Who you gonna call when you need advice about your wife and your sister is halfway across the galaxy' The next best thing, of course! And for Johnny, the next best thing was Victoria Granger. He could have easily called Lucy, but he didn't really want to ask Miss Perfect for advice right now. It wasn't just the fact that Vicki and Liv were best friends, and that Lucy tended to preach and scold, but the fact that Johnny and Vicki were friends, and he felt more comfortable approaching her than Lucy, especially regarding this particular subject. He had already stopped by the firehouse to talk to the chief about taking some time off, and the theater where Vicki worked was practically on the way home. He just hoped he caught her while she was still there because otherwise, it was going to be difficult finding an opportunity once he got back to Maple Grove. He knew his way around the theater pretty well, but had to stop and ask people a few times before he was able to locate her.
As luck would have it, Vicki was actually on her way back to the main theater from the workshops that were located out the back, ducking in through the stage door and sneaking into the auditorium via the stage before Johnny caught up with her. She grinned brightly on seeing him, her arms full of sketchbooks. "Hey, Burny Man," she greeted her friend warmly, deliberately employing the nickname Lyneth had dropped on him. "What brings you to my neck of the woods?"
He rolled his eyes a little at the nickname, hoping it hadn't gotten around too much. "Very funny. Did you change your name to Lyneth?" he teased back. "Um ..." he stammered, looking around as if to see if anyone was in hearing range. "I was wondering if I could buy you lunch." That request was so random it was obvious he'd sought her out for more than just that. He knew she wouldn't believe him if he said he'd been in the neighborhood and thought he'd drop in since they were neighbors back home at Maple Grove.
The request was enough to make her blink in surprise, but she was already smiling as she opened her office door. Unlike the bosses, she had her office on the ground floor, to be closer to the actual work being done on her designs. "That sounds like a good plan," she nodded in agreement. "Just let me grab my bag, and we can go and paint the town beige for lunch."
"Beige is pretty boring, Vicki!" he said with a chuckle, a little relieved she hadn't pressed him further to ask what this was all about. She'd find out soon enough, after all. He just hoped she didn't think the worse. No, he wasn't getting a divorce, nor was he having an affair. No one was sick or dying. He just needed a little advice.
"Well, if we paint it red, you won't fly straight and I'll forget how to drive," she pointed out with a laugh of her own. With her bag over her shoulder, she locked the office door, slung her arm through his, and headed for the street cheerfully. "So what?s on your mind" Need help picking baby names?"
"No, we've already decided it's Jon if it's a boy and Vicki if it's a girl," he replied with a smirk, obviously teasing. He arched a brow as she tucked her arm through his, but didn't argue. A few rumors might get around if anyone saw them together, but their spouses knew them well enough not to suspect anything.
"Really' So you decided against Ermengarde and Zebedee, then," she grinned, the merry expression only too at home on her often mischievous features. "How about ....Sally Olga, for a girl?" Her eyes slid to her companion cheekily as they reached the street outside, wondering how quickly he'd get that.
"Too old fashioned. Why don't you run those names past your hunky hubby next time he gets you knocked up and see what he thinks?" he teased back, as easily as if she was his sister. He turned her as they reached the street to head for a cafe a few blocks away.
"Oh, so you don't like the idea of having an S.O.S. in the family?" she asked sweetly, snickering. She was one to talk - she and Jon had an E.R., after all. "And who says there's going to be a next time for me, by the way' We might have decided enough is enough."
"Oh, that's very funny. Har har," he told her sarcastically, rolling his eyes again, though he couldn't help smirking. How their spouses put up with them, he couldn't say, but they each had their own unique brand of humor. "Uh huh, right. And I might be the pope," he replied, knowing her and Jon better than that, or at least, thinking he did. He doubted they'd stop at two, though it seemed they were taking a break for a while. "Try having four." Though to be fair, only one of Johnny and Liv's children so far would be theirs by birth.
"Your Holiness, you forgot your long white dress and cross today," Vicki shot back with a snicker. "Are we incognito?" She nudged Johnny fondly, dragging him almost bodily into the first cafe they came to. "How is that going, by the way' I haven't seen either of you collapse in tears yet, so I'm assuming not that badly."
"That's me ....Pope Johnny the First at your service," he teased back, as he got tugged into the cafe. "Jeez, Vicki, take it easy!" He came to a halt just inside, frowning a little at her question. "That's sort of what I wanted to talk to you about."
"Ah, the ulterior motive." Vicki might still have seemed to have been teasing, but Johnny had come to the point rather fast there. There was a more serious note in her eyes as she drew him to a table in the corner, out of the way of bustling back and forth. "Anything I can help with?"
He didn't even bother to deny the insinuation that he'd had an ulterior motive in asking her to lunch. "Maybe," he replied as he took a seat at the table, not bothering to look around for a waitress or menu. "I think I might have screwed up."
"Johnny ....I seriously doubt that there is anything you can do that will make Liv seriously think that you don't love her anymore," Vicki informed him calmly. "She's pregnant; pregnant women have insecurities. It doesn't take much to reassure her, I promise."
"O-kay," he said, sounding not entirely convinced, but before he could go on, the waitress found them and deposited a couple of glasses of water and a menu on the table. Johnny frowned a little at the water, knowing those ice cubes weren't going to stay frozen much longer with him nearby, but he still muttered a thank you.
"I've done it twice, trust me," she smiled at him, leaning back as the waitress put the water and menus down. She rolled her eyes at the ice in the glasses. "I am never going to get used to the insistence on ice in water when it isn't hot outside," she muttered, mostly to herself, and let her eyes scan down the menu, squeaking with delight when she spotted a favorite and not often enjoyed dish. "Okay, so ....what happened?"
"Um, well ....I was at work, and Liv took the kids to the market," he said, choosing to start at the beginning rather than just jumping right to the real reason for his visit. "And I guess she had a bit of a meltdown. She felt horrible about it. I'm sure the kids will forget all about it, but she was kinda freaking out. She said Alex asked if she still loved him later, and she lost it. I was exhausted from work. We had a big warehouse fire earlier in the day, but I didn't want to worry her, and by the time I got home, she was wiped out, so I helped with dinner and got the kids to bed and stuff. All I wanted to do was ..." The waitress just happened to return at that moment, and he frowned as he looked to his menu to pick something out.
As luck would have it, Vicki was actually on her way back to the main theater from the workshops that were located out the back, ducking in through the stage door and sneaking into the auditorium via the stage before Johnny caught up with her. She grinned brightly on seeing him, her arms full of sketchbooks. "Hey, Burny Man," she greeted her friend warmly, deliberately employing the nickname Lyneth had dropped on him. "What brings you to my neck of the woods?"
He rolled his eyes a little at the nickname, hoping it hadn't gotten around too much. "Very funny. Did you change your name to Lyneth?" he teased back. "Um ..." he stammered, looking around as if to see if anyone was in hearing range. "I was wondering if I could buy you lunch." That request was so random it was obvious he'd sought her out for more than just that. He knew she wouldn't believe him if he said he'd been in the neighborhood and thought he'd drop in since they were neighbors back home at Maple Grove.
The request was enough to make her blink in surprise, but she was already smiling as she opened her office door. Unlike the bosses, she had her office on the ground floor, to be closer to the actual work being done on her designs. "That sounds like a good plan," she nodded in agreement. "Just let me grab my bag, and we can go and paint the town beige for lunch."
"Beige is pretty boring, Vicki!" he said with a chuckle, a little relieved she hadn't pressed him further to ask what this was all about. She'd find out soon enough, after all. He just hoped she didn't think the worse. No, he wasn't getting a divorce, nor was he having an affair. No one was sick or dying. He just needed a little advice.
"Well, if we paint it red, you won't fly straight and I'll forget how to drive," she pointed out with a laugh of her own. With her bag over her shoulder, she locked the office door, slung her arm through his, and headed for the street cheerfully. "So what?s on your mind" Need help picking baby names?"
"No, we've already decided it's Jon if it's a boy and Vicki if it's a girl," he replied with a smirk, obviously teasing. He arched a brow as she tucked her arm through his, but didn't argue. A few rumors might get around if anyone saw them together, but their spouses knew them well enough not to suspect anything.
"Really' So you decided against Ermengarde and Zebedee, then," she grinned, the merry expression only too at home on her often mischievous features. "How about ....Sally Olga, for a girl?" Her eyes slid to her companion cheekily as they reached the street outside, wondering how quickly he'd get that.
"Too old fashioned. Why don't you run those names past your hunky hubby next time he gets you knocked up and see what he thinks?" he teased back, as easily as if she was his sister. He turned her as they reached the street to head for a cafe a few blocks away.
"Oh, so you don't like the idea of having an S.O.S. in the family?" she asked sweetly, snickering. She was one to talk - she and Jon had an E.R., after all. "And who says there's going to be a next time for me, by the way' We might have decided enough is enough."
"Oh, that's very funny. Har har," he told her sarcastically, rolling his eyes again, though he couldn't help smirking. How their spouses put up with them, he couldn't say, but they each had their own unique brand of humor. "Uh huh, right. And I might be the pope," he replied, knowing her and Jon better than that, or at least, thinking he did. He doubted they'd stop at two, though it seemed they were taking a break for a while. "Try having four." Though to be fair, only one of Johnny and Liv's children so far would be theirs by birth.
"Your Holiness, you forgot your long white dress and cross today," Vicki shot back with a snicker. "Are we incognito?" She nudged Johnny fondly, dragging him almost bodily into the first cafe they came to. "How is that going, by the way' I haven't seen either of you collapse in tears yet, so I'm assuming not that badly."
"That's me ....Pope Johnny the First at your service," he teased back, as he got tugged into the cafe. "Jeez, Vicki, take it easy!" He came to a halt just inside, frowning a little at her question. "That's sort of what I wanted to talk to you about."
"Ah, the ulterior motive." Vicki might still have seemed to have been teasing, but Johnny had come to the point rather fast there. There was a more serious note in her eyes as she drew him to a table in the corner, out of the way of bustling back and forth. "Anything I can help with?"
He didn't even bother to deny the insinuation that he'd had an ulterior motive in asking her to lunch. "Maybe," he replied as he took a seat at the table, not bothering to look around for a waitress or menu. "I think I might have screwed up."
"Johnny ....I seriously doubt that there is anything you can do that will make Liv seriously think that you don't love her anymore," Vicki informed him calmly. "She's pregnant; pregnant women have insecurities. It doesn't take much to reassure her, I promise."
"O-kay," he said, sounding not entirely convinced, but before he could go on, the waitress found them and deposited a couple of glasses of water and a menu on the table. Johnny frowned a little at the water, knowing those ice cubes weren't going to stay frozen much longer with him nearby, but he still muttered a thank you.
"I've done it twice, trust me," she smiled at him, leaning back as the waitress put the water and menus down. She rolled her eyes at the ice in the glasses. "I am never going to get used to the insistence on ice in water when it isn't hot outside," she muttered, mostly to herself, and let her eyes scan down the menu, squeaking with delight when she spotted a favorite and not often enjoyed dish. "Okay, so ....what happened?"
"Um, well ....I was at work, and Liv took the kids to the market," he said, choosing to start at the beginning rather than just jumping right to the real reason for his visit. "And I guess she had a bit of a meltdown. She felt horrible about it. I'm sure the kids will forget all about it, but she was kinda freaking out. She said Alex asked if she still loved him later, and she lost it. I was exhausted from work. We had a big warehouse fire earlier in the day, but I didn't want to worry her, and by the time I got home, she was wiped out, so I helped with dinner and got the kids to bed and stuff. All I wanted to do was ..." The waitress just happened to return at that moment, and he frowned as he looked to his menu to pick something out.