Dotty gave Harry a gentle kiss hello as she walked into his spacious apartment. Harry smiled as he saw the excitement dancing in Dotty's eyes as she modeled her hair-do for tonight's ball. Dotty was so excited about their big evening tonight she could hardly contain her excitement. Harry took the packages and garment bag from her and placed them on the entryway table. Putting his arms around her waist, he pulled her close to him.

"Hello there! I missed you!" Harry said to her as he touched his nose to hers.

Dotty stared deeply into Harry's blue eyes and smiled as she squeezed him tighter.

"I missed you, too! How are you today?"

"Better now that you're here! Are you excited for tonight?"

"Excited? Excited! Oh Harry, I am beyond excited! I have always wanted to go to a ball!"

Dotty stepped back pressing her hands together in excitement. Dotty always talked with her hands when she was excited or wanted to stress a point. Harry stood back and watched her. She was like a little child on Christmas morning.

"And just you wait until you see my dress tonight! It is going to knock your socks off!"

"I don't know if I will be able to handle it! You knock my socks off every day!"

Harry took Dotty's hand in his and placed a soft kiss in her palm.

"Let's go sit down. I have some lunch waiting for us!"

"Oh, I am so excited, I don't know if I can eat!"

Harry and Dotty sat at the table. Dotty loved the view from the dining room. You could oversee the whole city. It was especially stunning at night.

"Dotty, I am glad that you are excited about tonight's Embassy party."

"Ball!"

"Haha! Yes….embassy BALL. There are going to be all kinds of people there from all walks of life. I am looking forward to introducing you to many of them! You know that Lee and Amanda will be there, too. And well….."

"I know what you are going to say! Amanda already had this talk with me. I should ignore her and Lee and stick close to you. You never know whose eyes may be watching!"

"Well, yes. Something like that. You don't need to ignore them exactly. You can certainly talk to them, but just don't emphasize that you are related to them. And yes, you never do know whose eyes are watching. Hopefully, they will all be watching us."

"Watching us? Why on earth would you hope something like that?"

"Because I am going to be there with the prettiest girl in the world and I want them all to be jealous!"

"Aww….yes."

Dotty smiled and laughed at Harry. She was falling for this man more than she imagined. Tonight was going to be a good night. She just knew it.

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Lee walked through the backdoor of the house into an empty kitchen. Tossing his keys onto the kitchen counter, he let out a heavy sigh. The note he just received at the agency was weighing heavily on his mind. Who was it that wanted to meet him? What was this all about? Lee was sure that this meeting was going to amount to nothing, but now with this second message, he was less confident that was true. He really didn't want to work tonight. He wanted to go to the ball and have a good time with Amanda. Lee poured himself a cup of coffee and grabbed the milk from the refrigerator. The house was very quiet.

He walked over to the couch to sit down and that is when he noticed Amanda sound asleep. Lee stepped back and watched his beautiful wife asleep. It always amazed him how much he loved her and the affect she had over him. He leaned over and gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead. Amanda stirred and opened her eyes to find Lee looking down on her smiling.

"Well hello there, sweetheart! I guess I fell asleep."

Amanda scooched up into a sitting position making room for Lee at the end of the couch. Lee sat down and pulled Amanda's feet over his lap.

"I guess you did! How are you feeling?"

"Oh I feel fine. I just got a little tired after cleaning up the breakfast dishes. I only meant to lie down for a minute or two. What time is it anyway?"

"It is a little before 1:00."

"1:00? Wow! I guess I was more tired than I thought. Where have you been this whole time?"

"I swung by the agency to see if they had found anything on Nick Grant. Didn't mean to be gone so long."

"Lee…..you really should stop worrying about Nick Grant. Even if it was him in that picture, he has done nothing to warrant you worrying about him."

"Nothing YET." Lee stressed. "Did you have a chance to talk to your mother about tonight?"

Lee took Amanda's foot in his hand and began to give her a foot massage. Amanda leaned back and shut her eyes for a moment reveling in the feeling of the massage."

"Yes I did. I talked to her before she left to get her hair done. I am not exactly sure that she completely understands, but I think she got the message. Mmmm…that feels so good, Lee. You really do have magic fingers. "

"I've been telling you that for some time now, Mrs. Stetson!"

"So you have, Scarecrow. So you have! Keep proving yourself right! Don't forget the other foot!"

"Wouldn't dream of it!" Lee said with his killer grin.

Lee began to rub Amanda's other foot. Amanda smiled and let out a soft moan. Slowly, Lee pushed up the leg of her sweatpants and began massaging her calf and then her inner thigh.

"Lee…that's not my foot!"

"Do you object?"

"No…not at all! Just don't forget about the other leg!" Amanda said will a devilishly seductive smile.

"Oh I don't intend on forgetting any part of your body! I just like taking my time."

Lee began kissing the inside of her calf working his way up to her lips. He could feel Amanda begin to melt beneath him as he continued to kiss and touch her. Amanda leaned her head back allowing him access to her tender neck. Lee began hungrily kissing Amanda's neck sending electric waves all through her body. Suddenly, he stopped and stood up from the couch.

Amanda opened her eyes and looked at him with disappointed eyes.

"Why did you stop?" Amanda questioned.

"I don't want to hurt the baby, so I thought we could take this to a place where we have a little more play room."

Lee looked at her with that sparkle in his eyes. Before she could answer him, he swept her up in his arms and kissed her passionately.

"Let's take this upstairs, Mrs. Stetson!"

Amanda didn't reply in words but rather said yes by looking deep into his eyes and kissing him feverishly.

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Harry looked in the mirror as he straightened his bow tie. He much preferred to be in jeans and a sweater, but tonight's event was black tie. He looked very handsome in his black tuxedo. Tonight was going to be a fun evening. He would get the chance to say hello to a lot of old friends that he hasn't seen for a long time. And he was very much looking forward to introducing them to Dotty. Dotty was an unexpected joy in his life. After the romance died between him and Christine, Harry had all but given up hope that he would ever find love again. Dotty was like no other woman he had known before. She had such a love of life and unique way of looking at things. She was beautiful, kind, funny, intelligent and she kept Harry on his toes all the time. He loved that part of her the most. There was no doubt in his mind that he was in love with her and he was pretty sure that she loved him, too.

Harry slid on his tux jacket and gave himself one last look in the mirror.

"Eh-hem" Harry heard from the top of the stairs. He turned around to see Dotty descending the stairs towards him. His face lit up like a Christmas Tree at the sight of her. She was absolutely breathtaking. Her dress was a deep navy blue or midnight blue as she called it. It had small spaghetti straps that rested on her porcelain shoulders. The sweetheart neckline was adorned with white crystals that picked up the light and sparkled brilliantly. The bodice of the dress also sparkled with the same crystals that dispersed as you got closer to the waistline of the dress. The fabric of the skirt flowed to the floor and swayed as she walked. Dotty's hair and make-up was stunning. She truly was going to be the most beautiful woman at the ball tonight.

"So…how do I look?"

Harry took Dotty's hand as she reached the bottom step.

"Dotty…I don't think words can describe how beautiful you look. You are missing something, however."

"I am? What am I missing?" Dotty quickly took inventory of herself and her attire.

Harry pulled a black rectangular velvet covered box out of his jacket pocket.

"This" He said handing the box to Dotty.

Dotty's eyes widened as she reached for the box. Carefully she opened the box to reveal a teardrop diamond necklace on a platinum chain.

"Oh, Harry! It is exquisite! But, I…."

"You can turn around so I can put this necklace on you!"

"Harry, this is too much! I can't accept this!"

"Of course you can, Dotty! It's just a bauble!"

"You call THIS a bauble? It is so lovely! And….well…."

"And nothing. I want you to have it."

Harry fastened the necklace around Dotty's neck. The diamond sparkled on her chest.

"Dotty, please accept this. I want you to have it. It makes me happy to give it to you."

Dotty kissed Harry softly on the lips.

"Ok. Thank you! It is gorgeous."

"No even close to as gorgeous as you. Shall we go?"

Harry offered Dotty his arm and the two of them left to go to the embassy ball.

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"Amanda? Are you almost ready? We have to leave in a few minutes!" Lee called up the stairs to Amanda.

Lee was looking dashing in his black tuxedo and crisply pressed white tux shirt. He walked into the kitchen and checked his watch again to see how much time remained until they absolutely had to be on the road to go to the party.

"Amanda! Come on! We can't be late!"

Amanda began to descend the stairs dressed to kill.

"Ok! Ok! I am ready. It took me a little longer to get ready than I anticipated because the dress I was going to wear, didn't really fit right due to our baby. So, I had to wear this one. Do I look ok?"

Did she look ok? Was she kidding? Lee looked at Amanda, his eyes drinking in all her beauty. She was a vision in white. Lee recognized the dress she was wearing. It was a long, white gown with delicate spaghetti straps and a beautiful skirt that was layered to look almost like feathers. He first saw her wear it when they met Emily here in Washington, DC. She was so beautiful that night, too. Lee would have never admitted it at the time, but the vision certainly stuck with him all these years later.

Lee gently took Amanda's hand in his and raised it to his lips kissing it ever so gently.

"Do you look ok? No….ok is not a word I would use to describe the most beautiful woman in the world. You look breathtaking."

Amanda smiled at her husband. She needed to hear that. The dress was a little tighter in some places than it was last time she wore it and she was feeling a little self-conscious.

As Amanda went to grab her wrap, Lee looked at his wife again. She was so beautiful. He was enjoying the changes her body was making. She seemed to fill out the dress in all the right places. She was more beautiful to him today than she had ever been.

"Ready?" Lee offered Amanda his arm as they walked out the front door to the waiting Corvette. Amanda held on to Lee's arm lovingly. They both were looking forward to tonight.

"Yes, sweetheart. Let's go!"

To be continued….