and Amanda blinked. In all of the craziness that had prompted them to come clean, they hadn't actually thought about that. "I mean, isn't that kind of what married couples do?"
"Yes." Lee looked desperately at Amanda. He was out of his depth taking the lead with her family.
"Let's go have dinner and we can talk about it while we eat."
[continued in Amanda Stetson – Apprentice Spy]