Notes: Mari and Sammy – Thanks for the love and laughs! You make every day better.

Readers and REAL McRollers – Won't be long now! Thanks for being with us on this ride. We love hearing from you in reviews, emails, tweets, and Tumblr messages. Every word is appreciated!

One of the many joys of writing in the REAL World is getting to incorporate characters inspired by our own family and friends. They develop personalities of their own, but I always smile to see my grandmother's name in print. I miss you, Gram.

Hope you enjoy!

Learning from the Best (A McRoll in the REAL World Story)

"Oh thank goodness, you're here," Catherine said as soon as Steve stepped through the front door, take out bags in both hands.

"You ladies are that hungry?" he asked in surprise, looking at her and Grandma Ang on the couch while Cammie sniffed at the bags.

"No," Catherine replied. She grinned at her grandmother. "Well, yes, but that's not why."

His lip quirked in amusement. "You can't get up, can you?"

"Nope," she admitted, smiling.

"I thought you weren't going to sit on the couch when I wasn't here," he said, nodding toward the kitchen to indicate he was going to put the food in there are come right back.

"I wasn't," she agreed, sighing ruefully.

"It's my fault," Ang said, loud enough that he could still hear. "I sat down so we could chat before you got here with the food."

"And I was so happy to have Gram to myself that I sat down before I realized I shouldn't."

"And I can't get up either so I definitely couldn't help her," Ang added with a grin of her own. She looked at Catherine. "Don't get old, as your Aunt Louise used to say."

Catherine smiled softly at her great-aunt's mantra.

Steve came back into the living room smiling. "Okay, who first?" he asked, looking between them.

"Help your wife," Ang said, waving a hand in Catherine's direction. "I'm sure she has to use the bathroom."

"I do," Catherine admitted with a little wince.

"Easy decision, then," Steve said, stepping over to her. He gently helped her up, leaning down to kiss her briefly once she was on her feet and sharing a soft smile.

"Thanks," she said. "I'll be right back."

She headed slowly for the bathroom, and Steve stepped around the coffee table to Grandma Ang's other side. He helped her up using the technique he'd seen Joseph use often.

"Don't I get a kiss, too?" she teased once she was standing.

He chuckled, kissing her cheek.

She held his arm with one hand and pointed to the kitchen with the other. "Let's get the food ready so Catherine doesn't have to do anything."

"You read my mind," he said.

"One of my many tricks," she said with a wink.

They enjoyed a leisurely dinner in the dining room specially prepared by Kamekona for the "makuahine-to-be" and talked about Niblet's imminent arrival, the upcoming baby shower, how Grandma Ang was settling in on the island, and, of course, the Cubs.

"Rizzo hit another lead-off home run today," Ang told them, shaking her head in amazement. "Unbelievable."

"What is that, three?" Catherine asked.

"Three," Ang confirmed. "Plus that near miss in Pittsburgh they overturned and called foul. And he's had a couple singles, a double, and a walk. In seven games!" She shook her head again.

"So not a bum?" Steve asked, grinning before putting a forkful of shrimp and rice in his mouth.

"He might be the greatest Cubs leadoff hitter of all time!"

"Hope he can keep it up," Catherine said. "And that the rest of the lineup starts hitting more consistently."

"So streaky," Ang groused, her excitement about Rizzo's seemingly superhuman leadoff feats short-lived.

"Speaking of hope, I hope Mom and Dad are enjoying the dinner cruise," Catherine said after finishing a bite of her rice.

"I'm sure they are," Ang said. She smiled at her granddaughter. "That was a very sweet gift."

"They said they were going to treat it like a belated anniversary dinner," Catherine told Steve.

"Nice," he said. "They definitely deserve it."

"And I'm glad it meant we could spend some time with you, Gram," Catherine said, reaching over to squeeze her grandmother's hand.

"Me, too," Steve agreed readily. "Even if it also means I'm about to lose hard at Rummikub."

Ang laughed. "Maybe you'll get lucky."

"Pretty sure you've got the luck cornered where games with 'rummy' in the name are concerned," he said. "Or just where games in general are concerned."

"She took home the jackpot at bingo earlier," Catherine commented, smiling.

"What can I say," Ang shrugged with a grin, "another one of my tricks."

"That's a trick I'd like to learn," Steve said.

She patted his hand. "Sorry, my boy, not one I can teach. But you've had your moments. You got your own jackpot when you came to stay with us a couple years ago."

Steve smiled, his eyes shifting to Catherine. "Oh, I hit the jackpot long before that."

She returned his smile with a sweet one of her own.

"I'd say you both did," Ang said, smiling happily at them.

"Me, too," Catherine readily agreed.

After dinner, Steve suggested they wait a half hour to play Rummikub so that Catherine could put her feet up for a bit beforehand. Catherine gratefully agreed, and he helped her get situated on the couch thinking Grandma Ang would join her. Confused when she was nowhere to be seen, he went into the kitchen following Catherine's knowing smile.

Ang was at the sink washing dishes when he stepped through the doorway.

"You don't have to do that," he began.

"Oh, get out," she interrupted, putting a rinsed plate into the dishwasher.

"You're our guest," he tried again.

"I'm family," she countered, adding another plate to the rack.

"Still our guest."

"Put those leftovers away," she told him, nodding to the food on the island and effectively ending his protests.

He sighed with a smile, very familiar with losing arguments to the women in this family, and moved toward the tupperware cabinets under the island, though not before a quick backward glance at Catherine on the couch with Cammie as her happy attendant.

"You know I like being in the kitchen," she said. "Any kitchen."

"I do know that," he acknowledged.

"We met in the kitchen at Elizabeth and Joseph's all those years ago."

"We did," he said, grinning. "And you put me to work then, too."

She laughed at the memory. "Slicing tomatoes." Her smile softened. "I knew you were a keeper from the first moment. You didn't hesitate to help."

He returned her smile with a small one of his own. "I couldn't say it then, but I appreciated you all accepting me from the start. You didn't hesitate," he said, purposely repeating her words.

"Catherine thought the world of you, even if she didn't say it in so many words back then. And my girl has always had excellent judgment. Just like her mother."

He gave her a meaningful look. "And her grandmother."

"Ohh," she fussed, avoiding the compliment.

"I'm counting on that trait being passed down again," he said, his smile widening.

"Even if it isn't, I have no doubt it's one you and Catherine could instill together."

He smiled, grateful for her confidence in them as parents.

As they finished up, Ang noticed Steve made sure to walk past the kitchen doorway more than once.

"Catherine is fine," she said after she caught him looking into the living room again. "She's doing great for being a week or so away from having a baby."

"I know," he said, too quickly.

She turned to face him, raising an eyebrow.

"What is it?" she asked.

He squirmed slightly under her gaze.

"She's a week or so away from having a baby," he said quietly.

She nodded knowingly. "It's the 'having' part you're worried about, isn't it?"

"I'm not … worried," he said unconvincingly, moving toward the refrigerator with the last of the leftovers.

When he didn't continue, Ang said, "Women have been doing it for hundreds … thousands of years."

"I know that," he said, closing the fridge door and pausing. "I know it … has to happen, of course, and I know how strong she is, but …" He paused again and sighed. "But it's Catherine and I just wish …"

She nodded again, shuffling closer and giving his arm a squeeze. "It'll be the hardest thing she's ever done … but it's absolutely worth it."

His smile was small but grateful, and he nodded. After a moment he chuckled lightly, and she gave him a curious look.

"I just got a perfect example of why Catherine always feels better after talking to you."

She squeezed his arm again. "Another one of my tricks."

"No trick," he said with a warm smile. "Just vintage Grandma Ang."

Steve and Ang rejoined Catherine with cups of herbal tea and spent the rest of the half hour relaxing in the living room. Just before they went through the "getting up" process again, Catherine received a text with a photo of Elizabeth and Joseph on their dinner cruise, the Hawaiian sunset in the background.

"That's a great picture," Steve said. He smiled at Catherine, knowing she already had a spot picked out for it on the photo wall.

He helped both women up again, and they moved back to the dining room to set up their game. Ang had brought over the Large Numbers Edition of Rummikub that had been waiting for her at the condo when she arrived as a sort of "housewarming" gift from Steve and Catherine.

"You two think of everything," Ang observed.

"Hold that thought," Steve said, disappearing briefly into the kitchen. He returned a moment later with a plate and a box of Nilla wafers.

"Ohh, our favorite Rummikub food," Ang said, reaching for Catherine's hand.

She smiled and glanced at her husband. "Steve actually thought of it first," she said.

"Catherine told me back at the Academy you two used to eat them together when you played," he said, pouring several of the small cookies onto the plate. "And sure enough, the first time I met you we all had a few during the games, and pretty much every time after that."

"They always make me think of you," Catherine said, picking up a cookie and looking at her grandmother fondly. "When I was stateside and missing you, I'd get a box."

Ang squeezed her hand.

"Won't be too long and you'll be sharing a plate of Nilla wafers with Niblet while you two play Rummikub," Steve said.

Smiling, Ang reached over to rub Catherine's belly gently. "What do you think about that, huh? You gonna get some pointers tonight, my girl?"

Catherine smiled. "She's ready to learn from the best."

"Well then," Ang said, sitting back, her smile wide. "Let's get started."

Hope you enjoyed!

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