*The usual disclaimers apply—special thanks to Charlie for the idea and to Cheryl for all the brainstorming help. Hope you enjoy :)*

Making Up Daddy

4247 Maplewood Dr.

Saturday, November 2, 1991

9:30 AM

“Amanda, I don’t need to take this.”

“You do need to take it,” he opened his mouth to speak and she held up her hand. “I don’t want to argue about it anymore.”

Lee sat on the edge of the bed, staring down at the greenish liquid in the little plastic cup. Just looking at it was bad enough. The thought of actually having to drink that stuff was—

“I’m fine now,” he told her. “Seriously. I really don’t—” The sentence went unfinished as another bout of coughing seized him.  He felt Amanda rubbing his back.

“Well you’ve certainly convinced me.”

“Very funny. Look, why can’t I take some non-drowsy stuff instead?”

“No, you can’t take non-drowsy stuff.” 

“Give me one good reason why I can’t.”

“I’ll give you two. One, we don’t have non-drowsy stuff. And two, you were up half the night tossing and turning. You need your sleep. This is what Dr, Kelford prescribed and that’s what you’re going to take.”

Lee knew that voice—it was the same voice Amanda used when telling Jenna or the boys to do something. There was no arguing with that voice, but maybe—his free arm snaked around her waist.

“Well you know, I’d sleep a lot better if there was someone here with me…”  He tried to pull her closer but she pulled away.

“Uh-huh, buster—not this time.” 

“A-man-da” he groaned.

“I’m taking Jenna to the park after her nap and Mother and Jamie are visiting Phillip at Georgetown,” she said. “The house will be quiet—this will be the perfect time for you to get some rest.”

‘Damn Ren Jepard. All that time spent in that drafty warehouse—’

“I won’t enjoy it, you know.” he told her.

She rubbed his back again. “Well, why don’t you do this now—and then when you’re feeling better, we’ll do something you will enjoy, hmm?” Her fingers ran through his hair and traced the curve of his jaw—her light touch sent tingles down his spine. “What do you say, Stetson?” 

Lee looked down at Kelford’s medicine again. Like whisky, he thought sourly—hell, the stuff even came with its own shot glass. The only problem being, of course, that whisky would be much more pleasant. He raised the cup halfway to his mouth when the smell of the stuff hit him and he wrinkled his nose, putting the cup back on the nightstand.

“Lee—”

“Okay, okay,” he snapped.  He picked it up and downed the noxious liquid in one quick swallow. “I’m warning you though—I’ll be expecting compensation later.” 

Amanda chuckled as she eased him back onto the bed. “Looking forward to that. Just sleep now, okay?”

Sleep—already a pleasant warm drowsiness stole through his bones. Lee felt Amanda smoothing his hair back, her hands so nice and cool against his skin—gradually his eyes closed as he let oblivion overtook him completely.

SMK SMK SMK SMK

11:30 AM

“Mommy?”  Blanket clutched in one hand, Jenna padded down the hallway, brushing a lock of hair out of her face. She knew that she wasn’t supposed to be up—Mommy had told her to lie down and take a nap. The only problem was that Jenna wasn’t sleepy.

“Take a nap now, sweetheart—we’ll go to the park later.”

“Want park now, Mommy—go play?”

“We’ll play later, I promise. Just sleep.” 

Jenna had tried to take a nap—she really had tried. She’d tried closing her eyes, counting as high as she could—not very high—but no matter what she did sleep just wouldn’t come. Maybe she could watch TV or play with her toys instead— something that would be fun.

“Mommy?” she called out again.

A faint sound of snoring filled the hallway. Not a Mommy snore, though—she knew what that sounded like. The sound came from Mommy and Daddy’s bedroom. Looking through a crack in the partially open door Jenna could see Daddy lying on the bed, sound asleep. He was on his back, his mouth open—that’s where the snore came from.

“Daddy?”  Jenna said his name softly.  He didn’t wake up; he didn’t even move. He must be really tired to sleep in the daytime, she thought. Daddy didn’t usually take a nap. Maybe it was because of fighting that bad man, Jenna reasoned. That and the owie she had seen on his arm.

“Daddy?”  A little bit louder this time—but he still didn’t move or answer. Jenna really wished that he would wake up so they could play.  Carefully she pushed the door the rest of the way open and walked into the room. Her hair fell into her eyes again—that same piece of hair. With a small sigh Jenna tried to push it all the way out of her face but it just fell in her eyes again.  She needed a barrette. That’s what Mommy always used to hold her hair back.

A sparkle caught Jenna’s eye. Something on top of the dresser?  Maybe it was a really pretty barrette. She climbed up on the chair to get a better look at the sparkly thing, picking it up. But it was just Mommy’s heart necklace. Carefully Jenna put it back where she’d found it.  But where could barrettes be? Maybe in the jewelry box?  Her hand reached out for the box when she saw something else. A collection of tubes and bottles and boxes—Mommy’s makeup. Mommy would use it in the morning before she went to work or if she went somewhere special. She would put stuff on her eyes and her cheeks—different colors. Jenna liked to watch Mommy putting on makeup. She always thought it made her look really pretty.

Should she—her hand hovered over the invitingly shiny containers—

“Make me pretty too, Mommy—pease?” 

“No, sweetheart, you’re pretty enough.” 

“Pease?”

“No, you don’t need any makeup.” 

Mommy might not be happy if Jenna used any on her face. Maybe she shouldn’t do it?

‘But I want to.’ She reached to grab the nearest tube when a noise startled her. A funny sound—halfway between a sneeze and a snort.  Jenna gave a little jump, drawing her hand back sharply and turning her head to see where the noise had come from.

It had come from Daddy. He made the noise again and Jenna held her breath, waiting to see if he would finally wake up. No luck. His eyes were still closed.

Daddy’s eyes. Jenna looked towards the makeup again as an idea began to form. Maybe she couldn’t put any on herself but she could on Daddy. After all, Daddy was a grownup just like Mommy. He probably wanted to look pretty too; and she could make him look really nice. She grabbed as many tubes and bottles as she could and carefully climbed off the chair—moving the things over to the bed. It took three trips to get everything over there. Once Jenna had it all she climbed on the bed and sat right next to Daddy. He moved a little but still didn’t wake up.

What should she use first?  Maybe this. She opened the pink bottle and a terrible smell hit Jenna’s nose, making her eyes water and her nose wrinkle. Yuck, she thought. Not that. Carefully she put the lid back on and placed it on the table next to the bed. It fell over and some of the pink stuff oozed out in a puddle—ooops—that wasn’t good at all.  Hastily Jenna straightened it before any more could spill.

There was a pencil there—a black pencil. The top popped off quite easily in her hands. But where should she put it?  Mommy put it under her eyes but Daddy’s eyes were closed. Then Jenna saw the lines on Daddy’s forehead. That was it! Carefully she traced the lines. They didn’t turn out very straight but it wasn’t too bad. 

What next? Maybe this? Jenna opened a black tube and saw some red stuff—this was the stuff that Mommy would put on her mouth. Daddy’s mouth would look nice with this, she thought. But how to get it to go up? The bottom part twisted in her hands and the red stuff came up. Holding the tube Jenna rubbed some of the red stuff across his lips.  Daddy moved his mouth and some of the stuff missed his mouth but that was okay too—she made sure to put plenty of red on his mouth and chin. 

What now?  Daddy’s eyes, of course.  Mommy usually used this box, didn’t she? Jenna opened it—inside she could see black, brown, blue and green. And purple, of course. Which colors should she use? Maybe purple—it was her favorite color.  She dipped her fingers into the creamy mixture and carefully rubbed it on each eyelid. It was glittery too—maybe some of it would look nice on his cheeks? Jenna tried it—rubbing it across each side of his face and carefully blending it in. She knew that Mommy used different stuff on her cheeks but she thought this color looked really nice on Daddy.

What else should she use? Jenna wondered. Before she could do anything else, though, Dad suddenly turned onto his side, his arm blocking his face.

“Jenna!”

Mommy’s voice sounded from the hallway. Hurriedly Jenna climbed down off the bed and left the room.

“Sweetheart, you were supposed to be taking a nap,” Mommy told her. She took Jenna’s hands, looking at the marks on them. “Just what exactly were you doing?”

“I paint—I paint Daddy,” Jenna explained. 

“I see,” Mommy lifted Jenna into her arms. “Well we’ll show Daddy your painting later, sweetheart—let’s get those hands of yours washed and then we can go to the park.”

SMK SMK SMK SMK 

 “Have to get this clean,” Francine said. “Lord knows, Billy won’t want to come back to a messy office.” 

Lee desperately wanted to ask Francine why she was dusting Billy’s office.  He wanted to ask why she was dusting while wearing a blue-sequined evening gown and whistling what sounded like a variation on ABBA’s Dancing Queen. At the moment, however, he lay on the sofa unable to even move, much less speak.

“You can dance, you can jive,” Francine sang as she sprayed Pledge all over Billy’s computer. What the hell was she doing?  Lee wondered. Didn’t she know that would ruin the machine? He watched as the blond woman did a little twirl as she made the duster dance over the keys.

“Francine,” Lee finally managed something between a whisper and a croak.

“Not now, Lee—I’m busy.”  Francine walked over to him and frowned. “Hmm. Now is it just me, or do you look a little dusty?”

“I am not dusty—no—Francine—”

“You gave this to me,” Francine smiled. “You knew I would use it—one day.”

He was helpless as the duster slowly descended, grey feathers tickling across his forehead, his eyelids, they traced his cheekbones and brushed his lips—Lee spluttered as the feathers entered his mouth—

The doorbell was ringing. Suddenly able to move again Lee sat up, realizing he was in his own room; his own bed—he looked around the room as his heartbeat slowed.

That dream—what the hell had that been? Francine dusting and singing ABBA?  He shook his head reflexively, trying to clear the mental cobwebs. Whatever Doc Kelford had given him, it had certainly been potent. He had to admit, he did feel better though—except for his lips—for some reason they felt all gummy.

The doorbell was still ringing. 

“Coming,” he called out as he rose from the bed and shuffled downstairs, muffling a yawn. Amanda and Jenna weren’t here—they must still be at the park.  He opened the door to see the postman.

“Yeah?”  Lee said. The man just stared at him, eyes wide—mouth open.

“I—” the Postman said and then stopped, apparently at a loss for words.

“Look, was there something you wanted?” Lee asked, already beginning to run out of patience.

“Certified letter for you—sir.” The man handed it to him along with a pen. “Sign there, please. Rough day?”

“No, just a little under the weather.”

The postman smiled. “Well, running into Tammy Faye at the mall can do that to you.”

“Huh?”  What on earth was the man talking about? Quickly Lee signed the form in the space provided and handed it back. 

“Thank you very much, Mr. Stetson.” The man’s smile widened as he handed him the letter.  “Oh, and if you ever need any application tips in the future—you should know that I’m available.”

“Available for what?” The man didn’t answer though—and to Lee’s complete amazement he actually winked before bursting into laughter, shaking his head as he walked back down the sidewalk.  Lee closed the front door, shaking his own head in bemusement as he walked into the family room. He was going to have a talk to Amanda about that postman when she came home—a long talk, because the man clearly wasn’t all there—

A stranger faced him. A weirdly painted man with a black forehead, purple eyes and cheeks and red all over his mouth and chin…the man stared back at Lee, equally amazed.

It took Lee two seconds to realize he was staring at himself in the large wall mirror. Slowly he moved closer to the mirror, taking it all in—he wiped his mouth—the lipstick smearing even more—his hand came away red.

No wonder his mouth had felt so gummy.

Ran into Tammy Faye at the mall—application tips—the wink—

Suddenly it all made sense. And now the postman was going to tell everyone that there was a man on Maplewood who wore makeup.

 But who—

He knew who. He didn’t even have to guess on that count.

The front door opened. “Lee, we’re home!” 

“In here, Amanda.” Lee called out. His wife came into the family room, carrying the half-pint sized culprit. She froze—like the postman—just staring, her eyes wide.

“Oh my gosh,” she said softly.

“See, Mommy?” Jenna grinned, pointing. “I paint Daddy.”

“She said she painted you,” Amanda explained. “I thought she meant on paper. I didn’t see—”

“Well, the postman certainly saw me,” Lee said.

“Oh, Lee—I’m so sorry.”

 “Well he thought it was hilarious—he even asked if I’d run into—”

“Who?”  A smile hovered on Amanda’s lips. “Tammy Faye at the mall, maybe?”

“A-man-da!” he said. “This isn’t—”

“I make Daddy pretty?”  Jenna asked, looking up at them. “Right?” 

Lee and Amanda exchanged glances. 

“Come here, munchkin.”  Lee took Jenna into his arms. “Let’s talk, okay?”

“I’ll be right back,” Amanda said as she went upstairs.

“Talk?” Jenna asked, her dark eyes looking into his own.

“Yeah,” Lee said. “See, the thing is, makeup is pretty—it’s really pretty, but it’s just for Mommies. Not for Daddies.” 

“No Daddy makeup?”

“No—no makeup for Daddy. Okay?”

“’kay.  But—but Pillip and Jamie?”

He could just picture Phillip’s expression if Jenna ever tried to put makeup on him.“No—no makeup for them either.”

“Gamma?” 

“Yes— makeup can be for Grandma too.”

“Oh,” Jenna turned her head to stare at their faces in the mirror. “Makeup Jenna?”

“Well—you know that little girls are pretty without that stuff,” Lee told her. “But just this once—”taking a dollop of red from his chin he put a red dot on her nose. Jenna giggled.

“Over here, Stetson,” Amanda’s voice. He turned his head to look at her—

“Amanda, no—”

“Say cheese!”  

“Teese!” Jenna called out.

There was a bright flash.  

TBC