Page 129 of The Body in the Backyard
On cue, the doorbell rang, echoing through the house. Burt woofed a greeting.
“Hold that thought,” Riley said, nipping Nick’s lower lip before dancing out of his arms.
River,Rain, and Janet were carbon copies of their mother in progressively smaller sizes. They all shared the same dewy brown skin, the same thick natural hair, the same upturned button nose of Wander’s biological dad.
The oldest, River, was most like Wander in character. She was calm and patient and, at eight, was already showing signs of her Basil psychic gifts.
Rain, six, had been a furniture-scaling, clothing-rejecting toddler hellion. Montessori school had helped channel some of the energy into an aggressive T-ball career.
Janet, four, was currently teaching herself to read and demanded scientific explanations for all life’s mysteries. Her interrogation of the adults around the summer solstice table had successfully ruined Santa, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy in one conversation.
“Ladies,” Nick said, ushering them inside.
“Hi, Aunt Riley! I like your earrings,” River chirped.
“Hi, Aunt Riley. Uncle Nick, can we go to that indoor skydiving place?” Rain demanded as she stormed inside in rain boots.
“Uhhh,” Riley said.
“We’ll see if we have time after,” Nick said smoothly.
“After what?” Janet wanted to know.
Riley was curious herself.
“You’ll see,” he said with a conspiratorial wink that Riley wasn’t sure she trusted.
With a shrug, Janet marched into the foyer after her sisters.
“What are you two up to on your date night?” Riley asked Wander and Gabe.
The happy couple shared a glowy look.
“We’re going to the Bibsom Pharmaceuticals open house at their new headquarters,” Wander explained.
“Really?” Riley asked. That seemed out of character for her excessively granola sister.
“We will be protesting their corporate practices in front of the building,” Gabe explained, beaming proudly as he unrolled a bedsheet with the wordsStop Animal Testing Nowpainted on it. “And then we are going for dessert.”
“I want dessert,” Rain announced from the foyer table she was standing on.
“All part of the plan,” Nick promised, plucking her off the marble top.
“About this plan…” Riley ventured.
“I thought I smelled whippersnappers,” Mrs. Penny said, exiting the kitchen with a bucket of fried chicken.
“That tofu smells funny,” Janet said, frowning at the chicken.
“You know the rules,” Wander said firmly to her girls.
“We eat when we’re hungry and what we’re hungry for, even if it’s not something we usually eat at home,” the girls chorused.
“Good. And?”
“We try to make the best choices possible, prioritizing health, safety, and fun,” they responded.
“Your sister is a way cooler parent than my sister,” Nick pointed out.
