Untouchable face

36.

Sometimes, Sophie really thought her family was cursed. Maybe not as badly as the Kennedys, but there definitely seemed to be some kind of curse that hung over them. Her dad had been murdered, Emily had had so much trouble with having kids, Nancy's husband had cheated on her, and now Derek had fallen off a roof. It felt like a curse. She had no idea how any of this had happened but she was really happy he was at least home. He still had his cast on and his back brace but he was home and as a doctor, she knew how big of step that was. Home meant that maybe things would start getting better for them, at least until the curse struck again.

For right now though, Derek was on his way to recovery and that was amazing. He would be able to get moving and move forward to his life. She was so excited to see him back at his home. It was going to be a quiet evening, but a quiet evening was better than sitting with him in his tiny hospital room. Her kids had been desperate to see their favourite uncle but all the sisters had decided it wasn't the time yet. Derek was just home, he still had a lot of adjusting to do and he still couldn't move around much so the last time he needed was a million busy kids clamoring for his attention. So the husbands had taken the kids out for pizza and all of the sisters were headed over to Derek's house. Mom was already over there making dinner, and Sophie had picked up Emily, the plan being that if Derek was in a crappy mood, they'd sneak out for drinks. Sophie just really hoped it wouldn't come to that.

He had been in a shit mood a lot in the hospital but she couldn't really blame him for it. Hospitals sucked and he had been stuck there for a long time. Derek hated being stuck paces. But he was home now so hopefully the familiar place had made Derek feel better so Derek could be more like Derek. "I really hope he's not in a shitty mood," Emily sighed.

"I was just thinking that," Sophie nodded.

"Derek in a shitty mood is the worst."

"He really is," Sophie rolled her eyes. "He's the most amazing guy in the world when he's happy and then when he's crabby, you want to punch him in the face."

"Exactly," Emily laughed.

"So a good mood would be...good."

"Very," Emily nodded. "Hey, have you been talking to Maggie?"

"I haven't since Derek got home," Sophie shook her head.

"She called me yesterday."

"How's everything going?"

"I don't know," Emily sighed. "She said everything is fine, but I don't think it is."

"Really?" Sophie frowned.

"She sounded really stressed. And she mentioned something about fighting."

"They're fighting?"

"Apparently."

"They...never fight. Ever."

"I know. It's weird. Even Marty and I fight."

"Everyone fights," Sophie sighed. "I love Maggie but that's always bugged me about them."

"Really?" Emily frowned. "You've never said that before."

"I know," Sophie sighed. "Because she's the best girlfriend he's ever had and I really do like her, I just...don't get not fighting."

"Well they're apparently fighting now."

"I don't know what I think of that."

"Me neither. And I feel bad for her."

"I can't even imagine how hard this has been," Sophie nodded.

"It's probably been awful."

"Probably, yeah."