Classification: TRHA

Rating: R-this is girl talk, so naturally, it gets a bit raunchy.

Summary: Ally, Anne, and Juliet, large quantities of tequila, and the men in the office. Could be a great afternoon.

Spoilers: Nope. Not this time.

Disclaimer: Not ours. We'll wait. Property of 1013 Production and Fox Television.
 

"Right now-hey it's your tomorrow
Right now-come on, it's everything
Right now-catch that magic moment
Let's do it right here and now
It means everything."

"Right Now" by Van Halen. Copyright 1991 Warner Brothers Music. Used without permission.
 

Sumposion
 

December 31, 1999

Last day of the year. Last day of the millenium.

Langly, Byers, Frohike, Michael and Jason were all out in the offices, keeping an eye on all the news channels and various websites. The rumors that the President was about to resign had reached a fever pitch, and things were crazy enough to even get Frohike out of his apartment.

Juliet worked out in the office for a time, but came in after a while to start getting liquored up with Anne and me. I liked Juliet. My initial impression of her as being quiet was erroneous. Once she warmed to you, she was off and running. She possessed a wicked wit, and I'd seen her make Byers blush more than once in recent days. She was an assistant professor of computer science at University of Michigan, and she crackled with intelligence.

"Too much like work," she complained. "I'll catch it on CNN. Those margaritas in the blender, Ally?" I didn't flinch at the use of my nickname, even though she'd only known me a few days.

"Not just any margaritas. Cuervo 1800 Cadillac Margaritas. With Cointreau, not Triple Sec."

"Ah, so we're brining in the new era right. Expensive booze. My kind of
girl."

"Thank Anne. She bought it."

"A Cordon Bleu graduate and she makes drinks, too," Juliet poured herself a full glass after salting the rim. "Give that girl a prize." She sat down at the kitchen table with Anne and me and began to catch up to us. "So Anne? How long are you here for?"

"Day after tomorrow. I've gotta get back. You realize this is the first New Year's Eve I've had off since I was sixteen," she informed us.

Juliet turned to me. "Does this mean I'm gonna get cheap stuff again after she goes?"

"Juliet! I'm insulted!" I made an expression of mock horror. "How can you even suggest that I'd serve cheap booze? Low end here is Cuervo Gold."

"I noticed that the other night. Why do you think I keep coming back?" She grinned.

I was thinking that this mischievous, sparkly woman was the perfect foil for Byers' studious calm. I hoped she adored him as much as he blatantly adored her.

"Certainly not for the company," I teased.

"You're right. They suck. Food's good, though." We all laughed loudly. Now if we just added Ellen to this mix, it would be a perfect party. Loud, rude, obnoxious, and utterly drunken. If we were lucky, Ellen would be back in time to celebrate. She was going to try and make it back from the West Coast, but she didn't promise. Too bad. I'd like to get Ellen and Juliet in the same room, even if the room would probably never recover.

"Speaking of food, Annie, what's on the menu?"

Anne was back in her element. "Roast tenderloin, potatoes rosemary, spinach salad, garlic rolls, crème brulee. I'm going simple tonight."

"If that's your idea of simple, I'm scared to imagine what you think is complicated," Juliet rolled her eyes. "Although when I cooked for John at my place, you'd think I'd gone to France and studied just to cook for him the way he praised it."

"Well, it doesn't sound as if you're useless in the kitchen," Anne offered. "You don't have to go to Cordon Bleu to learn to make good food. Although I did. I was a horrible cook growing up." She giggled.

"What, a good Italian girl like you, a bad cook?" I was incredulous.

"I used to make these chocolate chip cookies for my family-they could break a window, they were so hard." She laughed, and we joined her at the image.

"So what got you into cooking, then?" Juliet asked her.

"I always liked cooking. I just sucked at it, that's all. I always did restaurant work. But my family wanted me to go to college, study something practical-" she made a gesture that indicated what she thought of that-"and like a good Catholic girl, I did as I was told. So I studied accounting. I was bored out of my mind. I started cooking for stress relief, and amazingly, I got better at it. I decided after I graduated that I'd go to France and study. It was definitely an...experience."

"Seems to have paid off, and our taste buds thank you profusely," I commented.

"Hey, I hardly ever have time to cook for friends and family anymore, and Jason's on the road so much, when I make a meal for him, it's a treat for both of us."

"I miss cooking," I said wistfully, and what was amazing was that I really did. "Mostly I'm just sick of being a one-armed bandit."

"You seem to be dealing," Juliet commented. "I haven't noticed your significant other does much in the way of household assistance."

"He's not very domesticated. It's an issue. Probably always will be."

"Issues." Juliet poured herself another drink, emptying the pitcher. "Want me to make another batch?"

"Sure," Anne and I spoke up at once. But we didn't care. No, not us!

"Issues." Juliet spoke again. "I'm waiting for John and I to have them. I'm sure we will."

"Well, you live in Michigan, he lives here in Virginia, I'd say that's an issue," I stated as I sipped my margarita, chewing on the last icy chunks in my glass.

"Well, right now, it's not," she stopped the blender and poured all around. "But if this...relationship progresses the way I'd like it to, it might be."

"You don't want to leave Michigan," I said softly.

"It's not that. We'll just have to see. It is hard to get good jobs teaching at university level these days. Most places are going to part-timers without tenure. And that's a bitch. I mean, I could go back into private industry and make a lot more money...but I love teaching. And if this goes where I'd like it to..." she let her mind wander off.

"Are you thinking of a certain level of permanency here, Juliet?"

"Please, it's Julie, I can't believe my parents would stick me with such a lame name," she groaned. "John seems to like it, though, although I keep asking him to call me Julie."

"Were your parents literary?" I asked her.

"Professors, my dad teaches 17th century British literature and my mother teaches medieval lit. I guess teaching's in the genes." She laughed. "My little brother's a teacher as well. He teaches engineering at a JC." She grinned evilly. "Our black sheep. Although I think my mom and dad are still mystified at my fascination for computers. They avoided them until they had no choice. Now they wouldn't be without them, but the moment they have a problem..." she rolled her eyes. "U Michigan's a good place. Good research, good work environment. I like it. But now some of the dynamics have changed...I hadn't exactly planned on meeting my dream man."

"And did you?"

"I did." Her eyes closed.

"You'd better tell John," I laughed.

She laughed as well. "Yeah, I should do that, shouldn't I? Seriously, he is...amazing." She was well into her second drink and wasn't slowing on consumption. The tip of my nose was already numb. I wondered if she'd gotten there.

"How permanent would you like to make this?" I asked nosily. "Not that it's any of my business-"

"But enquiring minds want to know. I don't know. Before he started writing me, I didn't have any real desire to move into this sort of realm, you know. I was content in my life. I loved what I did. Still do. But now...oh, God this is embarrassing..."

"Juliet-I'm sorry, Julie-I can't believe you'd be embarrassed by anything."

She finished her drink in one gulp and poured another. "Well...the fact is, once he started writing me, and I realized who it was-I'd been looking for him, too-all I could think about was being with him. I mean, really being with him. All of a sudden, I want the white dress and the house and his babies. And it's freaking me out." She was actually blushing-hard to  believe a brunette could turn pink, but she did.

"I think you oughta tell him," I advised her. "He'd probably jump at it."

"And that scares the hell out of me. I don't know which scares me more, that he'd go for it or he'd tell me to get lost."

"Julie. He's been mooning around like a man obsessed. I don't think he'd tell you to get lost." I was drunk enough to start giggling.

"I don't know, girls. He still wears his wedding ring."

"She's been dead for years, Julie. And it took me a while to get mine off after my husband died."

"So you're widowed. God, you're young for that," she studied me with eyes that were quickly turning glassy. "Figured you'd had to have most likely been married before seeing as you have a kid and all that. Think you and Langly'll have more kids?"

"In a way, I'd like to, and in another, I wouldn't. I'm 44. I'm not exactly in my prime breeding years."

"You're 44? You're shitting me," she said.

"Hey, my drivers' license says I am. So it must be true." I'd entered the silly zone.

"No fucking way," she said, shaking her sleek head.

"That's what I said when I met her," Anne added.

"I wasn't 44 when you met me," I giggled.

"I didn't believe you were 40, though."

"You older than Langly?" Juliet asked me.

"8 years. Okay, 7 years, 10 months and 27 days. We don't have the hours and minutes figured out, and we'd have to account for the time differential since we were born on opposite coasts." I was still laughing.

Juliet turned an eye to Anne. "She always giggle this much?"

Anne nodded in the affirmative. "Ever since I've known her, anyway. It's one of the things I love about Ally. She's a happy person."

"Ha! You weren't here last year at this time. I was dying." I'd stopped laughing. "My husband got killed the end of October last year. And believe me, I wasn't happy."

"Wow, you work fast," Juliet commented, and I noted ironically that she was almost done with her third drink. Talk about working fast.

"Well, it wasn't planned. It just...sort of happened. And I figured, why waste time and hang around and play games? I'd been crushing on him for a while. I just didn't figure he'd been doing the same for me."

"When'd you guys get together?" Anne asked.

"Well...let's see. First real kiss was at Mulder and Dana's wedding. Friends of ours."

"Yeah, John's mentioned them," Juliet interjected.

"First...intimate encounter was July 6, which ironically is also the day I got laid off from the Fibbies. Your man was instrumental in securing my new position," I mentioned gratefully to Juliet. "We got engaged on August 6. I got my ring the first night of Hanukkah, but then I got in a car accident, so Langly had it reset and I got it on Christmas Eve." I waved my peridot for them to see for about the 30,000th time.

"So when's the wedding?" Juliet inquired.

"We have our staff of qualified consultants taking care of that," I told her.

"You hired a planner?"

"Well, if you call having your daughter and one of your best friends offer to do it, then yes, we hired a planner."

"Which friend is helping?" Anne wondered.

"Frohike."

"The short guy? He's planning your wedding?" Juliet looked more puzzled than anything.

"He offered," I shrugged. "I already did my first wedding. And I don't think I could count on a lot of help from Langly."

"I suspect you're right about that," Juliet observed dryly. "What kind of guest list are you looking at?"

"Last time my consultant consulted me...the figure was just under 500."

Juliet looked ready to faint. "You can afford 500 people?"

"No, but her mother can," Anne clarified. "My mother-in-law-well, future mother-in-law, is very generous. She's going to put up some money so I can buy a restaurant."

"That's awesome!" I was thrilled. If anybody could make it succeed, it would be Anne.

"I hope she's as wealthy as she is generous," Juliet added.

"Oh, she is," Anne assured her. "She has a lot of financial acumen."

"And she gets lucky, too," I told both of them.

"Can she adopt me?" Juliet asked hopefully. We laughed.

"Uh...there's a small price tag that goes with being related to Eleanor," Anne said ruefully. "I mean, she's kind and generous and all, but sometimes..."

"My mother is bipolar and she's been known to forget her meds. And she has a tendency to drink too much."

"And sometimes, some of the things she says..." Anne shuddered.

"I'm sure she's not happy you're not Jewish," I commented to her. "I'm sure she's not happy that Langly's not, either."

"You know, it's funny, that's the one thing she doesn't bitch about," Anne responded. "She actually used to dis you more when you were married to Eric."

"Now why does that not surprise me? She couldn't stand Eric."

"I don't know. I thought he was a nice guy," Anne shrugged. "She thinks Langly is...entertaining."

"Except when he tells her to fuck off."

"I think that doesn't bother her. Sometimes she needs to be told to fuck off."

"Here's to telling moms to fuck off when necessary," Juliet raised her glass. "Sometimes mine needs to be told, too. Although usually she's really good."

"Mine is, too. She's bossy and she's pushy, but she's really a good mom," Anne affirmed.

"I don't know. I think if Miranda hadn't asked her to pay for this wedding, I'm not sure she would have. She can say no to me much more easily than she can to Miranda."

"I don't know about that," Anne said. "She seems...I think she's sort of jealous that you found someone again, but I think she's happy, too. She worried a lot when Eric died."

"Fooled me."

"Don't be always so hard on her, Ally. She really does care about you."

"Yeah, I know. She's just such a brute sometimes."

"I know, I know. She's got a mean streak, but she's got a good one, too."

"Do your parents know about you and John?" I directed my question to Juliet.

"Not yet. I think they'd cheer if they did. I just haven't gotten around to telling them...I'm still feeling things out with him."

"They'd probably love him. It's not like you have to worry about how he'll behave in front of them. Unlike some men," I chuckled.

"I hate to make such a big deal about the wedding ring...but I feel like, until he takes it off, I'm still not in, so to speak."

"Maybe he's just forgotten to take it off."

"I wish he'd remember. I'm trying to get my own on there." Juliet was definitely drunk now, and uninhibited.

"How old are you, Julie?"

"32. Not exactly ancient, not exactly jailbait." She finished her third drink. "Still young enough to have kids...God, what is happening to me?"

"Your biological clock appears to be screaming at you?" I guessed.

"This is what's so weird. It wasn't until I started being with John. Now it's like I can't shut the damn alarm off."

"Well, he is cute. And you guys would make great-looking kids," Anne offered.

"I'll go with that," I concurred. "Annie. Where's Jason on the issue of kids?"

"We want them, definitely." Anne and Jason were both a big hit with kids; they were endlessly patient and tolerant. "It's just not time yet. We're both hardly ever home. We've got time."

"So Ally? What are you gonna do if Langly wants kids, and you can't have 'em anymore?" This query came from Juliet.

"I told him he had to think about if he could live with that. He says he can. I mean, I know he could change his mind...I can't choose my age. I'm sorta stuck with the one I have." I'd returned to giggling. Then I stopped. "It'd be sort of interesting to see what would happen if we mixed it up. And I mean, if it's going to happen, it'll happen. It's not like we're doing anything to prevent it."

"Oh. My. God. Nonsafe sex in the 90s. I'm going to have to tell the propriety police," Juliet threatened. Then she blinked her dark, beautiful eyes with those magnificent lashes. "Of course, I keep wondering what it'd be like, knowing it could happen..."

"Your odds are better than mine. Make sure you want it to happen," I told her.

"For now, I think I'll stick with the Pill. I can't see myself trying to raise a kid alone with Jason gone so much and me working so much. And it would be up to me, because I don't travel."

"That's usually the reality of it," I nodded in agreement. "Our friends Dana and Mulder just had a baby girl in October. And while Mulder certainly does more than his share, it's still Dana taking maternity leave and possibly readjusting her career plans, Dana doing the nursing, and probably arranging most of the child care and pediatrician appointments and all the
other trivia that goes with having kids. I've been there. I'm still there. Even if she is 14. Though I have to say, while Langly is a total bust at household help, he's great with Miranda. They fight like hell sometimes, but he's always there for her, and I think her affection for him is durable and genuine."

"That's pretty awesome. Some guys, if it's not theirs, they just don't click," Juliet commented.

"He's good to her friend Shelby, too. Shelby, in case John didn't tell you, is in the midst of a-"

"Major family crisis. He told me. I think you guys are great to help her out."

"Hey, I love the kid. And Langly, he's...I don't think he had the happiest time growing up, and if he can't change the entire world, maybe he'll be happy changing the life of one kid." We were really liquored up now.

"Miranda's really lucky. I think having all these caring adults around helped her deal with her daddy dying," Anne said.

"No doubt. Although I think we drive her crazy at times," I smiled.

"Hey, I'd go crazy with this many people around all the time," admitted Juliet.

"We don't usually have this many." Although sometimes it was close. And sometimes I did go crazy. I think one look at my living situation would tell anyone that my sanity was a highly questionable commodity. Certainly at this point my sobriety was. I intended to elevate that to a whole new level by pouring myself another drink. By now I could no longer feel my
extremities, a definite sign that I was on my way to utter inebriation.

"What's this? You ladies already getting liquored up? You're way ahead of us." Langly had strolled into the kitchen and poured himself the remaining margarita in the pitcher.

"We're always way ahead of you, babe," I giggled.

"How long've you been at it?"

"Hey, we waited until a perfectly respectable time of day," Anne reminded him tartly.

"Yeah, 12:01." I was giggling a lot now.

"Juliet didn't start till 2," Anne told him.

"Yeah, but I'm ahead of you ladies now," Juliet informed her. "You've gotta wake up pretty early in the morning if you're going to beat me out."

"Julie, you're at least six inches taller than me. You've got advantage right there," I laughed for no particular reason.

"Yeah, and don't forget at least 20 extra pounds. God, you are short, Ally."

"Five-one. How about you, Anne?"

"Five-three."

"Five-eight," Juliet announced triumphantly. "And John's six feet, so I can still wear heels. If I wanted to, that is."

"I think you should propose to him," Anne told her. Anne must have turned the corner between sobriety and inebriation.

"No way!" Juliet shook her head. And her hair didn't get messed up. Amazing.

"Propose to who?" Langly asked, taking a sip of his drink before heading back out.

"Hey, this is girl talk," I told him sharply. "Don't ask unless you really want to know. And trust me, you don't."

"No, I probably don't." He escaped.

"He's actually pretty foxy," Juliet conceded after she'd determined he was out of earshot. "I can see why you'd groove on him, Ally. That hair...amazing. Of course, he's a poor second to John, naturally."

"I think not," I giggled.

"You have a thing for blondes?" She asked.

"My first husband was a brunette. Darker than you and Annie here."

"He was easy on the eyes, too," Anne assured her. "Ally doesn't pick bow-wows."

"Well," Juliet went on, "I never had a redhead before. But oh my God..." She closed her eyes.

"Yeah, redheaded guys, the best," Anne nodded in agreement. Jason was a redhead.

"I should've guessed he was a brunette, the first one. Miranda's dark."

"Wish I'd been as pretty as her at her age. I was sort of geeky looking."

"We were all geeky-looking, Ally," Juliet stated firmly. "Miranda's a genetic aberration."

"Ah, but of the finest kind."

"That, too. She's very cool. Nice kid. Very adult."

"I know, and it seems like just last week she was little."

"Last time I saw her, she didn't need a bra," Anne laughed. We all joined her.

"Speaking of which, can you believe this? I haven't been able to hook my bras since I hurt my arm, since it's a two-fisted job, so I ask Langly to do it, and you know what? He refuses!" We all howled.

"And I see you're really hating it," Juliet remarked wryly.

"And I can only get him to lace up my boots about every third day. It's been Mary Janes for this girl."

"Your feet have to be freezing," Anne shook her head.

"Then again, Docs are a pain," Juliet agreed. "You have the above-the-ankle types?"

"Yep. They are a pain, and Miranda can't pull the laces hard enough so that they stay on my feet. I'm definitely looking forward to being able to dress myself again." More laughter.

"Liar," Juliet countered. "Let me ask you this, though: can you unzip him with one hand?"

"You know, it's been such a bitch. He wears 501s. The buttons are making me INSANE!" We were laughing more and more.

"I told Jason he couldn't wear those anymore. They take too long to get off," Anne was out of control now.

"Hey, Annie, that's my baby brother you're talking about!"

"Your baby brother is 27!"

"Yeah, and he's still my baby brother. But it's nice to know he's good for something. Proves I didn't completely ruin him." We were laughing hysterically now.

"So what about John? Any problems getting him undressed?" I howled at Juliet.

"Not so far," she grinned wickedly. "And he lets me tie his ties."

"Ooh, he definitely has it for you," Anne decided.

"What? Because he lets her do a double Windsor?" I was baffled. When you spend all your adult life with tie-less computer geeks, you don't know the fine points.

"Ally, that's a really intimate thing, you know," Anne enlightened me.

"And he likes it," Juliet smiled, licking her lips. She got up to put another batch in the blender.

"Julie, go easy this time. Did you double the tequila last time?"

"I did, and it was delicious."

"So what else do you do with those ties, Julie?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" she shot back.

"Don't think it would help me. Langly never wears 'em."

"He looks pretty wash and wear," Juliet observed.

"Well, since I broke my arm, he washes me and I wear him." This brought about a chorus of shrieks from my tablemates.

"What the-" We hadn't noticed Michael walking in. He shook his head, looking utterly confused, and grabbed a beer from the fridge. He made a hasty exit.

"Frohike's kid," I told Juliet.

"Yeah, I knew that. You know, he'd be kind of cute with a little help."

"Make that a lot of help. That poor guy is a total fashion victim," Anne stated.

"Runs in the family, I think. You've seen what his dad's wearing, haven't you?"

"Well, it'd be all right, but the canary yellow hat from Kings' Dominion? I'd make him lose that, were he mine," Juliet indicated firmly. "Wish I could get John to put on more casual stuff more often. He is like so foxy when he does-maybe it's better he doesn't, for that matter."

"You'd probably never let him keep them on," I reminded her.

"You got that right." Juliet closed her eyes for a moment; she was very drunk by now. "Hey, Ally, got a question for you. How do you do the wild thing with your arm like that?"

I was going to have to be wiped off the floor. "Maybe you'd better read my cast graffiti," I offered. I pulled back my sleeve, and Anne and Juliet were howling at the lovely things that had been plastered upon my plaster. The three of us had tears in our eyes, we were laughing so hard.

"Okay, my fault for asking," Juliet choked out between peals of laughter.

"Well, you can't do the missionary position too well, so you get sort of-inventive?"

"And you're really upset about it, I can tell," she chided hysterically.

"Oh yeah, been totally miserable." I hoped I could catch my breath from laughing so hard.

"So what's the weirdest place you ever did the deed?" Anne was slurring a bit, but her meaning was clear.

"Me? With Langly?"

"No, with your dog! Of course I meant Langly!" She seemed to find this extremely funny and burst into fresh gales of giggles.

"Hmm. I'd have to say Chesapeake Bay."

"That's not so weird," Juliet offered.

"Well, it was sort of a strange thing-it was the first time together, and we both got wickedly sunburned. Langly ended up in the hospital." I was still giggling; it hadn't been funny at the time, but now it made for a mighty good laugh.

"God, what did you do to him, woman?" Juliet demanded as she unlatched the blender pitcher, a fresh batch of margaritas just awaiting our consumption.

"Got him naked. He's blonde."

"You're just as pale. What happened to you?"

"I think I had more blankets on me. And I was on the bottom that time!"

"So like did he get burned everywhere?" Anne's eyes widened.

"That would be everywhere, ladies," I confirmed.

"Remind me to never do it with John at the beach. He's awfully fair," Juliet shook her head and smiled.

"He looks like he gets freckles, too," I suspected. "Most of our kind do."

"Oh, he's got them, all right," Juliet assured us.

"What about you, Annie?"

"Well, Jason and the guys were performing at this club, and it was break-we did it in the stockroom in the bar. It was pretty fast, but it was fun." She was laughing at the memory. "We kept cracking up, though, thinking that there were all these people on the other side of the door, and we kept wondering if they were hearing us, and we hoped they did, 'cause then they'd wonder what we'd been up to. We made it a point to still be putting our clothes on when we came out."

"You exhibitionist," I teased her. "Julie?"

"Well, we haven't been together all that long...I'd have to say the weirdest place we ever did it was in my bed."

"Julie, that hardly qualifies as a revolutionary location!"

"No, you have to understand, see, John came out and he got a hotel room-yes, we actually have nice hotels in Ann Arbor-he didn't want to impose on me, and I suspected he had in mind in case things didn't go well. Well, about two hours after being with him, we knew that wasn't going to happen. I was shocked. I mean, I do not go to bed with men I've just met. But it was
just so...right. I can't describe it."

"Oh, I think I know what you mean," I smiled knowingly, if drunkenly.

"Well, it doesn't sound like you did it on the first date, Ally."

"No, but then again, I didn't exactly wait until the unveiling to get it on
with him."

"Unveiling. What's that?"

"It's one year after someone dies, you put down their headstone," Anne offered. She'd learned a few things.

"So it's like a proper mourning period," Juliet concluded.

"Exactly. And I never thought of myself as being anything but really conventional in that regard...hell, when it happened, I was just getting out of the phase where I felt like I'd died and someone forgot to bury me. I was starting to enjoy things again. And then we were at our friends' wedding in June, and we were having this great old time, and all of a sudden, he gives me this incredible kiss..." I melted at the memory. "And God, that man does great things for a tux!"

"So what took you so long?" Juliet teased.

"I don't know. I think I was trying to get used to the idea, and so was he. Miranda was the one who predicted it. She's uncanny that way."

"She's a prognosticator? Get her up here. I wanna know what's gonna happen," Juliet insisted.

"Know what what's gonna happen?" Two teenaged faces appeared in the doorway. "Mom, can we have some champagne at midnight?"

"If somebody brought champagne, and they say it's okay, I'll go for you each having a small glass. But that's it."

"Cool." The two of them looked at each other as though they'd just scored a major coup.

"So Miranda," Juliet asked, totally smashed by now, "is John gonna pop the question to me?"

Miranda eyed her quizzically. "You mean he hasn't? Boy works slow. And tell him to lose the fucking wedding ring. He's about to get a replacement." She and Shelby grabbed some sodas, ice cream, Flamin' Hot Cheetos, and other necessities of youthful life to take back to the dungeon.

When they disappeared, Juliet asked, "Is she ever wrong?"

"Let's put it this way: I've learned that when she tells me something is going to happen, I don't just blow her off."

Anne raised her glass. "Here's to Miranda being right. She told me Jason was going to marry me four years ago, and here we are."

"Hear, hear. And l'chaim." I raised mine. We drank up. Like we really needed more.

"Yeah, here's hoping her track record remains untarnished," Juliet grinned.

The door opened, and Frohike appeared.

"Frohike!" I ran over to him and kissed him on the cheek. I'd greeted him earlier, but I was just so happy to have him out and about that I couldn't resist it again.

"Hello, my dear. I just came to wish you a Happy New Year, and to let you know that I'll be taking off."

"You feeling okay?" I was concerned. It was barely five o'clock.

"Oh, I'm fine, my dear. It's just that...I'm taking a lady to dinner this evening."

"Frohike, that's really nice. Anybody we know?"

"Well, there's been this lady who's been cooking for me for the last few days. I'd like to thank her for her consideration by buying her dinner."

"That's really decent. Have a wonderful time, and Happy New Year, Frohike. You know I love you." We kissed. "You could come back later, you know."

"I'm still quite tired, my dear. I do feel much better, but I don't think I'm up for a typical Langly household get-together. You do understand, I hope."

"Sure. Just wanted you to know you're always welcome. Enjoy your date, Frohike."

"It's...not really a date." He looked mildly embarrassed, but being a brunette, he had the good fortune not to be a blusher. "It's a...pleasant evening between friends."

"Whatever it is, enjoy it. And Happy New Year."

"Happy New Year, Frohike," Anne got up and kissed him on the cheek. As I said before, Anne is Italian, and exuberant. Did I mention affectionate?

"Happy New Year. It's nice to meet you," Juliet shook hands with him, but then thought better of it, and being drunk, she leaned over and quickly kissed him on the other cheek.

"Ah, it's bound to be a good year. How often do I get kissed by such three lovely ladies in one day? Enjoy your evening, ladies."

After he was gone, we were back at the table, speculating on the mystery lady.

"Any ideas?" Juliet asked.

"Haven't got a clue," I conceded. "He's a private kind of guy."

"He's a bit...odd, but very sweet," Juliet decided.

"I like him," Anne echoed her sentiment.

"Good, because he's walking me down the aisle at the wedding."

Juliet's expression turned pained. "Not in that hat, I hope."

"After what he's been through, he can walk me down the aisle naked for all I care."

Langly had walked back into the kitchen and retrieved another beer. "Don't let him hear you say that. He'll do it."

"Maybe you should stand at the altar naked," I suggested, giggling mightily.

"Don't you think there's enough violence in the world already?" he asked, beating a hasty retreat.

"If he looks half as good without his clothes as he does with them..." Anne studied his departing figure.

"He's totally yummy. Trust me. Hey, my arm may not work too well right now, but the mouth is doing just fine, thank you very much!"

"I noticed you're not so disabled you can't lift a glass," Juliet commented tartly.

I looked at the empty pitcher. "I think we need another."

END OF PART 48