“Sure,” Carlos told him. “What game do you want to play?”
“Hide and seek!” Troy said immediately.
“Sounds like fun,” Carlos said. “Who’s It first?”
“You are!” Troy shouted, and ran off giggling. “Better start counting!” he called over his shoulder.
Carlos looked at Pauline and Drew. “Maybe I should’ve asked if you had more to say before I agreed to this.”
“Nope,” Pauline said, with a quick glance at Drew to confirm he was grinning. “Too late. You’re It, you can’t take it back.” She got up and looked at him. “Close your eyes and count!”
Carlos smiled. “Okay then.” He covered his eyes and said loudly, “One...two...”
Drew was on his way over to Val. “Val, want to hide with me?”
“Hide seek!” Val said, squirming down from her chair.
Pauline smiled to herself and went to find a hiding place.
***
Carlos
Carlos couldn’t remember the last time he’d played hide and seek. Especially if you didn’t count Marine stealth training exercises, which had sometimes been enjoyable, but weren’t quite the same thing.
It was fun.
“Ready or not, here I come!” he called to the empty room.
Troy was immediately obvious, crouching in the space between the fridge and the back wall of the kitchen, but Carlos pretended not to see him. “Where are they?” he wondered out loud.
A little high-pitched giggle sounded from Pauline’s room. Their room, Carlos corrected himself. He prowled inside, scenting the air. There was a toddler in here, all right.
“Hmmm,” he said to himself. “Where are Val and Drew? Here?” He peeked in the closet. “No...here?” He looked in a dresser drawer. “No...”
Another little giggle.
“Here?” He looked behind the window curtain. “No....what about...here!” He dropped down to the floor, looking under the bed.
Val burst into shrieks of laughter, scrambled out from under the bed, and made a break for the door. Carlos chased her out into the living room and caught her up, tossing her into the air. She giggled and screamed for joy.
Drew followed more slowly, smiling. “Want me to take her?”
“No way,” Carlos said. “Val and I are both It now. Let’s see. Where’s Troy?” He pretended to look in the hall closet, behind the couch, in the bathtub, and out the window, holding Val out to look first in each location. Finally, he came into the kitchen. “Man, he’s hiding really good. Let’s see. Could he be...here?” He jumped forward to the fridge.
“You caught me!” Troy yelled. “Let’s play again!”
“Wait, we haven’t found Pauline yet,” Carlos told him. “She’s really good at hiding.” He suspected he knew where she was, though. One of the windows was open.
“Where is Pauline?” Drew asked, looking around.
“Pauline!” Troy called, looking around. “She is good at hiding.”
“I think I know where we might find her,” Carlos said. “Come on, let’s all go at once.” He led the kids over to the open window, in the bedroom—one of the several windows in the house without a screen. He hoisted Troy up in his free arm, and said, “One...two...three!”
He leaned them all out the window at once, and stared up to where an owl was perched on the eaves.
Pauline fluttered down, and Carlos took a step back from the window as she swooped inside and shifted back to human. “You caught me,” she said ruefully.