“Hi, you must be Sheila,” Mark said warmly, extending a hand. The judge had told him about me? His wife, Natalie, smiled, clearly exhausted from the baby boy she was holding and the three-year-old girl tugging at her dress.

“Yes, I’m Sheila and it’s so nice to meet you finally. I’ve heard so much about all of you,” I lied. He gave me a knowing smile, not buying it. “And I am so sorry about your loss,” I added. He smiled again.

“Thank you. You know, my dad was very old and very sick. I think we’d all been preparing for this for a while. Anyway, I bet my mother is freaking out right now. Is she around?” Was she ever. The judge came tearing around the corner.

“Maaaaarrrrrkkk! Where have you been?! There’s so much to do!” I didn’t know what she was referring to. As with the other sittings, we were clearly well over a month ahead for this one. She beamed at her granddaughter, Maggie, who squirmed when the judge hugged her. As for Natalie and the baby, nothing. Babies, I remembered, weren’t interesting until two. That little boy still had about eighteen months to enjoy. Mark looked around.

“Mom, it looks like everything is under control. Why don’t you finish getting ready. I think we’re all set,” he bravely instructed.

“No! No! No!” These weren’t my noes to deal with, and I fled, joining Matthew, Roy, and Janet in the kitchen.

“You know, this is the first time I’ve ever been here,” Janet said, eyeing the room admiringly. She’d worked for the woman for more than two decades and the judge had never even had her over for a meal. Standing there in that brown dress, hungrily absorbing the walls, the tables, the chairs, Janet broke my heart. Maybe that woman, the judge, would rot in hell, as my mother had commanded on various occasions. Perhaps for no other reason than for her systematic destruction of Janet. While Janet’s behavior toward all of us during the year was anything but stellar, she really seemed to love the judge, like a child loved her mother. And the judge hadn’t even let Janet into her home. Not one time. Disgusting.

Roy was at the other end of the kitchen fondling the tulips. I motioned for Matthew to run interference. Another five minutes and those tulips would be dead. The doorbell started ringing. I let Mark do the honors. He, after all, was family.

I quickly placed all the sandwiches on the living room table, alongside the soft drinks and cookies. I felt a tug at my dress. It was Maggie.

“Play play play!” she screamed. These Friedmans sure were a demanding bunch.