When the fateful day arrived, Andrea came over to get me about an hour before she had to leave; that let her make sure I heard her tell them to behave themselves, and that they knew what their bed time was, and that they should go to bed just like they always did. The girls exchanged a look with each other at that, but I didn't think anything of it. Some time later, the cab Andrea needed showed up, and she left to catch the train that would take her the couple hundred miles to the town where her test was given. Emma and Gail wanted us to play a board game, but I told them that they needed to take care of their homework first. Andrea had told me that both of them had schoolwork to do almost every night, and I thought there was a pretty good chance that they'd try to get out of it without their mother there. The expressions on their faces told me that they'd tried to put one over on me, and it hadn't worked; with the admonishment that they needed to take care of school first, both went back to their rooms, leaving me alone to watch a little bit of television.

Not being much of a cook, I carefully followed the printed instructions Andrea had left for the casserole she'd made for us. My timing was almost perfect; the girls came into the kitchen to ask about supper just a couple of minutes before the timer went off, letting me know that the food was ready. Supper was casual, and informal; when it was over, both of them got up and quietly went about taking care of the dishes and leftovers. After they were done, I told them that I'd take both of them on in the board game they'd wanted to play. After Gail had beaten Emma, and thoroughly trounced me, the three of us sat in the living room to watch television. When their bed time came, both of them got up and let me know they were going to bed — and asked if it would be okay for them to kiss me good night. I said that it would, and they hurried back to their rooms to get ready for bed.

My attention was on the TV, so I didn't notice when they came back into the living room until one of them cleared her throat.