Ignoring the weekend receptionist, Lee entered the closet elevator and jabbed the “down” button. If anyone could set him straight, it was Billy Melrose. He pushed the coats aside and strode past the swarm of people roaming the hallway, without a second glance. Oblivious to the ringing phones and the usual bustle and chatter of his fellow agents, he crossed the Bullpen and rapped on his supervisor’s door. After being waved in, he sank into a chair opposite his boss, waiting for him to finish his call.
He took a moment to study the room. Nothing seemed different or out of the ordinary. Francine breezed into the room carrying a file folder, and she placed it on Billy’s desk, just before turning and giving Lee a smirk.
“I didn’t expect to see you here today.”
He quirked an eyebrow. “Why not?”
“You never work weekends anymore. I believe you refer to them as your ‘family time.’
Lee could only nod and stare at the blonde as she sashayed out the door.
They got to Francine, too! His only hope was just wrapping up a phone call. Billy would help him. He had to.
“Well, if it isn’t the man in question.”
“What?”
“That was your wife.” He gestured toward the phone. “She’s been worried sick about you. Said you ran out of the house hours ago, without a word, and haven’t been back since. What’s up, Scarecrow?”
“That’s what I’d like to know.” He jumped up and started pacing a path in front of the desk. “Billy, I woke up this morning in someone else’s life. When I went to bed last night, I was a single man! I woke up this morning, and I have a wife, kids, and a mortgage!”
“Lee, it’s only natural to feel a bit out of sorts at times. Married life isn’t always a walk in the park. It’s a lot of hard work. And raising a family is even harder. But I know you and Amanda can do it.” He put his hand on Lee’s shoulder and squeezed. Lee jumped, not realizing Billy had moved behind him.
“I know you two were made for each other, and so do you. Now go home and talk to your wife. She sounded pretty upset.” Billy practically pushed him out the door.
“But, Billy--”
“No buts, Scarecrow! Go home, and that’s an order!”
dddddddddddddddddd
“Thank goodness, you’re home! Do you have any idea how worried I was? I was calling all over town for you. You left in such a hurry you forgot your cell phone on the dresser. Lee? Are you going to tell me what had you running out of here in such a rush that you had to leave your family for hours, without any explanation?”
‘Some things never change.’ He shook his head and chuckled to himself. She’d always been able to talk a mile a minute. It was good to see some things remained constant, no matter what universe you happened to be in.
“Well?” She stood with her hands on her hips, glaring at him.
“I’m sorry?” He wasn’t sure what he should say, or how to act. The look on her face told him he’d have to give her more than that. “I didn’t mean to upset you, I just realized I had forgotten . . . an appointment . . . a meeting, actually.”
“Yeah. Well, next time remember to tell your wife where you’re going, huh?” She swept past him and gave him a quick peck on the cheek before heading upstairs. When she reached the top of the landing, she turned back to him. “Oh, did you remember to pick up the movie while you were out?”
“The movie?” He furrowed his brow and waited.
“Lee, the movie.” She looked at him expectantly. “It’s Saturday! You rent the movie, I pop the popcorn, the kids go to bed, and we . . . snuggle?” She wriggled her eyebrows. “Ring any bells?”
“Oh, right! Movie night. Um, you know it totally slipped my mind.” He flashed her a dimpled smile and shrugged.
“That’s okay, sweetheart.”
He sighed in relief. At least he wouldn’t have to continue the façade of normalcy during an entire movie.
“We’ll just watch one we already have. It’s not like we watch much of it anyway.” She winked and continued up the stairs.
“Oh, boy,” he grumbled, as he headed into the living room to see if there were any clues to this new life of his.
He searched the shelves for evidence. “A glimpse. What did that mean? And what am I supposed to figure out?” After pulling down a scrapbook, he sat down on the couch and leafed through the pages. The quicker he figured out why he was here, the sooner he’d get back to his life.
The first few pages were dedicated to a smiling Lee and Amanda, pictures of them at what looked like a wedding. Turning the page, he saw it was their wedding. Staring down at the picture of the happy couple, he felt like a stranger rifling through the couple’s private belongings. Except, he was half of that couple. He had obviously experienced it yet, had no recollection of the event. The man in the photo gazed at his bride’s face with a look of complete trust and undying love.
Thumbing through page after page, he saw pictures of Amanda, one with her hand on a very swollen stomach. Another of Amanda holding a tiny baby wrapped in a pink blanket. Beside the picture was the baby’s birth date and measurements. ‘I have a five-year-old daughter?’ He stared at the pictures of he and his daughter playing dolls. There were more recent photos of Amanda with a very large tummy. There he found, in similar fashion, the birth date and measurements for the little boy. He was only two years old, but was quite a bit smaller at birth than the little girl had been.
A loose photo caught his attention. It appeared quite recent and hadn’t been fixed into the book properly. There was Amanda, her boys, her mother, the little girl and boy from this morning, and . . . himself. The date on the photo showed it had been taken a month ago. His expression caught on film made his stomach flip. How could he be so happy in this life? How could he be content in suburbia? There was no denying the gleam in the man’s eye. He looked as if he were on cloud nine. Lee couldn’t remember a time in his life when he looked happier than the Lee in the photo.
“Hard to believe isn’t it?” The low timber of her voice sent shivers down his spine. From behind the couch, she snaked her arms around his neck and rested her chin on his shoulder.
“Hmmm?” Being this close to her, he didn’t trust his voice.
“It’s hard to believe sometimes that the ‘loner Scarecrow’ and the ‘frumpy housewife from Arlington’ created such a warm, loving family.”
“Yeah.”
“That one,” she pointed to the little girl in the family portrait, “is just like her daddy! She’s just as stubborn and just as charming.”
“You think?” He couldn’t believe he had a daughter, let alone a son! The little boy looked just like Amanda -- dark brown eyes and all. But the little girl looked like him. She had his eyes and apparently his stubborn streak.
“Jenny had you wrapped around her finger the second she was born. And you wouldn’t have had it any other way.” She kissed his cheek and ran her hands down his chest.
“Jenny,” he said wistfully to himself and smiled. They named their daughter after his mother. Somehow, he already felt connected.
“Now Matthew. He’s going to be a bit more serious, I think.”
“Like his mother?”
“Hey!” She nudged his shoulder, then walked around the couch and sat down beside him.
“Matthew looks just like you.” At her quizzical look he continued. “What? You don’t think so?”
“No, no, I do. I guess I’m just not used to you calling him Matthew. You always call him Matt or Matty. It just threw me a bit.”
“Sorry. I guess I’m just feeling a bit out of it today.”
“Anything I can do?” She brushed the hair off his brow and let her hand drop to his shoulder. Her touch was so soft, and her voice so soothing. He would need to get used to this newfound closeness between the two of them. It wouldn’t do him any good to jump every time she touched him.
“No, but thanks.” He gave her a reassuring smile and closed the book.
“Well, dinner should be ready soon. Why don’t you go play with the kids, while I finish up the salad?”
“Play with the kids?” He was sure the look he gave her was one of pure horror.
“Yeah, you know, your children? They’ve been asking about you all day. We told them we’d take them to the park today, remember?”
“Oh, right. I’ll have to make it up to them.” ‘A trip to the toy store should do the trick. It worked with that Alexi kid, didn’t it?’
“Just give them some of your time, that’s all they want.”
“Right. So, I’ll just . . . go upstairs and, uh . . . play with them.” She smiled and shook her head. He felt like an inmate taking his walk to the electric chair. ‘How hard can it be? They’re only children. You’ve been trained to withstand torture from the enemy. This will be a snap.’ He slowly climbed the stairs and searched the bedrooms, and found them in Jenny’s room, sitting around a small table having a tea party. The light pink walls and stuffed animals were an obvious giveaway.
“What’s that, Mrs. Buggles? You’d like more tea? Why certainly.” The little girl delicately poured the non-existent tea into the tiny cup. Matthew appeared to be enjoying himself. Chocolate covered his entire face, no doubt from eating the chocolate cookies piled in front of him.
Lee turned to slip out, figuring he could study the rest of the upstairs, when he felt a tiny hand slip into his. “Hi, Daddy! You’re late for the tea party, but we’re glad you made it.”
He tried to protest, but she tugged him into the room and pushed him into a tiny chair. “You can sit there, Daddy, next to Mrs. Buggles. Let me just get you a cup of tea and some cookies. Matthew! You ate them all! Daddy, Matt ate all my cookies! Now we can’t finish the party.” She slouched back in her seat, and crossed her arms over her chest. Lee didn’t think her lip could hang any lower.
“He didn’t mean to eat them all, did you, Matthew?” He picked up the toddler and brushed the crumbs off his shirt. Looking over at Jenny, he added, “Besides, who says you can’t have a tea party without cookies. I much prefer tea by itself.”
“Really?”
“Oh, yeah! Definitely.” His heart warmed at the smile on the little girl’s face--a face that mirrored his own. “Now, what do you say we get this little guy washed up before your mom sees him like this?” Lee followed her into the bathroom down the hallway with Matthew in his arms. He was certain he’d entered the kid’s bathroom when he saw the multi-colored fish that covered the small room. Placing Matthew on the counter, Lee turned the water on.
“Mommy always makes sure the water isn’t too hot by touching it with her wrist.” Lee looked at her skeptically. “Like this.” She demonstrated.
“Oh, right.” He had no idea why that was the method of choice but decided to go with it. Grabbing a washcloth, he ran it under the warm water and squeezed out the excess. “This won’t hurt a bit, buddy.” Matthew disagreed and began whining and squirming. “Hold on! I’m almost done . . . well, I guess that will have to do.” Lee lifted the toddler off the counter and watched as he ran out of the bathroom with Jenny close behind.
“Dinnertime! Jenny, Matthew, wash up!”
When he stepped off the landing, Lee found Amanda at the foot of the stairs.
“What was wrong with Matthew?”
“Nothing, he just didn’t want his face washed, I guess.”
“He never does,” she said under her breath, as they headed into the kitchen.
dddddddddddddddddd
“Well, the kids are finally asleep. You know, I don’t remember the boys being that hard to get to sleep at their age.” She sighed as she plopped down beside him, throwing her legs over his lap. “So what movie did you pick?”
Surprised by her closeness, he tried to focus on her question. “Um, . . . Jurassic Park. I’ve been meaning to see it for a while now.” He turned the box over and read the description. “Looks good.”
“Very funny, Stetson!” She slapped him lightly on his arm.
“What?” What had he said that was so funny?
“You and the boys must have gone to see it three times while it was still playing at the theatres last summer. Why do you think I bought it when it came out on home video? It’s practically worn out, you’ve watched it so many times.” She laughed.
“Right. Well, we can watch something else.” He tried to get up to take the tape out of the VCR, but she held him firmly in place.
“No, no. This is fine. When I get scared, I’ll just snuggle up to you.” She smiled seductively and wrapped her arms around his left arm.
‘Oh, boy. This is going to be a very long night.’ “If you’re sure. I don’t mind watching something else.”
“Nope, this is perfect.” She pulled a large bowl of popcorn into her lap and popped a kernel into her mouth. Picking up another kernel, she brought it to his lips. He opened his mouth to allow her fingers entrance, but nearly lost it when she allowed her fingerstips to linger on his lips.
Lee was finding it difficult to focus on the movie. She was so very close. And she smelled wonderful--like vanilla. He reached his left hand into the bowl, only to encounter her hand there as well. Snatching his back as if he’d been burned, he couldn’t comprehend the jolt of electricity that flowed through his body at her touch. ‘It’s just Amanda.’ When she took his hand in hers, and held it in her lap, he swallowed hard. Surprisingly, he liked the feel of her touch. He more than liked it. It felt safe and warm. All his will power was slowly draining from his body. ‘Focus on the dinosaurs, Stetson.’
Minutes later, he heard her slow even breathing. She had fallen asleep on him. He let out a deep sigh, relieved that he had dodged any type of intimacy with . . . his wife. Shaking his head, he turned off the movie, lifted her off the couch and carried her up to their bedroom. ‘To sleep, perchance to wake up from this bizarre dream.’
dddddddddddddddddd