‘Hey, Greg Boy!’ they called out when I made my way to the bar. Glenn, Johnny, and Steven were all there with their wives or significant others. A... I moved along the bar I greeted everyone and shook hands. On the far side I could see Jack and Kate smiling. There was an empty seat next to Kate and I slid my butt onto it. ‘How are you?’ I asked Kate as she smiled at me. ‘I’m fine,’ she replied. ‘But that seat is taken.’ ‘Oh, is Robby here already?’ I asked. ‘No,’ she replied, clearing her voice. Dan and Karen watched as the nurse printed out the name tag for their new babies placing them in the slot.“Can we hold our babies?” Dan asked.“Of course you can!” Jean smiled and the nurse brought them Matthew and then Laura.Karen took him from the nurse and tears pooled in her eyes as she went to her love. “Dan, I never thought I’d ever get to say these words to you, this baby boy is our son, Matthew Daniel Hayward.”He wiped the stray tear from her cheek then kissed her. “Thank you, my love.”. The wood was a rich dark black walnut. I recognized the leaves and flowering blossoms to be from the apple tree. Without the layers old paint and varnish covering them, the birds were recognizable as doves. Socrates was lying down now and wagging his tail.... waiting.Then the fog in the mirror was completely gone. I could see the outline of a woman in the glass, facing away from me. It was if I was looking into another world, another dimension, or alternate Universe, and the mirror was a. It was heavy, and the balance of it shifted this way and that above him, as she tapped away resolutely. He didn't like it when his mistress called him Jock. He wanted to be Piggy -- to be worthy of the title. He locked his teeth tightly on the mouthpiece, correcting the laptop-stand's balance and quietly holding it in place for her."Hold this too." she commanded again, thrusting a flogging cane into his hand. He closed his hand around it, swallowing an involuntary whimper at the feel of it."No..