"So, about that dork you're dating," Simon began at supper that evening. For once, everyone was accounted for and they were eating peacefully.

"Who's dating a dork?" Mr. McRoyan asked, looking up from his paper. His reading glasses were perched precariously on the tip of his nose, and he pushed them up with his index finger.

"Mattie's dating a dork!" Nicky exclaimed helpfully.

"He's not a dork," she snapped at her brothers.

"I don't think you should date dorks," their father said.

"He's not a dork!"

"Anyway, about this dork," Simon continued. "When do we get to meet him to see if he's okay?"

"Never."

"I've already met him," Sam said between sips of his milk. "He's alright. His cousin's a hottie."

"Toby's spoken for. She and Chris are practically married. They already act like they're on their honeymoon," Mattie reminded him. "Haha."

"Daddy did you make dessert?" Will asked hopefully.

"You haven't even finished your supper and you're asking about dessert?" Mr. McRoyan asked.

"I'm not hungry for supper, I'm hungry for dessert."

"No, there's no dessert. Sorry bud."

"There would be dessert if Sam hadn't thrown away our perfectly good pie," Nicky pouted.

"Did you even try that pie?" Sam cried. " It tasted like processed crap."

"Dad, make him shut up," Nicky demanded.

"So, Mattie, when do we get to meet this boy?"

"He's nice!" Will exclaimed. "He walked me home today!"

"Walked you home from where?" Sam asked.

"The movie!"

Mattie gave a strained laugh. "Will, I think that's a story for later." She smiled at her father. "I don't know, when do you want to meet him?"

"Does he like turtles?" Will asked.

"Uh," she looked over at him curiously. "Sure?"

Vincent bumped his sister's elbow as she attempted to pour gravy over her potatoes. The gravy ended up all over the white tablecloth. "Vincent!" Toby snapped maliciously.

"Careful, you two!" their uncle barked.

"Bravo, Toby," Vincent said.

"Why won't you move out already?" she demanded.

"Honey, your brother is welcome to stay with us for as long as he needs to," her aunt Francis reminded her.

Vincent smiled smugly and popped a forkful of peas into his mouth.

Gordie, who had not said a word since he and Toby had gotten home late that afternoon, looked up at his mother and asked softly, "May I please have the milk?"

She smiled at him and poured milk into his glass for him.

"Mom, you don't have to--" he protested, but stopped to smile and thank her.

"So, Gordon, how was your day?" his father asked. Usually John Lachance didn't say a whole lot, and he rarely spoke to his son unless he was spoken to first.

"It was okay, Dad," Gordie said quietly.

"Go into detail," Toby cried exasperatedly.

"I don't feel like going into detail, Toby," he growled.

"Gordie has a girlfriend," she announced.

"Do you?" his mother asked, apparently pleased. "Well, that's wonderful, sweetie. I wish I would have made cobbler tonight like I'd planned so we'd have something to celebrate with, but I was just too tired. What is she like, Gordie?"

"I don't know…" he said hesitantly, shooting glares at Toby. "She's nice. Her family just moved here from Portland."

"Yeah, she and her brother and me I guess went to the same elementary school there, but hell if remember them--" Toby babbled.

"Toby, proper girls do not swear," John said gruffly. "You don't want people thinking you're an uneducated trollop, do you?"

"No, sir," she muttered, tearing the corners off of her serviette.

"What's this girl's father do?" he asked Gordie.

"I think he works at the mill."

"Jim McRoyan?" His piercing blue eyes bore into him with marked disdain. "I've heard he's quite the regular at the Mellow Tiger Bar."

He lowered his head. "Mattie said that he's been drinking some evenings since his wife died, I guess."

"And you're sure this is a girl that you should be involving yourself with?"

Gordie couldn't stand that condescending look. He couldn't even stand his father for the most part. He didn't know Mattie. He didn't know anything. He didn't even know her father, but he still figured he knew everything about her family.

"You don't even know her, so don't judge her already!" Gordie yelled without thinking.

His mother and his cousins looked back and forth between Gordie and John with wide, shocked eyes.

"I know her kind, Gordon," John said at last, infuriatingly calm.

"You do not."

"She's very nice, Uncle John," Toby murmured. She'd had this same argument before with her uncle, except regarding Chris. His narrow-mindedness frustrated her to every brink, but she had never gotten over her awe-struck fear of him. "You'd probably like her if you met her."

"I probably would not. But I can guarantee you that I will be meeting this McRoyan girl."