Wayne worked a half day that Friday and returned to the Nest early. Lady Bird gladly lay her schemes aside to have lunch with him at a cafe they frequented.

"I was thinking the three of us should have dinner tomorrow." He stated as he stabbed his salad and took a bite. "I've barely seen Terri all week and when I do see her, she seems distant."

"The kid's still adjusting. Maybe she just had a lot on her mind." She pulled the tomato slice off her sandwich. She always forgot to ask them to leave it off at this place for some reason. "And I think she's been avoiding me since the lesson incident, but I don't know for sure."

"Then maybe we need to do something tonight. Not dinner, but something that can help us bond. We can’t just ignore her while she stays with us.” He chewed a tomato. Suddenly, he slammed his fist on the table. “I’ve got it! We should have a game night! The Minions have a collection of board games and they’ll be busy doing something. I think we should invite a couple of them, maybe Blabber and Number One, if he wants to play that is.”

“It sounds like you’ve been reading some kind of family building book.” Lady Bird remarked. She wouldn’t be surprised if Wayne had gone out and bought one after he learned the kid would be staying with them for a while. Whenever he was faced with something he didn’t know much about, he went and bought a book for it. They were running out of space in their room for shelves. “But it has been a while since I’ve played anything. I can’t even remember the last board game I played...Though I think the kid prefers video games.”

“Birdie, no offense, but you’re terrible at video games.” Wayne told her, giving her a sweet smile afterwards to try and soften the blow. “And we don’t have any game systems that support multiplayer games. The Minions might have one, but I think we should hold off on asking them for now. You never know until you try.” He put a hand on the one she wasn’t using for her sandwich. “You thought the dinner was going to be a disaster and it wasn’t, remember?”

Lady Bird nodded as she finished that piece of her sandwich. Yes, the dinner had been surprisingly pleasant. But she couldn’t help but have a nagging feeling that it had been a false indication of how things would be between the three of them.

“Yeah, but that was while the kid was still in shock, emotionally speaking. Now, she’s starting to come out of her shell a bit and she doesn’t like what I do for a living.” Lady Bird could care less about the kid having a problem with it, but she did worry about it causing trouble in the future. “A game night isn’t going to change her mind about that.”

“No, but at least it will distract the both of you from that tension. You’re hardly going to be able to do anything morally wrong playing a game.”

Wayne had a point. It was a board game where pieces got moved, not a takeover scheme or weapons distribution plan. There was nothing wrong with playing a game and Lady Bird didn’t cheat at games. If any conflict did arise, it would be over rules and nothing philosophical. She nodded.

“All right, Wayne, you win. Invite Blabber and Number One if you want. Don’t be surprised if Number One doesn’t come though. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him play a board game.”

--

Lady Bird could hardly believe that Number One sat across from her and that there was a board between them. Blabber was there too, talking about something, but she didn’t process what he said as she stared at Number One. He stared back and gave her a small amused smirk. No doubt he knew that she was surprised by his presence. Wayne soon arrived with Terri and she took the empty seat between Blabber and Number One. Her husband sat next to her.

“What game is this?” The kid asked as she looked at it. “I hope it’s not Monopoly. I don’t like Monopoly all that much…”

“Oh, Monopoly’s been banned here for years.” Number One proceeded to explain. “Minions kept getting in fights over the banking rules and there was some cheating. It was deemed a public danger and has not been allowed in the Nest ever since, along with that racing game and party game. The ones with…”

“I think I know which ones you’re talking about. They’re known as friendship ruiners for a good reason.” Terri picked up one of the pieces. “I don’t think I recognize this game. I know it’s been a bit since I’ve played a board game, but I can usually name them. Is it a new one?”

Blabber shook his head. They had decided to let him choose the game. “No, but it might be a different version of one you know. This one’s from the UK, so it has a different name and look. Once we start, I’m sure you’ll recognize the gameplay.”

The gameplay was simple: draw a card and move as instructed, sometimes forward, sometimes backwards, and if you landed on another player, they had to go back to the start. The end goal was to make it all the way around the board and return back to the home space. So, a simple game with some chance thrown in.

They played a bit, not saying much. Of course, Blabber chose to speak up at that time to break the silence. He moved his piece and put down the card.

“Terri, how do you feel now that you’ve been withdrawn from school?”

She shrugged a bit. “It feels a bit weird, to be honest. I’ll wake up Monday and not have to go to school. I know I’ll have a tutor, but that won’t last all day. I won’t know what to do with myself.”

“Won’t you miss your friends?” Wayne asked as Number One took his turn.

“Well, Dan’s online a lot, so I’ll see him then, Sai and I text each other in a group chat, and Jason will contact me once and a while, depending on what time it is over in England. So, I don’t really need to go to school to see them.” Now it was her turn to go. She landed on Lady Bird’s piece, forcing her to go all the way back when it took her forever to get out of the home space to begin with. “Who is this tutor you’re hiring, Lady Bird?”

“It’s someone who specializes in tutoring children of heroes and villains. They came highly recommended and rated on the internet.” She drew a card and sighed as it was not one she needed to move her piece forward again. Wayne took a card and then inclined his head toward the kid. He wanted Lady Bird to talk directly to her some more. “You said you were home schooled before living with Beretta. Any reason why?”

“You know my personality. Mom thought a big public school like the ones around here would be too much for me to handle without having some sort of breakdown. Fortunately, the home school association in the area is pretty strong, so if she couldn’t handle a subject, someone could. What about you? Did you attend school?”

“Define attend. I skipped a lot, but the teachers didn’t care because I did do well in classes even with all the skipping. It was a small school system.” While she wouldn’t tell the kid her whole life story, she didn’t mind giving her a tidbit or two. Blabber nodded in approval of this exchange as he took his turn. “I tried college, but it didn’t work out.”

“Melissa said that you probably learned more from the Count than from any professor. I think I can see how that is, despite not ever meeting him.” The kid played with one of her pieces that hadn’t been able to go. Lady Bird had noticed that she seemed to always have something in her hand when she could. Maybe she should get her a stress ball or something else to squeeze. “Melissa also doesn’t think he’s dead. She said it would take more than an explosion to kill him.”

“I feel the same way. Though he’s certainly taking his sweet time to reappear. I guess he’s just waiting for the best dramatic timing.” The Baron had been nicknamed the “Last Classic Villain” while he was still active. But despite his old fashioned ways of dramatic monologue, leaving the hero alone while he tried to dispose of them, and somehow ruling his own country despite trying to take over the world, he had somehow been successful until his machine blew up. Lady Bird knew she could never measure up to him, but she tried to do her best with what she was good at. “Kid, about the other day…”

“Wait, am I the green piece or the red piece?” Blabber asked holding his up. “Because I just landed on someone and I’m not sure if it’s one of my other pieces or someone else's. Being color blind really sucks with these kind of games.”

Number One frowned a bit. “You are green and you landed on the tile with another one of your pieces, so you have to draw another card. And they were having a moment, which you interrupted.”

Blabber shrank was from the right-hand man’s glare. Lady Bird wouldn’t have called it a moment, but yes, she had been about to say something important to the kid.

“Go on.” Terri encouraged. “You were saying something, Lady Bird?”

“The other day after the driving lesson, I…”

Several minions proceeded to pile into the room. Apparently, they had grown bored and decided to see how Family Game Night was going.

“Who’s winning?”

“Whatcha playing?”

“Is there room for one more?”

Lady Bird growled in annoyance as the Minions started wedging themselves in. Maybe it had been a mistake to play after the work day was over, but she didn’t want to appear slacking in her duties. It would set a bad precedence for them. They were the type of minions that if given an inch, they would go a mile. Number One gave a loud, shrill whistle, garnering everyone’s attention.

“Some of you can stay here, but not all of you. And if you do stay, you have to stay quiet and out of the game.” He told them. He wasn’t even standing up, yet all eyes in the room were on him. “Those are your options. And before you protest, remember there’s always more work to do if you’re really that bored.”

Most of the minions elected to leave while some stuck around. A few were watching the game while a couple of them apparently just needed a quiet place to listen to music or read a book. She didn’t mind if they stuck around. But now, she didn’t feel like telling the kid what she had been trying to tell her. And obviously, it wasn’t important because she didn’t bring it back up even when they started playing again.

Somehow, Wayne managed to win that round. He must’ve had more luck with the cards than she did, she barely got out of the base with one piece. Blabber put up that particular game and browsed around for another one. About that time, Terri’s cell phone went off. She glanced at the ID.

“Excuse me, I have to take this real quick. I promise I’ll be back real soon.” With that, she rushed out of the room.

“It’s her biological father.” Number One stated as Blabber came back with a dice dependent game, which would probably be less painful that having to rely on a lucky draw. “That’s the only number in her contact that I can’t put a face to.”

Lady Bird knew better than to ask when he had time to go through her phone, seeing that the kid always seemed to have it with her. But true to her word, she came back after a few minutes and sat down.

“Everything all right?” Wayne asked.

Terri nodded, but Lady Bird could tell she wasn’t telling the whole truth. She didn’t seem bothered, but she did appear preoccupied as she missed the instructions of the game and didn’t know how to play when they started. Lady Bird added daddy dearest to the list of possible future problems. But for now, she could forget those problems and play the game.