Dotty was bustling around the kitchen, preparing their Christmas Eve dinner as Philip and Jamie tried to determine what could possibly be in each wrapped box under the Christmas tree. Joe had dropped them off earlier in the afternoon, promising he would be back for dinner with his wife, Carrie. Billy had called to check on Lee and both Amanda and Lee assured him his memory was slowly coming back. Amanda was setting the table in the dining room, putting the last-minute touches on the decorations and Lee wandered from one room to the next, trying to remember everything he could.
Francine stopped by to drop off gifts for each of them before leaving to fly home to be with her family. Lee remembered almost everything about their relationship, including a case they worked on involving her ex-fiance, Jonathan. He was surprised to see how comfortable Amanda and Francine were together and couldn't hide his reaction when Francine rubbed Amanda's belly before she left.
"Lee? Can you help Mother put the goose in the oven?" Amanda called out. She was in a good mood, happily arranging dishes and centerpieces on the dining room table.
Lee strolled into the kitchen, his hands in his pockets as he replied, "What can I do to help?"
Dotty stood at the counter, her hands covered in stuffing, asked "Can you just put the goose in the oven? I should have done that first but I lost track of time…sorry…bad choice of words."
Lee chuckled, "It's ok, Dotty, I'm getting used to it. Something smells good though." He opened the oven door to find several pies, their crust golden brown. "Should I take these out first?"
Dotty nodded and pointed to the cooling racks on the counter and exclaimed, "I don't know what's wrong with me. I've lost my mind or something!"
"Grandma! You shouldn't say things like that!" Philip groaned as he entered the kitchen. "Here, I'll take out the pies, Lee, if you can lift that goose. I swear Grandma got the biggest one she could find this year." Philip slipped on a couple of oven mitts and carefully removed the pies, one by one. "Hmmm, Mom, can I have a piece of apple pie?" he called to Amanda.
"When it cools," she replied, entering the bustling room. "Lee, you might have to move that rack first."
Lee removed the extra shelf rack, slid the goose into the oven and closed the door. He looked around, unsure what to do next. Amanda, sensing his discomfort, said, "I could use some help in the other room hanging more garland on the mantle."
Lee nodded and followed Amanda into the family room once more. He was standing in the doorway when he heard Jamie giggling. "What?" he asked, confused.
Jamie pointed above Lee's head and said, "Hey, Mom, Lee's standing under the mistletoe. You know what that means."
Amanda glanced above Lee's head to find the small sprig of mistletoe clearly hanging. She rolled her eyes at Jamie and reprimanded him "Is that your idea of a joke, mister because I don't think any of us find it very funny right now?"
Jamie stood up, holding his hands up as he backed out of the room. "Hey, I just did what you asked me to do, hang decorations. I didn't know Lee was going to stop there!"
Amanda took a step closer to Lee and tried to apologize, "Lee, I'm sorry. We don't have to…"
Lee laughed and held out his hand as he said, "It's ok. We can't break traditions though, right? I think I've been learning that the last few days."
Amanda took his hand and stepped closer to him. She raised up on her toes to brush her lips across his but lost her balance. Her hands ended up on his shoulders and instinctively he caught her, one hand on her belly, the other around her waist. He looked into her deep brown eyes and slowly his lips descended on her.
As their lips touched, he felt a strange movement under his hand and a flash through his head. He stepped back, his chest heaving and eyes wide. "Amanda! Was that?" he gasped.
"The baby? Yes, you felt that?" she asked, her eyes immediately filling with tears.
"I remember! The other day! I remember!" Lee exclaimed loudly. He reached out to touch her belly once more. "Oh, baby! I remember!" He dropped to his knees and kissed her belly, much to Amanda's surprise.
"Sweetheart? What…what do you remember?" she asked confused.
Lee stood slowly, touched his head with one hand. "Everything. You washing dishes, your mother…the bowling ball…I remember everything!" He swept her into his arms, spinning her around before planting her feet back on the floor.
"But how?" Amanda whispered, tears silently sliding down her face.
Lee stopped, held her face in his hands and wiped her tears away with his thumbs as he said, "I don't know. I guess the baby wanted to make sure Christmas wasn't ruined after all."
Dotty and the boys watched from the doorway across the room, tears in her eyes as well. She put her arms around the boys and said quietly, "I guess we have our own little Christmas miracle then, don't we."