The shopping trip was completed in short order with Alice’s help.  They let the boys pick out the flavors (chocolate cupcakes with vanilla frosting) and also the sprinkles.  Alice made sure Dana bought the few items they needed for the mix along with a cupcake pan and liners.  

During the trip, Alice volunteered to go to Dana’s house to help in baking.  Dana readily accepted the offer and Alice followed her over in her car.  She was pleasantly surprised to find that Dana only lived a couple blocks away from her.

That being said…  It was almost like another world.  Dana’s house was quite a bit larger than her own little rental and boasted a pool.  As they walked in to get to the kitchen, they passed an office and a workout room.  It was all very homey and lived-in, but, Alice was a bit overwhelmed.

Dana picked up on it and tried to put her guest at ease.  “The house is a bit big.  I bought it when I was thinking of having kids and had in my mind a larger family than I ended up with.”  She really didn’t flaunt her wealth, but, she had a very set idea for what she wanted in her dream house and made sure to get it.  

Alice was quick to reassure the other woman.  “It’s nice.  You obviously take good care of it but it also seems like you live in it.  I have seen too many ‘McMansions’ where rooms are almost to the point of being roped off the make sure no one enters.”  Dana smiled and nodded.  She never wanted a house that was non-welcoming.  She thought you could live comfortably and have a nice home at the same time.

“Can we go swimming, mom?”  Alex asked as they got in the kitchen.

“No swimming today, guys.  We need to stay in the kitchen and can’t come out and watch.  You can either hang out in the play room or in Alex’s room.”

“Play room.”  Alex said simply as the boys ran off.

“Must be nice having the pool.”  Alice said as they unpacked the groceries.

“It’s nothing too fancy.  I just like to do laps.”  Dana said simply.  That put the image of Dana in a bikini in Alice’s mind.  She reluctantly left her musing when everything was unpacked and they set about making the cupcakes.  Alice was there if Dana had any questions, but, she let the other woman do the work.  Alice could see that Dana was not afraid of the kitchen itself as she made short work of getting the batter mixed.