“So he was on his ship the whole time?” Angus said. “Let me guess—for Captain Picard, in his head, decades went by, but in real life it was only like ten minutes.”

Angus really is smart enough to go to college.

“Yes!” I said. “He wakes up on the ship and he’s in complete shock. When they investigate the probe that hit him with the light beam, all they find is a little box, and inside is a flute. The very end of the episode is Captain Picard, alone, playing the flute while he looks out into space. Missing everyone he thought he knew.”

“Wow,” Angus said. “That kind of makes me want to cry.”

“Yeah.” I did cry. So you can see why Angus is my best friend.

“See you tomorrow.” Angus waited, and then said, “Right?”

“Right.” I was still thinking about how Captain Picard’s brain had grandchildren and learned to play that flute in ten minutes.

It turned out I was lying about seeing Angus at school the next day, but I didn’t know it at the time.

—

After I hung up, Dad sang “Happy Birthday” twice while I brushed my teeth. It wasn’t my birthday, but he likes to do that because once, a long time ago, the dentist told me that I should always brush for two rounds of “Happy Birthday,” and I told the dentist that it’s impossible to sing and brush your teeth at the same time. Dad laughed really hard.

When I was in bed, Dad sat in my purple chair and rolled himself over to me.

“Bea,” he said. “I have something to tell you. I hope it’ll feel like good news.”

“Okay,” I said.

“Jesse and I are going to get married.”

“Married?”

“Yes.” He smiled. “What do you think? I wanted to tell you before he gets home, so you can say whatever you feel like saying.”

I had known Dad’s boyfriend Jesse for two years already, and he had been living with us for a couple of months. I loved Jesse. But I’d never thought about my dad being married to Jesse. Or anyone, except my mom.

After a minute, I said, “It’s good, I think. I never want Jesse to leave.”

Dad held my hand. “I don’t, either, Bea.”

After Dad said good night, I went to my backpack and got out my green spiral notebook. The edges of the pages were all curled and dirty. I still carried it everywhere, but I hadn’t looked at my list in a long time.

THINGS THAT WILL NOT CHANGE:

1. Mom loves you more than anything, always.

2. Dad loves you more than anything, always.

3. Mom and Dad love each other, but in a different way.

4. You will always have a home with each of us.

5. Your homes will never be far apart.

6. We are still a family, but in a different way.