"Mom, what are the four forces?"

"What?"

"I don't know the answer." Amelia said.

"Gravity. The weak force. Electromagnetism. The strong force." Fitz said, without looking up from his textbook."

"Thank you Fitz. Now I can get to the next level."

Amelia was playing a game on Olivia's tablet. Olivia was making buttercream cupcakes for dessert while she held Karen in a baby carrier. Fitz was doing an assignment. Olivia ordered takeout for dinner. Burgers and fries. Amelia asked for cupcakes and Olivia couldn't find a bakery that didn't have a two hour wait time. It was quicker to bake a batch of cupcakes.

When Maya parked in the driveway, Olivia breathed a sigh of relief. She could take a break for a few minutes. Her day wasn't close to being over. Assignments needed to be graded, Amelia's school clothes needed to be ironed for the week, and when the house was finally quiet, a loud wail from Karen would wake Olivia from her dreamless sleep. She could look forward to a few naps at work when her class was with another teacher.

"What do you need me to do?" Maya asked Olivia.

"Take Karen."

"Hi Grandma."

"Hello Amelia. Are you having a good day?"

"I'm not going to live with Gina. I'm staying with mom."

"That's great."

"Mom how long does it take to count to one trillion?"

"I don't know. A week?"

"Nope. That's the wrong answer."

Fitz lifted his head and laughed at Olivia. "A week Livvie?"

"Is it 100 years or 32,000 years?" Amelia asked Fitz.

"32,000 years."

"That's right. Thank you Fitz."

"Mom who said, There is no friend as loyal as a book?"

"Hemingway"

"That's the right answer."

Fitz, who said, "Woman was God's second mistake?"

Fitz laughed, "What? Someone said that? I don't know the answer to that."

"The answer is Frederick Nietzsche."

"Very good mom."

"This story was published in 1902 and 1908. It is about a man walking in the forest when it is really cold outside. What is the name of this story?"

"To build a fire." Olivia said, "That's a dark story. How about you go play."

"That's the right answer again mom. Very good."

"I'm going upstairs to watch a movie in the game room with Karen. Are you coming with me Amelia?"

"Yes, I can get to the next level tomorrow."

When they left the kitchen, Fitz was still laughing. He needed a break from studying. "You need to take math and science classes Livvie."

"Being dumb in math and science has never held me back. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can't find them, they make them."

"Who said that?"

"George Bernard Shaw."

"You're a literature geek."

"I'd rather read the classics than an engineering textbook."

"Engineers keep the world running."

"Great philosophers can tell you why the world is falling apart."

"None of that stuff is useful in the real world."

Olivia took a cupcake out of the pan and held it up. "This cupcake is all of your teachers, the icing is all of your professors who specialize in the subject, and the engineers are the sprinkles."

Olivia took Fitz hand and poured sprinkles in his palm. "Now do you want a whole cupcake or do you only want sprinkles?" Olivia asked Fitz, with a smile.

"I'd rather taste the sweetness between your thighs."

Olivia laughed and put icing on the cupcake. "Next weekend in Vermont. I promise."