“I asked to see her dress,” I said, trying to cover for her.

“What dress?” asked Dad.

“The dress she might wear for Fall Fling.”

Dad looked confused.

“Fall Fling is a big deal, Mike,” said Aunt Melissa, who had come up behind him.

“Oh, so I guess… well… we’ll have to get Lindsay a dress?” he said, and he sounded so scared we all laughed.

But I had kind of wondered about it. I mean, Aunt Melissa usually took me shopping for school clothes, but no one had mentioned dress shopping. There was one store in town that had some fancy stuff, and that’s where Casey’s mom would probably take her.

“It’s covered, Mike,” said Aunt Melissa. “You’re a great brother, but I would never count on you to pick out a dress.”

Dad looked relieved.

“So you bought me one?” I asked, confused.

“Nope,” said Aunt Melissa. “Your grandma Mimi did. Actually, she bought ten.”

“Mimi?” I asked. “Ten dresses?”

“Yes,” said Aunt Melissa. “There’s some store near her that specializes in this kind of thing. I think she originally bought a dozen, but I told her that was crazy, so she narrowed it down to ten.”

“Ten?” yelped Dad.

“Well, she’s only going to keep one,” said Aunt Melissa. “Unless you can wear more than one dress at a time. Can you, Linds?” she asked, teasing.

“So wait,” Dad said. “Lindsay’s grandma picked out her dresses? Can’t Lindsay pick out her own clothes?”

Aunt Melissa laughed. “Your grandmother has wonderful taste,” she said to me. “But there’s a lot to choose from, don’t worry. We will make sure you love whatever you end up wearing. Plus, she’s insisted on bringing them when she comes, so she’ll—” She stopped midsentence. “Oops.”

“When is she coming?” I asked.

“Melissa!” said Dad. Then he sighed. “Okay, Mimi is coming for a surprise visit. Or at least it was supposed to be a surprise. She wanted to be here for you guys on the first day of school.”

That was a little weird.

“Well, you know, it’s a big deal, especially because you’re starting middle school. She wanted to be here,” said Dad.

“We’re going to have a little dress party,” said Aunt Melissa. “Kelsey, Molly, Jenna, and I are coming, and Nans, of course. Plus Aunt Sabrina and Lily. And we thought we’d invite Casey, too.”

Aunt Sabrina is married to Uncle Charlie, and she’s my cousins Lily and Rich’s mom.

“I’m not invited?” asked Dad.

“Definitely not,” said Aunt Melissa. “We already have too many opinions with that crew.”

“My little girl is going to a dance,” said Dad, and he got a little teary.

“Is anyone working today or should we all have a cup of tea?” asked Grandpa, whispering loudly behind us.