It was obvious to see that Margaret was a little uneasy. She was afraid that people would judge her, especially after the commotion that she caused at the funeral.

I put an arm around her and said, "You will have fun, Margaret. I promise. Just stick with me."

We were halfway into the room when two people dashed up to me and wrapped their arms around me, hugging me.

I recognized them in an instant and hugged them back. "Hansel. Gretel."

They pulled away from me and had on the biggest smiles that I had ever seen. Since the cancer diagnosis, they had not been happy.

"Hi, Margie," Hansel and Gretel greeted in unison.

"We were hoping that you would come," Hansel added. "Even after..." He noticed Margaret, and his eyebrows narrowed. "...what is she doing here?"

Margaret was on the verge of tears and attempted to not show it by looking away and covering the side of her face with her hand.

"I am glad that you asked, Hansel," I said, trying to speak as cheerful as I could. "She is here because I invited her."

"Why?" Gretel asked. "Not to say that you could not invite her, but you do remember that she tried to kill you off from this book series."

"I know, I know. I am fully aware of what she did. But last night and early this morning, we talked and...she realized that what she did was far from justice and apologized. I accepted her offer, and here we are."

Hansel did not buy it, and I knew that for a fact because that is exactly what he said.

"I am not buying it, Margie. Something seems...off."

"It is rare for my brother and I to agree on something..." Gretel stated. "...but I am with him on this one. The story sounds too good to be true."

"Are you guys not seeing Margaret?" I motioned to her. "She is so ashamed that she does not want to show her face to anybody. Does that not tell you something?"

"Yeah," Hansel responded. "She is pretending to be ashamed and is tricking you, Margie. Are you seriously falling for it?"

Gretel rested a hand on her twin's shoulder. "Hansel, if Margie says that Margaret is her guest, then we should allow it." She glared at me. "And Margie, if Margaret creates a disturbance in the atmosphere, she will have no choice but to leave."

I nodded. "I completely understand. However, I do not think that she will be a problem."

Hansel snorted. "She had better not be."

With that, they waved goodbye to me and Margaret - well, just to me - and I spotted Caleb, Cindy, and Cal, Caleb's son. They were by the punch bowl.

"Follow me, Margaret. I want to introduce you to more of my friends."

We strolled down to the punch bowl, and I waved to them to get their attentions.

"Caleb! Cindy!"

Caleb was using one of those big spoons that you use for punches to pour some punch into a glass. When I called his name, he jumped and accidentally spilled red punch on the table.

This alone freaked him out.

"Ah! I made a mess!"

Cal, not knowing that his dad was seriously panicking, pointed at the mess and laughed.

"Daddy made a mess! Daddy made a mess!"

Well, he was calling him his daddy.

I ran up to them and covered my mouth. "I am sorry, Caleb," I apologized. "I was unaware that I would startle you like that."

"It is okay," Cindy reassured me. "He was bound to make a mess some time soon."

I grabbed some napkins that were lying by the punch bowl and cleaned up the mess for Caleb. Meanwhile with Caleb, he, of course, was having yet another panic attack.

He had moved away from the table and was bent over, gripping the fabric of his shirt and breathing hard. Cindy strolled up to him and patted his back.

Cal remained by the table and helped me clean up. When we were finished, I thanked him.

"You are welcome," Cal replied. "My mom taught me that it is always nice to assist those who need help."

"Your mother could not be any more correct." I threw away the soaked napkins. "Hey, Cal. Would you like to meet a new friend?"

"Ooh. Is she as nice as my mommy and daddy?"

"She can be if she has friends who support her."

"Oh, no. What did she do?"

I was confused. "What makes you think that she did something?"

"You said that she needs support."

"Yeah. So?"

"I know where that usually leads to. A girl says that she needs support from the ones whom she is close to because she and her boyfriend did that sinful thing..." His eyebrows went up and down. "...and she became pregnant with four - no, five - babies."

I wanted to interrupt him, but he kept on yapping.

"The parents are extremely strict, so when they discovered that their teen daughter is pregnant, they yell at her and kick her out of the house. As for her boyfriend, he dumped her when he found out about his five babies because he is only in it for the fun and not for the consequences."

"Um...uh...you are a smart lad."

"Thanks. I got it from my dad. He has issues with women."

"Really? I think that he disproved that theory because he truly loves your mother."

"I am not talking about all women. In the past, he had bad experiences with them. His mother left him when he was my age, and he was abused for years by some girl that goes by the name of—"

I covered his mouth. "Do not ever say her full name."

"Help!"

I looked up and saw Margaret jumping up and down and screaming.

"Help! She needs help!"

I surveyed the room - until I saw Jorgie.

She was lying on the floor. Unconscious.