"I hadn't been called "Bobby" in twenty years.She stepped back, and I entered to see Babs sitting in a chair, watching something on the TV. Heather wa... lying on a bed, reading a book."Come on in," said Heather. She didn't get up, and didn't close the book. "I see you met Jill, my youngest." You're the one getting ready to start college," I said, smiling at the girl."Yeah," she said. She looked at her mother. "I thought you said my big brother was coming over."Heather beamed. "He is. He's here.. Mark eats a LOT!"Mrs. West primly replied, "We haven't yet decided whether we will allow this relationship."Vanessa visibly thought better of whatever her reply would have been, but Ava didn't, beseeching, "Mom, you HAVE TO! Mark is..."Vanessa said, "Ava, it's okay. There are several hours of more talk with come and no one has made a decision yet. I think Mark wants you to pass him that dish," correctly pointing to a dish I had my eyes on.The rest of the meal was more "normality". Dessert was. "Thank you. But in reality, I read ... a lot. Always have. And I guess I just picked things up as I read. Plus, I always have my thesaurus handy when I need a word. I use a lot of tools when I write. I like my stories to be as real and authentic as I can make them. So I do some research before I write and while I am working on the story," I explained."Well, they are very good. You are one of the best writers on Lush. I love all your stories," she said.By now we had both finished our coffees.. " Her voice trailed off."Either you're afraid, or you don't know what you're looking for. Frankly, either way I'm scared!"Throwing her roommate a scathing look, Ally started to get up. "Maybe this isn't such a good idea," she half whined, pulling the towel closer to her body.Realizing she had been a little insensitive, Kaija apologized. It wasn't an overly verbose apology, but it was enough to get Ally back on the bed.Kaija was pretty sure whatever progress she and Ally may have made was undone.