Chapter 6: Tic Tac Toe

*Thoughts are in italics*

*The next day around 2pm*

*Louise is wearing a black blouse with white dress pants and black duchess boots, Raven is wearing an ash colored blouse with black dress pants and dune colored duchess boots. Linda is wearing a Boston Proper fern green blouse, blue jeans and green flats. All the men are wearing Polo shirts and slacks of white and black or white and red. (Bob included) Hailey is wearing an orange t shirt and black slacks and red sneakers.

Jimmy Third has on black dress t shirt, gray slacks and black sneakers. Some of the women have gotten into the Halloween spirt by painting their nails Halloween colors. Louise just painted her nails black, Raven's nails are painted orange. While Tina and Linda's nails are painted dark red and light blue respectively.

*Bob and Linda's Restaurant*

*Interior*

*camera pans over to show The Burger Of the Day on the chalkboard*

Colonel Mustard with the Leek Pie in the Cornservatory.

Louise POV

I'm sitting in a booth in our restaurant with Rudy and Hailey. Rudy is sitting across from me and Hailey is to my left. I have the window seat and I love having the window seat so I can occasional people watch as people pass by. Raven, Gene Tina and Jimmy Jr are sitting in a booth in front of us. Gene and Raven are closest to the window across from each other and Jimmy Jr and Tina are sitting next to them across from each other. Jimmy the Third is sitting on a stool in between my parents.

We are all enjoying burgers, baked potatoes (except for the kids and Gene who have fries) and coleslaw for lunch. Well everyone except myself, Tina and Gene. We ordered the Clue themed burger of the day. The burger has mustard and corn. The burger is served with a side of leek pie. The leek pie comes with Gruyere cheese and cream. "I love the Burger Of the Day and pie Dad. You really hit this one out of the park!" I hooted as Tina and Gene nodded in agreement. "Thanks guys. I know it's a little different but I think it works". Dad remarked. "I can't remember the last time I had a pie with a leak in it" Gene laughed as everyone chucked.

"Oh Dad makes the best burgers I don't know how people could even eat burgers from other places. They are really missing out. I'm glad Hailey likes burgers too. I was afraid she might be a picky eater but she eats most of her food save for a few vegetables here and there. Maybe I could get her interested in cooking since she always raves about Dad's burgers? Maybe she can take over the family business someday?" I pondered. My eyes glance over to Hailey sitting next to me.

"I see she's made a bit of a Russian dressing for her fries by mixing the ketchup and mayo together. Hailey has mine and Rudy's good looks and my can do attitude. She's smart as a whip for her age plus she is very creative. I'm sure she would make a killer chef. I wonder what she's thinking about right now? She's five years old. That seems like an eternity ago for me. I remember being nine years old and being in fourth grade. However I don't even remember being five". I chortled.

Hailey POV

"Oooh I'm starving! Man this burger is delicious. I'm so happy today is Saturday it seemed like it took forever for this weekend to get here! I was really looking forward to seeing everyone and playing some games. I'm happy Mom won that dance game yesterday. She's a great dancer. I hope we can do something dance or music related again today. I wonder if anyone can beat Mom today? Gene's girlfriend Raven came close to beating Mom in the Freeze Dance game. But Dad did won at Pictionary yesterday. Dad beating Mom at a game is rare. Maybe Pictionary is Dad's thing?" I surmised.

I take a few fries and dip them in my yummy Russian dressing and consume them. I take a swig from my glass of fruit punch and then put it back on the table "Ooo I love fruit punch, burgers and fries. Poppy you make the best burgers!" I boasted as I took a few more bites of my burger. "I'm happy you're enjoying it" Poppy replied with a smile.

"The Burger Of the Day that Mom, Uncle Gene and Aunt Tina got looks good. I'm a little on the fence on how I would feel about the Leek Pie. I'm thinking it might be an acquired taste and I really don't want to experiment with that. I'm happy with a burger with provolone cheese, Russian dressing and fries. American cheese is so unhealthy and overrated. I don't know how people eat that stuff. Especially kids my age. They really need to broaden their horizons in terms of taste. I guess I have Mom and Poppy to thank for my good taste in food". I considered.

"Now we just have to have pizza tomorrow. I know Poppy runs a burger restaurant but I would really love a pizza right now. Maybe he can make a pizza burger for me tomorrow with mozzarella cheese and pepperoni? It's essentially the same as a pizza only you're using a bun to make the pizza instead of a pie. Or maybe Poppy can make the burger with that other cheese I like what is it, Moonster? Or moo something" I analyzed.

"Mom what's that other cheese that I like? The one that's not provolone? It's start's with a M. How do you say it?" I asked. "Muenster. It's called Muenster" Mom revealed. "Muenster? How do you spell that? It's sounds like a cow mooing. Ha ha. But I know that can't be it". I giggled. "You don't have to know how to spell it you just have to know how to eat it" Uncle Gene cheered. "It's M—u—e—n—s—t—e—r". Muenster" Dad piped. "Why do you I feel like we're at a spelling bee". Nanny chuckled. "I'm surprised you like Muenster and provolone cheese. Most kids your age don't like that stuff" Poppy praised. "I'm not like most kids". I admitted. "Exactly you have better taste in food" Poppy agreed. "Thanks" I quipped as Mom and Dad smiled.

"Well American cheese is good too" Jimmy The Third spoke as I bit lip while Poppy bobbed his head. "I'm not going to say anything as much as I dislike that cheese. Mom told me you can't force your opinions onto to others and people like what they like and you cannot change them. However I would not eat American cheese here or there. I would not eat it with a goat. I would not it in a boat. Hmmm I feel like Sam I Am. Wait? How did that book end? Oh yeah he ended up liking green eggs and ham. Well he must never have tried green eggs and ham before. He just thought he wouldn't like it because it looked so gross. I'm different than Sam I Am. I have tried American Cheese and I did not like it". I emphasized.

"Well I hope Mom is happy I didn't say anything. I had to force myself a bit not to react to my cousin's opinion. I wonder what games I can beat him at later? Maybe we could play Operation or Guess Who for a bit before the adults set up some games?" I hoped as I returned to my meal.

*About forty minutes later everyone finished eating and Linda cleaned up the kitchen; everyone went upstairs to have their second night of games* Bob closed up the restaurant which he will open again around 6:30pm for the dinner crowd.

*Interior Bob and Linda's living room*

*Tina POV*

I do a double take as everyone arrives upstairs and we reach the living room. Do my eyes deceive me or is that? No it is. The set up of the room has changed from the previous night. The familiar brown couch, purple chair and folding chairs are gone. There's a now a four cushion cream colored couch where the brown couch once was. There is a black four cushion couch directly across from the black one (where the tv once was) and two purple chairs located next to the window. "Mom, Dad what did you do the living room. Where did the old couches, chair and TV go?" I inspected.

"Well we've been saving up over the years and we finally bought some new furniture. We just had it delivered this morning we figured the weekend before Halloween was the perfect time to get it. The holidays we'll be here soon enough and all. Plus you don't need the space to put TV's on the wall anymore like you used to. Now TV's are used with mind control or brain or gestural control to turn on and are the size of old apple watches or fit bits. We have a few of those TV's we just have not taken them out for company yet. We put the old TV in storage. Now there's plenty of room to sit and more space to walk around without all these annoying folding chairs right?" Mom explored.

"'It looks great. However I thought you and Dad didn't like all that mind control stuff? Remember our conversation yesterday?" Gene queried. "Well this type of mind control is for watching Television. It's more of a sedentary active to begin with. There's some mind control or gestural control stuff we like and some we don't. We like when you do more activity related things than use mind control when they apply. Watching television doesn't fall into that category" Dad answered. "I see" Gene analyzed. "The furniture looks nice (surprisingly so) it's just that it's kind of unexpected you know when you're use to coming here and seeing everything a certain way and then suddenly it changes. It's nice and for the better it just takes some getting used to" I exposed. "Well I like it. I think it's one of the best things we've done to this place" Dad remarked.

"You've made changes to our living room? I've never thought I'd see the day. Who are you and what have you done to my father?" Louise probed. Dad chuckled and then looked at Louise for a moment. "You're joking right? This is a long time coming. This house needed these changes desperately. The old furniture was way past its prime". Dad declared. "Yes of course. Nothing lasts forever. I was only kidding well half kidding" Louise giggled and then starred at Dad as if she as trying to look for signs that pointed to him being some kind of fake.

"Louise you're being silly. Dad is right the new stuff looks well…great". I piped. "Thanks Tina" Dad quipped. Louise rolled her eyes and moaned "I said I was just kidding sheesh". "I can't wait to see what fun games we're going to play today. I wonder how Louise and Rudy's little best of series of game is going? I wonder if they've done any games since they were here?" I pondered.

"While we get the next group game ready feel free to play some pumpkin tic tac toe". Mom reported. Mom pointed to the new black table in front of us that had three lines of tape on it. There were a ton of pumpkins in front of us and she handed us markers to write the x's and o's on the pumpkins. "Don't get any marker marks on the new table. Be very careful with the markers and make sure to put the cap right back on the markers when you're done using them". Mom explained as she handed me two black markers.

While the adults got ready to play tic tac toe Jimmy The Third and Hailey were in their usual spot on the floor playing Operation. Bzzz! Bzzz! The Operation game buzzed. "Dang" Jimmy The Third exclaimed as he touched the sides and failed to get out the Charlie Hose piece. "You have to have a deft touch" Hailey proclaimed as she got out the wrenched ankle piece easily.

In our Tic Tac Toe matches we decided to a single elimination tournament. After writing our names on scrapes of paper and mixing them in a bowl we got from Dad we decided the turn order. First up was Raven VS myself, Louise VS Gene and Rudy VS Jimmy Jr. I was stunned when I beat Raven. "Ah ah! Oh my gosh I won!" I beamed as I made three X's vertical to Raven two O's horizontally. "Nice win" Raven congratulated me. Louise beat Gene 3-2 vertically O over X. Rudy beat Jimmy Jr 3-2 horizontally X beating O. We then decided to a round robin of myself VS Louise, Rudy VS Louise and Rudy VS myself with everyone doing two matches to see if someone could come out with the most number of wins. I was up against Louise first and decided to do some stretches before our match.

"Tina we're playing Tic Tac Toe you don't really need to stretch before a match. It's not like we're dancing or working out or fighting or something?" Louise huffed. "I just want to stay active. It's good to exercise everyday" I reckoned . Shockingly I was able to beat Louise 3-2 vertically o versus x. I was so excited I felt like I was going to pass out. "Oh my God, oh my God! I beat Louise! This can't be happening!" I gasped getting a little out of breath. "It is. I actually lost" Louise groaned as everyone looked on stunned at Louise's defeat. "Good game" Louise professed as we shared a quick hand shake and I took a few deep breaths to catch my breath. I then finished off my amazing run by taking down Rudy for the championship 3-2 x over o horizontally. "Wow I won that was so much fun!" I hooted while jumping up and down several times. "Congrats Tina!" everyone congratulated in unison.

Rudy and Louise then had the ever important second place match to decided who would be getting the silver medal in the tic tac toe championship. Louise being the youngest started with X pumpkin in the center. Rudy followed with O pumpkin directly below it. Louise followed with x pumpkin top left corner. They kept exchanging moves until there were no moves left but it ended in a tie. Then they did an another game that also ended in tie. Now it was the third game of their match. Louise started with X in the center. Rudy did o in the top right corner. Louise played X in the bottom left corner.

Rudy did O bottom right corner. Louise did X bottom center. Rudy did o top left corner. Louise did top middle row to make a line of x's done the middle and win the game. "Yay! I got the silver!" Louise bubbled. "Wow Rudy that was a great battle. I can't remember the last time tic tac toe was so exciting Louise praised as Rudy gave Louise a high five with his right hand which she quickly slapped with her left hand. "So that means you're up 2-1 in your series right Louise?" I asked as Louise nodded in confirmation and grinned. "So then they haven't done any games since yesterday" "I surmised.

"I'm thinking Mom and Dad must be almost ready with the next game right around now" I estimated. Right on cue as if they had heard me Mom and Dad walked into the room carrying a Ghost Face mask and cloak.

Gene POV

Oh my God, Oh my God. Are we reenacting the movie Scream? Can I be Ghostface and kill everyone? Please!" Louise begged while Raven chuckled. "What is happening right now? What kind of strange game is this?" I inspected. "No one is killing anyone Louise". Linda corrected. "Awwwww I wanted to kill everyone! For pretend I mean. I love you all too much to kill all of you for real" Louise cried while blushing.

"We're playing Hide and Seek. Well an adult version of Hide and Seek anyway. The seeker is dressed as Ghostface and we turn off the lights as everyone hides and runs from the seeker. If the seeker finds you they will take you to the cemetery where you lay like a corpse until the last person is caught". Dad explained. "So the seeker is actually killing everyone then" I spoke as I noticed Raven and Louise tinging with excitement. "Well pretend like killing yes. So is there is no real killing" Mom affirmed. "I call Ghostface!" Louise declared. "No fair. I wanted to be Ghostface!" Raven wept. "Look there is only one fair way to decide who's going to be Ghostface" Dad replied. "The bowl of names!" all of us adults but Raven retorted in unison. "Bowl of names?" Raven questioned disoriented.

End of Chapter 6

Chapter 7 is in development.