Family Feud
Howard started when he heard the knock on the door, getting up from the couch and walking over to the front door, only to frown when he saw who was waiting there. "Hello Stu," he said coolly.
Stu though surprised him by smiling sheepishly. "Hey Howard, can we come in?" He jostled Tommy slightly and the baby giggled and reached out to him.
"Well… okay, sure." Howard accepted Tommy who gave him a hug; he might be mad at the boy's parents but Tommy was a good baby, very friendly with Phil and Lil and Howard knew that wasn't easy. The twins were energetic and scared away a lot of kids with their rough play. The fact that Tommy, who was younger, not only was able to keep up but seemed the rein in the more dramatic outbursts the twins had, showed he was a good tyke to have around.
Once Tommy was settled down the two sat down, Stu sighing as he looked down at his hands. "So Betty should be getting a phone call any time now but I wanted to come over and apologize. I shouldn't have gotten so upset with you yesterday."
Instantly all the resentment and anger that Howard had been feeling evaporated in the face of the honest apology. Betty and him had complained about the Pickles the whole rest of the evening the day before and frankly… it didn't feel good. Oh, it felt nice to blow off some steam but now it made him feel greasy and oily, like he'd guzzled canola oil.
"Thank you Stu," Howard said softly. "And honestly… I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have reacted so badly."
"You had every right to. I was a jerk."
"I think we were all jerks," Howard said. "I know Betty feels bad for overreacting… Didi I guess made a joke about me missing the answer in charades and she insulted you a lot."
Stu though smiled. "Not as much as I probably insulted myself for letting this get out of hand."
"Well, apology accepted."
"Great… and I wanted to give you this," he pulled out a VHS tape from his coat.
"Oh, Dances With Wolves!"
"Yeah… Didi and I were thinking one day we could have Phil and Lil over for a sleepover so you and Betty could have a date night, watch the movie without worrying about the kids."
"That… that would be great." Howard smiled. "And maybe we can do the same thing for Tommy."
"Thanks Howard."
Tommy watched as his daddy and Phil and Lil's daddy talked, glancing over at his friends. "Isn't it nice when everyone just gets along?"
"That's my bear, Phillip!"
"It's mine, Lillian!"
Tommy sighed as his friends dissolved into screams and yells.