I climbed out of the taxi with my bags, and looked at my watch. Four-thirty. Perfect. My dad wouldn�t be home for another hour.

Then I noticed the car on my parents� driveway. My heart sank. He was home. I looked at the car again. It wasn�t his blue station wagon. I sighed. But if he wasn�t home, who had come to visit?

Aunt Susan barreled down the walkway. She dashed to the car and fumbled with her keys. I rushed over to her.

�Lisa, how nice to see you again. And coming home for your mom�s birthday! Such a good daughter. Not like my Sophie,� she said.

She jerked the car door open and climbed in, slamming the door after her.

�How�s Sophie?� I said.

�You can see for yourself, she�s with your mom. Gotta run, see you, sweetie!�

My aunt started the car and backed out of the driveway. She waved and smiled. She then sped down the street.

I shrugged and walked towards the house. A teenage girl dressed completely in black answered the door after I rang the bell. I stared at her.

�Hi, Sophie,� I said to my cousin. She had dyed her hair black and had traded in her glasses for violet contacts since I had last seen her.

She let me in, and flopped onto the couch. I put my bags down. Sophie grabbed the remote and turned on the television. I was about to ask her what she was doing at my parents�, but she raised the volume of the television. I wondered what my dad would think when he walked into this scene.

�Mom!� I called up the steps. �I�m home.�

�Who�s there?� she called back.

My mom came down the stairs. We stared at each other for a moment. She opened her arms for a hug. We hugged. She withdrew.

�What�s she doing here?� I tilted my head in Sophie�s direction.

�She�ll be with us for a week or so. Susan wants to teach Sophie a lesson about appreciating what she has. She thinks Sophie�ll learn that by being away from her home.�

�Your birthday�s in two days, and she sent Sophie as a gift?� I said.

My mom looked down at the floor and said, �Well, your Aunt Susan was always good about getting her way.�

�What�s Dad going to say?�

He wasn�t too fond of Sophie or of Aunt Susan.

She looked at me. Then at Sophie. She bit her lip. I picked up my bags.

�I�ll be in my old room. Maybe I�ll take a nap. Call me for dinner,� I said.

My dad was still red in the face when I walked into the dining room. I rubbed imaginary crust from the corners of my eyes and mumbled hello. He continued staring at Sophie and only looked at me when I sat down at the table.

�Good nap?� he said.

�Yes, very.� I lied.

I hadn�t slept. I had tried to, but I hadn�t been able to drown out his yelling. My cell phone on my belt clip vibrated against my hip. Good thing I didn�t have the ringer on, or else my mom wouldn�t be the only victim of my dad�s for the day. My mom came in from the kitchen with red eyes and a forced smile. I glanced down at my phone. The lit-up screen flashed �Ben.� My former fianc�well, not former, since he asked me to hold onto the ring and think about things for a while. I looked up at my parents.

�Still vegetarian, Lisa?� my mom asked, as she dished out drumsticks.

Dinners at my parents� alternated between meatloaf, pork chops, steak and drumsticks. I became a vegetarian as soon as I went away to college.

�Yes, I still am and have been these seven years,� I said.

My dad chuckled.

I thought about the first time I came home from college. When my mom was about to serve me a slab of meatloaf, I announced that I was a vegetarian. My dad had sat back in his chair for a moment. He then smiled and told my mom that her cooking must have been off that day. She had burst into tears.

I glared at my dad when he wasn�t looking. My mom held out a plate with string beans and mashed potatoes in my direction. I took it with a smile.

�Delicious, Mom,� I said, looking at my dad.

�How�s Ben?� he asked.

�Fine, just fine.�

�Let�s see the rock that he got you,� he said.

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