She pointed. "There."
I glued Titan there.
Pickles, who had been on the back of the couch for the last forty minutes pretending he didn't care about any of this, jumped down. He came around the side of the couch, climbed onto a chair, sat on it, and watched the gluing.
Bonnie was watching me. She had her chin in her hand. Her eyes were on the cotton balls. Then she remembered.
"Mercury. Venus. Earth. Mars. Jupiter. Saturn. Uranus. Neptune."
I looked up at her. “Pluto?”
Bonnie gave me a look. “Pluto isn’t a planet, Beau.”
“Since when?”
“Since 2006,” she informed me.
“Says who?”
She straightened a little. “Says the International Astronomical Union, which was founded in 1919.”
I stared at her. “Smart. I hadn’t known the name of the International Astronomical Union.”
A smug smile spread across her face. “You’re welcome.”
Sabrina was at the counter, watching us.
I looked across the kitchen.
Her eyes were on Bonnie. They found me and didn't move. They stayed.
I held the look, and she held it back.
I went back to gluing.
Bonnie went to bed early because she was going to school in three days, and Sabrina had decided a routine was returning whether Bonnie liked it or not. Well, Bonnie lost the argument, and she went to bed.
Sabrina kissed her cheek, and I waved from the doorway. Bonnie made me come over and give her a hug, so I did. She fell asleep against my shoulder before I had fully sat down on the edge of her bed.
I tucked her in and left the room.
Sabrina was in the hall. She caught my hand and walked me down the hall and into her bedroom. Then she closed the door behind us.
She kissed me.
This kiss had a softer edge. It lasted longer. Her hand stayed on the side of my face for the first thirty seconds of it.
She broke the kiss, pulled my forehead to hers, and undid my shirt button by button.
She took her time.
She slid the shirt off my shoulders, put her hand on the center of my chest, and kept it there for a beat. She kissed the place under her hand.
I had to close my eyes.
My hands found the hem of her sweater. I lifted it over her head.
She was wearing nothing under it. Her skin was warm, and her hair fell against my hands. I held the back of her head, and I kissed her again.
