"Squig!" Shirley hissed. "Why do you have to watch them? They wanted to talk in private and there you are snoopin' on them!"
Squiggy turned and gave her his usual smug look. "Well, *Shirl,* if I listened to ya, then I wouldn'ta just saw Len get down on one knee."
"What!?" Shirley said, happily, then paused, considering letting him be, but decided against it. "Get away from there! They'll see you!"
"Naw, Shirl, leave him there, I wanna find out what happens," Carmine said, off-handedly. He started to stand up, but Shirley grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him back down. "Shirl!"
"No!" she said.
Nate leaned on the table, resting his chin in one palm. "We're gonna find out what's going on when they come back, anyway." He rolled his eyes.
"They're comin' back!" Squiggy announced, then tried his best to get back over to the table. He nearly ran into a couple of chairs. "Where's a beer mug when I need it?" He stumbled the rest of the way over and fell back into his chair.
"Real graceful, Squig," Carmine commented.
"Well, thank you, *Big Racoon*," Squiggy said, with a smirk. Carmine shook his head, looking like he was going to comment back, but Squiggy turned to the returning group. "So...?"
"I told ya I thought I saw 'im in the window," Lenny said.
"Spill it!" Squiggy said, impatiently.
"Vernie?" Shirley asked, seeing her friend's neutral expression.
Lenny put his arm around Laverne's shoulders and she broke out into a full grin. "He asked me to marry him..." she began.
"Again!" Squiggy added, happily. They all shot him glares. "Wha-at?!"
"Anyway," Laverne said, looked at Lenny, then the others again, "I said yes!"
"Vernie!" Shirley said, excitedly, then jumped up and hugged Laverne.
"Uh, Shirl, I could let her go first an' make it easier for ya..." Lenny said, then tried to move his arm, but Shirley had a hold on him, too.
"And to think, just 25 years ago, she yelled at Laverne that she was crazy," Carmine commented.
"Just think if I'd've won the coin toss..." Squiggy said, again receiving glares from everyone.
"I want to know everything!" Shirley said, finally letting go of Laverne *and* Lenny.
"Everything, Shirl?" Laverne asked.
"Everything since I left, I want to know it all," Shirley said.
"But, Shirl..." Laverne began.
Carmine came over. "Shirl, how about I start, then I'll turn it over to Laverne?"
"Okay, sure," Shirley said, then Carmine led her out.
Laverne watched them go, then turned back and smiled at Lenny. "I wonder what he's thinkin' about..."
"I dunno, but I know I'm thinkin' we oughtta share our last twenty years, too," Lenny said.
"Sounds good to me," Laverne replied. "Lauren, Nate, keep an eye on Squig. We'll see ya later." They turned and left.
Lauren joined the guys at the table. "Wow."
That afternoon... in Squiggy and Carmine's room. Squiggy and Nate are playing card games, while Lauren is laying on Carmine's bed, staring up at the ceiling.
"Would've been nice if they'd said how long they'd be gone," Lauren commented, then let out a loud sigh.
"Go fish!" Squiggy exclaimed, and Nate groaned.
"I mean, ma and I are supposed to be going back to California tomorrow," Lauren continued.
"Got'ny fours?" Nate asked, and Squiggy groaned, handing over a card.
Lauren sat up. "Are you two listening to me?" They looked at her with blank expressions. She sighed. "Guess not." She flopped back again.
"I haven't seen mom this happy in years," Nate finally said.
Lauren sat up again. "Yeah?"
"Yeah," Nate confirmed.
Squiggy smirked. "I knew it."
They looked at him. "Knew what?" Nate asked.
Lauren moved to the end of the bed. "What're you talking about, Squig?"
"Ya don't know?" Squiggy asked, incredulously. "Geez, these people didn't tell ya nothin'. Shirley and Carmine useta date... alot. Matter-a-fact, they *almost* got hitched."
"Really?" Nate asked, surprised.
"Yup, then Shirl ran away with bandage-boy and that was it," Squiggy finished.
Lauren slapped her right palm to her forehead. "Awe, Squig... very tactful," she said, sarcastically.
"You don't suppose the reason why Carmine wanted to talk to her first..." Nate began.
"...Is because he wants to get back together with her?" Lauren finished. "Could be. Far as I know, he never was married."
Nate sat back and smiled. "Cool. I hope that's what he's got in mind, I like the guy."
"...And that's when I left for New York. Of course, the show closed, two days after it opened," Carmine finished.
They were seated at a small, out of the way table in a new cafe around the corner from the hotel. Through his entire reminiscing, Shirley sat, with her chin resting in her left palm, gazing at him.
He finally noticed that she was staring at him. "Shirl?"
"Mmm?" she said, not exactly coherent.
He gave her a weird look. "Are you okay?"
Finally, she snapped out of it. "Oh... yes, I'm fine. My goodness. I don't even know where to begin to comment." She paused and an uneasy silence settled in. Her gaze slipped to looking out the nearest window.
It was a beautiful, sunny day outside. For a Spring day, it was exceptionally warm, especially for Milwaukee. She watched as a couple walked by, hand-in-hand.
"Angel Face?" Shirley promptly turned back to Carmine and saw an apologetic look on his face. "I'm sorry, Shirl, but you were kinda... drifting and..."
"No," she said. "No... I've missed that." She smiled. "In fact..." Beat. "I've missed... us."
"Really?" he asked.
Shirley nodded, still smiling. "Yes. I regret the way I left, but if I hadn't, I wouldn't have Nate... or, atleast, my Nate." Beat. She took a quick look out the window again, then turned back.
Carmine smiled. "I'm just glad you're back to say that."
"You'd be amazed at how long I've been waiting to say that," she said, almost laughing.
"No, I probably wouldn't, Angel Face, because I'm sure it's the same amount of time that I spent waiting to hear that," he said. Beat. "What about..."
"I've been considering moving," Shirley said, reading his mind. "Nate just finished up at a two-year college and he'd like to get into a four-year to finish up his degree. I think moving would be the best thing."
"I've been thinking about leaving Chicago. It's too busy," Carmine commented.
"There's always here," she said.
He smiled. "Maybe we ought to go on a few dates first, get back what we had."
"I'd like that," she agreed.
Across the room, in the same cafe...
"Awwwe," Laverne said.
"Vernie, don't spy on them," Lenny said.
"I can't help it, Len," she said, turning back to him. Beat. "I can't believe you've got your own band."
Lenny shrugged. "I can't either. I was lookin' for guys who'd play backing music and they were lookin' for someone who'd atleast try to sing."
"Well, you sounded great," Laverne commented. "Based here now?"
"Yeah, we take any gigs in about fifty to a hundred miles, though," he responded. "You're still in California, huh?"
She looked down at the table. "Yeah, we are."
"Considerin' we're gettin married an' everythin'..." Lenny started.
"I'd love to pack right up and move back here, but Lauren's only on Spring Break from college, and we really should include her in everything, so she doesn't feel left out," Laverne said.
"That's great!" he said. "If I hafta, I'd leave. Anythin' for ya." He smiled.
"Thanks, Len," she said then leaned over and kissed him.
"That's so sweet." They separated and saw that Shirley and Carmine had walked over. "Spying on us much, Vernie?" Shirley asked.
"Just a little. So what's the good news? You were too far away to hear and I couldn't read your lips," Laverne said.
"We're getting back together," Carmine answered.
"Ya are?" Laverne said, happily.
"And we're going to move back here... well, eventually. We haven't quite figured everything out yet," Shirley added.
Laverne smiled at Lenny. "Maybe we can persuade Lauren..."