The Astor/Rosensteel Household

Dianna sat up, about ready to throw in the towel and just start crying. She was so sick of Adam's practicing. Every day, without fail, he would whip out that wretched old thing and attempt to play something, and it always seemed to interrupt something she was doing.
But interrupting her nap was the last straw.
"ADAM!" Dianna screamed, stomping up the stairs and into his room.

Later that day (the day that Serenity chewed out Rachel for giving Dianna some Scotch), a striking man walked up to the Astor/Rosensteel home, with a brown box under his arm. There was a parcel delivery truck parked out on the street. The man rang the doorbell, feeling slightly intimidated by the huge house. He felt that any moment, some stuffy old white man or white woman would come up, take the package, and generally look rather angry. That was very common in the case of going to one of these gargantuan houses.

Oh well.

"Coming!" Serenity shouted, before running down the stairs and opening the door. Not quite a stuffy old lady- not for at least twenty five years.
"Sorry, I was preoccupied.." She said, sighing. Then, she looked him up and down, smiling slightly.
"Hi.. Uh, do I have to sign for this?"

Definitely not a stuffy old lady. A smile spread across his face. "Erm--yeah, here." He pulled the clipboard out from under his arm, and gave it to her. He took a pen out of the pocket on his shirt, and also gave it to her. "This is a beautiful house you have, ma'am," he said politely, trying to make small-talk.

Serenity laughed, despite having nothing funny to laugh at.
"Er, yeah. It's really new, I had it built around.. what, eight or nine years ago? It's too big for me now. Now that I'm divorced." She added on. One of the most important rules, establish that you're single.

"I'm sorry to hear that," he said, looking at her right in the eye. "How long ago have you been divorced?"

"Oh, it was around a year and a half ago, now. It's been a while. He was cheating on me, you know, the usual- saying he was working late.. Say, would you like to come in for a soda? I'm sure you could take a quick delay from your route." Serenity asked, trying not to smile TOO much and seem fake.

"That's terrible, ma'am... but, yes, I'm sure I can take a few minutes. That's very kind of you," he said, stepping in. "Do you live all by yourself in this house?"

Damn. Kids always scare them off.

"Um, no.. I have custody of my son, and daughter, who go to visit their dad once every couple weeks or so. They're getting older, though. They go to a boarding school most of the year." Serenity said, hoping that would make up for it.

"Oh, that's nice! I always wanted to have kids, but my late wife never did." He shrugged, his grin faltering a little. "She had cancer and didn't want it to pass down."

"Oh, I'm so sorry.." Serenity said, as was required. "I'm Serenity, by the way. Serenity Rosensteel."

"I'm Hank, Hank Williams," he said, holding out his hand for her to shake. "It's very nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too. Oh, I almost forgot.. What kind of soda do you prefer?" She asked, getting into the refrigerator.

"Coke, please," he said, making sure to be polite. Not only was it part of his job, but it was very rare that a cute woman would offer him into her house. He had to make sure he made a good impression.

So, she got him out a Coke and gave it to him, still smiling. "Well, Hank, any time you want to stop by, go ahead. You're always welcome to a soda."

He opened up the can, and took a drink of it. "Why, thank you. It's very nice of you to invite me in. I'm afraid I must be going, but ah... do you have a piece of paper? I can write down my number, and my e-mail address so we can keep in touch. We should hang out sometime."

"Oh, yeah, right here!" Serenity exclaimed, getting out one and a pen. "I'd love to hang out sometime. Maybe, I don't know.. Get some coffee."

Hank wrote down his number and e-mail, giving her the paper and pen in return. He started to leave when he turned around and set the package on her kitchen table. "I need you to sign that form I gave you..." he laughed, looking a little embarrassed for forgetting.

A few days after all the stuff went down at the Sawyer Household, Dianna Astor was sitting in her room. It was nighttime, and it was cool outside- the summer air was flowing through her open windows.
Dianna had matured nicely, and although she wasn't quite as tall, or not nearly as shapely, as she would have desired, her face had evened out and she wasn't quite the frail, big-eyed child she used to be. She was lying on her bed with her hair strewn around her pillow, doodling rabbits in a notebook, trying to ignore the sound of her broken fan clicking above her.
Her fluffy cat jumped up onto the bed next to her, purring. Dianna grinned at him, and tossed the notebook aside to put the cat on her lap. "Hi, kitty kitty. Yeah, the fan is annoying.. I wonder if I could stay in the guest room or something." She mumbled, scratching the cat behind the ears.