He hid his smile in her hair. “Sure, it feels flat now because you’re lying down, but when you get up, you’ll see that you’re getting a belly.”

“I am not!”

He laughed.

She rolled on top of him to wrestle the laugh away and immediately discovered his secret. Her eyes widened with delight. “Son of a gun.”

In an instant, he had her beneath him.

Lucy crept into the house with Button in her arms and Squid lumbering behind. Just once she wished her sister would sleep past six-thirty. She gazed at the baby resentfully. “If you make a single sound, I’m going to be really mad. I mean it. You’ve got to keep quiet.”

“Tak!” She poked her fingers in Lucy’s mouth.

Lucy frowned at her and carried her to the stairs. If it weren’t for her sister, she could have packed up her stuff this morning, walked out to the highway, and hitchhiked to California or somewhere before Mat could get hold of her. But she was trapped until Button was safe. That didn’t mean, though, that she wasn’t going to disappear for a while this morning. Mat was always grouchy when he woke up, even when nothing was wrong. Just think how he’d be today.

The baby tucked her face into Lucy’s neck. Lucy knew she was going to have slobber all over her, but she didn’t mind. It was hard being responsible for Button, but it was nice knowing there was one person in the world who loved her.

By the time they reached the top of the stairs, the baby had gotten heavy and Lucy’s arms were hurting. She set her down in the hallway and slipped the key into the lock as quietly as she could. She winced against the clicking sound as she turned it, but she didn’t hear any noise coming from the other side of the door.

The baby started crawling after Squid. Lucy hurried after her and picked her up.

“Lal!”

Lucy smeared her hand over her mouth. More slobber. She carried her back to the door and whispered in her ear to be quiet. Then she pulled her hand away and slowly turned the knob.

The door gave a little creak as she pushed it open. As much as she wanted to reassure herself that everything was okay again with Mat and Nell, she didn’t look at the bed because she’d be grossed out if she saw anything. Instead, she set Button on the floor inside and closed the door.

The moment the lock clicked, she and Squid fled downstairs and out the front door. There was a Dunkin’ Donuts not too far away. The two of them would hang out there until the stores opened, then they’d walk around downtown. She only hoped Mat and Nell had both cooled down by the time she came back.

“Gah! ”