The living room slled like orange juice and cookies. Maya liked that sll.
She was sitting cross-legged on the floor, poking one of Nathan’s building blocks while Jazz sat on the couch, flipping through a thick book with lots of tiny words. Nathan was lying on his stomach beside her, making zoom-zoom sounds with his toy car.
Jazz let out a big sigh and slapped her book shut. Slap!
"I can’t believe I got sick and missed three classes," she groaned, throwing her head back against the couch. "Now I have to catch up, and Mr. Hanks doesn’t even like ."
Maya blinked and looked up. "Is Mr. Hanks an?"
Jazz pouted. "No, but he walks like he’s better than everybody."
Nathan scrunched his nose. "That’s rude."
"I know, right?"
Maya played with the hem of her shirt. "I got sick too," she mumbled.
Jazz sat up quickly and pointed at her. "I heard! I was so sad. Your mother texted and said you had a fever. I almost cried."
Maya smiled a little. "I missed school. And my friends."
"I missed you guys," Jazz said dramatically, placing a hand over her chest. "My life felt too quiet without you both running around and screaming for cookies."
Nathan giggled. "I don’t scream!"
"You do," Maya said without missing a beat, grinning. "Yesterday you scread because your sock disappeared."
"That was different!" Nathan argued. "The sock was stolen."
Jazz laughed so hard she almost dropped her book.
They talked like that for a while—about school, about Jazz’s howork, about socks, cookies, and juice. Until Jazz leaned forward with a curious glint in her eyes and asked, "So... how’s Felix and your mom?"
"They’re not sick," Maya answered cheerfully.
Nathan nodded, adding, "Uncle Felix said he was fine yesterday."
Jazz rolled her eyes in a playful way. "Nooo, I didn’t an that."
Maya tilted her head. "Then what?"
Jazz smiled like she was about to say a secret. "I an... are they getting close?"
Nathan’s eyebrows scrunched. "What about it?"
"You know," Jazz said, waving her hand in the air as if that would make them understand. "Like... do they sit closer now? Smile at each other more? Talk quietly? That kind of thing."
Maya blinked, confused.
"They always sit together," she replied. "Uncle Felix sits next to Mommy all the ti. And they talk. Like always."
Jazz just smiled at her, the kind of smile grown-ups give when they know sothing you don’t.
Maya looked at Nathan, and Nathan looked at her.
"I don’t get it," Maya said finally.
"That’s okay," Jazz said with a laugh. "You’ll get it one day."
Just as Maya was about to ask what she ant by "get it," the doorbell rang.
Ding-dong!
All three of them paused.
Jazz stood up and smoothed her shirt. "I’ll get it," she said, and padded to the door.
Maya and Nathan scrambled to their feet and peeked from behind the couch, their heads poking out like twin erkats. The door creaked open.
"Uncle Leonard!" Maya squealed.
Nathan didn’t wait for permission—he bolted forward first, and Maya ran right behind him. They both crashed into Leonard’s legs with a happy oof, hugging him tightly.
Leonard chuckled as he crouched down and ruffled Nathan’s hair with one hand and kissed Maya’s forehead with the other.
"Whoa, whoa! Easy now," he said, smiling. "Are you two trying to knock down?"
"You’re here!" Maya bead, still holding on to him. "Jazz, it’s Uncle Leonard!"
"I see that," Jazz said with a small smile, watching them from the side. "We t the other day, rember," she added.
Leonard stood up and nodded politely. "Jazz, right?"
She lit up. "You rember ?"
"Of course I do. Thank you for always looking after the kids," Leonard said sincerely, slipping off his coat and hanging it on the nearby hook.
Jazz shrugged, brushing her hair behind her ear. "It’s no big deal, really. I like hanging out with them."
Leonard smiled and stepped fully inside. "Still, it ans a lot."
He settled into the armchair near the window, and Maya jumped up onto the couch with Nathan following. Jazz closed the door behind him and returned to the living room, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed, watching the twins.
"You’re really close to them," Jazz said, almost like a statent.
Leonard nodded slowly, glancing at Maya and Nathan fondly. "Yeah. I am."
"Is that weird?" Nathan asked suddenly, turning his head toward Jazz.
Maya tilted her head too. "Yeah. Is it?"
Jazz’s eyes widened like they’d caught her off guard. She chuckled and rubbed the back of her neck. "No. No, not weird at all."
Maya looked at her closely.
Jazz was smiling, but there was sothing in her voice that sounded like... thinking.
She didn’t understand it, but she didn’t like it when people said things without saying them.
Before Maya could ask what Jazz really ant, the front door opened again.
The click of the lock. The creak of the hinge.
And there she was—her mother.
Katherine stepped into the apartnt, her coat slung over one arm, her hair still tucked behind her ears from work.
But Maya’s eyes narrowed slightly.
Her mommy didn’t smile like she usually did. She didn’t say, "I’m ho!" in her usual soft voice.
Instead, she just stood there at the door, holding her coat, and stared at the room.
At Jazz.
At Leonard.
Maya tilted her head and watched her closely.
She knew that look.
Her mommy had a sour face.
Maya tilted her head.
Nathan looked at her and did the sa—like they were mirrors.
She scooted a little closer to Nathan and whispered, "Did we do sothing wrong?"
Nathan whispered back, "I don’t think so. I didn’t spill anything."
They both squinted at their mother from the couch.
She wasn’t frowning, not really. But her lips were pressed together too tightly, and she blinked too slowly, like when she was thinking very hard about sothing she didn’t like.
Why did Mommy look like that?
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