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    “ Hey, son, we’re not watching X-Box stuff...not tonight!” David called after him. His groaned “Oh, Dad!” resounded mournful from the top of the stairs. “I imagine he’s had free reign around here since Thursday night.”
    “ Who needs television when you’ve got me?” Miriam snuggled up to him, pressing her face beneath his jaw, and then caressed his neck with tender kisses.
    “ Hey, I found her!” Jillian announced from atop the stairs. “She’s hiding under my bed, and I can’t get her to come out!”
    “ Hold that thought, my dear,” David whispered. He returned her kisses until Jillian called to them again. “We’re coming!”
    Even from downstairs they heard the dog’s whimpers along with Tyler’s urgings for Sadie to come to him. By the time David and Miriam reached Jillian’s bedroom, Tyler was halfway underneath Jillian’s canopy bed.
    “ She’s not going to come to you!” said Jillian confidently, crouched next to her brother. “And I’ll bet the only person she’ll listen to is Mom!”
    “ Oh, yeah?” Tyler retorted, his voice muffled from under the bed.
    “ Maybe Jill’s right, guys,” said Miriam, lifting the bedspread to take a peek. Sadie lay curled up in one corner, panting, on the opposite side of the bed from where Jillian and Tyler’s faces peered at her. “Come here, baby.”
    The dog whined until she pulled her out and gathered her in her arms.
    “ She’s shaking!” Miriam looked over at David. “Come here…feel how she’s trembling.”
    He came over to where she stood, near Jillian’s nightstand. A beautiful purebred Yorky, Sadie had long brown hair covering most of her body, except for her head, which was a mixture of rust and blond. Her dark brown eyes always seemed to sparkle in the light, but now half-open as she continued to shake in Miriam’s arms.
    “ Is she sick?” he asked, lovingly stroking the dog’s neck, which usually brought a soft grumble of pleasure and Sadie would lean into his hand for a good scratching. Not this time.
    “ I’m not sure,” said Miriam. “It’s almost like something scared the hell out of her.”
    She started to carry Sadie out of the bedroom, and immediately the dog clawed to get out of her arms. She stooped down and released her, and Sadie crawled back under the bed.
    “ Should we call the vet?” David watched Tyler and Jillian resume their contest to see whom the dog preferred most.
    “ No…I don’t think that’s going to do any good,” she told him, glancing around the room. “Would you mind taking a look around to make sure nothing’s out of place?”
    “ Sure.” He knew she wanted him to check the entire house for evidence of a break-in while they were gone. Just two months earlier, a string of burglaries had hit their peaceful community. “I’ll be right back.”
    He checked both floors and the garage, and took a quick stroll around the yard. Nothing out of place, though it felt a little eerie walking through leaves up to his ankles in the darkness and hearing them crunch beneath his shoes. Next weekend would be spent raking these leaves if his self-absorbed teenager didn’t miraculously offer to do it before then.
    Satisfied, he went back inside. He checked all of the doors and windows on the main floor and then returned to the living room to get Christopher. Groggy and disoriented, David assisted him in negotiating the long stairway up to his bedroom. Soon, Tyler retired, promising to wind down before his ten o’clock bedtime. Jillian often fought to stay up later, but tonight didn’t put up a fuss.
    “ It’s just you and me now, my love,” he whispered from behind Miriam, blowing softly upon her neck where she waited for him, standing with her back to him inside their bedroom doorway. She pulled him inside the bedroom, and after he closed the door and locked it, they embraced. Their foreplay intensified and he carried her over to the bed, where they made passionate love for the