Laney grabs my hand as Begonia turns to me. “Don’t panic,” Begonia says. “We have—”
She’s interrupted by a chuckle.
A deep, amused chuckle. “That’s a new one,” Hayes says into his phone.
“A security team with us,” Begonia finishes as Hayes nods to her. “They have the runaways.”
They have the runaways.
Oh, god,Bash.
Of course. Of course he and a dog ran away.
“In the kitchen,” Laney supplies. “Just like normal.”
My legs collapse under me and I sit hard enough on the chair to bruise my tailbone, but I don’t care.
“I don’t lose him.” I can’t catch my breath. I know they’re all telling me he’s fine, butI lost him.While Jonas’s family was watching. I know how this plays out in court. I do. “I don’t. Ineverlose him.”
“My sister once lost two of her kids when our whole family was out for pizza,” Begonia says. “One of them crawled into the claw machine and the other was trying. It happens.”
“Idon’t lose him.” I can’t stop saying it.
And suddenly a man wholookslike Jonas butisn’tJonas is squatting in front of me. “We know,” Hayes says quietly. “It’s okay.”
“It isnot—”
“It is.” He squeezes my shoulder. “You’re a good mom. None of us are a match for Marshmallow.”
I don’t want to cry. Irefuseto cry.
Not in front of these people.
“Don’t take my baby,” I whisper.
“If they so much as try, I will destroy all of them,” Begonia says beside me.
Happily.
Cheerfully, even.
Hayes squeezes my shoulder again, clearly suppressing a smile. “It’s the sunshine ones you have to be most afraid of. You never see their wrath coming.”
“Mama! Mama, I sim in fower!”
Bash trots out of the kitchen, coated head to toe in white dust.
Marshmallow trots behind him, coated head to tail in white dust.
“I turned around forthree seconds,” Willa says as she exits the kitchen, mildly dusted herself. There’s a man I don’t recognize with her who’s clearly amused, and Zen’s having a facial gymnastics issue while Sabrina glares at them and rubs her belly. “Three seconds, and then there’s awhooshand athumpand theentire fifty-pound bag of flourpulled a cheese powder trick.”
“We arenottalking about the cheese powder incident again,” Sabrina says.
“It was totally like the cheese powder,” Zen replies with a grin.
“Mama, I goe!” Bash reaches me, his diaper sagging, a plume of flour trailing behind him. “Booo! I dary!”
Hayes scoots aside so I can sweep my little boy into my arms, hug him, and almost choke on the flour dust. “You’re a scary ghost,” I agree, my eyes getting wet all over again.
