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Anthony Palang

"Mama! Mah'l come see Anne?"

Tigresa smiled at her baby daughter and said, "Not today, Anne." Anne started to frown until she added, "He'll be back home tomorrow night. Maybe he'll visit you tomorrow night."

"Ah miss hin, mama." Anne said as tears formed in her eyes.

Tigresa picked Anne up and said, "Don't cry, sweetie. I know you miss him. I'll call him and tell him you want him to visit. I'm sure he'll come right over after he gets back home when I tell him that."

Anne sniffled a little, rubbed her eyes with her little hand and said, "Beez?"

**********

An hour after leaving the St. Alsatian Police Station, Michael and Amanda were pulling into the parking garage at the Marmoset Hotel. They turned the car over to the valet and, holding hands, entered the hotel and got on the elevator. The operator was Elizabeth van Horne. She was genuinely happy to see them and told them how Jeffrey had enjoyed the evening with them earlier in the week. She asked them how long they were staying in Catlanna and was disappointed when Michael said that they were leaving the next morning. She had wanted to invite them over to her home and meet her pups. But, she said that she hoped that they would return to Jaguarville and they could visit then.

They reached the 11th floor and got off the elevator. Michael escorted Amanda to her room and said, "Now, you take a shower and we'll go out to dinner. We don't want to stay up too late since we need to get up no later than 2300 so we can eat breakfast and get to the train station in time to catch our 0300 train back home."

Amanda semi-sarcastically said, "Yes, dear."

"And don't you forget it, Sweetie."

Michael walked to his room and entered just as the telephone started ringing. He answered and heard a familiar female voice say, "Michael?"

"Dr. Tigresa?"

"Yes, Michael. Would you do me a big favor when you get back to Catlanna tomorrow?"

"If I can, what do you need me to to do?"

"Anne has been asking about you all week. Would you please come over and make her feel better. You know how much she loves it when you visit."

Michael smiled as he thought about how much that little cub loved him. "Don't worry, Dr. Tigresa. Tell Anne that I'll be there just as soon as I possibly can when I get back tomorrow. I'll have to drop Amanda off to pick up her car but I'll go right over as soon as I do that."

"Thank you, Michael." Michael heard Tigresa talking to someone before she said, "Michael, Anne wants to talk to you."

Michael smiled as he said, "Put her on."

Michael heard a sweet little girl's voice saying, "Mah'l?"

"Hey Sweetie Anne."

"Mah'l, you come see Anne?"

"I can't today, Sweetie; I'm far away. But, I'll come see you tomorrow when I get back home."

"Pwomise?"

"I promise, Sweetie. Have you had your dinner yet?"

"Uh-huh."

"What did you eat?"

"Chick-ken, tataytoes, beas, wice, an wock-ly."

"Mmm. That makes me wish I had eaten dinner with you. Did you eat everything your mama put on your plate?"

"Uh-huh. Wah you ha tuh eat?"

"Nothing yet, Sweetie. I'm waiting on a friend to get ready and then we're going to go eat."

"Fwen?"

"Yes. Her name is Amanda."

"Manna?" Anne's voice got a tremble in it as she said this.

"Yes. She's my friend, Anne."

"Weally?"

"Yes."

"You luh hu?"

Michael smiled as he thought how best to answer Anne. Finally, he said, "Yes, Sweetie. I love her and I love you, too. You're like a baby sister to me and Amanda is a good friend."

"Oh. You come see Anne tuhmahrah?"

"Yes, I'll see you tomorrow. I've got to go, Sweetie. Amanda should be ready to have dinner soon and I've got to take a shower before we go."

"Okay, Mah'l. Ah luh you." But, Michael could hear the sadness in her voice.

"I love you, too, Sweetheart. Be good."

"Uh-kay."

A couple of seconds later, Michael heard Tigresa's voice saying, "Michael, why is Anne upset."

"I think it's because I told her that I have a girlfriend. Please tell me she isn't crying; it would break my heart if she is."

"No, she isn't crying but she's definitely sad."

"Please tell her that she'll always be my little Sweetie Anne and nobody will ever take her place."

Tigresa laughed and said, "All right, Michael. I'll see you tomorrow night."

"I'll see you then, Dr. Tigresa."

**********

Tigresa hung up the phone and looked at Anne. She saw tears in Anne's eyes and grew a bit concerned. "What's wrong, Anne?"

"M-M-Mommy, M-M-Mah'l d-d-dun l-l-luh A-A-Anne n-n-no m-m-mo-uh. Anne was crying now.

"Why do you say that, Anne?"

"H-Hin s-say h-hin g-gots g-guhfw-fw-fwen." She started sniffling and added, "Hin dun luh Anne no mo-uh. Then, she started crying hard.

Tigresa picked Anne up and cuddled her to her breast. "Don't cry, Anne. Michael still loves you."

"Nuh' uh. Mommy, why dun Mah'l luh Anne no mo-uh?"

"Michael still loves you, honey. It's just that Amanda is closer to his age and he needs someone her age. Also, he loves her in a different way than he loves you. You'll see how much he loves you when he comes to see you tomorrow."

*****

Michael hung up the telephone and, almost immediately, it rang again. "Hello."

"Michael, this is Mei."

"Oh, hello Mei. How are you doing?"

"I'm fine. Is it all right if Anthony and I come over right now?"

"Right now?" Michael's mind raced as he tried to figure out why Mei would want to visit. Suddenly, it dawned on him. "Oh! Of course, come on over. I hope you haven't had dinner yet. Amanda and I just got back from St. Alsatian and we're going to dinner as soon as we get our showers."

"Hold on." Michael could hear Mei talking to someone before she said, "Anthony said that he'd love to join you and Amanda for dinner. We'll be there in about 30 minutes."

"Sounds good to me. I'm sure that Amanda would love to see you again, Mei."

Michael hung up the telephone, gathered his clothes, went into the bathroom, and took a shower. When he walked out of the bathroom, Amanda was sitting at the desk and smiling at him. He walked over to her and kissed her.

"I knew I should have locked that door."

"If you had, you would have regretted it because I would have called the concierge, told him that I thought you had hurt yourself and had him unlock your door for me." She stuck her tongue out at him causing him to laugh.

"You know, I honestly believe you would've done it, too. Oh! By the way, Mei and her fiance are on their way over. We're going to have dinner together. I hope you don't mind."

"No, I don't mind. I like Mei. When will they get here?"

Michael looked at his watch and said, "About five or ten minutes. We should hurry up and get to the lobby so they don't have to wait on us."

Amanda frowned and said, "Can't we wait for them here? I know what we could do while we wait on them."

"Nope. Not going to do that; besides, I'd like to think it would take me a little more than five minutes to do it."

Amanda looked at him with a questioning look until it hit her. "Not that! I was thinking we could cuddle for those few minutes."

"We can cuddle tonight before we go to bed. Come on. We should get to the lobby about the time Mei and her fiance arrive."

"Oh, all right, spoil sport."

**********

Michael took Amanda's hand and they walked to the elevator. Michael pressed the call button and a few seconds later the elevator doors opened. The operator was a Virginia o'possum. His name tag read Lee. "Ground floor?" He asked.

Michael said, "Yes, sir."

The elevator stopped at the ground floor and they exited. As Michael and Amanda left the elevator, they heard a semi-familiar voice calling to them. Michael looked across the lobby, smiled and waved. Parvat Teendua was standing there with his arm around a human woman's waist. Parvat and the human woman were standing and talking with Mei who had her arm wrapped around the arm of a rather imposing and familiar looking tiger. When the tiger saw Michael and Amanda, he started laughing. "When Mei told me that she wanted me to meet and talk with a human named Michael, I never even remotely thought it would be you." He said as he reached his rather large hand out and gripped Michael's.

"Anthony, so you're Mei's fiance." Michael replied laughing.

Mei was looking between Michael and Anthony curiously. Looking at Mei, Anthony said, "Do you remember me telling your father about meeting Zig Zag last night?" Mei nodded. "Well, she was in the company of Michael here. I kind of rescued them from Carl."

Mei said, "Carl? Again? He had too much to drink again, didn't he?"

"Yes, and he was coming on to Michael and the four lovely ladies he was with, one of whom was Zig Zag."

Michael said, "If you had mentioned your future father-in-law's name, I would have known who you were. There can't be another Jinse Xiongmao in this city."

Michael turned to Parvat and said, "Mr. Teendua, you know these two?"

"You may call me Parvat, Michael and yes, I know them. My wife and I went to school with them. While I'm at it, this lovely dark-skinned, dark-haired, dark-eyed lady is my wife, Natasha."

Michael and Amanda said, "How do you do, Natasha?"

"I'm fine. Parvat had told me about you two. He said that, even though you denied it, you are very much in love with Amanda. I see he wasn't exaggerating even a little bit."

Amanda smiled shyly and said, "He had me fooled until yesterday." She looked lovingly at Michael and added, "But, now I know that he does love me, even if all he wants to do when we're in bed is sleep." Everyone laughed.

Michael blushed slightly and said, "Well, let's go eat. What would everyone like to eat?"

Mei said, "Anything except Chownese. I eat that every day and I'd love to have something different."

Anthony said, "While I love a good steak, I'd like something different, too."

Michael looked at everyone else and said, "Well?"

Amanda said, "How about seafood?"

Michael looked at the other two couples who nodded their heads and said, "Fish it is. Let's go. Why don't we go to Neptuna Beach or Caimanport? I understand they have some of the best, freshest seafood in the area."

Anthony said, "Ooh. Caimanport. It's a small village but it's got four or five 5 star seafood restaurants."

"Sounds good to me. Come on, everybody."

**********

Caimanport is almost half as far from downtown Jaguarville as St. Alsatian is. So, it took them about 30 minutes to get there. As they rode to Caimanport, Michael realized that Caimanport was the same village he knew as Mayport and he also remembered visiting a good seafood restaurant when he visited Jacksonville on spring break while he was in college. As they approached Caimanport, Michael could smell the salt water and the marshes which told him that it was low tide. He asked Mei and Anthony which of the restaurants was the best and he was directed to a shanty looking building with a faded sign that read "The Shrimp Boat".

Michael pulled into the parking lot, found a space relatively close to the building, parked, and everybody got out. Michael took Amanda's hand and Anthony did the same with Mei. Parvat and Natasha put their arms around each other's waist. They approached the building and entered. The hostess was a sea otter with Maimiti on her name badge.

"Welcome to 'The Shrimp Boat'. Table for six?"

"Yes, ma'am. With a view if possible." Michael answered.

Maimiti led them to a table next to a picture window that overlooked the Cirrus Johns River. After handing each of them a menu, she took their drink orders and Michael was mildly surprised to hear Anthony order sweet tea. Mei ordered sweet tea, too, but it didn't surprise him nearly as much as Anthony ordering it.

"Anthony, you're a tiger, aren't you?" Michael asked him.

"Is it that obvious?" He laughed and then said, "Yes. Why?"

"Well, are Humanimals so much like humans that felines can taste sweet things?"

"I guess so. I've never really thought about it. I just know that I love sweet tasting things, like fruit."

Michael laughed and said, "That's something else that shocks me. When I was growing up, I learned that cats, well feral cats anyway, can't digest plants and can't taste sweet things. They were the ultimate carnivores for those reasons."

"Humanimal felines can do those things. I actually enjoy vegetables with my meals along with my sweet tea. I guess I'm addicted to tea, especially sweet tea."

Mei, who had been listening to this conversation, said, "Michael, why aren't you surprised that I ordered sweet tea?"

"Your feral flying fox ancestors were fruit eaters. So, it didn't surprise me that you like to drink something sweet."

**********

Leo walked in the door from his shop and the first thing he heard was Tigresa saying, "Leo?"

"Yes, Tigresa?"

Tigresa paused for several seconds looking toward Anne's room before she said, "I want Michael to bring Amanda over when he visits tomorrow."

Leo paused for a second or two before he said, "Why?"

"Michael told Anne about Amanda being a close friend and Anne took it the wrong way. Now, she's very upset; she thinks Michael doesn't love her anymore."

"Why don't you call him and tell him to bring Amanda over? I'm sure he'd be happy to do that."

After thinking it over for a few seconds, Tigresa said, "I'll do just that. Thanks, Leo."

Tigresa picked up the telephone receiver, dialed a number, and, after a few seconds, said, "Yes, ma'am. Could you connect me with room 1109, please?"

After the telephone rang for about a minute, the receptionist interrupted and said, "It would seem that no one's there, ma'am. Would you like to leave a message?"

"Yes, please. Would you ask Michael Thomson to call Dr. Tigresa Panthera as soon as he returns no matter what time it is when he returns?"

"Yes, ma'am. Dr. Tigresa Panthera. Is this medical emergency?"

"No, ma'am. I'm his adoptive mother and I need to tell him something about my youngest daughter."

"Call Dr. Tigresa Panthera no matter the time. I've got it. Thank you."

Tigresa hung up the telephone and, turning to Leo, said, "He's isn't there. So, I left a message for him to call us as soon as he gets home no matter what time it is when he returns."

"Good. Anne needs to hear from him that he still loves her."

**********

The waitress, a mink named Venus, returned a couple of minutes after bringing their drinks and said, "Are you ready to order?"

Anthony said, "I'll have a double order of fried popcorn shrimp, home fries, and mixed vegetables."

Mei said, "I'll have grilled grouper, sweet potato fries, and corn."

Amanda excitedly asks, "Do you have mahi-mahi?"

Venus said, "Yes, ma'am. How would you like it cooked?"

"Grilled!" Amanda replied. Michael smiled at Amanda's excitement.

"And your vegetables?"

"Uh. Fried potatoes and black-eyed peas."

"All right." Turning to Michael, she asked, "And you, sir?"

"I'll have a half order of fried trout, fried potatoes, and broccoli and cauliflower."

Looking at Parvat, she asked, "And you, sir?"

"Hmm. Everything looks so tempting but, I think I'll have an order of fried oysters, along with fried eggplant, and lima beans."

Natasha said, "I'll have grilled mahi-mahi, mixed vegetables, and black-eyed peas, too."

"Thank you." She took their menus and left to turn in their orders.

Parvat looked at Natasha and said, "Natasha, you always order oysters when we go to a seafood restaurant. Why did you change?"

"I saw how happy Amanda was when she found out about the mahi-mahi and I thought I'd try it."

**********

Leo walked into Anne's room and saw her in her crib crying softly. "Sweetie, what's wrong?" Leo had never seen Anne so upset.

Anne turned to Leo and grabbed him in a bear hug and started crying harder. "Da-da-daddy, Mah'l dun luh Anne no mo-uh.

"Oh baby, I'm sure he does still love you."

"No, hin gots guh-guhfwen. Hin luh huh-ah."

"Baby, Michael will visit you tomorrow night and he'll tell you himself that he still loves you. You'll believe him if he tells you that. Won't you?"

Still sniffling, Anne said, "Ye-ah."

**********

After Venus left, Michael turned to Anthony and said, "Anthony, I understand that you're thinking of studying computers at college. Is that true?"

"Yes, it is, Michael."

"Why do you want to study computers?"

"I believe that computers are the wave of the future."

"What do you know about computers?"

"I know they're the smartest machines that's ever been invented."

Michael smiled and laughed quietly. "I'm afraid you're wrong there, Anthony. They are actually the dumbest machines ever invented."

"Dumbest!? Mei told me that you work with computers. How can you say that?"

"Because it's true?" Anthony looked at Michael with a completely perplexed look on his face. "Anthony, computers only know two things: 0 and 1. Everything has to be told to them in binary. Let me ask you; do you understand binary counting?"

Anthony thought for a few seconds before saying, "Binary is the counting method that only uses 0 and 1. Right?"

"Exactly. Computers only understand those two concepts. Of course, you can use different methods to show binary. For example, there's 0 and 1, of course. There's also on and off, yes and no, left and right, etc. As long as you give a computer only two choices, it can understand you.

**********

Mei was smiling as she listened to Michael explain this to Anthony. She was smiling because she recognized the look on Anthony's face as he studied and listened to what Michael was showing and telling him. She turned to Amanda and said, "Michael really gets into his explanations, doesn't he?"

Amanda smiled and said, "Yes. No matter what he's explaining, he gets very in depth. You should have seen him when we were in St. Alsatian earlier today."

Mei, Parvat, and Natasha looked at Amanda in shock. Parvat said, "Amanda, are you telling us that you and Michael went to St. Alsatian?"

"Yes, why?"

"How long did you stay there before you were forced to leave?"

"We weren't forced to leave. We were asked to leave but Michael kind of refused."

Natasha said, "You weren't forced to leave? Humans are banned from St. Alsatian and have been for over 150 years. They've been banned ever since some Humanimals were murdered by a human."

"Yes, we were told that. When Michael heard this, he decided to find out the truth about that situation. He asked the police to arrest him and he looked at the old police reports and found that the Humanimals that were murdered back then were actually murdered by a Humanimal who wanted the property that the humans owned so he could sell it at a profit."

After hearing this, Natasha became noticeably upset. "My family was chased out of St. Alsatian back then."

Amanda said, "Really? You should contact the St. Alsatian city council and tell them. Mr. Rosomak, the descendant of the man we believe committed the murders, is setting up a fund to reimburse the descendants of those humans displaced and is having the law overturned which will mean that you can return to St. Alsatian if you want to."

Parvat said, "We'll do that the first thing Monday. At the very least, I'd like for Natasha to be able to visit the city of her ancestry."

Natasha was looking at Michael and smiling broadly. "Wow! I've seen some people get into explaining something but Michael seems to really enjoy it."

Amanda looked over at Michael and saw him still explaining the way computers think. She laughed and said, "Michael wants to make sure that whoever he's talking to understands implicitly what he's saying. When we have our weekly meeting at work, Michael always explains what happened the previous week so succinctly that there are no questions from the President or either of the Vice-Presidents in attendance."

"I wonder where he gets that from."

"He says he gets it from his father. His father would always explain how to do something so completely that Michael never had to go back and ask his father if everything was done right. Michael really loved and looked up to his father."

**********

Venus brought their meal, left them some dinnerware and left. Michael and Anthony continued talking through dinner, although they had moved on to other subjects. Now, however, they no longer ignored the others and included them in the conversations. Mei told Michael and Amanda that she was an accomplished pianist and wished that they could visit her at home so she could play the piano for them.

Michael said, "Maybe Amanda and I can come down when we're on vacation. If we do, we'll let you know and you can play for us then."

Michael looked at Parvat and said, Earlier this week, Amanda and I had dinner with Elizabeth van Horne and her husband. She said she was lucky that she married a human. Do you feel the same way?"

"Most definitely. I haven't known Natasha as long as Elizabeth has known Jeffrey, we met in high school, but I do believe that I'm a very lucky man. Natasha does everything she can to please me, in every way you can imagine. She was the first girl I ever dated and, even though my parents didn't like the idea of me dating a human because they're speciesists, they understood that there was little they could do to prevent me from dating her eventually."

"Eventually?"

"They knew that when I turned 18, I could legally move out of their home and date whomsoever I wished and there was nothing they could do to stop me. So, they accepted my decision. After our fifth date, Natasha and I made love for the first time and I realized that I wanted to make love with her for the rest of my life."

Amanda looked at Michael and said, "You see, Michael. There's nothing wrong with us making love."

"Except that I'm not going to make love with you unless and until we get married." Amanda growled her disgust with Michael's answer.

Mei looked at Anthony before saying, "Why, Michael?"

"It's just the way I am, Mei. I want to prove to Amanda that I'll be there by taking the vows that bind before I do that. Don't get me wrong; what you do, or did, is your business and I'm not going to say you're wrong. I'm just saying it's wrong for me. Of course, there's also the fact that in Humanimal society, a divorce is very difficult to get. Once, those ties are made, I'd be, shall we say, stuck with her and I want her to know that I cherish her enough to want to exchange those vows before we make love."

Natasha asked, "But, Michael, what if she wasn't a virgin when you met her? Would that make a difference to you?"

"Nope. Not in the least. I wouldn't have been marrying her because she's a virgin; I'd have been marrying her because I love her. Even if she admitted to me that she wasn't a virgin, I still wouldn't have asked nor expected her to have sex with me.

"I heard a friend of mine who believed as I do who fell in love with a girl and she wouldn't have anything to do with him because he was a virgin. That girl couldn't understand why he didn't want to do that until he got married. I heard that, eventually, they married and she wouldn't let him touch her because he had morals before they got married. I don't know what happened between them, though, due to the fact that I contracted the HEV and got put into stasis."

Everybody around the table got a little quiet; they didn't realize there was more to Michael's decision about having sex with Amanda than he let on.

**********

Around 1400, everyone got into the car and Michael drove them back to the hotel. After they got out of the car, Michael said, "Anthony, I hope I helped you with your decision to become a CIT."

"You did, Michael. I was a bit confused at first but, now I know I want to study computers even more than before. It may help me with my decision to serve in the military. I've heard that they need computer officers. Maybe one of the branches will pay for my college if I train to be a CIT."

"I'm sure they will, Anthony. When I was alive before, the military regularly paid for the college of students as long as they were willing to spend as many years in the military as the military paid for in exchange. In other words, if the military paid for a 4 year degree, they'd want you to spend a minimum of 4 years in the military in exchange."

Michael turned to Parvat and Natasha and said, "Parvat, Natasha, I'm glad we could spend the evening together before Amanda and I left to return to Catlanna. Maybe we'll visit again and we can get together with you."

"I hope so, too, Michael." Parvat replied.

Michael shook hands with the guys and hugged the women and Amanda hugged everybody as they told everyone good-bye.

**********

Michael and Amanda entered the Marmoset Hotel and started toward the elevators before they were stopped by the desk clerk. "Mr. Thomson, I have a message here for you." She said.

Michael took the message and thanked her before continuing to the elevators. He opened the note as the doors opened and read it. He had a curious look on his face as he read it.

"What's wrong, Michael?" Amanda asked.

"Not long after we left for dinner, Dr. Tigresa called. She wants me to call her as soon as we get back no matter what time it is when we get back. I wonder what's wrong."

"There's only one way to find out."

**********

Michael and Amanda got off the elevator and Amanda went to her room to change into her sleeping clothes while Michael went to his room to make a telephone call. Michael dialed the telephone number of the Panthera household. After a couple of rings, Dr. Tigresa answered. "Hello." She said.

"Dr. Tigresa, this is Michael. What's wrong?"

"Anne thinks you don't love her anymore."

"What!? Why does she think that?"

"Because you've got a girlfriend. She thinks you can only love one person at a time."

"What can I do to ease her fears?"

"When you come over tomorrow night, bring Amanda with you. Let Anne meet her and see what a nice person she is. Maybe, if she meets Amanda, she'll love her the way she loves you."

Amanda walked into Michael's room as he said, "All right, Dr. Tigresa. I'll ask Amanda."

"Thanks, Michael." Tigresa hung up the telephone.

After Michael hung up the telephone, Amanda said, "Ask me what, Michael?"

"Anne's upset and Dr. Tigresa wants me to bring you over when I visit tomorrow afternoon."

"Why is Anne upset?"

"She thinks I don't love her anymore. Dr. Tigresa is hoping that, if Anne meets you, she'll be more understanding about you being my girlfriend."

Amanda smiled and said, "I'll do my best, Michael. If nothing else, I'd like to see Victoria and catch up with her."

"Thanks, Amanda. Now, let's get to bed. 2230 is going to come rather early if we don't get enough sleep."

Amanda walked over to the bed and got in. Michael got his sleep clothes, headed to the bathroom, and got ready for bed. After about 5 minutes, he left the bathroom and got into the bed. Amanda slipped over and lay her head on his shoulder. Michael put his arm around her and pulled her a little closer causing Amanda to smile happily.

As they lay there awaiting sleep to overtake them, Michael said, "Did you enjoy your time here in Jaguarville, Amanda?"

Sighing contentedly, Amanda replied, "Yes, I did, Michael. I hope we can come back sometime and see the places you wanted to visit this time."

"We'll see. I guess it all depends on whether or not we can take vacation together."

After a few seconds, Amanda said, "Michael?"

"Yes?"

"You don't really have to be my boyfriend."

"Why do you say that?" Michael was more than a little concerned about this.

"I don't want to cause you any problems. I know you said that to make me feel better. I know how you feel about us Humanimals."

"Amanda, how long have you known me?"

"What?"

"How long as you known me?"

"About 5 or 6 months."

"Have you ever heard me say something just to make someone feel good?"

"I can't say as I have."

Michael kissed Amanda and said, "What makes you think that I'd start doing it now?"

Smiling dreamily from the kiss, she replied, "Nothing. So, you were serious?"

"Of course Amanda. Believe it or not, I've been in love with you since the day you ran into me. I didn't want to admit it to myself because of that mental block. The truth is, I thought you were the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen and I was hoping that I would get the chance to meet you again. I was so glad when I found out that I'd be seeing you at least once a week that I could hardly stand it. Of course, every time I thought about you, that mental block would rear its ugly head and stand in my way. When I finally beat it back, I was free to admit to you how I feel about you. Amanda, I want to get to know you as well as I can until I can decide if I want to have a long, long term relationship with you."

Amanda yawned and closed her eyes. She said, "So, you really do love me? You love me like a girlfriend?"

Michael kissed the top of her head and said, "I most assuredly do, Sweetheart."

"Thank y . . ."

Michael looked at her and saw that she was asleep. He smiled and said, "You're welcome, my dear."