Felicitous Memories III

"Umm Charls, I think that you are the only one excited about this Jenga game" said Natasha as she laughed.

"Exactly Natasha, please tell him that, he has been hyping this up way too much" said Nine as Natasha laughed and Michael groaned.

"Oh can you all relax, it's a very wonderful game, I am sure that once you get into the groove, you will like it" said Charlie as he held the Jenga box in his hand and he opened the box as Dom, Michael and Nine did not look pleased at all.

"You all clearly don't like the game choice, then why don't you change it?" asked Natasha as she looked at them.

"We can't it's Charlie's turn to choose the game, and we can't refute him" said Dom as he sighed and Natasha laughed as Charlie started to set the game on the coffee table as he set the base.

"Hehe, you see, it's my turn, no going against me" said Charlie as he laughed.

"*Ugh* okay, since you all won't help me set this up, it's fine, I get it" said Charlie.

"Anyway, I am going to get some snacks" said Charlie.

"You haven't even set the game yet Charlie and you are already thinking of food" said Michael as he pointed to the coffee table where Charlie had not even set the first Jenga tower.

"I will be back to set it, relax" said Charlie as Michael shook his head.

"Natasha, what do you want? Boring plain tea, or my special recipe hehe" said Charlie as he laughed.

"Charlie's special recipe please" said Natasha as she smiled.

"Coming right up Madam" said Charlie as Natasha laughed and he walked out of the room.

"Natasha don't encourage him, he's so annoying" said Nine as Natasha just laughed and she looked at her phone as she put it on airplane mode, no distractions tonight, it was just a normal Friday night, that she could use to relax with her friends.

"Hey, where are Uncle and Aunt?" asked Natasha as she looked at Dom.

"Ahh they went to visit one of their friends, they won't be back tonight" said Dom.

"Ahh, I see" said Natasha.

"Oh, and what about Lulu, doesn't she want to join us? It would be fun" said Natasha as she smiled.

"Well no, she said that she doesn't want to spend time with us boring adults, so she's over at Grandfather's house" said Dom as he laughed.

"Oh I see" said Natasha as she laughed.

"I'm backkk, and of course with my special recipe for us all" said Charlie as he walked back with a tray of five brown mugs and some other snacks.

"One for you" said Charlie as he gave Nine a mug, and Michael and Dom.

"And one for you" said Charlie as he gave Natasha a mug.

"Thank you Charlie" said Natasha as she smiled and she took a sip.

"You are welcome" said Charlie as he smiled and he set the tray down as he continued on setting the game.

"Umm Charlie, this hot chocolate is way too sweet, just what did you add in here?" asked Michael as he frowned.

"Well Michael, what did you think I added in there?" asked Charlie as he smiled and he gave a rather suggestive look.

"Charlie, don't tell me that you added what I think you added in here" said Michael.

"And what if I did? We are all adults here are we not?" asked Charlie as he smiled.

"Charlie, I can't believe that you put alcohol in the hot chocolate, are you insane?" asked Michael.

"Gosh, relax Michael, of course I didn't, we have youngsters with us" said Charlie as he smiled and he shook his head.

"Hey, how old do you think I am?" asked Natasha as she took an offence to that, she wasn't a child anymore.

"Wait, how old are you again? I forgot" said Dom as he feigned ignorance and Natasha hit him as he laughed.

"You have to know Natasha, you will always be a child to us, I mean, it's just like it was just yesterday when we were playing in the park" said Charlie as he laughed.

"Oh come on, I'm almost twenty" said Natasha as she shook her head and they all laughed as Charlie continued setting the Jenga tower.

…

"Okay, there we go, we are done hehe" said Charlie as he smiled at his set Jenga tower.

"Alright, so I am sure that everyone knows how to play the game right?" asked Charlie.

"Yes, yes, we all do, you have to remove the lower tower pieces without making the tower fall while increasing the height of the tower, simple and easy" said Michael.

"Yes, yes, and since there are five of us, we should be divided into teams" said Charlie.

"Dom and Natasha, you guys are together, Michael you are with me, and of course Nine I alone since he has depression" said Charlie.

"Hey, Charlie I don't have your time" said Nine as he scoffed.

"Oh you know Nine, don't take it to heart, you like to play alone" said Michael as he laughed.

"He only likes to be teammates with Lia, wow, wow" said Charlie as he laughed and Nine threw a pillow as Charlie's head.

"You know what, let me call her right now and tell her that her trustworthy teammate misses her" said Charlie as he brought out his phone.

"Don't you dare Charlie, don't you dare" said Nine.

"Don't call her Charlie, it must be 1am over there, you will just disturb her" said Natasha as she laughed.

"Oh well alright, Nine thank Natasha and her logic" said Charlie as Nine scoffed.

"Can we just play please??" asked Michael as he groaned.

"Okay, okay fine, who wants to go first?" asked Charlie as Natasha sat down on the rub beside the coffee table.

"Natasha, do you want to go first?" asked Dom as he sat down on the rug beside Natasha.

"Sure, why not?" asked Natasha as she smiled.

"Okay, so you and Dom go first, me and Michael go second, and Nine Is last" said Charlie.

"Dom, Natasha go on" said Charlie.

"Okay, so we need a game plan" said Dom as he looked at Natasha.

"Yes, alright, so you should be the one to remove the blocks, since you have sturdy hands, and I will try to find the best block to take" said Natasha.

"Sounds like a deal" said Dom as he smiled.

"So which block should I take out?" asked Dom.

"That one" said Natasha as she pointed to the bottom left block at the corner as Dom slowly pulled it out and he put it on top.

"Okay, okay, my turn" said Charlie as he took a block and Michael just sighed as he let Charlie do whatever he wanted as he placed the block on top.

"Why couldn't we just play chess or something?" asked Nine as he took a block from the bottom out carefully.

"Well Nine, because Chess is for psychopaths, haven't you heard that?" asked Charlie as he looked at Nine.

"That is a lie, it's just because you are bad at chess, meanwhile Uncle Larry is the best at chess" said Nine as he smiled.

"Which reminds me, we should play again sometime" said Nine as Natasha sighed.

"You know, I'm worried about him, he hasn't played chess in a long while" said Natasha as she pointed to the block that she wanted him to take out as he did so.

"How come?" asked Michael.

"I don't know… he's been so sad lately, and It hurts for me to see him like that" said Natasha as she sighed and Dom placed the block on top.

"Well it's understandable why he's like that, how do you expect a man who has been walking all his life, to suddenly get used to living the rest of his days in a wheelchair?" asked Charlie.

"If I was him, I would be even more sad and depressed, I wouldn't move from my bed at all" said Charlie as he took out a block from the middle.

"But my dad isn't like that, I know he's trying to be strong, but he should just tell me when he can't go on" said Natasha as she sighed.

"Natasha, he doesn't want you to worry" said Dom.

"Yes Natasha, he knows how much you already worry about him" said Michael.

"I can't help but worry" said Natasha as she sighed.

"Don't worry Natasha, we'll check in on your dad, maybe he will talk to one of us" said Michael.

"I hope that he does…" said Natasha as she sighed and she pointed to the next block as Dom took it out after Nine's turn.

"Relax Natasha, he will be fine, your father is a very strong man" said Charlie as he decided to challenge himself and take straight from the middle as he was able to balance the tower and he placed the block at the top and he waved his hands in excitement as he accidentally pushed the tower and it came crashing down.

"Charlie!!" said Natasha, Michael, Dom and Nine as they all sighed and shook their heads as all Charlie could do was laugh sheepishly.

"Sorry guys, that one was on me" said Charlie as he laughed.

"Okay scrap this, how about we play monopoly?" asked Charlie with a smile.

"You couldn't have suggested this from the beginning??" asked Dom.

"We literally spent an hour alone, just to set this tower" said Michael as he laughed, it was so funny not funny.

"I am sorry" said Charlie as he laughed and Nine felt like giving him a knock on the head.

"Alright, Monopoly it is, I will go get it" said Charlie as he stood up.

"Hey, clean up this mess first" said Nine as Charlie sighed.

…

"Okay, are we going to have teams or…?" asked Charlie as he was cut off.

"Teams" said Natasha, Michael, Dom and Nine in a chorus.

"And this time, you are the one alone" said Michael as Charlie sighed.

"Fair enough, whatever" said Charlie as he scoffed.

"On second thought, I want to be the banker" said Natasha as she smiled.

"Be my guest" said Charlie as he smiled, he was not going to use his mind to keep track of anything, he was only going to play the game.

"Alright, so let's start" said Charlie as he smiled.