She grinned and threw her arms around me. “Thank you, Uncle Aiden.” She jumped back. The wrestling crisis must be taken care of in her mind. “I brought my Old Maid cards but no one likes to play with me. Gramma said it was game night, but they’re not playing games I like.”

Kate had asked Violet to be her partner during Scrabble against Randall, but the girl had drifted away a little before I’d left for the bedroom. Jason and Sophie were each cleaning off their own six-pack and getting louder in a Cards Against Humanity game with Sharon. My mother-in-law was indulging in her second rum and Cherry Coke. The game was getting rowdy and full of jokes Violet shouldn’t hear. Matt and Violet’s mom, Ada, had plans with friends and had dropped Violet off to play with her cousins.

I could easily work another hour on my tiny screen, but I’d been sequestered in the bedroom long enough. I’d work longer tomorrow. “Why don’t you grab your cards and bring them here?”

Her eyes brightened. “You know how to play Old Maid?”

“Kiddo, I grew up playing Old Maid.” I hadn’t played the game since I was old enough to tie my own shoes, but she didn’t need to know that.

Violet ran off and was back within a minute, lugging a pink backpack covered in unicorns. She jumped onto the bed. I tucked my phone away in my pocket as she unloaded dolls and books from the backpack.

I picked up one of the books and paged through it. “You can read this stuff already?” My first-grade days were hazy, but I didn’t recall reading books with this many words on the page. It was a cross between a graphic novel and a chapter book.

“Uh-huh.” She found the cards and shoved everything else to the side. A fairy doll and a book similar to the one I was holding fell off the side. She ignored it. “So, I deal all the cards. Only put down pairs. If you get two school teachers, put those cards down. But if you have three school teachers, don’t put all three down.”

She spoke with the seriousness of Kendall running a meeting. I picked up my cards and arranged them, setting down each pair I found. Over the top of her cards, Violet watched me like a hawk, waiting for me to make a wrong move.

“Okay,” I said. “Remind me how the rest of this goes again.”

She smacked her lips, her expression full of ancient wisdom. “So. You pick a card from my hand, and if you get a pair, set it down. Whoever’s left with the old maid loses.”

“Got it.”