Amanda said as soon as the garage door closed behind Emmy. “How could you not at least tell me about this before showing up at our door?”
“I meant to, but I chickened out. I wanted my last day with you to be good. I couldn’t give any of it up.”
“Just get out. I think I’ve done a damn good job managing a surprise adoption, and I’ll continue to do it well. Everything you touch turns to crap.”
“I’ve touched you, and you’re not crap.”
“Shut up.”
“Can I talk to Evangeline and Xavier? I want to make sure they’re okay… I mean… I know they’re okay with you. I just think I should check in. And may I come in and brush my teeth and take a shower?”
“No. Shower at a hotel. Or, even better, go ahead and rent your own place. You can come in and get some stuff and talk to the kids. You have half an hour. Oh, and don’t forget you have five children you’ve screwed up, not just two.”
“I haven’t forgotten.”
Xavier and Evangeline entered the kitchen around the same time David did. Evangeline wore a LHS volleyball T-shirt and Victoria Secret PINK pajama pants, both a size too big which made her look even thinner. Emmy’s clothes. They didn’t look right on Evangeline. Patrick’s clothes fit Xavier well, but they didn’t look right on him either, unless he had in fact attended soccer camp in Fort Collins last summer. The pair looked like they’d woken up in someone else’s lives. Which, of course, they had.
David wanted to make them chocolate chip pancakes with whipped cream and a cherry. But he knew Amanda wouldn’t give him the time. He made them frozen waffles and helped himself to the coffee pot. Amanda had made enough coffee for two, out of habit.
“Did you sleep okay?” he asked them.
“When you bought the house, did you know Xavier and I would live here some day?” Evangeline asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Why do you have two empty bedrooms in your house?”
“They’re guest rooms,” David said.
“Do you have guests a lot?”
“No. Sometimes my wife’s parents.”
She paused and considered him, as if checking for holes in a weak story.
“I brought in your bags,” David said. “I’m sorry I didn’t bring them in last night.”
“It’s okay. I don’t need stuff. I’m okay as long as I have this.” Evangeline opened her palm to display a black rock. He didn’t know how it appeared there. He had seen both her hands a moment ago, and he didn’t see any pockets.
“It’s my magical object.” She handed the rock to David.
She watched him carefully while he held the rock in his palm.
Would it glow or dance around if I was magic?
It lay in his hand as a rock always does.
“What is a magical object?” he asked.
“It’s something a wizard keeps with them when they do magic, sometimes called a talisman. They leave a little bit of their magic in it every time. In time, the object collects power. Keeping it with you when you do magic makes you more powerful because all the other magic you’ve ever done is with you too. And talismans can be anything. Objects. Animals. People.”
“People?”
“Sure. They’re the best ones. Except for their unpredictability.”
She glanced at Xavier.
Was he one of her talismans? Certainly, he must be.
Xavier didn’t listen as closely to this conversation. He looked at Evangeline periodically but mostly enjoyed conversation with his waffles and syrup. David wanted to engage him but had no idea how.
Evangeline seemed to read David’s mind and helped him out.
“Show him yours,” Evangeline said to Xavier.
In a look, Xavier’s eyebrows said twice as much as he’d ever said out loud. One eyebrow rose, saying
are you kidding?
and the other slanted, saying
how dare you?
David hadn’t considered asking Xavier about a talisman. Evangeline had the magical narrative, not Xavier. Did Xavier play along for her?
“No,” Xavier said.
She rolled her eyes at him. “It’s not a big deal. He’s not