"Kelly buried her face in my chest. "I don't want to be a big girl," she said, her voice muffled. Then she sobbed.I wrapped my arms around her and jus...t held her for a long, long time."Do you want to talk about it?" I asked twenty minutes later. I was sitting on the sofa, and Kelly was sitting on the edge of the coffee table, facing me. Mom wouldn't have been happy about that, but right now I didn't care. I was holding both of her hands. She squeezed tight."I..." If you don't want to talk to me,. I sat down on the sofa and crossing my legs gave Peter a sight of what stockings and suspenders could do to the male psyche. He stared at my legs, heard my arrogant demeanor. My husband was staring intently at me. 'You went out' he said without quite asking a question. 'Yes,' I said noncommittally. Where, where, where?!? His head must have screamed the question! Who did you see, who were you with? Peter came and sat beside me. He kissed my faithless lips and blinked. 'I'm sorry I was away so. Her job was very stressful. Her husband left her with two k**s and a healthy mortgage. What’s more, her 14-year-old son, Matt, was being especially difficult. Karyn didn’t know what she was going to do with him.Thank God for Bethany. Her 11-year-old daughter was a complete angel. At least for now, at least for now, thought Karyn sourly. After arguing with Matt for a half an hour about his homework, Karyn had just about had it. Matt begrudgingly did his homework and went to bed. Karyn sat down. ” “Don’t worry,” I replied, “you’re still young, beautiful and charming.” “Thanks,” she responded, “but sometimes I don’t feel like any of those things.” I could sense a bit of sadness in her response. Throwing caution to the wind, I said, “Well I wouldn’t kick you out of bed. You probably just need a little picker-upper every now and then.” “More than you could imagine,” Alisa responded, flipping her long hair back over her shoulder. She made a quirky duck-like face and then bit down on her.