Clarified Steele

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Laura Holt Steele looked around the apartment once more, making certain the everything was in its place. It wouldn't do for her mother to find even one speck of dust. Never mind that she and Remington had only gotten back from Ireland yesterday, or that they had a backlog of cases to attend to that was going to take them at *least* two months to take care of. Upon their return, Mildred had handed a pile of message slips into Laura's keeping - most of which had been from an angry Abigail Holt or Frances Piper. "Damn Keyes anyway," Laura muttered as she straightened the cushions on the sofa once again. The cretin had send an announcement of her marriage to Remington Steele before leaving for Mexico. Luckily for Laura, Abigail, Frances and Frances' family had been out of town, vacationing in Hawaii, at the time of the "marriage", and didn't find out about it until Laura and Remington had left for London.

During the week that Mildred returned to Los Angeles, leaving Laura and Remington to honeymoon without a chaperone, Abigail and Frances had all but driven Mildred to distraction. Mildred had wisely refrained from informing her employers about the trouble awaiting them, not wanting to spoil their time alone by Laura's fretting over having to face her mother.

Which explained why Laura was making certain the apartment was spotless while Remington prepared one of his gourmet delights. Laura had tried to put her mother off, but Remington had insisted that they invite Abigail to dinner so they could attempt to explain their sudden marriage. She picked up a cushion, then frowned as she saw the slip of paper just visible beyond of the edge of the sofa. Exactly something that her mother would have found and pointed out. Picking it up, she unfolded it. It was in Spanish, she realized. Something about thanks to Señor Steele for his help in financing a boat -and it was signed by Juan.

"I think everything's about ready," Remington said as he came from the kitchen, glancing over the perfectly set table as he did. "How are things out here?" he asked, putting on his jacket.

"I'm not sure," Laura said in a distracted tone. "What is this?"

He stepped back to read the paper she put in his face. He grimaced, reaching out to take it. "Um- nothing. I'll just-"

She shook her head. "I might not be able to speak Spanish," she reminded him, "but I can read it. Well enough anyway to know that this is a thank you from Juan to you for helping to find the financing for his fishing boat." Laura watched his expression closely. "It's customary for the person who *owns* a boat to be the captain, isn't it?"

"Well, usually," Remington agreed, not certain he liked where this conversation was heading. Juan had mentioned a thank you note after the wedding, but hadn't been able to find it. He must have dropped it. Remington made himself a mental note to have a small talk with the cleaning woman about leaving slips of paper lying about -

"Then how was it that the man who wrote this note, who obviously owns - or is buying the boat - was able to perform *our* wedding ceremony and it *not* be legal?"

"Laura, darling, I can explain.-"

"Oh, I'll bet you can." She sat down, looking up at him. "Well? I'm waiting-"

He pointed toward the door. "Your mother will be here any minute-"

Laura's expression never wavered. "Then you're wasting time."

"Laura," He sat down on the sofa near her. "I know that I told you that our marriage wasn't legal - but - "

"You lied," Laura said evenly. *Too* evenly, Remington thought.

"In a way. There was just no time to figure a way to con both the INS and Keyes."

"So you conned *me* instead," she said.

"When you put it that way - "

"What other way *should* I put it?" she wanted to know. "And just when were you going to tell me the truth?"

"I rather hoped I - wouldn't have to. That before the two years was up, you'd agree to marry me for real - no questions about legality -"

"Pretty sure of yourself, aren't you?"

"Well, I-"

Laura sighed deeply. "I should have known, I suppose. Ever since we managed to ditch Shannon in London, you've been acting *very* much like a married man -"

"Have I?"

"A very *jealous* married man," Laura recalled. thoughtfully.

"You're not going to bring Antony into this, Laura-"

She smiled. "I didn't mention his name," she pointed out. "You did."

Remington knelt beside her chair. "Laura, I'm sorry. And I won't ask you for anymore than the two years we agreed on - just help me get through this thing with immigration, and if you still want your freedom -"

"Who said anything about wanting my freedom?" Laura asked as the doorbell rang. She smiled, and Remington found himself holding his breath. "But you *will* pay for this, dearest. Believe me," she asked sweetly, as she stood. "I'd get up if I were you. Wouldn't do to greet your new mother in law on your knees, would it?" .

Remington rose, hoping that he didn't look as worried as he felt. Laura's paybacks could be devilishly difficult. She opened the door. "Mother. Come in. Remington's been wondering where you were, isn't that right, darling?"

He came forward to take Abigail's coat, smiling. "As a matter of fact, yes, I was. Let me take this into the bedroom. Why don't you pour your mother something to drink?" he suggested to Laura. Once in the bedroom, he paused, trying to regain his sense of equilibrium. He had a feeling that it was going to be a long night.

**********

"How was your vacation?" Laura asked her mother as Remington came out of the bedroom and picked up the drink she'd poured for him.

"Quite nice, actually, but I didn't come to dinner this evening to discuss my trip to Hawaii, dear."

"No. I suppose not."

"You have no *idea* how it felt to come home and open the newspaper to find that the two of you decided to get married without even so much as a *telephone* call to let me know about it. I had ten messages waiting on my answering machine. People I hadn't heard from in years, calling to ask my about my daughter's marrying one of the most eligible bachelors in Los Angeles, if not in the entire state, - and I didn't know anything-"

"Mother-" Laura tried, but Abigail either didn't hear the softly spoken word or chose to ignore it. Her daughter thought it was the latter.

"And then that woman in your office refused to give me *any* information about how to get in touch with you - But I suppose *she's* more important to you than I am. After all, *she* was invited to your wedding."

Remington placed a hand on Laura's shoulder as she would have responded. "Abigail, Laura and I made the decision to be married quite suddenly. Took us by surprise as much as anyone else-"

"How can you be surprised by something like that?" Abigail asked, clearly unconvinced.

Remington glanced at Laura, looking for some help, but she simply sat back, smiling at him. "I'll let you explain all of this, dear. You're so *good* at explaining things."

The sound of the other shoe falling was loud in the quiet room. "What about dinner?" he asked, hoping to put off having to explain all of this to Laura's mother. "Why don't we have dinner now, and I'll try to explain everything after?"

Laura's expression told him that she knew exactly what he was trying to do, but Abigail nodded. "I suppose we might as well," she sighed. "After all, I've waited almost a month to find out why I wasn't informed of your marriage before it occurred. Another hour or so can't hurt, can it?"

Remington rose from his seat on the arm of Laura's chair. "I'll have it on the table before you know it."

Laura rose as well. "Why don't I help you, dear? That way we can get to it even faster?" she asked pointedly. "Excuse me, Mother."

"You're not going to worm you way out of this," Laura whispered as she took the bowl he held out.

"I'm not trying to- as you so elegantly put it- *worm* my way out of anything, Laura. I simply thought that your mother might be more receptive to the story once I've plied her with some good food and a few glasses of wine, that's all."

"As long as you realize that you're going to tell my mother the *whole* story about how we came to be married," Laura told him, turning toward the dining room.

Remington froze. "The- *whole* story, Laura? Even -"

"Even Clarissa," she confirmed. "I'll tell Mother that dinner's on the table," she said, leaving him to follow.

Remington placed the duck on the table, then returned to the kitchen for the wine. This was going to be an even longer night than he'd feared.

**********

Over dinner, Abigail made a toast to Laura and Remington, and then one to Daniel. "Daniel?" Laura questioned.

Abigail nodded. "He must have been very happy that you two finally got together. I know he hoped it would happen-"

"When did he tell you this, Mother?" Laura wanted to know, glancing at Remington, who was suddenly very interested in his food. "I wasn't aware that you had even *seen* Daniel Chalmers after he left Los Angeles that first time -"

"Well he *did* invite me to visit him in the South of France, if you'll remember," Abigail said. "And when I went to Europe that next year, he showed me around." She sighed dramatically. "He was such a charming man - I was sorry to hear about his death, Remington. I know that you and he were close friends -"

Remington nodded. "Yes. Best friends," he admitted softly.

"I had no idea that you spent time with Daniel, Mother," Laura said again.

"You don't know everything I do, Laura, dear. And I knew that if I told you what I was planning, you'd probably try to stop me- just as you told Daniel to break off with me that first time-" When Laura opened her mouth, Abigail shook her head. "Now don't deny it, dear. You didn't approve of my seeing Daniel. Although, for the life of me I never understood why you disapproved of him. He certainly approved of you."

Laura's eyes widened. "He *did*?"

"During that week in France, we talked a lot about the two of you- he told me that he was glad that 'Harry' had found someone like you who could keep him in line and on his toes."

"About the name, Abigail-"

"Oh," she said airily, waving her hand in his direction, "Daniel explained all about that."

"He did?" Laura asked. "And what was his explanation?"

"Just that Harry is Remington's middle name, but he doesn't use it. Of course, it's not Harry, actually. It's Harrison. But Daniel said he had his reasons for preferring the name Harry."

"And did he - happen to mention what those reasons might be?" Remington asked slowly.

"No, he didn't. He said that he might tell me, one day - but I suppose I'll never know, now."

"Did Daniel tell you anything about my - past, Abigail?" he inquired.

"Only that you're an orphan, no family - that he found you on the streets and took you in -"

"Daniel Chalmers was my father, Abigail," he told her, watching her reaction.

"Your *father*? But you didn't know?"

"No. I thought he'd abandoned me, left me to fend for myself. Turns out circumstances kept him away and then brought us back together when the time was right." Laura placed her hand over his, smiling her encouragement. "But by that time, I'd built up a pretty hefty dose of anger towards my father, and Daniel knew that telling me the truth then would likely send me back to the streets. So to keep me with him, he became my mentor and my friend."

"When did you find out the truth?"

"In Ireland. Just before he died. He told me who he was - and we - made our peace."

"I'm glad. For both of you." She smiled. "And was he upset at not being informed of your wedding beforehand?"

"He didn't expect me to have called - but I would have if there had been proper time -"

"Time again. I still don't understand -"

Remington placed his napkin on the table. "Why don't you and Laura retire to the living room? I'll bring the coffee." When Abigail looked as if she were going to continue, he met her look. "And I promise, Abigail, that I'll explain it all to your satisfaction."

Laura followed him into the kitchen with a stack of dirty plates. "You knew that my mother had gone to visit Daniel, didn't you?"

"Daniel- mentioned it, I believe," he confirmed, concentrating on filling the coffee pot and arranging the tray.

"Why didn't you tell me about it?"

"Tell me, Laura, would you have let her go? Not tried to stop her from enjoying herself? From spending time with a man she liked and cared about?"

"I just had no idea that my mother and Daniel - I mean- "

He picked up the tray. "Is it so hard to fathom that Abigail would be smitten by Daniel? After all, you fell in love with me, remember?"

Laura's eyes stared daggers into his back as she followed him from the kitchen to the living room.


Coffee in hand, Abigail lifted her gaze to her son in law. "You promised me an explanation, Remington."

"And you'll have it. I'm just trying to decide where to begin - Perhaps," he said, considering his options, "it began the first day I met Laura." He saw Laura's surprise at that. "I knew almost from the first that she was something very special, something that I didn't want to lose once I'd found it. But she wasn't as certain as I that we were meant for each other, and so I began a campaign to break down her defenses. A long, hard fought campaign. And I thought I was winning the battle- until someone with an axe to grind against the agency informed the Immigration Service that my paperwork wasn't entirely in order."

"It wasn't?"

"No. And they insisted on my showing them a birth certificate and other items to enable me to remain in America. But I've no idea where my birth certificate might be - and so I was faced with the very real possibility of being deported back to England." He paced across the room, resting his elbow on the black marble mantle over the fireplace. "I considered going to Laura, but she was busy with a trying case - and I didn't want to worry her that the agency might be minus its head very soon - so I attempted to handle the matter on my own. Nothing worked, and so I decided to use my last option: marriage to an American citizen. But I still didn't want to involve Laura-"

"Who, then?"

"A young woman that we met through a case. Clarissa was willing to play the part of my wife for two years - long enough to satisfy Immigration that it was real - but Laura discovered what I was up to - and the young woman became - otherwise detained -"

"Aren't you going to tell Mother *why* Clarissa was detained, Remy?" Laura asked, smiling as his eyes narrowed dangerously.

Remington saw the curiosity in Abigail's eyes and his heart sank. "She was a call girl, Abigail. I paid her to marry me- "

"A- call girl? You were going to marry a -"

"She was arrested at the church for soliciting, Mother," Laura added.

Seeing Abigail's barely contained laughter, Remington forged ahead. "The deadline was looming, and I asked Laura to help me - and she suggested a fake marriage - one that we could slip past the INS and Norman Keyes. I knew that we didn't have time to arrange something like that. There was no way I could fool both of them - so I decided to fool Laura instead."

"What do you mean?"

"I told Laura that our marriage wouldn't be legal- that the man performing the ceremony wasn't the captain, didn't have the authority to marry anyone. When in actual fact, he had just made the final payment on the boat the day before the wedding- thanks to financing that I helped him to get."

Abigail looked at her daughter. "And you were willing to go along with this plan? To risk the agency and your detective's license on the chance that they wouldn't find out the truth?"

Laura shrugged. "It seemed like a good idea at the time, Mother. If they'd deported him, the agency would have been finished anyway," she pointed out.

"Are you going to sit there, Laura Holt and tell me that the only reason you married him is to save the agency?"

"Holt -Steele," Laura corrected automatically. "Laura Holt-Steele. No. I'm not saying that, Mother. But it was the reason I agreed to what I *thought* was a plan to con someone else. I never *dreamed* that *I* was the one being conned."

"I couldn't come up with a plan that would satisfy both the INS *and* Keyes," he said again. "Abigail, I didn't want to marry Laura under those conditions. I didn't want there to be any question in her mind how I felt about her, about why I wanted to marry her. But I'd been trying to convince her for years of how I felt and wasn't much farther along than I was that first day. So when the opportunity came along, I wasn't about to pass it up. Can you understand what I'm trying to say?"

Abigail's eyes searched his face for a long moment before she smiled. "I think so."

Seeing that her mother was falling victim to that charm of Remington's, Laura rose to her feet. "Just a minute here. I'm the injured party in this. I was the one who was lied to - "

"How are you injured, Laura?" Abigail asked. "It seems to me that this problem with Immigration just made things happen a little sooner than you were ready for them to happen. And knowing you, dear, you would still have been putting Remington off when you were sixty five if he hadn't forced the issue this way."

"You're taking *his* side!" Laura accused.

"Not at all, dear. I'm just *trying* to point out that you're not seeing the entire picture. Do you love him, Laura?"

The question put Laura off balance. "Of *course* I do," Laura answered. When Abigail frowned, Laura said, "Yes. I love him." She didn't dare look at Remington. He probably had that smug little smile on his face, and she'd be tempted to -

"And do you love Laura, Remington?"

"With all my heart and soul, with every fiber of my being," he responded. Laura lifted her face to look at him to see that he was looking at her. He meant it. He really *did* love her. "And I intend to make this up to her every day for the rest of my life."

When neither of them moved, Abigail gave Laura a gentle shove in Remington's direction, then went into the bedroom to get her coat. "Thank you both for a wonderful evening. I'll call you tomorrow, Laura. I can let myself out. Good night."

After the door closed, the room was silent. Laura stood there, her brown eyes locked with his blue ones. "You meant that, didn't you?" she asked.

"More than I've ever meant anything in my entire life, Laura. And did you mean what you said?"

"Yes."

He held out his hand. "Then why are you standing so far away when you should be in my arms?" he asked. When Laura was tightly against him, he sighed. "Can you forgive me, Laura? For lying to you? For conning you into marrying me?"

"I think so," she told him, smiling.

"We can have a real wedding, if you want, with all the trimmings -"

She shook her head. "No. One wedding was more than enough," she assured him. "Did you really mean it when you said you fell in love with me from the first?"

He lifted her into his arms. "Why else do you think I stayed all this time?"

"Daniel always told me it was because you and I hadn't-"

Remington's blue eyes were dark. "Laura, if that was all I wanted, then we would have been lovers a long time ago." He moved toward the bedroom door.

"Oh, really? Still very sure of yourself, aren't you?"

"When it comes to you, Laura, no. But can you honestly tell me that, if Special Agent Ben Pearson had asked, you would have said no?"

Remembering back to her reaction to him, Laura shook her head. "No, I can't."

"And can you deny that you didn't always know that you and I would end up together eventually?" he asked as he lowered her feet to the floor.

"I didn't *know*," she said, her arms still around his neck, "but I *hoped* we would."

"And this is forever, right? Not just two years-"

"Forever," she confirmed as he turned off the light and their lips met. "Forever."

The End

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