As she returned to the house from her piano lesson, Monika noticed that the snow was vanishing fast. Maybe Spring would finally come? It was well into April now, after all.

Her thoughts were interrupted as she opened the storm door and a gust of wind blew it out of her hands. It swung hard into the side of the house.

"What just happened?! I didn't break it, did I?"

"Nah," Rob said from behind her. "That last storm must have pulled out the retention spring. Let me have a look."

Monika stepped inside and hung her coat up as Rob pulled the door back towards him and examined it.

"Damn. I'm not sure I have the tools to fix this. I'll probably have to borrow some from my dad."

"Will you go there today?" Monika asked.

"Nah, probably tomorrow. Have you forgotten what's going on tonight?"

"Oh yeah," she replied. After many attempts to plan around Kate's busy schedule, the two of them had finally settled on a night to spend some time out without any of the three boys. Rob would be putting Andrew and Lucas to bed on his own, something which would have intimidated her, but he had done it many times before.
Monika decided to get in some practicing on the keyboard before the outing. She had convinced Mrs. Fredericks to find her some more contemporary music to practice and her teacher had finally come through today, sending her home with some classic soft-rock songs from the 1950s and 60s. It wasn't quite what Monika had in mind, but she hadn't been specific and given her teacher's age, these songs were probably the first tracks that came to her mind. She had as much appreciation for classical music as any student of the medium, but it just wasn't the type of thing she imagined herself composing, and composition was her ultimate goal.

Before turning on the keyboard, Monika decided to eavesdrop for a little bit on the conversation upstairs. She knew this was a bad habit, but there were times that she learned valuable information from it.

"If you have time tomorrow, can you write some thank you notes?" Kate asked.

Rob was perplexed. "For what?"

"For the presents we got for the boys' party? You know, the one that was just last week?"

"But why would we write thank you notes?" he asked. "We thanked them all in person at the party."

"You're still supposed to send thank you notes."

"Says who? Is that one of the ten commandments?"

"Rob, it's just what people do!"

"But we thanked them already!" That seemed to be the point he was really stuck on.

"Fine, I'll write them."

"You shouldn't have to either," he insisted. "A real gift doesn't come with obligations. If you're forced to write a thank you note, then it's not a gift, it's an exchange."

"I'm done with you," Kate said. "Find someone else to torment."

At times like this, Monika wondered how they stayed together. Kate was just so conscientious and sensitive to obligations while Rob seemed to live in a permanent state of skepticism. It was often said that opposites attract, but could opposites put up with each other forever?

She set one of her new pieces of sheet music against the little stand at the top of the keyboard and began to play. It was fairly simple and based mostly on one melody, but it was still a lot of fun. A few minutes later, Rob came down the stairs and peeked into her room.

"Are you playing Frankie Valli?" he asked.

Monika took her hands away from the keys and smiled at him. "You know this song?"

"It's a classic."

"You want to sing along?" she asked.

"Uh, sure."

"Great! Let's do this!" Monika shifted back into position and played the opening melody that repeated for most of the song. Rob opened his mouth and seemed to be about to sing, but stopped short.

"Oh come on," she teased. "You're going to chicken out again?"

"I just realized that the only lyrics in this song that I know are 'Oh, what a night.'"

Given how little he probably listened to this type of music, Monika suspected he was telling the truth. Before speaking further on the matter, she caught sight of a piece of paper in his hand.

Rob noticed her shifting gaze. "So I was thinking about what you told me. About how you've been forgetting things from your past? Well, I went on the internet and made a list of every book that you mentioned in the game and even some from one of the mods."

"Can I see it?"

"Sure." He walked over and handed it to her. "I put a check mark next to the ones that we have in the house. The others should be easy enough to find at the library."

Monika stood up. "This is so nice. Can I kiss you?"

Rob was flustered for a few seconds but eventually turned his head to the side and pointed to his cheek. Well, if this was all she was going to get, Monika was going to make the most of it. She grabbed his face with both hands. "Mmmmwah!"

"Who are you, Bugs Bunny?"

Monika pretended to get the joke but was typing "Bugs Bunny kiss" into YouTube's search bar a few moments later.

A hour or two later, Rob was cooking macaroni and cheese for the boys as Monika and Kate left for their outing. Once they were safely in the car and away from the boys, Kate seemed to actually relax. It was obvious she needed this night out much more than Monika did.

"Do you think Rob will be okay putting them to bed?" Kate asked.

"He will," Monika said. "He's done it before."

"I know, but I get nervous. I guess I'm always nervous about something."

Monika tried to take her mind off her worries. "Where are we headed?"

"This place on Main Street that I really like," Kate answered. "You have to try the pretzels and dip, it's awesome. It will be crowded but I called ahead."

Monika chuckled at her enthusiasm. "It's been a long time since you got to do something like this, hasn't it?"

"We've done plenty of fast food," Kate said. "But a sit-down restaurant can be tough. The boys aren't the patient type in order to keep them from wrecking the place, I wind up distracting them with snacks from my pocketbook before their food even comes. Then they're bored because Rob and I still have to eat and they're already full."

"I didn't realize it would be so hard."

"Neither did we. We keep telling ourselves things will get easier. In some ways, they do. We don't miss dirty diapers, for instance. But then other issues come up. Maybe that's just being a parent, I don't know."

The car pulled into a parking lot with few spaces to spare, just as Kate had predicted. As they walked in, a small crowd of people sat on benches and stared at their phones as they waited for their names to be called. Thanks to Kate thinking ahead (this was one thing she and Rob did have in common), their wait was brief and soon enough they were led to their table.

As soon as their waiter arrived, Kate ordered the pretzel dip appetizer. A few minutes later, a plate with hearty and freshly cooked pretzels and three different dipping sauces to choose from. Monika wasn't sure what to make of it at first.

"That one is kind of like honey mustard," Kate said, pointing to the one on the left. "The one in the middle is cheesy, like queso or something. The one on the right I don't like much, it's kind of like spaghetti sauce."

"Thanks for the tips," Monika said.

They consumed the pretzels within minutes and Monika tried all three of the sauces, deciding that she liked the cheesy one best. After they ordered their main dishes (there was a great selection of salads), Monika asked a question she had been wanting to ask Kate for a while now.

"What…what do you think about forgiveness?"

"It plays a pretty major role in my theology," Kate answered.

"But…how can you get someone to forgive you? How can you earn that?"

She thought for a moment. "What I try to tell people is that forgiveness isn't about the person who hurt them, not really. We encourage it because it helps people move on. It's not admitting that what someone did wasn't wrong, it's just setting yourself free. It's exhausting to keep obsessing about being mad at someone or getting back at them."

This wasn't what Monika had been expecting to hear at all, but it made sense.

"Is this about your old friends?" Kate asked.

"Yeah," she answered softly. "Do you think I could convince them?"

"It would be hard," Kate said. "If you try and explain to them what we've been talking about, it will inevitably come across as self-serving. It's better if they realize it on their own….but maybe Rob could convince them."

"I have mixed feelings about that," Monica replied.

"I bet he could," Katie said. "He's been talking to one of them a lot lately. I can't remember her name."

Monika did her best to hide her shock. "Was it…Sayori?"

"Yeah, that's it. They're like little pen pals, it's so cute."

The feeling of betrayal was intense, but Monika knew she couldn't show it now. It wouldn't make much sense. Rob's wife was across the table from her and if she wasn't concerned about him and Sayori, why should she be? Well, for one thing, Rob hadn't made Kate any promises not to talk to her.

While she was still thinking clearly, Monika rationalized that Rob probably didn't have any untoward plans for Sayori. If he wanted a younger lover, there had been plenty of chances for that over the last few months. He wanted something else; that feeling of validation, of being understood and accepted for what he really was. Monika had tried to give him that but maybe she just wouldn't be able to. That hurt.

There was another feeling she was struggling with, one that could cause a lot of trouble if she didn't get it under control. Rob was hers. Okay, so maybe Kate had more of a claim but that didn't bother her anymore. Even if they were never a couple, he was her friend, not to be shared with the rest of the Literature Club in the way he was while playing the game. She didn't put everything she had into finding a way to this world only to have the other girls interfere again.

She didn't want to hurt them anymore. She wanted them to forgive her and then go away. That didn't seem likely, unfortunately. The situation occupied her mind for the rest of the dinner and for the drive back to the house.

"Are you okay?" Kate asked as they turned onto the road where the family lived. "Did you not have a good time?"

"It was very nice," Monika replied quickly. "Thanks. I guess I'm just…thinking of my friends."

"We'll sort it out somehow," Kate said. "We can contact them whenever we want."

Don't remind me, Monika thought.

The house was unusually quiet as they got home. The two of them explored only to find all three boys passed out in the master bedroom. Rob hadn't even changed into his pajamas. Kate laughed softly and carried each child back to his own bed. Monika figured this might be for the best. She could confront him tomorrow.