By noon even the most die-hard party-goers from the night before had woken up . A few nurtured a serious hangover, but youngsters these days normally didn't have to be told to avoid alcohol . For them that was the drink of old people, which made parenthood a lot easier .

Noriko's oldest, however had chosen to make an exception to that rule and apparently stole a bottle of strong liquor sometime during the night .

Christina watched him receive a verbal las.h.i.+ng of an epic scale from his mother . He deserved it, and it had to hurt twice as bad given his headache .

'James, keep your kids in check!' Because the real perpetrator had to be one of James' two kids . Around twenty both of them but with the sensibilities of high schoolers . Mix with an easy-going aura and it made for a bad combination .

'Noriko, my friend, we grew apart in the end, didn't we?' And yet Christina still considered Noriko one of her best friends . Throughout these last twenty five years they'd shared the most important moments, not all of them good, but important nonetheless . For very different reasons both were relatively young mothers, which was a mixed blessing to those kids .

Smiling Christina looked at the main reason why Noriko's son had chosen to drink himself into a stupor . Her daughter who stood on the hilltop looking down .

'Sorry kiddo . I know you have a crush on her, but she's in love with someone else . '

Noriko's son accepted the last of her scolding and threw Christina's daughter a sullen look . Then his face twisted into rage, and when Christina turned she saw her daughter's boyfriend climbing up the hill .

'It hurts, I know it does, but at least you have the blessing of your parents to love and hurt for all you're worth . Savour that freedom!' @@