Later in the afternoon, the Albrights, Julie's parents, showed up, as expected. It went better than expected -- not good, but better than it might have.

While Dave couldn't categorize his in-laws (or was it former in-laws now?) as being rich, they were certainly far from being poor. Dave would have categorized them as 'upper upper middle class'; much of their wealth came from a family business Stan had inherited. But they, especially Deborah, had a pretty strong opinion of themselves; they had always given the impression that Julie had married beneath her. His relationship with them had never been as warm as it might have been, and he almost always felt patronized by them. Julie had been able to deflect a lot of it, and Dave had already reflected that if there was any possible bright spot from her death, it was that the Albrights wouldn't have him to kick around much longer.

Stan was in denial: numb, not wanting to confront the reality. Dave figured he'd be drinking himself numb before long. There was just a brief hug, a mild exchange of condolences, and that was it. Dave had long known that Stan was a basketball fan; he recognized Shae almost instantaneously from her WNBA coverage, and they spent much of the time there discussing basketball. At least, it was better than some subjects they might have discussed.

Deborah, on the other hand, was on the verge of hysteria from the moment she walked in the door, scooping up the boys, crying over them, and making everyone else feel uncomfortable. Finally, Eve was able to sit her down and get her talking a little, but it really didn't accomplish much. Deborah was very insistent that the boys come home to Hartford with them, right now, this minute, and plan on staying there permanently. It was evident she didn't think much of Dave's capabilities as a father, and the whole thing was somehow his fault. To have such a scene in front of his mother, his friends, and the boys, was embarrassing at a minimum. It got a little bit out of hand; eventually, Shae had to settle her down with a serious dose of The Glare, although Shae's words and voice were reasonable.

Stan actually helped with it; he apparently didn't think much of having the boys in Hartford with him, at least on a long-term basis. He finally told Deborah that Dave and his friends seemed to have things under control for the moment, and they could talk the idea over again in a few days. He and Dave exchanged glances that seemed to say, hopefully, as many days as possible but both knew they were both likely to hear more about it and sooner than they wanted to. Dave mentioned that it was too early to make long-range plans, and Stan agreed, at least for Deborah's benefit. Finally, Stan said he thought it would be best if they got on the road; they had a lot of city to get through, and he didn't like driving after dark anymore. Dave, Eve, Shae, and the boys accompanied them down to the parking lot, partly to be courteous but subconsciously to make sure they left.

Afterwards, Shae took the boys back upstairs while Eve hung back for a talk. "I think I see what you mean," she told him. "I can see why you don't want to figure them into even a temporary arrangement."

"Yeah, especially when Stan crawls into the bottle, which is any time now," Dave sighed. "I really do feel sorry for them. They're hurt just as bad as I am, when you get right down to it. They deserve just as much sympathy. But they would not be a good influence on the boys, and it would lead to a lot more problems than it would solve. What makes it tough is there are good reasons to not cut them out of the boys' lives entirely."

"Because they're the boys' grandparents?" Eve asked, likely pushing at a point.

"Well, yes," Dave nodded. "Julie was an only child, too. Stan pushed her several times to quit Bellinger Gates and move back to Hartford so she could take over his business. Julie never wanted to; she'd worked hard enough to get out of Hartford in the first place. Right now, though, I wish the hell Stan had talked her into it."

"Hindsight," Eve pointed out. "Nothing but a might-have-been, and there's no control over that. You could just as easily blame yourself for not talking her into taking the boys to school Tuesday morning."

"Christ, don't I know it," he replied sadly. "I've thought about it, I've thought about half a hundred other things I could have done to have her an hour late for work. But nothing like that happened."

"Nothing like that happened," Eve repeated his words. "Dave, you can't kick yourself over those things. I know it's easy, and there are many things we could make better if we could go back and change the past. But we can't, and that's that."

"I know," he sighed. "I keep telling myself that. Shit happens, I guess."

"One of the wisest sayings ever printed on a baseball cap," Eve grinned and changed the subject a little. "So, I suspect there's an inheritance involved, too."

"Yeah, maybe, depending on whether they piss the money away or not. They've set up trust funds that will go a long way toward paying for the boys to go to college."

"My guess is they'll be more reasonable once it's settled in," Eve opined as they headed inside. "And you're right; you really can't cut them out entirely. It wouldn't be fair all around."

"True," he nodded. "But it's going to be a pain in the butt."

"There's a bright side," Eve smiled. "And that is, you're looking forward some. That means you're beginning to accept this, and planning how to deal with it constructively. It's going to take time, Dave, but you're coming along."

"Glad you think so," he shook his head. "I still close my eyes and see that goddamn building coming down while I'm hearing Julie yell 'I love you, Dave'."

"It'll be like that for a while, but it will fade," Eve replied as they walked into an open elevator door for the ride up to the level of Shae's apartment. "Dave, uh, we haven't talked about this, but Shae said you had some trouble sleeping last night."

"If she told you that, she probably told you the details."

"Of course," Eve smiled. "It wasn't unexpected, and you really did need to cry for Julie, Dave. Look, I can't actually prescribe medications, but Shae has sleeping pills available. I'd strongly advise you use them for the next few days."

"Yeah, I know that already," Dave nodded. "It didn't take a doctorate to figure it out."

"Don't overdo it, and don't become dependent on them," Eve warned. "I'd say no more than five days at a time, then skip a day or two, even if it means having to stay up all night watching late-night TV and being groggy as hell the next day. Be very careful about using them with alcohol. They're helpful in the short run, but they're not the kind of thing you want to have to depend on in the long run."

"Yeah, I can see that," Dave replied as the elevator door opened. "That's why I didn't take one last night, but I think I learned better."

"For a few days, anyway," Eve agreed. "Wean yourself off of them as soon as you can." Dave opened the apartment door and held it for her.

"There you are," Shae said. "You just missed a phone call from some guy named Rob. He'd like you to call him back, either his home phone or his cell phone. I got the number."

"Then I guess I better call," Dave nodded, pulling out his cell phone and hitting the speed dialer.

Rob was on the phone in only a few seconds. "Dave, your friend there said there's no new word on Julie, right?"

"Right," Dave told him, and added, "I really don't expect anything until they tell me they've recovered her body. Honestly, from what I've picked up the little we've watched TV, it could take weeks, if they find anything at all. What's the deal with Ronna's husband?"

"Same thing," Rob replied sadly. She's still hoping, but it doesn't look good."

"Hell, I'm still hoping," Dave told him. He didn't know Ronna well -- she was in accounting, a fat little woman with a big smile. He wasn't sure he remembered her husband, but probably had been introduced to him at a Christmas party or something; Dunlap and Fyre wasn't a big operation. He let his mind wander to Ronna for a moment, hoping she was doing better than he was, and continued, "But the odds are so against it that I'm not pinning my hopes on anything. Have you guys got anything figured out about work, yet?"

"Bits and pieces," Rob told him. "We've got some ideas that need to be kicked around and a couple options to pursue. Any chance you could come over here for a while tomorrow, say, early afternoon, around one? I'm going to have a meeting of department heads, some editorial people to see if the larger group can come up with any brighter ideas than we've had so far. You don't absolutely have to be here if you don't want to, but your input would be valuable, and people would like to see you. And hell, it might take your mind off things for a bit."

"You're talking at your apartment, in midtown someplace?" he replied. "I'm not sure I'm ready to go down to lower Manhattan yet."

"Yeah, not too far from Central Park." He gave an address and continued. "Like I said, it's not a got to, but it might be worthwhile, for you and everyone else."

"I'll just have to see," Dave told him. "I've got my mother and friends here, so that complicates things, a little. But I'll be there if I can make it and stand it."

Once he got off the phone, he explained what the call was all about. "I'm not sure I want to head down there by myself," he said. "I'd just as soon I had someone with me, just to keep my mind on what I'm doing."

"I could go with you, at least for most of it," Shae nodded. "While your in-laws were still here, I had a call from network. They want to have a meeting down there tomorrow afternoon, talk about getting back on our shooting schedule, and whether we want to do some different episodes. I really can't duck that unless it's absolutely necessary, but someone needs to stay with the boys."

"I could stay, I suppose," Eve said. "I really had hoped to head back home tonight, or first thing in the morning at the latest. I've got some clients who have some concerns and need some support. I'd figured on sliding back over here for a while on Saturday or Sunday, maybe staying overnight."

"Eve, why don't you just go ahead and head on back tonight?" Emily said. "I'd figured on heading back tomorrow, but there's no reason I can't do it in the afternoon instead of the morning. I'm used to working weird hours; I can probably go all night if I can sleep in a little in the morning."

"I've got a better idea," JoAnne said. "If I hear you right, Shae is going to have to head back to work next week, and Dave might have to go in at least part time, too. There's no great rush for me to head back. I could stay here for a few days, and Emily, you could head back in the morning if you don't mind driving by yourself."

"Not a problem for me; I actually like it and don't get to do it very often," Emily said.

"Mom, it would be nice if you could stay," Dave nodded. "You're right, this isn't going to be the last time something like this could come up before the boys get back in school. But won't it cause problems at General?"

"No, not a bit," she replied. "Wes Russell is the general manager now. He told me to take what time I need; it won't be charged against my annual leave or anything."

"But how would you get back? No telling when the airlines will be going again."

"Then we'll work out something," JoAnne shrugged. "Take the train, maybe, there's a stop down in LaGrange. Or, if it gets difficult, maybe Emily could meet us somewhere halfway. But I'll expect the airlines will get back in the air in the next few days, if you could pick me up at the airport, Emily."

"Sure, no problem, or I'll have Kevin do it or find someone else," Emily agreed. "Given a choice, I'd rather pick you up at Kalamazoo or South Bend, but there may not be direct flights. If you have to go to one of the big airports, Detroit would probably be better than O'Hare."

"I could probably have Hazel do it, too," JoAnne observed.

"All right, I guess," Dave said. "Shae, you have any input? This is your apartment, after all."

"No problem," Shae said. "JoAnne, if we're going to leave the boys in the second bedroom, you're going to have to use a sleeping bag, on the couch, or something. Other than that, you'd be welcome, and I can see several ways it could simplify things."

"If that's worked out, then there's no reason for me to stay the night," Eve observed. "I wouldn't mind seeing my kids for a night or two. My folks are very good at watching them, and don't seem to mind, but I hate to put them out if I can help it."

"They live fairly close to you?" JoAnne asked.

"About ten miles," Eve nodded. "It just worked out that they decided to retire in Bucks County, although they spend the winter in Florida. But when John and I were looking for a house, we decided to look fairly close to them. It simplifies a lot of things, and it's someone to look after them who I can trust."

"It would simplify things," JoAnne agreed.

"I was about to get started on some dinner," Shae told them. "Eve, would you like to eat before you hit the road?"

"No, I might as well go ahead and get out of here," Eve said. "JoAnne, it's been good to see you again, maybe we can talk some when I'm back over the weekend. Emily, if you and Kevin are in the area, you're welcome to stop in and see John and me. That was a good time we had a year ago last summer."

"I'd love to do it," Emily said. "But there's always the problem of dragging Kevin out of work. Since everybody is pretty sure they're going to be closing soon, they'd rather pay overtime than put on new people, and he's so far behind on vacation days he's losing them."

"Then come by yourself," Eve smiled. "Shae would be there, I'm sure, and now that we're back in contact with Dave, we can have him over, too. We could have kind of a mini-reunion."

"It might work," Emily said. "Mandy just moved to DC, too, we could call her."

"Hmm, I didn't know that," Eve said. "Send me her address and phone number; DC isn't quite my back yard, but it is an easy day trip and I get down there very occasionally. I'll have to give her a call sometime."

"Sure will," Emily smiled. "Stay in touch, Eve."

"Oh, I will, you know that," Eve grinned.

"Emily," Shae asked, "Do you want to head back right away too, or are you staying over?"

"I'd just as soon stay and get going in the morning," Emily said. "Driving at night is OK when I have to, but I'd rather it be in daylight; there's more to see."

"We'll have to do something about sleeping bags, I guess," Shae shrugged.

"No problem, I brought two, and Paco pads," she smiled. "I just grabbed them out of the camping gear, I had no idea whether we'd need them or not."

"Paco pads?" Shae frowned. "What's that?"

"Self-inflating air mattresses," Emily explained. "They're really neat, almost more comfortable than our bed at home. When Kevin and I rode out to Sturgis a couple years ago, the couple next to us had them. We thought they were real neat, and ordered some as soon as we got home."

"Sturgis?" Dave shook his head. "That's not much of a trip." The Michigan town wasn't far from Bradford.

"No, silly! Sturgis, South Dakota, for the big motorcycle rally. It was a ball! Literally thousands of bikes, really cool!"

"Just when our class starts to sound normal, something weird happens," Dave shook his head. "I can't imagine you riding all the way out to South Dakota and back to Bradford on the back of a motorcycle."

"It's fun to ride around on the back of Kevin's," Emily smiled. "But a ride that long, and having to take camping gear, that's a different story. We each rode our own bike."

"You ride a motorcycle?"

"Oh, yes," Emily grinned. "It's a nice little Harley Sportster. Kevin gave it to me for Christmas three years ago. It's an older bike, a '74, so it's an AMF, but it's totally rebuilt and really cherry. If I'd been making this trip by myself, I probably would have ridden it."

"What I said," Dave shook his head. "It shouldn't surprise me anymore. I'm sorry, Emily, but I have a problem putting Emily Jones, the cheerleader I remember from school, together with Emily Holst, the Harley-riding biker."

"In leathers, all covered with the Harley-Davidson logo," JoAnne grinned.

"It's not that big of a deal," Emily protested with a smile. "I mean, it's nothing like Eve or Jennlynn for changes. Besides, having two bikes is neat; we can each take a kid on the back when we go out riding."

"It's really fun," Eve grinned. "They had John and me ride around on the back for a while when they visited that time."

"Another one I can't imagine," he shook his head. "I guess I'm pretty dull. Nothing much ever happened to me." He stopped, realizing just how stupid that statement was, then slowly added, "I mean, till Tuesday, anyway."

"Dave," Eve said softly. "It's not the same thing. Most of our changes we brought on ourselves. Shit just happened to you, and none of us would have wished it on anyone."

"I know," he sighed. "The bright spot is I have you people laying all these surprises on me, so I have something else to think about."

"Dave, if I'm going to go tonight I really should go," Eve said. "I'll see you again in a couple days, but if you have problems and need to talk to me, just call." She grinned a little and added, "Besides, I think Shae and Emily can still come up with a few more surprises, although unless Emily is holding back something I don't know, there's nothing else quite the size of Jennlynn or me."

"Emily?" Dave grinned.

"Well, not that I know," she replied. "But remember, I'm only in good contact with about thirty of us. What the other fifty have been up to, I pretty much don't know. But I'll bet there's at least one more pretty good shocker there, if we ever get to hear about it. And it doesn't even count the ones from kids I am in contact with who might be keeping their mouths shut about something."

"I think I'll be glad you're going to be around this evening," he sighed. "I wish it could be longer, because I think it'd take you longer than that to bring me up to date."

As the light began to fade over the Atlantic, Dave, Emily and Shae were sitting in the kitchen, while JoAnne had the two boys on the couch in the living room, reading to them from books Shae had bought the day before or from the collection on her shelves. Mostly, Dave was picking Emily's brain, as was Shae; there were plenty of stories she hadn't heard. "And not surprising," Shae explained. "After all, Eve and I were about as out of contact with the class as you were, at least up until the reunion."

"More," Emily said. "I at least had an address for Dave, and JoAnne came into the store every few days. For ten years, I had heard absolutely not one word about Denis, and I have to say Denis, because up till the reunion I had no idea what had happened. Shae's info was only marginally more up to date. I saw her for a couple minutes the year after we graduated, and then totally lost track until Dayna told us she'd seen her on local TV in Durham. Dayna and I tracked her down through the TV station, and she, well, I can't say she told us about Denis. She, uh, confirmed he was still alive but nothing about what had happened."

"She was deathly paranoid about Bradford," Shae explained. "And really, with good reason. You remember how Denis was treated. She did not want to go to the reunion. John and I finally talked her into it, but she agreed only if she could go stealth and not introduce herself. Then Jennlynn dropped her bomb, and I was as surprised as anyone when Eve outed herself, too."

"When she did it, she did it all the way," Emily agreed. "After the reunion broke up, a bunch of us got together in the back of the restaurant, had a couple drinks, and she, John, and Shae told us what happened in detail."

"I think she was justifying herself to the class," Shae said. "Or something, I wouldn't want to guess what. She may have a doctorate in psychology, but she still has a hangup here and there. Fortunately, I was right, and going to the reunion cleared up the big mental block. When she realized no one was going to lynch her for being trans, and people were genuinely curious and pleased, it was a big surprise to her. She's better friends with more of the kids we went to school with now than she ever was in school."

"I'm not sure it was all at the reunion," Emily said. "I think the Halloween party a few weeks later really broke the dam."

"Could be, I wasn't there," Shae nodded. "I had to call a game somewhere, I don't remember now. I know she came back real pleased, but I've never heard what all went on."

"Really no big thing," Emily said. "The morning after the reunion, Scott and Sonja and Aaron and Amber were sitting out at the Chicago, and I think it was really more Sonja and Amber who cooked up the idea of having a Halloween party, and having everyone in drag. It was, well, to come up with an excuse to sort of explore the country Eve had opened up. They cooked up this idea of having a contest for the best dressed, or maybe I should say cross-dressed. Well, they came over and got me in on it, and I asked them if this was to poke fun at Eve. I told them I wouldn't have anything to do with it if it did. They said no, but she'd inspired it, and once we got past that, I thought it was a cute idea. Then Sonja said they were stumped about who was to judge the contest, and I told them I'd work on it. Actually, I'd been talking to Eve the night before and remembered she'd said she was going to be in Detroit that weekend; she had some kind of presentation. She was still pretty reluctant, but I told her I'd talked to a lot of the kids, and there was genuine respect for what she'd done."

"I heard about it, a little," Shae nodded. "She was real hesitant, but she finally decided to trust you."

"I was surprised she did it, too," Emily agreed. "So, anyway, the party. It was up at Aaron and Amber's in Mason, outside of Lansing. It was quite a party, everyone was in drag, men and women, with the exception of Dayna and Sandy, who were in costume to do a special set of songs I'd heard about but never heard performed. It was, uh, pretty dirty. Dayna said she wanted to re-establish her reputation as the black sheep of the class. Aaron had come up with this punch; I don't know what was in it, but about all you had to do was look at it to get drunk. Sonja and Liz Austin roasted some goat shishkebab."

"Goat?" Scott asked.

"Liz raises them," Emily grinned. "Sonja had come up with this special marinating sauce; it was some sort of Iraqi or Israeli biological warfare thing. It tasted real good, but oh damn did it burn when it came out! Everyone in drag, of course, the real women looked sort of plain, generally, but the real men were just about as gorgeous as you could imagine. It was just getting going good when Eve showed up in a baggy sweatshirt and jeans, just like Denis used to wear. It was a total surprise; I hadn't told anyone. I think she was really more nervous about playing Denis again than she was about being with the rest of us. Well, anyway, she came in, we talked, and she loosened up. She judged the costumes and had plaques for all the guys dressed as girls, awards like best dressed, most flamboyant, and most convincing. She called them up, commented about the costumes, sort of constructive comments from her viewpoint, teased everyone, and poked a lot of fun at herself, too. When it was all over with, she thanked everyone for taking it so well, and made some remark about Dayna wanting to re-establish her reputation as the black sheep of the class, but that she and Jennlynn gave her a tough act to follow."

"Well, true," Shae nodded. "You have to be around trans people some to realize how paranoid they can be, and with good reason. Lots of people put trans people down, at least if they don't know what's going on and don't think about it. It can get violent, sometimes even deadly."

"I know I thought it was kind of sick," Emily agreed. "At least until the night of the reunion, when Eve and Shae laid it all out; that was when I realized just how serious it was. It's not something most trannies do for a kink; they do it because they don't have any other choices. Well, anyway, I got right up and told Eve in front of everyone that as far as I was concerned, she wasn't in the running for the black sheep of the class. I told her that if we had an award for making lemonade when life hands you lemons, she'd be the hands-down winner. I was even surprised that everyone agreed with me, told her so, and there was a lot of hugging and kissing going on. She's been back with us ever since."

"I guess I never knew that," Shae said. "She and I don't keep much from each other. I know she had a much better time than she expected, but she never told me all that. Emily, I don't know if you have any idea how much it meant to her. She'd been very stealth about it for years. She doesn't exactly advertise that she's trans these days, but she doesn't cover it up and takes a lot more pride than she used to. It was very important to her to have what she'd done validated in the eyes of the class. A lot more important than she'd admit, even now."

"I thought it was something like that," Emily nodded. "But I thought it was the right thing to say, so I said it. That was quite a party, all around. It was right after that Dayna told us about Pick Me, Please."

"You were going to say something about it this morning, but seemed reluctant," Shae said. "I don't think I've heard this one, either."

"It takes a little background," Emily grinned. "You remember when I told you about getting Jennlynn's address that Dayna had known more about her than she was willing to tell us? I mean, like you, Shae, about Eve?"

"I remember," Shae nodded. "Jesus, that was hard! It had been over ten years since I'd used the name 'Denis' in the present tense. I had to watch every damn word I said so I wouldn't slip 'she' or 'her' or something in."

"I could tell you were covering something up but had no idea what," Emily grinned. "What Dayna was covering up was that she'd done a little more than just run into Jennlynn somewhere. She and Sandy had played a gig at that place Jennlynn works."

"There you go," Dave grinned. "Surprise, surprise."

"Just among us," Emily said. "It wouldn't surprise me if there was even more, although I have no idea. I just know Dayna and Sandy have been known to tell the clean version around Bradford of what really happens, like they did with me about meeting Jennlynn. But anyway, Dayna told us that Pick Me Please wasn't about a girl at a high school dance at all. She and Sandy had written it after watching girls get picked out of the lineup at this Redlite Ranch place!"

"Oh, my God!" Shae shook her head. "Are you sure?"

"She told us there were a couple terms in the lyrics that wouldn't be likely to be used at a school dance but were common slang around those kind of places. 'Come on and break my luck' is the one that sticks with me."

"Dave, you remember me talking about that yesterday?" Shae laughed, shaking her head. "Forget what I said, will you? I hated not getting picked out at a school dance but wouldn't want to be picked out of that kind of lineup!"

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