It’s eight in the evening and they still haven’t arrived. I’ve gone to the window three times, but I haven’t seen them even from a distance. I hope the kids don’t understand my nervousness, even though David has already offered me a tranquilizer. But no drugs for me, I want to be one hundred percent lucid, with just the intoxicating touch of a glass of red wine throughout the meal. In the bedroom area. The kids are surprisingly calm. Mathew is quietly reading a book, Sophy has decided to watch TV, Hank is running around with his toy cars, and John is clean, dry, asleep in a sound sleep on his little bed. David is ready, dressed in a plaid shirt and a dark blue tie, under a red tank top. I didn’t choose his clothes myself, but he knows how I like him to dress on these occasions. He just forgot that I hate it when he sits in the kitchen eating the hors d’oeuvres while his guests haven’t even arrived yet.

The harsh but shrill sound of the doorbell echoes throughout the house. I run to the entrance, however one of the little ones was quicker than me and has already opened. I hear footsteps coming up the stairs and wait expectantly for who will appear. The shrill cries of my nephew George reveals that it’s Helen, my beloved middle sister. As she walks up the stairs, she shows me a huge chocolate cake, no doubt a creation of hers. As sweet as she is, she’s no good at cooking, so I take the plate and push it away from me, at the same time kissing her affectionately. I re-enter the house at the front, hand David the cake and invite her to sit in the living room.

- How’s my dear brother-in-law doing? - Helen asks with a kind smile.

They greet each other with a kiss on the cheek, David makes small talk and the two of them remain at the table, where I have placed all kinds of appetizers. I take the opportunity to go to the kitchen to put the cake in a plastic bag and put it by the open window so that the whole house doesn’t smell of sour.

- What beautiful starters, you are getting better and better - Helen noticed, trying to get me into the conversation, obviously fed up with David’s futility.

- I saw how to do it in a new magazine, look how well the ham and ham are decorated - I say, still from the kitchen, and then enter the living room, staring at my nephew, who hasn’t destroyed anything yet.

I call my children, with Mathew and Sophy arriving in annoyance to greet their aunt and cousin. I pick up the youngest and carry them on my lap. Helen is delighted with John, clearly her favorite, she picks him up and is dazzled by his smile. He is very shy, so he just stares at his aunt with his finger in his mouth.

- Can I take you home with me? - Helen jokes, and John somehow understands her and asks to come back to my lap, arms wide open.

The doorbell rings again. My heart is startled that I have to put my two sisters together in the same room, but I put John on David’s lap and go to open the door. I wait for her to appear on the stairs, until I finally see her, in a dress that is perhaps too formal for an evening like this. It looks like an evening outfit, black with scattered sparkles, green like the color of her eyes.

- You look beautiful, Joan - I compliment, before hugging her and smelling her sweet, no doubt very expensive perfume.

- This old thing? - she replies, with her usual small smile that she gives only once in a while.

She walks into the house without me saying anything to her and I stand still for a second not knowing what to do. I take a deep breath to go after her, unprepared for anything that might happen. The two of them are static when they see each other, as if they weren’t expecting to meet. Helen moves towards Joan and gives her a hug. Joan responds by squeezing hard. Suddenly, they are the best friends in the world. I’m left thinking that I’ve worried for so long for nothing. After all, the reunion of my two sisters was painless, peaceful. The rivalries of other times seem over, as if a sponge had been passed over everything bad that happened.

- My dear, you are getting younger and younger - compliments Helen.

- And you’re getting thinner every day - says Joan.

In the middle of the compliments there is a silence, which I feel obliged to fill with a sentence that comes from the bottom of my heart:

- How nice it is, the three sisters being reunited.

I give them both a hug and stay with them for as long as possible. The conversation stays lively until dinner, when I bring out the plates of appetizers and get everything ready. I start by bringing a carrot soup, which is soon after widely praised. I got the recipe from a book I was given for my birthday, just about soups, with very nice ideas. Next, it’s the turn of my specialty, which I have been perfecting all year to be just right. Everyone eats greedily, which silences the conversation for a few moments, until the dish is completely empty. I confess that I never imagined it would be such a great success, but I can’t hide the joy that everyone was satisfied:

- I should have made more, what a shame.

Just at this point the conversation resumes, at this moment with a full and comfortable belly. Meanwhile, I keep an eye on the kids’ table, which I set up for them to be more comfortable. They are all eating well, except for John, who is in his chair sleeping, because I gave him dinner a little earlier.

- Your George is getting bigger and bigger - says Joan to Helen.

- He is a little man - Helen agrees with a smile.

- Too bad he lacks a father figure - Joan says in a comment that almost seems malicious. But it’s not possible, they were getting along so well.

- Who wants dessert? - I ask, to change the subject.

The only one who answers affirmatively is David, so I keep quiet, waiting for someone else to say something. From the kids’ table, they all shout in unison asking for dessert, so I get up and go to the kitchen while I get the plates up. Helen, followed by Joan, offer to help me, to which I indicate with authority that I don’t need anything. Everyone eats dessert in silence, except at the kids’ table. It’s not normal, this time not because of gluttony: there’s a strange atmosphere hanging in the air that I can’t explain where it comes from. Everything stays the same until the end of dinner, with no one saying a single word. We all get up from the table and go into the living room, which is right next door. Helen stays in an armchair and George imitates his mother, occupying the other armchair. David and I stay on the sofa, next to Joan. I try to encourage the kids to go play in the bedroom, so that the adults can have some quiet. Everyone obeys, except George, who stares at the chair where little John is.

- How wonderful that the three of us are together for another year - I declare - what’s new?

- Always the same monotony - answers Joan, turning to Helen.

- Not everybody has a monotonous life - says Helen, leaving a silence in the air.

Everyone waits for her to complete the statement, to say something, but she simply lowers her eyes, as if embarrassed.

- Our Helen has something new, what is it? - Joan asks.

- Nothing, I don’t have anything new to tell you - Helen takes refuge.

- Come on, Helen - Joan insists - did you get a new boyfriend?

Helen looks at Joan and then immediately puts her eyes on the floor, as if she were grounded.

- Helen isn’t interested in meeting new men - I say to try to cheer her up - she’s had enough.

- And why not? - Interrupts David - she is a beautiful woman.

I stare at David to make him realize that he should be quiet. He understands my signal and turns his back slightly to me, sulking as usual.

- David is right - Joan insists - tell your sisters who it is.

- Helen doesn’t have anyone, let’s leave her alone - I conclude, diverting the subject to a cute outfit I saw at the mall last week.

Joan is not happy, by the angry face she makes, but at least she refrains from talking about the same boring subject. The subject now centers on how cold it is and the flu the kids have been getting. The conversation goes on normally and the time passes quickly, without any jolts or arguments.

It’s getting late and the kids are getting restless, which is a sign that the night is ending. The first to leave is Joan, maybe to go somewhere else with her friends. Soon after it’s Helen’s turn, with George whimpering from sleep. And so it ends another night with the sisters together, another year has passed. It’s amazing how the years go by so fast, I still remember when my oldest was a baby and they were both so young, and Joan was still in college. Everything is so different now. I miss those times, when David and I were still a couple of lovers and there were not so many worries as today. So ends another night of the sisters’ dinner and another year that begins, probably another heap of endless days, one after the other, all the same.

Next Chapter: Joan - January 8th evening