"Happy birthday, sweetheart!" says Toby as he lifts the two year old into his arms, engulfing her in a hug. She giggles as her hands go to his face, grabbing the scruff of Toby's beard in her fist.
"OW!" Toby yelps in pain. "Don't pull so hard, kiddo."
"Nice work, kid," Happy laughs, appearing at Toby's side and placing a gentle hand on the girl's back. Toby lowers her into Happy's arms and he cautiously strokes his chin, his face still in a cringe. Happy rests the kid on her hip and holds up her free hand for a high-five, which the girl happily returns. They go to join the others on the couches surrounding a table in front of their two bowling lanes, and Happy puts down the child before reaching for the pint of beer and an empty glass. She fills it and passes it to Toby before filling one for herself.
"Two years old already?" Cabe asks as he watches the little girl run around, smiling and dancing to the music playing overhead.
"Actually she's not two for another 3 hours and 17 minutes. She was born at 10:08 pm." Says Ralph as he types their names into the machine and they appear on the screens above the lanes. He puts Walter and Cabe on one lane, and Happy, Toby, and himself on the other.
"You aren't bowling, Paige?" Asks Happy. Paige shakes her head.
"No, I need to keep this one entertained," she nods at her toddler, who's flipping through the pages of an illustrated book.
"And what about you, Sly?" Toby asks.
"No way! For one, I'd have to wear those horrible bowling shoes, which likely harbor really nasty toe fungus and bacteria. And then there's the bowling balls themselves, which are cleaned with a cheap water-based disinfectant that only gets rid of an average 86% of germs. That leaves 14% of germs found on human hands remaining on the ball. I'd rather not subject myself to those odds of contracting a virus. I'll just be the official scorekeeper." Sylvester responds. Toby rolls his eyes and takes a swig of beer.
"Dang it…" says Ralph, frowning at the screen. "But we need somebody else to bowl with Cabe and Walter."
"I think that sounds like a job for me," They all turn their heads at the voice, which belongs to none other than Ray Spiewack. He's meandering over to them, his arms extended and sporting his classic half-smile.
"Ray!" Paige cheers as she jumps up to greet him with a hug. She has to bend down slightly to reach him, but Ray doesn't seem concerned, and just swings his arms around her back.
"You're looking lovely as ever, Dineen," says Ray when they break apart.
"Actually it's O'Brien now," Paige says with a laugh.
"You should know that, you came to the wedding," says Walter as he extends a hand to Ray. Ray takes it, but rather than shaking it he pulls Walter into a giant hug as well.
"Oh ya," says Ray with a shrug, "To be fair, I was really drunk. I'm still a little fuzzy on who's wedding that was, whether it was yours or theirs," he gestures to Toby and Happy on the couch, "or any combination of the gang!"
Walter huffs a laugh and shakes his head at Ray's preposterous statement. "Whatever, it's great to see you, man. Thanks for coming. The bowling was Paige's idea." He says as he offers Ray some beer. Ray takes it and chugs half the glass in one drink.
"It's a great idea! Bowling's fun! Now, where's that little lady?" He asks as search their corner for the birthday girl. She's sitting in Ralph's lap and Ray goes to greet them both, offering a high-five just as Happy did, to which the girl again obliges. He then makes a fist and points it at her, but she just stares at it confused.
"Ya, we're still working on the fist bump," says Toby as he stands up and claps his hands together. "Ok, let's get this show on the road. I need a big win tonight so that I can win our bet and Happy will owe me a lap dance." He smirked and turned to Sylvester, who turned his face up in disgust.
"In your dreams, loser. You're going to owe me tonight." Says Happy with a playful gleam in her eyes.
"Can you two please not be so crude in front of my children?" Paige asks, overhearing them.
"Ralph's 14, making him old enough to assume most crude activity happens anyways. And she's two! She has no concept of things beyond physical manifestation." Toby babbles, though no one is really listening to him. Ralph lowers his sister onto the ground and moves over the lane, Walter following behind.
"Ok, Ralph, the key here is to calculate the physics of a perfect throw by factoring the distance of the lane and the curve of the ball. Without proper velocity the ball is guaranteed to swing one direction or the other before it reaches the pins, so you need to —,"
Ralph rolls the ball down the lane with all the force he has in him. The ball starts out to the right of the center pin, but hooks at the last second, sending it spiraling into the pyramid, knocking them all over for a strike.
Ralph looks over to Walter, who's nodding his head, looking impressed. "I've been around you guys long enough," Says Ralph, "I know how physics work."
They all laugh and the competition begins as Sylvester dishes out the exact angles needed to get the spare and time and time again Toby misses.
"You're up, Hap," he says as he grabs his beer and slouches miserably into the couch after another 6 and a gutter ball.
"Ok, ok, hold on," Happy says through a mouthful of pizza before taking another bite of her chicken wing. She wipes her fingers on her thigh before pulling the bowling ball from the rack and nonchalantly swinging it down the lane. She turns to head back towards the food before the ball even makes contact with the pins, but she's confident she got a strike when she sees Toby's face go to shock and frustration again.
She shrugs. "Simple science, Doc."
Toby mutters something under his breath that Happy doesn't catch but Sylvester seems to, and he lets out an exasperated laugh before looking up to catch Cabe nearly throw out his back in his attempt to bowl. His hand goes to his back as he stands up straight, a grimace spreading across his face.
"How come I can tackle criminals and fight bad guys just fine but I can't going bowling without sending myself to the emergency room?" He makes his way back over to the couches.
"Let's go at least one night without a trip to the hospital please," says Walter as he scoops his young daughter into his arms and offers her a cookie from Paige's purse.
"Yes, that would be nice. I'm going to get more food." Paige gets up and places a kiss on the girl's head and Walter's cheek.
"I'm getting more alcohol! Ray finished the last of the beer." Toby calls as he gets up and follows her. Ray raises his glass at Toby and nods before downing the rest of his drink.
The team's hour on the lanes is almost up, and at this point they really couldn't care any less about the score. In between frequent strikes and the occasional spare, Happy sat down on the floor to play a sort of peekaboo game with Toby's hat and the baby, while Paige had given in and got a drink for herself. Ray and Cabe were entertain Sylvester and Ralph with hilarious stories, and only Toby seemed still interesting in the game.
"I just need a strike! At least one!" He says before throwing the ball again. It hits the center pin perfectly and his face lights up as the pins fall. Toby does a little jump out of excitement, but he's soon disappointed when one pin remains standing.
"What?!" He cries, his arms flailing outward as he gestures to the standing pin in the corner. "I was gypped! Robbed I tell you! That was my strike!" He throws a middle finger into the air.
"Why do you want a strike so bad anyway? It's just a stupid game." Says Ralph as he picks up his bowling ball and goes to his lane.
"It's a pride issue, Ralph. Happy's kicking my ass and she's not even trying."
Ralph shrugs. "Happy kicks everyone's ass, and she usually doesn't have to try." He turns back to the bowling lane and throws another one of his hooking balls, and again it results in a strike. He turns to Toby and can't help but laugh.
"See? It's not that hard." Ralph deadpans before going back to their table. Toby's mouth gaps and he throws his hands up in surrender.
"I give up!" He says and falls into the couch again. The lights go out on both of their lanes and Sylvester calls out their scores. Happy beats everyone with a near-perfect score of 190, with Ralph in second place with 184. Happy smirks at Toby with an almost diabolical look in her eye and Toby throws her back a mock glare of annoyance, but ends up laughing. Toby does manage to beat Walter, though, but only because Walter had given up bowling halfway through the game and went and sat down next to Paige instead. Toby also beat Ray, though this was a much less impressive feat considering Ray had drunk so much beer that he probably couldn't see straight enough to aim the ball.
"Come on, Doc. Time to go home," Happy says as she walks over in front of the couch Toby's slouching into and offers him a hand to pull him up. He takes it but instead of pulling him straight up, she pulls him into her for a lazy kiss. He returns the kiss and is looking quite pleased when she pulls away.
"You owe me." She says with a wink and Toby considers that if had to take a punishment for losing a bet, this is probably the best one he could think of.
"This was fun! We should do stuff like this more often." Says Paige as they're walking out. Happy and Toby walk behind them, hand in hand.
"Agreed. This was a nice change of pace," Walter smiles at his daughter and she giggles back at him. "And I'll take any opportunity to watch Toby make a fool of himself." He laughs.
"Hey!" Toby cries.
Happy nudges his side her elbow. "Don't be such a sore loser."
"Well maybe next week we should play a game more suited to my talents. Hey everybody! Next weekend, the garage, Dance Dance Revolution. And come prepared to lose."