Lee quickly sat up and looked at Dotty.
"Good Morning, Dotty! How are you this morning?"
"I am very well, Lee dear. Now what is it that you and Amanda want to talk to me about?"
"We just wanted to talk to you about the embassy ball tonight, that's all. Why don't we go down stairs and have some breakfast and then we can chat after I drop off the boys at soccer?"
Dotty's face lit up at the mention of the ball. It is all she has talked about for days. She is so excited to go to a real embassy ball!
"Oh, yes! I am so excited about the ball! I can't wait to go! Just wait till you see my dress! Harry won't be able to keep his hands off me!"
Dotty giggled. Lee became uncomfortable at the thought of Harry and his mother-in-law being at all sexual with each other, even though he knew that had already come to fruition. Dotty spent many nights over at Harry's house. They had only been dating a short while but it was very clear how much they already cared for each other. Lee was happy for them both, he truly was. Part of him hoped that Harry would become a permanent part of the family and be part of the baby's life. Lee loved Harry as much more than a friend. He was like a father to him.
"Well, Dotty…..Why don't we go down stairs and have breakfast? It should be about ready."
Dotty and Lee went down stairs and into the kitchen. Amanda and the boys were just sitting down to eat. Amanda set down a huge stack of pancakes, bacon and scrambled eggs. The boys began to dive into the food like a pack of hungry wolves devouring their prey.
"Good morning, Amanda darling!"
"Oh! Good morning, Mother! Sleep well?"
"Yes, very well."
"Can I get you a cup of coffee?"
"Oh, I'll get it dear. You and Lee sit down and get some breakfast before the boys start eating everything in sight."
Amanda joined the men of the house at the table. Philip and Jamie were in a feeding frenzy. Lee just watched them in amazement as he sipped his coffee. Amanda took a scoop of scrambled eggs and put some on her plate and dished out a scoop onto Lee's plate, too. Lee looked at her to protest. Before he could say anything, her eyes told him that he needed to eat some breakfast because it was 'the most important meal of the day'. Lee just smiled and thanked Amanda.
"Fellas? What time do you have to be at practice? Is it 9 or 9:30?" Amanda asked.
"9:30 over at the high school field." Philip answered.
"I'm going to drop you guys off so once you are finished with breakfast, go get your stuff together, ok?" Lee informed them.
"Can we take the vette to practice? That would be so sweet!" Philip gushed.
"Yeah, Dad! Can we please take the vette?" Jamie begged.
"There's no back seat! Sorry guys, but we can't take the vette. BUT, I promise that sometime next week I will take each of you out for a spin, ok?"
"Ok. Fine with me!" Jamie said enthusiastically.
Lee smiled at the boys. He loved those small bonding moments that they were able to have together. Amanda noticed Lee smiling and she smiled, too. She knew what the reason was behind his smile and it filled her heart with happiness.
Dotty joined them at the table with her mug of coffee.
"Amanda, Lee said that the two of you wanted to talk to me about the ball tonight."
Amanda's eyes widened and looked at Lee.
"Uh, Dotty…we can talk later after I drop off the boys. No big deal."
Lee tried to play it cool in front of the boys. He didn't want them to catch on to the fact that both he and their mother were uncomfortable at the discussion that Dotty just broached.
"Yes, Mother…..we can chat later! Boys, if you're done, why don't you put your dishes in the sink and go get ready for soccer practice and pack a bag to go stay at your dad's tonight, ok?"
"OK, Mom." Philip said as he made his way over to the sink. "And…last one down ready to go has to ride in the back seat!"
Philip bolted from the kitchen up the stairs. Jamie gulped down the last of his milk and sprang from the table, dishes in hand. He didn't take time to carefully place the dishes in the sink. He tossed the dishes in as he ran past the sink, creating a loud CRASH of dishes and silverware. Amanda shut her eyes and tensed up her face in the anticipation of the mess that she was going to have to clean up in the sink. She was sure that something broke in Jamie's zeal to beat his brother.
"Did I say something wrong, Amanda?"
"Well, Mother, you know we don't talk about agency things around the boys, and well the embassy ball is directly connected to the agency. That's why we wanted to wait to talk to you."
"Well is there something wrong with tonight? I am still going, right? The ball is still on?"
"Yes, Mother. The ball is still on and you are still going. We just wanted to talk to you about some of the things that you might see there and some of the kinds of people you might meet."
"Oh, ok…of course!"
Jamie and Philip came bounding down the stairs trying to be the first one into the kitchen. Jamie dove off the bottom step and flew into the kitchen as if he were sliding into home base, successfully beating Philip and thus earning the coveted spot of riding shotgun.
"YES! YES! I won! I beat Philip! WOOHOOO! SHOTGUN!" Jamie exclaimed as he pulled himself up off of the kitchen floor.
"Whatever, lame-o!"
Jamie didn't care that Philip called him a name. He was so excited to have beaten his brother and to be riding shotgun!
"Well, I guess that's my cue that it is time to leave! Be back in a little bit."
Lee got up from the table and grabbed his keys. On the way out the door, he gave Amanda a kiss. Amanda and Dotty watched as the boys and Lee left the house and ran to the car. Amanda smiled at the sight.
"You know, Amanda? I have never in your life seen you as happy as you have been the last few months. I am so very happy that my daughter found a man as wonderful as Lee. He really is something very special."
Amanda looked at her mother and broke out into the biggest smile that her mouth would allow. Her eyes were dancing at the thought of Lee and how happy she was.
"I know it is cliché, Amanda, but you really are glowing these days! Pregnancy and Lee Stetson certainly agree with you!"
"You certainly are right about that, Mother. I am very, very lucky to have Lee. I think we all are! I love watching Lee with Philip and Jamie. They all love each other so much and it is great to have the male role model around for them 24-7. They both are growing so fast and their lives and bodies are changing so much…thank goodness that Lee is here for them. And this pregnancy is finally starting to agree with me! I am not nearly as tired and not getting sick as much. I am starting to feel good again. My body is going through some wacky changes, too. Mother, my clothes are already fitting tighter! I have a feeling this is going to be a big baby…..or maybe even twins. I haven't said anything to Lee about that thought yet because I don't want to get him all worked up, but I don't remember already showing all over my body this soon with Philip or Jamie."
Dotty looked at Amanda, grabbed her hand and smiled.
"Amanda, darling….it would be amazing if you had twins, but I hate to tell you…you definitely began to show early in your two pregnancies, especially in your umm…. breasts….just like you are now."
Amanda got a little embarrassed and looked down at her chest. She knew her mother was right about it being larger.
"I know…they are really starting to grow already. I guess I just forgot when I started to show with the boys. I loved being pregnant with them, but I am really loving this pregnancy. I actually feel a little bad about it. I am so excited for this baby!"
"Don't feel badly….enjoy it! You absolutely enjoy it. And it is so fun watching Lee be so excited for this baby, too."
Amanda smiled and placed her hand on her stomach.
"Hope my dress still fits for tonight!"
"Speaking of tonight, what did you want to talk to me about?"
"Well, Mother…..tonight there are going to be a lot of people around. Most of them will be friendly and good people, but some of them may not be. You just never know at these things. It is important that you stick with Harry and don't pay too much attention to what Lee and I may or may not be doing. Just kind of ignore us. You will be safer that way."
"You want me to go to the party and ignore you and Lee?" Dotty questioned in an almost nonbelieving tone.
"Pretty much. There could be people there that want to hurt us, and if they know you are related to us, they could use you to get to us. So, stick with Harry, have a wonderful time and pretend you don't know us. OK?"
"So, I can't say hi to my daughter or ask her if she's having fun or anything like that? I am just supposed to ignore you?"
"Well of course you can say hi and we can chat a bit, but just don't go telling people that you are my mother or Lee's mother-in-law. Don't react if you hear our names or you hear Lee referred to as Scarecrow. Enjoy Harry's company and have a good time.
"OK….I guess I can do that."
Dotty looked disappointed.
"Oh, Mother…..don't be sad. You will have a great time. And it really is for your own good and for ours, too. It's safer this way for everyone."
"Ok, sweetheart. Whatever you say!"
"Which dress are you going to wear tonight, Mother?"
Dotty's face lit up at the thought of her dress.
"Oh! I am going to wear the midnight blue dress. You know, the one with all the crystals embroidered right into the fabric. And I am going to wear those fabulous new silver shoes I bought last month. Oh I absolutely cannot wait! Harry is going to have a hard time keeping his eyes in his head! At least I hope that is the reaction he will have!"
Amanda smiled as she watched her mother's face light up as she talked about her dress and Harry. Amanda may be the happiest she has ever been, but she wasn't the only one. Dotty hasn't been this happy since Amanda's father passed away. Amanda was so happy to see her mother find someone that makes her this overjoyed.
"Oh, Mother! You know he will have that reaction. He looks at you that way when you are in jeans and a t-shirt!"
Dotty giggled with happiness and excitement.
"Oh, Amanda! Look at the time! I have to go get ready for my hair appointment! Then I am going over to Harry's and getting ready there."
Dotty sprang up from the table and put her coffee mug in the sink. Amanda began cleaning up the breakfast dishes. She was afraid to look in the sink thinking she would find broken plates and glasses from Jamie tossing his plate in there earlier. Thankfully, nothing was broken. Amanda rinsed off the glasses and mugs and placed them on the top row in the dishwasher. Next she rinsed off the plates. The smiled as she looked at the plate that Jamie always liked to use. It was an old, faded plate of the Hostess Twinkie Man and the Chocolate Cupcake Man that they got by collecting and sending in proof of purchase seals from the box. It was a silly old plate with a few little chips in in, but Jamie loved it. They sent away for the plate when Jamie was about 5. Amanda couldn't believe how quickly the boys had grown. Where had the time gone? Amanda smiled at the plate as she thought of little Jamie and little Philip, and placed the plate in the dishwasher. They were growing up too fast!
Once the dishes were done and the kitchen was clean, Amanda sat down on the couch to read the morning paper as she had started to do a few hours ago. She turned to the picture that had upset Lee earlier. She examined it closely to see if she could identify the man in the picture as Nick Grant. It didn't look unlike him, but she could not say for certain that it was him.
Dotty came down the stairs with her garment bag in tow.
"Amanda, darling? I am off to my hair appointment. I will see you tonight!"
"Ok, Mother! Love you! Have fun!" Amanda called from the family room."
"Ok! Love you, too!"
Dotty left through the front door. Amanda imagined that her mother was probably almost skipping to her car in anticipation of tonight's ball. She hoped that there were no issues at the embassy party tonight. She wanted her mother to have fun and she wanted her and Lee to have fun, too! A wave of fatigue began to overtake Amanda. She decided to lie down on the couch and close her eyes for a few minutes.
SMK SMK SMK SMK SMK SMK SMK
Lee dropped off the boys at the soccer field and decided to swing by the agency to see if any news as to Nick's where abouts had been turned up. He headed down to surveillance to see what news, if any they had.
"Well, boys? What's the word on Nick Grant?"
"Oh! Uh, Mr. Stetson! We weren't expecting to see you today." Williams said with a nervous shake to his voice. He has not been comfortable around Lee ever since he made the mistake of patching Dotty's call through to Lee on the agency emergency line, thus blowing his cover with his mother-in-law.
"Well….what have you found?"
"Not much, I am afraid. The last location for him that we know of is the Ivory Coast about 7 months ago. Before that, he seemed to jump around Europe."
"Ivory Coast? That doesn't seem like a place where Nick would be spending his time. In what European countries has he been spending most of his time?"
"Italy, France, Spain….you name it, he's been there. Even if just for a short time."
"And no sign of him being back in the US?"
"Not that we can see. I will keep looking."
"OK, good. Call me in a few hours with an update."
"Will do, Mr. Stetson."
Lee headed to his office before he left to go back home. The construction of the bull pen's facelift and reconfiguring was wearing thin on his nerves. He stepped over some tarps and pushed his way through some translucent hanging plastic sheets, finally making it into his office. He clicked on the light and headed over to the filing cabinet to look at his own notes on Nick. Fingering through what seemed like endless files, he finally came upon the folder he was looking for. Plopping himself down in his desk chair he noticed an envelope sitting in the middle of his desk with 'Stetson' written across the front. Lee put down the file and carefully opened the envelope. Inside was a small piece of paper with a message-
'We're still on for tonight…..meet me on the north balcony at 8:30pm. Come alone."
To be continued…..