Page 13 of Aftermarket Afterlife

“He went to the library a while ago,” said James. “Can Lilu see the future?”

“No,” said Elsie. “But he seems to have an easier time understanding Arthur than the rest of us. Dad probably guessed Arthur was going to wind up in there at some point, and didn’t want it to look like he was following him.”

“We have, what, half an hour before they get here?” asked Annie. She popped to her feet, grabbing James by the wrist and hauling him after her. Sam rose on his own, not to be left out. “Come on. We’ll get all anxious and weird if we just sit here until then. Let’s go get some skating practice in.”

“I don’t want to play roller derby,” said James.

“Tough. You’re a Price now, and until you find a combat form you enjoy, you’re going to practice the ones I’m good at. We could bounce on trampolines and throw knives, if you’d prefer?”

“I’ll get my skates.”

The three of them hurried off, leaving me alone with Kevin and Elsie. I took one of the now-open seats at the table, pausing to cock my head and check on the actual children I was supposed to be sitting for. Olivia was asleep, the warm contentment of her preschool dreams coloring my impression of her. Charlotte was awake, and watching a colorful bird outside her window. Isaac was likewise awake, and reaching out telepathically to Shelby, Charlotte’s mother, for comfort and a cuddle. He’d have them soon enough: Shelby was on her way to his room. Everything was normal; everything was quiet and content.

That probably meant something was about to catch fire, since “quiet” is usually the pause between the ignition and the explosion, but for the moment, I was willing to accept it.

“You doing okay with all this?” I asked, focusing on Elsie.

She scowled for a moment before she seemed to realize that I wasn’t the one she was supposed to be mad at and took a deep breath, visibly forcing herself to calm down. “Yeah,” she admitted, with a sigh. “Mom’s pretty spun up abouthermom coming to visit, but I’m excited to meet Grandpa, and I love my grandmother. She’s always been pretty cool to me.”

“Some people make better grandparents than they do parents,” I agreed. “And some people do best with other people’s children.”

“You were a pretty great babysitter,” she said.

“I always thought so.”

“Do you ever wish you’d been a parent?”

“Not really. Wanting to have been a parent would mean wishing I hadn’t died, and I got over that a long, long time ago. I didn’t get to grow up, but I got to watch you all grow up, and that’s been pretty amazing, really. Instead of one or two kids, I got eleven and counting. And I get to do it all without getting sick or sleep-deprived or anything silly like that.Andwithout me, you people would probably have sold your souls to the crossroads a few dozen times over, instead of just the two you’ve managed so far.”

Elsie snorted. “I guess that’s true.”

I grinned at her. “I’m a pretty awesome babysitter.”

“This is also true.”

“You’re lucky to have had me.”

“Now that, I cannot question in the least.” She stood. “I’m going to get a cup of coffee. Either of you want anything?”

Kevin shook his head. “I’m good, thanks. I hope your mother’s feeling better.”

“Mom’s tough; she’s fine by now,” said Elsie.

I wasn’t so sure about that. I didn’t say anything, just watched her walk away before I turned and focused on Kevin.

He met my eyes, mustering a watery smile. “Hi, Mary,” he said.

“Hi, Kev,” I replied.

All the Prices are my kids, whether they joined the family as adults or not, but Kevin is special. He was my first true charge after Alice herself, and there had been a period, when Laura was still adjusting to the unexpected shape her life had taken in Alice’s absence, where I had been his near-constant companion. It hadn’t been the way it is now, not back then; these days, none of my kids gets my undivided attention for long, because even if I discount the ones who are grown up and technically don’t need me the same way, I’m still bouncing between three under ten, and will be for a while. But once . . .

Once, it was just Kevin and me. His memories of Alice included memories of me being the one who brought him his bottle or wiped his tears away, and even as Jane had been clinging tightly to Laura as a surrogate mother figure, he’d been wailing in the night for his babysitter. She’d been my responsibility as much as he was, but she’d neverwantedme in the same way, and so for years, I’d been his constant companion, the only thing he really felt he could count on in a world that had already demonstrated an unsettling tendency to change without his consent.

I wasn’t sure when the job description for “babysitter” had been expanded to include “stable point,” but whatever. I wasn’t complaining.

“You okay?” I asked.

“Yes,” he said, automatically. Then he sighed. “No. I don’t know.”

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