I smile as I watch everyone gather around the front yard. Dinner's at 6:00, but we arrived at 3:00 so we could set up the circus for Plum. Even her great grandparents, Rosie and Reynold, have come out to see the show, which I think is pretty sweet. And her Great Uncle Filson and Great Aunt Ruby are here as well. The legendary Rowdy boys haven't come, but that's because they weren't invited.
When I asked Bartlett why they weren't allowed to come, he said, "No way. This is a kid's show. Those boys are way too wild for a circus set for a five-year-old."
Not understanding what that meant, I dropped it and focused instead on making sure my act wasn't going to be a mess. I haven't walked a tightrope in quite a while, and I've never performed for an audience that meant so much to me.
"Ladies and gentlemen," Redford Rough calls, gathering his family around to the front porch. Everyone is sitting on blankets or Adirondack chairs or on the steps of the big, wide, porch. "I would like to welcome you to the first ever Rough Family Circus, not to be confused with our traditional Thanksgiving Rough Family Talent Show."
I look over at Lemon. "You guys have a family talent show?"
She nods. "Oh yes. Thanksgiving tradition, and you cannot skip a performance."
"Good to know," I say, smiling, laughing really, and wondering if I’ll be lucky enough to share Thanksgiving with this family one day. I'm not one who makes risky bets, but God, I would go all in with these people because they are the only family I want.
I smile as Red welcomes the first act of the evening. "Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to introduce the magical, the alluring, the sensational, The Real Mac-aroni."
Mac walks up from where he was sitting on an old stump. He has an ax slung over his shoulder and a log under his arm. "I am going to dazzle with acts of bravery, acts of strength, acts of–"
Plum starts giggling loudly, and Mac can't help but grin, breaking his acting bravado. "I'm the strongest man in the world," he says, showing us his muscles, which there are a lot of. Then he sets the log down on his stump and he swings that ax, slicing through the log as everyone in the family cheers, laughing hard, hollering and hooting as he lifts the ax overhead in a victory dance.
Red calls the next act forward. "Now, it's time to see our performer who travels far and wide. You may know her as the elusive, as the marvelous, as the magical Lemonada."
Lemon stands, and somehow, she has found a turban and a tasseled shawl, wrapped around her as she sashays before us all. "Hello, my darlings," she says with a dramatic accent. "I would like to read someone's palm to find their fortune." She walks over to Rye. "May I have the privilege of taking your hand and reading your love line?"
Everyone laughs riotously because the idea of Rye falling in love is ridiculous. He plays along though, knowing Plum is watching every move. He gives her a smile and Plum skips over, climbing into her grumpy uncle's lap.
"How do you read palms, Auntie Lemon?" she asks.
"You must look ever so carefully at this line here. But there's a tragedy in your future, Rye. Look," she says, pointing dramatically to the center of Rye's hand as Plum's eyes widen in shock and glee. "His line cuts into two, which means–"
Plum shrieks. "What does it mean? What does it mean?"
"It means he must make a choice or he will never love at all."
Rye rolls his eyes and Plum laughs, jumping out of her uncle's lap as Red takes the center of the yard once again. "Okay, now that we have that figured out, let's see what the next act is. Who do we have? We have Graham Cracker," Red says, and he points to the right, where we see Graham riding a unicycle very, very poorly through the grass toward us until he falls off very, very dramatically.
"Okay, so that act needs work," Red says as Graham clutches his belly in laughter. Next up, Fig knots a cherry stem with her tongue, which has her father grumbling and her brothers shouting at her – you better not be doing anything like that with any boys from town.
And then Annie brings out some apples and shows us her juggling skills. Plum does a hula hoop routine. And Rueben shows us a magic trick in which he disappears, goes into the house, and returns with a can of beer.
"That's not a magic trick," Bartlett jokes. "That's you going into the house and getting some Rainier. And you didn't even bring me one."
Reuben laughs. "Well, I guess you need to work on your act. Speaking of, what's your act?"