'So much for our night,' Lee sighed inwardly, looking up into the steely eyes of one Meredith Morgan as she and Amanda quietly sized each other up. 'What happened to the odds being in our favor?'
Eyeing the newcomer with a careful look, one that he used to only reserve for the prominent dates in his life, Lee checked her out thoroughly. She held herself with an air of superiority shoulders back and straight, chin firm. She wasn't bad looking. The years had been kind to her. Her skin was still soft and creamy, well tanned as far as her dress line allowed the eyes to explore. In his opinion, she had a few more pounds placed throughout her form than Amanda did, but she carried it well and didn't allow the extra fat to interfere with her looks.
'The hair's definitely bleached,' he mused quickly in his examination. 'I've seen enough saloon jobs in my time to spot those roots anywhere.' Trailing his eyes downward, he took in her too perfect nails and their bright red coloring to match the skin-tight dress she had clearly been poured into. 'Wonder when the last time was those hands saw a decent days work?'
With a sigh, he relaxed back into his chair, allowing his fingers to tenderly caress at the tension knotting along his wife's neck. 'Nice overall packaging, but there's far too many flaws that the pretty surface decorations can't mend. I wouldn't have touched her even in my hay day. No, she's not got anything on my Manda. All the ribbons in the world can't make that present any more appealing. I prefer the natural down to earth types. I'll keep my Manda any day of the week over that one,' he thought smiling.
"Joe isn't with you?" Meredith asked again, darting her eyes quickly to Lee's form and the position of his hand before looking back into the darker ones of Amanda.
"No, Joe and I are no longer together. We've been divorced for nearly seven years now," she said calmly.
"Meredith, it's good to see you," Barry tried to intervene, standing quickly and holding out his hand. "How have you been?"
"Really?" Meredith breathed, looking back toward Lee, who at this time wasn't even staring at her. He had his attention on his wife and the way she kept twisting her purse strap tightly between her hands. "Well isn't that just too bad. I was hoping to rehash old times with him," she stated, giving Amanda a smirking smile.
"Well, you're just going to have to discuss that with him and his wife," Amanda threw back, shrugging her shoulders as if to brush the comment off. "As far as I know, they weren't invited tonight."
"No, I suppose not," she agreed then nodded to Barry and Estelle as if seeing them for the first time. "Hi Bar, how's it going?"
"Good, good," he returned quickly, eyeing the two women with an unreadable expression. Estelle was watching the entire scene along with Lee and he caught her eye, giving her a small shrug as if to say, 'Beats me what's going on.'
"Care if I join you?" Meredith asked, not bothering to wait for a response as she quickly drew out a chair and sat down between Lee and Estelle. "I don't know you," she said straight out, turning toward him.
"No, we've never met before," Lee stated, giving her a smile, his hand never stilling on his wife's neck.
"Well, I'm Meredith, and you are?" she asked giving him a big smile.
Reaching out, he picked up his glass slowly, tipping it toward her. "I'm Lee, Amanda's husband." Feeling Amanda's hand slid across his thigh beneath the table, he turned to her and gave her a sweet smile, winking toward her.
"Damn Amanda, how'd you manage to snag him?" Meredith asked condescendingly. "Is she drugging your food?" she asked in a teasing tone, leaning toward him.
"Meredith…" Amanda warned in a low tone.
"Not that I'm aware of," Lee returned shaking his head. "Actually I thought I was the one that got the better end of the deal. She's a pretty special woman, Meredith. I'm honored she chose to marry me."
"Listen Meredith, it's great to see you again, why don't you check out the rest of the room?" Barry suggested hopefully, feeling the tension radiating off the two women. "I'm sure there's a lot of men out there that's more than willing to say hi and give you a big welcome…"
"I'm happy right here, Barry, thank you," she returned, giving him a smile. "So you Barry's wife right? I think I met you at our last get together. Didn't you have like nine kids or something?" she asked of Estelle.
"We have five and yes, we did meet before," Estelle muttered dryly. "It's good to see you again."
"Of course it is. So," she turned back to Amanda and Lee, blocking the Wilhelm's from her mind. "How long you two kiddies been married and where are you living now?" she inquired pleasantly.
"Two wonderful years," Lee said before Amanda had the opportunity to speak. "And we're living in the area."
"Where?" she asked again.
"Around," he muttered, taking another drink. "I don't like giving our address out to people we just met you know. There's all kinds out there, you can never be too careful," he added smiling.
"Well that's just silly, I've known Amanda since she was fifteen."
Lee shrugged. "You just met me."
"Meredith, go visit with someone else," Amanda pressed giving her a hard look. "I really don't have much to say to you."
"Oh Mandy, you're still not upset over what Joe and I did, are you?" Meredith questioned sarcastically. "That was a long time ago…"
"You want to talk to me?" Amanda asked harshly, rising from her chair. "Then come with me and we'll talk…"
"Manda…" Lee pressed, rising with her as he grabbed her arm. "I don't think you should…"
Meredith laughed, drawing both of their attention. "Oh please sit down. We're not going outside, or in a corner, or anywhere else. If you can't take what I have to say out here in public, then I don't need to waste my time."
"Now listen here…"
"No really, it happened a long time ago. I could care less what you think or how you feel. It's not my concern," Meredith continued rising. "You're still the same girl I knew when I…"
"Let's dance," Lee interrupted, pushing Amanda in front of him toward the small dance floor.
"Lee I don't want to…"
"We're going to dance," he pressed, giving her a hard look. Setting her jaw, she allowed him to led her to the dance floor and wrap his arms tightly around her ridged body before she finally looked back into his eyes.
"Why did you do that?" she demanded sternly as he slowly led her in time with the music and the swaying of the other couples.
Leaning his face toward her, he moved his mouth closer to her ear so that their conversation would be more private. "Because I didn't come here to see my wife duke it out with an old rival," he muttered.
"I wasn't going to hit her," she returned, tightly.
He chuckled lightly, feeling her beginning to relax against his body. "You could have fooled me. You looked like you could bite through titanium."
"She just makes me so mad…" she complained, balling her fist up in the back of his jacket material.
"Hey, don't skin me alive," he protested, feeling the tightness. "I'm not the one talking all tawdry and throwing my smutty ways up in everyone's face. I'm just your innocent hubby, remember? The one trying to defuse the situation before it gets explosive."
"I'm sorry," she whispered, loosing her hold and rubbing his back tenderly. "Thank you for having enough foresight to keep me from making a fool of myself."
He pulled back slowly, holding her against his chest as he smiled down into her eyes. "You know what? Remember what you always tell me?" At her look, he elaborated. "When I'm upset and ready to hit the nearest wall, you always tell me to think it through. You ask me what good getting mad will do anyone. Well," he whispered, kissing her nose softly. "What good would getting mad at her and making a scene in front of your friends do other than give them something to talk about for the next ten years?"
"Nothing," she admitted weakly, lowering her eyes to his shirt.
"Uh-huh, and why would you want to play into her hands? She's only saying those things to push your buttons Manda, you know that," he returned. "You're not that type of person. Don't fall for her deceptions. Let's not ruin our evening okay? We've had a great time so far."
"Yeah," she admitted smiling up at him. "You're right. I'm being very childish about this whole thing."
"You didn't hear that from me," he teased, laying his forehead against hers.
"I'm sorry," she returned, running her hand up his back and tenderly running it through the back of his hair. "I promise to behave the rest of the night and ignore all her barbs."
"That sounds like a plan to me. What say you and I, after we get finished reminiscing, find a nice quiet, sparsely lit restaurant and treat ourselves to a wonderful meal, without interruptions, all alone?" he whispered, kissing her nose again. "Sound like fun?"
"That sounds incredible," she returned, lifting herself to kiss his lips. "With you at my side, I know I'm going to have a wonderful time."
"Always my love, always."
"But what about the dinner they're serving here?" she asked skeptically.
"Do you really want to stay and have to listen to her while we eat?" he asked seriously. "You know she's going to keep this up all night. Wouldn't it be better, just me and you, all alone under romantic lighting?"
"Yeah, it would be," she agreed smiling.
"See, I knew you'd agree," he grinned, kissing her quickly.
Dancing slowly amid the assortment of couples around them they both held each other close and blocked out all the surrounding distractions. Lee willingly lost himself in his wife's beautiful eyes, gazing lovingly at her smiling features, kissing her time and again with the urge became too strong to ignore.
To his surprise, several songs later he felt a firm hand on his shoulder, drawing his attention. "Could I have the next dance?" Meredith asked, smiling sweetly at Amanda as she lifted her head from his chest.
"No I don't think so," Amanda returned, shaking her head.
"Sorry, my dance card's all filled up for the night," Lee added, giving Meredith one of his best smiles as he drew Amanda closer and moved off, nibbling her neck. "She doesn't hold a candle to you my love. You're all I'm ever going to need in my arms, now and forever."
"I love you too," she whispered, drawing his lips down to hers with a gentle pull. "Thank you for being my knight in shinning armor."
"It's my pleasure, I assure you," he whispered into her mouth.
* * *
When they pulled up into the driveway of their home, Lee sighed, looking toward his lovely wife. "Every single light in the house is on," he muttered, shaking his head.
She smiled, caressing his face. "I know sweetheart, apparently mother just came home as well."
"Well, let's go round up the hoodlums and see what's still intact," he teased, climbing out of the car and moving around to open her door. As he helped her out, he motioned to the black Trans Am still parked ahead of them. "You think I'm going to need to move or are they sleeping on the couch?"
"What's tonight?" she asked as they moved up the walk hand in hand. "Friday?"
Lee nodded then looked toward her as they both spoke at once. "Sleeping on the couch." Laughing he drew her against him under the porch light and kissed her soundly. "I love you Mrs. Stetson. I had a wonderful time tonight."
"Hmmm… so did I, I'm glad you made me go."
Grinning he kissed her stronger, pressing her tight against his body as his hands roamed freely along her slim form. Amanda's hands no more than tangled into his hair when they heard the front door open beside them. "Yep they're home!"
Pulling back, Lee smiled, looking toward the announcer. "Hello Brett," he said patiently as the younger boy grinned out at them.
"Hi ya, Mr. S. Did you and Mrs. S have a good night?" the younger boy asked, standing in the doorway in little more than a pair of sweats and a tee-shirt. Lee couldn't remember when he'd seen the boy in shoes other than during school and in the winter.
"We were trying," Lee returned as Amanda giggled against his chest.
"Cool, we thought we heard the vette pull up. Come on in," he waved, stepping back down the small incline.
"Isn't it nice to be invited into our own house?" Lee asked as they stepped inside, shutting the door behind them.
"Hi mom, hi Lee, did you guys have a good time?" Jamie asked, passing by with an armful of blankets and a smile.
"Yeah it was great," Amanda returned as they made their way into the den where they found the other two boys sprawled out on the furniture. "You are going to clean this up, right?" she questioned, motioning to the room in general.
Empty pizza boxes, plates, and coke cans littered the furniture and floor amid several pillows and shoes, along with what they both knew were Mark's and Brett's overnight bags flung in the corner. Jamie dropped the armload of blankets onto the edge of the couch as he grinned, nodding his head, before sliding into the floor and snagging one of the few pieces of cold pizza still sitting on the table.
"Oh yeah, we'll get it for you, Mrs. S. Don't worry about it," Mark assured her with a smile. "Just as soon as the movie's over."
"You do that," Lee returned giving Amanda a look. "Is your Grandmother home?" he questioned.
"Nope, not yet."
"Makes sense, otherwise the house wouldn't look like this," Amanda breathed, shaking her head in wonder. "Let's go check out the damage in the kitchen. Looks like you and I have a little clean up duty before we call it a night."
"Ah the pleasures of children," he teased, wrapping his arms around her from behind. "I like it," he growled, kissing her along the neck.
"Behave," she laughed, smacking at his hands when he lifted them too high.
Chuckling quietly they moved into the kitchen together, Lee sighing as he looked at the disarray around them. "Wow, four boys can really trash a kitchen," he muttered releasing her and stepping toward the scattered dishes. "Milk shakes? They made milk shakes without me?" he complained, holding up the ice cream stained blender.
"If there's any milk and ice cream left I'll make you one," she assured him with a smile, picking up the glasses and spoons and lowering them into the sink. "After we do these dishes…" shaking her head, she looked down at her dress and then at Lee who was wiping at the counter. "Come on, let's go change, then we'll hit the clean up."
"Good idea, I'd hate for you to get anything on your dress. The next thing on the agenda is a dishwasher around this joint." Holding out his hand, he drew her to him and started up the stairs as they heard the front door open.
"I'm home," Dotty called happily.
"We're heading up to change, we've got kitchen detail," Amanda called back, smiling.
"How was your reunion dear? Did you two have a good time?" Dotty asked stepping into view.
"Oh it was a night to remember," Lee laughed, pushing Amanda up the stairs ahead of him.
* * *
The End
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.