Page 82 of In a Word, Yes

Wyatt carries his end of the conversation admirably. He’s surprisingly comfortable with my son.

I have to wonder why.

As soon as the closing theme plays and credits roll, Chase asks if we can watch another episode. “That one was weird,” he says. “TMK.”

“Too much kissing,” I explain to Wyatt.

My son isn’t wrong, and I’m glad he called out the awkward elephant in the room by stating it. Definitely not the best episode choice for ...mixedcompany.

Wyatt snickers. “I’m with you, Chase. It’s kind of lame when there’s too much kissing.” Fleetingly, his gaze and mine connect. How many times, exactly, do we need to use the wordkissing?

“Sorry, buddy,” I tell Chase. “School night. But we can knock out a couple on Friday night if you want.” I explain to Wyatt about the timeline Chase created, including projections of how long it will take to watch everyStar Trekseries.

Chase briefly disappears into his room before returning with the schedule and a pen. “See, look,” he says to Wyatt. “If we keep watching four episodes a week, we’ll finish the originalStar Trekseries by December sixth.”

“You check them off as you go?”

Chase nods. “Here,” he says, handing Wyatt the pen. “You can check off episode20 if you want.”

“I get to check it off?”

“Obviously. Just check it off right there.”

Wyatt chuckles. “Okay. So what comes next after the original series?”

“Chronologically, next isStar Trek: The Animated Series. But there’s only two seasons of that one, and each episode is only twenty-four minutes each, so...”

“So that’ll go pretty quick,” Wyatt supplies. “How many series are there? I bet I’ve missed some over the years.”

“Thirteen.”

Wyatt’s eyebrows shoot up. “Red alert. I’ve definitely missed some. And how many movies?”

“Fourteen.”

Wyatt squints. “And will you watch those too?”

“I don’t know. If Mom lets me, maybe I’ll watch them when I’m in high school. But some of them havescorchingreviews.”

“Well, young man, I am impressed. You are boldly going where only die-hard Trekkies dare to go.”

Chase stands erect, lifts his chin, and glues his arms to his sides, as if someone just pinned him with the highest military award an almost-nine-year-old can achieve. He marches in the direction of his bedroom.

“Honey,” I say, “do you want to say anything to us before you go to bed?”

“Oh, yeah. Good night, Mom.”

I drop a kiss on his head.

“Good night, Mister Wy—I mean, Wyatt.”

“Good night, Chase. And thank you for the invitation. This has been super cool. Very informative too.”

Once I hear the sounds of water running and Chase brushing his teeth down the hall, I read the room. Wyatt’s gazing through the sliding glass door into the night.

“You have quite a view,” he says, and I take this to mean he isn’t in any hurry to leave.

“Have at it. I’ll make tea and join you in a few minutes, if it’s not too cold out there.”