Author's note: I apologize for the delay in posting this new chapter. Unfortunately, real life obligations took a big chunk out of my usual writing time. Thank you to everybody who posted reviews; I love receiving reader feedback. And now, on with the story...
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"Are you sure that telling your mother about me is a good idea," Lee asked doubtfully.
"Yes, you said it yourself; Mother has been matchmaking because she wants to see me settled in a loving relationship with a good man. Once I tell her about you-"
"You'll have a whole new set of problems," Lee sagged against the back of the sofa and continued, "because she'll ask all sorts of questions about me. What are you going to do when she wants to meet me?"
"She wouldn't be a good mother if she didn't have a ton of questions about you. I plan to answer her questions as honestly as possible considering that I'm not prepared to tell Mother and the boys about the Agency yet. After I've answered her initial questions we can arrange for you to meet the family officially. Aren't you tired of skulking around in my yard?"
"Skulking comes naturally to me; meeting the family of the woman in my life doesn't. If you tell your mother about my background it'll be a miracle if she doesn't ramp up her campaign to get you and Joe back together. As much as I'd like to be part of your family I might not fit in. They could hate me." Lee raked his hand through his hair and then reached for the champagne glass in front of him and emptied it in one gulp.
"Relax, they won't hate you."
"I don't know why you are so sure that they'll accept me. I haven't been part of a traditional family in over thirty years and as you've pointed out to me on numerous occasions my lifestyle is far from normal. Maybe I'm meant to go through life alone?"
"I can't imagine my life without you in it; so your days as a loner are over, Buster. I'll have a quick conversation with Mother when I stop by the house in the morning"
"Stop by the house in the morning?" Lee tugged at his shirt collar and looked at Amanda anxiously. "I thought that we agreed that tonight isn't -"
"We did agree," Amanda interrupted, "but I'd still like to stay here with you. I really don't want to go home yet; please let me sleep here on the sofa."
"You can definitely stay the night but you don't need to sleep on the sofa. We've shared a bed before…there is no reason why we shouldn't now. We can snuggle tonight and then I'll take an extremely cold shower in the morning. You are always welcome here." Lee pulled Amanda into his arms and they shared a series of lingering kisses until she slowly pulled back from him.
"I think I'm enjoying this too much…if we don't stop now neither one of us will want to settle for just cuddling tonight. Let's hit the sack now. You need to elevate your ankle and I need to get some sleep; I have a busy day ahead of me."
"You said that you're going to stop by your house in the morning…what do you plan to do tomorrow? Does it involve your family?"
"I volunteered to help out at a New Year's Day party at a community food pantry. It is a great way to do something to help families that haven't been as fortunate as mine. Mother and the boys went with me last year but this year I plan to go alone. I have to stop by the house to pick up some things that I left behind when I rushed out earlier."
"I assume that you're talking about the bags of groceries that Joe said you didn't need. You amaze me…your own budget is pretty tight but you're still donating groceries as well as your time to help complete strangers."
"It's no big deal; it is a small way that I can help to make life a little bit better for some people who are going through a tough time in their lives. A group of us goes to local businesses to ask them to donate food to the pantry so that the families who need help can come and 'shop' our shelves. We also ask the restaurants in the area to donate food so that we can host a party today. Our guests can socialize during the meal and then the mothers can pick out some food to take home from the pantry. We have other volunteers who play with the kids while the moms are busy. It isn't easy for these people to admit that they need help so we try to make the day as low key and social as we can."
"Do you need another volunteer? I'll do whatever needs to be done," Lee offered eagerly.
"Are you sure you're ready to spend several hours trapped in a suburban community center?" I don't want him getting scared off before he meets Mother and the boys.
"It'll be good practice for me…I can spend some time mingling with normal people before I meet your family. We'll have a chance to be like other suburban couples. I want that; I'm so tired of looking at most of your life from the outside."
"You won't have to do that from now on; when we aren't working we are going to be like any other couple." Amanda stood up and glanced back at Lee who remained seated. "C'mon Big Fella, lend me a pair of pajamas, it'll be morning before you know it." Lee rose from the sofa and he and Amanda walked towards his bedroom hand in hand.
Six hours later Amanda woke up snuggled against Lee with her face resting on his chest.
"Good morning," Lee greeted her in a rough voice with a contented smile on his face.
"For someone who isn't a morning person you seem to be in a very good mood."
"I never would have guessed that it would feel so incredibly right." Lee kissed Amanda's forehead and pushed a wayward curl off her face.
"You didn't know what would feel so right," she asked sleepily.
"Waking up with the woman I love in my arms," he responded as his hazel eyes gazed into her brown eyes.
"Oh my gosh, did you just say-"
"I love you, Amanda; I have for a long time. I just didn't…" Lee shyly turned away from her.
Amanda picked up her head and looked at Lee with a warm smile. "Lee, I love you and I'm scared too. One thing that I've learned over the past couple of years is that we can handle anything as long as we face it together. I'll go talk to Mother and then I'll meet you at the community center at ten. We'll need a couple of hours to get everything set up before the guests start to arrive at noon." Amanda started to get up and then looked back at Lee. "I'll go start the coffee; you can go back to sleep for a little while."
"I'm too excited to sleep; go take your shower while I start the coffee and make breakfast."
"You're going to eat breakfast? I don't think I'm ready for this much change all at once," she teased.
"I didn't say that I was going to eat it; I'm just going to make it for you. Let's get moving…we have a big day ahead of us."