In Limbo

Chapter 4

That Monday morning, as Amanda King sat in her new kitchen, having her coffee, she recalled the goodbye she shared with Lee, and then entering the house late Friday night...

Amanda came into the house through the front door quietly and locking it, then made her way to the kitchen to check the doors and windows before heading upstairs, and her eyes caught a glimpse of the official looking IFF manila envelope addressed to her on the kitchen counter!

With a deep sigh, she thought, This is it...Our relocation packet...

Opening it, she went over to the sink to turn on the overhead light, leaving the other lights in the kitchen off.

Pulling out the contents, she found forms for the new home, hers and the family's new identities, house keys, etc...

With a deep sigh once more, she put everything back into the envelope, and swallowing hard, thought, Gosh, I still can't believe we have to leave.

Shaking her head, she turned off the overhead light, and made her way upstairs.

There was also a note in the envelope stating that the movers would be arriving early Saturday morning to pack up the house, so she knew she had to talk to her family now.

Going to the boys' room, she opened the door, and gently shook first Phillip and then Jamie awake, saying softly, "Boys, I'm sorry to wake you, but we have to have one of our family meetings, alright?"

Both Phillip and Jamie sat up slowly, and Jamie asked, "Are we in trouble, Mom?"

Phillip responded, "You might be, for that school science experiment that backfired-"

Jamie growled back, "The teacher knows it was an accident! He said so! Nobody got hurt!"

Looking at Amanda, Phillip chuckled stating, "The fire alarm went off, and everybody had to go outside-"

Amanda put up a hand tiredly, answered firmly with a gesture, "We will discuss that later! Right now, I need you to put your slippers on and follow me to Grandma's room...March!"

As they followed their mother, the boys had a funny feeling something was very wrong!

When they got to Dotty's door, Amanda knocked, querying, "Mother? Are you awake?"

They heard a thump, and then Dotty opened the door, and seeing her daughter and grandsons standing there, she asked, "Don't worry. My book fell off the bed...What's the matter?"

Noticing the envelope, Dotty then queried, "Does it have anything to do with what you're holding, Amanda?"

Amanda, nodding, commented to the boys with a gesture, "Find a seat here, Fellas...I have something to tell you all..."

-SMK-

As they all got comfortable on Dotty's bed, Amanda stated slowly, "Okay, Family...I got some news today at work...Let me start by saying that the International Federal Film Company is run by the Government, and that the Government has secrets...Well, we did a documentary a while ago on a researcher, who they found out later was unstable, and the term for that is rogue-meaning he felt suddenly that everyone was out to get him, and he disappeared...So, for safety reasons, IFF completely shut down, and the Government had no choice but to relocate all of the employees and their families...That also means giving out new identities to us as well..."

Pulling out the identity forms and state I.D.'s from the envelope, Amanda handed Dotty hers, stating, "You are to be known as Audrey Thompson..."

Next, Phillip got his, with Amanda remarking, "You are Samuel Blake..."

Jamie was next, as Amanda responded, "You are Corey Blake..."

Amanda pulled out hers finally, stating, "And I am Elizabeth Thompson Blake...Any questions?"

With bewilderment as they all took a glance at their papers, Dotty was the first as she answered crisply, "Yes, I have one...Amanda Jean West King...Have you taken leave of your senses?!"

As Amanda tried to interject, Dotty shook her head remarking, "No! You have never welcomed change a day in your whole life! And now, suddenly, we're all being shipped off to God knows where because the Government demands it?! What if- What if I refuse? I stay with the boys here, and you-"

But Amanda, with tears in her eyes, replied softly, "You think I wanted this?! It's the Government's orders! But we are not separating! I-I love you all, and I'm sorry, but this is the only way to stay safe-"

Dotty scoffed, answering, "Well, you had crazy hours before...I can't imagine what they'll be now...By the way, what is your new job going to be?"

Amanda replied, "I'll be an administrative assistant to a logistics tech company..."

Jamie then asked, "What about Dad?"

Phillip added, "Yeah, Mom...Can we even talk to him... See him any more?"

Amanda replied quickly with a hand up, "Stop!"

Looking at the boys, she pulled them into a hug, answering sadly, "I'm gonna try to call him to explain before I turn in...Oh, by the way, the movers will be here in the morning to pack up the house, so we won't have to do anything but pack our immediate clothes for our trip..."

Dotty queried numbly, "You mean we leave tomorrow? Just like that?"

Amanda, leaving the boys' side, went to hug her mother and kissing her cheek, answered gently, "Yes, Mother...I'm sorry for the short notice, but according to my papers, I start my new job on Monday...In Trenton, New Jersey..Now, try and get some sleep...We have a long weekend ahead of us...I love you."

Dotty, wiping her eyes with a tissue then, commented, "I-I love you, too, Dear..."

The boys next went to hug Dotty, saying their good nights, and as they followed their mother out to go to her room, Jamie asked, "Mom? Can we have one final picture in front of the back yard tree?"

Amanda nodded, stating softly, "Absolutely...First thing in the morning, alright? We'll send that to your dad as soon as we can when we get to our new place...Now, let's go call your dad..."

As the boys entered Amanda's bedroom with her, she answered, "Just sit on the bed, Guys...It may take a few minutes to get through, okay?"

Sitting down, the boys made room for their mother as she dialed the number in Estoccia.

As they waited, Jamie said, "Gee, Mom, I hope we get to still see him sometimes."

Phillip remarked with reassurance to Jamie, "Sure we will, Jamie...The Government knows he's our dad. Why would they try to stop him-"

Giving the quiet gesture to them, Amanda heard the phone line pick up, and said, "Joe? Hi, it's me...Yeah, I-I know it's early, but I had to talk to you about something important...What? Oh, no, no! The boys are fine, we're all fine...But here's the thing...I have a new job starting Monday, but the job is in New Jersey, so we're moving...See, this is what happened..."

TBC