“Addy, this is the second time that I’ve had to ask you to come in for dinner, so get moving. Now!” Lena Wallis let the screen door slam behind her as she raced over to the stove and pulled the pot of bubbling pasta water off of the burner just in time. She glanced at the clock on the stove and sighed in irritation. Mark was late. Again.

“Mommy, here I am,” Addy’s sweet voice came from the doorway, “Penny wanted to play longer, but she said you were mad so we should stop.”

“Penny said that, huh?” Lena took the pot over to the sink and poured the contents into the colander, “Well, at least she’s smart. Addy, go wash your hands and get ready for dinner.”

Lena took a scoop of pasta from the colander and put it into a small bowl. She stirred a tiny bit of butter into it, and added a sprinkle of salt and parmesan before taking it to the table and placing it in front of her daughter.

“Penny wants her own bowl, Mommy.”

“Penny can share yours,” Lena scowled at the rag doll that her four year old daughter had placed in the chair beside hers, “Mommy is stressed, Addy, so you and Penny need to cut her some slack, okay?”

“What does slack mean, Mommy?”

“Never mind,” Lena stirred the rest of the pasta into the skillet of meat sauce on the back burner. A burnt garlic smell suddenly permeated the room, “Shit!” she declared, as she searched for the pot holder, “I forgot about the damn garlic bread.”