The following evening, after dinner, June asked Ty and Mark to resume their discussion about the new changes.
"Ty," June asked, "are you happy with how things have been going?"
"Yes, Mom," Ty replied. "You and Dad have been great. I really appreciate how nice you're being, and I hope that you've been happy as well. I really meant it when I said that if we were all nicer to each other, I thought we'd all be happier. I hope you're both finding that to be true. Also, I hope you're not so afraid of me now. I don't want that at all!"
"To be honest," June said, "and I believe I speak for Mark as well, I think setting the fear aside completely will take quite a while, but if things continue to go as smoothly as they have been, that will certainly help."
Mark nodded in agreement.
"Well," Ty said, "if there's anything I can do to ease your minds, by all means please let me know. Speaking of which, we've talked about my requested change, that we all just try to be a bit nicer and more respectful to each other, and I think we've all been doing that. But are there any requests that you have for me?"
Mark and June looked at each other for a moment. June said, "No, Ty. You've been nice to us as well, and I don't think we have any specific requests."
"OK," said Ty. "I do have a minor request. I don't want you to think of this as a demand. It's not. I will respect your decision either way. The last time we spoke about the idea of my getting a cell phone, you said no because you thought I was too young, and you also brought up the expense. I was wondering whether now you might think I'm old enough and responsible enough to have one. I know that even if you agree to that, you might not be able to buy me one right away."
June said, "Mark, I do think Ty has been acting pretty responsibly for some time now. Do you think we should reconsider?"
Mark thought for a moment. He didn't want to risk making Ty angry by denying him, but he was also afraid that if he gave in too easily, Ty might think they were just trying to placate him. "Of course, that _is_ at least in part what I'm doing," he thought to himself. After a moment, he said, "I agree that Ty probably can handle the responsibility now. Adding a line to our plan won't cost much, but I am a bit concerned about the initial cost of a smartphone. Why don't I check with our carrier tomorrow?"
"Thanks, Mom, Dad," Ty said. "I promise I'd use it responsibly, not run up big bills, and follow school policy. If it helps with the cost, consider that you don't actually have to buy the phone for me. I can 'get' it myself, like the new game console I gave Dustin."
Mark and June both looked a bit startled. Ty suspected that they hadn't considered the possible up-side of his power. On the other hand, he didn't want to get them so used to it that they routinely wanted him to conjure up stuff for them.
"Uh, we'll think about that," June said. "If none of us have any more requests, I suppose we're done for now."
After a moment, she said, "OK. We'll let you know what we decide about the phone soon."
Ty thanked them again. "Speaking of phones, would you mind if I called Lisa?
"Sure, that's fine," Mark said. He and June headed upstairs to give Ty a bit of privacy for the call.