Chapter 7 - You Wear it Well

For the past thirty minutes, Amanda listened to the chaos that was happening in the kitchen below her. Her stomach rumbled and she was dying for coffee, but she stayed in bed so she wouldn't ruin the inevitable surprise.

Outside of her door was a small commotion as the boys set their trays on the floor and instructed Dotty to stay put. "Stay in the hall, Grandma. We wanna wake her up," Philip whispered loudly.

"I wanna go in first," Jamie pleaded.

Amanda pulled the covers tighter around herself. "I don't care who wakes me up," she mumbled. "Just somebody wake me up already!"

The boys barged through the door, crying, "Happy Mother's Day, Mama!" They hopped up onto her bed and smothered her with hugs and kisses.

Dotty watched from the doorway, smiling. "They made you breakfast in bed. Happy Mother's Day, dear." She leaned over and kissed her daughter. She handed her a mug and whispered, "It's coffee."

Amanda kissed her back and softly replied, "Thanks, Mother, the marshmallows threw me. Happy Mother's Day to you, too. Thanks for supervising downstairs."

As the boys carried the trays into the bedroom, Dotty sat down and murmured, "Don't thank me yet."

Philip said triumphantly, "We made you cinnamon toast and fresh fruit salad and coffee to wash it all down."

"And we did it all by ourselves," Jamie added.

"Grandma just carried the coffee up the stairs."

Dotty looked at Amanda. "Remember that."

"Eat your breakfast. We'll be right back," Philip told them. The boys scurried to their bedroom to retrieve their gifts.

Amanda glanced at Dotty. "I really should hide the marshmallows, shouldn't I?" They laughed. "This is really so sweet, but I don't think I can eat this."

"And you definitely shouldn't drink this," Dotty agreed, taking both of their mugs and placing them on the nightstand.

Philip and Jamie tumbled back into the bedroom, clamoring to climb up on Amanda's bed.

Dotty carefully removed the breakfast trays and set them aside, "Let's just move these over here for a bit."

"But your breakfast is gonna get cold," Jamie commented.

"Don'tcha want to give them their gifts?" Philip asked as he handed them their gifts and cards.

Amanda opened Jamie's card first. She admired his drawings, then read his poem out loud.

"'I like my bike, I like my room.

I even like my brother.

But most of all, in all the world,

I really like my mother.'"

Amanda held the poem to her chest. "Oh, Jamie! Did you write this all by yourself?" He nodded shyly, his cheeks flushed. "I love it, Sweetheart!" She threw her arms around him and pulled him into a tight hug.

Phillip held up his card for Amanda to see. "Look at my card, Mama! I drew the flowers myself!"

"I showed him!" Jamie bragged. Philip glared at him.

Dotty moved quickly and handed Amanda an exquisitely wrapped box. "Here, this is for you, darling. It's from all of us."

As Amanda carefully started to pull off a piece of tape, Philip and Jamie began ripping at the paper. "You're gonna love it, Mama! It was on clearance!" Philip cried.

"Oh, it's beautiful!" Amanda gushed. She smiled at Dotty. "It's just like the robe I told your grandmother I liked."

Jamie thrust the other gift into her hands. "Now this one," he begged.

The shirt was balled up and covered with a mass of wrapping paper, colored tissue, ribbon, and apparently an entire roll of tape. Amanda didn't even know where to start.

"They wrapped it themselves," Dotty explained with a knowing look. "And, by the way, we're out of tape."

Amanda smiled. "Help me, fellas?"

The boys were already unwrapping before she finished her sentence. The nightshirt fell onto Amanda's lap in a heap. She held it up to take it all in.

"Oh, wow. Well, let me get a good look at this. This is just beautiful, and these colors… these are not colors you see together every day. It looks so nice and roomy and comfy and what does it say? 'HOT MAMA'? Okay, that's… interes …sweet. Thank you so -"

"It doesn't mean that you're hot, hot, Mama. Philip told me it means that you're beautiful," Jamie said sweetly.

Amanda reached out her arms and the boys fell into them. "Thanks for making this the best Mother's Day ever. You've made me so happy." To Dotty, she added, "You know, I actually will wear this."

The End.