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Before long, we’ve all dropped our slips into Bishop’s hat, and then Briar mixes them all up inside.
“Who’s the brave soul that’s going to go first?” she asks, glancing around.
“I’ll do it.”
I blink, surprised, watching as Reid stands, crosses over to Briar, and grabs a slip out of the pile.
“Oh, come on,” he says, grinning wide. “Read the ingredients on the hotdog package as seductively as you can.”
Everyone bursts into laughter, and even in the low light of the campfire, I can see the way Reid’s cheeks flush slightly pink.
“Get to it, Mr. Cohen,” I say, smirking.
Reid grabs the plastic package out of the trash and looks at the label for a long minute before he spins around and looks at me.
“Kosher beef,” he says, biting his lip. “Delicious, nutritious water.”
I cover my mouth with my hand, barely able to contain my laughter.
“Sodium lactate and paprika,” he continues, dropping the package on the ground then bending slowly to pick it up. “Hydrolyzed soy protein.”
The laughter around the fire is so loud I can barely hear the rest of the ingredients, and when Reid finally finishes, he gets a standing ovation from the entire family and a few pats on the back.
After Reid breaks the ice, the rest of the game goes pretty quickly with some well-thought-out tasks:
Bishop acts out theTitanicscene with dad, though dad tries to convince everyone that by obligating him to participate, he’s off the hook to draw his own slip of paper. Nobody else agrees.
Boyd has to do the worm and can barely manage once or twice because he can’t stop laughing.
Gabi has to give her best impression of Rusty, which she does by sitting there with a frown, glaring at everyone and rolling her eyes before finally bowing.
Ruby has to bite into an onion like an apple, which Bishop brought with him on the hike just for this moment.
Bellamy howls like a wolf for a full minute, which is a lot longer than you would think.
But there are also a few duds:
Mom sings Happy Birthday to herself.
Rusty has to walk the runway like a model but kind of half-asses it and everyone boos and chucks marshmallows at him.
Dad has to wear his socks on his hands for the rest of the game, which feels particularly unsanitary.
Andy has to give his worst pick-up line to mom, which ends up being, “Need help with those groceries?” Everyone gags a bit.
And mine is to catch three marshmallows in my mouth.
Then it’s Briar’s turn, and she pulls out a slip of paper from her pocket, clearing her throat dramatically to get everyone’s attention.
“Make a baby.” There’s a collective pause before she shrugs and says, “Oh, well I guess I get a pass then because I’m already doing that.”
“Shut the fuck up!” Bishop shouts.
“Wait, what’s going on?” Mom asks, sitting up straighter, her eyes wide.
Briar’s smile stretches wide. “We’re pregnant!”
The campfire erupts as all of us fly out of our chairs, hugging and laughing and crying and expressing our excitement. When I finally get my chance to hug Briar, I can’t hold her tight enough.
