Saturday, September 12, 1987, 2:30 PM

Amanda sat in her room, looking at her reflection in the mirror and thought about what a whirlwind the last couple of weeks had been in her life. After accidentally getting trapped in a vault at work, she had a fairly serious head injury and had to spend some time in the hospital. Her secret marriage to Lee became known to Billy and her mother, and for 24 hours she thought she was pregnant! Sadly, further testing showed that she was not pregnant, but she and Lee decided to go ahead and make their relationship know by renewing their vows and having a second marriage for everyone. Only Billy and her mother would know they had actually gotten married back in February. Her first afternoon at the hospital, after Lee had brought her the engagement ring, her mother and the boys came to visit and they sat around talking about the wedding. Dottie and the boys took over all of the preparation and planning while Amanda recovered from her injury. Even after she was released from the hospital after four days, she was on medical leave indefinitely from the Agency.

Billy Melrose had gotten the ball rolling on two projects while Amanda was in the hospital. First, he arranged to have emergency alarms installed in all Agency vaults so something like this never happened again. Second, he pulled in a few favors to get a mandate for Scarecrow and Mrs. King to stay together as a team, even if they were now Scarecrow and Mrs. Stetson. It meant going over and around Dr. Smythe's head, but Billy didn't mind that a bit.

Amanda and her mother went shopping for a dress, which meant stopping at Lee's apartment to pick up the ivory suit she wore at her first wedding. Her mother arranged for flowers and a cake for a small reception to be held in the house, and the boys got streamers and decorations to put outside leading up to the gazebo. Lee had a member of his Family of contacts who actually was an ordained minister, and even though this wasn't a legal wedding, but a renewal of their vows, he wanted it to look exactly like a real wedding for those in attendance. Billy agreed to be his Best Man, and Dottie was Amanda's Matron of Honor. The boys would walk her down the aisle, with Leatherneck taking over photographer duties for Jamie during that time. Jamie spent all of the available time he had setting up shots, planning out where to place people and get the best pictures, embracing his job as Event Photographer.

Amanda had recovered from her injury quite well, and now sat in her wedding dress for a second time, preparing to walk down the stairs of her home and once again declare her love for Lee Stetson, this time in public and with their friends and family to witness it. Barney and the Colonel represented Lee's family, and they were going to take a three day trip to the Poconos for their "honeymoon". The first one hadn't gone very well with her being shot and all, so they were going to make up for it with a short trip, before returning to work.

The weather was perfect, and Amanda reflected on how much her life had changed since she and Lee ran into each other on that train station platform, and he had handed her that package. She wouldn't have traded all of their trials and tribulations for the world, because it brought them to this point - publically declaring their love for each other. There was a soft knock on the door and when she said, "Come in!", Phillip and Jamie both stuck their heads around the side of the door, "Ready, Mom?" She stood up, and picked up the bouquet of flowers, and followed the boys down the stairs. Phillip signaled someone who was running the tape player, and "The Wedding March" began and he and Jamie took their places on either side of their mother to walk her to the gazebo and Lee. Dottie and Billy stood there as well, waiting for them. The weather was perfect, and once the boys got her to stand next to Lee, Jamie took his camera back from Leatherneck and began snapping photographs as the ceremony began. Francine even dabbed at her eyes a time or two. They exchanged their rings, and repeated the same vows they had exchanged in private back in February. But it felt so much different to be saying them in front of their friends and family. The weight of their secret had been lifted. As they were introduced to the assembly as "Mr. and Mrs. Lee Stetson", both of them felt grateful for the gift that a Night in the Vault had given them.

They enjoyed a quiet honeymoon, and when they returned, went back into work. Dr. Smythe did try to raise a fuss, but Billy had called in enough markers to ensure that they could continue to work together as a team for as long as they chose to do so. Lee sublet his apartment and brought his personal possessions to Amanda's house, although they quickly decided that a larger home was needed. Within 6 months, a larger house with a guest cottage for Dottie was found and purchased, and the King/Stetson/West household moved into their new home. The boys each had their own room, and one bedroom was set aside in hopes of someday being used as a nursery. There were adjustments to be made, once when Amanda had the flu, Dottie stepped in as Lee's escort for one of the Embassy Balls! Life for the Stetsons was everything they could have dreamed of, except for one thing - Amanda's desire to have a baby.

Two Years Later

Lee and Amanda had continued their successful manning of the Q Bureau, solving multiple cases, and getting into the occassional scrape along the way. Amanda had been working hard on transcribing some tapes from a series of stakeouts one afternoon when she began to feel ill. She went home, and wasn't feeling much better the next day. She arranged to go in to her doctor, and came out of the doctor's office that afternoon with an amazing smile on her face. That night as she got ready for bed, she thought about how to tell her husband about the change about to come into their lives. As she left the bathroom, she found him sitting on their bed reading from a piece of yellow notebook paper. As she sat down, she could tell it had been folded and refolded many times. Leaning over, she recognized right away the note she had written the night she had spent in the vault. "You still have that, after all this time?" Lee nodded, folding it back up to put in the little box he kept it in. "I read it every time I need a reminder of how blessed my life is, and how close I came to losing you that day." She smiled, recognizing an opening, and rested a hand on his arm, "Do you remember the day you found me, how the doctors thought I was pregnant, how scary and yet exciting it was?" Lee nodded and turned to look at her quizzically. Amanda smiled, "Well, the tests aren't wrong this time." It took a moment for her words to sink in before a great big grin showed on Lee's face, and he reached for his beloved wife for a big hug. He rested a hand on her stomach and whispered, "Are you sure? No false positives this time?" She shook her head, "Nope, Doctor Reynolds is quite sure." Lee and Amanda celebrated their good news, but decided not to tell the family until she got through the first trimester.

The next day at work, Lee and Amanda told their supervisor, Billy Melrose, so he could take Amanda off of the Field Duty roster. They also talked to him about a desire to come out of the field, and find other ways to serve in the Agency. Billy asked them to give him a couple of weeks to see what he could line up.

Two weeks later, Billy called a special staff meeting. "People, we've got some major changes coming and I want to give you a head's up. These are all effective the first of the month. Dr. Smythe is retiring, and I've been asked to replace him. I've accepted on the condition that I can name my replacement." Francine's smile began to grow, she knew she had been groomed to take his place for years. "I'm going to ask Scarecrow and his wife to become joint heads of the department." Francine's smile crumbled. "They've accepted on the condition that they can return to field on an as needed basis, and I've agreed. To replace them at the Q Bureau, I'm promoting Francine to Q Bureau Station Chief, where she will man her own department of agents to keep up the excellent work Lee and Amanda have done there the past few years." Amanda's organizational skills will serve Lee just as Francine has served me during my time as head of this department. We will have some adjusting to do, but I know everyone will do their best. Congratulations, and thank you for your service to me these past years." There was a round of applause, hugs, and pats on the back all around. Francine was disappointed not to have Billy's job, but a new Station Chief position just for her was great, and she would be able to run things her way, it was an exciting chance for her.

Lee and Amanda looked at each other from where they say at the conference room table, both remembering another meeting a couple of years earlier, where a simple filing assignment ended up changing their lives forever. They smiled, and held hands under the table, knowing that coming out of the field was best for both of them, especially as in 7 more months, they'd have a little boy or girl on their hands.

The next week, when Lee and Amanda went in for her ultrasound, they were as surprised as Doctor Reynolds to find that Amanda was carrying twins! At her age, a multiple pregnancy was considered high-risk and she was monitored very closely.

6 months later, Amanda went into the hospital and delivered a baby boy and a baby girl via Caesarian section. The boy was named Matthew William Stetson and the girl was named Jennifer Dorothy Stetson. That night, Lee sat in their bedroom, and pulled out the faded pieces of yellow notepad paper. Their family was now complete with the addition of Matt and Jenny, and their lives had come full circle. Lee found he was a good administrator, as long as he didn't have to do the paperwork, and he and Amanda both enjoyed helping with new Agent Training programs in addition to their regular duties. He felt so blessed to be a father of two children of his own, in addition to the King boys. With Dottie's help to raise the kids, and their older brothers pitching in, another set of adjustments would be made for the babies. But he knew they'd make it work, and they lived happily ever after.

Fin

Author's Note: Thank you to all of my readers and reviewers for encouraging me along the journey of my story, I hope you enjoyed it, and I look forward to writing another SMK story when the inspiration hits me.