Something of a Monster

- There she is. - About time.

If we miss this one, the next train's not for two hours.

Mom.

Uh

Sorry, um, sorry, let me...

- So, um - Yeah.

- You have everything you need? - I don't know. I think so?

It gets pretty quiet up there.

I don't remember what the television situation is.

Last time I was up there, there wasn't any, but that was, you know...

- Josh, it's fine. - Okay.

I brought music. Some magazines.

Um

Plus, I guess, distracting myself isn't the point.

Right.

You know, this is ridiculous, I should be going with you.

Joshua, that's out of the question.

- I just meant to the train station. - Trust me.

It's better this way.

Better for who?

Better for everyone.

Hello?

Hello?

- Amelia? - Oh!

- Wendy, right? - Mm-hm.

Robin's upstairs. You might not remember us.

We were at your wedding. I didn't get a chance to say hello.

Of course. I remember.

Not usually a wedding person but it seemed like a nice one.

Flowers and whatnot.

- Can I take your things? - Oh, I'm fine.

- Am I the only guest? - First one of the season.

We're open April to October so we're

- just getting things set up right now. -

- Hey! Robin. Good to see you again. - Oh.

Thank you. Thanks for having me.

That's what families do.

Aunt Ruby said you'll be staying right up until we open.

So you have a while before there's anyone to bug you.

Uh, no, I think, um, it won't be

Uh, I was thinking, like, a week at most, but I can help, too,

to get the hotel ready.

Um

Great!

Hey, we can have a campfire after lunch.

It's cold, but it'll be good for the fresh air.

In the meantime, you know, take a look around upstairs.

Pick whatever room looks best.

It's nothing fancy or anything, but it's all you.

And Amelia?

You really can stay as long as you'd like.

Thank you.

I just can't believe how pregnant she looks.

I didn't want to believe Aunt Ruby, because it's Aunt Ruby, but

I mean, wow.

Could you keep your voice down?

I talked to her at the wedding, and she seemed regular.

And how could Josh marry a crazy lady?

Josh is so not crazy, it's almost boring.

Trust me, that whole side of the family is crazy in their own way.

Dad didn't want anything to do with half of them.

Well, were Bobby and his wife the only ones to come to Dad's funeral?

I don't know what that girl's deal is,

but the best thing we can do is keep her far away from the lot of them.

Josh too, if I understand Aunt Ruby correctly.

So don't be weird to her and make things worse.

I wasn't.

So the boys were, like, 14 and 12 at the time,

which means I think they're the coolest.

And Wendy's already in college by then. So it's just the three of us.

And Josh dares me to drop a brick to the bottom of the pool,

jump in and hold onto it for a minute.

So I'm down there, clutching onto this brick.

And time goes by and time goes by,

and I'm not seeing Josh anywhere, and right as I'm about to pass out,

Bobby jumps into the pool and pulls me back up.

What happened to Josh?

He got, I swear to God, distracted by a bumblebee.

- Oh, my God, that's perfect. - Right?

Our dad almost lost his mind when he found out.

I'm pretty sure that's the last summer they came out here.

Where's the pool?

- Sorry? - The pool from the story?

You're actually sitting on it.

Dad emptied it out and filled it in about nine years back.

That's too bad. Why fill it up?

There was an accident.

Oh, we're sorry to hear about your mom.

Oh, yeah. Thank you.

- Can I get you anything other than water? - No, no. I'm okay.

There's a lot of great hiking trails back here.

Should check it out tomorrow.

I don't know how familiar you are with navigating trails in the winter.

You don't get much winter at Nags Head, right?

A little, some. But not like this.

I grew up in Alaska, though.

So I did a ton of hiking out in those parks when I was little.

- Not much since. - It's nice down there.

Robin was born after we moved up here, but I still remember it.

- Why'd you all leave? - Mom hated it.

We came up here, took over this place.

Hotel used to really be something.

It sort of fell apart after Dad died. We're trying to get it going again.

It's slow going.

I think it's great.

It's a nice change of pace from Nags Head.

It's different.

You get a lot of the same rhythms with the tourists.

In the offseason, there's a lot of the same moments of quiet.

Wendy loves quiet, thinks it's a selling point.

I say don't believe the hype. Yeah, trees, mountains, sure.

But there's also only, like, seven guys out here, and I've divorced half of them.

All losers.

Duly noted.

Are any of those gentlemen doctors?

I was going to say it's not an emergency. But it is.

Or at least it's really important.

It's okay, little thing.

Hopefully, this will all be cleared up tomorrow,

and we'll be back on the train

going home to Dad by nightfall.

If everything goes right.

- Hi. - Hey, how are the boys?

Oh, the boys are both at that busted old grill. Josh is trying to get it lit,

and Bobby is telling him how he's doing it wrong.

All right, two of them are working on it together.

- So I guess we're gonna order pizza. -

Yeah.

Thank you, by the way, for setting all this up for us.

Oh, my God, of course. No, it was my pleasure.

I mean, Josh has told us a little bit about how long you've been trying

and how hard it's been.

And now that you've finally got your miracle,

feels like the least I could do.

You've done a lot, honestly.

You, Bobby, Ruby, your whole family has really helped me out this year.

- You're including Ruby? - I believe I'm contractually obligated.

Hey, look,

I know you'd probably rather your mom be the one doing all this stuff with you,

but you're one of us, okay?

We got you covered.

And your mom was very crafty,

and she would have made a much better centerpiece than what I made.

Oh! It's cute.

- Is that a Nags Head thing...? - Okay, it's supposed to be you.

I made them out of pregnancy test sticks I found at the pharmacy.

I thought it'd be cute, and less, you know, Wicker Man.

No. It's great. It looks just like me.

I've never actually seen these things before.

Really? Not even at a doctor's office?

No, by the time I went to the doctor, we already knew I was pregnant,

so they didn't even do a real test or anything.

Oh, wow. I... I didn't know that.

So how did you find out?

I mean, you know, started to be obvious.

No, period, and look at me.

But you didn't go to a doctor. You didn't take a pregnancy test.

No. I went, they looked at me.

It was clear I was pregnant. I don't really remember any tests.

- Have you been back? - This is starting to feel a little weird.

Hey, ladies, I regret to report that Josh has deemed the matches

at his disposal inadequate.

- He's hoping somebody has a lighter. - Nobody has a lighter, Bobby.

Amelia was just telling me how she hasn't been to a doctor.

That's not what I said.

You haven't been to a doctor for your pregnancy?

I did go to the doctor at the beginning. They said everything was normal.

Did they do an ultrasound?

- What? - Oh, my God.

Why doesn't she know what an ultrasound is?

Bobby, I am learning things as you are.

This is what I was talking about. Josh!

Living out here in the middle of nowhere.

In Raleigh, they test these things all the time.

How many ultrasounds did we take with Quentin? A million. Josh! Get in here.

Can we all calm down? It's not a big deal.

I can go back to the doctor. There's been no pain or issue.

- Somebody screaming my name in here? - Your wife hasn't been to the doctor?

- That's not what I said. - She's gone to the doctor.

She says she's been once and hasn't been back.

- You're not going to the doctor? - I'm sorry. Josh, is that a question?

- You haven't gone with her? - No, I mean, I'm working all the time.

Jesus Christ, Josh, how goddamn stupid are you?

Hey, we can't all have your fancy lawyer job, Bobby.

I pilot a fishing boat 60 hours a week. I haven't been around for the checkups.

What checkups? The fake checkups she's not going to?

- Would you calm down? - You have to go to the doctor

Dr. Egan?

So, tell me what brings you in today.

Uh, well, I know it sounds ridiculous,

but I need a doctor to confirm I'm pregnant.

Have it be documented somewhere.

Um, I should be almost seven months along.

Should be.

Do you need this documentation for anything specific?

Uh, just for me, honestly.

Just to know, without a shadow of a doubt, and be able to prove that.

And what makes you believe you might not be pregnant?

I don't, um I just want you to confirm it.

Um, there was a doctor back from where I'm from, North Carolina,