"You are NOT serious," Becca said, as Anna nodded, sipping her beer as she set things up on the dining room table. Becca laughed and added, "Really?! You did that!?"

"Yeah!" Anna said, "Yeah, no, back in high school I absolutely was into fantasy stuff and I used to write smutty fantasy stories. Werewolf girls hookin' up with peasant girls, dragon women enslaving, and then falling for, brash young adventuring men. Yep. I still have it all in a binder somewhere."

"Oh my god, that is hilarious," Becca said.

"What, you never had any ridiculous hobby like that?" Anna asked, and Becca shrugged, taking a seat.

"I don't know, I mean, I guess but it was never like that," they said, "Can I read it sometime?"

"I guess so, if I can even find it, it might be in storage," Anna said.

"You have a storage unit?" Ashley asked, coming in from the kitchen, eating from a bag of chips.

"Yeah," Anna said, reaching into the bag and taking some, "You know, I didn't grow up in the best home, so I've always been afraid of losing my things. I know at least with a storage unit, unless it floods or something, or is robbed, which is unlikely, that as long as I pay for it every month then my shit is safe. It's just things I don't feel the need to keep on hand, stuff like, oh say, lesbian werewolf smut."

"That's my new band," Ashley said, making Becca laugh.

"When I was like 10, there was this fire at my aunts house, and it decimated the place. She lost everything. I've been very aware of safeguarding my belongings ever since then," Anna said, taking a seat as Ashley circled the table, and put a large platter on it, pouring chips into it before going back into the kitchen as Becca cleared their throat and spoke.

"Yeah, I saw this movie about a house fire once, and it scared me so bad, I must've been like 7 or something, that I was terrified of fire for a long time after that," Becca said.

Betty came into the dining room sipping wine from a glass and, as she finished it, put the glass on the table and burped. Everyone turned and looked at her, and she just shrugged. Betty sat down as Ashley put the bowl of chips in front of her and stood behind her mother.

"Where's your brother?" Betty asked, looking over her shoulder at Ashley.

"You ask that as if I care," Ashley said, "He's probably stuck in traffic."

Sarah came into the kitchen and handed Becca a drink, taking a seat by them.

"Who're we bad mouthing?" she asked.

"Jason," everyone said in unison, and she nodded, accepting this answer. Just then they heard the front door open, and heard Jasons voice. After a few moments, he came into the dining room, Amie trailing behind him; from the looks on their faces, it had been obvious that the two clearly were arguing about something before coming inside. Amie sat down while Jason took his jacket off and looked around the table to everyone.

"What's up?" he asked.

"Not much, just waiting on you," Ashley said.

"Well, I'm here now," he said, "So you can all breath a sigh of relief."

"Alright folks, let's get this show on the road. This thing takes up a lot of time, so we don't have much to just sit around and shoot the shit," Anna said, sitting down and cracking her neck before opening her notebook and passing around the die and pieces, adding, "If you have to go to the bathroom, go now or forever hold your pee."

Nobody said a word and Anna looked at her hands nervously.

"I thought it was funny," she whispered, before clearing her throat and reading, "So, you have a few options of where to go from here. You can exit the cave and from there there's two branching paths that lay before you; the right one leads to a small town where you can stock up on supplies and such, and the one ahead of you leads to a larger city where you may likely run into enemies of Glave. Which do you want to do?"

"I roll to stay in the cave," Jason said.

"I roll to slap Jason," Ashley replied.

"Alright, listen, if we're gonna do this, you have to take it seriously," Anna said, pushing hair behind her ears and sounding stern.

"I also would like to roll to slap Jason," Becca said, raising their hand.

"Alright," Anna said, sighing and leaning back, "Well, since it's a move action, and not a specifically high one, you don't need to roll, so you both slap Jason."

"My name is Brutus, thank you very much," Jason said, "And I'd like to slap them back."

"Brutus slaps both of you," Anna said, putting a hand on her forehead, already sounding exasperated.

"If I may chime in," Betty said, leaning forward and looking at their sheet, "So, Anna says that if we head to a larger city, we might run into enemies, so that should be enough to tell us that we should head to the small town first and get supplies. Can't fight and survive without supplies, right?"

"She's right," Ashley said, "We can hit Brutus later."

"Nobody is hitting me unless it's consensual," Jason muttered, "Alright, so fine, we're gonna head to the town then. Anna, lead us, oh grand narrator."

"This small town known as Tu'nark, it's not a very populated town, but it does have your usual run of the mill folk. There's a blacksmith where you can forge or purchase weapons, and an inn where you can rest, there's also a lumber mill where you may find information pertaining to your quest. Perhaps someone of the town has knowledge that you seek," Anna said, leaning back and brushing her bangs out of her face.

"Okay, so, we should get weapons, right? I mean, we need those to kill enemies don't we?" Jason asked.

"Definitely," Becca said, "But asking for information wouldn't be bad either. Let's do that first."

"Alright, we wanna ask someone at the lumber mill for information," Jason said.

"You approach the mill, but it appears there is only one person there; a lovely young woman with hair the color of golden wheat and eyes as blue as the darkest sea. She is the only person you can find, and she looks rather solemn about her loneliness."

"I roll to hit on the lumber girl, cause she sounds fiiiine," Becca said.

"You've caught her attention," Anna says, now doing a character voice, "She approaches and asks 'How may I help you, weary travelers?'."

"I ask if she's heard of any disturbances around these parts from Glave," Becca said.

"She replies 'I have not, but lo, if you bring me a jewel from the local trader, I can read your fortune and tell you where it is you need to seek out the answers you so desire'," Anna replied.

"You're really good at that," Jason said.

"Thank you, I've always wanted to be a wench," Anna said, laughing.

"So wait, you didn't say anything about a local trader being in the town," Becca said, "Where are we supposed to find this trader? I ask the lumber wench where to find this trader."

"She tells you she knows only of Bartok, the jewel trader, who is sitting at the inn," Anna says.

"She lives in an entire town but she only knows one person?" Jason asked, "That seems unrealistic."

"It's a game about magic and dragons and improbable geography is the issue you're going to take in regards to realism?" Becca asked, looking at him, making him nod, realizing his question was in fact kind of dumb.

"Maybe she's a hermit," Ashley said, and Amie shook her head.

"She sounded hot, no self respecting hot woman is a hermit," Amie replied, making Ashley laugh.

"Okay, so, can we go to the inn then and talk to this Bartok?" Jason asked, and Anna nodded.

"You move to the inn and find Bartok in a corner, shrouded in a deep blue cloak, his eyes only barely visible as he nurses his ale; he welcomes you to sit with him," Anna said.

"I ask Bartok what he might know about anything happening within the town," Becca said.

"Bartok tells you he knows there's lately been whispers of a small group of bandits dealing in stolen weapons and jewels that often surface just on the fringes of town late at night," Anna said, "He tells you that he can give you weapons if you retrieve for him a trinket they stole from him."

"Jesus, this is tedious, is this entire thing just fetch quests?" Jason asked, and Becca looked at him.

"Have you ever played an RPG?" Becca asked.

Jason leaned back in his chair and ran his hands over his face, groaning loudly. This made Anna smirk, satisfied she was getting to him. Becca looked back across the table at Anna and cupped her hands.

"So," Becca continued, "I roll that we take this offer and try to fight off the bandits and get back his priceless trinket, unless someone has any objection to that?"

"I have an objection to all of this," Jason said, sounding exhausted.

"You stay in the inn until nightfall, at which point he outfits you with various weapons and sends you along your way. Since the bandits do not know you're coming, you have a good shot at sneaking up on them and getting extra damage, do you take the chance?" Anna asked.

"Uh, I guess I'm the Ranger, so I'd likely have a bow, right?" Jason asked.

"That is correct, yes," Anna said.

"Alright, fine, I roll to shoot from the bushes," Jason said, tossing the dice on the table.

Anna rolled the dice and smirked.

"You fail and shoot yourself in the foot instead, bringing attention to yourselves," she said, "You're nothing if not clever, Jason, well done."

Jason exhaled and leaned back in his chair, running his hands over his face. By the end of the fight, they had in fact retrieved the item in question and come away with extra equipment, gave the trinket back to Bartok and ended their game with the decision to be made to continue onwards with information from Bartok about the potential whereabouts of the Wyrm.

After the game wrapped for the evening, Jason was standing on the back porch, smoking a joint while he watched the stars. He heard the door slide open behind him and saw Becca step out onto the porch with him. He handed them the joint, which they gladly took and puffed a bit on.

"I think Anna is trying to make a mockery of me," Jason said.

"As if you need the help,"  Becca said, making him chuckle.

"Seriously. She thinks I'm clumsy or something, thinks I don't know how to interact with others in a group dynamic, didn't you notice how everything I did in the game tonight failed to meet minimum standards?"

"Dude they were dice rolls, they were just unlucky, that's all," Becca said, "That's the way the game goes. Sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you don't. She can't pick on you, that isn't how the game works. You just need to let it go."

Jason sighed and sat down on the lounge chair, leaning his elbows on his knees and making a somewhat pained face that Becca couldn't help but take notice of.

"You don't think she harbors some sort of ill will towards me, do you?" he asked, and Becca shook their head.

"Naw, you've grown a lot in the last few years man," Becca said, taking another puff and rubbing Jason's back, "They got what they wanted, ultimately, in the end, so what could they be harboring toward you?"

"I don't...I don't know," Jason said, lying on the lounge chair, looking back up at the sky, "I miss dad."

"Yeah, me too."

"It's like without him to guide us through the dungeons of life, we're just an aimless party, unable to find their way to their destination. Unable to save their kingdom, watching it crumble beneath them," Jason said quietly, surprising Becca with this analogy; he continued, "I feel like her making me a ranger insinuates that I keep myself at a distance with others, afraid to get too close to them, hence why our marriage was never great to begin with."

"Wow..." Becca said, "That was...incredibly insightful, I'm impressed. Seriously though, while I don't think you're wrong, I DO think you're definitely over analyzing it a bit. Let's just try and see where she goes with it."

Becca sat on the edge of the lounge chair beside their brother and looked up at the sky, pulling their hair back in a messy bun.

"...What do you think dad would be if he were part of the party?" Becca asked.

"Dad wouldn't be part of the party...he'd be the treasure we're trying to get at the end," Jason said.

"It's good to know you can work together in a fictional setting at the very least," Amie mumbled as she stepped out onto the porch with them

"What's that mean?" Jason asked, turning his head towards her.

"All you've done since we started is question every single move someone's made or a decision that we've had. You're not so much working with us and much as you are working in spite of us," she snapped back.
All we ever do is bicker. You fight with me on every little thing, there's absolutely no compromise. It's either one way or no way. You like to tout that you've grown and changed, but..."

She trailed off, not finishing, but instead staring out at the backyard. She sighed, as Becca stood up and excused themselves, heading inside to find Sarah. Amie sat down beside Jason and ran her hand through her hair.

"...you want to break up, don't you?" he asked quietly.

"What? No! No, Jason, I'm just...frustrated. After all this time it seems like you still can't help but fight with your family."

"They're fighting with me, there's a big difference," Jason replied, "why can't you see that?"

"Because you don't have to feed into it. By giving them reactions, you're only further enabling their behavior," Amie said taking his hand in hers and kissing it, "and I know that deep down you're better than that. You're so much better than they've ever given you credit for."

"It feels like they were mad at me for not being modern enough, now they're trying to get me to backslide on my progress," Jason whispered.

Amie put her hand on his face and pulled him towards her, kissing him, making him smile. After the kiss broke, Jason laid his head on her chest and let her stroke his hair as they sat on the back porch, simply enjoying the cool night air and the sound of crickets.

"You may have to play the game," Amie whispered, "but you don't have to play by their rules."

Jason nodded, realizing this was the first time someone outside of the family told him that he wasn't beholden to his families whims, and that he could in fact be whoever he wanted while still being with them. No matter what happened, he'd be a hero, either in game or not. That much he was certain of.

The smoke clouded his vision, and he tripped over an ottoman while grasping for the board game closet. He leaned there, on his hands and knees, coughing, hacking, everything going up in flames around him. Jason Fuller looked around, squinting to try and see, and tried to stand back up but he couldn't. His knees buckled, his chest tightened, his face too full of fire and smoke.

"Jason!" a voice called in the nearby distance, shrieking to find him, "Jason! Where are you! I can't see! Talk to me! Jason!"

Jason opened his mouth to speak but continued to cough. He grabbed the ottoman and pulled himself to his feet, only to slip and slam his head on the coffee table, knocking himself out cold as the fire burned brightly around him. As he lost grip on the world, his sight fading, he could still faintly hear them calling his name, and then everything went black.

All Jason Fuller had wanted was to save his fathers board games.

                                                                                          ***

It had been about 4 months since the whole family had been together for a family game night.

Ashley got very busy with work and trying to finish her own website, working on her own original content, while she and Anna both got acclimated to being with child now; meanwhile, Jason had also started working hard to try and get a better apartment, and Becca...well, she'd been preparing herself, both psychologically and emotionally for her eventual surgeries. Thrilled to pieces but also a bit pissed that this was all society associated with people like her, she was struggling to simply keep it all together, and often felt all over the place, emotionally. Nonetheless, the Fuller kids were happy enough and alright. And things were alright until Ashley phoned Jason one night and told him she had an excellent idea, and for him to tell everyone else to meet that Thursday for a family game night.

Driving over there, Amie in the passenger seat playing with her braided hair, Jason couldn't help but feel that whatever idea Ashley had in store for them...he wasn't going to like it. He glanced over at Amie, who smirked at him and chewed her gum as she played around on her phone.

"You're not mad at me, are you?" he asked.

"God for the eightieth time, NO," she said sternly, "You know I wanted to go to Rome and instead you gave your money to Becca to help them, and honestly, I couldn't be more proud of you. That's awesome. I still wanna go to Rome, but I certainly don't blame you, nor am I upset, alright? Stop trying to make me hate you like everyone else does."

"What? Uh, not everyone hates me, thank you," Jason replied.

"Well, apparently your family hated you enough for you to try and change your entire persona," Amie said, blowing a bubble with her gum before adding, "So, sure, they might not hate you NOW but they certainly DID."

"I'm not trying to make you-"

"I think you need someone to be against you, honestly," Amie said, sitting up straight in her seat now, putting her phone down, "I think you need someone to prove wrong, so you try and force everyone around you to fight who you are so that you can prove them wrong somehow."

"Well, thank you, Professor Unwanted Analysis, you're contributing so much to the science of bullshit judgement," Jason said, making Amie laugh as he turned a corner, "But seriously, I don't...I mean, I don't think you're wrong, exactly, but I just...I feel like after a while of being married to Anna that I stopped doing nice things for her, and I don't...wanna...do that to you too. I wanna give you things."

Amie blushed and kissed his cheek.

"I like what we have," she said, "You don't have to give me shit, dude."

Just then a knock came on the drivers side window, and startled them both. Jason rolled the window down and saw Ashley on her moped, with Anna hugging her from behind. He raised an eyebrow and put his elbow on the edge of the window, leaning out of it casually.

"You know, I used to have a dream about this sort of stuff; two women riding motorbikes together," Jason said, "It's nice to see that some dreams come true."

"That's gross, Jason, she's your sister," Anna said.

"She was your sister IN LAW, that didn't stop you from making your move," Jason said.

"I think I saw a movie like that in a hotel room once," Ashley said.

"Yeah, THIS is a psychologically healthy family situation," Amie said, making Ashley laugh.

"So, you wanna tell me about your awesome plan?" Jason asked, turning back from Amie to his sister, but Ashley merely shook her head and revved her engine as the light turned green, and she sped away in front of them. Jason sighed and started driving, rolling his window back up as they followed her.

"Yeah," Jason said under his breath, "This is gonna SUCK."

                                                                                             ***

Becca Fuller was standing at the island in the kitchen, trying desperately to saw through an old loaf of french bread, while their mother, Betty, sat and watched, dipping her cookies in a glass of milk. Becca pulled their arm back, screamed and started stabbing the bread manically.

"Towards thee I roll, thou all destroying but unconquering loaf of bread; to the last I grapple with thee, from hells heart I stab at thee, for hates sake, I spit my last breath at thee!" they shouted, repeatedly jamming the knife against the french bread. After a few more stabs, they stopped and exhaled, the knife sticking firmly up in the loaf as they glanced at their mother, who just smiled.

"I hate to tell you this, but I don't think you're gonna win this battle," Betty said.

"Why does anyone buy french bread?! Two weeks later and it's worthless!" Becca shouted, throwing their hands up in the air, annoyed as Ashley and Anna entered the kitchen, taking their helmets off and putting them on the counter. They walked up to the island and looked down at the bread, then up at Becca.

"What the hell goes on in this house when I'm not here?" Ashley asked.

"French bread is a joke; it mocks me and everyone I love," Becca said as they picked it up and walked it over to the trash, tossing it in.

"You love people?" Ashley asked as they walked by, hand on their hip, shrugging.

"Well," Becca said, "Perhaps 'love' is too strong a word, you're right."

"Ashley," Jason said, now entering the kitchen, Amie right behind him, "What are we doing? I need to know. Please tell me it isn't something awful. What are we playing? I'm going nuts trying to figure it out."

Just then, Sarah Riddle, in a sundress and sporting a undercut, came into the kitchen from the foyer and stopped next to Becca.

"Did you find the guest hand towels?" Becca asked, and she nodded, holding their hand as Ashley looked to Jason and nodded, motioning for everyone to follow her. Everyone got up and followed Ashley into the dining room. Arriving there, she flicked the lights on, and held out her arms.

"I present to you all, Dungeons and Dragons," Ashley said, presenting the dining room table laid out with a full board with character pieces, dice and all. Everyone stood there in shock, except Betty who had watched her set this up the previous day, as Ashley walked towards the table and motioned at it all, saying, "A guy I created something for this past month, he's a big DnD fan, and it got me thinking that all we ever do is play board games. We're always competing, and never working together, so I figured now would be the time. We'll play a campaign and we'll all work together, except Anna, who's going to be our DM because she's impartial."

"Impartial?" Jason asked, somewhat shocked, "She's been with two of us, I wouldn't call that impartial."

"Yeah, but I've only liked one of you," Anna added, smirking, making Jason glare at her as she walked to the table and sat down. Everyone else followed suit, and took their respective seats around the table.

"Now, this week we're simply going to be creating our characters and everything like that, and next week we'll actually begin the campaign," Ashley said, "I wrote this campaign myself, so don't expect it to be high literature or anything of the sort."

"Don't worry, our expectations are tempered appropriately," Jason said as he sat down next to Amie.

"So, there's a sheet for all of you," Ashley said, handing out some papers, "I had this guy give me a rundown of what sort of characters are available to you. You can pick one of these off the sheet, so let me know what you would like to be and what your name is and Anna will write it down."

"Well, seeing as I've actually played DnD before, I'd like to be a Tiefling," Becca said, "That sounds pretty appropriate to my life these days."

"I have no idea what I'm reading," Jason said, scratching his growing beard, "I guess I...I'll be a human."

"God could you BE anymore generic," Ashley said, laughing, "Like, you have a whole sheet full of magical creatures and you pick a fucking human. How standard of you."

"I don't know shit about this sort of stuff!" Jason said.

"I'm going to be an Elf," Ashley said.

"Okay, alright, we have a tiefling, a human and an elf. Betty, what about you?" Anna asked.

"Well, I like to Tortle. I like turtles, and I'm certainly old and wise," Betty said, "I don't look like a turtle, but that's besides the point."

"Alright, we got a tortle," Anna said, jotting it down, "What else? Who's left? Amie and Sarah?"

"Gotta go with Half Orc," Sarah said, pushing her glasses up her nose, "That's certainly up my alley."

"I think," Amie said, scanning her sheet, "I think I'll be a gnome. Gnomes are cute, right? I like gnomes."

"It's not like a garden gnome," Becca said, "These are badass warriors."

"I'm a badass warrior," Amie said, "I once killed a coyote with my keys."

Everyone stopped and stared at her as she lowered her head and mumbled.

"It was bag of chips. I opened a bag of chips with my keys. I'm sorry for lying," Amie said, sounding ashamed. Anna nodded and wrote this all down, then looked at the paper and sighed.

"Alright, I'm going to just read this guide and assign you all classes, and eventually names. This is a process, so just work with me okay," she said, "Alright. Becca, your tiefling is a cleric, so you do damage from a distance and can heal your party. Your saving throws are wisdom and charisma Amie, your gnome is fighter, so you know, you have proficiencies in all armors and shields and your saving throws are strength and constitution. Sarah, you're half orc is a paladin, so your saving throws are also wisdom and charisma, plus you know, you've got some magical abilities. Betty, you're tortle is a wizard, so you've got proficiencies in light weapons, but no armor and your saving throws are intelligence and wisdom. Jason, your human is a ranger, so you're an independent adventurer, so you've got simple weapons and martial arts, light and medium armor proficiencies and your saving throws are strength and dexterity, and finally, Ashley, your elf is a rogue and you have proficiencies in light armor and simple weapons, along with your saving throws being dexterity and intelligence. We'll go over skills and all that in a bit."

She exhaled and started to write some more down on the paper while Amie played with her character piece and looked at Sarah.

"I like your hair," she said.

"Thanks!" Sarah replied, "Yeah, I was worried it'd look weird, and that it was, like, too mainstream or whatever. Everyone gettin' undercuts these days, but screw it, right? Makes me not as sweaty when it gets hot out."

"I like it," Becca added, "I think it looks good."

"Women are lucky, you all have a variety of hairstyles to pick from. Men get such basic shit," Jason said, making all the women at the table stop and look at him, which he took quick note of and then added, "I...I wasn't, like, I like my hair, I guess, I'm just...jealous I guess. I don't know."

"Jason, do you want a makeover?" Ashley asked, making Anna chuckle.

"No, I didn't say that, I just-"

"We could bust out the curlers and give Jason like a pompadour or something!" Becca added, making Ashley and Anna crack up, "We'll make you into, like, a ninteen fifties hunk, man, it'll be great!"

"I just sometimes wish my hair could be styled more than just a lump on my head," Jason said, "I don't need or want anything fancy, god, forget I said anything."

"Just shave it," Anna said.

"Your father shaved his head for a while," Betty said, catching Jasons attention.

"Really?"

"Yeah, he shaved his head for a while," Betty continued, pouring a glass of wine for herself, "He looked good too. Did it mostly in the summer to, as Sarah already stated, avoid the heat. When he needed it covered or felt self conscious, which, knowing your father, was rarely, he'd just throw a baseball cap over it."

"That doesn't sound bad..."

"Plus, you've got hair on your face now," Ashley said, "You could totally get away with having no hair on your head. A lot of guys with beards go clean shave on their skulls, and they look pretty nice too. Just food for thought," Ashley concluded, shrugging as she scrolled on her phone.

"Okay," Anna said, handing out sheets with their skills and names on them, "Now I'm going to read to you the basis for the campaign, so here we go-"

"Wait, just, hold on one cotton pickin second here," Jason said, "My name is Brutus? Seriously?"

Everyone looked at him.

"Nobody thinks that that's weird?" he asked, and everyone shook their head, as he added, "A fuckin human ranger...named Brutus? Brutus is like, the name of something big and scary, not someone like my guy. My guy should be named, like, Daniel or some shit."

"You can't be named Daniel, that's not realistic," Becca said.

"Real-oh! I'm sorry, I didn't know the game that has magical creatures and spells in it was aiming for 'realism', my bad," Jason said, making Amie laugh, adding, "I'm just saying, that's super not right. What's your name?"

"Glory," Becca said, looking at their sheet.

"See! That's badass!"

"Your name is badass, you idiot," Anna said.

"Yeah, but that name coincides with their character; their character is like a magical being, so of course they would have something cool like Glory, but my dude is just a shrimpy little guy and he gets named Brutus?"

"I'm not good with names, alright?" Ashley said, annoyed.

"Boy, I'll say," Amie said, looking at her own sheet, "My name is Peaches."

"I stand by my statement," Ashley said, crossing her arms.

"Did you just write down names and pick 'em out of a hat?" Jason asked, "Peaches? That's ridiculous!"

"Cooler than your lame ass, Brutus," Becca said.

"What about you, Sarah, what's your name? You're a half orc, you have to have something cool," Jason said, as she checked her sheet, then shrunk in her seat, embarrassingly stating her name was Adidas. Jason looked at Ashley in disbelief, everyone following his stare with stares of their own, as Ashley rolled her eyes.

"Look, the names aren't important!" Ashley said, "I'm not a goddamned fantasy author!"

"Adidas? Fuckin' Adidas?! You named a goddamned half orc Adidas?! You were just naming shit in your bedroom!" Jason said, "Am I...like...does nobody else have a problem with this?!"

"Brutus, please calm yourself," Betty said, "We're trying to get to the game here."

"What's your name, Ashley, huh? I'd be very curious to know what the person who wrote this campaign named themselves," he said, folding his hands on the table and leaning in, smiling.

"If you must know, Brutus, my name is Baron Von Fruch, and I am the daughter of the highest elf lord," Ashley said, "So, before you speak so callously to me, just remember who exactly it is that you're dealing with here, because I could have you strung up in elf court."

"Pfft, I'm not scared of some pansy ass elf, wearing flower crowns and playing wind chimes as musical instruments" Jason said, scoffing, leaning back and crossing his arms.

"Guys, guys," Anna said, trying to interrupt.

"Elves are way cooler than humans, you just don't know shit cause you never read a good fantasy book in your life," Ashley said, "Why don't you try going outside your genre circlejerk once in a while, you literary snob?"

"Go Baron Von Fuck yourself," Jason snapped back, as Anna started shouting now to get their attention.

"GUYS!" she yelled, "Guys, come on. We're not gonna get anywhere if we don't get through the goddamned introduction, okay? I know, this isn't the thing we usually do, and I know things aren't perfect, okay, but let's just try and have a good time. We've been doing so well, getting together as a real family, don't let some goofy ass names ruin that."

"Are...are your family game nights ALWAYS like this?" Sarah asked, leaning into Becca, whispering.

"Yeah, basically," they replied, as Anna continued with her impassioned speech.

"So we all need to just calm down, exhale and just get on with this thing, alright? Remember the last time you guys had family game night? Ashley came home and said it was one of the single most memorable nights of her life, because you all recognized what a good, healthy family dynamic you had begun to cultivate, so why ruin that over some stupid fantasy names? Let's just get this started."

"Anna's right," Jason said, "I'm sorry. Ashley, thank you for doing all this work. It must've been exhausting looking through your closet for things to name characters after."

"You are SUCH a dick," Ashley said, as Anna giggled and held up a paper, clearing her throat.

"Now, allow me to read to you the campaign concept," Anna said, "Years ago, a fire Wyrm named Glave ached for power. Considering himself the best, strongest of his kind, he destroyed all the other types of dragons in the world, and then went on to begin to destroy and overtake the areas surrounding his own. With each city that crumbled beneath his mighty strength, he grew more and more intense with his lust for destruction. Soon, each race began to secretly meet to discuss what could be done, and it was decided that one of each race would form a party and go destroy his kingdoms, one by one, until they reached, and destroyed the great Wyrm himself. Each with their own abilities, skills and assets, this unlikely troupe would fight to the finish, even if it killed them, because the world depended on it."

"If it killed them, then wouldn't they have failed?" Becca asked, as everyone glared at them and they shrugged, "Sorry, sorry, geez."

"So that's the deal, guys. That's what we're working with here. Giant fire wyrm is destroying the world so you have to fight his armies until you can reach him and destroy him, thus returning peace to the land you live on," Anna said, "So, who would like to begin?"

"I guess I will," Sarah said, sitting up and sighing.

"Alright, let me set the mood," Anna said, coughing and reading from the stack of paper, "You've come from the last meeting of the races with an anger about you; a palpable frustration fills the cavern you find yourselves in, being forced to work together when you don't even like one another, to save a world that doesn't respect you one bit? It must be a joke. But, this is what fate has dealt, and so you all realize you must put your egos aside and at least try and save the world, to save yourselves."

"Oh my goood," Jason sighed, rubbing his forehead, "This is going to be SUCH a long game."

Jason really wanted to get out of this apartment. He had had his eye on a small place downtown that would be much better suited to his life, and he was thinking of asking Amie to move in with him. Jason had, for the past year or so since his father had passed, been trying to not be so materialistic, but he found it rather hard given the culture he lived in. Still...he was trying and he felt proud of himself for that. A few years ago? He'd have simply scoffed at the mere idea that he could give up money and possessions.

Ashley too had been wanting to better her life with new things. She'd really wanted to replace her scooter for a few years now, not to mention also maybe getting a better apartment so she and Anna could raise the baby in a more suited environment, and maybe even something with a nice home office. She also wanted to be financially stable enough to be able to take some time off for a bit, as she was finding herself creatively drained and that didn't help her work ethic, or her relationship with Anna.

Becca, however, wanted none of those things, or at least not at the level their siblings did. Sure, they wanted to move out of the house and get their own place and buy some nice stuff, but more than anything else, they wanted the money for their bottom surgery. Becca knew it was so cliche of themselves to so desperately want such a thing, thanks to the culture that now surrounded their community; the belief that you didn't need such a thing to be happy or validated, all of which is true. They wouldn't dismiss that. That being said, they still wanted it, because it would make themselves happy at least.

Yes, all three Fuller siblings wanted something great, something to better their lives, and now, each one was being given a lump sum of cash. Three separate piles of money was sitting on the top of the Payday board game in front of them on the coffee table in the living room, and each sibling was unsure of how to feel regarding it. Betty Fuller looked from the money to her children, her hands folded neatly on the table, wishing her husband was here to make sense of this.

After all, it was his money.

                                                                              AN HOUR EARLIER

"So you're telling me that the afterlife has a popular clique?" Ashley asked, sitting at the island in the kitchen.

"Oh, come on Ash," Becca said, "You seriously don't think there's some clique of cool ghosts who are making fun of the uncool ghosts who died in lame ways? Get real."

"So, that then begs the realization that there's an actual afterlife, like a ghost city, where people are working dead end jobs-"

"Cute," Becca said, interrupting.

"Thank you," Ashley said, "and raising ghost children. How do ghost children work?"

"I'd imagine since they can't copulate that it's much like adoption. A ghost couple decides they want to have a family, and so they sign themselves up for a kid, and when a kid dies and becomes a ghost kid, they call the ghost couple best suited for that ghost kid."

"You've spent a lot of time thinking about this," Ashley said, sipping her juice.

"I don't really have a social life or anyone to talk to so this is the sort of thing I spend my time thinking about," Becca said as they sat back down at the island across from their sister, peeling an orange.

"Maybe you'd have a social life if you didn't talk about this kind of stuff," Ashley said, snickering, "...where's mom? I thought we were playing Payday, and she's been out for like, 2 hours. I don't have all night to hang around here and talk about ghost babies, riveting as it may be."

"I don't know, she said she had an errand to run," Becca said.

Just then, Jason walked into the kitchen, alone, pulling his coat off his shoulders and tossing it on the kitchen counter before looking at his siblings at the island. He opened the fridge and got a beer, opened it to take a sip and then nodded at Becca.

"You're sitting at the island," he said.

"Yeah?"

"I don't know, you haven't been doing that for a while," Jason said.

"I know. I guess I decided it's time to come back inside," Becca said, eating their orange while Ashley spun around to see Jason toying with the board game and pieces.

"Where's mom?" Jason asked.

"I would like to know that as well," Ashley said, "No Amie this week?"

"Nah, she has a work thing. What're you two talking about?" he asked.

"Ghost adoption," they said in unison, and he shrugged before pulling up a bar stool at the island.

"Like, can you adopt a ghost, or like, ghosts who adopt baby ghosts?" Jason asked.

"Dude, I would totally adopt a ghost," Ashley said.

"It's not like bringing a cat home," Becca said, "Ghosts have very specific care requirements."

"They're dead! How much simpler could caring for something get?" Ashley asked, laughing, "It's not like I have to feed them or they're gonna starve! They ALREADY starved! That's why they're a ghost!"

Betty walked into the kitchen and set her purse down on the counter, before turning to face her children. All her children turned and looked at their mother, and for a moment, nobody said a single thing, and the kitchen was completely quiet. Finally, Betty cleared her throat and cupped her hands.

"We need to discuss something. Please come sit down at the table," she said.

The Fuller siblings got up and walked to the table, following their mother, and took their seats. Betty sat down as well, and placed a manila envelope on the table on top of the Payday board. The kids all looked at it, and then looked back at their mother, who cleared her throat and spoke.

"A few months ago, I spoke to your fathers attorney, and we came to a few decisions. Most of them do not concern you three, but there was one in particular that did, and that is what's inside this envelope. Inside this envelope is your fathers will, and he and I talked a LOT about how to word these things and how to manage our leftovers."

"So...dad's giving us meatloaf?" Ashley asked, making the other two laugh, and even making Betty smirk.

"Ashley, no, no, uh...your father and I decided that it wasn't very fair to make you guys wait until BOTH of us died to reap some sort of financial benefit from your less, so, your father and I each made our wills out so that whoever died first was to leave you kids each a lump sum of money. It's nothing outstanding, it's just money we've put away over the years. I know this past year has been really weird and hard and especially so for myself but...this is where we are. His only stipulation is that we play this game on the night I gave you this money and that we do not fight tonight. That's all he wants from you."

She picked up the dice and she rolled them, taking her turn and starting the game. Ashley, Jason and Becca all exchanged somewhat nervous glances, before each joining in. Jason sighed; he felt somewhat bothered by the fact that their own father thought they still couldn't get along without him outright telling them to. He wondered if this bothered Ashley and Becca or not, because the way Jason saw it, he'd spent much of the last year trying to be a better human being, and he felt the family, especially after tossing Ernie out on his ass, had come very far.

"Are you working this week?" Betty asked, looking at Becca as they took their turn.

"Um, no, I'm meeting with a doctor on Monday and then going to a support group," Becca said.

"A doctor? Are you okay?" Ashley asked, making Becca nod reassuringly.

"Yeah, yeah, it's just about...you know...surgeries and stuff," Becca said quietly, almost seemingly embarrassed at this admittance, before adding, "Not that I could afford it."

"You won't be able to," Betty said flatly, "I don't mean to be a bummer but even with the amount Harold left you specifically, it won't be enough. It's a good head start, but it's not enough."

"I understand that, and I also understand I may never be able to afford it," Becca said, "Cause this country loves its citizens SO much when it comes to their health and happiness."

I don't know that I really agree with dad-" Jason started.

"Ghost dad," Ashley said, looking at her game piece.

"Don't call your father ghost dad," Betty interjected.

"I don't know that I really agree with ghost dad," Jason continued, "I think we're doing fairly well as a family, honestly. I know I personally have been striving this year to better myself, and I know that, especially, after we kicked out Ernie things have gotten a lot better. I know Ashley and I had an argument last week, but...but we didn't just let it fester, I apologized and we talked it through and that's....god...that NEVER would've happened before."

"I think ghost dad would be proud of us," Ashley said.

"Stop calling your father ghost dad," Betty said sternly as Becca rolled the die, taking their turn.

"I think Jason and Ashley are right. I think we've been doing pretty good on our own. I don't think we need ultimatums from beyond the grave. I think ghost dad is kinda overstepping his boundaries here," Becca said.

"Okay, the next person to call your father ghost dad ISN'T getting money," Betty said sternly.

"Listen, paranormal parent aside," Jason said, making his siblings crack up, making himself struggle to speak through his own laughter, "Uh...I really do think that. Look at this family like a year or so ago, right? We were always at each others throats and we were always just arguing and angry and fighting and nothing was fun and now we just...honestly, I don't even need a game night to come over and hang out with you guys anymore. I just wanna hang out now."

Becca and Ashley smiled at Jason and nodded, agreeing with him.

"That's all very sweet, Jason, and personally, I agree with you," Betty said, "But this is what your father wanted. Can't you at least grant ghost dad that much? Oh christ, now you have ME doing it," she finished, covering her face in shame and laughter as Ashley took her turn.

"I think we already are granting him that wish," Ashley said.

"Would it be cool if I brought someone to family game night next time?" Becca asked, and everyone murmured in agreement, as they added, "Okay cool. I was nervous it would be weird but, as long as it's okay."

"It's totally okay," Ashley said, "Is it someone you're dating?"

"It's Sarah Riddley," Becca said quietly, surprising them all, "I've been texting and talking with her for months now, and things have gone well. We've gone out a few times, and I asked if she'd wanna come over for game night and she said yes, so."

"Does she know?" Jason asked.

"What? That my family is gonna be here?" Becca asked, "I mean, unfortunately that's not something I can work around, so she'll just have to deal with it I suppose."

"No, smartass," Jason said, chuckling, "No I mean, does she...you know...know? About you?"

"...yeah, she does. Not that it should matter, but unfortunately it does, so I told her and she's totally cool with it. Why do you care?" Becca asked, glaring somewhat at Jason, unsure of his motives.

"Because I wanna make sure you're not gonna get hurt. People are monsters, and the last person I wanna lose is another family member, especially the most vulnerable of the family," Jason said, "I don't have any ulterior motives or anything, Becca, I just...you're my sibling and I love you and I wanna make sure nobody is gonna hurt you. Sorry."

"I'm sorry, I just...don't really like talking about this stuff with you guys," Becca said, "It's weird. It's weird talking about something I kept to myself for so long."

"I understand that," Ashley said, "Coming out was weird as hell, but I got used to it. Not that my coming out and your coming out are the same at all, I'm not saying that, I'm just saying that I get it, you know? I understand, on some base level, how you're feeling."

"I know, thanks Ashley," Becca said, "...I came in to sit at the island cause I thought, ya know, dad wouldn't want me to be afraid of the place we spent the most time together. Having game night in the kitchen is weird, but I kinda like it, cause the kitchen's where he and I were most of the time we were together. I don't want dads money. I just...I want dad."

Everyone sort of exhaled and looked at their pieces, at the board game and at one another.

"We all want dad," Jason said, "But we are gonna have to learn to live without him. I hate that he...that he isn't going to see who I'm trying to become. That I waited SO long to better myself, and not while he was alive. I need to be the man he thought I could be, not the man society thinks I should be. Dad was caring and affectionate and emotional and...I don't know, at some point, somewhere along the way, I just was fed these beliefs that those were bad things for a man to feel and that's bullshit, that is utter bullshit, and I know that now. How can I admire a father who has so many traits people tell me are bad? Either my father is wrong or society is wrong, and frankly, I'm more willing to believe in my father than I am in society."

"Dad made me feel so welcomed when I first told him I was gay," Ashley said as Betty took their turn, rolling the die, "He said it explained a lot, and I guess in hindsight it does. Growing up I didn't realize the things I was doing, the way I acted, were signs of anything, but from an outsiders perspective, sure, he saw it. I didn't know exactly what was going on, but he knew something was different. He said that..." Ashley waited a second, sniffled and wiped her eyes on her sleeve, "Um...he said that the whole time I was growing up I was miserable, and he could tell that, and now that I was out I couldn't be happier, and he said gay must mean happy for a reason if that's the case."

Betty put the die down and looked at the siblings, before getting up and leaving the kitchen, only coming back in with an enormous bag and unzipping it on the floor, pulling out stacks of cash, putting them on the table in three separate piles, one for each of the Fuller children. She then sat back down.

"Fuck the board game," Betty said, "I loved Harold to death, in ways I cannot describe, but you're right, this is stupid. You're way better than you used to be, and he would be so proud of you guys. I say instead of playing Payday, we just go out to dinner and have a nice time."

"That sounds good to me," Jason said, standing up, everyone getting their jackets back on before realizing Becca wasn't standing up. Jason knelt down next to their chair and asked, "What's up? You okay?"

"I think we should finish the game," Becca said, "It's the right thing to do."

Becca looked up at Jason, and he nodded, understanding and hugging them before sitting back down, everyone quickly following suit. So, for the first time a long time, the Fuller family sat together and had a very pleasant, enjoyable Family Game Night.

                                                                                                ***

Becca was sitting in the backyard, on the lawn chair they used to sit next to their father with, when the door opened and Jason came out. He sat down beside them and exhaled, as Becca pulled a beer from a cooler and handed it to them. Jason opened it and took a few sips before looking up at the stars.

"You made the right choice," Jason said, "Making us finish the game tonight."

"Dad told me once that family forces you to analyze yourself based on those around you, not so you can hate yourself, but so you can see why everyone else loves you so much. He said he loved us because he had made so many mistakes, but we were the one right thing he did that he didn't regret. His one real achievement in life. He said on nights like game night, when we're bickering and complaining and venting, that that's when you see yourself, and others, for who they are and that that's how you learn to accept and love one another. He said that family isn't a deal set in stone and that nobody gets a fair shake. You're given to the family you've got, and while that hurts some people because their family is total garbage, when you have a family like ours, he really realizes how lucky he got and it makes him happy."

"So Family Game Night is not so much because dad loved board games but because he loved us?" Jason asked.

"I think it's a mixture of both," Becca said, "but I told him that I love Family Game Night cause I miss our family. I miss when we were kids and everyone was together and these are the only times besides holidays we all dedicate a specific amount of time to see one another. We ARE lucky, Jason."

"We really are, I guess," Jason said, drinking more beer.

"You're a good son," Becca said, making Jason smile as he sat facing them, putting the beer on the ground and cupping his hands in his lap, looking at his shoes.

"Um," he started, "...Ashley went home but...uh...before she left we talked and...and I...I got her to agree with me that...we want you to have the money dad left us."

Becca nearly choked on their beer, now sitting up straight.

"Excuse me?!" they asked loudly.

"Yeah," Jason said, almost giggling, "Yeah, we...we realized that what we wanted were material possessions and that, ya know, while creature comforts make life better, we're pretty okay in the end. But you...all you want is to feel good about yourself, and feel comfortable in a world that demands you feel uncomfortable because of who you are and how you were born. I don't think that's fair. So we want to give you the money dad left us to maybe help you afford your surgeries."

"...Jason, jesus, I don't..."

Becca stumbled for words, and before they knew it they were crying. Jason got up and sat beside them, hugging them. Neither one of them needed to say a word. They'd already said enough. Sitting here, in the backyard under the stars after Family Game Night, comforting a member of their family they absolutely loved and admired for their bravery, Jason Fuller had finally become the man his father always knew he could be. Now it was Jasons turn to take care of his family.

"Will you come with me?" Becca asked, "To look at some stuff, I mean. They give you examples of what they can do with what they have to work with, so you get to look at all these various vaginas. It's pretty great. Just a wall of pussy."

"I'll never say no to pussy," Jason said.

"Amen," Becca said, the two clinking their beer cans together and laughing.

Jason Fuller was having some serious doubts about his life right now.

As he drove over to his mothers house, his girlfriend Amie in tow and her little sister in the backseat, he couldn't help but feel like a wedge was being created between himself and his family somehow. Lately, his sister, Ashley, had seemed to be a bit distant towards him. Perhaps it was because she was a new mother now, granted to a child that was technically his and his ex wifes, but still, he wasn't sure he could just chuck that all up to that reasoning. He sighed as they came to a red light and glanced over at Amie, who was scrolling through her phone.

"What's up?" he asked, nodding at her.

"Oh, my friend Cassie is in Rome and I'm just looking at her photos she's been sending me. It looks so beautiful. I've never been to Italy or anything in that region, but I'd love to go sometime," Amie said.

"I'm sure it'd be nice, yeah," Jason said, "You okay back there?" he added, craning his neck to the backseat, grinning at Amies little sister, who glanced up and nodded, giving a little smile, before she turned back to her book.

"I made kale chips for your mom last week," Amie said, "They came out pretty good. It was fun working with her."

"Yeah, my mom is pretty fun," Jason said, smiling at the image of Betty and Amie working on something together and enjoying it, "Wish I'd been there to see it, or help."

"Did you like cooking growing up?" Amie asked, touching his arm gently, and he winced as he thought back to the Home Ec incident. Flashes of Ashley screaming and sobbing, flashes of himself in the kitchen, flashes of destroyed food. He shook his head and shrugged.

"You know, a little, but not a whole lot. I enjoy it more these days though," Jason said.

He wanted to talk to Amie about it, he wanted to tell her about all the awful things that had happened between his sister and himself in the past, but he just couldn't allow himself to. Something was stopping him. He figured that, sometimes, some things were best kept between siblings. As they approached the house and parked, and Amie got out with her little sister, Jason sighed and looked at the light on in the kitchen window. He grimaced and shuddered. God that kitchen had seen some shit.

                                                                                         ***

Ashley couldn't bake.

No matter what she did, she simply couldn't bake, and it killed her. This was in eighth grade, and she so desperately wanted to be able to bake, but she ruined everything she tried to make. It came out overdone or underdone, or simply inedible. Ashley had a lot of problems with the math related to baking; it was considered a science, and she wasn't very good at science either. At least, not in the kitchen sense. Watching from afar, however, Jason simply couldn't understand why this was so important to her.

After all, it was just Home Ec.

                                                                                          ***

"Are you really trying to say that you don't want to replace all your body parts with bionic limbs?" Becca asked, "Come on, you get older and if anyone questions you, you could just crush them with your robot arm."

"It sounds tempting, certainly, but think of the drawbacks," Ashley said, taking a swig of her beer on the porch, "You'd set off metal detectors EVERYWHERE, for one. Plus what if you end up around a large magnet and got stuck to it?"

"Where are you that you're hanging around an enormous magnet?" Becca asked, pushing a cracker in their mouth.

"I don't know! Maybe I get a job at a magnet factory, and they all actually are a cult and worship The One Almighty Magnet, and one night, while cleaning up-"

"Cleaning up? You're the janitor?"

"It's the only job I can get after the incident at my last job, where I high fived my coworker Daryl so hard I almost killed him."

"He's alive?" Becca asked.

"He'll be fine, but his family will never be the same. His child will now have to love to learn a man with only half a body. She's got a half dad now. Half dad can love and learn and live, but things will never go back to the way they were. But they'll manage. After all, his body may be half, but his heart is still whole," Ashley said, "Anyway, one night I'm cleaning and I get stuck to the Almighty Magnet and can't get down and they never find me and I starve up there."

"That's ridiculous, Ashley, you wouldn't starve. You'd be more machine than human by that point. You'd simply become one with the Almighty Magnet and take over the cult," Becca said, just as Jason walked up to the porch with Amie and her little sister.

"What're you guys talking about?" Jason asked.

"Magnets and cyborgs," Becca said.

"Of, well, of course. Why didn't I just figure as much," Jason said, shrugging, "Totally normal thing to discuss. I'm going in. Where's mom?"

"She's doing laundry," Ashley said, getting up, "I'll go with you."

"Why?"

"Cause she's doing my laundry."

"You have a machine!" Jason said, as Ashley opened the door and he followed her inside.

"That doesn't negate how lazy I am," Ashley replied, the door shutting behind them.

Becca looked at their phone, and after a moment, back up at Amie, still standing in front of them, their hands on their sisters shoulders. Becca looked from Amie to the kid, and then back up to Amie before raising their eyebrows, lowering their phone and clearing their throat.

"You're not going inside? Cause I'm not that exciting," they said.

"Becca, this is my little sister. I thought you might like to talk to her," Amie said, patting her sisters shoulder, "I'll leave you two alone," she added, before heading inside as well. Her sister, Katie, sat down on the porch swing beside Becca, neither one speaking. Becca continued looking at their phone while Katie continued reading their book, and then after a moment, Katie looked up and looked at Becca.

"Are you really like me?" they asked, taking Becca by surprise, forcing them to look at her.

"What?...a parasite that feeds on the remains of their enemies?" Becca asked, then, hushing their voice, added, "...it's so nice to no longer be the only one."

Katie chuckled and shook her head before saying, "No, my sister says you're like me. Cause we're...different."

That's when it hit Becca. Amie's sister WAS like Becca. It wasn't very blatantly obvious to Becca because they were a child, and children generally were indistinguishable in either gender, but now that they could see it, oh it made their heart swell with joy. Becca smiled and nodded. Katie smiled back.

"Cool," she said, before looking back into her book, and the two of them sat, reading their own respective items.

Inside, following Ashley first into the kitchen before heading to the laundry room, Jason couldn't shake this awful feeling he'd had in the car. He sat at the island as he watched his sister open the fridge, get out a bottle of soda, pour herself a glass and down the whole thing in seconds flat. She wiped her mouth on her arm and burped, looking at him.

"What?" she asked.

"Why aren't you doing your own laundry?" he asked.

"Why is this so important to you?" she asked, shrugging, "I don't know. I don't care. It's just laundry."

Jason scowled and looked at his hands on the island tabletop.

                                                                                          ***

Jason couldn't take it anymore, watching his sister cry.

She'd been crying for what felt like hours, all because she couldn't remove a stain from something her Home Ec teacher had given her. He was standing outside her bedroom, in the upstairs hallway, just watching her from around the corner of the door as she sat on the bed and cried, clutching the pair of pants to her chest. He didn't understand why this upset her this deeply. He understood being frustrated, he understood being upset, he understood that this was, in fact, a school assignment, and thus something she would be graded on, and thus something that could affect her grade, but this level of sobbing? Over a grade? Especially when she was never one to care much about school to begin with.

After all, it was just Home Ec.

                                                                                            ***

Jason followed Ashley into the living room where, much to his chagrin, the game Twister was laid out on the floor, ready and waiting to be played. He grimaced and looked from the floor back to his sister, who was now grinning at him eagerly.

"PLEASE tell me we're not playing this," he said.

"We're playing this," she said, "Nobody would play it with me when we were kids, and now you're gonna HAVE to play it with me, so suck it up and bend over."

Jason sighed as the front door opened and Becca and Katie came inside, Amie rejoining them from the bathroom. They watched as Jason and Ashley stood over the game board on the floor and prepared to play. Ashley did some stretches, while Jason cracked his joints and removed his shoes. Ashley kicked her flip flops off, as Becca sat down on the couch with Katie, who pointed at them.

"What are they doing?" she asked, leaning into Becca, whispering.

"Don't worry, they're just embarrassing themselves. It's fine. They're used to it."

"I am gonna kick your ass," Ashley said, smirking at Jason as she stepped onto the mat.

"Not that hard, considering how often I'll be bent over," he replied, also stepping onto the mat.

"You wanna join?" Ashley asked, shooting a glance at Becca.

"What, and interrupt the battle of the ages? I think not," they replied, making Katie laugh.

Ashley handed the spinner to Amie, who took it and spun, while Jason and Ashley glared at one another playfully. Amie looked at the spinner and then back up at them, before announcing, "Right hand on red." Jason and Ashley accepted this, and both put their right hands on red. Amie spun it again and read out a new verdict, "Left leg on green." They obliged to this one as well. Leaning over a bit now, Ashley smirked at her brother and cocked an eyebrow.

"Feeling the heat yet?" she asked.

"I'm feeling tendons I forgot existed, but that's about it," Jason replied, making her laugh, "Who invented this hellish game?! Some sort of demonic yoga instructor?"

"You have a rip in your pants," Becca said from the couch.

"I am aware of that!" Jason shouted back over his shoulder as Amie spun the spinner a third time, this time announcing "right leg on yellow", to which both sibling strained to achieve. Betty walked in, holding a basket of laundry and looked at Jason as she walked by.

"Sweetheart, you have a rip in your pants," she said, continuing to the kitchen to fold the laundry.

"I know, mom!" he yelled at her as she exited the room.

Why was he always being twisted into situations like this.

                                                                                           ***

Jason knocked on Ashley's door and came in anyway, even without an answer. She was laying on the bed, covering her head with a pillow as he sat down on the bed near her feet and sighed. She sniffled and spoke, her voice muffled under the pillow.

"What do you want?" she asked.

"I, um...I baked your brownies and I got that stain out of your clothing for Home Ec," he said softly. Ashley sat up and pulled the pillow away from her face, hugging it to her chest as she looked at him, holding a tray of brownies and the folded piece of clothing slung over his shoulder. She looked from each thing to his face and then appeared confused as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Why?"

"Because you were having trouble, and it wasn't fair," Jason replied, "I didn't want you to fail. Are you okay?"

Ashley pulled her legs to her chest, hugging them and shook her head, "No, not really, I...I should be able to do this sort of stuff. I'm a girl."

"That's a sexist generalization."

"I know, but still, I HAVE to be feminine in some way cause...I..." she looked away from her brother at the floor and sighed, "...I have to be feminine in some way because I'm not feminine in the one way that society counts, which is liking men."

"...you don't like men?" Jason asked, and Ashley shrugged, as he continued, "Well, whatever. Who cares. You're cool, Ashley, so screw if you can do this stuff, you know? Besides, that's why we have bakeries and dry cleaners."

Ashley laughed a little as Jason set the stuff on the bed and stood back up, putting his hands in his pants pockets as he looked down at her on the bed.

"And for what it's worth, you're not alone. I too don't like men," he added, making her laugh more, "Good night," he added, before turning and heading out of her bedroom and to his own. Ashley picked up the pan of brownies and looked at them, and realizing he was right. It didn't matter. So she wasn't the most feminine person. Who gave a shit. She was cool, and that was far more interesting. Her sexuality had nothing to do with her femininity. And she shouldn't care that much to begin with anyway, it was just an extra credit class.

After all, it was just Home Ec.

                                                                                             ***

"Why are you making this so hard?!" Jason shouted, his body now contorted completely on the game board, Ashley underneath him, her body just as twisted. Ashley groaned as Amie spun the spinner once again, and announced, "Right foot blue". Jason moved his foot to the blue and heard Ashley scream as he smashed her hand underneath it, making her fall, and he fell on top of her, both of them now laying crumpled on the game board on the floor.

"God that hurt!" Ashley cried out, holding her hand.

"This game is evil! Whoever made this game is evil and I will punch them in the face if I ever meet them!" Jason yelled, "Why did you wanna play this?!"

"Because it matched my mood," Ashley said.

"Oh, you're forced into uncomfortable positions too, wife stealer?!" Jason screamed as they crawled away from one another and sat on the floor, staring at one another. Ashley exhaled, and he could tell she was on the verge of tears; he immediately felt bad for going there.

"You're one to talk, you put me into just as awkward a position, raising a child with YOUR ex wife, a child that's ACTUALLY yours. It's like some fucked up incestuous situation, it's creepy," Ashley said, "Maybe if you'd been a better husband things wouldn't have ended between you two."

"That's not fair," Jason said, "That is NOT fair. You know I was not totally at fault. You of ALL people should know that people cannot decide their sexuality or who they're attracted to."

"Forget it," Ashley said, getting up and storming off, crying. Jason sighed and rubbed his head as he looked around the room and saw Amie standing there, staring at him. He slowly stood up and walked to her, his head hung low.

"I'd like to go home," he said softly.

"I don't think you can. I think you have to apologize to your sister," Amie said.

"...okay," Jason said softly before turning and heading up to Ashleys old room. When he opened the bedroom door, he found her window open. He leaned out it and looked around, until he saw one of her boots hanging down from the roof. Jason climbed out the window and up onto the roof, where he saw Ashley sitting, her knees pulled up to her chest. He sighed as he settled in next to her.

"...I'm sorry," Jason said, "...things are weird, you're right, there's no denying that. Um...but I guess I...I just-"

"I picked Twister because that's what this feels like, Jason. I feel like we're both constantly forcing ourselves into uncomfortable positions to make life work."

"God, using a board game as a metaphor, who're you, dad?" he asked, smirking at her, as she smiled and pushed his shoulder playfully before he continued, "Ashley...I'm sorry. I think we're both pretending to be far more well adjusted than we actually are. I guess I'm still not totally over Anna, but I am trying so hard to become a better person and to be happy with Amie."

"I know you are, I can tell. I'm happy for you for doing that, Jason," Ashley said.

"...so like, for real though, fuck Twister, right?" Jason asked.

"Seriously. Um...do you wanna borrow a pair of my pants?" Ashley asked, "Ya know, since yours are ripped?"

"Well, you do have a whole basket of clean laundry downstairs," Jason replied, both of them laughing.

Meanwhile, sitting in the living room still on the couch, Becca felt like they had to say something, anything, to Katie, after what they'd just witnessed. Becca cleared their throat and leaned in a bit closer, almost whispering.

"Don't worry, not all families are like this," Becca said.

"Did they accept you easily?" Katie asked, pushing hair behind her ear, her large brown eyes looking up at Becca.

"...Y...yeah, I mean, ya know, there was a period of adjustment, obviously, but...but they certainly accepted me and none of them have given me any shit. But I recognize I'm lucky. I come from an educated, civilized family. Despite what you did just see, we are rather civilized, I swear," Becca said, making Katie laugh before they continued, "But, does your family not accept you?"

"Amie's been great," Katie said, "But mom and dad, mom especially..."

"Mothers have this strange adoration and obsession with their first born sons, so when their first born sons turn out to not be a first born son, yeah, it can screw with them I guess. That being said, that doesn't excuse any sort of grief they're giving you."

"It's not so much grief as it is...disappointment. They won't say anything, but they also don't acknowledge it either. They're in denial," Katie said, looking at her shoes, "I think that's why Amie brought me here, cause she knew I'd be accepted and have someone to talk to about it. She's a pretty great sister."

"She seems to be, yeah," Becca said, looking up at Amie and smiling; they cleared their throat and put their hand on Katies back, saying, "Don't worry too much about it all. In the grand scale of the universe, and I know this might seem weird coming from someone with such a tight knit family, but, parents are about the least influential people you will have in your life. Take it from me."

                                                                                               ***

Jason knocked on Ashleys door, and she opened it, her hair in curlers. He was standing in the hallway, holding his schoolbooks and backpack, looking rather unhappy. She opened the door a bit further and let him come in, where he sat on her bed.

"What's up?" she asked.

"You're good at english, right?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said, "Why? You need some help?"

He nodded, and she smiled, sitting beside him. Ashley took his books from him and opened them, helping him with his homework. He didn't mind, he needed the help and he wasn't too prideful to not accept it, and Ashley didn't mind helping, he'd helped her with Home Ec and she enjoyed spending time with her brother and she was good at english. Besides, she knew he'd pick it up. It wasn't that hard.

After all, it was just english class.

"Are you telling me that you have never eaten Kale?" Amie asked, standing at the sink with Betty as she helped her wash the Kale she'd brought over.

"Never once in my life," Betty said, "Harold always wanted to go vegetarian, wanted to help the planet, said it'd be healthier, but I like meat far too much to allow that to happen."

"I understand, I had that issue too in the beginning once I learned of all the alternatives, but I still won't make someone else feel bad for eating meat. It's their choice. God knows I hate it when people judge me for my food choices, so why would I ever do that to someone else," Aime said as she finished washing it and was now laying it out on a cookie sheet, starting to season it, "But I do this, I make these chips out of it, and I know you'll love it. They're delicious and they don't take very long, maybe a half hour at best in the oven."

"I'm willing to try anything once," Betty said, stopping and putting a hand on her hip, chewing her lip, "You know, thinking back to it, there was quite a bit I wanted to do that Harold never let me do and vice versa. But I guess that's what our generation believed love was, making sacrifices. I am so proud that you've all moved beyond that, that you're willing to stand up and say 'no, this is what I like to do and eat and wear and you have to accept me for that or find someone else'. You're not willing to completely censor yourselves from being yourselves for the love of someone else."

"Well put," Aime said, seasoning the kale still, "But it's not that way altogether. I mean, there's always some stuff you have to come to terms with or, like, I don't know...make bargains on, you know? Like, compromising, you know?"

"Like what?"

"I don't know, like...sexual stuff, I guess, for one example," Aime said, making Betty laugh.

"I guess that's probably true. You don't want your entire relationship to fall apart simply because he likes one thing and you prefer another," Betty said, "You know, I there were definitely things I did NOT like to do in bed when I was younger, not that I'm doing them now either, but whatever."

"I don't know where this stigma that women don't like sex or don't like certain sexual acts has come from. I happen to enjoy oral sex," Aime said.

"I'm glad, and I know it's not perfect obviously but, I was going to say that I am glad that women your age are allowing yourselves that much," Betty said, "God knows I would've been called the absolute worst things had I said that when I was younger. The times, they are a-changin'."

                                                                                         ***

Sitting on the porch swing, Becca was scrolling through their phone, trying to find something to say to keep the conversation between themselves and Sarah Riddle alive. They had been chatting on and off for a long while now, but Becca had always been more of a reserved person, scared to open themselves up to someone, especially in the romantic sense, but they were really trying to be someone different these days. Washed out headlights flooded the driveway, blinding them momentarily, as Ashley pulled into view and got out of the car.

"Yo yo yo," Ashley said, hopping up the porch steps, "Sup?"

"Oh, you know, the usual. Absolutely nothing. Aime is here," Becca said, "She and mom are cooking snacks. I guess Jason is busy doing something? Where's Anna?"

"Exhausted at home, taking care of the baby," Ashley said, sitting down on the bench next to Becca and sighing, "God...do you think we were hard to raise? I don't really think we were all that troublesome or whatever, but who knows. What if we made things really hard on mom without knowing it or meaning to?"

"Well, there was that crime ring we ran when we were, like, 9, and then of course all the murder convictions, but other than that and the secret brother we shoved in the walls never to be seen again, I think we were alright," Becca said.

"Yeah..." Ashley said, kicking her legs, "Poor Gilbert. I wonder if he ever got out of the wall."

Becca smirked, "What's going on? You seem depressed."

"I'm...alive? I mean, existence in its essence IS depressing," Ashley said, "But I don't know, I guess I just wasn't really prepared to really be a parent, you know? Like, thinking about it is one thing, telling myself I'm ready, that's...that's not actual preparation. I did nothing to prepare and I don't know what I'm doing."

"NO mom knows what they're doing at first," Becca said, "Look at it this way, you haven't left your baby in a hot car yet, so you're already ahead of the curve."

"If that little bitch doesn't stop crying all night, I may have no choice but to leave them in a hot car," Ashley said, the both of them laughing, "I mean...can you just assure me that this whole situation isn't, like, totally buttfucking weird? Seriously, okay. I'm dating, and living with, my brothers ex-wife and raising their 2nd child as my own. Like, I need some goddamned normalcy."

"You're fine, trust me, if anyone of us is the weird one, it's me," Becca said.

"Hey, don't say that, there's nothing weird about you. I mean, aside from the second head," Ashley said, punching them gently in the shoulder, "Seriously though, you're not weird, Becca, okay? Please don't think that about yourself. I love you."

"Thanks," Becca said, smiling, "You're a great sister."

"So...what kind of snacks are they making?" Ashley asked.

"Kale chips," Becca replied.

"Jesus, like playing board games weekly wasn't bad enough, now my childhood home is being turned into the hippest vegan joint in town. Soon I'll need an ugly scarf that matches nothing and pre ripped jeans just to get a reservation in my own living room."

"It's....yeah," Becca said, shaking their head, "I can't even joke about it. It's THAT dire, you're right. But I think it's good for mom to have a female friend like Aime, you know? It helps her not feel so alone, cause we're her kids, but she's just some girl our brother is dating. Some girl she happens to know now, and so I think that allows them to talk a bit more freely."

"Mom has NEVER had a problem talking freely, trust me. I think Ernie proved that point," Ashley said.

"Valid argument," Becca said.

"Alright, welp, I'm going inside," Ashley said, standing up and pulling her shirt up over her nose, "Wish me luck."

"Godspeed Indiana Fuller," Becca said as Ashley pushed her way through the front door.

                                                                                            ***

Upon entering the kitchen, Ashley found her mother helping Aime get her kale chips into the oven as they poured themselves new glasses of wine. Ashley simply stood there, in the kitchen doorway, arms folded, leg tapping, waiting to be noticed, and it was in those moments that she realized...she hadn't seen mom be this happy in a while. It seemed like ever since dad had died, mom had always been nervous of empty or angry, but now, here, with Aime...she couldn't put her finger on it, but something about Betty seemed warmer. Brighter. More alive.

Finally, Aime noticed Ashley and waved at her, her mouth full of wine and mixed nuts. Betty turned around, swallowed her own wine and smiled, also waving at Ashley.

"Sweetheart! You're here! We're making kale chips!" Betty said, chipper.

"Yeah, Becca told me," Ashley said, "I'll alert Whole Foods."

"Would you like some wine?" Aime asked.

"I guess," Ashley said.

As Aime went to get another wine glass, Ashley sat at the island and Betty stood across from her. Aime came back to the island and started pouring Ashley a glass, which Ashley thanked her for.

"You seem happy," Ashley said as she lifted her wine glass and took a sip.

"I AM happy," Betty said, "I feel like...like the negativity that Ernie brought into this house has finally left in full force and everything feels good again. It helps to have someone around, too, who is so positive."

"I try," Aime said, chuckling before excusing herself to use the bathroom. As soon as she'd exited the room, Ashley downed the entire glass, and then Aime's glass and then looked at her mother, a very concerned look on her brow.

"Mom," she said, "What the FUCK?"

"She's positive, Ashley, and I know that doesn't vibe with your whole angsty lesbian thing-"

"Whoa, okay. Ouch."

"-but," Betty continued, "It makes ME feel good. I deserve to feel good. I deserve to have a life, even if Harold doesn't have one anymore. I was a person outside of my marriage, you know. I want to do new things and have new friends. I want to be a whole person again. She gave me this."

Betty put her thumb under the chain around her neck and leaned forward, holding it out so Ashley could see it.

"It's a rock," Ashley said.

"It's a crystal!" Betty said excitedly, "It's supposed to bring me a good aura."

Ashley shrugged and sighed, pouring herself the last of the wine, raising her glass to her mother.

"Well, either way, I'm glad you're happy," she said, grinning, before downing this new glass as well. Just then, Becca entered the kitchen and picked up the wine bottle, looking at it before looking at Betty and Ashley, both of whom just shrugged. Becca leaned against the island as Betty put her wine glass down.

"Goodness, I should make sure Amie is alright in there, and bring her a hand towel. I did laundry but I forgot to put it away," Betty said, exiting the kitchen, leaving Becca and Ashley alone again.

"So what's crawled up mom's ass?" Becca asked.

"Self enlightenment," Ashley replied.

Together, they shuddered.

"So what are we even playing?" Ashley asked.

                                                                                                ***

As it turned out, Betty had already set up a game in the living room; Connect 4.

Granted, it wasn't the most involved game they'd ever played, but tonight was supposed to be simple. It was just the ladies, and it was supposed to be a generally relaxed evening. As they all took their seats in the living room, Becca pulled their flannel shirt off at the shoulder, nudging Ashley to look over. Ashley looked over, almost choked on the cracker she was eating and pointed.

"You got a tattoo!" she said, mouth full of cracker.

"I did indeed," Becca said.

"That's so cool!" Ashley said, touching their shoulder, "When did you do this?"

"Last week, right after the hospital," Becca said, "Be gentle, it's still a bit sore. Everybody I asked said it hurts but it was honestly fine."

"Well, you have a good pain tolerance, I mean, all that BDSM," Ashley said, she and Becca mock laughing at the joke when Amie came in.

"Tattoos?" Aime asked, "Yeah, it didn't hurt nearly as much, but it also depends where you get it and how long it lasts, like, the size."

"See, size DOES matter," Becca said, making Ashley laugh.

"I mean, when I was getting my first sleeve done, it was pretty painful, but that was because my body hadn't acclimated to the pain yet. Now it doesn't hurt one bit. I can sit and get tattooed for hours and it's no big deal," Aime said, "What did you get?"

"Can't be any worse than Sundew," Ashley mumbled, making Becca crack up.

"Um, it's Venus," Becca said in between fits of laughter, "It's a tattoo of Venus, cause, ya know, men are from mars, all that shit."

"Right, right," Amie said, "You know, thank you for letting me be here, even without Jason. My family is kind of broken up and doesn't talk much, so it's nice to have some sort of family to be around. It makes me not feel so alone."

In that singular moment, Ashley saw Anna in Amie. She understood now why Jason loved her. Because Amie was just yet another Anna. Someone loving, full of ideals, of beliefs, who came from a broken home, who loved being with his family instead. Amie continued towards the kitchen to get the kale from the oven as Becca and Ashley took their seats on the couch in front of the Connect 4 board. Becca sighed.

"We're mean people," they said.

"I don't know that we're 'mean' people, necessarily, but yeah, we might be a bit more bitchy than we should be," Ashley said, "I can't help it though, I'm catty, that's just what I am. Jason knows this. He knows I don't mean the things I say to him, that it's just a sister poking fun at a brother."

"I want to feel like I fit in, but I don't know that I do," Becca said, "I thought maybe I did, after Anna had the child, I finally felt like maybe I was actually a part of this family, but I..."

They paused and looked at their hands in their lap.

"I miss dad," they whispered, and Ashley laid her head on their shoulder, rubbing their back.

"Yeah, me too."

"Alright, you ready to play?" Betty asked, coming into the room and sitting down across from them. Becca shrugged and looked off into the distance as Ashley pulled her hair back into a ponytail and smiled. Amie came back from the kitchen with all the kale chips on a small plate, putting it down on the new coffee table.

"So, I never really asked," Ashley said, as she started playing, taking her first turn against her mother, but looking at Amie, "What were you doing in Africa anyway? Like, you said you and Jason met there but-"

"Yeah, at the hotel, and then we started going to Yoga together," Amie said, making Becca and Ashley snicker.

"Jason does Yoga now?" Becca asked.

"He's very good," Amie said, eating a few chips, "Yeah, and he was telling me about his trip and stuff, and how, like, amazing Africa was and I told him that I'd gone a few years ago and that that trip was my second, and that we should get together and share pictures and stuff, so we started meeting for lunch and just...I don't know, I guess we really hit it off, heh."

"So why did you go to Africa in the first place?" Becca asked.

"It's just a really beautiful place, and it's so much...I don't know how to put it...hopeful? Yeah, I guess hopeful than our country. The people there are just....so good. I know, there's bad everywhere, capitalism reigns supreme and greed is universal, but still, there's just something so nice in the air everywhere you go there that you can't help but feel happy."

"That's...really nice," Becca said.

"I'm glad you remembered to take those out," Betty said, taking her turn and motioning to the kale chips, "Because I have not been remembering very well lately. I mean, I know that's just a part of getting older, but still, it's slightly embarrassing at times."

"It was no problem Miss Fuller," Amie said, handing her the chip plate as Becca leaned back into the couch and looked around the room.

"You know," Becca said, crunching on chips, "things are nowhere near as combative when men aren't here."

"You mean Jason isn't here, since he's the only guy we have around at this point," Ashley said.

"Was Jason a mean person?" Amie asked, taking the chip plate back, watching Ashley and Becca grimace at one another as Betty took her turn.

"It's not that Jason was mean, exactly, it's that he was misinformed and overexpecting. Like most guys, especially straight white guys, he just sort of assumed that his life was the best life, that only he faced any sort of real struggle, and that everyone around him just wasn't trying hard enough. But, I have to give him credit, he seems to have come a long way from that," Ashley said, taking her turn.

"Has he?" Becca asked, everyone turning to look at them, as they shrugged and continued, "I mean, has he? Sure, he seems like a better person, but getting some new morals and white guy dreadlocks doesn't really change much other than your general outward appearance. I want to believe Jason is becoming a better person too, but sorry, it's kind of hard after knowing him my whole life."

"I understand," Amie said, surprising them, "I mean, I love him but I understand. My father was very harsh to me my whole life, and he never once even tried to understand me or get to know the things I was interested in. He once accused me of only being interested in them because they were things he wasn't interested in. Then, once I stopped talking to him for a few years, he suddenly becomes this wholly enlightened individual who wants to hear my opinions on things? No. He was just pretending so he could still gaslight me. So, Becca, I understand that sentiment more than you know."

Becca had to admit, that wasn't what they were expecting to hear. Perhaps, Becca thought to themselves, this girl wasn't so bad. Perhaps they were exactly what Jason needed and, perhaps, Jason was in turn becoming an actually better person.

"Harold was never like that," Betty said, smiling, "He was always caring, always considerate, unlike his brother. He had a temper at times but never was it directed at me or any of you kids. I miss him so much every day, never think the people you care about will be here as long as you will, because chances are one of you will be gone before the other."

Nobody said a word for a moment as Ashley took her turn and sighed. She pushed her bangs from her face and looked across the table at her mother.

"I'm going to get a beer, mom, do you wanna come?" she asked, and Betty nodded, standing up after Ashley and following her to the kitchen, leaving Becca and Amie there together. Amie sighed and looked around the living room, then held out her hand and looked at her nails.

"What color do you like on your nails?" she asked.

"Honestly, I prefer pretty basic colors," Becca said, "Just robins egg blue or something like that."

"I like coral."

"Coral is always a good color," Becca said.

"Can I ask you something, and...please don't take it the wrong way," Amie said.

"When someone says 'don't take this the wrong way' you're already preparing them to take it the wrong way, but sure, go ahead," Becca said, making them both chuckle as Amie looked to the floor and ran her palm across the carpet.

"Um," she started, "...was it hard for you, to, ya know...admit to yourself who you were?"

"...it wasn't that it was hard, it's more that I just didn't want to," Becca said, sitting forward now, cupping their hands in their lap, "Uh...yeah, it's more like I figured I shouldn't rock the boat, especially once Ashley came out because, why the hell make things more difficult for everyone, you know? And my own life too, I didn't have a good life, I had a stupid job and I still have said stupid job and I wasn't happy and I'm still pretty unhappy but at least these days I'm more unhappy about other things, not about who I am or who I wish I could be."

"Hmmm," Amie said, chewing on her lip, "I guess that makes sense, and I'm happy you could find some sort of happiness in your life."

Becca smiled and sat back on the couch, relaxing. They were starting to really like this girl. They could now see why Jason had fallen for her as well.

                                                                                          ***

In the kitchen, sitting at the island and drinking their beers, Ashley couldn't take her eyes off her mothers fingers on her free hand, fondling the little crystal that Amie had given her. Ashley finally looked up to her mothers face and sighed.

"Mom, are you okay?" Ashley finally asked.

"I don't know, Ashley. I feel like I'm trying to keep everyone and everything together and it's all pointless and impossible. Family game night was the most important thing to your father, and I want to carry that tradition on for him, but...I don't know what I'm doing Ashley. Are you happy?"

"Am I happy?"

"I wanna be happy," Betty said, sniffling, "I want to be ecstatic to be alive. But it's hard. When you spend most of your life with another person and then they're just gone, in the blink of an eye, not even from a drawn out terminal illness you get to come to terms with, but just gone...it fucks you up. I try so hard to be okay, I...I throw myself into books or outdoor activities to try and be okay and just find something I enjoy but I don't really enjoy anything without your father."

"Well this isn't going to pass the Bechdel test," Ashley muttered, "What about all that crap earlier, about, ya know, wanting to be a whole person again and you were a person before dad?"

"Oh god, please," Betty said, "That was such malarky."

"Malarky?"

"It's a word."

"That doesn't mean you get to use it like it's normal," Ashley said, making them laugh.

"I'm not saying you can't be a whole person without another person, but I am saying it's hard to readjust. Harold and I spent most of our time together, because we were best friends and we liked the same things and we enjoyed doing housework together. It's hard, Ashley, it's very...very hard to come back from losing that."

"Well, you have us," Ashley said, "I mean, I know we all suck, but, you have us."

"I know, and I appreciate it," Betty said, standing up and kissing her daughters head, "Now let's get back out there and finish this game."

                                                                                            ***

After the game, Becca and Betty watched TV while Amie headed home, and Ashley headed back to the apartment. As they entered, they found Anna laying on the couch, the baby laying on their chest. Anna looked over to Ashley and smiled, her eyes half shut, clearly dead tired.

"How was it?" Anna asked.

"It was alright, kind of a bummer, but...we all missed you," Ashley said, sitting on the couch, picking the baby up and holding it, "You're gonna come next week, right?"

"Yeah, definitely," Anna said, sitting up and running her fingers through her hair, "If you'll put her down for the night, I'm going to take a shower, cause I feel gross."

"I'll join you if you wait," Ashley said, surprising her, as she added, "I just...I want to make things work and make things feel normal. Things don't feel normal. At home or here."

"I understand," Anna said, "Jason and I have kind of put you in a weird situation."

"That's putting it lightly, yeah," Ashley said, chuckling, "But...I want to make it work. I want to be your best friend, and I want us to do more things together, outside of family game night."

"Well, we can manage that," Anna said, kissing Ashley before standing up and taking her top off, heading for the bathroom. Ashley blushed and went to put their little girl in her bassinet, looking at her for a moment, touching her face gently, before leaning in and kissing her little nose. She then turned and headed for the bathroom.

The thing Ashley had come to realize from what her mother had said was that, sure, you weren't a whole person just because you had another person with you, but it sure as hell made her happier to be with someone than being alone ever had.

"Let's say you're stuck on a desert island," Jason said, "Who would you want to be stuck there with you?"

"Just one other person?" Aime asked.

"Yeah."

"I don't know. Probably nobody. I'd want it to be relaxing."

"You wouldn't want me there?" Jason asked, sounding hurt.

"We've only been going out for a bit. Ask me again in 6 months and see what I say," Aime replied, smirking. Jason turned a corner as they headed to his parents house. He thought about that for a moment. Harold was gone, but he still called it his PARENTS house, as in both of them still owned it. He still, even after all this time, didn't think of his father as 'dead' as much as he thought of him as 'on vacation'. As if he half expected Harold to, one Thursday night, simply waltz back into the home, plop down some suitcases, and sit and play with them as he discussed his latest business trip.

But that wasn't going to happen. Jason knew that full well. He just didn't want to admit it, and as bad as Ernie had been, Jason did hate having the closest thing to his father back in his life being cut right back out of his life, but he knew it was for the best. Ernie had been scum, had been unwilling to change and was ruining all the progress the family had made amongst themselves in the past year. As he turned into the driveway, he noticed Ashleys car was already parked there. He pulled in next to it and sighed.

"Well," he said, "So long as you don't try and eat me on the island, I don't mind if you wanna be stuck with me there."

"I wouldn't eat you. I don't think you'd taste very good," Aime replied.

"Well that's just hurtful," Jason said, as they got out of the car and headed up the walkway to the front door. Upon the swinging bench on the porch they discovered Becca sitting there, and Aime went inside so she could use the restroom as Jason took a seat by his sister. They looked up from their phone and nodded.

"Heyo," Jason said, "What's goin on? You're sitting out here a lot lately."

"Yeah...I...I don't know that I can sit at the island anymore. It's too weird not having dad here," Becca said, "Like, it's where I always sat and we'd always talk before Game Night started and...I don't know. I was out here that night instead of at the island and I kinda feel like I deserve to be out here now."

"You know dad wouldn't blame you for that, right?"

"I know."

"Okay, as long as you know it's just you who's doing that," Jason said, "So, do you know what the game is tonight? I forgot to ask mom before we left."

"It's Pictionary," Becca said.

"Oh god, I've NEVER been good at drawing...this is going to suck," Jason groaned, running his hands over his face as Becca smirked.

"I know. Remember as kids you used to make that comic, Bark Howler, Space Dog?"

"Okay, you need to shut up."

"Who needs to shut up?" Ashley asked, coming out of the house, eating a peach, "What're we talking about?"

"We're making fun of Jasons lack of artistic ability. Remember when we were kids and he drew that Bark Howler, Space Dog comic?" Becca asked, making Ashley crack up and nearly choke on her snack. After she regained her breath, Ashley started pointing at Jason and nearly jumping up and down.

"Goddamn I DO remember that! That was so terrible!"

"I was like 9!" Jason shouted, "Gimme a break!"

"How's a dog gonna man a spaceship, Jason? Honestly?" Becca asked, "I mean, they don't even have hands, they don't have thumbs, they can't grip controls or anything, and they can't hold weapons, so-"

"For your information, Bark Howler had a specially designed weapon on his back attached to a small pack that would fire lasers at any incoming, dangerous targets, okay? And he didn't have to actually pilot the ship because it was designed to recognize his barks and interpret them as directions, alright?! Are we done shitting all over my childhood hero, now?!"

Jason stood up and walked past Ashley as she and Becca continued to crack up. Once inside, he found Anna sitting in a love seat in the living room. He took his coat off and tossed it onto the couch and looked at the coffee table, hands on his hips.

"It appears mom has purchased a new coffee table," Jason said.

"It appears so, yes," Anna said.

"So, lemme ask you something...you ever gonna have this kid, or you just gonna continue to stay pregnant for all the perks?" Jason asked, smirking, making Anna laugh.

"I would love to have this little bastard already, believe me," Anna said, "I am SICK of not being able to cut my own toenails."

Betty then entered the room, carrying everything necessary for Pictionary, and started setting it up. Jason took a seat by Anna on the couch and glanced at the book she was reading.

"Best Baby Names...you still don't have a baby name?" Jason asked, "Sheez, we picked out...our daughters name...like really fast."

"You totally just forgot our daughters name didn't you?" Anna asked.

"Nobody can prove that," Jason said, "I'm just surprised. Usually it's picked out way in advance."

"Yeah, well, life's been kinda hectic lately, not sure if you're aware of that or not," Anna replied as Becca and Ashley came into the house and raced up the stairs, Jason and Anna watching them as they vanished behind the upper level of the house. Jason looked at Anna and shrugged as Aime came back into the living room from the bathroom and sat next to Jason.

"You look SO good, by the way," Aime said, looking across the couch at Anna, who seemed genuinely surprised by this compliment and blushed.

"Well, thank you, that's very kind of you to say," Anna said, "God knows I don't FEEL very good looking, heh."

"Well, you look fantastic. It's amazing how pregnancy makes women even more beautiful," Aime said, "God, I'd love to have my own child some day. I think being a parent would be just the absolute best. You have a daughter, is it great?"

"It's alright I guess," Anna said, shrugging, making Jason laugh as Becca and Ashley came back down, chuckling to themselves and taking their seats as Betty finished setting up the game. She stepped back and held the pen out to anyone.

"Who wants to go first?" she asked, "Oh, I guess we should split up into teams. Alright, Jason and Aime can team up, I'll take Anna and Becca and Ashley can be a team. Does that sound good to everyone?"

"That sounds perfect," Ashley said, finishing her peach and sucking on the pit, "Absolutely."

"Alright, so I set up the damn thing, so I guess we'll take our turn first. I'll go unless you want to, Anna."

"I am not getting up, so feel free," Anna said, making Betty laugh as she drew a card, glanced at it for a few seconds and then started drawing something. Jason squinted, trying hard to discern what his mother was drawing, while Aime chewed on her bottom lip. After about a minute or so of drawing, Jason clapped loudly.

"I got it! Jogging!" he said, and Betty nodded, handing him the pen and taking her seat where he'd just been sitting. Jason stood up and walked to the board, flipped over to a new piece of paper and then picked a card. He winced and started drawing, but after three minutes nobody had any idea what it was he was drawing.

"...I...I have no idea what you're putting out there," Ashley mumbled.

"It's...it's a feeling, it's like, it's not even a thing, it's so hard to draw something that doesn't have a physical form!" Jason said, annoyed, "Like, how am I supposed to convey that sort of thing to someone?!"

"Is it Pity? Cause that's what I'm feeling right now," Becca said, them and Ashley high fiving upon the burn.

"You want me to draw myself kicking your ass? Would that be better?" Jason asked, clearly irritated now.

"Is it...empathy?" Aime asked, and Jason pointed at her victoriously.

"This is why I love you!" he shouted, running back to the couch, handing her the pen and sitting down. Amie got up and took a card, read it and then started drawing. Jason looked at Anna and noticed she was grimacing, putting her hand to her head.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah...just a headache," Anna said, "Don't know why. It's not like I've been sitting in front of rock musicians all day or anything."

"Is it...oh! A tractor!" Ashley said, making Aime seem annoyed as she handed to pen to Ashley as she stood up and walked to the board. Betty was writing something down on a small piece of paper and nodded.

"Okay Ash, so Jason and Aime have two points, and you and Becca have one point now, so if Becca can guess this, you can tie with them," Betty said, and Ashley nodded, picked up a card and started getting giddy. Ashley started drawing, and everyone sort of leaned forward, confused at what they were witnessing. After a few minutes, however, and enough was put up, Becca threw their hand up in the air and shouted.

"Oh, oh! It's a dog!" they said, "It's Bark Howler!"

"GOD DAMMIT!" Jason shouted, standing up and pointing at Ashley, "Stop it! Stop it right now! Erase that beloved starpooch off the board and sit the hell down! How DARE you impune their memory in such a vulgar way!"

"What the hell is Bark Howler?" Anna asked, starting to laugh.

"It's this terrible comic that Jason used to draw as a kid," Ashley said, "Look, look, I even drew his special pack with the laser, Jason! See!"

"This isn't fair! She's a goddamned graphic designer! Of COURSE it's gonna look better than my original work!"

"Well, yeah, but also cause you were like 9," Ashley said, "So."

"Bark Howler deserves to thrive, Jason," Becca shouted, "They deserve to be recognized as the hero that they truly are. The one and only space mutt, defending our lives from the evils of the galaxy. Why do you try and bury your shame?"

"I hate all of you!" Jason shouted, sitting back down while Anna, Becca and Ashley cracked up.

"Alright, well, that's a point to Becca and Ashley," Betty said, "So it's Beccas turn."

Becca got up off the couch, walked past Ashley and took the pen and headed to the board.

"One day I'm gonna become a great cartoonist, and Bark Howler will be a beloved Saturday morning icon, you'll see. You'll ALL see," Jason said, annoyed as Becca chuckled.

"Sure, and I'll be Prom Queen," they said as they picked up a card and started drawing. Jason looked over at Anna, who was shifting positions on the couch and wincing as she sat up a bit.

"You alright? You need something to drink?" Jason asked.

"I'm fine," Anna said, waving her hand.

"Is it..." Betty started, staring at the drawing board, "Ugh....god, is it....it's an action, I can tell that much..."

"Giving birth," Anna said suddenly.

"No, no, dear, it's not that," Betty replied, patting her arm gently.

"No, Betty, I'm giving birth," Anna said, as Jason looked at the couch and noticed where she was sitting was now wet. His eyes widened, realizing she was actually going to give birth.

"Her water broke!" he said, pointing at Anna, "Okay, jesus, uh, Mom, go bring your car around, it's the biggest one, and Aime, help me carry her outside, alright?"

"Okay!" Aime said, quickly jumping up and the two of them each taking an arm, lifting Anna up and starting to help her out the front door. Ashley and Becca sat behind, watching all the commotion, and before they knew it, everyone had left. Becca put the pen down, and then crossed their arms.

"I didn't even GET a real turn," they said, annoyed, before looking at their sister, "Ash?"

"...this is it, it's happening," Ashley said, sounding panicked, "I...oh god...this is real, isn't it? I should be there, shouldn't I?"

"They should allow domestic partners in the delivery room, yes," Becca said, "Just...ya know...relax, breath, try not to freak out, alright? If you want, I'll drive you there, okay?"

Before long, Becca and Ashley were in the car, also headed towards the hospital. Ashley was looking out the window, being uncharacteristically quiet, as Becca drove. Finally, after what seemed like ages, Ashley broke the silence.

"Dad isn't here," Ashley said.

"What?"

"Dad isn't here. I'm gonna be a mom, to my brothers child but whatever, and dad isn't here."

"Well it's not like Jason impregnated you."

"This is veering into creepy territory. I just meant that I'm with his ex wife, and I'm going to be raising his child as my own child, and everything is weird and I don't know that I can do this and dad isn't here. I wish dad was here. I never thought I'd wind up being a parent, but I always hoped he'd be here if I did. I wanna thank him for being such a good parent to me."

"He was a good parent," Becca said, scratching their nose as they turned, a few blocks from the hospital parking lot now, "But I'm sure somehow dad knows."

"Do you believe in the afterlife?"

"I don't know what I believe in anymore, to be quite honest," Becca said, "I just know that no matter what, dad would be proud of you and he'd love that kid no matter whose it was."

Ashley smirked and touched her sisters hair.

"When did you get so smart?" she asked, "God, it feels like just yesterday we were kids and now here we are, having kids."

"That's all life is, really. Reproduction until you perish, hoping that someone will carry your bloodline along," Becca said, "And hey, maybe if this works out, one day YOU can give birth to a child that's really your own, and make a bigger family."

Becca pulled into the parking lot and stopped as Ashley gathered her things. Becca took a piece of paper from a message pad and jotted something down, and slipped it into Ashleys purse while she wasn't looking. Ashley grabbed her purse and her coat and hugged her sister, and then exited the car, leaning in through the rolled down window.

"Are you going to come in?" she asked.

"I...I don't think I can go to a hospital," Becca said, "I didn't go when dad...I just can't be there."

"Okay, but you'll be at home? Cause we're likely coming home later."

"Yeah I'll be home," Becca said, and with that, Ashley headed inside. Becca started up the car and started driving back to the house. Ashley easily found her way to the waiting room where everyone was, and asked if she could be in the delivery room, and much to her surprise, found she could. As she stood by Annas side, holding her hand, she started to feel like this was something she could do. She started to feel like this was something she really wanted to do. Anna looked at Ashley and grimaced.

"Do you have anything to drink?" she asked, and Ashley thought for a second, then shook her head.

"No, but I can go to the vending machine. I'll be right back, alright?" she said, and headed out of the room and down the hall. Once arriving, she started digging through her purse for some change and bills, and instead found a neatly folded piece of paper. She opened it, completely unaware of what it was, and she smiled. Crudely drawn onto the paper was a dog wearing a space helmet, and in a speech bubble coming from its mouth, it said, "You'll be an out of this world mom!"

Ashley felt a hand on her shoulder, and turned to find Jason standing there. Their eyes met, and she looked at the paper, and then threw her arms around her brother, confusing him. But Jason just took it in stride, put his hands on her back and patted her, letting her cry, before they got some water and headed back to the delivery room.

Back at the house, Becca was cleaning up the house, and thought about Harold, and what Ashley had said. Would he really be proud of them? Becca had to believe it, because to believe anything else just hurt too much, and really, they had no reason not to think he would be. They finished cleaning, made some tea and a sandwich and headed on upstairs to bed. When Jason called later that night, it was to say that Anna had given birth to a little girl, and that they'd named it Becca.

Becca congratulated Jason, and told him to congratulate everyone else, and then laid down and went to sleep. If Harold was gone, someone had to hold these people together, and it seemed like that was coming down to be Beccas responsibility. When Becca awoke, they got up to get a glass of water and headed downstairs, where they found Ashley passed out on the couch, and the sun being blocked by the shades. Becca figured they must've slept most of the next day, and found Anna asleep in a chair, next to a pearl white rocker. Becca stopped and looked into it, seeing a small sleeping baby girl who now shared their name, and for a second, Becca felt like they themselves might live on as well. Becca got their water, and on the way back, passed by the Pictionary board again and stopped, water glass dead on their lips, as they stared at the picture Ashley had clearly drawn at some point in the night.

It was a caricature of Ashley and Anna, sitting next to a crib, and next to the crib was Becca, all of them smiling, and for the first time in their entire life, Becca felt like they really belonged to a family.

                                                                                 YEARS AGO

"Think of it like this," Harold said, sitting across from Ernie in the cafeteria, "You are no longer a part of this family. I don't care if we're brothers, we were barely ever brothers to begin with and you know damn well that's true so don't even try and deny it. Don't pull the 'family first' bullshit with me, either. Toxicity is toxicity, family notwithstanding. You're a menace and what you did was inexcusable."

"I guess we don't see eye to eye," Ernie said.

"No no no, this is not about whether I like mayo on a sandwich and you like mustard. You beat a person, you literally beat someone almost to death," Harold said, "I can't excuse that, and I won't allow my father to either."

"They lied to me!" Ernie screamed, catching the guards eye. He quickly simmered down and lowered his voice, "They lied to me. They lied right to my face."

"For something that you have no business in as it is, so they didn't lie to you, they protected themselves," Harold said, "...you know...when we used to go to grandpas cabin, we'd go fishing by the lake, remember? You and me, during the summer days, and we'd take our poles and go out there to the lake and we'd go catch fish and I'd always throw them back and you'd take them back home to cook. Understandable, in a sense, as fishing has always been a way for man to feed himself and his family."

"You goin' somewhere with this?" Ernie asked.

"You ever read anything about serial killers? How they started out as children torturing animals, but eventually that stimulation, that sensation, wasn't enough for them and they had to move onto hurting humans? That's what you are. You're like a serial killer. You didn't throw your fish back. You didn't care that they might've had a family just like you did. God knows I'm no vegetarian or anything, but you didn't throw them back, I did. I have a wife, and you beat a woman to near death."

Harold stood up from the table, one hand still placed on it and sighed.

"I never really knew you could be related to people you don't relate to...but I wanted a brother, and that's not what you are at all. You're not a brother Ernie. You're a monster."

And with that, Harold turned and exited the prison cafeteria.

                                                                                             ***

"This is the single most contrived way to catch a mouse that I have ever seen," Becca said as they set up this weeks game, Mouse Trap, on the living room floor. Betty smirked as she helped Becca put the pieces together to build the board out.

"This was one of your fathers favorite games," she said.

"Really?"

"Mhm," Betty said with a slight nod, "He loved how involved it was. Everything else just gave you a board, you know? Some cards, some dice, a trinket to play as, but Mouse Trap...it was something you had to build. It was so inventive, and god he ate it up."

Becca smiled as they watched their mother talk about their father. So rarely did Betty speak this openly, especially since Harolds death, she'd been kind of tight lipped about things, but this was lovely, and they wanted to coax more out of her without seeming pushy or making them uncomfortable.

"Same reason he loved things like Fireball Island," Betty continued.

"Fireball Island?"

"It was another board game that had a whole setup with it, a sort of Indiana Jonesesque adventure game, but it also had a large set piece and everything like Mouse Trap. He felt those board games were few and far between, and he's not wrong. Everything is just that, a board game, but these were in depth games that allowed you to come up with a backstory or whatever you wanted to make of it. They had true character to them."

Betty sat against the recliner on the floor for a second and started to sniffle as Becca crawled over to her and hugged her.

"I miss him so much, Becca," Betty mumbled, crying a little as Becca held their mother and rubbed her back.

"I know mom. We all do," they replied softly.

                                                                                              ***

Jason had his hands on his handlebars, deep in thought as he rode towards his parents house for game night. Amie, sitting behind him, arms wrapped around his waist, leaned forward a bit and rested her head on his shoulder.

"So...how are you feeling tonight?" Amie asked.

"I'm feeling good," Jason said, "I know exactly how I feel and I'm not going to let anyone change that."

"That's my boy," Amie said, patting his shoulders, laughing, "You know, I really appreciate being invited to this repeatedly. Really makes me feel like you want me to be not just a part of your life but a part of your families life too. My family isn't broken up, we just all live too far apart to see one another regularly, so I really like having a new family to hang out with. I miss the warmth that a family can bring to you."

"...yeah," Jason said, smiling, "You're welcome. I'm glad I can bring you into our world like this."

The light turned green and Jason took off down the street. As he pulled up to the house a few minutes later, he noticed a car was sitting in the parking lot. He climbed off the bike and pulled his helmet off, Amie following suit. They both ran their hands through their hair, fixing their hair best they could, as they approached the car and Jason knocked against the window lightly. It rolled down and sitting in the car was Anna and Ashley.

"Evening ladies," Jason said, smiling.

"Heyo," Ashley replied, scribbling something down on a piece of paper.

"Watcha girls doin?" Amie asked.

"We're picking baby names," Ashley said, "How do you guys feel about Cynthia? Or uh...Megan?"

"How about something like Teal?" Amie asked, cutting in, "I always wanted to change my name to Teal when I was growing up."

"She's not going to be a 90s Icelandic pop star," Anna said, "Also, I don't wanna name my daughter after a color. I wanna give her a normal name. Something like..."

"...Priscilla?" Jason asked.

"Do you WANT her to get beaten up?" Anna asked.

"Are you kidding me?" Ashley asked, looking at Anna, "Priscilla is a bonafide bad ass name for a girl! She would smoke in the middle school girls bathroom and she'd wear leather jackets and get in cat fights all the time, obviously winning of course."

"Of course," Jason and Amie said in unison.

"What the hell kind of child do you think we're going to raise?!" Anna asked, half laughing, "She's not some CW tween drama bad girl! And for the record, no child of mine is going to take up smoking until she's in college and can screw up her own life by making her own decisions, thank you very much."

"We're gonna head in," Jason said, taking Amie's hand and walking her up the steps of the porch and into the house. Ashley put the pad of paper down and looked at Anna, exhaling heavily. Anna pushed her bangs out of her eyes and cocked her head to the side, looking puzzled.

"What is it?" she asked.

"I guess I have to talk about it at some point, may as well be now," she said, "Um...I don't...I'm scared. I don't know that I'm going to be a very good mother, and like...I hope you're not expecting a whole lot from me. To be honest, I never really thought about having kids or raising kids, not that I was that against it or anything, it just...I don't know that I'm fit for it."

"Hey, you're going to be a wonderful mother," Anna said, leaning in and kissing Ashley on the cheek before getting out and heading into the house, leaving Ashley to mutter under her breath before getting out and following her.

Sitting in the kitchen at the island was Jason and Becca, Amie at the sink washing an apple, as Jason and Becca ate an orange together. Anna and Ashley walked into the kitchen to this scene and Anna quickly sat down at the island with them.

"You're SO wrong," Becca said to Jason, "Mr. Ed couldn't really talk, see, Wilbur was hallucinating the whole thing because his son had died after falling off the horse, and he couldn't bring himself to put Mr. Ed down because he was the last connection he had to his late son, but then Mr. Ed started being able to talk to him to help him with his grief and move on with his life."

"It was a comedy!" Jason shouted, "There's no dramatic dark backstory! It's a sitcom about a horse and a guy!"

"That's just what THEY want you to think," Becca said, "See, they got to you."

"Who got to me? Who is 'they'?" Jason asked.

"You know, THEM," Anna said, taking a piece of orange from Becca.

"You people are nuts," Jason said.

"They've turned him against us, it's time to take him out," Anna said.

"On it," Ashley said, grabbing Jasons neck from behind, pretending to strangle him as Ernie came in from the garage, and everyone stopped and stood quiet, staring at him.

"What?" he asked, "Don't stop goofin off on my account. Jeez. So are we playin' a game tonight or what?"

"Yeah. We are. You, Becca, Ashley and me," Jason said sternly, "We're gonna play a little game called Mouse Trap."

"How do you know?" Becca asked, furrowing their brow at him.

"Because I suggested it," Jason said, smirking, "Now come on, let's get to the living room. We've got a mouse to catch."

                                                                                          ***

                                                                                  YEARS AGO

Ernie and Jason were sitting at a picnic table in the yard, watching a few guys play basketball in the court beside them. Jason sighed and looked away from them and back to his uncle, as his uncle nodded at him.

"You may wanna unbutton that collar button, lest you wanna get your ass beat," Ernie said.

"That's really a thing they'll beat you up for, huh?" Jason asked, starting to unbutton it.

"These guys take the signals pretty seriously," Ernie said, "...you know, I never thought I was like them. I knew I wasn't like my brother, but I never thought I was like them either. You like to think of yourself as a good person, an accepting person, and then one single moment just takes that fantasy you've built as your reality away from you in a heartbeat."

"Why did you do it?" Jason asked quietly, as Ernie shook his head and scratched the beck of his neck.

"I...I panicked. I've always been a GUY, you know what I mean, Jason? Like, I've always prided myself on being a guy, a mans man, I drink beer, I ride a motorcycle. I mean, I'm not crude, I'm not going to make fun of minorities or anything for the sake of it, that's just cruel, but...but then I met them and...and it just...I guess I wasn't as good a person as I thought I was. I lost it. I thought it made me gay or something, and...and I just, I started hitting them, and-"

"It isn't gay, they're a woman," Jason said, "Just because they weren't born-"

"Jason, just...just stop, I'm trying really hard to work on this. I feel awful, but I don't expect forgiveness. I didn't expect your father to completely cut me off either, but I...I didn't...It wasn't like it was premeditated or anything. I didn't even know until she told me, and before I knew it they were bleeding, and their jaw was..."

Ernie shuddered and wiped his eyes.

"I did a horrible thing...it's taken me a long time to realize that, but...I did. I am extremely sorry for what I did. I want to apologize to her, but I know she'd never talk to me. Besides, it's not like she's related to me. It's different when they're related to you. You feel somewhat responsible for how they turned out, you know what I mean?"

Jason shrugged and started to stand up.

"I have to get going," he said, "I'll come by next week, alright? I'll bring you some cigarettes."

"You're a good person Jason, you don't abandon people simply because of ideological differences. There's so much anger on both sides these days, but you've got a level head on your shoulders," Ernie said, "I respect that."

But Jason 2.0 wasn't the old Jason. The Jason who forgave toxic family members and tried not to get involved. Now it was personal. Now it WAS in his family. Now it was time to catch a mouse.

                                                                                          ***

"This game is bullshit," Ashley said, clearly irritated, "I don't...I don't even LIKE cheese that much!"

"I remember playing this as a kid," Becca said, taking their turn, "Haven't played it, or thought about it, in a long time. I'm glad you recommended it Jason, thanks."

The game had been going for a while now, with both Ernie and Ashley nearing the end of the board, both right under the trap. Everything had worked out to Jasons advantage. Well, okay, he'd have to make his sister take the loss, but she was just a casualty. Jason took his turn as Ernie scratched his mustache.

"I think the only goddamn board game I played as a kid was cribbage, which isn't much of a 'board game' if you wanna get into semantics," Ernie said, "But I mean, it has a board, so."

"Sure," Ashley said, "I'd count that as a board game, why not."

"So Ernie," Jason said, as he watched Ashley take her turn and end up where the cheese was, Ernie taking his turn next and ending up right behind her, "You ever call her?"

"Call who?" Ernie asked, looking up from the board.

"You know, the transwoman you beat the hell out of, the reason you went to prison," Jason said coldly, as he took his turn, played the trap and caught both his uncle and his sister under it; he folded his hands and looked up at Ernie, dead eyes locked, "Did you ever call her and apologize? You said you wanted to. Now you're out, now you have the chance. I mean, you said it wasn't like it was personal, because they weren't part of your family, like your niece here."

Ernie looked at Becca, their eyes wide with shock. Apparently, they had never been told the reason Ernie had gone to prison.

"Wait..." Becca said, "Wait, you...you beat-"

"You're just as bad as your fuckin father," Ernie said, standing up.

"Look at the little mouse," Jason said, standing up as well, fists clenched, "Caught in his own trap, his own words used against him, in front of the 'family' he so claims to care about."

"What the fuck is wrong with you?!" Ashley screamed, surprising everyone as they all glanced at her, "How could you trap me like this?!"

"Sorry, I know you wanted to win, you were just-"

"No!" Ashley continued, "No! Not in the game! I'm trapped, picking names with your ex wife for a child I don't even know if I can raise! You put us in this situation!"

"Not such a good person after all, are we?" Ernie asked, smirking at Jason.

"I'd watch your goddamned back, you may not be in prison anymore, but that won't stop me from shanking you," Jason said coldly, their faces a mere inch apart.

Ashley quickly gathered up her things and ran out of the house, Anna trying to get up to catch her, but Betty going instead. She found Ashley in the driveway, kicking the tires of her car. Betty cleared her throat as Ashley turned and threw her coat on the driveway.

"Sweetheart-"

"Mom, I don't want a goddamned pep speech right now, okay?"

"I was just like you," Betty said.

"...what?"

"I was just like you. When I first found out I was pregnant, I was terrified, even though we were trying to have a family. I wasn't sure I could be a mother though, I...I didn't think I was cut out for it, you know? I was worried and scared and I often fantasized running away but I didn't, because I knew that it was all because change is scary. Do you love Anna?"

"...I do, yeah, of course I do."

"You never said you didn't want children."

"I never said I DID either! I can't...I just can't, not right now, I have to go. She...she can stay here tonight, in my old room, I just can't," Ashley said, grabbing her jacket off the ground, opening the car door and climbing into the car. As she started it up and pulled out the driveway, Betty chased after the car into the road, but Ashley was gone into the darkness quickly. Betty sighed and stood there, hearing shouting from the house. She put her hands around her mouth and screamed. What. was becoming. of her. family.

Meanwhile, back in the house, Becca, Jason and Ernie were still going at it.

"How could you do that?!" Becca screamed, "I want you out of this goddamned house!"

"It ain't your house, sweetheart," Ernie said, "You don't get to decide whether I stay or go, alright?"

"You're a liar, you're an asshole, you're a bigot, and you're not allowed around my goddamned sister," Jason said, fuming at him. Aime was beaming, watching this man she believed in stand up for what was right, and she looked at Anna, their eyes catching for a moment. Finally, Amie understood why Anna had loved Jason to begin with, because he was a good person deep down, and now more so on the surface.

"This is my brothers house, and I-"

"Get. OUT," Betty snarled from the front door, catching everyone off guard, "Get OUT of my HOUSE!"

Ernie started to back up, pulling his jacket on as Betty approached him.

"Now, calm down, okay, your son is the one starting all this, dragging up the past and shit," Ernie said, stammering, "This...this has nothing to do with you or-"

"This has EVERYTHING to do with ME," Betty said, her voice rising with every word, "You come into MY home. You disrupt MY family. You ruin MY game night. I worked HARD to make this family love one another, and they're welcome here, this is THEIR home, YOU are not."

"Bets, alright, just calm down, let's have a drink and discuss this, okay? I am different, I have changed, I DO want to apologize to that girl, because-"

"No. You don't get to make amends. You chose your route in life. You CHOSE to go down this path. You don't get to change. You don't get to be like Jason. You don't actually recognize how bad a person you are, you're just trying to make everyone THINK you wanna change so we'll feel bad for you while you continue to bring down everyone around you with your awful beliefs and behaviors!"

"Betty-" Ernie said, backing up against the coffee table, everyone else moving out of the way.

"This is a FAMILY game night, and you are NOT a part of this FAMILY!" Betty shouted, bringing her arm back and socking Ernie in the jaw so hard that he stumbled and fell right ontop of the coffee table, bringing it to the ground. Betty shook her hand, clenching her teeth as she muttered, "Now get the FUCK out of my house!"

And with that, Jason helped Ernie up and carried him to the front door. Ernies nose was bleeding, as he wiped it on his sleeve, he looked at his nephew.

"Jason," Ernie said, stammering, "Jason, I don't have anywhere to go, okay, I wanted to be with my brothers kids, okay, I just-"

"I'm sorry," Jason said softly, "But this is a 5 player game, we don't need a 6th."

And he threw Ernie onto the porch and slammed the door behind him.

                                                                                           ***

Sitting in Ashleys old bedroom that night, Anna was going through some photo albums when the door opened and Ashley came in. She kept her eyes glued to the floor, playing with her ponytail as she stood in the doorframe.

"Do you wanna come in?" Anna asked, "I mean, it's YOUR room, so."

"I...I want to apologize," Ashley said, coming in, shutting the door and sitting down next to her, "Um...I...I am so sorry. I shouldn't have freaked out. My mother was right, this isn't about whether I wanted kids or didn't, because frankly, a woman doesn't have to have children, there's nothing wrong with that, it just wasn't something I ever gave much thought to. But...but with you...it's different. It's hard to explain, like...growing up I always had this image in my head of being with a woman in our own home and...everything was great and..."

"Ashley, you don't have to try and explain anything to me," Anna said, "I understand, change is terrifying, and we've been through a LOT of it lately. Your father dying, me leaving your brother, there's been a lot of change and all within a short period of time, so I-"

"I love you, let's get married," Ashley said, taking Anna by surprise.

"Excuse me?" Anna replied, half laughing, "What? I JUST got divorced."

"I know, so let's get married, right now, we'll go out and we'll get married and then later we'll have a nice ceremony with everyone there but let's just go do it right now," Ashley said, "The longer I try not to embrace change, the more change is going to come, and soon enough I'm going to be left completely behind. I love you."

"I don't want to get married, not right this minute, all I want is to lay here with you and look at these photos of you as a cute kid," Anna said, "Maybe we'll do that tomorrow."

Ashley smiled and kissed Annas cheek and they laid down together on the bed, looking through the photo album. Meanwhile, down in the kitchen, Becca was sitting at the island drinking some coffee while Aime was talking to Betty in the living room, helping her clean up the mess from Ernie while Jason came into the kitchen and saw his sister sitting alone. He sat down at the island across from them and sighed.

"So, I know that-"

"You are the best brother," Becca said, cutting him off, "I am so sorry about anything I've said to you that was mean lately, because you just stood up for me in a way nobody else ever has, and that...that meant so much to me. I told mom from day 1 that guy was bad news, and nobody listened to me. What made you change your mind?"

"Well, you've been here for the last 20 years and he hasn't, who am I going to feel more loyal to?" Jason said, smiling, "Besides, I saw a lot of old Jason in Ernie, and it disgusted me the person I could've become. But unlike Ernie, I actually am putting in the effort to change, I'm just crying foul and saying my hate speech disguised as free speech is being squashed."

"I love you, Jason," Becca said, the first time they've told their brother that in years, "I really do love you."

"I love you too," Jason said, "Now come on, let's go help mom clean up."

The two got up and started to head out of the kitchen.

"So," Jason asked, "What's the deal with Francis The Talking Mule then?"

"Francis was CLEARLY an agent of satan," Becca said.

"You don't say?"

"How the fuck is Dominos even a game," Becca asked, sitting at the island in the kitchen while Betty washed some fruit in the sink. Becca was turning the Dominos container over and over in their hands, opening and closing it.

"It's a game just like anything else is a game, sweetheart, because someone made some rules," Betty said, "I used to play it all the time as a kid, I haven't played it in years though. Then some fuckin' idiot decided to make Triominos, as if the word itself doesn't make you want to punch the game in the face."

"Mom, geez," Becca said, chuckling.

"Well, come on, how the hell do you play dominos when they're triangles? The triangle is the single most worthless shape, honestly. Squares and rectangles, they're everywhere. Tables, bookcases, televisions, hell even the shapes of rooms. Circles? Sure, coffee tables are circles, lamps can be circular, rugs are circular. But a fucking triangle? What does that do for anyone? The only things associated with triangles are negative things; the food triangle, the instrument, both of these are things nobody likes."

"I had no idea you were so vehemently anti Dihedral," Becca said.

"A polygon is a polygon, but the triangle is like the bastard child of the whole group. It's the kid you chain in the attic and feed fish heads," Betty said, "He smears his feces all over everything and you only let him down once a year for christmas."

"This seems oddly specific," Becca said, putting the dominos down, now looking at their mother.

"I don't like to talk about your brother much."

"...Jason?"

"...yes. Jason. Sure," Betty said, shifting her eyes and making Becca laugh. Just then Ernie came into the kitchen from upstairs, holding a box of things. Betty turned to looked at him, putting the fruit down and wiping her hands on a hand towel.

"Where you want this stuff?" he asked.

"What is that?" Becca asked.

"It's some things of your fathers I'm giving away," Betty said quietly, making Becca get up. They walked over to Ernie and the box and started looking into it, digging through it a bit, their face contorted in disgust as they pulled some things out and looked between Ernie and Betty.

"Why're you...?"

"Because it's time to move on, kiddo," Ernie said, clearing his throat, "He's not here, so why keep-"

"You are so fucking unsentimental," Becca said, grabbing the box from Ernie, "You're not throwing my dad in the fucking trash! He was your brother!"

"My brother wasn't some old socks and books, Rebecca," he said, saying their name like a snake hissing, as if it hurt him to say it, "My brother is gone, and this is just material goods, alright? I know it hurts, but it has to be done eventually."

Becca took the box and scoffed head, heading upstairs with it. Ernie looked at Betty as he took a seat at the island, looking at the dominos. Betty just shook her head, turned back to the sink and started washing more fruit.

                                                                                         ***

Jason and Amie were in her prius, as Amie drove towards his parents house. Jason had his elbow perched on the door and was looking out the passenger side window as Amie chewed on some carrot sticks. She turned the radio down and glanced over at him, concerned.

"Hey," she asked, "You okay?"

"Yeah, I guess," he said, stroking his incoming beard, "I just...you don't think I'm a fraud do you?"

"What?"

"I was at Whole Foods earlier, and these fuckin' kids in the line over where pointing at me and talking about how I'm a 'poser' or something, like...like I don't really care about saving the planet or conservation or anything, I just needed yet another identity to commit myself to. Like, how when you're a teenager you try on different identities until you find one you really think fits you, you know?"

"Sure," Amie said, "But we're not that. Jason, posers don't drop everything in their lives and go on a Spirit Walk to discover who they are. If you were really a poser you'd have just bought an economically good car, gotten a native american tattoos, used a juicer and called it a day, you know? You wouldn't quit your job and fly to another country to take a long, good, hard look at yourself."

"I guess," Jason said, sighing, "I just feel like sometimes I really am just trying to be a part of something."

"We're all trying to be a part of something. We all play off one another, each one affecting the other, because we need to try and survive with eachother. And honestly, who cares what some fucking punks say. Be whoever you want, so long as you're not hurting anyone else."

Jason smiled and watched her as she drove, the streetlights softly illuminating her face as they passed under them. For as much as Jason had loved Anna, still maybe did love Anna, he had to admit to himself there was something incredibly wholesome about Amie. It was nice to be with somebody who believed in things. Anna believed in things, but not with this ferocity, this intensity. She'd accepted the status quo ages ago, and had become accustomed to the way things were. Why rock the boat when the boat favors you so? But here was Amie, who was considerably a few years younger than Anna, and wanted to change the world and herself in the process. Whoever she was this month might not be who she is next month, and that was exciting. Jason wanted to be like Amie.

As they pulled up in the driveway, they noticed another car sitting on the curb, and a young black woman standing outside of it.

"Monica?" Jason asked, as they pulled up and parked. Jason got out and walked around the car towards her. Monica put her phone down as she saw him approach, and she barely acknowledged Amie.

"What're you doing here?" he asked.

"I'm picking something up from my sister," Monica said, "I've been so busy, but she said she could bring it with her tonight and I actually had the time off, so. What happened to you? You look like a vintage vinyl store took advantage of a Buffalo Exchange."

"That's cute," Jason said, crossing his arms, smirking, "So what's she bringing?"

"Wouldn't say, just told me it's something she doesn't want anymore," Monica said, "So where you been? I heard you were out of the country."

"I went to Africa for a few months, kinda sort myself out."

"Why the fuck's every white person go to Africa to 'find themselves'?" Monica asked, starting to look at her nails.

"This is Aime, we met there," Jason said, as Aime shyly waved.

Just then Anna and Ashley pulled up and parked. Anna got out of the car with Ashleys help, and while Anna waited by the car, Ashley opened the trunk and, eyes locked with Jason, scowl on her face, she picked up a large, weathered trunk and started to carry it over to Monica, who took it, a surprised look on her face.

"This better not be something you stole from some old guy who runs a voodoo store," Monica said, making Anna chuckle; Monica then turned to Jason and smiled, before adding, "Well, see ya around. Glad to see you're doing better."

As Monica walked down the driveway, Anna approached Jason and, a mere inch apart, looking into one anothers eyes, Jason spoke through gritted teeth.

"How could you give her that?" he asked.

"Very easily," Anna said.

"What was it?" Amie asked

"Can we just go inside?" Ashley said, rubbing her arms from the cold outside.

"Not just yet," Jason said, snapping at his sister before turning back to his ex wife, "You owe me an explanation. How could you do that? You could've just give it back to me. You know what, nevermind, I'll just go home, because I don't need to be here."

"Don't you a coachella concert to get to?" Anna asked, and Jason put his face right up to hers as Becca opened the front door and whistled at them. They all turned and looked at them, before leaving it and heading indoors.

Inside the house, Ernie was already sitting at the table, setting the dominos up for fun, knocking them down himself as Betty brought a platter of cheese and fruit and crackers into the room and set it on the side table by the couch. Becca sat down on the couch, as Jason grabbed Annas arm and led her into the kitchen, with Aime following them.

"How can you do this?" he continued to ask, "That was-"

"You have no right to ask me," Anna said, "After everything you did, I have the right to be a little miffed, and you know what, it was mine, you gave it to me, so I can therefore do with it whatever I please."

"What was it?" Amie asked, still curious.

"What it was was none of your business," Anna said, before exiting the kitchen, annoyed. She took her seat beside Becca and Ashley, as Jason and Aime sat by Ernie and Betty sat in a chair, watching, the way she usually did. Ernie started the game, turning the dominos on their backs and shuffling them. He wiped his nose on his sleeve and grunted.

"Alright so there's only like 4 players for this game, so I'm thinkin' myself, Jason, Rebecca and Ashley? Like core family, you know? Nothin' against you sweetheart, you're a doll," he added, patting Annas hand, making her blush.

"That sounds fine," Aime said, "I just came for the fun of being here, plus I drove."

"Alright so everyone take 7 from the bone yard and stand them up so nobody can see your hand," Ernie said, and everyone did as he did. Jason couldn't take his eyes off Anna, and she was too focused on looking at her cell phone to notice him glaring her down.

"The bone yard is my new indie band," Aime said, chuckling as she sipped her water.

"Aw, your manic pixie dream girl comes with state of the art personality action," Anna said, smirking.

"Hey, I'll have you know that I am nobody's fucking plot device," Amie said, "Guess what? He decided to better himself before we met, alright? Not after, so thank you very much."

"Well excuse me for insulting hipster Paul Bunyans taste," Anna replied, sighing as she shifted on the couch, "Tell me, Jason, are you really trying to change? Or is this just like that time in college when you decided you were into foreign film?"

Jason looked at the game table as Anna leaned forward and cupped her hands.

"He joins this group, right? They get together on the weekends and watch, then openly discuss, foreign film. Like a book club, ya know? He buys a beret, he starts wearing suspenders, he starts reading books on foreign film and acting like he's the end all be all on the subject when really he just still didn't know who he was or wanted to be. You can't just try on identities like they're suits off a rack, Jason. You're in your 30s, it's time to figure out who you are."

"...You tried on an identity," he said softly, "Happily married wife and mother. So what the fuck do you know about who anyone is?"

"Jason..." Anna said, "I wasn't happy because of me, not because of you. I hope you don't think all our problems were your fault."

Nobody said a thing as Jason got up and slunk his way back to the kitchen. Aime sat in his empty spot, playing the game for him, glaring  across the table at Anna, who did now look somewhat embarrassed.

"And for what it's worth," Aime said, "Even if he did need someone else to help him be a better person, where's the ultimate harm in that? So long as he's not just using me as a means to an end, which he isn't, then who cares? We all need other people to help us figure out who we are. Maybe instead of tearing down who he wants to be, you should build up who you want to be."

"You know," Becca said, taking some of the snacks Betty had brought out, "I agree with Aime, why is it such a bad thing to try who you want to be, even at our age? God knows the baby boomers stopped trying to better themselves...throwing away anything that means something just because it's 'stuff'."

"Are you still fuckin' on about that?" Ernie asked, chuckling, "It was like some old books and socks and shit."

"It was your brothers things!" Becca said, their voice rising in anger, "You can't just throw away things that meant something to someone you loved!"

Anna suddenly felt a pang of guilt and looked towards the kitchen where Jason had gone. She stood up and started to walk out of the room and into the kitchen. Inside, she found Jason standing at the island, sniffling, drinking a carrot juice. He turned and looked at her, and she lowered her head.

"I'm sorry," she said softly, "I guess I'm not really being very nice about this. I thought I could handle seeing you with someone else, but it's harder than I thought it would be. I don't want to get back together, but I still feel like we're married."

"Aime is a person, Anna, she's not a tool used by 40 year old man children who are looking to cure their inescapable sadness they think is caused by the fact they feel owed sex," Jason said, "She's a person. I decided to become better before we met, she's not wrong, and you know what? She's encouraging me to do it. She's got her own dreams and her own job and her own life. But what are you doing? Oh no, let's look at the poor, pregnant woman who wouldn't even TALK to her husband, even though he tried to change for her and himself. You're the same catty, angry woman you've been for years now, except now you're sleeping with my sister."

"...I'm sorry, Jason, I-"

"I don't want apologies. Amie said on the ride over here that we're all playing off one another, that we all affect one another in some way or another, and she's not wrong. I did terrible things Anna, and I am now taking responsibility for them, but the terrible things I did have changed you, and you need to decide if you want to become a better person too, or if you want to stay this way. Everyone around you is changing and adapting. Instead of trying to figure out who I am, maybe you should take some time to figure out who you want to be."

Jason turned and walked out of the kitchen, leaving Anna alone and without words. He was right. He was right in every sense. He'd tried so hard to change, and all she was doing was making a mockery of it, and now she'd taken something away from him and given it to her sister to hold onto. Something he'd given her. Something that she'd treasured. When she finally rejoined everyone in the living room, Ernie was winning, and the game was nearly over. Nobody said a word.

Everyone was turning on one another again, despite all their best efforts not to, and Ernie couldn't be happier about it.

                                                                                           ***

It was soon after they'd gotten married when Jason gave Anna the trunk. He brought it into their bedroom one night while she was laying down and reading, and he put it on the floor. She got out of bed and crawled to the end of it, curious to see what was inside this enormous, weathered box. As he smiled at her, he opened the box, lifting the lid of the trunk up and revealing inside an old blanket, the color soft pastel purple. At first, Anna gave him a quizzical look, and he smirked.

"I had to go through hell to get this," he said, "I had to talk to your sister, she's the one who actually knew where it was. It's your baby blanket."

Anna felt her eyes tear up, her lip quiver.

"I wanted you to have it to give to our child," Jason added, and the next thing Anna knew, she was on the floor on top of him, giving herself to him fully. Jason had been so different, but he'd always been different, changing all the time, and now when he was finally seeing fulfillment with himself, she saw a problem with that? It sickened her.

Sitting in the car on the way home, she glanced over at Ashley and knew she'd made the right choice, and it was time for her to stop judging Jason for making the right choices for himself.

                                                                                                  ***

Becca sat on their bed, looking through their fathers things, pulling each piece out. Ernie was right in one way, it was just stuff. Not even interesting stuff, just leftover junk that Harold probably wouldn't care if they got rid of, but to Becca, it was treasure. It was sacred. They pulled out a book, an old Sherlock Holmes novel, and flipped through the pages. A bookmark slid out, showing he'd never finished it, and then from the back cover, something else fell into their lap. Becca picked it up and turned it over, their eyes widening.

It was an old polaroid, it was from a christmas morning, the three of them around the tree. Jason was playing with some action figures and Ashley was coloring. Betty wasn't in the photo, they clearly were the one taking it, because next to Becca was Harold. Becca was wearing a long shirt that went down to their knees, and next to them was an opened, abandoned box of princess stuff that was clearly meant for Ashley but she'd obviously tossed aside for something else. Harold was putting a tiara in Beccas hair, and giving a thumbs up to the camera. Becca had the biggest smile on their face, and suddenly tears were falling from their cheeks to their pants.

Becca wiped them away, pushed everything off the bed and, holding the photo close to their chest, sobbed themselves to sleep.

Becca sat in her room, staring at herself in the mirror. She started putting in her earrings, then put on her lipstick, and then did her eyeliner the way she liked. She played with her hair a bit, curling the tips a little, and then stood up and went to her closet. Becca pulled out a cute dress with some stockings, and a pair of black flats with small wedge heels, and got dressed. As she stood admiring herself in the mirror, she heard the knock on her bedroom door, and saw her mother enter in the mirror.

"Oh, you look lovely," her mother said, smiling, "I'm just letting you know that everyone is almost here, and that I'm making snacks if you want to come down and help me."

"Sure, in a minute," Becca said, as their mother exited. She let out a single, long sigh. Finally, all these years living a life she knew was wrong, finally all these years she never felt good in her own skin, no, now she was free. For once in her life, Becca felt good about herself. She looked at the label she'd put on the mirror at the top when she'd needed to test a label maker for her father a few years ago for christmas. Becca walked to her desk, pulled out a sharpie and exed out the name on it, replacing it with her own. Yes.

                                                                                    ***

"Who arbitrarily decided that eggs were a breakfast food?" Anna asked, as she and Ashley were sitting in traffic, on their way to the Fuller household. She folded back the page of her magazine and pointed at it, saying, "See, right here, these people talk about eggs as if you can only eat them at breakfast. Who decided that what came out of a chickens ass could only go into our mouths at a certain time of day?"

"I don't know that anyone really decided it. Probably the Egg Lobbyists though, honestly. Trying to force eggs on people, or something. No doubt a conspiracy of masterful proportions," Ashley replied.

"You know, if you aren't going to take this conversation seriously, you can just not respond."

"Take it ser...Anna, you are complaining about people eating eggs at breakfast. I'm not sure how else one could take this conversation other than ludicrously!" Ashley said, laughing, "For god sakes, if you want eggs for dinner, just make some fucking eggs. It's not like the Breakfast Council is going to barge in and arrest you for gross misuse of breakfast food, charge you with Grand Theft Breakfast and throw you in Breakfast Prison."

"That sounds delicious, actually," Anna said, "I kinda wanna go to breakfast prison now."

Just then there was a knock on the window at the right light, and Ashley rolled it down to reveal Jason on his bike, with someone holding him around the waist. He waved at them, and they waved back.

"Watcha got there, a crash test dummy?" Ashley asked, leaning out her window, when the person behind Jason took their helmet off and revealed an absolutely gorgeous brunette, her hair also dreaded, with a nose ring and freckles scattered across her face. She smiled and waved at Ashley.

"Ash, this is Amie, we've been seeing eachother since Africa," Jason said, "She's coming to game night."

"...what."

The light turned green and Jason sped off as Amie put her helmet back on. Ashley and Anna sat in the car for a second, and didn't say a word or glance at one another. Finally, after a few seconds, the car behind them honked, scaring them and forcing Ashley to start driving.

                                                                                   ***

"You're letting this family fall the fuck apart," Ernie said, pacing back and forth in the living room while Betty got the UNO cards out of the closet and sat down on the couch, sipping her wine as he continued, "My brother worked hard to build this and you're letting them be whatever the hell they want, with no direction or purpose!"

"They're adults, Ernie, they can be whatever they want. It isn't my job to tell them what to do. I think my child are all perfectly fine people," Betty said, "They're all happy, which is more than I can say about the two of us."

"I'm glad Jason's bettering himself, he was always a bit uptight, which he probably got from his father, but christ, you're letting this goddamn PC bullshit infiltrate and destroy your family! We grew up without political correctness and we turned out just fine!"

"Did we? Cause we seem pretty miserable," Betty said, finishing her wine and wiping her mouth on her sleeve.

"...Betty, you have a son upstairs who likes to wear dresses. Now, in my day, we just had cross dressers, and that was that, they did it mostly in private and that was it. Sometimes you never even found out until long after they were dead. Now you got em trying to actually assimilate themselves with women, calling themselves women, and-"

"Ernie," Betty said, sighing, running a hand through her hair as she looked up at him from the couch and smiled, "Shut the fuck up. For once in your life, just shut the fuck up."

Betty got up and headed in the kitchen, leaving Ernie there alone. He threw his arms up in the air, annoyed.

"The whole goddamned world is going crazy!" he shouted.

                                                                                    ***

Ashley and Anna had parked across the street and were now crossing towards the driveway of the Fuller household, where Jason and Amie were climbing off the bike. Amie pulled her helmet off and tossed her hair a little, best she could, before kissing Jason, the two of them laughing.

"She's obnoxiously attractive," Anna said, "Like, I wanna punch her in the face for being so hot."

"I know, it's bullshit," Ashley said, "Why're all the granola girls so damn good looking and also so damn pretentious and self important."

"Sounds like you have some history with granola girls," Anna said, holding Ashleys hand.

"I dated one before I came out publicly," Ashley said, "She was just...so fucking hot, but she had the most backwards ideals, and thought my life equaled that of a chickens. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for animal rights, but guess what, a chicken can't drive a car, it can't do taxes, it can't help the economy or run a country, so it's not really the same sort of life."

"Hey ladies," Jason said, "Amie, this is my sister Ashley and her girlfriend Anna."

"You're pregnant!" Amie said, almost squealing, clapping, "Oh god, that's so exciting! It makes me so happy to see a family being created, you know, it seems like so many people these days don't want to have kids, which is fine, that's their right and their decision, but still, I love kids."

"...yeah," Ashley and Anna said in unison.

"Amie's a tattoo artist, she gave me a great tattoo," Jason said, kissing her on the cheek.

"Don't embarrass me," Amie said, blushing.

"She's great, she's going to be even more popular once she opens her own studio," Jason said, "Amie, why don't you go inside, we'll be right there."

Amie turned and headed inside, while Jason looked at the girls, both of whom weren't sure if they were supposed to laugh and cry.

"So, did she give you a tattoo?" Ashley asked.

"Yeah," Jason said meekly, looking away from them.

"Let's see it," Ashley said, smirking, as Jason reluctantly pulled up his sleeve and revealed on his upper arm a tattoo. Ashley and Anna leaned in to look at it, both making quizzical, perplexed faces, looking back and forth from the tattoo to one another.

"It's...uh...what the hell is it?" Anna asked.

"Is it supposed to be a horse? It kinda looks like a horse," Ashley said, "But like, a horse with downs syndrome."

"Awww, you got a disabled horse tattoo!" Anna said, "That's so progressive of you, Jason! Are you advocating for horse rights now?"

"...look, it's not great, okay, but she's doing what she likes, and that's more than most people," Jason said, "And for the record, it's a horse head with its mane blowing in the wind in an open wheat field, and he's a triumph, okay?"

"Tell that to Mr. Special Ed there," Ashley said, both she and Anna nearly doubling over with laughter.

"Alright, Sundew and I don't have to take this," Jason said, pulling his sleeve back down, the girls almost on their knees in the driveway now, rolling with laughter while Jason turned and headed inside. He could hear them from behind.

"He named it Sundew!" Ashley howled.

Inside, Jason found Betty and Amie in the kitchen, talking at the sink. Jason took a seat at the island and watched his mom and his new girlfriend laughing and talking, and despite the embarrassment from his tattoo, he did feel happy to have her. Jason really felt like he had something good here with Amie.

"Jason, you didn't tell me that your mom was so beautiful!" Amie said, "And so funny!"

"She's speaking too highly of me, I'm not beautiful, I'm stunning maybe, but not outright beautiful," Betty said, making them all laugh. Just then, Jason heard something come in from the back door of the kitchen, and saw someone standing there, in a dress, with their hair curled, looking wonderful. Jason knew immediately, but he was still shocked to see it. He slowly slid off the stool from the island and walked over to them, where they stood, nervously wringing their hands.

As Jason approached them, they didn't look at him until he put his hands on their shoulders. Finally, they looked up and their eyes locked with Jasons, the two still silent, and finally Jason just hugged them as tight as they could. They hugged Jason back, and after a few moments both started nearly crying.

"Becca?" Betty asked, "Do you want a snack?"

"That'd be nice," Becca said, walking back to the island with Jason, taking their seat beside him.

"You look great," Jason said, before turning to Amie, "Amie, this is my other sister, Rebecca."

"It's nice to meet you," Amie said, "Your hair is great."

"YOUR hair is great," Becca replied, the both of them chuckling. Just then Ashley and Anna came into the kitchen, still catching their breath from laughing so hard, before stopping and seeing Becca. Anna just smiled and stood upright, but Ashley walked up to the island, standing across from them, staring at them.

"...you're out," Ashley said, and Becca nodded. Ashley grinned and gave her sister a hug.

"Alright, let's get this game started!" Betty said, "I've got the UNO cards right out here."

The family and Amie followed Betty into the living room, where Ernie was nowhere to be found. As they all took their seats, Betty started dealing cards to Jason, Becca, Ashley and then Ernie walked in.

"Hey, Uno!" he said, sitting down, "Now this is a game I like. Your father always wanted to just play board games, never anything else. No cards. Cards are a game, right?"

"Cards are indeed a form of gameplay, yes," Jason said.

Betty dealt Ernie some cards, while Amie and Anna sat alone behind everyone and watched. Amie looked at Anna and smiled.

"So you and Ashley have been together for how long?" Amie asked.

"A little over 6 months I guess," Anna said, "You and Jason met in Africa?"

"Yeah!" Amie said, laughing, "How wild is that? We met at the hotel and realized we lived in the same neighborhood and everything! I take it you don't see Jason much?"

"Not since we split up."

"...you two...were together?"

"Ya see this?" Anna asked, pointing at her pregnant tummy, and then whispering with a smile, "It's his."

"Goddamned color coordinated piece of shit," Ernie mumbled as Becca used a skip card on him. He groaned as Ashley started to take her turn, while Jason eyed Ernie, almost like he was waiting for him to slip up and say something. That's when he noticed he could hear whispering behind him, and craned his neck behind his shoulder to see Anna and Amie engaging in a seemingly serious discussion. Jason started to feel a bit worried, but in a few seconds, they were both smiling and laughing again, and he felt at ease.

"Alright, now I got it, throwin' down a reverse," Ernie said.

"You would," Ashley said snarkily, which caught his attention.

"What?"

"You would throw down a reverse. You want everything to go backwards, back to when america was great and you were on top of the world," Ashley said. Ernie started to turn red, clenching his teeth. He wasn't sure how much more of this he could stand to take.

"You're the ones who're skipping me, I gotta play something!"

"We're skipping you because your time is over," Becca said sternly.

"You're just like your goddamned father, everything's a fuckin metaphor!" Ernie shouted, "Guess what, they're not a way to evaluate your life, or make decisions or phrase a statement! They're FUCKING BOARD GAMES! They are cardboard and plastic and paper and they'll be tomorrows trash!"

Ernie then stood up, grabbed the cards and threw them into the air before grabbing his coat and heading out the front door, slamming it shut.

"...you notice how we don't get play anything and enjoy it anymore?" Ashley asked, making Betty sigh.

"I know we need him to leave," Betty said, "He's not good, and he's making us all anxious and irritated, but he is your fathers brother."

"So what!" Becca shouted, "Who cares?! If someone is a bad person, it doesn't matter their relationship to you, you don't deserve to waste your time on people who aren't going to respect you in any way, shape or form, family, friend or otherwise!"

"Rebecca," Betty called after them as they headed up the stairs to their bedroom. Betty sighed again and finished her glass of wine, putting it down hard on the table before looking at the others, "Is that how you all feel? Ernie is the closest thing I have to your father at this point and-"

"No he isn't, we are, we're his children!" Ashley said.

"...I guess I'm the odd one out," Betty said, standing up, before adding, "Uno" and headed upstairs as well.

                                                                                    ***

Laying in bed at home, Anna felt annoyed while she tried to read. Ashley was typing away on her laptop beside her, trying to get some design work finished when Anna finally put her book down and looked at her.

"You know, I once told your mother that I felt honored and lucky to have your family to be a part of because mine was so broken and screwed up, and now I'm starting to wonder if she really understands that," Anna said.

"Ernie is kinda right. Dad used board games as metaphors, and they're no real way to run your life. There's no lesson to be taken from them, but what Ernie doesn't understand is that those board games bring us together, teach us to work together as a team, and he's there trying to tear us apart. We've all worked so hard to become better, especially since dad died, and board game opinion or not, he doesn't get to ruin that."

"You're right," Anna said, "I just hope Betty realizes how toxic he is soon."

They both nodded and went back to their respective hobbies before Anna snickered and muttered, "Sundew" and they both broke out laughing again.

                                                                                    Years Earlier

"You can't just ask him?" Ernie asked, "I'm desperate here, Jason, I need to talk to him."

"He won't come out, I'm sorry," Jason said, "He just...he has no interest, I'm sorry. He's barely speaking to me because of this, because I defended you. Nobody wants anything to do with either one of us."

"This is bullshit, you know? You don't just dump family because they think different from you! Family is family no matter what! Blood is thicker than thought!" Ernie said, slamming his fist on the slab. Both men sighed and Jason rubbed his eyes while Ernie scratched his head, "Alright, thanks for coming by Jason, you're a good kid."

Ernie hung up the phone, Jason hung up on his side, and both stood up. A guard came to take Ernies arm and walk him back to his cell, as Jason put his hand on the plastic divider between them and watched his uncle be taken away once again, before throwing his jacket over his shoulder and heading home.

                                                                                                  ***

"You got it!?" Annie asked excitedly, her voice shrill with happiness as she took the paper from Carls hands. The two were seated at the island in the kitchen while Ashley was preparing a snack; Betty was in the living room, taking the game out of the box and setting up.

"Yeah," Carl said, blushing, "So, I need to go to the courthouse in a few weeks and start the paperwork to get my name legally changed."

"Any ideas what you're going to pick?" Anna asked.

"How about Xena?" Ashley asked, and they both looked at her, carrot stick hanging out her mouth and she shrugged, "What? She was a powerful, kick ass broad! Xena's a bitchin' name!"

"Listen, if you want to pay Lucy Lawless royalty fees everytime you sign a check, be my guest, but I think I'm going to go with something a little more serious than Xena," Carl said, making Anna laugh. Ernie came in through the backdoor and opened the fridge, pulling out a beer.

"Xena was a babe," he said, "Who's changing their name to Xena?"

"Nobody is changing their name to Xena!" Carl said, annoyed, "And the next person who mentions the name Xena is getting kicked right in their Warrior Princess."

"So what've you picked?" Anna asked, pushing her hair behind her ear, grinning.

"I was thinking about Rebecca," Carl said, "I've always liked that name."

"Rebecca is a pretty name," Anna said, as Ernie came to Ashleys side of the counter and started eating some of her carrot sticks, pointing at Carl with one of them.

"Wait, you're changing your name to Rebecca?" he asked, "Huh. Alright. I mean, you could do worse I guess. You could be picking something outrageous like those other ones do. Why can't they just pick a normal name? Why's everything the gay community do gotta be so fuckin ridiculous and over the top?"

"On behalf of the gay community, as a spokesperson, I must inform you that the reasoning is actually classified information, a vital part of the gay agenda, and thus isn't allowed to be told to the heterosexuals," Ashley said, making Anna and Carl laugh.

"I don't know," Carl said, "I also like the name Phoebe, so we'll see which one eventually wins out. I'm just still sorta in shock that this is happening. I've spent so much time fantasizing about it throughout my life...I never thought it would become reality."

"I used to fantasize about sleeping with Xena," Ernie said, taking a sip of beer as Ashley nudged him with her elbow.

"Hey, me too!" she said, chuckling.

Meanwhile, in the living room, Betty was sitting down and staring at the Jenga game she'd set up. She heard the front door open, heard some footsteps approach the room, and looked up to see Jason coming in, his jeans torn, his shirt covered in beads, his hair still in dreads. He didn't look anything like the son she used to know, but he did look happy, and that made her happy. He tossed his coat down on the couch and sat down next to her.

"Watcha doin in here?" he asked.

"...I have trouble going in the kitchen on family game night these days," she said softly, "It used to feel so safe. Now I feel like if I go in there..."

"I get it, mom, you don't need to explain it," Jason said, hugging her gently, "But you know everyone else is fine, and nothing's going to happen."

"Nobody saw that coming either," Betty said quietly, shutting Jason up, just as everyone else entered the room. Ernie patted Jasons shoulder as he walked past him.

"Hey! I just finished fixing up my bike today, Jason! You wanna see it after the game?" he asked, Jason nodding in response, smiling politely. If he had to take one for the team and spend time with Ernie to keep him away from everyone else, he would do that. Everyone started to sit down, Anna being seated with Ashleys help, as Jason looked across the table at Ernie, who cracked his knuckles.

"Who's my victim this week?" Ernie asked, grinning, "Wait, isn't this a multiple person game?"

"Nobody's really good at it," Betty said, "So pick who you want to humiliate and get it over with."

"I'll play you," Jason said, "I'll go up against Ernie."

"There's my boy!" Ernie said, chortling as he assessed his first move, then continuing, "Hey Anna, how much longer til you pop that fuckin kid out of you?"

"Should be anytime now," Anna said, "I'll be really happy to be rid of it too, cause goddammit I'm sick of carrying all this weight around. I miss being fashionable. There's been some strides in the market these last few years to make maternity clothes more fashionable, but it's never really caught on or worked that well."

"I remember Betty lookin' pretty fashionable," Ernie said.

"That's because Harold made sure I did," Betty said, "If it were up to me, I'd have just worn sweatpants and sweatshirts for 9 months. It's hell being pregnant and not being able to go clothes shopping with your friends, seeing them all in these cute clothes. I hated it."

"Well, I guess for that to happen, I'd first have to have friends," Anna said.

"Yeah, I just don't see that ever happening," Ashley said, both of them chuckling as she kissed Anna on the cheek.

Ernie put his piece on the table as Jason started to take his turn. Ernie coughed and took a swig from his beer before wiping his mouth on his arm and starting to laugh.

"I remember, there was this girl I dated once, she got married to this buddy of mine and got pregnant, ya know, they wanted a family and shit. So she gets pregnant and she tries to make this line of fashionable womans maternity clothes, but like, with the fashions that were popular at the time, right? So she made these giant ass sweatpants with glittery text on the ass that just said 'JUICY' on it. We laughed about that for weeks, goddamn."

"You're really lucky, Anna," Carl said, filling out some paperwork while sitting by Jasons side, Betty on Jasons other side, "I mean," Carl continued, "god...I wish I could have kids like that. I'll never really know what it's like, you know? It really hurts."

"Trust me," Anna said shifting, "If I could give this pregnancy to you, I would do so in a heartbeat, cause I'm tired of it."

Carl chuckled, writing something else down and looking up afterwards, chewing on the end of their pen, "I mean, if only the future would get here already, right? And like, we could just put a working womb into transwomen, so those who wanted to give birth could, right? That's the fuckin' dream."

Jason took their piece and put it on the table, making Ernie put their beer down and start taking their turn.

"Well, it's gonna happen eventually, so I guess just, like, be happy that there will be women who will get to do that, instead of wishing for it?" Anna asked, shrugging, and Carl nodded.

"I don't know, pregnancy's a hard topic for me, I'd rather not really talk about it," Carl said quietly.

"How come nobody wants to talk about anything anymore?" Ernie asked, "For fuck sakes, like, there's college kids who won't read certain books just because they contain truths they don't want to acknowledge, ya know? Full grown fuckin adults, man, droppin' classes cause they just 'can't handle it' or it 'makes them feel bad', like, there's no such thing as protection in the world outside of college. You're gonna have to face that shit eventually."

"Yeah, but there's nothing wrong with safeguarding yourself, either," Jason said, "I mean, especially if someone doesn't wanna think about something that makes them feel incredibly bad."

"C'mon, Jason, I know you got the look down, but don't go all pussy on me now, son. You gotta admit it's a little ridiculous and over the top at this point, right? We're raising a society of adults who would rather skirt around something than discuss important topics! We only resolve things through discussion, you know? Not talking doesn't solve anything," Ernie said, "That's why the government shutdown happens every now and then, because one side just doesn't wanna fuckin' talk about anything. No discussion, just 'our way or the highway' sorta thing."

"I don't really see the point in conversing with people who don't respect me," Carl said, turning everyones heads to look at them. They shrugged and leaned forward, putting their drink on the table, "Why the fuck should I put effort into talking to people who've made it extremely clear that they want people like me dead? Fuck them."

"Well," Ernie said, "Maybe you could change their mind."

"There's no changing some peoples minds," Jason said sternly, waiting for Ernie to make his move. Ernie put his beer down and cracked his knuckles, looking across the table at Jason. He ran his fingers over his facial hair and smirked.

"You know, seems like somebody changed your mind, Jason," Ernie said, starting to take his turn.

"I changed my mind," Jason said, leaning back, trying to relax, "I realized what a bad person I was becoming, that it was hurting those around me and I decided to change. Nobody except me changed anything about me. That isn't to say they didn't help, that they didn't point things out, but change only occurs once you yourself decide to stop being a piece of shit. Nobody can make you stop being a piece of shit, you gotta make that decision on your own."

"Who's the piece of shit we're talkin' about here?" Ernie asked, his eyes narrowing, "Cause frankly son, I don't much care for your tone."

"Good, it doesn't much care for you right now either," Jason replied. Nobody said a word, nobody even exhaled. This was both riveting and terrifying, everyone almost certain things were about to come to blows. On one hand, nobody could believe Jason was handling this so well, and on the other hand, nobody could believe Jason was the one in the right for once.

"I think new and improved Jason 2.0 is right, in ways," Ashley said, "There's just no getting through to some people."

"You wanna talk gettin' through to some people? How about the fact that my own brother didn't come see me in prison the entire goddamn time I was there? Now that's abandonment, man, that's not okay," Ernie said.

"Maybe if you'd changed and been a better person, you wouldn't have been there in the first place," Jason said.

"I'm two seconds from takin you outside, boy," Ernie snarled.

"You think you can handle me? Bitch, I just hiked across mother fuckin' Africa for months, try it," Jason said, their faces almost touching. Ernie took his turn and dropped his wooden piece gently onto his pile, making Jason reach up for his own turn.

"Contrary to what your daddy believed, life is not a fuckin board game," Ernie said, standing up, looking around at them all, "And sooner or later, you're all gonna have to realize that. There's no winning, there's no losing, there's no such thing as teamwork anymore. We as a society have completely abandoned working together and now we're all too busy drifting apart because nobody will talk to one another or work with one another, all because some people have different beliefs than others, and-"

"I'm sorry," Ashley said, standing up, "But I refuse to consider someone telling me I'm going to go to hell for being in love a 'belief'. That's not an opinion. That's just cruel. There's no need to be cruel. I'm not gonna stand there and be insulted so they can feel better about their sad pathetic lives simply because they're mad I have love and they're stuck in a fuckin' awful marriage with kids they never wanted in the first place."

"Sweetheart, you don't know-"

"Don't tell me what I don't know and don't call me sweetheart you miserable relic," Ashley said, "You're so stuck in the past, Indiana Jones would track you down so he could give you to a museum."

"I'm done, I'm not lettin' people hang up on me like this," Ernie said, "This is-"

"You know why you're quitting? Because your belief system is as fragile as this Jenga Tower, and you know it, and you know that any second now, any day, it's all going to come crumbling the fuck down. Everything you believe in, everything you hold dear, everything you thought to be true...none of it is anymore," Jason said, standing up and facing him, "Nobody is taking your shit anymore, and that's what terrifies you. My father might've challenged me, he might thought different than me, he might've believed in things I didn't, but he respected me, and the one thing he didn't do was tell me that I'm wrong. That's all you and the people like you do. You tell everyone they're wrong. You talk so fuckin highly, so proudly, about wanting to generate open discussion, and yet you won't even hear another sides opinion. You wear your bigotry and your hate on your chest like a medal you earned, when all you've really earned is isolation, and one day you'll look around and you'll wonder 'where did everyone go? where is my family, my friends?' and then it'll hit you...they don't think differently than you do, they just think you're an asshole, and they're not going to sit around and be insulted by someone they thought loved them. But one day, one day soon, all of this you thought would last forever, this power, this privilege, it's all going to go away, and for once the people who say they believe in 'all men are created equal' are going to have to face actually being equal."

Nobody said a thing. Ernie and Jason stared at one another for seconds on end, before Ernie picked up his jacket, his beer and kicked the Jenga Tower onto the ground, then turned and walked back out to the garage. Everyones eyes were on Jason, as he slowly exhaled, put his hands on his knees and sat back down on the couch.

"Well," Anna said, "...same time next week?"

                                                                                          ***

Ashley and Anna had left, Carl had gone out and Betty was lying in her bed, reading a book when Jason entered. Betty looked up at her son, as he slowly walked in, hands in his pockets and took a seat on the end of the bed. He sighed and ran one hand over some dreads.

"...I'm a bad person," he said.

"Don't let the guilt get to you, they certainly don't," Betty said, "The fact you feel guilty alone means you're human enough to have feelings. Ernie would never feel guilty. He doesn't know how to feel."

"How did someone like that end up brothers with someone like dad?" Jason asked, and Betty sat up, put her bookmark in her book and cupped her hands.

"...back when I met your father, he told me that he had a brother. I never asked and he never elaborated. It just was a fact he told me, that he had a brother. When we were finally together, Ernie came over one weekend, and they hadn't seen one another in years. After listening to Ernie for about 45 minutes, Harold asked him to leave, and then felt bad for asking him to leave. Ernie said life isn't like a board game, that there's no winners or losers, but he sure acts like he's playing to win."

"I don't know that I can do this," Jason said, weakly, starting to cry, "I don't..."

"Do what?"

"Be the person dad thought I could," he said, sobbing, as he crawled onto the bed next to his mother. Betty pulled her sons head onto her chest and gently stroked his hair.

"Nobody says you have to live up to what your father expected of you, just what you expect of you," Betty said, "And for what it's worth, I'm so proud of you, Jason. I really, really am."

And Jason Fuller cried like he was a 10 year old boy again, safe in his mothers bed, from the horrors of the world outside.