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daughter whispered to me.
    “Mommy had a little slumber party,” I answered with tired eyes and a smile.
    “Come to Grandma!” said my mother, waking up and sitting up.
    Izzie quickly obliged and hugged her grandmother.
    The next person to wake up was the slumber party guest of honor. “What about Aunt Laura?” she asked.
    Isabelle leapt over and hugged her.
    I was a bit hung over, extremely groggy, and my eyes were half-massed. The next words I heard, however, would wake me up in an instant.
    “I have a great idea,” my mother declared with conviction, “I think Laura should move in here for a little while.”
    “Where?” I asked.
    “Here…in your house, Emma.”
    Izzie started cheering and clapping.
    “The thing is,” Laura responded, “Alan said he won’t move out. He wants the house.”
    “Which means the case could take years,” added my mother.
    “And the thought of living in the house with that…” Laura looked at Isabelle, who was paying full attention to her. My sister realized she couldn’t call her estranged husband the names she so wanted to call him, so she finished her sentence with, “man…”
    “Right,” said my mother, “You absolutely can’t stay there with him!”
    I looked at my sister and said with sincerity, “You’re always welcome here.”
    Izzie screamed with excitement and hugged Laura, which made my sister’s face light up.
    I looked at my daughter. “We’re going to have so much fun!”
    While Isabelle jumped up and down, shouting, “Yay!!” I looked at Laura. She mouthed, “Thank you.” Then I glanced over at my mother. She smiled and blew me a kiss.

.

    Chapter 5
    M ajor anxiety in anticipation of my date began just after I dropped Isabelle off at my parents’ house late Friday afternoon. I kissed them all good-bye and headed for the door quickly, in order to avoid a certain person who I knew was going to try to grab me on the way out. Sure enough, my mother succeeded, catching me on the sly, when she knew my daughter wouldn’t be listening, since she was instead enjoying cookies and milk in the kitchen.
    “Make sure you use a condom, Emma,” she preached, “Sexually transmitted diseases are a very serious concern.”
    “Will do,” was all I said, smiling appreciatively and pretty much wanting to die, knowing there was a possibility that my dad heard.
    My mother kissed my forehead and then said, “Oy vey.” With a smile, I was out the door. That’s when the torture officially began, the scary feeling of the unknown night ahead. And as I drove back home, I actually had to concentrate on taking long, deep breaths to calm myself down. “He’s only a guy,” I told myself, “He’s only a guy.” But he was the hottest guy, and he was the first guy, and he was the guy who had unearthed me, the guy who had perhaps brought red blood back into my cold, jaded veins.
    I decided the best way to soothe my nerves was to go for a run. So when I got home, I threw on some shorts and a t-shirt and drove to a tranquil jogging path that was right by my house. Lined with beautiful landscaped trees, and bushes with flower buds, the trail wrapped around a small, scenic lake. The path was my favorite place to escape and exercise at the same time. It made me feel like I was in a remote forest, yet through the green, I could see the crystal clear lake glistening from the sun beating down on it.
    There weren’t too many people on the path during this early evening, which was nice since it made things even more peaceful. As I jogged along, I decided to pick out my outfit for the evening. This was not an easy task. What was the appropriate clothing to wear for a night out with a man who had made the daring statement that he wanted to see me without any clothes on? How much skin did I want to show?
    Then, just as I mentally put on my little black sundress, something unbelievable (and awful and horrifying, I might add) happened. I fell. I don’t know exactly how, but I