She woke up to the phone ringing. She quickly answered it so the person next to her didn’t wake up. It had taken her at least an hour to get her to go to sleep. “Hello?” She said while looking at the clock. It was 1:00 A.M.

“Hi. How you been,” said a familiar voice.

She lit up. “It’s so good to hear your voice. I was beginning to think you forgot about me.”

“I’d never forget about you, Alice. Your face is imprinted in my memory.” That simple, little statement made Alice‘s heart sing.

“Well, it better be, Dana.” There was a moment of silence before she spoke again. “I have a confession to make Dana.”

“You do?”

Alice looked at the young girl next to her, sighed and said, “Right now, just like all the other days you were gone, there’s a beautiful, young brunette sleeping peacefully next to me.”

“Alice, how could you?”

“Well, she asked me if she could sleep in the bed with me since you were away.”

“What’s her name?”

Alice smiled and said, “I think you know.”

Dana thought for a few seconds and said, “Casey?”

“Right on target.” Just then, there was knock on the door. Alice gently woke up the girl, “Casey, mommy home.”

The little jumped up and ran out of the room yelling, “Mommy! Mommy!” By the time she got to the front door, Dana had already let herself in. She jumped up down for Dana to pick her up.

Alice walked out just as Dana had picked up the little girl. “Wow, it’s good to see you again. I thought I’d never see you again. I’m glad that was my last tournament,” Dana said before giving Alice a kiss. “What did you do when I was gone? Did you drive your mom insane?”

“Yep. We went to the park, and, and we went to the movies and we did other fun stuff. I drew a picture.”

“You did? Can I see it?” The girl jumped out of Dana’s hands ran to the kitchen. She yelled, “It’s in here!”

Dana looked at Alice, “She’s hyper. Just like her mother.” Dana walked into the kitchen and kneeled next the girl standing in front of the fridge. “That’s a nice picture, Casey. Are you sure mommy didn’t help you?”