After the icy beginning and their first joint campaign against invisible monsters, Milan and Zente's friendship quickly blossomed. The street became their kingdom. Sometimes the battle with aliens raged in front of one house, sometimes they built secret bunkers from leaves in front of another. Réka and Adél often joined in at first, but as the years passed, the girls' interests turned more and more toward dolls, drawing, and their own, more girlish games. And the boys? Well, they remained in their own chaotic, imaginative world.
Their relationship, however, was far from smooth. They were more like an old married couple than simple playmates. Almost every shared game started with an argument.
“I want to be the captain!” shouted Zente.
“No, because I'm older! And it was my idea!” Milan retorted.
“But my stick is longer!”
“But mine is sharper!”
This bickering could last for minutes, sometimes ending in tears or sulky retreat, until somehow they managed to agree on the rules and threw themselves into the game—which usually lasted for hours, with total absorption.
The parents slowly got used to this dynamic; Zita and Borka sometimes just exchanged glances and sighed on either side of the fence while the boys argued about whether the invisible dragon breathed fire or poisonous gas.
Over the years, both families grew. First, Zalán was born to Gergő's family, and barely two months later, Kende arrived to Tibi's. As the two little ones grew, they almost imperceptibly found each other. While the older kids were busy saving the world, Zalán and Kende played peacefully side by side in the sandbox or on the grass. Zalán, with his two-month advantage, tried to learn everything from the older kids and then show it to Kende. If Milan and Zente started sword fighting, Zalán would grab a stick and wave it around too. Kende, the quiet observer, mostly imitated Zalán, toddling after him and trying to make the same sounds.
The older kids usually just tolerated them at the edge of the games, sometimes getting annoyed if the little ones accidentally knocked down the painstakingly built Lego castle or trampled into the secret base.
The parents' relationship also developed through the children. They didn't become friends who met daily, since they weren't direct neighbors and had their own busy lives. But if the kids played together or bumped into each other on the street, they always exchanged a few words. Gergő and Tibi sometimes went to play squash, which always ended in Tibi's victory, thanks to his regular running and better stamina.
Gergő was more of an occasional athlete, more interested in discussing the latest tech gadgets. Tibi kept running laps in the street in his running gear, and Gergő sometimes joked that soon he'd be faster than his own car, which was a sedan Toyota.
Zita and Borka shared parenting tips, complained about the boys' endless arguments, and sometimes laughed together at their husbands' quirks.
As time went by, Gergő's interest in technology became more and more prominent. Robi, the robotic lawnmower, arrived, opening a new chapter in garden adventures.