Lee Vs. Dotty

Chapter 3

As Lee pulls into the apartment complex, parking the Jeep into his space later that afternoon, he notices the King boys waiting on a bench just outside the building and mutters, "What are they doing here?"

Getting out, he shuts the driver's side door, and whistles to Phillip and Jamie, and they run over to him.

When they reach him, he asks quickly with concern, "Hey! What are you guys doing here? Is your mom okay? Your grandmother-"

Phillip puts up a hand, "They're okay, Lee. Don't worry...We're just here to see you."

Lee, eyeing the bag Jamie is holding, asks with humor, "And you brought me a present as well? I'm touched, Guys-"

As Jamie shakes his head chuckling, Phillip states, "Nah, that's for Grandma. Mom forgot her magazine at the store, so she sent us back to get it..."

Clearing his throat, Lee, narrowing his eyes at the two boys, answered, "Okay, well, since you got all the way over here, and I'm assuming your mom doesn't know you're here at all, why don't you help me take some bags in, and you can tell me what this is all about, hmm? Let's go..."

-SMK-

Meanwhile, at the house, Dotty and Amanda have finished with the groceries, and were now seated on the couch.

Amanda was looking at the cable bill that Dotty presented her with, commenting, "It's not that I mind the expense, Dear, but I'm concerned that the more changes Lee makes here, the more it could rub off on the boys...Do you understand?"

Amanda sighed, and putting the cable bill back into the envelope, remarked, "Mother, I understand your concern here, but as Lee pointed out to me earlier, he and I, with our combined income here, can afford a bit more than when I was alone after the divorce, and dealing with that budget, you know? And besides that, the boys know pretty much right from wrong, and it's not like they're trying to "pirate" the cable-"

Dotty shook her head quickly, stating, "Oh! Of course not, Darling! But can't you understand the ultimate problem here? I mean, it's just a little too much change all at once, and-"

Amanda sighed once more, realizing that this was more than just about a simple bill and queried softly, "Mother, please tell me what you're really afraid of here? I mean, I'm with a man who makes me happier than I've ever been in a very long time, and even the boys have been feeling more secure-"

Dotty answered quietly, "Well, Lee is-was a bachelor, and he's very strong, very independent, and um...well, what if, heaven forbid, he decided to l-leave, like Joe did?Where will this family be then?"

Amanda shaking her head remarked, "Mother! You know perfectly well that Joe didn't just wake up one day here and leave, for heaven's sake! He and I realized that things weren't working out, so we decided together that it was over between us! You know we tried to work things out for the sake of the boys, and you know how that turned out."

Seeing Dotty's sad expression, Amanda clasped her mother's hands in her own, and gently replied, " Alright...Listen to me, please? Nothing's so bad here that can't be worked out sensibly, if you and Lee work on it, alright? I really don't want to attend therapy sessions again, do you?"

Dotty swallowed hard and shaking her head commented slowly, "Of course not, Dear. Those boys of ours have been through enough I think, so...What do we do?"

Clearing her throat, Amanda brought over the phone, stating firmly as she handed Dotty the receiver, and dialed the apartment number, "I think you know the answer as well as I do, Mother...Stop the stubbornness, call Lee, and tell him to come home. That you want to work things out...now!"

Dotty scoffed remarking, "You know, you act more and more like your father these days! It's not necessarily a trait I wanted you to pick up, Young Lady-"

Amanda shook her head, answering, "Enough stalling, Mother! Just do it, alright? I'll be upstairs..."

As Amanda went up to the bedroom, she thought, I'm going to get those two talking if it kills me...

-SMK-

Lee and the boys had just brought the groceries in, when the phone rang.

Lee, thinking it might be Agency business, stated, putting the last bag on the counter, "Hey, Fellas? Why don't you head on into the bedroom, and find something to watch for a bit, okay? It's probably IFF, but then after this, you're going to explain why you're here, got it?"

Phillip and Jamie chimed together, "Alright..."

Closing the door to the bedroom, as Phillip switched on the TV, Jamie asked disconcertedly, "What now, Bonehead? What if it's Mom? She'll hit the ceiling for sure when she finds out we're here-"

Phillip shrugged, and waving it away answered as he flipped the TV channels from the remote, "Don't worry. I'll handle it...Let's find a good movie..."

Jamie, sitting down on the bed next to Phillip, sighed, knowing there would be a lot of talking from their mother when they finally did get home...

Lee, still in the kitchen, picked up the phone, answered, "Stetson..."

Dotty replied, "Hello, Lee. It's Dotty. How are you?"

Lee, wary, cleared his throat, stating, "Oh, um...Fine, Dotty. How are you?"

Dotty sighed remarking, "Feeling a bit out of sorts, I'm afraid. I wonder, do you mind coming back here so we can work out whatever my daughter thinks is wrong here?"

Suddenly, from the background, he heard Amanda yelling, "Mother!", and started to chuckle, thinking, Ahh, that wife of mine! Always trying to fix things!

Dotty, hearing Lee laugh, asked, "What's so amusing, Young Man? If you think our problem is that trivial, then I'll just hang up right now-"

Lee, recovering from laughter, answered quickly, as he came out of the kitchen, while holding the phone, "N-No, it's not, Dotty! But a situation just came up here that's having this all make sense now! Yes, I will be back there soon, and we'll straighten everything out, huh? Bye."

Hanging up, he shook his head thinking, What is with this family?!

He then called out, "Boys! Get out here now! We have to talk!"

Phillip and Jamie emerged from the bedroom and Phillip remarked, "Jeez, Lee! We just found something to watch, and-"

Lee sputtered, "Al-Alright! Scooby Doo can wait, huh? Shut the TV off, and park it here on the couch, will ya?"

Jamie chortled, "C'mon, Lee! Even I'm too old for that stuff-"

Lee narrowed his eyes, commenting with a gesture, "Who cares?! Get the magazine, and both of you park your butts right here on the couch, so we can finally talk about exactly why you're here...Move it!"

A few moments later, Phillip and Jamie, with the grocery bag. settled themselves on the couch, and Lee sat in the chair next to the couch and asked calmly, "Okay, who wants to start here?"

Phillip remarked slowly, "Well, Mom sent us out to get Grandma's magazine earlier, because she wanted to talk to Grandma after you left, and told us we could get ice cream too..."

Lee nodded asked, "Okay, what happened after that?"

Jamie swallowed, replying, "Well, I thought about how mad you and Grandma were, so I asked Phillip if he thought you were mad enough to move out-"

Phillip cut him off commenting, " See, when Mom and Dad split up, they were just as mad, but I told Jamie then that they were just mad, and they'd get over it...but they didn't...So, Lee? Would you tell us if you're mad enough to leave for good?"

Lee was stunned by the boys' explanation, and swallowing hard, got up from the chair, and motioning them to make room for him on the couch, sat down between them and said, putting his arms around them, "Fellas, I'm here to tell you that I love this family completely, and nothing on God's green earth is going to ever make me walk out that door."

Holding them close then, he stated softly, " Now, your grandmother and I are having some problems, but just now, I was talking to her on the phone, and agreed to head home after I work out a situation, but don't worry. I didn't tell her you were here, because I wanted us to talk first, okay?"

The boys silently nodded, and Lee sighed, and giving them a reassuring hug responded, "Alright. Now that we've settled things here, we'll just call your mom from the car...Let's go..."

A few minutes later, as Lee and the boys drove out of Lee's apartment complex, to head back to Arlington, Lee commented with a swallow , "Guys, I'm really sorry I scared you enough to think that...Well, anyway, let's call home now..."

TBC