“Is it someone we know in real life?” Mari asked.
“No,”Posey said.
Everyone looked to Tripp, so he tried to think of what to ask.
“Is it a character from a book?” he asked her.
“From abunchof books,” Posey said.
“You’re only supposed to say yes or no,” Mari reminded her sister.
“Yeah, but this one’s tricky,” Posey said, frowning.
“Tricky, huh?” her mother asked. “Is the character also from a movie?”
“Lots of movies,” Posey said.
Tripp looked to Mari to see if she would complain this time.
“Is it a person?” Mari asked.
“Yes,” Posey said, nodding her head up and down.
“Is it a grown-up?” Tripp asked.
“Yes,” Posey said.
“Wow, a grown-up male character that has been in lots of books and movies,” Jillian said thoughtfully. “Is it Sherlock Holmes?”
“Who’s that?” Posey asked.
“I’ll take that as a no,” Jillian said, laughing. “Sherlock Holmes is a detective in a bunch of mystery stories. And lots of movies and television shows have been made about him.”
“But he’s not real?” Mari asked.
“Nope,” Jillian told her. “When you’re older, we’ll read one of his stories together and see what you think. Most people think he’s a super interesting character.”
“So is this guy,” Posey interjected. “We think about him a lot.”
“Posey,” Mari laughed. “Yougave it away.”
“She did?” Jillian asked.
“Is it Santa Claus?” Mari asked.
“You win,”Posey squealed, jumping up and down a few times before hugging her sister hard.
“Yes,”Mari triumphantly yelled, hugging her sister back and sort of half-spinning her in a circle.
They were being a little loud, but as Tripp glanced around, he saw only smiles and twinkling eyes on the faces of the other people in the line as they watched the two little girls embrace.
“That was a good one, Posey,” Jillian said approvingly.
“Mari next, Mari next,” Posey cried, letting go of her sister and hopping in place, very ready to start guessing.
Jillian glanced over at Tripp, as if to see what he thought of all this. Her eyes said,I know we’re a lot,but the look on her face told him she loved her daughters’ joyful energy.
“This is great,” he told her, meaning it. She must have forgotten how many siblings he’d grown up with.
