"There you are." "I'd almost given up on you." "Luckily, the pan is still warm, Tabasco's still hot." "So how many huevos rancheros would you like?" "Two eggs or three?" " I'm not really hungry." "Thanks, though." " Not hungry?" "When one is blessed with the metabolism of a finch and the appetite of a trucker, one should capitalize on it, huh?" "Not now, Dad." "Please." "I'm sorry." "I know you're still upset about Ephram." " But you do have to eat, sweetheart." " No, no, I know." "It's not that." "It's just, I just got, uh, two responses from different schools." " Did you receive a rejection?" " Yeah, from Tufts, but it's not, um..." "Well, phooey on them." "Their loss, I say." "Besides, one can never be sure of how these things are ultimately decided." "I'm sure that you will forget all about it when you are striding across the Quad next fall at Harvard." " You said something about two responses?" " I got into the other one." " Well, naturally." " It's just bizarre because I didn't apply there." " Come again?" "That's right, Daddy-o." "It starts with a P. I believe the official name is..." "Oh, how do you say?" "..." "Princeton?" " Could you repeat that again, slowly?" " I got into Princeton, Dad." "Did you have anything to do with this?" "You got into Princeton?" " Mm-hm." " Oh!" " Honey." " Okay, now back to the whole I- didn't-apply-there thing." "Do you know anything about that, Mr. Happy?" "Finally, an Abbott at Princeton University." "Sweet justice." "Princeton!" "Hey, hey, hey!" "Princeton!" "Princeton!" "My daughter, she got into Princeton!" "Can you believe it?" "Whoo!" "Now, not that I don't enjoy demolishing your attempt at a game but, uh, shouldn't you be at school?" " Shouldn't you be at work?" "Touché, amigo." "But seriously, what's with the hooky?" "You trying to beat my ditch record?" "Uh, might as well." "School's not that important now that I'm not going to college." "Yeah, but you don't wanna be a high-school dropout." "Pretty soon, you'll be watching NASCAR with a six-pack of Milwaukee's Best laying across your gut." "Seeing as I had a kid at 16, I figured I might as well go for broke with the stereotype." "I'm trying to find the humor in it, move to that all-important acceptance stage." "If you ever wanna talk about it..." "Promise me you didn't know anything until I told you." "I swear." "I barely know the stuff I'm supposed to know." "But, uh, can I ask you one question?" "Yeah, sure." "Go for it." "So you made it all the way to California, you made it all the way to the kid's house but you didn't knock." "What's up with that?" "I don't know." "I mean, I planned to." "I had a speech prepared and everything." "But when I got there, it clicked." "You know, he wasn't my kid anymore." "I mean, he was but he wasn't, you know?" "They cared enough to adopt him." "Why should I ruin their lives just because I'm feeling weird." "So, I mean, Amy wasn't totally wrong, then." " What do you mean?" " Oh, nothing." "It's just well, she basically told you not to go for all the reasons you decided not to knock." "I didn't know that I wasn't gonna knock." "I had to be parked outside to figure out what my end result would be." "You had to be fired twice before you realized what a screwup you'd been." " Hey, I'm in the room." " No, I know." "But seriously, come on." "I mean, it wasn't enough that everybody was telling you to get your act together." "You had to actually go and hit the wall yourself." "In your case, the wall meant being slapped down by your mom." "Hmm." "It was a pretty good wall." "All I'm saying is Amy tried to do the right thing, man." "Maybe you can cut her some slack." " Sorry." "I'm sorry." " What is it with you today?" "You're like Howard Hughes without the milk bottles." "Oh, I just..." "Jake's brother is coming in from L. A and, uh, they're gonna be here any minute." "Oh, is it something special or is he just coming to see you?" "Not that meeting you isn't a special occasion." " He's just coming here for business." " Wow, meeting the family." " That's a big step." " I know." "I'm calling it threat-level orange." "It's all gonna be okay." "Trust me." " First time." "Hey, baby." " Ha-ha-ha." "Hey." "Andy, awesome." "Brian, Andy Brown, former hotshot brain surgeon now fellow small-town doc." "Andy, my brother, Brian." " Nice to meet you." " Pleasure." "And this..." "I'm hoping is Nina." "Otherwise you're overusing the term "baby. "" " It is." "It's nice to meet you, Brian." " Heh." " Finally." "A face to a name." "Ha, ha." "Hmm..." "Oh..." " I knew you'd be blond." "Don't ask me how." " Is it because I told you she was?" "I said don't ask me." "He doesn't listen." "It's one of his problems." "I'll tell you about his other problems once the drinking's begun." "I don't like to trash my brother till I've had a few martinis." " Did I mention he's an alcoholic?" "No, you didn't." " How long are you here for?" " Uh, just a couple days." " Tax season gets crazy." " Oh, really?" "Are you, uh...?" "An accountant, yeah." "Uncle Sam wants his pound of flesh." "I try to make it only a few ounces and somebody else's flesh." "He lowers himself once a year to do my taxes." "Mom makes me." "Okay, we're done." "Look, I know about myself." "I'm here to learn about you." "So far, I've heard you're the best cook in the tristate area." " Oh, tri-county, max." " Actually, she is..." " And you have a kid, right?" "Sam?" "Yeah." "You're gonna love him." "His vocabulary's bigger than yours." "I'm still waiting on Michigan, but Ohio State just wait-listed me, so..." "And I've got Penn State underwear on." "They're my safety school." "That's very thorough of you, Pippi." "Well, not everybody can get into Princeton." "So exciting." "It's, like, the best school, except for the New Jersey part." "Lot of Mafia." "You should totally bring Mace with you." " Hey." " Hey." "Uh, where's Hannah?" "Uh, her and Topher went out for lunch, I think, off-campus." " Oh, yeah, that's right." "They're, like, uh..." " I think she really likes him." " Well, that's cool." "Mm-hm." " How are you?" " Oh, good." "Just hanging in there." "Um..." "Counting down the days till school's over." "I didn't see you in homeroom today." "I figured maybe you'd given up." "Uh, just about." "I'm gonna go." "Hey, I feel like I, uh..." "Like I owe you an apology." " Really?" " Yeah." "You know, uh, what you did." "Wrong." "Totally, it was wrong." "But you didn't have a lot of options at the time." "I don't know what I would've done in your situation and, you know, I understand." "Um..." "When the whole thing went down, I was just angry at the world, so..." "No, which you had every right to be." "Yeah, anyway, uh, I'm sorry if I made you feel bad or..." "No, it's okay." "I totally understand." "And thanks for saying that." "So, uh, I don't know, do you wanna, like, maybe hang out sometime, whenever?" "Oh, yeah." " Sure." "Whenever, you know?" " Okay." "Um, so then, you know, I'll just..." "I'll give you a call, or..." " Okay." "Okay." " I should go." " Oh, yeah, me too, because I'm hungry." " I gotta..." " All right, so..." "The housing on this campus is simply phenomenal." "Who cares if it costs more than our mortgage payment." "It's Princeton, right?" "Still no better?" "Take something to help you sleep." "A full eight hours might be just the thing." "I don't think sleep is gonna help, dear." "Frankly, I no longer believe this is all stress-related." " I see." "So, what is your diagnosis?" " Well, I'm always tired." "I..." "No matter how much sleep I get, my back aches." "Frankly, everything aches from my breasts to my ankles." "And recently, I have been feeling a bit queasy." "Perhaps you should come in tomorrow." "I'll do a complete workup." " Some antibiotics might be in order." " I don't think that'll be necessary." "Oh, really, now?" "And when exactly did you obtain your medical license?" "Listen to me, Harold." "The last time I felt this way was 18 years ago." "Come to think of it, it'll be 18 years, nine months in September." "September?" "What do you...?" "Oh, dear Lord." "Don't tell me..." "I'm not sure but, yes, I think I might be pregnant." "Well..." "It's good, right?" "Wine Spectator gave it a 96." "Stop trying to impress her." "She's already sleeping with you." "Ha." " You see?" "Nothing but rude." "I need to go check on Sam, make sure he's asleep not playing Game Boy under the covers again." "Brian, there is ice cream in the freezer." "Help yourself." "Thank you." " Well, you were right, man, she's awesome." " Told you." "And this cooking?" "What is that about?" "Wait till tomorrow." "She's got this whole feast planned." "Cool." "No, I totally get her, man." "She's a real sweetheart." "So when are you breaking up with her?" " What are you talking about?" "You just said..." " She's great." "For here." "We working on a scale system, or you want a real grade?" "You know what?" "You're a dick." " You told me to be honest." " Shut up." "I'm serious." "What, you're planning on staying here forever?" "You're gonna move into this house?" "Dude, it's smaller than our old place on Martel." "And we had roommates then." " It's a good house." " Yeah, it's all good." "But not as great." "Taking a step backwards, and you know it." "I know you know it." "Nina is better than all the women I ever dated in L.A. put together." "Nina is a divorced waitress who's never been outside the red states." "Hey, I'll have you know Colorado is a very tight election." " Very tight." " Okay." "Tell me one thing you guys have in common." "One thing, and I'll back off." "You know what?" "I'm not playing this game with you, okay?" "I don't need your approval." "No, what you need is a shot in the ass." "Look, in case you forgot, your life back home rocked." "You had a house people would kill for, insanely hot girlfriends, a kick-ass practice." "And you gave it all up for what?" "To play house?" "Look, you did not cause that kid's death, J." "He did it to himself." "Your name just happened to be on the bottle." " I shouldn't have prescribed it." " You went down a bad road." "Everybody has." "But you learned from it." " You can't punish yourself forever." " I'm not..." "That's not what this is." "Okay, maybe not yet, but in a few months, you're gonna get bored of this place and you're gonna wanna be back in L.A." "And if you like this girl, save her the heartache and get out now." "What, no ice cream?" "Come on, boys, don't make me eat it alone." "We were just waiting for you, babe." "Ice cream." "How's it going in there, my dear?" "I'm peeing on a stick." "It's as thrilling as it sounds." "So which would you prefer, a boy or a girl?" "Oh, I forgot." "Doesn't matter." "Just pink and perfect and appropriately fingered and toed." "Sit, sit, sit." "So I, uh, took the liberty of perusing the Babies "R" Us website." "I couldn't sleep last night." "You would not believe the cost of a quality stroller these days." " You don't say." " Yeah." "I also Googled "swing set" just for the heck of it." "You'd be thoroughly shocked by what came up." "It had nothing to do with playground equipment." "Strollers and yard toys?" "Don't you think we should wait for the results first?" "I suppose patience is a virtue for a reason but you have to admit, it's all rather exciting, isn't it?" "Isn't it?" "I don't know." "It's just not something I was planning." "I was ready for the empty-nest syndrome." "I never expected to be breast-feeding again at my age." " You having second thoughts?" " I haven't had time for first thoughts." "We haven't actually discussed this yet." "Well, forgive me." "I didn't realize we had anything to discuss." "It's negative." "Well, I suppose that's that." "How accurate are these things?" "Fairly." "Of course, there's always a possibili..." " Why?" " Well, I know my body, Harold." "Call me crazy, but I trust myself more than a plastic stick from a grocery store." "Well, why don't you come by the office later?" "We'll draw some blood, see if we can get a more accurate result." "If it's all right with you, I'd rather go to Edna." "You haven't been able to locate my vein since med school." "That's fine." "I suppose I should be getting back to work." "Yeah, I need to as well." "You are gonna ruin your appetite." "Wow, you said that just like my mom." " Yeah." "We all get the same training tapes." " Uh-huh." " Canola's better, right?" " Yeah, works for me." " Do you cook?" " Hell, no." "But for some reason, I love cooking shows." "Can't get enough of that Iron Chef." "I like watching Oleg do it, but I feel no need to try it myself." "Yeah." "Well, I like cooking for Jake." "Sam only gets excited if I make something in the frank-and-beans family, but your brother will eat anything." "I've tried recipes on him I wasn't even sure I'd wanna eat, and he's always a trouper." "You're in love with him, aren't you?" " What?" " It's okay." "I'm not gonna say anything to him, but, um, you might want to at some point." "I don't think that we're there yet, or I don't know if we are." "We'll just see what happens." "Yeah, well, I'd tell him sooner rather than later if I were you." "That way, he might bring you back to L.A. when he comes home." "Look, um, so here's the deal." "And by the way, I feel like a total ass now for doing it." "But, uh, I kind of told Jake to break up with you." " Really?" "That was sweet of you." "Hold up." "Ugh, wait." "Let me explain." "I know for a fact that Jake's gonna wind up moving back to L.A." "I told him to break up with you to save you the heartache." " I was looking out for you." " Why do you think he's moving to L. A?" " Did he say something?" " No." "He doesn't belong here." "The guy sticks out." "He doesn't stick out, he stands out." "And you've only been here for one day so maybe you should keep your opinions to yourself." "He's broke, Nina." "I've been doing his books, and, uh, he's not making a third of what he used to so he's not standing out enough, if you know what I mean." "No, I don't." "He's got, uh, malpractice costs, med-school loans plus his payments on his place in L.A." " He still has a place there?" " Look, I came out here to help him." "I'll be honest." "I didn't think I'd give a rat's about you, but now that I've met you I like you, Nina." "I mean, I don't know if I see you two in it for the long haul, but, uh, who knows?" "Anyway, I just, uh..." "I wanted to give you the heads-up." "What do you think about this one?" "Uh, it's a little dull." "You wanna look hot, don't you?" "Damn, girl." "Three dates with Topher, and suddenly you're Paris Hilton?" "Two and a half." "Lunch doesn't count as a whole date." "I think you and Ephram should start off with more of a bang." "We're not starting." "It's more like we almost got canceled then everyone decided they loved us so we got picked up for another season." " Ha, ha, you watch way too much TV." "It's gonna take a while for Ephram and I to get completely back to normal." "I don't wanna freak him out with an overly sexy dress." "Okay, that's fair." "But I really don't think it's gonna take as long as you think." "I mean, if you can get through this..." "This was like a Greek tragedy." "It should be easy-peasy from here on out." " Okay, don't say anything." " Obviously." "Obviously." "But I'm starting to feel like Ephram and I could really work." "You know, like forever." "We have been through everything horrible that could possibly happen and we're still in love with each other." "And I know we're still in high school..." "So?" "So what?" "That's when my parents met." "Same as yours." "They're all still together." "But things were different back then." "Why?" "You and Ephram just went through your first big cycle." "It was your first." "You're gonna have more." "And I will take care of your grandchildren when you need private nookie time." " Ew!" "What?" "Senior citizens make out." "I have heard the stories about your grandma." "Okay, you have officially lost your maid-of-honor status." "Well, you're not pregnant, but no real surprise there, right?" "Uh..." "I'm sorry." "I figured you knew." "Well, if we knew, we wouldn't be here, doctor." "I'll admit, I am surprised." "I truly thought that..." "Well, never mind." "If you are interested in conceiving, there's a lot of stuff we can try." "We should get a sample from you, Hal, just to check sperm-count motility." "Yes, uh, you needn't concern yourself with my motility, doctor." "And I don't believe we require any further assistance." "Maybe we do." "You've been telling me that my symptoms were all stress-related." "And you were convinced that you were pregnant." " I am not the doctor." " Glad you finally understand that." "Anyhoo, I was actually trying to cut out of here early today." " My brother's in town visiting." " Tell me something." "If I were a patient of yours, and I came to you complaining of back problems constant fatigue, nausea..." " Don't exaggerate, Rose." "Uh, okay, well, it's a little early, but it might be menopause." "Your whole body can get thrown all out of whack even fighting off a localized issue." "Seeing as you're having back troubles, I might rule out a compression fracture osteoporosis." " Yes, yes, yes." "I can do the x-ray." "Excuse me, but I asked Dr. Hartman." "Where is this hostility coming from?" "You can't be upset with the results." "You made it clear how little you want..." "Don't even presume to understand how I am feeling, Harold Abbott." " You certainly implied." " No, you inferred, as you so often do." "All I did was express my concern at the prospect of being pregnant again." " Alrighty, then." "I'm just gonna..." " That is not the impression you gave." "You let me presume that I was the only one with any interest in the idea." " You should've said." " You were busy shopping for strollers." "Online." "It took two minutes." "It's not as if I drove the minivan to Sears." "So now you want a minivan?" "Oh, just forget it." "I have to get back to the office." "I've missed enough work as it is." "Just shut up." "Uh-huh?" "Nice to see you still recognize quality advice." "What are you talking about now?" "You and Amy back in the love train." "I heard about your big date." "I'd like to think I had a little bit to do with that." "Whoa, first of all, there's no love train, okay?" "It's not technically a date." "We're hanging out." "You know, seeing how it goes." "Really?" "Oh." " Oh?" " Oh, oh, oh..." "What do you mean, "Oh"?" "What'd you say "oh" like that for?" " What is that supposed...?" " Well, does Amy know it's not a date?" "The mood around here has been that you have moved into couple ville." " No." "Did she say that?" " Pretty much." "But I didn't even..." "I..." "Oh, man." "Look, it's not like I don't miss her." "I do miss her." "But I just..." "I can't be a boyfriend again." "I'm not ready yet." "I..." "Too much has happened." "I need to figure some things out." "Well, you should've told her all that stuff before she bought the dress." "She went shopping?" "I..." "I said, "Let's hang out. "" "Dude, you don't have to pop an aneurysm over this, okay?" "Say something to her." "Let her know where you're coming from." " Buy yourself a little time." " Yeah, you're right." "I can do that." "Wherever you land, do it fast because Amy knows what she wants, and it's you." "Hi." "You ready to go?" "You kids have fun." "Andy, rumor has it you're the big celebrity around here." "Well, the bar is set pretty low." "Ah." "Don't listen to him." "The cover of TIME counts as pole-vault height." "He's no Vince Vaughn, but he's the best we can do out here." "Cocktails at 5:30, dinner at 6:30?" "It's been a while since I've eaten this early." "I mean, back home, the good restaurants don't even open till 7." "Well, we have to get to bed early around here so we can get up and milk the cows." "She's kidding." "She doesn't have any cows." "Ha, ha." "He does have a point." "The pace of things in this town does take a little getting used to." " Really?" "I didn't know you were so bored." " Do I smell cumin?" "I love cumin." "That's not what I meant." "I'm..." "Andy, help me out here." "You must've had a hard time making the transition from New York." " Yes, why don't you help Jake out here?" " No, no, it's paprika." "That's what it is." "They're both reddish." "I get the two confused." " You watch Iron Chef?" "I love that show." " I do." "You notice how the guy looks exactly like...?" "Sorry." "Slipped." " Ow!" "Damn it." "You all right?" " No, I just burned my hand." " Here." "Come here." "No, I'm fine." "It's just your kitchen." "It was stupid to cook over here." "Well, we could've done it at your place." "I'm sorry." "You know what?" "I'm, uh, just exhausted." "And to tell you the truth, I'm not that hungry." "Why don't you guys just have, uh, a boys' night?" " Nina, wait." "No, seriously." "That way, uh, you guys could all eat at 8 or 9 or whenever and then you can all pretend you're back in a big city." "So any good bars in this town?" "Louise should be back with that x-ray in just a few minutes." "That's fine." "What do you want from me, Rose?" "Should I continue in my attempt to understand what is going through that head of yours?" "Or would you prefer to be left alone?" "Frankly, I'm at a loss." "I don't know what's wrong with me, Harold." " The x-ray?" "Oh, no, I'm sure it'll be fine." " No, I don't mean that." "I mean, you were right." "Initially, I didn't want another child." "It just seemed like such an exhausting prospect." "But then I..." "Then what?" "Well, once I got past my anxieties about the actual pregnancy and started thinking about the possible baby I really wanted her." "A her, was it?" "Appropriately fingered and toed, but I was hoping for a girl." "Is that crazy?" "Do we want another child at our age?" "I don't know." "Geena Davis seems to be doing okay." "I have to be honest with you." "I never felt more useful in this world than the day I became a father." "I never saw more clearly what I was put on Earth for." "We raised two wonderful children with good hearts." "The girl's going to Princeton for heaven's sake." "I would say we did fantastic." "You know, Rose, I was, uh reading this article about this woman in Budapest, had a baby in her 70s." "Well, we got a couple of decades on her." "We could try, if you want." "Really?" "Dr. Abbott." " Here you go." " Yes." "Thank you." " Uh, do you need me for anything else?" " No, that should be all." "Thank you, Louise." "I wonder when's the best time to start trying again." "I'm free tonight." "Sounds good to me." "Well, I see no visible fractures." "Wish the resolution was better." "We'll set up a scan, just to be certain." "Much better detail." "Whatever you think." "I better get home and start dinner." "Will you be long?" "Uh, just have some paperwork to wrap up." "Be right behind you." "Oh, God." " I know." " This is amazing." " It's like she's magic." " Mm." "So, what am I doing, right?" " Hey, I didn't say anything." " No, but you were thinking it." "I don't know." "I don't know what happened." "Your brother came here and decided to stir the pot." "That's what families do." "That's what makes the holidays so fun." "I know." "And I knew Brian would pull this crap." "He always does." "I just didn't think I'd be so susceptible to it." "I thought I was happy." "Well, you seem happy." "Well, maybe I'm not." "I mean, if I was, wouldn't I be more sure about everything?" "No, not necessarily." "You know, I got the same pitch when I first got here." ""You're crazy." "You're gonna miss the city." "You'll never last a year. "" " I heard them all." " So, what made you stop listening?" "I don't know." "There wasn't any great epiphany or anything." " Maybe Brian's right." "I mean, maybe I do need to spend half my day alone on a freeway to be happy." "That's a load of crap." "I know what you gave up, and I know what you've got here, and it's worth it." " You mean she's worth it." " Yeah, that's exactly what I mean." "I'm gonna tell you something." "I was a disaster when I got here, and not just as a parent, but as a person." "Nina was the first friend I had and probably the only person I talked to." "And she saved me from myself more times than she should have." "Yeah, I hear you, man." "Do you?" "Really?" "Because you're not gonna find anyone like her in L.A." "I just figured something out." "Yeah." "It took me a while." "I couldn't quite see it at first." "But the way you talk about her the way you guys are so close, I totally get it now." "Get what?" "Why Nina was in love with you." "You knew that." "I mean, you're a pretty perceptive guy." "You had to at least know that the possibility was there for you guys." "The big irony is, I actually told her to go for it." " Is that right?" " Mm-hm." "At the time, I didn't know it was you she was talking about." "I don't know if I would've been up for that kind of competition." "Anyway, it makes sense to me now why you didn't go for it." "You wouldn't wanna risk a friendship like that." "That's a beautiful thing." "It is." "You're a hell of a lot stronger than I am." "That's for sure." "But good for you." "Well like I said I wouldn't have made it here without her." "Thanks for the talk, Andy." "Anytime." "So I've been thinking about something." " Oh, yeah?" " Mm-hm." " Uh, you wanna grab some coffee?" " Oh, yeah, sure." "So I know it's a little early but, um, I think I've decided to go to Princeton." " That's..." "That's awesome." "Ha, ha." " Mm-hm." "It seems like the right thing to do." "My dad's all excited about it, and the cost of living in New Jersey..." "Way cheaper than New York." "Your dad will cover your dorm fees." "Actually, I meant for you." "For me?" "Mm-hm." "Dad would freak out if he thought we were gonna share an apartment especially freshman year, but, um, you could find a place close to campus." "Commute to New York maybe." " Uh, heh, what am I doing in New York?" " Whatever you want." "That's the great thing about it, right?" "I mean, you can do anything or everything." "Or, you know, if New Jersey's too far I mean, I could definitely choose a school in the city." "Look, I don't know if I really wanna live in the city next year." "I don't know what I wanna do." "I have no clue." " So you're gonna stay in Everwood?" " No." "Where are you gonna go?" "I don't know." "That's what I'm trying to explain to you." "I just, you know, have no idea." "So why don't you come with me?" "Look, Amy, I don't know exactly what we're doing here." "I thought we were just hanging out, getting a bite to eat or something." "Yeah, we are." "Look, it's just, you can't plan your life around me anymore." "I'm happy for you." "You have no idea." "This Princeton thing is great." "This is exactly where you should be going." "I'm so relieved that I wrote that essay." " Wait, you...?" "What essay?" " The Princeton essay." "You wrote it?" "Well, yeah." "I mean, your dad filled out the application, but I wrote the essay." "Hmm." " I'm sorry." "I thought you knew." " No, I just thought that my dad did it, heh." " No, but you knew he asked me to, right?" " No, yeah, I remember." "So I did." "I mean, it's no big deal." "You got in because of your grades, not because of an essay." "Look, you should be going wherever you wanna go:" "Princeton, Harvard, whatever you think is best." "But you can't make me a part of those decisions anymore." "Not right now, at least." "No, yeah, of course." "I get it." " Coffee?" " Sure." "Hey." "So, what happened last night?" "Closed the place down waiting for you." "Sadly, closing time was 11:00." "I didn't really feel like going out." "Yeah, Nina seemed pissed." "Did you guys work it out?" "Look, I'm sorry." "I'm an idiot with women." "You know that." "Yeah, never seems to stop you from weighing in." "Hey, family duty." "I'm just calling it like I see it." " If you plan on settling down with her..." " No, I'm not planning on anything, man." "I met her, I like her, and we were doing just fine until you showed up." "I can't help it." "This is what I do." "I get people to see the big picture." "I figure out exit strategies." "Okay, you wanna plan strategies, you stick to your 1040s and retirement accounts." "Then I'll listen to you." "Okay, fine." "Then let's do this." "That is your AGI from last year's return." "And this is it from 2004." "What does that tell you?" "I don't know." "This one's smaller?" "Yeah, damn straight." "You got a serious revenue issue, bro." "I've run the numbers 10 ways and you're not gonna make it if you don't ramp up that patient load." "Oh, that's tough to do with two other doctors in town." "You used to rake it in with cosmetic peels and microdermabrasions." "Pin an ear back now and then." "Do a little lipo." "Ah, I doubt there'd be much interest for that stuff here." "You kidding?" "You could buy a Lexus just starting with the chicks I saw last night." "They were actually watching wrestling on TV." "Swear to God." "You are truly a bad man." "Look, do what you want, but I'm telling you you're not gonna survive if you don't do something." "Especially if you plan on taking care of Nina and Sam on top of everything else." " She doesn't need me to take care of her." " Maybe not." "But you'll want to." "That'd be my ride." "Oh, ha, ha." " Fly safe." " Yeah." "Call me when you get home." "Oh, hey, one more thing." "It's cool if I ask Cameron out, right?" "Like she'd say yes." "Sweetheart." "Your mother and I are gonna be gone for a few hours." "You think you can handle dinner by yourself?" "Oh, yeah, that's fine." "You okay?" "Yeah, I'm fine." "You guys have a good time." "When removing caked-on risotto a toothbrush works better than steel wool." "Especially when it's your brother's." " All clean." " Wow, thank you." "That's actually yours." "You're kidding." "Man, if I knew that, I wouldn't have spent so much time cleaning it." " Ugh, look, about last night..." " Brian thinks you should go home." " What?" "That's not..." " I got the critique while we were shopping." "He was pretty frank." "Brutal, but, uh, in kind of a nice way." " Yeah." " God, I'm so sorry." "He can be such a..." "Brother." "That's all he was being." "He loves you." "He knows you better than me." "So maybe he's right, you know?" "Maybe you should move back to Los Angeles." "Outside of a balance sheet, he has no idea what I need." "He certainly doesn't know what I want." "Not that he's entirely wrong about Everwood." "I mean, as much as I love this place, if you weren't here..." "Jake." "Maybe I was running when I came here." "Maybe I was punishing myself or something." "But that doesn't matter." "Everything's changed now." " Oh, it has?" " Yes." "It has." "You say "yes" when you mean yes." "You say "no" when you mean no." "There's no games, no pretending." "It..." "I've never had that before, ever, with anybody." "I'm just me." "And so far, you're still here." " Yeah, well, I'm not going anywhere." " Well, neither am I." "Neither am I." "I love you." "I love you." "I love you too." " Hey." " Hi." "Sorry, I know it's late." " Thanks for letting me come by." " Yeah, of course." "Come on in." " Can I ask you something?" " Sure, anything." "Do you remember when you gave me this?" "Of course." "We'd just gotten out of the movies." "Uh, it was when that whole stupid STD-test thing was happening." "Oh, right, heh." "Forgot about that." " I was so mad at you that day." " I know." "I remember." "What I remember is you telling me that the circle represented infinity." "Yeah, I remember that too." "I guess I just don't know why you said that." "I'm a little bit confused." "Um..." "Why, uh, exactly?" "I mean, how so?" "Well, to me, when someone says "infinite," it means forever." "You know, not like a promise of forever." "I didn't think that." "Just more like the possibility of a forever." "I guess that I thought you thought that it was possible." "But you never did." "Not really." "Did you?" "You bought the necklace after you wrote the essay." "I don't know." "Uh, maybe." "I don't remember." " Look, when I wrote that essay..." " You didn't think we'd work." "I remember that conversation too." "And I remember feeling so confident that we would." "I had no idea you were so not confident." "No, it's not that." "It's just, I wanted you to have every possible option." "And when I said "infinite," I meant it." "I did always want you in my life." "I still do, in whatever way possible." "You mean like friends." "Maybe." "I mean, as friends is better than not at all, right?" "So you never really thought we'd wind up together?" "What, you mean like married?" "I know it's crazy." "I'm just asking." "I don't know, um..." "I mean, it seems kind of unlikely, right?" "I mean, high-school sweethearts." " I kind of..." " Small town." "Yeah, I guess it's just not the way that I grew up." "You know, not what I'm used to." "I don't know, maybe, uh..." "Maybe part of me never did really believe that..." "Believe what?" "I don't know." "Um..." "That you ever really love somebody that much." "You know, enough for forever." "You know, what's funny about that, Ephram, is that I really did." "I believed that." "You know what it is?" "It's that this whole time, you've been thinking about me." "Always making sure that I'm okay, no matter what." " I mean, is that wrong?" " No, no." "It's just that I was always thinking about us." "I'm sorry." "Yeah." "Me too." "Doing great, Rose." "Almost done." "Yeah, you can see it here, in the L3 vertebra." "Looks like the body and the posterior spinous process are evolved." "I'd say tumor's about 3 centimeters at this point."