"Bye bye sweet boy" said Dawn as she gave Stacey's son Zack a kiss on his chubby cheek and she ruffled his light blonde curls with her hand while Stacey's husband Dave was holding him.

"Thanks for taking him out, babe" yelled Stacey from her kitchen.

"It's no problem" he answered back. "Besides, these boys can't handle any more of your 'girls afternoon' " he said sarcastically.

"Bye, Dave" said Dawn as she gave him a hug. "It was so nice to see you again."

"You too" he said.

"Bye, Angel Boy" said Claudia to Zack before Dave took him out to the car.

After taking their seats at Stacey's kitchen table, Dawn gushed "he is truly adorable. Stace." Stirring something around in a huge bowl on her counter, Stacey turned backwards towards Dawn's and said "Thanks. Next time though, we need to get our boys together."

"Absolutely. I'm so sorry I missed Ava" Dawn said sadly.

Stacey sighed and said. "Me too. Gotta love that co-parenting, huh?"

Dawn looked at Stacey standing at her counter and thought she looked great in her black tank top and white shorts that showed off her long legs. Dawn was glad she had lost all of her baby weight and she appeared to be happy and healthy.

Claudia looked good too and she had spent the past year growing out her hair past her shoulders which was a clear sign to Dawn that she was starting to live in the moment and not keep it short in fear of losing her hair again. She was actually dressed more plain than usual, sporting a plain pair of dark blue jean shorts and an off white v- neck tshirt but it was clear to Dawn that Claudia was only dressed like that due to the summer heat. The real Claudia was still poking through with her sparkling blue and silver beaded crystal necklace and matching bracelet.

As she placed two big bowls on the table, Stacey said "So I made this pesto pasta and added shredded parmesan.

"Yum" said Dawn.

She continued "and this salad is pretty basic. Just romaine with artichoke hearts, roma tomatoes, cucumbers and feta cheese."

"That sounds good to me" said Dawn.

Stacey asked "would you like anything to drink? Water?"

"Yeah, that's fine" replied Dawn.

After they spend a few minutes quietly eating, Stacey said to her best friend "Don't worry, Claud. I have brownies too."

Claudia smiled. "Aww, you're the best." Then looked at Dawn and said "Stacey takes such good care of me."

"Hey, thanks for letting me know you aren't a vegan anymore, Dawn" Stacey added. I mean, I always respected your discipline but-"

"Don't even worry about it" interrupted Dawn. I rediscovered my passion for cheese during my pregnancy."

After a few more minutes, Claudia finally brought up the elephant in the room. "So how did your reunion with Jeff go?"

"Oh, yes please" grinned Stacey. "I'm always a sucker for gossip."

Dawn frowned and said "not good."

"Oh, man. Seriously?" asked Stacey.

"I'm afraid so" she replied.

"What happened?" asked Claudia.

"Well, it started out fine" Dawn began. "We went to coffee, we caught up and he was very pleasant but as soon as he came to our house, it's like he flipped a switch."

"How so?" asked Stacey.

"First he started insulting my house, saying-"

"What?!" shouted Claudia. Your house is amazing. I'd give anything to be able to afford a place like yours."

"It really is" added Stacey. You did an amazing job."

"Oh. Well, thanks ladies" said Dawn, who said to Stacey "by the way, you too. This house is beautiful." Stacey smiled and said "thanks."

She continued on. "So anyway, he starts going on about how nice his future in laws house is, almost mocking Ben's title and made a point to call him 'doctor' in a real nasty way."

"Woah" said Claudia. "That's really out of line."

"Tell me about it" said Dawn. "but the part that bothered me the most was he made a point to tell me how rich Julie's parents are. Like, what do I care? Why SHOULD I care?"

Claudia had a confused look on her face and replied "Weird. So what's this girl like anyways?"

Still feeling horrible, Dawn gave them the rundown of Julie, what she looks like, her lack of social skills and her clear infatuation with Jeff. She finished off with "sadly, she's almost a bit lucky to get Jeff. I mean, he's still somewhat decent looking I guess. At least compared to her."

Stacey sat back in her chair and folded her arms, with a nasty look on her face.

"What?" asked Dawn.

"Um, it's not obvious to you?" Stacey said angrily.

"Umm..?" Dawn trailed off.

"Well, think about it. Do you really think Jeff has much of a future? With his track record, do you really think he has the ability to make anything of himself? To get a decent job? To afford a nice place to live? Do you really think he cares less that she's gross?"

"Oh crap" realized Dawn.

"What?" asked Claudia.

Stacey said "Claud, he's using her. To get back on his feet again."

"Oh hell" muttered Claudia.

Dawn shook her head in disbelief but said "that makes so much more sense. Jeez, what a creep. Honestly."

"Bad people rarely change, sweetie" Stacey said softly. "I'm really sorry."

She replied "Yeah. Me too. I guess it was naive of me to think that. Now I'm just pissed I have to go to this stupid wedding" she muttered. I don't want to spend a penny on a new dress either.

Stacey's nasty look transformed into a smile as her eyes lit up and she said "I have dresses! Wear one of mine. Come on, you can try a few on! " as she stood up and gestured down her hallway towards her bedroom.

Dawn sighed and asked "Really, Stace? You want to play dress up? Aren't you 30?"

Stacey giggled and said "Hey, you're never too old for dress up. Now COME ON!" as she dragged Dawn by the hand to her bedroom.

"Oh yes" said Claudia. "Lets!"

Dawn fingered through the section of Stacey's walk-in closet that held her dressier items and a plain black dress caught her eye so she pulled it out. Sleeveless and mid-thigh length, it had a bit of draping in the waist area but other than that, there wasn't much to it. "This might work" said Dawn.

Stacey burst out laughing and Dawn immediately felt a little spray of wetness on her arm and shouted "Sta-CEY! You just spit on me!"

"I'm..so..sorry" said Stacey in between gasps.

"What's so funny?" asked Dawn. "I mean, it's a nice dress."

"I wore that dress to Dave's grandmother's funeral!" giggled Stacey, causing both Claudia and Dawn to erupt into a fit of laughter that lasted a few minutes. After they had all calmed down and caught their breath, Dawn said "well, then I can't think of anything more perfect to wear than this dress."