In memory of my Grandma Ang, who had the biggest heart and was the luckiest person I ever knew. And who once had a hotel/casino employee carry a huge bucket of nickels up to her room in the wee hours of the morning rather than cashing them in because they were "lucky," and she wanted to play with them the next day.
I miss you, Gram.
Lucky (A McRoll in the REAL World Story)
Steve walked through the kitchen into the dining room and found Catherine and Grandma Ang playing Rummikub at the table.
"What is that . . . clubs?" Grandma Ang asked, leaning forward to get a better look at one of the sets of tiles near Catherine.
Her granddaughter smiled. "That's blue, Gram. No suits."
Grandma Ang waved a hand, looking back at the tiles on her rack. "Ah, you know what I mean."
"Hey," Steve said as he came to stand by Catherine, a hand on the back of her chair. "Who's winning?"
She smiled up at him.
"Too early to tell."
He leaned down and kissed her quickly, straightening as Grandma Ang made her move. She added a blue eight tile to a run that contained a five, six, and seven, then took the five and added it to a red five and a yellow five from her rack to form a new set.
"Nice," Steve said with a nod of approval.
"Oh, you always do that," Catherine grumbled, though she was smiling. "I needed that five."
Grandma Ang just smiled, still surveying the table.
"Are you done?" Catherine asked.
"Not . . . quite . . . yet," Grandma Ang said, looking between her rack and the tiles already on the table.
She passed a black eleven tile to Catherine, pointing at a run with the red joker.
"Give me that," she said.
Catherine replaced the joker with the tile and gave it to Grandma Ang who used it to form a run with a yellow one, three, and four from her rack, substituting the joker for the missing two.
"Now I'm done," she said.
She sat back in her chair with a satisfied smile and picked up a Nilla wafer from a plate on the table.
Catherine sighed.
Steve grinned at her. "Do you want to change your answer to my question?"
"Hey, it's not over till it's over," Catherine said. She chuckled. "Although at this rate . . ." She sighed again as she picked up a tile from the pool since she couldn't make a move and added it to her rack. "You again, Gram." She looked up at Steve. "Joan still asleep?"
"Yeah, Mary said she'd probably sleep until about three," he said and reached over to snag one of the wafers off the plate. "I think Mare and your Mom will be back from the craft store before then."
Catherine smiled. "I think it's so sweet Mary wants to learn how to cross-stitch."
He swallowed the cookie and said, "She loved that pillow Elizabeth made her with the Roots and Wings poem."
Grandma Ang had picked up a tile from the pool for her turn, and Catherine added one of her own tiles to a run on the table.
"I do miss sewing," Grandma Ang said. She held up her hands. "But these old fingers just can't quite hold a needle anymore."
Catherine smiled, reaching over and squeezing her grandmother's hand.
Grandma Ang winked at Steve. "But I miss fielding a grounder even more."
He grinned. "I bet."
She picked up a tile and tapped in on the table.
"Ohh, doubles," she groused, putting the tile on her rack next to its duplicate. She looked at Steve. "I taught Catherine everything she knows about baseball, you know."
Steve nodded. "I do know that." He smiled. "I also know that you were the only girl in your neighborhood who the boys'd let play ball with 'em."
Grandma Ang laughed.
"And that's how you met Grandpa," Catherine said as she picked up a tile.
"Well, we'd met before then, but that's how we got to know each other."
Catherine and Steve smiled at her.
Grandma Ang laid three tiles from her rack on the table.
"You've got two sevens and a one there, Gram," Catherine said.
"Do I?" she asked, squinting at them.
"Yep."
"Dammit," Grandma Ang said and picked up the one.
Steve chuckled.
"These damn tiles are so small," Grandma Ang complained.
"Do you need to draw?" Catherine asked.
"Hold your horses," Grandma Ang replied, studying the tiles on the table. "Any sevens?"
Steve leaned over to peer at the remaining tiles on her rack. He smiled knowingly and straightened.
"Ah," Grandma Ang said with an excited expression. "Here we go."
She began a complicated move involving several tiles and ended by placing the black joker on the table with two other tiles.
Catherine groaned. "I knew you had that other joker. Are you out?" she asked with an incredulous smile.
Grandma Ang grinned and folded her rack to signal she'd won.
Steve and Catherine laughed, and Catherine began flipping the tiles over so they could play again.
"Do you want in?" she asked Steve.
"Yeah, go ahead and grab my tiles," he said as he moved back toward the kitchen. "I just want to check on Joan again."
Catherine smiled. "Steve, she's fine. We've got the baby monitor, and you were just in there."
"I know, but she's in a bed without rails and . . . I mean, we put pillows down, and Mary said she doesn't move much in her sleep, but . . ."
Catherine shared a smile with Grandma Ang who was helping flip the tiles, though it was harder for her to do.
"Okay," Catherine said. "But too much opening and closing that door, you might wake her up."
"I'll be stealthy," he insisted with a half smile.
"Stealthy is one thing, a squeaky door is another."
Steve paused a beat.
"I bet your dad's got some WD-40 in the garage . . ." he said and took a step.
"Oh, Steve, just go check on her," Catherine said, rubbing her forehead and laughing.
"I'll be right back," he said and disappeared around the kitchen corner into the hallway.
Grandma Ang chuckled as she flipped another tile. "Oh, he is going to be a hoot when he's a father."
Catherine stopped and looked at her, and Grandma Ang smiled.
"When you two are ready, that is," she said.
Catherine returned her smile, and her eyes drifted to where Steve had disappeared.
After a moment, she looked back at her grandmother.
"Hey, Dad said you were gonna skip bingo tonight because we're here." She shook her head. "I don't want you to do that."
"But I want to spend as much time with you as I can, my girl," Grandma Ang said and patted her hand. "It's fine, I can miss one week here and there. In fact, the other ladies will probably appreciate it. They'll have a better chance of winning," she added with a wink.
"Well, what if I go with you? I haven't been to bingo with you since I was a little girl."
"Oh, Catherine, you don't have to do that," Grandma Ang said.
"But Gram . . ."
"What's up?" Steve asked as he returned. He walked around the table and pulled out a chair to sit.
"Gram is gonna skip bingo tonight because we're here, but I said I'd go with her."
"Yeah," Steve agreed immediately. "I'll come, too. I'm sure Joseph will be more than happy to play with Joan while Elizabeth teaches Mary how to sew." He grinned slyly. "Especially since he'll be all rested from his own nap."
Catherine smiled and turned back to her grandmother.
"See? That's settled."
She flipped the last tiles and started mixing the pool around.
Grandma Ang looked between the two and smiled finally.
"Okay," she said. "I'll call Sonya and tell her I'm coming after all so we can give her a ride."
Steve nodded.
"And hey," Catherine said. "Maybe we'll be good luck."
Sonya stepped out of her front door, bag over her shoulder, as Steve pulled Joseph's car into the driveway after dinner.
"I saw you coming," she called out with a wave.
Steve and Catherine stepped out of the car, and Grandma Ang rolled down the passenger side window and leaned out.
"Sonya, this is my granddaughter, Catherine."
"Well, I guessed that much," Sonya said with a laugh. "Even if I hadn't seen so many gorgeous pictures of you courtesy of Ang there." She took Catherine's hand in both of hers. "My, you do look like Elizabeth."
"I'm so happy to finally meet you, Sonya," Catherine said warmly. "I've heard so much about you."
"Not nearly as much as I've heard about you, I think."
Catherine smiled.
"And this must be Steve," Sonya said, turning to him.
"Nice to meet you," he said with a smile.
"Pictures don't do you justice, young man," she said and took Catherine's arm to lean in with a conspiratorial smile. "So handsome."
Steve laughed. "I'll take the 'young man.' "
"Compared to me . . ." Sonya began with a wry smile.
Steve moved to open the back passenger door, and Catherine held Sonya's bag as she got herself situated in her seat.
"All good?" Steve asked.
Sonya nodded, taking her bag back from Catherine, and Steve closed the door. He and Catherine walked around the car to their doors, and they were soon off for the senior center.
They were able to get a close parking spot, and Catherine and Sonya led the way up the sidewalk to the building. Grandma Ang held Steve's arm as they walked, her pink "Bingo Queen" bag over his shoulder.
"Now when was the last time you played bingo?" Grandma Ang asked him.
"Oh, jeez, I don't know." He shrugged, cringing. "Elementary school, probably."
"Well, don't worry, I'll give you some pointers."
His brow knitted. "Pointers?" He shook his head. "Oh, no, I . . . I wasn't gonna play."
"Oh, get out, of course you're going to play. You and Catherine." She looked to the pair ahead of them. "Isn't that right, Catherine?"
"What's that, Gram?" Catherine asked, turning to her as she opened the door for Sonya.
"You and Steve are going to play, aren't you?"
"Of course," Catherine said with a little smirk in Steve's direction.
They paused in the doorway.
"Is that even allowed?" he asked. "I mean, we're not . . . uh . . . we're not . . ."
"Seniors?" Grandma Ang asked, her eyes twinkling with mirth.
Steve rubbed the back of his neck and huffed an embarrassed laugh. "Yeah."
"It's fine. People bring family all the time."
Steve shrugged. "Okay." He shook his head. "Something else I can lose to you at."
She patted his arm and winked. "But at least you'll look handsome doing it."
Catherine covered her smile with a finger, and Grandma Ang released Steve's arm to walk inside, calling out, "Dorothy, guess who came with me!"
Steve glanced at Catherine who was fighting a laugh, and he grabbed the door, nodding that she should go inside.
They joined Grandma Ang in the lobby, and she set about introducing them to everyone in earshot. Catherine and Steve soon found themselves surrounded by the mostly female crowd who wanted to meet "Ang's brilliant granddaughter and her handsome boyfriend from Hawaii."
Catherine smiled as she watched Steve's eyes widen at the onslaught.
"Ohh . . . so handsome."
"And tan . . ."
"Where did she say he's from?"
"Aren't they just gorgeous together?"
"He doesn't look Hawaiian."
"Ooh, isn't he tall . . ."
"He looks like my grandson Ricky."
"Both were in the Navy? Well, that's nice, isn't it?"
"Ricky? Did she say his name is Ricky?"
"No, my grandson's name is Ricky, this is . . . what did you say his name was, Ang?"
"Are those tattoos?"
"It's Steve, Gloria."
"I don't usually trust men with tattoos . . . handsome or not . . ."
Catherine bit her lip and leaned close. "Remind you of anything, Commander Steve?" she asked in a low voice.
He glanced at her and exhaled.
Raising his voice to be heard, he said, "I uh . . . I think we're here to play bingo, right?"
There was a beat of silence, then the conversation erupted again, this time with talk of the upcoming game.
Most of the crowd moved out of the lobby while those who had just arrived went to get their cards.
Steve, Catherine, and Grandma Ang joined Sonya by the front desk. They paid for their admission packs and headed for the main room which was set up with long tables and padded chairs facing a single table for the bingo caller at the head of the room.
When Steve moved to pull out two chairs at a back table for Grandma Ang and Sonya, Grandma Ang waved him off.
"No, no," she said. "Up here."
She led them up to a table second from the front.
"This is my lucky chair," she said and took her bag from Steve to put it on the table.
His brow knitted as he looked around.
"Is the room always set up like this?" he asked.
"No," Sonya said. "There are lots of other events. Movie nights and pancake breakfasts and Lifelong Learning programs." She smiled brightly. "We did Tai Chi in here last week."
"That's great," he said, nodding. He winced a little and looked back at Grandma Ang. "I just . . . how do you know that's the same chair you sit in every week?"
"Oh, don't be so literal, Steve," she said with a chuckle. "My lucky spot."
He put his hands up, a half smile on his face. "Hey, the results speak for themselves. I was just wondering."
"We're not going to take anyone's spots if we sit here, are we, Gram?" Catherine asked.
"Not today," she said. "Dee and Helen are on a cruise this week."
"Talk about lucky," Sonya added.
Grandma Ang nodded her agreement and took her seat at the end of the table. Sonya motioned that Catherine and Steve should sit, and she took the chair on Steve's other side.
Catherine glanced around the room at the other players setting up at their spots, and the four began to do the same.
"Do you still play with the little colored chips?" she asked. "You used to have hundreds of them in one of those rainbow parfait containers."
"That was your favorite dessert when you'd come visit me when you were little," Grandma Ang said.
"Yeah," Catherine said, a fond smile on her face.
"Some people use the daubers, but most of us here are . . . how do you young people say it? Old school?"
Catherine and Steve chuckled.
"Besides," Grandma Ang continued, taking a plastic container out of her bag. "These are lucky."
Catherine gave a little gasp. "Is that the same container?" she asked, taking it in her hands.
Grandma Ang shrugged. "If it ain't broke . . ."
Catherine smiled.
"But I do have a dauber if you want to use that," Grandma Ang said and took a large red marker out of her bag.
"Oh no," Catherine said. "I'll go old school, too, if you'll share your lucky chips."
Grandma Ang took one of her hands and gave it a squeeze. "With you, my girl, always."
Catherine smiled.
"I'll take the dauber," Steve said, and Grandma Ang passed it to him. "How does it work? You just . . ." He took off the cap and looked at the circular tip. "Press it on the number when it's called?"
"That's it," Sonya said and removed her own container of chips from her bag. She winked at him. "I'm old school, too. One of the many reasons Ang and I get along so well."
He smiled.
"Well, I do have my lucky charm here I could lend you, Steve," Grandma Ang said. "If you're not going to use the lucky chips."
She took a slightly misshapen clay heart on a red piece of yarn out of her bag.
"Oh my God," Catherine said, a tear springing to her eye as she took the heart in her hand.
"My favorite granddaughter made me this when she was in first grade."
Catherine smiled. "Your only granddaughter, Gram."
Grandma Ang patted her cheek affectionately.
"Doesn't mean you're not my favorite."
Catherine laid her head on her grandmother's shoulder for a moment before sitting up.
Grandma Ang squeezed her arm, then looked around her and offered the heart to Steve.
He shook his head with a small smile.
"I don't want to deprive you of your lucky charm," he said. "Besides . . ." He looked at Catherine and took her hand. "I've got the real thing."
Catherine smiled at him, and he ran his thumb over the outside of hers.
"Oh, you two are just adorable," Sonya said.
Steve inhaled, holding up a finger on his other hand. "That . . . particular adjective–" He stopped when Catherine squeezed his hand, and he smiled. "Thank you."
Catherine's smile widened, and she released his hand so they could finish setting up for the game.
"Your phones are on silent, right?" Sonya asked.
Steve's brow furrowed. "Um . . ."
"You better check," she advised. "You do not want to hear what this group will say if your phone rings in the middle of a game."
"You got that right," Grandma Ang agreed.
Steve shrugged, and he and Catherine took out their phones.
"You're the experts," he said.
"B-15," Jeanette, the bingo caller, announced.
"Bingo!" Grandma Ang shouted, raising her hand.
Groans of "Ohh, Ang," echoed around the room.
Sonya laughed, and Grandma Ang rubbed her hands together, almost cackling with glee.
Steve sighed and sat back in his chair. "I just needed one more."
Catherine laughed and rubbed his arm.
"I told you," Grandma Ang said, tapping the clay heart around her neck. "Lucky."
A volunteer came over to Grandma Ang and read off her bingo numbers.
"That's a bingo," Jeanette said. "Which I think makes three wins for Ang today."
"Four," Grandma Ang called back.
Jeanette laughed. "My mistake. Four wins."
The volunteer gave Grandma Ang an envelope that held her cash prize for that round.
Jeanette looked around the room. "Leave your markers on your cards if you're using them, it's time for the jackpot game. The first to fill their card wins."
"Ooh," Steve said and straightened. He looked over at Grandma Ang. "Okay, I got you this time, Grandma Ang. I've got a good feeling about about this."
"Good luck," she said with a wink.
The game continued with number after number being called until Jeanette said, "G-50. That's G 5-0."
Steve marked his card. "That's me," he said and held out his hands. "I won."
"You've gotta yell, 'Bingo,' " Sonya told him.
"Really? Can't I just–"
"Hurry!" Grandma Ang said. "Before she calls the next number or it won't count!"
"Bingo!" Steve said and held his paper up in the air.
Catherine barked a laugh and covered her mouth with her hand.
He looked at her. "What?"
She shook her head, convulsing in silent laughter.
"Well, it looks like one of our special guests has hit the jackpot," Jeanette said.
The same volunteer came over to read off the numbers on Steve's card.
"That's it," Jeanette confirmed when the last number was read. She picked up an envelope. "Come on up, I've got your jackpot prize up here."
Steve stood and walked around the table. Grandma Ang patted him on the back as he passed her.
"That's my boy," she said.
He smiled back at her, then walked up to the table. Catherine watched as he spoke with Jeanette before her attention shifted to helping Grandma Ang and Sonya get ready to go.
When Steve rejoined them, Sonya and Catherine were helping Grandma Ang stand.
"Oh," she said with a little groan. "Too long in that chair."
"You good?" he asked and stepped close to help steady her.
She nodded. "Thank you," she said and took his arm.
Catherine grabbed her grandmother's bag, and she and Sonya followed Steve and Grandma Ang up the aisle, pausing occasionally to say goodbye to friends.
"Why don't you wait here?" Steve asked as they stepped outside. "I can get the car."
"No, no," she said. "It's right there."
"So what are you gonna do with your winnings?"
"My stash of two-dollar bills is running low. I'll have Elizabeth or Joseph take me to the bank next week so I can stock up."
"Two-dollar bills?" Sonya asked from behind them.
"To send my grandkids and great-nieces and nephews on holidays," Grandma Ang said over her shoulder.
"So those are lucky two-dollar bills," Steve said.
She smiled at him. "Every one of them."
He returned her smile.
"What about you?" she asked. "That was a hundred dollar jackpot."
"I uh . . ." His lip twitched. "I've got an idea."
"Listen to you," she said with a cluck of her tongue. "So mysterious."
He chuckled and glanced at his watch.
"We should make it back in time for the first inning," he said.
"Who are they playing?" Sonya asked.
"St. Louis," Catherine said.
"Those bums," Grandma Ang said.
"I thought the Cubs were the bums," Steve said with a quick smile back at Catherine.
Grandma Ang waved a hand. "They're all bums."
"They're above .500, though," he pointed out.
They reached the car, and he opened the passenger door for her.
"They need to make up some ground this series," she said, maneuvering into the seat.
"Or risk Gram's wrath," Catherine said as she came around the other side of the car.
She kissed her grandmother's cheek before opening the back passenger door for Sonya.
"Okay, well, let's get going so you don't miss the first pitch," Steve said.
After dropping Sonya off, Steve drove them back to the Rollins' house. He helped Grandma Ang out of the car and passed her hand to Catherine.
"I've gotta run into town for something," he said.
Catherine's brow furrowed, and she gave him a questioning look.
"Ohh," Grandma Ang said knowingly. "Must be his mysterious idea."
"I'll be back before the seventh inning stretch," he promised.
Catherine shrugged with an indulgent smile. "Okay. See you in a bit."
She guided her grandmother around the front of the car.
Steve waited to make sure the two women got up to the house before getting back in the car and backing it out of the driveway.
An hour and a half later, Steve came back to find the rest of the family, minus Joan, in the living room chatting as they waited for the Cubs' game to return from commercial break.
"Hey, there's the big winner," Elizabeth said when she saw him.
"The big, handsome winner," Mary teased, and Catherine chuckled.
"Back from his mysterious errand," Joseph added.
"Yeah," Mary said. She nodded toward the two bags he was carrying. "What was so important you had to get it tonight?"
"Hang on, will ya?" Steve said. "I just walked in the door."
"I can't believe you won," Joseph said, laughing lightly. "Those ladies must have been fit to be tied."
Steve nodded with a chuckle. "I got more than one stink eye on the way out, that's for sure."
"Well, of course," Elizabeth said. "Handsome or not, you're an interloper taking their jackpot."
"So what did you do with the money?" Grandma Ang asked.
"Oh, I donated it back to the senior center," he said and stepped up by her chair. "Well, all except twenty-five bucks."
"Twenty-five bucks?" Mary asked. "What did you need twenty-five bucks for?"
"To get this," he said and gave Grandma Ang one of the plastic bags.
She opened it and took out a Rummikub box.
"It's the Large Numbers Edition," he said and leaned down by her. "No more looking at those damn small tiles."
She opened her mouth, then closed it.
"Did I just make Grandma Ang speechless?" he teased.
"Oh, get out," she said, clucking her tongue at him.
She put a hand on his face and kissed his cheek.
"Thank you," she said, her voice a little hoarse.
"You're welcome," he replied quietly.
When he straightened, Mary said, "And you used part of your bingo winnings to buy that because . . ."
Steve gave a little shrug and looked down at Grandma Ang. "Wanted it to be lucky."
She patted his hand. "That's my boy."
Steve looked over and caught Catherine's eye from her seat on the sofa with her mother. She smiled at him, her eyes shining happily.
"Got something for you, too," he said to her.
"Oh?" she asked.
He stepped over and gave her the other bag.
"Well, hopefully you'll share," he said and nodded to the others in the room.
She looked in the bag and sighed. Swallowing, she smiled up at him and pulled two tubs from the bag.
"Rainbow parfait," Elizabeth said. "I haven't had that in years."
"I was glad they still make it," Steve said. "Got lucky. The second store I checked carried it."
"Two tubs?" Catherine asked.
He shrugged and his lip twitched in a half smile. "I figure we should probably start collecting bingo chips now. I've got a streak to maintain."
Shaking her head, she laughed lightly and reached up to pull him down for a sweet kiss.
"Come on, Commander Jackpot," she said as she stood. "Let's go get some bowls for this parfait."
That night, Steve lay stretched out on his back in their bed in the guestroom, and Catherine rested against his side.
She ran a hand over his chest and asked, "What are you thinking about?"
He paused.
"Two-dollar bills," he said finally.
She smiled. "A Grandma Ang tradition."
"I remember . . . after I met her the first time . . . after your dad's retirement . . ." He took her hand and intertwined their fingers on his chest. "She sent me a card for Halloween along with yours, and you sent it on to me. Had a two-dollar bill in it. And you explained how she sent them for every birthday and holiday."
"Yeah," she said quietly, waiting for him to continue.
"I . . . that was . . ." He swallowed. "I felt like part of your family . . . part of a family, for the first time in a long time. And every card since then has reminded me of how I felt after that first one."
She tightened her fingers around his.
He chuckled lightly. "Maybe Danny's onto something with that whole 'luckiest guy on the planet' thing."
She shifted and leaned up on her elbow to look at him.
"I don't know that luck has so much to do with it," she said. "At least as far as my family goes. They see you for the man you are, and they love you for that." She smiled softly. "Like I do."
He held her gaze a moment and returned her smile with one of his own.
Curling his arm around her back, he pulled her back down to lie against his chest. He pressed his cheek against the top of her head and sighed.
"This feels pretty lucky to me."
Hope you enjoyed!
Notes: Thanks to Mari and Sammy for the AMAZING feedback and support. Breakfast carnage!
REAL McRollers – Thanks for all the marathon love! We love hearing from you!
Today's question: What are your favorite gestures or acts of love in the REAL World?
I have a bunch, of course, but here are a few:
Catherine getting to the farmer's market early for mango energy bars in Every Day
Cody moving the coffee table out of the way when Jacob is doing headstands in Male Bonding
Catherine suggesting the nightstands with the spindles for Mary and Joan in Perfect
Catherine getting fish wraps for Steve to eat at the hospital so he doesn't have to try to eat the rice pilaf when he couldn't see in A Cohesive Team
Steve's improvised ketchup and eggs for Cath's birthday in Happy Improvising
Steve giving Catherine his grandfather's navigation book in Overrated
Okay, maybe that was more than a few . . .
What are yours?