The Fallout by S.A. Bodeen

it.”
    “Okay.” She was smiling again. “Text me when you find out.”
    I smiled. “I will. Text you.”
    “Cool. I’ll be waiting to hear from you.”
    “Okay,” I said.
    “Okay.” She hung up.
    I sat there for a moment, smiling at the phone before I set it down.
    What was I thinking? I couldn’t go out on a date like a normal person. Especially not with people out there watching for us.
    Watching for us.
    Maybe no one would be watching for just me and a girl.
    I sighed. Not gonna happen. Even if I had any idea what to do on a date, Mom was going to put an end to the outings after the aquarium fiasco. And if I told her what I saw online, she absolutely would.
    I knew I should say something. Say that there were people looking for us, watching.
    I stewed over it until dinner, and then went downstairs. I really didn’t want to bring it up in front of everyone, so I decided to tell Eddy about everything later, see what he thought. I slid into the spot between Lex and Eddy and grabbed a piece of garlic bread.
    “Grace!” admonished Terese, who bowed her head.
    I dropped the bread on my plate. We all bowed our heads.
    We’d barely gotten to amen when Mom said, “So, I have an announcement.”
    We all waited for her to speak.
    She said, “I know what happened with Lucas was an accident and will never happen again, am I right?” She looked pointedly at me and Eddy.
    We nodded.
    Mom smiled a little. “So, I’ve arranged an outing for all of us. Saturday. The Mariners game.”
    “Yes!” said Eddy.
    Reese and Lexie looked at each other, and my older sister said, “Seriously? Baseball?”
    Mom shrugged. “It’ll be fun.”
    Eddy asked, “Do we have the YK suite?”
    Mom shook her head. “No, it’s being used, but I rented a smaller one that’ll work better for us. It’ll be private, with just our family, and we can go in the VIP entrance, not have to deal with the general public.”
    Her words sounded so elitist, but I understood her meaning. If all went as planned, barely anyone would see us the entire game. A private, secure outing.
    “Can I invite Tony?” asked Eddy.
    I frowned.
    Eddy saw my look and glared back at me. “What? It can be a thank-you for finding Lucas.”
    Mom started to shake her head, but Eddy said, “Please?”
    “Let me think about it.” The words were barely out of Mom’s mouth when Lexie said, “I can’t believe Quinn’s birthday is almost here.”
    I shot her a glance, like, Seriously, you couldn’t wait five more minutes? I started dishing some of Gram’s lasagna onto a plate for Lucas.
    Mom smiled. “Time goes so fast. Seems like yesterday he was born.”
    Lexie ignored me and turned to Mom. “You probably don’t remember anything about when I was born.”
    Terese burst out, “But you were adopted. Mom wasn’t there.”
    Mom frowned at Terese. “That doesn’t mean I don’t remember it.” She looked at Lexie. “I know we didn’t bring you home until you were one, but I was there when you were born.”
    Next to me, Lexie sounded like she had stopped breathing. “You were?”
    Mom nodded at Lexie. “Well, maybe I wasn’t there when you came into this world, but I was there the next day.” She smiled. “Your father got a call from the orphanage. The flu had swept through the staff, and they were shorthanded when the call came to go pick up a newborn. Rex asked if I wanted to go…” She breathed deep and I saw her eyes mist over. “I’ll never forget it. I don’t know why, I just wanted to go. I dressed so fast I left the house in my bedroom slippers.” She picked up a napkin and dabbed at the corner of her eye. “It was raining and your dad was driving much too fast. But he was as anxious as I was to get there.”
    Lexie shoved her elbow into my side.
    “Where?” I asked. “Same hospital Eddy and I were born?”
    Mom shook her head. “Gig Harbor.” She went on, talking about when they got there and the nurse handed Lexie over to them. How she