Page 92 of Shiny Things

“You play board games?” Gia asked.

“I’ve been known to play a time or two.”

“Seriously?” Ryan said.

“This I’ve got to see,” Dean teased.

“Don’t let her fool you, and whatever you do, don’t underestimate her. Your mother and I used to play before you kids came along. And there’s a reason you’ve never seen it. Let’s just say it was a lot safer for our relationship to ban games from the house, especially this one,” Dad teased.

“Now that’s the Lena I remember,” Clarence said with a chuckle.

It was agreed that Clarence, Andrew, Ryan, David, Mom, and Dad would play the first round while Gia, Dean, Kim, and I would watch.

“I’ll order more pizza,” Andrew offered as Ryan and Clarence set the board.

I sat down on the couch and tucked Kim into my side with a possessive arm around her.

“This is crazy,” she said, watching the madness as Andrew and Mom loudly argued over a property.

I just shook my head.

“This definitely wasn’t how I imagined this evening going.”

“I don’t know. It’s kind of nice. We don’t all get together like this except for holidays now. We should do this more often.”

“Really? Dad insists on game night being a weekly thing. So much so that they just showed up ready to play shortly before the rest of you arrived.”

“Probably thought you’d get peace and quiet, maybe finally get around to sealing your bond. Am I right?” she teased.

Kim looked up at me guiltily as her cheeks blossomed into a deep red. I reached my hand up and stroked her cheek, giving her a quick kiss before she could protest.

“No way! You already sealed your bond?” Gia shrieked.

“Oh yeah, we can confirm that. Lover boy there answered the door shirtless,” Andrew informed them.

“You’re not messing with me, right? You really did it?” Gia squealed, practically ripping the neckline of Kim’s shirt down to see for herself before tackling her in a big hug.

I didn’t miss the shared look of concern that passed between my parents, but I counted it as progress when they didn’t say anything negative or cause some sort of hysterical outburst like had happened yesterday.

“I guess we have a lot to celebrate tonight then,” Mom said, lifting up a red solo cup of soda and waiting for the rest of the room to join in.

They toasted to us, and it felt really good. I knew with the support of my family, the nay sayers didn’t stand a chance against us.

Thank you,I mouthed when I caught my mother’s eye.

She nodded, and I could have sworn her eyes glistened with unshed tears. Whether they were happy or sad tears I’d never know, but she was here and she was giving her blessing. It was far more than I’d hoped for.

It was really nice spending time with our families too. Despite being divided as Davenports and Grimes, everyone got along, and it was fun.

Ryan was the first to go bankrupt. Otherwise, the first game was going well into the night. I didn’t mind because it was great just hanging out with my siblings.

Meanwhile, Mom and Andrew were at a standstill. Between the two of them they now owned all the properties having bankrupted the dads.

“I can’t believe it’s so late,” Dad commented.

Clarence chuckled. “Neither will concede, and they’ll go all night until there’s a clear winner.”

“I fear you may be right. Thank you for letting us join you tonight. This was fun. I think we all needed it.”

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