“Ok, I like her!”Denise began to risk strain to her smiling muscles. Helen turned back to the game that Troy had set up.“So, how do we play? Can...I be the banker?”“NO!” Troy and Julie shouted simultaneously.“Helen,” Troy said. “You know you’re never allowed to be banker. In anything. Ever.”She turned back to Denise and winked.“Yeah, I do.” She informed her. “I just never get tired of seeing them do that.” Helen turned back to the rest of the group. “I should probably step out back for a smoke. I really don't know why I was bothering to talk to him."I had a nice visit with Flower," he said. "She thinks very highly ofyou."I looked at him. Of course she does. She's mine. If she didn't think veryhighly of me, I'd stripe her flesh. I considered telling him that.Instead, I just smiled."Flower is very precious to me," I said. "Very gentle. A boy who turnedout well, I think." Certainly," he said. "She certainly isn't a boy anymore."I shrugged. I was tired of talking about sissies. She .... He extended his hand and said, “Peter Tallman. Lauren’s told me about you.”“Frank Boscow. Pleased to meet you. Shirley talks about you, too.”“My father’s name is Frank, too,” commented Peter. The two men talked briefly about their backgrounds, Peter in computers and Frank as a shop steward at the local mill.“Can we open presents?” asked Jimmy excitedly.“Jimmy! We haven’t even had dinner yet!” scolded Lauren. Her parents smiled.Helen Graham said, “Well, I just put the lasagna in to heat up.. He grinned, and made a mental note to buy some lottery tickets before the day was over. His first thought was to go home and go back to bed for awhile, but he still needed some groceries. He normally hated to go to the grocery on Saturday morning, but he didn't want to come out later. Reluctantly, he drove to his usual supermarket.When he parked, Tom noticed with a pang of suspicion that this lot was almost deserted also. That was unheard of for a Saturday morning. He sighed and racked it up as.