'Well, isn't she a princess,' Susan said.
'Erika?' Elayna said. 'I suppose every parent thinks her kid is special, but she really is a darling.'
'Where she get all that blond hair?' Susan said. 'Her father?'
'I guess so,' Elayna said. 'I didn't really know him, it was all arranged by the clinic.'
'Of course,' Susan said. 'It must be hard raising a child alone.'
'Yes. It's exhausting and demanding, but very rewarding. I'm very pleased that I chose to have her.'
Elayna was tall and graceful and her hair was too long for her age. There was a dramatic streak of white in the front, and hints of gray showing here and there as the sunlight through the back window caught it. She was much too advanced to color her hair.
'Do you have help?' Susan said.
'Yes, my mother and my sister live around here. So I almost always have a baby-sitter. Today it happened they were both out and I had to bring her. I hope you don't mind.'
'Oh, no,' Susan said. 'I love seeing her.'
'The first year or so she pretty well killed my sex life, she was so demanding and I was so tired, I didn't have the energy, you know?'
'I can imagine,' Susan said.
'But once she got off the breast, then I could leave her with my mom or my sister… and I was back in circulation.'
She looked at me.
'You got any single straight friends?'
I shook my head. That description fit Hawk, but he and Elayna didn't seem a match. The thought of him with Erika, however, made me smile.
'See, there, you're smiling,' Elayna said, 'you've just thought of someone.'
'No,' I said. 'It's just inner peace showing through.'
Erika came out of the bedroom, shuffling in a pair of Susan's high-heeled shoes, and wearing Susan's black silk robe. The girth wasn't bad because Erika was a chunky girl and Susan was a slim woman, so they measured pretty much the same around. But since Erika was about three feet tall, and Susan was five foot seven, the length was an issue. She kept stepping on the train and from the sound it made, she kept tearing it. She had also found Susan's makeup and applied it to herself lavishly, if somewhat artlessly.
'Erika,' her mother said. Her voice hovered on the periphery of a shriek.
Erika kept coming, trying to flounce, stumbling on the high heels, continuing to step on the trailing fabric of Susan's black silk robe, which continued to rip. I had given her that dressing gown last Christmas and it had cost me far more than I generally earned. I looked at Susan. She looked as if she had just swallowed an armadillo.
I said, 'Oh boy oh boy,' very softly to Pearl, who was sitting straight up again, and flexed for attack.
Elayna jumped up and grabbed Erika and swept her into the air.
'Erika, my God, Erika,' she kept saying as she scooted her back into the bedroom. In a moment we could hear Erika howling.
Between howls she kept saying, 'I want to wear it, I want to wear it.'
I smiled pleasantly at Susan. 'Well, isn't she a princess,' I said.
'Shut up.'
I turned to Pearl and put my mouth close to her ear and did a stage whisper.
'Maybe we could get one just like her if we adopt wisely.'
Pearl paid me no heed. Her every desire was focused on dashing into the bedroom and biting Erika. I kept a hand on her collar, to forestall that, though I was embarrassingly eager for it to happen. Susan looked at me very hard.
'I heard that,' she said. 'And even if I didn't, I know what you're thinking. I knew it from the moment they walked in.'
'I'm in the evidence business,' I said. 'When I see some, I register it.'
'You can't generalize from one instance,' Susan said.
'No, of course not. But you can register the instance.'
I felt Pearl start to tremble slightly. Elayna walked back into the room bringing Erika with her with a firm clamp on her wrist. Erika tugged intensely to get her wrist free. But Elayna was too strong for her. The kid was wearing her own clothes again, and the makeup had been scrubbed off. She was crying determinedly.
'Tell Susan you're sorry, Erika.' Erika kept crying. And tugging. 'Erika, apologize.'
Erika cried. And tugged.
'No need,' Susan said. 'Really. I've had that gown forever. It was just something to wear around the house.'
She was careful not to look at me while she said it. I was quiet, holding Pearl's collar. I did not comment that the robe was pure silk and was meant to be worn in front of a fire while sipping champagne.
