I smiled. I really did feel safer now, even safer
with them than I had felt with Geraldine. And that's
what family was supposed to do for you, I thought,
make you feel secure, let you know that there are
people who care about you and want to protect you
and love you. We'd be friends forever and ever, and
there was nothing I wouldn't do for them and nothing
they wouldn't do for me. It wasn't just the vodka that
made me feel warm and comfortable now. It was their
smiles and their laughter and their promises. We could believe in the promises we made to
each other easier than those our parents made to us.
Because we were all veterans of disappointment, we
knew how painful it would be to disappoint each
other. What better guarantees were there than the ones
born out of mutual pain and respect?
"To the OWP's," Misty cried, holding up her glass as if she could read my very thoughts. "One for
all and all for one!"
"To the OWP's," we joined, and drank down
our drinks.
Jade started to prepare another for all of us as
the dinner arrived. We were just beginning to feel
very good and be happy. The best was yet to come, I
thought. My friends had helped me bury all my
disappointments, forever and ever.
Was I being too optimistic? Was Misty rubbing
off on me? Was I turning into a dreamer? What if I
was? Anything was better than what I had been, I
thought. This was like being born again and there was
no turning back now, never.
Geraldine could rise from the grave; she could