Matthew and Lisa left for their honeymoon, and Abigail spent a few days getting to know the Cunninghams and the Fonzarelllis. After a few days, most of the other guests went home, but Drake and Monica stayed a few extra days.
One morning Abigail and Monica planned to go shopping together. Monica went to Abigail's house, where the latter was just finishing getting the children ready.
"Remember, Mommy, you promised we could go to the toy store," Jackson reminded his mother.
"And the ice cream parlor," Julie added.
"Yes, I remember," Abigail said as she made Julie's hair into ponytails. "Please hold still, Julie."
Just then the doorbell rang.
"Oh, hi. Come on in," Abigail said to Monica. "I'm just about ready."
With her dark skin, eyes, and hair, Monica looked amazingly like her father. "Your kids are adorable," she told Abigail.
"Thank you," said Abigail. "They do tend to be kind of a handful at times."
At last the kids were ready, and Abigail walked with them and Monica out to the car.
"So how long have you and Drake been married?" Abigail asked on the way to the mall.
"About six months," Monica replied. "How about you and Jack?"
"We got married seven years ago," Abigail told her. "But we first met twenty years before that. He was my P.E. teacher when I was in high school."
"Wow! Why did you wait so long to get married?"
"I was in a coma for twenty years."
"Oh, yeah, that's right. My mom told me. And he waited for you all that time?"
"Not exactly. At the time I went into the coma, I was in love with a football player named David, and while I was in the coma, he married my sister Ellen. Jack got married and divorced during the time I was in the coma."
"Wow! If I were you, I'd really hate my sister for that."
"I was really upset about it for awhile, but then I came to peace with it, and not too long afterwards, I fell in love with Jack."
"Sounds like a real fairy tale ending."
By now they'd arrived at the mall, and Abigail parked the car and they got out. "How did you and Drake meet?" she asked as they walked toward the entrance.
"I work at a Xerox place, and he used to come in all the time to make copies. One day he asked me out to dinner."
"Let me guess. You've been inseparable since then, right?"
Monica laughed. "Well, not exactly. We broke up for a little while, but then we got back together shortly afterwards."
By now they were inside the mall. "Let's look in here," said Monica, heading for the largest department store. "I want to look at their swimsuits."
"I'll be in the kids' clothes," Abigail replied. "Want to meet back at the store's entrance in about a half hour or so?"
"Sounds like a plan!" Monica agreed with a smile.
Abigail found flip-flops on sale and bought a pair for each child. She also found a pair of tiny gold earrings she thought Jack might like to see her wear. Monica bought a couple of swimsuits, a beach bag, a towel, and a pair of sunglasses.
Next they went to the bookstore, where Abigail bought a magazine and Monica bought a couple of romance novels.
"Hey, Mommy, don't forget the toy store!" Jackson reminded Abigail.
"We're going there right now," his mother told him.
"I'm gonna just head on down to the CD store, all right?" asked Monica.
"Sure," said Abigail. "I'll join you when I'm finished here."
She bought a bag of toy soldiers for Jackson and pretend make-up and jewelry for Julie. Then she joined Monica in the CD store, where she bought a CD of new age music. She and Jack both found it very relaxing.
"Hungry yet?" she asked Monica. The younger woman nodded, so they headed over to the submarine sandwich place.
"So tell me about your parents," Abigail said as they were eating. "I know that your father and Joanie's brother were very good friends when they were teenagers."
'My dad got kind of a rough start in life," Monica replied. "He was an orphan who dropped out of school and was even in a couple of gangs. Then he got to be friends with Richie, and the Cunninghams let him live in their garage apartment. They sort of unofficially adopted him as a second son. I've always thought of Howard and Marion as my grandparents, even though we're not biologically related at all."
"My dad was working as an auto mechanic instructor at a vocational school when he met my mom. She was working as a cosmetology instructor at the same school. They got married about six months after they met, and then about a year after that, my sister Andrea was born, and three years after that, I was born."
"Their story is certainly more typical than mine and Jack's." Abigail laughed ruefully.
"Hey, you're together now. That's all that matters," Monica told her.
"Yeah." Abigail sighed. Jackson and Julie had finished eating and were beginning to get restless. "Come on, kids, let's go."
"I want ice cream!" Julie demanded.
They went to the ice cream parlor, where Abigail bought a chocolate ice cream cone for Jackson, a strawberry one for Julie, and a fruit smoothie for herself. Monica also bought a fruit smoothie, and they sat and talked some more.
It was pouring down rain when they started to leave the mall, and they didn't have umbrellas with them. Abigail hurriedly bought one and drove the car to the curb in front of the mall entrance so that Monica and the children could dash in as quickly as they could.