Jodie and Mack's Visit
by Mitch

It was a pleasant afternoon when they drove up into the driveway of the house in Woodland.
Jodie came out of the car and waited on Mack. Even when Mack met her in front of the
door, she still felt nervous. After all, she hadn't met Daria since high school. Jodie
wondered what, if anything, might change her. She also wondered if Daria would even
remember her and Mack.

"Nervous?" asked Mack.

Was it that obvious?

"Yeah, some," replied Jodie.

"Relax. Daria was always kind enough to both of us, at least, more than she was to some people."

"I suppose..." Jodie felt better now. After all, this was their vacation and they decided to catch up with Daria just to see how she was doing these past few years. Jodie rang the doorbell.

A woman who looked like she was in her late thirties answered the door. Jodie
immediately recognized her as Daria, a little taller, a little developed as a woman, but still
with her glasses, hair, and bored expression. Jodie tried to break the proverbial ice.

"Daria, hi! Remember us?"

"Jodie and Mack? I haven't seen you since, well, you know..."

"Same here."

"So, what's up?"

"Well, we just wanted to say 'hi'. Are you busy or..?"

"No. Come in. Just watch out for the cat hairs. I knew I should have had her 'fixed'."

"What?"

"Just kidding. I used to do that, remember?"

"Oh, yeah. Uh, Jane helped us find you. She said that you're not into visits but we chanced it."

"Well, she's right."

Jodie thought how it seemed just like Daria to be living alone when suddenly a man wearing grunge clothes (which by then were out of fashion) and spiky hair showed up.

"Company, Daria?" he asked, "Their not selling us internet magazines, are they?"

"I haven't asked yet. Jodie, Mack, this my husband, Trent. Trent, you remember Jodie and Mack from, well, you know, -that- day."

Trent looked thoughtful for a second.

"Oh, yeah. Hey."

"Uh, 'hey' yourself." Jodie never thought of Daria as the marrying type, much less than to someone who seemed like a grunge rocker. Still, at least he seemed nice. Now she felt like a jerk about thinking of Daria as a loner. After all, she always figured that Daria would have a nice social life if given half the chance. She deserves some happiness, Jodie thought. Daria and Trent sat on a "love seat" while Jodie and Mack sat on a couple of chairs.

"So," started Daria, "what are you two doing these days?"

"Well," started Jodie, "I'm the president of a small charity drive for disadvantaged high school students. Mack's a P.E. teacher."

"You...?" inquired Mack.

"Well, I'm a novelist/freelance magazine article writer. Trent used to be in a band but now he's freelance guitarist."

"Of course, I don't practice at home that much anymore."

"Why is that?"

"Well..." Trent and Daria seemed to be garbling for words. Jodie felt uncomfortable. It looked like she had stumbled onto something personal. Could it be that Daria's fairy tale like life was just that, a story happier than reality, and that she and her husband weren't as happy as they seemed?

Then, a new sound came from the hallway. Jodie got up and followed it wondering what it
was. When she found it, nothing could have prepared her for it. It was in a playpen. It was a
baby. It was now waking up. Jodie looked at it. It was black haired and looked vaigly like
Daria, so it must have been a girl. The child looked at Jodie, apparently confused. Jodie could share the feeling, she never saw Daria as the motherly type.

"Hey, Jodie, what's..."

The approaching Mack stopped himself when he saw the baby girl.

"So," said Daria, "What do you think of Lucille?"

"She's beautiful," said Jodie while Lucille reached to Jodie's hair.

"I gotta warn you. Lucille's a little...," the baby grabbed Jodie's hair, "curious."

"I see..."

Lucille seemed to tell that Jodie was displeased and let go, looking a little sad herself.
Jodie put her hand through Lucille's hair to try to cheer her up.

"You must be proud," Jodie told Daria.

"We are," said Trent who had just joined them, "It's just that I have to rent a studio to practice without disturbing her and also, we're both kinda new at this."

"I think we're learning fast," said Daria, "although we're not into buying tacky baby stuff or even into talking baby talk."

"Do you think that's a good idea?"

"Well, she seems happy enough."

"Well, Jodie and I are living together," said Mack, "but we're not sure how far we'll go."

"Mack..."

"I mean, if we're going to raise a family."

Trent grinned and said, "Don't look at us for advise. We just live it. We don't teach it."

"Well, it was great to see you two," said Jodie motioning to hug Daria.

"Uh, Jodie..."

Jodie remembered that Daria wasn't into hugging and instead extended her hand for a handshake which Daria accepted. The two couples then parted company as Jodie and Mack got in their car and drove off to their home in the town of Middlewood.

THE END