Lee Stetson watched as his wife carefully maneuvered her Jeep Cherokee into the driveway of her Arlington home. From the passenger seat, he looked sideways at her. Her face was a study in concentration as she focused on getting the vehicle into position as smoothly as possible. Still, he couldn’t help but wince as the truck bumped over the low curb. He hissed involuntarily.
“I’m so sorry, Lee.” Amanda reached for his hand. She squeezed slightly before pulling back to release her seatbelt then his.
“It’s ok. You couldn’t help it.” He smiled. “I’m just a little sore, that’s all. You heard the doctor, just few days rest and I’ll be right as rain.”
“He said at least four weeks and I intend to make you stick to that, Scarecrow! Don’t be getting any ideas about sneaking off to the office any sooner than that…” She glared at him in mock warning.
“Yes, Ma’am.” He meekly smiled and turned on the Stetson charm. He knew he only had to smile and Amanda would melt and do whatever he wanted, at least when he was sick.
“Not this time, buster. Turn that smile off and get ready to get out of the truck. I’m coming around to help you.” Amanda watched his face fall and chuckled at him. She patted his cheek and whispered. “One step at a time, Lee.”
Suddenly serious, Lee turned his attention to the white frame house he knew so well, from the outside at least. “Yeah, I hear you, Amanda. This is a mighty big first step. Are you sure about this?”
“Of course, I’m sure, Lee, we’ve talked about this a dozen times. This is where you belong. And this is where you are going to be.”
“But, what if the boys don’t really want me here? You raised two very polite young men and just because they were receptive to the idea at the hospital doesn’t mean that they still are now that it’s really time to walk in there.” He hated the insecurity that overwhelmed him but if he had learned nothing else in the last four years with Amanda, he had at least learned to own up to his feelings and to deal with them.
“Lee, I spoke with them this morning before I came to get you and they were excited about this, really. Phillip has plans to keep you occupied with ball games on TV and Jamie has at least a dozen photos he wants to show you. He’s been using that camera you got him like crazy.”
‘Well, all right here goes nothing or something, or maybe everything, who knows?’ This Lee thought to himself. To his wife he said, “If you say so.”
“I say so.” She exited the door and jogged around to open his for him.
He reached for the door handle just as she pushed the release on the outside handle. “Amanda, I can open the door.”
“I know…I’m sorry…I can’t help it.” She grinned at him.
He rolled his eyes and swung his long legs over the side and touched his feet to the driveway.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Inside the house, Phillip and Jamie fought for space at the window. They had heard their mother’s Jeep pull up and were anxiously awaiting her arrival, and Lee’s. She had pulled up closer to the door than usual and they couldn’t quite see what was going on in the interior of the vehicle.
“What’s taking so long? I know they are out there. Let’s go out and help them.” Phillip started to head for the door.
“Wait, Phillip…. what if he’s changing his mind? Maybe he doesn’t want to stay here with us.” Jamie asked the question that had been niggling in the back of his mind since the Jeep had pulled up and no one came in.
“Don’t be such a dufus, dufus. Of course he wants to stay here. I am very cool. Why wouldn’t he want to stay here? I think he even likes you. Don’t know why….”
Jamie slugged his brother and a pushing match ensued until Dotty arrived and broke it up.
She pulled them apart and asked, “Why are you fighting? I thought I heard your mother pull in? Where are they?”
“She did. But they haven’t come in yet.” Phillip offered by way of explanation.
“Well, they’ll be here soon. Probably just taking it nice and slow. Now remember, boys, the doctor said that Lee has to rest for a whole month. I don’t want you bothering him all at once.” Dotty lectured sternly as she herded them toward the family room and away from the window.
Both boys answered with affirmative answers and looked at each other awkwardly. They had something on their minds and Dotty saw this. “Ok, fellas, out with it. What’s wrong, really?”
“Grandma, what if Lee changes his mind. What if he doesn’t want to stay here with us?” Jaime blurted it all out in one breath.
“Yeah, we really want him here and besides Mom is just going to worry if he isn’t here. We just got her back to almost normal. We don’t want her going off anymore.” Phillip had obviously been thinking about what his brother had said and now shared his concerns, just a little.
“Well, boys, I’m sure that Lee….” A familiar voice completed her thoughts.
“Isn’t going to change his mind about you guys, ever. You’re stuck with me, if you want me….” He stood in the doorway, with his arm over Amanda’s shoulders. He was forced by the weakness in his legs to lean a little heavier on her than he wanted, but made a concerted effort to stand straight and tall in front of his stepsons.
“Lee! You’re here!” “Hey Lee! Good to see ya!” Both boys shouted greetings and rushed across the room. Suddenly they slid to a halt before him, unsure about how to welcome him.
Watching them run toward him, Lee felt a sense of well-being and belonging overcome him, sweeping away the earlier uncertainty. He smiled at them, pulled his arm from Amanda’s shoulders and held his hands out to the boys.
They exchanged grins and reached for a hand each. Shaking his hands in a manly fashion, Phillip spoke for both of them. “Welcome home, Lee. We missed you.”
His breath caught in his throat, he clung to their hands. Going strictly on instinct, he pulled them into a quick embrace. “Thanks guys, I missed you, too.” His gaze swept around the room, encompassing Dotty and Amanda as well. “I missed all of you.”
Dotty stepped forward and clasped his outstretched hand. Amanda stood close by and observed her family, all together at last. The family stood that way for a few minutes before Lee cleared his throat and disengaged himself. Shakily, he moved to the closest chair and sat. His emotions seemed to be topsy-turvy since he’d woken up forty-eight hours ago and he didn’t quite know what to do with the feelings that kept coming over him. He looked to Amanda for assistance and she smiled in return.
“Boys, go get Lee’s things from the truck and take them upstairs to my room. He’ll be sleeping in there for now.” Amanda instructed and they ran to comply.
Dotty smirked at this news.
Amanda caught the look and pointed out, “I’ll be sleeping on the couch, Mother.”
Lee watched the exchange, his face burning with embarrassment that Dotty assumed that they would be sleeping together. He knew that he wanted nothing more than to spend the night with his wife. However, he also knew that until they told the boys and Dotty about the marriage, she would not be that open with their relationship.
“Whatever you say, dear, if you want to be foolish, go right ahead. Who am I to tell you what to do with your sex life?” Dotty returned then sailed out of the room before either Lee or Amanda could respond.
The pair looked sheepishly at each other. Finally, clearing his throat once more, Lee began, “Amanda what did they boys mean, they just got you back to almost normal?”
Amanda turned from where she had been checking the boy’s progress with Lee’s bags and asked, “What?”
“Before we came in the room, just now, I clearly heard Phillip say that they just got you back to almost normal and they didn’t want to lose you again. What did he mean? Did you go away or something?”
Lee watched as his wife stared into space for several long minutes. He was just about to prompt her when she suddenly returned to his side, kneeled on the floor and held him tightly around the waist. Looping his arms around her, he kissed the soft curls then rested his head against them. Her response, muffled by her face buried in his chest, came to him.
“Yeah, Lee, something like that, something like that.”
The boys returned, clambering in the door and dragging his bags with them, effectively forestalling any further explanation. They led Lee upstairs and Amanda followed, determined to put him to bed for the day. Lee gave up and allowed the mothering. He thought to himself, ‘I have the rest of our lives to get it out of her, don’t I?”
Two hours later, Lee woke to the muffled sounds near the door. First he froze, unsure of his surroundings. His instincts kicked in and he reached to the nightstand for his weapon. When he made contact with the rough texture of the lacey cloth on top of Amanda’s nightstand, he woke completely and realized where he was. Breathing deeply, he sought to control his breathing and felt his heart beat return to near normal. Disgusted with himself, he sat up and dragged his feet over the bed to the floor. For the last few days, ever since Amanda had found him, his emotions and reactions had run the gamut from near lethargy to instant and total readiness for action. ‘God, let me just get over this… I finally have a life to get back to.’ Clearing his voice, he called aloud, “Uh, guys….I’m awake. Do you need something?”
“Told you he would hear us!” Phillip’s loud protest came through the rapidly opening door. “He’s a spy…I bet he hears everything.”
“Phillip…” Jamie’s voice held the warning, obviously well planted in his mind by his mother and grandmother, not to upset Lee.
Two teenage faces peered around the door and jostled for space.
Lee chuckled to himself. ‘This should certainly be interesting for a while…’ He waved to them. “Come on in here.”
“Lee, Mom said if you were awake that we should tell you that dinner will be ready in about twenty minutes and not to come down. She’ll bring it to you.” Dutifully, the boy fulfilled his mission.
“Yeah and Mom is making her spaghetti! She hasn’t made spaghetti in ages.” Phillip rejoiced and exchanged hi-fives with his brother.
“Spaghetti sounds great! Your Mom makes the best.” Once again, he picked up on the undercurrents between the brothers and cautiously fished for a way to get the answers he needed. Spaghetti was comfort food in the King household, or so he’d been told. “So, she quit making it for a while? I guess we all get tired of the same old things….”
“Then Mom must have got tired of everything. She hasn’t been doing anything but working for... well, ever since you….” Phillip trailed off, finally realizing that he’d opened a subject that he wasn’t sure he was supposed to be talking about yet. He scuffed his shoes across the carpet and shot a glance over at Jamie.
“What Phillip the Mouth means is that Mom has been pretty upset and work seemed to keep her occupied.” Jamie mentally rolled his eyes.
“So, she’s been pretty busy?” Lee stood and experimentally stretched his legs around the room.
“Yeah. She works pretty late most nights. And then Grandma has to go get her some…”
“Go get her from where?” Lee fished again.
“From the hospital. The ER mostly. Sometimes she picks her up at the office, if it isn’t too bad.” Jamie tried to keep his tone casual, but his always serious eyes became even more so and Lee could see how upsetting this was to the boy.
“If what isn’t too bad?”
“Whatever she got hurt… she’s had a car wreck, fell down stairs, and stuff.” Jamie shrugged. “At least that’s what she says.”
“You don’t believe her?”
“No, not anymore. Not for a long time… Last time she said it was the stairs, but she had to wear this tight wrap around her ribs for a few days. Our first aid books say that is what you do for broken ribs.”
Phillip now took up the narration. “And then she had this limp for about two weeks. She said she pulled a muscle in that wreck, but we saw her changing a bandage on her leg, looked like a big gash in her thigh. That gash looked jagged, like a knife, maybe…” Phillip hesitated and then let it all out in a rush, “I mean, she is a spy and spies fight and chase bad guys and sometimes they get hurt. James Bond was always getting hurt and she must be something like him, right? I mean we figured that she got cut in a fight and that she didn’t tell us because she didn’t want us to worry, but we worry anyway and so does Grandma…”
Lee drew in a huge breath for the boy, who wasn’t the least bit winded and nodded. Like mother like son… “Well, guys, I think things are going to get better now, okay? It’s not the safest job that we do, but your mother is always very careful.”
“And soon, you’ll be back with her, right? You’ll take care of her?” Jamie suddenly seemed more anxious and Lee sought to reassure him.
“I’m going to take care of her and she’s going to take care of me. Just like always. That’s what partners do…”
Nodding together, the boys settled for this and soon began to regale Lee with stories of their lives for the past eight weeks. Shortly, Amanda called them to dinner and Lee was briefly left alone with his thoughts. Not exactly the best company after the conversation he’d just had.
TBC
Story Notes:
Disclaimer: The characters original to Scarecrow and Mrs. King do not belong to me. They belong to Warner Brothers and Shoot the Moon Productions. Plot and unknown characters belong to author.
Author’s notes: I’ve never done a sequel before…. hope this works! J Most readers will find it very helpful to have read Taking the Blame first. If it’s been a while, you might wanna refresh your memory.
This is very different from anything I’ve ever posted in the SMK world. First of all, it’s written solely from Lee’s POV. Much as TTB was solely from Amanda’s POV. And it’s a bit darker and more angsty than anything else I’ve posted.
I want to preface it by saying that it’s been so long in the works…. about 7-8 months, I think. I almost gave up on this one many times. However, I really do feel like this fandom did so much for me at a time in my life when I really needed a line to hold onto. I had to finish this and give it to you, the readers and my friends. Some of you might even remember me! So, I hope you enjoy and don’t hesitate to tell me what you think; in fact I’m counting on it!
Author’s notes: ****indicate start and stop of flashbacks
Author’s notes: I’ve never done a sequel before…. hope this works! J Most readers will find it very helpful to have read Taking the Blame first. If it’s been a while, you might wanna refresh your memory.
This is very different from anything I’ve ever posted in the SMK world. First of all, it’s written solely from Lee’s POV. Much as TTB was solely from Amanda’s POV. And it’s a bit darker and more angsty than anything else I’ve posted.
I want to preface it by saying that it’s been so long in the works…. about 7-8 months, I think. I almost gave up on this one many times. However, I really do feel like this fandom did so much for me at a time in my life when I really needed a line to hold onto. I had to finish this and give it to you, the readers and my friends. Some of you might even remember me! So, I hope you enjoy and don’t hesitate to tell me what you think; in fact I’m counting on it!
Author’s notes: ****indicate start and stop of flashbacks