"Are you packed?"

"Yea. All I have to do is bring my bags downstairs. But I want to check my room and the rest of the house just to be sure I've got everything."

Julia rubbed her palms together eagerly, ready to push into the day. "Okay then! Finish up and we'll have brunch. Then we'll load you up and drive you to the dock."

"I thought I'd take a taxi..." she began. "Not on your life," Julia snapped with knitted brow but a smile beneath. "Bob and I will enjoy the ride, and the company." She trotted off toward the stairs, yelling for Bob to roust his lazy butt and get dressed.

Following her, Chris said, "Thanks, I'll only be a couple of minutes."

Julia took the stairs two at a time with Chris following more daintily.

At the dock, Chris was enthusiastically greeted by Mary as soon as she stepped from the boat. No sooner was she back in her apartment than the phone started ringing. Pleading for time to unpack, Chris promised all callers that she would be down for supper at 6:30.

Arriving a few minutes late, Chris expected to find her close friends, the Group, waiting for her. What she found froze her at the door in open-mouthed astonishment. A huge banner was strung across half the length of the cafeteria that said WELCOME BACK CHRISSY. Directly beneath it stood Mary and the other four girls, and beside them was what looked like the entire staff of Greystone, including Dr. Brown and Mrs. Ambrose. The roar of their boisterous yells and applause was deafening as Chris moved toward her friends in stunned amazement.

All at once there was a barrage of questions

about her vacation, every detail.

Chris was so

nonplussed by their incredible outpouring of concern and affection that her feelings went way beyond embarrassment. Yet at the same time she was enjoying being the center of so much attention. She kept hearing questions about the Millers, what she did, her shopping trips, what she bought, and a surprising number wanted to know about the men she met. There were even some suggestions, she thought from Mary and Tracy, that she model her new acquisitions for them after the party. Chris had little or no time for any response. Eventually, they all sat down to a huge buffet supper followed by a scrumptious chocolate After dessert, champagne flowed into

mousse.

crystal glasses.

There was a tapping of silver on glass for quiet and Mary stood beside Chris at the head of the long table. "To Chrissy," she toasted, "the first NEW WOMAN of Greystone!" There was a roar of approval and the bubbling wine disappeared as if by magic.

During a break in the ensuing chatter, Mary leaned close to Chris and announced, "Tomorrow you start working afternoons with the medical staff in the wards as a Trainee Medical Technician." Chris beamed and hugged her happily, then asked, "What about my afternoon routes?"

"Oh," Mary answered nonchalantly, "Julia as found us another young man to take over your chores in the office." She waited for the predictable reaction and was not disappointed.

Chris's mouth fell open in disbelief. "You mean....!" she gasped and motioned questioningly at her own body. "He's gonna go through what

I...?"

The question remained unanswered since the answer was obvious. Mary's toast had indicated more of the same was to come, but this soon?! Why