For the most part she’d hung out with the other people her age who were also at the Lodge and had a good time. It hadn’t all been bad. But she couldn’t stop the sharp stab of envy as she pictured what it had been like for Jake, Lexie, and Patrick. Because she didn’t doubt for a moment that Patrick was included in that little scenario; she’d heard enough stories of how he’d basically spent all his time with Jake growing up to know that.

A few minutes later one of Wendy’s friends came over to ask her something and she excused herself from the conversation. Ellie said she was going to see what was going on downstairs – they could hear voices and laughter coming from the basement door, which was open – but Sharon found herself drifting to the hallway and front room.

On the way in she’d noticed the photos up in both spaces but hadn’t stopped to look at them. Now that she was on her own she found herself drawn to them, especially after hearing some of Wendy’s stories about Jake and Lexie’s childhood.

This house - this family - was like something out of a sitcom, Sharon mused as she looked over the photos. The kind of family she’d watched on television but hadn’t really thought existed. She wasn’t surprised to see that Patrick was in most of the photos as well. From what she understood, his parents were nice but not very involved. They hadn’t even come tonight, although she didn’t know why. Just that they’d been busy.

If this had been her engagement party her parents would have shown up out of social obligation, but they wouldn’t have had fun in this environment. Actually, they wouldn’t have really known what to do with themselves. There was no networking going on, just genuine human conversation.

Would be kind of fun to see them trying to fit in though.

The photos down the hallway were all formal portraits from school or team sports (apparently Jake had played baseball in high school) but the ones in the front room were more interesting. Lots of photos of family gatherings and of Lexie, Jake, and Patrick as kids. There were a lot of candids and photos where it was obvious someone had just called their names to get them to look at the camera before taking it. The contrast to the very few, very formal photos Sharon’s parents had up in their house, which tended to feature fake smiles and stiff poses, was stark. She pushed those thoughts away though, they only made her feel melancholy.