When I glance across the room, there’s the teddy bear Jim brought today with its hearts and Christmas trees tucked under the tree as if he had been there last year and the year before. He fits in that well. One of his paws is raised ready to slap a high-five; the other is resting on Tara’s bear, which is getting some love at last. We fall in love and push ourselves to see our love expressed in a new life. I find myself wondering what Jim’s and my child would look like. What interests and talents he or she might possess. When we make love, I want to obliterate our skin and truly be one in an orgasm that wipes away our individuality. A child would be concrete evidence of fusion. And then would develop, escaping our desire for proof of our love, existing for his, or her, own purpose.

JEANNIE’S MOUTH IS relaxed and her brows even. The anxious, angry look has smoothed away. Her attention shifts as Allie stands. “Nothing much has changed for me this year, one of those too fast years with nothing really resolved with T.J. Still doing that back and forth dance. Next year will be different.”

“Hear, hear.” Rosie raises her glass, the pale white wine shifting in the goblet.

“Naomi will graduate. But she’s already out of the house. I’m still seeing my patients and still playing with my paints. So this is one of those years that have been about the change of the seasons and the love of family and friends. It went by in a blur. As though time contracted and we’re gearing up for light speed. And, I guess, I haven’t faced head-on the challenge presented.” She purses her lips together.

We all know she’s talking about T.J.

Allie reaches in her sack and pulls out a red Christmas stocking.

“Oh, boy. I love it when the containers can be used as a decoration,” Laurie says. “Or something practical.”

Allie passes the red felt stocking to Taylor, who holds it before handing it off to Sissy.

“Hmm. Let me tell you about my cookies. A few months ago there was a recipe in the Ann Arbor News for cookies from Saudi Arabia to celebrate the end of Ramadan. When I read the recipe, I realized they sounded very much like the Hanukkah cookies my mom used to make. So I pinned the recipe on my bulletin board thinking about how similar even the foods are between the Arabs and the Jews. These two brother tribes that have been fighting for thousands of years.”