Nine-year-old Lucia sat in bed, frowning up at the ceiling. She refused to glace over when her older sister, Penny, entered the bedroom they shared.
"Hey, Lucia," Penny smiled. "How are you feeling?"
"It's not fair," Lucia complained. "Why do I gotta stay home? I wanna go see the movie with Mommy, Daddy, Zack and Rodolfo."
"I know you do," Penny replied in understanding. "But you have chicken pox. You have to stay in bed. Believe me, I know it's no fun. I had chicken pox when I was seven, and Mom didn't let me leave bed, either. Actually, considering we lived in the Center at the time, she put me in quarantine so I wouldn't pass it to the other children."
"Penny?" Lucia suddenly smiled at her sister. "Tell me a story?"
"Oh, you want a story, huh? What kind of story do you want?"
"I want one of your stories! The ones about Mommy and Daddy, and Auntie Maureen, and Aunt Joanne, and Uncle Roger, Uncle Collins, and Aunt Mimi! I love those stories, especially the one about Auntie Maureen trying that handcuff magic trick, and Mommy coming to the rescue." Penny smiled softly, reflecting. Lucia loved hearing about the old days, and all the crazy misadventures the Bohemian family had. For a few minutes, Penny racked her brains, trying to come up with a story Lucia hadn't heard of yet.
"Okay," Penny announced finally. "How'd you like to hear the story about Uncle Roger marrying Aunt Mimi? Does that sound good?" Lucia flashed her brightest smile and lay back in bed, waiting for Penny to begin the story. "It was, oh, about fourteen years ago now. Uncle Roger had scraped together some money, which was very hard to come by for us back then, and took Aunt Mimi to a good 'sit-down' restaurant, with those waiters in stuffy suits. It was there that he asked Aunt Mimi to be his wife. Aunt Mimi loved Uncle Roger more than anything in the world, so she said yes. But that, Lucia, was just the beginning. Uncle Roger and Aunt Mimi were Bohemians. And when you're a Bohemian, not even the most typical thing can be done normally."
AN: As you may have guessed, this story is one big flashback. It was supposed to have been posted before The Story of my Parents, but that story just flowed onto paper. Hope you enjoy it.
