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Lisette accepted this as gospel, then brightened. “Can we go to the festival this year?”

Etienne glanced at me, his eyes asking, is now the time? I nodded, my heart doing gymnastics in my chest.

He put down his lemonade. “Actually, there is something we want to tell you both.”

Hugo immediately tensed. “Is this about last week when we got broke—” He stopped, eyes wide. “Because we didn’t do it. Or if we did, we’ll never do it again.”

“It’s not that,” I assured him, not sure I wanted to know what they had broken. Clearly nothing important if neither Etiennenor I had discovered it yet. “It’s… well, you’re both going to be big siblings. We’re having a baby.”

For a long moment, the only sound was the faint buzz of insects over the water and the gentle plop of the turtle falling off its log. Then Lisette sat up so fast she nearly headbutted me in the chin.

“A baby? Like a real baby?”

“Yes,” Etienne said, reaching for my hand. “A real baby.”

Lisette squealed, then clapped both hands over her mouth. “Can I hold it? Can I dress it in little froggy pajamas?”

I laughed, which makes her laugh, which made Hugo say, “Wait, really?” in a voice that suggests he’s been punked before.

Etienne nodded. “You’ll both be amazing at it. And if you want, you can help us pick the name.”

“Can we name it after a monster?” Hugo’s eyes went starry. “Like Goliath or Dracula?”

I shook my head. “Nice try. But we’ll consider strong names.”

He leaned back, then asked, “Is it a boy or a girl?”

“We don’t know yet,” I said. “It’s too early.”

Hugo frowned as if this is a serious design flaw in the universe. “I hope it’s a boy. That way Lisette doesn’t try to turn it into a princess.”

Lisette stuck out her tongue. “I hope it’s a girl so I can braid its hair. Or if it’s a boy, I’ll braid its hair anyway.”

This devolved into a passionate but ultimately pointless debate about hair accessories, punctuated by Etienne and I trading looks of mutual relief. I didn’t know what I expected. Maybe drama, or a sulk, or a “we hate this idea forever.” Instead, they were already plotting all the fun things they could do with a younger sibling.

When the cookie supply ran out, we wandered down to the dock and watched the kids dangle their feet in the muddy water. Etienne laced his fingers with mine.

“They took it well,” I said.

“I told you. Children are resilient.” He squeezed my hand. “And they have the best parents in the bayou.”

I rolled my eyes, but secretly I wanted to believe him.

For a while, we just lounged in the sun, watching the water ripple and the Spanish moss shift and the kids plotting their next world takeover now that it would be three kids against two parents. It was perfect.

“Can we play hide and seek?” Lisette suddenly asked.

Etienne raised an eyebrow at me, but I was already up and dusting off my shorts. “Count us in.”

The kids exploded up on the dock, tripping over each other to declare “not it.” Etienne agreeably took the role of official seeker, which meant Hugo, Lisette, and I needed to hide.

Etienne raised a hand to stop us before we could sprint away. “But we have to play by the ancient bayou rules of hide and seek.”

“What’s that?” Hugo asked, looking skeptical.

“No magic, no shifting, and if you end up more than ten yards from the dock, you forfeit dessert at dinner tonight.” Etienne said.

Lisette took my hand and tugged me into the green shade at the bayou’s edge. “We’ll hide together,” she whispered, “because you don’t know all the secret places.”