AN: I'm sure everyone thought I'd given up on this, but I really didn't. I actually had more than half of this chapter finished when I uploaded last (nearly a year ago). But then through an error (mine, not my computer's, unfortunately), I deleted it. I have tried re-writing it countless times, but each time I've been unhappy with the result. I've finally found the way that I think works best. For those of you who were actually still waiting for this, I really appreciate the patience.

I'm sorry this isn't particularly long, but it just sort of wrote itself and this is the length it was.

Chapter 20: All the Trimmings

November 23, 2000 3:00pm

"I want to go first this time," Jamie declared. Usually shy and eager to go last, the heads around the table looked at him in surprise, but no one said anything, and so, raising his glass, Jamie continued, "My apologies for the obvious plagiarism, but this year I am thankful for the presence of Laurie in my life." He tilted his head toward his new wife and she blushed.

"That's sweet, Jamie," she said, "but why is it plagiarism?"

Jamie smiled at the family around him, "Well, Philip here has been saying it for the last couple of years about Marissa,"

"And it's as true this year as it ever was," Philip interjected, "although we have even more to be thankful for this year," he continued, a warm hand on his wife's slightly bulging stomach.

"And," Jamie glanced at Philip silently admonishing him for the interruption, "Philip stole it from Lee, whose been saying it for more years than I can remember."

"Hey," Lee piped up, "I've always had whole-hearted agreement on that."

November 27, 1986 2:35pm

Looking around the table shyly, Lee raised his glass, "This year I'm thankful, as always, for having all of you in my life, and" he reached over to place his free hand on top of Amanda's, "I'm especially thankful for how you have all welcomed me into my new role as part of the family."

Philip and Jamie smirked down at their dishes, Lee had gotten so mushy ever since he married mom! But Dotty smiled warmly at him, "We are all thankful to have you in our home, son."

"Hmm Hmm," Amanda cleared her throat. "And I am thankful that Mother is a lousy housekeeper and doesn't change the sheets after overnight guests." She shot her mother a smile before turning to Lee.

Lee smiled back, murming, "Yes, I'm pretty happy about the dirty sheets, too."

Philip and Jamie just looked at each other trying to determine what was going on, but Dotty smiled at the two newlyweds.

Looking up, Amanda said, "I'm also thankful to have a mother who can organize a wedding in under a month, a son with the skills to be the best wedding photographer we could hope to hire, another son who was able to fix Lee's Vette so we could get to our honeymoon, and a husband who blends in with us effortlessly while adding so much to our mix."

Philip and Jamie again looked down at their plates - mom had gotten mushier, too!

November 23, 1986 3:10pm

"So, how did you two meet?" Laurie asked Lee and Amanda, as everyone finished giving thanks.

Amanda and Lee laughed, smiling at each other.

"They were only children, they barely remember," Dotty interrupted.

"Darling, I think they asked Amanda and Lee, not you," Curt teased his wife.

"So she did," Dotty smiled sheepishly, and Amanda laughed at how easily her mother took to Curt's gentle criticisms and how well he called her mother on her faults.

"As Mother said," Amanda picked up the story, "Lee and I met when we were very young - Lee was five and I was not quite four."

"Childhood sweethearts?" Laurie asked, confused. Surely that would have come up during one of her previous trips to Jamie's family. Besides, then where would Joe fit in?

"No," Lee continued, "childhood penpals. We wrote, although not that often, up until we were teenagers."

"And then Daddy died," Amanda continued the story, her voice soft, "And Lee and I started talking, over the phone, in addition to the letters. After college, we even saw each other fairly often. But we were friends, just friends." Lee smirked, still remembering the time he had almost kissed Amanda while she was married to Joe, but said nothing. He still didn't see why she needed to know that. "And then we weren't for a long time." Amanda looked at Lee meaningfully, and he looked down at his plate.

"But as you'll soon learn about your mother-in-law," Lee continued, looking up with a twinkle in his eye, "she's pretty darn stubborn, so a few years later we were friends again. And then,…, we weren't" he finished lamely.

"Mom got kidnapped," Jamie explained, his eyes on Laurie, not sure how well she understood how dangerous his mother's past was yet. "When she came back, everything was different."

"But in a good way," Philip amended. "Now we knew why she'd been going away so often and why she was so secretive all the time."

"And Lee was around more," Jamie added.

"Of course, they were always kissing then, too" Philip added a smile on his face.

"Yes," Amanda added, looking pointedly at Philip, "I do recall when you thought kissing was gross, young man!"

Marissa laughed, "Glad you grew out of that," she chided Philip, nudging him slightly in the ribs.

"Besides," Jamie went on, "that hasn't changed. Mom and Lee are still always kissing."

"How would you possibly notice?" Lee challenged Jamie. "Or was that someone else Laurie was kissing when I came down for coffee this morning?"

Laurie blushed, but plowed on, "So what happened then, when you came back from being kidnapped?"

"I realized what a wonderful woman Amanda is," Lee smiled as Amanda choked on her wine.

"Not quite like that, actually," she amended. "To this day, Lee says he doesn't know what compelled him to kiss me!"

"True," Lee countered, "but I also know I don't regret it in the least."

"They were married a month and a half later," Dotty smiled, "just in time for Thanksgiving."

"A year after that," Lee picked up the story, "we decided to come out of the field. We wanted to be able to see more of Philip and Jamie before they went off to college."

"And then," Amanda said, as she stood up to portion out the stuffing, "we lived happily ever after."

The End