Well, we�ve met The Boyfriend. Meeting him reassures me that Kat basically likes her parents. He has Mr. Philately�s up-and-down build and basic quietness and he has my talents with syrup (as he demonstrated at lunch by getting his shirt, his knife, and the general area all sticky). What�s not to like?

Kat must like him because she was up and ready for him at 8:30 a.m. His parents dropped him off on their way to work. Kat rose with her own alarm. That in and of itself is a miracle. Many mornings I throw her comforter on the floor in an attempt to see even the slightest sign of life. The other miracle was that it was early morning and she was charming. She doesn�t get up until 10:30 a.m. on a Saturday for the rest of us and, if forced to get up earlier, I assure you she is not charming.

Day-Hay, as expected, resented him deeply. The only thing that kept her alive on Saturday was his restraint. At one point I had to rescue the poor guy from her grasp�literally. She didn�t want him to go where Kat was and she was lying on the ground with her legs locked around one of his legs. He was perfectly capable of escaping but he didn�t want to hurt her. Kat was not sure his restraint was a point in his favor.

I spent the day working extremely hard. Originally, the rule was that Kat�s bedroom door had to be open if they were in there. It soon became obvious that the rule came with a Day-Hay override. Without a closed door, I did not stand a chance. Neither did the happy couple. Although someone with good hearing can hear almost everything that goes on in this house, a few silences did require me to come up with excuses for entering that room. I do hope it wasn�t too transparent when I asked if my sandals were in there. My sandals are much too good for me to take any risk that they�d disappear in there.

Mr. Philately, being a guy and far less sensitive, didn�t bother to come up with excuses when he got home from work. He just knocked on the door and said, �I�m checking on you because I have to.� Man, I admire that creativity. Some day I�d like to be that creative.

Eventually, Mr. Philately passed the most difficult test of all. After Kat and The Boyfriend were at our house, they went over to his house for a while. He lives a bit away so his dad suggested that he and Mr. Philately meet at a gas station between the two houses to exchange Kat once again. Mr. Philately was the one who found himself saying, �If you�re going to have a goodnight kiss, go ahead and get it over with.� Poor dad!

I do hope love is easier the second time around.

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