Chapter 10

DOT HAD ACCEPTED an invitation to the Browns’ for Thanksgiving Dinner. Dennis was concerned about others, but when he talked to Lana, he found out they’d also invited Amy, Brenda, and Gransy.

“Natalie can’t come,” Lana said. “Her sisters are all coming home from college for Thanksgiving, then going right back for a holiday tournament of some sort. It will be nice for the family to have all five sisters at the Thanksgiving table, don’t you think?”

“Oh, yeah. I think it’s great,” Dennis said. “I wasn’t as upset about them not coming as that we might be excluding them. I know you wouldn’t do that, though.”

“You know, though, you only asked about one of our other girlfriends,” Lana said.

“Um ... Well ... I mean, I assume they will all just um ... you know, they’d have family things with their own families.”

“Instead of our family. It’s true, Den. We wouldn’t have thought to invite Judith and Diane, or Tori, or Rosie, or Leanne. They’ve somehow become outside our family,” Lana said.

“Should I do something? I mean, you’re right. But I just don’t see them the same way I see you, Amy, Brenda, and Natalie,” Dennis confessed.

“No. We’ll be reminding you, though. Not to dig at it, but when each one of them leaves us, it’s still going to hurt. I talked to Nat and we just want to remind ourselves that things will be different. Probably before basketball season is over,” Lana said.

“I sure do love you four. It’s just completely different than with anyone else.”

“I love you.”

“Lord, we thank you for the blessings of this year,” Randy prayed at the table. “We thank you for every member of our extended family gathered at this table and ask your blessings on each one. And for those members of the family who are not able to share this meal with us, we ask your blessing on them and your protecting hand to cradle them. Bring us all closer together as we come closer in your service. Amen.”

“Amen,” the family responded.

“That was a lovely blessing, Randy,” Tom said.

“Well, with Brenda, Amy, Dennis, Lana, and Natalie working to build their family unit as hard as they work at playing their games and studying, I’m feeling like I have my first in-laws at the table. Elsa and I wanted to try out our feeling of family,” Randy answered as he carved turkey and everyone else filled their plates. The Browns had one of the long extending dining tables that could easily have seated Natalie and her parents in addition to the thirteen gathered.

Dot gave Tom a nudge and nodded. Tom clinked his fork on his water glass once everyone had been served. They all looked up at him.

“You’ve included me as a part of the family and I want to thank you,” he said. “And on the theme of families, I want you all to know that I have asked Dot to marry me, and she has consented.”

“Yay!” Dennis shouted, leading the applause. “I knew you’d do it!”

“Thank you, Dennis. Your blessing means more than I can say,” Dot said. She leaned toward Tom and kissed him on the cheek.

“What’s the date?” Gransy asked.

“We’re thinking a nice traditional June wedding, but really, just with our family around us. And I mean all of you at this table,” Dot said.

“Lots of things will be changing around that time,” Elsa sighed. “Graduation will be in May and I expect we’ll know by then where kids are going to college. Do you plan to stay in the house in Bartley, Dot?”

“Well, the house Tom bought in the country between Bartley and White Center is a little more comfortable than ours in town. I expect we’ll move out there. We don’t want to disrupt Peg too much, though,” Dot said.

The dinner was jovial. Peg was happy to be with Nils and Sofie, Dennis was happy to be with Amy, Brenda, and Lana. It was clear that Tom and Dot were happy together, and Randy and Elsa welcomed them and Gransy to their home ‘anytime.’

“Let’s start easy and work those Thanksgiving calories off,” Dennis called out. The varsity teams were both practicing on Friday after Thanksgiving. Their coaches didn’t want to risk them not being ready for the game on Tuesday. They were practicing early in the afternoon so they could go back to fun activities. A few players who were on family vacations over the holiday were unable to practice, but the coaches tried not to let that influence their decisions regarding who would play on Tuesday. They recognized that it was a school vacation day and they didn’t have the right to force the kids to practice. Most, however, wanted to be there and wanted to be at the top of their game.

Dennis started slow—he was feeling the effects of overeating like most of the others were—but he built up to a pretty good pitch in the workout and everyone was sweating when they switched to practice.

“All right, guys,” Dennis said. “Coach Neil gave me permission to give you my observation from the scrimmage Tuesday. That’s because I know why you lost. You had two things you let slip. Angelines, how do we win?”

“Run, run, run!” the girls shouted back.

“Guys, you met a team that can outrun you. You did darn well in the first three quarters. You had us beat. But you ran out of steam. There’s no reason for that. You know how to run. You have to run for the full thirty-two minutes. Secondly, you had more steals, more blocked shots, more rebounds, and more field goals than the Angelines. Why did you lose?”

No one responded. The news they had more baskets and dominated the stats was a surprise to them.

“Wolverines hit thirteen of eighteen free throws. Not bad. 72%. The Angelines hit almost 74%. You wouldn’t think that would make such a difference. Until you add in the fact that twenty-eight of the six points they beat you by came on free throws! You gave them thirty-eight opportunities to score a free point! What gives, guys? Two starters and one sub fouled out of the game. Natalie drained thirteen of sixteen free throws. She alone removed any advantage you had with thirteen points from the foul line. Go back to practice and clean up your game! You can’t win unless you play and you can’t play if you foul out.”

The guys grumbled a little and headed over toward their part of the gym to practice. Dennis turned to the girls.

“They aren’t the only ones with foul trouble,” he growled as the girls came to attention in front of him. “Rosie and Judith, you both fouled out.”

“They were being so rough!” Judith complained.

“There is no way you can give a bigger team the same kind of punishment they can give you. For now, you can do two things. Make even more of your free throws and avoid giving away points.” They all nodded and got to work.

“I love going out with you,” Tori said. “I know you have a lot of other responsibilities, but I fantasize about how much we could be together if I was your only love. Still, I’m glad we can go out tonight.”

“You know I always love to go out with you or just hang out with you. I love you, Tori,” Dennis said.

“Whatever gave you the idea to see this movie?”

“You’re always talking about Lady Gaga and how much you like her. She’s the star of this,” he said.

“Yeah. I just hope she lives up to my expectations. I didn’t expect her to play a murderer.”

“If you don’t like it, we’ll leave,” Dennis said.

“Just like that?” Tori asked. “You mean you’d just get up and leave in the middle of a movie if I said I didn’t like it?”

“Of course! Why would I want to force you to sit through something you didn’t like? That’s like, disgusting.”

“You’re really one of a kind, you know? I bet any other girl would be afraid to tell her date she didn’t like something. I really love you.”

The movie wasn’t bad at all and they held onto each other tightly during the tense scenes.

“Was she worth it?” Dennis asked as Tori hung on him on the way out of the theater.

“Oh, God, yes! Did you know she said she couldn’t do the Italian accent with her blonde hair so she dyed it black and spoke with the accent for nine months? She’s really great. I’ll bet one day she gets compared to Meryl Streep for her acting. It will happen.”

“What now?”

“Take me home and make love to me, lover. I’ve made some additions to the barn stall.”

Dennis drove out to her house and they went straight to the barn where they’d had so many group sleepovers. It seemed strange to be out there with only Tori.

She led him to the dressing/sleeping stall next to the shower stall and took him inside.

“Whoa! Did you move out here?” he asked, looking around at the redone room.

“Sort of. It’s not really an apartment because there’s no place to cook or eat. But Dad put the new bathroom addition on and then I did the rest. I wanted to keep it rustic, but make it warmer and cozier,” she said.

“I can’t believe your parents let you do this.”

“Well, I turned eighteen and this is what I asked for as a birthday present. You’re the first person I’ve brought out here to see it.”

“I’m honored.”

“Enough to undress me and make love to me the rest of the night?” she teased.

“If that’s what you’d like, I’m ready and willing.”

The room no longer had straw in it. The barn floor had been sanded and finished with a braided rug in the middle. The old horse stall had been insulated and a new layer of barn board put in over the top. In the middle of one wall was a huge bed.

“That’s as big as my bed!” Dennis said.