She Can And She Did

Chapter 5

Amanda woke to the alarm the next morning, and shutting it off, stretched before getting out of bed.

Stiil thinking of last night's talk with her mother, she shook her head thinking, This has to be worked out today. I like the job I have, and I want to keep it!

Getting up finally, she gathered her clothes, and headed to the shower...

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, as Dotty was getting coffee prepared, she went to the staircase calling up, "Boys! C'mon! You don't want to be late for school!"

And Phillip, coming to the top of the stairs and looking down at his grandmother, shrugged and replied jokingly, "Sure we do, Grandma."

But as she looked back at him, she narrowed her eyes at him, and responded curtly, "This is not a day for jokes, Young Man! Hurry up and check on Jamie as well! Move it!"

Phillip gulped, and nodding, answered, "O-Okay, Grandma..."

Heading back to his and Jamie's bedroom, he met Jamie at the bathroom doorway, and Jamie asked, "What was that about, Phillip? You were being funny, I thought."

Phillip sighed and nodded, stated, "Thanks. Our friends would think so, at least...Boy, she and Mom must have had a big blowup last night-"

Then Dotty yelled up again, "Phillip Thomas and James Joseph King! Get down here now!"

Then, Amanda, coming out of her bedroom, dressed, asked the boys, "What's wrong, Fellas? I could hear your grandmother-"

Dotty then came up answering as she looked at the boys, "Your bus will be here shortly! Why are you doddling?"

Then Jamie, becoming upset, said in an uncharacteristic tone, "Put a lid on it already! We're coming!"

As all three family members looked at Jamie with stunned expressions, Jamie swallowed and commented apologetically as he kissed his grandmother's cheek, "S-Sorry, Grandma! It won't happen again!"

Amanda, putting a hand up, stated with a gesture, "It's-It's alright, Jamie...I'll take you both to school today...We have to have a family meeting anyway, so just please get yourselves down as soon as you can, alright?"

Motioning to Dotty, she answered, "C'mon, Mother..."

But as the two went down and entered the kitchen, Dotty queried, "What's going on? You can't upset the apple cart here! It's their schedule! You made it clear about school-"

Amanda remarked quickly, "Mother, stop! I know you're just upset because of our talk last night, right?"

Then, going to the counter, she poured herself a cup of coffee answering, "Now, things are a bit jumbled because of my job, but I want to keep it. Besides, I can't pay the bills without it, and-"

Just then, the phone rang, and Dotty picked up the receiver stating, "Hello? Oh, yes, she is. Just a moment, please..."

Handing the phone to Amanda, she commented, "Here, you take this, and I'll bring our coffee to the table..."

Watching Dotty taking the two cups over to the table curiously, Amanda then said, "Hello?"

Lee's baritone voice came through as he answered, "Hi. How are you today?"

Amanda responded, "Um, okay, I guess...Look, are you at work?"

Lee stated, "I'm heading in now. Why?"

Amanda, as the boys came into the kitchen, armed with their schoolbags, answered, "J-Just a minute..."

Then Lee heard murmured voices, and he thought concernedly, Hope everything's okay there...

Amanda came back on responding, "Sorry... Look, can you please tell Mr. Melrose that I'll be there as soon as I can? I'm taking the boys to school after our family meeting here-"

Lee queried gently, "Hey, Amanda...Is everything alright? I mean, I could swing by and wait for you where I usually park by your house, and we could talk on the way-"

But Amanda commented, "N-No, that's really nice of you, but I might be a little while, okay? I'll see you later, huh? Bye, Bye..."

Lee, staring at his car receiver, shook his head and hung up, as he made his way off the beltway and headed towards the Agency, remarking, "Hope you're really okay, Amanda..."

-SMK-

Hanging up, Amanda sighed, and coming to the table, she sat down.

Phillip asked, "Mom? What about our lunches? We didn't get to make them-"

Amanda remarked, "I'll give you lunch money, but please remember to bring back the change, alright?"

As both her sons nodded, Dotty shook her head asking, "Amanda, what's this all about?"

Amanda with a sigh stated, "Okay, Fellas, I want to ask you something, and I want the truth now, huh?"

Jamie queried, "What's up, Mom?"

Amanda swallowed, thinking about all she and Joe put the boys through when they broke up, and then asked, "Would it be better if I were to quit my job and stay home with you?"

Dotty asked bewilderedly, "Amanda Jean! Have you taken leave of your senses? What on earth brought all this on?"

Phillip stated, "Yeah, Mom. I mean, we love you and all, but we know you have to work, just like Jamie and I have to go to school...And we don't mind. We're old enough that you don't have to stay home with us anyway-"

Jamie nodded agreeing with Phillip as he added, "Yeah, Mom, I mean, you already do the Bombers stuff with us, and at least you don't have the Trailblazers stuff to do any more. And we're with Dad on summer vacations, so-"

Phillip, getting up from the table, went to give Amanda a hug and kiss answering, "You're the best, Mom! Don't mess up your life on account of us. We're okay."

Jamie then got up, and also giving Amanda a hug and kiss, remarked, "Yeah, Mom. We like the way things are, and we do miss having Dad around, but, like Phillip said, we're alright."

Then going to Dotty, Jamie hugged her responding quietly, "And we love you too, Grandma, even though we're a lot to take sometimes, right?"

Dotty, overcome with emotion, cleared her throat as she hugged both boys answering softly, "Oh, you're incorrigable sometimes, but I love you both dearly as well!"

Amanda, watching the scene between her sons and their grandmother commented, brushing tears away from her eyes, nodded, "O-Okay...Guess we're all good here?"

As the family nodded, Amanda getting up from the table, stated, "Great! Alright, Fellas, let's head out!"

As the boys rushed out to the car with their bookbags, Amanda, giving Dotty a kiss, commented gently, "I'm so sorry I worried you, Mother...I promise to call you if something comes up at work like that again, okay? I love you."

Dotty, hugging Amanda, stated, "You had better, Young Lady...I love you too...See you tonight."

Amanda smiled as she grabbed her purse, and headed out of the house that morning to take the boys to school.

-SMK-

A little while later as Lee was in Billy's office, going over security details for an upcoming event later in the month, Billy's phone rang.

He picked up, stating, "Melrose...Where?"

Listening, he stated, "Alright, I'll send him down..."

Hanging up, he answered to Lee, "Amanda's here, but Security says she's still in her car in the parking lot, not getting out."

Lee concerned, queried, "Why? What happened?"

Billy sighed commenting brusquely, "I don't know, Scarecrow. I'd send Francine down, but you know how that would turn out, so you go...And hurry up, because we have a lot of work to do!"

Lee nodded and heading out of the office, thought, Why didn't you let me pick you up today, Amanda? What's wrong now?

TBC