It took Mark, AKA the master of getting lost and refusing to consult a map, a considerable amount of time to find the hotel. Around four PM, they finally found the Quality Inn, and paid for a room. After they had dumped their bags in their room, they looked for 786, Gordie's room.

Knocking on the door, Mattie found herself grow more nervous than any woman of her age should grow. What would Gordie be like? Would he still look at her in that way that always used to give her goose bumps? What would she do if he did look at her that way?

A thin woman with shoulder length brown hair answered the door. She smiled, stepped out of the way, and shook Mattie's hand. "Mattie, right?"

"That's me," she said in a small voice. For the most part, she wasn't a shy person, but she was at the moment.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Sarah. Gordon hasn't told me very much about you, so maybe we could talk about him together while he's gone?"

Grinning, Mattie said, "I'd like that very much, but I don't think I have anything bad to say about him." After she had introduced Sarah to Mark and her kids, she asked, "Where is Gordie?"

"Gordon took the kids out for a walk to get some Slurpees. They were driving me up the wall." Sarah smiled bashfully. "I hope you don't think I'm a bad mother."

"At least your kids get Slurpees," Riley said resentfully, never much one for keeping things from complete strangers. "MY mom made me eat BALOGNA. And then she laughed at me cause I had to crawl under the bathroom door cause I couldn't open it and it was mean and she doesn't ever get mad at my sister for being mean to me."

"You poor hard-done by child," Mattie said sarcastically.

"Do you want some coffee?" Sarah offered. "Apparently they have coffee makers in hotel rooms."

"Jeez, I could use some coffee. Make mine black," Riley said.

Mattie laughed and put her hand on his head, and declined the coffee offer.

Ten minutes of polite small talk passed. Mattie was beginning to get anxious. She just wanted to see Gordie, that's all, she didn't want to talk to his wife. As she realized the reason why Sarah annoyed her was because she was jealous, Mattie regretted even coming.

At last, the door burst open and a boy about Elizabeth's age came in, sporting a big grin. "I beat Daddy," he announced, out of breath.

On his heels, a somewhat stocky boy came in, not looking as triumphant. "I really gotta go, hi everyone, I drank way too fast." He quickly maneuvered around people's legs and the strewn about suitcases and disappeared into the bathroom.

Next, a tall skinny girl with soft brown hair and big doe-like eyes came in, followed finally by Gordie.

Almost involuntarily, Mattie stood upon seeing him.

"Oh, Gordon, your friend got here about fifteen minutes ago--" Sarah said unnecessarily.

"Wow--Mattie," Gordie said, his eyes large. "Uh…you're blond now."

She nodded, frozen in place. He looked so different. His hair was slightly receding, and he had filled out from being the string bean he used to be. But his eyes were still kind yet cautious and he still looked sensitive and shy. His looks may have changed, but she still felt her knees turn to jelly. She felt like that immature little girl with a crush that she hadn't been for twenty years.

"Mama, you look like a fish," Riley pointed out helpfully.

Hearing her son brought her out of her momentary daze. "Hi."

"Hi."

Mattie giggled, then covered her mouth and blushed. She was such a dork. She was acting like a ditzy schoolgirl. But she couldn't think of anything to say to him.

"So, uh…" He was also looking quite flushed. "You brought the whole crew."

"Oh. Yeah," she said, wishing a hole would open up in the floor to swallow her up. "That's Rachel, and Elizabeth, and the short one staring at you is Riley. And this is my husband Mark."

Shaking hands like businessmen closing a deal, Gordie said, "Mattie said that you'd be working this weekend."

Mark shrugged. "I took time off to help her with the kids. I hope that's not a problem for you."

"Oh, no, why would it be? It's good to meet you." He turned his attention back to Mattie. "Um, well, you've already met Sarah, so I'll introduce you to the rest. This is my son Christopher and my daughter Mary. The boy who made a bee-line for the bathroom is David."

It was awkward for a moment as quiet overcame the small, cramped room, but then Elizabeth said calmly, "I sure hope that David character finishes peeing soon before I start to."

In unison, Mattie and Mark buried their faces in their hands.

"Come on," Rachel sighed. "I'll talk you back to our room before you embarrass anyone else. Hey, um, Mary. Do you want to come and walk around with us for awhile?"

Looking relieved, Mary, who was almost an exact replica of Gordie when he was younger except for her being a girl, followed along after them.

Gordie smiled at each other after they'd watched their daughters walk off together. And both of them catching on to the smile, Mark and Sarah glanced at each other and then looked down at the floor.

"Mom, you look like a vampire!"

It was the next morning. Mattie raised her eyebrows at Riley. He'd wandered into the bathroom where she was finishing getting ready for the 9:00 AM service that morning. "So? Maybe I am a vampire."

"Way to go!"

"Go back to sleep, buddy," she whispered. "It's too early for you. You were up way past your bedtime last night playing with Lizzy and Christopher and I don't want you being crabby all day."

"Dad kicks in his sleep. It's driving me crazy."

"Crawl into bed with your sisters then."

"That's just silly, Mama. They're girls." He crawled onto her lap as she tried to make her hair look less big and poofy. "Are you sad?"

Mattie looked down at her little boy. He was a handful much of the time, but he always surprised her with how closely he watched people and his knack of being able to tell what they were feeling. "Just a little, Riley."

"What for?"

She sighed, and set her brush down on the counter. "I had this friend once when I was just a little older than Rachel, and I had a fight with him the last time I ever saw him."

"Why didn't you say sorry?"

"Well, he died last week. And I'm feeling kinda sad for him."

"Oh," Riley said. With his hair sticking up in every direction and a contemplative look etched on his face, he looked like a junior crackpot psychiatrist. "I feel sad for him too. But he probably knows that you're sad and he doesn't even care that you fought with him cause he's in heaven now and everyone's in a good mood when they're in heaven."

Smiling deeply, she put her arms around him and squeezed. "Thanks baby. You know I love you right?"