Page 77 of The Liar in Room 5

“This first room will be Alice’s room once we finish putting it together.”

Liam stepped inside and slowly turned in a circle. There was literally nothing done—not a crib, not a rocker, not even paint beyond the boring beige walls.

“Weren’t you expecting a baby?”

“Nope. We ran out last night and got some emergency supplies after we got the call to expect you two, but that’s it.”

“Where is she going to sleep?”

“We bought a bassinet for our room if you’re okay with her being in there with us. My mom told me babies sleep better when they’re in a room with regulated breathing, and with you going to school, we don’t want you to be disturbed in the middle of the night.”

Liam nodded again but didn’t offer an opinion one way or the other.

“Okay, so your room is at the end of the hall.”

“Okay.”

Once again, Drew led the way out of the room. He made a point of waving toward our bedroom. He stopped to show Liam where the upstairs linen closet was, along with the hallway bathroom. When we arrived at Liam’s room, Drew opened the door without a flourish.

“We thought this would be a decent room for whoever ended up staying with us.”

Drew walked over to another door and pushed it open.

“You have your own bathroom, and it’s a few doors down from us, so hopefully that gives you some privacy.”

Liam shrugged.

“Um, we weren’t sure about decorating, so we just got a plain comforter and whatnot, but you’re welcome to put whatever you want on the walls. And if you want different colors, we can repaint or go shopping or whatever.”

The room itself was nice, with big windows overlooking the backyard with the pool and Lydia’s prized rose garden. Fencing had already been put in even though our target age had been older. The room was furnished with a full bed and a desk with chargers laid across the top, and the bathroom was already stocked with supplies.

“Doesn’t matter.”

“Okay, well…” Drew’s voice trailed off awkwardly.

“You really weren’t prepared for a baby?”

“No, just a teenager.”

“Weird.”

“Oh my God, Ben, you need to knock.”

The shouting and barking from the kitchen wasn’t how I expected my Sunday morning to start. Alice had been fussy last night, but now she was blessedly asleep. Drew had insisted on being the one to get up with her during the week, so I was damn sure going to be the one who did it on the weekends.

“Hey, Ben-boy, why are you breaking into my kitchen at…eight-thirty in the morning?” I asked after a jaw-popping yawn.

“Because I need to meet my new cousins,” Ben answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Ben, I told you they need to get used to the house before we barge in on them. It’s probably been a hard transition for them.” Marc was trying to smooth it over, but I also knew that once Ben had an idea in his head, it was like trying to take a bone from a dog.

“What’s trans…transit…whatever you said?”

“He said transition, and it means change,” Liam answered as he wandered into the kitchen.

He was up surprisingly early for a teenager on a Sunday morning, but I’d noticed over the last week that no matter how late he went to bed, he was always up by seven. Sometimes he was already gone for a morning run long before I even had my shoes on to take my own.

“Are you my new cousin Liam?” Ben asked matter-of-factly.