I woke up early, to go to the bathroom. I tiptoed to the restroom and found my mother, nude, in the kitchen with a coffee.

"Slept well?", she asked.

"I did, did either of them wake you up?"

"I didn't hear anything. Want to put the banner for Marge?"

"Right, she wasn't planned to be here. But it's Edith's project, maybe we should wait for her?"

"Good idea"

Sadly, Marge got up before Edith, and was yawning to the bathroom.

She came back in the kitchen with us, with a fresh towel from my mom.

"I like waking up and just walking around", Marge first says.

"Same for me. Did you sleep well?" I ask her.

"I think so"

"How are you holding up?"

"Honestly? I am just too tired to react"

"Can I ask a personal question?"

"Julie, you don't need to ask me that. Either I will answer or not"

"After the diagnosis, Ellie said you were non-verbal"

"Yeah"

"What was happening inside of you?"

She looked at me.

"You don't want to know what happened outside of me?"

"Well, I want to know everything, but you aren't outside of you, you are inside of you"

"Right. I guess I was overloaded. I retreated in my mind and just, like, replayed my whole life in my head. I could follow my mom, but like, talking? I couldn't. I was spinning every awkward moment, running ideas about them, and so on"

"That's horrible", I said.

"It is, Marge.", said my mother. "No one should have to handle all of that alone"

"But I wasn't alone. My mom was outside of me, and I knew Julie and Edith would accept me. I just... needed to learn to accept myself"

Edith woke up. "There you all are. I woke up alone"

"We didn't want to wake you up"

"And miss Clara's brunch?"

"Who is Clara?", asked Marge.

"Mindy's mother. Best cook I know, only my mom is a close second"

"Nice save Kiddo", my mom says.

"Hey, it's Clara's job", I said.

"It is. I am not jealous."

"So when do we leave? I am famished", says Edith

"You could snack before leaving"

"Maybe while these two nudists get dressed"

"How cold is it today, mom?"

"It's currently 61. It might be warm enough to walk a little outside nude and do sports, but not stay in place"

"Can I lend my sundress to Marge?"

"I don't like sundresses", says Marge.

"Oh, it's just to get from here to there. I love them, but I can't really wear them"

"Why?", asked Marge, nervous.

"No breasts yet. You don't have to wear it all day, it's just easier to put and remove"

"I don't see the point of making it easier. It's fast enough with my clothes"

"Ok, never mind Marge", I said, laughing.

"What's funny?"

"I was trying to be nice and lend you my favorite dress, which I can't wait to wear"

"But it's your dress, not mine"

"I know. But best friend sometimes lend clothes to each others"

Edith just ate her two toasts, but she did laugh a little too.

"Marge, Julie is just trying to be nice. You don't have to say yes"

"I know, I just don't get it"

But it's fine. My mother woke up my dad, and the four of us got dressed while Edith changed into normal day clothes, in her room.

"Can I see the dress?", said Marge, once dressed up.

"Sure"

I showed it to her, and she tried to hide that she didn't like it, saying things like "It looks nice", but clearly not liking it. It's fine.

We were soon all in the car, but Edith had to run back inside to pee, and took like 5 minutes.

Finally, we left, but instead of going straight to Mindy, we met Ellie a few corners from the resort. She was drinking a Starbucks coffee.

"It's because of Marge, Ellie said that you should get in with her, you know, her mother"

"Ok, see you soon", I said to Marge, who seemed confused as to what to say, and just waved.

Marge changed car, but we could only salute Ellie.

We got in first, using our members code, and we explained that Ellie was our guest as well as Clara's. It was way out of season, so they didn't care.

Ellie followed us to Mindy's house. All three of them went out to greet us, nude, but Clara wore a sort of comforter on her shoulders. It was open in the front, but perhaps she didn't mind a little bite from the cold.

Marge, however, froze up. "Do I undress here?"

"No, inside. ", said Mindy.

That calmed Marge, and we proceeded in, where Mindy pulled, verbally, all three of us into her bedroom.

"So, you guys saw Billy, right?", she said, excited as Marge and I begin to undress. I look at Marge removing her clothes and realize something. She is 100% in the action of undressing, like every element of her movement is calculated, while I am clumsy, awkward and well, as graceful as a dog on slippery ice.

I wouldn't call Marge graceful, but she is efficient.

"We did, but I needed some time with Marge"

"I bet. So, there is big news about you?", says Mindy, at Marge.

"Yes, I am Autistic Level 1"

"Is that like, Level 1 is the worst, like DEFCON 1, or it's the lightest?"

"Lightest. What's DEFCON?", asks Marge

"It's from a movie my dad showed me. In short, the lower the number, the more prepared for war the USA is, with DEFCON 1 meaning, launch the missiles", says Mindy

"Ok", says Marge.

Mindy does ask questions, but it's very superficial, and I get the feeling that she doesn't understand much.

Marge seems a little aggravated, as if she felt something was amiss, but unable to explain it.

Clara asked us to join them, so we did, but I put my hand on Marge's arm, which made her jump. She doesn't like to be touched, but she looked at me, and saw I was concerned.

"Go ahead, we'll be right there", I tell them. Mindy and Edith are soon in the kitchen, and I look at Marge.

"It's ok not to feel comfortable with some people, and I apologize for touching you, Mindy wasn't looking at us, but she could hear us"

"Oh, right. Why doesn't she listen when I talk, I thought we were friends?"

"You are, but Mindy is like that. It's like, she asks a question, but doesn't always want the answer"

"Then why ask?"

"I guess because she wants to ask it?"

"Is this one of those things I have to accept even if I don't understand it"

"You could stop being a friend with her. But if you wish to stay friends with her, you have to accept it"

"Ok. Thank you for this intervention."

"My pleasure, Marge"

Now, that conversation helped Marge. But it caused a huge problem for me. I could see clearly Mindy how she is at that moment. When at the brunch, it's how I saw her. When writing about the brunch, it's how I saw her.

But I think about my state of mind when writing about her, and I doubt that it was conveyed a lot. But yeah, Mindy does that. She asks a question, and by the time you answer, she lost interest in it. It's really annoying. It makes you feel like she doesn't care about you, but I think it's a form of ADHD, but of course, then, I had no idea what it was.

I was alone in Mindy's room for a minute, and looked at the picture of us making a sandcastle. We were so happy then. What happened? Well, my parents took me out of naturism, so we lost contact. Then, she got a stupid boyfriend and pulled away. But I got a new sister, and a new best friend, both of which I know thanks to her, but both of which are pulling me away from her.

I get to the kitchen, and try to be pleasant with her. To communicate how she liked to be. That is, in a short form, in quick succession, and well, keep long conversations with Edith and Marge.

The only reason it works, is that both of them can wait between exchanges and that Mindy also talks to her parents.

The food, is excellent. Remember how my appetite is irregular? Well, I overate and barely touched food for the rest of the day.

Even Edith slowed down.

We ended up eating for over 2 hours, with food constantly arriving on the table. I have honestly no idea how Clara was able to do it, but I didn't pay attention to her.

After the meal, Mindy proposed taking a walk, and Peter reminded her to stay inside the resort. Ellie, asked Marge if she wanted her to come with us, but Marge was fine.

We went outside, and I came right back in to put my shoes. Edith had kept hers, and Marge didn't mind the cold, like Mindy. I wonder today if she was just making an abstraction of it? Who knows, she didn't tell me.

We walked a little, and I realized that we split into two pairs. Edith, was speaking with Mindy, while I stayed back with Marge.

It's not that they monopolized the conversation, but I think that Marge, and me, had enough words and while Marge didn't eat that much, I was trying to digest, both the food, and my realizations with Mindy.

We ended up going back to the house, and well, even the adults had left the table and cleaned everything up.

Ellie proposed to go back home, but she was facing two opponents: Edith and Marge. The former had a banner to show her friend, and the latter expressed a need to spend more time nude.

Mindy, was about to get a visit from Billy, so we got dressed and Ellie and Marge followed us to our house.

In the car, I asked to try to find a way to delay Ellie and Marge for us to install the banner, but Edith stopped me.

"Why did you think I went back into the house? It's in place"

"Wait, how did you place it?", asked my dad worried.

"I took your long 6-inch nails and your hammer and nailed it to the wall of the living room", says Edith.

"What?", says my father, panicking.

"Relax, Dad, I used the excess blue tack thing you left in my room for my posters. I pressed hard, like you showed me"

"Edith?"

"Yes?"

"Do you know what you just did?"

"I made a joke"

But I heard it too.

"You called me dad"

"Oh fuck. I did. Sorry"

"No, Edith, you don't get it. This is, like, one of the best moments of my life. Like, Julie was born my daughter, but we chose you, and you called me dad. You chose me. I think this deserves ice cream"

My mother says. "Don't make this a big thing"

But Edith speaks up. "No, I think I am seeing it. Can I try something?"

My father says that she is safe with us.

"Sister, I love you"

"I love you too, Edith.", I tell her. Putting my hand on her hand.

She takes a deep breath.

"Dad. I. Shit, why is this that hard."

"Because you went through a lot."

"Dad, I love you"

"I love you too, Edith", says my dad.

She takes a deep breath. "Mom, I love you"

"Edith, I love you too. And I appreciate all those efforts"

"I feel like a load got off my chest. This is the first time I told my dad, any dad, that I love him", she says.

"Well, we are all proud of you", says my dad.

We get home, and I can see my mom is crying. It's her cry of joy, but she tried to hide it, and I am not convinced that Edith saw it. She was more discreet with Edith, leaving more space for my dad. For our dad.

We got home, and Ellie parked behind us. Something happened in the car, but it doesn't show.

When we get in, Marge begins crying when she sees the banner.

It says. "Marge, we all love you just the way you are", with red hearts and balloons. The text is all black, except for love, which is red. It's all printed on our plotter.

"Guys, thank you", said Marge.

We quickly undressed, well, everyone but Edith, and I propose Nintendoland, but Marge, decides that we should try another game.

We did, but we also did some Zelda. I could half hear the conversation with Ellie and my parents, and I realize they are briefed about what happened in the car, and that Ellie tells more about the test results.

Still, I focus on the games. On having fun with my sister, who can now tell me that she loves me and that she loves our parents, and with my best friend, who is having a hard time, and chose to spend it with me and my sister.

All is right in the world.

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