Without Mary's nagging, the Cooper family house felt very desolate.
George lay on the sofa, watching a football game and drinking beer, looking quite content.
And in his room, Georgie, who was listening to rock music with the volume turned up, felt a rare sense of freedom without Mary's restrictions.
However, Georgie's stomach soon rumbled. He came to the living room and asked, "Dad, what are we eating tonight?"
"There's still some bread in the fridge; you can figure it out," George said casually, taking a sip of beer.
Seeing his dad's current state, Georgie didn't expect him to make dinner. He took bread and sausages from the fridge, made two sandwiches, and then came to the sofa.
After handing his dad a sandwich, Georgie munched on the cold food in his hand and began to miss the warm, delicious meals from before.
Moreover, Georgie, having understood some things, also felt that his dad and mom arguing was not good. So, he carefully advised, "Dad, you should apologize to Mom. She'll forgive you..."
George showed no reaction to his eldest son's lukewarm persuasion. However, when he saw him trying to sneak a beer, George stopped him, "Stop, you're not old enough to drink."
His little trick discovered, Georgie said ingratiatingly, "There's so much beer in the house; it wouldn't hurt if I helped you with some."
This time, to defy his wife, George bought a lot of beer with three hundred dollars, and it was piled everywhere in the house.
"No!" George replied very decisively; he didn't want to see his eldest son become a drunkard.
Seeing there was no room for negotiation, Georgie disappointedly put down the beer in his hand. Then, he said, "Let's continue our previous topic. When are you going to ask Mom to come back?"
On this issue, Georgie shared Connie's view. He believed his parents would reconcile sooner or later.
For the sake of his stomach, Georgie felt it was necessary to speed up this process.
"No, this time I'm not wrong, Mary is..." George also began to complain about his wife's faults.
Mary had previously focused too much on Sheldon, neglecting everyone else in the family. And after she started working at the church, this became even more apparent.
After all, a person's energy is limited.
It could also be said that this time George argued with his wife because he wanted to get her attention.
The strong-willed Mary, now with a job at the church as her financial foundation, made George somewhat afraid that she might leave him because of it.
Of course, this situation also stemmed from George's recent struggles in work and life, which made him feel insecure.
In other words, George was experiencing a mid-life crisis.
Listening to George's narration, Georgie realized for the first time how difficult things were for his dad.
"Life after marriage is too hard!" Georgie exclaimed.
"That's how it is." George nodded in agreement, then advised his son, "Georgie, I think you need to be mature enough before finding a partner. Getting married after twenty-five is very good."
George took this opportunity to impart life experience to his eldest son.
"Twenty-five?" Georgie was now a bit afraid of marriage because of his dad. He thought for a moment and said, "It doesn't seem too difficult."
"Good!" George struck while the iron was hot, "It's settled then. If you can get married after twenty-five, I'll give you two thousand dollars."
Hearing that such a large sum of money was available, Georgie confidently said, "Don't worry, I'm definitely getting those two thousand dollars."
...
Meanwhile, Connie, who had failed to persuade Mary, had already started assigning rooms for everyone to rest.
Because this was an old house, there were only two rooms available for sleeping.
So, Mary and Missy were assigned to Connie's room, while Sheldon was to stay with Mike.
Just like that, several days passed in a blink of an eye, and Mary had not returned home except to get a change of clothes.
On the other hand, because he was particular about his bed, Sheldon was not used to staying at Connie's.
Coupled with his constant calls to NASA being rejected, his condition seemed to worsen day by day.
And as for Connie, she had long been accustomed to a solitary lifestyle. Now, having two extra people resting in her room also made her very uncomfortable.
Connie, who hadn't had a good night's sleep for several days, also looked worse day by day.
On Friday evening, at dinner time, Connie finally couldn't take it anymore and urged again, "Mary, when are you going to reconcile with George?"
Connie had initially thought Mary was just staying for two days, but who knew it would turn into a week, which severely interfered with her normal life.
Mary heard the unspoken meaning in Connie's words and said dejectedly, "Are you going to kick us out too?"
"No, no, no! I didn't mean that..." Seeing her daughter's sad expression, Connie quickly said, "You can stay as long as you want. I'm just worried that you and George lack communication, and your relationship will get worse and worse."
...
On the other hand, without Mary's management, the Cooper family house had become a pigsty, with dirty clothes, smelly socks, and beer bottles strewn all over the floor.
Feeling that he would go crazy if things continued like this, Georgie put down the cold bread in his hand and advised, "Dad, I think it's time you apologized to Mom."
And George, who had endured a week of hardship, also began to miss his wife's good qualities. He hesitated for a long time and said, "Alright, I'll go and ask them to come back right now."
"Go for it, Dad!" For the sake of his stomach, Georgie clenched his fist and cheered on his dad.
George, putting on his jacket and heading out, coincidentally met Mary on the road, who was about to go home to get a change of clothes.
The couple shared a knowing look for a long time, and then George spoke first, "How have you been lately?"
"Just so-so..." Mary thought of the many inconveniences of living at Connie's and shook her head. Then, she asked, "How about you all?...I mean, how is Georgie doing?"
"We're not doing well," George also shook his head and said, "Georgie really misses your cooking... Of course, I miss your delicious food too..."
In fact, not only was Georgie sick of eating bread, George felt the same way.
At this moment, the couple, who had a strong emotional foundation, understood each other's feelings through their eye contact.
"The moonlight is beautiful tonight. Shall we go for a walk?" George invited.
"Of course!" Mary glanced at the dim moonlight in the sky and said with a smile.
So, the middle-aged couple walked hand in hand under the moonlight.
"Great, we can finally go home!" Sheldon, who was observing the situation from the window, cheered when he saw his parents reconcile.
"I'll go help you pack your bags right away," Connie, who also noticed the situation outside, said with a smile.
Sheldon was happy because he could finally go home and get a good night's sleep. And Connie had the same reason as her little grandson.
"Mike, can I still come over to play on the computer in the future?" Feeling that they were about to part, Missy asked Mike reluctantly.
This week, if anyone had the most comfortable time, it was definitely Missy.
Not only did she have more time to spend with Mike every day, but she could also happily play games with him.