Regrets

The Last Farewell

1976

On March 13, the year 1976, Barney got a phone call from his older sister Beatrice. It was around ten in the morning, and it had woken him up- which wasn't a very fun thing since he'd gone out drinking the night before and was now nursing a nasty hangover.

"Hello?" Barney grumbled into the speaker of the bedside phone extension he had, one hand being used to cradle his pounding head.

"Barney? It's Bea," he heard in his older sister's voice, which was as loud as an explosion due to his aching head, "You sound terrible."

"Gee, thanks. So what's up?"

"I just wanted to call you and tell you that you're officially an uncle."

He slowly sat up. "You had your baby?" he asked.

"Yeah," she chuckled tiredly, Earlier this morning. Her name is Adriana."

"Congratulations to you and Robert, Bea. I'm really happy for you two. Maybe I'll stop by in a few hours."

"That'd be great. But if you do, beware, cause Mom and Dad are here and they plan to be here the majority of the day."

Great, Barney thought sarcastically. "Alright," he said, "Thanks for the warning, Bea. I'll see you guys soon."

"You too, Barn'," Beatrice said and the line went dead.

Barney hung up the phone and ran his hands over his face. He tried not to move too fast, trying to keep his head from pounding even more than it already was. He let out a groan as he got up out of his bed as the sun shone through the window and hit his eyes like a truck. He squinted and cursed to himself as he turned away from his window and walked to the sink in his bathroom.

What Barney saw in his mirror reflection was either cringe worthy or laugh worthy. Either way, it was definitely not a pretty sight. His hair was all over the place, the sides of his face that he kept clean shaved needed a shave, his eyes were bloodshot.

Not to mention he probably didn't smell too great either.

As Barney washed and shaved his face, he couldn't help but think about his sister's warning. Their parents were going to be at the hospital all day. Was he shocked? No, not really. But the scenario of him running into his parents that was running through his head was not an enjoyable one. They would only ask him about his love life or how he was doing with getting civilized again, and then reprimand him about not having a girlfriend, and then be sympathetic about him still having trouble getting used to everyday life. All of this was nothing new to him.

He decided to be a man, suck it up, and just deal with his parents- right after he took some Aspirin for his head.

-/-/-

"I can't believe you and Frank are finally getting married!" Raquel squealed as she styled her best friend's hair.

Alexandra chuckled nervously. "I know," she smiled, "I have butterflies, gosh."

"I didn't know it was possible for Alexandra 'Alley-Kat' Conti to be nervous and get butterflies."

"That's cause I only remember two other times it's happened. When I found out that I was pregnant a few years ago, and when I had my miscarriage and found out I couldn't have kids after that."

"Nerves of steel, huh, Ally?" Raquel asked with a chuckle.

Alexandra smirked. "Hell yeah," she answered, "Except today. I mean, is it normal to feel like I'm gonna throw up?"