Part I

The scene was set for a lovely block party. Bree had planned it for weeks, she'd even rented tables for the front yards of all her neighbors. It was meant to be a casual affair, but nothing, from the placement of the food to the number of plastic champagne glasses, had been spontaneous. It was set up so that the residents of Wisteria Lane could wander to and fro, sparking conversation wherever they wanted. It was an experiment in socializing for Bree, who had so treasured the formal dinner format until she'd made a disaster of her last. Telling all of the guests about her husband's emotional post-coital state had all but guaranteed no more dinner parties at the Van de Kamp's. Having an outdoor party allowed them all to breathe a little easier.
"Hey Bree, great party." Carlos Solis walked up to her, talking with his mouth full of a turkey sandwich on rye with swiss cheese and Bree's own zesty dressing. "Got anything to drink?"
"Oh!" She'd completely forgotten to bring out the punch. Bree looked up and down the street and spotted Danielle chatting with some of her friends from school.
"Danielle?" she called out in a sing-song voice.
Danielle looked up, an annoyed expression on her face.
"Would you be a dear and go get the punch?" Bree asked, though it wasn't a question. "I've already put the ice in, it should be sitting on the kitchen counter."
Danielle sighed. "Be right back." she told her friends.

As she walked through the open door and into the kitchen she saw her brother with a small, oddly shaped bottle in his hands. He was standing in front of a big bowl of frothy pink liquid...
"Andrew, what are you doing?" Danielle asked him in that incredulous tone that always made him cringe.
Andrew kept pouring, barely turning around as he said "What does it look like, Einstein?"
"You're spiking the punch? God, that is so seventh grade. What is that, mouth wash?"
Andrew smiled at Danielle, that smug smile that always made her cringe. "No. Actually I have no idea what it is. But Mom had it hidden behind the wine so I'm betting it's a lot stronger than Listerine."
"Well I'm glad I caught you. You would have let me drink that?" Danielle bitched as she got a Sunny Delight from the refrigerator.
"Look, there's probably not even enough in this bottle to get Penny Scavo tipsy. Lighten up!" Andrew screwed the cap back on the mystery bottle and tossed it in the garbage. "And if you tell anyone, I will scrub the toilet with your toothbrush."
Danielle rolled her eyes. "Whatever." She picked up the humongous bowl of punch, purposefully letting some of it slosh over the side and on to the kitchen floor. "Oops." she said to Andrew, completely deadpan.

When Danielle went back outside, she saw her mother gathering everyone in front of their house. "Oh lorrrd..." Danielle muttered, trying to muster a smile. Everyone had plastic cups in their hands.
"Everyone get some punch!" Bree ordered. "I want to make a toast."
Danielle stood on the lawn, begrudgingly holding the heavy punch bowl as everyone came by and served themselves. "You're welcome. You're welcome. You're welcome." she said, as absolutely no one was saying thank you.
"You want me to take that for a while?" she heard Susan Meyer ask. She had the Scavo twins in tow but was perfectly willing to take on the burden.
"No thanks, Mrs. Meyer. I was so looking forward to being the martyr today."
Susan exchanged eyebrow-raised looks with Lynette, who was behind her in line with Parker and Penny. They both took their punch and moved on.
"Everybody ready?" Bree stood on her front step, her own cup filled with cranberry juice. Everyone else gathered in a loose semi circle. "This little gathering is in part to celebrate Rex's successful open heart surgery." Bree took a moment to clap, beaming at her husband standing across the lawn. Rex lifted his cup to his neighbors as they joined the applause. "Now, I put a bit of alcohol in the punch, feel free to partake, but don't give the kids too much!"
Danielle caught Andrew's eye and smirked. The punch had already been spiked. Andrew shrugged, smirking back. Maybe he'd added a little something extra, he thought, and he might get some entertainment after all.
"I, in support of my husband's restricted diet, am drinking juice with him today." Bree continued. Some neighbors chuckled, and Rex smiled back at his wife. "The other reason I organized this is to celebrate the one thing we have in common, no matter how different our individual lives are. We all have the great fortune to live on this beautiful street, and the ability to come home to beautiful houses and beautiful families no matter where the day may take us. I know we lost a few beloved residents this year, including one that was very close to my heart..." Bree took a moment, and her audience followed suit, thinking mostly about Mary Alice, and a little about Martha Huber. "But," Bree began again, putting the chip back in chipper, "I truly think the best is yet to come." Bree glanced at Rex with a secret look when she said this, and he winked back at her. "So eat, drink, and above all be merry!"
Everyone took a sip from their cups, watching Bree as she descended the steps and rejoined the crowd.
"Whoa," Tom Scavo coughed a little after drinking. He looked around, noticing some other surprised faces.
"Jeez Bree, what did you put in this?" Lynette asked.
"Just a little rum. I didn't even use half a bottle, I'm not sure what happened. Is it really that bad?"
"Hey, I don't have to drive anywhere tonight." Tom scoffed jokingly. "Get me another cup!"
Bree still looked a little worried and disappointed. Everything was supposed to be perfect; she didn't want everyone stumbling home.
Rex came up behind her, putting a hand on her back, and kissed her cheek. "Thanks, honey. This means a lot." Rex had been so attentive since their reconciliation. His little comments cheered her up immensely.
Lynette made an 'aw' face, taking another sip of her punch. Then she heard Bree gasp.
"Boys!" Bree scolded Parker, Porter and Preston. They were all sharing a cup of punch, giggling mischievously. "That punch is for grown ups only!"
Lynette smiled and shook her head. "Don't worry about it, they haven't had that much. Come on, give Mommy the cup."
"Sorry Mrs. Van de Kamp." They said in unison.
"Hey, relax." Rex told Bree. "It's going great."

A few more hours and an empty punch bowl later, people were beginning to disperse. At least they would have been, if they had not been feeling an unexplained attraction to the Van de Kamp house. It seemed everyone wanted to be the last to say goodbye to Bree.
"So...call me!" Mike Delfino said to Bree. Bree found it quite odd, considering Susan was standing right next to him, but Susan didn't seem to mind.
"Yeah, we don't hang out enough." Susan chimed in. "And another thing: we don't hug enough!" Susan reached out to hug Bree goodbye, squeezing her friend tight. Bree could have sworn Susan was smelling her hair, but thought it would be inappropriate to bring up at the moment.
"You can never have too many hugs." Mike smiled, and gave Bree a quick one himself when she was finally able to pry Susan off of her.
"Mike." Susan tugged on her boyfriend's arm, not really sure which person she was jealous of.
"...Oookay!" Bree nodded, watching them back up towards the Meyer house and waving. Bree made eye contact with Julie, who had also been looking at her mother and Mike like something was off.
"Bye, Mrs. Van de Kamp." Julie said, and walked over to Danielle.
"Bye Julie!" Andrew waved from across the yard.
"Ugh, what is his malfunction today?" Danielle asked her friend.
"I don't know." Julie said, waving dutifully back at Andrew. "Thanks for warning me about the punch though."
"No problem. Everyone else who drank it seems really...weird now."
"Yeah I've seen my Mom a little tipsy before, but did you see her hug your mom?" Julie looked back over at Bree. "Whoa, and now Mr. and Mrs. Scavo?"
Lynette was holding Bree's hand as Tom spoke animatedly about something Lynette seemed to find hilarious. Bree's wide eyes and plastered smile betrayed her own thoughts. Even Edie, famous for being cold and distant to her closest friends, let alone neighbors that had no chance of sleeping with her, was next in line to say good night.
"Did I miss something?" Danielle asked sarcastically. "Or did this somehow turn out to be the best party ever?"

Rex laid in bed, watching Bree take off her earrings and brush her hair. He'd noticed she hadn't stopped smiling since the party had wrapped up.
"Did you have fun today?" he asked, already knowing the answer.
"I did. Though people were acting a bit strange near the end...I really don't think I put that much alcohol in the punch." Bree put down her brush and turned to look at him. He was smiling at her. "What?" she asked, smiling back.
"Nothing." Rex said, against their marriage counselor's advice. He picked up a medical magazine and continued where he left off.
"Tell me, Rex!" Bree smile widened. It was obviously something nice, why wouldn't he say it?
Rex put the magazine back down. "You look happy...and that makes me happy. That's all."
Bree looked down for a minute, her smile fading a little but not for any loss of emotion. She stood up and walked over to the bed, sitting next to Rex. "That makes me happy too."
"Well aren't we just...happy!" he said, making her laugh.
Bree put a hand to his chest, over his heart. "How are you feeling physically?"
"Better every day." Rex put his hand on hers. "Why do you ask?"
Bree could see a glint in his eyes. She leaned down to kiss him, and suddenly she was airborne. Rex lifted her and flipped her onto her side of the bed. Her small cry of surprise only lasted until Rex planted a romantic kiss on her lips.
"Rex..." Bree said as she put her arms around his neck. "How did things get so perfect again?"
"Does it matter?" Rex said, peppering her neck with softer kisses. He had his hand where Bree's torso met her hip, and he could feel the shape of her body through her thin nightgown.
"It does to me. I want it to stay this way." Bree pulled Rex's head back up to hers and kissed him, to let him know she wasn't trying to ruin the mood.
"I love you, Bree. And I think we got through the worst times..." Bree interrupted Rex momentarily with another deep kiss. "Mmm. The only way is up, as they say."
Bree pushed him back to look into his eyes, wondering for a second whether she was dreaming. "'As they say...'" she softly mocked him, and he kissed her again to make her be quiet. She decided that if she was dreaming, she wouldn't mind never waking up again.