Lee sat on the edge of the footstool, leaning forward with his face only inches from the TV, his fists clenched and his body tense. It was the top of the ninth and his Washington Nationals were trailing Dottie's team, the Phillies. Dottie sat complacently on the sofa casually reading a magazine, secretly enjoying her son-in-law's anxiety. She smiled to herself, for it was pretty obvious that she was going to be winning the bet they had made two days ago.
She heard the SMACK as the ball hit the firm leather of the catcher's glove, which was closely followed by Lee giving a hoarse cry and covering his head in his hands. Dottie got up from the sofa and playfully ruffled his hair on her way past him. "Don't worry, Lee," she said with a hint of glee in her voice. "I just know you're going to be the star of the show!"
She returned shortly carrying a small paper bag, and handed it to him with a big grin. Lee looked up at his mother-in-law and a realization swept over him. He had the same friendly-adversarial relationship with her as he had had with Amanda as their relationship was developing. Underneath the gently-sparring exterior was a bond of total acceptance and love. Something he'd been petrified of while he was getting to know Amanda, and something that had prevented him from knowing the true happiness that was now his entire life. Best of all, he knew Dottie felt the same.
As he took the bag and peered into it, his face grew red and his cheeks began burning in embarrassment. "NO!" he exclaimed. "Please, Dottie, no!"
"A bet's a bet, Lee!" she reminded him. "You promised! I swore I'd eat your famous squid with enoki mushrooms if the Phillies lost, which they did NOT!" she reminded him. "Own your loss and be a man, Stetson!" she winked at him.
"Philip! Jamie! Amanda!" she yelled, her voice ringing through the beach house. "Start getting ready!"
Philip came bounding down the stairs, wearing his bathing suit and eager to get to the beach. This was going to be great! For the second year in a row, the Bombers had won the championship under Lee's tutelage, and as a celebration, they'd rented a place at the shore. "Let's GO!" he yelled at both his grandmother and stepfather, seeing that neither of them was even close to being ready.
Dottie smiled and gently pulled Lee off the hassock, where he was still mourning his loss and impending humiliation. She thought she saw him grin, as if he had something planned that wasn't part of their bargain. Gently pushing him towards the stairs, she found herself thanking God that he was part of their family. She loved him so very much.
A half-hour later, Philip, Lee, Dottie, and Amanda were all gathered back in the living room, ready for the block-long hike to the beach. "JAMIE!" Amanda yelled in her beautiful, slightly raspy voice. "Are you coming?"
"In a bit!" he yelled in his now-usual perturbed manner. He was seemingly putting off everything anymore, even going to the beach, which up until this year had been one of his favorite places. Amanda sighed and shrugged her shoulders. Jamie, being Jamie, was not about to share his issues with anyone until he was ready. Besides, she was as eager to get to the ocean as everyone else in her family, including her husband. "We're leaving!" she proclaimed after a few more moments.
Lee chuckled a bit, shook his head, and headed toward the door, wondering what was up with Jamie, and motioning for Philip to help him out with the five beach chairs, the picnic basket, the two bags of supplies, and the beach umbrellas. "Amanda!" he remembered. "Did you . . . . "
"Yes, dear, I did," his wife answered, knowing exactly what he was asking about. "BLTs, toasted wheat, crisp bacon, and a touch of mayo. Lots of 'em, just for you." She took his T-shirt in her fists and pulled him close, kissing him deeply. "Because I love you!"
Soon, they were on their way towards the cool breeze and salty air of the ocean. Lee, wearing his red T-shirt with "Bombers" written on it and a pair of "Dad-like" swim trunks, padded along in his flip-flops, carrying three beach chairs over one arm and one of the umbrellas in the other. Amanda, by his side, looking spectacular in her pink beach coverup, Dottie, also wearing a "Bomber" T-shirt and pair of shorts, and Philip all shared the rest of the load. Philip was wearing just his bathing suit so he could better show off his burgeoning teen-aged male form to any passing girls, was emulating Lee as much as possible by attempting to carry more than he was able. They were almost to the end of the block before Jamie, breathless from running, caught up with them.
"You OK, sport?" Lee asked him.
"Oh, sure," was his flat, sarcastic response.
Once they were on the soft, warm sand, they found an open spot and started setting up. Because it was the end of the season, the beach wasn't overly crowded. While Dottie and Amanda spread out the blankets, Lee and Philip plunged the umbrellas deep into the sand, and Jamie rummaged in one of the bags for his book. Amanda slipped out of her beach cover and Lee stopped everything to look at her, his heart swelling with pride. She was wearing a spectacular navy-blue one-piece bathing suit, and her baby bump was just beginning to show. Radiant as always, she was now actually glowing, and Lee could not possibly have been any happier or more content with his universe. It was truly utopia.
"OK, Lee," Dottie intoned in a humorous firm voice. "Your turn!"
Feigning embarrassment, Lee shucked off his flip flops into the sand. In one fell swoop, he peeled his T-shirt over his head and tossed it into the bag across the blanket. "TWO POINTS!" Philip yelled, pumping both arms high in the air. Dottie no longer recoiled in horror or curled her toes into her sneakers at the sight of her son-in-law's bare torso. The first time she'd seen him shirtless, she was aghast at the road map of scars he bore. His well-muscled, taught frame showed all too well how many injuries he'd incurred throughout his career. She could only guess how much he had suffered, but she knew that from the point he'd entered their lives, that she was his mother as well as his mother-in-law. The entire family, well, most of them, had banded together and made Lee feel immediately that he was a true part of the family.
Lee motioned to Philip and Jamie. "You two ready for the waves?" he asked hopefully.
"They might be, but you're not!" Dottie reminded him. "Phillies 6, Nationals 2!"
Sighing loudly, Lee looked at Amanda, then looked downward and dug his big toe into the sand. "Drum roll, please!" Dottie announced, and Philip made a "burrrrrring" sound with his tongue. With resolution, Lee gripped the waistband of his swim trunks and resolvedly pulled them down over his thighs in one fell swoop. He stepped out of them and tossed THEM into the bag as well.
He stood before them in a speedo, its navy-blue color matching Amanda's nearly exactly. He spread his arms wide, asking for their input. Amanda leaned over and gave her husband a big kiss and a pat on his butt. "You look INCREDIBLE, Tiger!" she growled seductively into his ear. Philip rolled his eyes just a bit, but Jamie yelled "What the heck is THAT? It's disgusting! NO ONE wears those anymore!"
"They do if they lose a bet to your grandmother!" Lee corrected him, smiling. He'd decided that since it was only five or six years since he'd sunbathed in Borneo wearing a LOT less, that doing this for Dottie wasn't such an awful thing. Lee had realized that Dottie was more interested in seeing him in a tiny swimsuit than she was in embarrassing him. He really didn't have a bad body, even though he had been mangled, was in his thirties, married, and with a baby on the way. Starting at his upper chest, he moved his hands down his body and out to his sides, trying to look like a fashion model, and slowly turned around in the sand for his mother-in-law's examination and approval. "Well?" he asked her when he was finished.
"Very nice!" Dottie replied with a huge grin. "I DID take it easy on you, you know. I could have gotten one with much less coverage on the sides!" she informed him.
Amanda put her arm around her husband's bare waist and pulled him close so she could whisper into his ear. "You just wait until later, stud!"
Philip had started scanning the beach for some potential friends . . . he grabbed a frisbee from the bag and took off, eager to enjoy himself and have some fun. Jamie glared at Lee, then opened his book and lay down on the blanket on his belly, propping himself on his elbows and disappearing into its pages.
"Would you care for a walk, Mrs. Stetson?" Lee offered his arm to Amanda. "It's absolutely beautiful here!" he continued. "As are you!"
Lee and Amanda strolled hand-in-hand along the ocean, its waves lapping around their bare feet. Dottie watched them from a distance, so very happy that Lee had entered their lives. Philip had, of course, found a group of teenagers to hang with, and Jamie was long gone into the depths of his book.
"This is incredible, isn't it?" Lee asked his wife. Even though they were married, they rarely had any time alone together. "Are you doing OK?" he asked her.
"EVERYTHING with you is incredible, sweetheart!" she responded. "And yes, I'm great!" Her hand guided his to her belly, and he gently put his palm over his unborn child.
They turned around, not wanting to stray too far from everyone else, and Amanda started to notice how people were looking at Lee. Yes, he was wearing outdated swimwear, but he looked DAMN FINE in it, and he was HERS! She almost thought of him as a trophy husband, for after all his many conquests, the handsome spy had settled down with HER, a housewife from Arlington. Her smile broadened even more as they made their way back in the warm sunshine to the rest of the family. She snuggled into his protecting form, enjoying the feeling of the sun's soaking rays and his bare skin on hers.
"HEADS UP, LEE!" Philip's voice broke the spell as a yellow frisbee came soaring at them.
Lee jumped high in the air, reaching out for the saucer flying in his direction. He caught it deftly and sent it expertly back towards Philip and his newly-established group.
"Your dad is SO COOL!" one of the girls exclaimed.
"He's my "step" dad," Philip replied, using air quotes. "But he sure is, ain't he?" Lee looked at Amanda, and they both grinned in pleasure. They relished the way Philip and Lee had become so comfortable together.
"Here it comes again, Lee!" Philip sent the frisbee wafting through the air. Once again, Lee captured it and it went flying back towards its sender. "Come play with us, Mr. King!" someone in the group yelled. Lee looked at Amanda questioningly. She knew he wanted to, and she consented. "Go ahead, sweetie! I'll go back with Mother and Jamie. I'm a bit tired, anyway."
Lee gave his wife a long, lingering kiss, then went running towards Philip and his group of friends. Amanda watched him frolicking in the sand like a teenager and enjoying himself immensely. Dottie was watching, too, enjoying his male form in its tiny speedo gyrating and sweating as he caught and sailed the frisbee with kids half his age.
"He sure is having a blast, isn't he?" Dottie observed. Jamie looked up and snorted. "He looks stupid!"
"He's finally getting to do some of the things he didn't get to do when he was a boy," Amanda answered, hoping Jamie would truly hear her. "He never had brothers or sisters, never really got to know his parents, never had a vacation, and got moved from place to place to place ALL the time when he was living with the Colonel. "Fun" was something he never got the chance to experience until he met up with us! And look how much fun he's having!" She looked directly at Jamie now. "How much fun are YOU having?" she asked him seriously. "You could be reading back home."
Jamie, absorbed in his book, said nothing. But within a few moments, he tucked the volume, as well as his glasses, into the beach bag, and went off to see about joining the gang enjoying the Frisbee in the surf.
For a while, Amanda and Dottie watched them all. "Mother, I don't know what's with Jamie. Again." Amanda pondered. "He and Lee were ALMOST on the same track, but then something happened and they derailed."
"He's a teenager now, darling," Dottie answered. "And that adds plenty more to the picture."
Looking up, they saw that Jamie had settled a bit into the group, and was contentedly tossing the Frisbee with the others. "Let's go for a stroll, Amanda," Dottie suggested. Although she really wanted to just rest, Amanda got to her feet, knowing that Jamie might stay down by the ocean a little longer if they weren't there waiting for him.
At some point, though, Jamie returned rather hurriedly to the blanket. Happy that his mother and grandmother had gone off somewhere, he rifled through the basket, retrieved his book and glasses, quickly laid down on his stomach, and picked up where he'd left off. He was contentedly reading once again when a big shadow cast itself over the pages. He looked up to see Lee looming above him.
"You OK, Jamie?" he asked. "You left pretty quick there."
Jamie looked up at his stepfather angrily. "How can you wear something like that?" he retorted, taking Lee aback. "All those girls there! What if you . . . What if it . . . . ?" Red-faced, he desperately sought for words, then gave up and returned to his book. Reading it on his belly.
It slowly dawned on Lee what was bothering Jamie. He, too had been a teenager, and knew all about the changes in his body. He lay down on his belly next to his stepson and gently pushed his book down onto the blanket, silently cursing Joe King for not having given Jamie "the talk" before he'd left.
"Jamie," he began. "What's going on is perfectly normal and natural. Your body is getting used to its new self. It happens to EVERYONE, believe me." He swallowed hard, then continued. "It happened to me ALL the time when I was your age. After a while, it calms down and gets less and less frequent."
Jamie looked at Lee with a mixture of disbelief and gratefulness. "Even at SCHOOL!" he exclaimed.
"That's why they have you sit at desks," Lee smiled. "I really found them helpful!"
"And in the morning! All the time!"
"Yup! EVERY morning, Jamie!" Lee winked. "Get used to that!"
"You mean not just when you and mom . . . . ?" Jamie trailed off, embarrassed.
"Nope. Every morning. Like clockwork! Just as the sun . . uh . . comes up!"
Jamie laughed, and so did Lee.
"When things get . . . well . . . ready, would you come back and join us? You've got pretty good frisbee form!" Lee asked.
"Yeah, I will, Lee," he responded. "But I tell you, if that Kristy keeps talking to me, I might have to come back here again!"
Lee smiled, and got up from the blanket somewhat slowly, for he was a bit sore already. He started back towards the ocean, then turned back to Jamie. "Something else," he added. "If you need to, a good dip in the ocean calms things down pretty quick, too!"
Jamie watched as Lee made his way towards the tide and the group of teenagers, just in time to meet Amanda and Dottie coming back from their walk along the shore, where they'd been gathering seashells. "Oh, Lee, Darling!" Dottie began excitedly. "Amanda and I saw the best little restaurant up by the pier on our excursion. The sign says they're famous for their clams. "Let's go there for dinner, shall we?" She reached up and gave her son-in-law a peck on the cheek before heading up towards their homebase, where Jamie was still reading.
Lee took Amanda's hand, and then led her into the ocean, where they stood in waist-deep and their arms around each other in the surf, kissing occasionally and talking. Jamie looked in their direction and smiled. Perhaps Lee was a better dad, and a better friend, then he'd originally thought.