“Rowan isn’t joining us for dinner?” asked Cali as she noticed that Rowan still hadn’t come out of the tent. 

“He’s gonna eat with his father,” answered Xiu. “Don’t worry about him so much. He is fine. He is just using this to exploit his father.”

“He is such a cutie,” stated Dylan. “Do you think he is like you?”

Xiu snorted, “If you think he isn’t like me, then you should think again. He is after all my son. How far do you think an apple can fall from the tree?”

Dylan narrowed his eyes at her, “I still believe in good. So, I’m just gonna keep believing that our little tiger is like his father and not like his mother who is a wild tiger!”

“We’ll see about that,” said Xiu with a small smile playing on her lips.

“Xiuxiu, Ria Jie, and I’ll sleep with Rowan tonight,” said Ava. “That way he won’t feel alone.”

Xiu looked up to find Ava’s bright eyes blinking at her and then she looked beside her to see Asteria who also nodded to show that she was with Ava on this. 

“If you want to,” started Xiu. “Then why not? It’s not like have much control over you two bro-cons!”

Ava and Asteria didn’t even blush a little at being called ‘bro-cons’. They seemed to be quite proud of this title, in fact. Xiu couldn’t possibly understand these young girls. After all, she wasn’t young anymore, and even when she was their age, her thought process must have been vastly different. She neither had a brother to dote on nor did she have a brother who’d dote on her.

“I’ll also join them,” added Jackie from the side making both Xiu and Nora snort.

“What?” he questioned uneasily. “I’m also worried about my dearest nephew.”

“If you had said that two minutes ago, it would have sounded believable,” responded Nora as she shook her head at her brother and ruffled his hair. “And then you say, you don’t know what you’re doing.”

“I really have no idea what you’re saying,” said Jackie while pushing her hand away from his hair. Seriously, he was already a high school student, did his sisters have to ruffle his hair like he was a kid? He didn’t need that kind of attention anymore.

“You can just go and have your youngsters sleepover,” stated Xiu. “I don’t think it’s time for you to understand anything.”

Since Xiu had cooked for everyone, she left the clean-up to everyone else. It was a fact that most of them could only create disaster in the kitchen and she had no mood for getting poisoned on this camping trip. That’s why she had taken over the job of cooking without any issue. Besides, she had two capable helpers like Xiao Li and Darren. Those two were enough to make sure she wouldn’t have to do everything on her own.

The night breeze was a little chilly but it was perfect for this weather. She found herself a spot where she’d get the perfect view of the moon hanging up in the sky. Crossing her arms behind her head, she laid down on the slight slope as she gazed at the moon in silence.

Since she had walked a little farther from their camping spot, she could only hear the faint sound of voices from the camps. But she could clearly hear the sound of the crickets.

Suddenly, another figure came to sit beside her and Xiu turned her head to see the side silhouette of the person beside her. 

“Why did you follow me?” asked Xiu.

“I know you have a lot on your mind,” started Nora casually. “So, I came to give you some company.”

“Don’t you think if I have a lot on your mind what I need is silence and not the company?” 

Nora shrugged her shoulders, “I’ll give you silent company.”

“I doubt that,” Xiu mumbled to herself and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath.

It didn’t pass two minutes before Nora spoke up, “Moon is quite bright here. You can hardly see it in the city.”

Xiu opened her eyes to glance at her, “Weren’t you gonna stay quiet?”

“Oh, was I?” Nora scratched her own head.

“Don’t tell me you became forgetful after becoming a mother.”

Nora clicked her fingers, “That’s right. Don’t they say a woman becomes a little dumb after giving birth?”

Xiu rolled her eyes at her best friend which Nora couldn’t see because of the darkness surrounding them. “Even if that statement is true, it only happens for three years after giving birth. Your daughter is old enough to go out and buy soy sauce but also old enough to bring a boyfriend home.”

“Boyfriend? Are you kidding me? How old do you think she is?”

“What? This new generation is fast-paced! They get boyfriend/girlfriend even in kindergarten!”

“Damn it! I can disagree with those words.”

“People mostly can’t disagree with my nonsense,” responded Xiu.

“So, you do know that 90% of the things that come out of your mouth are nonsense?” Nora’s lips curled up in amusement as she turned her head towards Xiu. Even though she could barely see Xiu’s face.

“I am such a nonsense person. What can be done about it?” responded Xiu as she smiled to herself.

Nora hummed to herself as if in deep thought. She laid down beside Xiu, following her posture as she replied, “What else can be done now? You’re my best friend. I’ll just have to deal with your nonsense for the rest of my life.”

Xiu’s eyes lowered as she thought of something. The light in her eyes dimmed a little. She breathed out and asked, “What if I am not your best friend?”

“There you go again,” laughed Nora. “Talking nonsense!”

Xiu stared right into her eyes, “But I am being very serious right now. What if I’m really not your best friend? What if I am just a lie?”