"Mom, I can't, I'm going to New York on Friday morning for the weekend," Steph said into her cell phone as I entered the apartment.She waved at me wit... a frown and mouthed Mom to me. I nodded and grabbed a water bottle and sat down."Make her go Mom, you're the boss," she said."No, because I'm an adult now, but you can still boss her," she replied after listening."Take her to New York! Do you know how much of a pain she would be?" Steph asked.I arched my eyebrow at her."Hang on Mom, Mike just. ”“I’d love to Archie! I’ll be there at eight!”That night Archie heard a knock on the door. It was Betty. She was wearing a knee length blue skirt, and a crisp white button down top. She looked cute as hell, but there was something wrong. Archie realized what it was. She wasn’t naked.“Betty! I ordered us some pizza. Shall we watch?”“Sure Arch! What movie is it?”“Oh, it’s the Creature from the Black Lagoon!” “How… romantic, Archie.”Betty and Archie ate their pizza and sat on the couch. . Terry was arranging the jars of canned fruit neatly into boxes to be hauled to the Fair."You did an excellent job with the canning this year, Terry. I wish you could be there to present them to the Judges yourself. I'm sure you're going to win something with those beauties."It was a four-hour drive to the Fairground, too far to commute each day so Mom and Jane would have to stay together in the woman's dormitory at the Fair for the week as they had done in prior years."Thanks, Mom... I do too.. I poured her a mug of hot black tea that had a dash of coconut rum in it and a second for me. She thanked me and after her first sip said, ‘Wow, this is just beautiful. My name is Paula by the way.’ I told her my name was Paul. I shook her hand for a bit longer than customary, but she did not mind. She was perhaps in her late thirties, early forties, just as I was. Paula’s smile was one of those that make you smile whether you felt like it or not. She was a short vivacious brunette with short.