Page 39 of Keeping Penny

She scrunched up her nose and huffed out a breath. “How many kids do you know?”

Right, she had him there. Pyro had to think fast. “All right, not many. But I was a kid once. And trust me, I would’ve picked you as a best friend over anyone else in a heartbeat.”

“Why?”

“For one, because you can hear a fly fart from across a room. What I would’ve given to know what my teachers were talking about when they whispered to each other. Especially during parent-teacher conferences. Not that I had a parent there, since I was a foster kid. None of them bothered to show up because they didn’t care.”

Bowie looked up at that. “You didn’t have a mom and dad either? Like Mommy?”

“Yeah.”

Showing what an extraordinary child she was, and the depth of her empathy, Bowie put her hand on Pyro’s knee and patted it. “Mommy’s sad I don’t have a Nana or Papa, but that’s okay, I have her.”

“That’s right. And you have me, and Casper, and Buck, and⁠—”

“And Edge, Chaos, Obi-Wan, Zita, Fred, Jen, Mandy, Laryn, Rain, and now Waffles!”

Pyro chuckled. “Exactly. And you’re so smart to remember so many names.”

“I know their numbers too. Well, not all of them. Mommy made me memorize Zita’s and Casper’s.”

“She’s a smart mom.”

“Yeah.”

“And smart moms have smart kids. Bowie-Bear, you’re going to slay first grade. You have nothing to worry about.”

Bowie bit her lip. “I’m scared,” she whispered.

“There’s nothing wrong with that. A ship in a harbor is safe, but that’s not what ships are built for. And you, my friend, are destined for great things. But if you don’t take that first step, if you don’t sail out of the harbor, you might never achieve them. And that would be incredibly sad.”

“You think so?” Bowie asked.

“I know so.”

“Will you help me decide what to wear?”

“Of course. Come on, stand up,” Pyro said. Then he reached out and gently wiped the tears off her cheeks. “Let’s see what we have to work with.”

It didn’t take long for Bowie to decide on a cute pink shirt with a Pikachu Pokémon on it that Mandy had bought her, and a pair of tan cargo pants with roughly forty-seven pockets, which she’d received from Laryn. The woman was seriously fond of her pockets in any article of clothing she owned.

“I’ll leave you to change and meet you in the kitchen. Your mom is making your lunch, and I’m sure she’ll have something you can eat on the way to school, since we’re running so late. Okay?”

“Okay, Kylo-Pyro. I love you.”

His heart nearly melted at hearing the words, and he felt himself getting a little choked up. But he cleared his throat and said, “I love you too, Bowie-Bear. Don’t dilly-dally. You’ve got friends to make and things to learn.”

He walked out of the small bedroom—and almost ran smack into Penny, who was standing just outside the room. She had tears in her eyes, and once again the resemblance between mother and daughter was abundantly clear.

She grabbed his hand and dragged him down the hall into the kitchen—then threw herself into his arms and hugged him. Hard. “Thank you,” she whispered. “For being so amazing with her.”

The warmth of Penny in his arms was like coming home. Pyro relished the feeling of her against him. He experienced a calmness he’d never felt before. Her hug was magic, and Pyro was suddenly greedy. He wanted this feeling all the time. Wanted the right to do this every morning…help Bowie decide what to wear to school and stand in the kitchen hugging Penny.

It was too soon for that. But he wasn’t above checking in on them or being there whenever they needed him. Colvin Jackson was still out there, and Tex hadn’t been able to find him yet. He was probably using a new alias that Tex had yet to ferret out. And that made Pyro nervous. Too much had happened to Mandy, Laryn, and Zita for him to let down his guard. Nothing and no one would touch a hair on Penny’s head if he could help it.

And if Colvin came for Bowie? All bets were off. Pyro wasn’t a violent man, but the thought of anyone hurting the little girl in the other room made him feel homicidal. He’d protect her with his life if necessary.

“I’m ready, Mommy!” Bowie said, as she entered the living area. Zita and Penny had moved the furniture in a way that it was easy for the little girl to navigate without hurting herself. Bowie told him that it took a couple days for her to memorize the “lay of the land,” so to speak, but now that she had, it was obvious she was confident enough on where things were to walk around so easily, you wouldn’t know she was blind if you didn’t already.