I smiled. It didn’t matter to me how messy the place was—I felt surprisingly at home.
“I told you not to touch my razor blades,” someone shouted, and I heard the sound of feet stomping downstairs.
Xavier, who had come in to collect some plates, gave an exaggerated sigh. “Now would be a good time to make your escape,” he murmured to me.
“For God’s sake, you have a whole pack, stop your whining,” another voice replied.
“That was my last one, and now it’s got your gross skin cells all over it.” A door slammed and a girl with brown curls pulled back from her face with a headband appeared. She was wearing a red tank top and lycra shorts, as though she had been exercising. “Mom, can you make Claire stay out of my room?” she demanded.
“I didn’t go in your room. You left them in the bathroom,” Claire called through the door.
“Why don’t you just move out and live with Luke already?” her sister yelled back.
“Believe me, I would if I could.”
“I hate you! This is so unfair.” The girl seemed to suddenly notice my presence and took a break from shouting to look me up and down. “Who’s this?” she asked brusquely.
“Nicola!” Bernie snapped at her. “Where are your manners? This is Beth. Beth, this is my fifteen year old—Nicola.”
“Nice to meet you,” she said grudgingly. “I don’t know what you’d want to date him for anyway,” she added, jerking her head in Xavier’s direction. “He’s a total loser and his jokes suck.”
“Nicola’s going through her angsty teen phase, and she’s lost her sense of humor,” Xavier explained. “Otherwise she’d appreciate my sharp wit.”
Nicola looked daggers at him. I was spared having to formulate some sort of response by the entrance of Xavier’s eldest sister, Claire. Her hair was straight like Xavier’s and hung loose around her shoulders. She was wearing a knitted cardigan, black jeans, and high boots. Despite the previous shouting match, I could see that her face was friendly.
“Wow, Xav, you didn’t tell us Beth was so stunning,” Claire said, coming over and giving me a hug.
“Actually, I think I did,” Xavier replied.
“Well, we didn’t believe you.” Claire laughed. “Hi, Beth, welcome to the zoo.”
“Congratulations on your engagement,” I said.
“Thanks, but it’s so stressful at the moment, I don’t know if Xavier’s filled you in. Just yesterday I got a call from the catering company who said . . .”
Xavier smiled and left us to talk. I didn’t have much to say, but Claire chatted easily about the wedding arrangements, and I was more than happy to listen to her. I wondered why such a happy occasion should be so difficult. According to her, everything that could go wrong was going wrong, and she wondered whether she had broken a mirror or something to bring about such bad luck.
Bernie came back into the kitchen, looking for Xavier, who stuck his head through the back door, holding a pair of tongs.
“Xavier, hon, run upstairs and get the little ones down here to meet Beth. They’re watching The Lion King.” Bernie turned to me. “It’s the only way I can get them to be quiet for half an hour.”
Xavier winked at me and disappeared into the hallway. A few minutes later I heard him coming down the stairs, followed by the sound of little bare feet slapping against the floor.
Jasmine, Madeline, and Michael burst into the room. They stopped dead when they saw me and stared openly in the way only small children can get away with. Madeline and Michael were the two youngest ones, and they both had blond hair, big brown eyes, and smudged faces from eating chocolate cookies not too carefully. Jasmine, who had just turned nine, was a very serious-looking child with big blue eyes. She had long Alice in Wonderland hair held back with a satin ribbon.
“Beth!” Michael and Madeline yelled, overcoming their initial shyness. They sprinted over and took a hand each, pulling me toward the toy corner. Bernie looked a little worried about the onslaught, but I didn’t mind. I liked spending time with the souls of children in the Kingdom, and this was much the same, only messier.
“Will you play with us?” they pleaded.
“Not now,” said Bernie. “Wait till after dinner before you go annoying poor Beth.”
“I’m sitting next to Beth at the table,” announced Michael.
“No, I am,” said Madeline, shoving him. “I saw her first.”
“Did not!”
“Did so!”
“Hey, hey, you can both sit next to Beth,” said Claire, wrapping her arms around them and tickling them.
I was suddenly aware of a little figure at my side. Jasmine was looking up at me with her wide, pale eyes. “They’re very noisy,” she said softly. “I like quiet better.”
Xavier, who had come to stand next to me, laughed and ruffled her hair.
“She’s very thoughtful, this one,” he said. “Always away with the fairies.”
“I believe in fairies,” said Jasmine. “Do you?”
“I certainly do,” I replied and kneeled down beside her. “I believe in all those things, fairies and mermaids and angels.”
“Really?”
“Yes. And just between you and me, I’ve seen them.”
Jasmine’s eyes widened, and her little rosebud mouth fell open in surprise. “You have? I wish I could see them.”
“Oh, but you can,” I told her. “You just have to look very carefully. Sometimes you find them in places where you least expect them.”
When it was time to eat, I saw that Bernie and Peter had cooked up a feast. I looked at the platters of barbecued pork and sausages and ribs and felt suddenly very worried. Xavier must have forgotten to tell them that I didn’t eat meat. It wasn’t ethics so much as that our constitution didn’t handle meat well. It was difficult to digest and made us sluggish. Even if this hadn’t been the case, I wouldn’t have wanted to eat it anyway. The very idea made my stomach churn. But they had gone to so much trouble, and I didn’t have the heart to tell them. Luckily, I didn’t have to.
“Beth doesn’t eat meat,” Xavier said casually. “Did I mention that?”
“Why not?” Nicola demanded.
“Look up vegetarian in the dictionary,” Xavier said sarcastically.
“That’s okay, sweetheart,” said Bernie, taking my plate and piling it high with baked potatoes, grilled vegetables, and rice salad. “That’s not a problem.” She went on scooping, even though the dish was full.
“Mom . . .” Xavier took the almost overflowing plate away from her and set it down in front of me. “I think she’s got enough now.”
When everyone had been served, Nicola picked up her fork and was about to take a mouthful of rice when Bernie glared pointedly at her.
“Xavier, hon, would you say grace?”
Nicola purposely dropped her fork with a loud clatter.