Bridget got up early the next morning to go running. Before she left, she went to check on Billy. But he wasn't there. She thought she had heard the shower running, so she took it as him being in the shower. She decided to go out running without him.
Bridget passed other early risers on the sidewalk, and waved to them. She saw another up ahead, but when he came by she tackled him to the ground. "You ass! Don't you know you could lost?" Billy took off his base-ball cap. "Yeah…but I didn't want to wake you. You looked peaceful." "Peaceful? You are full of it!" She stood up and wiped the grass off of her legs. "I'll see you at home then." Bridget kept on running in the same direction she started out in…the opposite way of her house. Billy was too tired to follow her, so instead he jogged back to her house.
Today was the official day. The pants would be brought out of their nine month hibernation. Carmen took them out of their place in the back of her closet. Lena came in and sat down on her bed. "Tonight is the night." Carmen handed the pants to Lena, and before she knew it, Lena was crying. "What's wrong Lenny?" Lena wiped her tears away with the back of her hand. "Too many memories." Carmen hugged Lena and took the pants back. "That's what the pants bring us babe…too many memories. You and your first love…me and my new family…Bee and Eric…Tibby and Bailey. That's the price we paid to be who we are today." Lena smiled. "Yes it was…Did you know I'm going back to the island in a few weeks. Only for a few days." "You don't have to go do you?" Lena stood up and started brushing her hair. "Yeah I do. Grandma isn't doing to well. Dad wants to go see her while we can. And that's when we can all go."
Paul gave Stephen the couch, and he had taken the chair. The old, stiff chair. His back was killing him. He had a few weeks before he had to be back in South Carolina, and he planned to stay in Bethesda the whole time. But this guy Stephen was making him not want to be around when Christina and David got home.
Carmen put the pants on her bed, and her and Lena walked out of the room. Stephen was coming out of the bathroom when they rounded the corner. "Good morning."
Carmen and Lena looked at each other. Stephen had his shirt off, and was carrying all of his dirty clothes. Lena caught her mouth before it fell open, but Carmen didn't. Stephen's chest and back were covered with tattoos. There had to at least be fifteen different designs. Carmen laughed. "Yes it is a good morning…" Stephen realized they were staring at his chest and he moved the pile of clothes so they could get a closer look. "I started getting them when I was fifteen. My mom never cared." The girls already knew that Stephen was twenty. Carmen stopped staring long enough to let Paul slide into the bathroom. He didn't look to great. "Wake up sunshine! We are all one big happy family!" Paul turned around and looked at her. "Yeah…one big happy screwed up family."