"Eight, nine, 10." "Ready or not, here I come." "I'll give him a few minutes." "He always hides in the same places anyways." " Hmm, under the bed?" " And his closet." " Mm-hm." " It's not really a challenge." " Yeah, it's nice of you to play along though." " I know." "Come and get me." " Be right back." "Save you the socks." "Sure hope I can find you." "What's this?" " That?" " It was under your bed." "Heh, you're kidding." "That's where that thing got to." "Thank you so much." "I've been looking everywhere for that." "You're welcome." "It was right under here." "So, what is it?" "Oh, well, it's just a..." "It's a..." "It's a foot massager." "That's what that is." "Um, I'm on my feet all day and it helps relieve the tension, uh, in my feet." " How does it work?" " Oh, it doesn't." "It's broken." "If it's broken then why do you still have it?" "Because I was gonna return it." "That's why I still have the box." "Why do you keep it under your bed?" "Hey, where are you guys?" "Let's go save Sam." "You go first." "I told you it wasn't good." "A foot massager?" "Did she just see it or did she turn it on?" "I mean, was there buzzing?" "No." "God, no." "I mean, she just found it." "They were playing hide-and-seek." "I guess she was gonna hide under my bed." "I don't know what to say." "This obviously very awkward." "Nina, what is it about your house?" "Penthouses?" "Foot massagers?" "It's like living next door to Larry Flynt." "I have learned that the best thing to do is to come to you, just in case." " Just in case what?" " In case Delia brings it up." "I'm sure she won't, because I covered really well." "She probably forgot but you may wanna just check in with her just to be safe." "Why?" "Do you think I should do that?" "How would I explain a vib...?" "Foot thing?" "I don't know." "If she does bring it up, that means my cover didn't cover and you're gonna have to deal with it." "Dad, Ephram ate all the ice cream." "What are you guys talking about?" "Cheese cake." "Cheesecake." "Uh, Nina's making one for your birthday next week." "Isn't that right, Nina?" "Ha, ha, that's right." "But it was supposed to be a surprise, remember?" "Oh, right." "Sorry." " Oh, that's okay." "Well..." "Well, I'd better go." "Um, I'll see you later, Delia." "What were you really talking about?" "I just told you, sweetheart." "Birthday stuff." "Now, let's go see about that ice cream." " Delia left this at Nina's." " Oh, yeah, just throw it anywhere." " How did that dance thing go?" " It didn't." " You doing homework?" " Uh, no." "Is that...?" "Do you keep a journal?" "What?" "No, um, it's a letter, uh, for Amy, but it's private, so..." "Oh." "Is it your addendum?" " My what?" " To the "I love you. "" "Postscript, additional material?" "I know, I just didn't know that you knew about..." "The "I love you"?" "Yeah." "She told me." "First she said it, then you said it back, there was pizza, hmm." "She said that first she said it and then I said it?" "Yeah." "Did she seem weirded out by that?" "Upset or anything?" " Why?" "Does it matter who says it first?" " No, I don't think so." "If she told you the order in which "I love yous" were exchanged it means the addendum is more necessary than I thought." " Maybe I can help you." " I don't think so, heh." "I'm actually not terrible at it." "I know, because I'm terrible at just about everything else, but I can write." "Are they all full?" "Tsk, uh..." "Pretty much." "Yes, heh." "I also do short stories, but, uh, most of those are on my computer." " You think it's weird?" " Only if it's just from October." "No, ha, ha." "No, this is all of them, starting in seventh grade." "I wasn't exactly the queen of popularity back then either." "So you're consistent." "Well, the truth is, I never really had anyone to talk to but I've always had stuff to say." "So I just said it to myself." "You're not gonna have that problem anymore." "You got Amy." "She's your friend." "And she's a good friend too." "I should know, she was the first friend I had when I moved here." "That's good." "Maybe you should start with that for your letter." " Oh." "Right." " I really don't mind helping." "It's okay." "I mean, I think this is something I should probably try to do by myself." "Yeah, I understand." " Okay, I'II, uh, see you later." " Okay." "I hope Bright hasn't already eaten at the restaurant." "He stuffs himself on those jalapeño poppers." "When has that ever stopped him from eating again?" "The boy has the metabolism of a gerbil." "Ladies and gentlemen you are looking at the latest employee of the month." "Oh, honey, that's wonderful." "Ha, ha, huh?" "I know, did I mention I'm on a plaque?" "Yeah." "A plaque." "I haven't been working there a month and I'm their greatest employee." "How awesome is that?" "Yes, well awesome indeed." "Oh, uh, did I mention?" "Employees get to eat for free even when they're not working." "And Mikey says I get to pick up dinner shifts from now on, so I get to sleep in." " The benefits are endless." " Really?" "Does that mean you'll be getting health and dental?" "No." "No." "Not the "benefits" benefits." "You know, the other kind." "You know." "Anyways, I'm gonna call Fordo because he's gonna freak out when he hears how much I pulled down in tips tonight, right?" "Next stop, employee of the year." "Boo-ya!" "Ha, ha." "By all means, call Fordo." "Who is, I believe, away at college pursuing an actual future." "Oh, stop it." "You should be happy he's doing so well and they like him so much." "They love him." "Didn't you hear him?" "Mikey is giving him dinner shifts." "Boo-ya." "For goodness' sake." "This is just a start." "Working in a restaurant isn't gonna be Bright's career." " But he's happy right now." " He's too happy, Rose, that's the trouble." "If this job is enough for him if that plaque on the wall is all the validation he needs how can you be so certain that he will ever pursue something more?" "Should I call her?" "She might be upset." " I saw her earlier, she seemed fine." " Did I mention how good you look today?" " She's not fine." "You weren't listening to the story." "I just don't see how Hannah not making the ballet team was a big deal." "She didn't just not make it, she fell, bit it." "She was supposed to do this chassé stuff with everybody, which is an easy step." "Instead, she bumped into Katie, who bumped into Melanie and fell with this huge thud." "Everyone started laughing." " You know how red she gets." " Ha, ha." " This isn't funny." " What did you expect?" "I'm not sure the girl can walk and chew gum." "Signing up for a ballet class is not a wise move on her part." "That's just it, it wasn't her idea." "It was my stupid idea." "So?" "It's not your fault she tripped." "Oh, my God, I feel so bad." "The Bright date was my fault, now this is my fault." "This is not the same as that." "It is to Hannah." "To her, this is just one more completely humiliating experience that she can relate back to me." "Don't worry about it so much." "She'll get over it." " I just want her to like me." " Like you?" "The girl worships you." "No, she doesn't." "She's not comfortable around me yet, I can tell." "I keep thinking if maybe I introduce her to more people, help her fit in more..." "Maybe you don't need to worry about her so much." "Give her some time, she'll find her niche." "She kind of already has." "You know she's a writer?" "Really?" "Where is she a writer?" "She's not, like, uh, a professional writer." "She's a writer, that's what she does." "She showed me these journals." "It's like, uh, the box-set history of Hannah, volumes one through a thousand." "Hmm." "Well, this opens up all kind of possibilities." "If Hannah's a writer, she can join the newspaper there's that new arts and literary supplement they do every semester." "Remember when Kami Dexter got her poem published in CosmoGir/?" "I'm working through my back issues." "It sucked, but her Q rating went up like a thousand points." "We can do better." " We can get her in Jane." " I tell you she's a writer you turn her into Stephen King." "How do you know her writing is good?" "I'll read something of hers first." "I'm not gonna set her up for another catastrophe." "And you expect her to just hand over her personal journals for you to read?" "Mm, no, well, that's the point." "We need to get to that level." "I've been sharing a lot of my own personal things with her, so..." "I know, I heard." "Well, that's what girlfriends are for." "Ever since Laynie left, I've really missed having that person." "That's why this friendship is so important to me." " And who am I?" " The guy that I talk to my girlfriends about." " It's a very crucial role, trust me." " Uh-huh." "So I want you to stay on the fentanyl." "I'm also gonna give you a prescription here for Elavil which should help with the pain." "And try to avoid any undo exertion." "Tough to exert much of anything these days." "Guess I have bucked the odds already though, huh?" "Pancreatic cancer can be very aggressive." "You have had an amazing run, Mrs. Hoover." " That's because she is amazing." " Ha, ha." "Yeah, well, it's all part of my master plan." "You see, I skipped over the denial stage and went straight to anger." "I think my rage scared away the reaper a little longer than most, ha, ha." "It's this, uh tsk, pesky acceptance stage I'm not so sure about." "Our daughter moved her wedding date up." "It's in two weeks." "And we just had these redone." "They did a lovely job, didn't they?" "We knew it wasn't a guarantee, but we just thought..." "What do you say, doc?" "Will I get to see my baby girl in her wedding gown?" "It's a Vera Wang." "Costs more than my chemo." "Well, just take it easy until then." "But I have a very good feeling about it." "Thank you, Dr. Brown." "For everything." " You're welcome." " Let's go, Bill." "I'll be right there, honey." "Okay." "How are you holding up?" "I'm okay." "You really think she'll make it for the wedding?" "Well, I don't believe in guarantees, but, yeah, I do." "She's strong, and even with a conservative judgment I think that two weeks is a very safe prognosis." "Is there anything else I can do?" "No, just keep being there for her and make her as comfortable as possible." "I'm afraid that's all anybody can do for her now." "How long does she have?" " All of it." " Oh, that's so tough to say." "Well, give me your best guess." "Six weeks." "Maybe." "I'm so sorry, Bill." "Mine don't feel any different." " Me neither." "Maybe we didn't do it right." " How else would you do it?" " I don't know." "I still think it looks like a microphone." "You know how when grown-ups lie, they start talking fast and they never look you right in the face?" "Yeah." "Well, both Nina and my dad did that to me on the same day I found that." "Interesting." "So you think they're lying?" "Well, they might not be lying but they're definitely not telling the whole truth." "And don't you think it's weird she keeps it under her bed?" "My brother keeps dirty magazines under his bed." "Exactly." "Because it's a secret." "You only keep secret stuff under your bed." " What do you keep under your bed?" " Extra Twinkies." "Me too." " I'll ask my stepmom." " Good idea." "Call me when you find out." "I don't know if it's the oregano that makes it so good but it's definitely something green." "Next week, I'm gonna try provolone." " Hmm, you're a wild man." "Mm." "Nina, Nina." "How's my favorite waitress?" "Tired, underpaid and smelling vaguely of grease." " What can I get you, Jake?" " Coffee to go, thanks." "She looks pretty cute in that apron, don't she?" "What's the story with you two, you ever hook it up?" "Hook it up?" "Who are you, my frat brother?" "Are you still mad about Edna?" "She came to me." "I never would have even given her the job if I knew it would come between us." "Come on, let's hug this out and get to the next level." "I've got a case I could really use some backup on." "Come on." "Yeah?" "Okay?" "All right." " Yeah, all right, okay." "All right." " That's it." "That is some shampoo you're using." "What is that, apple?" " Pear." " Ah." "There you go." " Thanks." "So the patient is a 54-year-old African-American male with viral cardiomyopathy." "I got him on lisinopril, a diuretic and a beta-blocker." "I even put him on warfarin, just to be safe." "All those drugs only treat the symptoms." "They aren't curative for cardiomyopathy." "Guy's gonna need a transplant if he's gonna live." "We are simpatico, my friend, I couldn't agree more." "But this guy won't even let me put him on the list." "He flat refuses to pursue anything more aggressive than the meds." "It's a mystery." "So, what do you say, will you help me out?" "Tag team?" "Maybe you can get through to him, show this kid how it's done." "All right, I'll do it." "But not because I like you." "I still don't like you." "That's great, man." "Thanks." "I'll send over his chart." " By the way, what's the patient's name?" " Oh, it's Hoover." "Bill Hoover." "So I hear you're a writer." "No, no." "I'm not a writer." "I just write." "Which is more different than it sounds." "Do you do poetry?" "Please, no, I'm not Daria." "So, what do you write, like, short stories?" "Essays?" "Scathing political editorials?" "Um, I do some short stories." "Mainly I just write what comes into my head." "You know, journal-type stuff." "No big deal." " Cool, can I see?" " My journals?" "No, ha, ha, no." "They're dumb." "Okay." "Here's what I'm thinking." "Basically, yeah, dance, not your thing." "Totally my fault." "I'm really sorry about that." "Um, but writing is your thing." "I was thinking it might be a good way to meet new people get more involved at the school." "Do I need to meet more people?" "I know that the idea of being a joiner seems false to you but sometimes it's good to just jump in and try something new." "You might be surprised at how much you like it." " Hmm, maybe." " Great." "So I was thinking that we'd start by submitting one of your stories to Jane, which is a cool magazine." "You get in, the school will die." " Wait." "What?" " Oh, don't worry." "I'll help you." "That's why I'm here." "You don't have to do it alone." "I don't wanna do it at all." "No one has ever read my writing, Amy." "It's not something I share." "It's private." "So you won't even show me?" " Oh." " No, ugh..." "It's not that I don't trust you, I just..." "No, no." "Um, no worries, I..." "Pretend that I didn't even ask." " Never guess who I ran into today." " Paris Hilton." "Who?" "Oh, no." "Actually, it was Ralph Bigalow." "You remember Ralph?" " Owns the inn over at Eyelash Lake." " Yeah, right." "Bald dude?" "Well, he's on Propecia now." "Anyhow, turns out that they are looking for a new lodge host over at the inn." "We had a chat, he remembers you quite fondly." "Guess what?" "You have an interview for the position tomorrow afternoon." "But I already have a job." "This could be a terrific opportunity for you." "Lots of room for growth." "Be able to learn different facets of the service industry." "If you enjoy it, you could study hotel management at college next year." " Could you major in that?" " Absolutely." "I think there's, uh, an especially fine school at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas." "Vegas, huh?" "That could be fun." " And not too far away." "Well, thanks, guys." "I'll definitely, you know, think about it." "I, uh, have to work tomorrow though." "I can't get my shifts covered." "Already done." "I have spoken with your manager, Mr. Mikey and, uh, everything's taken care of, in fact I wrote down the particulars, in case you need them." "Thanks, guys." "UNLV." "Hmm, sounds cool." "Yeah." " I'll give it my best shot." "I told you she wasn't gonna let you read them." "Was I right?" "Whatever, it's not like I care." "So, what happens now?" "Is Hannah kicked out of the sisterhood?" "Is there paperwork involved?" "Look, if the girl doesn't wanna fit in better, it's her problem." "I tried." "You okay?" "I'm fine." "I'm not the one who doesn't know anybody." "If she wants to continue being a total social zero, it's her life." "Not everybody's cut out to be a rock star in high school." "You just make it look too easy." "That reminds me, I want to, uh..." "I wanted to give you something." " You did?" "Really?" "Me too." " Mm-hm." "Figured four and a half months deserved some kind of celebration." "It's been four and a half months?" " I thought it was three." " Yeah." "It depends on how you count." "I decided to go from the moment you got on the plane." "Was debating the picnic, but the plane just had a much more dramatic feel." "Anyways, there's no card." "Everything sounds so lame when it's on paper, don't you think?" "Definitely." "These are passes to Comic-Con in Denver next weekend." "Amy, this is unbelievable." "So, what'd you get me?" "Uh..." "Dinner." "Dad gave me the card, so you can order more dessert if you want to." "Thank you." "I'm full, but that was very sweet of him." "And you, of course." "I love you, Ephram." "Yeah, I love you too." "Louise, have we heard from Bill Hoover yet?" "Wait a minute." "Wait a minute." "Mrs. Clark." " I tried to stop her." "She's very strong." " Are the kids okay?" " In fact, they are not." "It's bad enough the vile influences our children pick up on cable television these days, but this takes the cake." " I don't know what you're talking about." " Brittany came home and wound up snooping around asking about foot massagers over dinner with guests, no less." "Oh, no, I'm so sorry." "Nothing ruins the taste of pork loin like public scandal." "I didn't know anything about this." "Pardon me if I'm neither shocked nor comforted by that." " Brittany must have been at my friend's..." " Your friend's house?" "When Brittany tells me she's at Delia's, I assume she's under your supervision not some stranger who leaves her whosie-whatsies out for the world to see." "Well, first of all, her whosie-whatsie was under her bed." " Is this a joke to you?" " Of course not." "I do think you're overreacting." "They are just kids." "Right." "And I would like mine to remain so for another five years, at least." "I understand." "I thought the whole thing would blow over." " I should have talked to Delia the first time..." " The first time?" "Unbelievable." " I can't let Brittany play with Delia anymore." " Don't do that, that's not a solution." "For the moment, it's the only one I can come up with." "I'm sorry, Dr. Brown." "Mrs Clark?" "I mean, I can't tell you how embarrassing it was." "Do you have any idea what it's like to have another parent find you in the middle of the work day and scream at you about that?" " I'm guessing it feels like this." " I don't know what to do about it." " Delia may lose her best friend over this." " I am so sorry, Andy." "I told you that if she brought it up, you should talk to her." " Instead, you said cheesecake." " It was a reflex." "And for the record, I shouldn't be having to deal with any of this." "She's only 10." "Only?" "If you're this upset, what will you do when she starts asking the big questions?" "Oh, I will handle that when the time comes, don't worry." "Oh, you sure about that?" "Because it's out of your hands." "There's rumors on the school bus, there's gossip from the older kids." "There's questions, there's half-truths." "You don't get to set the schedule for that to suit your comfort level." "It doesn't work." "Okay, Nina, you wanna be honest about this?" "Let's be totally honest, okay?" "This whole thing is your fault." "This situation that I am in right now, this position I am in right now wouldn't be happening if you didn't have this need to..." "Didn't have the need to what?" "Oh, come on." "You know what." " Can you not even say the word?" " I don't need to say the word." "Just take that thing and stick it in your car or lock it up." " Keep it away from my daughter." " Lock it up." "Are we talking about my massager or my sexuality?" "Oh, here we go." "Let's just make it all about you." "It is." "I am sorry if my needs as a woman conflict with your needs for a babysitter but guess what, Andy." "I haven't had sex in almost a year." "I'm getting antsy, if you wanna know..." "I don't wanna know the truth." "I don't wanna know it." "I don't need to know it." "I don't like to be thinking about you as a woman when I'm trying to talk to you." "In fact, I don't like to think about you like that ever." "I'm sorry, that didn't come out right." "Look, can we...?" "Can we just, you know, figure this out?" "You figure it out." "I gotta go back to work." " So you never even gave it to her?" " How could I?" "After she gave me those tickets, my attempt at a love letter?" " Wasn't epic enough?" " Not even close." "Maybe I'll just wait till I'm 40, buy her a car." "Amy." "I, uh, looked for you at lunch." "Yeah, I was in the dance room working on pirouettes with the girls." "Oh." "Ahem, I was thinking about what you said about me joining the paper and I know you're trying to help make me more popular which is unbelievably nice of you but the thing is, it's never gonna happen." "What?" "It's just you keep saying how you've never had any friends but I have been trying hard to be that." "I haven't had to make any friends since kindergarten so I'm probably going about it completely the wrong way but, God, you are so shut off it's scary." "I don't want the world reading my journals..." "I don't care about that." "If you don't want everybody reading your writing, fine." "I just didn't think that I was the same as the whole world." "You're not." "Since you got here, I have shared so much with you." "You know about Colin." "You know about everything that's going on with me and Ephram and I don't even know your middle name." "We haven't known each other for a long time and I'm probably pushing this friendship into something it's not meant to be but I like you." "There's something about you that I find interesting." "To tell you the truth, you remind me of Ephram." "Really?" "But it won't work if it's only one-sided and I don't think you're really comfortable talking to me." " No, that is not it." "I am just..." " Shy?" "I know, and I don't want you to have to change who you are just so that we can hang out." "We don't have to be best friends." "We can just be what we are, like, acquaintance friends." "I'll see you later, okay, Hannah?" "I still don't understand why you didn't come to me with this." "Why would you go Dr. Hartman when I'm already...?" "Call it a conflict of interest." "You're a good man, Dr. Brown." "If you knew about me, I didn't think you'd keep it from my wife." "And I don't need her worrying about me, not..." "Not now." "You hear?" "Bill, listen to me." "Your heart is severely damaged and will not recover." " You need a new one." "It's as simple as that." " It's a long shot anyway." "Look, I'll sign up for a transplant once..." "After." "Look, I understand that you want to be there for your wife." "But your daughter is going to need a father when she's gone, even more so." "She's going to have kids of her own someday and they deserve to get to know their grandfather." " What about those weddings?" " I hear what you're saying." "I know life will go on when she's gone but it won't be the same." "It won't mean what it meant when she was in it." "Heh, we've been through everything together." "Damn good team." "Raised a fine girl." "We've been partners for every bump along the road every mountain and mole hill alike." "And I am not gonna let that go until forces bigger than me snatch it away." "Now, she needs me to help her fight these last few weeks." "When that battle's done, then I'll worry about myself but not one minute before." "When she's gone I'm gonna need a new heart anyway, because this one will be broken into bits." "Well in six weeks, I'm yours." "Until then, I'm hers." "In six weeks, I know some great surgeons." "Thank you." "I cannot wait for the next bighorn meeting." "Ralph Bigalow just phoned." " What does he have to say?" " I am not amused." "How could you not even show up?" "You know, in your effort to embarrass me all you have done today is closed the door on something that may have benefited you." "An entire avenue for your future just gone." "It's your future, not mine." "You know, I was merely trying to affect some change in your slippered march down the path of least resistance." "No, what you merely did was humiliate me." "Calling my manager and changing my schedule?" "You told me where, when and why to go meet some guy for some job I didn't even ask for." "It's like you don't trust me to decide anything." "You haven't exactly inspired confidence of late." "Well, you know what?" "I like my job." "Okay?" "It's working out okay." "Well, working out okay isn't what you should be aiming for." "You had real goals." "You may have forgotten, but I haven't." "You worked hard." "Harder than I have see you work." "Lot of good that did me." "You may not have gotten into the colleges you wanted but you had a passion for your studies, not just for the result, but for the effort." "Now, I am trying." "I am trying not to let disappointment get the better of both of us." "I am trying to help you attain what you said you wanted." "I don't know what I want anymore." "What is wrong with working at a restaurant while I figure out?" "I don't mind." "I mind you going from fighting to get an education to complacently hustling nachos for tip money." "I mind you thinking that it is okay to settle and foreclose on your life." "For God's sake, you don't even pretend like you want anything more." "You want me to lie to you?" "That's great." " It's a lot easier that way." " I want you to wake up." "The clock is ticking." "If you continue to clown around waiting for life to begin it'll pass you by without so much as a wave." "What the hell is wrong with you, man?" "Do you think you can scare me into knowing what I want to do with my life?" "Don't you think if I had any clue at all, I'd be on a plane right this moment headed as far away from this house as humanly possible?" "I wish I knew, okay?" "I would love to figure it out more than you even want me to because until then, I am stuck here." "With you, which at the moment is the last place on earth I wanna be." " What the hell happened yesterday?" " I'm sorry?" "My patient." "You talked to him, right?" "Look, maybe you should hear the whole story..." " So why'd you cave, man?" " I didn't cave." "We can't force him to accept our recommendation." "There are other factors involved." "What other factors could be more important than his life?" "You know what?" "Forget it." "I've already submitted him for the transplant list anyway." "I've asked the head of cardiology at the hospital to talk to him." "It might take some doing, but I'm gonna put up a better fight." " You have to understand, it's different here." " No, it's not." "People get sick and die in L.A., people get sick and die in Everwood." "And we're supposed to try and keep that from happening, remember?" "There's nothing different." "Maybe you came here to hibernate and take it easy for a little while." "But I came here to rededicate myself to things that really matter." "And this man's life, that matters to me." "So I'll take care of it myself." "Well, good luck." "Hey." "Sorry to interrupt." "Um, I just wanted to tell you that I wrote a story for Jane magazine and I was kind of hoping you guys would read it before I sent it in." "What's it about?" "Uh, some stuff that's been going on this past week." "It's not very good and I know they're not gonna take it." "So when I get my rejection letter, which I know I'm gonna get I'm really hoping you'll be there for me with tissues." "Definitely." ""Boy Loves Girl. " That's a great title." "I like it." "This, uh, seems awfully familiar." "Especially the girl." "Is this about us?" "I think it is." "Yeah." "Did you really write me a love letter?" "When, and why didn't you give it to me?" "And did you call it an addendum?" "I wanted to give it to you, I just..." "It didn't feel special enough, especially after, you know, your present." "Ephram." "I wanted to plan our anniversary dinner when I knew that it our anniversary and I wanted to be able to tell you that I loved you first." "You're stealing my mojo." "You have so much mojo, you don't even know." " That's why you're so great." "That's why I..." " Don't." "Sorry." "I love you, Amy." "You don't have to say it back this time." "This one's all mine." "Behold." "Complete cutting-edge podiatric care." "Guaranteed to gently transport you to a relaxing oasis of personal comfort." "You know, they actually make these for feet." "Who knew?" "Wow." "Ha, ha, it's your heaviest apology yet." "What brought you around this time?" "Tsk, oh, usual." "Regret, self-recrimination and one big realization." "I didn't talk to Delia about all this stuff not because I didn't know how to..." "Although that's part of it." " I just knew that that conversation would lead to another conversation." "The big conversation." "And I just couldn't bear the idea of doing it alone." "You're missing Julia?" "You know, I'm always thinking about the times that I..." "That I want her here." "Something funny will happen, or something beautiful and I'll think, "Oh, God, Julia would love that. "" "That's the daily stuff." "Sometimes I forget that I actually need her here for the big stuff." "Before we met, I had no interest in being a father." "It was not part of my plan." "And when it came to the kids it was always the "we" that got me through everything." "Yeah." "Parenting's a team sport that way." "Well, at least it should be." "Mm-hm." "Well, I wasn't around for a lot of it." "But whenever there really was a crisis we would talk it through together." "We were a team, and even if we disagreed about something we always had each other's backs." "Now I'm just constantly second-guessing myself." "Ha, ha, if I had this little confidence as a surgeon, I would have quit a long time ago." "Well, some parents do." "Believe me, I never would have signed up for the solo routine either." "It's crazy, isn't it?" "They always talk about how much better a two-parent family is for the kids but they never talk about how much better it is for the parents." "I mean, it's hard enough to get everything done without any help but you add to that the, uh..." "The emotional responsibility and the daily fear of just screwing everything up, and..." "I know." "I'm convinced Sam's gonna end up in major psychoanalysis." "I think you should give yourself more credit." "You got a couple of really great kids over there." "Well I think all that credit goes to her." "Oh, and Nina, that stuff I said earlier..." " Oh, forget it." " No, no, I didn't mean it." "I do see you and you look very pretty today." " What is this?" " Rent." "Is 250 enough?" "I could probably swing 3, but, uh..." " This is unnecessary, Bright." " Not for me." "I'll pick up more shifts, I should make enough to get my own place." "Sweetheart, we should talk about this." "Thanks, Mom, but I'm all talked out." " I shouldn't have pushed." " Bright's just spreading his wings a bit." "A spark of independence isn't a bad thing, I mean truth is, he's gonna have to make these decisions himself and he's going to make mistakes along the way." "I know." "You're right." " God, I've handled this all so badly." " We." "We're in this together, remember?" "Is this gonna take more than an hour?" "Because I've got long division waiting upstairs." "Sweetie, you're at an age where you're curious about things." " Personal things." " You mean sex?" " Um, yeah." "I mean sex." " I already know what sex is." "Really?" "Okay." "But you're going to start to hear things." "More things, and it's natural and healthy to have questions about them and you just need to know that it's okay to come to me or to Nina if you need answers to those questions." "That's right." "You can come to me if you get curious about stuff." "Good, then, ha, ha, I have a question." "I figured you might." "That thing I found under your bed, was that for sex?" "You know how you have long division waiting?" " You're changing the subject." " No, I'm not." "Work with me here." "Long division." "You're pretty good at it, aren't you?" "Best in my class." "Except for Vanessa, but she's crazy smart." "Were you good at it last year or two years ago?" "I didn't even know what long division was back then." "But you do now, because you're ready." "And that's how it is with everything else in life." "Some things you just have to be older to understand." "If you try to figure them out to soon, you just get more confused." "Does that make sense?" "I guess." "Do I get another question?" "Hit me." "Why do some people say "make love" and other people say "have sex"?" "Do you do the same stuff?" "Well, uh, now, that's a really good question, actually." "When people are in love, they want to express that feeling and so, uh, they want to show the other person..."