Jack emerged from the basement as Rose was making her way to the front door, a look of grim determination on her face. She'd decided to face the problem head on. They met in the middle of the living room.
"Hey," he said.
"Hey." Her eyes darted to the door. The bell was ringing again. She was beginning to doubt her decision to grin and bear it.
Noticing her expression, he said, "We could still run."
"No, you can't," Kurt said, coming down the stairs. His parents stared at him. "I mean it," he added, shuddering at the memory of the year they had decided to make a break for it—and seeing that they were gone, Janis had run, too—leaving him to deal with things alone.
"I can't believe you're wearing that!" Janis shrieked, hurrying down the stairs.
Kurt looked down at his black dress pants and crisp, blue, collared shirt. "What's wrong with it?" He eyed Janis's purple, almost psychedelic dress. It had bell sleeves and a short, flared skirt. As usual, she had done nothing to tame her hair, though she had tucked a few strands behind her ears. "Janis, I told you to dress nicely," he scolded.
She shrugged. "I don't know what you're complaining about. You made this."
She had him there. He turned his attention to his parents. His mother was barefoot and wore a green silk dress that would not have looked out of place on a Greek goddess. A silver anklet adorned her left ankle. Rings covered her hands, and her fiery curls fell in waves down her back. He couldn't remember ever seeing her have a haircut. His father wore a pair of paint-stained jeans with the knees ripped out and a gray flannel shirt, soft from repeated washings. His honey-colored hair fell just about his shoulders. Like Rose, he, too, was barefoot.
Kurt sighed. There wasn't time to herd them all back upstairs and into something—well, presentable. And even if there had been, odds were they would have resisted every step of the way. "Okay," he said. "I am opening the door."
"I hope she didn't bring him again," Jack muttered to Rose, though he was sure she had.
"Me, too."
Kurt swung the door open. Jack's hopes were dashed as he saw not only Ruth standing in the doorway, but Cal, as well.
"Grandma!" Kurt cried, trying to sound excited. He stepped forward and air hugged her.
"Kurt! You're so tall, but why are you so skinny?" she asked, looking past him and zeroing in on Jack and Rose. "It's because your mother can't cook, isn't it? You know, I told her to learn, but she wouldn't listen."
"Grandma, Dad does the cooking, remember?" Kurt asked.
"Oh, right," she said in a voice that let them know exactly what she thought about that. She stepped past him and into the house. She spotted Janis. "Still haven't done anything about that hair, have you?"
"Still haven't done anything about Mom's ex-boyfriend, have you?" Janis retorted, scowling.
Cal looked at his feet. "I don't have a family," he said. "Is it so wrong for me to borrow yours sometimes?"
"It's creepy," Janis said.
Kurt looked pained. "What she means is, you could have gotten married and had children of your own," he said.
"Oh, why bother," Cal said gloomily. He stepped inside and pushed the door closed behind him. "The last woman I went out with disappeared before the first date was over."
"Wow. That's kind of a personal best as far as your ability to repel women goes," Jack said, sounding slightly impressed.
"I hadn't thought about it that way," Cal said, brightening.
"Let's go and eat, shall we?" Kurt suggested. He made a sweeping motion with his arm, and one by one, they were herded into the dining room—a room Kurt had rediscovered just that very morning lurking under stacks of paintings and feminist pamphlets. He'd already brought in the food, placing it in the center of the table. He'd thought about creating a seating chart, but had decided against it. Janis would ignore it. His father would shake his head and marvel at how he'd turned out. His mother would go into a rant about the oppressiveness of assigning a place to a person.
As it turned out, they settled themselves around the table in the best order possible. Rose next to Jack, Cal next to him, Janis next to him, Kurt next to her, and finally Ruth between Kurt and Jack. It wasn't perfect, but there was a buffer between Rose and Ruth—though how much good Jack could do, he didn't know. He hoped Kurt's well-groomed presence would be enough to distract her.