Two weeks had passed since my parents had gone to Strava for their vacation. They hadn’t been in touch for the last two days of the trip, but I’d seen the black dots moving around the resort via the telescope feed. I’d assumed everything was okay. Otherwise, they would’ve reached out via Bowie. I’d checked the signal. It was nice and clear.

But when midnight passed and there was no sign of my parents, I began to worry a little. Maybe I was overreacting, but I knew Mom would say something before boarding the interplanetary spell back to Calliope, at least.

I made my way back to the Great Dome and checked the live telescope feed again. From what I could see, they were still on Strava. I couldn’t zoom in any closer, but the black dots were moving around the beach outside their resort. It all seemed peaceful. Nothing out of the ordinary.

I breathed a sigh of relief, then found myself smiling. Perhaps they were really enjoying their stay. Maybe they were even considering extending the vacation—I knew I didn’t mind. They deserved as much time off as they needed. But Dad was a devout workaholic. So I got curious.

I opened up a communication channel with Bowie. The tech was pretty simple, similar to a walkie-talkie system, requiring the user to hold down a button to speak, then to release it and wait for a response.

“Mom, can you hear me?” I called out through the comm’s channel.

Nothing came back. I pressed the button again, holding it down.

“Mom, Dad? Guys? You there?” I asked.

Still quiet all around. But the black dots were moving—now headed toward the resort. Maybe they’d left Bowie inside.

“What are you doing, Sis?” Ben’s voice cut through the hall, startling me.

I gasped, then shook my head slowly. “Dammit, you scared me.”

“Sorry,” he replied, giving me an apologetic smile. “What’s going on?”

I looked at Ben, then at the screen, then back at Ben, and sighed. “Nothing. Just watching the feed. They’re still on Strava, from what I can see,” I said.

“Good! It means they’re really enjoying it, if they’re not back yet!” Ben replied, then came to stand next to me in front of the screen. “Were you trying to talk to them via Bowie?”

I nodded. “Mm-hmm, but they’re not answering.”

He narrowed his eyes at the screen, following the dots around. “Eh. They probably left it in the room or something. I’ll bet they’re gossiping like crazy up there,” he said, grinning.

“Yeah, I guess,” I murmured, prompting Ben to shift his focus back to me and analyze my expression carefully. I felt like an ant under a looking glass.

“Something’s off with you,” he said. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I guess,” I replied flatly, then exhaled and decided to be truthful. My twin could see right through me, anyway. “Well, I haven’t spoken to them in two days, and they were supposed to be back by midnight. And they didn’t answer via Bowie, either. I… I confess, I’m a little uneasy.”

Ben thought about it for a moment, then checked the screen again.

“They look okay from here,” he said. “Give them another day or two. Mom will get in touch before they head back, anyway. You know her.”

I sighed, then crossed my arms. “Yeah, she’s the most responsible out of the whole crew.”

“What, more than Dad?” He chuckled.

“I don’t know, maybe? I mean, once you unplug Dad, you know what a carefree doofus he can be,” I replied, laughing lightly.

Ben smiled. “Maybe they’re really feeling this vacation, Sis. Let’s not hover over them. Give them until tomorrow or something. I’m guessing Mom will see the voice message alerts on Bowie when she gets back to it, anyway.”

I nodded. “Yeah. They’ll be blinking on the screen.”

“There you go. Problem solved,” he said, then took a deep breath and turned serious all of a sudden. Something was off about him, too; I could feel it. “You know, I’m seriously considering a getaway on Strava soon. Just River and me, you know? Away from it all…”

My stomach churned. I didn’t like the sound of his voice. There was a raw emotion I hadn’t heard in a long time, and it troubled me.

“Ben, what’s wrong? Are you and River having problems, or something?” I asked.

He gave me a sad smile. “There’s been some tension between us lately,” he said quietly. “I mean, nothing serious, but we could both use the time away, I think. We end up bickering over the smallest, most insignificant of things, and it’s not healthy.”

I had to admit, I was floored by his confession. He and River had always been one of the strongest couples I’d ever met. To me, their bond was virtually unbreakable.

“I… I didn’t know,” I croaked. “How… How long has this been going on?”

He shrugged. “About a year, I think.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Hey, it’s nothing. I mean, we keep this stuff to ourselves, you know. We argue, then we make up, and that’s it. It’s just that it’s been a little too much, lately, and we both agree we need some time away. Somewhere quiet, peaceful.” He nodded at the screen. “Like Strava. We’ll be fine, Sis. Really. If it were something worth addressing with you or anyone else in the family, I would’ve said something, trust me.”

“No, I get it, I guess,” I replied, then squeezed his shoulder. “We’ve been under some pressure filling in for the oldies in GASP, anyway. I bet we’ll all need a break by the time they’re back,” I added, chuckling.

“Caleb’s feeling the weight of it all, isn’t he?” Ben shot back with a smirk.

“Pretty much. We’re all feeling it, I think. You don’t realize Mom and Dad’s responsibilities until they’re away. Sure, we’ve got it easy, with no ongoing conflicts, but still, it’s a lot to take in on a daily basis,” I said.

“Oh, yeah. The daily reports alone are basically half of my day.” Ben laughed.

“We’ll definitely need a trip to Strava ourselves,” I replied. “You and River, too. I think Hazel and Tejus, Grace and Lawrence, and even Victoria and Bastien will be hightailing it out of here as soon as the parents come back.”

Ben smiled, then nodded and put his arm around my shoulders. This was the side of him that I loved the most. Even when he had troubles of his own, no matter how big or small, he always looked after me. He always worried more about me than himself. River was still one of the luckiest ladies in all the universes, as far as I was concerned.

“You know, I love River. More than anything. More than before,” he said slowly. “As the years go by, we’re only getting closer to one another. And she has yet to get bored with me, which I hope speaks to my character,” he added with a grin, then sighed. “After everything we’ve been through, I’m confident that our marriage can overcome pretty much anything. We just need a break.”

“Of course,” I replied. “This is just a tiny hurdle. It’s bound to happen. I’m sure Caleb and I will have our own little issues soon enough. We’ve had some in the past but, like you said, nothing serious. Nothing we couldn’t just talk about and fix together.”

“Yeah, I guess this is what comes after the ‘happily ever after’ part, huh?”

“Nobody is designed for permanent happiness, I think,” I said. “Not even us, the immortals. Actually, especially us. Humans have short lifespans, and still, they get mad, they fight, they break up, then they go their separate ways or get back together. We’ve got endless lifetimes ahead. I’m sure we’ve got our own share of hurdles, both big and small, just around the corner.”

“True. But we’ve got each other, too. Some of us have even died once.” He chuckled. “We’ll be okay, Rose. Whatever’s ahead, we’ll be okay.”

I knew he was right. Deep down, I knew that was our undeniable truth. We were all going to have our ups and downs. At times, it was going to be harder. But, like Ben said, we were all together. A family like ours was truly unique. Ever growing, always moving onward and upward, constantly seeking to improve ourselves and the lives of those we loved.

We’d made it farther than most already, and through some incredibly difficult circumstances. As I stared at the telescope feed of Strava and the black dots of our parents, uncles, and friends, a tiny knot formed in my stomach. It wasn’t enough to just say that we were going to be okay.

I intended to make sure of it. No matter what.