"Something wrong, sis?"

"Oh no… nothing. I just thought if you wanted coffee I…"

"Actually I'd rather have a beer. Coffee keeps me awake." He put the cover on his typewriter and stood up.

They went down the stain together, Robby slightly behind. Mona had the strangest feeling that he was trying to see through her gown. On the last step, he brushed against her. His arm pushed against the large softness of her breast. Mona pretended to ignore it, but her thoughts were troubling. It had been an accident, hadn't it? She felt odd. Maybe because she hadn't seen Robby during those first years of college. And he had changed so much since the days when she was eighteen and babysitting him. He'd been five then. Mona had been his regular sitter right up until his tenth birthday.

"Hey Mona, you okay?"

"Of course I'm okay. Let's have that beer."

Mona poured for both of them and thrown the empty bottles into the trash. She rarely drank anything alcoholic before going to bed but the occasion seemed to warrant it. She enjoyed her brother's company. They'd been friends while growing up. Not just because they shared the same parents either. They'd liked each other, gone to bat for each other in a pinch.

They drank the beer.

"You got any girlfriends?" Mona asked, feeling silly the minute the words were out of her mouth.

"Not at the moment," Robby smiled back.

"Seems like I don't have the time or the money." He smiled at her. Mona thought he looked suddenly younger. Like a kid again. Robby drank some beer. The kitchen seemed to be charged with some kind of excitement. Mona kept telling herself to relax. It was only her brother sitting there. And she was thirty-six… too old to let just one beer make her giddy.