RELUCTANT PRESS

Sheldon and Barry were far enough apart in age to avoid serious problems, though Sheldon was jealous of the way his father constantly praised Barry for being such a willing and hard worker.

The relationship between Cindy and Sheldon was an altogether different story. At seven, Sheldon was at the age where prissy girls were an abomination. Cindy loved playing with her dolls and wearing pretty clothes. She loved being all sugar and spice and everything nice. Sheldon wanted to rough-house, play army, and generally raise hell. Unfortunately, due to the isolated location of their home no boys Sheldon's age lived nearby.

Things weren't too bad when the weather was nice, but when stuck indoors, Sheldon inevitably had Cindy running to her mother in tears. No matter how often Helen or Fred spanked or otherwise punished him, Sheldon didn't stop teasing Cindy. Even during the daily ride to and from school, Sheldon would pull off some prank to upset poor Cindy.

It was October when the Hunt family moved in with the Carvers. Helen and Fred married the following June, much to Sheldon's frustration.

Barry graduated from high school and began to work full time for Fred since he showed a natural proclivity for nearly every aspect of the construction business.

The home sparkled and the business boomed. Helen made a wonderful wife and mother. Cindy was a happy and helpful young girl while Sheldon remained a royal pain.

Everyone settled into becoming a single family although Sheldon remained a prankster and proved quite unruly and mischievous. Fred gave Barry more and more responsibilities in the construction business. The ambitious young man attended the local community college and earned an associate degree in business management. Fred discovered in Barry everything he'd ever dreamed of having in a son. Needless to say, Sheldon was somewhat neglected by his father and thus extremely jealous.

Once she became his step-mother, Helen assumed complete disciplinary responsibility for Sheldon. Fred was more

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TWO LITTLE GIRLS

By JENNIFER SUE

than content to let Helen run the house and take care of the younger children while he and Barry took care of the busi-

ness.

During his second year at the community college, Barry and Linda Green shared several classes. They hit it off rather well and quickly became a couple, getting engaged at Christmas and setting the wedding date for the end of June.

One rainy April Saturday, Mary Green, Linda's mother, and Ginny Grim, Linda's best friend, joined Helen in planning the wedding. Sarah Grim, Ginny's mother, worked at one of the most exclusive beauty salon in the nearby town had offered its services to prepare the bridal party.

Seven-year-old Cindy was thrilled to be allowed to sit in with the adults while they planned the wedding. She was simply delighted when they asked her to be the flower girl.

Nine-year-old Sheldon was stuck indoors with a house full of chattering women. His shenanigans earned him exile to the basement. Angry and bored, he decided to spy on the women to see what type of pranks he might be able to play to disrupt the wedding. By placing his ear against the return air duct from the living room, he could clearly hear their discussion. When Linda told Cindy she wanted her to be the flower girl, he winced to hear Cindy's delight.

"Cindy will be a perfect flower girl," gushed Helen. "Sheldon would be the ideal ring bearer since he and Cindy are the same size despite the two year age difference! They'd make a cute pair!"

Sheldon almost toppled from the ladder upon which he stood to reach the air duct when he heard Helen's suggestion. It really griped him that he was small-statured.

Linda looked at Helen and sighed. "I don't mean to offend, but knowing Sheldon," she asked, "can he be tamed enough to do the job without causing major problems?"

Helen was chagrined that she was unable to control her errant stepson. "Unfortunately I have to admit I'm not sure. Nothing can be certain where Sheldon is concerned except that there will be trouble!"

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