Page 38 of Whatever Will Be

The girls think it’s great fun to be carried down the street. Caitlin begs to be tossed up in the air ‘like Uncle Danny does’ but given the fact that her sister puked a few minutes ago we won’t be doing that.

The front door is locked but luckily the back door is not. Danny’s still not around but neither is Gretchen and for once I’m glad because I’d rather not be the one who gets stuck explaining her brother’s babysitting failures.

Shit. She’s going to hit the roof when she finds out about this.

“I have to go to the potty.” Mara hops from one foot to the other in the middle of the living room.

“Uh, you can take care of that by yourself, right?”

“Yeah.” She scampers over to the hallway half bathroom.

“I have to go too.” Caitlin runs after her.

The bathroom door slams shut. I sink down on the couch, feeling like I just ran a marathon. I wonder if parents feel this way constantly.

There’s roughly ten seconds of peace before the bathroom door flies open and Caitlin dashes back in here. She stops short right in front of me, her eyes wide.

“Mara wouldn’t get off the toilet.”

“There are other bathrooms in the house.”

“It’s too late.” Her face crumples. “I peed.”

“That happens,” I assure her.

“NO! I GOT PEE ON YOUR SWEATSHIRT!”

“It’s all right.” I reach out and pat her little shoulder. “It’s fine, Caitlin.”

She hiccups. “It is?”

“Sure. I didn’t like that sweatshirt anyway.”

“Really?”

“Yup. It’s too small for me. I look stupid when I wear it.”

She accepts that news with a nod. “Okay.”

When I hear the key rattling in the front door I’m expecting Danny to walk in.

Instead, Gretchen is the one who enters and stares at the scene in confusion. “What’s going on?”

Caitlin runs to her and can’t wait to share. “Mara threw up because of the bad tea and we saw Trentcassini’s house and I got pee on his sweatshirt but he says it’s okay.”

Gretchen looks at me. “What?”

I get to my feet. “She just about summed everything up. Mara’s in the bathroom.”

“Where’s Danny?”

“He’ll be back in ten minutes,” Caitlin offers helpfully.

Now Gretchen gets suspicious. “He left the girls with you, Trent?”

Caitlin answers first. “We found Trentcassini at his house. I still have pee on me, Aunt Gretch.” She pulls her aunt toward the stairs while Gretchen throws me a baffled look.

“We’ll talk,” I promise her.

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