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Show 72 moms and my sisters were coercing the other Michael to play another number on the piano since they had missed most of the first round and because they were traitors. My dad stuck by Ina. I wasn't really friends with anyone there, and without my brother around, I wasn't sure what to do with myself. My immediate family was detained, and although I actually knew quite a bit about the Jazz since in Arizona I often found myself with nothing to do and Valerie had cable so I watched many of the games, most of my cousins and uncles were prone to unnecessary hand-on-the-shoulder advice when talking to someone younger, especially someone not committed to going on a mission, so I crossed that possibility off and waited by myself on the couch. My family did not share my outlook that if I was quiet and detached I should have the right to observe the proceedings without engaging in or being touched by them. On the contrary, most of my family thinks that the solution for someone looking bored or out of place is a baby. Nothing like a baby to bring out the latent love waiting inside of us all, the thinking goes; handing off a baby also gives someone else an excuse not to deal with it for a while. Most years I countered these efforts by assuming a combat position with my brother, our backs to as many walls as possible so we could start talking and standing up as though we were about to leave if we saw any babies being carried our way. But I didn't have that vigilance this year, and I found Holly next to me on the couch in a way that was shockingly quick and stealthy for a pregnant woman holding one baby in her stomach and another in her arms. I think Holly was my cousin. |