the kissing gate | simanda ✓

16. feeling

Amanda dusted the tops of the side tables in the living room, dancing around to the music that she had put on. Her daughters were both at school and wouldn’t be back home until around three thirty in the afternoon. It was now three in the afternoon so Amanda had half an hour to finish cleaning before she had to help Hollie and Lexi with their homework. Lexi always had trouble with her maths homework and it was assigned every night so she had no choice not to do it, needing Amanda’s help to understand the material although it was practiced that day in class.

Lexi’s homework took longer than Hollie’s did because Hollie was assigned a packet to do that had assignments from her reading and maths classes. Occasionally there was a bit of homework for her science class but it was all fairly easy for Hollie so she never required much help to do her homework.

Amanda wiped off the side tables and began to clean off the T.V. stand of its’ dust. When that was done, she put away the dust rag she had used in the laundry room of her house and put away the can of cleaning spray in the cabinet underneath the sink. The living room was cleaned and Lexi and Hollie were going to be home in less than five minutes so there was no time to start doing anything else. Amanda took her phone off the charger and looked at her notifications. There was a text from Simon asking her when she would like to go on their next date. Amanda replied, with her heart beating fast, that she was free on the next weekend to go on a date as long as there was someone to check in on Lexi, who was old enough to begin babysitting her little sister, every couple of hours. Simon replied that it sounded good and asked if it was alright with her if Lexi could babysit his son, Eric, as well when they went on their second date.

Amanda replied that Lexi would be able to handle both of the children and asked where they would be going on their date. She laughed when Simon replied that it was a surprise and he was going to pick her up around seven in the evening on Saturday night. Amanda’s thoughts went to that Simon was planning something romantic for them to do.

Simon’s imagination could go wild when it came to date ideas so Amanda had no clue as to what Simon was planning for them. She texted back, asking if he would at least give her a clue as to what the date was going to be. A text lit up her phone that had Simon’s reply and he had said that he wasn’t going to tell her. Amanda rolled her eyes and texted that she loved him and he replied back that he loved her too.

Amanda and Simon had recently begun texting that they loved each other but they hadn’t said it face to face. That was going to happen when they were both ready to say it to each other and not through text. It always made Amanda’s heart flutter when Simon said that he loved her and Amanda knew that her reaction to him saying it to her face was going to make her heart most likely pound with passion for him. It was clear enough to her that she was in love with Simon.

“Hi, Mum!” Lexi called as she came into the front door. “I have no homework tonight for once, including no maths homework because we’re starting a new unit tomorrow so we had a study hall!”

“Hi, Mummy!” Hollie called after her sister finished talking. They dumped their backpacks in the entry hall on the bench that they tossed their winter coats onto. The girls came into the kitchen and Lexi got up onto the counter. She got into the snacks cabinet and pulled out a tin of biscuits that Amanda had bought the day before when she had gone grocery shopping.

“That’s good!” Amanda said. “Are you starting an easy unit next?”

“Fairly easy. I looked at it in the textbook and I think that I might already understand it. We’re going to continue quadratics and we’ve already had practice with it from last unit,” Lexi replied. Lexi opened the tin of biscuits and handed Hollie a couple. “Are you texting Simon again, Mum?”

“Yes,” Amanda responded. “He’s planning on taking me on a date in two days.”

"Can I help you pick out an outfit?" Hollie asked and Lexi nodded in agreement.

"I think I can pick something out myself but I do need to go shopping and you should come with me, Lexi," Amanda replied.

"Why, mum?" Lexi asked.

Amanda whispered into her ear, "you need bras. You can't go braless anymore."

"Why now? I've got nothing!" Lexi complained. "I'm tinier than you, Mum!"

"You need them. I was twelve when I got my first one because I couldn't go naked underneath my shirts anymore," Amanda retorted. "You're coming with me and that's final."

"Why do you have to go shopping, Mummy?" Hollie asked, taking a bite out of one of her biscuits.

"I need new underthings now that I have a boyfriend. I got rid of all of my nice ones Simon would like on me when your father passed away," Amanda replied. "That's why I'm taking your sister with me tomorrow night. Do you want to go to David and Alesha's for a few hours tomorrow?"

"Yeah!" Hollie answered excitedly. "But Alesha feeds Beatrix weird."

"It's perfectly normal that Alesha breastfeeds. It's what breasts are for after all," Amanda said in response. "I breastfed you."

Both Hollie and Lexi made disgusted faces and Hollie mimed gagging. Amanda laughed at their response and she took a biscuit from Hollie.

"Hey!" Hollie said in defense and she clutched the two other biscuits to her chest to protect them from her mother stealing another one.

[_] hey guys! Sorry I didn't publish last night as I was writing an alemanda piece that I hope to publish the first chapter soon. So Amanda is falling in love with Simon finally! Do you think Simon would ever propose and what did you love about this chapter? What do you think is going to happen next? Bye until the next chapter!