At first I thought my white t-shirt was the culprit, but I’d double-checked in my room after Ethan’s comment. It wasn’t all that transparent.
“The pants are the problem,” Adrian snorted with laughter. “My Little Pony?”
Miles was the quiet bystander in all this, but I could feel his gaze on me. Studying me.
“I’ll have you know,” I started, adopting the knowledgeable tone I reserved for cases just like this, “that the philosophy of MyLittle Pony isn’t just for kids. It’s rich and layered, and actually quite beautiful if anyone bothered to pay attention.”
It had been a gift from one of my kindergarten kids last year. My knowledge of the show began and ended with what I overheard during free play sessions at school.
But they didn’t need to know that.
“Philosophy, huh?” Ethan appeared in the living room, apparently over his paralyzing fear of Winston. “Please, share.”
Sure, he’d be the one to call me on it.
“I’d rather we find the newt instead of wasting ti—”
“Find the what now?” Miles did a double-take.
“Sadie brought a new friend into the house again,” Ethan explained. Then, almost as an afterthought, he added, “What are you doing here? It’s eight a.m.”
“Well, we were hoping for breakfast,” Miles said, “and didn’t want to waste a wonderful Sunday morning on the only thing in our pantry, which is unsalted crackers.”
Ethan squinted. “Since when do you two come over for breakfast?”
A beat passed.
Miles and Adrian exchanged a loaded look, before each turning back to Ethan with a sheepish smile. There was more to it than breakfast, but they weren’t going to tell on themselves. The way Miles had been looking at me when they first came in kinda gave me a hint as to the secret they were hiding.
Before anyone could comment on it, Sadie’s voice shattered the tension. “I see him!”
Ethan nearly jumped out of his skin, and I bit back a laugh. Sadie pointed under the armchair near the window, her facelighting up like it was Christmas morning. “I saw him go under there. I saw his tail.”
Ethan groaned and backed up to the kitchen again. “I’m making coffee. You guys handle… it.”
We rallied around Sadie to hopefully catch sight of this thing and bring him to safety, with Miles brushing close to me as I crouched down beside the armchair. He was fresh out of a shower, and smelled like spring rain. I couldn’t look right at him.
“Just so you know,” he said, voice low so only I could hear, “I haven’t forgotten about your wild My Little Pony claims.”
“I’m not surprised,” I replied without hesitation, keeping my attention on Sadie as she instructed her siblings through the rescue.
But after a few minutes, it became obvious Sadie’s sighting had been wishful thinking. There was no Winston anywhere near the couch.
“He was there. Isawhim.”
“It’s a leaf.” Emma flung a dry, orange leaf at her, and she slapped it away.
“It had legs, and a tail.”
Before another round of sibling warfare could break out, Ethan returned with his mug of steaming coffee. “Okay, guys,” he said, keeping a cautious distance, “we should divide and conquer before Winston turns up somewhere unfortunate.”
Adrian lifted a brow. “Define unfortunate.”
“My bed. My shoes. Anywhere near me,” Ethan said.
Will popped out from behind the curtain and announced, “I’ll go check my room.”
“No video games before you’ve brushed your teeth,” I called after him. All I got was a dismissive wave over his shoulder as he left the living room.
