Spring tugged harder.

"Mommy, I really don't feel good."

Diane knelt down next to her.

"I think I might throw up," Spring said.

Diane looked up at me. "I'd better get her to a bathroom."

I just laughed and shook my head. Diane gave me an apologetic expression and took Spring away. By the time they came back, Spring seemed okay, but the moment had been lost for me.

"Sorry about that," Diane said. "Sometimes, it's too much juice. Other times, I think it's just too much adult conversation. She was okay by the time we got to the bathroom. What were you saying?"

"Nothing that can't wait." I was bummed about the missed romantic opportunity, but I forced myself to get over it and wait for another shot.

Halloween costumes finally completed, Diane and Spring came out from the back and saw the pumpkins. "Oh, Dylan!"

"D!" Spring exclaimed, running to the small one. She was wearing a teddy bear head and a duck costume like the stuffed toy I bought her and her Groucho glasses.

"That is so sweet!" Diane said, putting her arms around me. "I can't believe you did this for us. I love you, Dylan Hunter."

It wasn't at all the way I pictured it, but it was still eminently satisfying. "I love you, too," I said.

Chapter 6.

Quite a Piece of Real Estate Sure, it s 3:00 a. m. but Jim will understand. I beat on his door.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!"

Unfortunately, Jim looked exactly as I imagined he would at 3:00 in the morning, answering the door in his boxers. His hair was all over his head like a basket of feathers.

"What's the matter?"

"Can we talk? I can't sleep."

"Yeah, yeah, what the hell. I'm up. Come on in. Beer?"

"Yeah."

I followed him into the kitchen, where he twisted the tops off a couple of Buds.

"Sorry I don't have any Samuel Smiths here. You'll have to drink my brand. What the hell's going on? You two get into fight or something?"

"No fight. But it is about Diane."

"She finally figured you out and left?"

"No, now shut up; this is important." I took a swig from the bottle. "It's been six weeks now and it's been great."

"Yeah?"

"I told her I love her, but how do I know if I really mean it?"

"You want me to call Dr. Phil?"

"No, I want you to tell me why you got married."

"Shit, D-Man. It's three o'clock in the morning. If you're gonna wake me up, can't we talk about football or something?"

"Come on, please?"

Jim looked at me and sipped some beer. "Okay, but if you tell anyone, I'll deny it."

"Deal."

"Why did I get married? Why did I get married? Mostly because Gina told me we were either gonna get married or break up."

"That's it?"

"No. We hadn't dated very long, a year or some shit, and we were getting along pretty good. I was still working as a firefighter at the time you know, two days on, two days off so before I could screw up with Gina, I had to go back to work. Saved my ass more than a few times with her. But when I'd get home, Gina'd be there at my apartment waiting for me. I'd be dog-tired and I'd say 'Gina, what the hell are you doin here?You know, because she'd know I was too tired to do anything. And she'd say she just wanted to be here when I got home... make sure I was safe. She said she wanted to be around me. I didn't know why, but I figured that was part of it. We didn't have to do anything or go anywhere, she just wanted to be around."

"I want Diane around."

"See, that's not it."

"I figured it was more complicated than that."

"Way more complicated, D-Man. We saw more of each other, time goes by, sometimes we go out, sometimes we stay at my place and order pizza. We just hang out on the couch. The sex is great. I'm getting laid, she's happy, and then one day she says, 'Jimmy, do you love me?' Is that what Diane did?"

"No."

"Gina did. So I sit there for a minute and think, you know, because time's a tickin.' If I say no, she's gonna hate my guts and leave. If I say I don't know, it's gonna be no sex and she still might leave. But if I say yes, I love her, she's gonna stay."

"Did you love her?"

Jim set his beer down. "I'll tell you, D-Man, it was like somebody flipped a switch. As soon as I told Gina I loved her, everything changed."

He went to the fridge to retrieve two more Buds.

"Now she wants to do more, we fight less, and things are pretty good. You know, we say I love you' on a regular basis sometimes in public when no one is listening and I start to feel like I really do love her. This is the trap."

"The trap?"

"The trap. See, right now, everything is good. She only does the things you like and you ignore the other stuff."

"Like..."

"Stuff, you know, like gabbing to her sister about you getting drunk and falling asleep during sex. Stuff like that... Remember, I'll deny all of this."

"Yeah, yeah. That's why you got divorced?"

"Hell no. That's why I got married."

"You lost me."

"I wasn't paying attention to the things I didn't like. Just the good stuff like the sex, do you follow me?"

"Yeah. So, why did you get divorced?"

"I got divorced because my girlfriend didn't like me being married all the time."

He took a drag from the bottle.

"Dylan, when I split from Gina, I left with three great boys and this knowledge, which I will impart on you for free... or a couple beers the next time we're out."

"Deal."

"It's easy to see only the good stuff in a relationship, especially this early in the game. So ask yourself if you can live with the things you don't like."

"Isn't that settling?"

"No," he said, pointing at me. "You are not settling for anything. It's a compromise. D-Man. If you're thinking about Diane and who wouldn't, you lucky bastard and Spring, remember she's a pre-fab. I can say that without prejudice because I'm also a pre-fab. Remember how you felt about pre-fabs before she knocked on your door? Gotta keep that in mind, while you're sorting things out."

"Thanks." I downed the rest of the beer and left with Jim's wisdom and a slight buzz.

When I got back to my apartment, I removed the small, robin's-egg blue box from the countertop and opened it. The ring was expensive, but if I was ever going to get married, I wanted a rock my wife would be proud to show off for the rest of her life.

I went to the hall closet, put the ring in my overcoat, and somewhere, a plate fell to the floor.

Friday morning, I sat in my office staring at the picture, which had now been on my desktop for the last few weeks. With the exception of Laurel, who'd gotten chillier the longer my relationship with Diane continued, I was starting to enjoy how everyone was treating me. It might have all been in my mind, but I sensed a new respect; the impression that I had to be responsible if I was dating a woman with a child.

Lunch came and went, and I stayed in my office. My stomach churned as I thought about what I planned to do that night.

"Hey. It was Billie.

"Come on in, close the door."

"Why?"

"Would you tell me if I was about to do something stupid?"

"Always do. What did you do this time?"

"Would you be honest?"

"When am I not?"

"How would I know?"

"True. Shoot."

I took a deep breath. "It's only been six weeks since Diane and I really started our relationship..."

"Uh, oh."

"Uh, oh what? No, uh, oh. Well, maybe uh, oh. I bought this." I tossed the small robin's-egg blue box over to her.

When she opened the box, her eyes grew wide. "This is quite a piece of real estate." She looked at the ring. "Wow. But why are you showing me? Were we competing on who would get married first?"

"It's only been six weeks."

"That's like a couple of decades to me. But what's the fuss? If you're not sure it's time, wait. What's another week or two hundred?"

"But I don't think I want to wait. I love her... "

Billie tossed the box back.

"... and Spring."

"Then why are we having this conversation?"

"I respect your opinion."

"Thanks, but this is something you need to figure out for yourself."

"Who figures this stuff out by themselves? Help me. Please?"

I must have looked desperate. Billie's opinion was very important to me. It had been for a long time.

"Oh, what the hell. It's happy hour somewhere," she said and then hesitated. "Okay, have you ever been in love before?"

"Dunno."

"How do you know you're in love now?"

"I was talking to Jim..."

"Don't tell me you're listening to him. Not only is he divorced, he works for the Mayor. Talking to Jimbo about love is like learning about sex off the street. If you want advice, you'd be better off asking your reflection."

"Have you ever been in love?"

"I don't think so. I did meet this guy once. He drove a Mercedes and looked like he did pretty well. As it turned out, he was a judge. We dated for a while and I had these surprising feelings when I was with him. But he didn't want to be an organ donor. You know, in case he died? I could never get serious about someone who wanted to keep his organs to himself. Selfish bastard. So we broke up."