"Mama! Watch me dance! I am a ballerina and one day I will dance with the Moscow Ballet and be the best dancer in the whole world!" Natasha beamed as she excitedly spoke to her mother. Ekaterina watched lovingly as her 10-year old daughter pranced around their modest apartment; her long golden curls bouncing with each leap. Her 7-year old son, Nicholai, tried to imitate his sister's ballet moves.

"Wonderful my darling! You are going to be the most famous dancer that ever lived! And what about you, my little prince? What do you want to be when you grow to be a big strong man?" Ekaterina said as she lifted her son onto her lap. He looked up at her with his big blue eyes opened wide and his blonde hair tussled from his morning of play.

"Oh, Mama! I want to be a dancer, too! Or maybe a king and live in a castle!" Nicholai let out a soft giggle as his mother tickled his ribs.

Suddenly the door to the apartment flew open and a desperate looking man ran in slamming the door behind him.

"Pah-pa!" the two children gleefully squealed almost in unison.

"Ivan! What is it? What's wrong?" Ekaterina quickly rose from her chair and rushed to her husband's side. He grabbed her by the shoulders, his eyes full of panic.

"The American agents have found me. They will be here soon! We must leave now!" The children rushed to hug their father, each hugging him around the legs. "Not now, children! Not now!"

Natasha and Nicholai quickly jumped back in fear from their father's stern reprimand. Lately, he was always yelling at them. Nicholai began to cry. Natasha ran to her mother for safety and clung tightly to her waist. Ekaterina placed her hand on the back of her frightened daughter as she questioned her husband.

"Ivan? What do you mean? Why are there American agents after you? What have you done?"

Ivan looked coldly at his wife. He offered no explanations to her questions.

"Ivan? IVAN! Tell me! What have you done?"

The children began to cry at the tension that had quickly surfaced in the apartment. Ivan began to throw things in a bag in preparation to flee their home.

"Ekaterina! Quickly! Gather some clothes and food. We must leave now!"

Ekaterina stood motionless in the center of the room, her daughter crying at her side, her son sitting on the floor, covering his eyes and sobbing. A loud banging on the door snapped her into focus.

"EGOROV! We know you're in there! It's all over! OPEN THE DOOR AND SURRENDER!" A voice screamed from the hallway.

Ivan began to ransack the kitchen looking for something.

"Ivan! Ivan! What is happening? What are you doing?"

Ivan grabbed a box that was on the top shelf of the kitchen cabinet. Inside, he pulled out a gun and in one swift motion snapped in the ammunition clip.

"Nyet! I will not surrender! You will have to kill me first!" he shouted back to the man behind the door.

"Ivan! What are you saying?" Ekaterina said with a trembling voice.

Suddenly, the door burst open and 3 men invaded the apartment. Ivan began shooting. The Americans returned fire. Bullets shattered the large windows of the apartment and sent glass flying into the room. Ekaterina shielded Natasha with her body and dragged her to the floor. A few more shots were fired and then it was silent. Ekaterina cautiously looked at the scene. One of the Americans was on the floor holding his bloodied arm and another was standing over the body of her husband, gun still drawn.

"IVAN!" she screamed as she ran to her husband. She knew before she crossed the room that he was dead. There was so much blood. She looked up at the Americans to see they were both pointing their guns at her. She collapsed beside her husband's body, sobbing uncontrollably.

The black haired American patted the light brown haired agent on the shoulder and said, "Good job, Stetson. Guess you're not a rookie anymore!"

The one that was called Stetson looked at the body horror as he realized that not only had his bullets killed Ivan, but also had killed the small boy Ivan was using as a human shield. An almost unworldly sound came from the throat of Ekaterina Egorov as she saw her dead son lying on the kitchen floor, his blue eyes frozen open in horror. The woman scooped up her child into her arms. His arms hung lifeless at his side.

"Nyet! Nyet! NYET! My boy! My Nicholai!"

Ekaterina stood up from her chair and picked up the whistling tea kettle off the stove. She poured the hot water into the waiting tea cup. As she slowly dunked the tea bag, she began to smile. This was a day that she had waited more than fifteen years to arrive. It was the day when she would finally get her revenge on Lee Stetson. She walked back to the table and carefully arranged the black and white photos that lay out before her: photos of Lee, Amanda, Philip and Jamie.

"Soon Mr. Stetson, you, too will know what it is like to lose everything you love and hold dear to you. Very, very soon."

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Monday mornings were always difficult to get started at the Stetson household. The boys had to practically be dragged out of bed. It was far too easy to hit the snooze button on the alarm clock for 9 more minutes of sleep. This Monday morning was no different. No one slept very well given last night's conversation about the agency. Lee felt Amanda toss and turn all night long before she finally got up and went down stairs for a few hours. Lee attempted to sleep but his mind was too busy worrying about Amanda and the boys and how this whole mess would resolve itself in the end. What he really wanted to do was go give Joe a piece of his mind and the taste of his fists. He dozed off and on for most of the night, waking every 20 minutes or so. Once Amanda returned to bed around 3:30am and snuggled up beside him, he was able to relax a bit more. Finally falling asleep about 4:45am, they were in a deep sleep when the 6:00am alarm began to buzz. Lee searched for the snooze button frantically as he was startled awake. He slowly opened one eye to look at the clock. It didn't seem possible that it was time to get up. As he closed his eyes again, he felt Amanda beside him, her head resting on his chest and her hand tightly squeezing his t-shirt. She did not have her normal serine look to her as she slept. She looked troubled and upset. Lee began to rub her back as he tried to clear the fog out of his mind. He could hear that the boys were already up and getting ready for school. This was a sure sign that they didn't sleep well either. Lee gently stroked Amanda's hair and left gentle kisses on her forehead. Amanda began to loosen the grip on Lee's shirt and stretch her neck as she began to waken.

"Good morning! I hate to tell you but it's already 6:00." Lee whispered.

Amanda opened her eyes and looked up at Lee's smiling face, his hair askew from his restless night's sleep.

"How can it already be time to get up? I just fell asleep?"

Amanda rolled over onto her back and placed her hands on her baby bump. Lee rolled onto his side and began rubbing her belly as well.

"Amanda, why don't you stay home today? You didn't sleep at all last night and you should stay home and rest. The interviews can be rescheduled or better yet, I can reassign them to someone else."

Amanda lovingly placed her hands atop of Lee's and squeezed it gently.

"I appreciate the thought sweetheart, but I really need to go into work today. If I stay home, I am going to think about Philip and Jamie all day and get myself in more of a tizzy than I am now. And like I said yesterday, after the interviews this morning, I will come home and take a rest."

Lee kissed the back of her hand and smiled at his sleepy wife.

"Ok. I am going to go make sure the boys are up and then jump in the shower. Why don't you at least try and rest for another 20 minutes or so."

Amanda nodded as Lee turned off the alarm that had started to buzz for the second time this morning. He got out of bed and went down the hall to see if both boys were out of bed and getting ready for school. Philip was just getting out of the shower and was still in his robe. Jamie was nowhere to be found.

"Morning, Dad."

"Morning, Philip. Where is your brother?"

"Oh he's down stairs. He got up a while ago and showered and got dressed already. I think he's watching TV."

"Rough night of sleeping for him, I guess, huh?"

"Yeah…for me, too. Didn't really sleep much. Too many things to think about."

"Your mom and me didn't sleep much either. Guess we will all sleep really well tonight."

"Guess so."

"Ok, Champ, I am going to go take a shower. Your mom is still resting. What do you say I drive you guys to school this morning?"

"Sounds great! Can we stop and get some cocoa and a donut on the way from that donut shop near the school?"

"You bet! Do me a favor and tell your brother he doesn't have to go catch the bus, OK?"

"Yup"

Lee went back to his bedroom and found that Amanda had fallen back asleep. Lee took a shower and got dressed for work. He sat on the edge of the bed and gently shook Amanda awake.

"Time to get up, sleepy head. It's 6:30."

Amanda slowly opened her eyes and groaned. "OK, I'm awake."

Amanda got out of bed and Lee headed downstairs to see the boys.

"Good morning, Jamie. How are you this morning?"

Jamie shrugged his shoulders without looking up from the book he was reading. Lee sat beside him on the couch.

"Rough night, huh? I didn't sleep very well either…..Did Philip tell you that I am going to drive you two to school this morning?"

Jamie put his book down and looked at Lee.

"Yeah, he did. And he said we can stop and get some donuts, too!...Dad? I'm not sure I like knowing that you and mom are spies. I had nightmares about it last night."

"Aw Jamie…..I am so sorry that this has upset you so much. It is a lot to take in all at once. We had always wanted to tell you differently than how it came about last night. But bottom line is….it's good that you two know. Remember, we are going to talk about it again tonight and you can ask us anything you'd like. Hopefully it will put your mind at ease."

Jamie nodded his head as he bit the inside of his mouth to prevent himself from crying. He was really scared at this revelation.

Amanda came down the stairs in her robe and towel wrapped around her head.

"I just wanted to say good-bye to you boys before you head off to school."

"Dad is going to drive us today" Philip announced.

Amanda smiled at Lee. "I think that is a great idea. Come give your mother a hug and a kiss!" Philip and Jamie each hugged Amanda tightly and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "See you tonight, Mom! We'll meet you in the car, Dad!"

"How about one for your husband?" Lee grasped Amanda firmly by the waist and kissed her passionately. "I love you, Manda…..and you need to make sure you come back here the moment those interviews are over. OK?"

"I love you, too, sweetheart. And I promise. I am not going to go into the agency at all today unless I have to. I already have the files with me and I plan on heading straight to the first appointment from here. I will call you when I get home."

"OK!" Lee kissed Amanda again before heading out the door.

Noticing the time, Amanda quickly dashed upstairs to finish getting ready.

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"Lee! You look like you've been run over by a truck!"

"And a pleasant good morning to you, too Francine!"

"Well…no…I didn't mean…..I just mean…you look exhausted! You and Amanda burning the midnight oil last night?" she said with a Cheshire Cat-like grin.

"No..no Francine, we were up late and could sleep because we were telling the boys about their parents being spies. Seems your little tip was correct. Joe did tell them….weeks ago!"

"Weeks ago? Oh Lee, I had no idea! I thought it was just a few days ago! How did they take it?"

Lee ran his hands through his hair and sat on the edge of his desk.

"Philip thought it was great. He wanted to know what kind of James Bond-like gadgets we get to use. Jamie is pretty scared by the whole thing. He is afraid that he is in danger and I think he is also afraid of his parents being in danger. We are going to talk about it more tonight."

"Did you talk to Joe?"

Lee looked at Francine with a look of disgust. "You better believe we talked to Joe. In fact, I think that I will be going over to have another little talk with Joe later this morning-without Amanda there."

Francine's eyes widened. "Oh, Lee! Do you think that is a good idea?"

"I think it is necessary whether it is a good idea or not…..Don't you have that new agent class thingy this morning?"

"Ugh! Don't remind me! Whoever was the evil son of a bitch that scheduled this for a Monday morning should be made to pay!"

Lee smirked at Francine and in a whimsical tone said, "You're welcome!"

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Amanda was pleased that the first interview went so smoothly and quickly. It was almost 9:30 and she was running at least a half hour ahead of schedule. At this rate, she hoped that she would be home by 11:30 and asleep by noon. She pulled up in front of the small ranch house that matched the address in her file. She got out of the corvette and snapped a few pictures of the house before heading up the walkway. As she stood on the front stoop, she reviewed the names of the two women she was to interview: Natasha Petrovich and Ekaterina E. Alezczeck. Amanda rang the bell. A beautiful, svelte young woman with long blonde curls opened the door. She seemed surprised to see Amanda.

"Yes?"

"Ms. Petrovich? I am Amanda Stetson from the agency. I am here to conduct your interview for defection to the US."

"Oh! Yes I am sorry…I don't know why but I thought that the Agent Stetson coming to see us this morning was a man. Please forgive me and come in."

"No problem what so ever. Thank you very much."

Amanda stepped into the house and Natasha shut and locked the door behind her.

"Mama? We have company!" Natasha yelled to her mother. "Mrs. Stetson is here from the agency to conduct our interview….She will be right in. Won't you sit down?"

"Thank you very much. If you don't mind, I would like to get started right away. Would it be ok if we began your part of the interview as we wait for your mother?"

"No, that would be fine."

"I notice that your English is very good. How long have you studied the language?"

"Oh I don't..I mean I never study. I am a dancer and have traveled all around the world. I can speak many languages….it comes from the travel I do."

"Yes, I see here that you are a ballerina and have danced with many famous dance troops, including the Moscow Ballet. That is very impressive."

"Oh, I thank you very much. I work very hard for this, since I was a little girl."

"And do you have any brothers or sisters?"

"I had brother but he died also when I was a little girl."

"How about your husband? It says here that you were married."

"Yes, I was married. My husband died last winter."

"I am so sorry to hear that. You are so young to be a widow. And what about your parents?"

"My father die when I was little. It has been me and mama ever since. Mama has been looking forward to meeting you."

"Meeting me? Why?"

"Because Mrs. Stetson", Ekaterina said in a thick Russian accent from behind Amanda's chair. "I have a score to settle with your husband."

Amanda quickly stood up and spun around to find herself face to face with Ekaterina and the large gun that was pointing directly at Amanda's chest.

"Oh my gosh!"

To be continued…