Having two very demanding newborns in the house has given me lots of time to think. (No really: there's nothing else to do when I'm too tired for movies and can't leave the house.) And certain circumstances have forced me to think about the kinds of subjects I generally try and avoid. Like men, and my absolute lack of good judgment in regards ( Read more... )

( A list, in no particular order )

Ali had not told Hans where they were going, only that he should dress for the occasion. She certainly was: a red gown (that somehow manages to flatter both her gravid state and her coloring), jewels, the whole deal. She dressed as if for a visit of state: she wore things that gave her strength and that gave her comfort. She dressed as if it ( Read more... )

The day had started out as any other: neither good nor bad, without omen or miracle. There were baths to take and fasts to break, newspapers to read and letters to answer. There were cats. It was, for all intents and purposes, a day ( Read more... )

There was one, exactly one, incredibly small silver linings to the goslings' weekends with their father: it gave Ali legitimate time to herself. Not that she was likely to spend it on herself, but it might almost look that way. It was a beautiful early-spring day, windy but bright, and she was cruising up the Maine coast in her gorgeous little ( Read more... )

Ali didn't have a curfew. The very idea was preposterous! She was lady of the house, and certainly an adult; who could tell her when she could come and go from her own home ( Read more... )

Ali has been hard at work this afternoon, and the kitchen shows the signs: smudges of flour can be found on almost every surface, racks bearing cookies and candies and cupcakes are stacked as high as possible, the intermittent whirs and beeps of mixers and timers make a sort of music, and there's a distinctly yeasty smell in the air. Well, yeasty ( Read more... )

Even the most romantic, lovey-dovey parents end up devoting most of their holidays to their children. In the best circumstances, they do it out of love. But no matter how much they love their children, all parents need a little grown-up time. Time alone, when they can do the things that earn mocking and ridicule from the children. Things that ( Read more... )

Ali wasn't very far along, but already this pregnancy was much different than the last. There were the obvious changes in her life, of course, and the fact that all those changes and feelings weren't surprises this time around. She was older now, somewhat more calm, and was married to a (in her opinion) far better man now. But perhaps the ( Read more... )

Ali wandered the house, looking here and there for her currently-missing husband. It was a good hour past the goslings' bedtime, and a half-hour since the last request for milk, more pillows, fewer blankets, another story, or a final check for monsters in shadowy places. Where could Hans have wandered off to in the interim ( Read more... )