Lee sighed, "Oh, my, that's really hard!"

"I know," Amanda nodded,"But she deserves it, and I want it to look
really good."

"Well, okay, but it's been a long time since I've done something
like that." Lee stuck the shovel into the semi-hard ground with all
his might.

He really *hadn't* planted rose bushes in a long time. Amanda had
asked him to plant a couple at their house before Michael's
birth,actually, before her pregnancy. He gave her a wistful look as
she sat in her lawnchair, holding the sleeping infant.

The roses were for his mother-in-law. She had moved out, to a small
townhouse a couple of neighborhoods over. A week ago, she had gone
on vacation with Captain Kurt, not to return for another two weeks.
By then, these bushes will have had time to flourish. He and Amanda
would return, after this back breaking day, to tend them, of
course. Lee smiled as he recalled what a green thumb his wife had
in tending their own greenery.

Hours later, as they drove home, Amanda ran her hand through his
somewhat sweaty hair.

"Thank you, Mother is going to just love them, I know it."

"That's exactly why I don't mind all the sweat and work. I love
Dotty, too. Almost as much as I love her daughter."

"MMmmm," she kissed Lee as they stopped at a red light.

The End