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lucky
that he stayed long enough to cut the cake.” Angel laughs and
sniffs, “Who’s wearing Victoria’s Secret, Hello
Darling?” 
    “ I am, but I put it on early
this morning. I’m surprised you can still smell it.” I say,
smelling my arm to see if I can smell anything. 
    “ It smells good. I love that
stuff.” Angel grabs her purse and photo album and walks to the
door. 
    “ Wait.” I hand Angel and the
others invitations. “James has a birthday on Saturday, and he wants
to invite everyone to his party. If you don’t want to come, I
understand.”
    Angel smiles and says, “And miss my buddy’s
birthday? Count this as my R.S.V.P.” 
    “ Ours, too. Arturo and I
will also be there.” 
    “ I’ll be there, too,” Sara
says, opening the party invitation. “I always wanted to be
surrounded by ninjas,” she jokes, holding up the ninja
invitation. 
    Alec
    I text Emma to tell her I am already up, and
I’ll get the kids from school. I swing by my house first because I
want to get some more clothes for Raelynn and me. I slowly walk
into the house not sure what to expect. I call Molly’s name, hoping
that she is not here. The large TV in the family room is gone; I am
not surprised. I walk throughout the house and look for other
things that are missing. The TV in my bedroom is also missing. I
take some pictures in case my attorney needs them. I already know
that it was Molly. When she is back in the house, things start
coming up missing.
    I pack some more clothes and some extra toys
for Raelynn. I also pack up anything of value that is left in the
house. Everything else, Molly can have.
    On my way to get the kids from school, I call
Mason’s sister, Madison. She is one of the best Realtors in the
area. I make an appointment to meet with her to put the house up
for sale. I’ll be one step closer to being able to move on.
    I get a text from Emma,
asking if I can keep James for about an hour. She said she needs to
stop by Cheryl and Danny’s before coming home. I stop by and get
James first and then Raelynn from school. A memory returns: Emma
once told me I can make dinner for her anytime I want. The kids and
I go to the store and I get everything I need to make chicken
Marsala, including, of course, Marsala wine. This dish sounds fancy, but it takes only 10 minutes of
preparation and 20 minutes of cooking time. I use Emeril Lagasse’s
recipe, which I found on foodnetwork.com. He rates the recipe level
as Easy. We walk through the bakery and
Raelynn sees princess cupcakes she wants for dessert. James looks
around for something with ninjas on them and is disappointed when
he doesn’t see them. 
    I decide since we are
already at the store, we should get groceries for the week. I have
no idea what Emma shops for, so this will be fun. I push the kids
in the double-seated food cart and walk up and down each aisle. I
know what Rae and I eat, but I have to ask James what he and Emma
eat. I get the impression from James that he and Emma mostly eat sweetened cardboard, aka junk food,
although he calls it good food, not junk food. This surprises me. Emma seems like the kind of person who
enjoys eating pizza but is careful to eat salad with it. I simply
cannot imagine Emma with Cheetos dust in the corners of her mouth.
I put some of what James wants in the cart.
    “ James, are you sure momma
feeds you this for breakfast?” I ask, holding up the donuts, Pop
Tarts, and the Toaster Strudel. 
    “ Momma and I like
those.” 
    We get to the register and I soon realize
just how many snacks we have. 
    “ Rae, did you put extra
items in the cart?” 
    “ No, daddy,” she says, but
doesn’t look at me. She is looking at James.
    “ James, did you put extra
items in the cart?” 
    “ No, daddy,” he says,
looking at Raelynn. 
    We all bust out laughing as I continue to
unload the cart at the register.
    “ That’ll be $265.87, sir,”
the cashier says, smiling.
    I cough and clear my throat before getting
the