Chapter 7

Amanda came in that following Monday morning and decided to go visit Dr. Pfaff for a recommendation.

"Hello, Mrs. King" he greeted her. "Good to see you."

"Hello, Dr. Pfaff," she replied, "I'm hoping you may be able to help me."

"Name it," he replied in his normal laid back tone.

"My eleven year old son is having a really tough time lately." She explained

"Let me guess, not the same after you and Lee's little adventure?" He asked.

"Yes, I think that's part of it. I'm hoping you could recommend someone for him to see."

"Have a seat, Mrs. King," Dr.. Pfaff responded. "Let's talk about what you're seeing with him. How long as he been this way? What changes have you noticed."

"Well,," She explained, "it started shortly after my ex-husband, his father, returned from Africa last year. At first he was really happy about it, but not as much anymore. He's a bit despondent with him. Now that I'm working full time, I'm not at home as much and certainly after the Stemwinder incident it's like he's totally changed. He used to be so excited, loved science and sports. Now he doesn't seem interested in anything."

"Keep in mind, he's eleven now, so his body is about to start changing." Dr. Pfaff explained. "Combine that with all the life changes, it's a lot to process. I'll recommend a couple people."

"Oh, thank you," Amanda replied gratefully.

"Also, he may just need someone else to talk to," Dr. Praff further recommended. "While you're his mother and you'd love for him to talk to you, he looks up to you so he may to be uncomfortable totally opening up to you. Talk to the school counselor or even family friends may help. Keep me updated, ok?"

"Thank you, Dr. Pfaff."

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Amanda returned to the training room to pick up some of the cable traffic being reviewed by the other Freshman agents. Amanda picked up some of the reports, meanwhile she saw Kristen with headphones on translating some Russian wires into English. Amanda waved to her and Kristen sat back and took off the headphone. "Oh man, I don't know how much more of this I can take," she laughed. "These disgusting Russians are talking about which one of the hostesses at the Muscovy Tea Room that they want to nail. They're total pigs."

Amanda laughed. "Uh-oh, Freshman grunt work." Then looked back down.

"You ok?" Kristen asked.

"Yeah, just some trouble at home with my sons. One of them is failing Spanish and the other one has something going on, but can't figure out what"

"Spanish?" Kristen asked. " I don't know if this helps, but I used to tutor Spanish in college." She liked Amanda and truth by told, she missed her family in California. Spending time with another family had a certain appeal.

"You speak Spanish as fluently as well as you speak Russian?" Amanda could not believe her luck.

"Yeah, I had to take a second language in high school and Russian was not an option. Spanish also turned out to be helpful in Southern California. I think I just have a thing for languages. In any case, I'd be happy to help him."

"Oh my gosh, you're a Godsend!"

Kristen laughed, "I don't know about Godsend, but I enjoy tutoring."

"If you have nothing going on tomorrow night, we'd love to have you over for dinner and you can help Phillip. Here's my address." Amanda wrote down the address and directions. "If you don't mind me asking, what is your going rate?"

"You're in luck. I charge a home cooked meal. I don't get that much any more." Kristen laughed.

"We can make that arrangement. 6:00 ok?" Amanda asked.

"Sounds perfect." Kristen confirmed.

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The next evening, Kristen drove to Arlington with her Spanish books and tutoring materials. It had been a while since she'd tutored, so she hoped she wasn't too rusty. She pulled up to a cute little house with a white picket fence. Good thing the other Freshman candidates hadn't seen this. They already thought Amanda was a little too "Suzy Homemaker" to be an agent.

She walked up and knocked on the door. An older woman answered the door which Kristen knew would have been Amanda's mother.

"Mrs. West?" Kristen said. "I'm Kristen. I work with Amanda."

"Oh yes," Dotty said. Well done, Ananda, you bring a pretty young girl to tutor Phillip. She should hold his interest she thought.. "Come on in." Dotty welcomed her into the house and guided her back to the kitchen where Phillip and Jamie were standing.

Phillip's eyes about popped out of his head and a wide smile crossed his face. My mom hired a total fox to tutor me he thought.

"Hi," Phillip smiled. "I'm Phillip, he held out his hand. It's nice to meet you."

"Bueoos Dias. Soy Kristen, es un placer conocerte," she introduced herself in Spanish, and then turned to Jamie, "and you must be Jamie. Your mom's told me a lot about you."

Just at that moment, Amanda came down the stairs.

"Kristen," Amanda smiled at her, "I'm so happy you came to help out Phillip."

"I'm glad to help. It looks like you are all busy with dinner. Maybe we can work in the backyard?"

"That would be great." Amanda agreed.

Kristen gestured toward the backyard.

"Nosotras saldremos afuera" she said to Phillip, who looked dumfounded. She then turned to Jamie. "You can come with us if you want. I can teach you some Spanish as well."

Phillip picked up his Spanish book and Kristen went outside with Jamie trailing behind.

After about 40 minutes, Amanda couldn't help but peek through the window of the back door of the kitchen. She noticed that Kristen had Jamie holding up flash cards while Phillip attempted to translate. Suddenly something amazing happened. Jamie burst out laughing. She saw Kristen turn and laugh with him.

"Oh, come on, you guys," Phillip said as he was clearly part of the joke, but was taking it I in good nature,

"En Español" Kristen said, "Senior Phillip" She was not letting Phillip use any English.

"Mother," Amanda whispered and motioned her over. "Take a look."

Dotty came over and saw the smile on Jamie's face. Something they'd not seen in weeks.

"Amanda you are a genius." Dotty whispered. "You brought home a pretty girl and suddenly Phillip is speaking Spanish and Jamie is smiling."

"Maybe he just needed someone closer to his age to relate to."

Amanda walked back to the kitchen so as not to disturb them feeling better than she had in days.

That evening at dinner, Kristen laughed with Amanda, Dotty and the boys. Phillip, Jamie, and Dotty for that matter, were fascinated with her. She talked about growing up in California and attending UCLA.

"Isn't that near Hollywood?" Jamie asked.

"Kind of, it's actually closer to Beverly Hills." Kristen answered.

"Wow. Do you get to see movie stars?" Phillip asked, totally enthralled with his new tutor.

"Only sometimes, " she answered. "Not that often. I stayed pretty close to the campus most of the time." Kristen picked up on their fascination with California so she threw them a big bone. "I did get to meet a few when I worked at Disneyland."

Phillip and Jamie's faces lit up.

"You worked at Disneyland?"

"Was it fun?"

"What did you do there?"

"Did you get to go on all the rides?"

That was all it took. Both Amanda's boys were in love. Amanda smiled at how Kristen so easily was able to get Phillip to work on his Spanish, and most importantly, how Jamie seemed to be like his old self again.

"Yes," Kristin laughed, "I worked in Attractions for two summers after high school." Kristen laughed. "I worked Fantasyland, mostly on the Matterhorn Bobsleds, but sometimes other attractions as well.. And, YES, when I wasn't working I got to go on ALL the rides. That's enough about me. How about you guys? What do you two like to do?"

It was fascinating that this tough as nails woman in the office transformed into the teen whisperer in an instant. Amanda looked over at Dotty who was also smiling ear to ear and totally enthralled in the conversation. Phillip talked about basketball, and Jamie told her how much he liked science.

As Kristen was leaving, Amanda walked her out.

"Kristen, thank you so much." Amanda told her. "I can't believe how much my boys adore you."

"Thank you for dinner." Kristen replied. "You have amazing boys, I'd forgotten why I loved tutoring so much."

"I'm glad. Phillip has NEVER been interested in studying."

" I have a feeling Phillip will do just fine. He just has a teacher who's not very engaging. He was picking it up pretty quickly with the flash cards."

"I have to also thank you for including Jamie," Amanda said. "It was so good to see him smiling again."

"Yeah, he seemed a bit down." Kristen told her. "However, when I gave him the chance to challenge his brother, he was all over it."

"Well, they do like to compete with each other." Amanda laughed.

"I think it helps to have an outsider to talk to sometimes," Kristen said thoughtfully. "Listen, I'd love to keep working with Phillip some more. Maybe next week?"

"Sounds great." Amanda smiled as Kristen walked to her car.

Amanda came back into the house where Dotty and the boys were cleaning the dinner dishes.

"Mom, she is so cool!" Phillips crooned. "Will she keep tutoring me?"

"Yes," Amanda replied happily, "she'll come back next week."

"Good, she's a much better teacher than Señor Gomez. Kristen actually makes it fun."

"Yeah," Jamie said quietly, smiling. "She's really nice."

"It doesn't hurt that she's gorgeous," Dotty laughed, looking at the boys. "Imagine, you boys overjoyed with a pretty girl from California. How old is she, Amanda? She looks so young."

"She is. I think she's 22, maybe 23. She just started a couple months ago right out of college."

"She is really pretty, Mom." Jamie blushed.

For the first time in weeks, the house felt normal again.

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Lee returned to the Q Bureau after a morning meeting at CIA Headquarters for a Karbala meeting to find Amanda working at the computer running down some information about suspected Karbala members in the U.S. It was some tedious work but she didn't mind today. She had a bright smile when Lee entered the room.

"Hi there," Lee said to her as he walked in.

"Hi!" Amanda beamed back at him. "It's good to see you."

"Well, that's a happy face," Lee smiled back at her as he walked over to the desk. Amanda stood up to give him a kiss. "I didn't think research was so exciting." He laughed.

"I'm just in a good mood," Amanda told him.

"Really?" Lee grinned mischievously, "that happy to see me?"

Amanda laughed.

"Well, of course," she said. "However, it was a really good night last night with the boys. Particularly Jamie." Amanda explained.

"That's good to hear." Lee said, "what brought that on?'"

"Actually, it was Kristen who helped that along."

"Kristen Adler? "

"Yeah,: Amanda explained. "You and I hadn't had a lot of time to talk the last couple of days. Kristen and I were talking and it turns out she's also fluent in Spanish and used to tutor in college."

"Well, that's great."

"Yeah," Amanda grinned, "I think Jamie has a crush on her." Lee laughed.

"Well, she is a pretty girl," Lee said, then looked at Amanda, "but not as pretty as you."

"Good answer," Amanda laughed. "Speaking of people coming over, maybe you can come over for dinner this week? Maybe spend some more time with Mother and the boys?"

Lee ruffled a little, but agreed it was probably a good idea he get to know the boys a little better.

"Ok," he replied looking down, "I can do that."

"You sure you're ok?" Amanda asked.

"Well," Lee responded. "If we are going to have a relationship, we need to get to know each other."

"Ok, tomorrow night?"

"Sure," he responded, before changing topics. "But for now, we need to concentrate on the plan for the Karbala takedown. Our intelligence, namely Night Crawler, says he's planning a bombing a Dulles airport. We need a further strategy meeting."

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The following evening, Amanda returned home a little early to get dinner started. She had told Mother and the boys that Lee was joining them.

"I'm so delighted Lee is coming to dinner," Dotty was practically dancing around the room. "He is incredibly handsome and what a charming man. Does he like pot roast and mashed potatoes?"

"Mother, I'm certain it will be fine." Amanda reassured her mother. "I just hope the boys will like him. Especially Jamie. How is he doing today?"

"He was doing alright," Dotty responded thoughtfully, "however, Joe called and I think he got onto him about this grades or something. Jamie seemed a little upset after the call, but when I asked he said he was fine, but needed to study. He's been up in his room ever since."

"Darn," Amanda said, feeling a little defeated. "I may need to talk to Joe. I don't think now is the time to be especially hard on Jamie. I'm going to head upstairs to talk to him. Do you have everything down here?"

"Yes," Dotty said as he busied herself in the kitchen, "go on up to talk to him."

Amanda climbed the stairs and knocked on the bedroom door.

"Jamie?" she said quietly, "can I come in?"

"Yeah," a small voice replied.

Amanda walked in to find Jamie sitting at his desk with a school book open. He didn't look up when she came in. Frankly, he didn't care. She was probably going to yell at him too for his grades.

"Hey there, you ok?" Amanda asked.

"Fine," he responded, still not looking up.

"Grandma said your dad called you today," Amanda said trying to get a clue as to what was bothering her youngest son.

"Yes," Jamie said simply.

"Everything ok?" Amanda was trying to get some sort of reaction from him.

"Fine," Jamie said, now in an angrier tone. His face went stoic.

"Want to talk about it?" Come on, Jamie. Talk to me Amanda thought to herself. It was not like Jamie to keep secrets like this.

"Are you going to yell at me too?" Jamie finally turned around. She could see anger in his face as she tried to hold back her own anger at Joe. Dammit, Joe. We finally get him feeling better about himself, and you go and ruin it.

"No, I'm not going to yell at you,"Amanda was trying to reassure him. "I just want to find out what's been bothering you."

"I know my grades have slipped! I know I turned my science project in late! I know I'm not perfect!" Jamie yelled, tears now welling up in his eyes.

Amanda went in to hug him.

"No!" Jamie pushed her away. Totally unlike him. "I'm not a baby anymore. Stop treating me like one. Just leave me alone, please." Jamie turned back, clearly not wanting his mother to see his tears.

"Ok," Amanda said. Backing off. "I'll give you some time to yourself. I'll be downstairs with Grandma getting dinner ready."

"Fine," he said.

"We're having some company for dinner tonight."

"Is your new boyfriend coming?" Jamie said with venomous sarcasm.

"Woah now," Amanda said. "I told you I'd give you some space, but you aren't allowed to be rude."

"Sorry!" Jamie blurted out coldly.

This evening may be tricky, Amanda thought to herself.

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Forty-five minutes later, Lee was pulling up to the house. Amanda had been watching for him and stepped outside as he was walking up the path.

"Hey there," Lee said cheerfully, giving her a sweet little kiss.

"Hi," Amanda smiled at him and then moved up close, speaking quietly. "Listen, Jamie had a call from his dad today. I think Joe got on him about his grades. He's in a bad mood. He'll likely be a little cold to you. Don't take it personally."

Oh great, Lee thought.

"Ok," Lee breathed out.

"Don't worry," Amanda tried to reassure him,"it'll be okay. Phillip seems to like you and Mother is ecstatic you're here."

They made their way inside. Phillip had just returned from playing basketball up the street, bounding inside.

"That smells good, Grandma." Phillip said.

"Well, thank you," she replied. "You go upstairs and get cleaned up first. I love you, but you're a sweaty mess."

He passed Lee and Amanda as he ran up the stairs.

"Hi Mom, Hi Mr. Stetson!"

"Hey there," Lee responded. "Basketball?"

"Yeah," Phillip called bounding up the stairs. "I've got a killer layup."

"Tell your brother to come down as well, ok" Amanda called up.

"Ok, Mom," Phillip's disembodied voice called from second floor.

Lee and Amanda walked into the kitchen.

"Wow," Lee said. "It smells great in here."

"Oh, thank you, Lee" Dotty replied, her eyes twinkling at Amanda. They chatted for a bit while finishing up dinning. A short time later there were voices coming from upstairs.

"I'm not hungry!" They heard Jamie's voice.

"But Mom said you need to come down for dinner, "Phillip yelled back.

"I don't care!" Jamie said before they heard a door slam.

Yikes, Lee thought. What had he stepped into?

"Excuse me," Amanda said as she headed up the stairs.

"Go on down, Sweetheart," she said to Phillip. "I'll talk to Jamie."

"He's just mad because Dad was happy I got a B on my Spanish test," Phillip explained. "Then Dad got mad at Jamie for not finishing his science project on time. What kind of weird world is this when my grades are better than Junior's?" Phillip said.

Amanda grinned, trying not to laugh out loud at her son's joke. She didn't want to hurt Jamie's feelings.

Phillip trotted back downstairs.

Amanda knocked on Jamie's door, and opened it. He was sitting on his bed with his head turned away from her. He did not want to look at her while he was crying. He felt so mixed up inside. Why was his dad so hard on him and not on Phillip? He was expected to only bring in A's, meanwhile Dad nearly throws Phillip a party because he got a B on a Spanish test. It was so unfair. To make it worse, why was Mom dating this jerk? He made Mom run away with him and now they were supposed to trust him? Mom had been working longer hours now and his Dad was always pushing him. He just wanted them to leave him alone to figure this out.

"Hey now," Amanda said. "I know you're upset, but please don't take it out on your brother."

"He started it!" Jamie said as he ran his arm across his face drying his tears. "He told me to get over it. Mom, Dad can be such a jerk!"

"I know your dad was hard on you," Amanda said. "I think he's just concerned because your grades are slipping and we're worried."

"I know," Jamie said. "I'll get them back up."

"Hey, "Amanda sat next to him on his bed, "we all go through tough times. I know you'll bounce back."

Jamie sniffled a few times, still turned away from Amanda.

"I just don't want to talk to anyone today, okay?"

"Well, you can't be rude to a guest. Just come on down for dinner and then you can head back up here, okay?"

"Fine." Jamie responded, turning back to Amanda. "Do you really like this guy?" He asked.

"Yes, I do." Amanda smiled. "He's a very good man. I think you'll like him too if you give him a chance."

Jamie seemed unconvinced.

"Alright," Jamie resigned himself. "I'll be down in a minute."

Amanda kissed his head and Jamie pulled away.

"Come on, Mom. I'm not a baby anymore."

It struck Amanda like a bullet through the heart. Her baby was no longer a baby. He was growing up and pushing for his independence.

"Sorry," Amanda said softly. "I understand."

A few minutes later they were around the table. Jamie sat next to Dotty, slowly nibbling at his food, keeping his head down. Meanwhile, Phillip sat at the head of the table shoveling down his dinner.

"Easy there, Phillip," Dotty said. "I know you're hungry, but breathe."

"Sorry, Grandma," Phillip said swallowing his food. "It's just really good."

"So," Dotty had Lee exactly where she wanted him. "What do you and Amanda do at work? She never tells me anything."

"Well," Lee said, feeling on the spot. "Amanda and I work on some government film projects. We've worked together for about three years now."

"And how long have you been dating?"

Lee looked at Amanda for some guidance.

"Lee and I have been seeing each other, socially, for a couple months now." Amanda said. Trying to keep some honesty.

"Yeah," Lee said, looking at Amanda fondly, "Amanda's pretty special." Dotty and Phillip smiled. Jamie looked up from his plate suspiciously. Yep, Lee thought, this is gonna be really tough.

"So, Lee" Dotty started in again. "Where did you grow up? Are your parents still with you?"

"Well," Lee explained. "My parents died in a car accident when I was five years old. I grew up with my Uncle, an Air Force Colonel, kind of all over the place. We moved every couple years as he was reassigned."

"That sucks," Phillip responded.

"You say 'I'm sorry' when you hear someone's parents have passed, not 'That sucks'" Dotty admonished Phillip.

"No," Lee said with a grin, "That sucks pretty much sums it up."

"So, where did you live?" Phillip asked.

"Well." Lee sat back, "I lived in California, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Korea, Japan, Germany. All over the globe really."

"Ok, well, that's sorta cool." Phillip seemed interested.

"Not really," Lee said, happy to be connecting with at least one of Amanda's sons. "I lived on Air Force bases and had to keep changing schools. It made it tough to make close friends. I think that's why I've been a loner most of my life."

"So, you've never been married?" Dotty continued her interrogation.

"No," Lee responded. "I've lived alone most of my adult life. Amanda's the first woman to make me think there was something better out there."

Amanda smiled at him.

"Oh," Dotty smiled. "That's very sweet. Amanda dated a man, Dean, for a bit after her divorce, but that didn't go anywhere. I think you're the first man she's been interested in since her divorce."

"That's because Dean was boring." Phillip blurted out as he took another bite of food.

Lee tried not to smirk, and ducked his head. Amanda grabbed his leg.

"He just wasn't the right guy," she said.

"Yeah," Phillip said. "Because he was boring. He could make coffee fall asleep."

Jamie snickered a little at that one. The first sign of life from him that evening.

"I admit," Amanda said, "he was a little subdued, but he was a nice man."

Lee smiled at that one, trying not to snicker himself.

"Ok, he was dull as a stick," Amanda blurted out, as Phillip, Dotty, and Lee laughed. Jamie even grinned a bit.

Lee and Phillip bantered a bit during the meal. They both liked a lot of active hobbies like basketball, baseball and running. However, Jamie remained unconvinced. His distrust still to be broken. After dinner, Amanda sent the boys up to finish their homework while she and Lee cleaned up the dishes.

"You just relax, Mother," Amanda told her. "You cooked dinner. We'll clean up."

They all chatted in the process with Dotty giving knowing glances to Amanda. This was the first time she'd seen Amanda so interested in a man. It was clear she had feelings for him. He was tall, handsome, had a good job and he obviously was crazy about her. This one may go somewhere she thought.

Amanda walked Lee out to his car at the end of the evening.

"Well, I think you made quite an impression on Mother and Phillip," she smiled at him.

"Yeah, Phillip is a funny kid." He said. "But Jamie sure isn't happy."

"Well," Amanda explained. "Joe yelled at him earlier today because his grades were slipping. He's going through some tough growing pains. I think it will just take a little time. I'd like to say he's my baby but he told me not to call him that tonight."

"No wonder he was so down," Lee said. "I totally get it. My uncle used to be tough on me too. I didn't think I could do anything right. I feel for him."

"Well," Amanda said. "Next time hopefully he'll be a little more himself."

"So," Lee wrapped his arms around her. "When do we get some alone time together?"

"Maybe once this Karbala mission takes place we can have a little time together. Maybe get away for a weekend?"

"Now that's what I'm talking about." Lee swooped in for a deep kiss. The two stood out by the car kissing for several minutes before Amanda broke off.

"I think the neighbors are going to start talking," she laughed.

"Let them," Lee said as he kissed her one more time. "See you tomorrow."

"Ok. I love you."

"I love you too."