"And the Oscar goes to…"
The whole room waited on the edge of their seats with baited breath. Mary Margaret chanced a glance down at her predictions sheet, just a quick, nervous peek. Which box had she checked, again? Oh. Right. Her eyes quickly flicked back up at the TV screen.
"Come on, already!" Leroy yelled, when the tension became too much.
"SHUT UP!" half the room yelled back.
"…Argo, directed by Ben Affleck!"
The cheer in the room was deafening. People threw their prediction ballots in the air, either out of celebration or frustration. Mary Margaret squealed and hugged David. "They won! They won!" she screamed in his ear, wrapping her arms so hard around his neck that he was soon in danger of being strangled.
All around them, people were cheering and laughing. Henry had ripped his prediction ballot up into little pieces and was now sprinkling them over Emma like confetti. Leroy was nodding, a satisfied smile on his face, and Dopey and Doc had actually linked arms and were skipping around in a circle. There were a lot of Argo fans in the room. Emma actually had tears in her eyes, which she hastily wiped away.
"He deserved it," she said thickly to no one in particular. "He totally deserved it. Great movie." Henry, now out of confetti, left Emma in favor of the snacks laid out in the kitchen. David managed to extricate himself from Mary Margaret's arms and kissed her before sliding his arm around her shoulders. Everyone was settling down now so they could listen to Affleck's acceptance speech. Mary Margaret snuggled up against David's side, comforted by his warmth. David stroked her arm idly with his fingertips.
Finally the inevitable happened, and the 2013 Oscars came to a close. Everyone clapped, cheered, and whooped when Seth McFarlane closed out the night. It had been a good awards year.
"Okay, okay!" David called, pulling away from Mary Margaret and standing up. He held up his hands. "Everyone tally up how many predictions you got right on your ballots sheet. We're using the honor system here, so no cheating! The person with the most accurate predictions gets a prize!"
Everyone quickly bent their heads over their papers, gnawing on pencil erasers and counting their votes with the tip of their pens. David resumed his seat on the couch next to his wife. Henry groaned when he reappeared, a plate full of chip and bean dip in one hand, a red Solo cup in the other. "Aw man! I ripped mine up!" he whined. "Them's the breaks, kid!" Leroy said, giving Henry a light punch on the shoulder. David craned his neck to look back at his grandson.
"Here, take mine, Henry," he said, setting his ballot on top of Henry's chip. "I don't really care about the prize." He grinned. Henry grinned back. "Thanks!"
Five minutes later, David was on his feet again.
"Okay, let's do this! Who got…five or more right?" Most of the hands went up. Emma's did not. She hid her face in her hands. "Ugh, I'm so bad at these!" she groaned.
"Eight or more right?" Still most hands.
"Ten or more?" Fewer hands.
"Twelve or more." Only six hands.
"Fourteen or more?" Four hands.
"Fifteen or more?" Three hands.
"Sixteen or more?" Only one hand.
"We have a winner!" David announced. "Step forward and claim your prize!" Everyone cheered and clapped as Granny pushed her way past Ruby and Belle, smiling all over her crinkly face. Leroy wolf-whistled.
Grinning, David ducked behind the television and pulled out the prize: a movie-themed gift basket, including the Oscar winners for Best Picture the past three years – The Artist, The King's Speech, and The Hurt Locker – on DVD, four movie tickets, packages of microwavable popcorn, and a large chocolate Oscar statue.
As Granny took the basket from David, Leroy cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, "Speech!" Tom and Walter took up the call, and soon everyone was chanting "Speech! Speech! Speech!"
"It's only fair," David told Granny with an apologetic grin as he sat back down on the couch, leaving her alone in the center of the room.
She held up a hand for silence, and the ruckus gradually died down.
"I just have one thing I'd like to say to you all. Well, to most of you. Henry, please cover your ears."
Looking thoroughly confused, Henry put his plate down on his lap and slowly stuffed his fingers in his ears.
Beaming brightly at them all, Granny gave the shortest acceptance speech in Oscar history:
"Argo fuck yourself!"