Fright Night

This week started of pretty badly. Brother and his fiancee were up in New Hampshire for a wedding. They borrowed a car from Mom & Dad for the weekend. And apparently they did not communicate their plans or schedule well to any one.

At about 10:00pm Sunday night we got a call from my parents. "Have you heard from Brother?" Nope. "Neither of their cells is on." I explained that they were probably driving home, and hitting traffic, and in a no cell reception area. "OK," Mom said, "we're on our way home too, and should be there by 11."

Midnight. We're asleep. "Ring ring." I let the machine get it. It was Mom. "Hi. We're just calling you back. Talk to you soon."

Hmmm. That was weird. Mom called at midnight just to let us know they were home ok? Guess so. Parents can be weird.

2:30am. "Ring ring." My cell phone. "Hello??" "Hi Salty. It's Dad. They're not home yet."

Gulp. (That's me swallowing my heart back down into my chest.)

"Um, ok Dad. Maybe they decided to spend the night somewhere. It was a Sunday wedding, so maybe they were too tired to drive. Or they probably went off to elope. That's all it could be. You know they are flighty sometimes. And Fiancee's mom is coming into town tomorrow. So maybe they eloped so everyone could be there tomorrow to celebrate. Get some sleep."

I hung up the phone. I called both their cells. Both straight to voicemail. That means they are probably asleep somewhere. But... Who knows? Damn. Mom is always insane about this shit. Dad is more rational, but he guilts himself into buying Mom's craziness. Now they will both be up all night. So now I'm worried about Brother, and Mom and Dad. Shit.

Let's be reasonable. Let's see if we can find a cell number for someone else who would be at the wedding. Shit. Nothing. Ok. Let's be an adult. We'l deal with some scary shit, for the likely outcome of comfort. "Hello? Is this New Hampshire Highway Patrol? Were there any big accidents tonight? None? Ok. Thanks."

"Hello? Is this Massachusetts Highway Patrol? Any big accidents tonight? None? Ok thanks."

"Hello? Is this Rhode Island Highway Patrol? No accidents? Thanks."

"No major accidents tonight in Connecticut tonight? Thanks."

"Oh, they would get in touch with the car owner right away if there was a major accident in New York? Ok. And there were none that you heard of tonight? Ok. Thanks."

Now it was 4:00am. I IM'd Dad, who was online, and told him about my calls. No major accidents all along their route home, and the car's owners would have been notified. They are definitely sleeping or married somewhere. We could have the cops go to their apartment and see if they are there. No? Too much? Ok. Go to bed then Dad.

I realized there was little I could do at this point. I was not about to start calling hospitals. Brother is usually at work by 6:00am. I would sleep until then, and call his office. If he was unaccounted for there, then I would shit myself.

5:50am. Alarm clock goes off. I had several different dreams about Brother and his fiancee. In one, they showed up here with Mom and Dad, and they had been married. It was all good. In another, they were in NYC, they had been home the whole time. But these were dreams. It was 5:50am, and they were still missing. I called his office. No answer. Shit. Maybe he'll go in later today, after a long weekend. Ok. Back to bed.

6:20am. Pegg's alarm goes off. Time for her to get up for work. Let me try Brother's office again. No answer. Shit. This is weird. I talk to Pegg for a bit about where they could be. "Buzz buzz." My cell phone. Text message:

"Hi Saltydog! We had the wedding last night and just left new hampshire to pick up my mom from the airport. talk to you later! -fiancee"

Phew. Phew! Absolute relief like I have never experienced. I called Mom and Dad. Told them everything was fine. They hadn't slept. Mom broke down in sobs. I got off the phone and went back to sleep. Had normal dreams about sushi and beer and big tv's. Everything was ok.

Now, here's the funny thing. Brother and fiancee never knew they were "missing." Brother swears that he told me and Dad all along that they were planning to stay Sunday night and sleep it off. Now, our nuclear family consists of three men and one woman. There is only one good listener in the bunch. You can bet who that is. So can I swear, for sure, that he never told me this? No. Would I swear on Dad's behalf? Never. However, I remember asking Brother if they would want to swing by Boston on their way home. "Nah. It will be too tight. We'll be driving home from the wedding, and fiancee's mom is coming in the next day, so we'll just want to get back." Or something like that.

What do I think? I think that Brother changes his plans often, and doesn't always keep such good track of who he's told what to. I think that Brother thinks he told us they were coming home Monday. I think that this was a big mix up. I think that was one of the worst nights of my life, and I am somewhat rational. I think that Brother took several years off the lives of Mom and Dad that night. I think that we're all just grateful nothing was wrong. I think that Brother's fiancee over time will need to compensate for his flakiness, and make sure that the rest of us are informed of their plans. I think that I am going to give her a good talking to when I see her this weekend. I think that I am going to punch Brother in the head when I see him this weekend. I think that really, I'll just hug them both good and hard instead. Little shits.