He grinned wider. “Yes, just like that!”
“Is this plan really gonna work?” Caleb murmured to his brother.
“I hope so,” Benji replied. He leaned down to address his daughter. “Lark, honey, we’re gonna play a game, okay?”
“A game!” she cried. “What I do?”
“We’re gonna play make-believe. You have to pretend you’re always itchy, okay?”
“Always? Even when I’m asleep?”
“Well, maybe not then.” Benji smiled. “But if your dad asks, you have to tell him you’re itchy.”
“We’re playing a trick on dad?”
Benji continued to smile patiently. “Not a trick, honey. Just a game.”
“Okay, daddy.”
“I don’t think I can reason with Luna,” Caleb admitted. “She’s too young to understand.”
“That’s okay,” I said. “It’s pretty contagious in humans, so if Lark has it, then Luna should be ‘at risk’ for it as well.”
“So, either way, you’ll need to be present to look after them,” Theo said excitedly.
I nodded. “But what if Adriel and Pierce think we’re lying?”
Theo put his hands on my shoulders and my breath caught. “Max, you’re the doctor. They trust you, remember? Whatever you say, goes.”
I bit my lip. “I guess so.”
In a softer voice, Theo added, “Don’t worry. We don’t have to keep up this lie forever. Just until Adriel realizes I’m not a threat to you.”
You’ve never been a threat to me,I thought. He was so close to me right now, reminding me of the previous night when he almost kissed me. Almost. My heart flipped.
Once again, however, Theo pulled away. It was probably for the best, with all these other people in the room watching us.
“Well,” I said with a sigh, trying to calm my rapidly beating heart, “I guess we should go let the fathers know.”
“Remember, Lark,” Benji said to his daughter. “What are you?”
“Itchy!” she cried excitedly, scratching herself.
“Atta girl.”
Caleb scooped up Luna and joined them in the hall, while Theo lingered behind. As I went to leave, he stopped me with his arm across the door threshold.
“Hey,” he murmured, shyly meeting my eyes. “I just wanted to say thanks.”
I smiled. “You’re welcome. I don’t know if this is gonna work, but we can try.”
Theo returned my smile. In this moment he looked vulnerable, like he wasn’t one hundred percent sure the plan would succeed even though he needed it to.
“You’re the only person who would do this for me,” Theo said. “You’re really something special, Max.”
Heat flooded to my cheeks and I stared at the floor. “N-not at all. I’m not special.”
Theo reached for my face. He tilted my chin up, forcing me to look at him. His red eyes glinted, serious.
“You are special,” he repeated.
My mouth went dry. I didn’t have a response this time.
Finally, Theo just smiled and said, “C’mon. Let’s catch up with everyone else. You need to be there to tell Pierce what’s going on.”
“Right,” I mumbled.
As I followed him into the hall, doubts swirled in my mind. Was this the right thing to do?
And more importantly--even if it wasn’t, did I really care if it meant spending more time with Theo?
