Chapter 16 - Christmas

It was only a week before Christmas and Dean was so excited about what he had bought the family for Christmas presents. He had found some really sexy slippers for Dotty to accentuate her feet. Phillip was going to get a Red Skins outfit complete with shoulder pads. Jamie's present made him smile because he had found an almost exact replica of the Junior Weather Kit that he had had as a kid. This one was more updated though and even came with its own Barometer. Amanda needed something really special though and Dean spent many hours looking for just the right gift. He finally realized what the perfect gift would be. He couldn't wait for her to open it on Christmas morning. Amanda had already invited him for Christmas dinner. He was really looking forward to spending time with the family. His Family. He would convince Amanda to be his wife, he just had to. It would make his Christmas even more special if she would accept the Diamond Engagement ring as a present from him but he knew she still wasn't ready yet.

On Christmas Eve, he called to talk to Amanda and found out that she had gone out to deliver presents to her clients and still hadn't returned. The weather outside was frightful with all the snow coming down hard. Dean was worried about whether Amanda's car would bring her safely home. He asked Dotty to call him once she got home. He stayed up half the night waiting for the call that never came. He called their house at 8am on Christmas and discovered that Amanda had gotten home safely but had slept on the couch so Dotty didn't know what time she had arrived. Dean was relieved that she was okay. Amanda told Dean that she was fine and that he could come over anytime. He told her that he would be over after lunch.

When he got there, the boys had already opened up all their gifts and were busy building a Lego City while munching on Christmas Candy. Dean went into the kitchen where Dotty and Amanda were putting the finishing touches on Christmas Dinner.

"Wow, everything smells so good in here! Is there anything I can do to help?"

Dotty said "No Dean, we have it under control.

Dean leaned over to give Amanda a hug but noticed that she seemed to be lost in thought.

"Amanda, are you okay?"

"Oh sorry Dean. I have a friend in the hospital and I feel bad. It isn't any fun being in the hospital on any day but Christmas has to be the worse."

"I'm sorry to hear that. Maybe we could go visit her later after dinner." Dean said.

Amanda smiled and said "No, that's okay but thanks for offering."

"Well I know I'm lucky to be here with you and Dotty and the boys. If dinner can take care of itself for a bit, I want to give you all your presents." Amanda agreed and told him that the family had picked out a gift for him together.

They all walked back out into the Livingroom. Dean and Amanda sat on the couch together while Dotty sat in the chair. Amanda handed Dean a brightly wrapped box. Dean ripped the paper off the box and smiled. Inside was a beautiful set of Ferrari Floor mats. "Oh these will look so great in my car. Thank you everyone. You really shouldn't have done that though, I know how expensive these are."

Amanda said "We wanted to get you something you could use. I'm glad you like them." "Dean smiled and said "I really do! Thanks!"

It was Dean's turn now so he passed Phillip his present first. "WOW! A real authentic Red Skins uniform! Dean this is awesome. Thank you so much. I can't wait to tell my friends about this." Dean was really pleased with Phillip's reaction. Amanda had known about the boys gifts ahead of time so she was happy for Dean that the gift meant so much to Phillip. Dean handed Jamie his gift next. Jamie was one of those who liked to open his package carefully. He was always trying to save the wrapping paper so that his mother could reuse it. Normally Phillip would be yelling at him to hurry up but he was too busy with his uniform that he didn't notice this time. Jamie finally got the wrapping all off and saw the weather kit. "Is this real? This is really cool! So now I can learn to be a weather man just like you Dean?"

"That's right son." Dean answered. "You know I had this same kit back when I was your age but I didn't get a Barometer in mine."

"Thanks Dean, it is a really neat gift. My friends will all be jealous of it." Jamie said very sincerely.

Dean then handed a package to Dotty. She let out a squeal when she saw the sexy slippers. "I thought Fred might enjoy massaging your feet even more if he saw them dressed in these slippers." Dean explained. Dotty thanked Dean and gave him a quick hug. She had finally gotten him to stop shaking her hand but it wasn't easy.

Dean then turned to Amanda and said "I saved the best for last." He handed her a box and urged her to open it. Amanda did and started laughing. She looked at Dean to see if he meant it as a joke and realized he was serious so she cut short her laugh and began telling him how thoughtful it was. Dean said "I thought it would be fun for us to match and when I saw that they had a female plaid shirt that looked exactly like mine, I had to get it for you. I know your favorite color is red too so I just knew you would like it."

"Oh I do Dean. It is very nice and a high quality shirt too I see." Amanda said with as much seriousness as she could. "Thanks Dean."

Dotty interrupted the moment by saying dinner was ready.

After dinner, the family set down to watch a Christmas movie on TV. Dean couldn't help but stare at Amanda most of the night. Something just didn't seem right. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but he again wondered if Amanda had found someone else. During the commercials, he would ask her a question and she would have to ask him to repeat it. As the movie ended and the boys headed up to bed, Amanda told Dean that she was very tired from the day and really needed to get some rest. Dean was disappointed that she was cutting their time short but understood. He said his goodbyes to Dotty and then gave Amanda a quick hug while telling her Merry Christmas and then he went out in the cold to his car. He couldn't help but think about the night on his ride home. Something was definitely not right. Maybe she was just tired like she said. He sure hoped that was all but if not, he really hoped she would tell him what was going on soon.

TBC