Challenge: Write one story using one OR both lines 1) "Oh my, that's really hard!" 2) "Well, okay, but it's been a long time since I've done something like that.

Timeframe: post Season 4.

Author: Lynda Mayfield

Title: Bushes

Lee sighed, "Oh, my, that's really hard!"

"I know," Amanda nodded, "But she deserves it, and I want it to look really good."

"Well, okay, but it's been a long time since I've done something like that." Lee stuck the shovel into the semi-hard ground with all his might.

He really hadn't planted rose bushes in a long time. Amanda had asked him to plant a couple at their house before her pregnancy. He gave her a wistful look as she sat in her lawn chair, holding the sleeping infant.

The roses were for his mother-in-law. She had moved to a small town house a couple of neighborhoods over. A week ago, she had gone on vacation with Captain Kurt, not to return for another two weeks. By then, these bushes will have had time to flourish. He and Amanda would return, after this backbreaking day, to tend them. Lee smiled as he recalled what a green thumb his wife had in tending their greenery.

Hours later, as they drove home, Amanda ran her hand through his somewhat sweaty hair.

"Thank you, Mother is going to just love them, I know it."

"That's exactly why I don't mind all the sweat and work. I love Dotty, too. Almost as much as I love her daughter."

"Mmm," she kissed Lee as they stopped at a red light. The baby cooed at them from the infant seat in the back.

The End