I don't understand why people drop $3 on a short story only to turn around and complain about the length of the story. HELLO Laurell makes it very clear that this Dearies is a short story a novella a little something to hold us over during the year or so that we wait for the next Anita book. I REALLY like Nathainel and Micah and had no issues dropping $3 for this fix. It's a nice story showing them in a "normal" setting. No gun fights, no crazy orgies, no psycho enemy. This is proof that Anita has a life outside of the adventures. It makes her and her boys more real. It also shows how uncomfortable social settings can be for everyone human or otherwise. I wished that LKH did more novella's between books.