"Very good. Persephone. And who was Persephone?"
Courtney held up the dragon.
"No, I mean in real life?"
Claire said, "Real life?"
"She was a goddess," Courtney answered. "She was Zeus's little girl."
Claire said, "I don't think it's a good idea you're teaching her that stuff like it's true."
"What isn't true about it?"
"About the gods and goddesses and fairies and all that shit."
"Shit," said Courtney.
Rune said to Claire, "You're saying it's not true?"
"You believe in Roman goddesses?"
"Persephone was Greek. I'm not saying I believe and I'm not saying I don't."
"I want her to grow up to be a highly grounded person," Claire said.
"Oh, get real," Rune said. "Your goal in life is to get to every club in downtown Manhattan and never pay for a drink yourself. That's reality?"
"I want her to be an adult."
Rune whispered, "She's three years old. She'll grow up fast enough."
Claire cocked an eyebrow at Rune. "Some people I know have resisted adulthood totally successfully." She smiled sweetly. "Favor, please?"
"I'm broke."
"Naw, what it is is I gotta go out tonight. Babysit, will you?"
"Claire--"
"I met this guy and he was talking about a job. He might hire me."
"Which club're you going to meet him at?" Rune asked wryly.
"S.O.B.'s," Claire admitted. "But he really thinks he can get me work. Come on, please...." Nodding at her daughter. "You two get along so good."
Rune looked at Courtney. "We do get along, don't we, dude? Gimme five high." She held up her hand and Courtney crawled forward. They slapped upraised palms.
"Dude," the little girl said then crawled back to Persephone. Rune looked at her face and didn't see much of Claire in it. She wondered who the father was. Claire, she knew, occasionally wondered the same.
After a moment Rune said, "You know, I'm not, like, too good with saying things like this...." Rune paused, hoping Claire would pick up on the hint. But she was concentrating on putting a fake diamond earring into one of the holes on the side of her nose. Rune continued, "What I'm saying is you really've got to find a place to live."
"I didn't plan on staying this long. It's not that easy to find a place to live in Manhattan."
"I know," Rune said. "Look, I don't want to kick you out."
Claire got solemn for a moment. "The truth is I'm thinking about going back to Boston. Just to get my act together for a while. What do you think?"
Hallelujah!