Oh My Gosh

Chapter 16

While Lee was on the phone with his uncle to invite him to dinner at Amanda's, she had then returned to the family room as she heard him gasp, stating, "T-Tomorrow night? I-I dunno about that , Sir...Her family is busy, and-"

Lee then groaned inwardly, thinking, What the hell did you say that for, you idiot!

He and Amanda had already talked about just the two of them having dinner with the Colonel to tell them about their engagement and of Amanda's pregnancy, but Lee had just blown everything out of the water!

Amanda shaking her head, went to Lee, and remarked quickly, with a gesture, "Give-Give me the phone, Lee! I'll fix it...Please?"

Having no other choice, Lee handed the phone to Amanda, answering softly, "I'm-I'm sorry, Honey...I-I don't know what-"

But Amanda, waving it away, spoke into the phone, "Colonel? It's Amanda...How are you...No, no, it's fine...It was... Just a scheduling thing with the boys' sports, but Lee mixed up the dates...Um, tomorrow night? Six-thirty? Absolutely, Sir, you come right ahead. We'd love to have you join us for dinner...Anything special you'd like? No, no, I insist...Alright, thank you, Sir, and we'll see you tomorrow evening...What? Oh, of course, Sir..Here's Lee again. Good night."

Amanda, chagrined, handed the phone back to Lee, commenting nervously, "Now I'm sorry..."

Lee grinned, whispering, "It's okay, Sweetie...He makes everyone nervous."

Getting back on, Lee cleared his throat, replying stiffly, "Hello, Sir...Yes...What?"

Swallowing hard then, he answered, "Y-Yes, Sir, we do need to discuss something with you anyway, b-but we really do want you here for dinner, alright? Okay, so, we'll see you tomorrow...Six-thirty sharp, Yes, yes, Sir...Fine, good night, Sir..."

Hanging up, finally, Lee groaned as he shook his head, responding, "What are we going to do?"

Amanda shrugged reproachfully, "If you just hadn't mentioned the family! Lee! We were going to lead up to that!"

Lee nodded stating loudly, "I-I know, I know, but you saw how the situation just snowballed! We-We couldn't get out of it by then-"

Suddenly, Dotty had come down the stairs quickly, asking, "Is everything all right? I heard you both loud and clear! What's going on?!"

-SMK-

Lee, swallowing hard, put up a hand, commenting, "I-I'm sorry, Dotty...We-We didn't wake the boys, did we?"

Dotty shook her head answering, "No, I just checked and they're still asleep, thank goodness...Now, what's all the ruckus about?"

Lee replied slowly, "Well, that was my uncle on the phone-um, I called him, because Amanda and I wanted to explain the current situation with him, and invited him to dinner here for tomorrow night."

Dotty shrugged lightly commenting, "Oh, that's fine, Dear. Then we'll all get a chance to meet him."

Amanda, without thinking, then blurted out, "Yes, you'll like him, Mother. He was very nice at dinner when I met him a couple of years ago-"

When Lee then glared at Amanda, she realized her blunder, and started to speak, but Dotty cut her off, querying sharply, "Just-Just a moment, Young Lady! Are you trying to tell me that you've already met his uncle?!"

When Lee then tried to interject, Dotty, looking at her daughter, put up a hand, responding, "Just a moment, Lee! Alright, Amanda...How is it possible that Lee only just met the boys recently, but that you already know his uncle?"

Amanda sighed, and commented, "Well, you see, Mother-"

Lee jumped in quickly, stating, "Dotty, my uncle is Colonel Robert Clayton of the U.S. Air Force...He's very by-the book, and he was the one who raised me from the time I was seven years old. He and I have had what you might call a rather cantankerous relationship from the get go...Now, I was between girlfriends at the time, when Amanda learned about him at IFF, and he insisted on getting together for dinner, and Amanda was there at the moment when I was on the phone, so I threw her name out to him, and she agreed...Only to make the evening more tolerable...See, he and I are like oil and water usually, and Amanda was just there to help smooth things along, you see?"

Dotty, shaking her head, then asked flippantly, as she went to the freezer to open it to inspect the contents, "Alright! So, what are we to serve the man? I assume he's used to the finer things? I must tell you, however, that we do not have Chateau Briand in this house!"

Lee jumped up quickly to reassure her, stating, "N-No, it's okay, Dotty! He's basically a meat and potatoes man anyway! Anything you have will be fine, I promise you."

Shutting the freezer, Dotty sighed, and remarked, "I'm sorry...How about Beef Stroganoff?"

Amanda, going to her side, hugged her, answering gently, "That's perfect, Mother...He'll love that. Thank you...And don't worry about the boys. We'll get them ready as well...Everything will be fine. You'll see..."

Later, as Amanda walked Lee out to the driveway, to his car to say good night, Lee, hugging Amanda, commented, "We'll sink or swim with this dinner, Honey, so we'd better bring life rafts to be safe, huh?"

Amanda, nodding as she returned the hug, stated with a gulp, "Y-Yeah...Let's cross our fingers, too."

Lee chuckled softly, and kissing her then, replied, "I'm with you there...Good night..."

Amanda, stroking his cheek, answered warmly, "Good night, Sweetheart. "

Amanda watched as Lee pulled out, and with a final wave to him as he left the neighborhood, thought, as she went back into the house, locked up, and headed up to her bedroom, Hope this is the last hurdle we have to get through. Whew...

TBC