Santa Monica Pier was unlike anything I’d ever seen or experienced before. It was like a massive carnival full of rides, games, street vendors, and fun food stands crammed into a tightly packed space. The air swirled with sweet smells of American funnel cakes and a treat called elephant ears combined with the unmistakable aroma of French fries hot out of the oil and corn dogs. Veronica, Chrissie, Mary and I had been walking along the boardwalk that eventually attached to the fishing pier. We had stopped for a moment because Mary and Veronica had gone into some shop that was nestled in between the bars and some of the pier side places to eat. I sighed and looked Chrissie’s way.

 “What are you smiling about? It gets me so nervous when you smile like that. I’m always afraid you’re going to blurt something out like….like I fucked Brian on the Metro while a homeless man wanked or…Brian and I…took nudes of each other and….we took nudes of each other. I had nearly caused Chrissie to choke on her cotton candy. She laughed and looked at me.

 “Lydia! I don’t think anything I could possibly admit to can compare to the things you’ve done the past few days. I will never, ever top the shit you've done here in LA.” Chrissie defended herself.

 “There’s all kinds of things you could admit to that could outdo what I’ve done! Granted, you’d never do that kinda’ freaky shit but…” I stopped for a moment, my eyes widening. “Oh my god, what kind of freaky shit did you do with Brian? Chrissie, I swear to god I’m pushing you into the ocean if you say Brian got you all hot and bothered by using four syllable words while wearin' velvet pants! I know that's the kinda' lame ass thing that would turn you the hell on!” I cautioned her emphatically, taking another chunk out of my blue coconut Hawaiian Shaved Ice.

 “No! No! Not at all. I was going to tell you that last night Brian and I talked about how much we’d enjoyed each other while we were here. We needed the time away from the baby to be together. We really re-connected with each other.” Chrissie said with that sparkle in her eye and another wad of cotton candy in her mouth. “Then he did things to me with his tongue I didn’t even know were possible! Oh god, Lydia! So hot….so sexy. And Brian does wear velvet pants so well. It's like paradise and I'm on a permanant vacation.” She said all giggly. I sighed as I stared at her before shaking my head. So much for my Hawaiian ice.

 “See, Christine….it’s shit like this that you need to warn me about. I wasn’t expecting that to end with Brian’s tongue coating you in a thin layer of saliva. Chrissie smiled that stupid smile at me again.

 “I thought you’d be so very excited! Me and Brian in LA getting all…” I stopped her.

 “What? Getting all what? Oral…alllllll you got was oral. I remember the day you cowered in fear at the word penis and now your life revolves around one…NO! Two! Two of them. You have two penises to keep occupied in different ways.” I said, resuming my Hawaiian ice. “Mmm…” I began. “Did you call him daddy?”

 “LYDIA!” Ah, Chrissie just as quickly reverted to her reserved and easily embarrassed self. I guess she did still cower at the word penis…or daddy…or both. Mary and Veronica came walking out of the shop in which they had been, stopping before the bench where Chrissie and I sat.

 “I got you something.” Veronica raised her eyebrows at Chrissie and Mary couldn’t help but laugh.

 “You did?” Chrissie inquired, shoving that cotton candy down like mad. Veronica reached into her bag.

 “Tah dah!” Veronica presented Chrissie with a bag of glow-in-the-dark press on stars.  I laughed when I saw what it was. I laughed mostly because Veronica’s sense of humor had returned even though the faint veil of post-partum still lingered. “They’re for the ceiling of your bedroom. Of course, you probably won’t see them given all that hair.” Chrissie threw the bag of glow-in-the-dark stars back at Veronica.

 “Oh you’re just so very funny!” Chrissie said laughing at her.

 “I got some things for the boys too.” Veronica said throwing the stars back at Chrissie. Before our conversation could continue, Freddie, John, Brian and Roger showed up on cue as this was where we were to meet them. The four of us watched as they headed our way Freddie had his hands overflowing with that kibble food sold in dispensers to feed the fish and the ocean birds that hung around the pier. He was leaving a trail of food behind him as it spilled over and he tried to balance it against his chest. We could hear him arguing with Brian over wanting to turn around and find the stray cat they had seen earlier so that Freddie could go feed it. John had a big, pink balloon tied to his wrist that appeared to be in a knot that would never come undone and was handcuffed to Brian at the other wrist. Roger was wearing a god awful, neon pink fanny pack that made me want to puke and carrying a huge shopping bag. I also noticed he was eating something from a wrapper.  The closer they got to us, the more we realized how ridiculous this looked.

 “Shit! John! Roger’s chokin’ on that damn taffy again! Hit him on the back or something! My hands are full and Brian won’t let me feed the cat!” Freddie ordered him.

 “I’m handcuffed to Brian! I can’t get him to stop choking! For the love of god, chew, Roger, chew!” John yelled. We, of course could hear all this unfolding.

 “Ooooh my god!” I mumbled, hiding my face in my hand. Finally, John took his free hand, and gave Roger a couple hard knocks in the back. That stupid balloon went flailing around with him.

 “Well, this is embarrassing.” Mary said, shaking her head. She couldn’t have been more correct: Freddie bitching at Brian over feeding a stray cat, John handcuffed to Brian for god only knows what reason and a big pink balloon tied to his wrist. And Roger chokin’ to death while wearing a bright pink fanny pack. It was like watching a train wreck….you simply couldn’t turn away.  “Girls, we have but one choice, right now.” Mary said as they got closer to us.

 “What?” Veronica asked with a little concern in her eyes.

 “Turn. Around.” Mary said, scooting in the opposite direction on the bench. The three of us quickly did the same. Shit, it wasn’t like we could let anyone know that we actually knew those four dorks!

 “Mary! Mary can you come over here!? I need some help!” Freddie called to her. She rubbed her hand over her face.

 “So much for keepin’ a low profile.” She rolled her eyes.

 “It’s times like these I’m glad I’m not you.” Veronica said as the four of us slowly turned back around on the bench.

 “I’ve been sayin’ it for years. Three words: high blood pressure.” She sighed and got up from the bench. “Fred! Hold still. My god, you are spillin’ this shit everywhere!” she said, trying to help him manage the amount of food in his hands.

 “Would you two like to discuss why you’re handcuffed together?” Veronica asked John with a snicker.

 “This is 80% Brian’s fault and 20% my fault.” John explained.

 “No, it isn’t! You lost the key!” Brian argued with John. Veronica took their restrained wrists in her hand and examined them.

 “Some carnival game vendor gave us the handcuffs! And then Brian dropped the key somewhere.” John explained. She had tuned out who did what and examined the handcuffs.

 “They unfasten right here.” Veronica said, pressing down a small button and releasing both cuffs. Brian and John looked at each other for a moment, a little embarrassed that this seemed so very easy.

 I was staring at Roger over the top of my Hawaiian ice. He raised his eyebrows at me before repeatedly darting his eyes to the dumbass monstrosity at his hip. He sat the bags on the pier and thrust his hip in my face: SANTA MONICA, 1977 that god awful thing read. I watched him unzip it slowly. “Look here, Lyd. You gotta’ try this stuff. It’s great.” Roger said, proudly displaying a candy at me. I sighed.

 “Okay, first. Don't unzip things in my face. Next, is this what you were choking on a few moments ago?” I took another bite of my Hawaiian ice.

 “It’s saltwater taffy, Lydia! It’s the greatest stuff! I eat it so fast I can’t not choke! Here, here!”  Before I even knew what was happening, Roger was shoving a chunk of yellow something in my mouth. I made quite the face.

 “What the…hell….Rog!” I said, between chewing this shit. “Oh my god!

 “I know! I got ten US pounds for your parents! They’re gonna’ love this!” he said before taking another piece out of the fanny pack.

 “This is….this is bullshit! My god! It’s….it’s sticky! It tastes awful! It’s all over my mouth!” I said after swallowing the stuff. Freddie snickered at me.

 “Well, Roger….you finally put something in her mouth she couldn’t tolerate.

 “I can’t believe you bought some of this crap for my parents! They will think you’ve gone mad!” I said before shooting my eyes at Freddie.

 “Oh, hold on. I gave you banana flavor, those taste bad. I’ve been pickin’ ‘em out. Try the pink, it’s strawberry!” He insisted, unwrapping it for me.  Great, now I was obligated to try the pink thing. I couldn’t understand why Roger thought this stuff was so great. Sure the pink one tasted better but I just shook my head and made a face at him. My parents wouldn’t be able to understand the fascination either…perhaps my father would.

 “Come and ride the Ferris wheel with me. Please? The view has to be amazing up there and I have something for you.” John begged of Veronica. She smiled at him.

 “Alright, but take our picture first, will you? And give that balloon to Freddie!” she asked wanting John to get a picture of Veronica, myself, Chrissie and Mary on this bench. I was certain as he pulled the camera out of it’s case, this would be one of those pictures us girls would treasure in the years to come. “Everybody smile and say Brian and John were handcuffed!” Veronica said, putting one arm around me and the other around Chrissie. As instructed, John took our picture, I spit that stupid taffy out and he swept Veronica away to walk her toward the Ferris wheel at the end of the pier.

 While Veronica and John made their way toward the Ferris wheel, Roger begged me to have a slice of pizza with him. I had to admit the smell coming from the nearby vendor was enough to knock me out with temptation. However, I was devouring this Hawaiian ice and not even halfway through it. I told Roger no at least half a dozen times. I probably should have said yes otherwise I wouldn’t have gotten stuck babysitting the stupid saltwater taffy. It was even worse seeing him wait in a line and pay for that jumbo slice of pizza from the fanny pack.

 John and Veronica had made their way to the end of the pier, taking in the view of the Pacific. It would be even more magnificent from the top of the Ferris wheel. Once they had made their way to the front of the line, they were situated and watching as each individual cart was loaded one by one. They very slowly ticked their way up higher and higher on the wheel. Veronica found herself overwhelmed by the sights of the pier, the seabirds, and the magnificent ocean surrounding her. The warm Mid-October sea air blowing in was both comforting and refreshing. John snuck an arm around her as they crept closer to the top of the Ferris wheel, passengers still being loaded below. “It’s lonely at the top.” He said softly.

 “Huh?” she looked to him, not certain of what he said.

 “It’s lonely at the top. I couldn’t do this without you.” John said.

 “You couldn’t do what? Get on a Ferris wheel?” Veronica inquired.

 “No. This. This kind of life. Los Angeles. The kind of demands placed upon someone in this kind of work. The…” he paused and shook his head. The pressures, the expectations, the…the people trying to use ya’ to get something for themselves or the people who want one thing from ya’. It’s like bein’ thrown to the wolves sometimes and without you I couldn’t do this with a straight face.” John said quite honestly as they moved to the very top of the Ferris wheel, their seat stopping at the height of all Santa Monica. Veronica leaned down and kissed his hand. She couldn’t help smile remembering a very sound piece of advice.

 “You’re still you, John and I love you. As she gazed out over the exciting views of the mid-day Pacific mixed with the Santa Monica crowd it nearly brought a tear to her eye.

 “I told you that I had somethin’ for ya’.” Veronica heard a crunching sound as John reached into the pocket of his jeans with his free hand. He pulled his other arm away from her temporarily and turned away from her. “Will you marry me again?” he asked, presenting Veronica with a cherry ring pop. She laughed wildly upon seeing it.

 “John!” It was her sweet laughter. That very sound was what kept John going. “I never unmarried you to begin with.” She said.

 “I know, but this ring’s a lot bigger and I’m sure it tastes better. It’s cherry!” he said shoving it on her thumb. The Ferris wheel lunged forward only slightly, continuing to fill the remaining passengers. Veronica put her ring-clad hand on his face before kissing him. The manner in which she kissed him would have made one sincerely believe she had just gotten a marriage proposal. Her smile, her warm palm, everything in Veronica’s very being was being pumped back into her. The view from above wasn’t so bad when you had that very special someone to lean on.

 “Hey, this may sound gross…” John began as he took Veronica’s hand in his. “…but can I have a lick of that thing before you?” he asked.

 “I’ve watched Michael pee on you. I’ve seen Robbie throw up on you I don’t know how many times; and we’ve collectively had a diaper explode on us. I think we’re well past gross, sweetheart.” She said. And with Veronica’s wise words it could be well summed up. It had been a wonderful day on the pier.