Page 56 of Demon and the Raven

“Mom,” JJ said, shaking their head. “So naughty.”

“I’m not going to get any better,” she informed her second born. “You should get used to it, all right?”

JJ squinted at their mother.

“Go tell your brother to pour Uncle Xan a glass of orange juice.”

They nodded and scrambled off the bed.

“Wait,” I called, and JJ stopped at the door to look at me. “Please make it apple, not orange. Orange gives me heartburn.”

JJ nodded. “Orange makes my stomach hurt.”

“Basically the same,” I replied.

They nodded and darted out.

“Since when?” Amanda asked me.

“What?”

“Since when,” she repeated, “does orange juice give you heartburn?”

“I’m getting older,” I told her.

“Bite your tongue,” she snapped, then motioned for me to move over so she could sit down next to me. “I stopped by Lorne’s office on the way here. He wasn’t there. He was at Kathy’s house with the arson inspector. Pete told me the ME started her autopsy at eight, and that she gave all her preliminary findings to Lorne but no one else.”

“And you’re chomping at the bit to know.”

“Some of these expressions of yours,” she said, squinting at me.

“Raised by my grandparents,” I reminded her.

She chuckled. “I am aware.”

I sighed deeply.

“Okay, Xan. Get up, wash your face, brush your teeth, and come out and have one of the bagels I brought.”

I was going to remind her I was not one of her children and so did not need instruction, but she’d already left the room.

After doing exactly what she’d said, making sure to slather on sunscreen I hoped Lorne had remembered before he left, I staggered out to my kitchen.

When I joined them, the first thing Toby asked me was why I slept in and missed the farmers’ market. I noted that his arms were crossed as he surveyed me.

“I’m sorry. I was tired and I forgot. I promise to make it up to⁠—”

“I hugged you when I got in bed,” JJ interrupted, “but you didn’t hug me back ’cause you weren’t awake.”

Walking over to JJ, I bent and squeezed them tight, which made them giggle. “I’m sorry, JJ, you know I love your hugs. I never want to miss one.”

“I know,” they told me.

“Uncle Xan,” Toby said, sounding annoyed, “I’m waiting.”

“For what?”

He huffed out a breath. “I want to know what you were doing that made you forget about the farmers’ market.”