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Lee followed his wife into the kitchen and set the grocery bags he carried down on the table. Faint sounds of explosions carried from the living room. The boys were glued to the damn video game Joe gave them for Christmas, again.

He watched as Amanda put her bag down and moved to stand at the back of the sofa. "Hey, fellas, we could use some help unloading the car."

"Sure, Mom," they chorused simultaneously. The bombardment stopped, and a moment later they headed out to the car.

He chuckled as he wrapped his arms around his wife. "I was never that cooperative as a kid. I did everything I could to annoy the Colonel."

She playfully socked him on the arm. "Phillip and Jamie have always been very agreeable whenever I've asked them to do something."

He pulled her closer. "That's because you're a terrific mom." Then he let his hand drift down to her abdomen and caressed the small bulge. "You're going to start to show soon."

Amanda giggled. "Tell me about it. It's getting harder to button my pants. I can't wait to see Francine's face when she finds out about the baby."

"She's going to faint, just like she did when we gave her our wedding invitation." Lee grinned. He really couldn't help it. He'd never thought he'd be this happy. He pulled her into a bear hug, before framing her face in his hands and kissing her.

"Ewww...gross. Come on, you guys, it's still daylight outside," Phillip groused.

"At least they're married, doofus! Not like you and Jennifer Smith."

The boy's teasing reached his ears, and he reluctantly broke the kiss, keeping his arms locked around Amanda. "Sport, don't call your brother names." Then he smiled. "But Jamie's right, we're allowed to get as mushy as we want." Then he proved his point by dipping his head and kissing Amanda again.

She broke the kiss this time and turned in his arms, facing the boys. "Phillip, I thought we'd agreed you were too young to be kissing girls."

Phillip's face turned red, and he groaned. Then he made a hasty exit back to the family room. Jamie, hot on his tail, stopped on the landing, turned back around, and smiled at them.

He smiled back; truly glad Jamie had adjusted to his presence in their lives. It had taken Jamie a lot longer to warm up to him than it did Phillip, but they quickly became a family.

Amanda pulled from his embrace, and her face revealed what she was about to say. He could read her like a book and decided to have a little fun by answering her question before she'd asked it. "Yes, dear I'll talk to Phillip again."

She giggled. "Thank you. It'll be good practice for you. Think you're ready to handle a child of your own?"

He put his hand back on her stomach, still floored by the idea that he was going to be a father. That together, they had created a new life. "You bet I am."

A moment later, Dotty hurried down the stairs. They watched as she grabbed the beautiful bouquet of flowers from the dining room table, then, without a word, hurried out the front door.

Amanda sighed and shook her head. "I wish I knew where she went every Sunday afternoon."

Lee smiled. "She's entitled to a few secrets of her own."

Amanda looked up at him. "I know that, but it's got me a bit worried."

Lee frowned. "Why?"

"She's never been this secretive. I've asked her where she goes, but she either tells me that she meets Captain Kurt for lunch, or that she's meeting one of her friends from her card club."

"Honey, you're worrying too much."

Amanda shook her head. "I've talked to Kurt, and I think he knows what's going on, but he won't say."

Lee turned her to face him. "Amanda, please don't start looking for trouble."

Amanda moved back slightly. "I'm worried about her."

Lee knew that he'd never convince Amanda to let it go so he smiled. "How about you and I do some casual surveillance?"

Amanda embraced him again. "Thank you."

Lee shook his head as they parted and pointed at her, trying to look stern. "If we get caught, you're taking the blame. You know I hate when Dotty's mad at me."

"You've got yourself a deal." She leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. Then she told the boys they were going to run another errand.



He backed out of the driveway just in time to see the cab carrying Dotty turn the corner.

They followed a discrete distance behind but managed to loose her when a moving van pulled out a little too far and snarled the traffic for a few minutes.

"We'll never find her now."

"A minor setback. Never fear, the great Scarecrow always has a backup plan." He turned at the next corner and headed toward the headquarters of the Empire Cab Company. He figured he'd flash his Agency credentials and make the dispatcher tell them where they'd dropped his mother-in-law off. After all, she had the same knack of getting into trouble that his wife did.



He slid behind the wheel of the 'Vette, slamming his door before looking at her. "I can't believe you did that. Another few minutes, and I would have gotten the information from the dispatcher."

"I'm sorry, but it wasn't a matter of national security. What if he complained? Do you know the kind of trouble we'd be in? Smyth doesn't need another reason to be on our case. Remember how mad he got when we announced our engagement. Now, with the baby coming. . . I just didn't want to give him any more ammunition to split us up. We'll just have to wait until next week and follow her again."

Lee suddenly smiled. "Let's assume your mother wasn't lying when she told you she has lunch out." He looked at his watch. "It's just after one-thirty. If we hurry, we might be able to catch up with her at Emilio's."

"Good idea." She kissed him. "Let's go."

As they neared the crowded restaurant parking lot, Amanda pointed. "There she is."

He looked out the window just in time to see Dotty getting into a cab with the same bouquet of flowers that she'd taken from the house earlier. The cab pulled into traffic. Lee moved over into the same lane. "We'll tail them to see where she's going next."



After a few minutes, the cab stopped in front of the gates of Arlington National Cemetery. He watched as Dotty got out of the cab and entered the cemetery. He parked across the street. "Why do you suppose she's coming here?"

Amanda shrugged as she took off her seatbelt. "I don't know, but I'm going to find out."

He grabbed her arm as she opened the door. "Amanda, we said we were going to follow her, just to find out where she was going."

She looked at him over her shoulder. "I'm just going to go get a closer look."

He sighed, shook his head, and opened his door. 'We're going to be in big trouble,' he thought, as he got out of the car and hurried across the street to catch up.

They entered the gates of the cemetery, passing the area reserved for fallen war heroes and heroines. He looked around at the many rows of tombstones and sighed. "Manda, we're never going to find her in here."

Suddenly, Amanda grabbed his arm. "There she is."

He looked in the direction she indicated and saw his mother-in-law sitting in front of two of the white headstones. She seemed to be talking. A moment later, it dawned on him whose graves they were. "She's visiting my parents' graves," he whispered, as the emotion crept into his voice.

Amanda wrapped her arm around him and gave a gentle squeeze. "Why don't we go over and pay our respects?"

Lee nodded, then they slowly started walking toward the graves.

As they neared the graves, he heard Dotty speak again. "Can't you two ever stop being secret agents?" She turned her head and smiled at him. "Help me up, please."

He smiled back and helped her to her feet. Dotty moved to his side and slipped her arm around his waist. "I was just telling your parents about our new grandchild."

Lee couldn't believe how lucky he was to have two wonderful women care about him. He pulled both his ladies closer to his side and kissed first Dotty's cheek, then Amanda's.

He swallowed past the lump in his throat. "How long have you been coming here?"

"I started the day the two of you were married."

Amanda gasped. "That's why you left the house a bit early with Captain Kurt."

Dotty nodded. "I wanted to tell Jennifer and Matthew that their little boy grew into a fine man and that it was his wedding day."

He tried to hold back the tears. His eyes burned with the effort. It took two tries to clear the huskiness from his voice. "Thank you."

Dotty reached up with her free hand and cupped his cheek. "Since they couldn't be here, I'd like to think I'm standing in for them."

Lee released his hold on Amanda and fully embraced Dotty. "I love you, Mom." Tears ran unchecked down Dotty's face, and he pulled out his hankie to wipe them away.

"I love you, too, son."

He could hear Amanda crying and released his hold on Dotty. Lee beamed and embraced Amanda. He knew her tears were from happiness--and hormones. She had become very prone to bursting into tears since they'd found out she was pregnant. "Shh honey, it's all right."

"I'm sorry, darling," Dotty said.

"Oh, Mother, you don't have anything to be sorry for."

Lee released both women and moved forward to kneel down in front of the graves. Quietly, he spoke to his parents, telling them of his happiness, and assured both of them that he would make sure their grandchild knew all about them. At least, everything he knew. Coming here would always be difficult for him, but now he had a family to lean on.

Lee rose and brushed the grass from his jeans, and then he turned and smiled at both women. "What do you ladies say I take you both out for some ice cream before we head home?"

Dotty smiled. "That sounds like a great idea."

Amanda nodded in agreement. "I believe the baby and I could use a treat."

Lee couldn't help but chuckle. "Do you think we should go back to Arlington and get the boys first?"

Amanda giggled. "We'll take some ice cream home to make it up to them."

Lee held out his arms. "Shall we?"

Amanda and Dotty linked their arms through his, and they started to walk toward the gate.

The End