Lee lay in bed watching the evening news, enjoying the rare quiet time.  He turned the volume up to drown out the noise coming from the bathroom down the hall.  Jenny had just finished her bath, but now it was Matthew’s turn. 

Amanda breezed in later.  “The kids are asleep!”  She moved to the window and closed the drapes.  “Sweetheart!  The kids!”  He watched as she pulled off her socks and pulled her sweatshirt over her head.  “Sweetheart, the kids are asleep.”

“That’s great.  Those little monkeys can be a real handful.”  She stood in front of the television, blocking his view.  He rolled onto his side to see around her.  Motioning her to move aside, he was surprised when she reached behind her and pressed the power button off.  “Hey!  I was watching that!”

“Not tonight,” she purred, as she turned on the radio sitting on the dresser.  Soft music filled the room.  She grabbed his foot and seductively pulled off one sock, then the other.

“Please, leave my socks alone.”  What was she doing?  He’d never seen her like this.  Her eyes were wild, hungry.  Suddenly he felt like prey, and she was the hunter. 

“Wait.  You want me.”  He was astonished.  He could see it in her eyes.  She wanted him bad. 

“That is the general idea, yeah.”  She giggled. 

“Oh, well, maybe we should grab a bottle of wine first.  You know, sorta break the ice.”  He was going to need more than a bottle of wine.  This was Amanda.  He couldn’t take advantage of her.  She was under the assumption that they were married.  But they weren’t, were they?  His eyes roamed over her taut body, and he allowed himself to envision them tangling and thrashing about on this very bed.  Technically--for all intents and purposes--they were married, right?  Wait!  This was Amanda.

“Yeah, that’s very funny.  It’s ten-thirty.  By eleven o’clock, you’ll be snoring like a bear.  That’s sweet though, we’ll have to remember that for next time.”  She began her slow climb up his bare-chested body. 

His skin tingled everywhere she touched.  This was going to take a lot of self-control.  Her tongue burned a path up his chest, until it encountered his mouth.  All bets were off.  He couldn’t hold on any longer.  “Whatever you say, babe.”  He flipped her over onto her back and devoured her mouth. 

When they came up for air, he pulled himself up and hovered over her.  Looking into her big brown eyes, he was amazed.  “God, you’re beautiful!”

“Thanks, Lee.”  She smiled up at him, clearly happy with his comment.

“I’m serious.  You’re really stunning.”  His sincere words surprised even him.  The emotion he felt for her was overwhelming.

“This is good stuff.  I want you to keep this up.”  Laughter bubbled through her husky voice, before her mouth clamped onto his neck.

“No, I mean, you’ve always been pretty . . . there’s no question about that.”  He pulled back once again from her grasp.  “But . . . this . . . when did you become so beautiful?”

“How can you do that?” she whispered.  Her eyes danced as they peered deeply into his. 

“What?” he asked barely above a whisper, mesmerized by her natural beauty. 

“Look at me like you haven’t seen me every day for the last seven years.”  Before he had a chance to answer, she wiggled out from under him, jumped off the bed, and ran into the bathroom.  “Okay, wait.  Don’t move.  Stay right there.  I have a surprise.”

He assumed she was changing into something more comfortable and no doubt sexier.  How was he going to keep his hands off her?  She was incredible.  It finally hit him.  She was perfect--smart, caring, understanding, beautiful, and sexy as hell.  He'd nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw the lust in her gorgeous eyes.  How was he going to control himself when she returned?  Did he want to?  He ran his hand through his hair and then down his face.  This was an impossible feat.  She’d be out soon.  He needed a plan--and fast. 

When he heard the doorknob turn, he was suddenly struck with an idea.  He turned over, facing away from the bathroom, and slowed his breathing.  He heard her reenter the room and squeezed his eyes shut. 

She hovered over him and brushed his hair off his brow.  Her warm breath tickled his ear, causing him to shiver.  Her voice held a tinge of sadness as she whispered into his ear, “Goodnight, sweetheart.”

Feeling the bed give to her slight form, he slowly opened his eyes to rest on her delicate neck.  He inwardly sighed.  ‘Goodnight, Amanda.’

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“Lee, I don’t understand what the big deal is?  You know Jenny and I have a ‘girl’s day out’ on the last Saturday of every month.  You’ve never had a problem watching Matthew before.  What’s wrong?”

‘I wasn’t me before, that’s what’s wrong,’ he mocked himself.  ‘Come on, Stetson.  He’s just a baby.  You can take on a roomful of enemy agents, so you can certainly handle one child.’  He eyed the little boy playing with his trucks in the den.  “You’re right, we’ll be fine.  You ladies have a great time.”  He tapped the little girl’s nose.  “Go on, go do your women things.  We men will be fine on our own, isn’t that right, Matthew?”  A loud scream was his only reply, as the boy crashed the truck into the coffee table, over and over again. 

“Okay, you boys behave.  We’ll be back after dinner, so go ahead and feed him.  We’ll stop and grab a bite on our way home.”  She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.  As she disappeared out the door, she called over her shoulder, “Come on, Jenny.”

“Bye, Daddy.  Have fun.”

“Bye, Jenny.  You, too.”

Matthew toddled out of the den, and Lee picked him up.  “So, Matty.  What do you think we should do first, huh?” 

“Truck.” 

“You want to play trucks?  Okay, that seems easy enough.”  They stepped into the den and sat on the floor near the baby’s trucks.  Lee chose one and carefully scrutinized it.  What did it do?  There were no batteries, no wires, nothing.  He handed it back to the toddler.

“Truck!  Vrooooooooooom!”  His small hands pressed the truck to the floor, skidding it from the couch leg to the coffee table.

“That’s it?  That’s all it does?”  Disappointed, Lee picked up the offending toy.  “Come on, Matty.  We’re going to buy you a real toy truck.”  He scooped the brown-eyed reincarnation of Amanda up off the floor and strode through the front door. 

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Lee watched Matty in the rearview mirror and smiled.  The little boy was happily pushing the buttons on the large red fire truck sitting next to him.  They had scoured the isles of the toy store until they found the perfect truck.  It took the most batteries, went the fastest, and made the loudest noise, and they both beamed with excitement at their new plaything. 

“Daddy, vroom vroom!” he squealed from his car seat, smiling a big toothy grin. 

Lee laughed.  Maybe this kid thing wasn’t so hard after all.  Maybe he did have what it took to be a parent.  Amanda certainly made it look easy enough. 

Lee thought back to the dinner they had shared at the small diner.  It seemed like a good idea at the time.  Just a nice, quiet dinner out for the guys--much easier than cooking.  He couldn’t have been more wrong. 

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The waitress brought their dinner, and Lee made sure Matthew’s wasn’t too hot before handing him a spoon--little did he know the mayhem that would ensue after that simple act.   

Taking a big bite of his French Dip sandwich, Lee didn’t see the child flip the mashed potatoes, until they hit him square in the face.  Before he could grab the spoon from Matthew’s hand, he was nailed again, this time in the arm.  Diving for cover behind a menu, he snuck up behind the little assassin. 

Within seconds, Lee had the shooter under control.  Unfortunately, seconds was all Matthew needed to dump his dinner all over himself.  How could one small child make such a big mess?   They needed to get home and cleaned up before Amanda and Jenny got back. 

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“Well, at least we got all the globs of potatoes off you.  A quick bath and then straight to bed with you, my friend.”  Lee expertly pulled the small child out of the car seat and carried him into the house.

“Bath, Daddy!” 

Lee laughed at Matthew’s excitement.  ‘I thought little boys weren’t supposed to like baths?’ 

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“We’re home!  Sweetheart?” 

“In here,” Lee’s tired voice drifted from the den.  ‘God, what a day!’

Jenny ran into the room and gave him a kiss on the cheek before racing upstairs with her bags. 

“Hi, Jenny.  Bye, Jenny.”  He laughed.

“Hi, there.  You look tired.  How was your evening?”  She rubbed the back of the little boy sprawled across Lee’s chest. 

“Fine.  Piece of cake.”  He wasn’t about to tell her about dinner, or the ensuing chaos that followed during Matthew’s bath.  He’d just let her assume he’d been in complete control at all times. 

“Lee?”  She sat down next to them on the couch. 

“Hmm?” 

“Are those mashed potatoes on your forehead?”

He smiled weakly.  ‘Oh, well, so much for that façade.’

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