As I venture back
into the bedroom to come up with something better than a t-shirt I hear
a soft knock on the door, then hear it open. I still don’t get why she
knocks then walks in. But she’s here, so what do I care?

“Al? Where are you, Babe?”

“I’m right here.” I
say walking out of my bedroom. She turns around to look at me and drops
her bags at her feet. I literally mean drops her bags, no bending, just
drops them, takes a big step towards me and engulfs me in a hug.

“I’m home.” She says as she buries her head in my neck, tightening her arms around my waist. No, Dana, I’m home.

“And I’m glad. I’ve missed you.”

“Me too, Al. Can you
just come with me on trips now?” She lifts her head up to look at me
and she gives me the puppy dog eyes. The eyes that tell me that she’s
kidding, but not totally.

“Sure, you’ll be my sugar mamma and I can stop working. I think I’d like being a kept woman.”

“I’ll keep you
alright.” She says, slapping my ***** as she walks into the living room.
“Al, it smells like food in here. Did you really cook? I thought you
were kidding.”

I give her my
best-feigned insulted face possible. “Fine, you don’t need to eat. More
for me.” I stalk out of the room without looking back, knowing that she
is totally feeling bad right now.

“Al? I was kidding, baby.” She says, walking quickly to catch up with me. I spin around with a huge grin on my face.

“I’m not sure I’m
going to forgive you yet. I slaved for hours you know. And you just go
and insult my cooking before you’ve even tried it.”

“No, I was just surprised. I wouldn’t insult it. Really. It smells great. I love fish.”

“It’s chicken.” This time, I’m not feigning anything, it really is chicken, *****!

“I’m sure it’ll be
great, Alice. Really. It will.” She looks so damn cute. She is trying
to sound so convincing but she looks scared!

“Don’t worry, if it
really sucks, we can order pizza. I just wanted to do something nice,
you know. My best girl was coming home.”