Chapter 14
Back in the bedroom, Amanda was sitting on the bed, setting the alarm clock. Lee handed Amanda the glass then walked around to the other side of the bed. Climbing in, he settled down on the pillow, waiting for Amanda to lay down. Turning off the light, Amanda first closed the door, leaving it open just a few inches before climbing into bed beside Lee. She kissed him lightly on his cheek, "Good night, sweetheart," she said softly as she snuggled down on his chest.
Lee put his arm around her, pulling her close. "Good night, Amanda," he said as he closed his eyes. For most of the night they slept curled up in each other's arms.
Lee woke when the sunlight filtered through the window. He glanced over at the clock and saw it was over an hour before the alarm was set to go off. Carefully getting out of bed, he went into the bathroom, closing the door gently behind him. He returned to bed a few minutes later, trying not to wake Amanda. "Where'd you go?" Amanda murmured.
"Just to take care of some morning business. Go back to sleep," Lee whispered, snuggling back against her.
"What time is it?" Amanda murmured again.
"A little after five. We still have almost an hour before the alarm," Lee whispered again.
Amanda bit her bottom lip. "Or we have almost an hour before anyone else in the house is awake," she said wrapping her arms around him.
"Or we have that, too," Lee kissed her.
"Let me take care of some…. morning business myself," she said as she climbed out of bed, closing and locking the bedroom door first before moving to the bathroom. A few minutes later she returned, sliding into bed beside Lee.
They didn't waste any time, their hands and mouths quickly finding familiar sensitive places. Bodies entwined, hands held tight, they peaked together. As they lay willing their heart rates and breathing to slow down they heard the boys' alarm clock. Lee groaned, "Just five more minutes would have been perfect."
"Time to rally the troops. You shower first, I'll get coffee and breakfast started," Amanda said as she kissed him before rolling off the bed, slipping her nightgown back on and getting her robe.
Lee headed into the bathroom thinking she might make me a morning person after all. He showered quickly, dressing in his suit for work before heading toward the stairs. He stopped by the boys' room to check to see how they were doing. Knocking on the door, he pushed the door open. "You boys almost ready?" he asked.
Jamie was already pulling his shoes on, Philip still sitting on the edge of his bed in his pajamas. "Morning, Lee, I'm ready. Philip's still moving slow but I smell the bacon Mom's cooking so that should make him move," he replied.
"Bacon? Oh, yeah, I'm there," Philip said as he pulled his shirt off. "Morning, Lee. Can you tell Mom I'll be down in a minute? And make sure Junior over here doesn't eat it all."
"Will do, Chief, but if you don't move a little faster you'll miss the bus and we can't have that," Lee stated. "See you downstairs."
In the kitchen Amanda already had a stack of pancakes waiting as well as bacon and fresh fruit, a steaming cup of coffee for Lee and juice poured for the boys. Dotty was sitting at the breakfast nook, sipping her coffee, smiling. "Good morning, Lee. Sleep well?" she asked.
Taking his coffee and the newspaper Amanda handed him, he sat beside her. "Good morning, Dotty, I did. Probably one of the best night's sleep I've had in a long time," he answered honestly.
Amanda couldn't help but smile. "Were the boys ready?" she asked, confident she knew the answer.
"Jamie should be down soon, Philip was getting dressed," Lee confirmed. As if on cue, Jamie was running down the stairs, Philip on his heels.
"Good morning, Mom. Good morning, Grandma. Bacon!" Philip was the first to speak as he piled a plate. Jamie followed his lead without saying a word. As the boys ate, Lee sipped his coffee and immediately turned to the real estate section of the paper, not missed by Dotty.
Amanda sat beside Lee, thinking what a perfect morning this was, her family finally under one roof together. "Sweetheart, I'm going to get ready for work. Can you make the boys lunches for them?" Amanda asked. First test….school lunches, she thought.
Dropping the paper, Lee answered, "Um, yeah, no problem." He stood in the kitchen, looking lost for a second then got the bread and began making sandwiches. In the fridge he found several different deli meats so he asked "Do you boys want bologna, ham or turkey?"
Philip chewed a piece of bacon as he thought, then said, "Bologna and ham with mustard and lettuce."
Jamie answered at the same time, "Turkey with mayonnaise, please."
Lee nodded, processing quickly each boy's request. Once the sandwiches were made, he dropped in a piece of fruit and a few cookies Dotty had made. He handed each boy five dollars, "In case you want to buy another snack at school," he said.
Dotty just watched in fascination, intrigued by the man. Here he was, jumping in with both feet without batting an eye and in her opinion doing a pretty decent job. She looked at the clock and announced, "Boys the bus is going to be here any minute. You need to move."
Like a whirlwind, dishes were placed in the sink without being asked, backpacks were grabbed, "I love you, Mom, Bye Grandma, Bye Lee," was yelled as they ran out the door. Lee immediately started washing the dishes as he waited for Amanda.
"You can leave those, Lee. I'll take care of them," Dotty said gently.
"Are you sure? I want to make sure I'm doing my part to help out, too," Lee said.
"I'm sure. Go see what's taking Amanda so long," Dotty pushed him out of the kitchen.
Amanda was on her way down the stairs laughing. "I'm ready, I'm ready. We have that meeting this morning, so let's go. Goodbye, Mother," she said.
"Will you both be home for dinner tonight?" Dotty asked.
Amanda looked at Lee, eyebrow raised. "I think so, I'd like to have dinner here with the boys," Lee said.
"Philip has basketball practice until 5 and Jamie has photography club, too. Dinner at 6:30?" Dotty asked.
"Dinner at 6:30. Thank you, Dotty," Lee nodded. "Let's go. This should be an interesting meeting. Don't forget the book. Francine is going to need proof."
Outside, as they climbed into Lee's car, Amanda laughed as she said, "She's still not going to believe it."
They drove to the Agency, chatting about how smoothly the morning went and what the boys' schedule looked like for the next few days. Lee still refused to tell Amanda what he was going to teach the boys to make for dinner the following night.
Mrs. Marston greeted them at the entrance. "It's nice to see you both looking so rested after your long weekend," the older woman said after handing them their badges.
Lee smiled and said, "It was the perfect weekend, Mrs. Marston."
In the elevator, Amanda slipped her hand in Lee's. "You ready for this?" she asked.
"No, but I'm done hiding it," Lee replied simply.
Stepping off the elevator, still hand in hand, they walked toward Billy's office.