Chapter 16: Snarks & Recreation

The Simmons and Sterlings say their goodbyes, but not before enjoying one last night of fun together.

That last hurrah came in the form of a group activity painstakingly thought up by Junior and Rosemary. The two didn't hesitate to share their idea with the entire group when they all gathered in Simmons Manor Jr's living room. It would be the Sterlings' last night in Kicksburg, and everyone was collectively elated and saddened at the same time. Mark rocked his granddaughter to sleep on the couch as Katrina sat next to him, while Paul and Lorraine discussed future plans for their farm over a couple of beers, and Kendra and Kendall did yoga along with a video on the TV. Meanwhile, Justine and Zeke remained tuned out from all the commotion, engrossed in their phone and handheld gaming system respectively.

"Attention, everyone!" Junior raised his voice, silencing the two families. "So since tomorrow morning marks the end of this eventful reunion, Rosemary and I agreed that we should spend the rest of tonight playing a little game."

"What kind of game?" Zeke looked up, removing his earbuds.

"Obviously something that can be played with a large number of people," Justine replied.

"Correct. We were thinking we'd play a family trivia game." Rosemary held up a box full of cards, each adorned with a random question. "But to switch things up, we figured it'd be fun to mix and match family members between the two teams."

"Oh, you guys always come up with the best ideas," Mark cooed.

"Heh, no kidding. Still mad it took me this long to realize how compatible they are," Paul spoke in agreement.

"Whenever you two are done suckin' up, I'd love to play," Katrina added, eliciting a nod from Lorraine.

---

With everyone agreeing to take part in tonight's activity, Primrose was promptly put to bed and the gang split up. Each team consisted of a mother, father, a singleton, and two twins, each from a different pair. Mark's team included himself, Lorraine, Rosemary, Justine, and Kendra. Meanwhile Paul joined forces with Katrina, Zeke, Junior, and Kendall. Since there were no outliers around-save for Cletus and Clovis-each team took turns asking each other questions. The thick stack of cards sat on the floor between the groups, and whenever it was one team's turn, one member on behalf of his/her teammates would have to answer the question asked by other team, who drew the card. A single point would be added for every correct assumption, and the team with the highest score after getting through the whole stack was crowned the winner.

The gang kept playing for a good couple of hours, neither team able to gain significant ground over the other, nor being able to maintain their lead for more than a couple of turns. At the moment, they were both tied and had gone through just over half of the cards in the stack.

"Alrighty then, next question for Team Two." Rosemary picked the card from the top. "Did each member bear witness to a loved-one's death?"

"Well I know Paul did. His brother, who would also be Kendall's uncle and Zeke's dad," Junior replied. "I also lost my grandpa a few years back, though I'm not really sure about Mom, here."

"Ooh, ooh! I know this one!" Mark blurted out from the other side of the room. As another rule of the game, if a team could not answer completely, then their opponents would be able to steal the remaining possible points by guessing the right answer. "Katrina lost her older brother when she was only a kid!"

"Wait, what?" everyone else asked in unison, utterly perplexed. "I had no idea!"

"Yep, he's right. His name was Pietro," Katrina sighed, glancing wistfully at the ceiling. "Sure hope he's doin' okay up there, like maybe takin' up a job as a newscaster or somethin'."

"Okay, so that's four points for Team Two, and one point stolen by Team One." Kendra added some more tally-marks to a sheet of paper. "It's our turn, now."

"Okay, next question for Team One." Paul took the next card. "Name one food intolerance that each team member has."

"Hey, that's not fair. Not everyone has one." Justine frowned.

"Well then if you don't have one, then just mention something you don't like." Paul shrugged. "I'm not the one who wrote these cards."

"Alright, well Dad used to have Type-2 Diabetes, thereby limiting his sugar intake," Justine began. "I also know that Kendra is an on-off vegetarian, Rosemary won't eat her fruits and vegetables anywhere below room temperature, and I refuse to eat shrimp that aren't deveined. But uh... not so sure about Lorraine..."

"Oh, I know this one!" Zeke blurted out. "She's allergic to blueberries!"

"Correct." Lorraine slouched her shoulders with a pout, suggesting she was anything but thrilled by such a revelation.

"Alright, so four points for Team One, and one point stolen by Team Two." Kendra maintained her role of keeping the score.

"Damn it, another draw!" Katrina grunted. "C'mon, paisanos! We're gettin' sloppy!"

It took awhile, but by two o'clock in the morning, the gang had now gone through all but one card in the stack. Much to everyone's surprise, nobody seemed too eager to drop out, and even Primrose was being unusually quiet tonight. By now, both teams were once again perfectly tied, and it was down to one last question to determine the victor.

"Alright, so with just one card left, I think I'll do the honors this time around," Kendall said. "Okay, so for Team One: name a distinct physical characteristic of each of your teammates."

"Piece of cake. I've obviously got that beauty-mark, Mom's hair is thinner at the top of her head, Mark only has a dimple on the left side of his face, Rosemary has some cafe au lait spots on her right ankle..." Kendra replied.

"Wait, what?!" the other Simmons' shrieked in unison.

"How could I not notice that one?" Junior questioned.

"...and Justine has that birthmark on her left b**b," Kendra finished, feeling proud of herself.

"Okay, I understand how you'd know about Rosemary, since she's your sister and all, but how'd you know about my trait?" Justine raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

"Duh, you were showing it off all night when we hung out a month ago," Kendra explained.

"Oh, damn..." Justine replied, still feeling a bit mad at herself.

"Well regardless, we have ourselves a winner! Congrats, you guys!" Zeke clapped.

"Man, I sure had a blast tonight," Katrina stretched with a yawn. "But I'm afraid it's gettin' late."

"Yeah. Wouldn't wanna be too drowsy to gaze upon our new farm tomorrow," Paul spoke excitedly.

"Welp, goodnight everyone. We'll be seeing you all in the morning." Junior waved goodbye, leading his wife upstairs.

"Goodnight," everyone else replied at the same time.

---

Tomorrow morning just couldn't come soon enough... is what Rosemary's parents and siblings would say if they hadn't ended up greatly enjoying the company of Mark and his crew. Following the hours of exhilaration from last night's game night, each member of the family spent a good ten minutes packing all their belongings, before acquiring as many hours of sleep as they possibly could. Breakfast consisted of yet another epic feast, cooked up as a simultaneous, collaborative effort by Katrina and Lorraine for what would be the last time, at least for the time being.

Once all that was over and done with, the whole gang made their way out front, where that same silver limo from before was parked, before getting started on their goodbyes.

"Well Mark, I was wrong about you. You and everyone in your family," Paul admitted. "You're alright with me, got it?"

"Indeed." Mark nodded, shaking his hand and pulling him into a brief hug.

"No hard feelings, right Mr. Sterling?" Junior asked, offering to shake his hand too.

"From now on... just call me Paul," Paul responded. "And I know it's belated, but welcome to the family."

"Thanks so much."

"Take good care of my daughter for me, okay?"

"You know it," Junior replied, making sure to squeeze his in-law's hand extra tight.

"See you around, busty." Lorraine hugged Katrina as tightly as she could.

"Really?" Katrina asked dryly.

"Used to be an insult, but now it's a term of endearment."

"Okay then, hillbilly."

"Gonna miss you two as well," Justine cooed, kneeling down to pet the dogs.

"And we'll miss you," Kendra and Kendall spoke in unison, taking turns holding Primrose.

"And how could I forget?" Justine stood back up, hugging both twins. Even if they couldn't get with each other, at least they'd have this moment. Lord knows she was never going to wash the top she was wearing again.

"See you around, Justine," Kendra replied.

"Yeah, and thanks for everything," Kendall added.

"Yeah, um... thanks guys." Zeke had his hands in his pockets, too cool to be very expressive.

"No problem, dude," Junior replied.

"Welp, we'll see ya' who knows when," Lorraine spoke to her daughter, joining her and her husband in a group-hug.

"Keep your mama busy for me, alright sweetie?" Paul spoke to Primrose, kissing her face and stomach and making her giggle hysterically.

"Oh, she doesn't even need to try," Rosemary chuckled.

By the time everyone had exchanged goodbyes and even swapped a few phone numbers, all of the Sterlings' luggage had finally been loaded into the trunk. With one last wave, the Simmons' all watched as their new comrades climbed into the limousine and drove off. Thanks to their months of relentless effort and enduring the countless ups and downs that occurred along the way, their family had now expanded even more and only now was it truly able to act as a single, monolithic unit.