When they got home, Mark said, "It's a school night. Don't stay up too late."
June said, "Lisa seems like a nice girl. Very polite, and smart. I'm glad you fixed whatever issue you had. Make sure you treat her well."
"I certainly will, mom," Ty replied. "I love her, and I know I'm very lucky to have such an amazing girlfriend." He thought, "You don't know the half of it!"
"Be responsible about, you know," Mark said. "Don't get her in trouble. Or yourself."
"I know, dad, but thanks for the reminder," Ty said, thinking about he dodged a bullet thanks to Lisa having been more responsible than he had been. With his power, perhaps he could have fixed a problem if it had arisen, but definitely better to avoid it. That gave him an idea for something to ask Lisa when they next spoke.
Ty went up to his room.
"That went well," June said. "I'm glad Ty is happy."
"Yes, and we'd better keep him happy," Mark replied.
"Maybe our fears are overblown," June said. "Maybe we don't have to worry as much as we have been."
Mark said, "You may be right, but I still think we'd better not take any chances. Ty said he wanted us to just be 'normal', and a little nicer than before, but I can't help worrying. It didn't work telling him he could have whatever he wanted, but I think we have to do that anyhow, just being less obvious about it."
"He hasn't really made any demands, and he certainly hasn't done anything to us," June said. "I'm starting to believe he was sincere."
"Maybe," Mark said, "but it hasn't been long, and we've been making a lot of effort to be nice to him. How long can we keep that up?"
"As long as we don't hit any major conflicts, maybe it won't be too hard to keep it up. Although I've been making a conscious effort, it honestly hasn't been that hard to be nicer to him, and maybe that will feel natural as time goes on. I've been trying to be nicer to you and Dustin as well, and I notice you two have been nicer to me and each other. It feels pretty good, you know."
"Well, yes," Mark said, "I'm still not really used to it. If you noticed me backsliding, please let me know. I'm a creature of habit, and if I stop worring about Ty, I think I could easily go back to how things were before."
"Me, too," said June. "And I wouldn't have believed that Dustin could be as courteous as he's been."
"When you talked him down, when he was frozen, I think you must have really put the fear of God into him. I mean, the fearbof Ty."
"I don't think it's just that," June replied, "but I'm not sure what else it could be."
They sat down. Mark turned on the TV, and June picked up her magazine.