Part 3


The staff at the magazine Just For Women were hard at work the next day as usual.
Laura was putting the finishing touches on her cover story, Peter was going out to
get his photos developed, and Kirk was organizing the papers for his boss. Just then
Nina, the fashion editor, burst in carring a letter. She flew in with such a sudden
blow that she made everyone else jump in their seats. 

"What on Earth is wrong with you?" Laura asked. 

"You are not going to BELIEVE what I got in the mail today!" Nina answered, waving
the letter around. 

"A ticket to Aruba?" Kirk answered, making the entire office laugh. 

"No," Nina said. "A letter from my sister, Nadine. My niece is getting 
married!!"
 
"Your niece?" Peter asked. 

"Yeah, Ivy! Her firstborn?" 

"No! That cute little girl who used to sit right here and pretend to draw those
models from the magazine, pretending she was a fashion editor like you?" Kirk said.

"Yeah, her!"
 
"Boy," Laura said gentily," I remember the day she was born! Your sister was
visiting here from San Fransisco, she wasn't due for another two weeks, but she
started having labor pains right here at the office!" 

"Yeah," Nina answered, her eyes glazing over at the memory, "And we all drove with
her to the hospital, remember? I even gave her the name Ivy! I remember, she was
born, but Nadine still didn't have a name! Then I noticed the sun was coming up, so
I took the baby in my arms and I carried her to the window so she could see her
first sunrise. I noticed how green her eyes were, as green as the leaves of ivy that
were growing on a branch right outside the window. The name just came to me-Ivy!
That was twenty years ago..." Nina's voice trailed off. 

"Man, twenty years, that long already?" Kirk asked. "Man, the time sure flies,
doesn't it?" 

"Yeah," Nina said. "Where on Earth does it all go?" She then drew herself up
proudly. "My niece..." 

"Isn't she also your goddaughter?" Laura asked.
 
"Yeah, she is," Nina answered. "She was so special to me, she really was. I used to
bring her with me to the office every time Nadine would visit." 

"Yeah," Peter said. "I mean, we all watched her grow up! She was such a sweet litle
girl, so pretty." 

"I was the one who discovered her and her brother were prodigies, 
remember?" Kirk said. "I was sitting here when she was about nine and he was 
five, I was struggling to do a difficult math problem, and they solved it for me 
just like that!!" 

"Yeah, and I helped her discover martial arts as well!! Remember she came into the
restroom when she was seven and I was on my break watching my favorite Bruce Lee
movie? She came in, got curious, and said she could do that! And she did!!" Peter
added. 

"In a way we were ALL like her family!" Laura said quickly. 

"Yeah, you're right, you all watched her and her brother grow up! We should ALL be
there for her big day!!" Nina said. "There is absolutely no reason why on Earth you
all can't come!! I'm gonna call Nadine right now and tell her you all should come!!"
Nina began to march to the phone. "Not only will I come, I'll even help my sister
plan for the weding! There is no way she'll be able to do all this by herself!" 
"Of course not, we can all help!!" Laura said. 

"And you all will!! We'll see to it ourselves that Ivy Renee Glennan will get the
most beautiful wedding ever in the entire state of California!!" 

To be continued...