” she laughed as I opened the door for her.“Um, thank you, come in, uh how did you know where?”“Where you lived?” she laughed again, I loved...that laugh, a silvery sound with a throaty undertone that just rang with pure joy.“I asked Miss Price at the shop. She knows everything and everyone. So I asked her if she knew of a guy called Pearce who had died last year and she told me who and where.”Again that laugh, I could have stood there all day listening to it as we stood in my hall.“Shall we.”. ” Portia said, backpedalling.“Those are the rarest requests. You don’t have to let meknow right away. Tell me any time.”Portia stepped closer and spoke softer. “On my off daysI’d like to get to know the both of you better.”With that, the three parted ways. Portia headed off backinto the Dog Park while Ingrid and Isabella exited.The two stumbled out of the room with the samedisheveled hair and wide smiles they had seen on thewomen when they got out of. " I said to her. "Okay Daddy" she said sleepily. I helped Lexi downstairs to the bedroom, where her mother was curled up facing the outer edge of the bed. Lexi and I both crawled in bed naked, and within moments Lexi was curled up against me sound asleep. Then I got that familiar urge to go to the bathroom, so I carefully disentangled myself from Lexi trying not to make too many waves on the water bed so as not to wake her mom as well. Then I headed upstairs to the bathroom. "You done yet?". Cindy, I married him for what he was. If I made him change, he wouldn’t be the man I fell in love with.’ ~~~~~~ At that time of night, it took me just twenty minutes to get to the hospital. Mary was waiting for me in the emergency room waiting area. We hugged each other, crying, unable to speak for a few minutes. We moved over to the sofa and sat down. ‘I don’t know too much, Cindy. I believe it was a raid on a meth lab and there was some kind of explosion. Dave is in surgery, I think there is.