"Did you have fun?" Jeff asked his son as he showed off his planter.
"Yea, we did a lot of cool things," Miles boasted, "Virgil's dad is cool too! He took us to this really good milkshake place."
"That sounds fun," Rio tested which plant would fit the gift he had graciously made for her.
"Did your date night go well?"
"We had a great date, and a fun weekend ourselves," she agreed, "Daddy took me dancing."
"Got bored dancing in the living room?" Miles teased his dad, getting playfully pushed away.
"A bigger dance floor is nice sometimes. Able to get a good cha cha in," Jeff chuckled, "Good to hear you were productive. What else did you do?"
The teen rubbed his chin, thinking, "Oh! Jess taught us how to make garlic knots," he hurried to the kitchen to see if they had the ingredients, "I want to make them again. Can I make dinner please?"
"You want to make the whole thing?" His mom couldn't help her concern. It wasn't that Miles couldn't cook, but since he started acting like her little boy again, it was hard for her to remember he was actually a teenager sometimes, "How about we do it together?"
"Ok," he smiled, "And we made these," he opened the Tupperware, showing his parents the Tres Leches, "Miguel showed me how to make it."
"You guys were on a baking spree," Jeff inspected the super moist cake.
"Yea, he gave me this too," he showed them a sunflower necklace.
"I didn't know you were into jewelry," the officer commented around bites of cake.
"It spins," he twirled the flower petals, "See?"
"That was very nice, papa," his mom smiled, "It's so good you enjoyed yourself. And you got your homework done, right?"
"I did," he nodded.
Miles was just happy Miguel wasn't angry with him. He always understood why Hobie had been so broken when he told him he was mad at him. It sucks to think you messed up with a good friend, but live and learn and thankfully be forgiven.
Miguel even answered most of his questions. So it served to make him feel a little closer and more understanding of who Miguel is.
"Ok, I'm going to make it now," he pulled out the little instruction card his surrogate aunt gave him.
Rio sent a smile to her husband, him smiling back.
"This cake is really good."
X
Miles sat on the roof, messaging Hobie to see if his Nana liked the planter.
She did! Put her polka dot plant in it! Hobie sent a picture of the planter, with the plant sitting comfortably in it and Yujin the cat, relaxing next to it.
I like your design on it, super cool! And the cat looks cool too. He shared the picture of his mom's pepper plant in her's.
Sweet, might need you to come out here and tag something with me.
"What are you doing down there, little boy?" Brei lifted the tablecloth, leaning down to see Hobie under the table.
"No, Nan, I'm hiding," he covered his face, "close the door before the monster finds me."
"What monster?" She looked about the kitchen. Her cat jumped from the chair and rushed to the teenager, playfully batting his foot.
"No, you betrayed me!" He pretended to die, the cat climbing on his chest and purring.
"Alright, silly boy, come out so I can change you and we can go for our car ride."
He perked up, crawling from his compromised hiding space, "Are we driving anywhere specific?" He climbed atop the coffee table.
"I have a place in mind," she pulled his pants down and got to work untapping his nappy, "I'm thinking about that bowling alley, what do you think?"
"That one is pretty close to the top of my list. I bet it's trippy in there," he bit his lip at how cold the wipes were.
"They probably have that awful carpet," she pat the powder puff all over his crotch, but focused more on his bottom, raising his legs up and sliding a nice fresh nappy under him.
"Isn't that a given?" He raised his hips, helping her pull his pants back up.
"All done. Now go get our masks."
X
The drive took nearly an hour, with Hobie and her singing to rock songs the whole way. The building came into view and she cut her headlights.
"This place is nice," Hobie smirked, unbuckling himself and pulling his mask up, "How do you find such cool places?"
"I'm not going off telling all my secrets," she teased, pulling hers up as well, "Show a little restraint this time, I don't feel like dealing with a bunch of glass."
"Fine, I'll do my best, but no guarantee," the rocker teased, following closely behind her and waiting, as she picked the lock, "Think it has an alarm?"
"If it does, we leave," she shrugged, continuing to pick for another minute before they heard the click, "Let's find out."
They walked the dusty floors of the abandoned bowling alley. Taking pictures here and there, checking out leftover shoes and prizes.
"I'm disappointed there's no arcade," Hobie picked up a pair of sunglasses.
"That's probably why it ended up being closed," Brei took a bowling ball and rolled it down the lane, the crash echoing way louder due to the emptiness.
Hobie signed their initials into the dust with the finger of his glove, "Gonna have to bring the crew here. This is better than the bakery, but not quite on the same level as that house we found with the turkey in it."
"Still have no idea where that bird came from. Should have brought it home and made us a feast," she unlocked a backroom, "I think I found a basement."
"Coming," he hurried over, "Always good things in the basement."