Strained Impairments

Chapter 6

The pizza arrived while Amanda was upstairs resting, and when she came down a little while later, the boys were helping set the dining room table, while Dotty finished making a salad to start them all off with.

Amanda came into the kitchen and motioned to her mother that she wanted to help, but Dotty shook her head answering, "No, thank you, Love. The pizza's in the oven warming, and the salad is ready. Oh, would you find out what Dean and Lee would like to drink, please? They're watching the news."

Amanda nodded, and getting her notepad, went over to Lee's side and wrote, "What would you like to drink with dinner?"

Lee read her question and stated, "Beer, if you have it, please. Thank you."

Amanda nodded, then turned to leave when Dean cleared his throat asking, "Uh, Amanda? I'm here as well?"

Amanda sighed and wrote to Dean, "I already know what you like, and Lee is a guest here, alright?"

Dean shrugged at her answer replying irritatedly as he rose from the couch, "Fine. I'm a regular guest, but don't mind me. I'll get my own beverage..."

Amanda stared after Dean as he left the room in a huff and tapping Lee, asked in a note, "What happened while I was resting?"

Lee, reading her question shrugged. "I dunno. I've just been sitting here watching TV. Why?"

Amanda shook her head perplexed, as she wrote, "No reason."

Amanda then turned towards the kitchen and motioning to Dean as he was about to shut the refrigerator door, she wrote, "Can you please pull out a beer for Lee since you're already getting your own?"

Dean sighed reading her note and half smiled remarking, "Sure."

Reaching inside, he pulled out a bottle, and handing it to her stated, "Bottoms up. Anything else?"

Dotty answered, "Just iced tea for Amanda and myself. Oh, and the boys will have milk, of course."

Dean smiled at Dotty, "Of course. Coming up, Dotty."

The boys came into the kitchen and Phillip stated, "Table's set, Grandma. Can we eat now?"

Dotty finished adding the dressing to the salad and mixing it up, left the tongs in the bowl, and handing the bowl to Phillip responded, "Yes, Dear. Take this in, please, and Jamie, would you please let Lee know dinner is ready?"

Jamie nodded, "Sure, Grandma," as Dean helped Amanda with the iced tea and the milk, and carrying the glasses, they both went into the dining room to sit down.

Dotty, looking at the table as everyone came into the dining room stated with a gesture, "Alright. Um, Amanda, you and Dean sit on this side, and I'll sit with Lee on the other side, and Boys, you sit on the ends, please."

The boys nodded, but as Dotty went to sit down and Lee helped seat her, he did notice that Dean didn't do the same for Amanda and shook his head, giving Amanda a look that said, "Really?" but Amanda just waved it away, not wanting to make a scene.

Lee sighed as he sat down next to Dotty, thinking, My uncle wouldn't stand for that at all!

There was a bit of silence at the table for a few moments as the group began eating their salad, when Dean asked Lee, "So, I imagine you'll have to leave after dinner, right? Early morning and all?"

Dotty answered, "Dean, he can't hear you, but Amanda invited him to stay here to recover. Wasn't that nice of her?"

Dean took a sip of his beer and swallowing, remarked to Amanda coolly, " Oh, sure. I see. So, how is this going to work? You have a cocktail with him before going out with me, and then share a nightcap with both of us at the end of the evening?"

Phillip and Jamie looked warily at the scene, and then each other mumbling, "Uh-oh."

Amanda sighed and jerked her foot quickly in Dean's ankle to silence him, and as he winced, "Oof!" he asked her, "What? I just need to know how long your friend is staying-"

Amanda wrote on her note pad, "A few weeks at least, Dean. Please try to understand. It's dangerous without his hearing, and-"

While Amanda tried to calm Dean down, Lee, seeing Dean's face looking none too happy, touched Dotty's arm asking, "What's going on?"

Dotty reached for Amanda's notepad to explain, "Dean somehow has the ridiculous idea that Amanda will be dating both of you while you're here. She's trying to assure him that isn't the case at all."

Lee shook his head and getting up from the table answered loudly, "Excuse me!"

As Amanda and Dean looked at Lee, he responded to Dean tersely with a gesture towards Amanda, "Hey, Dean? You can relax! We don't have an interest in each other, except as friends and colleagues. She was worried about my safety with my hearing being out of whack, that's all. If you really knew her, you'd understand that..."

Then clearing his throat he remarked to Amanda with a gesture towards the den, "This is a bit awkward for you after all...I'm sorry. Let me go grab my stuff, and maybe your mother can call a cab for me, and I'll just go home-"

As Amanda shook her head at Lee quickly and rose from the table putting her hands up to stop him from leaving, Dean, with a perturbed look on his face rose from the table and answered with a sigh, "No, Mr. Steadman. I'll go. Think I've had enough for one evening, anyway."

With a slight wave to Dotty and the boys Dean replied, "Thanks for dinner...Such as it was."

Once Dean was gone, Dotty, with a tense look towards Amanda, sighed responding to Phillip and Jamie, "Boys, if you're done with salad, would you please take your plates to the kitchen, and take some pizza upstairs with you and watch television in my room? I'll check on you in a little while, alright? Oh, and take napkins also? Thank you."

Phillip and Jamie answered, "Sure, Grandma."

When they got to the kitchen and got the pizza out of the oven, Phillip cut two slices each for their plates, and putting the pizza back in the oven, said to Jamie, "Gee, Grandma looks mad."

Jamie shook his head commenting, "Not half as mad as Dean was. Think he'll be back tomorrow?"

Phillip shrugged, grabbing napkins for them and gestured, "I dunno. But Mr. Steadman's a step up from Dean anyway-"

Then Dotty called out, "Fellas? Are you alright in there?"

Jamie called back to her, "Yes, Grandma. We're going up now. Goodnight."

But as the boys were heading for the landing, they heard a snap of the fingers and saw their mother signaling to them to come to her!

Putting down their plates, they went to hug her, answering, "Goodnight, Mom. We love you."

Pulling back, she mouthed to them, "I love you, too, Guys. Enjoy your pizza."

When they grabbed their plates once more and headed upstairs, Amanda sat down at the kitchen table, swallowing hard. All I wanted to do was something nice, she thought. Why does it have to be complicated?

She then saw her mother and Lee enter the kitchen, with Lee handing her the notepad, and she wrote to them, "I'm sorry about Dean. I guess he doesn't understand after all."

Dotty reading the message, shook her head. "No, I guess not, Sweetheart. But you're being a kind person, and that's never wrong. Dean will just have to adjust while Lee's here, alright? Now, why don't we clean up the dining room, hmm? Are you two ready for pizza? I sure am! Let me tell you about our trip-you know how Justin is. He can be quite a handful-"

Amanda wrote to her mother, "Yes, Justin can be a handful."

Lee, reading her note, asked, "Who's Justin?"

Amanda wrote in reply to Lee, "A boy in the Junior Trailblazer's group. He's a bit skittish about the woods, and-"

Dotty nodded, reading Amanda's note, stating with a shake of her head, " He's a sweet boy, but how he got into the group, I'll never understand, especially since he was picked to guard our tent the other night, and somehow, a snake got into my sleeping bag! Ugh! That's when I told our boys that we were done! Mr. Barton was understanding enough to get us home, and have one of the other adventurous parents stay with the rest of the group."

Amanda wrote, "I'm sorry that happened, Mother, but thank you for being a trooper with them. I think Lee and I are tired, though. You can tell me about the rest of your trip tomorrow, okay?"

Reading Amanda's note, Dotty nodded, commenting with a gesture, "Good idea, Darling. Let me go get the boys' plates. I'm sure by now they've forgotten about them anyway, and have fallen asleep on my bed..."

As Dotty was headed towards the landing, Lee, who had read Amanda's note, remarked warmly, "I'd like to thank you also, Mrs. West, for the hospitality you've shown me. I know my being here was unexpected, but-"

Dotty, looking back at Lee, shook her head replying, "Stop. You are not an imposition, Young Man. You are welcome to stay as long as you need to, hmm? Now, I'll be back down in a minute. Amanda, could you please get our pizza on the plates, Dear?"

Amanda nodded as Dotty smiled at the two of them and went upstairs.

Lee noticed Amanda was smiling as she did what her mother asked and queried, "What's the matter? What did she say?"

When Amanda finished putting the pizza on all their plates, she wrote to Lee, "Mother likes you and said you can stay as long as you need to-"

Lee shook his head reading her reply and waved it away answering shyly, "Aw, c'mon. She's just being polite, that's all-"

But Amanda shook her head writing to Lee, "No, that's Mother. Plain and simple. And...I don't know what the boys and I would do without her."

Lee, reading her response, nodded as he met Amanda's eyes and they shared a smile.

It was late when the three finished eating, and as Dotty headed upstairs to get the boys settled in bed finally and go to sleep herself, Amanda wrote to Lee, "I am sorry about earlier with Dean. I should have told him straight away about my inviting you, and then maybe it wouldn't have been an issue."

Lee shook his head as he read her note, saying with a gesture towards the stairs, "I don't think telling him earlier would have made any difference, Amanda. Please don't worry about it. Now, go get some rest. See you tomorrow."

When Amanda headed upstairs, Lee went into the den, closing the door as he thought, Whew! I can't believe she's still worried about that jerk!

Getting ready for bed, he laid down on the pullout shaking his head as he thought, You deserve a lot better than that clown, Amanda!

But as he closed his eyes finally, he thought again, Hmm...Wonder who would be good enough for her?

TBC