An end to bachelorhood

Tonight is my last evening of bachelorhood. For a while, anyway. Mary and One are bedded down in a hotel a mere 4-1/2 hours drive away, which means by the time I get home from work tomorrow, I won’t have to depend solely on the dogs for my welcome.

Sidebar: This is not to say the dogs don’t welcome me heartily or that I’m not happy to see them after a day of human stuff. But their welcome dances, focused as they are on being fed and petted and such, has something of a dog-centric cast to it.

Anyway, Mary has been gone for about a month, the longest we’ve been apart since we got together (mumble) years ago. Daughter One was here much of that month and I can’t tell you how much I’ve enjoyed having her within reach, but she’s not Mary (no offense, kiddo).

So, tonight I got her coffee creamer (Blech! How can she drink that stuff?) and did an extra sweep and tried to make the dog bed look like Zoey hadn’t been gnawing on it. And tomorrow, after hugs, we’ll talk about how the family’s doing and her adventures in Florida and plans for the weekend and watch a favorite TV show together.

Nothing special.

Okay, that’s a lie. It’s all special.