Chapter 92 - Family Game Night (1) (Day 6)

Dinner went by more or less uneventfully. Everyone was in a much better mood and the awkward atmosphere that everyone had felt on the mountain earlier in the day had completely evaporated. Nick and his family were full of smiles and they had begun to talk about which game they wanted to play. First they played a board game "Life" which Lori found stored somewhere in their room. Ashley had won, she was lucky enough to draw a doctor as her occupation and the steady income carried her through. Lynn had picked up actress which everyone thought was rather appropriate considering her bubbly personality, but the low income it provided wasn't helpful when it came to winning the game. They still had plenty of time before bed and everyone wanted to play another game, but no one wanted to play Life a second time.

"What should we play next then?" Lori asked with a big smile. "Do we have any other board games?" Ashley asked. "No, that was the only one I could find." Lori replied sounding a little disappointed. "If we thought of playing games sooner we could've brought a couple more along with us." Daniel offered.

"With all the bags mom and Ashley brought. There's no way any games would've fit in the car." Nick responded with a cheeky smile. Everyone laughed at that, except for Ashley who looked a little embarrassed in response. "Good point." Daniel replied still smiling. "We have a deck of cards. We could play go fish?" Lori offered. "Borrrrring!" Lynn said quickly. "We could play a drinking game?.." Ashley suggested nervously. Daniel and Lori shared a look and then Lori said, "Ashley your 19 and your sister is only 18... we can't condone you two drinking." Daniel was nodding along as his wife spoke but then continued, "Have you been drinking young lady?"

Ashley shrugged, "Just once, at a party. I only had like 2 beers, but we played this fun game... it was just a thought." Daniel shook his head but smiled. Lori also shook her head and said, "Well you shouldn't be drinking yet, it's not good for you." Nick laughed as he said, "Aww what's the big deal? Let's just play, we'll drink beer and they can drink water." Again Daniel and Lori exchanged a look. Lori still looked fairly disapproving, but Daniel had a half smile on his face. "It won't be fun if we just drink water..." Ashley mumbled. "Yeah that's not fair!" Lynn stated loudly. "Let's just give them one beer each and play honey. I want to see what drinking game kids are playing now anyway." Daniel said clearly giving in. "Fine. But only one!" Lori said sternly.

"Yay!" Lynn chirped happily running off towards the refrigerator. When she returned she slid one can to each member of her family and Ashleystarted explaining the rules. Each person was to take turns pulling the top cared of a shuffled deck. Each card then had its own rule associated with it. It often involved reacting quickly or pointing at someone to drink. Nick was having fun playing, but quickly realized this game was more about getting drunk quickly than any real strategy. At the end of the game everyone would poor their remaining beer into a large cup and the loser would drink it all. Lori lost the first game and everyone laughed while she chugged the remaining beer. Nick estimated that his mom probably had 2-3 beers while he and everyone else at the table only had about a half of their own. They quickly decided to play again and Loriprobably feeling the affects of drinking didn't say anything when her daughters opened their second can. Nick lost the second game and they quickly started a third. Daniel lost the third and when Lynn lost the fourth Lori finally put a stop to the drinking.

"Okay that's enough! You have definitely had more than one beer to drink, and I think it's best we stop." She said finally. "Okay after this." Lynn said holding a the large cup with the clear intention of gulping it down. "No you've had to much already!" Lori protested. "She'll be fine honey, she's at home and she's young. Just let her drink the loser cup and we'll play something else." Daniel said tapping his wife on the knee. Lori crossed her arms and huffed as she watched Lynn drink the large cup of beer. Nick wasn't exactly sure how much each member of his family had to drink but he estimated that he'd had around 4-5 beers and that both his parents had certainly had more than that. Lynn and Ashley definitely had a bit less. Probably something like 3-4 for Lynn after finishing the loser cup and probably only 1-2 for Ashley who still seemed pretty sober. Nick had never drank with his family before, but he could tell his mom was fairly drunk. She looked a little annoyed, but also had a dazed look in her eye like she was struggling to focus on anything for too long. His dad looked relaxed and had a big smile on his face. Just as Lynn finished drinking the last of her beer from the cup Lori asked, "Should we go to bed now? Or does everyone want to play something else?"

"Let's play truth or dare!" Lynn announced excitedly. Everyone laughed again. "I don't think that's the sort of game a family plays together." Ashley offered through a hard laugh. "Why not? It'll be fun!" Lynn said crossing her arms and sticking out her bottom lip, clearly pouting. "I'm game!" Nick said, also still finding this idea rather funny. "Fine we can play, but let's go sit in the living room where it's more comfortable first." Daniel said standing and stretching. Everyone navigated to the living room and found comfortable seats. Nick sat on the couch with Lynnon his left and his mother on the right. Daniel sat in the arm chair and Ashley sat in a chair she brought over from the dining room close to her dad. They decided that since it was Lynn's idea to play that she could pick first. They also said that if anyone refused to complete a dare or answer a question that they would need to go stand out in the cold for 30 seconds without grabbing a jacket. Once the ground rules were laid out Lynn turned to Nick and asked, "Okay then, truth or dare big brother?"