Erin:Guess who's on American soil?
Nick:SKIP!
Nick:If I didn't have a tethered spinal cord to repair today, I'd be introducing you to my bedroom right now
Nick:Or the kitchen countertops. Or the hallway floor.
Nick:Really, I'd take any solid surface
Erin:Um, yeah. I'd be down for that.
Erin:Hey…is Gastro Girl around? I want to meet her
Nick:I'm not sure
Nick:I don't really want to share you this weekend
Erin:I just want to put a face to the name.
Nick:I'll see what I can find out
Erin:And guess who just got the "don't cause a riot at the wedding" lecture from Riley?
Nick:That fucking guy
Erin:What's the half-life on teenage transgressions?
Erin:I mean, U-238 is 4.5 billion years, and I can't be much longer than that…right?
Nick:Did you just compare yourself to uranium?
Erin:No
Erin:I compared all the shit I did when I was 17 to uranium
Nick:Stop it
Nick:I'm going to have some words with Riley
Erin:Why
Nick:Why? Because you're not a misbehaving kid. You don't deserve this shit from him, or anyone else
Erin:Let's not talk about this. We're on the same continent and I don't want to spend it talking about my brother.
Erin:Also: I can handle Riley.
Nick:I'm going to be in surgery for about 6 hours and I need to monitor this girl for a few hours before I leave. I'll see you tonight, lovely.
Erin:Lauren is taking me shopping. I'll be pretty when you see me tonight
Nick:You're always pretty, wife.
* * *
My gaze sweptover the crowd gathered in the old fire engine bay. Hundreds of strands of little white lights crisscrossed the high ceiling, and a band was playing a song I'd heard but couldn't name. There were Christmas-styled fir trees along the walls, and sparkly white branches bunched in urns around the cavernous space.
But none of that mattered. Not even a bit.
