Cindy pretended to be exasperated with her overly exuberant wife. "Mitch, honey. When were you thinking?"

I finally spoke up. "Next weekend?"

"Oh, sweetie, we have plans with Mitch's parents next weekend. How about the weekend after?"

I looked up at Iryna, eyes wide with the question, and she nodded. "That would be perfect. You can come on Friday and stay at the house, if you would like."

"Sure, that sounds great."

We chatted awhile longer, talking a little bit of Dawg's football. Embarrassingly I'd been so wrapped up in Iryna I'd only seen a few games this year., but I was able to contribute some. In the evening we...