“Let’s play a family game,” Emily suggested.
“I’ve got a game,” Randy replied.
“Dad,” Grant groaned. “No.”
“What is it?” Hailey asked curiously.
“Dad,” Grant groaned again.
“I’m with Grant on this one, if we’re taking a vote,” David added.
“What sort of game is this that has the boys running scared?” Jessica asked eagerly. “Truth or Dare?”
“It’s called Name that Capital City,” Randy told her, ignoring Grant’s ongoing protest.
“Sounds hard,” Hailey smiled at Randy.
“Would you like to go first?” Randy asked her.
“Sure,” Hailey volunteered. “What do I have to do?”
“It’s easy,” Randy shrugged, “I name the country or the state, and you give me the capital city. You ready?”
Hailey nodded pleasantly.
“Okay,” Randy pointed at her. “Germany?”
“Berlin!” Hailey exclaimed excitedly.
“Nice,” Grant smiled as they shared a high-five.
“Still not getting a cookie,” Hailey whispered.
“That was an easy one!” Emily interjected.
“I didn’t know it until a few months ago when Grant taught me,” Hailey admitted with a laugh.
“Alright, you’re up, Grant,” Randy said as he rubbed his hands together eagerly.
“I don’t want to play,” Grant replied. “Was that not clear before?”
“Denmark?” Randy said without missing a beat.
Hailey turned her head to Grant, eager to hear his answer. “You don’t have to pretend to like this game to impress my dad,” he grumbled.
“I do like this game,” Hailey shrugged. “I’ve never played before.”
“That’s because normal kids don’t play Name that Capital City,” Grant snapped.
Hailey wrinkled her nose and fed Grant a bite of cookie. “Eat some sugar,” she rolled her eyes.
“Time is almost up,” Randy shrugged as he tapped his imaginary watch.
“Since when was there a time limit?” Grant stared at his father.
“I believe a time limit has been in place since the summer of 1983 when it took Rachel twenty-seven minutes to come up with Birmingham as the capital of Alabama,” David replied in a mock serious tone.
“I didn’t think Birmingham was the capital of Alabama,” Hailey replied.
“Hence the time limit,” Randy clapped his hands together and pointed at Grant. “Ten, nine, eight…”
“Seven, six, five…” Grant rolled his eyes.
“Grant, humor your daddy for a minute,” Nora pled.
“Copenhagen,” Grant rolled his eyes.
“Alright, Em,” Randy nodded as he pointed toward the chair where Emily was sitting Indian style, flipping through the pages of a magazine. “What is the capital of Vietnam?”
Emily thought for a moment as Randy awaited her answer. “Pass,” she sighed reluctantly, angry at herself for blanking on an answer she was sure she should have known. She turned to Jessica, and Jessica shrugged.
“Alright, David,” Randy said turning to his son who sat on the opposite end of the couch. “Vietnam?”
David chuckled. “Dad, when I agreed to this trip, I didn’t know I was going to get trapped into playing this old game!”
“In other words, he has no clue what the capital of Vietnam is,” Grant grinned at his brother. “Which is really sad when you think about it,” he added. “Perhaps you’ve heard stories of the war?”
“Grant?” Randy pointed.
