Not something I had time to think of right now. I shoved the cell phone back into my pocket and set out for the llama pasture, making plans as I went.

According to Timmy’s instruction manual, he was supposed to have lunch at eleven. No chance of getting back to work in my forge for the time being, but I might get a few other things done if I could enlist Dad and Dr. Blake to give Timmy some zoology lessons until lunch. After lunch he was supposed to nap for a couple of hours, and surely Karen would be back by the time he woke up.

Three

“Auntie Meg! Look at meeeee!”

I smiled and waved to indicate that yes, I was looking, then glanced at my watch. Past two. Six hours and still counting. Timmy raced off to do another lap around the yard, the bunch of balloons trailing behind him. He wasn’t anywhere near the pool. The Emerald Tree Boa was still in the hot tub. All the Band-Aids I’d put on Timmy’s boo-boos, real or imaginary, were still in place, though the oldest ones were getting pretty filthy. Timmy had stopped asking every five minutes when Mommy was coming back, though that didn’t mean he wasn’t still wondering. I had Kiki, the stuffed cat, at my side, so the next time Timmy realized he wasn’t holding his beloved feline, I could probably pop her into his hands before he got too worked up. Kiki was also wearing Band-Aids on two of her paws, though to me her boo-boos looked more like dirt and stains than injuries. How would Timmy react if I suggested putting Kiki through the washer? Probably not something I wanted to find out.

I glanced down at the stack of childcare manuals my cousin, Rose Noire, had dropped off after lunch as her contribution to Timmy’s welfare. Perhaps after Karen had taken Timmy back I’d actually have time to read one.

But Michael would be home any time now. I leaned back in the lawn chair and reached for my cell phone.

“Isn’t he cute?”

Even though I’d been expecting him, I started at Michael’s voice. He planted a kiss on the top of my head and slumped into the adjacent lawn chair.

“Thank God you’re home,” I said.

“Is something wrong?” he asked, looking startled.

“Not at the moment,” I said. “It’s been at least an hour since we had to haul any more dangerous objects into the barn.”

“Dangerous objects?”

“Anything Timmy could hurt himself with, or anything we care about enough that we’d want to hurt him if he broke it. The barn is pretty full of dangerous objects. We may have to expand to one of the sheds.”

“You sound a little frazzled,” he said. “Have you been taking care of Timmy all by yourself?”

“No, Dad and Rob have been helping. But he wore them out. They both went off to rest while I was trying to get him to nap, and never came back. And everyone else is avoiding us, because they’re afraid if they come near me, I’ll make them haul more stuff into the barn. Or change a diaper.”