Chapter 42

Heaven Has My Hero

Author's Note: On November 25, 2022 my husband, my daughter's beloved father, passed away suddenly. She referred to her dad as her hero. This chapter is for you, Bella. Every little girl deserves a hero.

In addition: I've included a tiny Easter Egg for my crossover story with Marvel: Lee Stetson vs. The Multiverse, which is in the early stages of development.

The next morning, Amanda woke up excited for the day. Today was the day they planned their visit to the Eiffel Tower. She had an outfit planned and, to her surprise, it was sunny again today. Lee was getting a charge out of Amanda's exuberance and just had to tease her.

"I don't know," he said putting his arms around her, "I want to get back in bed."

"Not this time, Stetson," Amanda chided, well aware of his teasing. "You and your sexy bedroom eyes. I'm surprised I can walk upright anymore. Not that I'm complaining."

Lee laughed. "You are adorable," he said kissing her on the forehead. "Let's feed you and head to the metro."

When they arrived at the Eiffel Tower, Amanda could barely contain herself. Lee had never seen her so excited about visiting a tourist site.

"I have dreamed of coming here since I was 5 years old. My daddy had a trip to Paris and he sent me a postcard with the Eiffel Tower. He always told me he'd take me here someday, but her never had the chance." Lee now fully understood why this trip, and this landmark specifically, was so important to her. He took her into his arms and kissed her.

"Thank you for telling me," he said. "I understand now why this means so much to you. Let's go satisfy that dream." Lee let Amanda take her time to read about the history before they took the elevator to the Second Level where they walked for a bit. He could tell she was excited to head to the summit. They found the elevators marked "Sommet" and up they went Lee made certain Amanda could stand next to the glass on the elevator so she could look out and see the structure as they climbed their way to the top.

"We can stay as long as you want," he whispered to her as they stepped out of the elevator. Amanda made her way to the edge and looked out over the sprawling landscape. Lee snapped a picture of her from the profile while she looked out from the tower. There was a sense of peace about her, but a touch of sadness he knew was borne of her missing her father.. He walked over and held her as tears started to stream down her cheeks.

"I'm glad the children I had with Joe were boys." Amanda said, looking out at the view.. "Every little girl needs a daddy who is her hero. While Joe's work is admirable, it came at the expense of his children," she turned to Lee. "I can see that hero in you. Any little girl would be lucky to have you as her daddy." Lee started tearing up, Amanda's words had an unexpected impact on him.

"I hope I can be that hero for her." He said, not consciously aware at the moment that he'd referred to their unborn child as a "her" except for a flash of something he could not recall, like part of a dream. Fortunately, Amanda had not noticed the gendering in his statement but seemed to consider it a natural response to her words. Lee shifted, holding her from behind so she could look out.

"My daddy was amazing. He is the reason I can be strong and brave. He taught me that, and to always be true to myself no matter what anyone else says or does." She smiled through the tears. "I wish you could have met him."

"I think I have," Lee kissed her lightly on the side of her temple, brushing a few errant hairs blowing I the wind away from her face. "All those amazing qualities you just mentioned, that's you carrying on his legacy. I know he would be so proud of you."

"I hope so. Being a parent is so much more than just providing for them. Any man can produce a child, but it takes a special man to be a father, and only the best of men to be a daddy."

"I just hope I can be half as good of a daddy as he clearly was."

"You're already are.," Amanda said. "To Phillip and Jamie."

"Thank you, Amanda. I'm happy you think so. Although I need to thank Kristen as she gave me some of the best advice. She said the trick was to listen to them, be there when they need something, and be myself. It seems to have worked." Lee smiled. "That day I picked up Jamie I remembered what she said and I just trued ti be there for him. After that, everything changed."

"You were real with him," Amanda said. "Kids can spot a phony a mile away. For a man who never wanted children, it seems to be coming awfully naturally to you."

"They're terrific kids. Smart and funny, just like their mother. I was just surprised at how much I simply like hanging out with them. Plus I'm getting to do some of the fun things I missed on as a kid."

"Yes you are," Amanda smiled. "I may end up with four kids instead of three." She laughed.

"Maybe even five one day," he grinned rubbing her belly.

"The way we go at it," Amanda grinned. "That may end up a certainty." Lee laughed.

"Who would have ever guessed that Amanda King, now Stetson or" Lee brought his next words down to a whisper in her ear "My Queen", eliciting a blush from Amanda "was such a siren, in the best way. I love it!"

- SMK -

After a couple hours, they descended back down to the ground again and took a few more photos and hopped on the metro to head back toward the hotel. They dropped off packages at the front desk, as going up to the room usually got them into trouble. Or, at the very least, caused a long delay. As they entered the lobby, Amanda recognized the man from the other morning and motioned Lee. However, the man walked up to Lee.

"Lee Stetson?: the man said. Lee turned and smiled.

"Lucas? Lucas Moreau?" The two men shook hands. "Lucas, this is my wife, Amanda." He turned to Amanda. "Lucas is with the Paris Station."

"Oh, it's good to meet you, Lucas." Amanda smiled.

"Amanda is also my partner." Lee explained.

"It's truly a pleasure to meet you. I'm sorry if I frightened you the other day. Your picture was sent to Paris Station, but they did not tell us you were an agent. If I would have known, I would have approached you." Lucas spoke English very well, but had a rather thick French accent. "I have to admit, when I heard that Lee had married, I had to come see for myself. Congratulations to you both."

"Thank you," Amanda replied.

"Well now that I know you are both agents, can we talk for a moment?" They walked over to some chairs the lobby where Lucas continued. "We did not see anyone else the lobby or hanging around the hotel, but there was a murder in a nearby metro station a few nights ago." He pulled out a picture. "Does this man look familiar?" It was a rather gruesome photo of a man who had been stabbed.

"Yeah, that's him." Lee said, grimacing.

"His name is Jacob Tawley, he was an American. The police are ruling it a robbery, but it seems a little too convenient."

"I agree," Lee responded.

"Yes, it does seem to be too much of a coincidence." Amanda said. "Have you noticed anything else?"

"Nothing."

"If it is Brody," Lee surmised,"he'll likely back off here for now. Thank you for keeping an eye out for us."

"You're welcome." He responded. When do you leave?"

"We're leaving tomorrow.".

"Very good. Enjoy your last evening here. Oh, one more thing. I did not check with the front desk to see if anyone tried to go up to your room." The realization hit Amanda like a ton of bricks. What if they bugged the room!

"You know, I need an aspirin, can we head up to our room?" Amanda said to Lee who recognized the look of panic on her face.. They said their good byes to Lucas and retrieved their packages from the front desk and head up to the room, Once in the elevator Amanda turned to Lee. "What if they bugged the room?!"

"I they did, they all think I'm the luckiest son of a bitch on the planet." He grinned.

"Lee, that's not funny. Oh my gosh!"

"Don't worry, Amanda, we can check it out. It will be alright."

When they got into the room, Lee and Amanda thoroughly checked the room. No sign of any bug and no indication anything had been disturbed. Amanda was still looking nervous, so Lee suggested, "If it makes you feel any better, I can get someone with Paris Station to bring a bug detector, okay?"

"Yes, please." Amanda said as she sat on the bed with her face in her hands. What if their exploits from the night before were out there and used as extortion material, or worse yet, made tis way into some low level X-rated video. Amanda, you are jumping to outrageous conclusions, don't panic. They are on a secure floor. Secure floor! "Lee, do you think the hotel has video surveillance from the hallway?"

"I bet they do. You have your Federal ID, right? If so, see if security can pull up any video."

"But I don't speak French."

"Right. Let's check surveillance before I call Paris Station. If someone came in, there should be video. They both went downstairs and were able to meet with security. They pulled up the video from the last few days. No one other than housekeeping entered the room. However, what security did pick up were some guests listening at the door. Amanda tried to disappear into Lee's back.

The good news. No bug or entry into the room. They bad news, there was now a second hotel they could never visit again. Lee, being the gentleman he was, said nothing and led them out of the security room. "Don't worry, it's just some random people listening in. It's fine.

"Stop looking so smug!"

- SMK -

For now, they would try to enjoy their last afternoon and evening in Paris. They took a boat up the Seine to Notre Dame to round out their day. As the initial embarrassment was wearing off, Amanda started to giggle. Lee noticed and smirked not saying a word until Amanda did. However, he was having trouble holding in the laughter.

"That video in the hall was last night, wasn't it?" Amanda said, trying to hold in the laugh.

"Yep." Lee said smirking and not looking at her.

"Maybe we should have charged them an entertainment fee." Amanda giggled. "Oh God, what if they see us going into the room tonight."

"We're federal agents," Lee said. "We can sneak into our room and we leave tomorrow. For now, we've left a legacy in that room"

"Yes we did, Mr. West." Amanda burst out laughing. "I love you."

"And I'll say it again, My Queen, I'm the luckiest son of a bitch on the planet!" They both could no longer hold back the laughter.

After visiting Notre Dame, and enjoying a lovely last dinner in Paris, they decided to have one last walk through the city after nightfall. The lights sparkled as the city spun her magic one more time as if just for them. As they walked along the river, there was a boat that was docked with a party taking place on board. Music was playing, so Lee pulled Amanda into his arms and the two danced right there next to the river. The perfect end to their honeymoon.

- SMK -

Lee and Amanda walked back through the door at home. They heard a yell.

"They're home!"

Dotty, Jamie and Phillip all rushed up to meet them.

"Oh, welcome home!" Dotty called as she hugged them both. "You'll have to tell me all about your trip. I bet it was amazing."

"It was," Amanda smiled. "It truly was."

"Well," Dotty grinned, "that glow about you says it all."

"Mom," Jamie asked. "Was it fun? What did you see?"

"So," Phillip, always to the point. "Did you bring us something back?" Lee laughed.

"Of course we did."

When Amanda put her bag down, Dotty noticed her baby belly had grown. She put her hand on her tummy.

"Oh my goodness, this one has grown. It's so exciting."

"This one ate half of Paris," Amanda laughed, with a hand on her belly. "Oh my gosh, Mother, you would have been in heaven. Everything tasted so good so I took full advantage of being pregnant and ate anything I wanted."

"I see you're not saying anything," Phillip said to Lee.

"Darn right," Lee laughed. "She was actually really impressive. I don't care how big she gets in pregnancy. She's beautiful."

"Good job, Lee." Phillip said. "She already has you trained." He and Jamie laughed.

"Well, I stand by it." Lee said. "Oh, and she's feeling the baby kick now."

"Oh my goodness," Dotty said holding her daughter's belly again.

"Yeah," Amanda smiled. "It's kicking away. We're excited in a couple weeks as we'll get to know if it's a boy or a girl."

They spent the next few hours telling the family about their trip and gave them the gifts they collected. Instead of cooking, they ordered in pizza and enjoyed a night at home with the family. Dotty mentioned that the realtor called and it sounded like there may be some interest in the house.

Later that night, the family went up to bed. Both Lee and Amanda were exhausted after a day of travel, but happy to be home.

"Thank you for a the best honeymoon ever." Amanda said, wrapping her arms around him.

"You're welcome, it was the perfect getaway," Lee said as he leaned forward, kissing her firmly. "This is our first night in this bed as husband and wife.

'I think we need to christen it," Amanda grinned at him. She scooted back and undressed in front of him. "Do you think I need a nightgown tonight?'

"No. Mr. West would like some time with his Queen," Lee said seductively, lifting her off her feet as Amanda squealed.