I was scheduled to leave the next day for Detroit to handle some affairs pertaining to my dad's estate. It was only supposed to take two days, but I k...new I could stretch it to three and with some really good luck I might even be able to make it last four and the house guests from hell would be gone when I got back.Tess drove me to the airport and told me to have a safe trip. Then she gave me a kiss that curled my toes and told me that since she was going to have to go without for three days I'd. ?Take your hanky and dry your eyes Lobelia.? she continued showingno compassion for my plight at all.Using my hanky I patted over my eyes trying not to smug my eye makeup.Oh would I really care about the eye makeup if I wasn?t this sissy, Idon?t think so. I was just putting my hanky back in my purse, when nannyarrived back holding a small tray with Mummy?s coffee on.?I brought Lobelia a glass of milk; it hasn?t had one since breakfast.?After handing Mummy her coffee, plus a plate containing a. ‘Monica, a David stopped by to tell you that he couldn’t meet you after work. This was while you and Vicky were… sorry, what were you doing?’ he asked. Monica blushed, yet again. ‘Changing, Sean, just changing.’ ‘Uhunh. Not! Vicky let the cat out of the bag earlier with her ‘screaming Monica’ comment. Somebody was muff diving unless I miss my guess.’ Vicky spoke up. ‘There has to be a first time for everything, and I imagine Monica’s had several firsts today, eh sexy?’ Vicky gave Monica a. He hoped so. He didn't have enough reference on the old ways, despite his childhood attentiveness to the Escalante's instructions.Where is this leading me? Why me? What does it all mean?Ed's waking thoughts were much more anchored in the present than his dreaming ones these days. Today the sleep field would hold him in ignorant nothingness while the knives worked again to change him.The surgeries had been nothing compared to some he'd had in the past. Ed didn't sense any pain. He hadn't slowed.