"I'm going to try calling him again, Mom."Mom said, "Jill, did Charlie say anything to you?" No. I didn't see him. Was he here?" No. He told Mary he w...uld be and she keeps getting the machine. She's called over there... what? Twice?" Three times."She went over to the phone and dialed. She waited a minute, then said, "Charlie, it's me. Call me as soon as you get in. Please. I'm really starting to get worried." She hung up the phone and came back to the table."Mary, Charlie isn't like that.. Her image of her father was indistinct and highly idealized. There was also some sadness and anger with the image. Why had he not tried to contact her, even when she was old enough?The third person was, of course, Matt. Her mental images of Matt were conflicted, to say the least. A strong, lingering image, the one that had led her to marriage, was as a substitute for the father she had lost. But then there was Matt expecting sex, validating the worst of what Marie had taught her about men.As if. "He snaked a hand back and we shook."Better circumstances, next time, Warren," I said."Let us hope," Warren said. "Do you need a ride to the Vet Monday?" Urk!" They all say that," Warren said. He laughed."You make a habit of picking up new dads at the hospital?" All of them," he said. "My brother in law is on the force." All of them?" All the hospitals ... babies get born every day; wives get pissed ... I'm used to it."He passed a pint jar, "Here, this'll help."Choking, hacking and blowing my. At Christmas, my mother took a photo of us laughing and kissing infront of the fireplace. By then I had admitted the depth of myfeelings to Mark, and he had told me he loved me in return. By January, Mark’s promise to keep things sexually cool andunpressured had been broken. I was standing my ground, but allowinghim to gain by slow inches.One afternoon, Mark was referring to the typical thorough examinationthat an EMT gives to a patient, and told me that there was “no way”.