“Hey, Romeo, you forgot to zip your fly.” by Friday Challenge
Summary: May 2, 2008 Challenge Line
Categories: Scarecrow and Mrs. King Characters: Amanda King, Lee Stetson
Genres: Fluff
Warnings: None
Challenges: None
Series: None
Chapters: 10 Completed: Yes Word count: 5383 Read: 69241 Published: 15/06/08 Updated: 15/06/08
Story Notes:
Instructions: You must use the above line of dialogue in your story exactly as stated. Don't forget your submission can be any length - from one line to a full-length story - and it can be SMK, B5 or anything else as long as it has a link to either SMK or B5.

1. Chapter 1- Jan G by Friday Challenge

2. Assumptions - Sue by Friday Challenge

3. Chapter 3 - Kathy by Friday Challenge

4. The Scenario - Jenn by Friday Challenge

5. Chapter 5 - Tera by Friday Challenge

6. Shhh, It's a secret - Alleycat by Friday Challenge

7. Lifted - Sue by Friday Challenge

8. Conversations - Jennifer C by Friday Challenge

9. Chapter 9 - Jennifer C by Friday Challenge

10. Chapter 10 - Monica by Friday Challenge

Chapter 1- Jan G by Friday Challenge
The unisex bathroom near Cryptography seems to hold an attraction for the Scarecrow and Mrs. King. Every time I see Amanda enter the facilities, I just have wait a few minutes and Lee will follow her into the room. I wonder if they use adjacent cubicles.

Almost without exception, Mrs. King will exit after fifteen minutes and soon thereafter, Mr. Stetson will follow her to return to the Q Bureau.

On this occasion I heard Francine call to Stetson as he left the bathroom. “Hey, Romeo, you forgot to zip your fly!”

Perhaps the lock on the Q is broken.
Assumptions - Sue by Friday Challenge
Author's Notes:
Setting: I guess it would be the beginning of season 3, right before We're
Off To See The Wizard.

The usual disclaimers apply.
Assumptions

Lee raced through the bull pen towards the conference room. He was late,
again, for Billy's staff meeting and knew he was going to get an earful about it
from his section chief.

He stopped just outside the door and took a deep breath, pulling himself
together before he entered. He could hear the voices of his colleagues laughing
just on the other side of the door.

The booming voice of Billy came through loud and clear as he addressed
Amanda. "Do you know where Scarecrow is?"

"Sir," she answered, "he had to bring some files down to Cryptology and he
should be here any minute."

"You may as well start the meeting, Billy. If I know Scarecrow, he stopped
by the Steno Pool. He's going to be there a while."

Lee couldn't be sure who it was that made that comment, but if he'd had to
guess, he'd say it was Nelson. And he was dead wrong. Lee hadn't stopped in the
steno pool for a while now.

Opening the door, he slid in to the room, and hoping to go unnoticed, crept
along the wall to the only available seat.

He'd nearly made it. Just as he was about to pull the chair out and sit,
Duffy snickered, "Glad you could tear yourself away from the ladies and join
us."

He remained standing to defend himself. "Can it, Frank, or else I'm going to
tell Fitz you think he's a lady."

"Oh, come on Scarecrow," Paul commented. "You can't tell us you didn't check
out the new girl, what's her name, Shirley, Sammy, no Cheryl. I hear she's a
real knock out."

Damn his reputation. He was getting tired of all assumptions made about his
playboy lifestyle. Truth be told, he no longer wanted to live that way. "I
have no idea who you're talking about."

"Yeah, right. Okay, if you want to keep it to yourself, that's all right.
I'm sure we'll hear all about it after you take her out."

"All right, people settle down," Billy commanded and the chatter died.

Lee pulled out the chair and started to sit.

“Hey, Romeo, you forgot to zip your fly.” Duffy stated and once again the
chatter began.

Lee looked at Amanda. She was busy fixing the pleats on her skirt and
refused to look at him. He didn't care, he continued to look at his partner and
explained about making a quick stop in the men's room before coming into the
meeting.

Her eyes finally met his and he could see that she believed him. He zipped
his pants, smiled at her and took his seat.

End
Chapter 3 - Kathy by Friday Challenge
Author's Notes:
I really don't own them, but I sure wish I could even for 5 minutes. Warner
Bros is so stingy. :)
He could hear Lee's voice in the back of his head and he tried to
concentrate on what the man had told him. "Stay steady, don't flinch and go
with your first instincts."

He knew he probably looked silly with his fists clenched but it really
helped him move forward and so he kept them that way. It was almost like
his hands held that way, would actually make his feet move from the car to
the front of the school. That was something his mother had always told him,
'go with what works for you.'

He felt like nerve ending in his body was on full attention and sweat was
trickling down his neck. Suddenly he wondered why was this necessary? And
who's idea had it been anyway? Life was good the way it was now, why would
he want to change that? There was absolutely nothing wrong with not going
to dance. As he reasoned this out, he could breathe a little better now and
his heart had slowed down to only about 60 mph. And it was so easy; he just
didn't have to do this. He had plenty of time to worry about such things
later. After all he was only 13. Surely he still hadn't lived quite half
of his life. And if so, he still had plenty of time to ask a girl to a
dance.

But not this girl the thought began taking over his processes. This moment
in time might be the only one that he could ask Carmen Montoya to a
dance. Because
if he didn't now, then some other guy might and what if they had a really
good time and started dating and ended up getting married and having five
children and a house in Alexandria or something, with a fireplace and a dog.
And then it would be too late to ask her. He needed to go through with it
now, while she was still a free agent.

He took a deep breath and approached the group of girls hanging out before
school on the stone steps. This was an old building he knew, built even
before his mom had been a kid, which in his mind was a very long time ago. He
knew that someday he wouldn't think that, but right now, he did. He was
only 13 okay almost 14.

"Carmen?" he heard her name before he felt his throat say it, but since it
was a boy type voice and he was the only boy in the vicinity it must have
been him.

"Yes, Jamie?" her brown eyes focusing solely on him, a small smile, tugging
at the corner of her mouth.

"Carmen?" he said again, beginning to feel like one of his grandmother's
78's. Once they got stuck they just played the same word over and over
again. He needed someone to bump him he thought, to loosen his needle so he
could go on to the next line.

He stepped closer, seeing her sparkling eyes and the expectant look on her
face and thought this might not be so bad. She hadn't run away yet or
anything.

"Carmen?"

"Yes, Jamie." she said just as patiently as before.

Hey, Romeo, you forgot to zip your fly" he heard someone say and he couldn't
help but look down to see if it were true. And that's when Ken Marlowe
stepped in between him and Carmen and asked her to the dance.

"I'll pick you up at 8 and then we can go for pizza or something
afterwards."

"No thanks Ken." Carmen shook her head.

"Jamie's already asked me."

"He did?"

"I did?"

"Yes, of course, right before Ken interrupted us." she said reaching for
Jamie's hand. "Come on, you can walk me to class."

If his fly really was down, please no one tell me he thought. He owed that
zipper a lot right now.
The Scenario - Jenn by Friday Challenge
The Scenario

"Ummm...Lee? Have you looked at the scenario that Francine wrote up
for that exchange with Auggie's friend?" Amanda questioned from her
desk.

"No, I haven't gotten to that yet. I'm still trying to clean up
those old files that Dr. Smyth dumped on us after we came clean about
our marriage," Lee reminded her over the stacks of old files that Dr.
Smyth had demanded they work on.

"Okay, but do you think you could take a couple of minutes to look
through the scenario for me? Not that I don't trust Francine, but Dr.
Smyth isn't the only one who has been punishing us since we announced
that we had gotten married. She has been making snide comments all
week. I'm not sure about this scenario, but maybe it's just me...so
could you please look it over? We need to get it back to Francine
and then over to Auggie in order to get everything in place." Amanda
explained as she handed the file off to Lee.

"Okay, I'll go over it and let you know what I think. I'm sure it's
okay, though. Francine would never write up a scenario that would put
us in jeopardy no matter how mad at us she might be."

"Oh, I realize that, really I do, but you'll see what I mean when you
start reading it. First of all, she has us going to the Lug Wrench
Bar for the exchange."

"Wasn't that the bar where you made some comment about sex with me
being a major disappointment?" Lee questioned with a smirk on his
face.

"I can't believe you remember that...."Amanda stammered.

"Oh, I remember everything you say, especially on that topic. Now
back to Francine's scenario... that bar wasn't the best, but we have
been in worse places for meets."

"I realize that, sweetheart, but just keep reading please. I'm ..."
Amanda started to explain.

"What the hell?? Your recognition code is 'Hey, Romeo, you forgot to
zip your fly'? Like hell my wife is saying that to some friend of
Auggie. I'm gonna kill her!" Lee shouted as he grabbed the phone and
dialed Francine's extension, then drummed his fingers as he waited
impatiently for her to pick up. "Francine, you need to get up here
NOW and explain that scenario you wrote up!"
Chapter 5 - Tera by Friday Challenge
Hey, Romeo, you forgot to zip your fly

Dotty West began her day like every other. The normal run of things
until the boys and Amanda cleared the house for the day. She busied
herself with some chores and then made herself a nice meatloaf
sandwich for lunch. She poured herself a glass of milk and then
settled down on the sofa to indulge in her one guilty pleasure of the
afternoon.

Yes, Dotty West had become attached to one of the new afternoon
soaps. It wasn't quite like your average soap. It was witty and
daffy and well, just so darned odd that she couldn't help but not
like to tune in to see what new clever and wacky stuff they were
going to come up with.

She had to hand it to this C. Paulk and Jan G., the producers. They
had given a much-needed facelift to the average and sometimes boring
standard soap.

And so she sat enthralled, munching on her sandwich while watching
the bizarre love triangle and exploits that featured such lovable
characters as Sue Price Worthington, Rita Elma Kermitage, and
Teralisha S. Vettiting.

They were crazy young women, all nieces of one Ana Elizabeth
Carmichael Worthington.

"Poor Ana, how does she keep up with these gals?" Dotty questioned
aloud during the first commercial break. "I hope she takes her
vitamins," she said as she ran to the kitchen to get a refill.

She quickly refilled her glass of milk, then rushed back to the
television just in time.

The scene began playing out in front of her and Dotty was glued to
the set. She had just taken a sip of her milk when the stud of the
soap, one Gary Lee Masters emerged from the bedroom after an
afternoon of wicked lustfulness.

He was making his way into the kitchen to greet his beautiful lover
when the girl remarked, "Hey Romeo, you forgot to zip your fly."

It was at that moment that the elderly aunt Ana chose to enter the
room and the poor woman was mortified to see the handsome man
standing there with his fly undone for he was wearing no underwear.

"Imagine," Dotty squealed. "They get away with this on afternoon
television. I should be mortified. But the boys aren't here and I'm
an adult so who cares?"

Dotty remained glued to the set until the show was over and then she
promptly went to the kitchen to clean up her dishes and then to get
ready for her evening dinner date with the Captain.

She was going to take a nice long soaking bath in her newest bubble
scent, Tantalizing Tangerine and then polish her nails and do her
hair nice.

And so the day progressed.

The boys came home from school. They did their homework. Amanda
came home, a little earlier than usual, at least on the nights that
she did come home at all. And then Lee came over for dinner, which
thrilled Dotty because she thought he was an eleven, even better than
that television stud Gary who only rated a nine in Dotty's book.

She had just heard the Captain pull into the driveway and was
grabbing her purse from the counter and saying her good byes to the
family when Lee returned to the kitchen after a stop in the bathroom.

That's when Dotty noticed.

And that's when Dotty knew she couldn't resist.

As she sailed through the kitchen she called out, ""Hey Romeo, you
forgot to zip your fly."
Shhh, It's a secret - Alleycat by Friday Challenge
Author's Notes:
Disclaimer: you know who wrote it, if you don't then you really need to
go watch a tape or dvd of Babylon 5.

Thank Lynda for any corrections I made because as I told her, I can't
spell, or read (I joke about the reading but if you can't do it well
don't be ashamed, just get help). As always Bruce, you can have my
number, call me or if you need someone to play your wife in a film,
Bruce, call me.

A/N: Lynda it's posted. This is not exactly cannon, but if everything
was in canon we'd have run out of things to write years ago, and you'd
have nothing to read. Without further ado...
"Hey, Romeo, you forgot to zip your fly," Commander Ivanova,
said to the tall, handsome dark haired man as he exited the bedroom.

"Bugger" he replied as he quickly zipped the pants to his ranger
uniform. Susan noticed the slight blush that rose on his face and neck
while he was remedying the problem.

"Yeah remember Cole, this is our little secret," at his look she hastily
added, "for now". She placed a quick kiss on his cheek, to soften the
blow to his ego, since she was well aware if she gave him permission,
he'd shout that they were a couple so loud it could be heard all the way
to Proxima Three.

"I know and I would never do anything deliberately to ruin your, tough
as nails, I hate Marcus Cole reputation, before you are ready to let all
our friends know, that I, the aforementioned, am your forever devoted
love slave."

"Hmm... Love slave, I like the sound of that Ranger Man" Susan said as
she gave his rear end a light swat, as she passed by him on the way to
the door.

Before she could cycle the door, her handsome lover called out, "Hey
where do you thing you are going without giving me a proper goodbye? I
have to go all day pretending that we are just coworkers, so you need to
make sure I have something to tide me over until then."

When the commander felt his strong masculine arms slip around her from
behind, she turned in his arms and gave his a stingy little peck on the
lips. Susan was hard pressed not to laugh at the pout that appeared on
his face as he whined, "Is that all I get? I mean dearest, I have to go
at least 12 long, arduous hours, without kissing you, holding you,
making lov..." Ivanova cut his off by gently placing her hand over his
mouth.

"Of course you get more than that, I just love to hear you beg" she
teased him before kissing his so heatedly that it was a wonder they
didn't set off the room's fire alarm. "Now I really do have to go, so I
won't be late for my shift. I have never been particularly good at
lying to Sheridan and there is no way I could possibly explain to him
why I was late... therefore, I better not be late. See you at the
meeting, Ranger." Marcus knew she was all business now that she'd
called him by his title. He sighed after she exited her quarters, and
ventured into the kitchen to get a glass of grapefruit juice as he
waited the agreed upon ten minutes before he would depart.

Just as he put the juice on the counter to get a glass from the cabinet,
the door cycled open and he turned to see what Susan had forgot. "Forget
something, my love?" he asked as Ivanova stuck her head back in the
door.

"Yeah wanted to find out if you were free for dinner, here tonight,
19:00 sharp?"

"I don't have any pressing Ranger business that should keep me after
18:00. Do you want me to Bring anything? he asked her.

"Just yourself and a clean uniform, since we both have shifts that start
late tomorrow, I figured, we could sleep in." she said with a wink.
Just before she hurried off to C and C, she fired one more parting shot
because she loved to keep him off balance. "Oh and Cole, don't be
late... Tonight - you get to be on top."
Lifted - Sue by Friday Challenge
Author's Notes:
Author: Sue

Disclaimer: Scarecrow & Mrs. King belong to Warner Bros. and Shoot the
Moon. I'm only borrowing them for a bit. I will put them back when I am done.
Lifted

Amanda’s last training class for the day had finally been dismissed. She'd
finished the assignment early but the rest of the class took longer to
complete the assignment and she was stuck waiting for them. It was a difficult
class and she'd spent a lot of her spare time practicing her "lifting"
technique.

So far she'd been able to pinch the checkbook from her mother's purse, and
Francine's wallet and Agency clearance badge. Naturally, she'd practiced on
Lee as well. She did manage to snag his watch right off his wrist, and some
papers from his inside jacket pocket.

But, he'd always caught her when she tried to acquire the keys from his
front pant's pocket or the wallet from his back pocket. She just needed to come
up with a better distraction method and she was sure she'd be successful in
appropriating those items as well.

She went up the stairs to the Q-Bureau and rapped once on the door at the
same time she'd turned her key in the lock. Silently, the door opened to
reveal her husband, stretched out on the sofa, snoring softly. He looked so
peaceful, just like a little boy. She'd really hated to wake him--after all, she
had kept him pretty busy the past few nights. She smiled and remembered
just how busy they were.


She leaned over him and brushed back the hair that fell across his eyes.
They fluttered and he smiled. She ran her finger down his nose and his eyes
slowly opened. "Hey, there, sleepy-head."

"Hey, yourself." He winked and his tugged her down for a brief kiss.

His nostrils flared when he realized her bent position gave him a clear
view down the front of her blouse. Here was the distraction she needed. She
rested a hand on his chest to steady herself and bent further to kiss him once
again. This time she poured everything into the kiss and managed to run her
hand down his chest and into his pocket.

His tongue slipped between her lips and she'd forgotten all about her
"lifting." It took all her will power to concentrate on her mission and not on
her sexy husband.

Her fingers closed around his keys. She darted her tongue into his mouth
and stroked over every corner of his warm, wet, cavern. She heard his low
moan, and ever so gently, pulled his keys out of his pocket while he was caught
up in the kiss. She slipped them into the pocket of her skirt, smiled at her
success, and broke the kiss.

One down and one to go.

He sat up and tugged her next to him on the couch. Wrapping his arms around
her, he pressed her back into the cushions and nibbled on her neck. She
twined her arms around his waist and let her hands trail down over his
buttocks. She kneaded his cheeks and he growled. If she weren’t careful, she
would easily get carried away.

Trailing her fingers from his butt up toward his back and down again, she
inched her fingers lower inside his back pockets. Using only two fingers she
slowly slid his wallet out of his pocket. She finally pulled it free and
slipped it under the couch cushion.

She’d done it, distracted him long enough so she could claim her prize. His
thumb
grazed her nipple and her breath caught in her throat.

Her mission completed, she was free to get lost in her husband. She tugged
his shirt out of his slacks and scored his back with her nails. A shiver
raced through and he bit her earlobe.

She wedged her hand between their bodies and slowly unzipped his pants. His
hand traveled up under her skirt caressing her thigh, and snuck in the top
of her panty hose. Just in time, she remembered they were in the office and
this was something they couldn’t continue here.

She put her hands on his shoulders and pushed. “Lee, stop. Lee, come on,
stop.” She pushed harder this time and he lifted his head. “We can’t do this
here. Let’s go home.”


He smiled, kissed her nose and stood, pulling her up off the couch.
Lovingly, he re-buttoned her blouse. He went to his desk and pulled his jacket off
the back of his chair. She retrieved his wallet and slipped it into the
pocket of her skirt. She wondered just how long it would take for him to realize
it was missing.

He opened the door for her and searched his pocket for the keys. She
jingled them next to his ear. He turned and snatched them from her hand. “When?”

She laughed and told him, “When I woke you up.”

He locked the door and started to walk down the hall to the steps.

“Hey, Romeo,” she called, “you forgot to zip your fly. You may want to
take care of that before you give Mrs. Marston an eyeful.”

He tucked the tails of his shirt in his pants and fastened his zipper.
Lacing his fingers with hers, they left I.F.F. and sped to their cozy little cape
cod for a little afternoon delight.


End
Conversations - Jennifer C by Friday Challenge
Author's Notes:
* the idea came to me while I was reading the other challenges and I
had to write it down-so here it is. Just hope it doesn't completely
suck. Thanks to Cheryl for providing the challenge line*
Conversations

"Dad, I'm really sorry," Jenna said as she climbed into the Corvette,
still holding her book bag.

"Oh really," Lee said. "Are you sorry that you said it or just sorry
that I heard you?" Jenna said nothing in reply, just stared down at
her hands.

"Buckle your seat belt and put your bag on the floor," Lee said.
"We'll talk about this when we get home."

"Okay," Jenna said, her voice almost a whisper. As they pulled out of
the parking lot, Jenna did what she usually did and reached her hand
over towards the radio knob.

"No music, Jenna," Lee said. "Not now." Jenna pulled her hand back
and put it in her lap. She turned her face away from Lee's and looked
out the window.

My little girl, Lee thought. Or at least she used to be. It seemed
like only yesterday that they'd been watching The Wizard of Oz
together and having tea parties in the family room with Jenna's
stuffed animals and her favorite Scarecrow doll. Now Jenna was
thirteen and things were definitely changing. The walls of her room
were covered with photos from various teen magazines and Jenna seemed
to spend most of her spare time on the phone with Lisa or Christy,
giggling about boys. To top it all off, Amanda had told him that she
was going to take Jenna to buy her first bra, a fact that Lee could
have lived the rest of his life without knowing. What was it that
Amanda had once said about Jenna turning thirteen?

It only gets harder from here.

Stopped at the red light, Lee looked over at his daughter, who was
still silent and looking out the window.

"Jenna look at me," Lee said, and Jenna ignored him. Lee raised his
voice slightly. "Jenna Leigh Stetson, look at me right now."

Jenna looked at him. Her dark eyes, so much like her mother's, were
brimming with tears and she was biting down hard on her lower lip.

"Can you at least tell me what possessed you to say such a thing?" Lee
said. The light turned green. "I mean, why would you even-why?"

Jenna took a deep breath. "It's a long story," she said.

"I have time," Lee said.

"Okay," Jenna said. "Well there's a new boy in our school –he's from
Italy and his name is Romeo Pelucci. All the girls think he's really
cute and I guess he is, but he's not really my type-"

"I get it," Lee said, not wanting to hear the rest. Since when did
Jenna have `types'? "So what happened with this Romeo?" He said.

"Terri Morgan and a couple of her friends," Jenna said, as Lee turned
onto Maplewood. "They dared me to go up and say something to Romeo."

"And you just had to take this dare, right?" Lee said.

"She said if I didn't that she'd call me a gimpy chicken." Jenna
said. "And she would, too."

Lee pulled to a stop right outside the house.

"A gimpy chicken?" he said "Jenna, you only have a little bit of a
limp left and even that's barely noticeable You're back on the dance
team now-you shouldn't even care what Terri Morgan thinks." Lee
remembered that girl's mother, Debbie Morgan, from the time he'd
worked with Amanda on The Nutcracker. If the daughter was anything at
all like the mother she was probably a real witch.

"I know," Jenna said. "I know I shouldn't, but sometimes I still
care-especially when everyone else cares too."

"Taking dares will only get you into trouble, believe me." Lee said,
giving an inward wince when he remembered the dares he took when he
was younger.

"I know that now," Jenna said.

"So you took this dare," Lee said. "And you went up to him and
said-that."

"I said `Hey, Romeo, you forgot to zip your fly'," Jenna said in a low
voice. Her cheeks were bright red. Lee touched his daughter's hand
briefly.

"Let's go inside," he said. "We're going to tell your mother and have
a nice long talk about this."

The End
Chapter 9 - Jennifer C by Friday Challenge
Conversations Continued


"Amanda I can't believe this," Lee said, looking at his wife as she
bustled around the kitchen. He'd ordered Jenna to her bedroom,
telling her to think about what she'd done and that they'd be up there
to talk to her shortly. "I can't believe you're taking this so lightly."

"Lee I'm not taking it lightly," Amanda said as she took the cookies
out of the oven and placed the cookie sheet on the counter top to
cool. "I just think that you might be overreacting a little, that's
all."

"Overreacting? I'm overreacting? Amanda I was standing right there,"
Lee said. "I saw my little-my daughter- walk right over to that boy
and say-"

"-hey, Romeo, you forgot to zip your fly," Amanda said, finishing his
sentence. "And Jenna says that Terri Morgan dared her to say that or
she'd call her a gimpy chicken."

"Yes, but that's not the point," Lee said.

"Well you know how sensitive Jenna is about her leg," Amanda said.
"She doesn't even like to wear shorts now because she's afraid of the
scar showing."

"Amanda that still doesn't excuse what she did," Lee said. "We have to
do stop this now, before this gets any worse."

Amanda pulled some milk out of the fridge and poured a glass, putting
some cookies on a small desert plate. "Well what do you recommend?"
She said. "Grounding her for a month? Clapping her in irons? Putting
her in an Agency Holding Cell until she reaches eighteen? "

"A-man-da!" Lee said. "Now you're just being silly."

"I know you don't want to hear this, Lee," Amanda said. "Because I
know that in your mind she's still an innocent little girl. But
Jenna's growing up. This incident is far from the worst thing she's
ever going to do. Just wait until she starts dating."

Lee sank down into a kitchen chair, his head in his hands. "No! I
don't even want to think about it," he said, raking his fingers back
through his hair. "Isn't there some way to stop Jenna from growing
until I can adjust to this?"

"Lee, no one has that much time," Amanda said, a hint of laughter in
her voice as she rubbed his back. "Come on, Stetson. Let's go talk to
her together."

SMK SMK SMK SMK

Through the half-open door Lee could see that Jenna was curled up on
her bed, holding her Scarecrow doll. When she heard their footsteps
she put the doll down and sat up.
"Hi," she said, wiping at her eyes, which were slightly red and
puffy-looking.

"Hi sweetheart," Amanda said, handing Jenna the milk and cookies, "We
thought you might like some of these."

"Thanks," Jenna said, putting the plate on her lap and taking a sip of
the milk. "Am I in trouble?" She asked.

"Not exactly," Amanda said, giving Lee a warning look when he tried to
interject. "We just want to talk to you about what you said."

"What I said was stupid," Jenna said. "I certainly felt stupid after I
said it, Mom- I couldn't even look Romeo in the face and Terri and her
friends all laughed at me. And then when dad overheard that was the
worst thing of all."

Amanda sat beside Jenna and pulled her daughter against her side,
kissing the top of Jenna's head.

"Sweetheart I know," she said. "But you also know that you can't take
a dare because someone pressures you or threatens to tease you, right?"

"I know," Jenna said. "I'll try not to, I promise." She looked up at
Lee and then back over to Amanda. "Is Dad still mad at me?"

"`Dad' is right here," Lee said, sitting on the bed on the other side
of Jenna. "And no, I'm not mad at you, munchkin. I just want you to
be careful about what you say to boys, okay? They might get the wrong
idea about-" he struggled for the right words. "-about what kind of
girl you are."

"You mean they might think I'm cheap or easy?" Jenna said.

"Where on earth did you pick up a phrase like that?" Lee said.

"From Francine," Jenna said.

"Well, Francine could've worded it a little better," Lee said, forcing
himself to breathe normally as he spoke. "But yeah, that's basically
it. They might think that you maybe want to kiss them, or-" there was
no good way to finish this sentence and Amanda was looking at him
curiously. "They just might get the wrong idea about you, that's all,"
Lee finished lamely. "Do you understand?"

"I understand," Jenna said, "And Romeo is definitely not a guy I would
ever want to kiss. I hear that he has chapped lips."

"Well that's good to know, sweetheart," Amanda said, giving Jenna a
hug. "Why don't you do your homework up here and dinner will be ready
in about an hour, okay?"

"Okay," Jenna said. "Thanks Mom. And dad-thank you too."

"Hey, don't mention it," Lee said, ruffling Jenna's hair and making
her smile. He stood up as he and Amanda left the room and closed the
door behind him. And what Jenna had said about Romeo's lips didn't hit
him until he reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Amanda?" he said. "You don't think that Jenna has ever-you
know-kissed a boy-do you?"

His wife's laughter was the only response.

The End
Chapter 10 - Monica by Friday Challenge
"Hey, Romeo, you forgot to zip your fly! And btw wear your glasses
too, that is the Ladies Restroom."

Francine Desmond was fuming and glared at the lady who reprimanded
her, she was angry, and hot, the Sherlock Holmes costume she was
wearing weighed a ton.

"Why on earth, me Francine Desmond, end up at this lousy costume
party waiting for some office clerk to serve her the right password
and the documents the Agency needed?"

"Oh yes, that is Lee's revenge for, how he put it, 'using in
Jenna's presence unappropriate words'".

First: "cheap and easy" aren't unappropriate. Second: the girl is
smart and can made the difference between good and bad, but on the
other hand she was Lee's daughter and he was afraid Jenna was
growing too fast.

"Come on, come on show up, where the hell was that man, I want to
go home and take a shower, I'm boiling in this outfit!"

"Hey Mr. Sherlock, where is Dr. Watson?"
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