The entire interaction was less than fifteen minutes.
“Your family really is the best,” I remark in near disbelief at the functionality of each of them.
He smiles so wide and deep, cupping a hand around my neck and making me move closer as he whispers, “Wait till you taste the lasagna.”
eighteen
I COULD MARRY HIM FORhis mother’s lasagna. In fact, I would elope here tonight simply because she told me he helps her make it every year.Mio piccolo,she said, and my heart warmed, and quite frankly, I haven’t stopped feeling like I was wrapped in a warm blanket through dinner, dessert, and now our second round of Uno.
“You can’t put a Wild Draw Four on top of a Draw Two,” Bianca says to Uncle Charlie.
“Yes, you can! Samuel just did that to me,” Charlie argues.
“No, no, no. I’m telling Mom you’ve been cheating!” his niece says, shaking her head adamantly.
Charlie’s lips twist and he makes eye contact with me, murmuring, “Do you see this nonsense I have to put up with? Harassing a senior citizen!” he yells the last bit, and I laugh.
“Senior citizen? I thought you were only fifty-seven,” JP adds. He’s been pretty smug this round, making people draw twenty-five and run around the block—custom Uno is quite the competition. He’s also been sitting at Uno, and by the cocky posture of his shoulders, he probably has a Wild.
“Sixty-seven... the man’s had enough Botox to start the decade over,” Anna’s husband, Roy, heckles and half the table laughs.
“You’re just jealous of all my good genetics!”
Charlie and Roy go back and forth for a moment, then Roberto—who’s seated next to me leans in and asks with a thick accent, “So Wild Draw Four on a Draw Two is okay?”
I wince. “I’m not sure. They’ve gone off and started talking about age and Botox, so we’re all a little confused.”
“No. It has to be the same. Draw Twos on Draw Twos. Wild Draw Fours on Wild Draw Fours,” Anna says with finality, pulling two cards from the deck and tossing them at Charlie.
“Draw Twenty-fives on Draw Twenty-fives. House Rules,” JP adds.
“Wait. Can you put a Wild on any of the Draw Twenty-fives to trump them?” I ask, and a resounding “No!” echoes around the table. “Got it.”
“Your turn, Julia,” Bianca says after her sister’s turn.
I toss down a blue five. Roberto adds a blue Reverse back to me. I grin at him and throw down a yellow Reverse. JP watches us, his fingers itching to throw down his last card as he waits for his turn on the other side of Roberto. He puts down a yellow Skip and Anna responds with another yellow Reverse back to me. I throw down a yellow two. Roberto sets his yellow Reverse down with a triumphant click of his wrist.
“No one has this many yellow Reverses!” Bianca laughs.
“Oh, it was just two,amore mia,” Sofia remarks, waving a complacent hand in the air.
“This game of ten people is quickly becoming a game of three. If anyone needs another slice of pie, you have time to get it,” Aunt Evelyn says, sipping her Diet Coke. She is the tiniest woman I’ve ever seen but I can already tell she’s a powerhouse. She speaks only when she has something to say, and more often than not, it’s a sly comment.
I set down a green Reverse and wince, waiting for someone to say something.
“Oh, come on!” JP and Charlie both shout as if on cue.
“That’s it!” I throw my hands up with a helpless giggle bubbling out of me. “No more Reverses, I swear.”
JP flashes me a big, perfect grin while Roberto cracks his knuckles a little too triumphantly and smiles. He throws down a custom Draw Twenty-five card and JP’s nostrils flare as soon as he sees it.
“Green,” Roberto declares with a twinkle in his eyes.
JP’s gaze of fire switches from the cards he’s drawing to Roberto as he says, “You could have given it toher.”
“No, I like her,” Roberto responds.
“She’s been here for only three hours, and already she’s stealing your family, JP,” Anna teases him like the big sister she is and gives me a quick nudge with her elbow.
