“You’re spoiling her,” Alan grumbled under his breath.

  “Please… You know Issi is obsessed with frogs. Did you want to be the one to tell her she couldn’t bring it home? She’d mope around aggressively for at least the next week,” I replied quietly.

  “How does one mope aggressively?” Alan scoffed.

  “She’d find the place where the most people had gathered and loudly announce how disappointed she was,” I replied. ”You know, one of those things that middle-class kids can afford to do.”

  Alan frowned, and looked my way doubtfully. I just continued talking like I knew what I was talking about. “I’m sure a year ago she would have been disappointed but never made her displeasure known. Even she realized that we were so poor that we couldn’t afford to be greedy. Now that we’re no longer living day to day, I don’t mind having the kids vocalize their wants or spoiling them a bit.”

  “I don’t mind encouraging their hobbies, or supplying them with clothes and toys, but a pet…”

  “Lookit! Froggy!” Issi declared proudly, holding up a small plastic box containing a frog not much bigger than her hand. The amphibian seemed remarkably calm, considering the situation.

  “What a big strong frog!” I said as I crouched down in front of the tot. “Now, Jane has explained that if you bring the frog home, you’ll be responsible for it, right?”

  “Yus! I’ll take the very bestest care of it, just like my plants!” Issi declared proudly. When the girl had developed an interest in plants, Nyx had provided her with a handful of seeds to give it a try. The tot had taken her new responsibility seriously, not only keeping the plants alive but also keeping a diary to keep track of any changes the plants went through.

  We’d considered giving the kids a pet earlier this year. Since none of them had really shown any interest in traditional pets, and with the knowledge that if the creature got out it might end up getting cooked by one of our more desperate neighbours, we ended up putting that on the back burner.

  Finding an animal that would live in an aquarium so it would never get out, that Issi loved, and that would probably just end up getting eaten by the Antithesis if we left it here. Well… let’s just say Issi didn’t have to try that hard to convince us to let her keep the frog.

  The fact that her joyful screaming distracted Eddie and Jennifer from my panic attack had absolutely no bearing on my choice. None at all.

  “Do you really think she’ll be able to keep it alive?” Jane asked as Issi carefully carried her new friend back towards the truck.

  “She’ll do her absolute best. I’ll run a scan on it and give it some medicine to make sure it’s not carrying anything dangerous, then have Nyx set aside a few points with the proper food and supplies to give her the best chance possible.”

  I pulled up my augs and checked the time. Between my panic attack and Isabelle’s frog we’d been here far longer than we’d expected or planned.

  “What time was that reservation for?” I asked.

  “Twelve-thirty,” Jane replied. I saw her eyes glaze over for a second, and when they focused again, she sighed. “I’ll call the restaurant and let them know we’re not going to make it.”

  “I’m sorry,” I muttered, “my fault.”

  “Hey, none of that!” Alan growled. “It’s not your fault you had a panic attack out in the middle of nowhere. It’s Jane’s.”

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  Jane, who had taken a step away to make her phone call, twirled in place and slammed her fist into Alan’s shoulder. It wasn’t enough to injure him seriously, but it was enough to make him step back and rub the bruise. “Hey! It was!”

  “Enough of that,” I said, gently pushing the pair apart. “Jane didn’t do it on purpose. I didn’t share my fears with anyone, and I figured that as long as I had a hood, it would never be a problem. I sure as hell didn’t expect to have such a massive reaction, so how could she have known?”

  “You are better now, right?” Jane asked quietly.

  “I think so,” I replied cautiously. “I’ve never had a problem until today, so I should be fine as long as I keep the hood up or there’s a roof above my head. I may need your help to look into a more long-term solution later, though.”

  “Absolutely,” she agreed immediately. “I’ll do some research once we get back.”

  I glanced over at Jane, who was constantly shifting her weight from one foot to the other, looking me up and down nervously. She jumped slightly when I stepped forward and pulled her into a hug.

  “I know you feel guilty for what happened and want to help, but relax, just a little,” I whispered. “It wasn’t your fault. I don’t blame you, so don’t blame yourself.”

  I felt her relax, just a little.

  “Okay,” she muttered.

  “Good,” I said, stepping back again.

  The kids were all clustered around Issi’s new pet. They’d either gotten bored of the ocean or had forgotten it in the excitement of finding a new family member.

  “Since we’re not going to make it back to the restaurant, how about we have a picnic out here?” I asked.

  “Picnic?” Eddie asked curiously.

  “Yeah, you know, sitting out in the great outdoors, enjoying a meal with your family,” I explained.

  “I know what a picnic is,” Eddie scowled. “I thought we were going to a restaurant for lunch.”

  “That was the original plan,” Alan said, stepping forward to support me. “However, Jane booked that appointment so you three could get a look at the shoreline while we ate. Now that we’ve taken a detour so you three could play in the water, don't you think it would be a waste to go all the way back to town and look at the water from some restaurant?”

  The kids exchanged a quick look before turning back towards us and nodding.

  “Absolutely,” Jennifer said for the group.

  “Good, then it’s settled,” I said. “Give me a minute to get everything set up.”

  The beach wasn’t exactly the flattest; there were a number of rocky outcroppings scattered around the area, which made it hard to put down a decent-sized table. It took me a couple minutes to find a good spot that both allowed me to put down a table and still had a good view.

  Not far from the ‘beach’ was a small grove of trees on a high ridge. Not only did it have a good view, but it also had a touch of nature that we never would have encountered anywhere in town. It didn’t take me long to order up a small folding table, a couple chairs, and even a small radio.

  The faint music soon drew everyone over.

  “Pretty nice spot, eh? Better than some swanky restaurant, isn’t it?” I declared as everyone appeared.

  “I dunno, restaurant chairs probably wouldn’t wobble every time we try to sit down,” Eddie muttered, nudging one of the slightly more unstable chairs.

  “If you want to go to a restaurant, that can still be arranged,” I snapped. “That’ll mean you miss out on Nyx’s cooking, though.”

  “I’ll be good!” he chirped, sliding into the chair.

  “Good,” I muttered, with a smile.

  Once everyone sat down, I strode to the head of the table. “Nyx, can you please provide us with a quality family meal?” I asked.

  Do you have anything specific in mind? Or just the usual.

  “Although everyone enjoys the weekly protector meals, I think we should have something special,” I said. “Meat.”

  I have an idea. I assume you don’t mind spending a couple more points than usual.

  “As long as it’s reasonable, go for it,” I replied.

  The area over the table shimmered, and instead of six prepackaged meals, a plate and set of cutlery appeared in front of everyone. A second later, one large and four moderate-sized plastic containers appeared on the center of the table.

  Confused, I reached over and opened the largest box, revealing a large roast… something.

  “What’s this?” I asked.

  A whole chicken. With mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, and baked beans. The smallest one contains gravy. I figured you’d enjoy that.

  “That’s a chicken?”

  Yes… Since you don’t have a huge appetite, I never bothered giving you more than a couple slices or a drumstick. This is what a whole chicken looks like.

  “Well, thanks, I guess,” I muttered. “What do I do with it?”

  You cut it into slices and pass it out to the family. I honestly didn’t think you’d have so much trouble with this.

  “Quiet, you,” I grumbled as I snatched up one of the provided knives and forks.

  When I looked up, everyone was staring at me, many with a single raised eyebrow. I just smiled. “So, who wants chicken?”

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