Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Scarecrow and Mrs. King, they belong to Warner Bros and Shoot the Moon productions. I'm not making any money off of anything. I will put them make unharmed when done. The plot and other characters belong to me. Reference to scene in All the World's a Stage is not meant to enfringe on the work of the excellent script writers.

Rating. PG

Summary: memories and kisses, kisses and memories.

Time line: A piece of remembrance, is after Lee and Amanda are openly married.

Archive: Let me know.

Feedback: All feedback is welcome as long as it is kindly given. Praise is always a good thing. :)

Many thanks to Katrina and Simone for reading this over for me and to their suggestions and comments that made it a better story. I could not have done it without you guys.

The rain pelted against the windows, causing shadows to fill the darkened room. Amanda Stetson lay in the middle of the queen-sized bed, trying to give herself the feeling that she was not alone on this stormy night and wishing that her husband of ten years was safe beside her.

A knock at the window caught her off guard and she sat bolt up in the bed, grasping her pillow as though the feathery bundle could save her from whatever the danger might be.

"Mommy?" she heard the small voice at her door call. "Mommy, can I come in? That old twee is beating on my window and it's scwary."

Amanda smiled at her little daughter, Abbie's long blonde braid hanging down her back, the old faithful teddy bear Justin, held tightly in her hot hands.

"Climb into bed with Mommy." Amanda threw back the covers. Abbie happily climbed into the inviting bed and snuggled against her mother.

"Do you feel better now?" Abbie murmered against her mother's arm. Amanda looked into the hazel eyes, so much like Lee's and kissed the top of her daughter's nose.

"I like it when you do that Mommy. It makes me feel safe." Abbie managed before drifting off to a sound sleep that Amanda envied.

Watching the even fall of her five year olds chest as she slept soundly, Amanda smiled at Abbie's statement and thought about being five and kisses and all the kisses of her life. The ones that made your life.

***********************

The best part of five year old Amanda West's going to bed routine, was after the teeth had been brushed, the bath had been taken and the last drink of water was drunk. After settling down into her favorite nightgown, she would stand at the top of the steep, narrow steps and call down- "Panda is ready for bed."

Both Mother and Daddy every night would "fight" over who would tuck her in and then both would race up the stairs, Daddy usually hitting the squeaky one, and both of them at the same time would pick her up and toss her into the soft bed. All three of them would be laughing so hard, it would bring tears to their eyes. Then Daddy would say, "Let's say prayers," and then the moment would be quiet.

Then came Amanda's favorite part. Mother would lean down and kiss her Panda's cheek and murmur, "Goodnight Sweetness".

"Good night Mother-mom."

Then Daddy would lean down and kiss each cheek and then the nose and then tweak it and smile. "Don't let the bedbugs bite." he always teased.

After they would shut the door, Amanda would roll over with her doll, Lois Anne ,tucked under her chin and let that safe feeling roll over her, that those bed time kisses gave her.

Years later when they laid her father to rest, she approached the coffin and gently touched her father's face. Leaning down she kissed each cheek and then the nose, and then tweaked it. With tears streaming down her face she smiled at him and whispered, "Don't let the bedbugs bite."

Once more that feeling of safely washed over her and she felt at peace with the world once more.

******************

She would always remember that Easter morning that she was ten. They had gone to visit friends who lived in the Maryland countryside and had gone to church with them that morning.

The church of St. Michael was an old fashioned looking clapboard building, that Amanda fell in love with from the start. The white boards shone with the red of the front door, setting it off. Big windows on each side of the church let in fresh air and sun shine.

After church, while her parents talked, Amanda went exploring with the other children. The church was built in a field of wild flowers, daises and buttercups everywhere.

Running through the flowers, her blue silk sash following along in the wind behind her, she was a beautiful picture of spring.

She never did forget what happened that day. David Spencer a boy she barely knew from school, came running up to her, kissed her on the cheek and ran away again.

"Now why did he do that?" she wondered, but deep inside she knew and it made her giggle with joy.

*********************

The Raiders were behind by two points and the Generals were sure to win the championship. It was a freezing cold night and the cheerleaders with their short skirts, were huddled together for warmth.

"Why don't they just say we won and get it over with." Bethany asked no one in particular. She wanted to to get out of there because her boyfriend played on the other team.

Just then a groan from the General's side caught their attention. "Craig Mitchell, running back for the Generals has just injured his knee and will be taken to the side lines" the announcer was saying.

"That's it, were done, forget ever winning now." several of the fans moaned and hollered. "How dare he get hurt."

Amanda left the shelter of her warm jacket and made her way over to where Craig was now sitting. A look of pain spread across his face ,which he tried to hide when he saw her.

"I suppose you are disappointed in me too?" he asked his girlfriend of just a few weeks.

"Why would I be disappointed. It was an accident and you couldn't help that. It doesn't really matter if we win or not. " Then very shyly she added. "Just as long as you are okay."

A smile spread across his face and before she knew it his lips were on hers and she was experiencing her first real kiss. A feeling of warmth invaded her body and she felt a glow unlike anything she had ever felt before.

"I " Craig began, searching her eyes, for what she was thinking. They had not been going out very long and even though this was 1964 and the era of free love he wasn't sure if he should have done that or not.

For an answer, Amanda, kissed him back. Then the two of them sat on the bench huddled together, cheering their team on to victory.

********************

She slipped the ring off of her finger and handed it the man, standing beside her.

"Are you sure?" he asked, like he did not want to know the answer.

"I'm sure. We have such a great friendship. Why do we want to ruin it with marriage?" She laughed and he had to join in.

Taking the ring from his hand, he threw it down into the water below and they watched it sink to the depths.

"You should not have done that." she chided. "You might need that again someday."

"No, when I need it again, it will be a different time."

Leaning in to her body, he laid a gentle kiss upon her lips. A bittersweet reminder of their time together. "This is what good-bye" is like she thought. "All the good things and the bad things hit at the same time and come delivered in a kiss."

Silently, she walked down the bridge and away from might have been.

******************

The crickets and the katydids were trying to out-do each other in their summer concerts. The air had a feeling of honeysuckle and watermelon and good times.

The young couple wrapped up in each other on the front porch swing, would not have moved if an atomic bomb had landed in their laps. Hands intertwined, he whispered something for her ears only and she smiled at his words.

In this man, Amanda was sure she had found her meaning for life. His every move was made with her in mind and she wanted nothing more than to be with him forever.

The touch of his hand was magic and poetry and sweet things she did not know how she had lived all these years without.

"Amanda?"

"Yes, Joe?"

"Maybe, you've noticed that I kind of like you." his voice smiled.

"Oh, what makes you say that?" she teased, slipping her hands around his neck and pulling him close.

"Well," he shrugged. She noticed his face was turning red with embarrassment and the thought of that delighted her.

"Amanda, since we do seem to like each other so much and we get along and everything." She hit him playfully in the ribs and he grunted.

"Amanda I love you so very much and I know we will have a wonderful life together. Would you marry me?"

She could not stop the tears from coming, they ran down her face like a water fall. Hurriedly, she wiped them away, she did not want him to think she was having a bad reaction to his words. Just the opposite actually. "Yes" she breathed.

Of all the kisses they had every shared, this one would stand alone for eternity she knew. The first touch of their lips was magic. She could feel the magic replacing the blood in her body. This was what she was meant for, to be Joe King's wife. The kiss said it all.

****************

If anyone had ever told her that it would take fourteen hours and the worst pain she had ever experienced, Amanda might have changed her mind about having children.

The pains had started at her mother's house, taking Amanda by surprise. The crystal vase that had belonged to her grandmother came crashing to the floor and she cried out more for it than the contraction.

"Never you mind that missie" her mother had laughed in nervous anticipation. Deftly, Dotty picked up the pieces and threw them in the trash. That was a reminder of past times but we are soon to have a new picture of the future," and she hugged her baby girl tightly.

"Joe, I hope that ball game is at a stopping point" Dotty called out to her son-in-law, because I think Amanda is in labour."

They both had to laugh at Joe, running into the kitchen, a look of horror on his face. "Today? But it's only Sunday. Can babies be born on Sunday?"

"They can be born anytime they want" Dotty informed him with mother-in-law wisdom. "Now we need to get Amanda to the hospital. "

"The hospital? Where's the hospital? Where's Amanda? Where's the baby? Where am I?"

He calmed down enough to get Amanda to the right hospital, before he collapsed in the father's waiting room.

Amanda wished he could come in with her but only medical personal she was told could be present. It was a hard delivery, but she never doubted for one minute, that everything would be worth it.

The whole fourteen hours waved by like a dream, in which she did not know if she wanted to wake up from or keep dreaming. Finally she heard her name.

"Mrs. King?" A nurse was standing beside her holding a small bundle wrapped in a blue blanket. "Would you like to see your son?"

"What kind of a question is that?" she could not stop herself from asking. "Of course"

The nurse laid the bundle in her arms and the little boy inside, sneezed into the face of his mother.

She leaned over and placed a kiss on his forehead and in that moment, there was never a doubt that he was the right thing, the most perfect thing. Her first kiss for her first son. She kissed him again and he screwed up his eyes, but did not cry. "Better get used to it little Philip." They had not decided on a name, but it fit him. It had been her father's and she felt he approved.

*********************

His eyes looked into hers so pleadingly she had to turn away from them, not to be influenced.

"No, really, I've made up my mind. I think it would be for the best, for both me and you that we end this marriage.

"But why?" he wanted to know. "You said you still love me and I know I love you. What else do we need?"

She shook her head, hoping he would not see the tears, that we puddling in her brown eyes.

"I think it takes more than that Joe. It also takes commitment and trust."

"I have never given you a reason to not trust me." he balked.

"I know, sweetheart, that's not the issue. I'm not talking about that kind of trust. Trust that makes a marriage work, trust that we will always be there for each other. We do not have that ---anymore."

"If you would just come with me," he began.

She held up a retaining hand. "That's not the answer and you know it. I did come with you, remember. We dragged the boys out to Nigeria and lived in that small place big enough for one person and ate a lot of strange things. But I did not care about all that, I just wanted to be with you. But I was not. Even when I was with you, you were not really there. We've been apart too much to be together. We are strangers now, strangers that just happened to have children together."

She laughed at the irony of it all and then turned her head away so he would not see her cry.

"I thought that life had nothing more in it for me to be your wife and I was happy with that. Now, I can see that's wrong."

"But why is that so wrong ,Amanda?" he asked. "You told me on our wedding day that you knew beyond any doubt that you were meant to be my wife."

"I was wrong, Joe" she said quietly.

"I was very happy being your wife and the mother of you children and I was content that that was what life held for me. But maybe there is more."

"You're just being stubborn again." he tried to say lightly. When he noticed she did not respond, he grew angry.

"Damn it Amanda, you aren't making this easy. You know that my work is very important to me. It gives me a sense of accomplishment when I know that I can really help these people."

Her voice was breaking and she had to clear he throat, before it would work properly. "I thought I was important to you too."

He threw down his car keys in disgust and swore silently to himself for several minutes. "So, you are saying, it's over between us? Just like that? Ten years down down the tubes.?"

She reached up to kiss him and hoped once more to find that magic, that was purely for them alone. It had always been there in the beginning, but now it was gone. It would never be back. They finished the kiss, and parted.

The kiss had tasted of salt and tears and had the fragrance of his aftershave. There had been others similar and their might be others again, but this was the end. It was over. All the good things and bad things wrapped up in the kiss that ended it all.

*****************

Amanda, had not been this nervous since, she did not know when. This man who was standing before her, was her best friend, her partner, the only one she could fight with. He was standing before her now, a look of determination on his face. "Not this time" he said firmly. Walking over to him, she placed her arms around his neck and smiled. She felt like a kid on a first date.

The kiss was gentle at first and then became more pronounced and demanding. She returned it with the insistency.

Was this the magic she had lost so long ago?

No.

This was something for her and Lee alone, better than magic, better than life itself.

Losing herself in that kiss she smiled inwardly. All the good and bad things in lfie seemed to involve a kiss.

*****************

Standing in front of the Justice of the Peace, Amanda held on to Lee's hand determined not to let go. She could not believe this day had finally arrived. He belonged to her now and she to him. This wonderful man had pledged his life to hers. It was so incredible.

"You may kiss the bride."

She did not really hear that part, but she knew it was here. Wrapped in Lee's arms, his lips on hers and thenthe kiss going deeper, she kissed him with all the desire she felt. It had been a lot of years to make that kiss she could not help but think.

"Ive found what I was looking for" she reflected looking into his eyes. I just wish I hadn't had to take that darn detour."

But some good things had come from that also, Philip and Jamie and a certainty that she was living her life the way she wanted to, not the way anyone else wanted her too.

Good things and bad things, came with kisses, but the good things made the bad things worth while.

*****************

The house grew silent and it made her heart beat faster than the sounds from the storm had. Abbie still lay sound alseep by her side, no noise from Matthew he slept just down the hall.

Getting up, and heading down, she nearly tripped over Luke, the golden retriever ,sprawled out at the top of the stairs. Why did everything feel so creepy?

Suddenly, the door knob turned and she reached for the nearest thing, one of Matthew's hockey clubs, held tightly in her grasp.

The door swung open and she raised the club and then felt strong arms come around her and a voice sound above her screaming. "Amanda, please don't hit me I didn't come home to get beat up."

"Lee" she danced and sang. "You were not supposed to be home until tomorrow. Not that I care," she added before he could comment.

Taking her in his arms, he pulled her close and kissed her forehead before claiming her mouth in a sweet kiss. It was still there, even after ten years. The desire, the passion, and the feeling, better than magic. All the good things wrapped in a kiss.

What a wonderful way for life to be.

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