April 27, 1988
The next morning, Jennie entered the kitchen to find it bustling with activity, Phillip and Jamie chattering at the kitchen table, while Lee was at the counter in front of an electric griddle, his right hand cradling his infant son against his shoulder while he used his left to flip pancakes. He glanced up for just a moment and said, "Good morning."
"Good morning," Jennie said with a smile at seeing her son looking so chipper so early in the morning.
"There's coffee over there. Cups are in the cabinet above it. Help yourself," Lee said with a nod to the coffee make on the corner of the countertop behind him. "Unless you'd prefer tea," he added almost as an afterthought as it occurred to him that she'd often drunk tea during his childhood while his father had preferred coffee, his mind flashing back to the delicate china teacup he and Amanda had found in the hidden sub-basement of their old family home.
"Oh, no, that's quite all right, my dear," Jennie replied as she opened the cupboard he'd indicated and pulled out a mug. "Coffee will be fine." She poured a cup of the steaming liquid.
"Cream's in the fridge," Lee said while still keeping his eyes on his task. "Spoons in the drawer next to it."
Jennie retrieved the cream from the refrigerator, added a dollop to her cup, idling stirring it as she approached her son. "Where's Amanda?" she inquired.
"In the nursery, getting Jennie fed and ready for the day. Matty here's already been taken care of."
"Do allow me to help you," Jennie said with a gesture to the baby on his shoulder.
"I got it," Lee said. "I'm getting pretty good at juggling these days." He smiled briefly at his tiny son, then turned his attention back to the griddle in front of him, removing golden-brown pancakes from its surface and dividing them between two plates.
"Are you sure?" Jennie asked. "I don't mind helping with the children."
"Yes, I'm sure," Lee replied as he continued with his task. "Hungry?" He said with a nod to one of the plates.
Jennie noticed that when she'd offered to take the baby, he'd tightened his hold on his son. She frowned as she wondered if he didn't fully trust her. She supposed she wouldn't blame him if he didn't. She wanted to ask him but decided against it. Observing that there were only two plates, she instead replied with a nod that direction, "What about you and Amanda?"
"One of these is for you and one's for Amanda," Lee answered. "I'm not much of a breakfast eater."
"Oh, I see," Jennie said, a bit dismayed at this new bit of information about her son. "That's not very healthy."
"That's what I've been telling him for years," Amanda said as she entered the room, baby Jennie cradled in her arms.
Lee smiled and said, "And you've never yet managed to change my mind on that score. I can be just as stubborn as you, you know."
"Don't I know it," his wife replied with a teasing grin as she leaned in for a quick kiss.
"Here, you eat," Lee said as he used his free arm to scoop his daughter up, propping her against his left shoulder.
"Thank you, Sweetheart," Amanda replied as she picked up a plate and headed toward the kitchen table. When she noticed her mother-in-law still standing stock-still, she said, "Jennie, are you going to join us?"
Jennie shook her head having briefly been mesmerized by her son's ability to balance two infants and still pay attention to both of them. "Of course," she replied as she picked up her own plate and followed behind Amanda, the boys' voices suddenly becoming hushed as they approached.
As she sat down, she could hear Jamie whisper to his brother, "Ask her."
"No, you ask her," Phillip hissed back.
"I'm not gonna' ask her," Jamie fired back. "That would just be weird."
"You're weird anyway. That's why you should ask her," Phillip countered still in a soft tone.
"Fellas, what have I always taught you about whispering," Amanda said in a scolding tone. At seeing the stern look on their mother's face, Phillip and Jamie both turned their attention back to their plates. "What are you talking about that you felt you needed to whisper?"
"Nothing," they replied at once, followed by Phillip nudging his brother with his elbow and hissing, "Do it."
"No way," Jamie said with a shake of his head.
"Guys, come on," Lee interjected as he approached the table rocking both babies. "What's going on here? Your mother asked you a question and you owe her an answer."
"See what you started," Jamie said with a scowl at his brother.
"Me? I didn't start it. You did. You're the one who said-" Phillip broke off abruptly not wanting to complete his sentence and reveal what they'd been talking about.
"Fellas, enough!" Amanda said. "Somebody better tell me what's going on now or we're gonna' have some extra chores handed out around here. With a place this big, there's always stuff to do." The boys glared at one another and both remained silent. "Okay, fine. Let's try it this way. You weren't being all that quiet with your whispering, so I heard you saying something about "ask her." Is there something you wanted to ask me?"
"No, not you," Jamie said softly as he poked at his pancakes with his fork keeping his head down to avoid making eye contact.
"Then who?"Amanda said. "Jennie?"
Phillip nodded. "We...or actually, Jamie, more than me, really...um...wanted to know...never mind. It's stupid."
"Phillip, if there's something you want to ask me and it's of great importance to you, it's not stupid," Jennie answered gently before their parents could reply. "You can feel free to ask me anything you like."
Jamie finally looking up from his plate, looked directly at Jennie and said, "Okay, we were curious since you're Lee's mom and Lee's kinda' like our dad, are we supposed to call you Grandma?"
"Or since Lee's not really our dad even though he treats us like he is, should we call you Mrs. Stetson?"Phillip chimed in.
Jennie laughed and said, "Well, that is most certainly not a stupid question. I imagine this all must be terribly confusing for you boys. If I were in your position, I would want to know the same thing. The answer if very simple. I want you to call me whatever you makes you feel comfortable. I know that you have a grandmother that you love very dearly and I'm a perfect stranger to you, so if you don't want to call me grandma, you don't have to. However, since we are family, I feel that Mrs. Stetson is a bit too formal, don't you agree?"
Jamie nodded, while Phillip said, "I guess so."
"How about we work out a compromise and you call me Jennie," She suggested.
Jamie looked at his mother nervously and said, "But Mom always says that it's disrespectful to call a grown-up by their first name."
"That's not exactly what I said," Amanda replied. "I said that you should never call a grown-up by their first name without their permission and Jennie just gave you her permission."
"Oh," Jamie said breathing a sigh of relief.
"Now that that's settled, you two had better finish your breakfast and then finish getting ready for school so you don't miss your bus," Lee said just as Dotty entered through the back door.
"Good morning, Everyone," Dotty said cheerily as she entered the kitchen to which she received greetings in response from her family.
"Are you hungry?" Lee asked. "The griddle's still warm if you want some pancakes."
"Oh, no, thank you, Lee, Darling," Dotty replied. "Curt made me the most wonderful crepes for breakfast this morning."
"A man that can cook, huh?" Amanda said with a warm smile at her husband. "Tell me again why you haven't accepted any of his many marriage proposals?"
"Does the name Dean ring a bell?" Dotty fired back.
"Pfft, that guy?" Lee said with disdain. "He never had a prayer. Now, your pilot friend on the other hand...This isn't the first time that he's still been around in the morning to fix you breakfast." He grinned at his mother-in-law.
"You know, I'm suddenly deciding that this is none of your business," Dotty said glancing at first her daughter, then her son-in-law. "Either of you."
"Hmm," Amanda said. "You know, that's funny because argument never worked for me when you were trying to marry me off to every man I ever had a date with after my divorce."
"That's different," Dotty said.
"How?" Amanda said.
"Because I'm your mother and because you have two children who needed a stable male role model."
"Well, they have that now," Amanda said as she finished her pancakes and rose from the table. "Speaking of which, a certain stable male role model and I need to be on our way to the office soon."
When Dotty reached for the babies, Amanda glanced at her husband who kept a firm grip on his children. "Come on, now, Sweetheart. We go through this every morning. You can't take the twins to work with you." She gently lifted baby Jennie from his arm and handed her to her mother.
"Yeah, I know," Lee grumbled as he finally released his hold on his son, handing him off to Dotty as well. "I just haven't gotten to spend as much time with them as you have."
"Oh, I know," Amanda said. "But one thing you learn about kids after years of practice is that it's not always the amount of time you spend with them that matters, but what you do in that time."
"That's very wise," Jennie said a little relieved to find that his refusal of her offer to help him with the baby earlier had nothing to do with her, but more to do with his desire to spend time with his children. She was very glad that she hadn't brought up the subject and risked her already tenuous relationship with him. "Should I come with you in case there are more questions about the investigation?" she inquired.
"No, Mom, I want you to stay here where you'll be safe," Lee said. "At least until we know more about who was doing the shooting last night and why."
"But what if they were to attack here?"
"That's not likely to happen," Lee said. "My brilliant wife forged a paper trail last night to make it look as if you were just transferred to another safe house under the agency's control. If there are still guys out there after you and they try attacking there, all they'll find is a building full of agents. Even if by some remote chance, they would figure it out and attack here, they'd have a hell of a time getting in. You may have noticed that secure gate out front, with a numbered keypad entry and that the house is well-hidden from the street."
"That's one of the things that appealed to us about this house when we bought it, that's it set way back off the road," Amanda explained. "Doing what we do, we wanted to make sure that our home is as protected as it can be."
"Besides that," Lee said with a smile at his mother, "A lady who sleeps with a pistol under the pillow shouldn't have anything to be afraid of."
Jennie couldn't help but laugh and said, "I suppose that I'm just still a little anxious after so many years on the run."
"Listen, you don't have to run anymore. You're safe here and I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure that you stay that way. Besides, I'm sure Dotty wouldn't mind a helping hand with the twins."
"Not at all," Dotty replied. "Managing both of them at once can be a bit of a challenge."
"There you go. It's all settled and we'll call if there are any more questions."
"All right," Jennie said with a sigh as she watched her son and his wife say good-bye to everyone and depart for the day.
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Upon arriving at the agency, the Stetsons were informed my Mrs. Marston that Billy had requested their presence in his office right away, so they quickly made their way there. As soon as they walked in, Billy said, "Sit down, you two," and then with a nod to Francine began, "Francine was just filling me in on last night's events and I've been looking over your reports on it. You think this is still something related to Blackthorne?"
"It'd be pretty damned coincidental if it didn't," Lee said vehemently.
"We're not sure just yet, Sir," Amanda said as she placed a calming hand on Lee's arm. "We did uncover some evidence that D'Angelo and Blackthorne may have been working together, but we still have some investigating to do."
Billy nodded and said, "For now."
"What do you mean, Sir," Amanda said with a wary glance at him, knowing all too well how Lee would be if his mother's case were assigned to someone else who didn't have his vested interest in it. "You're not pulling us from this case?"
"No, Amanda," Billy said. "Just you. That is, you can help Lee with this case for now, but I have another assignment for you starting this afternoon. One that you were personally requested for. I'll have Francine fill in for you on this one to help Lee."
"Someone personally requested me, Sir?" Amanda questioned.
"Now, hold on just a damn minute," Lee said. "I just got my partner back and now you're taking her away from me again?"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk," Francine said with a shake of her head. "This is what happens when you get your partner pregnant."
Lee scowled at Francine and said, "Zip it, Francine."
"You see what I've had to put up with while you've been on maternity leave?" Francine said to Amanda with a grin. She then turned to Lee and said, "I swear getting married and settling down has made you soft."
Before the verbal sparring could escalate, Billy said, "Amanda, you've got a two o'clock appointment at the Zaqiran embassy to liaison with their security people."
Amanda smiled and said, "I understand. Rheza and Penny will be in DC on Friday."
"Right," Billy said. "I had a feeling that you'd already know they were coming. You and the princess seemed to hit it off pretty well the last time she was here."
"Yes, Sir, we did," Amanda replied. "We've been writing letters back and forth ever since. The last one I got from her, she said they were going to be in town and wanted to make a lunch date."
Billy smiled and said, "This is why you were personally requested to handle security for the reception being held in their honor Friday night. You'll want to take as many extra precautions as possible because this is the first time that they've been back in the states since their son was born. Anyone with a grudge against the parents would be likely to take a potshot at the child to get to them."
Amanda nodded and replied, "I understand."
"Excuse me, Sir," Francine interjected. "But wouldn't I be better equipped to handle this sort of job? I mean, I've handled tons of these security things and I'm better at mingling with royalty than anyone else at the agency."
"Oh? Should we remind you of your encounter with Prince Eddie?" Lee quipped.
"Well, he was just a barbarian," Francine fired back. "That hardly counts and anyway, wouldn't you be much happier if I were working embassy security so you can have your partner back?"
"Francine, all of your points are very valid ones," Billy said.
"So, does that mean I can trade jobs with Amanda?" Francine asked with an excited smile toward her boss.
"No," Billy answered. When Francine's smile turned into a frown, he said, "I'm sorry, Francine, but the prince and princess specifically requested Amanda when they made their travel plans and I'm afraid we have no choice but to honor that request."
"That's so not fair," Francine pouted.
"That's just the way it is, Francine," Billy said. "Now, enough arguing. All of you get to work."
All three dispersed and as they exited Billy's office, Lee said, "Okay, since I only have you for half the day today, let's start with that hospital my sister was born in."
"You got it," Amanda said.