Friday Night Euchre
A/N: This is a one-shot, set approximately a week after the wedding in Furt.
Euchre is a card game. When I first learned it, my parents told me it was particular to Indiana. However, I've since met people from Ontario, Canada who were familiar with the game, suggesting the game is played across the Great Lakes region.
Cards haven't been mentioned in Glee Canon at all yet, but I keep expecting them to play some games somewhere. It was such a large part of my family life.
Just domestic Hudmels. I told myself I would write a story a week, and this is what I got this week. I'm afraid it is way too long.
No lo tengo.
Carole had loved the idea of Friday Night Dinners from the first time she had heard about the Hummel tradition. The Friday after her wedding to Burt, the four of them had Friday Night Dinner together. Since Kurt was commuting back from Dalton, Carole prepared the meal.
Over dinner, Burt and Finn talked football, and Kurt talked about his week at Dalton. It was a bye week for the Football team, so Finn didn't have a game this week, which allowed all four of them to eat together.
As the meal wound down, and Carole brought out a fruit dish for dessert, she looked around and said with delight, "There's four of us now."
Kurt looked at her quizzically.
"Four means we could play a card game, like Euchre." Carole continued. Kurt's face cleared up, but now it was Finn's turn to look confused.
"Euchre?"
Burt asked Finn, "You've never played Euchre?"
Finn shook his head, "I've never heard of it."
Kurt added, "He was usually out playing ball when the cards came out."
Carole explained "There are alternate rules for playing with two or three people, but really Euchre takes four. It's been a long time since we had four together."
"The rules are easy," Burt explained. "Let's clean up, and then we'll get the cards."
After the table had been cleared and the dishes washed, the four of them sat around the table with a deck of cards. Carole and Burt sat next to each other, with their respective sons as card partners.
Burt began sorting the cards into three piles as he explained, "Euchre is played with about half the deck. The deuces through eight's are not played. We only use the 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King, and Ace." Slowly, eight cards were sorted into a third pile. "The Fours and Sixes are used for scorekeeping." Burt picked up the stack of 4's and 6's, and looked at Kurt and Carole, "Which set do you want for scorekeeping?"
"Spades," Kurt said.
"Hearts," Carole chose.
Burt passed the score-cards for those suits to Kurt and Carole. Carole set the cards facing each other. Kurt made a point to keep the 4 on top, "I don't want to weigh down the score," he half-joked.
Burt set the unused cards on a shelf behind the table, then began shuffling. "The cards are dealt in two rounds, usually in combinations of two or three cards. Each player gets five cards total." He offered the cut to Finn, who split the stack. Burt set the bottom pile on top, then began to deal: three cards to Carole, two to Kurt, three to Finn, two to himself. On the second round, he reversed the pattern and gave two cards to Carole, three to Kurt, two to Finn, three to himself. He counted the remaining cards, set them in the middle of the table, and turned over the top card – 10 of diamonds.
"What's left is called the kitty. The card on top means that first choice is, Diamonds for trump?"
Carole suggested, "Maybe we should play one or two hands open-faced, until Finn gets the idea." Kurt and Burt nodded, and all three set their cards on the table in front of them, face-up. Finn followed their lead, and lay his cards out.
First round, Hands as Dealt (10 of Diamonds up):
Carole: Jack of Diamonds, Jack of Clubs, Jack of Spades, Ten of Hearts, Ten of Clubs.
Kurt: Jack of Hearts, Queen of Diamonds, King of Clubs, Ace of Hearts, Queen of Spades
Finn: Ace of Diamonds, 9 of Diamonds, King, 10, and 9 of Spades
Burt: King, Queen, 9 of Hearts, Ace of Spades, Queen of Clubs
Carole continued the explanation, "This is a game with Trumps, and Tricks. Whatever suit is trump, those cards outrank the other suits." She pointed at the ten of diamonds, and then at the Jack of diamonds in her hand. "In non-trump suits, the Ace is the highest card. But for the trumps, the Jack of that suit is called the Right Bower, and it's the highest card in the game. In this case, if Diamonds are called trump, the jack of the other red suit – Hearts – will be the Left Bower, and second highest card in the game. Then the Ace of diamonds, King, Queen, 10, and 9." Carole set the Jack of Diamonds a little apart, to her right.
"Unfortunately," Carole indicated her remaining cards, "I don't have any other diamonds. I have both the Jack of Clubs and the Jack of Spades, so I'd rather one of those as trump." She set those two jacks to the left of her hand.
"That leaves me with the ten of hearts, and the ten of clubs. Tens are almost the weakest cards in the deck. The ten of hearts, alone, doesn't do me much good." Carole set it to the right, with the Jack of Diamonds, "But if I could make Clubs trump, then this ten of clubs could get me a third trick."
"So, right now I will call 'Pass,' and hope to call a suit on the second round." She looked to her left, where Kurt now had the choice.
Kurt had sorted the cards from his hand so that the Jack of Hearts was on the left, Queen of Diamonds next, then King of Clubs, Ace of Hearts, and Queen of spades. He pointed to the Jack of Hearts, "If I accept Diamonds as trump, then this Jack of Hearts becomes the left bower, that second most powerful card in the game." Kurt moved his finger over to the Queen of Diamonds, "I'm lucky, I have the Queen of Diamonds to protect the left bower against Carole's Right Bower."
Next, Kurt pointed to the Ace of Hearts. "This Ace isn't a trump, but it could still be useful." Kurt thought about the cards in his hand, then explained his thoughts aloud. "If I got to call Hearts, that would give me the second and third strongest cards in the game, but then these Kings and Queens might not get us three tricks.
"I should, in theory, be able to count on my partner" he gestured toward Burt "for one trick. And diamonds is my strongest suit, so I will call it 'Up.'"
Burt picked up the ten of diamonds, and set it with his hand. He explained, "Now I need to discard one of my cards. Looking at what I have, you would think that the 9 of Hearts was the weakest. But I also have the King and Queen of Hearts, so if Carole leads hearts, I would have to follow suit." Burt pointed to the two black cards in this hand, "The Queen of Clubs and the Ace of Spades are both alone. If I discard one of those, then I might be able to play this trump. The Ace is a strong card, so I'll discard the Queen."
Starting Hands (Diamonds Trump):
Carole: Jack of Diamonds, Jack of Clubs, Jack of Spades, Ten of Hearts, Ten of Clubs.
Kurt: Jack of Hearts, Queen of Diamonds, King of Clubs, Ace of Hearts, Queen of Spades
Finn: Ace of Diamonds, 9 of Diamonds, King, 10, and 9 of Spades
Burt: 10 of Diamonds, King, Queen, 9 of Hearts, Ace of Spades
Following up words with actions, Burt set the Queen of Clubs facedown on the kitty, then set the kitty to aside. He looked to Carole, "You lead, Diamonds are trump."
Carole rearranged her cards to reflect that reality, then led with the Jack of Diamonds.
Kurt explained, "Right bower up front. I have to follow suit." He played the Queen of Diamonds, and then looked to Finn.
Finn had two diamonds, the Ace and the 9. He picked up the Ace first, but Carole spoke up. "I've played the Right Bower, Finn. This trick is mine already. If you play the 9 instead, you might be able to win a trick with the Ace later." Finn set the Ace down and picked up the 9 of Diamonds instead, adding it to the cards in the center.
Burt tossed in the 10 of Diamonds, and Carole swept the cards into a stack, face down in front of her. "My next highest card is one of these Jacks, neither of which is a Bower. Finn played a trump, so I don't know how he can help. I'll play the Jack of Clubs, and hope for the best."
Kurt looked at his hand, "Since I have a Club, I have to follow suit." He added the King of Clubs to the trick. "Good thing this outranks your Jack."
Finn looked, "I don't have any Clubs."
Carole grinned, "But you have that Ace of Diamonds, so you can trump Kurt's card." Finn added the Ace of Diamonds to the trick.
Burt sighed. "I don't have any clubs, nor do I have trumps. The lowest card in my hand is this 9." He added the 9 of Hearts to the trick, and Carole swept these into a second stack.
Carole looked at Finn, "You won this trick, so it's your turn to lead."
Finn only had spades left – the King, 10 and 9. The King was highest, so he picked it up, and played it.
"I can follow suit," Burt grinned, as he played his Ace. Carole silently added her Jack.
Kurt played the Queen, saying "I'm glad you did that, Dad." Burt gestured, and Kurt raked in the third trick.
Burt led the fourth trick with his King of Hearts. Carole followed suit with her 10. Kurt shrugged as he added his Ace, "Sorry to take your trick, Dad."
Burt shrugged, and Finn played his 9 of spades. Kurt raked in the fourth trick, and played his last card: the Jack of Hearts. "This trick is mine, we got our point."
Finn looked confused, "But Burt has the Queen, isn't this his trick?"
Carole grinned again, "Diamonds are trump, Finn. So the Jack of Hearts is the Left Bower, and Kurt's playing a trump."
Finn shook his head, and the other three players threw in their last cards. Kurt moved the score cards to show one of the spots on the six.
Carole picked up the kitty, and Kurt passed her the cards they had won.
Score: Hummel's: 1, Hudson's: 0
Carole shuffled the cards, and offered Burt the cut, but he just tapped the stack. She dealt a different patter: 1-2-3-4 the first round, then 4-3-2-1 the second. The Ace of Diamonds was turned up.
This time, they held their cards close. Kurt looked at his hand, then said said, "Pass."
Finn looked at his cards, and Carole spoke up, "So now you get to choose between asking me to pick this up, or passing."
"And if I say to pick it up, then diamonds are trump again." Carole nodded.
"What's that Bower thing again?"
"If Diamonds become Trump, then the Jack of Diamonds is the right bower, and the Jack of Hearts is the left bower." Carole explained.
"Pick it up," Finn said, more confident this time.
Carole picked up the Ace, discarded a card, and looked to Kurt.
Second round, Starting Hands (Diamonds trump):
Kurt: 10 of Diamonds, Ace of Spades, Jack of Clubs, King of Clubs
Finn: Jack and King of Diamonds, Jack of Hearts, Jack of Spades, Queen of Clubs
Burt: Queen of Diamonds, Queen of Spades, Ace and 9 of Hearts, Ace of Club Carole: Ace of Diamonds, King and Queen of Hearts, 10 and 9 of Clubs
Kurt led with the Ace of Spades. Finn followed suit with the Jack, and Burt with the Queen. Carole looked at the cards in her hand, and one the board. "So far, it's mine." Kurt said.
Carole nodded in resolution, and played the Ace of Diamonds. "Not anymore, it's not." She raked in the first trick, then played the King of Hearts. Kurt followed with the 10 of Diamonds.
Finn played the Jack of Hearts. "You do know that's trump, right?" Carole asked him.
"Yes. It's also my only heart." Carole looked at him askance, but let it go. Burt followed with the 9 of hearts. Carole raked in the second trick, and nodded at Finn to lead. Finn played the Jack of Diamonds, and Carole's eyebrows rose. Burt followed suit with the Queen. Carole played the 10 of Clubs, and Kurt the 9 of diamonds.
Carole raked in the third trick, "That's one point."
Finn played his King. Burt played the Ace of Hearts. Carole played the 10 of Clubs, and Kurt played the Jack.
While Carole raked in the fourth trick, Kurt told Finn "This is it. You win this trick, you get two points. You lose it, you only get one." Finn held up his last card for a suspenseful moment, then played the Queen of Clubs. Burt and Kurt both smiled, then Burt played his Ace of Clubs.
Kurt jumped up, "Yes!" Carole played her Queen of Hearts, and Kurt his King of Clubs.
Score: Hummel's: 1, Hudson's: 1
Kurt dealt the third round. This time, Finn, Burt, and Carole all turned down the first trump, Hearts. Kurt looked at his hand, turned that card over, and set the kitty aside. Finn looked confused, again.
Carole explained, "Do you have any suit that you want to be trump? Do you think you can win two tricks in that suit? Because in theory I can help you with one."
Finn looked at his cards, but didn't like what he saw. "No, I don't think I can."
"Then you can 'Pass' again."
"Okay, Pass."
Burt also passed. Carole called Clubs, alone.
"Put your cards down, Finn." Burt requested. "If your mom can get all five tricks by herself, your team gets four points." Finn just watched this round. Carole easily won four tricks off the Hummels, but this time Kurt won the fifth.
Score: Hummel's: 1, Hudson's: 2
Finn dealt the fourth round. The first trump came all the way around to him, and this time he picked it up. Burt led the hand, and won the first trick. Finn was able to take the second and third, but on the fourth when he hoped Carole could help, she came up empty. Kurt took the fourth trick, and Burt the fifth.
Carole laughed, "Oh well. We just got Euched."
"Two points for us," Burt grinned.
Score: Hummel's: 3, Hudson's: 2
The game moved quickly after that, as Finn had figured out the basic rules. They went back to talking about Dalton, and McKinley, business at the tire shop, and Carole's job. Eventually, Kurt & Burt reached 10 points and won that game.
Finn actually asked to play again, and this time he and Carole won.
They played until it was time for bed, and then they all went to sleep.
A/N I hope that wasn't too boring. It sounded like a good idea when I started… but then I got bored writing it.