We looked at everyone in the room. Everyone, the third confirmed. Violet. She held a small coin purse against her chest with both hands. And you’re the only one who wasn’t pretending, said the fourth, Iris.
She had a smear of chocolate on her left wrist and didn’t seem to know it. Miris’s eyes dropped to Liam’s right hand, the small scar running along the side.
And she gave the tiniest nod like she had just confirmed something important. Liam glanced around. No parent visible. No nanny rushing toward him with an apologetic smile. Just the four of them, steady as a wall.
Pretending to what? He asked. Lily tilted her head. Pretending to be happy. He had no answer for that. He opened his mouth and closed it again, which Lily seemed to take as confirmation of her analysis.
Violet stepped forward and placed the coin purse on the table between them. It made a small serious sound against the linen. « We would like to hire you, » she said.
« To be our father tonight. » Liam stared at the coin purse. « For how much? » he said, because he genuinely could not think of another question. Rose unzipped it with great ceremony and tipped the contents onto the cloth.
$5 bills, three quarters, and a button. « We didn’t know what father’s cost, » Iris admitted. « We’ve never had one at a party before. » « The button was yellow. It had a small anchor on it. » Liam picked it up.
It was lighter than he expected. He looked at the four faces watching him. The chandeliers he’d hung were still up there. The laughter was still moving around the perimeter. But right here at this corner table, the world had gotten very quiet and very strange and somehow impossibly very honest.
« What would I have to do? » he asked. Lily smiled. It was the smile of someone who had already planned the next three steps. « Just sit with us, » she said.
« And if anyone asks, you’re ours. » What Liam didn’t know yet was who their mother was and what she was walking toward. Lily did most of the talking, which seemed to be a constitutional arrangement the four of them had settled long ago.
