In Limbo

Chapter 40

When Amanda had hung up with Lee, Dotty had come downstairs and stated softly, "Darling, the boys are pretty upset naturally by what they heard Joe say...I tried to comfort them any way I could, but Jamie then asked me why you had them at all, and-"

Amanda shook her head answering sadly, "Oh my gosh! I'd better talk to them...And after that, I'm going over to Lee's."

Dotty hugged Amanda, and pulling back, commented to her, "Of course you should, Precious...But listen to me, okay? You are not responsible for anything Joe felt or said tonight, hmm? Yes, you had words, but he had no excuse whatsoever for that nasty remark! Now, are you calling your lawyer in the morning?"

Amanda nodded slowly and shrugged replying with a swallow, "I have to, and if Joe's smart enough, he'll call his...Hopefully, I can amend things quickly without dragging it out."

With a heavy sigh, she kissed her mother and turning towards the stairs said, "Wish me luck."

Dotty queried gently, "Would you like company, Sweetheart?"

But Amanda shook her head, responding softly, "N-No, thank you. I-I mean, I know you love them as much as I do, but we need time alone to talk this out first, okay?"

Dotty gulped and nodded, answering, "Alright, Honey..."

-SMK-

Getting upstairs, Amanda knocked on her sons' bedroom door, queried, "Boys? May I come in?"

Phillip opened the door, stepping aside to let his mother in, and closing the door then went to sit on his bed, asking sullenly, " Mom! C'mon! Do we still have to call him Dad? I mean, I can't believe he said that!"

Jamie, wiping his eyes, remarked angrily, " Yeah! Let's fix it so we don't have to have his last name any more, either!"

Amanda gulping, went over to Jamie's bed, and sitting down next to him, put an arm around him, answering gently, " Oh, Baby! L-Listen...E-Even if you give up his last name, you will still have his physical features...that strong nose, those strong arms-..."

Then looking over at Phillip, Amanda, getting up to get a tissue from their nightstand, dabbed at her now damp eyes, responding with a gulp as she sat back down again, "And you! Those sweet eyes of yours, with steel determination to finish anything you set your mind to! That's your dad as well."

Phillip bewildered, queried, "Mom... Are-Are you saying you still love him?"

Amanda gestured to Phillip, replying, "C'mere, Sweetheart...Come sit with your brother and me for a minute, huh?"

As Phillip came over to Amanda, Jamie moved to the other side of her, and as she held both of her sons close, she asked gently, "Do you know why I love you both so much?"

Phillip playfully said, "Because we're cute..."

Jamie sighed responding, "And adorable..."

Amanda groaned answering slowly, "Well, yeah...But the real reason I love you guys so much is because you are both the best parts of your dad and me-"

When Phillip then tried to object, Amanda put up a hand, commenting, "Look, biologically, he's always gonna be your dad. And while I understand how angry and hurt you both are right now, you may feel differently later on. Listen to me... You have the right to feel any way you want about this, okay? And if you want to go talk to the therapist we saw after the divorce, I'll call him in the morning. Also, I'm calling the lawyer I had when your dad and I divorced to see about changing the custody agreement we had drawn up."

Seeing the hurt and confusion then on both of her sons' faces, Amanda gave them both a kiss, saying, "Alright, it's late...I think we've talked enough for right now...Why don't you both get ready for bed, huh? If you need anything, your grandma's downstairs because I'm going out, okay?"

Jamie queried, "Mom? Are you and Lee gonna be together now?"

Amanda stated, "Well, we want to be, but there's still a lot we have to figure out...Would either of you mind if Lee came around more?"

When the boys glanced at one another and shrugged quietly, Amanda remarked gently, "Okay, we'll talk about that, later."

Hugging them, Amanda answered, "Good night. I love you..."

The boys, returning the hug, said in unison, "We love you too, Mom."

-SMK-

As Amanda came back down to the kitchen a few moments later, Dotty asked guardedly, "How did it go?"

Amanda sighed tiredly, saying, "I-I dunno. There's a lot of pain and confusion they're dealing with right now...They're getting ready for bed, but I told them I'd be going out for a bit...You don't mind, do you?"

Dotty went to hug her, answering, "Of course not, Darling. I'll lock up. You need time to deal with this as well...Go on."

Amanda returning the hug, went to get her purse and keys, saying, "Thank you, Mother...See you later."

-SMK-

Getting to Lee's within 20 minutes, the doorman greeted her as he let her into the building, and she took the elevator up to the 3rd floor.

As she exited a moment later, she knocked, and Lee opened the door answering as he leaned down to kiss her, " Hi...C'mon in. I was about to call you, thinking something was wrong and that you weren't coming after all."

Amanda came in, accepting his kiss, and then began, "Well, I almost didn't, not because I didn't want to, but because the patio dinner with Joe was ruined..."

Lee closed the door, then followed her into the living room querying, "Oh? Something got burned?"

Amanda scoffed replying, "If only!"

Lee, puzzled, asked, "What does that mean?"

Amanda sat down on the couch responding, "Well, the boys called Joe the other day to see if he could come visit...They called from school-"

Lee, joining her, said, "Yikes! That's-"

Amanda nodded, stating, "Expensive! Right! So I told them they could only call from home with our permission...See, they had used their video game money to call without telling Mother or me. So after asking them to be straight with us from now on, they asked if we were done moving. I told them the Government fixed it, and everything's fine now."

Lee queried, "Okay... Something's coming that I may not wanna hear, right?"

Amanda sighed continuing with, " Yeah... So the boys and Mother went in from the patio to clean up after dinner, and Joe accused me of not being honest myself."

Lee asked, "About what, exactly?"

Amanda, clearing her throat, answered, "He mentioned that his contacts at the Embassy and the State Department have bandied about our names almost frequently, so he pretty much knew what I did for a living."

Lee groaned, "Oh, my God..."

Amanda put up a hand commenting, "Oh, it gets better, My Friend...Joe then says, "If you had just come with me to Africa like I wanted from the beginning, we wouldn't have these problems." I said, "Oh? Starting with you suddenly not wanting to live with us any more?"

Swallowing, Amanda continued, "And our voices got louder, and Mother and the boys came out just as Joe said, "We wouldn't have had any problems if we hadn't had those kids!"

Lee paled as he replied, "Good God! So they heard that? All of it?"

Amanda's eyes filled with tears as she nodded, answering quietly, "Yeah...Every last word. And it's not like you can take that sort of comment back! That's when Mother told him to leave..."

Lee pulled her to him as she wept, and holding her, Lee asked softly, " I-I'm so sorry, Honey...What-What can I do?"

Amanda, taking the handkerchief Lee offered then, blew her nose, and wiping her eyes replied, "W-Well, you're doing exactly what I need right now, and I thank you...Um, other than this, nothing really...I had to talk to the boys, which is why I came over so late...They were beyond hurt and angry understandably."

Lee kissed her temple querying, "So, what are you going to do, Sweetie?"

Amanda, with a gulp, stated firmly, "I'll just pull myself up from my boot straps and march on...Straight to my lawyer's office and change the custody agreement we had drawn up years ago...I'm calling him in the morning."

Lee hugged her, answering, "Good, but if you need any help, let me know, huh?"

Amanda returned the hug, and then getting up from the couch replied, "Thank you...I'd better go. I just wanted to let you know what was going on...Listen, I may be later coming to work tomorrow-"

Lee waved it away commenting gently, "No worries. I'll let Billy know-"

-SMK-

Just then, Lee's phone rang, and he answered, "Hello? Oh, hi...Yeah, she's still here. Just a minute..."

He handed Amanda the receiver responding softly, "Your mother."

Amanda, taking the receiver, nodded, saying, "Thank you...Mother? How did you... Oh, of course...What's wrong?"

Amanda then giggled, remarking, "You told him about the lawyer, and he said what?"

As Lee looked on, Amanda recovered slightly saying, "Well, I appreciate what you did, Mother...Yes, I'm leaving right now. Bye, Bye..."

Hanging up, Amanda said, "Wow..."

Lee queried, "Trouble?"

Amanda shook her head, answering, "No...Joe called just now wanting to apologize, and to talk to the boys...Mother said no to talking with the boys, that they were asleep, then reminded him about the lawyer I was still going to call in the morning."

Lee asked, "And?"

Amanda shook her head stating, "He said, "Oh, no! There's no need for that. Tell Amanda we can work this out amicably," and that's when Mother hung up on him!"

Lee chuckled as he got up from the couch as well, commenting as he walked Amanda out to the elevator, "I'm gonna like getting to know your mother."

Amanda smiled replying, "She's a force to be reckoned with, that's for sure."

As the elevator doors opened, Lee kissed her responding, "Hang in there. I love you."

Returning the kiss, Amanda commented, "I love you, too...Night."

And as the elevator doors closed, Lee walked back to his apartment, and closing and locking the door for the night, he thought as he shook his head, Joe King, you are a complete jackass...

TBC