12)

Since we still had people coming in, the rest of that morning turned into family storytime while Ami showed off the house to Pete. Erika and Peter ran up and down the hallways or plunked down to play with the bin of toys Aran had dragged down the steps so they could play right in the middle of the hallway.

So my Granpa’s family began when a man named Peter Lathe who married a woman named Charity Olms after they both returned from the service after World War two.

Peter talked his wife into naming their three sons after the Disciples since his name was Peter.

Andrew, who went by Drew, James whose plane hadn’t come in yet, and my Grandpa John.

Graunt Lois was the only girl and was born between James and John, and Charity demanded the right to get to name the girls since Peter had called dibs on the first eleven boys.

Charity had liked comic books with a female lead. So she named her daughter after Lois Lane, which ensured that her daughter would stay far away from any sort of career in reporting. Instead, she became a legal secretary and met her husband at the office they both worked in.

Uncle Drew tried to continue the tradition and named his firstborn son Philip, but his wife found out why and stopped him from sticking Charles with Bartholomew. Much to Charles's relief.

"Charles Lathe sounds awesome, high class and blue collar at the same time. Bart Lathe sounds like a union organizer."

I had asked Charles about his brother after I read his all too thin file, not wanting to ask Gruncle Drew about his suicide. As Charles put it, Philip had decided he wanted to end his pain rather than tell someone, anyone, about it and risk having them try to help him with it.

“If anyone talks about him at this get together, it will be about his life, not his end.”

My Grand Uncle James arrived in time for lunch in his own rental car along with his one daughter, Chloe, and her little boy, Peter. Unlike his brothers and one sister, most of James's hair was still a dark brown except at the sides.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

His eyes snapped to look at Gruncle's Drew restored leg as soon as he arrived, but he didn’t say a word. At least not at first.

I think it was some sort of game between siblings where despite his curiosity if he asked first, he lost.

The adults sat inside with the air conditioning for old people talk, which I wanted to hear, but instead, I got sent outside with the kids.

At least Paul got deemed a kid as well, although it was more likely he got sent out with us to supervise.

Lunch was cold cuts, chicken, turkey, and beef only, on bakery hoagies, which were like bigger thicker hot dog buns. Chips, both potato and corn, veggies with dip, and potato salad.

Just something simple to hold us over until dinner as far as my Grandpa was concerned.

Once we got the younger kids focused on eating, Paul had some questions.

“So, Werewolves?”

I took another bite of my low fat cheese and turkey sandwich with lettuce, tomato, and cucumber to thicken it up, and nodded. I admit, the little bit of horseradish Gruncle Drew managed to smear on my bread while Grandpa distracted me by stealing a carrot off my plate did add a nice contrasting sharpness to everything else in the sandwich.

Not that I would ever admit it out loud.

Paul gave me a dirty look as I slowly chewed, Ami however had to butt in. “Yep, the whole town is filled with them, Grandpa dating one too. She’s from Greece.”

I finished my bite as Paul asked Ami, “Is it something in the water around here?” He gave the river a suspicious look.

I cut Ami off. “No, most of them were born that way. I’ve never gotten the full story, but they all gathered up here by word of mouth before America was even a country, then their kids all ended up marrying each other. We can try to get the story out of Nate when he comes in later, his family has been here forever.”

Chloe had wandered out the house by then to check on her son, and likely to get away from the older people. She was in an awkward position of being twenty years younger than the rest of her generation in the family, and at least ten years older than the next.

She was also the only adult outside to be able to show a reaction to my Grandma Bree, and Aunt Rosaria when they step across from the edge of Great Grandmother’s land to Grandpa Lathe’s. She nearly fell over as she began taking a few steps backwards in a near panic, before running to snatch up her son.

Ami just looked up with a grin and wiggled out of her seat at the picnic table to begin running to meet them.

Aran also looked up and smiled a little before looking over with an astonished look to see Peter getting snatched up. A bit more surprise was seeing Erica look up and around before turning to look in the direction Ami was running off to with a wince.

I only felt their arrival because Aunt Rosaria just used her raw strength to power through the spell to travel here, while Grandma Bree would take her time and do the spell in a way she called smooth which made it undetectable, other than a deliberate signal to Grandpa's land sense to let him know she was waiting on the edge of his land for permission to cross over.

Today she had an invite so she just walked over, but normally Ami was out there waiting for Grandma Bre or Aunt Rosaria when they were due for her lessons to greet them and invite them onto Grandpa's land so that they never had to wait. Which meant Rosaria hadn't had the chance to be rude and walk in without an invite. Yet.

I think she wanted to get into a fight with Granpa Lathe, which meant everyone else wanted to prevent that. Aunt Rosaria liked a fight, Grandpa… Well as Gruncle Drew put it, “John hates to fight, which is why he likes to make sure that if he has to fight, he only has to fight someone once.”

So, I planned to make sure that never happens, which is why I was rushing off to welcome Grandma and Aunt Rose.