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in it?
No, silly. It s just high in fiber. Keeps you regular.
Everything s good in that department, Erin said, rolling her eyes. Why am
I surrounded by women who want to keep me healthy?
Because you re so wonderful. No one can bear to think of the smallest thing
harming you.
I ll stick to my birthday cake. She put another frosting-laden bite into her
mouth and smiled. Nothing better than cake for breakfast.
Where d you get these habits? I know your mom only feeds you healthy
meals.
She s gotten worse or I guess you d say better about that in the last few
years. I had a normal childhood with sugar-laden cereal and chocolate milk. All
of the good things.
What would you do with our kids? Katie s eyes were half-closed, and her
gaze was intent. What kind of parent would you be?
Are you sure you re not doing some sort of screening process for the CIA?
Katie put her finger on the tip of the bowl of her spoon, acting as though she d
propel the contents into Erin s face. I m interested in you.
Erin took another bite of cake and chewed for a few moments. Her eyes
roamed around the kitchen while Katie watched her. She finally said, I haven t
given a tremendous amount of thought to this.
That s your standard answer, Katie teased. Tell me about the tiny amount of
thought you ve given to it.
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Susan X Meagher
Smiling good-naturedly, Erin said, I d try to be like my parents were, I guess.
She took another bite, her gaze idly gliding around the room again. I d probably
lighten-up a little on the politeness issue, though. I think it s important for kids
to be able to express their feelings, and that wasn t encouraged at my house.
Katie s expression immediately turned sympathetic. You couldn t say that you
were sad or hurt?
Oh, no. I could say any of that stuff, but it wasn t cool to be angry. Being
respectful of adults was required, and it wasn t respectful to be angry.
I think it s a priority to teach kids respect, Katie said. My parents let me get
away with way, way too much. I d be much stricter.
I didn t get away with anything, but I didn t really want to, so my mom must
have done a good job. I don t recall being overly frustrated. There are just a few
incidents I can recall when I was mad at her about something, and I didn t feel
like I could say how I felt. She sat perfectly still for a few seconds and then
added, I think that s part of the reason I started to write. I could say anything
I felt in my stories.
Fascinated, Katie asked, How old were you when you started to write?
Not very. Maybe third grade. Somewhere around there. My characters were
usually girls who did all of the things I was afraid to do.
Wow! That s really young. No wonder your work is so polished.
Do you really think so? Erin was looking through her dark lashes, her head
tilted down.
Yes! I want to read everything you ve ever written. I was blown away by the
story you sent me.
You didn t say that. I thought you were just turned on by it.
That s part of it, but I wouldn t get turned on by poorly written sex. I have to
be able to suspend disbelief, and I did that immediately with your work.
Erin grinned happily and bounced around on her stool. Cool. That makes
me happy.
Finish that cake and take me back to bed, you sexy thing. I can t think of a
better thing to do than make love to you all day.
We ve got to go to a certain someone s party tonight. Don t forget.
Katie checked her watch. We ve got about six hours to kill. She slid off her
chair and took Erin s hand. Making love to you is my kind of party.
d
That night at the birthday party, Erin watched Katie wade through a crowd
of people, headed her way. Pleased, she saw that Katie was holding a laughing,
kicking baby. Cute, huh?
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Very cute. Who is this beauty?
This is Shoshanna. Katie tried to hand her off. Want to hold her?
Yeah. Erin stood on her tiptoes to look above the crowd. Let me go wash
my hands.
But Katie deposited the wriggling baby into Erin s arms. Just don t put
your hands in her mouth, you silly thing. Do you think you have diphtheria or
something?
No, but I don t want to send her home with a virus.
Loosen up, Delancy. I barely stopped her from licking my shoes. God knows
what she s gotten into so far.
Laughing, Erin bounced the baby on her hip. Addressing her, she asked,
What have you gotten into? Are you eating shoes?
She has two older sisters, so her parents give her a lot of freedom. They ve
learned that they don t break that easily.
She s really adorable. Nice name, too.
Yeah. Joe and Leslie decided that their girls would take Leslie s last name and
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