Picking up the pieces

Shepherd family dinner

[2 weeks later]

Amy? ( Gasps )
Oh, my God! Uh...
Amy!
Nancy! ( Gasps )
Yeah.
Nancy Shepherd. ( Chuckles )
Oh, Amelia's sister.
You must be Owen.

Yes! This is my husband.
Nice to meet you, Nancy. I've heard so much about you. Do you work here?
I'm covering the chief of OB's maternity leave. Ironic, right? How about you? Everything okay?

Yeah. No... We're here for a patient.
All the way from Seattle? Wow. You must be very in demand. I guess that's why we never hear from you.
Yep. Been pretty busy since I saw you last. I operated on Catherine Fox herself. Might've read about it. Also got married. Aah.
Right. Welcome to the family. ( Chuckles ) We've got some pretty deep-seated dysfunction, but ( Chuckles ) you've probably figured that out by now.
Ah, what family doesn't? Do you have sisters?
I do, so I get it.
We should catch up. Come for dinner, both of you.
Ah! We can't. ( Chuckles )
Taking off tonight.
She's got a big surgery in Seattle tomorrow. I do. Oh. Well, at least I got to see you. Halley's Comet comes around more than you do. ( Elevator bell dings ) ( Chuckles ) Oh, uh... call Mom sometime, kiddo. It's the kind thing to do. ♪ ♪ Okay. Thanks for that. ( Clears throat )
You owe me one shepherd, I can't believe I went along with your lie.
( Sighs ) I need to find a shower so I can wash that "kiddo" off of me before surgery.
[ a few hours later, back at the hotel]

So... any food allergies? Nancy will want to know. Doesn't matter because I'm not going. ( Sighs ) Please? The begging is cute... don't get me wrong. And still, no. You shouldn't go, either. Life's too short. Life is too short for what it will turn into if I don't go. One dinner with Nancy, and I avoid months of family gossip and drama. They already think I'm a train wreck. Well, they're wrong. Have you met me? Amelia Shepherd. Never told my family I got divorced. So they don't get you. And what... they're mad because you and Owen eloped? We didn't elope. We had a wedding. They were invited. They just didn't come. Wait. None of your sisters were there? Or my mom. Or brothers,they get a pass tho, But probably judging me from the grave.

That's some serious sibling rivalry. Well, not every family is Jonah and Brady. So why go to this dinner? ( Monitor beeping ) I was... flown to New York to perform a rare and complicated surgery. I'm here with my "husband," who is shockingly handsome and ever so kind. This dinner is a chance for me to... I don't know. Brag? Prove them wrong? I... I'm not sure. I'm just sure that I have to go, and that, if you go with me, I will make it worth your while in very creative ways that you will enjoy.

[later in the car on the way to dinner]

Where did we meet? At the hospital. And how long have we been together? Years, but it feels like minutes because love is so... Okay, we don't need poetry. We just need to keep our story straight. What color are my eyes? You think they're gonna quiz me on the color of your eyes? Anything is possible. ♪ Naa naa naa naa ♪ Sometimes they look green. Sometimes they look blue, depending on the... Good. ♪ Sunshine, blue sky ♪ What is Owen's favorite pastime? Melon balling. No. No, watching World War II movies on PBS. But melon balling  is mine, and Nancy's never met Owen, so can't I just answer as myself? Well, I don't know your life. I know Owen's. You could learn it. ♪ Flying free ♪ Crap. We don't have rings! Half the surgeons I know don't wear rings. Right. Right. Yeah. We're surgeons. We're smart. No rings. All of that is actually true. ( Sighs deeply ) At least it's just Nancy. Better her than Liz or... God forbid... Kathleen. Kathleen is the worst. Kathleen's like Martha Stewart if Martha Stewart also had a license to diagnose you with a personality disorder. Nancy's bossy, but she's also the most forgiving. And she does make a really nice pie. Plus, she is gonna love you. And by you, I mean Owen, who really likes to... Watch World War II movies. Thank you. You're gonna be great! Also, you can't drink. Owen doesn't drink. He does. I just don't want you to screw anything up. ♪ My kinda happiness ♪ ♪ No, I won't stop ♪ This is quite a place. Ah, her husband's an investment banker. They moved here from a different giant house in Connecticut after he got some big promotion. Wait. We never had a honeymoon... Owen and I. He wanted Mexico, I wanted Paris, so we did neither. Instead of doing both? Got it. Got it. No compromises, even on the honeymoon. Mm. ♪ No, I won't stop ♪ ♪ I got my groove, oh, yeah ♪ ( Sighs ) ( Doorbell rings ) ( Whispering ) This is a terrible idea. ( Whispering ) Now you figure that out? ♪ With every move I make ♪ You made it. We did. Come on in. The house is a mess. Don't look too close. ♪ My kinda happiness ♪ You're right on time. We were just about to start on the appetizers. We? Kathleen: Where do you keep your corkscrew? We got to get it in before she gets here. Is that... That sounds like... Kathleen! You're here! Kathleen is my... Other sister. Yep. Well, I guess I'll put the wine away. ♪ ♪ You wouldn't have come if you knew. No! Fun! Family reunion! Is, uh, Liz gonna pop out of the closet next? Or Mom? Please give me more credit than that. I wouldn't just spring Mom on you. I did call Liz, but she was out of town. Ah, too bad. We could've all compared lives to make sure yours are still better. It's not like that at all. No. This is about Nancy's compulsive need to fix all of us. We are a family. We haven't seen each other in years. You haven't even met Owen. I'm sure we can all be civil for one night. ( Chuckles ) Kathleen. Owen. ( Chuckles ) You were in the Army, right? Uh, where were you stationed? Iraq. Baghdad. ( Chuckling ) My husband's traveling there. H-He's a diplomat. Any recommendations? Let's move inside before we start the interrogation. The Abbasid Palace is quite beautiful. It was, uh, built in the 12th century overlooking the Tigris River. I'll mention it. Mm. H-How high does the temperature get there in July? It gets, uh, pretty hot. Um, I'm sorry. Could I use your restroom? Of course. Yeah, I'll show you where. ( Clears throat ) It's gonna take them about five minutes to figure out I'm not Owen. You knew about that palace in Iraq. Ninth grade World Civ presentation! That's about all I remember. I-I might've been able to handle Nancy, but that Martha Stewart one, she's got teeth. Okay. You're right. We got to get out of here. I mean, best case scenario, the whole night's just them reminding me that I'm the Shepherds' black sheep. I see what you did there. That was the nickname that they gave me in high school. Black Sheep. We are not subtle people. What are we gonna do? We're gonna go back out there for a few minutes. We're gonna say we got paged to the hospital. Because we are not in high school. We are grown-ass surgeons with medical emergencies. Not in high school. Thank you for the reminder. ♪ ♪ Nancy: I'm putting the avocados on the side for you. Oh, that's okay. Uh, Owen loves them, so I sorta got used to them. He's great, right? Oh, I'm sure Kathleen's got him cornered. Uh, maybe I should just go check. ( Timer dings ) Oh, can you grab that? ( Sighs ) You are not at all what I pictured. Trauma surgeon. Army. I thought you'd be a lot more... Rugged? Armed? ( Laughs ) Uptight. But Amelia loves to be unpredictable, so... maybe it makes sense. It keeps things interesting. She has a history of false starts when it comes to weddings. Well, we're definitely married. ( Laughs ) I'm saying congrats on not being abandoned at the altar. She would never do that. Oh, yes, she would. She is a Houdini-level escape artist. First sign things might get hard, and she is out the door. I'm surprised she didn't bolt when she saw me here. ( Silverware clinking lightly ) She thinks we gang up on her. She provokes it, though. Honestly, I always thought she was more addicted to drama than the drսg. But, I mean... good thing she found someone with Army training, right? ( Chuckles ) What's that old slogan? "No mission too difficult"? Hey! So, Jonah's scans came back early. We should go. Ah. We could review them in the morning. Um, I know you were anxious to see them. I think we should spend some time with your family. Oh, um, well, we might need to look at his labs, though. Oh, you know, I just looked at them. And we're good. O... Kay. We'll stay. ( Insects chirping, dog barking in distance ) Nancy: Do you ever run into Meredith? I do. I read she won a Harper Avery. Uh, they renamed it the Catherine Fox Award. But, yeah. Uh, she's doing well. Amelia's doing groundbreaking research, as well. Finding non-addictive methods of pain management. Well, Amelia would know how important that is. How about I get that wine now? It's fine. Really. You should be more concerned about the pills in your bathroom. I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable. Too late. ( Cellphone ringing ) Um... I should take this. ( Sighs ) Oh, it's okay. I'm good. Go ahead. Amelia said you love them. I do! ( Both chuckle ) ( Leo crying ) What's happening? Is he okay? Hey. Did you forget to pack Roodle? I'm pretty sure I put it in the bag. What about the one your mom got him? Yeah, I can't find it. That's why we have a backup. ( Crying continues ) Oh. Try giving him one of his other stuffed animals. I'm kind of losing it over here. Well, he probably shoved it in the couch. Okay, it's not... it's not here. It's not... wait, wait, wait, wait, wait! Here. Found it. Here's Roodle. There you go. Thank you. Can I ask you a question? Sure. What's the temperature like in Baghdad in July? Well, once it got to 130 degrees, and I cooked eggplant in the sun. Why? Uhhhh, no reason. Okay. Thank you. Sure. ( Breathes deeply ) Roodle's back. Roodle is back! ♪ ♪ ( Breathing deeply )