A/N: Thank you SO much for the reviews! This is the one with Gail I've been promising, it's nice and long, I'm a little worried if it's good tho. Oh, and I LOVE the requests, they just may take a little while for me to do since I have other ones in progress. THANKS, you're all AWESOME!

"Emmet!" Lucy shouted from the kitchen over a cake. "Are you coming? I'm not waiting for you!"

Emmet finally burst out of the living room into the kitchen. "I'm here, I'm here! Thanks for waiting!"

She rolled her eyes. "I almost didn't. Are you ready?"

"Definitely."

See, in the home of Emmet, Lucy and Unikitty, no one could eat sweets without Unikitty taking her 'tax', being whatever sugary pastry you had, she swiped half of. The Unikitty Tax was something they had learned to live with, and get around.

Like today.

"I can't believe we actually got her out of the house," Lucy admitted, cutting up the cake into slices too big for either of them to finish. "What did you tell her, anyway?"

Emmet shrugged, handing her two plates. "I didn't need to tell her anything, she was going to hang out with Sweet Mayhem and Benny, so I just told her that she could spend the whole day with her." He watched as Lucy plopped a large slice of chocolate cake on his plate. It was rich, moist, and full to bursting with ice cream between layers. The icing was home-made and handed down from generation to generation in Emmet's family, a melt-in-your mouth chocolate buttercream.

Atop the cake were mounds of chocolate chips, cookie crumbles, and ganache. Lucy was in charge of that part, and in Emmet's opinion, had done a great job.

She put her slice down. "We've got to eat this fast, she can probably smell it from Sweet's place."

Emmet was already eating his. "Huh?"

Lucy laughed, wiping a fluff of frosting from his face, then licking it. "Yum."

The pair ate for the next fifteen minutes, laughing and talking uninterrupted.

The doorbell rang.

Lucy groaned. "No, five more minutes!"

Emmet giggled. "You sound like you do when I try to wake you up early."

She rolled her eyes and gently nudged Emmet towards the door. "Go get the door, then shoo whoever it is away."

He leaned forward, giving her a sweet kiss before walking off with the cutest grin. "Got it!

Lucy smiled softy at him as he left. She wouldn't change a thing about their life. Well, except for a certain ring that someone wears after answering a certain question…

Listen to me, I sound like some princess waiting for a prince to propose.

She wasn't too far off.

Her thoughts of weddings and a fairy-tale proposal were interrupted when she heard Emmet open the door. Expecting to hear Unikitty, the voice she did hear sat in her stomach like expired food. She didn't like it.

"Uh, hi?" Emmet sounded like he was looking at a complete stranger, but Lucy barely noticed.

"Hi, Emmet! It's great to see you!"

That was what Lucy didn't like.

After Lucy sat down her plate of half-finished cake, she walked through the kitchen to the living room, where Emmet was greeting a plain-looking girl–oh, never mind.

Lucy almost recognized the woman. "Uh, hi?" It was a question, and she tried to force a bit of venomous bitterness into her voice for good measure.

Emmet stepped away, and Lucy was forced to look at the woman.

She was thin, short, and had cotton-caramel hair down to her shoulders. She wore light makeup that gave her a natural hue. Her clothes resembled something out of a teen fashion magazine for an Easter special; a pastel pink crop top over a blinding white tank with light blue jeans. Lucy suddenly felt somewhat dark compared to this woman's appearance.

Lucy's dirty look contrasted with Gail's peppy, cheerleader smile. "Hi! You must be Lucy." She took Emmet holding the door wide open as a sign to come in, and shook Lucy's hand. "Emmet and I used to work together on the old construction site years ago."

Emmet slapped his forehead. "Oh, Gail! Now I remember!" He reached over and gave her a big hug, and Lucy didn't like how eagerly Gail responded.

Get your hands off him.

Was Lucy protective? Maybe.

Lucy walked over to Emmet's side, slipping her hand in his like they had done so many times. His hand was always so familiar to her. Was it odd that she could be in the most terrifying place, but if she held his hand, she wasn't afraid? And if she was at a party without him, she craved him like oxygen.

Shooting Gail a look that couldn't be read as anything but jealousy, she said, "Wow, I'm surprised you two remember each other, it's been over five years."

Gail's smile was sweet, and she looked to Emmet like a shy new kid in school. "Oh, I'd never forget Emmet."

"Uh, but didn't you not even know who I was when I worked with you?" He thought back to the video that nearly crushed what was left of his spirits back when Bad/Good Cop had to interrogate him. "You didn't know I worked with you."

Lucy forgot about her fiery jealousy for a moment at the scab of hurt in Emmet's voice. Now she remembered Gail, Emmet had told her she was one of the few girls he had known before Lucy.

Gail shook her head, letting her fluffy hair flow freely in the air. "Emmet, I just said that to help! I knew they would interrogate you, and I thought if they thought you were a nobody, they wouldn't hurt you!" She moved closer, almost shoving Lucy out of the way. Sliding her hands onto Emmet's upper arms, she smiled. "I would never forget about you, Emmet."

Lucy huffed. She didn't believe this woman for a minute. And she was sure Emmet didn't either. I mean, who would take that off-the-cuff story seriously?

Emmet's face formed an already forgiving smile. "Really?"

"Of course!"

Reaching over, he grabbed her in another hug. He was blissfully unaware of his dangerously-close-to-exploding nuclear girlfriend next to him. "Thanks, Gail! Come on in, we were just having cake!"

Ok, this is too much, Lucy decided. "Ems?" She used his nickname for effect. "Can I talk to you?"

Emmet nodded, his classic bright smile on his face. "Sure, Lucy!"

Lucy more-or-less yanked him into the kitchen where Gail couldn't hear them. "I can't believe you!" Lucy had the art of whisper-yelling down to a science, Emmet noticed.

Emmet's face fell. "Why? What'd I do?"

Like a storm vanishing in the morning, her anger subsided. He was so apologetic, and he didn't even know why she was upset.

Of course, he has to be so adorable. Is it even POSSIBLE to be mad at him? I don't know if anyone's ever done it!

She had two choices; open up and tell him why she was upset, or pretend nothing was wrong. Of course, Emmet would understand if she told him. It would probably get rid of Gail, too. If he knew something was making her uncomfortable, he would stop it immediately. It would be better to tell him and be honest.

"It's nothing. I just…I got a little worried about if you were still…y'know, bothered by what Gail did." Oh, the lying. She hated lying to him. It left a taste in her mouth like antibiotics.

Emmet sighed. "That's good, I was worried you were really mad at me." Noticing his girlfriend's half-enthusiastic state, he offered a soft smile of reassurance. "You know I love you, right?" He reached forward and laid gentle kiss on his girlfriend's cheek. "I could never, ever love anyone as much as you."

Lucy blushed beneath her freckles. "I love you too, babe."

She gave him a mischievous smile, one that he knew all too well. "What's the face for?" He asked, despite knowing what was coming.

She shrugged, playing up an innocence that he found too adorable for words. "Nothing. I just love you."

He played along. "Alright, should I go?" He took a step away, even looking out the window for effect.

Lucy laughed like a child. "Get back here, you." Grabbing his vest, she pulled him into a kiss that sent her heart pumping blood like she was running a marathon, complimented well by her hot face and flushing cheeks.

Emmet wrapped his arms tightly around her waist, nearly lifting her off the ground. He was lucky, alright.

A few minutes later they both pulled apart, trying to regain their stolen breath. "Come on, we've got to get Gail out of here so we can get to the cake," Lucy joked. Well, she meant the first part; she wanted Gail gone. Something about that tan-haired woman bothered Lucy, and it wasn't just that she climbed all over Emmet like she owned him.

Emmet nodded. "You got it."

#

Lucy sat on the couch, a few minutes after Gail had left. That woman stuck around like gum, and Emmet just didn't have the guts (or the harshness) to ask/order her to leave. He just couldn't do it. He was so sweet, kind, and caring.

That's why Lucy took matters into her own hands.

However, even the Master of Kicking People Out (as Unikitty had dubbed her one day–a story for another time) couldn't get Gail out. Emmet had once told Lucy that Gail was known for being perky. She had to agree, if perky meant overbearing, annoying, overeager, and maddening. What was even worse was he was seeing her again, after she had strong-armed him into a 'friend-date'

Yeah, SURE.

"Hey, Lucy!" Unikitty opened the door, letting herself into the house. "How was your day?"

Lucy shrugged. "Ok. Yours?"

"Great! Sweet is super fun, and guess what?" She sat with Lucy on the couch, still covered in a bit of glitter from whatever she had done that day.

"What?"

Unikitty giggled. "I think Benny has a little crush on Sweet!"

Lucy smiled softly. That was a relationship she could support. It was also a bit more...conventional than the Batman and Queen Watervra thing. I mean, who knew Batman who fall for her?

"That's great," Lucy said. As much as she forced a chipper voice, Unikitty knew her and what real happiness sounded like.

"What's wrong?" Unikitty asked. Curling up on the couch next to her best friend, she added, "Did something happen today?"

Lucy looked at Unikitty. No way was she backing down, so what was the harm in confiding in her? "Well, do you know Gail?" After Unikitty nodded, she continued, "Yeah, she paid us a visit."

"Oh." Unikitty looked at with sympathy one gives to someone who got a dent in their shiny new car. "You mean Emmet's first crush?"

Oh.

Lucy's eyes bulged and nearly shot lasers. "His what?"

Unikitty emitted a nervous giggle, shifting her glance from a dangerously-close-to-exploding Lucy. "Uh, yeah...he kind of had a crush on her."

"When? How? WHY?"

The questions Lucy was asking were coming too fast and too hard for Unikitty to handle. "You should ask him!"

Lucy wasn't going to have that. "Unikitty..."

"Oh, fine!" Unikitty gave in, seeing that if she didn't tell, Lucy would probably never speak to her again, or worse, stop buying her cookies. "Emmet told me a few years back, when we were having a talk about his past, that Gail was one of the few women who ever paid him any attention. He developed a bit of a crush on her, alright?"

Lucy phased into astonishment as she fell back into the couch. "I had no idea...why didn't he tell me?"

Unikitty raised an eyebrow. "Wyldstyle, why would he tell his girlfriend about his ex-crush?"

Lucy pouted. She guessed that made some sense, but...still. The fact that Emmet had romantic interests before her was…plausible, she guessed, but that didn't make it any nicer to think about. The thought was enough to made her heart want to throw up. "I guess."

"I wouldn't worry about it," Unikitty said. She gave her best friend a smile. "Emmet would never, ever do anything like that, you're the only one for him."

"What?" Lucy turned to Unikitty, climbing out a swirl of thoughts. "Sorry, I'm thinking."

Gulp.

"Wyldstyle, don't get any ideas."

Lucy stood up, a look on her face that Unikitty was a little afraid of. "Don't worry, I only have one idea."

Unikitty buried her head in the couch. "I want cake."

#

Emmet loved mornings.

Now, while it's true that he loved almost everything, he treasured his mornings like a golden record of Everything is Awesome.

So, when he woke up that morning, he was a little confused to see no one across from him. Normally when he woke up, he was greeted by Lucy snoring soundly, cuddled up underneath blankets. "Lucy?" His voice was still groggy from sleep, but his paranoia started to set in as he woke up.

"Lucy?" He called louder. Nothing.

Hopping out of bed, he ran to the kitchen. Maybe she was making breakfast?

Nope.

He stared at the empty ocean-themed kitchen. Where was she?

A sunshine-yellow sticky note caught his eyes on the fridge. He ran over the wooden floor like it was a sprinting track, nearly slamming into the fridge. He read the note:

Emmet,

You were probably pretty weirded out to not see me this morning...sorry about that. Unikitty and I went out for a while. I won't be back until later, I know you're seeing Gail today anyway. Love ya.

Lucy.

"Oh, that...doesn't make sense." Emmet reread the note. Since when did Lucy go 'out'? Unikitty, sure, 'going out' was like a hobby to her, so that made sense. But Lucy?

He took another look at the note, unaware at the frown that had sneaked onto his face. He reread it, imagining her voice. She was so pretty.

"Well, I guess I have the day to myself!" Emmet announced, putting the note back on the fridge. What did most men do when their girlfriends were gone? He...didn't really know.

He had lived alone since moving out of his parent's place at eighteen for a college dorm room, so he was used to solitude before meeting Lucy. And by 'meeting' he meant being whisked/kidnapped on an adventure with a gang of rebel Master Builders.

Maybe Benny wanted to do something! Racing to the phone, he clicked Benny's number on speed-dial. "Hey, Benny! What are you up to? You wanna go grab coffee?"

"Oh, sorry, Emmet," Benny replied. "Sweet and I are going down to the Spaceship museum."

Emmet rubbed the back of his neck. "Oh, ok. Sounds fun!"

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm ok. Have fun!"

"I will! Why don't you hang out with Wyldstyle, she's always up for something!" With that, he hung up.

Emmet stared at the phone. He knew Metal Beard would be busy with cleaning his ship today, and Batman wouldn't really want to hang out with him.

Dare he call Lucy? Maybe just for a quick, sweet call to see if she was ok. That would work.

He had clicked her number before even deciding to do so.

It rang.

Once...

Twice...

Please, PLEASE pick up, Lucy.

Thrice...

"Hey, I'm busy, leave a message and either I'll call you back or I'll ask Emmet to. Bye."

Dang it.

"Hey, Lucy!" Emmet tried to imitate his usual tone so she wouldn't worry...but it was really hard. "I saw you're note, I just wanted to call and see if you were ok. So... I guess I'll go. Uh, love you! You're the best, I love you a lot! Bye! Love you!"

He finally hung up.

Man, he missed her.

What did he used to do when he lived alone?

Well, he woke up, followed the instructions, worked, and watched TV. He was already awake, didn't follow instructions, didn't have work today, so that just left TV. He wasn't seeing Gail until later, so it wasn't a terrible option…

After grabbing a quick breakfast of toast and eggs, he sat down on the couch and clicked on the TV.

A man on screen plopped on his couch, smiling widely. "This is GREAT! Now that my wife is out of the house, I can finally be alone and relax."

Emmet winced and changed the channel, falling on a commercial.

"Are you alone, sad, and depressed without your girlfriend? Well, try this new RAZOR!"

Sigh. Next...

A talk show was on, showing several well-dressed women all sitting around a table laughing. One blonde spoke through her laughter, "Seriously, sometimes I just need to get out of the house and get away from my husband. I mean, I need my alone time too–"

Emmet slammed his head down on the plate. "Lucy, I miss you."

#

"Wyldstyle, I hope you know what you're doing…" Unikitty quietly told Lucy as they walked down to Emmet's construction site.

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Unikitty, this it gonna work, trust me. Have I ever been wrong?"

Thinking back to Lucy's plan for Emmet to be 'tougher', and when she had dated Batman, Unikitty avoided her gaze. "Well..."

"Just trust me."

Walking into the construction site, they were greeted by a man in a similar uniform to Emmet's. "Uh, you can't be here, we're in the middle of bulldozing something."

Ignoring the crumb-covered man's request, she asked, "Does Gail work here?"

The man shook his head. "Nah, she quit a while ago. She works as an accountant down at Block Inc. a mile downtown."

Lucy nodded, thanked the guy, and started walking while admiring the city. It held so many memories for her. Across from where she stood was the street where she and Emmet had FINALLY held hands…the ice cream parlor a block away was where they went every Friday…

Beep! BEEP!

Lucy silenced her phone without another look.

"Uh, Wyldstyle?" Unikitty asked while they walked. "What is your plan, exactly?"

They rounded a corner, but Unikitty's eyes weren't on where she was going; she was more focused on a gut-feeling something was going to go wrong with Lucy's plan. Her words weren't very comforting, either. "Don't worry, it'll work."

Unikitty pouted. "I didn't ask if it would work, I wanna know what it IS!"

"It's very simple. I have to make sure Gail never goes near Emmet again. Now, what's the simplest way to do something like that?" Lucy looked to Unikitty as they stopped to cross the street.

Unikitty shrugged. "I'd tell Emmet how I felt and ask him not to see her."

Huh, an interesting concept, Lucy noticed. Too late now. "I was thinking something a bit more..." she searched for the right word as they crossed the street towards a tower rivaling President Business'. "...drastic. I'm going to give her my ex's number, Archer. He's looking for a girlfriend, and I'm looking to get her out of here." Her phone buzzed again, and she shut it off. It was probably just Sweet or Queen Watevra.

"Wyldstyle..." Unikitty warned. She nudged her best friend and stepped onto the sidewalk. "I don't like the sound of that."

Lucy shrugged, opening the door. "I do. Come on."

They walked in, greeted by chrome, metal, and shining glass everywhere they looked. It was like they stepped into the digital age itself. Everything was cleaned to perfection, glittering with spotless beauty like a bubble.

Lucy walked up to the front desk. "Can I see Gail?"

The redhead secretary, who didn't really care why Lucy was here or who she was, barely looked up from the computer. "She's not in right now."

Lucy raised an eyebrow, again ignoring her buzzing phone. "She said she had to work today. Why'd she leave?"

The secretary found the time to roll her eyes. "She said something about going to meet a, 'cute guy'" she made quotation marks with her hands for effect. "Sorry, can't help you...uh, Miss?"

Unikitty turned to where Lucy had been standing, now an empty space.

She sighed. "I need a vacation."

#

Lucy raced home faster than she ever had, running and bumping into people on the streets and ignoring Batman's call for help with fixing his computer.

Her phone buzzed for the tenth time that day. Honestly, couldn't she catch a break?

Lifting it up, her feet halted in the grass near their house at Emmet's name on her phone. She quickly opened up the last message from him.

"Hey, Lucy! Sorry to call you again, but I wanted to let you know Gail came over early, we're going to see a movie. Love you so much, be back in a bit!"

Unikitty finally caught up to Lucy, panting and sweating until collapsing at her feet in defeat and exhaustion. "Why…did...you…leave?"

Lucy fell back onto the child's school shade of green grass. "I blew it. I had the best guy in the world, and I BLEW IT! They'll go to a movie, then lunch, then dinner, then he'll break up with me, they'll get married, and before you know it I'm Aunt Lucy to his kids, Joan, Marcy and Jake!" She turned to Unikitty, who was looking at Wyldstyle with wide eyes and one eyebrow raised like Lucy had come out in a tutu. "I don't want to be an aunt, Unikitty!"

Unikitty stared at her. "Uh, you ok, Wyldstyle?"

"I've lost him."

"No, you haven't. What are you talking about?"

Lucy propped herself in the dewy grass on her elbows. She felt like a kid after getting back three failing grades – depressed. "He went to the movies with Gail. That's why she left work. That's why he was calling me."

Unikitty nudged her best friend and gave her a smile, one that Lucy couldn't help but feel a little better after seeing. "Oh, don't worry. When Emmet comes back you'll fix this, right?"

Lucy started playing with the blades of grass, weaving them around each other and twirling them until they snapped. "Unikitty, I miss him."

Gaining some traction in her confidence, Unikitty straightened and stared at the shell of Lucy's former rock-solid go-get-em attitude. "Lucy, have you learned you're lesson about avoiding talking to Emmet about these things?"

Lucy rolled her eyes. She knew what Unikitty was getting at, but she didn't like it. "Yeah," she mumbled begrudgingly under her breath.

"Have you learned that revenge is not the way to go?"

"Sure…"

"And what are you going to do now?"

Lucy shifted her glance towards Unikitty, who was appearing more and more officious with every second. "I don't know." Lucy resembled a teenager on Monday.

Unikitty rolled her eyes. "You're going to apologize and explain everything to Emmet as soon as he gets home, right?"

Lucy opened her mouth to protest…then shut it. "Fine, but he's going to hate me." How could he not? As soon as she told him he would think she didn't trust him, and that would kill him. She could just imagine his face falling from a massive, happy grin to a disappointed, depressed frown, a tear slipping down his cheek…

She shot a despairing glance at Unikitty. "I miss him."

"Emmet loves you. Don't worry."

Easier said than done…

#

Emmet wasn't sure how to feel about this.

He was in the movie theater, sitting next to Gail. She was perky, like usual, but kept...hanging over him. He didn't like it. Only Lucy was allowed to hold his hand like that, kiss him on the cheek, that stuff. Sure, he may have had a small crush on her in the past, but he didn't have one now. Far from it, if anything, being around other women made him miss Lucy.

Gail had chosen a romantic comedy, one that made him miss his girlfriend like he had only felt when she was taken to the Systar System. Every time someone held hands, his heart cracked.

Why was he feeling so weird? It's not like he didn't go the movies with other people, he went with Benny, Metal Beard, Batman, he even went with other girls sometimes, Unikitty, Sweet Mayhem, and Queen Watevra once.

Maybe...maybe he felt odd because he was with a girl who wasn't a friend.

So, why was he here?

Maybe he just missed Lucy. Maybe he liked proving to Gail, part of his past, that he was interesting, special, and something to be noticed.

"This is great, isn't it?" Gail whispered, nudging him with her elbow.

"Heh, yeah..." Emmet faked a chuckle.

"Lola," The man on screen pleaded, taking the hand of a blue-haired woman who looked pretty angry to Emmet. "Please forgive me, Gertrude meant NOHTING to me!"

She turned to him with flashing eyes. "Eddy, you cheated on me! How could you?"

Eddy stood up with tears pooling in his eyes and pouring down his face. "I'm sorry! I was confused, I... I needed to prove–"

"Oh, don't give me that!" She shouted. "I can never forgive you for this!"

Emmet couldn't take it anymore. "Gail," he whispered after tearing his eyes from the screen. "I have to go, and I can't see you anymore. Sorry."

Gail looked him up and down. "What, you got to go see that stupid girlfriend of yours?"

Stupid? "Hey, Lucy is not stupid!" He defended. He stood up in the theater, ignoring people's stares. "She's the most amazing, pretty, wonderful person I've ever met. I feel guilty seeing you like this, and I can't do it anymore."

He had expected Gail to look upset, but not...furious. "Oh, Emmet! You really still louse things up, don't you?" She threw down her popcorn bucket. "You think I was interested in you? You're BORING! I just needed the fame, being CEO doesn't come with immediate recognition, y'know."

"So, you really didn't know who I was?" He didn't care about Gail, but...he thought they were at least friends. "Back when I was interrogated, you didn't remember me?"

She snorted. "Of course not."

Emmet stopped, taking a moment to consider the facts. Gail obviously didn't care about him, why should he care about what she thought of him?

Giving her his best impression of a 'Lucy smirk' he said somewhat smugly, "Well, sorry to hear that, Gail. I guess you'll just have to find another nobody. After all, it's not like you could get any better."

He was a kid on the run from teachers as he bolted in peals of laughter out of the theater, leaving Gail rolling her eyes.

Wait 'till Lucy here's about this!

#

"Lucy? You home yet?" His voice echoed through a smile, but he struggled to keep the bouquet of blue hydrangeas and pink roses behind his back, along with the romantic-action movie he had picked up.

Lucy walked out of the kitchen. "Hey, Ems. Can we talk?" She noticed the bouquet and DVD as he shut and locked the door. "Uh, what's all that?"

Emmet grinned brightly. "Happy...uh, Day! I missed you, and I just love you so much, I thought we could watch a movie!" He handed her the flowers and movie. He caught sight of the nervous but melancholy expression on her face. "Hey, you ok?"

Lucy sighed. Did he have to be so sweet and caring? That only made her feel guiltier. "Thanks, Emmet. Look, I have to tell you something, and I don't want you to interrupt, alright?"

Emmet nodded and watched while she put down the flowers and movies. "Sure, Lucy."

Lucy took in a deep breath. "Emmet, I hated how Gail was acting around you. I was jealous and I didn't like seeing you happy with another girl, and Unikitty told me how you used to have a crush on her, and I didn't like hearing about that, and I went down to the city to try to get her away from you, then I found out you went to the movies and... I'm sorry. I should trust you...I'm sorry–"

She would've gotten farther, but he was kissing her, and that made it kind of difficult.

She immediately wrapped her arms around him, pulling him closer and deeper into her embrace. He always kissed the same, warmly, carefully, and with passion that made her wonder how any other woman got by. She loved him, alright.

He finally pulled away, with a few tears in his eyes. "Lucy, I love you."

A laugh escaped, and she rested her forehead against his. "I love you, too."

Emmet frowned. "You're not mad at me for going to the movies, right?"

Lucy gave him a gentle kiss through her smile. "Of course not. You didn't do anything!"

"Oh yeah," he giggled. "Should we watch the movie?"

Lucy nodded. "Definitely"

Unikitty stepped out of the kitchen, smiling at her best friends. "Everything ok?"

"Yup," Emmet responded, still in a lovesick daze as he stared into Lucy's eyes. He knew he was a romantic sap, but who cares?

Unikitty sighed and smiled. "Good, now things can get back to normal!"

Just as the three were about to sit down, Benny burst through the door, close to tears. "Sweet…Sweet Mayhem and I had a fight!"

Lucy slapped her forehead. "Oh brother."