“Oh.” He glanced down at himself with surprise, apparently having forgot what he had on. “Magnus is taking us out to finish making our snowman while the moms make lunch.”

“Is he?” she asked with surprise.

“Yeah. We started it yesterday after he put you to bed. Dani wanted us out of the bedroom so he took us outside. But he was worried my coat wasn’t warm enough, so we had to come back in. But that’s okay,” he assured her. “Magnus showed us fun games to play inside.”

Allie blinked at this news, and then asked, “What games?”

“Alligator island and hoot owl. They were fun.”

“What is alligator island?” she asked with curiosity.

“Magnus used Elvi’s colored tape to make these squares on the floor that were supposed to be islands and we had to jump from one to the other without falling in or the alligators would get us.” Liam started to laugh at the memory. “He fell in more than any of us.”

“Did he?” she asked faintly, and then cleared her throat and asked, “And the owl game?”

“It’s a board game Sunny has. We had to get the owls back to their nest before the sun came up. It was fun too, but Magnus could only watch. It’s only for four players,” he explained.

“So you like Magnus?” she asked.

“Oh, yeah, he’s nice. And fun. And he didn’t even yell when Sunny and Gracie started to get all girly and whiny. Girls.” Liam rolled his eyes at the memory. “Can I go outside now? They’ll all be waiting.”

“Yes,” Allie murmured, and then as he reached the door, she said, “Liam?”

“Yeah?” He turned back with his hand on the doorknob.

She hesitated briefly, and then asked, “Do you wish you had a father?”

The question made him pause and remove his hand from the doorknob. He actually seemed to consider it seriously. She could almost see his four-year-old mind working, and then he said, “If he was nice like Magnus, yeah. It would be nice to have a dad like everyone else. And then you wouldn’t have to worry so much about the bad people getting us. I bet Magnus could beat them up.”

They were both silent for a minute and then Teddy burst into the room. “Hurry up, Liam. We’re waiting for you. We won’t get the snowman done before lunch if you don’t come now.”

“I’m coming,” he said at once, and then glanced uncertainly to Allie.

“Go,” she said, waving him off, but then shouted, “No running in the house!” when she heard their little feet hammering down the stairs.

“Sorry!” Liam shouted, and was echoed by Teddy as their footsteps slowed to a jog.

Shaking her head, Allie peered down at the bed, Liam’s words echoing in her head.

It would be nice to have a dad like everyone else. And then you wouldn’t have to worry so much about the bad people getting us. I bet Magnus could beat them up.