All the animals in Nightingale Woods gathered for the christening. Daphne wore her second-best rhinestone tiara (she’d misplaced her best at a road rally). Benny polished his mountain bike until it shone. Melissa dazzled with a swirly scarf from the rue Faubourg Saint-Honoré, and her new husband Leo the Bullfrog created a beautiful painting in honor of the occasion.

The ceremony took place under a shady tree. The animals waited until it was over to scurry out from the shadows of the gingerbread cottages and move among the guests, invisible to all but the very smallest of humans.

Victoria Phoebe Tucker blinked down at Benny from her perch on her father’s shoulder, her green eyes alive with curiosity. What’s up, dude?

“What’s up yourself?”

Hey, you look familiar.

“I know your dad pretty well.”

Daphne hopped forward. “Bonjour, Victoria Phoebe, and welcome to Nightingale Woods.” She cast an admiring glance at the frothy confection of white lace and pink ribbons that enveloped the baby and draped her father’s large, tan arm. Victoria Phoebe already had an eye for fashion. “I’m Daphne, and this is Benny. We stopped by to introduce ourselves.”

“And see if you wanted to play some football,” Benny added.

Victoria Phoebe stuffed a pink ribbon from her christening cap into her mouth. You might have noticed I’m sort of tied up right now.

“Sarcastic like her mother,” Murphy Mouse noted.

Victoria Phoebe’s father reached up to retrieve the ribbon. She went after his hand and took a few chomps on her favorite teether, his brand-new Super Bowl ring. He kissed her forehead and exchanged a special smile with her mother, who stood at his side. Nearby her Aunt Phoebe gazed happily at the new family that her special talent for deception had helped create.

“I don’t recognize all of the big people,” Leo the Bullfrog said, “but I sure know the little ones—the Calebows and Bonners, the Denton children from Telarosa, Texas, and isn’t that a Traveler over there?”

Victoria Phoebe liked being in the know, and she abandoned the Super Bowl ring to point out some of the adult guests. All those giant men are Daddy’s playmates. And over there are Uncle Cal’s brothers with the mommies and kids. Aunt Jane is talking to Uncle Dan right now. She’s pretty nice, but she tried to write something on my leg last night when she was holding me, and Daddy had to take her pen away.

“We’ve had complaints before,” Daphne said. “Your mother looks particularly fetching.”

And she smells totally awesome—like flowers and cookies. I love my mom. She tells the best stories.

“Like, duh,” Benny said.