Chapter 8

One Week Later

"Hey, Mom! When is dinner going to be ready?", Phillip yelled from upstairs.

Amanda sighed heavily as she finished wiping down the kitchen counter.

"Why can't they ever come down here and ask me a question instead of yelling all the time?", Amanda muttered to herself. "I told you, when Lee gets here with the pizzas!".

"Well, when will that be? We're starving!", Phillip answered back.

"Soon, fellas! Very soon!"

Amanda was also wondering when Lee would arrive. He had called an hour ago to say he got hung up talking to Billy and he would be on his way shortly. She hoped that he would be here soon or the ravenous teenagers from upstairs were going to turn on her and start eating whatever they could get their hands on.

"Huh! Sorry I'm late", Lee called out as he entered the kitchen through the outside door.

Amanda rushed over and put her arms around his waist and pulled him into her. Lee bent down and gave her a kiss.

"I was getting worried about you. Everything ok with Billy?"

"Yeah…yeah everything is ok. Great actually. I can't believe how everyone has reacted to finding out we got married."

Amanda's eyes got wide for a moment as she shushed Lee and pointed upstairs. Lee nodded in understanding that she didn't want the boys to hear them talk about the M word. He released Amanda and leaned against the kitchen island.

"It's like no one was shocked at all that we were together."

Amanda laughed in her throat.

"I know what you mean. All Francine said to me the first time we talked after we announced it was, 'It's about time'".

Lee thought for a moment. The left corner of his mouth turned up in a devilish smile.

"Well, I guess we didn't do too good of a job at hiding our feelings, did we, Mrs. Stetson?"

"Guess not. You would think given our jobs; we would be better at that. But I sure am glad it's out in the open at work. I didn't realize how much the stress of people finding out was weighing on me."

"Yeah…..me too", he said as he took her hands in his. "Me too".

"MOM! Is he here yet?" Jamie shouted from the upstairs landing.

Lee and Amanda both jumped at the bellowing teen.

"Yes!" she called back to them.

Within an instant, Phillip and Jamie descended the stairs heading towards pizza salvation.

"Where's the pizza?", Amanda asked.

Lee's eyes grew wide, and a look of panic spread across his face.

"Oh, Amanda. I forgot all about picking it up."

"Hey, Lee", the boys said in unison.

"Where's the pizza, mom?" Jamie asked.

"Uh…sorry fellas, I forgot to grab it." Lee confessed.

The boys looked at Lee with utter disappointment on their faces.

"But I'm going to go get it right now!" He said removing the keys from his pocket.

"Can we come?" Phillip asked.

Amanda smiled as she watched the boys interacting with Lee. It filled her heart to see them being at ease with each other and no longer have those awkward interactions like when they first met.

"Sure, but we will have to take your mom's car", Lee said as he winked at Amanda.

"My keys are right there", she said pointing to the counter. "I'll set the table while you're gone."

"Shotgun!", Jamie screamed as he ran through the door, Phillip fast on his heels behind him.

"Be right back", Lee said ask he blew Amanda a kiss.

They had barely pulled out of the restaurant's parking lot before Phillip had one of the boxes open and was shoving a piece of pizza in his mouth.

"Hey! I want one!", Jamie shouted as he reached into the back seat and waited for Phillip to hand him a slice."

"Aww, come on guys! Can't you wait until we get home?"

"Nope! Sorry. I was ready to eat 2 hours ago!" Phillip said as he chewed on the crust of his now devoured slice.

"Yeah, me, too!"

Lee let out a heavy sigh.

"Ok, but no more. Wait until we can sit down and eat with your mother and grandmother."

Lee's statement came a second too late as Phillip pulled another slice of pepperoni out of the box. Lee gave him a warning look in the rearview mirror. Phillip smiled sheepishly as he tore the piece in two and handed the other half to Jamie.

"Sorry, Lee! We're growing boys!" Phillip replied with a hefty dose of sarcasm as he repeated the phrase he had heard his mother say so often as they ate her out of house and home.

"Last one! I mean it!" Lee said trying to hide a smile.

Lee remembered those days from when he was a teenager. He could eat all day long and still be hungry.

"Hey, Lee?" Jamie began.

"Yeah, sport?"

"We think it's really cool that you love our mom so much."

Lee swallowed hard. He was taken aback by this statement. He wasn't sure how to answer it.

"Yeah, we do", Phillip added. "And we can sure tell she loves you. She's always so happy."

"Yeah. I like it when she's happy. Wasn't always that way you know." Jamie stated.

Lee turned into the driveway of 4247 Maplewood Drive and turned off the car.

"No?" Lee asked.

"Nah. Not always. But she is now, and we think that's really cool." Phillip said.

"Thanks, fellas. I sure do love her a lot. And you two as well."

"We love you too, Lee. Now let's eat!", Phillip said as he dashed out of the car and into the house carrying the two pizza boxes. Jamie slammed his door and ran after his brother into the house.

"Welcome back! I have the table all set. Shall we sit right down?" Amanda said.

"Sure. Where's Dotty?" Lee asked.

"She is out with Captain Kurt. Things aren't going well there. I think this will be the last time they go out."

Lee grimaced.

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that but I'm so happy to be here with you and the boys. You know what they told me in the car?"

"What?" she said as she grinned widely.

"They said that they were glad that I loved their mom so much. And that they could tell that you loved me a lot, too….and.."

Lee swallowed hard to avoid getting a catch in his voice that he felt coming.

"And they said they loved me."

"Oh, Sweetheart!" Amanda wrapped her arms around Lee and pulled him close. He put his head on her shoulder and drank in the love that he felt all around him.

"Can we eat?" one of the boys called from the dining room. This caused Lee and Amanda to snap out of their embrace and begin to laugh.

"Yes! We're coming right now!" Amanda said as she led Lee to the dining room while holding his hand.

Lee and Amanda sat down and observed that one of the pizzas was more than half gone.

"Did you leave any for us?" Lee said.

"Yeah, of course! We haven't even touched this one." Phillip said as he opened the second box.

Amanda put a piece of pizza on Lee's plate and took one for herself.

"Fellas, Lee said you had a nice chat in the car", Amanda said with a very warm and loving tone to her voice.

Jamie and Phillip looked at each other for a quick moment, momentarily embarrassed.

"I think it's great!", Amanda said reassuringly.

Phillip continued eating his pizza and Jamie thought for a moment before speaking.

"We're really happy that we have Lee in our lives. He's really cool and loves you a lot, and we like that."

"We do have one question", Phillip chimed in.

"Ok, shoot", Lee said as he picked up his glass of water and took a sip.

"Well…we were just wondering when you were going to tell us that you got married."

Lee began to choke on his water and Amanda let out a gasp so loud, the neighbors probably heard it.

"What did you say?" she finally said after she got her breath back.

"We just wanted to know when you were going to tell us that you got married", Phillip stated again.

"How did you….." Amanda began. "Who told you…." Lee said overlapping Amanda's exclamations.

"We overheard you talking to Grandma last week, Mom. You said something about feeling better now that everyone knew at work that you and Lee were married", Jamie began. "And Grandma asked when you were going to tell me and Phillip."

Amanda looked at her boys and then at Lee. No words would come to her mind.

"Boys.." was all she managed to get out.

"Don't worry! We think it's awesome. We were just wondering when you were going to tell us and when Lee was going to move in", Phillip added as he took a huge bite out of the slice of mushroom pizza in his hand.

Lee could hear Amanda swallow hard and let out her breath.

"You do? You think it's awesome?" she asked.

"Oh yeah!" they both replied at once.

"We didn't tell you because….."Lee began.

"Oh, we know. You wanted us to get to know you better before you told us. We heard you and Grandma talking about that, too", Jamie continued. "So, do you know us well enough now?"

Amanda grabbed Lee hand and gave it a squeeze. They both smiled at each other and then at the boys.

"Yeah, I think I do", Lee said as a smile spread across his face.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. I wanted to make things as easy as I could on you two. I know you weren't thrilled when your dad got married to Carrie. I didn't want to put too much on you at once."

Jamie and Phillip let out a chuckle.

"Mom, we weren't thrilled when dad and Carrie got married because Carrie treats us like babies. She's nice and all but we don't really like hanging around her. Lee is cool and doesn't treat us like we're 5."

"Well, that's good to know, Phillip", Amanda said. "We got married in February. And now that everyone knows, I guess we can talk about making it official."

"Does that mean Lee is moving in?" Jamie asked with great excitement.

"Well, sport…..We haven't really talked about the logistics of it all yet. I might move in here or we might look for a bigger house. We're not sure yet", Lee said hoping that he answered their questions appropriately.

Phillip and Jamie looked slightly disappointed.

"Now that you two know, we can start talking about it and figure something out right away", Amanda replied.

Phillip and Jamie seemed appeased with that answer.

"Alright, that sounds good. Maybe you could just stay over a few nights and see how you like it", Jamie stated rather innocently.

"Ya know, that sounds like a pretty good idea, champ. Good thinking", Lee answered as he squeezed Amanda's hand.

Amanda tried to control the big smile that was about to erupt across her entire face. She had waited an eternity to truly be together and behave as husband and wife. Now it seemed that it was coming to fruition.

"Is there anything else you two want to talk about?", Amanda asked.

"Nope, I don't think so", Phillip replied. "Can we be excused?"

"Sure, you can. Just put your cups and plates into the sink. We will take care of them later."

The boys pushed themselves away from the table and cleared their dishes. A moment later, pounding footsteps could be heard on the stairs as they ran back up to their room.

Lee flopped back into his chair and let out a heavy sigh.

"Wow! I never thought…."

"Me neither. Certainly didn't go at all like I ever imagined it would.", Amanda quickly added. "I guess that cat is out of the bag now. No one left in the dark. I can be Mrs. Stetson and you can be my husband."

Lee picked up Amanda's hand and kissed it lightly.

"I love being your husband."

Amanda smiled lovingly at her spouse.

"And I think that Jamie was on to something. I think I should stay overnight and see how I like it. What do you think?"

"How about tonight?" she said in a seductive tone.

"You read my mind, Mrs. Stetson!"