"I changed my mind. I thought about all the stuff you and Abigail said last night and I realize it's pretty sick to get fake boobs just to be a cheerleader. In fact, cheerleading might be pretty stupid too."

"I don't know-it's athletic and would keep you in good shape. Not all cheerleaders are dimwits."

"Look, Mom. If my stupid classmates see me on the Today Show sticking up for families and whatever you talk about, it might help me be able to walk in there tomorrow and not be...you know what I mean, right?"

"Not be humiliated by the fifty thousand dollars of surgery your daddy paid for his whore to have when he wouldn't spend a dime on a marriage counselor for us? Hmm, let's see?"

"He wouldn't pay for a marriage counselor? He never told me that! Jesus, what an ass!"

"We're not going to call your daddy an ass, okay? We know he's an ass, but we're not going to say it." Sami giggled and I gave her a hug. "Okay! Let's see if there's a spot on the couch!"

There was. We watched the monitor showing the outdoor plaza at Rockefeller Center and there were dozens of women waving up wet wipes and signs that said things like Go Rebecca! Go Abigail! Southern Women Rock! The World Needs a Mental Extreme Makeover!

The support was stunning.

Katie Couric was surprised to have an additional guest, and after asking Abigail and me a lot of questions, she got around to saying something about Sami. "And who's this, Rebecca?"

"This is my daughter, Sami, and I think she has something to say as well."

"Sami? What do you think about all this attention your mom's getting?"

"Well, I think it's tres cool, Katie," Sami said like she'd been giving interviews for years. Even Katie giggled at her confidence. But Sami's face was a sober as Judge Shelby's. "Look at my mom. She's beautiful! She's beautiful inside too, and she's right, that's what really matters. Inside makeup."

"Inside makeup. I love it. Boy, I hope my daughters grow up to think like you do, honey. Okay, Ms. Simms? Ms. Thurmond? And you too, Sami! Thanks for being with us and we wish you lots of good luck!"

It was over.

"You were great, Sami!" I gave her a big hug.

"Yes, you were fabulous!" Abigail said and hugged her too.

"I didn't get to do anything!" Evan whined.

"Oh, shut up, Evan," Sami said. "It was a woman thing."

A woman thing! Priceless.

Inside of an hour, all I needed was to run the vacuum cleaner to erase every trace of NBC. All the cables, the generators, the trucks and the army of people were all gone.

"Boy, am I glad that's over," I said.

"I wish they'd come back," Sami said. "It ended too quick."

"Yeah, it was quick but now it's time to go back to normal life, don't you think?" Abigail said.

"Normal life sucks," Sami said.

"Well, you could go live with Charlene and Daddy in her trailer in O-burg...just a thought," I said.

Sami's jaw locked and her face darkened. She made a hellish noise that rose from somewhere deep inside the cage of her adolescent frustration.

I realized I was in for years of mood swings until my little imp had imps of her own. There was nothing like having children to teach yourself how to behave.

Abigail and I exchanged knowing looks. She knew what I was in for and missed that turmoil more than anything. I was uncertain of what lay ahead and realized how important her friendship was. I needed her advice, and if she could figure out how to give me some of her strength, it would be okay too.

Abigail said, "Well, thanks for letting me stay over last night. Are y'all still coming up this weekend? Julian's driving up this afternoon. I don't think that storm is going to be much."

Sami and Evan were standing there and jumped on the chance to go anywhere near Myrtle Beach.

"Oh, please let's go! Mom, please? Come on! It's Labor Day!"

I looked at them and back to Abigail.

"Well, we're not going to have great weather, but so what? Why not? Go pack!"

TWENTY-FIVE.

PARADISE AND PAWLEYS.

I called Tisdale to tell him we were driving up to Pawleys for the holiday weekend.

"If you'd like to join us, we'll probably have a barbecue on Sunday or Monday."

"Well, we'll see. There's supposed to be another storm. This is a pretty busy weekend for car sales. Next year's models are almost out, so we cut prices on all the 2004 models. But I just might do it."

"Oh, and Tisdale? If you hear from Nat, tell him he can go in the house and get his clothes, and if it's not too uncomfortable for you, remind him that he's not supposed to take anything else yet, just for the sake of the children's comfort level."

"I'd have no problem telling him that. In fact, if you want, I can go with him to make sure he doesn't run off with the silver."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that. I think his tail is pretty well situated between his legs, don't you?"

"I wouldn't trust that sumbitch with a nickel, and he's my only son. He's my only son. Good Lord. This is the first time I've been glad that his mother's dead because this would break her heart. It really would."

"Well, a lot of hearts are surely damaged if not broken. He'll come around someday. You know, the prodigal son and all that."

"I hope I live to see it."

"I hope so too! Try and come to Pawleys, Tisdale. It would be so good for the kids, and you'd love Miss Olivia's plantation. It's really gorgeous."

He was just glad to be invited. Poor thing. He had worked so hard all his life and had built a fortune, but money didn't guarantee happiness. It helped, but it didn't guarantee it.

We were just outside of Mount Pleasant, passing Awendaw, talking about the Today Show experience. Some of Evan's friends had called to say they had seen Sami and me on television, and how come he wasn't on too? He complained again and again that it wasn't fair.

"Look, Evan, life's not fair, okay? It just isn't."

"Mom's right."

"I mean, let's just start with our happy little family. What happened? You think that was fair?"

"Boy, Mom," Evan said, "you sure have gotten cold."

I knew I didn't sound like the old mom they had kicked around because I wasn't the old mom and would never be that person again.

"Son, I love you to pieces, but your feeling of being slighted is a dinky little potato. It should be the worst thing that ever happens to you. And I'm not cold at all. What happened this summer changed me. It changed all of us."

"She's not cold, butt-breath, she's stronger."

"Mom! Sami called me..."

"Sami!"

"What? Sooooor-ry, Evan."

I could see her grinning in my peripheral vision. Things were normal then. Sami insulting her little brother on the heel of a compliment was worth the teensy reprimand to her and a message to me that all was well. Well, an appearance on a national television program should boost anybody's spirit. At least for a day or two. Her moods had a short shelf life.

"So, Sami? Did any of your friends call you?"

"No!"

"Well, they're probably jealous."

"Mom, teenage girls are horrible. They can't stand it for anybody to get anything."

"You mean like notoriety?"

"Yeah, that's the word. I mean, they make fun of the smart kids and call them nerds and losers."

"I know. It's always been like that. And when the smart kids get accepted to Yale or something, they say, yeah, well, all he does is study and he's got no life. Right? P.S. Ten years later they're begging the nerd for a job, saying they were best friends in high school."

"I doubt it," Sami said and added, "Well, maybe."

I could feel the gears turning in her head and in Evan's head. They were thinking about what I said. That may seem like a small thing but it wasn't. For the last year they had been brainwashed by Nat to discount every word that came out of my mouth. Now, all of sudden, their daddy had been made a public laughingstock and people like Katie Couric and Paula Zahn were calling their mother and telling her what a great gal she was. Not exactly what Nat predicted.

They were not completely won over, and I wasn't honestly expecting that yet. But I knew as long as I provided a loving home, kept them fed and was diligent about their general well-being that their outward signs of affection would grow. When they were very little, I couldn't have found two sweeter children on the planet. Those little precious hearts were still in them somewhere. I had to coax them out.

"Are y'all hungry? Wanna do drive-through? Or do you wanna go someplace nice?"

"I'm starving!" Evan said.

"He's always starving! You pick it, Mom. I don't know what they've got around here."

We were almost at Pawleys and I decided to take us to the Hammock Shops.

"I know a fun place," I said and pulled into the parking lot.

"Cool," Evan said.

Cool was what Evan said to describe all things pleasing to him.

The Hammock Shops was home to more than twenty little businesses, including the Hammock Shop itself, where we could watch a demonstration of how they are still made today. I decided we would get sandwiches and eat outside, and then walk around a little, giving them a chance to catch the tempo of the area, which was a little slower and a whole lot more relaxed than downtown Charleston.

"Mom! This is so cute! Look at this Christmas shop!"

Sami's and Evan's faces were plastered to the windows, and their eyes grew large and they darted from one ornament to another.

"Look, Mom! Here's a shrimp wearing a Christmas wreath!"

"There's a Santa lying in a hammock! Can we buy it, Mom?"

Christmas was a million miles away as far as I was concerned. I didn't dwell on the thought of last year when Nat bought me a suitcase and a hanging bag for my gift and told me to use it. God, I thought I had totally buried that memory, but I guess I had not. My mind skipped back to Christmas years ago. Barbie dolls and Transformers. Legos and princess costumes. Cookies for Santa. Paper chains made by the children on the tree, reading stories about snowmen and trains that could.

"Mom! Did you hear me?"

"No, baby, what did you say?"

"I said, I want to go in and look around. Okay?"

"Maybe after lunch, honey. Let's eat first and then we can go in all the shops if you want to."

I got fried chicken for us from Louis's takeout with big biscuits, coleslaw and iced tea. We found an empty picnic table and opened everything up to share it with each other. The chicken was right out of the fryer, and on tasting it all of us said Mmm! at the same time.

"Know what?" I said and took a sip of my tea.

"What?" Sami said.

"This is the kind of chicken that makes you dream about chicken."

I don't know why, but Sami and Evan thought that was the funniest thing they had ever heard.

"You dream about chickens, Mom? Come on!"

"All right, my little wisenheimers, here's the plan. After lunch, you can both choose one ornament for the tree, and then we're going over to Litchfield to drop off our stuff. Then I'm going to take y'all to the gallery to say hello to Huey. After that, we'll see. Maybe we'll go buy some groceries."

After the bones were licked clean, everything was thrown away and hands were washed, we got away with one shrimp holding a sign that said Merry Christmas, Y'all! and a sea turtle wearing a Santa cap. They were adorable.

When we got to the condo, there was a note on my front door.

Rebecca, Darling!