Really, truly, he was only looking in the drawer for a pen. He wasn't snooping. His father wasn't in, and after waiting a while for him to return, he had decided to leave him a note and come back later. Which led him to look in the drawer. Two jewellery boxes were sitting in the back of the drawer, ring size boxes, and without conscious thought he had picked up the older looking one and opened it. What he found was surprising, his father's wedding ring. He lifted it out and read again the words inscribed on the inside, "Bill and Carolanne". He tried to remember if his father had been wearing his ring the last time he saw him. He couldn't be sure, but it was so much a part of him that he would have thought the absence would have been noticeable. So, what did this mean? Maybe the other box held the answer. He opened it carefully, and saw another wedding band, a narrower, smaller one. This one also had an inscription, so he lifted it out to read it. "For Eternity" This wasn't his mother's ring, he had seen hers many times, and knew the inscription was the same as his father's. So this was for someone else, but who? He thought with a grin that he could guess.

Deciding he needed a drink after the days revelations he made his way to the galley area for a glass. Hearing his father enter, he called out.

"So who do I need to start calling stepmother? Or should I guess? It must be even more serious than I thought, if you have taken off your wedding ring!"

As he finished his sentence he stepped out of the galley to find himself facing his father and the President across the room, and his eyes were drawn to his father's hand, where his wedding band glinted in the light.

He saw the shocked expression on the face of the President, but was too caught up in the same feeling, to be able to decipher the various emotions that flickered in its aftermath. Her eyes closed briefly, then with a single deep breath and a serene expression that made him wonder if he had been imagining things, turned to his father and said, "It would seem you two have something to discuss." before leaving, closing the hatch firmly behind her.

His father's expression was completely unreadable as he spun the lock and then poured two glasses of ambrosia. He stammered an apology, uncertain as to what reaction to expect, mind whirling as to possible explanations, eyes caught on the sight of his father twirling the ring on his finger, something that had been habit for as long as Lee could remember. Only it appeared that at some point the ring he had thought it was had been replaced by another.

"How long ..." the question was pulled from him, yet he found himself unsure as to how to finish it, ... how long have you been wearing another's wedding ring, ... how long until you were going to tell me, ... how long ago did you stop wearing my mother's ring, and the follow up to all of these, the overriding question, what exactly was going on?