"On this July morning, there's important work to be done at the King house," Phillip's voice narrated as the camera panned the driveway. Both Amanda's and Lee's cars were lined up and the couple, wearing t-shirts and jeans, stood nearby filling plastic buckets with water from two garden hoses.
Droplets of water splashed the camera lens and Jamie stood angrily in front of the camera holding a bucket that was overflowing with water and he was trying to steady it. "Hey, fishface, watch where you're going!"
"Fishface? That's real original…" Phillip's voice teased.
"Come on, fellas," Amanda sighed as she came into view, "the sooner you get started, the sooner you can play with your friends. Phillip, put down the camera and help your brother with the wagon. I'll help Lee with his car."
Jamie picked up a large sponge and began soaping a section of the Wagoneer. The camera then focused on Amanda hosing down the Corvette while Lee stood ready with his own bucket and sponge.
"Phillip, why
don't you fast forward through this?" Amanda asked.
"Phillip, don't do
any such thing," Lee ordered.
"Lee…"
"Amanda, I still
don't know why you're so embarrassed by this. Everyone had fun."
"They're royalty,"
Amanda insisted, "and shouldn't have been - -"
"It was very
amusing, darling," Dotty interrupted. "The Prince and Princess of Zakir had a lot of fun."
Everyone was involved in their task of washing, soaping, and rinsing the vehicles.
"Yeah, Mom, they
were pretty cool," Phillip agreed.
"Phillip King, do you think you could put down the camera for one moment and join us," Amanda insisted as she stood with her hands on her hips, "or do you need a royal command?"
Suddenly, a spray of water came at the camera, Phillip twisted out of the way, and, over the camera's rocky movements of a view of the ground, Lee's and Jamie's laughter could be heard. "Slimeface, you got the camera all wet! You could've ruined it!" was Phillip's angry reply.
"Jamie, don't spray your brother while he's holding an expensive camera and Phillip, if you had put the camera away when I asked you, it wouldn't have gotten wet," Amanda replied unsympathetically.
While she had been talking, from the other side of the car, Lee grinned, raised his garden hose, and sprayed Amanda from behind. She squealed in surprise and turned around to face him. "Stetson!"
Jamie laughed and the camera zoomed in on the couple who engaged themselves in a water fight.
"What's the matter, Lee? It's just a little water," Amanda snickered after she emptied a bucket of water on Lee.
"I'm sorry I missed
this part," Dotty chuckled. "Amanda, you were so serious."
"Mother, the cars
needed to be washed," Amanda said in annoyance. "Do you know how hard it was to get everyone together on a
Saturday morning to work on them?"
"Well, at least you
were properly cooled off," Dotty commented as she watched Lee grab Amanda by
the waist and hold her in place while Jamie came at her with another bucket of
water.
"Mother!" Amanda
squeaked as Lee chuckled behind her.
"James King, don't even think about it!" Amanda warned.
"What's the matter, Amanda? It's just a little water," Lee mocked.
Just as Jamie was about to toss the water, Amanda jabbed Lee in the ribs, ducked, and Lee received the water shower instead. Amanda sat on the ground and laughed as Jamie apologized to Lee.
"Don't worry, Jamie, I know exactly who's at fault here, and she will suffer the consequences," Lee said with a dangerous glimmer in his eye as he got to his feet.
"Uh, oh," Amanda said as she quickly got to her feet and started to run to the other side of the car.
Using the garden hose, Lee filled the bucket with water and warned his wife, "You can run, but you can't hide."
"Come on, Lee, we have to finish the cars," was Amanda's reply as she crouched behind the 'Vette.
"You know, you're right," Lee suddenly agreed. "Come on, Jamie, let's finish up."
Lee and Jamie went back to work on Amanda's car while the camera stayed focused on Amanda who peeked from around the side of the car. She was near the edge of the lawn and, when she seemed satisfied that Lee was really working on her car, she sighed and picked up the second garden hose and started to rinse off his car.
"Here it comes,"
Phillip commented.
While Amanda wasn't looking, Lee handed Jamie the bucket and started sneaking towards Amanda. As soon as he was close enough, he leapt at her and grabbed her by the waist and turned her towards Jamie. "Now, Jamie!"
Jamie tossed the water at Amanda who, in her surprise, lost her balance, fell back against Lee, and sent them both to the ground. While Lee laughed, Amanda reached for the garden hose she dropped and, as soon as she grabbed the nozzle, she quickly rolled over and sprayed the surprised Lee at close range. He tried to grab hold of her again in spite of his shower and, finally, got her into an embrace. He pulled her closer and kissed her. A moment later, she dropped her hose and wrapped her arms around him in return. Jamie groaned and shook his head, "You guys, we're in public." He grabbed the bucket and started refilling it with water.
"There's the limo," Phillip announced as, in the far background, a limo pulled up in front of the driveway.
"And this is where
I came in," Dotty said as she saw herself enter the scene and ask if anyone
noticed the limo that pulled up.
Jamie went over to the couple on the grass and announced, "Time to cool off." His mother and Lee barely had time to look at him in surprise before he dumped the water over them.
Phillip and Jamie sat on the floor laughing hysterically while Amanda commented, "It wasn't that funny."
Even Lee chuckled,
"I just can't believe that it was Jamie who did that."
Phillip looked at
his brother proudly and said, "Guess there's still hope for you, after all."
Jamie jabbed his
brother good-naturedly in the ribs, turned to Amanda and Lee, and laughed,
"Boy, if you could've seen your faces…"
Watching herself
and her grandsons hysterically laughing at the shocked couple, who were just
beginning to join in the laughter, Dotty smiled at her younger grandson,
"Darling, they have seen their faces."
"Yeah, Grandma,"
Jamie agreed, "but it's just not the same."
The camera pulled back from the couple to reveal numerous people standing in the driveway staring at them.
"Ahem," the woman said with an amused grin.
Everyone turned their attention to the couple standing with robed members of security.
"Princess Penelope!" Dotty exclaimed.
"Penny, please," Penny said with a smile. "How are you, Mrs. West?"
"Dotty, please," Dotty answered, "and I'm certainly feeling very dry right about now."
Amanda and Lee scrambled to their feet. "Your highness," Amanda said as she formally acknowledged Prince Raisa Khan.
"Amanda, we're off-duty, so to speak, right now. There's no need for formality," Penny smiled as she carefully hugged the wet Amanda. "We're just friends dropping by to say hello to friends we haven't seen in a while."
"I still can't
believe they helped wash the cars," Amanda said as she shook her head and
watched the prince hand his jacket to a member of his staff and pick up a
sponge.
"Nice model," Raisa commented as he admired Lee's Corvette, "but I much prefer the '57 I have in my collection."
Amazed, Phillip
said, "He knew all about cars and baseball."
"He did live in the
States for a number of years," Lee explained, "and his wife is American."
"See, Mom, he is
pretty normal. For a prince and all,"
Jamie added.
"But, that's my
point. He's royalty and he's not even
dressed for washing cars," Amanda said.
"He didn't seem to
mind," Dotty smiled as she watched the Prince "accidentally" spray his wife.
"Yeah, but that
security guy did," Phillip grumbled as a somber man approached him and tried to
block the camera lens. "I can't believe
he made me turn off the camera."
***** ***** *****
