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example of husband and father my dad has always been, until Nicky.”
    My fist tightens around the empty beer can, creating a loud, metallic crunch. I don’t have to turn around to know everyone’s staring at me.
    Heidi giggles. “Oops. No offense, Nate.”
    Everyone else nervously titters, too.
    I take a deep breath through my nostrils and face the audience. “Hey, none taken. I think it sort of went without saying, but… Please. Go on.”
    To everyone’s chagrin, she does go on. And on. And on. And on. Finally, after several choke-ups and restarts, she wraps it up, and we endure a slightly shorter, more chaste kiss to underscore her love for my brother.
    “Alright, then. Go, Pack, Go!” Uncle Mort says, making a beeline for the den. Several people, including Heidi’s siblings, Hans, Greta, and Sonya, follow.
    I dig in the ice-filled sink for another beer.
    Mom sidles up to me. “I’m proud of you,” she says in greeting.
    “You have such low standards.” After three long gulps from my drink, I rest, stifling a carbonated burp behind my fist.
    She rubs my upper arm. “I know this isn’t easy—”
    “It’s not about ‘easy’ or ‘hard.’ It’s uncomfortable. That’s all. Everyone’s staring at me, expecting me to… I don’t know. Break down sobbing? Punch Nick in the throat? Beg Heidi to take me back? What are they expecting?”
    “I think they want you to give them a sign that you’re okay, that you’re happy.”
    I snort. “I’d be a lot happier if I weren’t under the microscope. Oh, and if people wouldn’t tiptoe around me. Or treat me like the second-place finisher in an arm wrestling competition. It’s been three years. I’m okay. Really.”
    I feel her staring at my profile, so I force myself to turn my head and look down into her eyes, eyes that are so much like mine, it’s almost creepy. Holding her gaze, I say firmly, as if saying it to both of us, “I’m okay. It’s… it’s fresh, alright? He just told me Friday night. I’ve hardly had time to process the news, you know?”
    “I do know.”
    “Yeah. Everyone knows. Everyone’s known for a while, obviously. This is not an impromptu party.” I wave my hand at the bedecked room.
    I shut up and stop gesturing when two of Heidi’s siblings come closer to graze at the nearby buffet. We smile painfully at each other and make stupid small talk.
    “Still a nurse, Nate?”
    “Yep. Still nosy and self-righteous, Greta?”
    Fine… I don’t say that, but I want to.
    I actually say, “Yep. Nothing’s changed for me. Well… for the most part.”
    Heidi’s big brother, Hans, pops a cheese cube in his mouth and says while chewing, “I see you still don’t watch football.”
    “And I see you’re still thirty pounds overweight, carrying that ‘sympathy weight’ from your wife’s last pregnancy, four years ago.”
    Yeah, I don’t say that either.
    Admitting to not liking football in this town—especially if you also possess male genitalia—is tantamount to treason and blasphemy, combined. And it’s the favorite pastime of the other 99.5% of people in this town to give people like me shit for not liking football. Like it’s the worst thing possible, ranking right up there with pedophilia and being a Vikings fan. I’m surprised I haven’t been strung up, or worse… evicted from the city.
    “Right-o. Still not my thing. I do enjoy fútbol , though.”
    This prompts a disgusted snort from Hans. “Soccer. A bunch of pansies, compared to American football players.”
    I’d like to see him sprint up and down a soccer pitch for nearly ninety minutes straight and see if he still thinks soccer players are pansies, but I merely concede, “If you say so,” since it’s not worth my breath to argue with him.
    “Good seeing you again,” Greta and Hans say at nearly the same time, making us all chuckle woodenly before they head back to the den.
    As soon as they leave, I return to my conversation with Mom. “Don’t worry