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Story Notes:
Disclaimer: Unfortunately I don't own any of these wonderful characters. :-( They are the property of Warner Brothers and Shoot the Moon Productions.

Time Line: After the series. Mystery marriage has been common knowledge for a few months and Lee and Amanda have publicly married.
Amanda Stetson stood in the ballroom of the British Embassy. She was
looking at the beautiful decorations that adorned the entire room.
She and Lee had been invited to a reception for the Royal family by
their dear friends Charles and Emily Farnsworth.

At that moment she saw her beloved Lee standing across the ballroom
talking to Billy Melrose and Paul Barnes. Amadna could not help but
smile when she thought of the wonderful man that she had married.
They had been married for a year and a half and could not be happier.

They had kept their marriage a secret for the first year. After that
they decided that it was time to come clean to everyone at the agency
and to their family. Billy had been surprised but overjoyed that his
two finest agents had married. Francine had taken the news in her
usual manner. At first believing that it was just a cover for a new
case. But once Lee and Amanda explained the entire situation Francine
had finally accepted that they were truly married.

Telling their family had been a major worry for both Lee and
Amanda.They were afraid that telling Dotty and the boys would damage
the close relationship that Lee had built with them. But they
surprised both Lee and Amanda by taking the news wonderfully. Dotty
had been a bit upset that she had not been allowed to attend her only
daughter's second wedding but she understood their reasons for
keeping the marriage a secret. And she loved them even more for
thinking of their family's safety first. The boys were ecstatic that
Lee was their stepdad. Lee had been spending time with them ever
since he had been introduced as Amanda's boyfriend. Amanda and Lee
knew that Phillip would accept the situation easier because he
thought of Lee as his hero. But they were both very worried about
Jamie's reaction. He had been less accepting of Lee into their lives.
They later learned that he had been worried that Lee would take his
mother away from them. But with time and understanding Lee had been
able to break through the barriers that Jamie had built. So it was to
both Amanda and Lee's great joy and relief that once everything had
come out that both boys welcomed Lee into the family.

Amanda was brought out of her revelry when seh felt two strong arms
come around her waist. "Where were you just now, Mrs. Stetson?"

Amanda sighed and leaned back against Lee's chest. "I was just
thinking about how our lives have changed in the last year and a
half."

Lee chuckled. "Yeah, you can say that again."

Amanda turned in Lee's arms and put her arms around his waist. "I'm
so glad that everyone knows that we're married."

Lee pulled her closer. "No one is happier about that than I am." Then
he leaned forward and kissed her.

At that moment Paul approached. He cleared his throat and smiled
regretfully as Lee and Amanda separated. "Sorry to interrupt but I
was wondering if Amanda would mind if I borrowed you for a few
minutes."

Lee sighed and looked at Amanda again. "Would you mind?"

She smiled and shook her head. "No you go on I'll go to the bar and
get myself another club soda."

Lee smiled then tenderly kissed her cute nose. "I'll be back as soon
as I can."

Amanda stepped back out of Lee's arms then watched as he and Paul
made their way across the ballroom.

Once they were out of sight she turned and made her way to the bar.
She had just ordered her drink when she heard two familiar female
voices somewhere behind her. Turning she caught sight of none other
than Elisa Danton and Leslie O'Connor. Amanda's heart skipped a beat
when she saw them. She knew in her heart that Lee loved her but
seeing women from his past still made her feel uneasy and insecure.

She noticed that they were occasionally stealing glances in her
direction and wondered what they were talking about. So using all her
training she slowly began to move toward them so that she could hear
what they were saying without being too obvious.

When she was close enough to hear their voices she heard Elisa speak
first. "I still can't believe that Lee is really married." She shook
her head. "She's a housewife from Arlington for God's sake."

Leslie sadly nodded in understanding. "And did you know that he's
also inherited a live in mother in law and two teenage stepsons?"

Elisa's eyes grew larger as she spoke. "Man, Lee must be going
totally insane by now."

Leslie shook her head. "From what I've heard they are apparently very
happy together."

Elisa giggled and put her hand on Leslie's arm. "Trust me the one
thing I know for certain about Lee Stetson is that when the new wears
off of that marriage and he realizes what he's gotten into he will be
out of that house at a full run."

Amanda swallowed the lump that had built up in her throat. She
considered moving away so that she wouldn't have to listen to them
anymore but found that her feet wouldn't move. She continued to
listen and once again heard Elisa's voice. "I've spoken to Lee a few
times since they married and he's definitely changed."

Leslie nodded. "Mr. Melrose told me the last time we spoke that he
and the others that Lee works with have also seen the change and they
are very happy about the effect that Amanda King has had on him."

Amanda cringed slightly when she heard Leslie use her former name.
She knew that Leslie still harbored some resentment toward her and
Lee because of the way that Lee broke off their relationship and
started seeing Amanda but she thought that after all this time Leslie
would have gotten over it and moved on.

Elisa put her hand on Leslie's arm sympathetically. "I'm not so sure
that the change he's gone through since meeting her is one that I'd
call a change for the good." She grinned cattily. "Lee Stetson needs
fun and excitement in his life and I guarantee that he's not going to
find it married to that woman."

Leslie nodded in agreement. "I saw him not long after they married
and he had this silly grin on his face and he couldn't stop talking
about little Suzy Homemaker turned agent for one moment."

After a moment of silence Elisa spoke again. "That's something else
that makes me think that Lee won't stay in that marriage for too
long." Amanda's ears perked up wanting to know what exactly Elisa was
referring to.

Leslie looked around as if she were going to hear a great national
secret then moved closer to the other woman. "What's that?"

Elisa moved a bit closer as well. "Why do you suppose Lee didn't want
their marriage made public all that time that they were keeping it
secret?"

Leslie thought a moment then shrugged. "From what I've heard they
kept it secret because they didn't want to put her mother or her boys
in any type of danger due to their work."

Elisa giggled once again. "Don't believe everything you hear Leslie I
personally think that the reason that they kept it secret was because
Lee didn't want anyone to know because he made a mistake."

Amanda's heart began to beat faster in her chest. Her head was
telling her not to listen to anything else that either of these women
had to say on this subject. They were clearly jealous of the fact
that Amanda had done the one thing that neither of them ever could.
She had won Lee Stetson's heart. But her heart ached wondering if
there wasn't some truth in the things that they were saying. She
wondered if they knew something that she didn't. Was Lee as happy in
their marriage as everyone thought? Amanda put her hand over her
stomach. And if he wasn't as happy as she thought what would he think
of the news that she had to tell him later after they got home? They
had never talked about having children of their own. Lee loved
Phillip and Jamie as if they were his own. But that all seemed
unimportant because in a few months their family was going to get a
bit larger.

Amanda turned her attention back to the two women standing just
beyond the potted plant that she was now standing behind. She then
noticed two men approach and take them by the arm leading them to the
dance floor. She was clearly not going to hear anything else. Moving
back to the hors dourves table she pretended to look at the
assortment of food.

She continued to look until she heard a voice behind her. "Amanda
dear are you having a good time?"

Amanda jumped slightly then turned and smiled when she saw Emily
standing there. "Oh yes, it's a wonderful party."

But Emily saw the troubled look in the younger woman's eyes. She
reached out and put her hand on Amanda's arm. "What's got you so
upset?"

Amanda shook her head as they moved toward a nearby table and sat
down. "Nothing's wrong Emily I'm just fine."

The older woman shook her head. "My dear 'niece'I've known you for
quite a while now and I know when something has you upset."

Amanda sighed and shook her head. "You know me too well at times."

Emily reached out and touched her arm. "Yes, now what's going on?"

Amanda looked up at her again. "Do you think Lee's happy with our
marriage?"

Emily stared at her for a moment shocked by her question. "Amanda
I've known Lee for years as you know and I can guarantee you that
I've never seen him as happy as he is now that the two of you are
together with your family."

Amanda looked down again. "I just don't want him to think that he's
obligated to stay if he's not happy."

Emily was about to respond when she noticed Lee walking toward
them. "Talk to Lee about this."

Amanda looked in the direction that Emily was looking and saw her
husband. She looked at Emily again as they both rose. "I can't."

Emily smiled. "If you really think that Lee's not happy then he's the
one person that you should talk to." With that she kissed Amanda on
the cheek and walked away.

She moved back to the table and sat down again. 'How can I talk to
Lee about this?' At that moment she felt two soft lips brush her
cheek. Looking up she saw Lee standing beside her. He smiled that
special smile that he reserved only for her as he reached out and
pulled her to her feet. When she was standing he wrapped his arms
around her waist. "Man I thought I'd never get back to you."

Amanda's heart started beating fast once again. She laid her head on
Lee's shoulder as he held her. "I was lonely without you."

Lee heard the hint of sadness in her voice and leaned back so that he
could look into her beautiful chocolate brown eyes. He cupped her
cheek and ran his thumb over her soft skin. "Hey, you okay?"

Amanda thought about talking to him as Emily had suggested but she
decided that she needed a bit more time to think so she plastered a
smile on her face. "Yes, sweetheart I'm fine I suppose I'm just a bit
tired."

Lee frowned again. "You've been getting pretty tired lately."

Amanda cupped his cheek. "Lee I'm fine really it's just been a long
evening."

Lee smiled again. "Well if you're ready I'll take you home before I
head to my meeting."

Amanda frowned. "What meeting?"

Lee chuckled. "It seems that Paul is having women problems so he
wants to have a few drinks and talk."

Amanda looked across the room and saw their friend talking to a group
of people from the agency. She looked at Lee once again and
giggled. "So he wants advice from the old married happily married man
huh?"

Lee chuckled. "He thinks that I'm some type of expert when it comes
to women."

Amanda tensed in his arms when she heard his joke. Lee noticed and
frowned. "Did I say something wrong?"

Amanda shook her head. "No, I'm just tired as I said before."

Lee wasn't convinced but he knew that she wouldn't talk to him until
she was ready so he decided to let the subject drop for the
moment. "Okay let's get you home." Putting his arm around Amanda's
waist they walked toward the entrance of the ballroom to say
goodnight to Emily and Charles before heading out.



A couple of hours later Amanda stood in the living room of the house
that she and Lee shared with her mother and the boys. They had
decided not long after their public marriage to sell the Arlington
house to Joe and Carrie. Then they had searched and after months of
house hunting had found a beautiful Spanish style ranch house in
Rockville. It had plenty of room for the entire family. Dotty now
lived in the small guest cottage that lay at the back of the
property. And the boys to their delight each had their own rooms.

She thought back on their wedding day. They had decided to hold the
small ceremony for their closest family and friends in the backyard
of the Arlington house because it held so many wonderful memories of
times that Lee would sneak into the backyard to talk to Amanda about
a case. Then later as his feelings began to change he would come to
the backyard just to talk to her about anything or see that she and
her family were safe.

Amanda's thoughts were broken when she heard the front door quietly
open and close again. She knew automatically that it was Lee because
her mother and the boys were out of town for the next couple of weeks
visiting Amanda's aunt Lillian on her farm. Closing her eyes Amanda
prayed that Lee wouldn't notice her and go straight upstairs. She
still wasn't sure that she could talk to him about the things that
she had overheard between Elisa and Leslie at the embassy.


Lee stood in the foyer for a moment and quietly removed his coat
hanging it on the coat rack just inside the front door. He looked
toward the stairs and smiled thinking of the beautiful woman that was
at that moment lying in their bedroom asleep. He still couldn't
believe at times that he had found Amanda or that she had been so
persistent in waiting for him to tell her that he loved her. But he
was so glad that she had. Now he had the family that he had always
dreamed of. And he would fight anyone if they even thought of taking
any of them away from him.

He quietly removed his shoes and moved toward the steps. Just as he
started to climb he noticed a low light coming from the fireplace in
the living room. Turning toward the otherwise dark room he saw Amanda
standing in front of the fireplace staring into the flames. He smiled
when he saw her thinking how beautiful she was as the flames lit up
her face.

Putting his shoes down on the small bench that sat beside the stairs
he moved into the living room. He moved silently using all the
training that he had gotten over the years. Amanda had become very
adept at catching him when he was trying to sneak up on her through
the years of their partnership and relationship but tonight she
seemed not to even notice that he was there.

He moved silently until he was directly behind her. Then he reached
out and slowly snaked his arms around her waist pulling her back
against his chest as he whispered in her ear. "I thought you'd be
fast asleep."

Amanda shivered when she heard his voice. It always seemed to cover
her like a blanket. She sighed but didn't turn around. "I just had
some thinking to do."

Lee's sense that something was still bothering her once again
started. He sighed and turned her around until he could look into her
eyes. "Sweetheart, please tell me what's bothering you."

Amanda sighed and moved out of his arms toward the loveseat. She sat
down and tucked her feet underneath her gown. Lee moved over and sat
down beside her waiting and hoping that she would talk to him.

After a moment Amanda spoke. "I overheard Elisa and Leslie talking
about us tonight at the Embassy party."

Lee tensed slightly. He knew that seeing any of the women that he had
once been involved with always upset Amanda. "What did they say?"

Amanda looked toward the fire again then looked at him. "They were
insulting you because of me."

Lee moved closer and put his arm around the back of the loveseat just
above Amanda's shoulders. "What exactly did they say?"

Amanda sighed. "They were saying that you had changed." She then
turned toward him. "Lee, I want you to be happy in our marriage and
I don't want to be anything but good for you." Then she looked away.

Lee's heart broke as he heard the pain and uncertainty in her voice.
Anger rose inside him as he thought of the catty remarks from Elisa
and Leslie. He could understand their attitude toward him because he
knew that he had hurt them when he had seemed uninterested in
anything other than getting them into bed. But the thing that he
would not tolerate was anyone thinking bad things about Amanda or
belittling her just because she was the woman that he had chosen to
share his life with.

Lee moved even closer to his beloved Amanda and pulled her into his
arms. "You and our family are the best thing thats ever happened to
me and don't you think for one moment that I'm unhappy in our
marriage because I've never been happier in my entire life."

Amanda lifted her head from his chest and looked into his beautiful
hazel eyes. She sighed and shook her head. "But what about the
changes that they said you've gone through?"

Lee could not keep the smile off his face. "Amanda, you know the type
of person that I was when we first met." He shook his head
remembering that person. He looked at Amanda once again and cupped
her cheek. "I have changed and I'm grateful everyday that you're the
reason for that chage." He then leaned forward and kissed her
tenderly. "You gave me a reason to live and a reason not to take my
life for granted anymore."

After a moment he pulled her closer. "I'm so sorry baby, I should've
anticipated that someone from my past would say something like that
in front of you once we married publicly." He shook his head then
tenderly kissed her forehead. "I should've been more protective of
you somehow."

Amanda smiled inwardly knowing that this was the perfect time for her
to tell him the news she'd been wanting to tell him all night. "Well,
you can't protect me from the things that people say about us but you
could be more helpful with a new project that I've just gotten."

Lee moved back a bit and smiled. "Oh?"

Amanda nodded. "Yes, it's a very important home project."

Lee got a mischievous look in his eyes. "What exactly is this home
project?"

Amanda reached out and took his hand in hers. "You can help me
decorate the nursery." Then she laid his hand on her flat tummy.

Lee stared at her for a moment then looked down where their hands lay
against her stomach. He looked into her eyes once again. "A nursery?"

Amanda shrugged slightly. "Well, that's where the baby is going to
sleep isn't it?"

Lee looked down once again where his hand lay against her
stomach. "Oh my gosh."

Amanda giggled when she heard her normally outspoken husband using
her own words. "Aren't you going to say something more than that?"

Lee shook his head slightly in an attempt to clear out all the
thoughts that were racing around in his brain. He looked once again
into his Amanda's beautiful eyes as a smile started to come to his
face. "A baby?"

Amanda nodded. "A baby."

Lee started to gently caress her stomach as if he were trying to feel
the baby's movements. "Our baby."

Amanda sighed. "Yes Lee our baby." She was starting to get a bit
worried because he wasn't acting like himself. "Are you all right
with this?"

With that question Lee snapped out of his shock. The smile on his
face grew until his dimples were in plain sight. He pulled her into
his arms and held her as if he would never let her go. "Oh Amanda
this is fantastic!"

Amanda let out the breath that she had been holding and wrapped her
arms around his neck. "You had me worried for a minute."

Lee moved back and shook his head. "You have absolutely nothing to
worry about this is the best thing you could have told me." Then he
pulled her close again. "You've made me happier than you could ever
know."

When Amanda heard the break in his voice she moved back and for the
first time saw the tears that were making their way down Lee's face.
She smiled as she cupped his cheek and wiped them away. "I didn't
want you to cry."

Lee took her hand from his face and tenderly kissed her engagement
and wedding rings. "I can't help it Amanda I've gotten everything
that I've always wanted in life."

This brought tears to Amanda's eyes. "And I've gotten everything I've
ever wanted from life since I've known you."

After a moment Lee rose and pulled her up to her feet and started to
pull her to the door of the living room. "Come on we've got a phone
call to make."

Amanda looked at the mantle clock over her shoulder. Noting the late
hour she looked at Lee once again. "Who on earth are we going to call
at 2:30 in the morning?"

Lee smiled. "Your mother and the boys of course."

Amanda reached out with her free hand and stopped Lee's forward
movement. "Whoa Scarecrow they're fast asleep."

Lee shook his head as he once again started to move. "Dotty won't
mind being woke up for this type of news."

Amanda shook her head and smiled at the way her husband was
acting. "Why don't we get a good night's rest then call them first
thing in the morning?"

Lee shrugged his shoulders sheepishly. "I just wanted to share our
great news as soon as possible."

Amanda giggled and put her arms around his neck. "Lee, honey mother
and the boys won't mind if we tell them that it was too late to call
tonight."

Lee tightened his arms around her a bit and pulled her close. "I just
wanted to share our news."

Amanda leaned up and kissed him. "I know and I want to share it too
but not tonight."

She then shook her head. "I'm sorry that I let Elisa and Leslie's
comments get to me tonight."

Lee sighed and kissed her forehead. "Hey, you have nothing to be
sorry for I just wish I'd heard what they said because I would've set
the record straight immediately."

Amanda lifted her head from his chest once again. "And what would you
have said to them Mr. Stetson?

He tightened his arms around her just a bit and smiled into her deep
brown eyes. "I would've told them that I've never been happier than I
am at this moment because I'm married to the most beautiful, sexy
woman on the face of the earth."

Amanda blushed at his compliment. "Oh Lee."

He smiled again letting his dimples show again. "And I would've also
todl them that the Lee that they knew is gone and that this Lee loves
his wife and his family more than anything."

Amanda gazed at him lovingly. "You're the most wonderful husband that
any woman could ask for."

Lee moved a bit closer to her. "And you Mrs. Stetson are the woman
that I dreamed of all my life." With that he captured her lips in a
very passionate kiss.

After a moment they parted. Lee released Amanda from his arms and
moved to the fireplace putting the fire out. Moving back to Amanda he
swung her up into his arms. "Come on mommy, let's get you and our
little one to bed."

Amanda laid her head on his shoulder as he started to climb the
stairs. "You're truly happy about the baby aren't you?"

Lee kissed her forehead. "I couldn't be happier that my gorgeous wife
is having our baby."

He climbed the stairs and then entered their bedroom. Laying Amanda
down he quickly changed and got into bed beside her. Placing his arms
around her he pulled her close and held her protectively. They had a
lot of celebratiing to do but tonight all Lee wanted to do was hold
his wife and unborn child close and safe in his arms.

The End!!
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