“Right.” I swiped a bottle of my own normal body lotion--baby powder scented, coincidentally--and handed it to Benji. He poured some into his hand and applied it on Lark’s skin.
“It’s cold!” she complained.
“I know, baby,” Benji murmured.
“Do I get to stop pretending now?”
“Yes, until your daddy gets back.”
She groaned. “I’m getting bored of this game.”
It’s only been two days!I thought.I guess time feels different for children as young as Lark.
Besides, she had no concept of the gravity of the situation. I couldn’t fault her for that.
“There,” Benji said as he finished. “Now you can lie and tell Pierce she’s wearing the calamine lotion.”
Benji mouthed the wordlieso Lark didn’t hear it, which only made me feel worse.
“You can stop pretending to be itchy, since you’re wearing the lotion, okay?” Benji told Lark, who nodded. I knew she was getting tired of the whole situation.
Pierce arrived again a moment later, looking frustrated.
“What happened?” Benji asked.
“Theo was being ridiculous,” Pierce said. “The big emergency was that Luna was speaking her first words, and that it was my name, Uncle Pierce, but she was just babbling.”
Behind him, Theo objected, “She really did say it before you showed up!”
I raised my brow. I had a feeling that was a lie, too. What were we becoming?
“Regardless, how is my daughter doing? Better?” he asked.
“Yes,” I said. “We’ve given her some calamine lotion to combat the skin irritation, so she should be relieved for a while.”
“Good.” He nodded then glanced at me. “I hope this condition clears up soon.”
I wasn’t sure about the way he saidconditionwhile looking at me like that. Did Pierce know this was all a lie? No, he couldn’t have. He had no reason to suspect me, and even if he did, why wouldn’t he simply call me out on it instead of letting it go on?
I met his gaze, unblinking, until he looked back at Lark.
“Well, my dear, if you’re feeling better for now, then let’s go do something fun, shall we?” Pierce said with a smile.
“Yay!” Lark cried. Pierce helped her out of the chair and out into the hall, while Benji hung back.
“I should probably get going,” he said to me. “Thanks for today.”
My eyes widened. “Why are you thanking me? All I did was cause trouble.”
Benji shook his head. “You’re doing the best you can in this situation, right?”
He shot me a sympathetic smile, which I did my best to return.
“I better go.” Benji paused and tilted his head. “Have you spent any time with Theo, by the way? I know this whole plan was supposed to show Adriel that Theo’s been safe around you, but I haven’t actually. Y’know. Seen you together.”
I frowned. “You’re right.”
That just solidified my plan to see him. Once Benji gave me a final wave and took off with his family, that left me with nothing better to do than find Theo. I couldn’t pretend to treat a perfectly healthy child if Theo wasn’t even around to meet me halfway in this ludicrous plan.
