Chapter 2

At 4:45, I reach the bottom of the stairs, ready to greet our guests. Once again, I picked a witch costume, as is my standard fare. I change up the color to keep people guessing, but this year I went traditional black, with a black hat, cape, and dress. I have kept my figure after all these years through an active life with the kids and, later, by working out once I stopped chasing them everywhere they went. Mark will still occasionally give me a wolf whistle on our date nights to remind me of our younger years, and it still makes me blush.

With two kids early in our marriage, we decided that we had hit our number, and I went on birth control, which I have stuck to regularly. I do not want to think about chasing rug-rats around at my age when things are starting to ache in all the wrong places. I do miss the days of having young runs running about and the noise that filled the house and neighborhood, but I understand that I should be looking ahead to the grandkids.

I am brought out of my musings as I hear the doorbell ring. I get there first and welcome Elena and Dennis Alvarez to the party. They became neighbors shortly after we moved in, and while they do not have any children of their own, it was without trying. On the child front, they have lived through many miscarriages and turns of bad luck that have prevented them from moving forward. I believe they have started looking at adoption, but I need to check with Elena tonight to see where they are on that. Elena is dressed as Morticia Addams, and Dennis is in a nice suit as Gomez, making a happy Addams family.

I greet them both: “Hello, Elena and Dennis, welcome! Please come in and enjoy the snacks. The kids are around here somewhere, and Mark will be down shortly. You know him; his clock is forever 5 minutes behind.”

Mark: “I heard that, and I’ll have you know I adjusted it just last week. It is only 2 minutes behind now. Hello Elena, you look lovely. Gomez, welcome.” He chuckles at his own joke. “Come on, I will lead you to the good stuff before everyone else raids the snacks and happy juice.” cough “ I mean soft drinks.”

They both start following Mark, and I do too. Once I close the door, I get no more than a couple of steps away before the doorbell rings again. This time I see Lauren and Daniel Mercer; they are both closer to our age, and both of their children are already out of school. One stayed close, close being relative, as it is only 3 hours away, while the other wanted a bit of separation and found a school across the country. Their kids were wild children growing up, and they both believed that you shouldn’t raise your children to fully understand the word “no”. It created a false barrier that restricted their mental growth. Nothing like having a three-year-old give you a heart attack as you watch them run into the street without looking while en route to the neighborhood park. I tried to stop him, but Lauren said it is ok; the drivers must watch for the children, and he will learn to avoid the cars. I was shocked but did not say anything further until Mark got home later that night, and we both just stared at each other.