Author's note: I want to thank all my faithful readers for following this tale. I try to reply to all reviewers to say thanks as well. To my mystery guest reviewers that I can't reply to, thank you as well. Knowing that people are enjoying what I'm writing makes it all worth it.

Regarding Virginia law on teen drivers in this chapter and the next one, I am referencing what the laws were in 1988 when I was a teen driver myself living in Virginia. The laws have changed since then and are no longer the ones referenced here.

On an additional note, I've modified the last three chapters just slightly to add dates to the flashback sequences to make it flow a little better. No other changes, though.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Lee buried his face against his wife's shoulder and whispered, "I'm sorry." Amanda didn't reply, just held him tighter as he let out a strangled sob. Amanda held his head to her neck softly stroking his hair planting light kisses on his face until he stopped shaking. He pulled his head back to look at her. "I love you," he said as he kissed her softly.

"I love you," she said kissing him back.

"Amanda...I..." Lee found himself unable to finish his thought.

Amanda took in the pleading look in his eyes, placed a finger to her lips and said, "Shhh, I know." She then snaked her arms around his neck and pulled him in for a deeper kiss. Lee kissed her back hungrily, pouring all his pent-up anger and frustration into her. Amanda, knowing that he needed this outlet, didn't protest as he backed up against the bench of the gazebo, pulling her into his lap astride him as their kisses became more heated, his hands roaming under her skirt.

He pulled from their kiss for a moment and said, "I...I need..."

Amanda again silenced him with a finger to his lips. "I know what you need," she whispered and kissed him again as she leaned into him and wrapped herself around him to comfort him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jennie Stetson stepped into the back door of her son's home thinking about all that he had told her. The tale he'd told her of how he'd learned he was going to be a father brought back memories of long ago when she'd delivered the same news to her own husband.

November 30, 1949

Jennie Stetson lay relaxed in her husband's arms basking in the afterglow of a very satisfying round of lovemaking. "Happy birthday, Mrs. Stetson," Matthew whispered in her ear.

"Happy birthday, indeed," she replied with a contented smile as she gazed lovingly at her husband. "Thank you for helping me to celebrate it."

"What is that smile all about, my love?"Matt questioned.

Her smile widened as she replied, "We have more than just my birthday to celebrate."

"Oh? What else do we have to celebrate? Our six-month anniversary was two weeks ago, so it can't be that. What else could it be? Did you get that promotion that you wanted?" he inquired.

"Can't you stop being a spy for just a moment? This is not an interrogation. You've completely ruined my plan for giving the news I received today," she pouted.

"Oh, you had a plan, did you?"

"Yes, I had a plan and a very clever one, too."

"Look at you, making plans in secret. Now, who won't stop being the spy?" he teased.

"Would you be serious? This is really rather important."

"Alright, I'm listening," Matt replied giving his wife his full attention. "What is this news that you feel we need to celebrate?"

"I paid a visit to the doctor today and you, my darling husband, are going to be a father."

"You're pregnant?"He said his eyes alight.

When she smiled, nodded and said, "The doctor says I'm about six weeks gone. He predicts next June."

Matthew ran his finger through his wife's hair lovingly, pulled her head to his, kissed her soundly and said, "Oh, My Jennie, you've made me so happy."

Jennie's mind was brought back to the present by the sound of Dotty's voice calling, "Amanda? Lee?"

"No, it's just me, I'm afraid," Jennie replied as Dotty entered the kitchen having heard the back door close."They're still outside. Lee said they needed a moment."

"It had better be short moment or their dinner's going to get cold," Dotty said. "I swear I don't know what their fascination with the back yard is. I could understand it if they were still hiding their relationship like they used to, but their marriage has been out in the open for eight months now, yet they still hang out there as if they have to sneak around like a pair of wayward teenagers."

"Perhaps it's just the life of an intelligence operative or maybe just old habit," Jennie suggested.

"Well, they need to come back in and have dinner with the boys before the twins wake up again demanding their dinner," Dotty said reaching for the doorknob.

Outside, the couple in question was just catching their breath and sharing soft kisses. "I'm sorry," Lee said as he held tightly to his wife.

"Don't be," Amanda said as she softly kissed his forehead and caressed his face.

"But you didn't-"

"It's ok," she interrupted. "This wasn't about me. You were the one who really needed the release."

"I'll make it up to you, I promise," Lee said, "maybe after the kids go to bed tonight."

"I'll be looking forward to it," she said with a seductive smile.

They were interrupted by the sound of Dotty's voice. "What on earth are you two doing out here for so long?" she inquired as she stepped into the backyard, Jennie behind her.

The two mothers heard the sounds of scuffling coming from the gazebo and a loud "Ow!" from Lee.

"We'll be inside in a minute, Mother," Amanda called.

"Is everything alright?" Jennie called with an amused look on her face as they heard the sounds of clothing being righted, the hiss of a zipper and tinkling sound of a belt being buckled.

Dotty and Jennie looked at one another knowingly. Dotty couldn't resist teasing them. "Amanda Jean Stetson, you better not have let that husband of yours trample my flower bed again. I had enough of that at the old house," she said.

"No, Mother," Amanda said as she exited the gazebo hand in hand with her husband. "We were nowhere near the flower bed."

"So, you still didn't answer my question. What were you doing out here?"

Husband and wife looked at each other, smiled then turned back to face their mothers, "Nothing," they answered together.

"Uh-huh," Dotty said disbelievingly.

"Nothing, is it?" Jennie said as she reached out to wipe a lipstick smudge off her son's face. "You know, in all the years that I was thinking of you and wondering what kind of man you'd grow up to be, I never once imagined my son would be the type to wear lipstick," She teased.

"And suspiciously, it's the same shade as my daughter's." Dotty added as she glanced at Jennie with a grin.

"Very funny, you two," Lee said testily while Amanda just laughed. "Oh, you think this is funny too?"He said to her. When Amanda just continued to laugh, he said, "Come on, we should get inside before the boys kill each other. You know how they get if they're left unsupervised for too long."

The four of them entered the house and as they walked into the dining room, they found that Phillip and Jamie were indeed embroiled in an argument. "Come on, you know that's never gonna' happen. By the time I'm old enough, you'll still be grounded," Jamie was chastising his older brother.

"No, I won't. You're only twelve, so that's a long time from now, Doofus!"

"Phillip, no name calling," Amanda said wearily as she took her place at the dinner table while Lee sat to her left and Dotty on her right. "Boys, let's be on our best behavior. We have a guest for dinner." She indicated the empty place at the table to the left of her husband for Jennie to sit. "This is Mrs. Stetson. She's Lee's mother."

"I thought Lee's mom and dad were dead," Phillip said with a curious look.

Lee took a deep breath and said, "So did I, Chief. It turned out that she survived the car accident that killed my father."

"Is this some spy thing," Jamie asked. "It has to be, right? Why else would she stay away so long?"

Jennie looked at Jamie with a quizzical expression. "They know?"

"Yes, they know," Amanda answered before turning back to her children. "Listen, fellas, I know you must have a lot of questions, but let's save them for another time and just have a nice family dinner, ok?"

"Ok," both boys agreed.

"So, what were guys arguing about when we came in here?" Lee asked as they began to pass dishes around the table to fill their plates.

"Jamie here seems to think that he'll get to drive the 'vette before I do even though I'm older," Phillip said with a sneer at his brother who stuck his tongue out in response.

"They way you're going, he might be right," Lee said. "Or have you forgotten about the incident on your fifteenth birthday last month? You're still grounded for another two weeks over that."

"Aren't you ever going to let me forget about that?"Phillip grumbled.

"Forget that you snatched my car keys and wrecked my car which, by the way is a very expensive piece of machinery? I don't think so. Not any time soon."

"Oh, come on, Lee. That's so not fair! Mom got the door knocked off of it, like six month ago and you're not yelling at her," Phillip protested. "That was way worse that the damage I did to it! How is that any different?"

"I'll tell you how it's different. First, she's a licensed driver and you're not even old enough for a learner's permit yet. You have to be fifteen and eight months, which you won't be until November. Second, the damage that she did to that car was while she was pursuing an international terrorist."

"While five months pregnant with twins, no less," Amanda added with a chuckle.

Lee smiled at her then continued to Phillip, "There's is a big difference between a federal agent damaging the car while chasing bad guys and a teenager taking a midnight joyride to impress his girlfriend."

"This is so not fair," Phillip grumbled. "I made a mistake. I get that, but I shouldn't have to be punished for it the rest of my life. Right, Mom?" Phillip gave a pleading look to his mother.

"Not the rest of your life," Amanda said. "But I stand by Lee's decision to ground you for a month and with the extra chores he gave you to work off the damage you did to the car. You have to understand how serious this is. You could have killed someone. You're lucky you didn't, that neither you nor Amy were hurt and you're very lucky that Mr. Bonner didn't decide to get the authorities involved since you put his daughter's life in danger."

"Not only that," Lee added, "but your mother and I spent the better part of an hour trying to explain to Mr. Bonner why our kid had his kid out in the middle of the night way past her curfew. You're damn lucky that you and Amy are still going to be allowed to see each other once you're both over being grounded."

"Ok, I screwed up majorly. I get that, but why can't you cut me a little slack?"Phillip complained. "It's not like you're my real father anyway," he added challengingly.

A stunned silence followed, the entire family left speechless by Phillip's outburst.