"This is like something out of an old-timey movie," said Lee, carefully threading the needle through a piece of popcorn. "I honestly never thought people did this in real life."

Amanda ruffled his hair as she walked past with a bowl of fresh popcorn. "Normal people, Lee. We really truly do this stuff."

"I thought it was normal people who bought all that tinsel stuff I see in the stores," he replied.

"Oh, we'll have some of that too – but that's part of the decorating the boys will do later."

"And this isn't?"

"Well, we're not going to put this on the tree just yet. We'll just get it ready for when they get home." She grinned as she sat down at the opposite end of the sofa and tangled her feet with his. "Usually I end up doing this by myself because the boys think it's bo-ring."

"It is boring," complained Lee, jokingly. "And – ouch! – painful!" He stuck his finger in his mouth and sucked where he'd just jabbed himself with the needle.

"Step-by-step precision is crucial – you need to be more careful," Amanda teased him, pulling his hand over to check the damage and bestow a light kiss on it. "There ya go – all better."

"You know what would really make it feel better?" he growled seductively.

"Yes, I do," she answered, her voice husky with meaning, as she began interspersing light kisses along his fingertips with her words. "And I… also… know… that my mother will be back any minute," she finished with a slight bite on the last finger.

"You're probably right… So we should probably take this upstairs so as not offend her tender sensibilities. A.S.A.P"

"You are incorrigible!" grinned Amanda. "And I don't think my mother has any sensibilities – tender or otherwise."

"Maybe not, but your mother thinks I'm wonderful – and don't tell me she doesn't know exactly what we get up to when we're alone– and I think she'd approve of you attending to your… needs." Lee had moved slowly forward, forcing Amanda to lie back along the sofa, both of them laughing. He pressed his lips against hers, giving off a happy rumbling sound as her mouth opened under his with a sigh. Her hand came up and pressed against his chest as she drew back for breath.

"You know… what I really… really… need…" she whispered, suddenly pressing harder, "Is to get this garland done before the boys get home!" She wriggled out from under him to sit up on the edge of the cushions, and reached for a handful of cranberries.

Lee flopped down with a theatrical groan behind her. "A-man-da!" he whined, wrapping his arms around her waist and snuggling in, face pressed against her side.

"You wanted to be like normal people, Lee, and normal people worry about their mother walking in on them while they're seeing to their needs," she chuckled.

Lee sat up with another groan and resignedly picked up the needle and long thread where he'd dropped it during the aborted seduction and reached into the bowl of berries. He held up a berry and studied it carefully. "You know, I kind of always thought cranberries just came in a can full of jelly," he said.

"Well, if you're Francine, they probably do," she laughed. "But I'll use the ones we don't use today to make homemade jelly to go with the turkey."

"Of course you will. But how come you only ever see them in juice or jelly? How come there's not peanut butter and cranberry jelly sandwiches, or cranberry pies or cranberry shortcake? I mean they're a fruit, right?"

As he finished speaking, and before Amanda could stop him, he popped the berry in his mouth and bit down. Amanda couldn't contain her peal of laughter as Lee's face screwed up and his eyes filled with tears as the sourness took over his taste buds.

"That's why," she finally managed to splutter out, as Lee began spitting it out into a tissue he grabbed from a nearby box.

"Oh, that's just… ugh," he whined.

"I wish you could have seen your face just now," she finally managed to get her voice under control.

"Wanna kiss that better too?" he said, grabbing her playfully.

She let him drag her onto his lap this time, sliding her tongue along his lips, tasting the remnants of the sour berry and deepening the kiss until they had to break apart to breathe.

"Oh, that's much better," said Lee. "It just needed a bit of sugar."

"I thought you didn't like sugar," teased Amanda.

"What can I say? I've developed a sweet tooth," he answered. "A very specific sweet tooth that only likes one thing…"

Amanda shivered as his hands worked their way under her shirt and his fingers ran lightly down her ribs. "You know," she gasped, "I think you're right."

"About which part?"

"We should take this upstairs. A.S.A.P."