"Family game night. My favorite night of the month," Cory announced with a bowl of popcorn in his hands. "Just me, my family, and my 'jama pants."
"Why do you guys have to make such a big deal about game night?" Riley asked. All day her dad had been yapping about the importance of family game night and stressed the family aspect of it all. She wondered if he caught onto her plan. Riley figured probably not since he hadn't blown a gasket yet.
"Because game night is sacred, Riley," Cory answered. He begun to laugh as an absurd notion popped into his head. "I know this is gonna come as a shock to you, but there's gonna come a day where you start to prioritize friends over your family."
"What? No." Riley trailed off, lying through her teeth. Too bad Cory hadn't realized sooner that that day had finally come to pass.
Maya burst through the door giddy, with Shawn and Katy not far behind. Though family night was scared, as Cory had put it, and only family was invited, he had made an exception for Shawn and his family a long time ago. Shawn was family in every sense of the word, except biological of course. There was no reason not to include him. Plus with five Matthews, the addition of three Hunters made the teams even.
"Did you tell them yet? Did he freak?" Maya questioned, hoping that Cory already freaked out. Maya was aware of Riley's secret plan and could not wait to see Cory's reaction. "Did she tell you? Did you freak? Show me what you did. Freak out for me."
"Why would I freak out? I don't freak out," Cory insisted.
"Then what do you call the waiter serving you coleslaw instead of baked beans last week?" Shawn asked, referring to Cory's most recent freak out he had witnessed.
Every few months or so Cory and Shawn have a guys night and go out for dinner then head to the bars. Last week, it was their scheduled guys night out and Cory and Shawn went to this new restaurant up the street. Cory had been begging Shawn to try it out with him, instead of going to their typical spot. Shawn gave in but not without his reservations. Cory hated change and if one thing was off with the meal Cory would go ballistic. So they ordered their meals and the waitress accidentally gave Cory the wrong side than what he had asked for.
"If I would have wanted coleslaw, I would have ordered it, but I ordered baked beans. And I did not get baked beans. Suffice it to say we are never going back there, Shawnie," Cory ranted.
"That's 'cause we got kicked out. They have a your face hanging by the door to let every staff member know to never let you in," Shawn explained.
"Hey, family!" Josh greeted, walking into the apartment with Auggie. Like Cory and Shawn last week, Josh had treated his little brother to a guys night out since they rarely had the time to hang out anymore. "Auggie didn't want to miss game night, so we're back. Oh, and here's your money."
Josh fished his dad's change out of his pocket and handed it over to him. "Hey, this is a dollar," Cory pointed out. "I gave you a hundred."
"With that kind of money, you think we're not gonna buy steaks?" Josh asked. Did his father not know him? If given the opportunity and the funds, he was going to spend it all on something worthwhile.
"Listen," Cory began, addressing the Hunters and the Matthews. "You're all here for game night. You're all family, let us begin."
The intercom buzzed and Maya grinned from ear to ear knowing very well who was on the other side, This was going to be fun.
"Farkle," Farkle said into the speaker box.
"And Lucas," Lucas added.
Riley went to the intercom and buzzed the boys in. "Come on up," she said.
"Topanga," Cory turned to his wife on the verge of a freak out.
"Here it comes," Maya laughed, rubbing her hands together manically like some villain from one of those cheesy nineties movies.
"It's happening. I thought we had a few more years," Cory panicked.
"Calm down," Topanga told Cory, sensing her husband's heightened state.
"No calm. It's happening right now. Riley invited her friends to family game night," Cory said. He took a deep breath to remain calm like Topanga had suggested. "Riley, um, you're gonna have to start to prioritize what's more important to you: your family or your friends? There is only one right answer."
"Why do I..." Riley began, but was cut off by her father.
"Wrong answer!" Cory told her.
"...have to choose between..." Riley continued.
"Wrong answer!" Cory repeated.
"I love my friends and I want to hang out with my friends," Riley explained. "Besides, Uncle Shawn, Aunt Katy, and Maya are technically not family. If this is a family game night, then why is your friend invited."
Shawn and Cory gasped. They were like brothers. To hear Riley not consider them as family was insulting to them.
When Riley didn't hear her father coming up with an immediate comeback and instead heard a knock on the door, she went over to the door and opened it for Farkle and Lucas. "Welcome to family game night, friends," Riley greeted.
"Wrong! Wrong! Wrong answer!" Cory insisted. "Get rid of them."
"Why do you have to be you all the time?" Riley complained. Once in a while she would like her dad to act like Shawn, he rarely ever freaked out on Maya. And when he did, it was never on the same magnitude as Cory.
"You think it's easy?" Cory asked. Maintaining the personality he had was hard work, and if he wasn't trying to remain calm, like Topanga had suggested, it would be much worse.
"Say goodbye to your daughter, honey. She has chosen her friends over her family," Cory announced to Topanga.
"Why can't we just play with her friends. She has a point. We do play with our friends all the time," Topanga supported Riley, which received another gasp from Shawn and Cory.
"Because Topanga, Shawn's family," Cory began. "He and Katy are the kids' godparents and we are Mayas'."
"Please don't remind me of that," Maya begged. She had the best parents in the world, yet they made Cory Matthews her godfather.
"The second Riley allowed Dr. Turtleneck and Mr. Howdy into our household, our family was compromised by interlopers," Cory finished.
"Maybe we could just come back another time," Farkle suggested. If his presence was causing such an issue for Mr. Matthews, he wouldn't have come and upset him.
"See this?" Cory grabbed and pointed to the game he was now holding. "The family game.The game for families. Not the friends game, a game for friends. I saw that game. I didn't buy that game. I bought this one because I used to have a family."
"Will you stop?" Topanga begged, taking the game from Cory and setting it down. Her husband was being embarrassing.
"How could she choose her friends over us, Topanga? I mean, did they burp her? Did they change her diapers?" Cory implored. His whole life for the past fifteen years has been dedicated to his kids. Why would Riley do this to her? Even Josh understood the importance of family game night and never once invited friends over. Although, Josh rarely invited friends over, he always did tend to go meet them.
"We haven't yet, but we will when she's old," Farkle commented. When he married Riley, he had no doubt that he would be taking care of her in her old age.
"Speak for yourself, honey," Topanga said to Cory. "I know that I have the absolute love and loyalty of my children."
"Yow know what? Everybody's here. Everybody plays," Shawn said putting his foot down. He was tired of Cory's back and forth and wanted to play the game. He was killing daylight, or whatever was left of it. Like Cory, he had looked forward to family game night all month, but he, however, did not care if it was spent with friends.
"Cory, flipping out is only gonna make things worse. Do you really want to drive her away?" Topanga asked.
"Okay, game is all set up," Katy said. While Cory was wallowing in self pity, Katy decided to set up the game to keep the night moving. She had work in the morning and would like to end the night at a reasonable time.
"We doing this thing, or what, Cor?" Shawn asked.
"No," Cory answered.
"Yes," Topanga insisted. It didn't matter what Cory thought, they were all there and they were playing the game.
"Do you guys know how to play the family game?" Katy asked Farkle and Lucas. The boys shook their heads.
"Let me teach you," Maya said taking the reins. "Because I'm always here, and they can't get rid of me." Maya walked over to Topanga and rested on her shoulders. "Always wins." She moved over to Riley who was knee deep in a bowl of popcorn. "Always eats too much popcorn and says, 'I'm never eating popcorn again.'"
"But it's so delicious," Riley said muffled from the popcorn she was shoving in her face.
"Then there's these two," Maya continued, wrapping her arms around Cory and Shawn. "Always on the same team and always argue."
"That's because Cory always rolls the wrong number," Shawn admitted. He and Cory were life long game partners, yet they constantly found themselves arguing throughout if they weren't winning, which happened often.
"I wouldn't have to roll the wrong number if someone didn't cheat the last turn and throwing our entire game plan off," Cory argued. Shawn constantly tried to cheat during family game night, mainly because they were losing so badly to Topanga and Riley.
"Ahhh, so that's where Maya gets it," Auggie said in a moment of realization. Maya's cheating habits in games came directly from Shawn.
"And just so you know, we already have preexisting teams," Cory mentioned. If he was going to allow Farkle and Lucas to stay and play, which he was still on the fence about, they would not ruin their teams.
"Oh come on, Matthews," Maya complained. She was tired of the same old teams. It was always Auggie and Josh, Cory and Shawn, Riley and Topanga, and Maya and Katy. Maya didn't mind being paired up with her mother, but if given the option she would have picked Riley or Josh. "We have two new players. Why don't we switch up the teams?"
"Would you be on my team, Joshie?" Auggie asked his older brother. Even though Josh was always his partner, he still wanted to be paired up with his brother, especially since they had an amazing guys night.
"Try and stop me," Josh smiled.
"Okay, I'll stop you," Maya said, pulling on Josh's arm tearing him apart from Auggie. "You're on my team."
"He's my brother," Auggie argued, grabbing his brother's free hand and pulling him towards him.
"He's my husband," Maya stated, yanking Josh one last time. Josh was stunned. Maya had said a lot of things over the years about him but that was new.
"Congratulations," Auggie said backing away from his brother. Maya was crazy about Josh. He didn't want to deal with a crazy person.
"I never agreed to this!" Cory exclaimed. He never authorized the switching of teams. "But Riley's on my team!" He snatched Riley from the group and held onto her. If Shawn couldn't be his partner, he would do one better by protecting Riley from her friends. Thus still putting the family in family game night.
"Okay...what's the big circle in the middle for?" Lucas asked.
"Oh, we don't go there," Riley explained. "If even one person goes in there, then you have to play the long game."
"What's the long game?" Lucas implored.
"I don't know. We've never played it," Riley admits.
"Intriguing. Should we find out?" Farkle asked the group.
"No, it takes forever," Topanga warned. This night hadn't even begun and it seems like it has taken forever.
"And you don't get to hear this," Maya said, pressing the middle button in the board game. The board game played a triumphant sound in which Topanga perked up at the sound she was familiar with.
"I win!" Often the winner of family game night, the sound reminded her of her victories. Even the sound of the front doorbell had the same effect on her. When it rung and Topanga thought she was still hearing the game. "I win! Oh, my goodness."
"Now who could that be?" Cory asked, slumping onto the couch.
"Hi, Auggie," Ava greeted, she peered past Auggie and noticed the crowd and a board game in the center. "Hey, you're playing a game? Can I be on your team?"
Ava Morganstern was the Matthews neighbor and Auggie's wife of fifty years. It was a recent relationship that began on the playground and continued through their everyday lives.
"You're on your own, pal," Auggie told Josh. Josh was his ideal partner, but Ava took precedent and he would rather be with her. "My woman's here."
"Sure, Auggie," Cory said beginning a second round of freak outs. "Bring your woman in. Let's bring in everybody. Why don't we put up signs on the telephone poles next to the cats and the dogs. Matthews-Hunter family game night. Only not really, it's kind of everybody family game night."
"There's the freak out," Maya cheered, the proper freak out she had been waiting for. "Best show in town. Do you feel better now, buddy?"
"I do, thank you," Cory said, relieved. All of his pent up anger was released, for the moment being.
"Thank you," Maya smiled, sat down on the couch between her dad and Josh. "Well, well. Looks like everybody's all partnered up except for lil ol' us."
While Cory was in the midst of his freak out, everyone had separated in the room into partners. Auggie chose Ava with her recent arrival. Cory took Riley before Maya could even have a chance to. Lucas and Farkle were outsiders to the Matthews-Hunter craziness and chose to stick together. Katy went with Topanga as she seemed to be the only rational thinking one at the moment. Thus leaving Maya, Shawn, and Josh partnerless.
"I could pick you," Maya suggested, snuggling in closer to Josh. She turned to see her dad while still remaining close to Josh. "Or I could pick you." Maya switched her attention back to Josh. "Or I could pick you." Maya placed herself back in the middle, giving Josh room to breathe. "Yeah, well, you see, Dad represents authority and taking away my fake ID, while Josh is so handsome it kind of makes my eyes hurt."
"Okay, here's what I'm gonna do," Josh began.
Truthfully, he did not want to be Maya's partner. Since the trip a couple weeks ago, Maya has been trying to get Josh alone nonstop. He had started to say something to her when they thought they were going to die and never finished his sentence. She was going to die from the not knowing.
"I'm gonna be the game show host, is what I'm gonna do. 'Cause they stand," Josh stood up and Maya followed his actions. "And they move."
"Hiya, partner," Shawn said intervening. He grabbed Maya by the shoulders and sat her down on the couch next to him. "Come on kiddo, it's me and you. We'll never loose."
"And game show hosts make sure everyone follows the rules and plays fair," Josh said, noticing something sneaky coming from his brother's wife. "Especially this one."
"Ava!" Auggie scolded.
Ava was pocketing money from the table to get her and Auggie ahead in the game. "Shh. I'm doing this for us, baby," Ava promised.
"Okay," Josh commented. He took a ladle from the kitchen, acted as if it was a microphone, and then read the game's instructions. "The object of this game is to create a family, protect it, and get safely through a world of obstacles that will test how strong your family is. The winner of the short game is the first team to end up in one of the success squares with a car and a house."
"Get me a car and a house," Ava ordered.
"I'm trying," Auggie exasperated.
"Riley and I up are first. We'll go first," Cory insisted grabbing the dice.
"Oh, says who?" Shawn questioned, taking the dice from Cory. Why did Cory have to go first? If they were switching up the rules, then someone else could go first.
"Here we go," Katy mumbled. And so began the Shawn and Cory arguing. It was one thing if they were on the same team and fighting, but being separated and competing with each other could only make matters worse.
"Says the king of the castle," Cory argued.
"You may be the king of this castle, but I am also a king and I have my own castle. And typically hosting kings are gracious and generous to visiting kings," Shawn explained. "And you know what, Cory, you may be a king, but so am I and I'm going first."
This caused the room to gasp. Shawn had never opposed Cory so openly during family game night. Sure they argued many times before about their poor playing strategy, but trying to beat Cory at his own game was sinister.
And so, Shawn rolled the dice, officially marking the start to family game night.