Page 59 of Buckle Up, Buttercup

She slaps him on the top of the head with her tail spade.

He laughs and swats at her swishing tail. “I’m just saying! Obviously you can come with us if there’s not another plan.”

“I don’t have a plan,” I admit. “I hadn’t gotten that far. We were gonna tackle that today, right, Petra?”

“Right,” she chirps as she dumps a half cup of pancake batter on the sizzling pan.

“I don’t feel comfy leaving her in my hotel room, and she can’t hang out on the sidelines without guidance. I’ll just worry about her the whole time, and I won’t be able to focus.”

Petra scoops a spoonful of the batter and slips it into her mouth, licking it off the spoon as she looks between us.

“Gah!” Jasper shouts, grabbing the spoon from her. “Not raw, P! There are eggs in there if you did it right.”

She shrugs. “I’ve eaten plenty of raw eggs. That’s why I’m strong like Hadrian.”

Jasper scrunches his nose but looks between us. “Listen, the Jays and I are headed to Mykel Shorthorn’s ranch most of today and tomorrow. Let me take her with us. Mykel’s got a young one about the same age, and they’ve got a bunch of horses too. We can teach her to ride.”

“Ride what?” Petra takes another scoopful of pancake batter and bites it off the spoon.

“Horses,” Jasper and I answer at the same time.

Petra’s mouth drops open. “I’ve seen those in books! Oh my gods, I would loooove that.”

I slip my tail to her hair and tug gently on the end of it. “You feel okay chillin’ with the Tuckers overnight?”

She grins at Jasper. “You mean my uncles? Yeah, I think it’ll be awesome.”

Jasper stands and opens the donut box, snagging one before he turns for the door. “That’s decided, then. Call me when you’re ready to drop the kiddo off, and we’ll take over from there.”

I’m grateful for him for stepping up to help out with Petra, but I want him to do it for Bluebell too. It’s a struggle to think of how to say that right now without sounding ungrateful though.

“I’ll pack fun stuff!” Petra shouts at his retreating back, taking another bite of the pancake batter.

A burnt smell rises up from the stove, and I chuckle. “Your cakes are burnin’, honey.”

She yips and spins, grabbing the pancake with her long nails and tossing it onto a plate. Turning to me, she smiles and tucks her knees against her chest. “I’ll miss you while you’re gone, though. Sometime I’d like to see you play skyball. It seems fun.”

I’m not sure what to say. Can I miss someone I barely know?

She rests her cheek on her forearm. “I know you didn’t expect me. Neither did your mom or our dad. I was just in their way even though I tried not to be. Pretty sure they were excited when I said I wanted to come meet you. But I’ll try not to be in your way, too.”

My heart might not beat, but it cracks into a million pieces at the way she views herself within the Alkazar family unit. In that moment, I’d love nothing better than to throttle my parents for ever letting another child feel this way. It mirrors my childhood so entirely, I could cry.

Pulling Petra into my arms, I wrap my tail around her core so she’s roped to me.

“Don’t ever worry about that with me,” I whisper into her hair. “This might have been a surprise, but I will always be your brother, okay?”

“Okay,” she mumbles, but she doesn’t sound like she entirely believes me.

Pulling back, I flash her a bright smile. “Listen, let’s play a game. Every day you tell me something I don’t know about you, and I’ll do the same. Before you know it, we’ll know one another’s’ deepest, darkest secrets.”

She looks up at me. “What about when Dad comes back?”

I tuck her dark hair behind her pointed ears. “Let’s not worry about that just now, okay? They sent you to me for a reason. I wasn’t ready for that, but have patience with me, okay?”

“And what about Bluebell?” she asks. “I like her, and you like her…right?”

“Yeah, I like her,” I say. “She’s been one of my best friends for my whole life. Her and the Jays. The Tuckers are kinda like my real parents, to be honest. I know them better than our mom and dad.”