Coughs diluted into laughter. “We’re okay, Mum. Just a little taken by surprise.”
Gran swung the spoon, clipping Uncle Finn in the shoulder, but the shot was muffled by a thick layer of flannel. “This is why we can’t have nice things!”
Skylar herded the kids away from the commotion. “Okay, munchkins, everyone get to the dining room if you want to see the surprise I have in my bag.”
The children raced into the dining room like a stampede of caribou and she followed, snagging her purse on the way.
“Do I need to get my car keys?” Aunt Col yelled. “I swear to God, is it too much to ask for us to have one peaceful Sunday dinner where no one gets hurt? Bloody Christ, it’s like a zoo exhibit around here. You’re nothin’ but a bunch of wild animals.”
Skylar wiped her watering eyes, glad to get away from the smoke.
Uncle Pat poked his head inside the kitchen and yelled, “No injuries!”
“Yet,” Aunt Col mumbled into her mug.
“Skylar, where’s the surprise?” Gianna asked and the rest of the kids followed suit calling for her attention and crowding her waist like a litter of puppies looking to get fed.
“You have to be sitting to get a surprise.” Luckily, she always carried a secret stash of candy.
The table filled with little bodies as Skylar dug through her purse. She dispensed individually wrapped pieces of dark chocolate as the aunts loudly lectured the uncles for what was yet another stupid act they’d be retelling for years. Apparently, deep fryers worked great for wild game and fries, but not apple pies.
Gran marched through the dining room to the hall closet on a mission to find more rags. “A bunch of imbecilic jackasses, I raised.” She returned a few seconds later with a stack of dishcloths. “How they even dress themselves in the morning is beyond me. My poor holiday wreath I just bought at the church craft show is melting off the damn door, blown to bits with pie filling—” She paused and scanned the room of chewing pudgy cheeks. “Sweet, Jesus, what the hell happened to Maeve? Did she get the shits, too?”
Skylar laughed at her little cousin, who wore a mask of melted Godiva. “It’s chocolate, Gran. Just one piece to keep them occupied while the uncles clean up the mess out back.”
Gran tsked. “Before supper, Skylar? I don’t know why I even bother makin’ rules if no one’s going to follow them.” She bustled out of the dining room to deal with the disaster on the porch.
Skylar used a napkin to clean Maeve’s face, but paper wasn’t cutting it. “Okay, everyone line up and don’t touch anything. We’re taking a field trip to the bathroom.”
Skylar marched the kids to the powder room in the hall and supervised as they washed their hands and faces. Only one hand towel was injured in the making of this disaster, but she believed the stains would wash out.
Her mother eventually returned with a box of diapers for James, who was long past the age of potty training, but that’s what happened in a family of six kids when everyone else was busy.
“Oh, good, Katherine, you’re back.” Gran appeared. “We still don’t have the corn shucked.”
Sometimes it seemed like Gran had some sort of maternal tracking system on all her kids. Skylar’s mom shrank a little and she took pity on her.
Always a beautiful woman, her mom still had lustrous auburn hair with deep highlights that appeared more ruby than copper with age. She never needed makeup, and it had been years since Skylar saw her in anything other than cotton or flannel, but hidden beneath those maternal rags lived a bombshell of a woman. And on the nights when her father looked up from his work and remembered his wife, Skylar often caught him staring at her in awe, as if he still couldn’t believe how he’d landed such a babe.
It had been months, maybe even more than a year, since her parents went out on a date, She wished they would make some time for themselves away from family, but there was always so much going on. Lately, stress hid in the creases around her mother’s eyes, eyes which always seemed too glassy as if she was about to cry or had just finished crying.
But no matter how overwhelmed she might seem, she still had that fiery McCullough temper all the female relatives owned. “I just walked through the goddamn door, Mum. Give me a second.”
“Don’t get mouthy with me, Katherine. Dinner’s almost ready and I’ve already used the spoon once today. I’m sick and tired of you kids sassing back when I tell you to do something.”
Frazzled, her mother shoved the box of diapers in Skylar’s arms. “Take these up to the nursery and put one on your brother. Then tell Vincenzo to give me a hand with the corn.” Grumbling under her breath, her mother followed Gran into the kitchen.