" I replied"Ok Mom, love you, bye." he said quickly as he hung up before I had a chance to reply back to him.On my way home I called my older son, Eri..., to let him know I was on my way back and that his brother was going to be staying at least three days with us while on spring break. Needless to say he wasn't too thrilled about it, but I could tell he did miss him too.Later that night while eating dinner, my son started to ask me questions."So when he gets here are you still going to walk. But you brought home another bird, and he's nowhere near as pretty as you."It was starting to feel like some of the tension was leaving the room when my love laughed, and said, "Yeah, I know. But he was close by and easy to snag, even if it did mean lowering my standards." She giggled at the hurt look on my face, and came over to wrap her arms around me and kiss me. She looked back at her mother and asked, "So, are we good?"Her mother's look softened, and I could see the love in her eyes for. It took a few minutes but after a while her feet must have started sending signals to her brain that it was time to play. I really couldn’t see what she was doing but I could hear her slipping them on and off, all the while she was gabbing away about this and that without a care in the world. At one point she made this huge “clap” sound when one of the shoes must have fallen off her foot and hit the floor with some authority. It was then I again called her out on the activity. She laughed and. But this night is an anomaly, a break in both of our patterns. I feel swept up in the romance and love. I chide myself for expecting anything else, and try to show nothing on my face. It doesn’t work very well.“What’s the matter?” he asks.I shake my head. “Nothing. Hold me.”As he wraps his arms about me, I soak into his warmth, and draw strength from him. This night with Joey is a gift, and I embrace it and him. I don’t know what I was expecting this night to become. Some adventure running.