Drea looked at the sleeping girls in the back seat. Time enough to get them into the house and to bed. She smiled as she thought of another dance a long time before; a time and a place that held memories, to be sure, even if they were entirely bittersweet.

“Can…can I dance with you?” The boy looked at the pretty girl with his head down and eyes up; an awkward if entirely common stance. He didn’t bother to wait for the reply since all the replies were the same.

“Robin?” The name echoed in his head. There was something so strange but nice about the feelings he had. Those stirrings of feeling close; not as a suitor, but as a sister. A feeling which quickly turned to embarrassed shame when he realized just what and how he felt about Robin d’Artaglia; how he wanted to be just like her. Not the first time for those feelings, but the first time in understanding just what those feelings meant.

“Tante?” Jaci whispered from the back seat. “Are we home yet?”

“Yes, honey. We’re home.” Drea echoed the soft word but Dottie was already stirring as well.

“Do we have to go to bed?” She looked at Jaci; the conspiratorial grin on Jaci’s face nudged Dottie only a little since she wanted to stay up to talk. Both girls plead with wide-open eyes and silly grins and batting eyelashes like an old movie. Drea sighed and nodded yes to the plea and a few moments later they were getting ready for at least a reasonably extended bedtime. All three sat on the couch; Drea was at one end, her legs curled up beneath her.

“You should have been there.” Dottie said. “It was so much fun.”

“You should have seen Dottie,” Jaci said with a big smile and a small giggle. The two regaled her with the various wonderful moments that lifted them throughout the evening. In a while they had run out of energy and were just smiling and giggling. Drea smiled at them and grabbed their hands; walking them to bed. In a moment they were tucked in and seconds later they were fast asleep.

“You should have been there,” she heard Dottie mumble in her sleep.

“Yes, honey.” She walked back and kissed them on their foreheads before turning out the light. She sighed a quiet sigh and wiped the tears from her eyes with the sleeve of her chenille robe.

“I should have,” she said finally as she walked out of the room, remembering a sad and scared and confused boy long ago. And she thanked God that these two would have many more dances and many more times to become exactly who they knew they were meant to be.