A Matter of Trust, part 5

Amanda awoke on her couch to find Dotty, Phillip, Jamie, Joe, and Carrie standing over her, talking about her.

"Shouldn't we call a doctor or something?" Phillip asked.

"Look! She's coming around!" Joe said.

"What happened?" She asked.

"You passed out." Dotty said.

"Are you OK?" Carrie asked. Amanda sat up slowly, trying not to let that sick feeling come back again.

"Yeah. I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" Dotty asked skeptically.

"Yes, I'm sure I've just had a rough day and not enough sleep. I'll be fine once I get some rest.

"Are you sure? Maybe we should call the doctor, just to be sure."

"NO!" She protested. That would be the worst thing right now. It was bad enough that Lee had told everyone they knew about their marriage and left her to pick the pieces. The last thing she needed was to have her children find out about the baby, when Lee himself didn't even know yet.

"Mom?" Jamie said hesitantly.

"Yes, Sweetheart?"

"Is what Lee said really true?"

"Yes, Jamie. I'm afraid it is." She said as she reached for him and pulled him donw beside her I've been wanting to tell you for some time now, but there just didn't seem to be an easy way to do that." Phillip sat on the other side of Amanda.

"But why didn't you just tell us you were getting married to begin with?" He asked.

"Well...It was a difficult situation. Lee and I didn't want to wait any longer to get married than we did, but we didn't want to spring it on you either. You guys didn't know Lee very well yet and we wanted to give you time to get to know him and for him to get to know you before we told you."

"We would've understood if you wanted to get married. We understood when Dad got married again." Jamie pointed out.

"I know, but it's different with Lee. He's never had any kind of family and we wanted to make sure that you'd all be comfortable around each other. I mean, look at how you and Lee were six months ago."

"Yeah." Phillip said. "You were being a real geek!" He said as he smacked his brother on the back of the head.

"Hey, now. None of that." Joe said sharply.

"Jamie, can you honestly tell me, that the way you and Lee were getting along six months ago, that you would have been comfortable with him living here?"

"We get along fine with Carrie." Carrie knelt down beside him.

"Yes, but you don't live with us all the time." Carrie reminded him. "You pretty much only see me when you come to spend the night with your dad. If your mom and Lee had told you all about it before, he would've been here with you guys all the time and that would make it harder for you to get adjusted to each other."

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense." 'Thank you Carrie. That's twice today you've helped me out.' Amanda thought.

"Listen, Fellas. I really want to talk to you some more about this, but it's getting late and I'm sure your dad had plans for you tongiht."

"Are you sure you're ok, Mom?" Phillip asked.

"I'm sure. Go on, now and have fun this weekend."Phillip, Jamie, Joe and Carrie left. Dotty sat down beside her daughter.

"Now that everybody's gone, do you want to tell me what's really going on?"

"What do you mean?" Amanda asked uncomfortably.

" don't want to tell me. I'll tell you what I think."

"I can't wait to hear this."

"I think you're pregnant and you haven't told Lee yet. You went to Joe for advice and Lee saw you two together and misunderstood."

"Have you been talking to Joe?'

"So it's true?"

"Joe told you, didn't he? I will never trust that man agian!"

"No. He didn't tell me. I've had a suspicion about your pregnancy for two weeks now."

"How could you have known? I didn't even find out myself until this morning!"

"Your room is right next to mine, remember? I've heard you getting sick, not to mention you've been irritable and tired and when you passed out tonight, that confirmed it."

"So, how do you feel about having another grandchild?"

"I think it's wonderful, but I think that Lee has a right to know he's going to be a fether."

"I know, but how can I telll him something like this after everything that's happened between us?"

"Let me ask you a question."

"What?"

"Do you still love Lee?"

"Of course, I do."

"And you want this baby?"

"More than anything."

"Does Lee want to be a father?"

"We never actually talked about it, but I'm sure he does."

"There you go. No problem,"

"How can you say that? You saw the way he was tonight."

"Yes, I did. I saw a man in love, desparately trying to communicate with the woamn he loves, but not really knowing how to reach her. I also saw a stubborn woman, unwilling to swallow her pride and admit she made a mistake."

"No. He's the one who made a mistake. If he loves me, he should trust me and believe me when I tell him it's over between me and Joe."

"By the same token, if you love him, you should believe him when he says that the thing between him and this other woman is over."

"I know what I saw today, and it didn't look like it was over to me."

"Mm-hmmm. And that's exactly what he thought about seeing you with Joe." Amanda nodded her head and gave up. There was no arguing with her mother.

Meanwhile, at Francine's apartment, she and Jonathan were sitting on her couch, locked in a passionate embrace. She started to pull away from him and he moved on to trail kisses down her neck. She gently pushed him away

"Jonathan, please. This isn't fair."

"What isn't fair?"

"What you're doing to me."

"You mean this?" He asked as his kissed her again. She kissed him back, but then stopped and turned serious again.

"Don't do this to me, Jonathan. I can't think when you do that."

"That's the point." He said as he moved toward her again. She stood up quickly before he got close enough to distract her again.

"We have to have a serious talk and you know it."

"About what?"

"What do you mean, anout what? Are you forgetting that you proposed to me last night?"

"No but I don't see where there's anything to talk about. Either you want to marry me or you don't."

"I wanted to marry you five years ago and you left me standing at the altar looking like a fool!" she reminded him. Tears filled her eyes as she thought of his past rejection.

"So, that's what this is all about. You still don't trust me. You think I'm going to run out on you again."

"The thought had crossed my mind."

"I see." He got up to leave.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going home, Francine. When you decide what you want, give me a call." He said in annoyance as he walked out the door. Francine sat down on the couch and let her tears fall.

Lee awoke the next morning, with his head pounding. He turned over in bed, trying to find a more comfortable position, but it wouldn't stop. After shifting several times, he fianlly realized that the pounding wasn't in his head, it was on his front door. He got up with a disgusted groan, and put his robe on. He went to the front door and jerked it open.

"WHAT?" he growled at Joe King. Joe pushed his way inside. "What do you think you're doing?"

"I came here to talk to you about Amanda."

"You and I don't have anything to talk about." He gestured toward the still open door.

"Yes, we do. It's about time you stopped being so damned pig-headed and listened to somebody else for a change."

"Whatever it is you have to say, I'm not interested. All I want is my wife back."

"You never lost Amanda to begin with."

"What do you mean I never lost her? Obviously I have if she'd rather be with you than me."

"Oh, stop acting like a jealous fool and listen!"

"NO! I don't want to listen to you. In fact, after all that's happened, I'm finding it very hard not to smash your face in!" He balled up his fists as his anger started to get the best of him again.

"You wanna' smash my face in, go right ahead, if you think that will make you feel any better." Lee relaxed as he thought about the consequences of taking such action.

"No, it wouldn't." He admitted. "The only thing that would make me feel better is to know what's

"That's exactly why I came here. Now, can we talk like civilized people?"

"Yeah." Lee said as he shut the door.

"There's a very good reason that Amanda came to see me yesterday. She wanted to ask my advice on a very serious matter."

"What could be so serious that she wouldn't talk to me about it." He demanded irritatably. "I'm her husband for crying out loud!"

"That's why she came to me. You're too close too the situation."

"How can I be too close?. I'm supposed to be the one she confides in, not you!"

"I understand how you feel, but I was just trying to be her friend."

"I'll just bet!" He replied hotly. 'I just bet I know what kind of friend you were being' he thought.

"You may find this hard to believe, but I'm in love with my wife. You probably didn't notice this last night in your drunken state, but she was right by my side at Amanda's house."

"No, I didn't." he admitted sheepishly. "I just haven't been thinking clearly since this whole thing started."

"Well, maybe you should start trying. Amanda's going to need all the support you can give her in the next few months."

"What do you mean?"

"Well...It's really not my place to tell you." Joe said as he prepared to leave

"If something's going on with Amanda, I have a right to know."

"I really shouldn't tell you." He tries again to leave, but Lee stops him.

"Tell me. You know that Amanda won't talk to me."

"I can't!" Lee pinned Joe against the wall.

"Tell me, Dammit!" He demanded.

"Amanda's pregnant, all right?" He siad as he pushed past Lee and started out the door.

"Wait a minute!" Joe turned around.

"What?"

"That's what she told you?" 'Am I really going to be a father?' he thought.

"Yes. She didn't know how to tell you and she was worried about how it would affect that boys and she wanted my advice."

"I can't believe this! I feel like such an ass. I can't believe the way I treated her and she's carrying my child. She must hate me."

"She doesn't hate you. She loves you. And I know you love her, so why don't you just talk to her and tell her how you feel."

"Thanks." He hesitated, then added, "I'm sorry for the way I treated you too."

"It's ok. I understand. I'd probably react the same way in your shoes." He turned and left. Lee closed the door and started pacing wondering what to do next. He smiled as he thought of Amanda having his baby. 'Wow.' he thought. 'Amanda and I are going to have a baby. I've got to talk to her and tell her how sorry I am.' With that thought in mind, he hurried into the bedroom to get dressed.