I took my pill in our trailer. Edith, having spent most of the week with us knew about it, Mindy knew about it and Lucy suspected it. Still, I wasn't mature enough to just go public with it and as such, I ended up skipping away from Mindy's house to take it.

I did use the excuse of grabbing in case it would be cold when we got back, but I don't think anyone bought it. It's tomorrow it would be much colder.

Lucy initially stayed with us, but soon enough, Clark came running, out of breath, as he wanted to speak with Lucy.

Lucy graciously excused herself, and they left for the evening.

The four parents wanted to share a campire as adults, leaving the three of us girls in the house to play Mario Kart Wii.

It's not like they told us they wanted us inside, it's more like "It's cold, and maybe you should rest from your hike". In short, they didn't tell us they were hoping to spend time between adults, but they implied it.

We played a while. Mindy had improved a lot, but so did I. Edith, meanwhile, had learned how to use shortcut, but still took them too often without a mushroom. Previously, she would often curse when failing, something I don't think I mentionned, but not tonight. Not since she moved in with us.

I think that leaving her parents was really starting to have a calming effect on it.

We were a little more competitive, but it was all in good fun. It wasn't so much "I am going to crush you". More like "Watch out, I am coming for you". We all laughed.

It's weird, but at that moment, thing were perfect between the three of us. Not that things will be worse, but the previous weeks, Billy had been a lot in the way and Edith hadn't often been available for weekends. This, that evening, was just a pure moment of bliss in our little trio of friends, and I don't think I realized it at the moment.

I read somewhere that your father picked you up for the last time at some point, and no one realized it was. Well, this wasn't a last time for the three of us, but it was perhaps, the last time that year. Winter was coming, and Mindy would drift away a little to work on her relationship with Billy but also on herself, to be more serious as a person. Edith, would start therapy thanks to CPS, and would become more introspective. This would bring her closer to me, and reduce her desire to hang out with Mindy. We also had Marge, but that's another story.

Edith was tired first, and Mindy second, so we cut the game short, and after Mindy admitted that three girls in her bed was too much for a sleepover, Edith and I move to our trailer.

It was different just being the two of us without my parents... her parents? The parents in the makeshift bedroom. It's not really makeshift. There is a rail for the curtain wall, so it's meant to be a bedroom, but in my mind, you need a solid door to really make it a bedroom. Today, I have a tent, and there is a sort of wall you can put to make two bedrooms, but I use it to hide my cooler, the propane stove and stuff from my sleeping area. What, did you think I never went to a naturist resort alone? I was a college student, I couldn't afford a cabin each time I wanted to visit one.

We talked. Edith no longer needed any cleaning for her wound, but she didn't want to shower since, well, there are no private showers outside of Mindy's house. We have one but again, no exhaust water hookup. It's not that we don't get enough water to shower, it's that we can't empty easily the dirty water. Personally, I didn't care for one, so we just, well, brushed our teeth and talked. Edith apologized again for having judged Lucy on her looks, but I was past that. They were friendly enough toward each other.

Edith opened up more about her parents. I won't repeat it, but if I hadn't gotten the message, I now got it loud and clear. They were awful, but the new message I got loud and clear is that she was terrified of them. And not just of their physical presence, but of the messages dropped in her mind by her mother. On that, therapy helped a lot.

We were asleep when my parents came back. I only know because they weren't there when we went to sleep, and they were there, sleeping, when I woke up.

I first decided to go outside to pee at the communal block, but ran pulled inside to pee in our restroom. There is no way in hell I would nude when I can see frost on the ground and my breathing in the air.

To my surprise, I wasn't shivering, but I was out only a few seconds. Just the time to take in the scene and noped out of there. I hadn't even stepped out of the trailer, so all I had to do is step back and close the door.

When I got out of the restroom, my mom was waiting outside, nude and shivering.

I whispered, "You went outside?"

"Took 4 steps. That's 8 too much"

I was puzzled, but while she was peeing, I realized that 4 out means another 4 to get back in.

We both got dressed without waking up my father, but not without waking up Edith, who was in a good mood.

"Oh, no nudity today?", she said, without losing her mood.

"Far too cold", I said.

She grabbed clothes and basically went to the restroom and changed at the same time.

My mom woke up my dad, who didn't need any advice to get dressed. He saw we were wearing warm clothes, so he wore warm clothes.

To our surprise, however, Peter was actually sitting at this picnic table, drinking his morning coffee, in the nude, but wearing shoes. His wife was more sensible and wore thick clothing.

"I told you that you would be alone", she said when we were in earshot.

He did get dressed, but later. Because after we came in, we went inside and found Mindy nude, and the heating in the house cranked up high.

This allowed my dad to undress, and me too, but the two mothers stayed dressed for now.

"I have fresh pastries, a gift from Mrs Terrence, who will get two of my pumpkin pies. Maybe we can eat that for breakfast? I have more pies to make"

I look and see 14 pie boxes closed, but it's my mother who comments.

"Did you already do 14 pumpkins pies?", my mother asked, surprised.

"No, of course not"

"So these are mostly empty?"

"Oh, no, they are all filled."

"So you did 14 pies"

"No, I told you. I didn't"

"Now I am confused.", said my mother.

It's Peter who explained. "She did 42, but 28 were already picked up"

"Wait, you make pies for others?"

"I sell pies for others. I take pre-orders, so I can buy the ingredients and cook well, all night"

"Why didn't you tell me, I would have helped? And I thought we would cook some together", my mother said.

"Oh, we will. But ours, and yours. Do I help you with your job? That was mine. I am paid for this.", she says, smiling.

It's Peter who explains. "She sells them for $25, and they cost about $10 of ingredients"

There are portions of math I excel at. That's $15 per pie of profit, times 42. 15 times 40 is $600. Add twice $15 and that $630. Divide by, say, 10 hours of work, and that's $63 per hour.

I could calculate that, and I did. Granted, I am recreating the equation, but it feels right from my memory.

"Minus $20 for the pastries", adds Clara.

"She wouldn't afford the full price of her two pies even if she wanted to", says Peter.

"And she makes decent pastries. Dig in girls"

We ate some. Mindy got two, Edith three, and I got one. It was enough for me.

We also had orange juice and my mom made some ham in a pan. It came from us, from our trailer, but had been put in Mindy's fridge specifically for today.

Mindy ended up helping Clara and Kylie, my mom, to make pies for the two families. Meanwhile, Peter got Edith and me to help him carve pumpkins.

Clara had emptied like 40 small pumpkins, but he didn't know what to do with them. The smaller ones are sweeter. We did have 4 bigger ones, so my dad, Peter, Edith and me each had one.

Edith, to the surprise of everyone, had the nicest one. She carved a beautiful ghost silhouette with different depths so that when we put a light in it, it made different effects.

She learned it from her aunt, when younger.

Peter wasn't bad, my dad was pathetic for an adult, and I did a super simple shape, knowing my limits. I also picked a safe saw, while Edith preferred a sharp knife.

I was done and exhausted, but Edith... Had other plans!

She sat at the kitchen table, and kept going with the small ones. A few, she kept carving letters, notably Happy Halloween. The rests were simple and some less simple carvings. My dad helped her, giving her a lot of attention and well, being a good father.

I instead, focused on my favorite task: eating grilled pumpkin seeds.

Even today, I buy pepitas, which are green pumpkin seeds, and even today, I am not quite sure why they are green and taste differently, but I like both. For different reasons.

This was memorable as a Halloween because well, the next year, I would do more. This was sort of my last one as a child, in a way. But that's for later. Much later.

Billy arrived with his father, who brought another gift for Clara.

"James, I don't need anything from you. Your son is dating our daughter."

"Oh, then I can keep it if you insist. I don't remember what I packed, so maybe open it and tell me if I should throw it away or bring it back home if you won't want it"

"Fine"

Clara opened the gift bag and gasped.

"That's a Miyabi Kaizen Chef's Knife.",she says, shocked.

"Is that good?"

"James, it's a $200 knife"

"Wait, really?", James said, shocked.

"You didn't know?"

"My ex bought it right before the divorce, and left it. I knew it was a good knife, and that I was scared of it"

"James, this is like, one of the best gifts you can give a chef. ", says Clara, almost crying.

"I guess I did good"

She hugged him. They were both dressed, so it's ok, but soon, he wasn't. Billy neither, but he stayed with Mindy while I assisted Edith with the other pumpkins once I had enough seeds.

Yes, assisted. I would bring her the pumpkins and get rid of the carvings. We didn't say anything, we didn't need to. As some point, even my father gave up and went to speak with James and Peter. Edith needed no adult supervision.

Once we were done, We went outside to place the pumpkins, but I got dressed for that. Peter didn't, but my father did. It was still freezing. Edith directed, and helped, she didn't just stay back and shout orders, but the result was outstanding.

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