In the dining room, Joe and Carrie were talking with Aunt Lillian and Aunt Edna. Joe was sitting next to Aunt Lillian, Carrie was standing beside him, her arm around his shoulders, his arm around her waist holding her close. As Amanda and Lee walked in holding hands, Amanda stopped. "It's nice to see Joe like that," she whispered.
Lee tensed up as he scanned the room, his eyes finally settling on Joe. He immediately relaxed and whispered in Amanda's ear, "In love with someone else? I know."
"Lee!" Amanda hissed between clenched teeth. She knew he was still angry over Joe's comment a few weeks prior. "He looks happy, relaxed. And yes, he's clearly in love with Carrie. Besides that, I told you before, I'm always going to love him, but I'm in love with you."
Lee chuckled and replied, "I know, I'm just teasing you."
Before he had a chance to say anything else, Billy stepped behind him and said, "Are we going to stand here all night or would you two like to find a seat so we can have dinner?" He sidestepped Amanda and Lee, chuckling, as he walked over to the table where Jeannie was waiting for him, Francine only steps behind.
"Come on," Amanda said as she pulled Lee toward one table in the center of the room, decorated with a large bouquet of yellow roses; Jamie, Philip, and Dotty followed and sat down.
Lee looked around the room and took a breath when he saw the Colonel standing by the bar. "Amanda, you didn't tell me my uncle was going to be here," he said quietly.
"Billy invited him. After all, he is your uncle, your only family. Why shouldn't he be here?" she replied as she sipped her water.
"You're right, as usual," Lee sighed. "So who is here? I mean I can see all of us, but who else is spending the night?"
"Well, Billy got us the Cumberland for the entire weekend so tonight it's all of us, Aunt Lillian, Aunt Edna, your uncle, Francine, Billy and Jeannie, Leatherneck, Joe and Carrie, and a few surprises, just for you," Amanda teased.
Lee tilted his head and asked, "Surprises? For me? Amanda, you know how I feel about surprises."
Amanda laughed lightly as she covered his hand with hers and replied, "I know but you'll like this one. Look, here comes one now."
Lee looked up and scanned the room again, a wide smile appearing on his face as Paul Barnes made his way across the room to find them. "Lee! I never thought I'd see this day. Mrs. King," Paul nodded in Amanda's direction. Lee stood quickly and hugged his friend and mentor.
"I thought you weren't coming until tomorrow?" Lee asked, slightly confused.
"I got an earlier flight when Billy called me to say you had the place for the whole weekend. Listen, I'm going to grab a beer at the bar, you want one?" Paul asked.
"Sure. Amanda, a glass of wine?" Lee asked. Amanda nodded so he turned to Dotty and the boys and asked, "Can I get anything for you?"
"A glass of wine sounds wonderful," Dotty replied with a smile.
"Coke, please," the boys announced in unison. They looked at each other and began to laugh.
Lee smiled and repeated, "Two cokes, two glasses of wine, got it." He clapped Paul on the back and the two men made their way to the bar. Lee was stopped once more as Emily swept into the room to embrace him first. "Emily! I'm so glad you could make it!"
"Do you really think I would pass up the opportunity to see you and Amanda get married?" Emily teased. She looked around the room and quickly found Amanda and Dotty. "I'm going to go say hello to Amanda. We'll catch up in a bit."
Lee nodded with a smile. He and Paul began walking toward the bar again only to be stopped once more by Barney and Gus. He was pulled into a tight hug by Barney and before he could say anything he heard Barney whisper, "It's about time you came clean, Skip."
"Paul, this is Barney and Gus. Barney, we were just headed to the bar. Can I get you anything?" Lee introduced everyone.
"No, but I do see your uncle, that old son of a gun. I'm going to go catch up. You and I will need a drink in a bit, I'm sure," Barney clapped him on the shoulder. Together the four men finally reached the bar where Barney and Gus immediately met Colonel Clayton with a hug and smiles.
At the bar, Lee placed his order and leaned on his elbows as he waited. Paul stood beside him, smiling. "What's that look for?" Lee asked.
Paul shook his head, "I just never thought I'd see this day, Lee. You, getting married, a ready-made family. You with a family at all for that matter. You're not that twenty-three-year-old kid anymore."
"No, no I'm not. Amanda's the best thing that's ever happened to me. After Dorothy, well, I didn't think I had the capacity for this. Amanda saw something in me I didn't know existed," Lee stated quietly, his cheeks pinkened uncharacteristically.
"Well, if I know you, you've helped her along the way too. And if any of the stories from the rumor mill are true, you've had your hands full the last few years with her," Paul teased.
Lee laughed loudly, causing the others to look in their direction. He dropped his head into his hand as he composed himself before replying, "You could say that. Although I'm sure most of those stories are a tad bit exaggerated."
"In any case, I'm glad to be here, my friend, and I'm glad to see you happy," Paul stated. The bartender pushed their drink order toward them and both men dropped a few bills on the bar. Lee stacked the drinks on a nearby tray and slowly they carried everything back to the table. He had just placed the tray down when out of the corner of his eye he caught a flash of white moving swiftly into the room. He looked up and before he could warn her, Amanda was swept into a hug by Princess Penny.
Amanda stood quickly to pull her friend closer, but stopped and immediately dropped her hand to Penny's rounded belly and announced, "You didn't tell me!"
Penny laughed, leaned forward and whispered, "It really can be better without the sexy nightgown when you send the guards away."
Amanda laughed loudly as Lee lifted an eyebrow, questioning what Penny had whispered to her. "I'm so glad you are here. Where is your entourage?" she asked looking around. She only saw Penny and her husband, Prince Rheza Khan.
"Mr. Melrose convinced Rheza we would be safe here. There are a few guards upstairs. They checked everything out earlier and decided we could have some time alone," Penny explained with a smile. She leaned toward Lee, gave him a side hug and stated, "We'll catch up in a few. It looks like they're taking orders for dinner."
The waitress appeared, explained the dinner choices for the evening and after taking everyone's order, stepped away. "Hey, Mom, there's a jukebox over there, can we have some money? Please?" Jamie asked.
Lee reached into his pocket and handed the boys a few dollar bills. "Just try to keep the music on a level everyone will enjoy, ok boys?" he reminded them.
"Amanda, I hope you don't mind, but I have a surprise for you," Dotty announced as the boys walked away.
"Mother! What did you do?" Amanda narrowed her eyes at Dotty.
"Don't go anywhere. Just wait, right here," she said as she scrambled to her feet and left the room. Amanda looked at Lee, confused. His only reply was a shrug of his shoulders and a small shake of his head.
Dotty returned several minutes later, a woman's hand in hers. Amanda covered her mouth with her hand before calling out, "Debbie Ann? What are you doing here?" She stood slowly and put her arms around the woman before her.
Debbie Ann hugged her friend, "I bumped into your mother at the market a few weeks ago and she told me you were getting remarried. We've been in touch ever since. I wanted to surprise you." She turned to Lee and said, "You must be the eleven Dotty can't stop talking about. I'm Debbie Ann-"
"McCabie, Amanda's told me about you. I'm Lee," Lee stood and offered his hand.
"It's Morgan now, but the one and only," Debbie Ann smiled and looked around the room. "Amanda, are the boys here? It's been so long since I've seen them. They must have been, what, six and eight the last time I saw them? You and Joe had just finalized your divorce."
Amanda pointed across the room, "There."
"And why is Joe here? Amanda! Why would you invite Joe?" Debbie Ann groaned as she caught sight of him.
Amanda laughed, but it was Lee who answered, "Joe is here with his new wife, Carrie. Amanda would never have excluded him from our wedding. They're still pretty good friends, all things considered."
Debbie Ann looked at Amanda with a serious expression and said, "Amanda, please tell me he's kidding."
Amanda looked at her old friend and laughed loudly as she put her arms around her and hugged her close. She released her after a minute and looked around and asked, "Wait, is Michael here?"
As if on cue, a tall dark-haired gentleman walked in. On his right was a teenage girl with similar long dark hair and bright green eyes and on his left was a little boy about six years old. He was pulling on his father's arm, attempting to drag him in their direction.
"Christopher, stop pulling Daddy like that," Debbie Ann knelt down when the boy finally reached her.
Amanda looked at the children and exclaimed, "This can't be Aimee and little Christopher? The last time I saw him he was just a baby. Hello, Michael." Amanda leaned forward to kiss his cheek.
"Amanda, congratulations! We were so surprised when your mother told us. And yes, that's little Christopher," Debbie Ann's husband Michael replied. "And you remember Aimee? She just turned thirteen last week." He gently pulled her from behind him where she was hiding, shyly.
"Hello, Mrs. King," Aimee whispered to the floor.
Amanda sat down in her chair and put her hand on Aimee's arm, drawing her attention upward until they made eye contact. "Hello, Aimee. And please, call me Amanda." She tilted her head in Lee's direction and said, "This big guy here is Lee. We are getting married tomorrow so today is the last day I'll be Mrs. King." Aimee smiled but didn't reply. Out of the corner of her eye, Amanda saw the boys returning to the table. She lifted her head and pointed in their direction, "Those are my boys. You probably don't remember them. The taller one is Philip, he's fourteen and the smaller one is Jamie, he's twelve."
Aimee's eyes widened as the boys approached. She turned to her mother and said, "Mom, you didn't tell me they were going to be here."
Debbie Ann smiled at her daughter and said, "Surprise!" Amanda looked up at Debbie Ann, her eyebrows high.
Without warning, Aimee walked toward the boys and met them halfway across the floor. She stopped right in front of Philip and put her hand up as she said, "Hey worm-brain, you still afraid to play baseball with a girl?" Amanda, Dotty and Debbie Ann immediately began laughing loudly.
