it's alright

February 2042 - Orlando and Sharla Bertoni are 36, Donna is 12, Veronica is 3 (Samantha Ottomas is 58).

Ever since Emma and her family moved to Bridgeport, Samantha has been coming over to visit more often.

"My kids are so far away now," she says. "David and Chris haven't been back since they moved to Twikkii Island, and Paul is so busy at that architecture firm in the city, he hardly ever comes to visit."

She's always happy to watch Veronica. Sharla and Orlando have been spending a lot of time at the market, and Donna has started working there too, so most weekends Samantha comes over to baby-sit.

Orlando handles most of the sales and customer relations.

Donna handles the restocking.

The market has a bakery where they sell Tara Jitkamusal's fresh-made pies and cakes.

They can barely keep Tara's pies on the shelves.

The reviewer from the local paper isn't too impressed by the customer service at the market, but even with his negative review, the business is doing pretty well.

*****

Donna is a pretty solitary kid, but not by choice. She doesn't have any good friends at school.

"Hey Adrien."

"Oh, uh hi. I'll see you in class on Monday."

She spends a lot of time playing basketball alone in the driveway.

She also calls her cousin Katie and her grandparents regularly.

Her parents have been especially busy lately. Orlando was just elected to the city council, and Sharla has been trying to expand the market. But every night they try to make time to have dinner as a family.

Veronica adores her big sister. "Will you toss me?"

"Sure," Donna says. "I'm almost done with dinner."

As the girls get older, Sharla has started to notice just how small the house is. Every morning there's a traffic jam in the bathroom.

"You really want to move?" Orlando asks.

"This place is too small, Orlando. Do you want to share a bathroom with two teenaged girls?"

"You're right. We'd better start looking at new places."