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I laugh at her, rubbing her arm. “Mom, you’re so dramatic. It’s a buffet. They just have a little bit of everything.”
“I think it’s great,” Dad says, licking his lips as he picks up the ladle to add some pasta to his plate. “Everything you could possibly want under one roof. Why don’t we come here all the time?”
Behind me, Jonas laughs. “That’s my fault. I guess I had the misguided impression that a fancy restaurant would impress you more than just a buffet. Now I know.”
“This isn’t just a buffet, Jonas,” Dad says, pointing around at the décor in the room. I’m glad the two of them are back to being friends again. Every now and then, I see a flash of their old banter. “This is an Egyptian buffet.”
“I do apologize,” Jonas grins, as we all shuffle along as one group.
I nod to one of the serving trays as Jonas follows close behind me, letting him know I want some of it on my own plate. My hands are kind of full with holding baby Billy on my hip and making sure that our two year old, Johnny, doesn’t let go of my hand and wander off. He loves walking around, but he isn’t totally in control of his steps – he has a tendency to just go in any given direction until he trips over.
“Jo looks pretty used to all of this,” Mom says, watching as our seven year old daughter trips merrily ahead of us all, serving herself. I was hoping Dad would keep a watchful eye on her and make sure she didn’t pick up anything ridiculous, but it seems like she’s behaving herself so far anyway. “You don’t bring them here too often, do you?”
“Not too often, no,” I say, wondering how my mom could even think that. Jo has the body of a string bean, shooting up faster than either of us expected, and her sister – Sarah, who is two years younger and follows Jo around as a form of hero worship – is much the same. “Just on special occasions – like when Granny and Grandpa come into town.”
“I just wanted a salad, really,” Mom fusses again.
I can’t help but laugh. I feel like years ago I would have been annoyed, but by now I’m used to dealing with four kids – all of whom want different things at different times, and often for very silly reasons. Most of the time, they can’t really come up with any reasons at all. “Mom, just serve yourself a salad,” I tell her, pointing to the salad bar just ahead. “You don’t have to have a little bit of everything just because we’re at a buffet. But this way you get your own salad set up just the way you like it, with everything you like and nothing you don’t.”
“Oh, I suppose I could do that,” Mom says thoughtfully.
Crisis averted. I shuffle around with everyone else until we’re all ready to eat, heading back to the VIP table section as we always do. It does pay to be connected in a town like Vegas, after all.
“So, have you enjoyed the trip?” I ask as we settle down to eat.
Dad nods emphatically. “It’s always wonderful to see you and the kids, no matter what we do. But that acrobat show – that was really something.”
“I told you that you would love it, old man,” Jonas says, shaking his head. “I don’t know why you resisted for so long.”
A flare of pink comes up in my dad’s cheeks. “I thought it was one of those shows for girls,” he says, making all the adults laugh.
“Girls can do boy things if they want to,” Jo informs him seriously. “And boys can do girl things too.”
“Is that right?” Dad asks, blinking at her.
“Yep,” she says, digging into some tater tots. “I let Johnny play with my dolls sometimes.”
“And we put makeup on him!” Sarah pipes up, earning a look of betrayal from her sister.
“Aha, so now we know why Johnny had blue eyeshadow on his cheeks last week,” I say. “That wasn’t very nice, was it? You should ask before you take Mom’s things.”
“Sorry, Mom,” Sarah and Jo intone together.
I catch Jonas’ eye and grin. We had a little laugh at poor Johnny’s face, and it wasn’t exactly a mystery who had tried to make him look like a princess.
“Just don’t do it again, girls,” Jonas says. “If you ask nicely, I might let you do my makeup instead.”
“What?” Jo gasps, looking up with a scandalized grin.
“Yep,” Jonas says, puffing out his chest. “I’m manly enough for some makeup, don’t you think?”
There’s general laughter around the table, and my mom shakes her head in amusement.
“Oh, darling,” she says. “I wish we could stay a bit longer.”
“So, stay,” I tell her. “What’s so urgent in Texas?” Both of my parents are heading towards retirement, and I keep trying to persuade them to come out here. It would be good for the kids, and we could all see each other whenever we wanted. I just don’t think they’ll ever want to give Texas up. It’s not like it was for me – so easy to leave and try something new. They’ve invested their whole lives into their community.
