Tracy smiled. “So I can do it?”

“Yes. Let's start now. Also we're thinking of taking you out to a nice dinner tonight, okay? For Valentine’s Day.”

“Okay. That was what Uncle Frank was talking about?”

“Yes, it was. So a nice dress for dinner if you want, or a good skirt and blouse, nothing too fancy, just a nice one will do.”

Edited by Djkauf

Valentines day, 1983

February 14th 1983

Tracy woke up to the sun peeking though the window of her bedroom at her Godparent's house in Livermore. She had only been in town for a couple of days, since her mother and Grandmother left on Friday and the feeling of loneliness was growing each day. The fear of never seeing her mother again kept growing as well. She didn't want to leave her friends on Sunday, but she knew they had school and she didn't, at least not one that she had to leave the house for. So she looked forward to that evening, when she got to go to Rachel's for the week.

She got up and headed downstairs, making sure to just head to the half bath near the kitchen. When she was done, she pulled out some cereal and started her morning with a cold breakfast. She didn't have the desire to make anything that morning, other than something simple. Her Aunt soon joined her while her Uncle Frank was in the kitchen, getting a final cup of coffee before work.

“Happy Valentine’s day.” Frank said, as he came out of the kitchen. He stopped long enough to kiss his wife on the cheek. “Hey Shelly, isn't today that ladies garden club thing you had?”

Shelly looked over at the calender and she groaned. “Yes.”

“What club thingy?” Tracy asked.

“I promised a ladies garden club that I'm a part of to be at Valentine’s luncheon today at noon and I said I'd bring a dish too.”

“Oh.” Tracy said. “Um, I can stay here if you need.”

“Give me a moment Tracy, maybe you can come with me.” Shelly said as she held up a finger as she got up and went to the phone.

“I'd take her babe, but you know I'm all over the place at work.”

“I can stay here, you do have MTV.” Tracy said again. “I could read and stuff too.”

“I know, but this can be good to get you out and meet people. There are some ladies there you may enjoy talking to. Lots of recipe swapping goes on at times.” That seemed to perk her up, slightly. Shelly went to the phone and dialed as Tracy sat there, trying to pick at her food. “Chloe, It's Shelly. I should be able to make it, I just have a question to ask. My Godchild is currently living with me and she's here today. Yes, she's here now. Eleven, almost twelve. Could I? Please? Thank you. And what do I need to bring? A salad? Is anyone else bringing a salad? Lucy? Okay, I'll see what she is doing. Okay. What about a desert? Do we need something in that department? Paula? Isn't she in Nebraska this week. I swear there was a wedding going on? Tell you what, let me put my head together with my Goddaughter and we can work on a desert too, but it will be a back up, okay? Beth almost always brings in a dessert, so a little extra won’t hurt us.”

Shelly hung up the phone after a few more minutes and then looked to her Goddaughter. “Tracy, we need to get to the store and buy a salad and a desert from the deli for the luncheon.”

“When is it?” Tracy asked.

“Noon.”

Tracy looked at the clock, and saw it was almost seven in the morning, then she looked to the kitchen where she thought of the different foods that had been bought a few days earlier. The thought of cooking something made the pain of missing her parents go away, just a bit. “Could we make something?”

“I'm not much of a cook, Tracy.” Shelly admitted.

“Grandma Modine taught me a couple neat salad ideas and I wrote the directions down. I also know a few deserts I was going to make for you and Uncle Frank as a thank you.”

“Okay, get the directions and we'll see if there is time.”

Tracy hopped out of her seat and raced for the stairs, taking them two at a time. A few minutes later she came running down the steps, almost sliding down several steps at one point, with a notebook under one arm. She ran up to her aunt and opened the notebook. “Here. Chicken pasta salad, or a ham cubed salad, both have pasta. And the other one is here. Chocolate caramel bars.” Tracy flipped the pages to a section marked with a paperclip and a front page that proclaimed it the deserts section.

“Well on that note, ladies, I will see you both later. Remember, be ready to go by four thirty okay?”

“Okay.” Shelly replied, leaving Tracy to wonder what was going on. She looked over the ingredients of all three items and nodded slowly. “We have all of this?”

“Yes. I was going to make the salad for you, Mom and Grandma, but I never got the chance and we had that left over chicken breast from last night. Plus there's the ham from two nights ago. I wanted to make the caramel bars for Uncle Frank, because he loves candy.”

“Looks like the most cooking is about fifty minutes, not to mention the pasta. Give it a couple hours to cool and we can shower.”

Tracy smiled. “So I can do it?”

“Yes. Let's start now. Also we're thinking of taking you out to a nice dinner tonight, okay? For Valentine’s Day.”

“Okay. That was what Uncle Frank was talking about?”

“Yes, it was. So a nice dress for dinner if you want, or a good skirt and blouse, nothing too fancy, just a nice one will do.”

~o~O~o~

It was just turning noon as they pulled up at a gated driveway with a side parking lot. They went to the parking lot and Shelly pulled in. Shelly got out of the van and went to the sliding backdoor as Tracy got out. She stopped to make sure Tracy's dress looked okay. It wasn't her nice pink one, but a nice one Rachel had passed on to her. “Now this is a ladies gardening club. They may go on about their plants, just be polite and let them talk. One of the ladies loves her roses and they're almost as important as her children and grandchildren.” Shelly pulled the van door open and reached in and grabbed the dessert and handed it to Tracy. “There are some unwritten rules to parties like this, but when you take some food, don't fill the plate and eat what you take. Take small portions, in case it's not too good or you don't like the taste, that way you don't look like you're wasting food, okay? If Beth is here, I'll bet she brought a dessert too, and you should try it, just to be courteous, she'll do the same for yours. If there's another salad, try it. If you were to eat just what you brought then you'd look like a snob. Ready?”

“Sure.” Tracy said and they headed to a small gate that led into the community. As they passed by the homes, Tracy looked around and was amazed by the size of the homes. “Wow.” She managed to say. There weren't many nice cars in the driveways, so she figured that they were off doing whatever rich folks did.

“Wow indeed. Maybe we can see if Chloe would let us take a tour of her home. Normally, we have the luncheons in the clubhouse. We hold them at noon so the women that work and want to come, can and since it's Valentine’s day, she won't do a dinner at night. Chloe feels that is for the couples only.” Shelly said as they stopped at the clubhouse. See the house at the end with the two empty lots on either side?”

Tracy looked down and saw a monstrous home there. “Yeah.”

“That's Chloe's home. She's the club’s president this year.”

“Wow.” Tracy said again. As they reached the door to the clubhouse, someone who was going in, held the door for them. They navigated a hall, then entered into a large room, almost twice as big as Tracy's last classroom, but it was full of older ladies.

Tracy stood there, as her short Godmother deftly navigated the partly crowded room. A woman about her mother’s age came over and smiled at her. “You must be Shelly's godchild. You are a pretty one, aren't you.” Tracy only nodded in agreement. “And shy. So adorable. Come on sweetie, bring that to the main table, I'll show you the way.”

The lady turned as they got to the main table and that was when Shelly realized she had left Tracy behind. “Sorry Tracy. I'm used to just moving through the crowd.”

“It's okay.”

“Here, Sweetie.” The woman who had taken her over said. “Lets put this right over here. What did you bring?” She asked, this time looking to Shelly as she placed the desert on the table.

“Ask Tracy, she's the one who made these.” Shelly replied, forgetting that the child was not used to situations like this and she only realized when she saw Tracy blush from embarrassment of being put on the spot.

The other lady noticed her discomfort. “Tracy, no one will hurt you here. You'll find we're quite friendly.”

“I'm sorry, Tracy. I'm used to these women and I forgot how scary things can get for the first time in a large crowd.” Shelly said.

“It's okay.” Tracy replied. “Just, you know, with everything that has gone on.”

Shelly nodded. “I know.”

“Something bad?” The woman who was with them asked.

Shelly decided to go with a watered down version for Tracy's sake. She knew too much would lead to questions, but too little would also lead to questions. “Nothing that is her fault. She's staying with Frank and me. There were problems in her hometown and someone was threatening Tracy and her mother, so Tracy's parents sent her to live with us till they get to move down here and get her a better life. Maggie is due down in a couple of weeks and William and their son are due down in June.”

“Someone threatened her?” The woman looked shocked. “Someone threatened this sweet little girl?”

“Yes, see back in November, Tracy caught a boy stealing at school, they had a fight and Tracy and the boy got suspended from school. The day before Tracy was to return to school, the boy attacked her and her grandmother, who has osteoporosis and Tracy managed to defend her grandmother till her mother and father got there. Since then, the boy's brother has tried to attack Tracy on several occasions. And there's a cousin that tried stuff, so Tracy came to us, for her safety.”

“I see. And with that and the move, you’re missing your parents and scared?” The woman asked as she looked to Tracy. Tracy nodded in agreement. “Well Tracy, you are safe in here. This is a room filled with mama and grandma lions. We even have a couple of Great grandma lions in here. No one will hurt you at all.” She gave her a warm, motherly smile. “I'm Chloe. Can you trust me?”

Tracy looked up at her, and nodded. The woman leaned over and gave Tracy's shoulder a friendly pat. “Now, let's see what delicious dishes you made us?”

Tracy uncovered the salad and as she showed off her dishes, she got a bit of courage built up, along with some pride. “This is a pasta salad, with chicken breast, it also has tomatoes, some onions come cucumbers, and an Italian dressing. We made another salad, which is pasta as well. It also has cucumbers onions, tomatoes, but this has cubed ham and ranch dressing.”

“Both sound very good, Tracy. I'll have to try them.”

“Thank you.” Tracy politely replied.

“Now what was in the cake pan.”

Tracy smiled a bit. Of the dishes, it was her favorite. “That's chocolate caramel bars. It has the chocolate and caramel. It's my grandmother’s recipe and it is really chewy.”

“Oh that sounds yummy.” A woman who was standing behind Tracy said. Tracy had been unaware to the woman's arrival and she jumped. “Oh, I'm sorry, sweetie. I didn't mean to scare you like that.”

“I just didn't know you were there.” Tracy admitted as she turned to look at her.

“Well, I do tend to sneak up on good food.” The woman joked. Tracy took a quick look at her and noticed that she was rather chunky. “In fact, I've never met a lot of food I hated.”

Tracy giggled. “Me too.” She knew she wasn't thin, and she did her best to watch what she ate, but here was a woman who seemed to not be uptight about being big, like some of the people that Tracy had seen back home.

“Tracy, I'm Bethany.” Beth held out a hand, which Tracy gently shook.

“Hello, Ma'am.”

Bethany shook her head. “Tracy, You can call me Bethany, or Beth, if you want, I won't mind.”

Tracy shook her head. “My mother always told me to use an adult’s proper name, not their first name. She said it's a sign of respect.”

“Maggie is quite firm on that.” Shelly added. “She is doing her best to raise Tracy to be a very polite young lady.”

“I see. From the looks of the food, I would say she is also a wonderful cook.” Beth said.

“From what Maggie told me, she is. Tracy's paternal grandmother and her mother have been teaching her to cook since August, and she's learning rather quickly. I hear she is getting to be really good on her own.” Shelly boasted. “In fact, for the past few months, she was doing the cooking for her house, so her parents had dinner when they came home. When Tracy visited in November, she was making eggs for us, not scrambled, but over easy for Frank. I could never do over easy.”

“Really. That's impressive. Not many people can do over easy. Well then I will have to sample some of those salads and those bars your brought with you.” Beth smiled at Tracy. “I'm actually responsible for the pecan blondies over there. But then I cheat.” She leaned a bit closer. “I am part owner to bakery with a deli in the downtown area.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I mainly watch the bakery side of things. Doughnuts, cakes, cookies, other confections and pastries. My brother works the deli. Sandwiches and soups and stuff like that. Our mother and Grandmother run the office and help in the kitchen. Shelly knows it well. It's Big Mama's bakery and deli. I wanted to call it Big Mama's buns, but my friends said that would be a bit dirty.”

“Beth, now do you want a big shock?” Shelly asked.

“What?” The larger woman asked.

“Do you recall Margret Richter? Her parents were Bernice and Marion and they lived in Castro Valley, just across the street from my house.” Shelly smiled.

Beth was quiet for a moment as she thought back into her past, then she nodded slowly. “Margret....yeah. Brown hair, had a sister and a younger brother, her father worked at the airport in 'Frisco. He worked with my Uncle, if I remember right. Her mother did all sorts of jobs. She was about average in height, I think, but hre mother was a giant. And Margret preferred Maggie, right?”

Shelly nodded. “Yes, she still does. Tracy is Maggie's youngest. She's Bernice's second of four grandchildren. She is also my Goddaughter.”

“Oh my God. Maggie's daughter?” The woman studied Tracy's face and pulled up a mental image of Maggie as a child. “She kind of reminds me of Maggie when we were kids. In the eyes, I think.”

“Tracy, Beth went to school with your mother and I, in Castro Valley when we were younger. Till we hit high school, then Beth moved with her parents to Livermore, that was before your mother moved to Los Angles. Her mother and Grandmother actually started Big Mama's, Beth and her brother got partial ownership they got out of high school.”

“Really?”

“Really.” Beth said. “I've always loved cooking and my brother is good in the kitchen and, so he runs the deli counter.”

“Wow, that sounds neat.”

“It can be. You should stop by sometime and I'll introduce you to him and my mother, if she's there.” Beth said with a smile. “And when your mother moves here, tell her I'd like to see her again, it's been far too many years.”

~o~O~o~

The luncheon had been going on for more then forty five minutes and several women had shown up from different places of work and a few had taken off already. Some of the people who worked at the clubhouse had also stopped by to mingle. Tracy had listened to many people talking and had been introduced to a lot of the people in the club, but she wanted a break, so she sat in a corner. Betty seemed to gravitate towards Tracy. She could see Tracy still looked a bit nervous. “Don't be shy young lady. No one will hurt you here.”

Tracy looked at the older woman, who had to be older then both her grandmothers and she still felt a little out of place. “I just don't want to get in the way of the conversations.”

“Well then, what if we have one of our own?” The old woman asked. “I'm Betty and I heard your Godmother talking earlier. You're from farmland north of here?”

Tracy nodded. “Yeah, we lived in a farming area. We used to have cows, pigs and chickens, but the cows kept getting out, so mom had dad get rid of them. Dad got tired of the chickens and pigs But we did have fifteen acres of olive trees. Plus we also had one fig tree, three apple trees and three pomegranate trees, oh and three pecan trees.”

“Olive trees? Oil or eating?”

“Oil.” Tracy stated. “I remember trying one as a kid and it tasted nasty.”

“They have to cure them first, well the eating ones that it.” Betty replied. “I'm actually from farm lands, too. When I was really young, I lived in Ohio, then in the great depression, we moved to California and we worked any type of field that we could. That's how we traveled, moving from state to state.”

“Wow.” Tracy exclaimed.

“It was a hard life at times. Living on the road. Working enough to buy gas and get to the next town, then you did it all over again, but when the second war broke out, things had just started looking up. I remember my father went off to war and I was so young, but so scared we'd never see him again. He was stationed in Hawaii when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. But he came back and life looked up after that.”

Tracy listened politely as the woman told her story and how she had seen the bay area bloom between the forties and sixties. She kept listening as Betty told her how she was unable to have children, then of the early death of her husband, which left her all alone. Tracy slowly found comfort in listening to her and wondered how good a grandparent Betty would have been. She was unaware that the luncheon was slowly reaching its end.

~o~O~o~

When the luncheon was over and the dishes were placed back in Shelly's vehicle, Chloe took Tracy and Shelly to her home to give a brief tour. As they got closer to it, Tracy was impressed with the size of the outside of it. A two car garage, with extra wide doors. A large fifth wheel by the side of the home. The front lawn was almost perfect. Not a weed in sight and the shrubs she had were pruned to a square shape. To either side of the house was a large lot, about the size of the lot the home they were in front of sat on. It was mostly dirt, but there were bags of fertilizer, some potted trees and other plants that were year round.

“See that lot?” Shelly pointed to one of the empty lots Tracy was looking at. “Chloe's husband bought that and the one on the other side, this way they could have more space. She has plans on making a large garden that you can start walking through in one yard, cross through her front yard and end in that one. They're thinking of bird baths and other decorations. I guess their neighbors wanted to fight it, till she pointed out that it meant no neighbor on that side of their home and less people in the community. Plus it will be a community type thing, but she has the biggest say in what will be planted and where.”

“Neat.” Tracy said as they headed up the sidewalk to the home and Chloe let them in. The first thing Tracy saw was the high ceiling. Off to her left was a living-room, that seemed to have more space it in then her parents whole home. The carpet looked new and she didn't want to go in.

“Sweetie, take off your shoes.” Chloe said. “We do that to keep the carpet clean and fresh.”

“Oh, okay.” Tracy said as she bent down and undid the laces on her shoes. When she was out of them, Chloe led them through the living-room and then into a dining room that was almost as big as her parents’ living-room, with a pair of long tables stretching through the room. “Is that one table?”

“No, it's actually two of the same style. See, I have a huge family and we do all the holiday meals here.”

“How big?” Tracy asked, looking at the numerous chairs at the table.

“Six brothers, two sisters and several nieces and nephews and that's just my side of the family. My husband has three sisters and all nieces so far. Lets just say at Christmas time, that table is full and we have a second table for the younger children.”

Tracy wasn't sure how to reply. The woodwork on the tables and chairs was impressive and a part of her felt bad for the children. She knew they wanted to be at the adult table at her family meals. She could only just imagine if her Dad had more brothers and sisters. She then pictured several tables, spread out through her grandmother’s home, with some people being forced to eat in the living room. She had to force herself to keep from laughing at the thought of people eating Christmas dinner, sitting on the beds in the guest room.

“And this is my kitchen. My personal workspace.” Chloe said as she led them into a room that seemed to be just slightly smaller than the living-room. In the middle of the room sat a long island, with a row of chairs pushed under a lip of the counter top. On the top was a sink, and a block of knives. Chloe went off to the side, where a table was surrounded by a bunch of windows. Tracy guessed it was what people called the breakfast nook. A large, six burner stove was on the main counter, along with a grill, that looked like an indoor barbeque. And a refrigerator that seemed to dwarf the one in her parents’ home. An over was just under the mammoth stove-top, but what confused the girl, was a second oven, stuck into what could have been cupboard space.

“Wow.” Tracy said, looking around.

“It's a nice kitchen, I know. I had it designed to my liking. I love to cook at the holidays and when you are feeding almost forty people, you need to be able to cook a lot of food.”

“Why do you have two ovens?” Tracy asked as she looked around the island and saw a cutting board, resting in a cubby hole, just under the island.

“Tracy, I have nine children. Three of them are adopted, but they are still my children. So when Christmas time comes around, I have to be able to feed over forty people.”

“This room is so huge.” Tracy said, gesturing to the area where a table sat for smaller family meals. “I think my parents’ living room and bedroom could fit in the space of this kitchen and that sun room.”

Chloe knew at this point, the wrong words could make her seem like a snob, which was a lesson she tried to teach her children, so she went with the truth. “See Tracy, I also had the house built this big, mostly to house my twelve children.”

“Twelve?!?” Tracy was shocked. She had heard of big families, but after it being just her and her brother, she couldn't imagine having seven siblings.

“What can I say. I just love big families.” Chloe said with a smile. “Seven are mine, but then we adopted the other five and we had to get a bigger home.”

“Wow.” Tracy said, now in awe of the woman and her giant kitchen.

~o~O~o~

An hour and a half later, a very tired Tracy walked back to the van. She had not been ready for the rounds of going from woman to woman and telling her story, or being doted on by all the ladies her grandmother’s age, or in the age range of great-grandmothers. She wasn't ready for the almost hour long tour of the nice home. She was impressed at the house, but mostly in awe of the kitchen and how much space it had.

Her salads had gone over well, with just a little bit left over. Her dessert was gone, although she had managed to try a couple of Beth's blondies and some of the tiny sandwiches. She was still a little hungry too, something Shelly seemed to know.

“You want to grab something to eat? You didn't seem to get much.”

“Everyone kept talking to me. And the sandwiches are so tiny.” Tracy replied.

Shelly nodded as she unlocked the van's passenger door. “It happens. Luncheons seem to be like grazing for humans. I don't think I've ever left one and been full.”

“So, it's a gardening club, what do they do?”

Shelly had to stop and think about the answer and the best way to describe it. She unlocked her door and both ladies got into the van, but Shelly didn't start it right away. “Well, they get together, talk about their plants, they share ideas and during the year they have garden tours.”

“Garden tours?” Tracy asked.

Shelly nodded once again. There was so much she knew she had to show Tracy. Livermore was a bigger world then she was used to and she hoped that they could point her into the direction of greatness by time she got old enough. “That's where we go to a garden, either one worked on by city parks, or a member of the club and we take a tour.”

“And that's all?”

“Well, we do have monthly meetings. Third Monday of every month. In those we talk about plants, new gardening ideas, show pictures of gardens and a whole bunch of other things.”

“Cool.” Tracy said as Shelly started the van.

Shelly put it into gear and began pulling out. “Is this something you'd like to think about? They just don't talk about growing flowers. You will find that some of the ladies have very nice vegetable gardens. They have been known to trade vegetables before. Plus recipes do get traded at some of the meetings.”

“Could....could I think about it?”

“Sure. Now I want to know, would you like to try out Big Mama's? It's only a few minutes from here. We could get a sandwich at the deli and that could tide us over to dinner.”

“Okay.”

Five minutes later Shelly was pulling into the lot behind a line of stores that lined the main street through downtown. As Tracy got out, she noticed Beth a few cars over, who looked at them and laughed. “Hey Lady! Are you following me?”

“No. I just wanted to show Tracy the downtown and maybe get a small bite to eat to tide us over till dinner tonight.”

“Hey, Mark is here. Tracy, could I take in some of your salads, so he can try them?”

“Well, there's a little of the one with chicken left.”

“Could I let him try it? I did manage to smuggle one of your chocolate bars too, so he could give it a try.”

“Sure. You won't get in trouble for taking it in there, will you?” Tracy asked, pointing to a sign that told them of no outside food or drinks would be allowed.

“I'm a co owner and I can just say we've got to try a recipe that we may ask to buy from you.” Beth said. “So, yes, we can take it in.”

Beth led Tracy and Shelly though a small door with the name of the deli on it. As they walked down a long thin hall, they passed a bathroom, and a door marked for bakery staff only. She led them all the way through to the front of the deli. “Hey, Mark.”

Tracy looked over and she saw a big man, not tall, but plump, with dark hair, slicked back and covered by a hairnet. “Beth. Shelly.”

“Is Mom here?”

“Yeah, she's trying out a couple of new ideas she had, she and Grandma are in the back.”

“Good. This is going to blow her mind.”

“What?” Mark asked.

“Remember when we were kids and lived in Castro Valley, down the road from Shelly?”

“Yeah, what about it?” He asked. He looked over at the young girl who looked like someone from his past but he couldn't put a name to the face.

“Remember the Richter family? They lived across from Shelly? Bernice and Marion? They had two daughters, Margret, Alice and Dan?”

“Yeah. I remember them. She liked to be called Maggie, right? Dan was a pain in the ass, too.”

“Yep. This is Maggie's daughter, Tracy. Shelly's goddaughter.”

“Little Maggie's girl?” Mark said as he came around the counter. Tracy was glad the place was mostly empty, due to all the extra attention. “Wow, she kinda looks like her, doesn't she?”

“That's what I thought. And what's better, is she's a good little cook.” Beth held out the bowl. “This is a pasta salad with chicken. Give it a try. We'll let Mom and Grandma try some too, if Tracy don't mind?”

“I don't.”

“Here, come on and lets put you at the counter. That get's you closer to the kitchen.”

Mark went into the back and a few minutes later, two more woman had come out and Tracy's identity was revealed once more. Then they started tasting the salads. “This is nice. A nice, simple salad, with chicken and not overbearing on the dressing. How quickly did you make this?”

“Half an hour? I made a lot of pasta and split it between two salads.”

“Now try this. This is a chocolate and caramel bar, made with German chocolate cake.”

He took a bite, then he made the sound of a very contented man. “Now those are good.” He stated. Tracy smiled proudly.

“Could we possibly get the recipe from you?” Beth's mother asked as she tried one of the bars.

“I...um...well, it's not mine.”

Shelly saved Tracy from the decision. “The recipes are her grandmother’s, so we'd have to ask Modine the next time we talk to her, but I promise we'll ask.”

“Thank you. We'd even give her credit with the name.”

~o~O~o~

It was just past five in the evening and Tracy sat in the backseat of Frank's daily driver. She knew that her godparents were taking her to a nice place to eat, but her confusion began to grow when they headed East and out of Livermore. It got worse as they passed through the town of Tracy. Finally, ten miles out of Tracy, the town, Tracy, the girl, decided to question their destination.

“Um....Uncle Frank? I thought we were going out to eat? Why'd we leave town?”

Instead of answering, he turned up the radio a bit more and he began to act like he couldn't hear her, but smiling while he did it. Shelly playfully tapped him in the arm and gave him a halfhearted glare. He sighed and looked in the mirror. “We've heard of a nice restaurant out of town and I like to take your Aunt out to new places on Valentines day. Since you're here too, we decided a nice meal out at a classy place. I'll warn you, it's going to be a nice place, not like fast food or anything like that.”

“Oh, okay.” Tracy replied and she decided to just pay attention to the passing scenery. The trip seemed to fly by and she didn't realize that they had pulled into Sacramento, until she saw the downtown area with the old Train museum. A few moments later, they were pulling into a somewhat packed parking lot. Frank found a parking spot and turned the car off.

Frank got out and Shelly held up a hand and looked over her shoulder as Tracy was about to open her car door. “Wait, young lady. Let the gentlemen open your door.”

She watched her Uncle open up her Aunt's door, then she realized someone had opened her door. She sat and stared as her father held out a hand to help her out of the car. He stood there in a nice dress shirt and a tie. “Daddy!!!” She exclaimed as she rushed out of the car, in a very unladylike maneuver and hugged her father.

“Hello, young lady.” William said as he hugged his daughter, then kissed her forehead.

“Do I get a hug?” Maggie asked as she walked up to them. She was in a dress, something she rarely wore.

“Mom!” Tracy launched herself into her mothers arms. Vance walked over and Tracy gave out one last hug.

“You act like you haven't seen us in a week or so.” William said with a smile.

“Well, I haven't seen you in a week or so, Dad.” Tracy replied.

“Come on, let's go get inside.” William said, then he looked to his daughter. “So did you have a good day today?”

“Yeah. Aunt Shelly took me to a lunch thing where some garden club was meeting and I got to take a salad I made and my chocolate caramel bars.”

“Sounds like a busy day.”

“Busy and fun.” Tracy said with a happy smile. She reached out and took her father’s hand, letting Vance walk with their mother. “But this is the best part of the day, so far.”

~o~O~o~

William hadn’t realized just how much he had missed Tracy, till dinner. It had taken a trade with another forklift driver just to get him out of the door at work to make it in time. His schedule seemed to be changing on a daily basis. But he knew he could do it. He had to last till June, for his family.

But for the time being, he was glad to be sitting around a table with all of them again. Sure, Shelly and Frank were there too, but he made sure that he had both children on either side of him, just to remind himself why he had to endure. They had extended the offer to his parents and in-laws, but the four of them decided to have a quiet meal in Oroville.

Tracy had already gone over everything that had happened while Maggie and Bernice had been there and now she was busy going over the events of the weekend and her Tai Chi class and talking almost non-stop. “And they got the coolest little puppy. It's a German Shepherd or something like that. We got to walk it outside, we got to clean up after it, which is nasty, but it's a cute puppy. He woke up Brooke and Rachel by licking their faces the next morning and then he danced all over my sleeping bag. And I got to see something called a Nimitz freeway when we got Casey from school. It's a big school, everyone uses sign language there. I guess they have students that live there. Could you imagine living at school? That would be weird and what happened is you want to leave for the day and oh yeah, Brooke will teach me Mandarin, that's like Chinese, so I can stay in Shifu Jaio's class and they showed me a catalog of uniforms and we ordered one, I have to help around their house to pay for it, which is cool, cause Shifu Lok is teaching me how to stir fry on Tuesday, after class.”

William just shook his head when she finally stopped. “How do you do that?”

“What?” Tracy asked, now confused.

“You've been talking for almost five minutes straight. You don't breathe anymore?” William smiled at her, so she knew he was just joke, but she slumped her shoulders.

“I was just telling you everything that happened.” She said, looking like a child who had been scolded. “I just thought you'd want to hear.”

William moved over in his seat and he put an arm around her and pulled her close. “I wasn't making fun of you. I was just impressed that you could do it. I've missed this. Sitting at the table and talking to my beautiful daughter. I care a lot about you and if it makes you happy, then talk and. And soon, we'll be able to do this more often, all of us around the table in our own home in the bay area.”

~o~O~o~

Halfway back to Livermore, Tracy fell asleep in the backseat. Frank looked in his rear-view mirror and shook his head. “Poor kid, tired herself out again. At least Maggie will be down here in a couple of weeks.”

“And we know Rachel won’t give her much rest tonight.” Shelly stated.

“Yeah. Poor kid will probably fall asleep in the middle of a movie or something.” Frank said with a chuckle. “Are you sending her school stuff with her?”

“Yeah. Lynn and Jaio will try and help her out as much as they can while we're gone.”

“Good.” Frank nodded. “And when we get back, I'll take over the math. I'm good with it, that and science.”

“Thank you, Frank.” Shelly said and she put her hand over his.

~o~O~o~

Monday February 14th 1983 evening

Frank had stopped at their house long enough to get everyone's bags for the next few days, then they headed over to Lance's house. Tracy was met at the door by Rachel and her mother, and while the adults talked, Rachel dragged Tracy up to her room.

“Hey, you never met Mittens, did you?” Rachel said as she gestured to her bedroom. Across the hall was another room, with the door closed and loud music coming through it.

“Mittens?” Tracy asked as they entered the room, Tracy’s bed was already made, but a calico kitten was sleeping on the pillow.

“Meet Mittens. Mittens the kitten. We got her for Christmas. She likes my room and Jamie is doing homework, and Mittens attacks her as she writes.” Tracy was about to comment on not seeing her, but then she remembered being at Sage and Brooke's homes during her visit in January.

Tracy sat on the bed and the tiny kitten came over and sniffed at her. “Scratch behind her ears, she loves it.”

Tracy put down her pack and scratched the kitten's ears, making it purr loudly. The kitten then proceeded to climb into her lap and lay down. “Well, clearly you pass that test. She must love you.”

“Is she as wild as Stacey's dog?”

“Well, don't have any strings dangling down and you should be fine.” Rachel said with a nod of her head. “But she loves some of her cat toys. We can play if you want.”

“Maybe tomorrow.”

“You wanna go watch some MTV, if Dad isn't watching TV?”

“Sure, I guess.”

“Wanna get in your night clothes?” Rachel asked.

“Nah, I can wait.”

A little more fluff. Next up, back to the lives of Tracy and Maggie and how well they cope apart from each other