Family Game Night

"You come across a mysterious old hermit in the middle of the road." Marcy said, placing a piece on the game mat. "His eyes are silvery white. He doesn't appear to have noticed you. How do you proceed?"

"Anne, do you have the Detect Evil and Good spell?" Sasha whispered as she flipped through her character sheet. Anne did the same.

"No, but maybe I could use my high charisma and roll for persuasion to get him to tell us if he's a threat." Anne whispered back. Marcy watched them excitedly. Sasha scratched her chin.

"Okay, but maybe I could roll for perception while you get him to tell us." Sasha said, eyeing the piece suspiciously.

"How high is your wisdom stat though? Didn't you put everything into strength?" Anne said, looking over at Sasha's character sheet.

"How else am I supposed to play an orc barbarian?" Sasha said defensively, "And yes I have some points in wisdom."

"The old hermit seems to detect a presence nearby and calls out." Marcy began. "Who goes there?"

"Shit! Talk to him, Anne." Sasha said quickly. Anne grabbed her dice.

"Uh, just two humble travelers looking for the nearest town." Anne said and glanced at Marcy. "Can you tell us the way?"

"He seems suspicious of your request." Marcy smiles.

"He's suspicious of us? He's an old creepy hermit hanging out in the middle of the road!" Sasha argued.

"Sasha!" Anne hissed.

"He raises a pale boney hand and points down one fork in the road."

"Well, let's not go that way." Sasha said flatly. "I roll for perception." Marcy looked down at the dice and Sasha shared her stats.

"You are unable to tell his true intentions." Marcy smirked.

"I want to ask him what he's doing out here in the middle of the night." Anne said.

"Roll for persuasion." Marcy said and watched Anne's roll. She nodded. "I have been waiting for two travelers such as yourselves." She said in her best imitation of an old man's voice. "He points back down the road. You will find the town you seek that way. However, it's not what you need."

"We need supplies." Sasha said, looking through her notes.

"What do you mean by what we need?" Anne asked curiously.

"Roll for awareness." Marcy said with a guarded expression. Sasha and Anne straightened up and grabbed their dice. They read out their numbers. Marcy started putting more pieces onto the board.

"You notice several figures creeping through the woods around you. They haven't completely surrounded you yet." Marcy said watching them. "The hermit has nothing more to say."

"I draw my ax." Sasha said, pushing her character forward.

"Wait! We don't know if he's evil or not." Anne argued.

"He was standing in the middle of the road at night and now it looks like we are about to be ambushed."

"Let me try something first." Anne said thinking quickly.

"Like I get that you're a bard and everything but we can't solve everything through charm and charisma alone." Sasha sighed.

"Sasha how buff is your orc?" Anne asked suddenly.

"What?"

"Like he has a six pack, right?"

"You better not be taking this where I think you're taking this." Sasha frowned.

"Okay but does he or doesn't he?" Anne continued.

"Of course he does but he is not seducing some creepy random old man-" Sasha started but they were interrupted by the sound of crying through the baby monitor. There was a collective sigh. Marcy pushed back her chair and got up. She put a hand to her belly and took a minute to catch her breath. Anne and Sasha made to get up but Marcy waved them back down.

"I've got it. I just needed a minute." Marcy smiled and put a hand on her lower back. "You two keep working on your plan. I'll be right back." They watched as she hobbled away. Sasha noticed Anne's pained expression out of the corner of her eye. She saw Anne subconsciously put a hand to her own belly. She opened her mouth to say something but couldn't find the right words. Anne caught her eye and looked away. Only a few minutes later Marcy came back with their toddler clutching her hand as big fat tears rolled down his face. Anne got up from her seat, knelt down, and opened her arms wide. With a loud sob he let go of Marcy's hand and ran into Anne's arms.

"Mæ̀!" He cried while sniffing loudly. Anne hugged him tightly and lifted him up. She shushed him while bouncing him lightly.

"It's going to be okay. I've got you. Everything is going to be okay." She soothed as she rubbed his back.

"He had a nightmare." Marcy informed them as she sat back down.

"It was so scary!" Troy wailed into Anne's shoulder. After a moment or two he started to calm down as Anne continued to shush and hold him. She reached for a box of tissues. Sitting down she started to wipe away all the snot running down his face. She grabbed another tissue and wiped away his tears before grabbing another.

"Blow." She said, holding it up to his nose. He screwed his eyes shut and blew out a large bubble of snot. Marcy looked away at the sight of all the mucus. She glanced over at Sasha who was staring at Anne in complete adoration. "Do you want to talk about it?" Anne asked him softly as he sniffed again. Troy looked to be on the verge of tears again as he recalled the nightmare. He shook his head and hugged her tightly.

"I was so scared." He said getting choked up again.

"I know, honey. I know." Anne said, patting him on the back. Marcy reached over to hold Sasha's hand and gave it a squeeze. Anne looked up and glanced between them before back at her son. "You know, Mom is really strong and could-" She began.

"He needs his mom mom." Sasha said, trying to convey the meaning of her words to Anne. "Not strong mom. Not smart mom. You."

"He asked for his Mæ̀." Marcy added gently. Anne looked down into his scared little face. He stared up at her for reassurance. Anne smiled softly and gave him a squeeze.

"I'll keep you safe. I promise." Anne said, kissing his forehead. He clung securely to her.

"You know, I read somewhere that children tend to favor their moms over their dads because their mom is the provider of the majority of comfort." Marcy said as she and Sasha shared a knowing look. Anne frowned slightly.

"But he has three moms?" Anne asked, confused.

"Yeah, well, you're the momliest out of the three of us." Sasha snorted.

"Most motherly." Marcy tried to correct Sasha.

"I liked my word better." Sasha shrugged. Anne pressed her head to her son's.

"Do you want to help Mæ̀ and Mom fight some bad guys?" Anne asked as she turned him around on her lap and handed him a piece from the board.

"Yes!" He said excitedly.

"Sasha, could you grab his character sheet off of the fridge?" Marcy asked eagerly. Sasha smiled and came back with a sheet covered in crayon scribbles. She set it down before him on the table before pulling Anne into a very brief but passionate kiss. Anne blinked in surprise and Sasha blushed as she returned to her seat.

"Right, so Mom and Mæ̀ were going into town-" Anne began.

"To get groceries?" Troy interrupted.

"Pretty much, but for like swords and stuff." Sasha grinned. He giggled.

"But we couldn't find town so we asked this guy for directions." Anne continued, pointing to the other character piece.

"And did he help?" He asked.

"Not really." Sasha shrugged. He scrunched up his face as he thought.

"And who's that?" He pointed to the other pieces.

"Bad guys." Marcy nodded seriously.

"I knew it!" Sasha shouted slamming her hands on the table. She coughed looking embarrassed. "Sorry, Mommy wasn't using her indoor voice."

"The bad guys advance. They have you surrounded." Marcy said, pushing the pieces forward. "What do you do?"

"I don't know if we can fight all these bad guys by ourselves Anne." Sasha said with a wink.

"You're right. I think we might be in big trouble." Anne said very seriously.

"I run in and fight all the bad guys!" He said, hitting the pieces together.

"Gently sweetie, we don't want to break Mama's things." Anne said, pulling his hands back. Marcy smiled gratefully at Anne.

"You're going to have to roll to see how many bad guys you fight." Marcy said as she handed him some dice. He threw them across the board and Sasha stopped them before they rolled off the table.

"How many?" Troy asked as he looked at Marcy.

"I don't know buddy. You're going to have to tell me." She said pushing the dice back towards him. "How many dots do you see?"

"A lot." He said looking down.

"Let's count them together." Anne said, picking up one of the dice and holding it in front of him. She pointed to the first dot. "One." She pointed to the second dot. "Two."

"Three!" He said pointing to the next one. Anne smiled and kissed him on the top of the head.

"Very good! But we've got to keep counting." She said picking up the second dice. He counted up to six and Anne held out a hand for a high five. He slapped it and turned back to Marcy.

"Six!" He said proudly.

"That's a lot." Marcy smiled. "How many bad guys are on the field Sasha?" Sasha leaned forward and counted them aloud. Marcy slapped her hands to her face dramatically. "How do you defeat all the bad guys?" She asked as she pulled the pieces off the board.

"With a slingshot." Troy said pretending to take aim at invisible villains. "Did I save Mom and Mæ̀?"

"You did." Marcy nodded seriously.

"Can I stay with them to keep them safe?" He asked.

"A new member joins your party." Marcy announced.

"I feel safer already." Sasha said, looking at him. He beamed.

"Since you saved the day I think it's time for everybody to get some rest." Anne said getting up and lifting him back into her arms.

"But Mæ̀!" He complained.

"No buts." She chided as they walked back to his room. "Even super strong heroes that save the day need to sleep."