Archive of Our Own

Amelia woke up and knew right away that something was different. She wasn't sure what, but she knew it. And then she remembered. She was turning ten!

She lay still for a moment, staring at the ceiling, feeling that funny little flutter in her stomach that only happened on birthdays. Then she heard footsteps in the hallway. Two different sets, not just her dad's.

The door opened slowly. Her dad Dennis came in first, holding a little cupcake with a lit candle, and behind him was her dad Dean.

"Happy birthday, Mellie!"

She sat up in a flash, her hair sticking out in every direction, and blew out the candle without even thinking about her wish, because she was too busy staring at Dean. He always came on her birthday. That was the one thing he never missed, every single year, even if she didn't see him again until Christmas, if that. But birthdays were different. Her birthday belonged to her, and he was always there for it.

She threw herself at him for a hug, and he scooped her up, spinning her around before dropping her back onto the sheets, laughing. It was right then, with her face pressed against his shoulder, that she spotted her dad standing a little farther back, holding the now candle-less cupcake.

He looked tired. Amelia already knew her dad always had dark circles under his eyes, little pouches that just made him look like a helpless puppy. But today he had more than usual. Like he hadn't slept a wink.

"You okay, Daddy?"

"I'm great, sweetheart." He smiled at her, but it was the smile he used when he didn't want her to worry. "Happy birthday."

Amelia didn't really believe him, but she didn't push it either. It was her birthday. There were too many good things happening to spend much time wondering why her dad looked so worn out.

Then came birthday breakfast, the best breakfast of the whole year: pancakes with a face drawn in whipped cream, fresh-squeezed orange juice, and her dad Dennis letting her have hot chocolate even though it was morning, which normally wasn't allowed.

But the best part, the thing that made this breakfast different from any other breakfast all year, was that both of them were there. She looked at Dean, sitting across the table, taller than her dad even while seated, with short hair and a few gray streaks that Amelia thought looked elegant, like some important man from a movie. He had a thick beard, the same one that always tickled when he kissed her cheek, and a sharp nose that Amelia remembered squeezing playfully when she was little.

She watched him for a while as she chewed, and suddenly something odd occurred to her. Something about Dean's face reminded her a lot of someone else, someone she saw almost every day, though she couldn't quite place who. She'd figure it out eventually. Right now she had more important things on her mind.

Amelia ate incredibly fast, barely chewing, because she knew what came next.

"Slow down, sweetheart, it's not going anywhere," Dennis said before taking a sip of his coffee.

"I know, I know."

She barely listened. This year she had asked for just one thing, for real, seriously: a telescope. She had told her dad every single day since Mrs. Toledo brought one to class, on some random Thursday that turned out to be the best school day of the whole year. She hadn't stopped bringing it up since. In the car, before bed, whenever her dad asked what she wanted for her birthday, it was always the same answer.

A telescope, Dad. A real one, not one of those toy ones.

She finished her last pancake in almost one bite and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand instead of a napkin, a habit she'd picked up from Oliver. At first she'd thought it was gross, but over time it had stuck.

She ran to the living room, and there were balloons everywhere, exactly like she'd asked, none of them pink, because pink wasn't her favorite color anymore. Now it was purple, and her dad had remembered. On the coffee table sat a pile of gift bags of every size, some with bows so big they nearly hid what was inside.

She started with the smallest box, the lightest one. Inside was a pair of new earrings, tiny gold hoops, quite bigger than the gold studs she'd worn for as long as she could remember and barely even felt anymore.

"Those are big-girl earrings," Dean said, with that proud smile he always wore when he gave her something. "You're not a baby anymore."

"I love them!" She ran over to Dennis with the little box still open in her hands. "Daddy, help me put them on."

Dennis sat her on his lap carefully, turning her a bit to catch better light. He gently took out the little gold studs she was wearing and put in the new hoops.

"Wow, they look perfect on you, sweetie," he said, planting a loud kiss on the top of her head and hugging her so tight she nearly lost her breath.

The next gift was big and heavy, wrapped with the kind of care Amelia already recognized as typical of her dad, every corner of the paper folded just right. She opened it carefully, trying not to tear the paper too much, and when she finally managed it, she let out a scream so loud that even Dean jumped on the couch.

"The second one! The exact one I wanted!"

It was the second Harry Potter book, the illustrated edition, hardcover, the same one she'd seen in the bookstore weeks earlier and had stared at so long that her dad literally had to drag her to the register so they could leave.

"You like it?"

"I love it! It's just like the one we saw! Now I don't have to reread the Sorcerer's Stone again!"

That first one, the Sorcerer's Stone, she'd already read two and a half times. It had been a birthday gift the year before, and she'd been obsessed ever since. She opened her new book right there, unable to wait, flipping through the pages carefully so she wouldn't bend any corners, stopping at every illustration with her mouth hanging open.

Then came a few smaller gifts, which she loved just as much; new pajamas, strawberry-scented cologne so she could finally stop using the baby one, now that she was a big girl, and a new set of acrylic markers.

Only one box was left, the biggest one of all, leaning against the wall because it hadn't fit on the table with the rest.

Amelia stared at it for a whole second, barely daring to get closer. "Is it what I think it is?"

"Open it," both her dads said at the same time.

She didn't need to be told twice. She tore into the wrapping paper, no careful unwrapping this time, until the box was completely uncovered.

"No way!" The shriek was so high-pitched that Dean covered one ear, laughing, and Dennis had to grab her by the shoulders before she launched herself straight at the box.

"It's the telescope! Dad, it's the real telescope!"

"With an adjustable tripod," Dennis added, already kneeling beside her, helping her pull it out carefully. "And it comes with a beginner's guide, so you can learn to find things on your own."

"I asked for this like two hundred times and you actually got it for me!" Amelia hugged him so hard she nearly knocked the box over, and for a moment she completely forgot about the new earrings, the illustrated book, even about Dean sitting on the couch.

When she finally let go of the telescope, promising to set it up that very night, Dean cleared his throat from the couch, still holding an unopened bag beside him. "There's one more."

Amelia spun her head around so fast she nearly got dizzy. "There's more?"

She ran over, leaving the telescope propped carefully against the couch, and took the bag Dean was holding out. It was small, wrapped in silver paper that shimmered differently from everything else.

Dennis, still kneeling by the tripod, stared at the bag for a second too long. "What a surprise," he said, with a smile that seemed completely normal to Amelia, though it wasn't quite. "I didn't know you were bringing anything else."

"It came up at the last minute," her other dad replied, in the same clipped tone.

Amelia, too busy tearing the paper, didn't catch any of that. She pulled the console out of the box with both hands, barely able to believe it. "A Nintendo Switch!!! Dad, it's the same one as Oliver's!" She hugged it to her chest for a second, then held it up high so Dean could see it too. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She threw herself at him for a hug, the console still squeezed between them.

Dennis stayed standing by the telescope, that same smile from before, a little tighter now. "Great," he said, in a tone that sounded friendly but wasn't quite. "A Switch. Which, if I remember right, we agreed Amelia would get when she turned fourteen."

Amelia, still holding the console, looked back and forth between them, not quite understanding why the air in the room suddenly felt different. "Is it bad?" she asked, her voice dropping a little. "Can't I keep it?"

"No, sweetheart," Dennis said quickly, softening his voice right away. "Of course you can keep it. We'll just talk about the rules later, okay? Not now. It's your birthday."

Amelia nodded, though she was left with that strange feeling in her stomach, the same one she got whenever her two dads talked in that tone that wasn't quite fighting but wasn't quite normal either, the tone she sometimes heard during video calls with Dean.

The plan for that day was that she and Dean would go out for the morning. Her dad had already promised ice cream, and maybe the toy store, and they'd be back right at noon, when the party officially started. Because this year Amelia had asked for something different: a pottery painting workshop. Her dad had found the perfect place, a small shop near their building with tons of little figurines to paint and plenty of room for snacks. It was going to be amazing!

This birthday was going to be special for more than one reason. She wasn't just turning ten. Thanks to Oliver, she'd also made two new friends at school that year: Blue Waters, who sat next to her in science class and knew the names of all the planets by heart, and Leah Chen, who drew better than anyone in the whole grade. Both of them were coming to the party. And, of course, so were the Robinavitches. All of them.

"So many people are coming," she told Dean, her face pressed against the car window. "It's going to be the best party ever."

"It hasn't even started and it's already the best?"

"It's going to be the best," Amelia corrected, with total confidence. "I already know it."

"Hey, Mellie." Dean glanced at her in the rearview mirror for a second before turning back to the road. "Is your dad seeing anyone?"

"Seeing who?"

"I don't know. Anyone. Does he have a boyfriend?"

Amelia thought about it for a moment, not quite understanding why Dean wanted to know that. "I don't know. He never tells me stuff like that."

"He's never mentioned anyone? No names?"

"No." She shrugged, then, without really meaning anything by it, added, "But he talks to Robby a lot."

"Who's Robby?"

"Oliver's dad. He lives across the hall."

"And they talk a lot?"

"All the time." Amelia was already losing interest in the topic, more focused on counting the buildings going by outside the window. "They fight too, but they still talk all the time. Robby says they're friends and Dad says they're not, but I think they totally are."

Dean went quiet for a moment, eyes fixed on the road, and didn't ask anything else about it.

"Why do you keep asking?"

"No reason. Just curious."

Amelia didn't think much more about it. She turned back to the window, counting how many blocks were left until the ice cream shop.

The ice cream she had that day was, without a doubt, the biggest one of her whole life, even though it was only ten in the morning. Afterward, at the toy store, Dean bought her a whole set of squishies that Amelia thought were, no exaggeration, the coolest things she had ever seen.

By the time they got to the workshop, it was already noon exactly, with the bag of squishies clutched to her chest and traces of chocolate still on the corner of her mouth.

Her dad and Trinity were already there, finishing up setting the tables, and as soon as he saw her walk in, Dennis rushed over with a napkin.

"What did you eat, a whole cake?" Dennis wiped her mouth without much ceremony, glancing at the bag in her hands. "And what's this?"

"Squishies. Dad Dean bought them for me."

"Of course he did," he murmured, though with that same forced smile from before.

Trinity dropped everything she was holding and ran to hug her, squeezing so tight Amelia let out a muffled laugh against her shoulder.

"Happy birthday, little one! Ten years old, I can't believe it."

"Auntie Trin!"

"You're huge. Every time I see you, you're taller." Amelia pulled back from the hug, the bag of squishies still hanging from one hand, and that's when she caught the look Trinity gave Dean over her head. A quick, sharp look. "Dean."

Dean, for his part, didn't even flinch. He gave a casual little wave. "Trinity."

That was it. But the workshop was already full of tables covered in unpainted pottery, and Oliver was already running toward her from the back, and whatever weird thing was happening between the grown-ups was, without any effort at all, completely forgotten.

"Mellie!" Oliver came running up, his hands already stained with paint from some earlier experiment. "Happy birthday!"

"Oliver!" Amelia dropped the bag of squishies onto the nearest table. "I got a Switch! Just like yours!"

"No way!" Oliver's eyes went wide. "Now we can play online together! I'll show you my island in Animal Crossing!"

"I have Animal Crossing too!"

"What about Minecraft?" Amelia shook her head, and Oliver made a face, but bounced back fast. "That's okay, we can still play other games. This is the best thing that's happened all day!"

"It's my birthday, Oliver!"

"I know, that's why it's the best thing that happened to you. The best thing happened to me because now I have someone to play with."

Hazel came running over a moment later, still wearing her jacket, and handed her a drawing folded into four without any warning.

"Happy birthday! I drew this for you."

It was a drawing of the two of them, with Pickles in the middle, done entirely in marker with way too much glitter.

"I love it, Hazel! Thank you."

"I made it all by myself."

"You can totally tell it's amazing."

Hazel smiled, pleased with herself, and ran off back to where Sylvia was setting something up on one of the tables.

That's when Amelia, still holding the drawing, spotted Robby walking into the workshop with Leo in his arms, wrestling to keep the boy from wriggling down to the floor. He walked straight over to where Dean was standing, with that big smile he always had when meeting someone new, and held out his free hand.

"You must be Dean. Robby, the neighbor from across the hall."

Amelia caught sight of her dad right at that moment, standing a little farther off with a tray of cups in his hands. The second he saw Robby walking up to Dean, his face went red, really red, and he turned around almost immediately, walking quickly to the other side of the room without saying a word. Grown-ups were weird sometimes.

Blue arrived a bit later, with a gift wrapped in star-patterned paper and her hair braided into several thin braids, each strung with little colorful beads that made a soft sound when she walked. Right behind her came Leah, quieter, holding an envelope instead of a wrapped gift.

Amelia ran to greet them at the door, hugging Blue first and then Leah. "You both came!"

"I made you a card," Leah said, holding out the envelope almost shyly. "I drew a dragon on it."

"No way! I love dragons!"

Blue's parents came in behind her, greeting Dennis with the kind of familiarity that comes from running into someone at school events. Dean, meanwhile, watched from a bit farther off, not stepping in yet. He leaned toward Robby, who was standing next to him with Leo still in his arms, and muttered something under his breath.

"Are they hippies or what? Look at those braids."

Robby didn't laugh. Amelia, who happened to be walking by just then, holding Blue and Leah's hands as she led them to the table with the animal-shaped mugs, caught the look on his face, serious, none of that easy smile he always wore. She didn't quite understand why the comment had struck Robby as so ugly. She thought Blue's braids were beautiful.

Florence sat a little apart from everyone else, headphones hanging around her neck instead of on her ears, talking with Trinity about something that made them both laugh with that same sharp, direct laugh they seemed to share without ever having planned it.

"Those two get along in a weird way," Oliver commented to Amelia. "My sister barely talks to anyone."

"Maybe they're alike."

Sylvia came over a moment later and crouched down in front of Amelia to kiss her on the cheek. "Feliz cumpleaños, mi niña. Que Dios te bendiga y te dé mucha salud, mucha sabiduría, y que el Señor te acompañe siempre en tu camino."

Amelia didn't understand a single word, but she nodded anyway. "What did she say?" she asked Paula quietly, as she walked by.

"She blessed you," Paula said with a smile. "She wished you health and wisdom."

"Oh." Amelia turned back to Sylvia with a much surer smile this time. "Thank you, Sylvie!"

A girl who worked at the workshop, her hair pulled into a messy bun and her apron covered in paint stains of every color, gathered all the kids around one of the big tables to explain how everything worked. The kids were fascinated. Oliver had already picked out a huge bowl, determined to turn it into a realistic moon crater. Blue hung on every word, eyes wide.

Leo, on the other hand, wasn't listening to any of it. He squirmed in Robby's arms until his dad finally just sat down on the floor, legs crossed, so the boy could climb down without running off somewhere else.

Amelia was at her table with Leah, both of them focused on their mugs, when she overheard Aunt Trinity's voice a little farther off, at the table where Oliver was painting next to Blue.

"I haven't seen him. He's probably out looking for a flight to China."

She didn't understand what that meant, but she did see Robby, who was standing right there, laugh that short laugh he made when something amused him but he didn't want it to show too much.

"What happened to Dad?" she asked Leah, though more to herself than expecting a real answer.

Leah shrugged, not looking up from her own mug. "I don't know. Is he moving to China?"

"I don't think so."

She looked back over at the other table. Aunt Trinity was saying something to Robby in an even lower voice now, something Amelia couldn't quite make out, except for a couple of stray words like embarrassing and don't go looking for him, which didn't mean anything in particular to her either.

Robby, still holding back a laugh, leaned in a little closer to Trinity, lowering his voice, though not quite low enough for Amelia to miss a few stray words.

"Seriously, it's not a big deal. It could've happened to anyone. I already deleted it, I didn't even save anything."

"Tell that to him, not to me."

Amelia didn't fully understand what they were talking about, but it seemed strange to her that Robby would say he'd deleted something. She thought about it for another second, but Oliver was already calling her over to his table, proudly showing off his half-painted bowl, and whatever curiosity she'd had was, without much effort, forgotten.

It was Florence who, walking by with her own mug, stopped in confusion when she caught the tail end of it. "Wait, why does he want to move to China?"

"It's just an expression, Florence."

"Are the Whitakers moving?"

"No." Trinity gave a short laugh. "Nobody's moving anywhere."

But Amelia had already heard it, and her stomach did a strange little flip. "Are we moving?"

"No, sweetie." Trinity turned toward her, realizing her voice had carried farther than she meant it to. "It was just a figure of speech. Sorry, Mellie."

Amelia stared at her for another second, not entirely convinced, until Oliver, sitting next to her now, tapped her arm. "If you move, I'll still come visit you. Even if I have to take a plane."

The rest of the afternoon went on. Dean wandered between the tables, trying to fit in, though every so often he pulled out his phone and checked it with more attention than he gave to any actual conversation. A little farther off, Amelia spotted her dad talking with Sylvia and Paula, all three holding cups of coffee, laughing about something she couldn't quite hear.

She looked back at Dean. That same odd feeling from the morning again, staring at his sharp nose, his short beard, trying to figure out who he reminded her of so much. She couldn't place it.

That's when she heard Hazel shout, from somewhere near the drinks table. "Dad, there you are! Look at this!"

Amelia looked up, along with Robby, who also turned to find her. But Hazel wasn't running toward him. She was tugging on Dean's jacket, a dirty paintbrush in her other hand, insisting he look at something.

Dean stood there, confused, looking down at a girl who was clearly not his. "No, kiddo. I'm not your dad."

"Haze, baby, I'm right here." Robby's voice came from a couple of tables away, and Hazel spun her head around, finally spotting him, sitting on the floor with Leo still on his lap. Her face went from confused to relieved in a second flat.

"Sorry," she told Dean, a little embarrassed, before running off toward Robby. The man just stood there, an awkward half-smile on his face, watching her go.

Hazel climbed onto Robby's lap, next to her brother. "Daddy, he looked just like you."

Robby didn't say anything to that, though Amelia, still watching the whole scene from her table, noticed his face do something strange.

Trinity, close enough to have caught the whole exchange, looked first at Dean and then at Robby, comparing them with an attention she didn't bother to hide.

"Damn," she muttered, more to herself than to anyone in particular, though loud enough that Amelia, sitting nearby, caught it. "They really do look alike."

Her dad Dennis walked over right at that moment, probably drawn by the small commotion. "What happened?"

"Nothing," Oliver said, not looking up from his bowl. "Hazel's just being silly, she mixed up Mellie's dad with Dad."

"Don't call your sister silly." Robby corrected him right away, no real anger in his voice. "She was just confused."

Amelia looked over at her dad right then, waiting for some kind of reaction. But Dennis didn't say anything. He didn't even look toward Robby, just kept his eyes fixed on some spot on the table. He turned red again. Bright red.

"I'm going to go check on the cake," he said, already turning away before anyone could add anything else, walking quickly toward one of the tables for no real reason at all.

Florence, still sitting a little apart with her own half-painted mug, caught the whole scene and made a comment, almost to herself. "I guess everyone has a type, huh?"

"What?" Amelia asked, close enough to hear her.

"Nothing." Florence went back to her paintbrush, not making a big deal of it, though with a small smile she didn't bother hiding completely. "Grown-up stuff."

When it was time for cake, everyone gathered around the biggest table in the workshop. It was huge, decorated with edible silver stars and a whole fondant solar system, Saturn taking center stage with a perfectly even ring.

She stood right in the middle, Dennis on one side, Dean on the other, each with a hand on her shoulder.

"Happy birthday to you!" Trinity started, in that voice she always sang off-key on purpose just to make her laugh, and everyone else joined in right away.

Amelia looked at the ten lit candles and squeezed her eyes shut to think hard about her wish.

"Happy birthday, dear Amelia! Happy birthday to you!"

She blew them all out at once, and the applause that followed was so loud that even Leo, who had been half asleep on Robby's lap for the past half hour, startled awake.

"What did you wish for?" Oliver asked, finger already poised over the frosting.

"Can't tell you. If I do, it won't come true."

Dennis, hand still on her shoulder, gave her a quick kiss on the head. "Happy birthday, Mellie."

On the other side, Dean did the same, and for a second, with both of them right there, one on each side, Amelia felt that this was, without a doubt, the best birthday of her whole life.

"Okay, everyone hold still for a second." Trinity already had Dennis's phone in her hand, the same one she used every year for the same photo. "This one's for the album, so smile nice."

Amelia positioned herself in the middle, between her dad and Dean, each with a hand on her shoulder, the same pose as always, the one her dad kept afterward in a folder organized by year. Trinity took about five photos in a row. In one of them, Dennis had a slightly tense smile, the same one he'd worn all day.

Little by little the party started to wind down. Blue's parents took their daughter home with the promise of a playdate soon. Leah said goodbye with a long hug, thanking her quietly for inviting her to the party.

To no one's surprise, and much to her disappointment, Dean left shortly after, even before Paula did. He wasn't as affectionate with her as she might have imagined he'd be, though it wasn't the first time that had happened either, so she couldn't really say it caught her off guard.

In her head, though, she admitted she'd hoped for something different. Not much more, just that he'd stay a little later into the evening, maybe until dinner, or at least until it got fully dark. But no. Instead, she got the same old promise about their next vacation.

Her dad looked upset. Amelia caught sight of him a little farther off, talking quietly with Aunt Trinity, though not quietly enough that she missed some of it.

"A little interest would be nice. Is that too much to ask? It's his daughter's birthday, for God's sake."

Trinity said something back that Amelia couldn't make out, and her dad stood there, arms crossed, staring at the door Dean had just walked out of, before letting out a huge sigh and going back to folding the tablecloth with the same precision as always.

Robby came over a moment later, a bag of deflated balloons in hand, ready to help too. But he'd barely taken two steps toward Dennis's table when Dennis moved to the other end, grabbing something he didn't actually need, putting distance between them without saying a word about it.

Robby tried again a little later, coming at it from the other side this time. Dennis moved again, this time toward the drinks table, with the perfect excuse of a pitcher that needed putting away.

"Hey," Amelia whispered to Oliver, paintbrush still in hand. "Why does my dad keep walking away every time your dad gets close?"

Oliver looked up, following where Amelia nodded. "No idea," he said, not too bothered by it. "Maybe they're playing tag?"

Amelia didn't know what to say to that. She watched the little dance for a while longer, with that same strange feeling from earlier, the one where grown-ups did things that made no sense at all and never explained them afterward.

A few minutes later she got up from the table, setting her paintbrush down carefully, and headed straight for the workshop bathroom, tucked in the back, past a narrow hallway lined with shelves full of already-fired pottery waiting to be picked up. She'd had a lot of lemonade and had been holding it in for a while, even though Dennis always told her that wasn't good for her.

She was just about to reach the door when she heard the voices. Low, tight, coming from a corner behind one of the tall shelves.

"...you can't keep doing this all day."

"I'm not doing anything."

"Dennis, you literally just moved when you saw me coming over. Again."

Amelia stopped, hand already almost on the bathroom door, not quite daring to keep walking or to turn back.

"Robby, seriously, I don't want to talk about this right now."

"Then when? Because you've been avoiding me all day."

"I'm not avoiding you."

"Dennis."

A short silence.

"Fine." Dennis's voice sounded different this time, lower, more tired. "Yes, I'm avoiding you. Happy?"

"No, not happy at all. I just want to know why."

"It wasn't meant for you, God, of course it wasn't meant for you."

"I know, Dennis. I already told you I deleted it. For your peace of mind."

"Thanks." A short silence. "And please, don't tell anyone."

"What the hell are you talking about? Why would I tell anyone?" Robby's voice sounded genuinely offended at the idea. "God, no. I'd never do something like that."

"Sorry. I didn't mean-"

"No, seriously, what kind of person do you think I am?"

"I don't know what kind of person you are, Robby. That's the problem."

"I'd never do that."

"I didn't know that."

"Well, now you do."

"Yeah." Dennis said, quieter. "Now I do."

There was a silence, and then Robby's voice came back, with a different tone, sharper.

"So, hey, that Dean guy."

"What about him?"

"Real winner you landed, huh."

"Don't start."

"He's a jerk," Robby said, no filter at all. "Poor Mellie, I saw her face when he was leaving. She deserves a way better dad than that."

"If you're trying to say it's my fault for ending up with someone like that, save it, please. I already tell myself that every day."

"That's not what I was saying." Robby's voice sounded different this time, more serious. "With a dad as amazing and brilliant as you, she doesn't even need another one."

There was an odd silence after that, longer than the ones before. Amelia, still hidden behind the shelf, didn't understand why suddenly neither of them was saying anything.

"I know it's not my business," Robby added, a little quieter. "But I don't like him."

"I don't like him either, Robby. I was married to him."

Amelia stayed frozen, her back against the shelf. She already knew her dad Dean didn't always do the right thing. She knew it, even though no one had ever said it to her that directly, with that ugly word Robby had used. She wanted to be a little mad. He was talking about her dad. But also, in some small corner of herself that she didn't quite know what to do with, she felt glad that someone else had noticed that Dean sometimes made her feel sad without meaning to.

Robby let out a short laugh, though this one sounded different, like he was searching for something without quite saying it. "Hey, can you believe Hazel mixed him up with me? We don't look anything alike, right? Is that why you've been avoiding me? Because I look like your ex-husband?"

"What? No." Dennis let out a short laugh, almost against his will. "I hadn't even noticed you looked that alike until Hazel mixed  you up."

"But?"

"But now that you mention it, yeah. Quite a bit. The nose, the beard." A pause. "Except for the freckles. Good thing you've got something different, or I'd actually be worried."

"Yeah, something different" Robby said, with a calm that lasted exactly one second. "Just like your moles. On your chest."

Dead silence.

"Damn it, Robby. You said you deleted it."

"I did delete it! But I saw it before I deleted it, obviously, I'm not some kind of..."

"You said you hadn't seen it!"

"I never said that! I said I deleted it, not that..."

"It's the same thing, Robby!"

"It's not the same thing!"

Amelia, still hidden in the bathroom hallway, heard fast, angry footsteps walking away, and a second later, Robby's voice, much quieter, almost to himself, muttering something that sounded like a curse followed by great, you ruined everything, congratulations, Robinavitch.

She came out of the bathroom a moment later, pretending she'd just arrived, and found her dad on the other side of the room, packing things into a box with more force than necessary, his face still red and that same tense expression Amelia had already seen a couple of times that day. She wisely decided not to ask anything.

Oliver found her just as she came back down the hallway, his moon crater finally finished and a look of total triumph on his face. "Mellie! You can sleep over at my house tonight! We can use your new telescope! And I'll teach you how to use your Switch, we can play online together, and we could even watch a movie after! Sylvia's gonna make her special hot chocolate. It's gonna be awesome!"

Amelia nodded quickly and ran off to ask her dad for permission before Oliver could change his mind.

That night, in Oliver's room, the two of them put the telescope together, following the beginner's guide with way more enthusiasm than accuracy, until Sylvia had to step in and fix the tripod, which had already tipped over three times. They drank the special hot chocolate sitting on the floor, mugs still warm in their hands, while outside the sky slowly turned dark.

When they finally pointed it out the window, the telescope showed them nothing more than a blurry little dot that they both swore was Saturn, though neither of them was completely sure. They took turns looking, each one insisting they could see the ring, until they finally fell asleep, convinced they had seen something amazing that night.

The following year, Dean wouldn't even call to say he wasn't coming to her birthday. But Dennis would wake her up just the same, with the same little cupcake as always, and this time, behind him, would be Oliver, Hazel, Leo, and Florence, all crowded in the doorway, and Robby at the very end, singing louder than anyone.