You have to play dumb." I wouldn't tell anybody Alex."When Aron left for his school, Helen said, "Did you really mean that about me having your childr...n?" Yes, I did, Sweetheart. Laura will have some, too. I like family, and perhaps it will work better this time if there is company to keep each of you from getting lonely." This time?" Ah... I was going to marry a woman who gave me two children. I was too busy, and she got the idea that she should go out and have fun with other men. I didn't. His friend never seemed to talk to Her. He'd had a couple of beers and many laughs with Her. He had watched the alcohol loosen Her up more and more. But he wasn't afraid of Her. She wasn't throwing herself at him, after all. She was just lonely. And he was lonely, too. He was speaking with a kindred spirit, and that's a very powerful draw. Misery has always loved company. They had talked and talked and talked. He found Her remarkably easy to talk with. She had been so eager to listen to what he. "What do you think?"I groaned inwardly. "Sis..."She took my hand and led me into the house, past throngs of party-goers, all chatting and dancing amongst themselves. It got busier and busier as we went further into the house, and I figured there were at least a hundred people in attendance.We stopped in the living room and I sat on the edge of the sofa. Gina paused and told me she was going upstairs."What for?" I asked, feeling foolish as soon as the words left my mouth."To have some fun. Stay. Pull a block and do the dare, knock it over and rebuild the tower naked in front of a crowded circle of cheering spectators. And still, I didn’t know if I could do it.“You know they frown on us going out there,” Erik said. “I know that hasn’t stopped you in the past,” Nicole smiled.“Where’s Samuel at?”“He’s the Avatar… didn’t want to take away from the parade’s authenticity…”“Authenticity? There was a steam-punk Snow White in last week’s parade.”And the two continued to chatter, calming me down.