2005

Dawn, David, and Greg felt bad for Charlie. Gently, the artist took away the glass.

"Would you have done the same thing if you had been in my mother's place?" Charlie asked Dawn.

"I uh..." Dawn wanted to say that she wouldn't have cheated to begin with, but it sounded judgemental and she didn't want to be judgemental on a woman who had passed. "would think about my child first and foremost" That seemed like a safe answer, and it made sense.

"My mother should have done that for me!" Charlie continued bitterly.

"She loved you so much!" David reminded him.

Just then, the food came, but the professor just picked at his food. David hated to see his son like this.

"Charlie, you're mother's gone.What good is it to hold a grudge against her?" the artist asked.

"That's easy for you to say" Charlie sighed.

"I think Dawn's idea of the letter is an excellent one" Greg commented. "You should try it sometime."

"I trusted her completly! She was a friend, confidante and mother all in one person!" Charlie's voice started to get louder with emotion. "Then, I find out that she broke her wedding vows, and lied to me about who I was!"

Dawn could feel the stares of people sitting nearby.

2004

At the volunteer shelter, Alan spent his break with a woman in her fifties talking about this and that.

"I'm such a crossword addict, myself! I could do them all day!" she told him.

"So could I. There's nothing like the sense of accomplishment you get when you'll filled it up with the right answers" Alan said.

"Tell me about it!"

Eventually, the talk turned to their kids.

"Did you ever wish to have a daughter?" she asked.

" I wanted three children, but my second son turned out to be a math prodigy"

"Really?"

"He was doing advanced multiplication at the age of four and went to college at the age of thirteen. Now he's a professor at Cal Sci, and a math consultant for law enforcement agencies" Alan poured coffee for himself and her.

"My older son is also a professor, but in literature.Marcia's daughter is an artist.The two grew up together."

"My sister and I also had our kids around the same time" Alan enjoyed this woman's company, and was about to ask her out.

"Actually...Marcia is my partner"

"Oh..." Alan made himself sound casual. So much for that.

TBC