Much Needed Comfort

I finished nursing Reed and then drove him and the older kids to my parents', then drove to the abortion clinic as fast as I could. I made my way to the clinic's entrance where I saw Kristina, who was crying. She saw me and ran to me.

"It's too late!" she cried. "They already took her back!"

"I'm so sorry!" I hugged and comforted her as best I could and was just about to leave when I saw Sonya dash out of one of the examination rooms.

"I just couldn't do it!" she gasped. "All of a sudden I got this image in my head of what Xenia looked like as a baby. I tried as hard as I could to put it out of my mind, but nothing worked, and in the end, I just couldn't stand it anymore. I feel so much better now!"

"So do I!" Kristina embraced her sister. "Come on, let's go back home. Everything will be all right. You'll see."

Relieved, I returned to my car and drove back to Mom's to collect the kids. "Is everything all right?" Mom looked worried. I'd been in too much of a hurry to fully explain to her what was going on when I'd dropped the kids off.

"Everything's fine," I assured her. "Sonya was going to get an abortion, but she changed her mind."

"Sonya?"

"Alexei's younger sister. She was dating this guy named Rolan, and he got her pregnant and just abandoned her. What's even worse is that he just hit on her younger sister Veronika, too. What an asshole!"

Mom shook her head and cluck, clucked. "Well, I hope she has plenty of family to help her."

"They're very supportive, and Kristina and Alexei are gonna help her out all they can."

"Looks to me like Alexei's got his hands full with these five," Mom replied. "Especially this precious one here." She gazed down at Reed with pity in her eyes. "I remember when you were this age, you could already say 'Mama' and 'Dada.' Can't they at least give him a hearing aid, or something?"

I shook my head. "The doctor says it wouldn't help, but his surgery's coming up in a few months, and that will hopefully help a little."

It was a sunny day, so I decided to take the kids to the park for a picnic. I saw that Lara was already there with Dylan and Tuesday.

"Hey, girl!" she called when she saw me.

"Hey there, yourself!" I went to embrace her. "Long time, no see! How is everyone?"

"Fine. How's Aidan's baby?"

"Doing fine now. She weighs only a little less than average for her age. She has to take a lot of medicine, of course. Lauren's afraid to take her anywhere but to the doctor. She's afraid she'll catch cold or something, but when she gets older, she's gonna want to do all the stuff other kids her age do."

"Oh, I know! She'll have to be protected, though."

"Guess what!" Dylan exclaimed. "I'm gonna be in kindergarten when school starts back!"

"Wow, you're such a big boy now!" I exclaimed.

He grinned and then walked over to where Reed sat in his stroller. "Hey, baby."

"He can't hear you," Jade told him. "He's deaf. That means he can't hear anything."

"Even if I scream really loud, like this?" Dylan demonstrated. Jade shook her head.

I'd brought sandwiches and fruit for myself and the older kids and baby food for Reed. After we'd eaten, I took everyone home, and we all settled down for a nap.

For dinner that night, I made Frito pie for a change. I was serving the kids when Alexei came home from work. "So how did it go?" he asked me.

"She changed her mind about the abortion," I told him.

"I'm glad to hear it," he replied. "So the children will have a new cousin soon!"

"You mean besides Winter?" asked Nevada, who'd overheard.

"That's right," Alexei told her. "Your Aunt Sonya is going to have a baby in a few months."

"But she's not married!"

"You don't have to be married to have a baby," I told my daughter.

"But the baby won't have a Daddy!"

"That's all right," said Alexei. "He or she will still have a lot of love. That's all that matters."

The following day, I took several big garbage bags full of maternity and infant clothes for both genders over to Sonya's, and that weekend, Kristina and I took her shopping. She was in a much better mood and even seemed excited about the baby for the first time.

Montana's tenth birthday was a couple of weeks later. "How would you like to go camping overnight in the woods, just us two men?" Alexei asked him the weekend before.

"Oh, yes!" Montana exclaimed.

Alexei looked at me. "Oh, don't worry!" he laughed, reading my facial expression. "I'll make sure nothing happens to him."

The evening before they were to leave, I baked Montana a birthday cake, and the following morning, we had a small get-together and invited the grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins. Lauren even brought Winter.

"Can I hold her?" I asked.

Lauren handed her to me, and I took her into my arms and cuddled her. "Hi, there! I'm your Aunt Addison!" I told her. She gave me a big toothless grin. "Oh, that's precious!" I exclaimed. I couldn't help but think of Ilya and Madison and how it would undoubtedly bring them comfort to see Winter's smile.

After everyone went home, Alexei began to load the van up for the camping trip. Montana helped carry some of the smaller items. At last everything was ready, and I kissed my husband and son good-bye.

"Be a good boy for your Daddy," I told Montana.

"I will, Mommy," he promised. "Come on, Daddy, let's go pitch our tent and sleep under the stars!"

I watched them go with an odd mixture of excitement and apprehension. It would be the first night I'd ever spent without my son, and I knew the bed would seem cold and much too large without Alexei there beside me.

I finished cleaning up from the party and took River inside, the three girls tagging along behind me. I nursed Reed and got him settled down for a nap, and then the girls and I took one as well.

By the time we awakened, it was just about dinner time, but we'd eaten so much earlier that none of us were really hungry. I made us some snacks, then asked the girls if they'd like to go to the mall just to have something to do for a couple of hours.

"Oh, yes!" all three of them cried.

I put Reed into his car seat and the twins into their booster seats and drove the short distance to the mall. I was able to find a reasonably close parking space, parked, and we all went in. We entered through a large department store that was having a sale on perfumes and toiletries, and there was a lady handing out free samples.

"I want to smell good!" Nevada cried.

"Is it all right for them to have samples?" the lady asked me. I nodded, so she gave samples to all three girls. A moment later, I watched as Jade opened hers, smelled it, and then licked it.

"No, no!" I exclaimed, snatching the sample from her. "Perfume is to smell, not eat!"

I noticed that Alexei's favorite cologne was on sale, so I bought a bottle for him. Then we walked into the middle of the mall, where the twins begged to ride the carousel. I paid for all three girls to have a ride, and then we went into the music store, where I saw a machine where you could play samples of various different genres of music. I listened to a selection from a CD of ambient music that I liked, so I bought it, along with a CD of children's songs that was on sale for two dollars.

Next we visited the book store, and then the earring store, which was having a ten pairs of earrings for ten dollars sale. None of the girls had pierced ears, but other stuff like lip gloss, nail polish, and even little plush animals and other items were included in the sale. Nevada wanted purple nail polish, so I bought it for her.

"Can you paint my fingernails purple when we get home, please, Mommy?" she begged.

"Sure!"

"My toenails too?"

"OK!"

The twins found tiny plush puppies that they liked. Jade's was a Beagle, and Juniper's was a Dalmatian. By that time it was getting late and Reed was getting cranky, so I loaded our purchases and the kids into the car and drove home. By the time we got there, Reed was asleep. He woke briefly, and I gave him a quick bath, then nursed him back to sleep.

I returned to the living room to find a disaster. Nevada had gotten purple nail polish all over everything. Anger surged through me as I snatched the now-half-empty bottle from her. "Couldn't you wait just a few minutes?" I screeched.

"It was taking longer than that, Mommy, and I was tired of waiting," she whined.

I heaved a heavy sigh. "Come on, let's get you cleaned up."

After her and the twins' baths, I was so tired I fell asleep without unpacking our purchases. I woke up at about two or three in the morning and reached for Alexei, then remembered he was gone.

The two of them returned late the following morning. "Well, did you have lots of fun?" I asked my son.

"Uh huh!" He nodded emphatically. "First we went for a walk, and I saw a little black snake and got really scared, but Daddy said he wouldn't hurt me. Then we roasted hot dogs for dinner, and later on, we roasted marshmallows and sang songs. When it got dark, we laid on a blanket and looked up at the stars until I got really sleepy. Then we went into the tent and went to sleep."

"I'm so glad you had fun," I told him.

"So how were things around here?" asked Alexei.

I told him about the purple nail polish fiasco, and he laughed and shook his head. Then he unloaded the van, put the dirty clothes into the wash, and threw away the trash. When I went back into the house with him, I saw the purchases I'd forgotten to put away the previous night.

"I got this for you," I told Alexei as I handed him the bottle of cologne.

I smiled as I watched his eyes light up with joy. "My favorite! Oh, Addison, you know just how to make me happy!" He kissed my lips, but since the kids were still up and about, it was a short, chaste kiss. I pulled the CD of ambient music from the bag and showed it to him too, and he grinned.

That night, I emerged from the bathroom after my shower and entered our bedroom to find Alexei lying in bed, grinning at me. I could hear the music from the ambient CD playing in the background as he threw the covers off and stood, and I saw that he was naked.

"Oh, my God!" I gave a startled laugh, and as he came closer, I smelled the new cologne. Soon I was enveloped in it as he embraced me and kissed me deeply, our tongues dancing together.

We made love and then lay in bed holding one another tight. "That was awesome!" I murmured as I snuggled close to him.

"Very nice," he agreed. "We should do it more often."

For Nevada's seventh birthday, she told me she wanted to go to the beach. "Can we invite Jordan to come too? Please?" she begged.

Alexei and I exchanged glances. "I don't see why not," he replied. "There's enough room in the van for one more person."

"Hurray!" Nevada shouted.

I called Kennedy as soon as I got the chance. "Hey girl!" she exclaimed after I'd said hello. "What's going on?"

"We're all doing OK. Reed can sign a couple of words now. What's going on with you?"

"My babies are growing up so fast! Nicolai's taken Taylor out for a driving lesson, and Sonya just got her first period." She laughed. "I feel like I want to keep Jordan little for as long as I can."

"Speaking of Jordan, Nevada wants to invite him to her birthday party on the beach," I told her. "It's next Saturday. We'll pick him up at nine in the morning if that's OK with you."

"Cool! I'm sure he'll want to go. He always enjoys spending time with Nevada."

The following weekend, I got all the kids up and ready and settled in the van. I carried the cake I'd bought Nevada in my lap so it wouldn't get crushed. We stopped by the Shikovs and saw Jordan standing on the front porch in his swim trunks, waiting for us. When he saw us drive up, he grinned and came running.

Nevada opened the door for him. "Hi, Jordan!"

"Hi, Nevada. Wait till you see what I got you!"

"What is it?"

"Can't tell you. It's a surprise!"

"What color is it?"

"Can't tell you!"

"What letter does it start with?"

"Can't tell you!"

"Can't you even give me one little hint?"

"Nope!"

We arrived at the beach, parked, and got out of the van. I sat the cake and the rest of the food on the shaded picnic table. By then Reed was hungry, so I sat down, slid one strap of my swimsuit down, and began to nurse him. Jordan watched me, fascinated.

"This is how I feed him," I explained. "Have you ever seen a mother feed her baby like this before?"

He shook his head.

"Come on, Jordan!" Nevada hollered. "Let's go play on the raft!"

The five children played all morning, and Alexei helped the twins build a sand castle while I mostly stayed in the shade with Reed. Lunch was pimento cheese sandwiches and potato chips, and after it was over, I lit the numeral seven candle on Nevada's cake.

After everyone had eaten their fill, Nevada finally got to open her present from Jordan. It turned out to be a real gumball machine, with real gumballs to go inside it.

"Thank you!" Nevada exclaimed, hugging Jordan. "It's the best present I ever got in the whole wide world!"

We stayed at the beach until the sun began to set, and then Alexei drove Jordan home. "Good-bye!" Nevada crowed as he climbed out of the van.

"Good-bye!" he replied. "I really liked your party this year. It was lots of fun!"

We rode along in silence for a few minutes, and then Jade spoke up. "It itches, Mommy!"

"Me too!" Juniper chimed in. "All over!"

"Look how red I'm turning!" Montana held his arm out.

I noticed that Alexei's neck looked really red. "It looks like we all got a little too much sun," he remarked.

"But that sunscreen was SPF 50!" I exclaimed. "It should have worked better than that!"

Alexei gave me a knowing look. "Did you buy the store brand?"

"Well, yeah," I admitted. "I'm sorry."

By the time we got home, we were all quite miserable. I lathered aloe lotion on everyone, which helped a lot, but we all ended up looking like lobsters for a couple of days. After that we all started peeling, and there were little patches of dead skin all over the place.

Luckily, we'd all recovered by Reed's first birthday. I bought him an activity center that included a mirror, as I'd heard that deaf children love mirrors. We also bought him a wooden puzzle with cut-out animal pieces and several board books.

He smiled when he saw Aidan and Lauren walking up with five-month-old Winter. "Can you say hello?" I modeled the word in sign language, and he copied me perfectly.

"Oh, he's so clever!" Lauren exclaimed. She signed back to him, and he grinned.

"Look how gorgeous you are!" I crowed to Winter, who laughed. "You'd never in a million years guess what a rough start in life she got!" I continued to Lauren.

"Her doctor says she's doing very well," she told me. "He says that, except for the medications she has to take, she's just like any other baby her age."

"I'm glad to hear it."

Mom and Dad brought several new outfits in red and blue for Reed. "Oh, these are precious!" I exclaimed, holding them up. "I just love the little sailor outfit!"

Several days after the party, Montana started fifth grade and Nevada began second. They both adjusted well and made new friends, and in mid-September, Alexei and I took Reed for his pre-op appointment. We took Montana and Nevada to the bus stop first, then took the twins to stay with Alexei's mother.

"Thank you so much for taking the day off to be with us!" I said to my husband as we were on our way to Dr. Singer's office.

"Hey, no problem at all!" He smiled at me and squeezed my hand. "Of course I'll always be here for you when you need me!"

In the waiting room, we waited about twenty minutes for Reed's name to be called, and when it was our turn, the nurse lifted him and sat him on the scale. "Twenty-two pounds exactly." She handed Reed back to me and smiled. "Dr. Singer will be with you in just a few minutes."

"This is really it," I said to Alexei after she'd left the room. "They really are about to operate on our baby."

He gave me a reassuring hug. "Everything will be all right."

Dr. Singer breezed into the room, slid River's chart into its slot, and smiled at us. "So, how is this little guy doing?" she asked as she reached for our son.

"He's just fine!" I told her. "He can already sign seven or eight words."

"Glad to hear it!" She gave Reed a brief examination. "He appears to be in excellent health. I see no reason why surgery can't proceed as scheduled on Thursday. It's slated to begin at one, and I'll need you to be at the hospital by eleven. Come to the surgery center on the second floor, and we'll get him registered."

"How long will the procedure take?" I asked.

"No longer than an hour and a half at most. I'm going to admit him afterwards, and we'll keep him for a couple of days just as a safeguard against complications."

"What complications?" I felt a huge lump growing in my throat.

"A slim possibility of excessive bleeding or infection, although we'll be administering prophylactic antibiotics, so chances of any complications at all will be minimal."

"How long will his recovery take?" asked Alexei.

"There will be some packing in his ears, which I'll remove a week later. We'll test his hearing a few days after the operation, then at one-month and two-month intervals after that."

"Will he be in a lot of pain right after the surgery?" I wanted to know.

"He may experience some ringing or buzzing in his ears afterwards, but he shouldn't experience much real pain. Any other questions?"

Alexei and I shook our heads, and she dismissed us. We were silent as we returned to the car and I strapped Reed into his seat.

"Are you all right?" Alexei's brown eyes were soft with compassion as his hand rested on my upper leg right before he cranked up the van to drive back home.

I sighed. "Yeah, I guess so, but even though I've already been through ear surgery with Nevada, I can't help but be just a little bit scared. This is a whole different thing, you know."

"Yeah." He drove in silence for awhile. "He'll be fine, Addison. Dr. Singer's an excellent surgeon."

"I know, but..." I stared at my hands in my lap as I let my voice trail off.

Alexei patted my leg. "He'll be fine."

We arrived home to find Sonya pushing Jade on the swing while Juniper played in the sandbox. At about five months along, she had to wear maternity clothing.

She looked up we approached. "How did it go?"

"Surgery's scheduled for Thursday," Alexei told her. "How have you been?"

"All right. I felt the baby move for the first time last night."

"That's great!" I enthused. "I'll bet you're glad now you didn't have the abortion!"

She only smiled as she said good-bye to us. Juniper jumped up out of the sandbox and came running to give me a hug.

"Stop me, Daddy!" yelled Jade. Alexei stopped her swing, and she jumped out and then ran to give him hug.

Thursday morning, I took Montana and Nevada to the bus stop, then took the twins to Mom's to stay for the day. After dropping them off, I returned to find Alexei reading the newspaper.

"Is he still asleep?" I asked.

Alexei looked up and nodded. "I didn't see any point in getting him up until we absolutely have to."

I went into the bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed, watching my son's chest gently rise and fall and thinking about how tiny he was to be going under the knife. He shifted in his sleep and, not wanting to awaken him prematurely, I rejoined Alexei in the living room. The minutes seemed to drag by, and when ten o'clock arrived, I awakened Reed and dressed him in his new sailor suit.

He was still a bit drowsy and rested his head on my shoulder as we walked out to the car. I buckled him into his seat, and Alexei drove us to the hospital. When we got there, I moved Reed from his car seat to the stroller. He awakened just long enough to sign 'bye-bye' before falling back to sleep.

We found the check-in desk, and I signed Reed's name on the list, then asked the receptionist where the waiting room was. "Down the hallway past the clock, then to your left," she told me.

"Thanks." We walked the short distance to the waiting room and found seats. Alexei excused himself to use the restroom, and I went myself as soon as he came back. Alexei stared at the television while I took the romance novel I'd brought along out of my purse and was soon immersed in it.

We'd been waiting for about half an hour when a very young woman called us into a tiny room and then entered Reed's medical history and our insurance information into her computer. "The pre-op nurse will be with you shortly," she told us. We returned to the waiting room and waited another thirty minutes or so before hearing Reed's name being called again.

"I'm Sandy," the plump, middle-aged, smiling woman in surgical scrubs told us. "Please come with me."

She led us into a long room with five or six cubicles along one wall and a counter and restroom along the other. She ushered us into one of the cubicles, where Alexei motioned for me to take the large green cushioned recliner while he sat in the small brown chair. I took Reed from his stroller and held him in my arms. He was wide awake now and gazing at his new surroundings with eyes filled more with amazement than fear.

A young man who also wore scrubs came in a few minutes later. He was average-sized with dark brown hair and a beard. "I'm Dr. Arnold, the anesthesiologist," he told us. "I'll be monitoring your son while he's in surgery. Do you have any questions for me?" I couldn't think of any, so I glanced at Alexei, who shook his head.

"Fine, then. The nurse will be in to start an I.V. soon."

Reed waved to Dr. Arnold as he left. "Oh, you're so sweet!" The anesthesiologist smiled, obviously not realizing that Reed couldn't hear him.

A second woman appeared some twenty minutes later or so. "I'm Patty," she told us. "And how is this young man today?"

She handed me a hospital gown to change Reed into, then took him from me. As soon as I let go of him, he began to cry. "Sh, sh," Patty soothed. "It'll be all right." He showed no reaction whatsoever, of course.

As she splinted his arm and started the I.V., he screamed. She shushed him some more as she placed him on the gurney and began to wheel him away. The sedative quickly took effect, and he fell asleep.

I ran my hand over his head and kissed him. "See you soon, little one," I whispered. "I love you."

Alexei and I stood with our arms around one another as we watched our baby disappear behind the large green double doors of the operating room.

As soon as the doors closed, we looked at one another, then walked back to the waiting room and sat down. "Everything will be all right." Alexei patted my hand, then covered it with his own and squeezed it. The warmth of his flesh covering mine brought me much-needed comfort.

We just sat like that for a long time, thoughts racing through my mind. What if the surgery didn't work? What if there were complications?

After what seemed like forever, Dr. Singer finally emerged from the operating room. "Everything went just fine," she told us with a smile. "Reed's sleeping peacefully in recovery. We'll move him to his room in an hour or so, and you can go back and see him then."

"Whew!" I let out the breath I'd been holding.

Alexei grinned at me. "See? I told you everything would be fine!"

I reached for him, and he enveloped me in a bear hug.

Holding hands, we returned to the waiting room, where I rested my head on Alexei's shoulder until we heard Reed's name being called.

"I'm his Mom!" I practically shouted, jumping up.

"Reed's in room two twenty-four," the nurse said with a smile. "I'll take you back to see him."

Alexei and I followed her back to room two twenty-four, where we saw Reed lying fast asleep in a crib with an IV in his arm.

"Oh my God, he looks so tiny!" I exclaimed, walking to the side of the crib, where I stood stroking my son's tiny head.

"He's receiving a slow drip of pain medication," the nurse told us. "Because of that, he'll probably sleep for most of today. If he does well through the night, we'll slowly wean him off it tomorrow."

"How soon can he eat or drink?"

"Why, as soon as he wants. He hasn't had anything to eat or drink since before midnight last night, you know." She laughed.

"Can he eat the foods he normally does?"

"Of course! The call button is right here next to the crib. Just let us know when he gets hungry, and we'll bring him something to eat."

"Thanks." I sat beside the crib watching Reed's chest rise and fall. He stirred but didn't awaken.

Alexei patted my hand. "I'm going to call your mother and tell her he came through surgery all right." I nodded.

Lost in my own thoughts, I continued to watch my sleeping son until my husband returned. "What did she say?" I asked him.

"Everything at home's fine," he told me. "The twins are taking a nap, and your father's gone to pick Montana and Nevada up from the bus stop."

Around four, Reed began to stir and then awakened and began to cry. I picked him up and held him close until his sobs diminished. "Are you hungry?" I signed to him.

"Eat," he signed back.

I pressed the call button, and a nurse appeared a couple of minutes later. "Reed's hungry," I told her.

"What would he like, some nice sliced fruit, perhaps?"

"That would be good."

She brought apples, pears, and bananas cut up into toddler-sized bites and sat the tray down. I handed Reed a bit of apple, and while he was eating it, he grabbed a piece of banana, squished it in his hand, and giggled. Alexei and I looked at one another, rolled our eyes, and laughed.

"Why don't you go to the cafeteria and get some dinner yourself," Alexei suggested after we'd fed Reed and cleaned him up.

I wasn't really very hungry, but I went to the cafeteria and ate a few bites of a hamburger and a few french fries anyway. While I was there, I heard someone call my name and looked up to see Donna smiling at me. Two nurses I didn't recognize were with her.

"Hey! How's it going?" I asked her.

"All right. Different with you not around anymore. So how's life as a stay-at-home Mom working out for you?"

"Busier than I ever could have imagined! A lot harder than being a nurse! At least I used to get an occasional break!"

We both laughed. "So what brings you back here?" Donna asked. "Nothing too serious, I hope."

"It's my baby, Reed. He was born deaf. He just had an operation that will hopefully give him at least some hearing."

"Oh, no! Poor little thing! I'm so sorry!"

"He can already hear really loud noises and can sign a few words. I hope he can hear even better now."

"I hope so, too. We just heard from Madison not too long ago. She's pregnant again. God, I sure hope she has a happier outcome this time. Losing Jayden was just so hard for them. How's the baby who got his heart doing?"

"She's doing fine! She's six months old now and can sit up and coo and laugh and do everything else babies her age do."

"I'm glad to hear it. I'll be sure and tell Madison. I know she'll be glad to hear it, too."

After awhile I gave up, tossed the rest of my dinner into the trash, and returned to Reed's room, where I found both him and his father asleep. I touched Alexei's shoulder to awaken him.

"Oh!" He startled awake. "Sorry. I guess I was even more tired than I thought."

"That's all right," I replied. "I just wanted to let you know I was back. I met up with Donna in the cafeteria. She told me Mitzi's pregnant again."

"That's good. Well, I guess I'll go home and relieve your parents now." He stood, reached into Reed's crib, and ran his hand over the top of our son's head. "Good-bye, little trooper. See you tomorrow."

He reached for me and took me into his arms, and I rested my head on his shoulder. "Will you be all right?" he asked.

"Yeah." We kissed, and he gave my hand one more affectionate squeeze and then was gone. I guess I must have underestimated how tired I really was, as I fell asleep not too long after that.

Reed and I both slept through the night, and Alexei returned after I finished breakfast the following morning.

"So did the kids get off to school OK?" I asked him.

He nodded. "Nevada's a bit impatient for you to get back home, but other than that, everything's fine."

It was not quite lunch time when Reed woke up screaming and holding his ears. I paged the nurse, who brought pain medication for him.

A couple of hours later, Dr. Singer came by to examine him. "How's he been?" she asked.

"He woke up in pain a couple of hours ago, but he's been fine since then."

She smiled. "Glad to hear it. If he continues to do well, he can go home tomorrow." She turned to Reed and signed 'bye-bye,' and he grinned at her.

Reed and I both dozed for awhile after Dr. Singer had left. Later in the evening, Alexei came by, and I asked him for an update on the kids who were still at home.

"Montana brought home this permission slip for you to sign." He handed the form to me. "His class is taking a field trip to the historic district downtown."

"That sounds like fun." I signed the form.