Acceptance

Summary: Was Jamie's affection for Lee really able to be bought with a camera or was there more to it than that?

Timeframe: Mid season 4 – Right around the time Lee started spending time with Amanda's family. Just after he bought Jamie the camera.

Disclaimer: All characters are the property of Warner Brothers and Shoot the Moon Productions.

This story, however, is mine. Please don't archive it without my permission.

Rating: G

Feedback: All is welcome.

The phone rang disturbing the noisy clamor of dinner in the Arlington home. Dotty, being closest to the phone, got up to answer it. A moment later, she held out the handset to Amanda, "It's for you, dear. Mrs. Rochelle."

Amanda got up and taking the handset from her mother began speaking, "Hi, Claire. What can I do for you?... Um, I'm not sure, can I get back to you?... Thanks. We're having dinner right now, but I'll call you back when we're finished."

Sitting back down at the table, she glanced at the boys, "Philip, what time is your dad coming to pick you up tomorrow night?"

"Ten. Why?"

"Nothing," Amanda replied, lost in thought.

"Amanda, dear, is everything alright?" Dotty asked.

"Hmm? Oh, yes, Mother, it's fine. Dan is feeling sick, so Claire asked me if I could fill in for her at the school bake sale. She's supposed to be there all day tomorrow to set up. But with you gone for the day with Captain Kurt, I think I'm going to have to say no. I just hate to do that to her – she's covered for me so many times this year."

"We could stay home alone," Jamie piped up with the logical solution.

Leaning over to rumple his hair, Amanda laughed, "Oh no, you can't. I remember what this house looked like the last time I left you two home alone." Both Philip and Jamie looked down at their plates. They knew football was not allowed indoors, but somehow it was so tempting when no one was home.

"They could stay with me, Amanda," Lee said softly, wondering what he was getting himself into. "I have off tomorrow anyway. Joe could pick them up from my place."

Amanda smiled at him encouragingly, knowing what a hard offer that was for him to make. She glanced over at the boys not knowing what to say. Philip would be fine, but Jamie was still getting used to Lee. She wasn't sure leaving them alone was the best idea.

Seeming to sense her discomfort, Jamie smiled, "Sounds like fun, Lee."

Amanda's eyes widened in surprise, but she smiled. "Great, I'll let Claire know. I need to leave for the school by 9 tomorrow morning. Do you think you could pick the boys up before that?" she asked, looking at Lee.

Lee smiled, although Amanda could still see the unease behind the smile. "Not a problem."

Laughing as they entered the apartment, Lee had to admit that thus far babysitting the boys had been a success. He had picked them up early and driven into Baltimore to take them to an Orioles day game. It seemed to have down the trick. They were all quiet on the drive there, but it was early and clearly none of them were morning people. The game seemed to provide just the right amount of interaction, and even Jamie who was still shy and a bit cold to Lee, had opened up. The ride home had been full of discussing some of the better plays from the Orioles game and plays from some of the boys' own ball games.

Setting aside souvenirs (well a little spoiling couldn't hurt, could it?) Lee went to go get some pop out of the fridge.

"Hey, Lee. You have a message. You think it's Mom?" Phillip asked.

"Maybe. Or your dad. Go ahead and play it," Lee replied. Lee faltered slightly after saying this. What if it was the office? But he didn't want the boys to think he had any secrets from them, even if he did, so he decided to chance it. Suddenly, he stopped dead in his tracks. How had she gotten his new number?

"Lee Steadman!" came the woman's voice, "This is Cindi. I've had such trouble finding you. How could you go and change your number without telling me? I'm in town, just for tonight, and know you are always up for a night with me, so give me a call. 202-555-3245."

Lee turned around, face crimson, to see both boys looking at him with shock on their faces. "Listen, boys," he started, not at all sure what to say, "… let me get us something to drink and then we can talk about that."

Jamie's look had turned to a glower and Phillip, who had always looked at Lee with fondness, stared at Lee. "Mom?" he asked quietly.

No one said anything for a moment, and then Philip quietly clarified the question, "Does Mom know?"

Lee sighed again, deciding that maybe there was no time to get the drinks after all. He heavily sat on the sofa.

"I want to be completely honest with you both," he paused to think of how to explain this potentially sticky situation and how to address Philip's question. Looking at Philip, he continued, "No and yes. No, your mother does not know that Cindi called, because I just found out myself. No one but your mother has called me in a long time – I had my number changed for that very reason. And yes, your mother is aware of what my dating habits were like before I met her."

"And what were they like?" Jamie asked, his voice hard.

Lee desperately wanted to tell Jamie that this was none of his business, but he also knew how tenuous their relationship was and didn't want to jeopardize the bond they had recently been forming.

Gathering his thoughts, he responded quietly, "Before I met your mother, … well, honestly even after I met your mother, I was, well, I didn't really have dating habits per se. I often dated, but no one special, and no one for very long. My interactions on these dates were very …" Lee paused, trying to find the right words to keep this conversation both honest and PG-13, he finally settled on "superficial. I can't explain why I did this, I don't completely understand it myself. I can only tell you that I honestly thought I was doing what was best for me and everyone else. And I can also tell you that I realize now how wrong I was. Being in a relationship is so much better than what I was doing before," his voice dropping even lower, Lee looked out the window and seemed to forget the boys were there for moment, "But then again, maybe that's just being in a relationship with your mother."

"Mom knows this?" Jamie asked, bringing Lee's focus back to the situation at hand.

"Yes, Jamie, she does," Lee said simply, feeling like he had to clarify more, but not sure how.

"How do we know you're not doing the same thing to Mom and she just doesn't realize it?" Philip asked, his voice as cold as ice.

Lee cringed a little – if Philip had doubts, no doubt Jamie was certain that was happening. "You just have to trust me, Philip. I love your mother very much. I don't want to spend time with anyone else," he said quietly.

Neither boy said anything for a few moments and Lee felt distinctly uncomfortable.

"I need to go to the bathroom," Jamie piped up, his voice quiet, but definitely chilly.

Lee pointed out the bedroom. "It's the door to the right when you enter the bedroom."

With Jamie gone, Philip and Lee sat in silence. Lee was trying to think of something to say to get back to the easy camaraderie he had shared with the boy just earlier today, but was unsure what would do it.

Coming out of the bathroom, Jamie's eyes fixed on the picture by the side of Lee's bed. It was old and as Jamie walked toward it, he realized it was a picture of Lee's parents. The man in the picture looked just like Lee. He vaguely remembered his mom mentioning that Lee's parents had died when Lee was just a kid.

Sighing, still feeling annoyed and worried about his mother, he turned away. As he did so, his eyes caught the slightly smaller picture on the bedside table just in front of the picture of Lee's parents. Stepping closer, he picked it up. It was a candid picture he had taken last weekend with his new camera. It was taken in their living room and Amanda had been looking to the side laughing. Lee had said it was a great picture and asked for a copy. He didn't mention he'd be keeping it where he'd see it just before he fell asleep and woke up. What surprised Jamie even more than this were the two small pictures tucked into the bottom corners of the frame. In each corner was a wallet sized picture – his and Philip's school pictures from this year.

Perhaps, Jamie thought, Lee wasn't kidding and he really did love his mom. As he placed the photo back down, he happened to glance in the top drawer of the night table which was slightly open. There was a small jewelry box inside. Feeling slightly guilty, but too curious not to look, Jamie picked it up. Opening it up, he saw two rings nestled inside – what looked to be a matched set of engagement ring and wedding ring.

Jamie took the wedding ring out of the box and brought it to the window to get a closer look. Inside he could make out an inscription in small letters. "A – You have my heart." Smiling, Jamie replaced the rings.

Clearly Lee was serious. Maybe the phone call from that girl was simply what Lee said it was.

"I don't want to talk," Philip said coldly just as Jamie was coming out of the bedroom.

"Look, Philip," Lee sighed.

"I don't know how we can believe you," Philip cut him off, looking to Jamie for back-up.

"Give him a break, Wormbrain," Jamie responded, "Lee said he was serious about Mom."

Philip was so surprised to hear Jamie defend Lee, he didn't even catch the reference to him as "wormbrain". He looked at Jamie questioningly, "What?"

"Lee said he loves Mom. What's the issue? If he really had something to hide he wouldn't have let us listen to his messages, would he?"

Philip nodded slightly, still too stunned by Jamie's acceptance of Lee's words to speak.

Lee smiled at the boy. He wasn't sure what changed his tune, but he never expected to see Jamie stand up for him.

Jamie smiled back. He wondered when Lee was planning to pop the question. While it was hard to picture his mom married, he knew it would make her happy. Maybe Lee wasn't such a bad guy after all.