Chapter 14

Lee jerked awake when a hand landed on his shoulder. Still here he noticed.

"I'm sorry," Amanda said softly, "you need to get in bed, you're not going to be able to walk later today," she scolded him as she gently lifted Matthew out of his arms and quickly deposited him in the playpen skillfully.

He looked over at the window and the sun was peeking in the blinds, "What time is it?" he asked her, stretching out the muscles in his back.

"Almost six," she smiled as she helped him up. He groaned lightly when he laid down, it felt so good and closed his eyes. She laid down next to him and snuggled into his side, an arm wrapped around him and her face buried in his neck, "you are such a good father," she said softly. His eyes flew open and he stared up at the ceiling. "We are so lucky to have you, I love you so much…." her voice trailed off and her breath evened out.

He held her a little tighter and frowned, he couldn't decipher what he was feeling. When he was young, all he ever wanted was a family of his own. He wanted to do the things families did. Vacations, dinners around the table, picnics….but when he made the decision to join the agency all of those childish dreams flew out the window and he was ok with that.

Being here had been an eye opener. He has to face those old dreams because he didn't know if he'd ever get back to his old life. He drifted off thinking about all of the things he would miss if he did.

The next time he woke up, he felt as though he was being watched. Keeping his eyes closed he tried to determine where he was. He was laying down, seemingly in bed by the softness of it. He sensed a presence but knew no one was laying with him. He slowly peeked one lid very slightly open.

Jenny sat at the end of the bed staring at him. Ok, he was still in this life. He looked around, Amanda and Matt appeared to be gone. Glancing at the clock he could see that it was now almost eight am. He scratched his neck and yawned.

"Mommy wants to know if you want coffee," Jenny said without preamble. He could still see suspicion in her eyes.

"Yeah that'd be great," he told her, "just let me clean up and get dressed real quick…will you go down and tell her I will be right there?" he smiled at her trying to ease the tension.

She nodded and eyed him, "my daddy likes milk in his...do you?" she asked with narrowed eyes, it was surely another test.

'Milk?' he thought with a groan, 'not even cream?' He nodded, in this life he'd take it with milk, "I do," he waited until she had scrambled off the bed and shut the door behind her before he got up. His back was a little sore but it wasn't bad. He cleaned up in the bathroom then looked through the dresser for clothes. He sighed seeing the quality of the clothes that was in the drawers. Didn't matter he thought, it was a Saturday morning. He managed to throw on a t shirt and a pair of jeans, then went down to greet his family.

When he hit the bottom of the stairs he noticed the quiet, he assumed the hectic-ness of yesterday was due to it being a week day morning. The quietness of this morning was definitely more his speed. The radio played softly in the background while Jenny sat at the table in the breakfast nook working in an activity book of some kind. Matthew was in a high chair diligently working his way through a banana. He had more on his face than Lee imagined was in his tummy. Where Amanda found the dishes she was washing was beyond him. He felt like they had done every dish last night. Oddly he realized his heart swelled at this site before him.

"Good morning sweetheart," Amanda said pulling him out of his thoughts, "I got you a cup but I didn't want to pour it before you were down here...didn't want it to get cold."

"Hi," he said walking across the room and kissing her cheek, it felt right. And for all he knew he was stuck here, this was his life now, "how's he doing?" He asked gesturing in Matthew's direction.

"He's so much better today, fevers gone," she smiled at him, "I don't know what you have planned for today but you didn't forget that Jamie's school has that art show this afternoon?" she asked him.

"And we're going?" his statement was actually a question. A high school art show wasn't his idea of a good time.

"Of course we're going," she told him, "Jamie submitted his portfolio, remember? You told him you were very proud of him," she looked at him strangely.

He straightened his spine when realized he was proud of his step son, "I am proud of him," he said contritely.

"I didn't mean to say...I was just trying to remind you about the conversation. The last two days you've been a little, you know," Amanda said back pedaling, "I can't wait to see his presentation," she said trying to soothe him.

"Its fine," he laughed lightly. So they were going on an outing today, "its-its...where is it again?" he asked, clearing his throat.

"At the school," she told him, finishing up her dishes and wiping Matty's face, "it's his last big project before graduation. Phillip should be here-" she paused when the front door burst open, "that's probably him now," she wiped her hands on a towel but before she had the opportunity to go to the door, Phillip was bounding into the room.

"Hi family," Phillip called out.

"Yay!" Jennifer exclaimed as she raced to greet him. He picked her up and flipped her upside down. Lee gasped, his stomach dropped at the sight. He took a step forward to grab her from him but he caught himself before he did that. Phillip seemed to be holding on to her tightly.

"Hello sweetheart," Amanda said greeting him with a kiss on the cheek, "please put your sister down, you know how jumpy Lee gets when you do that."

Phillip immediately turned her upside right and set her down, "yeah, sorry. She just likes it so much," he shrugged, "just want to make her happy," Lee understood the sentiment. Phillip held his hand out to Lee who didn't hesitate to take it.

"How you doing?" Lee asked him, he assumed that Phillip was away at college knowing Amanda but he had no idea where he went.

"Good the drive down from UMD was actually non eventful for a change," Phillip told him.

University of Maryland. Lee nodded thankful another lose end had been tied up, "how's school going?" Lee studied the young man. He was definitely no longer a boy.

Phillip shrugged, "eh, you know...but uh," he looked around and Amanda had turned to wipe the tray of Matthew's high chair and didn't seem to be paying attention, "I want to thank you for everything you said when we talked last time I was home. I appreciate everything you said...and I want you to know you were totally right...about everything," he said lowly, looking at Lee with a raised brow. It was obvious that Phillip didn't want Amanda to know what they were talking about.

Lee looked over at Amanda and back to Phillip. He asked casually, "I was?"

Phillip nodded, "yeah, Cindi wasn't the right girl," he told him, "I knew it, I just...didn't want to admit it."

"I told you to be careful with girls whose names end in 'I'," Amanda said as she looked up and glared at Lee. Her glare had no heat however. He looked away guiltily, he knew a lot of women whose names ended in 'I'.

"Well, we broke up so...and I'm fine and no I don't need to talk about it," he said to his mother. Amanda opened her mouth to contradict him and he plowed on, "mom, really...I'm fine. I talked to Lee all about it last time I was home. He helped me work through it. The things he said made a lot of sense. I knew I was going to break up with her before I went back last time."

"Oh," she looked at Phillip softly, "ok, as long as you're alright," she smiled, "I need to get the little kids changed," she looked at Lee, "sweetheart are you wearing that?" she asked in a tone that told him he was definitely not wearing what he had on.

"Uh, no," he told her, with a shrug and a smug smile.

She nodded and looked around a little frazzled, "where is your grandm-" before she finished the word, Dotty blew in from the back door.

"Good morning," she singsonged, "oh Phillip, I'm so glad to see you."

"Let's all get moving," Lee said, "we wouldn't want to be late to Jamie's show," he picked up Matty and headed up the stairs followed by Amanda and Jennifer.