Amanda was sitting on her couch, waiting for Lee to get there for lunch.  Dotty was in the kitchen, making sandwiches and tea, and anxiously waiting for her explanation to what she overheard the day before.  The doorbell rang, and Amanda was off the couch as fast as she could to the door.

"Hello, Love,"  Lee said as he gave her a gentle kiss on the lips.

"She's been in her busy mode all morning.  She's going to question us as soon as we sit down, you know."

"Okay,"  Lee said.  "I'm sure her interrogation can't be as bad as some I've been through."

"Lee, she can make a KGB interrogation look like a cakewalk,"  Amanda said under her breath.  They walked into the kitchen, where Dotty was setting down three plates.

"No need to do this on and empty stomach,"  Dotty said.  "Well, sit down."

Lee looked over at Amanda. Amanda nodded, and they sat down side by side.  Lee took Amanda's hand in his own. He couldn't remember when he'd felt more like he was back in the principal's office.

"So,"  Dotty began,  "Where should we start?  The wedding?  California?  Or where you really were the other night?  There was no fire at IFF, was there?"

"No, Mother, there was no fire at IFF,"  Amanda admitted.  She looked over at Lee, who nodded that he was willing to stand behind her.

"So where were you?"

Lee squeezed Amanda's hand as she answered,  "That, I can't tell you."

"What?"

"Mother, why don't we start at the beginning.  Then you'll understand, better than if we skip around, because it's all part of the same thing."

"Okay, the beginning."

"Do you remember the day I took Dean to the train station?  There was a chance of rain, and he didn't want his car to get wet?"

"Vaguely, but dear, what does taking Dean to the train station have to do with what's happening here?  I mean, that was what, six years ago?"

"May I?"  Lee asked Amanda.  Amanda nodded her assent.  Lee continued, squeezing Amanda's hand,  "Dotty. . . That was the day Amanda and I met.  We met at the train station.  I was on an assignment, and I was being chased.  I asked Amanda to follow me for a minute, to take a package, get on the train, and give it to a man in a red hat."

"I don't understand."

"Mother, IFF isn't a film company."

"What do you mean IFF isn't a film company?  If IFF isn't a film company, what is it?"

Lee and Amanda looked over at each other, then back at Dotty.  Lee responded first,  "Dotty, IFF is a cover for a government agency."

"Sort of like the CIA, but a little more. . . secret."  Amanda added.

Dotty just sat for a minute, trying to take it in.  "You mean, that you. . .  and Lee are. . . are. . . spies?"

Lee cringed at the word.  "Actually, I prefer intelligence operative, but yes, that word is sometimes used, too.  I'm a spy, and Amanda is my partner."

"Oh my gosh, I don't believe this!"  Dotty exclaimed.  "All those late night assignations, all that time I thought you were having some. . . some kind of affair. . . you were really. . . oh, gosh, the bomb.  You tried to tell me.  You said you were a spy and you had information to give the other spies.  You were telling the truth?  And when that Russian doctor moved in on Magnolia?  When we were in the debriefing center, you really knew what you were doing?  It wasn't spy movies after all?"

"No, Mother, it wasn't spy movies."

"The, what did you call it?  The security mix-up?"

Lee responded to this one,  "They had every reason at the time to believe that I had sold out to the Russians."

"But you didn't,"  Amanda added.

Dotty sat and thought for a minute. "The block party that Buck set up."  She looked over at Lee.  "That was you, wasn't it?  In the W.C. Fields mask?"

"Guilty."

"Exactly how long ago did you start seeing each other?  Socially, that is?"

"Almost three years ago,"  Lee answered.

"And you've kept this double life of yours a secret for over five years?"

"Oh, Mother.  You don't know how many times I wanted to tell you, but I couldn't."

"That thing with Harry Barragan. . . did you two have anything to do with that?"

"You don't think I was going to let anything happen to my future Mother-in-law, do you?"  Lee asked sheepishly.

"Okay, the wedding?  Why keep that a secret?  I mean, I've been hinting all this time. . ."

"Well, actually, in the beginning, it was my idea to keep it secret,"  Lee .answered.

"But, Lee, I agreed."

"Why, Amanda?"  Dotty interjected.

"Well, you see Dotty,"  Lee began,  "We weren't going to keep it a secret at first.  While we were still engaged, we became involved in a case with one of my contacts.  His little boy had been kidnapped because of his association with the Agency."

"We thought it best to keep it a secret, so that the boys would be safe,"  Amanda added.

"So, for a year and a half, you've lived not a double, but a triple life?"

"Mother, you and the boys weren't the only ones we didn't tell.  Nobody at work knew, either."

"So, do you want to tell me what changed your minds?"

Lee and Amanda looked over at each other.  Lee could see tears forming in Amanda's eyes.  He asked softly,  "Do you want to tell her, or should I?"

Amanda looked back toward Dotty.  "Well, we'd discussed coming clean about this a few times, but we could never make a final decision about it.  We always kept coming back to why it would be best to keep it a secret.  And then. . ."  Amanda looked back over at Lee, and nodded.

Realizing his wife couldn't go on, he continued for her.  "Amanda told me she thought it might be possible that she was. . . was pregnant.  We decided that, well, before we knew, actually, that we would come clean, one way or another.  We were both tired of going home alone,"  Lee paused, trying to rein in the emotions he himself was feeling, remembering the happiness he felt when Amanda told him she was pregnant.  "Amanda took a home test on Thanksgiving morning. . ."

"So that's why the tension between you two was so high that morning,"  Dotty commented.

"Yes, it was,"  Lee continued.  "We decided to, well, we didn't want to upset you or the boys by telling you that we'd been married all this time, and then spring a new baby on them that quickly. . ."

"You decided to tell us you were engaged."

"We thought it would give everybody a period to adjust to the idea."

"Well, it explains why you were in so much of a rush.  And I asked you, Amanda, if you were pregnant , and you told me flat out no."

"Mother, I didn't tell you no, and I really didn't lie.  I just said we weren't getting married because we had to, which, given the circumstances, was the truth."

"Because you were already married."

"Yes,"  Amanda continued, tears still falling from her face.  "We were going to tell you and the boys about the baby after the wedding, but now. . ."

"I know, dear,"  Dotty said, taking Amanda's other hand.  "Now, while I agree that the boys don't need to know about the baby, what are you going to tell them about this?  Your marriage, that is."

"I still don't want to just spring it on them, Mother,"  Amanda replied.  "Besides, all the arrangements are already made."

"We could always tell them later, if the subject should come up,"  Dotty gave in.  "Is there anything you can tell me about the other night?"

"Well, Lee was in Boston on assignment, and I was supposed to go on a sting, the details of which I can't give you."

"Wait.  I thought Lee said you were partners?  Why wasn't he with you?"

"Dotty, we announced to the Agency that we were engaged.  The only person at the time who knew about our marriage was our boss, Billy Melrose,"  Lee explained, waiting for the name to sink in.

"That horrible little man?"

"Mother, Mr. Melrose is really very nice.  He's been one of our strongest supporters.  If it weren't for him, our partnership would have been dissolved immediately.  Lee, go on."

"Like I was saying, Billy was the only one who knew.  His boss, Dr. Smyth, has never been a big fan of mine."

"I think 'loose canon' was his term,"  Amanda added wryly.

"And he's never been happy about the way Amanda entered the Agency.  But with our success rate, he couldn't do much.  So, he decided to test us."

"He sent Lee to Boston, and me on the sting."

"He partnered her with an agent I've known for a long time.  Francine's a really good agent, and a good friend, in fact."

"Lee and I trust her.  She's had our back a few times before.  She was my backup.  I went to open the warehouse door.  Francine was a few feet behind me.  The next thing I knew, I was fifty feet back and Francine was running towards me."

"Oh, Amanda,"  Dotty said.  She got up out of her chair and went over to embrace her daughter.  "I knew that something was going on all these years, when you just changed, and started keeping secrets.  I imagined the worst.  Please, just don't keep anything else from me.  I'm honestly better off knowing the truth than being left with my imagination"

"I promise, Mother.  No more secrets.  Well, that is. . ."

"What she's allowed to tell, Dotty.  There are some things that are classified,"  Lee finished for Amanda.

"Look, I understand that you two can't tell me everything, but at least tell me more than you've been."

Amanda nodded her head.  "There is one other thing, Mother.  What we just told you can't leave this room.  It's important to all of our safety that no one knows what Lee and I do."

"What about the boys?"  Dotty asked.

Lee and Amanda shared a look.  "Amanda?"  Lee questioned.

"I don't know.  Would they be safer knowing what we do, or are they better off in the dark.  I've been thinking about that ever since that fiasco on Thanksgiving weekend."

"Wait a minute.  What happened-oh my gosh.  The shoot-out down the street.  You two were there, weren't you?  The paper said something about a Russian terrorist. . ."

"Dotty, trust me, you don't want to know,"  Lee said.  He didn't think he was ready to reveal how close to them the danger was.

"Okay, maybe I don't.  Just one question.  Is that how you hurt your arm?  Can you tell me that?"

"Yes, Mother, that's how Lee hurt his arm."

"It was just a flesh wound.  I consider myself lucky."

"You almost gave me a heart attack that night."

"You mean Francine almost gave you a heart attack."

"She could have been more specific about who was—"

Lee coughed and cut her off.  They both looked at Dotty, who was smiling at their bantering.  Lee squeezed Amanda's hand.

"Any other questions, Mother?"

"California.  Was that an assignment?"

"No,"  Lee assured her.  "Amanda really was in the wrong place at the wrong time.  We were there to see an old friend of mine, actually, he was also an old friend of my uncle's."

"You know, I'd always wondered how you got there so fast.  I guess now I know.  You were already there.  I'd wanted to question you about it, but I was so worried about Amanda that I pushed it aside."

"You know, Dotty, if you had grilled me then the way you've grilled us today, I would've cracked.  If you ever want a job in interrogation, let me know."

"Please tell me you're joking,"  Dotty choked.

"He's joking, Mother."

"I'm joking Dotty . . . mostly,"  Lee added under his breath.

**********

Chapter Eight:  An Unexpected Admission