“What is it? Please tell me now because my mind is going in all kinds of directions.”
They each shift their weight, staring at one another as they deliberate, and I decide I can’t wait for them to tell me. Lowering myself to my hands and knees, I tilt my head and peer under Sabrina’s bed only to be met by two glowing eyes.
“Tell me that’s not a cat or a squirrel.” Because I’m allergic as fuck to cat dander. Do squirrels’ eyes glow? No clue. It’s too big to be a rat, I hope. A possum? A fucking raccoon? “What is it?”
“It’s a ferret,” Sabrina admits.
I turn my head and peer dubiously at the girls. “A ferret?” The words shred sharply past my lips. “Where on God’s green earth did you find a ferret? And how did you get it in this palace without anyone knowing?” I might in fact be the worst motherand guardian on earth for not discovering this sooner. Sebastian is going to bepiiiissed.
I turn back to the poor, scared little thing cowering against the wall in the darkest corner beneath the bed.
“We found him—or her, we’re not sure which yet—sleeping all alone on a pile of pine leaves on the edge of the fence line of the festival.”
“So you took it?” I question shrilly.
“It was shivering!” Phaedra cries out in defense. “It would have died if we hadn’t saved it. It’s only a baby.”
“How do you know that? It’s not like it can tell you how old it is.”
Both girls immediately start bawling. And what the fuck do I do with that?
“He’s so small!” Sabrina wails. “We love him. Please don’t tell Papa.”
“Don’t tell your papa? Are you kidding me? Of course, I have to tell him.” And he’s going to be supersonically furious. He already didn’t want us to go to that festival and now they brought home a freaking ferret without my even knowing it.
“We want a pet.”
“Sabrina, don’t you think that’s a conversation you have with us before you actually bring one home? How do you know this rodent doesn’t have diseases?”
More tears, and I sit back on my haunches, feeling a little bad, but hell, this is going to be a mess and a battle for sure. And right on cue, the door bursts open, and in walks Sebastian, his glacial eyes all over the place before they soften when he sees his daughters.
“I heard crying.Que s’est-il passé? What happened?” Large hands cup both their faces, wiping their tears. Only now neither girl is speaking. Their pleading eyes are both on me.
Great. Nothing like being the messenger to this.
“The girls brought home a…pet from the festival.”
“A pet?” he parrots, his brow dancing. “What sort of…petare we talking about?” There is no mistaking the displeasure in his voice as he utters the wordpet. I’m with him on this one, but honestly not enough to break the girls’ hearts over it. I’ll admit, I know nothing of ferrets, but they are pets in America, so how much trouble can they be?
I sigh. “Come see for yourself. He’s under Sabrina’s bed, and before you start in on me, I’m just discovering the thing myself.”
“And how did they sneak in a pet without you knowing about it?”
“No clue. And that’s no lie.”
“You obviously missed something.”
“Obviously,” I toss back at him mockingly.
He rolls his eyes at me, which for some reason makes me smirk. That’s so my move.
“He was sleeping,” Phaedra informs us. “I placed him in my backpack.”
Sebastian’s scorn at all of this is palpable, even as he crouches down on the floor beside me and peers under the bed.
“What in the fu—udge is that?”
“Yeah. That was almost my exact reaction. Same near word drop and all.”
