My first due that something was wrong was that Mom was at home when I got there after school. She's almost never home before six

o'clock.She has this important job with a big company inStamford and she works very hard. My brothers and I are used to looking out for ourselves after school.

Needless to say, I was surprised to find Mom sitting at the table in our kitchen at three-thirty in the afternoon. She wasn't doing anything - just sitting there.

"Mom?"I said, as I set mybookbag on the counter. "Are you sick?"

"No, honey, I'm fine," she replied.

"How come you're home? Is David Michael sick?"

"No, no. Everyone's fine. But, well, I just can't believe what happened today."

"Uh-oh," I said. "What?"

"For starters, the company wants to send me on a two-week business trip to Europe."

"Europe!" I shrieked. "Europe? What's wrong with that? London! Paris! Rome! Oh, Mom, can I come? Please? Are you going over the summer? I promise I'll be good. I'll stay out of your way. I won't ask you to buy souvenirs or anything.Just food. Please?"

Mom gave me a wry smile. "I'd like nothing better than to take you to Europe, sweetie," she said, "but unfortunately the trip is scheduled during the school year."

It was June. There wasn't much left to the

schoolyear. "You mean you're going now?" I cried. "Who'll stay with us?"

Morn shook her head. "I'm not going now. The trip is scheduled for September." She let that sink in. "I'm supposed to be in Vienna on the day of the wedding."

"Oops," I said.

"Oops is right."

"So have an October wedding," I suggested. "Think of it - a fall wedding with the leaves turning. It would be really pretty."

"I did think of it, actually," said Mom. "I was sitting at my desk, mentally adding sleeves to our gowns and changing the flowers from roses to chrysanthemums, when the phone rang. Guess who it was."