This little piggy went to market,
This little piggy stayed home,
This little piggy had roast beef,
And this little piggy had none,
And this little piggy went wee, wee, wee
All the way home.

"I’m going to the store, do you need anything?"  Liz poked her head into her husband’s study.

Max looked up from the computer screen he was working on.  "I don’t think so.  Is everybody going?"

"I think so.  Don’t forget to pick up Caleb from school, ok?"

Max nodded and looked back at the screen.  "I won’t.  Three o’clock, right?"

"Yep."  Liz dropped a kiss on top of his head and headed out the door.  "I’ll see you soon."

"Bye."  Max answered absently.

"Hey, babe."  Maria greeted Liz with a hug.  "How’s life in the Evans household?"

Liz shrugged.  "Pretty good.  Caleb got into the paint we were keeping in the garage, and was sky blue for most of last night.  Other than that, Max is absorbed in writing, and I’m constantly studying."

Maria laughed, shaking her hair out of her face.  "Don’t worry, babe. You’ll get your thesis done."

Liz rolled her eyes.  "God, I hope so.  I’m so sick of it.  Anyway, how are you?  Where’s your mom?"

"She decided she wanted to stay home with Emma and Joey today.  They are both still getting over colds, and she doesn’t fully trust Michael with either of them.  I don’t know why.  He never dropped Cody or Mary.  At least, not that he told me about."

"I still think it’s so weird that you and your mother went into labor the same day,"  said Liz.

Maria snorted.  "So do I.  I saw 'Father of the Bride 2' where that happened, but I never thought my son and my sister would be the same age.  And I never thought they would be born less than 2 hours apart.  That’s just weird."

Liz shrugged, then looked around.  "Where ARE they?"

"Don’t stress, chica.  I’m sure they are coming.  Alex doesn’t want Isabel driving now, so Tess is escorting her around.  I bet Isabel had to pee.  Twice."

Just that second, Tess strode in, followed by a waddling Isabel.  Isabel was chewing blissfully on a sandwich.

The girls grabbed their grocery carts and took off into the store.  They had done this together so often that they could fly through the place without the kids there.

"Isabel,"  Liz said as they browsed for laundry detergent, "Do I even want to know what’s in that sandwich?"

Tess shuddered.  "Definitely not.  I thought my cravings were weird when I was pregnant with Natalie, but this beats all of ours, I think."

"What did you crave, Tess?"  said Isabel around a mouthful of sandwich.  "I forgot."

"Cinnamon hearts, oddly enough.  I put them on everything, Kyle thought I was nuts."

"Michael’s gotten used to mine by now.  He keeps an eye out for me eating peanut butter and tuna fish sandwiches."

"Ewwww!"  Tess and Liz chorused, shuddering.

Isabel looked intrigued.  "That sounds good."  She looked down at the half eaten sandwich in her hand.  "I think that roast beef and anchovies make a pretty good combo, but you have to add sugar to make it sweet enough."

Even Maria made a face at that suggestion.  "I think I’m done with all my cravings.  Well, except for the normal chocolate ones.  And Ben and Jerry’s is on sale!  Yes!"  Maria rummaged around in the freezer compartment, still talking,  "Joey is our last.  Three Guerin hellions terrorizing the town is enough, thanks."

Liz looked thoughtful.  "I wouldn’t mind having another.  I think Caleb would love a little sister."

Maria slammed the freezer door, triumphantly clutching a carton of Chocolate Fudge Brownie.  "I doubt that.  When Mary was born, Cody took one look at her and said his first word."

"What was that?"

"Yuck!"

Isabel laughed and grabbed some spagetti noodles as they walked by that section.  "I don’t know how Tyler is going to adjust to having this one around.  I’m not too worried, he’s pretty easy going."

"Well, he IS Alex’s son,"  Tess pointed out.  “I don’t think I’ve ever seen Alex not easy going.”

“You didn’t get to see him freak out when he found out about the Czech thing,” Maria informed her.  “He disappeared for a few days, then he started stalking Isabel.”

Tess looked up from her examination of a cereal box,  “Really?”

“Really.”  Liz confirmed, dropping a box of Cheerios into her cart.  “ It was very unAlex like.”  She paused next to the milk.  “I mean the freaking, not the stalking Isabel part.  He has always done that.”

Isabel nodded ruefully.  “It used to bother me.  It’s a good thing I like him so much, though.  Otherwise I might have had him arrested.”

The girls laughed as they moved toward the check out lines.

“Max wasn’t much better there for a while,” Liz confided.  “He brought a Marachi band to my window and everything.  He wouldn’t leave me alone.  I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to be flattered or scared.”

Maria made a face as her cell phone started to ring.  She fished it out of her purse as she tried to pay the cashier.  “Hello?”

The other girls watched her facial expressions.  Her eyebrows shot up, and her mouth hung open.  “He WHAT?!”

Maria pushed End, then smacked herself in the head with her phone.  Gathering up her groceries, she said, “Sorry, ladies.  I hate to have to run, but Cody tried to flush the cat down the toilet.”

“Maria,” Liz blinked confusedly, “You don’t have a cat.”

Maria sighed.  “I know.  That’s part of the problem.”  She waved and said , “See you next week, if not before!”

“Call me!”  Liz yelled after her.

Isabel and Tess exchanged glances.  “Aren’t we glad our kids aren’t Guerins?”

“I don’t think we can blame it all on Michael, “said Isabel.  “Maria’s genes have a lot to do with it.”

“Amen.” Chorused Tess and Liz.

“Caleb is normally pretty good.”  Liz said.  “Until he gets around Mary.  And then anything goes.”

“Natalie is an angel,” bragged Tess.

“Yeah, sure she is,” said Isabel.  “Who was that who ‘accidentally’ blew up the entire section of Chia Pets in Walmart?”

“Picky, picky.”

Laughing together, the three women left the store and started to head for home.

As Isabel and Tess were putting their stuff in the car, Isabel noticed something.

"Tess?” she asked.

“Yes?”

“Are those cinnamon hearts in your bag?”

“Umm...”