Later that night, Riley and her family were sitting around the dinner table. Maya was there, too. It was the perfect time for Riley and Auggie to play a little joke on their parents—to teach them a lesson about how they could change the same old boring meal into something different.

“I can drive Daddy crazy in eight seconds,” Riley announced coyly.

“I can drive Mommy crazy in six seconds,” Auggie fired back, accepting his sister’s challenge, before launching into the question of the night: “How long does it take Auggie and Riley to drive Mommy and Daddy crazy together?”

“You feel like a movie?” Mr. Matthews asked his wife, paying no attention to Riley or Auggie.

“Love to,” Mrs. Matthews replied, setting down her fork, getting up from the table, and tossing her napkin aside.

Mr. Matthews got up, too, and they both headed straight for the door.

“Hey!” Riley protested. This wasn’t going according to plan at all.

“What?” Auggie demanded.

“You can’t just get up in the middle of dinner and walk out on them before they drive you crazy,” Maya added.

“We can do whatever we want,” Mrs. Matthews replied with a giant smile. “See, we couldn’t when we were kids. But that’s why we became parents.”

“Well, what do you call that?” Riley demanded of her father.

“Secret of life,” Mr. Matthews replied with a sly smile.

Riley looked at Maya, who looked back at Riley, who looked at Auggie. It was so annoying. Her dad had done it again. He had taught Riley a lesson when she was trying to teach him one!

“There’s lots of ’em,” Mr. Matthews finally added.

As their parents each put an arm around the other and walked out of the apartment, Auggie seemed to think it was the funniest thing ever. Riley did not. How could she? Not only had they left right when she and Auggie were supposed to launch their crazy dinner plan; but they had abandoned their own kids—the very kids who were responsible for changing them, for turning them into parents. Parents who could do whatever they wanted!

Of course, Riley knew they wouldn’t be gone long. There were still a whole lot of life secrets she had yet to learn, but this was one she’d figured out a long time before: the people who loved you—the ones who really, truly loved you—always came back. No matter how much her world might change, it was one thing Riley knew she could always count on.