Great Expectations
12/15
"Lee!!"
His name, shouted from upstairs and in such a dire tone, caused Scarecrow to lurch from the sofa, displacing the Sunday edition of the Washington Post onto the floor and causing his half-filled cup of coffee to slosh onto the front of his t-shirt and jeans.
"Lee!!"
His long legs took the stairs two at a time as he raced towards his wife's voice. "Amanda," he called out, searching first in their bedroom and then making his way down the hall past the boys' rooms and into the nursery. "What's the matter? Are you… "
The sight before him halted his words and brought a loud snort of amusement from him.
"Don't you dare laugh," came a voice from somewhere under a long length of pastel colored wallpaper that drooped precariously off the wall.
He lifted the paper up and found his wife, both hands above her head, leaning into the wall, holding the remainder of the paper in place.
"It won't stay put," she huffed over her shoulder at him.
"Hmmm, just like you," Lee stated, reaching over to pick up the long wallpaper brush and pushing the paper back up the wall, freeing his wife from do-it-yourself hell. When he was sure that the paper was adhering to the wall, he turned to face his wife, hands on his hips. "Amanda, what are you doing?"
"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm doing the job that my husband promised he'd do today." She leveled a look at him.
"I told you I'd do it and I will. I was just reading the paper. It's Sunday, and it's only nine o'clock in the morning…" He paused to look around the room. All the baby furniture was now pushed up against the near wall, and a large, paint-stained drop cloth had been spread about to protect the new pastel yellow carpet from being damaged. "Amanda, what is this?" He gestured to the conglomeration of furniture. "Do you work for Allied Van Lines and you're just not telling me?"
"What do you mean?" She shrugged as nonchalantly as she could.
"Amanda, you're eight and a half months pregnant. You don't need to be pushing furniture around the room. Look, it's not my fault that the paper got back-ordered and didn't come in until now. I told you I'd handle getting it up and I will." He sighed, dropping the long handled wallpaper brush and moving to pick up the smaller one that was sitting on the edge of the glue tray.
"Sometime before this baby goes to college?"
Green eyes narrowed and slowly traveled over to meet hers. He none too gently tossed the brush back into the glue tray. Amanda realized immediately she'd gone a step too far. She knew the paper had just been delivered a few days ago. And she knew that Lee had been putting in a lot of overtime at the Agency the last few weeks, trying to get his cases and paperwork caught up so that he could take some time off when the baby arrived. She also knew she'd just been totally unfair to him.
Walking slowly towards him, Amanda smiled an apology. Lee raised an eyebrow in return to show her it would take more than that simple gesture to make up with him. She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. He shook his head, not giving in. She reached around him and pressed herself to his side, her stomach keeping her from getting too close, her arms unable to reach very far around his waist. He looked away from her and up at the ceiling, drawing out a heavy sigh and fighting very hard to keep from smiling. Standing on tiptoe, Amanda leaned in further and inserted her tongue into his ear, at the same time reaching down and gently grabbing his rear end, giving his jean clad butt a firm pinch.
Deciding to accept her apology, Lee caught her in his arms and turned her quickly. He pulled her back firmly up against his chest, snaking his arms around to cradle her swollen abdomen. "Don't be making any promises you can't keep, Mrs. Stetson," he growled in her ear, his lips then dropping to nibble on the soft flesh of her neck.
"Oh, I never make promises I can't keep, Mr. Stetson," she murmured, her hand reaching back behind her to rub against the fly of his jeans.
He immediately released her, stepping back and leaving her hand searching in space for the part of his anatomy that she'd only just been getting a good grip on.
"Ah, Amanda, I was just joking," he choked out, taking another step back as a curious and mildly amused Amanda turned to look at him.
"Joking about wanting to have sex with me?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh, no, I would never joke about that. I mean, I might joke, but I… I mean I wouldn't… well… ah… " He stumbled over the words, trailing off as he tried to read her expression.
"So, you're saying you don't want to have sex with me?" Amanda asked, her eyebrow arching a bit further.
"I didn't say that," Lee squeaked out, pointing a finger at her. "Don't put words in my mouth."
Amanda smiled seductively. "Words, Scarecrow, are not what I'm thinking about putting in your mouth." She walked slowly and deliberately towards him. Reaching out, she ran her hands up his chest, always amazed at how strong and powerful he felt beneath her fingertips. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she turned sideways a bit, allowing their bodies better contact. She looked up into his hazel eyes and smiled. "Don't you want me?" she murmured.
Lee looked down at his wife. The scooped neck t-shirt she was wearing under her maternity overalls gaped a bit and he found himself staring at some rather impressive cleavage. A sheen of perspiration broke out on his upper lip. He let out the breath he was holding and watched as it ruffled through the curls of her bangs. "Amanda," he breathed; again stirring her hair.
"Yes," she whispered, her hands moving to the back of his head, pulling him down to within centimeters of her lips.
Their faces were so close, everything else was blocked from view. Lee looked into the deep brown depths of Amanda's eyes and lost himself as he had a thousand times before. She blinked and his eyes moved to follow the line of her nose, then on to the softness and sweet curves of her lips. She was so incredibly beautiful. Surely no other woman looked this good… smelled this good… tasted this good. His lips found hers as he could no longer deny himself the feel or taste of her. His tongue moved along the velvet of her lips, pushing for entry into the hot, moist, recesses of her mouth. Just as he pressed into her warmth, a jolt hit him in the midsection. Before his mind could wrap itself around what had happened, he felt another sharp thump just below his ribs.
Amanda groaned, pulling away from him to rub her stomach. "Whoa. Oh, my, " she breathed out, one hand rubbing her abdomen, the other gripping Lee's biceps.
"Was that my daughter?" Lee laughed, looking down as Amanda continued to lightly massage her upper abdomen.
"Or your son," Amanda smiled back. "That was quite a kick he gave me. Have you been teaching him how to do a Roundhouse without telling me?"
"That's my girl," Lee chuckled.
"Or boy," Amanda corrected.
"Right," he agreed.
Amanda turned back into his arms, reaching again to pull his head down to hers. "Now where were we?"
"Ah… " Lee began, the sound muffled as Amanda pressed her lips to his.
She ran her tongue across his teeth, and when given the chance, slipped into the heat of his mouth. Her hands ran down his shoulders and arms, reaching around to clasp his buttocks.
Suddenly she jerked out of his arms, turning away from him. Her shoulders hunched, her left hand going to the small of her back.
"What?" he yelped, reaching out to steadying her, his hands on her shoulders. "Oh, my God. You're in labor, aren't you? You're not due until next week. I knew it! I knew it!" His voice raised in panic.
Amanda, the spasm in her lower back now gone, looked up at her husband. Still a bit out of breath from the sharp pain, she asked, "You knew what?"
"I knew that that was a bad idea," he stated firmly.
"What was a bad idea? Lee, I'm not in labor… " Amanda started.
"Fooling around like that. I knew it was a bad idea. I knew this would happen." He ran an agitated hand through his hair, pacing the room from the windows to the closet and back again. Suddenly he stopped and turned towards Amanda. "Is your bag ready? I'll bring it down to the car. Do you need to change? No, of course you don't. We don't have time. We need to call your mother. And Joe. The boys will want to be at the hospital. Oh, and I'll call Billy. And Francine. No, wait. I can do that at the hospital."
Amanda watched in amazed silence, her mouth gaping open. She'd never heard that many words come out of Scarecrow's mouth at one time in her entire life.
"What are you waiting for?" He grabbed her by the hand and started to lead her out of the nursery.
"Lee, wait a minute," she pulled her hand out of his grasp. He grabbed it back. She pulled it out again. "Lee, calm down. I'm not in labor."
"Amanda, we need to get you…" He paused as her words sunk in. "You're not?"
"Nope," she said, with a firm shake of her head.
"You're not in labor?" he asked, not quite believing her.
"Nope." She shook her head again.
"Are you sure?"
"Absolutely. Positively. No labor going on here." She pointed to her stomach and then gave the thumbs down sign.
"How do you know?" he asked, unsure.
"Lee, I've been pregnant twice before. I know the difference between labor pains and a muscle spasm," she tried to reassure him.
"I don't believe you." He narrowed his eyes at her.
"You don't believe me?" she asked, stunned. "Lee, why on earth would I lie to you about this? You're acting crazy."
"No, I'm not and we are going the hospital."
"No, we aren't."
"Yes, we are. I want to make absolutely sure you're not in labor."
"Lee, I've been through this twice before. I know what labor feels like. That was just a little muscle spasm. I'm fine." At his skeptical look she added, "I am definitely NOT going to the hospital."
*******
Amanda sat in stony silence in the car.
"I'm sorry," Lee looked over at her sheepishly.
"Well, I'm mortified. How can I go back to that hospital again? They think we're crazy people."
"Amanda -- "
She put a finger up and stopped him. "No, amend that. They think YOU'RE a crazy person." She looked out the window of the Wagoneer, her finger tapping in agitation against her knee. "I can't believe you made them page Penny."
"I wanted to be sure."
"Well, are you sure now?" she asked, the sarcasm in her voice unmistakable.
"Yes," he mumbled.
She swung her gaze over to him, her eyes blazing. "You know, I think I've finally figured this out. This craziness."
"What are you talking about?" Lee glanced at her, then back to the road.
"What were we doing when you freaked out?"
"I didn't freak out, Amanda."
"You freaked out, Lee. And we were kissing, that's what we were doing. When was the last time we made love?" Her voice held a twinge of unshed tears.
The Wagoneer swerved slightly. "Amanda -- "
"No. How long has it been since we made love?"
"I don't know… a few weeks." He caught her look. She knew exactly how long it had been. "Maybe a month," he mumbled.
"Try two months, Scarecrow," her voice was unusually hoarse.
"Amanda," Lee pleaded, taking another glance at his wife. She was visibly upset. "What are you saying?"
"I'm saying that the thought of making love to me repulses you," she sniffed past tears that were threatening to overflow.
"What??" The Wagoneer swerved again as Lee looked over at Amanda, this time accompanied by several blaring horns and a passing Buick sporting an impolite hand gesture. "Amanda, that is not true. I love you."
"I know you love me," Amanda huffed. "You just don't want to MAKE love to me. I'm fat. I'm ugly. I'm retaining fluid like the Hoover Dam. I don't blame you." The last sentence came out in a strangled sob.
Lee pulled into the driveway and up to the garage. Before the truck had come to a full stop, Amanda had unhooked her seat belt and jumped from the vehicle.
"Amanda!" Lee jumped from the truck and followed her up the walk and into the house. "Amanda, come back here."
She flung her purse on the couch and turned towards him, wiping at the tears that were streaming down her face. "No, I understand, really. Why would you want to make love to this?" She gestured to her distended belly. "It would be like seducing Shamu at Sea World."
"Amanda, stop!" He grabbed her by the shoulders. Pulling her to him, he wrapped his arms about her. "You don't understand."
"Yes, I do," she wept into his shoulder. "I'm fat and ugly and grotesque."
Lee couldn't help but chuckle a little. "You are not fat. You are definitely not ugly. And I won't even dignify the grotesque comment with a response."
"Then wh… ah… why…" She hiccupped gently, unable to finish.
Lee placed a finger under her chin, gently tilting her head up. "It's not that I don't want to make love to you, Amanda. It's that… I'm afraid to. I'm afraid I'll hurt you."
He could see in her eyes that she didn't believe him. "Amanda, how could I not want you? I love you, you're everything to me."
She pulled out of his arms. "Lee, I don't want to talk about this anymore. I understand, really I do." She walked over to the couch and picked up her purse.
"Amanda --"
"I'm tired, I think I'll lie down and take a nap." She walked past him and up the stairs.
Lee watched her go, not knowing quite what to say or what to do to make things better. They'd been so busy lately, what with tying things up at work so Amanda could go on maternity leave and just dealing with the day to day activities of getting ready for the arrival of this baby. Their physical relationship had just kind of drifted away. He'd simply chalked it up to the way things went during pregnancy. More and more often, Amanda was asleep by the time he came to bed. The last month especially she had seemed to be so awkward, finding it hard to get comfortable and rising several times during the night to go the bathroom. He'd simply figured that she wasn't interested in sex, that it might have even become uncomfortable for her. It's not that he didn't think about it. Hell, he thought about it all the time. He just thought that it was something that naturally got put on hold until after the baby came.
Now what? Now she thinks I'm not attracted to her. How can she believe that? Because you've been a thoughtless jerk, Stetson, that's how.'
Lee walked over and plopped dejectedly down on the sofa. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes, his mind struggling with what he needed to do to make things right with her. He loved her. He wanted her. He just needed to find a way to prove to her that he wanted and needed her now just as much as he always had.
A small smile turned the corners of his lips. Of course!
To Be Continued