When they finally arrived at the Montana, David was so nervous that he didn't know what to do. And he hoped that Andrea liked his mom and dad. He knew that he
shouldn't be worried about that because it seemed that everyone liked his parents.
They were always getting invited to parties and things that seemed boring to him. But that was okay, because he had much more fun at grandpa and Ronee's house.
His dad knew so many people that David often wondered how he kept track of them all. David could barely remember all of his classmate's names, so he couldn't
imagine knowing so many grownups.
His dad was always talking about his wine club and his patients and even though his dad was the smartest man in the world, David knew that sometimes he had to
get all those people mixed up.
But Andrea was a kid and although he'd had a lot of friends over before, he'd never had a friend quite like her. His mom seemed to like Andrea a whole lot and he
hoped that his dad would like her too.
"Here we are!" his mom said, opening the door of their apartment. He couldn't see
Andrea's face but he heard her gasp in surprise.
"Oh wow!"
David walked inside, smiling when he turned around and saw the look on Andrea's face.
"Welcome to our home, Andrea." His mom said. "I hope you like it here."
Andrea looked all around the apartment as though it was the first time she'd seen anything so neat. But it seemed that everyone who came over couldn't believe that
David and his parents lived there.
Even his Uncle Frasier couldn't believe how neat it was. A couple of times he overheard his Uncle Frasier telling his dad that he wished his apartment was just as neat.
And sometimes, Uncle Frasier sounded mad about that.
It made David worry a little because he was afraid that he and his dad would start an argument. But Grandpa always stopped them; telling Uncle Frasier that he was
just jealous and that Uncle Frasier had a nice home too.
David had never seen Uncle Frasier's condo because he'd moved to San Francisco when David was just a baby. He'd visited Uncle Frasier a few times since then and
he'd seen lots of pictures of where he used to live.
David couldn't understand why Uncle Frasier was jealous of his parents when his condo was so cool. He wished he could have seen it for real because he still didn't
believe that all Uncle Frasier had to do was look out the window to see the Space Needle!
"David, why don't you and Andrea sit on the fainting couch and watch television and I'll bring you a snack?" His mom was asking.
"Okay, Mom."
As David led Andrea to the couch and helped her climb onto the soft velvet seat, she ran her hand across the fuzzy fabric, the way David patted Eddie; very gently. His
parents and grandpa were always telling him to be gentle with Eddie because Eddie was so old. But Grandpa's dog didn't look that old to David.
He forgot all about Eddie when he saw Andrea scrunch up her face.
"What's wrong?"
She opened her mouth as though she was going to ask a question but then closed it again.
"What?" He asked a second time.
Andrea spoke very softly. "I just... What's a fainting couch?"
David pointed to the sofa they were sitting on.
"It looks weird." Andrea whispered.
Her comment made him laugh, for he'd always felt the same way. But he would never tell his parents. They loved the couch and he couldn't figure out why. His dad said
something about memories, but David didn't understand what he meant. People had memories, not furniture!
He leaned close to Andrea and whispered back. "I know, it is weird."
And when Andrea giggled, he smiled.
"The cartoons are funny, are they?" David heard his mom call from the kitchen.
"This one's my favorite!" David called back; grateful that his mom thought they were laughing at the television and not at her furniture.
"Ill have your snack ready in just a minute!" His mom called again.
"Okay, Mom!" David called again.
"Why do they call it a fainting couch?" Andrea whispered.
"I dunno." David replied. "I think my mom fainted on it once."
Andrea's eyes widened. "She did?"
David shrugged. "That's what my dad said."
"Just what exactly did your dad say?"
David looked up to see his mom walk into the living room carrying a tray of snacks that looked so yummy, he instantly felt bad about the things he'd told Andrea.
"Um.."
"David, have you been telling Andrea our family secrets?"
Uh oh... David was really in trouble now. His mom was going to make Andrea go home and he'd be all alone again. Suddenly he was very scared... and ashamed.
He should have known better than to tell Andrea some of the things his parents told him. But Andrea had become his best friend and he wanted someone to tell things
to besides Eddie.
However, he knew that he shouldn't be telling Andrea things without asking his parents if it was okay. Because his mom sure did look mad. And he realized that it was
better to lose his friend than to have his mom and dad mad at him.
He climbed off the couch and faced his mother, afraid to look at Andrea. And he felt like he was going to cry. "I'm sorry, Mom! I-I didn't mean to! Andrea just wanted to
know what a fainting couch is!"
To his amazement, his mom laughed and put her arms around him, kissing the top of his head.
"Oh Sweetheart it's all right. I was just jokin'! I'm sorry if you thought I was mad. I'm sure Andrea would love to hear all about our family! After all, we're quite unique."
Again Andrea scrunched up her face in confusion. "Un-what?"
His mom laughed again and grabbed Andrea's hand. "Unique... It means... special!"
"Oh..." Andrea said, smiling at this definition. "My mom and Miss Hale say that I'm special too."
"Of course you are, and that's why David likes you so much. You're both very special children and I'm very proud of you!"
"As am I!" said a familiar voice.
David's mom got that look in her eyes again; the one she always got when his dad entered the room. Quickly David turned his head and when he saw his dad standing
near the fireplace, he had to try really hard not to jump off the couch and run into his strong arms.
He wanted to, so badly, but he couldn't. Not with Andrea sitting right next to didn't want her to think that he was silly and he was sure that Andrea didn't do anything
like that with her parents.
Instead he walked over to his dad and took his hand, leading him to the fainting couch where Andrea was sitting watching television.
"This is my friend, Andrea. She's from Texas!" David said, suddenly feeling proud.
His dad smiled and reached for Andrea's hand. Andrea was really shy at first but then she finally let him shake her hand.
"Well, it's very nice to meet you, Andrea! David has told us what a good friend you are to him and his mom and I are very happy that you found each other. David talks
about you all the time and I'm very proud of him for taking such good care of you at school!"
"David's my friend too!" Andrea said after a long silence.
When David saw his parents hold hands and smile at each other, he knew that he had done something really good.
And then he was proud of himself.
