Mo and I finish our workout as Mase and Perla come from another part of the yard and crawl into the play tent. They immediately grab a few dolls and begin to act out scenarios. Around the same time, Me-Me arrives home from work and comes outside to get Drake.
Kai: I mean it, man – come over as much as you want to train. Winter will be here before we know it, and we’ll have to start planning our big climb.
Maurice: Thanks, K. *shakes my hand* Like I said, if it’s cool with Shay, I’ll take you up on that.
Me-Me goes inside to start dinner. She’s happy to see that Mo and Kai have been able to maintain their friendship over the years since finishing college. She almost envies it because she hasn’t been as successful in maintaining close friendships with her college friends. Not even with her ex-roommate Shay.
Mase makes the mistake of lying down and falling asleep in the middle of playing. Perla crawls out of the tent, feeling abandoned by her play partner. Maybe Dub has finally finished his homework and is available to play. She walks away to find him, leaving Mase alone to finish his nap.
Mo and I enter the house after Me-Me announces that dinner is ready. I invite Mo and Perla to stay for dinner, but Mo tells me he’d better head home. Perla is disappointed and wants to stay, so I let Mo know I’ll make sure she gets home safely after eating. He okays it.
Maurice: See you at home, Lil Bit.
Mase seems very happy that she’ll be staying for a while longer.
We begin to migrate toward the kitchen table. Ma and Me-Me, who started eating before us, finish up and leave the table to make room for Perla and Dub. Poor Mase is so tired that he can barely eat between the yawns. I insist that he go to bed as soon as he’s finished his food. I clean up the dirty dishes while Dub and Perla continue eating.
As Mase walks towards the stairs, Dub continues the conversation that he and Perla started earlier.
Wade: Guess what! I looked it up after finishing my homework and saw that a new Peter Barker book is coming out – but no movie.
Perla: Ooh, goodie. I’ll ask my dad to buy it for me. I still wish there was a movie, though.
Wade: Hey, maybe I can make a movie when I grow up.
Perla: Can I help?
Wade: If you want to.
I’m glad to see that Perla not only gets along well with Mase but with Wade as well. Even though uncle M and his girls live right next door, they are both much older than my boys and don’t really have time to come over and hang out with them. Mase and Dub could both use a friend.
It’s time for Perla to go home.
Melisa: See you next time, Perla.
Perla: Okay, bye!
Kai: Wait, I promised your dad I’d make sure you got home safely.
Perla stops at the door and waits for me to catch up.
Luckily Windenburg is a short drive away. So I’m back and ready for bed not long after. Me-Me gives Drake one last feeding before she gets ready for bed herself.
Meanwhile, after a bubble bath, Dub changes into his pajamas. Then, he marches to his room, glad to have met a new friend today. Perla is much nicer and prettier than mean, bossy Joanne from school, who only ever wants to come over to play with all of Dub’s toys.
As soon as Dub opens the door, he sees Mase asleep in his room – in his bed. He stops short and stares. How come nobody told him that he’d have to share his room? Dub guesses that he should have figured it would be coming. Mase is bigger now and can no longer sleep in his toddler bed, but a little warning would have been nice. Hopefully, he can convince his parents to let him have the spare bedroom since he’ll be aging into a teen in a day, so he’ll no longer have to share. He climbs up to the top bunk and tries to get some sleep.
The only resident of the home who isn’t preparing for bed is Peri. Instead, she has decided to take Belle for a late-night walk to clear her mind. She’s been thinking about Waddell a lot lately. It’s due time that she goes to visit him, but part of her has been avoiding it because she knows it’s only a matter of time before she’ll join him. She also realizes it’s time to prepare Kai and her grandchildren for her inevitable death. She can feel it coming as sure as she can feel the cool fall air brushing against her cheek.
(Generation 3 Chapter Summaries)
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