Chapter Nine:
A Tale of Two Cities
"How is it up there?" Mandy asked into the phone, stuffing her face with Norah's food.
"Cold," Norah said bitterly.
Greg frowned.
"But, it's really pretty." Norah smiled at Greg.
Abby, who was on a sugar high, jumped on the couch and watched Mandy. "Why exactly are you here?"
Mandy covered the bottom half of the phone. "To watch her fish, or something." Mandy shrugged.
Abby raised her eyebrows. "Um, Cousin Amanda?" She pointed to the fishbowl with the little orange blob floating at the top.
"Whoops," Mandy said a little too loud, remembering that she forgot to feed the fish.
"Whoops?" Norah said into the phone.
Mandy bit her lip. "Mr. Boomer or whatever..."
"Mr. Bubbles?" Norah squinted.
"Yeah, he died." Mandy shrugged again.
"What's wrong with Mr. Bubbles?" Greg asked.
"It's just a fish," Mandy groaned.
Abby repeated Mandy in the same nonchalant manor. "Just a fish."
Greg took the phone from a crying Norah. "She loved Mr. Bubbles like a brother." Greg shook his head in shame.
Mandy rolled her eyes. "You two are perfect for each other. Drama queen and king."
Greg bought Mr. Bubbles on her first day at her new job." Abby filled Mandy in.
Mandy still felt no sympathy. She got up from the couch and rummaged through the cupboards. "Hey, ask Norah if she has any popcorn. I really want some popcorn."
"You're so insensitive!" Greg hung up the phone.
"Finally. I thought she'd never get off the phone." Norah crawled deeper under the covers and kissed Greg's bare chest.
"Just call me Greg the Exterminator."
"If only you were around ten years ago when I had mountains of homework and a 10-year-old sister on my back every night." Norah smiled.
Greg sighed. "I can relate."
Norah cocked an eyebrow. "You don't have siblings, Greg."
"No, but I had parents." Greg nodded.
Norah laughed and shook her head. "I don't think it's quite the same, Peaches."
"You obviously don't know my parents too well."
Norah buried her head into her pillow. Most newlyweds go to the Bahamas or Hawaii, especially in October, but Greg and Norah chose Niagara Falls, Canada. Norah was positive it was the coldest place on Earth.
Greg got off the plane and shivered. "It's freezing!"
"It's pretty north, Peaches," Norah said. She linked her arm in his. "It's Canada," she stated rather unenthusiastically.
Norah snapped back into the present.
"What do you think the baby's going to look like?" Greg asked.
"You're the DNA guy. You tell me."
Greg turned from his position on his back toward her. "Pick out the dominant genes."
"My hair color, your eyes," Norah said.
Greg frowned. "I hope she has your eyes."
She played with Greg's hand. "Why? I hate my eyes. I wanted blue eyes when I was younger."
"Green's much sexier in my opinion." Greg kissed her.
"You're a dork."
"Why?" Greg asked.
"I don't know." She shrugged. "But, it's sexy," she mocked him.
"I may be a dork, but you're the bitch." Greg stuck out his tongue.
Norah shook her head. "If you think this is bad, wait 'till we move into the house."
They'd found a house. Two bedrooms, one bathroom, hardwood floors, and a tree in the backyard. Norah thought it was perfect. Greg didn't care, he was just happy to be getting out of the hellhole he called an apartment.
"Let's play Questions," Norah suggested. Questions was a game where they each asked one serious question about anything. Norah thought it could get them talking about things they might not usually talk about. Greg just liked asking stupid, definitely not serious questions to make Norah mad. He personally thought it was stupid in itself.
"You first," Greg looked at her and pondered about his question silently.
Norah closed her eyes a second. "What do you want our baby to grow up to be?"
"A chemist, of course." He grinned. Greg grew quiet when he saw Norah anticipating her question. "Do you want to meet your dad at all?"
This question took Norah by surprise, she was sure he'd ask another stupid question like, "Do my feet smell?" That was followed by Norah shouting about the need for the question to be serious. Then Greg would smile to himself and tell her he WAS serious.
"I've never really thought about it. Maybe just meet him once, not really establish a father-daughter bond or something," Norah sat up and hugged her legs.
"Why?"
Norah turned to the wall. "One serious question per person per game."
Greg sat up and put his hand on her shoulder.
"A relationship should have been made when I was a kid. When I needed him," Norah explained.
Greg scooted over to the side of the hotel bed Norah was on. "Sorry."
Tears rolled down Norah's cheeks. Real tears this time. Hot, angry tears. But her anger wasn't toward Greg, like he thought.
She couldn't figure out how someone could hate his or her own flesh and blood the way she thought that her father hated her. She didn't know much about him; she asked, but got no answers. She made up an image of him. She pictured him as a monstrous man with green eyes as piercing as hers. That's one thing she knew about him for sure; he had green eyes. She didn't get them from her mother. Every time she passed someone with green eyes she couldn't help but wonder if it was him.
Norah wiped the tears from her eyes. She wanted to sleep, she wanted to go home, but most of all, she wanted to get the image of her father out of her mind.
"Good night, Greg." Norah curled up and pulled the covers up to her chin.
Greg frowned, still thinking she was mad at him. He kissed her cheek and turned off the lights before crawling next to her and wrapping his arms around her. "Night, Nor," he whispered, even though she was already asleep.
Meanwhile, 3 time zones and 2,323 miles away, Nick and Lydia came to pick up their daughter...
"Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!" A hyperactive Abby said, jumping around the room.
Lydia looked at Mandy. "What did you do to my daughter?"
Nick glared at Lydia.
Lydia glared back.
Mandy gave Abby more sugar.
Abby bounced off the walls even more.
Lydia shook her head. "Abby, Daddy and I have something to tell you."
Abby calmed down a little bit. "Yes?"
"Mommy's having a baby," Nick told her.
Abby stared blankly at them.
Mandy smiled. "That's great, guys! Isn't that great, Abby?"
"No."
Lydia's smile faded.
Abby pouted. "I don't want a brother or sister! Matthew has a little sister and she cries every night at 13 o' clock to 20 o' clock. That's a lot of o' clocks!"
"Our baby won't do that, I promise." Nick nodded.
"Will it poop?" Abby asked.
Lydia nodded. "Yes, everyone poops, Abby."
"Send the baby back," she chanted. She stomped around the room pouting.
Nick scooped Abby up in his strong arms and carried her out of Norah's apartment. Lydia thanked Mandy briefly and followed them.
Mandy shrugged and picked the popcorn out of her teeth.
---
"Where do you want to go today?" Greg asked her, sitting on the bed.
'Home,' she wanted to answer. "Do you want to just walk down to the Falls one more time?" They had three hours until their flight back to Vegas, but Greg wanted to do everything he hadn't and Norah just wanted to get back to her life, in warm, sunny Las Vegas.
The October air rushed in as Greg led Norah outside the hotel. Norah shivered and stuffed her hands into her coat pockets.
Greg put his hand on her hip and pulled her closer to him. "How are you feeling?" He asked, referring to the morning sickness that struck her earlier that day.
Norah shrugged and moved even closer to him, half-hoping she'd get warmer. "Better, I guess."
"Good." Greg rubbed her shoulder with his hand bunched up in his sleeve, making a nylon-against-nylon sound.
Norah put her head on his shoulder as they came to a railing. They watched the water spill over the cliffs, which would have caused a rainbow on any given day with some sun, which this wasn't. It was still beautiful.
"We should bring the baby here...when she's born." Greg said, looking at Norah's stomach.
Norah shrugged a bit. "I'd prefer Hawaii, but whatever makes your Jell-O jiggle."
He held her closer. "What about names?"
"Melody." Norah suggested.
"Lucy," Greg said.
Norah glared. "I like Melody."
"I don't."
Norah pulled away from him. "Who's carrying this baby for nine months? Who's giving this baby nutrients through her bellybutton? Who's vagina is this baby coming out of?"
"I helped make this baby, don't I get a say?" Greg asked.
"Umm, no. You aren't going through this pain so that's my final answer." Norah walked back towards the hotel.
"I'm calling our baby Lucy no matter what," Greg yelled.
"In that case, I hope it's a boy! I'm sure he'd love that, Peaches!" She shouted back.
He walked after her. "Why don't we think up a name we both like, okay?"
She gave in, only because she hated fighting with him. They stayed in the room the remaining hour-and-a-half compiling a list of names. They came up with Kaylee and Toby.
They climbed into the car they rented at the Buffalo airport, which they barely used in the two weeks they were there.
"How does it feel like to be pregnant?" Greg smiled.
Norah's eyes were closed. "Irritating."
Greg frowned.
"I have to go to the bathroom."
"You just went ten minutes ago." Greg whined. They had barely gone 2 miles, and now she wanted to stop?
Norah opened one eye. "One of those great pregnancy things. Please, before we get onto the Rainbow bridge! I'm going to pee my pants, man!"
Greg pulled parked in front of a restaurant. Norah got out and walked in. After a nearly twenty minutes she walked back out with a cheeseburger.
An irate Greg shot Norah a look.
Norah shrugged. "I was hungry...want some?"
"No, but you're going to get sick." Greg said matter-of-factly.
"And when did you become an obstetrician?" Norah said licking her fingers.
Greg rolled his eyes as he drove back toward the Rainbow Bridge. "I did some research, and greasy foods can cause morning sickness."
"Thank you, Dr. Mom." Norah said. She was feeling queasy but wouldn't admit it to him. They crossed the border and Norah felt even more nauseated, especially as the roads got bumpier. "Man, do I love Upstate New York," she thought aloud.
"Feeling sick, Norah?" Greg asked dryly.
Norah grit her teeth. "Feeling lucky, Greg? Here's some advice: Don't make a pregnant woman with morning sickness angry."
Greg smiled to himself, proud that he was right. He pulled into a McDonald's and Norah ran in. Five minutes later a pale Norah climbed back into the car. "Told you so."
Norah said nothing. She stared directly in front of her. She didn't know how much more she could take of this pregnancy thing, which is pretty bad because she was only about a month into pregnancy. She didn't know how much of Greg she could take, which is really bad because they were only two weeks into marriage. She didn't know how much of the North she could take, which was kind of bad because they were only about 3 miles into the 28-mile trip to the airport. Norah felt tired all of a sudden. She started to crawl into the back seat of the rental, as Greg was driving.
"What are you doing?" He asked, swerving to avoid cars.
Norah said nothing. When she successfully reached the back she laid down, resting her head on the seat and curling up into a ball.
Greg looked at her through the rearview mirror occasionally. He gently shook her when they'd gotten to the airport's rental car return.
Norah said nothing. She slid out of the car and grabbed her bag from the open trunk. She walked into the airport as Greg took care of the car.
"Ready?" He asked as they went though the metal detectors.
Norah said nothing. She picked up her carry-on and walked toward the gates.
Greg followed her. He handed the women their tickets and walked with Norah onto the plane. He took her bag and shoved it in the over-head compartment for her. "There we go." He smiled.
Norah said nothing. She took the seat next to the window. She stared out the window at the runway.
"I hate traveling. It's so far away from home." Greg said, trying to make conversation.
Norah said nothing. She didn't look away from the window, either. She buckled her seatbelt when the stewardess told her to.
They flew to Vegas in silence, even though Greg tried many times to get her to talk. When they stepped out of the Las Vegas airport, Nick was there to pick them up. He smiled at them.
"How was your trip?"
Norah said nothing.
Greg smiled back. "Good."
Nick looked at Norah and then back at Greg. He didn't ask any questions until they got to Norah's apartment. She went into her apartment and Greg stayed in the car.
"What did you do?" Nick asked him.
Greg acted shocked. "Nothing! Why would you assume I did something?"
Nick rolled his eyes. "The only time she shuts up is when she's sad or mad."
"Oh, she wasn't talking? I didn't notice," Greg lied.
Nick rose his eyebrows.
Greg sighed. "I said I was right about her getting sick from a cheeseburger she had to eat."
"Dude, you're an idiot." Nick stated.
Greg nodded. "Well, what do I do to get her to talk to me, now?"
Nick thought for a second. "Do something romantic. Chicks like romantic stuff." Nick thought back to when he proposed to Lydia, complete with rose petals on the floor and bed. Nick was still finding petals.
"I'm not a romantic person, give me some ideas," Greg begged.
"I have one piece of advice: Ask Lindsey."
-----
Greg knocked on Catherine's door.
Catherine opened the door. "Greg? Come in."
"Can I talk to Lindsey, Catherine? It's a romantic emergency," Greg pleaded as he stepped into her house.
Catherine looked at Greg oddly.
Lindsey poked her head from behind the kitchen wall. "Did someone say 'romantic emergency'?"
Greg took her hand and pulled her out onto her porch.
Catherine blinked her eyes a couple of times before closing the door in bewilderment.
After a few minutes of discussion Lindsey had an idea. "Well, we can't do rose petals, that's getting old. So, how about..." Her mouth curled into a smile. "I've got it! Bring Norah here at 8, tell her you need to baby-sit me and I'm begging for her because...I need help with my homework! Everything will be perfect. Just get her here, I'll work out the rest." She ran inside.
Greg stood up and wiped his butt off.
Catherine opened the door. "What exactly does it mean when you need romantic help from a twelve-year-old?" She smirked.
"You try having a wife that's stopped talking to you and you've only been married for two weeks," Greg told her. "Make sure her ideas have been executed perfectly, Catherine. She's my only hope."
"If it's one thing I've learn from men, it's that half of them are pathetic slobs."
"We love you, too, Cath." Greg smiled, while walking to his car.
"How is it up there?" Mandy asked into the phone, stuffing her face with Norah's food.
"Cold," Norah said bitterly.
Greg frowned.
"But, it's really pretty." Norah smiled at Greg.
Abby, who was on a sugar high, jumped on the couch and watched Mandy. "Why exactly are you here?"
Mandy covered the bottom half of the phone. "To watch her fish, or something." Mandy shrugged.
Abby raised her eyebrows. "Um, Cousin Amanda?" She pointed to the fishbowl with the little orange blob floating at the top.
"Whoops," Mandy said a little too loud, remembering that she forgot to feed the fish.
"Whoops?" Norah said into the phone.
Mandy bit her lip. "Mr. Boomer or whatever..."
"Mr. Bubbles?" Norah squinted.
"Yeah, he died." Mandy shrugged again.
"What's wrong with Mr. Bubbles?" Greg asked.
"It's just a fish," Mandy groaned.
Abby repeated Mandy in the same nonchalant manor. "Just a fish."
Greg took the phone from a crying Norah. "She loved Mr. Bubbles like a brother." Greg shook his head in shame.
Mandy rolled her eyes. "You two are perfect for each other. Drama queen and king."
Greg bought Mr. Bubbles on her first day at her new job." Abby filled Mandy in.
Mandy still felt no sympathy. She got up from the couch and rummaged through the cupboards. "Hey, ask Norah if she has any popcorn. I really want some popcorn."
"You're so insensitive!" Greg hung up the phone.
"Finally. I thought she'd never get off the phone." Norah crawled deeper under the covers and kissed Greg's bare chest.
"Just call me Greg the Exterminator."
"If only you were around ten years ago when I had mountains of homework and a 10-year-old sister on my back every night." Norah smiled.
Greg sighed. "I can relate."
Norah cocked an eyebrow. "You don't have siblings, Greg."
"No, but I had parents." Greg nodded.
Norah laughed and shook her head. "I don't think it's quite the same, Peaches."
"You obviously don't know my parents too well."
Norah buried her head into her pillow. Most newlyweds go to the Bahamas or Hawaii, especially in October, but Greg and Norah chose Niagara Falls, Canada. Norah was positive it was the coldest place on Earth.
Greg got off the plane and shivered. "It's freezing!"
"It's pretty north, Peaches," Norah said. She linked her arm in his. "It's Canada," she stated rather unenthusiastically.
Norah snapped back into the present.
"What do you think the baby's going to look like?" Greg asked.
"You're the DNA guy. You tell me."
Greg turned from his position on his back toward her. "Pick out the dominant genes."
"My hair color, your eyes," Norah said.
Greg frowned. "I hope she has your eyes."
She played with Greg's hand. "Why? I hate my eyes. I wanted blue eyes when I was younger."
"Green's much sexier in my opinion." Greg kissed her.
"You're a dork."
"Why?" Greg asked.
"I don't know." She shrugged. "But, it's sexy," she mocked him.
"I may be a dork, but you're the bitch." Greg stuck out his tongue.
Norah shook her head. "If you think this is bad, wait 'till we move into the house."
They'd found a house. Two bedrooms, one bathroom, hardwood floors, and a tree in the backyard. Norah thought it was perfect. Greg didn't care, he was just happy to be getting out of the hellhole he called an apartment.
"Let's play Questions," Norah suggested. Questions was a game where they each asked one serious question about anything. Norah thought it could get them talking about things they might not usually talk about. Greg just liked asking stupid, definitely not serious questions to make Norah mad. He personally thought it was stupid in itself.
"You first," Greg looked at her and pondered about his question silently.
Norah closed her eyes a second. "What do you want our baby to grow up to be?"
"A chemist, of course." He grinned. Greg grew quiet when he saw Norah anticipating her question. "Do you want to meet your dad at all?"
This question took Norah by surprise, she was sure he'd ask another stupid question like, "Do my feet smell?" That was followed by Norah shouting about the need for the question to be serious. Then Greg would smile to himself and tell her he WAS serious.
"I've never really thought about it. Maybe just meet him once, not really establish a father-daughter bond or something," Norah sat up and hugged her legs.
"Why?"
Norah turned to the wall. "One serious question per person per game."
Greg sat up and put his hand on her shoulder.
"A relationship should have been made when I was a kid. When I needed him," Norah explained.
Greg scooted over to the side of the hotel bed Norah was on. "Sorry."
Tears rolled down Norah's cheeks. Real tears this time. Hot, angry tears. But her anger wasn't toward Greg, like he thought.
She couldn't figure out how someone could hate his or her own flesh and blood the way she thought that her father hated her. She didn't know much about him; she asked, but got no answers. She made up an image of him. She pictured him as a monstrous man with green eyes as piercing as hers. That's one thing she knew about him for sure; he had green eyes. She didn't get them from her mother. Every time she passed someone with green eyes she couldn't help but wonder if it was him.
Norah wiped the tears from her eyes. She wanted to sleep, she wanted to go home, but most of all, she wanted to get the image of her father out of her mind.
"Good night, Greg." Norah curled up and pulled the covers up to her chin.
Greg frowned, still thinking she was mad at him. He kissed her cheek and turned off the lights before crawling next to her and wrapping his arms around her. "Night, Nor," he whispered, even though she was already asleep.
Meanwhile, 3 time zones and 2,323 miles away, Nick and Lydia came to pick up their daughter...
"Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!" A hyperactive Abby said, jumping around the room.
Lydia looked at Mandy. "What did you do to my daughter?"
Nick glared at Lydia.
Lydia glared back.
Mandy gave Abby more sugar.
Abby bounced off the walls even more.
Lydia shook her head. "Abby, Daddy and I have something to tell you."
Abby calmed down a little bit. "Yes?"
"Mommy's having a baby," Nick told her.
Abby stared blankly at them.
Mandy smiled. "That's great, guys! Isn't that great, Abby?"
"No."
Lydia's smile faded.
Abby pouted. "I don't want a brother or sister! Matthew has a little sister and she cries every night at 13 o' clock to 20 o' clock. That's a lot of o' clocks!"
"Our baby won't do that, I promise." Nick nodded.
"Will it poop?" Abby asked.
Lydia nodded. "Yes, everyone poops, Abby."
"Send the baby back," she chanted. She stomped around the room pouting.
Nick scooped Abby up in his strong arms and carried her out of Norah's apartment. Lydia thanked Mandy briefly and followed them.
Mandy shrugged and picked the popcorn out of her teeth.
---
"Where do you want to go today?" Greg asked her, sitting on the bed.
'Home,' she wanted to answer. "Do you want to just walk down to the Falls one more time?" They had three hours until their flight back to Vegas, but Greg wanted to do everything he hadn't and Norah just wanted to get back to her life, in warm, sunny Las Vegas.
The October air rushed in as Greg led Norah outside the hotel. Norah shivered and stuffed her hands into her coat pockets.
Greg put his hand on her hip and pulled her closer to him. "How are you feeling?" He asked, referring to the morning sickness that struck her earlier that day.
Norah shrugged and moved even closer to him, half-hoping she'd get warmer. "Better, I guess."
"Good." Greg rubbed her shoulder with his hand bunched up in his sleeve, making a nylon-against-nylon sound.
Norah put her head on his shoulder as they came to a railing. They watched the water spill over the cliffs, which would have caused a rainbow on any given day with some sun, which this wasn't. It was still beautiful.
"We should bring the baby here...when she's born." Greg said, looking at Norah's stomach.
Norah shrugged a bit. "I'd prefer Hawaii, but whatever makes your Jell-O jiggle."
He held her closer. "What about names?"
"Melody." Norah suggested.
"Lucy," Greg said.
Norah glared. "I like Melody."
"I don't."
Norah pulled away from him. "Who's carrying this baby for nine months? Who's giving this baby nutrients through her bellybutton? Who's vagina is this baby coming out of?"
"I helped make this baby, don't I get a say?" Greg asked.
"Umm, no. You aren't going through this pain so that's my final answer." Norah walked back towards the hotel.
"I'm calling our baby Lucy no matter what," Greg yelled.
"In that case, I hope it's a boy! I'm sure he'd love that, Peaches!" She shouted back.
He walked after her. "Why don't we think up a name we both like, okay?"
She gave in, only because she hated fighting with him. They stayed in the room the remaining hour-and-a-half compiling a list of names. They came up with Kaylee and Toby.
They climbed into the car they rented at the Buffalo airport, which they barely used in the two weeks they were there.
"How does it feel like to be pregnant?" Greg smiled.
Norah's eyes were closed. "Irritating."
Greg frowned.
"I have to go to the bathroom."
"You just went ten minutes ago." Greg whined. They had barely gone 2 miles, and now she wanted to stop?
Norah opened one eye. "One of those great pregnancy things. Please, before we get onto the Rainbow bridge! I'm going to pee my pants, man!"
Greg pulled parked in front of a restaurant. Norah got out and walked in. After a nearly twenty minutes she walked back out with a cheeseburger.
An irate Greg shot Norah a look.
Norah shrugged. "I was hungry...want some?"
"No, but you're going to get sick." Greg said matter-of-factly.
"And when did you become an obstetrician?" Norah said licking her fingers.
Greg rolled his eyes as he drove back toward the Rainbow Bridge. "I did some research, and greasy foods can cause morning sickness."
"Thank you, Dr. Mom." Norah said. She was feeling queasy but wouldn't admit it to him. They crossed the border and Norah felt even more nauseated, especially as the roads got bumpier. "Man, do I love Upstate New York," she thought aloud.
"Feeling sick, Norah?" Greg asked dryly.
Norah grit her teeth. "Feeling lucky, Greg? Here's some advice: Don't make a pregnant woman with morning sickness angry."
Greg smiled to himself, proud that he was right. He pulled into a McDonald's and Norah ran in. Five minutes later a pale Norah climbed back into the car. "Told you so."
Norah said nothing. She stared directly in front of her. She didn't know how much more she could take of this pregnancy thing, which is pretty bad because she was only about a month into pregnancy. She didn't know how much of Greg she could take, which is really bad because they were only two weeks into marriage. She didn't know how much of the North she could take, which was kind of bad because they were only about 3 miles into the 28-mile trip to the airport. Norah felt tired all of a sudden. She started to crawl into the back seat of the rental, as Greg was driving.
"What are you doing?" He asked, swerving to avoid cars.
Norah said nothing. When she successfully reached the back she laid down, resting her head on the seat and curling up into a ball.
Greg looked at her through the rearview mirror occasionally. He gently shook her when they'd gotten to the airport's rental car return.
Norah said nothing. She slid out of the car and grabbed her bag from the open trunk. She walked into the airport as Greg took care of the car.
"Ready?" He asked as they went though the metal detectors.
Norah said nothing. She picked up her carry-on and walked toward the gates.
Greg followed her. He handed the women their tickets and walked with Norah onto the plane. He took her bag and shoved it in the over-head compartment for her. "There we go." He smiled.
Norah said nothing. She took the seat next to the window. She stared out the window at the runway.
"I hate traveling. It's so far away from home." Greg said, trying to make conversation.
Norah said nothing. She didn't look away from the window, either. She buckled her seatbelt when the stewardess told her to.
They flew to Vegas in silence, even though Greg tried many times to get her to talk. When they stepped out of the Las Vegas airport, Nick was there to pick them up. He smiled at them.
"How was your trip?"
Norah said nothing.
Greg smiled back. "Good."
Nick looked at Norah and then back at Greg. He didn't ask any questions until they got to Norah's apartment. She went into her apartment and Greg stayed in the car.
"What did you do?" Nick asked him.
Greg acted shocked. "Nothing! Why would you assume I did something?"
Nick rolled his eyes. "The only time she shuts up is when she's sad or mad."
"Oh, she wasn't talking? I didn't notice," Greg lied.
Nick rose his eyebrows.
Greg sighed. "I said I was right about her getting sick from a cheeseburger she had to eat."
"Dude, you're an idiot." Nick stated.
Greg nodded. "Well, what do I do to get her to talk to me, now?"
Nick thought for a second. "Do something romantic. Chicks like romantic stuff." Nick thought back to when he proposed to Lydia, complete with rose petals on the floor and bed. Nick was still finding petals.
"I'm not a romantic person, give me some ideas," Greg begged.
"I have one piece of advice: Ask Lindsey."
-----
Greg knocked on Catherine's door.
Catherine opened the door. "Greg? Come in."
"Can I talk to Lindsey, Catherine? It's a romantic emergency," Greg pleaded as he stepped into her house.
Catherine looked at Greg oddly.
Lindsey poked her head from behind the kitchen wall. "Did someone say 'romantic emergency'?"
Greg took her hand and pulled her out onto her porch.
Catherine blinked her eyes a couple of times before closing the door in bewilderment.
After a few minutes of discussion Lindsey had an idea. "Well, we can't do rose petals, that's getting old. So, how about..." Her mouth curled into a smile. "I've got it! Bring Norah here at 8, tell her you need to baby-sit me and I'm begging for her because...I need help with my homework! Everything will be perfect. Just get her here, I'll work out the rest." She ran inside.
Greg stood up and wiped his butt off.
Catherine opened the door. "What exactly does it mean when you need romantic help from a twelve-year-old?" She smirked.
"You try having a wife that's stopped talking to you and you've only been married for two weeks," Greg told her. "Make sure her ideas have been executed perfectly, Catherine. She's my only hope."
"If it's one thing I've learn from men, it's that half of them are pathetic slobs."
"We love you, too, Cath." Greg smiled, while walking to his car.