Amanda greeted her family with a cheery, "Good morning!" as she entered the kitchen.

"Humph," Phillip snorted.

"What's the matter, Sweetheart?" she questioned as a frown crossed her face wondering if he'd already figured out that Lee had spent the night. She had been hoping to ease the boys into the news gently, but now she worried that it may not be an option.

"It's just so stupid that we have to go to school for just this one day and then have the whole rest of the week off," he grumbled.

Jamie rolled his eyes and retorted, "You're the one that's stupid. That's why you don't like to go to school."

"Okay, Fellas. knock it off. You only have one more day until you're on vacation. Can't you just be nice to each other? You know, have a little Christmas spirit?"

"Yeah, right," Phillip muttered and then added, "Because you've had so much Christmas spirit the last couple of days while your boyfriend's been gone."

Amanda smiled that her older son had just given her the perfect opening to break the news to them. She slipped into one of the vacant seats at the kitchen table. "I do know I've been a little sad and gloomy because he was away for work without me."

"Just like you used to be when Dad was gone all the time," Phillip inserted testily.

"I know and I'm sorry if I haven't had the best attitude, but when someone you love goes away, well...it makes you a little sad...just like you guys get sad when your dad's gone, but I promise I won't be sad like that anymore because..." She began fiddling nervously with her brand-new diamond ring as she went on, "...B-because Lee's back home. In fact, he's here...in our home."

"He's here? Now?" Jamie questioned.

"Yes, upstairs. He got home late last night and didn't even go to his own home. He came straight here from his trip because he wanted me to know how much he missed us. Not only that, but he wants to be here with us...permanently." She proudly showed off her engagement ring. "He asked me to marry him."

"We already know that, Mom," Phillip scoffed.

She shot an accusing look at her mother, who responded, "Don't look at me. I didn't say a word."

"No, Mom," Jamie agreed with his grandmother. "You did, remember? The day you told us you were gonna' have a baby. I asked you if he was going to marry you and you said he asked, but you said 'no.'" He paused, made a sour face and demanded, "Now, all of a sudden, you changed your mind and said 'yes.' How come?"

"It's like we were just talking about," she explained. "Being apart made us both realize just how much we missed each other and how much we mean to one another."

"So, how come you didn't feel that way about Dad? You coulda' stayed together instead of finding some new guy," Jamie argued. "Then you wouldn't be having a baby."

This is going to be harder than I thought, she thought dismally. "Jamie..." she began gently. "I thought you were happy about being a big brother."

"But why couldn't you get married to Dad again when he's home now too? I mean, when you told him about the baby, he said he was happy for you, so why-"

"Oh, grow up," Phillip snapped at his brother. cutting him off. "Mom and Dad don't love each other anymore. Why can't you see that? Besides, he was never there for us, so why would you think he'd be there for this new kid, especially when it's not even his?"

"That's not true!" Jamie argued hotly as he rose from his seat and glared at his brother. "Mom said she'd always love Dad." He turned to his mother with a pleading look on his face. "Didn't you?"

Amanda sighed and reached for her younger son's hands, holding them both in her own. "Okay, yes, I did say that and it's true."

"See?" Jamie said in a gloating tone as he stuck his tongue out at his brother.

"BUT," Amanda added in a firmer tone. "It's not the same thing. You see, there are different kinds of love. Yes, I still love your dad and I always will, but it's no longer the romantic kind of love that marriage is built on. I love him like you love an old friend, but Lee...I'm in love with him and the kind of love I have for him is the kind of love you can build a future on."

"But I don't understand," Jamie replied in confusion. "Isn't the whole reason you got divorced because Dad was gone all the time? He's home now and said he's staying home."

"I know it seems like that's all it was from your perspective because that's mostly what your dad and I fought about, but it's not the whole reason. Most of it was because we just didn't agree on what we wanted for our life together."

"But you and Lee don't either," Jamie pointed out. "I mean, he just took this trip without you, so wouldn't it be just like the problems you had with Dad all over again?"

"No, Sweetheart, because I was supposed to go on this trip with him and I was too sick to go. Besides that, he told me last night that he doesn't want to go on anymore trips like that if he can help it. You know that I've never said anything bad about your dad and his job, but the fact is where our real problem was is that he wanted to travel for his job more than he wanted to be home with his family and I couldn't live like that. You can't make a marriage work if you're hardly ever together. Lee...well, he's just the opposite. He wants his family more than he wants the excitement of travelling for work...and that family includes you and your brother, not just me and the baby."

"Plus, she's in love with him, Stupid," Phillip jeered. "She's not in love with Dad anymore. Besides that, what you're talking about is just dumb. Do you really think Dad would want to raise somebody else's kid?"

"Well, isn't that what Mom just said Lee wants with us? How is it any different?"

"It's different because I'm not going anywhere. I promise you I'll be here for you," Lee interjected as he entered the room. With a pointed look at Jamie, he added, "All of you." When Amanda looked at him in surprise, he explained, "I got tired of hiding upstairs. I figured it was best to just grab the bull by the horns." He then turned his attention to Jamie and continued, "Listen, Jamie, I know you don't know me every well yet and I'm guessing you probably don't like me much, but that's okay with me. I'm still not going anywhere and whatever I have to do to prove that to you, I'll do. I've never been one to back down from a challenge and growing up with no family to speak of, I'm not about to give up on the one I have now."

"We're not your family," Jamie spat.

"Maybe not legally...not yet anyway, but now that I finally got your mom to agree to marry me, I plan to change that as soon as possible. It's like I was telling her last night, I want the whole package and that includes you and your brother. I would very much like to have your blessing to marry your mom, but I understand why you don't want to give it. You see, when I was a kid and my uncle came to get me, I had the worst time accepting him as my guardian because I missed my mom and dad so much. All I wanted was for my life to be normal again, but eventually I had to accept that things were never going to be like they were again."

"But that's different. Your mom and dad were dead. My Dad's still alive and he's home again."

"But it's not that different. Your life still changed forever when your folks split up and you had to adapt to that change and you're going to have to adapt to this one too." He looked Jamie straight in the eye and stated firmly, "Let me make one thing clear to you. While I would like your blessing, I'm still going to marry her with or without it."

"So, you just don't care what I think," Jamie huffed and crossed his arms sullenly.

"I do care what you think, but what you're missing is that it's not up to you...or even to me, really. All I did was ask and your mom could've kept saying no, but she didn't. As for your dad, the way I see it, she had already made up her mind about him long before I ever met her when she decided to divorce him. Now, she's made up her mind about me by saying 'yes' and that makes me happier than anything ever has in my life because I love her. What I want you to understand is that a part of loving her is loving you too because you're a part of her. I know that you're a smart kid, Jamie because you mom talks about you all the time, so I know you're smart enough to understand that your parents didn't split up just because your dad was gone."

"It's true," Amanda chimed in. "It's just like what we were talking about before Lee came down here. There were a lot of things that led to our divorce; things we never told you about because it's really between your dad and me."

"Yeah, I get it," Jamie finally relented and then turned his attention back to Lee, "But I have just one question for you."

"Ask me anything you want," Lee replied encouragingly.

"If you love Mom so much, why'd you wait until you got her pregnant to ask her to marry you? Couldn't you make up your mind about her?"

"I-I-" Lee blew out a long breath as he struggled for how to answer the boy's question. At a loss for words, he jibed, "That's two questions."

"But they go together," Jamie argued.

"Yes, they do," Lee acknowledged. "And they're both very good questions. I think the best answer that I can give you is that I had made up my mind about her quite a long time ago, but I was scared that she didn't feel the same way about me."

"Well, that's stupid," Jamie told him bluntly. "Mom's not the kind of girl who...um...fools around with just anybody." He turned red at even saying the words, but plunged on anyway, "She wouldna' done...you know...that with you if she didn't love you."

"I know that now," Lee readily agreed. "But as I said, I was scared and sometimes when a person is scared they don't always think rationally, especially when your heart is involved. So, you're absolutely right. I was stupid. But just because I didn't ask her to marry me until I knew we were having a baby, that doesn't mean that I wasn't sincere. What I'm trying to say is that if you're worried that I only asked her because of the baby, you can stop worrying. I want to marry her because I really love her and want to spend my life with her...and with you."

"Well...it will be kinda' cool to be a big brother."

"That's what you think," Phillip snorted.

"I take it you don't think it's so cool." Lee looked at him in alarm. He finally felt like he was getting through to Jamie, but now, Phillip seemed like he was balking.

"It's okay, I guess, but what's going to happen after Mom has the baby? Me and Jamie are already sharing a room as it is."

"We were talking about that last night," Amanda piped up. "And the only real solution is for us to start looking for a bigger house. Now, I know we're proposing a lot of changes all at once, but I think in the long run, it's really what's best for our family...for all of us. I know the two of you are tired of sharing your room, so we...Lee and I, that is...we were talking about trying to find a house not only big enough for the new baby, but for you fellas to each have your own space."

"That sounds cool," Jamie replied at the same time Phillip chimed in, "That would be awesome!"

"Wait a minute. You actually agree on something? Are you sure you're feeling okay?" she teased.

"Ha ha," Phillip rolled his eyes.

"Listen, we can talk about this some more another time and we'll have plenty of time to do that once your break starts, but you guys need to finish getting ready for school."

Both boys grumbled, but obeyed and once they were out of earshot, Dotty commented, "Well, that went better than I expected."

"Me too." Lee breathed a sigh of relief. "But we still have one more hurdle to overcome..."

"Work," he and Amanda completed together as they shared an apprehensive look, wondering just what would happen there.