Good morning, dears! Has it been so long? I’ve been flitting around all morning, but I’m going to take a moment’s rest and tell you how the Blakemores have been doing. Remember Ferris and her paramour, George? Last we spoke of them, their puppy love was in full bloom, and Ferris had all but forgotten the hard times of her childhood. Good for her, I say!

But what about her mother, Tess? She’d had a rough time of it being a single parent, but she had finally gotten promoted at Happy Lawn and given up her partying ways in order to provide a better example to Ferris. She still enjoyed a date or two with men from work, though — or should I say ‘a man’ from work, since one in particular had captured her fancy.

His name was Stewart Beagle, and he worked with Tess in Sales. Stewart and his best friend Hugh had just moved to Mt. Geneva to escape the noise and congestion of the city. Stewart and Tess didn’t hit it off immediately — Tess thought Stewart was a bit arrogant and cold, and Stewart thought Tess was a ditz. But after happy hour one night, they got into a rousing discussion about art — watercolor vs. oil paints — and ended up back at Tess’s place. Of course, you can guess what happened.

Tess was proud of her paintings and showed them off to Stewart, who was quite impressed. They made a date to visit the new art museum in Mt. Geneva’s flourishing downtown area the next evening. That date was successful, so they planned another, and another, until Stewart was spending every night at the Blakemore house. One night after a particularly passionate bit of hanky-panky, Stewart asked Tess to marry him, and she agreed, nearly breaking down into tears.

The next day Tess told Ferris the good news. Ferris was ecstatic for her mother and gave her an enthusiastic hug. She didn’t know how she would handle having a step-father, but she liked Stewart well enough and knew he would be a good husband to her mom.

After divulging that happy bit of information, Tess smiled and said, “I have some more news for you.” She leaned in as if telling Ferris a secret. “Your father Nick has just put §20,000 into your college fund…that means you’ll be able to go to college when you graduate!”

Ferris looked confused for a moment, but then her eyes lit up and she shrieked in joy. “Well, it’s about time he gave us something!” she cried. “He must be getting more responsible in his old age.”

Tess chuckled at that and gave her daughter a hug. She was so thrilled to be marrying Stewart that she didn’t give a fig about Nick’s lack of support over the years. He was helping now, and if Ferris was pleased with it, that was all that mattered.

And Ferris was definitely pleased! She was so excited, in fact, that she sat right down and wrote Nick a letter, thanking him for the college money. At the same time, she decided to plan an engagement party for her mom and Stewart. After all, Ferris loved parties and hadn’t had the opportunity to throw a really big bash yet.

Turning to a clean page in her notebook, she made a list of to-dos for the big event.

First, she planned the menu. She wanted to make the food herself, so she chose spaghetti, since it was her mom’s favorite. For dessert, she figured something easy like gelatin would do the trick. She jotted down the rest of her tasks — invite friends, order groceries, order balloons, tell Stewart — and went to bed with contented expression on her face.

Ferris didn’t have school the next day, so she went ahead with her party plans. After calling her friends and inviting them over for that night, she ordered groceries and balloons. Tess had no idea what was going on since she was at a sales seminar in the City. Stewart knew and had offered to help, but Ferris wanted to do everything by herself. She was becoming quite the independent young woman!

That evening Ferris went to work on the spaghetti. She used the old Blakemore family recipe, hoping she wouldn’t mess it up too badly.

As the sauce was simmering, the guests started to arrive. Since Ferris really didn’t know Tess and Stewart’s friends very well, she invited her own friends. They all gathered in the living room and talked about movies while Ferris finished up dinner.

When Tess got home, she was surprised to see so many people at the house.

“Mmm, it smells good in here,” she said as she wandered towards the kitchen. “What’s going on?”

Just then Stewart appeared and wrapped her up in a big hug. “Why don’t you ask your daughter?” he said. He took her by the hand and led her into the kitchen, where Ferris stood with a platter of spaghetti.

“Happy Engagement, Mom!” she said, beaming.

Tess was so delighted that she threw her hands up in the air. “Thank you so much,” she said. Ferris just grinned back at her. I thought Tess might cry again, but she just laughed and grabbed the platter of spaghetti. “Oh come on, let’s eat! I’m starving!”

Everyone swarmed into the dining room and dug in. Ferris and Tess had seconds while everyone else moved back into the living room area. Tess watched everyone for a moment before turning back to her spaghetti.

“You know,” she said to Ferris, “I just noticed that Stewart dances like a Sumo wrestler. I hope I’m not making a mistake.”

Ferris glanced over at Stewart dancing and had to agree. They shared a good laugh about that, and I have to say, it made me laugh, too. We ghosts still have a sense of humor, you know! So things are looking pretty good for the Blakemores these days, and little Ferris will be an adult soon! I wonder what the future holds for her? Ths is Maude, saying “Arrive derci!”