Mindy and her parents left first, but Ellie didn't really want to go, and both Charlie and Edith didn't want to give up on dance dance revolution.

Marge begged for a sleepover in the camper, but the bed, which is on top of the lowered camper table, isn't big enough for Edith, Marge, and me.

To everyone's surprise, Marge entered a meltdown, but stopped midway.

"I am being ridiculous, aren't I?", she says.

"You are, but you are extremely tired," said Ellie.

"Can I hang out with Julie and Edith tomorrow too?", she asked. "Maybe come back here?"

"Only if I can return to play more Dance Dance Revolution. It's only fair," said Charlie.

To my surprise, Ellie asked her husband what he thought.

"Sure, but perhaps we can come with two cars, so if Charlie wants to go back earlier, I can drive him home?"

It was settled. Both Edith and I hugged Marge, but to my surprise, Edith, still topless, hugged Charlie.

When they were gone, I looked at her, not saying a word, but she understood.

"Hey, I know he is supposed to be annoying, but he was a gentleman at DDR. My therapist thinks I should reward good behavior because it reinforces in my mind that there are good people"

"Good", I said.

We went to bed. Edith was just wearing panties, and the three of us were nude.

I did sleep well, and didn't get any weird dreams. That's something good.

My mom woke up first, leaving to, I presume, go to the restroom, so I followed her.

"Had fun last night, kiddo?"

"I did. I was exhausted, in introverted overload, but I had a ton of fun. That pallet ride? Super cool"

She smiles. "I still have to pee."

She went it, but then, reopened the door. "What am I doing? You've seen me pee in the house"

So I spoke to her, told her about the evening, and then, she didn't flush, and I peed while she told me how much fun she had with Clara and Ellie.

"Ellie is opening up. Now that she realizes that her kids have conditions, she is more positive."

We both washed our hands, and instead of returning to the camper, we sat at the portable picnic table that we had installed, using towels that we had folded on it from last night. Our towels. Granted, one was for my dad, but we didn't care that much.

"Nervous about your exam Kiddo"

"N'ah. I'll do fine. It's just a reading comprehension exam. I do okay at those."

"I mean, for dyspraxia. It's Tuesday, did you forget?"

I had not so much forgotten, as blocked it from my mind. What if I had a severe learning disability? What if I couldn't do anything with my life.

Marge is autistic. Lightly. The way she sometimes talks about it, some employers value people with autism since they tend to be more focused on the job. That's the upside of it.

What's the upside of dyspraxia? Isn't it just a medical term for "chronologically clumsy?"

And I am clumsy, make no doubt about it.

Edith was next to join us, again, after a stop at the restroom. She didn't take a towel, but she kept her panties anyway.

"Had fun last night?", asked mom to Edith.

"I did. Dance Dance Revolution was a great idea"

"Thank your dad, he's the one who thought about it," says my mom.

Edith went all rigid.

So I react. "She means Steven, not your bio-dad."

Edith relaxes for a moment. "Shit, sorry. For a moment, it brought me back"

My mom grabs Edith's hand. "I am sorry, I don't know the jerk who made your mother pregnant, but I now see myself as your mom, and my husband as your dad", she says.

Edith smiles.

We mostly spoke about the birthday party, until our dad joined us, and joined in the shared memories.

I notably learned what the three dads were up to in the end of the evening. They were on the other end of the warehouse, sitting on a crate, bonding.

I did not get to know what this meant. Any questions from my mom got simple answers like "you know, male talk." But neither Edith nor I knew, and I suspect that my mom didn't either.

I did get the feeling that this evasiveness relates to "girl talk." In my limited understanding, that's when girls will agree to let down their barriers and share intimate thoughts, like their fears, dreams, and hopes, but under strict promises of confidentiality.

I did have a flashback that morning that Peter had problems at his job, so maybe it's what they spoke about. Who knows?

To my surprise, only Ellie and Marge showed up, not Charlie or Richard.

I overheard Ellie explaining that Richard had a horrible day, and that Marge had proposed a change of plans that didn't suit her brother.

In short, today was a freak heatwave. It was already 64 degrees outside early in the morning, and might reach 70. Totally atypical for my birthday in this city, but enough to be nude outside.

So, Marge, proposed that we all go to Mindy's resort to play outside instead of in the warehouse, provided that I agreed.

To be honest? That sounded like a great idea.

Marge didn't even have time to undress. My mom called Clara, who agreed, and soon enough, we all got dressed and went on our way. Marge, however, wanted me to sit with her in her car, with Edith's permission.

Edith didn't mind, so I rode with Ellie to Mindy's house. As it turns out, Marge wanted to say something.

"Thank you, Julie, for your understanding yesterday"

"Are you kidding me, Marge? You were perfect. Well adjusted, matched our energy, and always in a good mood. I don't know how you felt inside, but what you projected was perfect"

"It wasn't. I almost derailed everything"

"When?"

"Blokus"

I laughed. "I was even more in an overload. You indicated you were close to your limit and we switched energy levels, and I am the one who interrupted it for a nap."

"You didn't just accommodate me?"

"Oh no. I really was in overload, and you are one of the few people I can tolerate when in overload," I told her.

Ellie broke the silence.

"I told you, Marge. You were worrying for nothing"

"I guess"

There was silence, so I asked Ellie. "Is your husband okay?"

"He got a blood test done yesterday. We are waiting on the results. He might have just overexerted himself."

A silence filled the car, but a comfortable one.

When we made it to the resort, my parents were already nude next to Mindy's house, and Edith was already topless. I guess that Ellie is a slower driver than my dad, or she took a less direct road. Or maybe she wanted to give time to Marge, which she didn't end up needing.

Well, I now know the reason. It's that Marge, doesn't do transitions so well, so she tries to give her time to adjust.

Mindy was so happy to see her that she practically jumped in our arms just as we stepped out of the car. I only hope she didn't push on Edith too much, but as I looked at my sister, she seemed at peace. We all undressed, with only Edith keeping her shorts.

Marge had eaten breakfast, but not our family or Mindy's, so we shared a meal, and Ellie took some fruit while Marge got a pancake. This one is from my dad.

The four of us girls all spoke about last night, even about Charlie, who was seen as a positive addition to the team.

"I know it's weird, but after what happened to me," said Edith. "I think I needed a respectful guy around me"

"I even wondered if he was the same guy as the first time I met him," said Mindy.

"He changed a lot. I now almost like him, while I used to hate him," said Marge.

It appears that having a diagnosis helps a lot. It helped Marge, it helps Charlie and perhaps it will help me if they find that I do have dyspraxia.

It wasn't hot outside. It just wasn't cold. The pool wasn't heated anymore, and the only one of us brave enough to swim in water that cold, was just off her period and not willing to get in it anymore.

We didn't have enough bikes and were banned from leaving the resort, and the place was mostly deserted.

Initially we wanted to play the Wii together, but somehow, all the adults were in agreement that we should take advantage of the day and be outside.

We didn't want to argue, but I think we didn't care for "outside" that much.

So, ended up at the pinball machine, where Edith had trouble understanding how the scoring worked, and Marge had trouble operating the flippers.

I didn't do too badly, but without Lucy and Clark, we didn't even try for a multi-ball strategy. I did lock 2 balls in one game, but no one locked a third one to trigger the multi ball.

The three girls watching tended to talk a lot, and often, even the one playing. Not Marge, she would fully concentrate, but the other 3? We just talked about nothing and everything.

I know there were plenty of questions from Edith to Mindy about her period, but I think it flew over Marge's head even if she had a chance of being next. I knew it would be a while for my menarche.

I did use my fancy medical term. Menarche. It sounds fancy, but I was the only one who admitted they liked it. Mindy wasn't in the mood to see anything positive from that term, and I think that Edith was sad she didn't have it yet.

We grew bored with the pinball, and I proposed some petanque, seeing as no one wanted to take Mindy's volleyball suggestion.

That was a better success. We traded teams so that we did 3 games, one with each of the girls as a partner.

Edith won with Mindy. Marge won with Mindy, and I won with Mindy, and Mindy won all four games. In short, it was "Whoever is with Mindy wins."

However, don't think the wins were equal. It was clear that I was the second-best player, and Marge wasn't far from me. Edith, wasn't fully there, but not one teased her about it.

We ended up making, believe it or not, sandcastles by the artificial lake. Mindy proposed it, and Marge jumped on the idea.

What the three of us didn't realize at that moment, is that we wouldn't be four girls each building a sandcastle. No, that was not the situation at all!

Instead, we were three girls working on a single castle under the direct supervision of a dictatorial and temperamental architect in Marge.

We didn't mind, as she had great ideas, and the resulting progress was beyond anything we ever imagined.

We had multiple towers, an inner courtyard, buildings inside that courtyard, and even a moat we would fill with water via a canal from the lake.

Marge could picture it all in her mind, and she gave us the techniques to do well.

It's Edith who saw him first.

"Hum, Charlie is coming our way", she said, smiling. We all turned and saw Charlie, wearing shorts and a black t-shirt, coming our way. He seemed in a good mood.

"Hi girls"

"Hi, Charlie," said Edith.

"That's a nice sandcastle. It's bigger than last year, Marge"

"I was alone, and now I have my friends to build. Why are you here?"

"Dad was feeling better. He wanted to come, and he made a deal with me."

"What deal?"

"Well, I had unlimited video games today, so it would extend to tomorrow if I came with him and was nice to you girls"

"Why?" says Mindy, confused.

He sighs. "He said that hanging with girls would be good for my development. Whatever that means," he said, a little exasperated. He did remove his shoes and socks to not get them dirty.

"Want to help?", said Marge.

"Sure"

We ended up extending the castle, if only to give more space for all the workers. It's Charlie who ended up digging the canal to fill the moat, and he was working enough to remove his t-shirt, but he kept his shorts.

We all ate lunch together, and Charlie was not only pleasant, he even made a few jokes that made most of us laugh.

In the afternoon, the castle was mostly done. Charlie was interested in the pinball, so we all went, but soon enough. Mindy and Marge wanted to do something else. I was torn between Edith and my two friends, but Edith told me to focus on our friends, that we would have time tonight and tomorrow anyway. That she needed some time off.

I could certainly understand that.

The resort has a module for small kids. You know, a platform to get up to a fireman pole, a tube slide, some swings, a climber, some monkey bars, and even a vertical climbing wall.

Everything a kid could want to have fun with friends.

Why didn't I mention it before? Because I might look like a kid, but I am not one anymore.

The monkey bars are low enough to use them while walking under them. Even I, the shortest of the three of us, have a hard time not touching the ground while folding my knees up.

The slide was tried by Marge, who almost hurt herself: without clothes to reduce friction, it hurts.

We did use the swings, not those on the module with the slide, but the four that are standalone.

We often swung along, but we spent most of the time just sitting there, with Marge on my left and Mindy on my right.

Mindy spoke about Billie, but she dropped a new name. Lukas.

"I don't even know if he likes me. He jokes around, makes me laugh."

"I think I know him," says Marge. "Blonde, hangs with Hassan?"

"Yes! I don't like Hassan. He is far too sarcastic for me," says Mindy.

"I don't like him either. I never know when he is serious and when he is sarcastic"

But I don't know either of them, being in a grade lower than theirs.

"I am paired with Hassan in science, and he isn't too bad. He wants to be a medical scientist," says Mindy.

"That's pretty specific," I said. Thinking about how I intend to be an environmental engineer.

"Oh, he has type 1 diabetes and wants to make insulin cheaper. It's ruining his parents," says Mindy, sad.

Now, I knew about insulin and diabetes, but didn't know kids could have that. Not then. I guess I lived in my bubble.

It's Marge who suddenly had a great insight.

"Maybe he is sarcastic because he feels pain."

We mused on that, and Mindy decided to try to open up to Hassan the next Monday, if she ran into him, and not just to get closer to Lukas.

We both learned what Lukas was doing right, how he treated girls right, and how he was funny, but honestly? I didn't care. I didn't mind, but I never met the guy. Sure, I was happy that Mindy was looking at another guy, but I still failed to see the point.

And it was starting to bother me, a lot.

I did open up about my fears for the tests, and Marge reassured me.

"I think I did the dyspraxia test. It's not that bad. I don't want to influence you or spoil anything, but it wasn't the worst part of it. The autism part was the worst"

An idea entered my mind.

Did Marge find the autism test rough because she failed it and the dyspraxia part easy because she succeeded? Would it be the opposite for me?

At some point, Mindy decided to twist me so I could spin while untwisting. I did it for Mindy, but Marge didn't want to try it, even if she was willing to twist us.

"I get dizzy too easily"

Mindy tried, to no avail, explaining that getting dizzy is precisely the point, but Marge couldn't see it.

A wind eventually picked up, and we returned to the pinball machine, not finding Edith or Charlie. We found them in Mindy's room, where they were waiting for us.

We hung out the five of us a little, but soon enough, my parents decided it was time to go home, and Richard's temporary good moment was passing, signaling for Marge's family to leave too.

I was privy to a negotiation between Charlie and Ellie.

"If you watch a movie with us, you can have any snack you want, and 15 minutes of extra credit every day this week"

He looked at his mom. "I want 30 minutes, and no curfew tonight for video games"

"Fine for 30 minutes, but I can't give you no curfew. You need sleep. Eleven?"

"Make it midnight, and you have a deal," said Charlie.

Ellie laughed. "Midnight, but tomorrow it's nine. Not nine thirty, not nine fifteen. Nine sharp."

I could almost see him plan his gaming sessions. It took a little while, but he finally agreed.

He thanked Mindy for her hospitality, Edith for the time with her, and me for accepting him. He looked at his sister and just said. "And sick castle sis"

"Thanks, Charlie," she said.

Edith, Marge, and I got dressed in Mindy's room while he stayed in the living room with Mindy.

When we got out, my parents and both Ellie and Richard also had gotten dressed.

I hugged Mindy and Marge goodbye. Edith did too, but she added Charlie.

In the car, we decided to just get some pizza, and spend the night at the warehouse.

Edith enjoyed it, and well, it was a decent change of scenery before the test that would change my life, or not.

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