The First of December
Amanda had been awake since before the sun came up. Hours before. More like five that morning. She was almost two weeks late with her third pregnancy and was more than ready to meet the new baby. Her doctor had said she was fine, that the baby was active enough, but that if she didn’t deliver by Sunday they’d induce her on Monday. Today was Thursday.
Amanda had some conversations with the baby after her doctor visit on Tuesday. She didn’t know if it helped, but she hoped it would. She and Lee didn’t know the sex of the baby. Lee wanted it to be a surprise. Amanda didn’t mind. It took the stress off of purchasing too many things.
Of course, Dotty had already thrown her a baby shower. That was about a month ago. They’d gotten a crib, stroller, things that weren’t necessarily for a boy or girl. Just stuff they could use. Amanda didn’t want to use the items she had from when Jamie and Phillip were babies. Half of those things had been recalled. She and Lee agreed that new was best when it came to cribs, strollers, and high chairs.
At the moment, she was sipping some hot chocolate and working the crossword from last week’s Washington Post Magazine. She loved trying to solve them. Sometimes she’d take a poke at the New York Times crossword, but those were usually too tough for her. This week’s Post crossword was tough enough. She still hadn’t gotten the link-word she needed. After two hours she felt close.
She would have been drinking coffee at the early hour, but her doctors told her to ease up on caffeine. So chocolate would at least fill her need for the cocoa bean. She was only drinking it infrequently at any rate. In the past weeks, anything she drank made her pee minutes later, so she was nursing her cocoa as slowly as possible.
Lee rolled over in bed to find he had it all to himself. He checked the red LCD of his Westclox alarm clock to find it was seven. A bolt of adrenaline ran through him as he thought how he would have to rush into work. He didn’t want to go.
Then he reminded himself that he didn’t have to work for the rest of the week. He’d told Billy that he and Amanda had plans for today and that he might as well take Friday too. Amanda was on maternity leave, but still worked from home. She told him she felt strange not helping him, so he let her help.
Lee had relegated himself to paperwork and cleaning out the Q-Bureau. No way was he going to miss his child’s birth, not even to save the country. Billy had taken him off the Active Field list months ago, to Dr. Smyth’s dismay. That only made Lee and Billy smile more widely.
Francine seemed indifferent to Amanda not being around. She seemed a bit happier until she discovered Amanda was allowed to work cases from home. She questioned Billy on that and he simply said that he wasn’t going to break up his best team. He could tell Amanda she was on leave until the baby was born, but he couldn’t and wouldn’t bar Lee from bringing work home, if Amanda didn’t mind.
Lee sluggishly pulled himself back to the present. He had things to do, starting with telling Amanda that he had the rest of the week off. She didn’t know. She was already out of bed, and he had to start his day too.
"’Manda?" Lee called quietly when he reached the living room.
"In here," she called back a bit louder from the kitchen.
"Ah, there you are," Lee said, wrapping his arms around her and the chair from behind, "How long have you been up?"
"About two hours. I couldn’t get comfortable, and you were sleeping so peacefully," Amanda said, "So I thought we’d just get up."
"No contractions?" Lee asked, hoping.
Amanda shook her head in the negative, "Not yet. Hey, you’re going to be late for work."
"I told Billy I’m taking the rest of the week off. I hope that’s okay with you," Lee informed her, "Did the boys leave yet?"
"About ten minutes ago. You didn’t hear them running around and getting showers? You really did have a day yesterday," Amanda said as Lee sat down with a cup of the coffee that had made itself. They always set the coffeemaker on its timer. Someone was always wanting coffee first thing in the morning.
"No kidding. What time did I hit the sack last night?" Lee asked.
"Well, I was already in bed at nine. I think you came up about an hour later. You did your thing in the bathroom, kissed me and that was it," Amanda remembered.
"I kissed you goodnight and just fell asleep?" Lee asked again.
"Uh huh. You slept through all my moving in the bed, too. Usually, you’re up trying to help me…not that I need it. It was kind of nice to waddle out of bed on my own this morning," Amanda said, smiling.
"Well, I’m nice and rested, now, so anything you want to do today, we’ll do it," Lee promised.
"Really?" Amanda asked.
"Really. Don’t you know what today is, Amanda?" Lee asked.
"Well, it’s the first of December, it’s Thursday…" Amanda said, still unsure where her husband was leading.
"Exactly. It’s December first. And I think that you and I should celebrate the start of this new month," Lee said, grinning.
"Sure, we can do that, but, we just had Thanksgiving, and Christmas is coming up, so, what should we get each other?" Amanda asked.
"Nothing. We have one another. Let’s just go window shopping, or see a movie, whatever you want. But first, I’m going to get you and Baby Stetson something to eat. What are we hungry for?"
"Gosh," Amanda said, totally surprised, "How about French toast? I think we’d love some of that."
"’Kay. Then we can get dressed and go," Lee said, "Oh, do you think Mom wants something? I’ll make her some, too. I know what she thinks of breakfast."
"Okay," Amanda said, letting Lee take the lead in this holiday of his. He was referring to Dotty easily as "Mom" now. She had asked him to back in May, after their secret was out, and he was glad she’d asked. It eased the tension of being in-laws to just call her Mom.
Dotty West awoke at eight in the morning. She was sleeping in later since Amanda was home now and usually got Jamie and Phillip out the door for school. Dotty might have slept even later, but there was a wonderful smell coming from the kitchen and she couldn’t resist it.
She knew that meant that Amanda wasn’t in labor yet. She thought she was as worried about the baby as everybody else. The boys were very helpful to Amanda, acting much less selfish than usual lately. They were getting along with Lee better. They helped him in the yard and with chores inside and he could ask them to do things and get few complaints about it.
Joe had taken the news pretty well when he’d come to dinner the Saturday after she had found out about the big secret. Joe seemed indifferent that Amanda was really a spy. He’d had ideas since she’d gone missing that time. That Amanda and Lee were married didn’t throw Joe very much either. He could tell, he’d said. His own marriage to Carrie was going just fine. What really threw him for a loop was that Amanda was pregnant. He seemed to try to talk her out of having the baby…coming up with reasons it wouldn’t be safe, especially "at her age".
Amanda had kindly told Joe to stuff it and that she was going to be having a baby. In a way where Lee didn’t feel victorious and Joe didn’t feel insulted. It amazed Dotty; the way Amanda handled the men in her life, including her two sons.
Now, she was going to get up and get some of whatever was cooking and see if that new grandbaby was thinking about making an entrance into the world. She couldn’t wait.
"That smells so wonderful," Dotty said as she entered the kitchen. Lee and Amanda were sitting together at the table, eating French toast and drinking orange juice. They weren’t saying much as their mouths were otherwise occupied.
"We’ve got a plate for you on the counter, Mom. And good morning," Lee said, hoping his mother-in-law would remember their discussion from the night before.
"Good morning, and thank you. You know, I would have slept longer, only, breakfast smelled so good, and one can’t skip breakfast. It’s important. So I just thought I’d get up and see what was cooking," Dotty said in her patented ramble style.
"If this baby’s a girl, I bet she comes out talking," Lee said with a laugh.
"What’s that?" Dotty asked.
"Never mind," Lee said quickly. Amanda kicked his shin under the table anyway. She could barely manage to do that, and it didn’t hurt very much.
"Do you have any plans today, Mother?" Amanda asked.
"Well, I have to do my Christmas shopping, and Ethel and Mrs. George are going to pick me up for that. We’re all going into town. I imagine I’ll be out until this afternoon, when the boys get home from school. Then I’ll have to wrap everything right after dinner, and before that, well, there’s making dinner," Dotty said without stopping for breath.
"You’ll be busy," Amanda pointed out, then in a smaller voice said, "Ouch."
"What is it?" Lee asked since Dotty was eating.
"Just the baby kicking around. Going to be a boxer or a cyclist," Amanda gave Lee and Dotty a wry grin.
"Can I feel it?" Lee asked.
"You probably could, but I’m not moving," Amanda teased him. Lee got up and put his hands on his wife’s abdomen.
"I can’t wait for you," Lee told Amanda’s belly.
Dotty grinned. She was glad Lee was looking forward to the baby. He was already a good stepfather, as good a one as the boys chose to let him be. He would be good with the baby, too.
"Mother?" Amanda asked, "Are you okay?"
"Oh, I was just thinking, that’s all," Dotty said.
"We’re just going to clean up here and then go out. I have the day off," Lee said, repeating what Dotty hadn’t heard.
"Oh no, you cooked, I’ll get the dishes," Dotty said.
"Mother, are you sure?" Amanda asked.
"You don’t have to Mom," Lee told her.
"I have plenty of time before my ride shows up. You two get going. It’ll take Amanda long enough. Hopefully, that baby won’t wait much longer," Dotty insisted.
Lee and Amanda didn’t ask again. They made their way to their bedroom, picked out their wardrobe and dressed.
It was nine thirty by the time they made it out the door. Dotty’s friends had yet to arrive, so the couple bid her goodbye and promised to be home by the time the boys got out of school. That way Dotty would not have to rush.
Toys ‘R’ Us was the first stop for the Stetsons. Phillip and Jamie wanted some video games for their Nintendo, and also, skateboarding items were to be found there. They decided it wouldn’t hurt for them to deal with some of their shopping while they were out.
Their second stop led them to a camera store for some things for Jamie and themselves. They needed some film for when the baby was born. And Jamie was already nagging about the candid photos he wanted to take once the baby was home.
After the camera shop was the requisite clothing store. The boys needed gloves, socks and underwear. Amanda felt that she wasn’t being a good mother if she didn’t pay attention to what the boys were either losing or growing out of. Lee loaded all their stuff into the Corvette and happily accompanied Amanda for more window shopping or Christmas shopping if that was what she wanted to do.
For lunch, Amanda had a craving for Mexican, so Lee promptly found a good place to eat. Tacos, chips, guacamole all made their way down to baby Stetson who seemed satisfied enough and went to sleep, as far as its mother could tell.
"What do you think of this necklace?" Lee asked as they went by a jewelry shop.
"It’s gorgeous…pearls. When I was in high school there was a girl who wore pearl necklaces and bracelets every day. Even in gym class. She could have put those things in her locker, but she didn’t," Amanda commented.
Lee smiled, "It is nice. Even to gym, huh?"
"Yep," Amanda said.
"It’s about one. You tired of walking around?" Lee asked.
"Yea, we should get home, meet the boys," Amanda agreed.
Lee drove home and proceeded to unload the car without complaint. Amanda was allowed to carry in the bag of film, so that she felt like she’d contributed, but Lee wouldn’t let her carry more.
Shortly after their arrival, Phillip and Jamie entered the house, throwing their books to the bottom of the steps before greeting their mother and raiding the refrigerator.
"Hi Mom, where’s Grandma?" Phillip asked as he put a cookie into his mouth, whole.
"She’s out shopping, same as Lee and I did earlier," Amanda told him, "You are going to choke yourself doing that."
"No I won’t," Phillip shot back, cookie crumbs flying from his mouth.
"Don’t call an ambulance if he does, Mom," Jamie advised.
"I couldn’t let him choke to death," Amanda reasoned back.
"I know the Heimlich maneuver, I could try that first," Jamie insisted.
"Gee, thanks," Phillip said now that his mouth was unoccupied.
Lee came down the stairs, having finished hiding the presents they’d bought. He’d stowed them in the closet and under the bed of the master bedroom. As soon as he hit the bottom stair, he halfway tripped over the boys’ bags.
"Dammit, I could’ve killed myself!" Lee hollered in frustration at no one in particular.
"Sorry, Lee," Jamie piped up first, moving to get his bag out of the way.
"Yeah, sorry," Phillip said, setting down his glass of milk to move his, too, "I think I’ll just go upstairs and do my homework."
"Okay honey," Amanda called over to him. Lee moved into the kitchen to get himself some juice and his wife a glass of water.
"So Mom, how is Junior doing anyway?" Jamie asked, sitting next to her on the couch.
"Junior?" Amanda asked.
"Well, you guys don’t know what it is. I’m tired of saying ‘it’ all the time," Jamie explained.
"Oh, I see," Amanda said.
"You two had a bunch of names. Did you decide for sure on the boy and girl name?" Jamie asked.
"About a week ago I guess it was," Amanda said, "For a girl…Julia Catherine."
"That’s pretty. Do you want a girl the most?" Jamie inquired further.
"I do," Lee said, "She’ll be just like your mother."
"I’m not sure," Amanda said, "I am kind of used to raising boys. But a girl would be a welcome change, too."
"What’s the boy’s name going to be?" Jamie wanted to know.
"Michael Lee. Your mother insists that if it’s a boy it be named after me in some way," Lee said, grinning impishly.
"I happen to like Lee. It’s a common middle name. I must know five people with Lee for a middle name," Amanda said in her own defense.
Jamie laughed. Such an innocuous disagreement means that she and Lee are still as close as ever and that means Lee won’t have to leave the family. Jamie thought, I was sort of irritated with Dad being gone at first, but then again, better to have Dad elsewhere than him and Mom arguing so much.
"Hey," Lee said, catching both Jamie and Amanda’s attentions, "I’m glad you like my name. If you didn’t, who knows where we’d be now?"
"We’d be out a possible name for the baby," Jamie pointed out.
Amanda and Lee laughed.
"Well, I’m going to go and start my homework. Call me for dinner?" Jamie asked.
"Of course," Amanda said.
"I’ll be right back too," Lee said once Jamie was out of earshot, "There’s something I need to talk to the guys about."
"Okay," Amanda nodded, watching her husband’s backside as he headed up the stairs.
Phillip King smelled dinner a good half hour before it was done. He finished his homework a long time before and was watching TV when he was finally called downstairs. As he had guessed by the smell, beef stew awaited him at the table. There was his mother’s fresh, homemade bread, too. He was going to pig out.
As usual, his mom was sitting at the head of the table and Jamie was on Phillip’s left. Lee was sitting across from Phillip and Dotty was across from Jamie. Phillip reflected that when his dad was there, it was Joe who sat at the head of the table. He didn’t know what to think of Lee deferring to his mother.
Lee was fitting in okay. Phillip knew he’d just have to get used to his stepfather. It was easy. Lee was a pushover on some things; he didn’t know it all when it came to teenagers. But he did know car questions and some very superficial girl questions. So the two of them could carry a conversation.
And then there was this new baby business. Phillip was sure he didn’t want to wake up in the middle of the night to his new sibling’s cries. Maybe he wouldn’t. He and Lee had set up the crib and a bassinet in the Master bedroom. It was getting full in there, but until they could get a new house, it was the best setup.
Jamie seemed to get along with Lee pretty well too. They didn’t hang out with Lee every chance they got, but he was a cool guy. He wasn’t strict with them or anything. And Lee was nice to their dad. Neither man expected the boys to choose "fathers". They were just a big combined family now.
Phillip cleared the last bit of stew from his plate with a hunk of bread and washed it down with Pepsi. He let out a long burp, which Phillip and Lee laughed at but his mother made him excuse himself for, so he did.
"So Mom, I’m done, can I be excused now?" Phillip asked, halfway out of his chair.
Amanda nodded.
"Me too?" Jamie asked.
"Sure, what’s your hurry?" Amanda asked, looking to Lee and her mother for answers.
Lee smiled and shook his head at her. Dotty shrugged.
"Thanks, Mom," Jamie said, following his brother upstairs again.
"I think I’m going to turn in early. It’s cold out and I hear a bubble bath calling my name," Dotty said, "I don’t think I’ll be down again. I have a romance novel I want to finish. Actually, it’s a romance and a mystery, a good one."
"Good night, Mother," Amanda said as she cleared her plate. Lee cleared his too and grabbed Dotty’s plate as well.
"Good night. You…get out here," Dotty said to Amanda’s protruding tummy.
"Look, I’ll clean these up and get them in the dishwasher, put away the leftovers and you go and relax in the living room," Lee suggested.
"Gee, why do I get the feeling you’re up to something?" Amanda asked.
"I am. I’m showing my wife that I love her and that I think she should take it easy till she delivers our baby," Lee said back.
"There’s more to this than what you’re telling me," Amanda insisted.
Lee winked at her and turned his back, starting to clean the dishes.
"This is for you," Lee said. He’d snuck up on Amanda from the back of the couch where she’d been reading TV Guide. He was handing her a square velvet box.
"I thought we weren’t getting anything for each other," Amanda said.
"Well, I couldn’t resist buying this the other day," Lee explained, "And I know you’ll like it."
Amanda opened the box to find a necklace with a double strand of pearls; similar to the one they’d seen earlier. Centered in the box was a pair of matching earrings. Amanda kept staring at the jewelry, not saying a word.
"You can wear them when you deliver, or not if you don’t want to," Lee said, referencing her earlier story. He had come around the couch and was sitting next to her now.
"They’re beautiful. Thank you," Amanda leaned into him for a kiss. Lee kissed her back. He put his left hand on her belly and felt a kick in return. The baby was up and moving again.
Lee nuzzled Amanda’s neck before kissing her there, an indication he was very romantically interested in her at that moment.
"Lee are you crazy?" Amanda asked.
"Crazy in love," Lee replied, his eyes half lidded.
"I am serious, honey…the boys and Mother are here," Amanda stated firmly.
"I paid them off, they won’t be down," Lee said, trying to snuggle with Amanda again. She pushed him back once more.
"You did what? What’s this about you bribing them?" Amanda asked.
Lee sighed. He had anticipated this moment, and was kind of glad to tell her, but it was a complex story. He decided he ought to start slow, "Well, it came to me when I bought your jewelry."
"Uh huh…"
"I thought it would be nice if everyone would keep to their rooms or go out and give us the run of the house. I went to the bookstore. I went to the little spa around the corner. I also hit the videogame store."
Amanda got it now but made him continue, "Then what?"
"Then I gifted to Mom the bubble bath and 5 of the top selling romance novels that I could find. I asked her to please give us December first to celebrate. She was more than willing. In fact, she thought I should have asked sooner. Then she told me I didn’t need to bother with the bribe but it was a nice touch. I don’t mind really. It made me happy and now Mom’s happy too."
"And what about Phillip and Jamie?"
"I got this new karate game and a boxing game for the Nintendo. That’s why we didn’t buy them today. I also paid them twenty bucks each to stay in their rooms."
"That’s why they left dinner so fast…they wanted to play those games!"
"Yeah," Lee grinned guiltily.
"I think you got ripped off with the extra twenty bucks to each of them," Amanda mentioned.
"Like I said, I don’t care. I get you all to myself, no competition. Now C’mere," Lee said, pulling her close for another kiss. Amanda obliged him and they picked up where they’d left off, Lee giving her gentle kisses, his hand massaging their child, kick after kick. Or punching if that was it. Lee couldn’t be sure.
"Wish this baby would cut that out," Amanda said. Looking down she added, "Hey, you should be asleep."
Lee laughed.
"I need to lie down, I can’t sit here much longer. Sorry honey," Amanda looked at Lee piteously.
"I’ll go up with you. We can do a lot lying down. And if I move our little television up there so we can see it, I’m sure there’s something good on," Lee said with a naughty grin on his face.
"Sounds good to me," Amanda kissed his nose.
They marched up the stairs together and as promised, Lee manhandled the TV into place so that Amanda could see it without straining her neck. He’d made sure her pillows were fluffed up so she could see comfortably.
"Hey if you wear your pearls, we’ll really be dressed up," Lee said, pointing to his own T-shirt and blue jeans.
"You’re going to have to help me with the necklace, I can’t do it by myself," Amanda pointed out.
"Oh, I would love to," Lee said, his voice growing husky.
She handed him the necklace. Lee lifted her hair up and attached the necklace swiftly. Then he began kissing the back of her neck and massaging her shoulders at the same time.
"Mmmm," was Amanda’s only response. When he stopped, he rested his hands on their baby again.
"All’s quiet," Lee said.
He got no response from Amanda. Her eyes were closed and she’d seemed to fall asleep. Lee didn’t wake her. The baby kept her up enough. He was satisfied to watch TV for a while. It was only eight at night.
"Do me a favor?" Amanda asked sleepily, some two hours later.
"Anything," Lee answered, coming out of his TV trance.
"Take your shirt off so I can see your chest and play with you," Amanda said.
Lee complied, tossing his shirt toward their hamper and missing by a good foot. Amanda’s hands roamed his chest and back in a most pleasing way, evoking feelings from him that no other woman in the world could.
"If you don’t stop I may be forced to kiss you," Lee said.
"I dare you," Amanda said.
Lee kissed her lips once, twice, "Happy December first."
"Happy first of December."
"I love you, my ‘Manda."
"I love you, too, Lee Stetson."
December 10, 1988…
Lee Stetson thumbed through the back of the newspaper, searching for a particular item. With an "ah", he found it and read it aloud.
Birth Announcements:
From the Stetsons:
Stork: a large bird that carries babies in its beak: Our house: the place where it dropped a bundle. Fortunately, our arms were waiting! We are pleased to announce the birth of our son,
Michael Lee Stetson.
Born: December 3, 1988 at ten at night
Weight: 7 lbs., 9 oz.
Height: 22 inches.
He is our family’s pride and joy.
The End
Story Notes:
Disclaimer: None of the SMK characters belong to me, and I have in no way harmed them during this writing.