"Ready to go?" Lissa asked as soon as I opened the door. She was positively radiant, glowing like a neon sign. Must have been some weekend, I concluded.

"Let me run the brush through my hair one more time," I replied.

"Oh, you look fine, Rose," she told me as I hurried to the restroom.

I locked the door, and we were on our way.

We took the subway to the mall to find that it was, of course, all decked out with red and green streamers with a huge tree full of differently colored balls. A man in a Santa suit sat in a chair beside it with a long line of small children waiting to sit in his lap.

"Just think - this time next year, I'll have a six-month-old!" I remarked.

"Isn't that awesome!" Lissa replied.

"How was your weekend? Did you and Dimitri do anything?"

"We watched a couple of good movies on Netflix Friday night. Saturday, we went to Central Park. We went to the zoo and ate hot dogs, and then we went to Denny's for dinner. What did you and Christian do?"

"We had a blast!" The way her eyes were sparkling, I knew she wasn't exaggerating. "Friday night he took me dancing, and we didn't get back to his place until two in the morning. Saturday morning, he served me breakfast in bed, and we spent the day in Greenwich. That evening, we had seafood and white wine, and I slept over at his place again. He took me home Sunday morning."

"So you're sleeping with him now."

"Of course I am! I have been since Hollywood. How long did you wait to sleep with Dimitri?"

"We didn't go all the way until our wedding night."

She gasped. "You're kidding me!"

"I was only eighteen when we got married, you know."

"Oh yeah, that's right. Well, it was probably smart of you to wait, then."

"You'd better be careful, Lissa."

"Oh, don't worry. We're using protection, or he is, rather."

"It's more than just that. If I were you, I'd make sure I knew how he felt about me. You can't put a Band Aid on a broken heart."

"Well, he's never actually told me he loves me, but the way he treats me, he must really care for me."

"Just be careful."

She grabbed my arm. "Oh, let's go in there! It's my favorite store!"

We went to the men's section, where I quickly located Dimitri's favorite cologne.

"Here's Christian's!" Courtney cried, grabbing a bottle off the shelf.

What to get Dad? I wondered next. I came to a display of hats and gloves and remembered how he'd complained about the cold the last time I'd talked to him. I grabbed a matching hat and glove set.

"I need to find something for Mom," I told Lissa.

"Yeah, me too!" she replied.

Soon we were looking at negligees, slips, lacy underwear, and pantyhose. Mom was always complaining about runs in her hose, so I bought her a package of twelve pairs. That should last her awhile, I told myself.

"That's all the adults for me," I said.

"I still have my aunt," Lissa replied.

"I'm heading down to the game store to look for presents for my cousins," I told her.

"I'll come down there in a few minutes," she said.

Confronted with the wide array of computer games available, my eyes zipped over the selections until I found each boy's favorite. I was standing in line at the register when I saw Lissa walk in and called to her.

"Whatcha got?" she asked. I showed her the games I'd chosen. "Cool! I'm heading down to the food court. Meet me when you're finished here."

"OK."

I bought the games, congratulated myself on finishing my Christmas shopping in one morning, and walked toward the food court, where I saw Lissa standing in line at the burger place and joined her.

"So what do you and Dimitri have planned for Christmas?" she asked as we were eating.

"Just visiting family, like usual," I replied, munching on a French fry.

"Christian is taking me to Colorado," she bragged. "He's going to teach me how to ski."

"Not a good idea when you're pregnant," I commented.

She chuckled. "That's why I'm glad I'm not!"

Her words made me wonder whether I should have postponed getting pregnant. Dimitri and I had been happy and in love and not particularly concerned about what happened and when, but in hindsight, perhaps we should have waited a year or two before letting it happen. If we had, we could have gone skiing together this winter, too.

When I got home, I was so sleepy I hid the presents in the closet without wrapping them first, then lay down to take a nap. When I awakened, I had just enough time to wrap them and fix dinner before Dimitri got home.

I went to the door to welcome him as soon as I heard it open. We embraced and kissed.

"So how was your day?" I asked him.

"Busy," he replied. "Getting ready for the Broadway Christmas special. How was yours?"

"It was nice," I told him. "I went shopping at the mall with Lissa and bought something for everyone in my family."

He gasped. "You finished in one morning? Wow!"

"I sure did!"