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It was the night before the race and volunteers and competitors had all gathered to celebrate and eat together. Jude was starving and thankfully he’d come to the right place. He, Cope and Wolf walked into the food tent situated in the middle of the elementary school’s parking lot.

“Now that’s amore!” Jude said as he and Cope got into the pasta line.

It was an Italian food wet dream with spaghetti and meatballs, ravioli, manicotti, lasagna, gnocchi, and cold pasta salad.

Not to mention the sauces; pomodoro, alfredo, arrabbiata, and vodka, plus pasta of every shape and size to pour it on.

Last was the chicken parm and hot buttered garlic bread. He had no idea where to start.

Just like with the Boston Marathon, Salem hosted a pasta dinner the night before the race.

The purpose of the meal was for the runners to load up on carbohydrates, which would give them extra energy when they ran the next day.

The runners were also able to pick up their bib numbers. Jude would grab theirs after they ate.

Jace had donated money for the food, while other parents had volunteered to cook, serve, and clean up the meal.

“I want alllll the pasta,” Wolf said, holding his arms wide. “After our run today, I could eat a whole elephant.”

“How about we start with the lasagna and some bread?” Cope asked, serving himself and Wolf.

“With meatballs!” Wolf sang out as he hurried to the table Ronan and Everly were sitting at.

“This is absolutely amazing,” Jude said, filling his plate with gnocchi and drowning them in arrabbiata sauce.

“What is? The amount of hot red pepper flakes in the sauce?” Cope shook his head. “Maybe you should sleep on the front steps so that you don’t set the sheets on fire with your farts.”

“Real grown up.” Jude rolled his eyes, but Cope had a point.

The older he got, the more sensitive his stomach was to spicy food.

His butt was gonna burn for days after eating the sauce.

He could only hope the pepper’s wrath didn’t hit him in the middle of the race.

He’d take a couple of those stop-you-up tablets before bed, just in case.

“I was talking about the way Salem came together for this event. It’s humbling when you think that strangers are doing something amazing for our son’s future. ”

Cope groaned. “Yeah, well, these are the same idiot assholes who fought against us in school committee meetings because they didn’t want their taxes to go up in order to pay for free school lunch for every kid in Salem.”

“Let it go for one night, babe. Tonight we feast, for tomorrow, I run my ass off.” Jude snickered. He followed behind Cope to the table Ronan had saved for everyone.

“Can someone please tell me why you’re all acting like you’re running the Boston marathon tomorrow?” Cope asked, taking a seat at the table. “The race is 2K, which is one mile. You could each walk it in about twenty minutes.”

“I know you worship me like an Olympian god, but I hate to break it to you, I’m a little out of shape.” Jude pressed a kiss to Cope’s cheek.

“Can someone find out what’s in the arrabbiata sauce, it’s making my husband hallucinate.” Cope rolled his eyes and spiraled spaghetti onto his fork. “Olympian god, my ass.”

“The race is designed to be short so that the kids can participate,” Jace said.

“Which I think is a great idea to get kids into the idea of exercise for fun and it’s a good intro to philanthropy.

” Jace angled his chin toward Aurora. “One day, she’s going to be running the largest nonprofit in Massachusetts.

Today gets my daughter one step closer to understanding what I do for a living.

It’s easy to explain what you guys do.” Jace pointed to Ronan, Fitz, and Jude. “It’s not the same for me.”

Aurora, her chin covered in tomato sauce and oblivious to the weighty conversation about her future, laughed at something Wolf said.

Jude couldn’t help but wonder if Aurora would want to follow in Jace’s footsteps.

What if she wanted to be a detective like Fitz?

He hadn’t really given a lot of thought to what Wolf and Lizbet wanted to be when they grew up.

Whatever his kids wanted to do, Jude would be behind them one hundred percent.

He would never be disappointed if they decided against law enforcement, but he wondered if the same could be said for Jace if Aurora decided to design naughty lingerie instead of helping to feed and clothe the needy.

“Hey, Everly!” a group of three girls waved from across the tent. Each of them were holding a fun run bib. “Hi, Aurora!”

The girls waved back. “There’s a lot of kids in our class here tonight,” Everly said, looking around the room. “I think they’re all gonna run tomorrow.”

“Oh no, here comes Kenny P.” Wolf ducked down behind Jude.

“The boy that barfed all over the kids sitting in front of him and got the math test cancelled?” Jace asked.

Jude nodded. “Yup, that’s the one and only Kenny P. If projectile vomiting were an Olympic sport he’d have half a dozen gold medals.”

“Christ, I hope that little puke fountain hasn’t eaten yet.” Ronan snorted.

“Hi, Everly,” Kenny sneered, his fuzzy, yellow teeth on full display.

“Hi, Kenny.” Everly offered a sweet smile in return.

“You’re gonna get your booty kicked tomorrow!” Kenny laughed.

“Says who?” Everly asked, her face brightened as she spoke, as if she’d just gotten a valuable piece of information from her gift.

“Says me. I could run backward and I’d still beat you!” Kenny beamed. “I could beat you with one hand tied behind my back.”

Everly’s smile grew bigger. “Great! That will leave you with one free hand to pick your nose, Booger Boy.”

Jude let out a little snort. His shoulders shook as he tried to hold his laugh back. He made the mistake of looking at Ronan, who appeared to be trying just as hard to keep quiet. It wasn’t working.

“Oh, there you are Kenny,” a man approached the table. “I thought we’d lost you.”

“We couldn’t get that lucky!” Ronan whispered, on a wheeze that turned into a cough.

“How are you, Peter?” Fitz asked, shooting Ronan and Jude a warning look. “Looking forward to the color run tomorrow?”

“I’m afraid I’ve got other plans.” Peter wore a triumphant look as if to say his plans were far superior to a charity event for his son’s class. “I’m on the fast track to becoming a partner at Mahoney & Keller.”

“Oh, so you’ll be out chasing ambulances during the race?” Jude asked. “You people have got a gimmick for everything. Struck in the eye with colored powder during a charity fun run? You deserve compensation! Call the offices of Dickhead & Asshole!”

Peter’s eyes darkened. “While you’re running your ass ragged, I’ll be playing eighteen holes with the senior partners in the medical malpractice department.”

Jude had the perfect comeback for this dumb shit, but held his tongue when Fitz kicked him under the table.

“We have people set up all over the course to shoot video and still pics. I’m sure someone will grab a shot of Kenny digging for nose gold,” Fitz said.

“Great,” Peter said, sounding as if it was anything but. “Send them to my wife, Peggy.” Peter turned to his son, famed projectile vomiter and booger connoisseur, Kenny P. “Say goodbye to your little friend.”

“Bye, Everly.” Kenny flared his nostrils, making him look like the little piggy who went to market. He strode away with his father, while Peggy followed with her nose in the air.

“What a horrible family.” Jude said, when they’d left the food tent.

“With a Dad like that, no wonder Kenny P. eats his boogers.” Everly shook her head and grabbed her fork. “Daddy, I know we had a long talk about the race being for fun and blah, blah, blah, but I need you to help me beat Kenny P. tomorrow.”

“Sure thing,” Ronan snickered. “How about I trip him, so you can cross the finish line first?”

“Or I could push him into a ditch, if you think that would help?” Jude asked. What he’d give to put that little booger snot— pun intended— in his place.

“Thanks, Uncle Jude, but I gotta beat Booger Boy fair and square.”

“We’re all gonna beat him,” Aurora said, sounding sure of herself. “Right, Woofie?”

“Right! Wonder Wolf to the rescue!”

“We’ll discuss strategy later tonight.” Ronan winked at Everly. “Between all of us, I’m sure we can come up with a plan to sink Kenny P’s battleship.”

“Teamwork makes the scheme work, right guys?” Jude asked.

Jude knew as a grown ass man it was his job to rise above elementary school taunting and name callings, but that little snot had gotten under Jude’s skin. Everly was going to cross the finish line ahead of Kenny P. if Jude had to carry her.