Roger pulled to a stop in front of a blue two-story house. "Okay, what was the number on the paper, honey?"

Maria squinted at the numbers. "Four…Seven…Nine…Zero…Two."

"Okay, this is it then."

Maria unbuckled her seatbelt and hopped out of the car. "Come on, Daddy!"

"Hang on, I'm coming."

Roger stood slowly and took a deep breath. Dinner with Mark and Maureen…this would be interesting.

Mark paced the hallway. Maureen had banned him from the kitchen, leaving him with nothing to do.

"Mark, could you stop pacing for, like, five seconds?"

He opened his mouth to answer her, but stopped when the doorbell rang. "That's them! That's got to be them!"

"I'll get it," Maureen said, shooting past him to the door. Mark followed behind her. "Roger! You found it."

"Yep. Good to see you again," he said, smiling as he hugged her.

"Roger. Been a long time."

"Hey, Mark! No kidding, man. How ya been?" Roger asked, hugging his old friend.

"Good, good. How about you? Hear you've got a little one."

"Yeah…" he paused to take the hand of the little girl behind him. "Maria, honey, come on. I want you to meet somebody. This is Mr. Cohen. He's Daddy's old friend."

"Hi," she said.

"Hi there, Maria. How old are you?"

"This many," she said, holding up a hand.

"Wow. A whole hand? That's pretty old."

She giggled, shaking her head. "You're silly."

"That's because I used to hang out with your daddy a lot."

"Hey!" Roger laughed.

Maria giggled and smiled when she saw Maureen. "Hi Mrs. Cohen!"

"Hi, Maria. How are you?"

"Good."

"You guys want to come in?"

Maria nodded and followed Maureen into the house. Roger and Mark lagged behind, taking their time.

"Wow…she looks just like April."

"I know it. Except the hair…"

"That's definitely Davis hair."

"Which is fine. I happen to have great hair," he said with mock arrogance.

Mark rolled his eyes. "And still as charming as ever, I see."

"You know it."

"Are you two coming? The spaghetti's done," Maureen called.

"Spa-etti? I love spa-etti!" Maria said.

"You do?"

"Yeah but Daddy doesn't make it."

"That's because Daddy can't cook, honey."

"Roger, all you do is boil water," she laughed.

"Well I can cook the spaghetti, but not the sauce."

Maureen rolled her eyes. "You and me might have to give your dad some cooking lessons one of these days."

Maria giggled.

"Okay well, why don't you guys go sit down and I'll bring it in a second?"

Mark nodded. "Sounds good. This way, guys."

A few minutes later, Maureen brought out the spaghetti and garlic bread.

"Smells great, Maureen," Roger said, accepting a plate from her.

"Thanks."

"She definitely cooks better now," Mark teased.

Maureen smirked. "Yeah, very funny, Mark."

She dished out a smaller plate for Maria. Roger took it and cut up the spaghetti into smaller bites. Mark watched, grinning.

"What?" Roger asked when he saw Mark.

"Nothing. Just weird, I mean…all these years and now you and your daughter…"

"I know, tell me about it."

"So how've you been? Are you still teaching?"

"Yeah, actually, at the high school."

"What subject?" Maureen asked.

"Music history and appreciation and band."

Maureen nodded. "Sounds great."

"Yeah. Oh and you'll never guess who I work with."

"Who?"

"Guys remember Benny?"

"Benny? No way!" Mark laughed.

"You know Uncle Benny?" Maria asked.

"Uncle?"

"Yeah, she calls him Uncle. She's known him almost her whole life."

"Nu-uh, Daddy. My whole life."

"Her whole life that she remembers," Roger explained.

"So, wait a minute—Benny teaches?"

Roger nodded. "Yeah. History."

"Wow…"

Maria sat eating her spaghetti, quietly watching the adults. Roger glanced down at her from time to time. He noticed she spent quite some time watching Maureen. Probably because she's her teacher, he reasoned.

After dinner, they lingered around the table, socializing and reminiscing. Maria listened, giggling, to stories about her Daddy.

"Daddy?"

"Yes?"

"How come you didn't lived with Grandma when you was at school?"

"Well, sometimes when people get bigger and go to college, they go live at their schools."

"In the classrooms?"

"No, in dorms."

"What's dorms?"

"They're like bedrooms, only sometimes they have kitchens or bathrooms in them too."

"Like Uncle Benny's 'partment?"

"Yeah, sort of. Only smaller."

"Oh…did you lived by yourself?"

"Nope, I lived with Mark."

"Who's Mark?"

"Me," Mark said.

"His name's Mark. But just like Daddy's students call me Mr. Davis, people call him Mr. Cohen."

"How about you just call me Mr. Mark?" Mark suggested. "Compromise."

"Is that okay?" Maria asked, eyes staring up at Roger.

"Sure."

She smiled. "Did you have fun living with Daddy?"

"Yes, I did. Your daddy's pretty silly."

Maria giggled. "Yep!"

The girl's giggles suddenly stopped. She looked at Mark with a serious look crossing her face. "You wented to school with Daddy?"

"Yeah."

"Did you knowed Mommy?"

Roger held his breath.

"Yeah, I knew your mommy."

Maria nodded, but didn't say anything else. The adults waited a few moments and slowly picked up the conversation again. It wasn't until Maria started yawning that Roger looked at his watch.

"Oh jeez, guys. It's almost nine."

"Is it really?" Maureen asked.

"Time flies," Roger said, "but I gotta get this little girl to bed."

Maria started to pout. Maureen knelt down in front of her. "I'm glad you came for dinner, Maria."

"Me too. Thanks for lettin' me and Daddy come over."

"You're very welcome. And you guys can come over again any time, okay?"

"Really?"

"Really."

She hugged Maureen and then went to Mark. He leaned down to give her a hug. "We'll see you again soon, honey, okay?"

Maria nodded. She yawned again. "Mr. Mark, can you carry me?"

"Carry you?" Roger asked.

"My legs are tired," she said, yawning again.

Mark smiled and lifted her up. "Sure."

Roger grinned and hugged Maureen. "She really likes you guys."

"Aw…good."

"The only person she's ever let carry her to the car besides me is Uncle Benny. She won't even let my mom carry her."

"Wow. That does say something then," she said.

"Thanks again, Mo, for having us over."

"Oh, hey, anytime. And if you ever need a sitter, we'd be more than happy to watch her."

"Thanks. I'll keep that in mind," he said, scooting out the door.

"And Roger?"

"Yeah?"

"Tell Benny we said hello."

"Will do."

She smiled as she watched Mark carry Maria to the car. He set her in and buckled a seatbelt around her. Standing up, he hugged Roger goodbye and waved as they drove off.