Read Online All Fixed Up by Linda Grimes - Free Book Online Page A

pregnancy, so joining the jolly old elf in a quaff of something strong enough to deaden the pain of being trapped in this store with dozens upon dozens of joyously—and some not so joyously—screaming children and their harried parents sounded pretty good. But of course, it was only a pipe dream, considering the age of the aura I was projecting.
    Plus, part of me was convinced if I avoided alcohol, then I wouldn’t be pregnant. Superstitious? Probably. But that was the way my mind worked. The same way I didn’t want to take a pregnancy test, because as long as I didn’t know , then I wasn’t pregnant. (Yeah, I know. Stupid. But when you thought about it, it was like the Schrödinger’s cat dilemma—which made it totally scientific—only with my belly. Until I took a test, I both was and wasn’t pregnant. As long as I covered my ass on the “was” possibility by not drinking, I could safely remain “wasn’t” in my head. Not that I wouldn’t take the damn test eventually, if necessary. I was superstitious, not stupid-stitious.)
    â€œAre you sure this is a good idea, Molls?” I said. “I mean, I hate for your friend to miss out on the fun.”
    Molly, tall for her age—all the Doyle kids were tall, like their dad—wore her dark brown, wavy hair in one long braid. Her bright blue eyes (almost identical to Billy’s, again courtesy of Uncle Liam) sparkled.
    â€œOh, it was Olivia’s idea. Her mom has a picture of her sitting on Santa’s lap every year for the last twelve years. She started in utero”—Molly had a great vocabulary for her age—“and made Olivia promise to keep doing it until she’s twelve. It’s a family tradition, and Olivia hates it with a passion. So I told her I’d do it for her as a Christmas present. I was so sure I’d be adapting by now, after what happened before.”
    Molly had recently gone through a phase of being able to adapt—after a fashion—at a younger than usual age. The vast majority of aura adaptors don’t acquire the ability until they hit puberty. We’d all assumed Molly was as precocious at adapting as she was at everything else, but it turned out her early onset had been a short-lived fluke. She’d been waiting on pins and needles for it to reappear ever since.
    â€œIf it’s a family tradition, shouldn’t she be doing it with, you know, her family?” I said, nudging my youngest honorary cuz in the ribs. I would have been concerned about Molly telling her friend about us and what we could do if I hadn’t known Olivia’s grandmother was an adaptor. None of her offspring had inherited the trait, but our existence would be no surprise to the family.
    Molly giggled. “You’d think, huh? But Olivia threw a major fit, and told her mom she’d only do it this year if she could do it with me, no parents involved. She told her mom you’d take us. Which is kind of true, isn’t it? If you don’t get too technical about it.”
    You had to admire their proficiency at scheming, if not their honesty. “I hope Olivia stays out of sight until we’re through here. If she’s seen two places at once…”
    Molly, raised in a family of adaptors, was well drilled in the dangers of discovery. “She’s hiding out in the tree house her dad built her. We stocked it up ahead of time with sodas and popcorn, and she has her iPad with her to watch videos. With headphones, so nobody will hear her.”
    â€œGood thinking. But what if her brother finds her?” There was very little possibility Olivia’s mom would make the climb, but her kid brother was half monkey. As far as I knew, he had not been let in on the adaptor secret yet, being somewhat ill-equipped for keeping his mouth shut about anything.
    â€œHe’s not allowed in the tree house since their mom caught him up there last