No More Games

Chapter Forty Nine

Lee and Amanda came back to the house to find Dotty in the kitchen doing the dishes.

Amanda said, "I'm home and I brought my guy with me..."

Dotty dried her hands hurriedly and rushed over to hug Lee and Amanda saying, "Is this good news or bad? "

Lee shrugged, "Well, that depends on you guys-."

Amanda touched Lee's hand. "Wait a minute, sweetheart." She then looked at Dotty and said, "Where are the boys? "

Dotty said, "Upstairs. They were awfully worried when you ran out of here, darling. "

Amanda said nodding, " I know. I'm sorry I worried you too. "

Facing Lee, Amanda said, "Do you mind waiting here? I gotta talk to them alone. Do you understand? "

Lee said gently, "Hey. They'll be okay. But I know this is something you gotta do, so go ahead..."

Dotty said, "He can help me dry the dishes."

Lee shrugged, "See? I'm fitting in already. "

Amanda smiled and kissed him and then went upstairs. She found the boys in her room watching their favorite show and turned off the TV. "Hi fellas. Let's have a talk, okay? "

She settled between them on the bed and held them close saying, "I'm okay. Better than okay at the moment and I want to apologize for frightening you both so badly. "

Phillip shrugged saying, "Gee, Mom, you were sick. You couldn't help it. Grandma and Lee kept telling us you were gonna be okay again, but it would take a while. "

Jamie said in agreement, "Yeah, but you were upset earlier and we just thought you went to find Lee. Did you? "

Amanda said, "Well actually, he found me. Hey, we have to have a serious talk here- the three of us. Now, it's just been us since your daddy left and then Grandma came to live with us and then I was seeing Dean-well anyway, I want to ask you if you would be able to handle one more change. It's a good one I hope but I really need your imput here because you guys are my whole life and I don't do anything without talking to you first, okay?"

Phillip said, "Lee asked you to marry him, didn't he? "

Amanda nodded and said, "As my oldest, how do you feel about that? "

Phillip shrugged, "I don't know. Jamie? How do you feel?"

Jamie said, "Well, would we have to move and change schools? I dunno if I'd like that. "

Amanda put up a hand, "Relax, sweetie. Nothing has been decided yet. It just happened, but I want you to know that I'm sure about him. I haven't felt this way about anyone since your daddy."

Sighing, she looked at Phillip and couldn't tell really what he was thinking. "Honey, what is it? You can tell me. I'm not gonna get mad or anything."

Phillip shook his head and said, " I gotta think about this. Excuse me, Mom..."

He left the room and as much as she wanted to go after him to find out what was bothering him, she knew he needed to be alone for a little while.

Jamie said, "Want me to get him back, Mom? "

Amanda kissed her youngest and said, "No sweetheart. Thank you though. Phillip needs to work this out on his own I think. Can you be a good brother and leave him be for now? "

Jamie nodded and said,"Yeah, sure. But doesn't he want you to be happy like I do and Grandma does?"

Amanda said,"I'm sure he does baby, but it's obviously harder for him than I thought it was going to be. Listen, why don't you go get ready for bed now and I'll see where your brother went, okay? "

Jamie nodded and hugged her. "I love you, Mom. "

Amanda kissed his cheek. "I love you too. And don't worry about this. Like I said, we still need to decide on certain things, all right? Now go on, scoot. "

They went their separate ways and Amanda went downstairs and found her mother reading.

Amanda said, " Mother, where's Phillip? "

Dotty sighed. "He's outside on the phone. He said he needed to talk to Joe- that he was a little confused on certain things. And Lee is out on the front steps waiting for you looking like he lost his best friend or something. I want to give you my imput, Missy! I've liked him since day one and I already feel like he's part of this family and if you delay this any longer, I daresay that you'll lose him and you know I'm right! Now, I know the accident didn't help any but if you two hadn't been so stubborn to begin with, you'd have been together long before this!"

Amanda felt tears come to her eyes and she nodded as they fell and she wiped them away with the back of her hands and sniffed saying, "You're right, Mother. I'm gonna go talk to Lee, but leave Phillip alone right now, please? He'll come to us when he's ready. "

Dotty nodded in understanding and said, "Good luck, dear."

Amanda went out the front door and closed it and sat next to Lee. "Are you okay? I'm sorry how this turned out tonight. I wanted everyone to be happy about this, but-"

Lee sighed and kissed her saying, "Honey, I'm not mad at all. I mean I can see where Phillip's thinking is right now. He feels as though he's lost his dad for good this time and he doesn't know how to handle that. I understand why he's confused at the moment. How's Jamie taking it? "

Amanda brushed stray tears away and shrugged. "H-He just wants me to be happy and he thought Phillip did too and now he's a little confused as well by Phillip's reaction."

Just then Dotty opened the door and said, "Jamie said he was tired and went to bed. Phillip is off the phone, but went up to the treehouse. Do you still think he should be alone, dear? "

Amanda shrugged and looked at Lee.

Lee then stood up taking Amanda's hand and squeezed it saying softly, "Let me try to talk to him. He may not listen to anything I'm saying, but it's worth a shot. What do you think? "

Amanda looked at Dotty who said, "Well, something has to be done. He's liked you so far. I just don't understand this."

Lee helped Amanda up and they all went into the house. Lee headed for the back door saying, "Dotty, remember that speech you gave about mothers and grandmothers? Well, the same principle basically applies here. Only it's for fathers and sons which is why I get Phillip's attitude right now. Excuse me..."

As Lee headed out the back door, he didn't have a clue what to say to Phillip, but it was time for them to be a real family once and for all...

TBC