Love and Hate

As usual, Pike heads directly into the bathroom after work.  Rose-Grace waits until she hears the water stop running, then joins him.

Rose-Grace: A bubble bath?  Are you destressing as well as sanitizing? 

Pike: You better believe it.  Some yahoo jumped Ben today.  Batgirl actually had to mace the guy.

Rose-Grace: Is Ben okay?  I hope the attacker was arrested. 

Pike: Yeah, Ben's okay. Lynch made it a point to mention her Asian husband and kids while cuffing him. 

Rose-Grace:  I have to put on mayoral clothes, perform a wedding before the license expires, and make a Public Service Announcement from a professional setting.  I'll add this incident to the list.

Pike: Everything going okay here?  With your dad and the kids? 

Rose-Grace: Dad got a phone call earlier and I guess it was bad news, from the way he's been acting, but he hasn't said anything. Finnick's the only one inside.  Tanner took the rest out to play on the ATVs.  

Finnick is actually on his phone with Nakoma, taking advantage of the rare privacy.

Nakoma (on phone): I'm so glad John is here.  I think I'd strangle these kids if he wasn't. 

Finnick: The rowdiest two came with John!  Anakin is so quiet, he's a little scary.

Nakoma: Yeah, he's still not used to being allowed to be a kid.  I still don't see how you deal with your houseful.  

Finnick: You get used to it.  But I'll tell you one thing... when we get married, we're only gonna have a couple rugrats.  

Nakoma (laughing): When?  I don't remember ever hearing or accepting a proposal from you.  

Finnick: Oh, yeah, I kinda forgot that part.  

Jeremiah and Nova meet Rose-Grace at her office. 

Rose-Grace: Your witnesses are on the way.  Very smart of you, to ask the co-workers with the fewest housemates.  And I'm really sorry none of your family could be here. 

Jeremiah: Zenobia's gonna do a whatchamacallit - video call? - so they at least get to see.  

Nova: I still can't believe that girl's a Malfoy. 

Rose-Grace: You didn't hear this from me, but the Malfoy problem seems to be linked with the Y chromosome.   

Social Distancing is rough, even when you aren't having a wedding in a small office!

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

Rose-Grace:  Barbieville has a policy, created during the Civil Rights Movement, against what we now call hate crimes. It appears that at least some of our population has forgotten this, and that they want to hide behind the First Amendment, but Freedom of Speech ends when property or personal damage occurs.  (She pauses for effect) There has been an alarming rise in attacks on our Asian citizens.  Several establishments and homes have been vandalized and racist graffiti left.  A young man of Japanese descent, one of the people exposed to possible COVID-19 contamination in order to keep your pantries stocked, was assaulted just this morning. Rewards are being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of these offenders.  Remember, these are our neighbors, our friends, and possibly our family.  If anyone has questions or comments, contact information is available via our website.