I knew she wasn't faking. My fiancee woke up at about 6:30 am when the thunderstorm outside our window released a particularly impressive blast. She thought it was a bomb.

I went back to sleep. I got up a little before 8 and went downstairs. She was lying on the couch, watching TV. "I'm sick," she moaned.

My fiancee doesn't admit that she feels like taking a break. When I don't feel like working, I say, "I'm blowing things off today." She says, "I'm sick." So I wasn't sure how she felt. But then I looked at the TV. The show featured a young blonde man, oddly familiar, with a monkey, and a raven-haired woman who was in love with her professor. They met--she called him "Zach." I realized she was watching Saved By the Bell: The College Years.

That's when I knew she wasn't faking. I got her some raspberry-flavored seltzer water and two Excedrin.