A/N The following chapter has dialogue that was in the originalScarecrow and Mrs. King show / Episode 1 - The First Time. I do not mean any copyright infringement by using it, it was only used to make the story flow better. All of that part of this story is copyrighted to Shoot the Moon Productions and Warner Brothers.

Chapter 15 - Something is Wrong

Dean called Amanda as soon as he was back in town and she picked him up at the train station. She didn't quite seem herself and kept looking around as if she was trying to find something. He asked her what was wrong and she simply said nothing so he dropped it. She asked him if he intended to come over that night and he replied "I thought you would never ask." After dinner, the boys went up to their rooms and Dotty went to her room to read one of her new romance novels. Dean started a fire in the fireplace and poured a glass of wine for them both. Amanda put a blanket on the floor and they sat beside each other facing the fire. Dean handed Amanda the package that he had bought from New York. "Open it, he said".

"Oh Dean, you shouldn't bought me anything"

"I couldn't help it, I saw them and knew I had to get them for you"

Amanda opened the package and stared at the bookends. He explained "A way to remember how we first met since you were always trying to get me to read books. I know how much you love pigs and cows and thought it would go well with the rest of your collection."

Amanda smiled and thanked him. She suddenly realized the time and excused herself so she could go tuck the boys into bed. When she came downstairs, she rejoined Dean on the floor.

Amanda said "I missed you Dean" and Dean told her "I missed you too"

"Did you like the Gift I brought you from New York?" He asked.

Amanda replied "Sure, I needed new bookends."

Dean smiled and they quietly toasted each other.

From behind them, a voice was heard "Excuse me."

Amanda immediately popped up and said "hmmmm, what is it sweetheart?"

Jamie said "Phillip has something to tell you." He then looks at Phillip and said "Now you're gonna get it"

Amanda said "What's the matter sweetheart, what's wrong?"

Phillip responded "I opened the present."

Amanda asked "What present?" and Phillip answered "The one on the Dining room table."

Amanda asked him "You mean the one I put out to be mailed?"

Jamie answered this time "Just like you did last Christmas, remember?"

Amanda looked at Jamie and said "Jamie!" and looked back at Phillip "Sweetheart is that the one?"

"Yes" said Phillip.

Amanda asked him "How much did you see?"

Dean can't believe how patient Amanda is being with Phillip. Dean was a very patient man but he was unsure if he could be this patient with the boys.

Phillip responded "All of it I guess. It was just a little ole crummy music box."

Amanda nodded and said "Right the music box"

Phillip defended himself and said "But I'm not the one who broke it, it didn't work before I shook it. Just a little ole card fell out."

Amanda says "A card. What kind of a card?"

"Just a little bit of a card with a little bit of writing on it."

He then told her what the card had said. Dean watched this whole conversation while kneeling near the area in front of the fireplace. After they were done, Amanda guided the boys back up the stairs and put them back to bed. When she came back, she definitely was very distracted. Dean asked her what that was all about. Amanda told him that it was nothing; that it was just a package that she was sending away to an Aunt so she could mail it back at Christmas time so it looked like it came from Santa. She told him that she acted concerned to Phillip so as to not spoil the fun. Dean didn't quite know if he believed her but she had never lied to him before so he let it go. Amanda started yawning constantly and finally said that she was really tired and needed to get to bed. She showed Dean out, gave him a quick hug on the front steps and watched him drive away. Dean went home and didn't think any more about it.

Things started to get strange after that though. When Dean couldn't make it to the house on Maplewood Drive, he would always call and he knew that Amanda would write notes on the board in the kitchen so she wouldn't forget his call. She began missing his calls the first time on the day after the Music Box incident. He called promptly at 6pm and Dotty answered the phone. "Oh hi Dean, Amanda? No, she isn't home yet."

"Well that's strange, she knew I would be calling at 6pm. Is she okay?"

"I'm sure she is fine. She has been acting a little strange but I'm sure she is just a little stressed due to looking for a job. I wouldn't worry about it dear."

"Thanks Dotty. Can you please tell her that I called?

"Sure Dean. Oh and Dean, I loved the new bookends you bought for her."

"Thanks Dotty. Have a good night. Bye for now"

"Goodbye Dean."

It didn't end there. The next night he was set to go to dinner at Amanda's house. She promised to feed the boys earlier so they could have a nice candle light dinner together. As always, he arrived promptly at 6pm and found that Amanda had just gotten home and was upstairs showering and dressing. When he asked Dotty how much longer before Dinner, she confessed that Amanda had just put the chicken in the oven so it would be a little bit of a wait. It wasn't a big deal even though Dean liked to eat on time. He and Dotty had a nice conversation while he waited for Amanda to come downstairs. Dotty told him that her latest Doctor's checkup had gone fine and that she again really appreciated his support and confidence previously. She gave him a hug and then told him that she would go take a nice bubble bath and give them some privacy.

The strangeness continued with Amanda never being home much anymore and always being late to things. She seemed terribly distracted most of the time and very much deep in thought when they were together. Then one night, she didn't show up for their dinner date at her house at all. She hadn't told anyone that she wouldn't be there and everyone expected that she was just running late and would be along shortly. So Dean made himself comfortable talking to Dotty and the boys and it came up in conversation that Jamie's favorite skateboard was broken. He offered to fix it and Jamie was so excited. It was an easy fix and soon Jamie was outside flying around the neighborhood again on it. It was only later that Dean found out that Jamie left it on the floor in the Livingroom and Dotty's boyfriend stepped on it and did damage to his leg. Dean felt awful and didn't try to fix it again after that. He realized that Amanda was coming home much later than normal these days. He found himself spending a lot of time with the boys and they seemed to really like having him around now. It made it difficult though because he didn't want to be the bad guy in front of them so he found himself breaking the rules with them now and then. For instance, he would let them eat candy before dinner, he would buy them each a soda when he had them out at the park and sometimes he would let them play in their school clothes because they were so excited to hang out with him. Amanda had to chastise him on more than one occasion that he needed to be a little stricter with them. She was a little angry with him the day he let them play football in their good jeans and told him that it was a good thing that she was able to use some solvent to get all the grass stains out and he better make them change into play clothes in the future.

Overall Dean felt the relationship was still going along okay. She was still his best friend and he couldn't wait to share the news with her that he had won Tri City Forecaster of the Year. When he called her up that day, she seemed genuinely happy for him and asked him what the award was. She seemed to giggle a little when he said it was a huge Aluminum Sun but he knew she would be as thrilled as he was when she saw how beautiful it would look on the wall. Of course, that meant he had to have a wall to hang it on and his Mother likely wouldn't let him hang it in her house. Dang it, when was Amanda going to be ready to marry him anyway? He hoped by giving her time, it would be soon. For now though, he needed to stay away from her since he had caught a bad cold. He sure didn't want her to come down with it. She did tease him about not wearing his poncho in the rain. It was so unlike him but he was so happy about the award and sharing the news with her that he forgot to bring it with him.

For a while things seemed to be back on track. Dean's time with the boys had made him a part of their lives and they liked to share things with him all the time. One day, Jamie asked him to play dice with him. As a fun thing, they decided to bet who would win. Dean told Jamie that if he won, Jamie would need to clean the Ferrari on the weekend. Jamie wanted to go to the movies with Dean and Amanda if he won. The dice were not nice to Dean that day because Jamie rolled a 7 and Dean crapped out. Where did the kid learn to play like that? Dean thought it might have something to do with the punk kid that Amanda had taken in from the Big Sister Program. He seemed to be a bit of trouble and Dean hoped he wouldn't rub off on the boys. He decided to talk to Amanda about it that night but when he got to her house, he was so tense from a bad day at work that she offered to give him a massage and he totally forgot about Alexi. After the massage as they were sitting and talking about some local happenings, the doorbell rang. Amanda went out and didn't come back inside for a short time. Dean asked if she was okay and she said she was fine. She came inside carrying this huge stuffed panda bear. Dean asked her where she got that from and she just smiled and said that a friend had just dropped it off. She took it upstairs and said that it was nothing and there was nothing to talk about. Dean wondered who would give her such a gift. Should he be worried? The next day he talked to Dotty about it and she told him that Panda was Amanda's childhood nickname. Dotty explained that likely it was just an old friend who knew about it that had given her the panda and that he shouldn't worry about it. Dean felt so much better after hearing this explanation and completely put it out of his mind.

When Dean realized that Jamie's birthday was fast approaching and found out how much Jamie wanted Pretzel the clown to come to his party, Dean told Amanda that he would use some of his influence to convince him to come. Pretzel was so popular that he was usually booked up for months in advance and Amanda had already told Jamie that it wouldn't be possible so she was grateful that Dean might be able to secure his attendance. Dean made a couple of phone calls to some friends who called in some favors and soon got word that Pretzel would be at the party for Jamie. It was last minute when he discovered that Pretzel had bailed, claiming he was sick. It was too late for Dean to do anything about it and he was deeply embarrassed that he had let Jamie down. However, in the end, Jamie ended up with Chicken Pox and since Dean had never had it, he stayed away from the party and only learned later that a friend of Amanda's had managed to get Pretzel to show up at the house. Dean was really beginning to wonder about all these "friends" of Amanda's.

Over the next few weeks, Amanda acted more strange than ever. Without any warning, she took off on a road trip and was gone for a few days. When she returned, she avoided discussing where she had been, what she had been doing or who she was with. She told Dean it wasn't important. Dean began wondering if Amanda had met someone else and maybe was becoming involved with him.

The following week after Amanda's return, Dean showed up for dinner again only to discover that Amanda had to work late and forgot to tell him. He had another conversation with Dotty about everything that seemed to be going on. Dotty was very sympathetic to him and really felt bad for her friend. She was hoping that Amanda would come to her senses and agree to marry him. She knew that Dean had to step it up a bit and make Amanda realize how much he cared about her.

Dotty said "Dean, how much pull do you have at the Weather Bureau?"

"Quite a bit, why?"

"Is it possible to name something after Amanda?"

"Oh Dotty! What a great idea. I will have to see if I can get them to agree to name the next Hurricane after her."

Dotty got a dreamy look in her eyes and said "Can you imagine how special it would be if it happened during Valentine's Day?"

Dean laughed and said "Well I can't guarantee that but I'm sure I can get the next one named Amanda."

"I'm telling you Dean, naming the next Hurricane after Amanda would be so romantic and I just know it would make Amanda's day."

TBC