For a moment, Aiden and I stare at the newspaper in blank silence.

“Well - what the fuck does it say?” I finally whisper, trying not to wake up Nikita.

“We didn’t read it yet,” Raj whispers back.

“We heard about it while we were on our way home from a job,” Noah says, keeping his volume to a minimum. “We came straight here, bought the paper from that coffee stand outside.”

I doubt there are many things that could distract Aiden from the review right now, but somehow this does.

“You were coming back from a job?” he asks, blinking at Noah. “You guys took Nik with you to a job?”

“Yeah, bro, of course." Raj looks down at her affectionately. "She’s old enough to start learning, right? I mean - no baby of mine is gonna reach the age of one without knowing the difference between a pipe wrench and a chain wrench.”

"Yeah, a girl’s gotta know her spanners," Noah puts in.

Ripley begins to laugh, quickly smothers it beneath his paint-stained hand. None of us wants to be the one to accidentally wake up Nik. This whole conversation is going to have to be in whispers.

“Is that safe, though?” Aiden quietly asks, alarm in his blue eyes. “Bringing Nik with you to a place where you’re doing construction? Or electrical work?”

“What’s the worst that could happen?” Noah looks down at her, then up at Aiden. “One of us is always holding her. She’s not touching any wires, so she’s not gonna get electrocuted. Probably.”

“Yeah, it’s not like we’re gonna leave her alone with a saw, dude,” Raj adds.

“Right, or let her pick up a nail, or-”

“Oh, Jesus.” Aiden closes his eyes, puts his fingertips to his temples. “Please stop. You two have no idea how much you’re stressing me out right now.”

“I really don’t think she needs to know her wrenches just yet, guys,” Ripley says, as Nik sleepily sucks on her pacifier. “Pretty sure you could start with that when she’s like - I don’t know. Two? Three?”

“Yeah, well-” Noah scowls at Ripley. “Mind your own-”

“We miss her when we’re gone,” Raj blurts out, and Noah winces, drops his head over Nik so we won’t see his expression.

“It’s hard, okay?” he groans. “Sucks to be apart from her, just - give us a break. We’re working on it.”

I press my fingers over my smile, then slide my hand into Aiden’s, covertly open the connection.

No worries, Guardian, I tell him. I really don’t think she’ll get hurt.

No, he agrees, watching the way Raj and Noah are looking at Nik. Those two clearly won’t let that happen.

I release his fingers, and the connection.

“So - wait a second, nobody’s read the review?” Aiden asks.

“We thought we should all read it together,” Raj whisper-explains.

I want to summon the ghosts - they're part of this team, too - but I don’t want to break their focus. Will has been showing up to check in with us pretty regularly as they work on the code, but we haven’t heard anything since our breakfast with Floyd, and I have a feeling this means that they’re close to cracking it.

We can bring them the review later. But we are missing other members of the team.

“Where’s Mel?” I ask.

“Working another event.” Noah shifts Nik into one arm, holds up his phone. “We already texted her. She said to go ahead and read it.”

“What about Alix?” Aiden rumbles.

Raj turns to Ripley, nudges his elbow. “Yeah, go get your girl, Ripples."

“She’s in the press department, man. She already knows. How do you think I found out?”

We all stare at Ripley in silence, then swiftly turn to grin at each other. This is the first time someone has referred to Alix as Ripley’s girl without him immediately jumping in to clarify that this isn’t the case.

Noah shoves Ripley’s arm, grinning hugely at him. “So she’s your girl, huh?”

Ripley rolls his eyes, but he's clearly fighting down a smile.

“Shut up,” he groans. “Can someone please just read the fucking review?”

All eyes go to the newspaper again. Ripley holds it out to all of us, waiting for someone to take it.

No one does, at first.

We’re all beyond anxious about what this might say. Alix explained to us that lukewarm reviews of art exhibitions are rarely published in the papers. It’ll be very good, or very bad. I really think that it’ll be good, but still, this is nerve-wracking. Especially for Aiden and Ripley, the two driving forces of this whole thing. I know that they’ll both be crushed if it’s bad.

I need to be there for Aiden during this, so I don’t take the paper. I enwrap myself around him, lock him into my arms. Just in case.

Raj, optimistic spirit that he is, steps forward to take the paper from Ripley. He navigates the pages carefully, since his fingers have faint traces of woodworking oil on them. Presumably left over from the job. When he reaches the review, he’s careful not to touch it.

He turns it around to show us what it looks like. As Floyd predicted, the critic reviewed a few shows, but the review for Bright Future is the longest, by far. It’s the last one on the list, and the only one to have a picture accompanying the text. It's one of the archival photos from Aiden's part of the show. Alix must have sent the critic the digital version.

The title gives nothing away. Each review is headed with the name of the show, and the town hosting it. All it says is Bright Future - Ketterbridge.

Ripley and Aiden look at each other nervously. I think they’re both holding their breaths.

Raj turns the newspaper back to himself, clears his throat. He starts to read out loud, keeping quiet for Nikita.

“In my mind," he begins, "The true measure of an exhibition is what it ignites in those who come to see it. I had no idea what, if anything, might be ignited in me by Bright Future. For one thing, I believed Ketterbridge to have no art galleries, and certainly not any museums. I saw right away that I was correct in this. Bright Future is housed not in a gallery or museum, but rather in an inconspicuous warehouse on a quiet street.”

Raj pauses. His eyes dart up to Aiden and Ripley, who both stay still and silent.

I don't blame them. This - maybe doesn’t sound like the best start.

Raj swallows, then looks down at the paper again.

“So it was,” he continues, “That the first thing ignited in me by Bright Future was a question. How, exactly, do we define a museum? This is a subject of debate within the arts community at large, but I have two favorite definitions, which I like for their simplicity. Museum, as in a temple for the Muses: literature, science, and the arts. My other favorite term is used across the Indian subcontinent to refer to a museum: Jadughar, meaning House of Magic.”

Raj stops again, then continues much more slowly.

“By either definition - a place for the Muses, or a House of Magic - the simple, unassuming warehouse that hosts Bright Future is, in fact, a museum.”

Aiden lets out a sharp exhale, right as I let out a quiet gasp. We exchange a wide-eyed look, and then Aiden rushes over to Raj and snatches the paper out of his hands. We all crowd around him to read the rest.

I would typically provide a short description of the exhibition here, but the first-time experience of walking through Bright Future is exactly that: an experience, and one I won’t spoil for future visitors. Suffice it to say we have the past, the future, and the connecting bridge between them.

Exhibition Director Aiden Callahan, who co-curated Bright Future with artist Ripley McKay, told me that his entire team is new at this. Bright Future is their first effort, both working as a group and putting forth an exhibition. Maybe that’s the key to the magic.

An archivist by trade, Callahan is schooled in how to treat artifacts of artistic and historical value, but able to shake off the traditional approach to exhibiting them. As a young artist, McKay is comfortable choosing works that may have been passed over by institutional curators, and has insight into the pool of Ketterbridge’s untapped artistic potential. Just as the exhibiting artists bring their own voices to the project, so does the team, inexperienced though they may be. Their well-executed vision for this exhibition is therefore the embodiment of exactly what it stands for: the bravery to leap into something new.

When these things flop, they flop hard. When they succeed, they soar. I could speak to the intelligent and tasteful design of the environmental aspects, the impressive transformation of a warehouse into something that can successfully house a project of this scale, and the power of the artworks on display, both in the historical and contemporary sections. McKay himself is a budding talent worth keeping a close eye on, based on his painted portraits.

Each of these standout components deserves independent attention and appreciation. However, the true strength is how they all weave together. It could be chaos - and maybe it is, or maybe it comes a hair’s breadth away from it - but it works. More than that, it soars.

Inexperience can be detrimental. It can kill an artistic project, especially one like Bright Future, which swings out so far from the traditional exhibition experience. But if the only ones who attempt to mount an exhibition are seasoned professionals, where exists the open door for ideas that are radically new, invigorating, disruptive? In fact, the power of Bright Future rests in its inexperience, which is perhaps the point of the show: the past deserves and requires consideration and reflection, but the future does not need to mimic it. The future can shatter the confines of the past. It can be boldly, beautifully, explosively different.

Did this exhibition ignite something in me? Yes, it did. I walked away with the distinct feeling that the future truly is bright.

Listed beneath the review are the run dates of the show, the address, and the exhibition website.

For a long while, we all stay motionless, staring at the paper. I’m the first one to break the silence.

“Intelligent and tasteful design of the environmental aspects,” I read out loud, my cheeks starting to burn.

“Impressive transformation of a warehouse into something that can successfully house a project of this scale,” Noah says, elbowing Raj with every other word.

“McKay himself…” Ripley begins, then fades off.

“It soars,” Aiden breathes.

Another silence, and then we all explode.

Nobody wants to startle Nikita awake, so there’s a very quick burst of instantly muffled noise, followed by all of us shushing each other. And then a wild, stupid celebration erupts in Aiden's silent office.

I nearly tackle Aiden to the floor. Raj takes us the rest of the way down by immediately flinging his arms around both of us. It’s a struggle not to make a noise as we all crash to the floor in a tangle of sprawling limbs.

It’s a soft landing, at least. Aiden’s Guardian reflexes don’t turn off. Somehow he manages to catch both me and Raj, so that he’s the only one who actually hits the floor. Raj and I land on top of him. Raj immediately rolls off, sits up, and starts smacking Aiden’s arm in silent jubilation.

I stay right where I am, peppering Aiden’s smiling face with kisses.

Noah can’t do too much moving without waking up Nik. He’s standing there whisper-shouting at us, so speedily and excitedly that no one could possibly tell what he’s saying. We wouldn't be able to, regardless, since we're all whisper-shouting, ourselves.

Ripley, who caught the paper out of Aiden’s hand, just stares at it, stares and stares. He's caught completely off-guard when Noah enthusiastically shoves his shoulder. He crashes into Aiden’s desk, knocks the dim lamp over. Aiden somehow manages to catch it one-handed before it can smash to pieces on the floor.

“Good one, Noah,” Aiden whisper-yells at him, and Noah shifts the baby in his arms so he can stick his middle finger up.

But no one is actually mad. Everyone is beaming. Ripley still has yet to say a word, but he's beaming, too. I think he’s just so happy that he doesn’t know what to do with himself.

We haven’t made a ton of noise, but this is too much activity for Nikita to sleep through. Her little eyes blink open, and she looks around, startled.

We all freeze as someone knocks on the door, which then immediately opens.

“Aiden?” Gabby leans inside, smiling brightly. “Are you here, Exhibition Director? Have you seen the-?”

She pauses, one black eyebrow quirking up as she takes in the state of things in Aiden’s office. Nikita, who must be picking up on the energy in the room, chooses this moment to let out a high-pitched shriek of excitement, batting her tiny hand at Gabby. Gabby watches as her pacifier falls from her mouth and smacks against the floor.

We all stare at Gabby, matching frozen expressions of extreme excitement on our faces.

“Wow,” Gabby laughs, pressing a manicured hand over her mouth. “Okay. Clearly you have seen it. I understand why you're celebrating, boys, but can we move it out into the hallway, if it's going to be this violent? Instead of the room filled with delicate archival materials and babies?”

There’s a general sound of agreement to this suggestion. Those of us on the floor get to our feet, and Aiden sets the dim lamp back in its place. Raj retrieves Nik’s pacifier and stuffs it into his pocket.

Ripley and Aiden are the last ones to head for the door, but Gabby holds out a hand, stops them. Then she turns to me, Raj, and Noah, who are already gathered in the hallway.

“Give me one minute, won’t you?” she asks. “I need to have a word with my employees.”

She’s trying to look and sound stern, but she can barely disguise the smile on her face.

Raj, Noah, and I all exchange a grin, then wave to Ripley and Aiden.

I catch Aiden’s eye over the top of Gabby's head. I try to silently tell him how I feel about all this, right now. How I feel about him.

I think he understands, because somehow he smiles even more brightly than he did after he finished reading the review. It’s the last thing I see before the door closes.

I spin on my heel to face Raj and Noah. We stare at each other in silence for a second, then grin widely and grip each other’s shoulders. All of us are rocking on our feet a little, bouncing with excitement. Nikita lets out a burst of giggles, gripping a fistful of Noah’s shirt.

“Did you hear that, kid?” he asks, tapping her nose with a fingertip. “The newspaper was literally like - both of your dads are geniuses-”

“Okay, that’s a wild exaggeration,” I laugh, but Noah forges on, speaking right over me.

“Absolute geniuses, who made the world’s shittiest building into - like - the Neapolitan Museum.”

“Wh-?” I stop and blink at Noah, wide-eyed. “Um. Do you mean the Metropolitan Museum, dude? Like - the Met?”

“Oh, is that it?” Noah tilts his head to the side, his grey eyes puzzled. “Do the Mets play there, or something?”

“Point is,” Raj cuts in, as I stare speechlessly at Noah, “We fucking killed it, fam!”

I beam at him, then turn and rush off down the hallway.

“Where are you going, Jamie?” Noah calls.

“Newspaper stand! I'll be right back, I just need to get my own copy!”

I’m so damn proud of Aiden. I want to keep the review, put it in a frame.

It can be the first thing on the walls of our new place.