Passageway

Chapter 23

Lee and Amanda were preparing for one of the most serious talks that they'd ever had with the boys.

Amanda cleared her throat and stated, "Okay, Fellas. Um, the job that Lee and I have is not really as documentary filmmakers. That's just a cover for what we really do."

Lee asked, "Do you know what intelligence operatives are?"

Phillip brightened for a moment and replied, "Cool! Like James Bond? You guys are spies?! That is so rad!"

Amanda shook her head and answered, "No, it isn't! It's only rad if we catch the suspects and are able to shut down their operations. Which sometimes we're not able to do and it causes problems in our country as well as the rest of the world."

Lee nodded in agreement stating, "Your mom's right. In this job people can get kidnapped and sometimes killed trying to make things better, no matter how much training they've had. But we all do our best to outsmart the enemies so they can't counter attack. Do you guys understand so far?"

Jamie gulped and responded softly, "H-Have you killed anyone, Mom?"

Amanda shook her head and cupped his cheek commenting, "No, Sweetheart. In fact, I still have an aversion to guns but I'm in training because sometimes it is necessary to carry one. I'll only use it if I absolutely have to in the most dire of situations. I promise you both that Lee and I take every precaution so that we're safe and we'll make sure that you and your grandmother are as well. I don't want you to be frightened by this but sometimes, this job can get a little dangerous."

As the boys sat trying to process what their mother and Lee were saying Amanda remarked with a sigh, "Now. The reason we told you this is because there was an incident a while ago. Do you remember when I found out I was pregnant?"

Phillip nodded and answered, "Yeah. Jamie and I wondered where the kid was gonna end up since we don't have a lot of room in the house."

Lee stated, "And I told you we'd figure it out later, didn't I?"

The boys nodded and Amanda replied, "Yes. But the reason I'm bringing this up is because I thought it was Lee's but it turned out I was mistaken after all."

She hesitated for a moment looking at Lee but he squeezed her hand in encouragement and nodded stating quietly, "It's all right, Sweetheart. Go ahead."

Swallowing hard Amanda responded, "I know you had the talk with your dad about girls a while ago but I need to tell you something else. Sometimes a man will try to use force to get a woman to do what he wants. It's an act of violence called rape..."

The boys looked at each other and then at her suddenly feeling uneasy and then nodded slowly for her to continue.

Amanda slowly remarked, "Well, Lee and I were out in California on a case trying to track down someone who stole some plans from the government. Now, Lee found out where this man was hiding and went after him. He asked me to stay behind because the man wasn't in his right mind according to various sources we had. But I'm his partner so I wanted to watch his back thinking I could handle it."

She paused for a moment remembering as she gulped and stated tearfully, "Before we knew what was happening, he confiscated our guns and separated us telling us we ruined his plan and that we would be sorry."

Amanda took a deep breath and let it out slowly responding in anger, "He put Lee in another area of his hideout and ch-chained him to the wall. H-He then had me on his bed and h-he forced himself sexually on me! Boys, it is NEVER okay to be this way with any woman! When a woman says no, she means it!"

Phillip and Jamie rushed to hug Amanda as she cried and they tried to comfort her commenting, "It's okay, Mom. We're here!"

Amanda held them tightly and answered painfully, "Th-Thank you, Boys. I love you! I'm sorry that I frightened you but I wanted you to understand how hard this job can be sometimes."

Phillip pulled back a moment and stated angrily, "Where is that clown? I'll take care of him!"

Lee chuckled slightly and touseled the boy's head responding gently, "Whoa! Easy there, Tiger! It's okay. Our people came the next morning and found us and killed him. E-Everything's fine now. You guys don't have to worry, all right?"

Amanda sighed and nodded getting a tissue as she answered clearing her throat, "Lee's right, Honey. Besides with you and your brother and Lee at my side, no one would dare to mess with me!"

Jamie added, "Don't forget Grandma, Mom!"

Lee shook his head and sighed remarking, "Oh, she's definitely not one to be messed with either!"

Amanda calmer now stated, "Okay. Now if there aren't any more questions then I say we order dinner, huh? I'm starving."

Jamie then queried, " Just one. When you lost the baby, when did you find out it wasn't Lee's?"

Amanda shook her head and replied, " Not until some time later when I realized that the timetable I had didn't match to when Lee and I were together."

Phillip then asked, "Bet you weren't sad about it after that, right?"

Amanda swallowed hard and she responded, "Actually I was a little because you see, it was a part of me and it would've been a part of you being your half sister or brother. Had that man lived, we'd never let him know about the child."

Phillip was puzzled and queried, "You mean even though he did that stuff, you still would've had the baby?"

Amanda nodded and touched his cheek and responded softly, "Yes, Sweetie. Lee and I talked it over and he told me that no matter what, he'd stand by me whether or not I wanted to keep the baby because we didn't know for sure at the time whose it was."

Lee cleared his throat commenting, "Yeah. I assume you know what abortion is, right?"

Phillip and Jamie both nodded and Jamie remarked, "Gee Mom, I never thought you'd wanna do anything like that."

Amanda sighed clearing her throat stating, "No, not ordinarily. But I thought about it when I first found out I was pregnant but only for a moment. I was scared, you know? I-I didn't know what to do at first. But Lee assured me that it would be all right and he'd be there for me no matter what I decided. But then later I thought what if I went through with the abortion and it had been Lee's? I was really confused."

After a moment Lee answered, "All right, can we please table this for another time? I'm getting hungry myself."

Amanda put up a hand and responded, "One more thing, Sweetheart."

She put her arms around her sons and remarked firmly to them, "We need you to understand something else here. What we've told you stays with us and Grandma and your dad. Your dad knows some of what we do but I didn't tell him about California. Only about my shooting, not the rape. I-I'll tell him later about that. Will you promise to keep it to yourselves, please?"

Lee stated, "Also if you have any questions about anything we've covered here ask us later, all right? That's what we're here for."

The boys nodded and Jamie piped up, "Now can we get the food?"

Amanda mockingly shrugged and teasingly poked Jamie responding, "I guess unless "someone" has another question-"

Jamie then whined, "Aww, Mom!"

They all laughed and Lee got on the phone to order dinner while the boys went to wash up.

Amanda then went to the kitchen to get wine for Lee and herself. As she got the glasses out of the cupboard and put them on the counter she suddenly felt Lee's arms around her from behind and he pecked her cheek asking, "You feeling better now?"

Amanda nodded slowly and went back into his arms sighing as she responded softly, "Much. How long until dinner arrives?"

Lee looked at his watch and then nibbled her neck whispering, "Not long enough-"

Just then Phillip yelled asking, "Hey, Lee? We set up the asteroid video game! Wanna play?!"

Lee growled into Amanda's shoulder as she giggled and then pushed him gently away answering her son, "He'll be right there, Guys!"

Lee kissed her and stated, "I swear, those two got the bad timing gene from your mother!"

Amanda playfully pushed him out of the kitchen whispering, "You hush now! We'll have time together later, all right?"

As Lee left, Amanda was relieved at how the evening turned out and felt that things were finally falling into place for them knowing soon enough they'd all be back home where they belonged...

The End