Chapter 3.2: In which there are 4 birthdays and a funeral.

It takes Isaac a few minutes to realize that something is wrong.

Dear readers,

"Desmond, I've wanted to marry you forever. Will you marry me?"

You may be wondering how our birthday party went after Deanna and Megan argued and Dad finally kicked Megan out of the house.  Well, for the most part it went rather well…apart from the fire.

But let me back up to a few weeks prior to the party and Megan leaving.

Megan’s daughters, Owen and Pricilla, had their birthdays aging into children.  Megan spent the party avoiding Deanna, and Deanna spent the party talking to Hugo Waldron, her only friend from school apart from me and Latrice.  Tammie, though, spent the party gazing lovingly into the eyes of her fiance, Desmond Shelley.  Yes, she and Desmond decided to get engaged.

Pricilla and Owen dancing together at their birthday party. Pricilla is in orange and Owen in pink. Pricilla's traits are Neurotic, Never Nude, Loner. Owen is Friendly, Absent Minded, Over Emotional. They fit right in with the Kendricks. Poor things.

Nothing else of note happened at the girls’ birthday party except that we finally met Kellen’s new wife Lindsay. She seemed OK.  As for Owen and Pricilla, well they turned into decent children.  Pricilla is a bit chunky and Owen is a bit scatter-brained, but they didn’t seem to be adversely affected by their mother’s indifference or their lack of a father.

When Tammie got engaged, this sparked a need in Deanna to have a boyfriend, too.  (I think I’ve mentioned before that Deanna is obsessively jealous and always wants what one of us has.)  I had had no idea that Deanna and Hugo Waldron were so close, to be honest.  Deanna rarely talked about him.

I knew she had gone to his house on a few occasions.  I remember her saying when we were children that he was a goody-two-shoes.  But after Tammie and Desmond became engaged, Deanna and Hugo became more than just classmates and friends.  He became her steady boyfriend.

“Hugo, we’ve known each other forever. I think we should go steady. I don’t want any other girl to have you. You’re mine. I mean, I love you.”

I have to admit that I was somewhat jealous of both Tammie and Deanna…and even Megan, to a certain extent.  I hadn’t even once had a boy look at me more than just as a friend.  Deanna wasted no time announcing her budding romance with Hugo.  She took great delight in my jealousy.  Tammie at least told me that someday I would find someone as nice as her Desmond who would love me and marry me.

But, by the time of our party, I still hadn’t found love.