Author's note: I wanted to add a little clarification on where I came up with Phillip and Jamie's ages at this point in their lives since the writers of the show were kind of stupid on that point and had them 8 and 10 for about two years. LOL. I'm basing my estimated ages for them on information from three different episodes. In "The Wrong Way Home" told Lee that Phillip was born in '73 and Jamie in '75. That combined with Jamie's birthday party in "Saved by the Bells" indicates his birthday is some time in November and Phillip's birthday party in "Fearless Dotty" would indicate that his is in March. With that in mind that would mean the boys are about two years and eight months apart in age. By that logic with this story being set in June 1987, Phillip would have already turned 14 while Jamie would not yet be 12. Once again, this became a longer chapter than I had anticipated but the ideas kept flowing so here it is.

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Amanda stepped into the elevator to take her back upstairs while Lee squeezed into it just before the doors could close in his face. He'd noticed she'd pushed the up button instead of down. "Fabrications is downstairs," He said.

"I'm not going to fabrications. I'm going home."

"Billy said..."

"I know what Billy said, but you and I both know we don't need them to create a cover for us as a married couple. If this group checks our cover, they'll find out we're legally married," She said sadly wondering how long that would be true. She put her hand on her chest feeling for the rings that normally gave her comfort when she was missing her husband. She panicked momentarily at not finding them there until she remembered that she'd ripped the chain from her neck in the heat of the moment.

"Looking for this?"He said as he pulled the chain out of his pocket.

"What? No," She said.

"Amanda, come on this is me you're talking to," when she didn't say anything, he tried again. "Amanda, we need to talk," he said stepping in front of her as best as he could in the tight space of the elevator giving her no choice but to finally look at him.

"I don't know what on earth you think we have left to talk about. You made your feelings perfectly clear up there."

"Please, Amanda," he said his eyes pleading as he placed her hands on his shoulders. "You misunderstood what I said up there. What I said about us making a mistake...I didn't mean that our marriage was a mistake. I meant the secrecy of it was a mistake. Marrying you was the best decision I've ever made in my life. Keeping it a secret form the world around us was the worst mistake I ever made in my life, but I want to rectify that. I love you more that I can put into words." He moved to her and reached around her neck to fasten the chain back in place disheartened when Amanda stiffened at this touch. "You're angry, I get it. I deserve it, but we need to talk about this. We need to work this out."

"Another time, Lee. There's just too much right now," Amanda said as she picked up the chain momentarily staring at the diamond ring and the gold band on the end of it before tucking them into her blouse. He lifted a hand to caress her face hoping that would melt her steely resolve a little."We said a lot of hurtful things to each other and there isn't time to go into all of it right now. I still have two sick children at home," She shrugged him off just as the doors opened and shoved her way past him through the foyer. She turned around before exiting handing the file in her hands to him. She decided that she had to say something to him because he was at least making an effort."I'll see you Wednesday. You can pick me up at the house a little early and we can talk then," she said and without giving him a chance to say another word, she sped out the front door before he could see the tears that were about to fall.

Lee was left standing there with a troubled look on his face that was only made worse by Mrs. Marston staring him down with a contemptuous look. "What!" Lee growled. 'You have something to say like those jokers downstairs?"

"What do you expect me to say?"Mrs. Marston replied icily. "I heard you made quite an ass of yourself downstairs."

"Well, You're not wrong," he said with a sardonic chuckle.

"It'll blow over. Give Mrs. King some time to cool off and you'll work it out."

"What do you know about it?" he asked curiously.

"Mr. Stetson, I haven't been married Mr. Marston for twenty-five years by accident. It's taken a lot of hard work. Think about it," She said returning her gaze to the front door indicating as only she could that the conversation was over.

Lee trotted up the stairs to the Q Bureau and flung himself into this chair opening the file Amanda had just given him, trying to get his mind off of her. The more he stared at the paperwork in front of him, the less sense it made. He couldn't concentrate. How did things get so complicated? He had been happy as a bachelor. Liar. You weren't happy. He hadn't been. Oh, he'd tried to pretend that the swinging bachelor lifestyle suited him just fine, but deep down he was hollow and terrified to open his heart to anyone after Dorothy's death.

He'd lost himself in an endless string of night clubs and meaningless dates. He'd gone out with nothing but shallow women after that who would never call him out on his antics. He remembered how shocked Amanda had been during the Oz Network case when he was forced to confess that he had four black books. He had heard many people call him a womanizer, but that wasn't really a correct label for how he'd been. Playboy, maybe, but not womanizer. He wasn't a guy like Nick grant after all. He didn't go after married women just to get at their husbands. In fact, he'd never used women to get anything from them. He'd had to explain to Amanda that the names in the black books were not all women that he'd slept with, some he'd never even dated, some were co-workers or former co-workers, some were contacts, some were just friends and some were nothing at all to him. In his profession, he met a lot of women and he'd had a lot of them volunteer their phone numbers, but many of the numbers in the black books, he'd never even called. While it was true that in the ten years between Dorothy's death and the time he started seeing Amanda he'd slept with about twenty women, which sounded really bad by the number itself, but he didn't think that was so bad when you figured it was in a ten-year time span that's averaging two a year.

Sure, he'd dated a lot, but he wasn't a guy who dated just to get laid. He had liked the temporary companionship and he admitted it, he liked to romance women, buy them gifts, bring them flowers, compliment their outfits, take them out to a club or dinner but ultimately he dated a lot in a vain attempt to fill that hollowness inside him, hoping one day to find the one. He was never able to admit that to himself until a seemingly simple housewife had said to him shortly after they'd met. "I hope you don't go to those singles bars. You will never meet a nice girl in one of those..." That was the first time he'd really thought about what he was doing with all the women he dated.

Of course, he'd soon learned that Amanda was not a simple housewife. Just the opposite, in fact. She was the most complicated damn woman he'd ever met. She never stopped surprising him or making him think about things about things in new ways. And she most definitely called him out on his bullshit, like today. He thought back to a dinner they'd had shortly before they were married when he'd been telling exaggerated tales of his traveling years and she'd given him this look. This look that clearly said Do you really think I'm dumb enough to buy all this? and Who do you think you're talking to?" Without her ever opening her mouth to say anything, he had known that she knew he was full of shit. The crazy thing he, he loved that about her, that she didn't let him get away with anything, not bullshit stories, not keeping secrets from her, and she had forced him to give her his whole heart and not hold anything back. Not that she had done it intentionally, she wasn't like that. It was her damn brutal honesty that kept him honest too.

Lee finally decided that sitting there stewing wasn't getting anything done about it. He didn't know what he should do. Billy had told them to work it out, but Mrs. Marston had told him to give Amanda time to cool off. He picked up the phone and dialed a familiar number waiting for it to be answered. When the phone was answered, he said, "Hi, Dotty...No, I know Amanda's not home yet. She just left the office a few minutes ago. She should be there soon. I was just calling to see how the kids were." He waited a few minutes as his mother-in-law launched into one of her tirades...No, Dotty, calm down. I'll take care of it. You don't have to worry...I'll see you soon." He hung up the phone feeling better than he had all day.

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Amanda walked into the house to the sound of her mother raising her voice on the phone. "Well, I think it's just pretty sad that he cared enough to at least call and check on the children and he's not even their father, But you! You couldn't be bothered. Do you have any idea what Amanda has been going through here or do you just even care to know?...Joseph King, you listen to me! Your children are sick and they need to know that their father cares so you get your butt over here now or so help me God...hello?...hello?" Dotty slammed the phone back in its cradle and stared at it as if the phone itself had offended her.

"Mother, what's going on?" Amanda inquired, "Was that Joe you were just talking to?"

"Yes, for all the good it did! It's like talking to a wall only the wall will at least give you a reaction if you kick it." Amanda couldn't help but laugh at her mother's turn of phrase. "This isn't funny, Amanda. The father of your children, a man I once thought was so dependable, has abandoned his responsibility to his children in their time of need. Doesn't that bother you?"

"Yes, Mother of course it does, but there's nothing I can do about it. I can't make him show up when he doesn't want to be here."

"You shouldn't have to handle the whole burden all by yourself."

"It's not a burden for me to care for my children. That's a mother's job."

"Well, it's a father's job too. I don't understand your cavalier attitude about it. If he was man enough to help you make these children then, by God, he should be man enough to help you care for them.

"I couldn't agree more," said Lee from behind them. Dotty and Amanda both turned to see Lee in the doorway, his arms laden with grocery bags. He stepped fully into the room and set the bags down on the countertop.

"Lee, what is all this?"Amanda said.

"I called here to check on the kids and your mother was in a panic because she was running out of clear liquids to give them and couldn't leave to go to the store until you got home so I told her I'd pick some stuff up," he explained as he started unpacking the bags. "Ginger ale," he said pulling out a pair of two liter bottles, chicken bouillon so we can make some more chicken broth," he said also setting it down on the counter. "I had a little trouble with the Gatorade. I was going to get the red kind because it tastes better, but then I remembered that Jamie's allergic to red food dyes, so I got the orange instead. Then I also got some pepto, just in case they're able to keep it down long enough for it to work."

Lee had barely put down the bottle of pepto when Amanda flung herself at him and kissed him tenderly and longingly, Dotty busied herself with putting everything away to give them a moment. "Thank you," Amanda said her eyes glistening with tears, this time of gratitude, not heartbreak.

"Just doing my part to help, something I should have done last night," He said in a normal tone then leaned in to whisper in her ear, "I am their stepfather, after al."

"Well I appreciate it very much."

"I figure I've got a lot of making up to do after the fight I caused."

"You didn't entirely cause it. I was being too stubborn, as usual."

"You two had a fight?"Dotty said. "That surprises me considering last night's events."

"Last night?"Lee said looking at Amanda.

"I didn't say anything Lee," Amanda said. "She figured out on her own that you were in my bedroom last night."

"Ah," Lee said and blushed slightly wondering what Dotty must think of him now that she knew he'd spent a good part of the night ravaging her only daughter.

"Well, Jamie's there now," Dotty said. He threw up in his bed about an hour ago. I had just finished helping him get into some clean PJs when Phillip started up again too, so I hadn't had time to change his bedding. I moved Jamie to your bed and helped Phillip get comfortable down here," she said gesturing toward the sofa where Phillip was fast asleep.

"I'll go take care of it," Amanda said.

"I'll help you," Lee said.

"You don't have to," she said but was touched by the thought.

"I want to."

"Ok," she said gratefully as they ascended the stairs together. "The clean sheets are in the linen closet next to the main bathroom."

"I know, Amanda, I've been here many times, remember?"

"Oh, right." Why was she treating him like a stranger all of a sudden? Get it together, Amanda! "Can you get a fresh set while I go peek in on Jamie to see how he's doing?"

"Of course," he said.

Amanda tiptoed down the hall to her own room while Lee opened the closet door to find the twin-size sheets. He scanned the shelves until he caught sight of the set he was looking for. He pulled the brightly colored red and blue sheets off the shelf and smiled at the Superman insignia on it. He remembered shortly after He and Jamie had gotten past the tension that had been between them having a conversation about Superman. Jamie had been a little bummed at being called a nerd by some of his classmates and Lee, knowing that Jamie loved Supermen comics had pointed out to them that the world saw Clark Kent as a nerd too, but that was because they didn't know how great he was underneath that nerdy exterior. Jamie, being the perceptive kid that he was, had caught on immediately to what Lee was trying to tell him about himself. He smiled at the memory. He reminiscence was stopped by Amanda returning.

"He's still sleeping for now, but I may need to get him up soon to give him another round of Tylenol. His fever's back."

"Well, let's get this taken care of so we can get him back in his own bed," he said as he and Amanda walked toward Phillip and Jamie's room.

"What a mess," Amanda said as she pulled the soiled blanket of the bed dropping it to the floor and was just reaching to strip the bed of its sheets when the smell hit her full force causing her stomach to turn over. She cover her mouth with her hand made a beeline for the bathroom.

"Amanda?" Lee said dropping the sheets in his hands and quickly following her. When he got there, he found her bent over the toilet retching violently. He knelt down beside her pulling her hair out of her face with one hand and placing the other on her back gently rubbing it to comfort her until it passed. "Are you ok?" he asked concern evident in his eyes.

"I think so," She said softly as she tried to get up.

"No, don't move yet. You just sit here for a minute to give our stomach a chance to settle." He stood up, went to the sink and yanked a Dixie cup from the dispenser on the wall, filled it with water and handed it to her. She'd managed to pull herself up to sit on the edge of the bathtub, but he could tell she was still shaky. "Here, sip this and don't go anywhere."

"Lee, I have things to do. The kids need to be taken care of," she protested.

"You let me worry about that. I'm here to help and you need to be taken care of, too. It seems that you've caught this bug from the boys." He placed a light kiss to her forehead. "You don't have a fever he said so maybe it's just a mild case. Now, you just sit here while I finish up Jamie's bed, then we'll get him into it and get you into yours."

"Lee, I can't," she protested again.

"No arguments. I mean it! You're not going to out-stubborn me this time." He left the room and went back to the task at hand making quick work of the soiled bedding and replacing it with the fresh sheets, making another trip back to the linen closet for a fresh blanket. He then checked in on Amanda who was amazingly still sitting on the edge of the bathtub. "How you feeling?"

"Fine, really. I don't think I've got this same bug. The nausea has passed already. I think I'm just tired. I haven't slept much and haven't been eating like I should. With that and the stress I've been under..."

"And I contributed to that stress," Lee said guiltily.

"You weren't entirely wrong though, Lee. I never did think about what it's like for you living alone and I do have my family here to make the loneliness a little more bearable. You don't know how many times I've wished things could be different, but I just don't see how they can be."

"Shhh," Lee said, brushing her hair out of her face. "We don't have to talk about this right now."

"You were the one pushing me to talk about what we haven't been talking about."

"I know, but I picked a really bad time to have a meltdown about it. I didn't realize what you were going through here. I should have been here helping you last night instead of at my place stewing about our situation."

"It's not your responsibility, Lee."

"Yes, it is," he corrected her. "The world may not know it, but when I married you, I knew that I wasn't just marrying you. I was marrying into this family and I should have embraced that months ago instead of letting you carry the load by yourself."

"Lee, you've been great, getting to know the boys, hanging out with them..."

"But it's not enough. I should have been here for the bad stuff as well as the good stuff. For better or for worse, remember?"

"Yeah," she said with a smile.

"Now, we need to get Jamie taken care of to get his fever down. You get the Tylenol while I get him moved back to his own room."

"Ok," Amanda said as she stood slowly, fighting off a wave of dizziness.

Lee noticed her faltering and said, "Are you sure you're ok?"

"Yeah, Just a little light-headed, probably from hunger."

"When was the last time you ate?"

"I don't know...um...I think I had half a bagel about seven or so this morning."

"You, the breakfast of champions queen?'

"Oh, shut up," she said with a chuckle. "I was just so focused on the boys, I didn't really have time to think about myself."

"Well, we're going to change that as soon as we get Jamie squared away. Half a bagel nine hours ago isn't enough to sustain anybody." He left the room and made his way down the hall to Amanda's room and knelt beside his sleeping stepson gently nudging him awake.

"Mom?" Jamie said groggily.

"No, Jamie, It's Lee," He said reaching out to check his forehead.

Jamie opened his eyes and said, "I'm hot."

"Yes, you are, Kiddo. You're burning up, but your mom and I are going to get you all fixed up. Can you sit up?" Lee helped Jamie to a sitting position but the boy was too weak to help much. "Hey, come here. Put your arms around my neck. I've got you." He lifted the eleven-year old out of Amanda's bed and carried him down the hall to his own room.

While Lee had been tending to Jamie, Amanda had taken a moment to collect herself trying to fight off the waves of dizziness that kept coming and going. She'd washed her face and brushed her teeth to make herself feel a little better before rooting in the medicine cabinet for the Tylenol. Amanda exited the bathroom with a bottle of Tylenol and a cup of water for Jamie and smiled as she watched her husband carrying her sick child to his room and gently set him down on his own bed. At that moment, witnessing something so simple, made her heart swell with renewed love for her husband. She walked into the boys room behind him. "Here we go," Amanda said as she handed the bottle to Lee.

"How much should we give him?'

"Just one," Amanda said "Those are the extra strength for adults. Any more than one in 6 hours is too much for a child under twelve. Now, Phillip, being fourteen can take two if he needs them."

"Ok," he said with a smile as his wife. The fact that she knew that right off the top of her head was just one of the many things that made her such an incredible mother. He'd love to be able to broach the subject of making her a mother again. but that discussion was a long ways away. They had to figure out what they were doing with their marriage before that topic could even been brought up. Once Jamie was settled, medicated, tucked in and was drifting back off to sleep, Lee and Amanda exited the room but left the door open so they could hear him if he needed anything. "Now, that he's resting again, I want you to get some rest too."

"Lee, I can't until I know the kids don't need me."

"No arguments, Amanda. You said yourself, you haven't had much sleep," He said as he guided her toward her room with a hand on her back. "Come on."

When they reached her room and she sat down on the bed, was when Amanda realized how truly exhausted she was. She kicked off her shoes and laid down not caring that her work clothes would get all wrinkled. "Thank you," she said looking up at her husband as she reached for his hand and gently squeezed it.

He gently sat down on the edge of the bed and brushed his hand across her forehead and through her hair. "Stop thanking me. I'm just doing what and husband and father should do." Amanda smiled at the fact that he used the world father, not stepfather. He lightly kissed her lips and said, "I love you, Mrs. Stetson."

"I love you, too," she said.

"Now, get some sleep," He said as he rose from the bed.

"Where are you going?"

"There's still stuff to be done around the house."

"I should help you," she said.

"Don't you dare get out of that bed. The best way you can help me is by helping yourself. You're not going to do anybody any good if you collapse from exhaustion and starvation. You get some rest and I'll take care of dinner and come wake you when it's ready, ok?"

"Ok," she said and finally stopped fighting the weariness that had been threatening to consume her all day.