Page 9 of Keeping Penny

“What are they wearing?” Bowie asked, with childlike innocence.

“Our flight suits,” Pyro told her.

“What’s a flight suit? Is it like a bathing suit?”

All four adults chuckled.

“No, sweetie. Not even close. It’s like a one-piece shirt and pants combined. They’re sewn together, and it has a zipper up the front to keep it closed.”

It was obvious Penny was used to explaining things to her daughter in terms that she could visualize in her mind, since she couldn’t use her eyesight to help her understand the world around her.

“Oh! Like my fuzzy Elsa pajamas I used to have. You know, the ones with the footies?”

Pyro grinned, he’d never had his flight suit compared to a fuzzy pajama romper before, but for a girl who couldn’t see for herself what he and his friends were wearing, it made sense.

“Yeah, sweetie, exactly like that. But they’ve got heavy black boots on their feet. Their flight suits end at their ankles. They don’t have feet sewn in like your PJs did.”

“Do your feet get cold?” Bowie asked, as she stared up at the men. “That was my favorite part about my PJs. They kept the red dust from getting inside while I slept.”

“The boots keep our feet warm, and all the dust out,” Edge told the little girl.

She nodded. “Can I feel?”

Pyro blinked in surprise. What exactly did she want to feel? Their boots?

Penny spoke before he could ask. “It’s not polite to feel people’s clothes while they’re wearing them. Remember? We don’t touch without permission. Not other people, their belongings, or animals.”

Bowie nodded sagely. “I remember. Sorry, Kylo-Pyro.”

“It’s okay. Did you have to leave your fuzzy-feet pajamas behind?”

To his surprise, the chatty little girl shrugged and turned her gaze downward. She also let go of his hand and reached behind her for her mom.

Penny took her hand, and Bowie snuggled into her mom’s side.

Pyro wondered what he’d said wrong and wished he’d kept his mouth shut. His hand felt…empty, now that Bowie’s fingers weren’t in it.

“It’s actually been a while since she’s had those PJs,” Penny said. “When we moved a couple years ago, we had to leave them behind then.”

That sucked. There was a lot in that explanation that Pyro didn’t understand, but all he knew was that he didn’t like Bowie’s sudden sadness. He wanted to fix it. He just had no idea how.

“Do you know what the plan is for us?” Penny asked. “I mean, we had a meeting, but all we were told was that more evacuations were being scheduled, and that once everyone who could be brought out of the country was here, we’d learn more.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t know,” Pyro told her.

“We aren’t involved in what happens after we pick up those we’re sent to evacuate,” Edge explained.

“Right. That makes sense. It’s fine. We’re good here, it’s just…difficult to think about what comes next.”

“I’m sure you’ll be taken care of,” Chaos told her.

“Of course we will.”

She said the words, but Pyro could hear the concern in her tone.

“We got a bag full of stuff!” Bowie said, excitement back in her voice. It was nice that the sorrow the girl felt about losing her footie PJs seemed to be gone. “It’s all free stuff. I got a T-shirt and some sweatpants, and even a pair of socks! There was also a toothbrush and toothpaste, a bar of soap, and a chocolate bar! But Mommy won’t let me eat it because it’s late. But tomorrow after breakfast, she said I could have it. Oh, and we get breakfast, lunch, and dinner here! Today we got a box with a sandwich and potato chips. It was awesome! Even if I had to take the tomatoes off. Tomatoes are yucky. Do you like tomatoes?”

Pyro wasn’t sure if she was talking to him or his friends, but he answered anyway. “I do.”