“About pancakes?”
“Not yet,” Adrian said solemnly.
I smiled despite myself.
“Let me feed her first.”
“No problem.”
And that was what we did.
For twenty minutes, the mystery waited.
Lily ate pancakes, six strawberries, and exactly one bite of scrambled egg after negotiating the terms as if she were representing a labor union.
Adrian let her draw on a hotel notepad.
She drew an airplane.
Then herself.
Then me.
Then a very tall stick figure beside us.
“Who’s that?” Adrian asked.
“You.”
His eyebrows rose.
“I’m honored.”
“You have big arms.”
Daniel choked on his coffee.
I covered my face.
Adrian examined the drawing.
“I look remarkably healthy.”
“You carried the stroller.”
“I did.”
Lily added something beside him.
A small square.
“What’s that?”
“Your suitcase.”
“I didn’t have a suitcase.”
She considered this flaw in reality.
Then turned the square into what looked like a dog.
