Disclaimer: "Scarecrow and Mrs. King" is copyrighted to Warner Brothers and Shoot the Moon Productions. The plot is mine, but not the characters. This story is meant for enjoyment purposes only. No infringement is intended.
Author's Note: A big "Thank you" to Lanie for her beta work and for being there always. Without her push and conviction in my writing, I probably wouldn't be writing. Also a big "Thank you" to Taya for making this story better by helping me clear up the murkiness and making my idea what I wanted it to be.
"Hold it right there, Fellas" I yell from the kitchen as I hear my boys trying to escape with quick goodbyes. "I know you are anxious to get to the park to see your friends, but you know the rule." I can almost hear the eye rolls and I definitely hear the moans and grunts emanating from them but somehow they found the strength to drag themselves into the kitchen. The energy they just had mysteriously evaporates between the front door and myself, but they both smile when they finally arrive by my side. "Bye, Mom," they chorus as they each kiss a cheek and suddenly find their lost enthusiasm. Smiling, I turn back to the breakfast dishes and gaze out the window hoping that Lee would pop up at any moment. It's been two days since I've seen his smiling face; the smile reserved just for me, the one that shone through his eyes exposing his love for me. Why did we have that little tiff before he left? Why didn't he stop by the office to tell me he was leaving instead of leaving me a message with no details? Why didn't he kiss me goodbye?
Always kiss me goodbye.
The first time I remember hearing those words, I was four. Daddy rushed down the stairs, late for an appointment and yelled from the door "I'm running late, but should be home on time tonight. I love both of my girls," and then the door slammed. My Mother grumbled something under her breath while cleaning up the breakfast dishes. A moment later, Daddy stepped back into the house and scooped me up on the way to the kitchen. "My Darling, Dorothy, I apologize. I know I should never leave without kissing you goodbye. Will you please forgive me?" Sitting me on the counter after kissing my cheek, Daddy took Mother into his arms and kissed her soundly. "I love you, why don't you find a babysitter for tonight and you and I will go out to dinner?" Mother smiled and forgave him. I didn't understand it then, but obviously I knew it meant something since it is one of my first memories.
Daddy always kissed us both goodbye.
"Amanda, if you are leaving the house, don't forget to kiss your grandparents goodbye too." Mother whispered in my ear as I kissed her cheek excited to go show Debbie Ann my new pierced ears, courtesy of my shopping trip with my grandmother.
"Mother, I won't be but a minute. I just want to run down the street to show Debbie Ann and then I'll be right back. Grands is all the way upstairs and Pop is almost asleep on the couch. They won't even know that I've left by the time I'm back." I whined as I stepped away from my mother and headed for the back door, trying to make a hasty escape.
"Okay, Amanda. If that is how you feel, but you know someday you will regret the decision not to kiss someone you love goodbye." Mother's eyes bored holes in my back as I closed the door to my freedom.
Of course, plans don't always go as you, well . . . planned and 45 minutes later as I was walking up the street from showing off my beautiful new "diamond" earrings, I noticed the ambulance and police car in front of the house. Running as fast as possible, I made it just in time to see the ambulance pull away from the curb, no light, no siren, definitely not a good sign. An officer stopped me until I explained that I belonged in the house. The only sound was Grands sniffling. Pop had a heart attack, right there in the living room.
I didn't kiss him goodbye.
"Debbie Ann, why don't you want to go to the school dance with Danny, he's so cute?" I asked wondering if my best friend would finally admit that she had a crush on Danny.
"Amanda, just because he's cute doesn't mean I want to go to a dance with him. He's so immature. He teases me all the time." Debbie Ann turned away from me, avoiding my stare, knowing I could see the truth in her eyes.
"He teases you because he likes you and you like him, admit it." I huffed, aggravated that we were still playing this little game. It was time that Debbie Ann grew up. "You are the one acting immature." The words left my mouth before I could stop them.
"I do not like him! In fact, if he was the last boy in school, I still would NOT go to the dance with him and I'm not immature!" She turned on her heels to glare back at me. "Now if you don't mind, I have things I need to do." She defiantly crossed her arms across her chest. Her obvious attempt to avoid our secret handshake.
"Okay, well call me tomorrow and we can make plans for this weekend. Maybe I can talk Daddy into driving us to a movie." I had hoped that she would smile or at least reach out to shake, but no.
Two weeks later, she moved. She never told me they were moving. She never talked to me again.
She never kissed me goodbye.
The shrill din cut through the quiet like a sharp knife. Joe reached over to the nightstand to stop the sound as I rose to comfort our now crying child. It couldn't be good news but was probably just Joe's boss. Hopefully he isn't being summoned to parts unknown. He'd only been back a week.
As I snuggled with Jamie in his new 'big boy' bed, my mind drifted to tonight's dinner with both sets of parents. They were all thrilled to learn a new grandchild would be here by summer. Since Joe's parents were staying the night, the celebration would have carried into the wee hours of the morning but I had fallen asleep when I put the boys to bed tiring easily since the pregnancy. I woke an hour later when Joe carried me to our bed.
"Amanda" Joe's whisper brought me out of the light slumber that always seemed to happen when I soothed the boys at night. "We need to talk." The edge in his voice let me know that something bad had happened. As he led me back to our bedroom, I could hear movement from downstairs living room. He woke his parents. No, this is not good.
"Sweetheart, that was Dotty on the phone. They rushed your father to the hospital. We need to get there as soon as we can. I have already let my parents know what happened and they will stay with the boys for as long as we need them." When I didn't move, he wrapped me into his arms and held me. "Come on, Baby, we need to get dressed. Dotty needs us." The words pulled me from my dark thoughts and caused me to start throwing on clothes.
I don't remember the ride to the hospital just the feel of Joe's arm around me as we approached the nurse's station. We could see my mother weeping at the far end of the hallway when the elevator doors opened on the surgical floor. The deep look of sadness that appeared around her told me everything I needed to know as darkness once again surrounded me and I sank into nothingness.
He didn't kiss me goodbye.
"Amanda, please wake up." Joe's worried tone pulled me from my unexpected loss of consciousness.
"What happened? Oh no, Daddy didn't make it, did he?" I could hear the strain of my own voice as if it were detached from me, as if someone else had uttered those words and yet, I knew they were mine.
"I'm sorry Sweetheart but he didn't. It was an aneurysm. He passed before he got into surgery." Joe leaned forward to give me a hug. That's when I first noticed that I was in a hospital bed not a couch in the waiting room. My arms instinctively wrapped around him. What was going on?
"Joe!" Why am I hooked up to machines? Why do I need an IV? Please tell me what is going on."
"Settle down, the doctors said you need to stay calm or else…" His words trailed off as if he was afraid to continue. How much worse can this night get.
"Tell me!" The strangled cry spoke of my anguish more than any further words could.
"The doctors said that the strain of this sudden shock along with your issue while carrying Jamie are not good for the baby. They need you to stay as calm as possible."
At his words I dissolved into tears, tears for the loss of my father, tears for my mother's grief, tears for my unborn child that I already loved. Joe tried to console me but how do you console someone who has lost her rock, her guiding post, her daddy?
The scream tore from me, from depths unknown. It brought a range of medical personnel rushing to my room. Joe's worried face was the last thing I saw before the darkness once again appeared.
Mother's soft caress across my forehead brought sweet relief from my nightmare but that relief was short lived. The grief in her eyes was evident.
"Oh my Darling girl, you are awake. Are you in pain? Can I get you anything? Should I call the doctor?" From the way her words spilled from her, I knew there was no good news. I had lost my baby. A baby I had only carried for 10 weeks but that was already a part of me, already as precious to me as both Phillip and Jamie.
I never kissed her goodbye.
"What do you mean our marriage is over? You vowed you would love me, you would honor me, that you would obey me forever. How is this loving, honoring or, especially obeying me?"
"Joe, I do love you, I will always love you." The words even seemed hollow to my ears. "How could I honor you when you spend so much time away from me? As for obey, I never vowed that, but would have if you showed any concern for me in your life decisions."
"I have always asked you what you thought before I decided anything!" His anger vibrated from him.
"Yes, you asked, but you didn't listen. I tried to explain to you the reasons why I felt the boys shouldn't travel. I tried to compromise, but you wouldn't hear any of it."
"Compromise, you call holding off until Jamie is 10 before you would consider a move a compromise, or finding a position in Europe instead of Africa a compromise or my favorite, make a contribution from the sizable paycheck you would have me making in the corporate world. How are any of those things a compromise? Those people needed me and you wanted me to send money!" The more he spoke, the quieter his voice became.
My voice, however, grew in strength and volume. "The boys needed stability, they needed an education, they needed medical care and clean running water, they needed you." I realized then that the tears had started and wouldn't stop. The energy it would have taken to stop them no longer existed. "I needed you," the whisper escaped my lips as I sank to our bed, no, a bed in which I was the sole occupant for over a year was my bed alone.
"Fine, if you want a divorce, it's yours. I've given you everything I ever could and yet can't seem to make you happy. Send the papers to EAO, they will make sure I get them." With that he left. Though there would be many 'hello' and 'goodbye' kisses between us in the years to come, I never got a kiss that ended our marriage.
My husband didn't kiss me goodbye.
A sudden rap brings me out of my reverie. I look up with a bright smile only to be disappointed to be looking out an empty window and not into the shining eyes of my love. Realizing it's the front door, I quickly make my way to front of the house hoping to find Lee waiting for me. Instead, a young man carrying a large potted plant and a box greets me.
"I have a delivery for Amanda King. Is she home?"
"I'm Amanda. Thank you, wait just a minute." I turn to get my purse to give this nice young teen a healthy tip. Reading his name from his shirt pocket, I smile as I take the gifts and hand him the money I have rolled in my hand. "Have a nice day, Sean."
Laying the gifts on the counter, I reach for the card attached to the box. Amanda, I'm sorry, not for the argument, that is long forgotten, but for leaving without kissing you goodbye. I will be home soon to rectify that oversight but in the meantime, please enjoy the box filled with chocolate kisses and the plant. It's a 'Kiss Me Quick.' I love you. Lee
I lean forward to breathe in the pretty fragrance coming from the purple buds and then reach for the box, quickly opening it and unwrapping the familiar silver covering of the chocolate kiss. Popping it into my mouth I am surprised by a pair of arms as they wrap around me.
"They were supposed to be delivered last night." Lee's voice washed over me.
I turn then to find the love shining from his eyes as he lowers his lips to mine and murmurs "Mmmmhhmm, chocolate!"
He will always kiss me goodbye.