Francine flew into Billy's early the next morning without knocking. "Billy, I need to talk to you!"

"What is it, Francine," He said in irritation. "I was here late last night and I haven't even had my morning coffee yet. Please don't tell me you want out of this assignment too."

"What, no. Why, who else wants out of this assignment. Did Efraim say something to you because I was giving him a hard time?"

"No, Lee called me last night and asked if I could find a replacement for him and Amanda."

"Well, that's exactly what I wanted to talk to you about. Lee and Amanda and that explosion that went on here yesterday. How are they going to continue to work together after that."

"The way Lee talked last night, they were working out their personal differences which I had no doubt they would."

"Yeah, they certainly seemed to be when I went by Amanda's last night. He was even helping her with the kids."

"That's good," Billy said with a smile. If he was helping her with the kids maybe that meant he and Amanda were finally getting closer to marriage.

"Yes, but for how long? They both have very volatile tempers and you know Lee's track record when it comes to relationships."

"Francine, I don't believe it's fair to judge Lee on his past. In case you haven't noticed, Lee hasn't been out with anyone but Amanda in almost two years. I'd say that means he's taking their relationship seriously."

"Sir, I'm worried about Amanda. When I was at the house last night, she looked so run-down, I thought she was going to collapse right there on the spot. Even if Lee is serious about her, I don't think this thing is very healthy for her. I think the stress is really getting to her."

"Did you tell her how you felt?" Billy asked.

"Yeah, I tried, right before she threw me out," she snorted.

"I think that's your problem, Francine. Ever since you learned that they'd started seeing each other, You've been giving Amanda your opinions. Did you ever try asking her opinion instead?" When Francine was silent, he said. "Look, if you're really that worried about her, why don't you go visit her in the hospital?"

"Amanda's in the hospital too? I knew she said they needed to take her son there..."

"That's why Lee wanted off the assignment. They admitted Amanda too. He said something about fatigue and malnutrition, but that she should be released today."

"Maybe I will go see her," she said as she started toward the door.

"Francine, remember what I said," Billy said in a warning tone as Francine sailed out the door.

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Lee descended the stairs and entered the kitchen to find Phillip sitting at the breakfast table and Dotty at the stove. "Good morning. Is there coffee?" He asked.

"Good morning, Lee. Help yourself," Dotty said as she busily flipped pancakes.

When Lee had finished fixing his coffee, he joined his stepson at the table. "How you feeling, Champ?"

"A whole lot better," Phillip said happily. I haven't thrown up since right before Grandma had me come downstairs and lay down on the couch yesterday."

"Good, You got off a lot easier than your little brother."

"Is he ok?"

"Yeah, when I left the hospital last night, your dad said the nurse told him his temperature was back to normal so we should be able to bring him home today."

"Dad was there?"

Lee couldn't help but notice the change in Phillip's facial expression when mentioning his dad. "Yeah, Phillip, he was. He came to make sure Jamie was ok after your Grandma called him. He was still there when I left. Speaking of which he's going to pick you guys up tonight to finish your visit with him."

"How'd you talk him into that?"Phillip said sarcastically.

"I didn't. Your mom did.

"How is Mom?"

"Your mom is just A-OK. She really just needed some food and sleep more than anything else. They put her on an IV to make sure she gets what she needs. We'll go see her in a little bit."

"Good," Phillip said.

"Here you go," Dotty said as she walked to the table with two plates of pancakes and set them in front of Phillip and Lee.

"Dotty, this isn't necessary. I'm not really a breakfast eater," Lee said.

"Nonsense," Dotty said. "You need to eat. When was the last time you ate something?" Lee thought for a minute and when he didn't come up with an immediate response, she said, "That's what I thought. Eat!"

"But-"

"Lee, if you're going to becoming a member of this family, you're going to have to understand that nobody in this house is allowed to skip breakfast." She hustled back to the workstation and returned with a plate for herself.

"What did you mean about Lee becoming a member of this family?"Phillip said, but before his grandmother could answer, the then turned to Lee and asked, "Are you gonna marry Mom and become my stepdad?"

Lee couldn't have asked for a better opportunity to test the waters with Phillip. Sure, he'd said last night that he wished he was his dad, but he was also sick at the time and grateful that he'd been looking after him. His outburst could have just come from that. "How would you feel if I was your stepdad?" he asked he said taking a bite of the pancakes in front of him while waiting for his stepson's response.

"That's a stupid question. I told you last night I wished you were my dad."

"I know you did and as nice as the thought is, I can't be your dad. You already have a dad."

"If you can call him that."

"I think maybe you should give him another chance. When your mom and I talked to him last night, he said that the reason he brought you guys home is because he was scared that he wouldn't be able to care for your brother properly and he knew your mom would. He didn't know what to do because he's never been around when you've been sick."

"If he'd ever been around, he'd know what to do too," Phillip said heatedly.

"I know, but he's trying. How about you give him another chance and I'll settle for being your stepdad, ok?"

"Does that mean you and mom are getting married?"

"Just hold your horses, Phillip. Your mom and I are still talking about things."

"But did you ask her to marry you?"

"Yeah, I did," Lee said. He didn't feel it would hurt anything to tell him that he'd proposed. He'd have to know that eventually once they dropped the marriage bomb.

Phillip's face fell. "She said no, didn't she?"

"What makes you think that?"Lee asked him taking another bite of his pancakes. He realized the more he ate of them, the more he wanted. He hadn't eaten since lunch time and that was before Amanda has arrived at the office.

"She said no to Dean and he was crazy about her."

"Yes, he was, Phillip, "Dotty said. "But she wasn't in love with him. She is in love with Lee."

"Then I don't get it," Phillip said. "If you asked her to marry you, what do you and mom still have to talk about?"

"It's complicated, Phillip," Lee said with a sigh.

"If you love her and she loves you, why is it complicated? Don't people who love each other want to get married?"

"Yeah, and I would like nothing more than to be your mom's husband, but it's complicated because there are things that you don't know about your mom and me. Private things that your mom and I have to work out together."

"But if you don't work it out, does that mean you're going to go away like my dad did and like Dean did?" Phillip asked worriedly.

"No, Phillip, I promise you, I am not going anywhere. I'm gonna be a part of your life for a long, long time. Now, finish your breakfast so we can get to the hospital, ok?"

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Francine walked into Amana's hospital room with a basket of flowers and saw Amanda sitting up in bed, "Hi," she said hesitantly as she set the basket down on the table next to Amanda's hospital bed. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, Francine," Amanda said icily. "What are you doing here?"

"I just came to see how you were feeling. Billy told me you were here, Lee called him last night. So, what are you doing here?"

"That should be obvious, Francine. You saw first-hand how sick I was last night."

"No, I didn't mean that," Francine said as she pulled up a chair and sat down. "I meant here. I about had a stroke when I stopped at the information desk and they told me you were in OB/GYN."

"They shouldn't have told you that. Medical information is only supposed to be given to family members."

"They didn't tell me why you were here, just where you were. So, why are you here?"

"I don't see how that's any of your business, Francine," Amanda said unconsciously placing her hand over her abdomen as if trying to shield her unborn baby from Francine's venom.

Francine caught the significance of Amanda's motion immediately, confirming what she had already suspected. "You're pregnant, aren't you?"

Amanda sighed again and thought about how to answer. She knew if she said yes, she'd get yet another lecture from Francine on how worthless Lee was, but there was really no point to saying no because it would be obvious in a couple of months anyway. "Yeah," Amanda said. "I just found out last night when Lee brought me here.

"Does Lee know?"Francine asked quietly.

"Yes, he does, Francine. I told him right away. He has a right to know that he's going to be a father."

"Oh, Amanda," Francine said sympathetically.

"Francine, stop it! Just stop!"

"Stop what?"

"Stop with the pity looks and the sympathetic tone. None of it is necessary. Lee's on cloud nine about being a dad."

"He is?"Francine said in surprise.

"Gee, Francine, do you think you could say that with a little less shock in your voice," Lee said as he entered the room an overnight bag slung over his shoulder and a carryout bag in his hand.

"Hi," Amanda said with a bright smile at seeing her husband.

"Hi," Lee said setting the overnight bag on the floor and the carryout bag on the rolling tray table. He sat on the edge of the bed on the opposite side that Francine sat on. He leaned in and gave his wife a lingering kiss not caring that Francine was there. He lightly stroked Amanda's stomach and said, "How is everybody?"

"We are fine," Amanda said placing her hand over her husband's where it rested on her stomach. "The doctor checked on me earlier and said I should be able to get out of here soon now that I'm stable."

"Good," Lee said with a smile as he lightly kissed her lips again.

"What's in the bags?" Amanda said eying the carryout bag.

"I brought you a change of clothes from the house for they let you out of here and this one," he said indicating the carryout bag, "Is because I know all too well how hospital food is, so I brought you a little breakfast from that place on N street that has that turkey and spinach omelet that you love so much."

"Oh, I love you!" Amanda said excitedly. Francine stared at Lee when Amanda said that wondering how he would react.

"You should probably eat it while it's still hot," he said as he pulled a Styrofoam container out of the bag and slid the tray table over the bed. He then dug in the bag for plastic utensils. Francine's stare turned into a glare when Lee skated right past Amanda's declaration of love.

Amanda opened the container and smiled. "And a side of hash browns with country gravy. You really know how to spoil a girl," she said as she dug into her breakfast.

"Well, I'm not about to let you starve yourself or our baby again," He teased.

"Now, let's be fair, Lee. I didn't know there was a baby until last night and I was trying to take care of my other two babies."

"I get that, Amanda. One of the many things that I love about you is how you always try to take care of everyone, but you have to stop and take care of yourself once in awhile." Francine's expression changed at Lee's statement. She looked from Lee to Amanda and back to Lee again.

"Lesson learned, I promise," She said. "Speaking of the boys, how are they?"

"Phillip's doing a lot better. He was able to actually eat a solid breakfast today. I haven't checked on Jamie yet. Phillip and your mom are upstairs with him now. I figured I'd head up there after I brought you your breakfast, which I should do now, then I'll come back down here to check on you."

"Ok," She said.

"I love you," Lee said as he stood and leaned across the table to kiss her one more time. Francine snorted and rolled her eyes. "Francine, could I see you for a minute? Outside?"

"Uh, sure," Francine said.

As soon as they stepped into the hall, "Francine, I don't know what you're doing here and I don't care, but I want you to know that if you do anything while I'm gone to upset her, anything that could put her or my child at risk or if you go blabbing this all over The Agency before Amanda and I have fully had time to process it ourselves, there will be hell to pay. Are we clear?"

"Clear," she said. "I must say though, you're putting on quite a display, first wt work yesterday playing the heartbroken spurned lover, then last night making a big show of helping out with the kids. now today playing the over-protective father-to-be. So, what's really going on? Is Amanda such a great lay that you've got to keep leading her on like this?"

"This isn't about sex, ok? I'll admit, Amanda and I have an amazing sex life, better than I've ever experienced in my life and you know I've had a lot of experience, but that's not what this is about. I love Amanda. Really love her. I think that's what makes it so amazing with her. I'm not leading her on, I'm not using her and I'm completely over the moon that the woman I love is carrying my child. As for the kids, I love them too. Phillip and Jamie are the most incredible kids I've ever been around and a lot of that has to do with having Amanda as their mother. I consider myself damn lucky that she's going to be the mother of my child as well," Lee said

"And the fight?"

"As for the fight, Yes, I was an ass for starting a fight at work, I acknowledge that, but a lot of that came from the fact that I want to spend my entire life with Amanda and I was tired of us sneaking around and hiding our relationship from the people around us. I want us to be a normal couple. I love her so much, that it tears me apart when we're not together.

"So, what are you going to do, marry her, move to Arlington and raise a houseful of rugrats?"

"Why not? That sounds like a pretty good life to me. I know I used to poke fun at it, but that was before I really got to know Amanda. She's changed the way I look at things. You can't imagine how much. You can think what you want of me, I don't care, but you will not say another negative word to Amanda. She's been through enough the past couple of days. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have an eleven-year old to check on."

"Ok," Francine said stunned at Lee's outburst. Lee walked toward the elevator while Francine walked back into Amanda's room to find Amanda had finished her breakfast.

"Sounds like someone got an earful," Amanda said with a smirk as she shoved the empty Styrofoam container back into the carryout bag.

"You heard?"

"Every word. I was actually surprised to see you come back in here after that."

"Well, we never did get to finish our conversation."

"What do you think we need to talk about?"

Francine took a deep breath trying to remember what Billy told her about asking Amanda's opinion rather than providing her own and said, "Well, I just got Lee's thoughts on this whole thing. I was just curious how you're feeling about all this."

Amanda pushed the tray table out of the way and said, "I'm happy, Francine. A little freaked out, but mostly happy."

"What's got you freaked out?" When Amanda didn't answer Francine said, "Amanda, you can talk to me. I'll take anything you say with me to the grave, promise."

"It's just that Lee and I have a lot of stuff to work out if we're going to raise a child together."

"It's a big change," Francine said.

"Yeah, you could say that, but the baby's not even the biggest change," Amanda said as she fiddled with the chain around her neck that cradled her wedding set against her bosom.

"Is that the same chain you chucked at Lee yesterday?"

"Yeah," she said and realizing what she was doing, dropped her hands to her lap. She wondered if Francine had really meant what she said about taking things to her grave. She had wanted someone to talk to about how she was feeling besides Lee since they couldn't seem to agree on whether or not to reveal their marriage to the world.

"Gift from Lee?"Francine inquired.

"Yeah, well, sort of, The chain was already mine. What's on it is wasn't."

"What is it?"Francine asked.

"Not now, Francine." She took another deep breath and said. "Did you mean what you said? That I can talk to you and you won't say anything to anyone?"

"Of course," Francine said.

"Ok, what's bothering me is The Agency or rather our jobs at The Agency, how dangerous it can be, how many times we've seen over the years criminals or terrorists using someone's family members as a means to an end or to hurt people they're after. Lee has made a lot of enemies in his fourteen years with The Agency and I'm terrified that the closer he gets to the boys, the more likely it is that someone would try to hurt them to get to him. Now, that Lee and I are having a baby together, that terror has just increased about tenfold."

"Amanda, you're being silly. There are a ton of agents out there with kids that are just fine. They put alarm systems in their homes, and surveillance cameras and motion detectors in the yard."

"You sound like Lee," Amanda said.

"Well, he's right. Don't you trust him?"

"Yes, I do, but you don't."

"That's not entirely true, Amanda, I don't trust him in the romance department, but as agents go, I would trust him with my life. He's the best in the business. That's why he's made so many enemies and by the way, since you've been working with him over the past four years you've made more than your fair share of enemies yourself. Someone could just as easily try to hurt the kids because of you just as well as him."

"You do make a good point."

"Is this what that fight you two had was really about?"

"Francine, If I tell you what the fight was really all about, I need to know that you won't say a word to anyone. I mean it. This is something life-changing."

"What could be more life-changing that having a baby?"

"It's not that it's more life-changing that having a baby, but it's just as big. Amanda was quiet for a moment and finally decided that it was time to take a bigger chance. "The fight was only partially about keeping the kids safe. This is the other part," Amanda said as she pulled the chain from her neck and held out the rings for Francine to see.

"Are those what I think they are?" Francine said staring wide-eyed at her.

"Yes, Francine. Lee and I got married four months ago."