“Yes, Daddy.” Though she isn’t outwardly pouting, Isabella doesn’t seem any happier about the order.
And who could blame her? I wouldn’t want to be told I had to be friends with someone, either.
Mr. Blackwood and Mr. Drake look over at Mr. Hawthorne, who smirks in response. “I don’t have to tell my Little girl to be nice. Do I, Natalie?”
“No, Daddy! I love Millie!”
At least someone does.
“Good girl.” Leaning down, he taps a finger on her nose, sending her into a fit of giggles. “Daddy will be back in a few hours to pick you up. Maybe we can talk Millie’s Daddy into an ice-cream date if you’re both on your best behavior.”
“Oooh, you hear that Millie? Ice cream!”
“That would be fun. Thanks, Mr. Hawthorne.”
Natalie’s Daddy grins, and although he still looks like the dangerous man he is, the smile transforms his face. “I think under the circumstances you should call me Uncle Evan like the others. Mr. Hawthorne is an awfully big mouthful for such a Little girl.”
Emotion swells in my chest, so big and bright it physically hurts. “Really? I can call you Uncle Evan?”
“Of course, sweetheart.”
Grinning, Mr. Blackwood throws an arm around Mr. Drake’s shoulder. “Well in that case, you should call me Uncle Jasper. Gideon?”
“Of course.”
Uncles. I have uncles. Fun ones too, by the sound of things, and my brain is already hard at work imagining all the adventures we’ll have together.
My new uncles tell everyone goodbye again, leaving me alone with my… are they my cousins now? Friends? What do I call them?
But before I can work up the nerve to ask, Miss Evelyn claps her hands, drawing our attention to her. “All right, Little ones. We’re going to start our morning with a craft. Who wants to make friendship bracelets?”
We all cheer, and Natalie grabs my hand to drag me over to a large table covered with containers of beads. Some are just bright and colorful, while others have letters on them.
“I want you each to make a bracelet for all the other girls in our class. When you’re done, we’ll do an exchange, so everyone should leave with four bracelets. It can be something funny that makes you think of that friend, or something nice you want to say to them.” Miss Evelyn pins Juliet with a stern look. “And I do meannice, Juliet Sloane. One sarcastic bracelet from you and not only will you be spending the rest of the morning in timeout, I will make sure your Daddy knows how naughty you were. Am I understood?”
“Yes, Ma’am.” Juliet’s response is perfectly sweet. There’s no reason for the hairs on the back of my neck to be standing on end, and yet they do.
Maybe if I go out of my way to make them each something nice and personal to them, they’ll forgive me for working with Doctor D.
With that in mind, I reach for the pink beads. They’re Victoria’s favorite color. As I place them carefully on the string Miss Evelyn cut for me, I try to think of what else I know about Victoria.
She’s sweet, funny in a way that sneaks up on you because she’s generally just a ball of happiness but sometimes she gets in a zinger that makes you wonder if you heard her correctly.
What’s another word for happiness? I wrack my brain as I continue alternating different shades of pink on my string.
Joyful. That’s the word I would use to describe Victoria.
“Oh, that’s so pretty!” Natalie whispers, leaning over my shoulder to peek at my progress. “Is that one for Tori?”
“Uh-huh.”
“She’s gonna love it. Here, you should add these unicorn beads. Shelovesunicorns.”
“Thank you!”
My excitement builds as I work first on Victoria—Tori’s—bracelet. Then Juliet’s in teal, with the wordclever. For Isabella, I choose every shade of green I can find and add the wordgraceful.
When I finally get to Natalie’s, I hesitate. Her favorite color is black, but she’s so much… brighter to me. Of all the Littles, she’s the only one who’s ever stood up for me against Doctor D. Not that I expect anyone to, but she was the one who gave me the courage to stand up for myself.
