Babysitting the Billionaire by Nicky Penttila Page A

Penguin
Foundation, especially Markus Edmondsson, for inviting me here today.” Now he
nodded and smiled toward the blond man, who’d skidded to a halt beside Sadie.
Red-faced and vibrating visibly, Edmondsson slowly nodded and bared his teeth
in a shadow of a smile.
    “When he told me of his idea, to build one last
expeditionary team and send it to
Antarctica
,
I was skeptical, I have to say. But then he explained it wasn’t just for glory,
but to save the planet. Because if we could show people how changes in the
climate were killing these adorable birds, they might understand that it
affects all the planet, including us. Brilliant.” Beau held up his hands and
started clapping. May copied him, and the crowd, well-trained from decades of
State of the Union speeches and other functions, followed along.
    Edmondsson’s face was purpling, but he did that smile
thing again and made a little queenish wave. Then he lunged for the microphone.
    Beau turned away from him, toward the crowd, and held up
his hand. “But this is the truly brilliant part. Revolutionary. Markus here
plans to let the world in on the adventure. Through video, audio, interactive
media, every person on the planet can follow along on the adventure. Apps and
games can show the route, and maybe teach a thing or two, as well. You never
know.” That one didn’t deserve a laugh, but it got one.
    “Markus has so inspired me with this idea that I have
agreed to fund the expedition on the ground. We’ll be asking folks to chip in
for the interactive features, and I hope you’ll want to help us out. It’s been
a dream of mine to be of benefit to the adorable creatures that helped me buy
my house. Houses,” he said, to another cheap laugh. “And to show how committed
I am, Markus has agreed to let me lead the adventure. Together we’ll choose the
team, and he’ll anchor us here in DC.”
    Edmondsson’s mouth was closed so tightly May was afraid
he’d crack his teeth. She’d pay for this on Monday, if not tonight.
    She stepped back, but Beau still had her hand and
stopped her movement just long enough to realize everything had changed. She
had nothing to fear.
    “Let’s raise a toast.” He signaled to the servers, who
had been well-prepared by Sadie and didn’t know the difference. “To Markus!”
    “And the penguins!” a woman’s voice called out. The senator’s ?
    After much clinking of glassware, Beau made to hand over
the microphone to Edmondsson, but seemed to think better of it, and pulled it
back. “Is that Senator Lindell I hear?”
    “It is,” she called out.
    He laughed, not really a real laugh. “You know, I’m
feeling so good. I’m going to tell you something that I’ve never told anyone.
Do you want to know why those Pesky Penguins are penguins and not, say, toucans
or parakeets or some other bird?”
    A buzz started in the audience. To be the first to know!
A Washingtonian’s dream.
    “Yes? Well then, it was all because I had a crush on a
pretty American girl who’d come over to
Finland
as part of an exchange
program. She made me take her to the zoo, and went on and on about the
penguins. She knew so much about them! She was so impressed by how clever they
were, and how committed to each other. They mate for life, you know. But one
thing she was not impressed by was me.”
    “I was a bit of a—how do you say?—slacker, right? A
lazy-ass. And she had plans, and dreams, and well, you know how it goes.”
    “But I never forgot her, or her blasted penguins. And
when we needed a cute but not-too-cute animal to boomerang all over creation,
what did I come up with? You guessed it. And have you guessed the girl, as
well? Senator Lindell, what do you say?”
    Heads swiveled, looking for the petite senator. The
spotlight found her by the time she was in the front of the room. Beaming that
TV-melting smile, she stepped onto the stage and gave Beau a big politico hug.
Then she took the microphone.
    Edmondsson had gone still, a