Truth Aftermath

Chapter 1

As Lee watched the limo that had Amanda and Dotty safely inside leave the Dulles parking lot to head to Arlington that afternoon, he let a deep sigh of relief escape his lungs that he didn't realize he'd been holding!

Taking his luggage from the curb then, he scouted the parking area for his 'Vette. Finding it within minutes, he reached it, and putting his bags in the trunk, closed it, and got in the driver's side.

Shutting the door and starting the car, he looked around before pulling out of the space, and his eyes were suddenly focused on the passenger side seat, where Amanda usually sat.

Suddenly, he was envisioning the memory of the accident, and of Amanda leaning back against the seat, as her white sweater became blood stained!

Swallowing hard, he shook his head, and pounding the steering wheel in anguish, growled, "No! Amanda's fine! She's alright now!"

Gripping the steering wheel then, he leaned his forehead against it and sighed heavily, muttering, "C'mon, Stetson! Get it together!"

After a moment, feeling calmer, he straightened and was about to pull out of the parking space, when he reached for the phone instead, and dialed Billy's extension at the Agency.

Billy answered, "Melrose."

Lee, clearing his throat, stated, "Billy, it's me...We're back."

Billy noticed Francine coming into the office then, and motioned for her to sit down.

As she did, Billy put the phone on speaker and queried, " Lee? It's good to hear your voice...How's Amanda? Is she there with you?"

Lee replied, "No, I had a limo take her and Mrs. West back to the house. We would've been home sooner, but the doctor wanted to check Amanda one last time before releasing her."

Billy asked then, " I see...And how are you? Do you need anything?"

Lee, with a deep sigh, gulped answering, "Y-Yeah, I need the last month to not have happened!"

Billy cleared his throat commenting, "I-I know, Son...Look, why don't you come by here and we'll talk, alright?"

Lee remarked quietly, "Yeah, okay...Hey, is Francine there?"

Francine answered, "Hi, Lee. What do you need?"

Lee replied, "Um, Amanda wanted me to send thanks to you for the care package you sent, and said she'll call you later..."

Francine responded, " O-Okay, thanks... See you soon."

Lee hung up, and doing a final check around, pulled out of the space, and made his way out of Dulles...

-SMK-

As Lee headed for the Agency, Amanda and her mother were just getting home, as the limo pulled into the driveway.

Joe King came out of the house to greet them, and helping Amanda out of the back seat of the limo, while Dotty exited the other side, gave her a kiss on the cheek, saying, "The boys are doing their homework...I told them to take a break for a minute, that you were home, but..."

Amanda, nodding, replied softly, "It's alright, Joe. They're probably a bit nervous about seeing me anyway because of the accident...Let's go in, huh?"

Dotty put up a hand at seeing Amanda try to slowly move forward, and answered quickly, "J-Just a minute, Dear...Joe? Can you please get our luggage while I help Amanda with the porch steps?"

As Joe answered, "Sure," Amanda sighed remarking to her mother, "Oh, it's only two steps, Mother. I can manage-"

But Dotty firmly stated with a shake of her head, "Absolutely not! There is no railing there-"

Joe then commented, "Hold it!"

The two women looked at him and he responded, "I'll bring the luggage to the porch and then we'll both help her up, Dotty, alright?"

Dotty nodded answering, "Oh, of course. Thank you, Joe. I'll at least walk her to the porch."

She then saw Joe was going to tip the driver, but Dotty answered to him while nodding to the driver, "Joe, it's all been taken care of, Dear...Thank you, Terry!"

With a nod, the driver got back into the limo and pulled out of the driveway, leaving the neighborhood.

Taking Amanda's arm, she walked alongside her slowly, stating, "C'mon, Sweetheart."

When they reached the porch finally, Amanda sighed tiredly, asking, "Why does it still feel like I'm a beat behind after all the therapy I did?"

Dotty shook her head as Joe approached them at the steps, and commented to her, "Honey, you can't rush yourself. The doctor said it would take time, didn't he?"

Amanda shrugged and looking at Joe, stated, "Yeah, but I heard Mother saying how she was going to have me hopping around in no time-"

Joe answering to Amanda as he put the luggage down for a moment, " Well, I'll bet she was just excited that you woke up, Honey. That's all...You ready?"

Amanda eyed the stairs, and nodded slowly as Joe and Dotty helped her up to the front door.

Dotty, opening the door, guided Amanda into the foyer as Joe came behind with the luggage, calling out, "Hey, Boys! Your mom's home! C'mon down!"

After a silent beat, Amanda asided to Dotty, "Maybe you should have told them you brought cookies as well-"

Dotty asided back, "You hush...", as they finally saw Phillip and Jamie come slowly down the stairs.

Joe, eying both boys, went to put the luggage by the stairs commenting, "We'll worry about this stuff later. Come give your mom a hug. She hasn't seen you in a while..."

Amanda's eyes suddenly filled with tears as she stared at her sons, and gulped asking, "Wow...Did you guys suddenly sprout up while I was gone? Couldn't have been that long, right?"

When the boys, uneasy, still stood motionless at the bottom of the stairs, Amanda remarked carefully with a sigh, "You know, a hug from you both would be the best medicine for me right now, so c'mon over here...Please?"

Phillip, clearing his throat, answered, "We don't...We don't wanna hurt you, Mom."

Amanda, shaking her head, swallowed as she brushed a tear escaping her eye with her index finger and replied, "Well, you can't if you do it carefully...Now, gently, come to my arms, both of you, and we'll go to the family room, because I need my big strong boys to help me to the couch, alright?"

It took a few minutes, but the three managed to sit down together on the couch, as Amanda kept her arms around the boys answering, "S-See? That wasn't hard at all, right? Ohh, how I've missed holding you!"

Soon, they needed tissues as they had gotten emotional for a moment, and Jamie, wiping his eyes asked, "Did it hurt, Mom?"

Phillip sniffed, jeering at his brother,"What a doofus! Of course it hurt! She almost-!"

Dotty, knowing what Phillip was about to say silenced them immediately! "Boys! Please stop it! Now, go take the luggage upstairs, and then continue with your homework-"

But Amanda put up a hand stating, "Wait-Wait a minute, Mother..."

This time, Amanda let her tears fall as she kissed both boys commenting as she held them, "All I thought about at the hospital while trying to get stronger was how much I missed you, and how much I love you, okay? I was determined to get home to you, and here I am, and here I'll stay, you got it?"

As they nodded, Amanda gulped and responded to Dotty, "Okay...Mother, I need to talk to Joe alone now. Can you take the boys to Marvelous Marvin's and get us our dinner for tonight, please? Anything you get is fine, alright? Thank you."

But Joe shook his head as Dotty went to retrieve her purse and handed her money from his wallet answering, " No, Dotty...Tonight's on me. We're celebrating Amanda being home."

Dotty hugged him replying, "Thank you, Dear."

Signalling to the boys to get up from the couch, Dotty answered as she grabbed the Wagoneer keys and headed for the front door, "Let's go, Boys! And your father's right, so why don't we get extra shakes, hmm?"

As the boys cheered, Amanda called to her mother as they left, "Okay, but don't blame me if they get stomach aches later!"

As the front door shut, Amanda, shaking her head as she wiped her eyes after getting a tissue commented, "Can you believe that?"

Joe shrugged responding lightly as he looked at her, "Well, maybe a little spoiling wouldn't be so bad right now, considering everything that's gone on lately...Um, so, you wanted to talk?"

Amanda sighed deeply and nodded, "Yeah, Joe...It's about California, and why I really went there..."

TBC