Changed Roles, chapter 12
"I'm not upset; everything is fine," Lee attempted to convince Francine as she followed him from the kitchen to the living room of his apartment.
"I know you to well to believe that; I shouldn't have asked you such a potentially painful question. I was caught up in thinking about why Michael is so thrown by becoming a father and I didn't consider how different his situation is from your situation with Amanda."
"Are you telling me that you're having his baby," Lee demanded of Francine as Amanda let herself into the apartment with her key.
"You're pregnant; why didn't you tell me that yesterday," Amanda questioned as she looked past Francine at her secret husband who was standing, clad in his pajamas, still holding onto to a plate of her home baked cookies.
"I didn't tell you that yesterday because I'm not pregnant; I wouldn't be that careless," Francine responded to Amanda while Lee simmered behind them.
"I can't believe this," Lee exploded, "you've just come from his bed even though you know that he's fathered another woman's baby."
"Lee, stop yelling at Francine, yelling doesn't accomplish anything. Why don't you go put on some clothes," Amanda suggested.
"Amanda, uhh, I can explain…," a suddenly embarrassed Lee started to explain.
"I trust you both: you don't need to explain but you do need to go someplace so that Francine and I can talk," Amanda stated in the tone of voice she would use with one of her boys when she didn't want her wishes to be questioned.
"I'm NOT going anyplace; it isn't even 4 AM yet and you've both arrived at my apartment uninvited," a frazzled Lee responded as he shifted his weight from one bare foot to the other and took a calming breath. "Maybe I will put some clothes on, I'm starting to feel under dressed, and then I'll get our coffee," Lee said as he put down the plate of cookies and quickly left the room.
"Lee is right; I shouldn't have come here and certainly not in the wee hours of the morning. Thanks for being so understanding about finding me in your…boyfriend's apartment like this; I'll go now," Francine said as she grabbed her coat from where it was draped over the back of the sofa.
"Please don't go; I'm surprised that you confided in Lee after you made such a point of asking me not to talk to Lee about the things that you told me yesterday. I'm glad that you changed your mind about including Lee; I'd rather not keep secrets from him unless I have a very good reason for doing so," Amanda said as she took off her own coat and draped it over a chair. Francine put her own coat back where it had been and the two women sat down at opposite ends of the sofa.
"I had dinner at Michael's place and I found out where he disappeared to and why.
What he told me left me totally off balance; his secret was nothing I ever considered and I don't know how to deal with it. I realized that I needed a man's POV so I came to Lee without thinking about what time it was."
"I can understand that; I couldn't stop thinking about a conversation I had with Lee yesterday so I came here to continue our talk. It isn't something that I wanted to talk about at my house or the office so I was going to make myself comfortable here and wait for Lee to wake up." As Amanda finished what she was saying she and Francine saw Lee dash from his bedroom into the kitchen. "If it's okay with you I'm going to tell Lee that he can come out of the kitchen. You came here for his male POV and I don't want to get in the way of your getting it," Amanda said as she stood up.
"I'd like Lee's input but I don't want to prevent you from continuing your conversation with him; if it wasn't important you wouldn't be here."
"We've been putting off dealing with our situation for a long time; waiting a little longer won't do any harm. Lee and I both want to be here for you; we'll try to help you if we possibly can." An irritated Lee started to make noise in the kitchen to remind his guests of his presence. "Lee, come out here and join us before you wake up your neighbors," Amanda said as she smiled at Francine. Lee came into the room dressed in jeans and a long sleeved tee; carrying three mugs of coffee.
While handing a mug to Francine Lee began to apologize to her, "I'm sorry I overreacted before; I care about you and I don't want to see you hurt again. Will you explain to me why you're involved with a guy that is expecting a baby with another woman?"
"He isn't expecting a baby with another woman," Francine tried to clarify only to be interrupted by Lee again.
"You said that the guy was thrown by becoming a father."
"The guy's name is Michael," Francine and Amanda said in unison.
"Have you met him," Lee challenged Amanda.
"No, but I'd like to meet him," Amanda replied as she glanced at Francine.
"No, no way, I think Michael has enough women in his life already," Lee huffed.
"I'm the only woman in Michael's life," Francine stated with new found confidence.
"Why did you tell Lee that Michael was going to become a father if there is no baby," a confused Amanda asked Francine.
"What I tried to tell Lee was that Michael just found out that he is a father; his daughter is fifteen years old. The girl's mother only told Michael about her because she was severely injured in an accident and won't survive unless she receives an organ donation. She doesn't want to let Michael be a part of their daughter's life she only wants his kidney."
"Oh my gosh, that's so sad, how is Michael handling the situation," Amanda asked.
"He isn't coping well at all; I don't think that he ever completely got over their divorce."
"How could he not know about the child if they were married? Are you sure that he is being straight with you," Lee asked as he tried to keep his anger under control.
"He didn't know about the baby because his wife walked out on him after only two months of marriage and he didn't hear from her again until last week," Francine defended Michael.
"He must be a real prize package if she walked out on him after only two months," Lee observed snidely.
"Who do you think you are, with your track record with women, you have no right to judge Michael," Francine yelled at Lee.
"Stop it both of you; we're all too overtired to discuss this reasonably. Francine, I think that you should try to get a couple of hours of sleep here on the sofa while Lee and I get some sleep in the bedroom," Amanda suggested strongly. Amanda grabbed Lee's hand and led him from the room before he and Francine could say anything else.