She gave me a pat on the cheek. "You're a good Italian girl."

"Half Italian."

"And a good Catholic."

"Umm . . ."

I watched her walk to her car and drive away. She thought I was pregnant. She thought I was marrying Joe Morelli, the man voted "least trustworthy male to date my daughter" by mothers statewide. And she thought I was a good Catholic. How had this happened?

I was standing in the foyer, holding the box, when Joe came down. "Was someone here?"

"Your godmother. She brought me your christening outfit."

Morelli picked it out of the box and looked at it. "Good grief, it's a dress."

"What do you want me to do with it?"

"Put it in a closet somewhere, and I'd appreciate it if you kept the dress part quiet."

I waited until Morelli was out of sight, and then I looked down at my stomach. "No way," I said. I looked at the christening dress. It was kind of pretty. Old-fashioned. Very Italian. Damn, I was getting all choked up over Morelli's dress. I ran upstairs with the dress, put it on Morelli's bed, ran out of the room and slammed the door closed.

I went to the kitchen and called my best friend, Mary Lou, who had two kids and knew about pregnancy.

"Where are you?" Mary Lou wanted to know.

"I'm at Morelli's."

"Ommigod! It's true! You're living with Morelli! And you didn't tell me! I'm your best friend. How could you do this to me?"

"I've only been here for three days. And it's no big deal. My apartment burned up, and Morelli had an extra room."

"You did it with him! I can hear it in your voice! How was it? I want details!"

"I need a favor."

"Anything!"

"I need one of those pregnancy test things."

"Ommigod! You're pregnant! Ommigod. Ommigod!"

"Calm down. I'm not pregnant. I just want to make sure. You know, peace of mind. And I don't want to buy one myself, because if anybody sees me it'll be all over."

"I'll be right there. Don't move."

Mary Lou lived about a half mile away. Her husband, Lennie, was okay but he had to be careful not to drag his knuckles when he walked. Mary Lou never cared much about intelligence in a man. Mary Lou was more into packaging and stamina.

Mary Lou and I have been friends since the day we were born. I was always the flake, and Mary Lou was always the underachiever. Maybe underachiever isn't the right word. It was more that Mary Lou had simple goals. She wanted to get married and have a family. If she could marry the captain of the football team, even better. And that's exactly what she did. She married Lennie Stankovic, who was captain of the football team, graduated high school and went to work for his father. Stankovic and Sons Plumbing and Heating.