City Lights, Country Nights

37.George And Katharine's Talk

Katherine sat at her vanity, engrossed in her reflection, as George walked in with a steaming cup in hand. "Good morning," he greeted, striding over to her and offering the cup.

"Morning," Katherine replied wearily, meeting his gaze in the mirror with a sigh.

"Are you okay?" George inquired, his concern evident as he watched her adjust her sweater.

"I didn't sleep well last night," Katherine admitted, as George leaned in to kiss her on the head before retreating.

"Oh no," he sympathized, moving towards the bed. "I was out like a light," he confessed. Katherine nodded, meeting his eyes.

"I know," she acknowledged. "I didn't want to disturb you, but..." she trailed off, rising from her seat and making her way to join him on the bed.

"Wake me for what?" George inquired, turning to look at Katherine as she released a breath. "Do you need me? Did something happen?" he asked, concern furrowing his brow.

"Alex punched Cole last night," she revealed. George's expression registered surprise at the news.

"Alex did?" he responded, a hint of disbelief in his voice as he resumed making the bed. "A real punch, or just...?" he trailed off, tugging at the covers.

"Right in the..." Katherine gestured to her own face, prompting George to release the covers and turn his attention back to her.

"What the hell are they fighting about?" he asked, picking up his own cup as he glanced back at her before walking around the bed.

"Well, the good thing is they're..." Katherine hesitated. "They're very nice girls," she offered, rising to her feet as George closed the door with an "oh" and a nod.

"And the not-so-good news?" he prompted, setting down his cup.

"They live here," Katherine disclosed, causing George's head to snap up.

"Jackie or Rory?" he inquired. Katherine sighed and rubbed her eyes.

"Both," she confirmed with a nod. "Apparently, Jackie and Alex have been sort of dating, and from what I heard, Rory and Cole have a thing. It sounds like a mess. I just don't really know what to make of those two," she sighed.

"Since when?" George asked, clearly intrigued.

"Jackie and Alex since Thanksgiving," she explained. "But I'm not really sure about Rory and Cole. I would say it's been going on for a while, and I would assume that him and Rory were fighting. Maybe Alex being with Jackie got into it?" She admitted she wasn't entirely sure about the details.

"Okay, well," George began, nodding. "That means we're going to have to—" she cut him off.

"Set some serious ground rules?" Katherine suggested, nodding as George agreed.

"I think I'm gonna go find Benny's old baby cam and bring it out of retirement," George said with a small laugh, prompting Katherine to join in as she sat on the bed.

"Honey, do you think we should have seen this coming?" she asked.

"What, that we would have thought about bringing two teenage girls into a house full of raging hormones?" he asked. Katherine nodded. "Probably," he said as he sat on the bed.

"We did the best we could," George said, looking at her. "We just need to make sure that they aren't doing... that."

"In the house," Katherine finished, nodding. "I really don't think Jackie would, and I'm not saying Rory would either. It's was made it very clear that she had done things, not that, but things," she said.

"How do you know that?" George asked. Katherine looked down.

"It was probably a couple of months before you know, and Angelica called me in a bit of a shock, saying Rory told her that she had done things with a boy and just didn't know how to feel about it," she said. "She had said it wasn't the real thing, but it was very close. It was more of a 'my youngest is not a baby anymore.' She was barely 15. I don't think she really knew," she explained to George.

"Well, I'm surprised we haven't caught anyone sneaking out anyway," he remarked, getting up. Katherine nodded.

"Yeah, and with Cole," she added. "And now the 'thing' with Rory. We just need to watch," she concluded. He nodded as they heard the floor creak. Both looked at each other, and Katherine opened the door, nearly bumping into Parker.

"Cole, don't bring girls into the house!" she immediately scolded. "He just leaves the side door unlocked!"

"Leaves the side door unlocked?"

"He's bringing girls into the house?"

"Well, not since him and Rory kissed when they had a fight on Thanksgiving about Erin! And him lying!" Parker blurted out but then stopped.

"What?" George asked.

"A fight?"

"You didn't hear it from me!" she said and ran off as Katherine closed the door.

"Well, looks like your baby cam idea has legs," she said, looking up at him. "That would make sense about the talk me and Rory had. The whole 'I don't want to lie' thing makes sense now."

"What were they fighting about? What lies?" George asked.

"She was just mad about lying," Katherine said.

"We have to have a chat with these boys," he said. Katherine nodded and also added to their day's shock by telling him about another issue with Will

"Okay, first things first, you take Alex, I'll take Cole," she said. George nodded in agreement.